Daily Activities, Days 17,18,19

I'm sad to see senior project come to an end. However, after a busy, jam packed weekend, all three of my video projects are finally done!  Over the weekend, I spent Friday afternoon, all of Saturday, Sunday, and until today (Monday) working tirelessly on my gymnastics video. I downloaded all of my footage, and edited it. I picked out the song "Sand" by Nathan Lanier (ft. Karen Whipple). This song is my teammate's floor music, so I am familiar with the song's strong beat, and intense, yet graceful, sound. I spent a lot of time making cuts to the music to expand the song to fit all four minutes and twenty eight seconds of the video.
 I'm sorry for not blogging the last few days, but the videos were my first priority this weekend, and they had to be done.

Weekly Reflection, Week 3

This week I finished all three of my projects. Despite falling ill the first three days of this week, I managed to wrap everything up. Due to my sickness, I lost three valuable filming days for my gymnastics project. While I was sick, I worked on the athletic slideshow. I was disappointed to discover that there was no video footage of any teams except for boys and girls lacrosse. I emailed and asked around to see if anyone had anything I could work with, but sadly, there was not. I managed to find some footage of softball, but the other teams did not receive any video highlights in the athletic slideshow. On Thursday, I was still unsure about what song to use. I would like to give a huge shoutout and thank you to my sister for suggesting the song "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars. The music timed perfectly with the video. All I had to do was switch the order some of the clips so that it would look even better. I presented the Athletic Slideshow on Friday, which received many positive reviews from my peers.
To make up for lost time, I went to practice two hours earlier on Thursday to get the last of the footage that I needed for my gymnastics project. I filmed myself, and my teammates performing the tricks and skills that we had previously captured with the GoPro. Over the weekend, I spent Friday afternoon, all of Saturday, Sunday, and until today (Monday) working tirelessly on my gymnastics video. I downloaded all of my footage, and edited it into, what I think, will be an excellent senior project presentation. I also picked out the song "Sand" by Nathan Lanier (ft. Karen Whipple). This song is my teammate's floor music, so I am familiar with the song's strong beat, and intense, yet graceful, sound. I spent a lot of time making cuts to the music to expand the song to fit all four minutes and twenty eight seconds of the video.
Overall my senior project has been such an amazing experience, I'm sad to see it end, but I'm also very excited to show my projects.

Daily Activities, Day 16

Athletic Slideshow? Check. Senior Slideshow? Check. That's right two out of my three projects are done! I began the day presenting the athletic slideshow at assembly, which received positive reviews overall. My project is winding down and coming to a close. All I have left to do is finish the gymnastics project. I have all the footage, I just need to put it all together this weekend.

Sorry no vlog tonight.

Daily Activities, Days 14&15

 I'm all better now, I'm not sick anymore, and the athletic slideshow is done and ready to be presented tomorrow. Today I spent all afternoon flipping around in the gym and getting some awesome footage for my gymnastics project. This is going to be great I can't wait!

Daily Activities, Day 12&13

This week has not been off to a good start. I got sick yesterday and was not able to go to practice to get more footage for my gymnastics project. I also learned yesterday that there is no video footage of any teams except of lacrosse.  The slideshows due Friday and I have no idea what I'm going to do.  I have not left my bed all day because I feel like crap. This was a bad time to get sick. However, I did get some work done on the slideshow with what little footage I have.

Weekly Reflection, Week 2

The second week of senior project was very productive, and I got a lot done. I still have a lot more work to do, but I feel that I have made tremendous progress, despite the technical difficulties that were roadblocks earlier in the week. The senior slideshow is so close to being finished. I just received the opening credits today, all I have to do is put in the closing credits and then that should be finished. The Athletic Slideshow is due on Friday, so I have been working tirelessly on that project. I stayed up until two in the morning on Wednesday trying to find the perfect song. While I didn't find it that night, I think I might have a strong lead for a song. I just need to put in some video footage of varsity teams and add the music and then the project should be complete. Im very excited to present it in the athletic assembly!
One of my favorite parts of the week, and possibly a highlight was getting the pro and testing it out. I have gotten so much great footage of gymnastics with that, and it looks so cool! I'm so glad that project is off to a strong start. I cannot contain my excitement about this project it is going to look so amazing when it's all put together!
Another highlight of the week was not necessarily something I had to do for senior project but on Friday the yearbooks came out and in assembly I got to present the first copy of the yearbook to Charlie (whom the yearbook is dedicated to). Charlie has done so much for Proctor in admissions for the past thirty two years. Once again, thank you Charlie!
It's hard to believe that this week is going to be the last week of my senior project. Everything is winding down, and coming to a close and it all just seems so final. I'm glad that the my projects are starting to wrap up.  They're all starting to come together.  It's like solving a puzzle, all the pieces just start to form and fit perfectly. I have enjoyed senior project so much and I would definitely recommend it to every senior.

Daily Activities, Day 11 (10:50pm)

First, STOP EVERYTHING and watch today's vlog! : http://youtu.be/9Y1odDPfvZk
Seriously, this is the best and most epic Vlog yet! Featuring, a GoPro!

Today was a very productive day that started at exactly 10:15 AM during assembly I presented the yearbooks that were handed out today and gave the dedication to Charlie! Charlie, thank you for all your work at Proc today was a very productive day that started at exactly 10:15 AM during assembly I presented the yearbooks that were handed out today and gave the dedication to Charlie Durell for for the past thirty two years!  She seemed very moved. After that we handed out yearbooks to the school and I think they turned out very well, make sure you picked up your copy! Next, Jim told me to  go to the bookstore and pick up some boxes for him. What was inside the box? The GoPro and the chest harness that we ordered for my gymnastics project! After a quick lunch, I went on to the turf, and spent the afternoon flipping, and testing the new camera. I also worked on today's vlog (which I mentioned above). This evening, I went to gymnastics practice with my GoPro. My teammates and I got to do various tricks with it on. I have looked through some of the footage, and it looks great! I can't wait to do more filming tomorrow!

Daily Activities, Day 10 (10:52pm)

 Yesterday I stayed up till two in the morning, so my hours from yesterday transferred over to today. From midnight till two in the morning, I was listening to songs for the athletic slideshow.  I'm rather frustrated that I still have not found the perfect song yet! I have a very strange process to picking a song that I explain to my vlog. For the athletic slideshow, I like to pick a song that is upbeat and has a very strong rhythm to it so that I can line the music up with the transition of the pictures and video. Unfortunately, during the daylight hours, I had to deal with some personal errands. I did not do anymore work during the day, but I got a total of two hours in today.
Today's vlog: https://youtu.be/QrnEo85nL8c

Daily Activities, Day 9 (11:57pm)

It's almost midnight after a long day, but I can't stop! I am in the zone right now! At one o'clock today Alex came in to the tech lab at Proctor to view the senior slideshow, and she gave it a thumbs up! This means I am very close to being finished with this project I just need to add in the opening and closing credits, and possibly add in a few more photos since I have plenty of music left for the slideshow. Next, I went through some more action shots. I can now say with full confidence that every team has action shots in the athletic slideshow! Now all that' slept to do is add some video footage of varsity teams, and select a song to use. I will further describe this process in a bonus vlog that I was going to put out tonight, but it's late right now. Also Jim ordered a GoPro with a chest harness for my gymnastics project! Things are starting to move in the right direction and a lot of big projects are almost done. Even better, I only ran into one technical difficulty today (I ran out of some thing called Ram on my computer, and because of it I couldn't run Final Cut Pro.). However,  thanks to Anna, and the tech office, I was able to get this problem solved quickly. When I left campus, I got home and uploaded a vlog, and continued to work on the slideshow.

Vlog: https://youtu.be/PpqikaS0a0E

This has probably been my most productive day yet!

Daily Activities, Day 8 (11:09pm)

Today's activities were cut short by a power outage at my house. So unfortunately the vlog that I planned didn't work out due to this. Before the power went out I sent multiple emails to answer questions regarding Go Pros and finding out the date of the athletic assembly (Friday the 22nd). Tomorrow I plan to go to school to download video footage for the slideshow, have Alex view the senior slideshow, and edit through the photos it took last week. It will be a busy day to say the least!

Daily Activities, Day 7 (9:13pm)

Today was another great day of putting action shots in to the slide show. I still need to look through and edit the pictures I took on Friday and Saturday. I spoke with my coach the other day about when I can do some filming for my gymnastics video project; It would be great to get started on that project. Unfortunately there is no vlog today (and I'm sorry I didn't post one on Friday) I have big plans for my vlog tomorrow. The theme I'm planning on doing is commonly asked questions. Stay tuned...

Weekly Reflection, Week One

This first week of Senior Project was not what I expected in my proposal. First of all, working on three different projects has been very time consuming, and each day I have a new focus and a different goal, simply because my three video are so widely unlike each other. My first day was focused on getting three pictures of each senior into the senior slideshow. After that first day, my focus shifted entirely on the athletic slideshow. My days were busily spent looking through action shots, and choosing my top three or four favorites per team. This was not as easy as it has been in the past terms because I'm working on my laptop; I had to download the program "Final Cut Pro" before I could start on this project.
My biggest challenge was on Thursday, when I ran into technical difficulties trying to connect to the server, and was unable to find a certain sound effect. I was able to overcome these problems thanks to my mentor Anna, my sponsor Brenda, and my teacher Jim. There is another person who I forgot to thank this week. Adam Jones, came in to my journalism class one day and my class about vlogs. This idea inspired me to do my own video blog as a part of my senior project. Adam, thanks for the idea! Doing these vlogs have helped me, not only to visually share what I'm doing with my audience, but also helping me focus on what to write for my blogs.
The one thing I forgot to mention in my daily blogs about my vlog is that I do not create  these using Final Cut Pro (the program I use for my three main projects). For my vlog, I use iMovie, which is much simpler program where I film what I'm saying on my iPad, that way I can go through my footage very quickly and get it up on YouTube as soon as possible.
I have tremendously enjoyed doing these blogs as well as the three other projects I'm working on. These skills that I have been working on with my photography and videography will definitely benefit me, especially in college where I plan to continue learning about sports photography, and other media skills.

Daily Activities, Day(s) 5&6 12:58

 Oops, I just realized I never posted a blog for Friday. I was so busy on Friday I spent the whole day with Brenda preparing for the tailgate for the boys varsity lacrosse game, and the afternoon was devoted to finding action shots for the athletic side show. In the evening, I took action shots of the boys JV baseball and the boys varsity lacrosse games. Congrats to the lacrosse team on their win over Tilton! Overall it was a very productive day one of my best so far!

 On Saturday I spent one hour taking action shots of the girls varsity lacrosse game.  Congratulations girls on your win!  I have not gone through the photos yet or edited them that will probably happen either Monday or Tuesday.

Daily Activities, Day 4 (11:56)

You know those days where nothing seems to work no matter what you try? Today was one of those days, there were many technical difficulties. I got to work on the athletic slideshow, and I was going to search through more action shots. Unfortunately, I could not connect to the server, which is where my action shots are accessible to the school. After working for three hours and not making any strong progress, I finally took a step back away from the computer, away from the screen, and went outside to enjoy the beautiful sunny weather. Today was not productive, and rather frustrating because I did not accomplish the tasks I had planned. Sometimes, all you can do just take a step back, regather your thoughts, and come back with a better mind set tomorrow.  Tomorrow my goal is to solve these technical difficulties!

Vlog Day 4: https://youtu.be/GZNpbVvJdZs

Daily Activities, Day 3 (9:17)

 Today was another great day day, although I got off to a late start at about noon. I worked until about 5 o'clock on the athletic slideshow, and inserted all the team photos and labeled them (I should be receiving the yearbook and cycling pictures from Brenda soon.). Unfortunately, I ran into some trouble today, I can't seem to remember which sound effect I used at the beginning of the slideshow.  Tomorrow I will continue my search for the sound. Overall, today was a productive day!

Here's the link to my day 3 vlog: http://youtu.be/4eNqzu6FsEc

Daily Activities, Day 2 (4:49 pm)

It's here! You may be asking, "What's here?" I'll tell you what's here, my Senior Project Vlog! So along with my daily and weekly blogs here, I will also be posting daily video blogs on my YouTube account so you all can see what I'm up to! Today's probably isn't the most exciting (Sorry about that.) because I'm just discribing what my goals of my project, and what I'm going to be doing!

Here's the link to my vlog:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEsVNAHNqsFQbF3873GgvZZqrEIh24Suf

Today, I went to tech office at noon to download Final Cut Pro on my computer ( this is the program I use for all my projects). When I got home at about 1:30, I started working on the Spring Term Athletic Slideshow. So far I only have the team photos (With the exception of Cycling. They will get their picture taken Thursday or Friday.). I have not decided on any action shots, video clips, or music yet. This will happen later on in the process. From roughly two o'clock on I have been creating my very first vlog that I'm super excited about! I have been working on my YouTube account, to make sure everything works as it should, and that the privacy settings are where I need them to be. This is what I've been working on all day. Today has been another very productive day and I'm starting to get the ball rolling on all of my projects.

Daily Activities, Day 1 (2:44 pm)

Wow! I had a busy first day of senior project yesterday! I'm sorry everyone that I did not blog yesterday, but I will make up for it with two blog posts today! Although the official start of senior project was yesterday, I think my senior project really started at five o'clock on Sunday for formal. If you were there, you probably would've seen me running around with the camera taking pictures of everyone as they were gorgeously dressed for the evening's event. Yesterday was the official start of senior project. I went into Brenda's office at about 10:30 and started with editing pictures from formal, and I took a break for lunch at 12:45. After that I took those pictures and put them up on Digital gallery, but the ones that I needed I took for the senior slideshow a project that will be presented at senior dinner. I did the slideshow last year and I am taking on the task again this year. I worked all afternoon yesterday until about until about 5:54 when I took about a 15 minute break for dinner. I also did another project in the afternoon; I created a one minute video that I sent in a mass email to everyone in the school about how to get on to digital gallery, so everyone can see the photos. I continued with the senior  project until I left campus at 9:25.