The University of Delaware will open the doors to the MakerGym this February 10 with the start of the new semester. With this new university initiative, the library would need to have some kind of connection to it. I must have come in at the right time because that connection falls to me.
In addition to that, we have a MakerNetwork on campus connecting all the maker-like-spaces on one site. The SMDC is on the site as well and so is my contact information. That is all. I'm just happy about the makerspace and the collaboration possibility that the library could have. A friend of mine reminded me of this "social media| serve called Letterbox which is basically IMDB but with a focus more on social media side that allows people to share movies that they watch. So it is very much for the cinephile. I love movies so this would be right up my ally. But I didn't break down and sign up until last night because I saw the film The Nightingale. Which is on so many peoples top movie lists of 2019. Its on Hulu and i broke down and wanted to see just how disturbing this film really was.
It is not for the faint of heart, I must say, but it was very good. Some people compare it to 1970's grind-house revenge films and I can see how they come to that conclusion but that comparison just feels wrong. Every shot was deliberate. Every event led into the next. And it had a purpose. It wasn't designed to make some suburban house wife clutch their pearls. No. It was historical violence similar in tone to 12 Years a Slave. My biggest critique is the 4:3 aspect ratio because as a modern film goer, everything is in 16:9. So it made everything claustrophobic and uncomfortable. Which is what the director was going for. She wanted to focus on the characters rather then the scenery behind them so they didn't get lost in the sweeping shots like The Revenant. Thus my critique was the directors actual intent. Basically, this film made me get Letterbox. I need to build up my past viewing history and get familiar to how the site works but it seems like a great way to keep track of what I have watched. I am totally just putting this out there but his reasoning makes so much sense. I would love to see if there is a scientific study on this kind of thing. I know I would like to get into gaming but the learning curve is steep and it doesn't come as naturally anymore. So if developers for games realize that they are creating a language for how to get people to use the characters, how would you adapt it for people who have never touched a controller in there life. This is important for me because if and when I work with people in the gaming minor or in the e-sports arena, I'm coming from the perspective of a non-gamer. I play Pokemon and that is mostly just ROMs I have on my computer. I struggle with the controls all the time. I just really wanted to highlight this video because it gives gamer a perceptive that non-gamer have when trying a game for the first time. While not a gamer in the least bit, I truly love the concept and see the potential as an educational tool. This isn’t how to edit like Bois part 2 even though its titled like that. Instead its more of a 1.5 because while continuing to figure out how Bois creates his videos, and as mentioned in part 1, Google released Google Earth Studios. Thus this will cover more of that then how Bois actually makes his videos. Honestly, watch out for part 3! I will be LIT! So I'm the blessed Google gave me access to Google Earth Studio’s. (Not that is was hard. I think you just need to sign up and they will give you access to this web based software.) It looks really cool even thought I’m not sure quite how to use it to assist with the creation of videos. But it dose create amazing sweeping shots that could only be captured by a drone so this could act as a replacement on the cheap for establishing shots. Or actually a way to create 3D models now that I’m think about it.... huh.... Good thing I’m editing this. Never would have thought of that. Sorry back to the main topic. Google Earth Studio can allow you to do many of the sweeping shots that Bois is known for but without the ability to add the images into the software to create an informational video like his. But there are again so many different things, something as simple as sweeping images can assist with. One, besides 3D models, is the ability to help people with directions to locations. Especially is they are good at recognizing locations but not good at reading maps. Google street view but in video form. I decided to play around with Google Earth Studio a bit. I looked at Chicago because of course I did. Now its really cool and is exactly the replications of the camera movements without the information overly. Maybe Google Earth Pro has a feature like this. (Spoilers: it dose) After creating a path that i was satisfied with, I was ready to export it. There is no way to record the tour in the program but it will take ever single frame of the tour and export it as a JPEG. Which means then it would be in essence a stop motion videos. You can still easily use iMovie for this. Before importing the images, it would be smart to go up to Preferences and edit the importing images preferences. Specifically turning off the Ken Burns Effect and changing the duration to 0.1. Doing this means you don't have to fix each and every single picture and put it in the right settings. This will mean that there are 10 frames per 1 second. To compare, standard TV runs at 24 frames per second. Sadly this is as fact as images can be played in iMovie so to manipulate the file more, you need to export it as an MP4 and then bring it back in. If you double the speed of that video it would then be 20 frames per 1 second with is closer to the standard. I wonder if I can get it even closer.... Beware. Librarian doing math here. If I change the preferences when importing to 0.3 and then speed it up 8x it will come out to 27 frames per second. Which with my bad math skills isn’t to bad. I created a video with all my attempts of different frame rates. It’s not to bad. Google Earth Studios is something that will need to be continued to explored. Ok. As mentioned above this could actually be used for 3D modeling. Since each video is a series of screenshots, if you circle a building getting it from all different angles, you can take that bundle of images and import it into something like Autodesk ReCap and have the images stitched together. Thus creating a replica of a building or memorial. It might not be perfect but the thought is actually quite amazing.
Also check out this No Film School explanation of how to use After Effects. I don't know why I decided to look today. Probably because I'm going to continue to work on the Bois series I've created. But I'm Google Street View famous. I vague remember scooting passed the google car when I was at Dominican. Why today of all days did i decide to look it up, I don't know. But there am.
I just wanted to put that out there. Also here's proof of the scooter!
Knowing me, I go to YouTube for everything. So when I found the channel Overly Sarcastic Productions and their amazing cliff note style videos, well I knew I found something good. While I could highlight Blues history talks or Reds writing tropes series, instead I'm going to highlight two other videos they produced. They each made a video about how to do research but in a way that actually makes sense. I don't know about other but when I wrote papers, I would always have to have my thesis done first. Which meant that I was stuck with that topic. However, they suggest reading and researching everything and the kitchen sink first and coming up with the argument last because you have the context of what you looking at. Maybe that what the college courses where trying to teach me but two YouTube videos released long after the conclusion of undergrad for it finally sink in.
Youtuber David A. Cox has a great video explaining how to use iMovie and Final Cut. Both of these programs are Apple products which make it nice. iMovie is free and preloaded on every Mac computer. Final Cut is the equivalent of Adobe Premiere Pro but a Mac only software and for a fraction of the cost. Below I linked to his two good guides to teach everything you might need to know.
He makes easy to understand videos that helps to teach people how to use some of the adobe software. This is really how i learned much of the illustrator stuff i know. and i have been using this as a reference for a few years now.
how simple image overlay creates dynamic contentOk. Here is my WEEB side popping out. I love anime. While I don't keep up with every season and every show, I do enjoy watching a lot of anitube (Anime YouTube). Some cause its funny like Gigguk or other because of the slick editing like Under the Scope. Yet none have impressed me as much as Explanation Point with his simple image overlay. adding a new image almost like a period at the end of a sentence that builds on top of the other till a mess of a paragraph is uncovered. Rarely dose it get whipped clean. Only when it dose you know the argument took a turn or is developing some new point for images to overlay and reinforce.
Now much of the images are comedic and punctuation what ever he is saying. and other she crudely Photoshop them so it can drive the point home even more. It something that you just have to watch to realize how simplistic it is. That being said, its really not the images that make his content engaging. You could listen to his voice only and find it engaging. And that is where i think he truly shines. the editing of his videos are only the icing on the cake, adding visual gags but the writing is dynamic enough to keep people watching as the screen become a chaotic mess. In this way, It proves that a good narrative is as important as good editing skills. So, you like his style. How to create it. Well, sadly you cant use iMovie unless you do the layering in a different program and export each image separately with just seems like a pain to me. i mean its possible but really time consuming. So I think he used either Premier or final cut. or even After Effects. I haven't explored much of these software yet but i know you can add multiple layer on your video so it would only make sense.
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