Final Story Pitch

The 2019 WSU Sustainability Fair is occurring Monday April 22 in the CUB Senior Ballroom. This event will showcase the newest innovations in the fields of sustainability, gathered from several different colleges including the CAHNRS College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Resources Sciences, the School of Design and Construction, and CEREO the Center for Environmental Research.

This would make for a good multimedia package because there are many participants all presenting new devices, experiments, and other visually interesting data. Also, there are a lot of opportunities for good soundbites from people presenting at the event and interested or concerned student and facility visiting the fair.

This event would make a good story for a couple different reasons. WSU has been making significant progress in the area of environmental studies recently with projects like environmentally sustainable clothing fibers, 3-D printing using recyclable materials, and the Composite Materials and Engineering Center creating housing materials out of recycled airplane parts. All these stories have recently been featured in the Daily Evergreen and other publications.

Additionally, ASWSU recently approved new on campus recycling initiatives with the hopes that they may affect lawmakers to eventually implement state wide environmental protocols. There have also been increased recycling costs in Pullman and calls for a reform of our current recycling system, which will be addressed at the event.

 

Sources:

Event Organizer: Jason Sampson 509-335-9564

Researchers Presenting Projects

Others Attending the Event

 

Reflection

Reflecting on my time spent in COM 210, there are a few things that come to mind. The first being that I overall enjoyed this course. I had some experience in most of the programs we learned and used, but it was very helpful to not only gain more experience with these programs in a class setting, it was also nice to get critiques and tips on projects created with these programs.

My favorite project was the Photoshop poster I created. I was the most familiar with Photoshop beforehand so I felt the most comfortable using that program. Additionally, the skills we learned with multiple layers, merging layers, and opacity of layers was a  skill set I had been working on previously and I was helped very much by the tutorials.

I learned all I wanted to from the tutorials and anything I didn’t I researched and figured it out on my own. I think I would have liked to learn other programs like Adobe Lightroom that I am less familiar with because I feel like some of the smaller Adobe programs are very useful but don’t get much attention.

Moving forward, I think the skills I learned will be very helpful in my future career. One of my possible is running/working with a production studio, which would require knowledge in Premiere and Audition. Additionally, an alternate career path I’ve considered is a graphic designer and in that case the tools I learned in Photoshop and Illustrator will directly be essential to the work I’d be doing.

I found that when troubleshooting a problem YouTube tutorials proved the most helpful due to the abundance of content available on the site, and the visual element of being able to see where something is located or how to adjust it, compared to just having to read it all.

Final Video Project

For this project I decided to create a visual guide to the three different steps of the production process. Pre-production, writing and rewriting, production, filming, and post-production, editing. This project relates to my course topic because all of my project thus far have focused on the production company I made, Good Morning Productions, and this is a step by step guide on how that production company would operate.

This projected is hosted and narrated by Reece Yugawa, who has worked on all steps of the production process and has worked alongside me in the past on several projects.

Design Process:

Starting out, the biggest inspiration for this video was behind the scenes videos I’ve seen. DVDs and blu-rays usually have a special features section and there are sometimes behind the scenes tours, video essays, or informative videos breaking down different parts of production. Specifically, I remember one where Steven Spielberg goes around the Universal backlot and explains the different parts involved in making a movie. This was very inspiring for me when I first saw it so I wanted to create something similar and maybe provide some helpful advice as well.

I tried to make the different transitions I include have significance to what Reece was doing or saying. If you saw a page of a script being turned I used a page peel transition or if you saw Reece focusing his camera, I used a dissolve focus transition between shots. Then I used some audio fades to que in and que out the music I used.

I started by following Reece while he was filming a video interview for a commentary video he’s been working on. I started with him filming, scrolling through his script creator site, and then editing the video. Unfortunately, Reece fell ill so I had to include B-roll of another friend, Ashley Beard, who Reece was also filming. Luckily Reece recovered enough to record an introduction and closing and a few more interview parts. Ashley Beard graciously allowed me to use her in the project.

Technical Detail:

When it came to constructing the video I started by importing all the clips I had. Then I organized them according to pre-production, production, and post-production. I then inserted Reece’s interview and editing out all the ums and pauses. After that I started building the video around what Reece was saying so that his narration had a visual representation.

I used the pitchshifter audio option for Reece’s interview. As I said Reece was under the weather and you could hear it in his voice. I also had Reece ADR his beginning interview because his voice was cracking so bad it was almost unusable. Reece’s voice sounds a little deeper than usual because of this pitchshifting of the audio, but I kept it as consistent as possible so it would not be too noticeable.

I had a lot of trouble at first with some of the audio. I used the DeNoiser tool, and pitchshifting to help fix Reece’s sick sounding voice. Music also helped make his voice sound less alone and empty so that was advantageous to making him sound less sick.

Citations:

Thinamajig from audionautix.com

Fair Use with Attribution

Draft Video Story

For this project I decided to create a visual guide to the three different steps of the production process. Pre-production, production, and post-production. This project relates to my course topic by breaking down the different parts of production which is relevant because all of my project thus far have focused on the production company I made, Good Morning Productions.

Design Process:

For me, the biggest inspiration for this video was behind the scenes videos I’ve seen. Most all DVD and blu-rays have a special features section and there are sometimes behind the scenes tours, video essays, or informative videos breaking down different parts of production. I made sure to research and re-watch some of my favorites before editing this project. I wanted to create something similar to those to give people a behind the scenes look at what it takes to make a video and maybe provide some helpful advice as well.

I tried to make the different transitions I include have significance to what Reece was doing or saying. If you saw a page of a script being turned I used a page peel transition or if you saw Reece focusing his camera, I used a dissolve focus transition between shots.

I started by following Reece while he was filming a video interview for a commentary video he’s been working on. I started with him filming, scrolling through his script creator site, and then editing the video. Unfortunately, Reece fell ill so I had to include B-roll of another friend, Ashley Beard, who Reece was also filming. Hopefully, Reece will be feeling better soon so I can replace the B-roll with footage of him.

Technical Detail:

When it came to constructing the video I started by importing all the clips I had. Then I organized them according to pre-production, production, and post-production. I then inserted Reece’s interview and cut the clips to line up with what he was saying.

I used several transitions such as a page peel, a film dissolve, and a wipe. I also used the pitchshifter audio option for Reece’s interview. As I said Reece was under the weather and you could here it in his voice. I tried to modulate and change his voice to make this less obvious. I plan to re-record this interview if Reece is felling and sounding better in time.

I had trouble at first with some of the audio but found that applying a deNoiser to the interview and lower the levels of the music helped the whole thing sound much more clear.

Citations:

Thinamajig from audionautix.com

Fair Use with Attribution

Raw Footage and Storyboard

Someone who has worked with Good Morning Productions, runs the audience through the different stages of production.

Visual Elements	Audio Elements
0:00-0:10  Reece Yugawa, address the audience, talking in front of a news camera or in a studio setting. At the end of him talking he moves his hand across screen and with it a wipe transition us into the next scene.	Reece explains who he is. He talks about his experience with Good Morning Productions and what he has done and what he currently is doing.
0:10-0:40 Video of Reece working on a script is shown. We see him sketching out ideas, then typing the script in celtx. Reece prints out the script and makes notes on it and changes it up, then we retypes and prints out the final script. The script prints out and as it prints out a downward wipe tracks with the paper to transition.	Voice over: Reece explains what goes into the pre-production of a video project/production. He talks about how he forms ideas, how he formats his scripts, and how he revises a script.
0:40-1:10  Reece is filming different people. He is shown messing with camera settings, focusing his camera, and getting different angles. As Reece focuses the camera the scene cross dissolves into the next scene.	Voice over: Reece explains how to set up his shots and how to get the angles he wants. He talks about the actual production of a video project. He talks about the different settings (shutter speed, contrast, etc.).
1:10-1:40 Reece is shown editing his project. He cuts the parts together. He adds effects and color correction.	Voice over: Reece explains the post-production of a video project. He gets into the different editing software he uses and different tricks he uses and what rules he follows. Reece is shown cutting a clip and simultaneously there’s a cut to the next scene.
1:10-1:50 Reece is seen in front of a green screen talking.	Reece thanks the audience for watching and tells them to check out Good Morning Productions.

Premiere Tutorials

Final Audio Story

For this project, what I ended up making was an exploration into the different types of people who have worked for Good Morning Productions, and where they are now. Originally, the project was far less focused but after some tweaking the intent behind it felt much clearer. This project can also serve as a PSA about Good Morning Productions as well.

The main inspiration for this topic was morning radio interviews that I’ve heard ever since I was a kid. These kinds of interviews always seemed to have such a sultry and cool quality to them I couldn’t help but listen. This type of interview also has a sleek but also throwback style that I’ve been trying to incorporate into all my projects.

The interviews I ended up using were from people I worked very closely with on past projects and that I know have gone on to do very cool things. This was partially so the actual interview would sound more natural and partially because I wanted they stories to be shared. I had each interviewee say “Good Morning” after their interview to signify that it was over. The rooster crow at the beginning is a free use sound I found and is meant to invoke thoughts of the morning. The smooth jazz song I used is also meant to relax the interviewer and guide them through the interview. I included a radio tuning at the beginning to really hit the early radio interview vibe home.

All the sounds that I didn’t record I found from various free use websites. I wanted to record my own sound of a radio tuning but apparently, it’s much harder to find a manual radio than I anticipated.

In this final project I much better utilized the Adobe Audition tools. I used a denoiser function because some of the interviews I recorded had some background noise and this helped make it less obvious. I also adjusted the pitch levels of the narrator voice clips because I wanted those clips to be recorded by someone with an extremely deep voice. The person I originally had in mind couldn’t record so I had to record my voice and make it sound deeper. I also sped up a couple parts of interviews so that parts wouldn’t drag on as much. If you ever try to speed up some audio I suggest lowering the pitch as well, so the person’s voice doesn’t sound sped up.

Citations:

Radio Tuning

http://soundbible.com/2099-AM-Radio-Tuning.html

Public Domain

Rooster Crow

https://freetousesounds.com/royalty-free-rooster-cock-a-doodle-doo-sound-effect-sounds-of-vietnam/

Free Use with Attribution

Music

https://freesound.org/people/RealRhodesSounds/sounds/4048/

Free Use with Attribution

Draft Audio Story

For my project I decided to try to recreate a morning advertisement you’d see on a radio or at the beginning of an old VHS tape that explains people’s experience with good morning productions. This is to not only promote my fictious production company but share the stories of those who have worked with it. The plan is to insert voiceover explaining what these four individuals have done and how that relates to their dreams/motivations said in the interview. I left some space in and I found someone with a good deep radio voice to help me record some voiceover.

At the beginning of the track you hear a rooster crow, and someone say Good Morning. This is a play on the name of the company, Good Morning Productions, because a rooster crowing and someone saying good morning are both classic audio cues that it is morning. I decided to include the VHS loading because all my other projects have had a retro spin to them, so it felt like it matched my aesthetic.

I started by finding people who I have worked with on different video projects and that I know have done some really impressive things since then. I record the first part of the interview with them. I then started recording sound effects and ambient sound. I found an old TV, so I was able to get the VHS sound from that. I also was able to find a free use rooster crowing as well. After that I cut the interviews into soundbites and found some music on a creative commons sight. I wanted something that was jazzy and mellow to invoke a morning radio station but that also could get louder to transition between audio clips.

I used a lot of transitions to make the music that I ended up cutting up and repositioning sounded more coherent. I also lowered some people’s voices to make them sound smoother. I want to continue to do this and more texture so that the audio doesn’t sound so flat. This and finding someone who had a deeper voice than me to record narration were my biggest challenges. But I think this is a good start and I can polish the final project into something cool.

Sources:

Rooster Crow- https://freetousesounds.com/royalty-free-rooster-cock-a-doodle-doo-sound-effect-sounds-of-vietnam/

Free Use with Attribution

Music-  https://freesound.org/people/RealRhodesSounds/sounds/4048/

Free Use with Attribution

Raw Audio Footage

For this audio story I want different people involved in production, actors, directors, editors, etc., to say something they want to accomplish within in production then explain how Good Morning Productions can accomplish this goal. The first auto clip I included is an example of one of those goals an actor named Josie Lamothe wants to accomplish. The second track is several people saying Good Morning, which I’ll use as transitions.

Audition Tutorials