Senior year project-Writing with New Media

I thought I would make my last blog a time of sharing my youtube link and a list of the different kinds of equipment and software it took me to compile what I think is an impressive "first!"

Actually, there have been a number of first's. While, I have already mentioned that I have now begun to use folders as a more logical way to save files, this step isn't the only "first" that I will be able to remember and relate to our course, Writing with New Media.

It is also a "first" to use this size of jump-drive,
the "first" to experiement with audio,
a "first" in learning about 'MP3' format,
a "first" in learning the 'wav' format
a "first" in experimenting with mixing audio with video,
a "first" using a Mac laptop (Movie maker isn't compatible with Vista software),
a "first" in adding and editing music ,
a "first" in realizing just how much can be stored in a jump-drive (this was impressive!),
a "first" in learning that using transitions makes a video file become very professional,
and probably need to end with a "first" when mentioning that using news scans can be made to be just as professional as still pictures.

The equipment I used when compiling this project has been:
three regular PC's on two different campuses,
a Brother scanner (I think that name brand made all the difference in how clear the news scans were),
a Mac laptop to import and edit my music (movie maker doesn't appreciate the capabilities of Vista software),
a 16 GB jump-drive,
CD's and a DVR-W, and
my own digital camera.

The software I used comprised of:
picasa.org,
movie-maker,
audicity,
window's media player, and
photo story.

Please take time to view my completed work. The video file ended up being a little over five minutes, but is well worth your time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=654sej-RB6I

Final project memories

I thought I would blog with details of my final project’s aggravations, successes, and learning experiences. So, let’s begin with movie maker software. It seems to me that this software does not appreciate working on the same project from various computers. For example, I worked on my final project during class time in the McDowell Administration Building and in the privacy of my office when I am at work. Saving my project progress on a 16GB flash-drive was very helpful, but in changing locations to build my project, a flash-drive will change the alphabet letter that it uses to identify the removable disk. This meant that I had trouble finding my completed work each time I tried opening where I thought it was saved. Maybe realizing the letter would change was a very pronounced part of my difficulties, but the fact that it took someone pointing this out made me realize I could pay more attention when working on projects that was embarrassing. (I believe it is Dr. Carter I need to thank.) I will admit that even though this part of the project was very aggravating, it also encourages me to pay more attention to the idioms of a computer.
Another learning experience has been the use of making folders to store things in that need to be grouped. Believe it or not I have not made a big practice of using folders in my work, whether while at work or in coursework. But, for my project, the number of digital pictures taken from my camera was a large enough number that they needed to be in a folder grouped together. When I bought this particular flash-drive, I didn’t fully comprehend how much information (whether video, audio or text) can be safely stored. Hence: the need for folders. To help readers of this blog understand the size of a 16GB flash-drive, I will offer the following information. I have probably 440 digital pictures that came straight from my camera (because I had trouble finding my work, I would invariably feel the solution was to begin over, at least 45 more because I used this many still pictures in my project. There are at least 30 news scans in a folder, plus two songs. Please understand that everything is not in its own folder. I think as I now understand and appreciate the usefulness of folders; I will continue using this method of saving stored information.
I want to end this blog with mentioning the moment of surprise and elated emotion I felt yesterday (5-06-09) when adding the music to this video. It was like going from watching a silent movie to listening to The Phantom of the Opera (you know, the guy who also stars in the movie “300”). It was a very passionate moment. Music made all the difference in how the pictures were being viewed. This video now comes complete with meaning and will share the memories with Tyler that I want him to have for a long time.

Title and abstract

My project will be a DVD titled "Senior Year" and is senior year highlights of my youngest son, Tyler Jones. These highlights are a combination of digital pictures, text, and news clippings themselves, scanned with the intention to describe the multi-level of literacy understanding by both myself and Tyler. This project will describe how one student excels at multi-levels of literacy understanding through extra-cirricular activities (four sports) and academic success (ranked fifth in his graduating class), including UIL competitions. And because Tyler took accelerated classes, he was invited by UNT@Denton to take advantage of the Emerald Eagle scholarship, a full-tutition scholarship offered by the North Texas college campus. Tyler is the first student from Detroit, TX to attend that particular university.

week twelve-project

Well, I have managed only a small bit of progress where my project is concerned. I have downloaded Picasa on my work computer so I will have additional lab time to work on the last bit of maneuvers I have planned for my project, which consist of straightening out my scans, and placing these scans in the order between the pictures as I see they will offer the most sentimental meaning to Tyler. I think I will number the hard-copy of the articles so when I get ready to place them in that order between the pictures, it will be a much smoother process.

I still haven't tried to download my two songs. I think I will be much more comfortable working with someone on that part, from beginning to end. More later.

Week eleven--final project

I have accomplished a small amount of progress since my latest post. I have managed to scan the news articles and a couple of other things that I plan on using as transitions in the movie video I am planning on surprising my youngest son with. The scans have been saved on my jump-drive, which is the same place as my movie-maker video. I'm not sure, but to me having the scans and my already placed pictures on the same place is not going to work. I will ask for our expert guidance team CLIC for suggestions on how to best work with this.

A second thing I have noticed is that when one scans something, that does not necessarily mean it shows up having a straight line. Now, I have discovered there is a way to adjust these (some are only minimally off) so that is not a serious holdup. Anyway, to summarize what I feel about my project, things are coming along. It is turning out to be more work than originally anticipated, but after seeing the news scans, I still firmly believe that Tyler's eyes will light up when he views how much joy I got out of this small fraction of his life. More later.

My final project will consist of audio, video, and newspaper text because I want this to be a communication style that is viewed as more than one literacy outreach. While the pictures will tell one story by themselves, they will also be explained in a greater detail by the text that will be used as a transition between these photos. My audience will primarily be my son but I am almost positive that once he views this gift, he will be so impressed at the outcome, he will want to take it to his high school basketball coach (they are still very close) and some of his “homies” he continues to stay in touch with, even though it seems as if these five guys went in different directions when it came to applying for college. The modalities I have used to bring this project together is a digital camera that captured these special moments, music CD’s to transfer the audio to my CD-R, a scanner to scan the newspaper articles and of course a computer that offers audio and video software capability that makes these various literacy styles come together.
I chose to compose individually for the simple fact that my subject matter is of interest only to my family; therefore I can place the order of things to accommodate my son’s interest. On another note, I am not using actual game action pictures of Tyler; I have decided to let the newspaper headlines speak of his abilities. On a second note, I am also incorporating pictures and articles that mention his academic skills and awards, as I wanted to make a reminder for Tyler of all the challenges he excelled at in a single school year!
My technology skills have always been quite amazing, especially to me. My first semester in college consisted of four courses, one of which was a computer applications course. I don’t know exactly what I thought our class would be doing, but I couldn’t even turn a computer on and off, much less anything else. By the end of the semester I had such an impressive grade, my instructor informed me that I did not have to take the final exam for that course! I have been on a role ever since, by that I mean that I am pretty adapt at discovering how computer software works, but I am still very hesitant at asking aloud for assistance. Is this procrastination, stubbornness, or intimidation? Fixing to drive to class. More later.

final project

While I have mentioned aloud in class my plans for a final project, I will discuss the workings here in greater detail. The plan is to surprise my youngest son with a DVD of moments from his senior year in high school. Even though he was a major sports figure in his high school (earning recognition in four sports, he also had fun driving in his 5-speed, 4 X 4 Isuzu Trooper (I have decided a shot of this vehicle covered in snow is the way to end my project. I have already downloaded I think 38 pictures from my digital camera, and I believe I have them in an order that spans his year from beginning to end. For a different style of transition, I am intending to use newspaper articles from two separately owned newspapers that cover our region as far as sports events. My reasoning behind using the news articles is that the sports writers focused on my son quite a bit, placing his name in the headlines. I have been trying to download a particular song that I know he likes. I would like to be able to place this audio on top of the video. One problem with the audio part of my project is that I cannot seem to download my chosen song due to copyright issues, and I am also having trouble finding this as a single song to copy it onto my DVD that way. I have someone I work with helping with solving my audio problems now, so things may get under way once spring break is over. She is also going to work with me on scanning the news articles. Sometimes I have trouble getting going because I don't know how and I'm very hesitant about saying aloud that I need help, especially when I keep hearing how simple this technology is. Some of my questions are, "Are my 38 pictures too much video for the DVD?" "How does one find this answer?" "Which sounds better to have more than one song playing (I'm thinking that with this much video I could have two songs) or stretch out my one song?" At this point, I'm going for the easy way. When I say what my project is, it sounds to be a very quick process, but getting the things one needs isn't always easy. Like my challenges, I can't seem to get past the audio hold-ups. More later.