personally, i felt that the entire clip gets a little boring towards the middle and end of the video.. afterall, it's just the same thing playing as well..

my intended idea was to also include more graphics and animation such that the clip will be more interesting.. but there was really a shortage of time.. besides, there was a whole of time spent on learning how exactly to operate most of the softwares..

the comments i received in class was exactly how i felt too.. haha..
others were.. the timing of the rotation was not constant.. thus, making it a little inconsistent and messy.. will work on that.. but becos some frames has 2 photos while others have up to 6.. but well, will try figuring out a way..

the slides get too boring and monotonous towards the end.. so i'll try to include more graphics and animations in between to create greater interest.. some ideas include balloons floating up.. snails crawling on the frame.. birds flying and sitting on the frame.. the sky changing from day to night..

i'll probably use this animations on the frames that has lesser photos.. such that it'll lengthen the timing of it to make it similar to the ones with more photos in them.. (:


and.. I FORGOT THE CREDITS! haha.. will add it in.. hee.. ^^


i didn't exactly received comments on the font used.. but i think it isn't very very suitable also.. probably the first scene was fine.. but when it quotes some statement and the title.. it kinda does not show the elegance and sweetness of the love that i was trying to protray.. it was either by changing the colour to PINK.. or by changing the entire font.. will experiment out and see..


let's all await for the editing to be done soon.. ^^








it's the leap year!
and i insist on updating today.. heehee.. (:

here are some pictures from our photo-taking session..











Presenting a true LOVE story...
Love's Evolution - a sweet journey.

the amazing affection between
... a boy & a girl ...

where two individuals,
two different thinkings,
and two different destinies,
merged into one.

where a lonely soul becomes
accompanied,
and the journey alone
diminished.
now, they walk the road together
heartily.

where the similarities brought them together,
the differences made them grow. - quoted from supei. (:

where the boundless road lies ahead,
they have with them ...
... each other.

be it in times of darkness,
or in light,
they walk devotedly together,
to arrive at the common destination.

although there may be unhappiness,
where she ignores him,
and he ignores her.

ultimately ...
... deep within their binded hearts,
it says ...
"I LOVE YOU".

through days and nights,
they hold on tight,
where in his eyes, there's only her,
and in hers, there's only him,
walking together towards another new beginning.

Love, like pure magic, is life's sweet mystery.


SMILES. (:


after the eventful comment and defend session, it brought me to sit down and think about the entire storyline and plot of the assignment again after realising that discovering exact similarities between two different individuals was hard..

but.. supei's comment really made me feel so much better with the quote she left during the session, 'it is the similarities that brought us together, but it is the differences that made us grow'.. it was really inspiring..

through some consideration, i decided to work with how TWO separate individuals.. with TWO different mindsets and destinies could come together to live and walk through the journey of life as ONE.. the two become one thingy.. (:

here's my storyboard.. ^^



where the ferris wheel signifies fullness as it travels through a complete circle that never comes to an end.. i decided to deploy the idea into this assignment..

i did try to take a picture of the ferris wheel but it was kinda hard to obtain a nice and romantic view of the singapore flyer.. besides, i'm afterall not a professional photographer.. =x

so graphics will be used instead..
to me, LOVE should be cheerful and bubbly.. sweet yet fun-loving.. the very fairytale-like kind of thing.. so i would use relatively more delicious, sweet and pleasant colours to arouse that cute emotion from the entire clip..


with all this in mind, i worked into deciding which photos to use and what else do i have to take in order to complete the entire assignment.. planned for several locations and things but.. afterall, i wanted it more natural than something that was literally planned for in our photographs.. so more random shots shall be used..


so while i have the remaining time before our next photoshot session this weekend.. i rendered upon some songs.. once again, i wanted so much to emphasize the sweet, romantic feel.. while not neglecting the cute and fun-loving component..

and i finally decided to use this royalty free contemporary piece by uniquetracks.. called 'two hearts' from orchestral fundamentals.. however, i would have to lengthen the song duration if it's too short for my clip as it is only 2 mins long..

listen to it.. (:



that's probably like the easier part of this all.. the tough part is where i have to really learn how to use the several adobe softwares like overnight.. which i kinda have NO-IN-DEPTH knowledge of.. hee.. but well.. learning the wonders of it all.. it was pretty fun and enjoyable to a certain extend..

photoshop for the photo editing..
illustrator for the vector graphics creation..
after effects for the video piecing and editing..
and last but not least,
premium pro for the audio extension..

so much is learnt in one single assignment.. although it wasn't very in depth learning.. but it was pretty amazing to have been able to come in contact with all the softwares to create some visual elements.. (:


coming on the way, the script for the video..


Pei said...
I think it is still possible to use the baby photos. But you can just change your theme. To something like growing then you met each other. And ya perhaps instead of using similarities you can vent on differences. There is a saying that goes: It is similarities that brought you together. But it is the differences that makes you grow. So it will be although you two are similar and yet different,you all ended together and grow in the relationship, to understand compromise, give and take. Hope this helps! Chill~ Don't so stress. =) I know how it feels to only have weekends. Mine is in the army too. =)

jacyie huiyi. * defends...
thanks supei! i really got pretty much of inspirations from the saying you quoted!
"It is similarities that brought you together. But it is the differences that makes you grow."


karen said...
i think it is still okay to use the baby photos to show similarity. maybe its up to your text or voice narration. eg: u could use your kindergarden PAP photos of how you all attended the same school but different batch, or even different pictures but sharing the same personality traits instead of same activities. =)

jacyie huiyi. * defends...
i thought of using the graduation photos as well.. but apparently.. i did not attend kindergarten at PAP and so i did not have graduation photo.. and later on in poly.. my batch was just one batch before the latter ones that has the chance to put on the robe.. which he did as well.. haha.. kinda ironic actually ah.. =x


Anonymous said...
I am thinking that you could said despite all the differences, that are still similar things? So many show the differences first. Just a thought.

jacyie huiyi. * defends...
good idea.. i was thinking of something towards that too.. (:


jazzy said...
hey, I like the ideas of the baby photos! Don't abandon it! I think it will be a waste. Yes, I do agree that using differences of the both of you can carry out the concept better. I'm sure you can do it. All the best! ^__^

jacyie huiyi. * defends...
i guess i'll try to spot the slightest similarities within the differences we have in our baby photos.. and this way.. i wouldn't have to totally abandon that idea.. (:


jen-way said...
Using baby photos would be a nice complement to the story.
I was wondering if the photos will all be those that both faces the camera? I think it will be nicer if the images are of the characters doing something together instead of posing. That would make the scenes more natural.

jacyie huiyi. * defends...
oh yesyes.. the photos will definitely not be all self-portrait.. as i've mentioned.. my photo-taking session will be postponed to next week with the help of my dearest friend.. (:


hui ting said...
I think you should keep your 'similarities' idea. Perhaps you could also show some differences between you guys and in these differences with how you both complement one another in the end?
I was thinking about building a story about both of you are one anothers' lock and key. haha ok duno if this helps.

jacyie huiyi. * defends...
i like the lock and key idea too.. hmmmm.. but it'll be pretty hard for me to incorporate it into my very fairytale-like concept.. but thanks for the idea!


rash said...
I like the baby photos idea too. It adds a nicer touch to your story. And maybe you might wanna sepia or black and white the hospital photo cos it looks a bit modern.. it looks like you guys met somewhere near the hospital.
And just wondering how do you plan to execute the looking forward to the future photos?

jacyie huiyi. * defends...
i was thinking of.. the entire concept developed with a nostalgic feel in the beginning with sepia or slightly-tined effect.. and changing and slowly developing into full color depicting the start of our LOVE story.. and finally.. the future will be achieved with photoshsop effects of the blurry and cloudy surroundings of the environment.. enhancing surrealism.. i'm still working on it though..


aline_hs said...
hi, its indeed a very sweet moments to share from young till now...
i think the memories that will bring out the story that is conveyed... =)

jacyie huiyi. * defends...
thanks thanks.. i hope i really will.. hee.. (:


sam nee said...
Is there a particular angle that you want to shoot your video from? Or is it just a chronological log of your love story? Maybe you could attempt shooting your story in light of the difficulties he being in army has place on the relationship? Baby photos are always a nice thing to have. We all look cute when we are younger : )
Cheers !

jacyie huiyi. * defends...
i'm intending to work on it through an outsider view.. so pronouns like they, he, she will be used instead in the text and narration..


jacyie huiyi. * finally noted...
with all these comments i get from everyone of you.. i guess i'll try to sort out the similarities and differences.. then compromise and will still be able to make the entire thing flow afterall.. (:

in addition.. cute drawings and elements will added using after effects to further enhance the focus of the clip.. (:


it was really hard for me..

we only had the weekends to work on things..
he's in camp every single day.. day in day out..
okie, wrong.. EVERY DAY IN.

and because we had to create a story.. afterall something that links.. the photos we took before were hard to portray that.. besides, all the photos that we tried to take this pathetic two days of the weekend were all self-portrait.. which could not bring out any single effect or expression that i wanted..

super stressed out..
i almost broke down..
we quarrelled..
this assignment is pretty annoying actually.. OOPS.. =x


but well, since i would need to get help from friends to help me take photos.. i'll have to postpone the photo-taking session to next week instead.. so i thought i could hunt down some baby photos of us doing similar things.. and the things that i thought initially that could be similar were afterall not the same.. BAHHHH..

so i thought i'll probably have to abandon the whole idea of the similarities amongst both of us.. i guess.. i wasn't a very good idea to have decided to work on similarities afterall.. because, it only brought us to realise how different we were.. HOW IRONIC..


anyway, it was really last minute that i decided to drop the focus of my video on the similarities we had when we were young.. to the happy moments we have ever since we met and knew each other..

this way.. things may work out a little better.. at least.. we could still take photos since we can't actually reverse the time to the past to take photos of our younger days..

however, there will still be some baby photos of both of us.. while the narration says things like how we may not have each other to rely on when we cried and needed a shoulder (displaying pictures of both of us crying), or when we took our first attempt to stand and walk on our own.. how much we have to depend on ourselves (displaying photos of us standing and trying to walk)..

followed by, how and where we knew and met each other.. the process and how things continued to blossom.. (:

and finally probably a little into the future about how we will want our lives to be like later on in our lifes (like our dream wedding location, and other stuffs).. working on effects that will portray it clearly to audiences that it's the prediction of our future.. ^^


some pictures we tried to take the past two days which was really a horrendous experience.. CRIES.














i'll work on my storyboard again.. and upload as soon as possible.. so do check back kies.. before that, would anyone give me any idea how i could really make it a little more interesting? i used to think that the interesting part would have been the baby photos of us doing the same things.. but now.......... ):


once again, i have to develop a plot for my story - my valentine..

truthfully, as valentine's day so near.. and seeing so much lovely and sweet things happening around, be it in the school campus or at the shopping malls and streets.. i jus couldn't help but feel really depressed and demoralised when i was told i had to work on this assignment..

a little into my own valentine's day plans.. it'll be spent alone, with lessons filled all the way till evening..

WHY?

because the one that i should be spending this day with would be stuck in camp.. and that's jus not all.. i had to be told that.. i wouldn't even get to speak to him at all.. because he'll be out of campsite into the forest at some i-don't-know-where island..


but well, i jus didn't want to make a truly emotional video or motion picture about my pathetic valentines.. so, i thought that i should try making this clip into something that will be so memorable and sweet that could last us a lifetime..

therefore, i thought of portraying about the similarities that we may have since young.. hopefully, we'll have photographs of us in our younger days playing.. or probably visiting the same places.. though it may be at different times..

basically, as the LOVE binds strong between us.. the title that i came to my mind and a phrase that i use so-very-often.. 'LOVE IS IN THE AIR.'


for friends who know me well.. or basically a little of my character that could be seen through my work.. i'm someone who loves fantasy.. has big dreams.. and jus likes everything princess-y.. everything to be as fairytale like as possible..

so i thought of having a bunch of balloons' closeup in the first scene, which will also appear later on in the final scene, as the whole story begins..


LOVE IS IN THE AIR.


Title: My Valentine
Medium: “Motion Photograph” /DVD

Design of a simple movie using photographs (i.e. still image)
Theme: Movie with a love theme (Create a .mov)

Description:
Develop a plot on the theme (e.g. something about your boyfriend/girlfriend, glorifying love, what you wish to have in Valentine day, or just a Valentine spirit)
Follow the procedure below
Render the video to .mov
Submit the final product (i.e. mov) through IVLE

Procedure:
Take as many pictures as possible (with love theme) (e.g. about my love, something good about your boyfriend/girlfriend..i.e. why you idolize her/him, what you wish to have in Valentine day, Valentine spirit or A valentine day in NUS)
Choose 40-70 pictures
Build a story around the pictures taken
Use Microsoft Photo Story, Windows Movie Maker, Premiere or after effects to do the panning, tilting, scaling, and transition etc.
Add the title/credit in your movie
Add voice/a narration/song/background
Requirement: min 2.5-min to max 4-min clip

Stage 1:
Develop a plot for the play
Concept development: Thumbnail sketches of your concepts
Create 10 images (e.g. thumbnail, drawing or photograph)
The 10 images (above) should consist of 2 images (begin or intro), 4 images (middle or main story) and 2 images (conclusion)
Put these 10 images/drawing/photograph in A3 paper.
Present through A3 paper next week
Feedback: Present concepts to your friends for discussion in the tutorial class.
Submit this A3 at the end of the class (late submission is not accepted)

Stage 2:
Keep refining the assignment.
Report your progress on the blog (any progress; any newer progress)
In the 45mins hour (during tutorial hours), students must comment on at least 10 classmates' works
Choose to comment from the same timeslot (i.e. Monday or Tuesday).
Comment should be on Assignment 3 (not assignment 2 or 1)
Record all your comments to other students and
Save all comments on a word document (name it as "commend and defend.doc")
IMPORTANT: Please configure your blogs so that we can comment on your work without login in (i.e. anonymous feedback).
In the next 45mins, students must defend their work.
Save all your responses to your classmates' comments in "commend and defend.doc" (i.e. the same document as above).
Submit your "commend and defend.doc" to IVLE.
The deadline for submission 6:30 p.m. for Monday class and 8:30 p.m. for Tuesday class.

Stage 3:
Production: Develop the concept into final product using adobe Premiere and/or adobe After Effect
Submit through IVLE (Deadline is strictly imposed on IVLE system).
Presentation: Present it to the classroom.


well, it was just a rather random thought i got when i was looking around my house.. thinking about what i should take for my assignment.. it was supposed to be just another day..

ideas that came to my mind were the simple ones like that daily routine of waking up.. breakfast.. preparing for school.. and stuff.. which i thought was rather dull.. besides.. the lighting in my house, especially my room alone, was bad for photography.. it'll probably cast shadows everywhere.. and i really mean EVERYWHERE. =x

so i had to look for alternatives.. and i was surprised by the number of puzzles that i do have in my room.. heehee.. i do like puzzles.. *hint hint*

so i decided to take.. the process of piecing a PUZZLE.. and yes.. definitely an ARIEL puzzle.. okie.. a brief introduction of Ariel.. she's the mermaid in the fairytale - The Little Mermaid.. and i'm so in love with her.. HAHA!


anyway.. i was thinking about how i should go about doing it.. first, i have to decide a viewpoint of the story.. and thus, to make the job simplier for myself.. it shall be from my own eyes.. looking at the process.. searching for pieces.. and finally.. the completion of the process..

this way, it saves me the trouble of getting someone to act as my model.. or someone to help me take the photos of me.. HEEHEE.

and so the photo goes..



actually, i do have more pictures that i took and wanted so much to include them.. but there was criteria set.. and they were hard to attain.. it's like.. if i have a total of 14 photos.. and i have to include in the banner and the html file to not exceed 180kb.. THAT'S LIKE LESS THAN 15kb PER PHOTO!

and if i were to compress it that much.. the photos become so pixelated that i feel so irritated by them.. it's not visually pleasing AT ALL.. so i abandoned 4 of them and maintained a 10 pictures story, as above.

i did receive comments from julian saying that they were simple and nice.. clear and understandable even without words.. i was so glad.. i mean.. after seeing my other mates' work.. i was just wondering if i were on the right track.. but.. PHEW! (:

but well, i know the photos are a little dark.. and once again, i have to blame my room's lighting.. it was so hard for me to find a location that would not cast any unnecessary shadows.. tried both in sunlight and artifical lighting.. BAHHH.. that's the best that i could achieve..

i'll do it in open air area under the perfect lighting someday if there's extra time from it all.. HEE. (:

anyway.. with Photoshop's help.. i did try to adjust the brightness a little.. hopefully it is much better now..

this assignment is NOT as easy as i thought. =x


Title: Just another day
Medium: Web (html file)

Design of a simple webpage.
Theme: Create a web based visual narrative of any simple daily/weekend activity/event.

Description:
Select a simple activity (e.g. marketing/food court/ window shopping, hobby-building/making/doing something etc)
Take as many pictures as possible
Build a story around the pictures taken
Create a web page using lots of images and a little text

Procedure:
Pictures: try to keep background of your picture clean.
Crop images as tightly as possible
Try to use as few colours as possible
Take picture in well lit areas.
Soft lighting: keep shadows to minimum.
Primary: Image optimization for web delivery
Should use GIF and JPEG format images
Use as many images as possible (image size should not be less than 320X240 pixels)
The page size should not be over 180 KB (including all images and html file)
Should be visually pleasing


well, i expected a lot of comments from this poster.. hee.. afterall, it's not even what i exactly expected it to be..

so i guess there'll be major major changes to the poster.. however, the main theme will still be kept..

comments were.. the silhouette made the girl feels like a guy.. the musical notes were to stiff and straight and thus, the elegance and gentleness of the dance, ballet were not efficiently brought across..

personally, i felt exactly the same too when i got the poster printed out and seeing it in hardcopy.. the colours kinda look plain and dull.. not drawing my attention at all.. =x

besides, the font on print looks gothic, to me.. that has to definitely go.. oops.. heehee..

it was then a time of reshaping and putting together images and text to make the poster something that i'll really really expect.. (:


so it's another time of planning..

retook a photo of the ballerina, in several positions.. and then silhouette some of them and finally selected one.. which i thought portrays the girl more obviously.. in order to make the poster sightly more colourful and attention-seeking.. i decided to have a black background with coloured silhouette instead.. so i chose.. PINK and PURPLE - the two complementing colours that signifies SWEET ROMANCE..

with this in mind, i had to search for MORE fonts! the limited fonts on my lappy wasn't enough to bring out any gentle and elegant touch to the poster.. tried and experimented with some fonts and decided to use the more curvy font - freebooter..

then comes the hard part.. i had to make the musical scores wavy.. spent sometime on it.. and YEAH! done.. heehee.. together with the musical notes that surrounds the body of the ballerina..

i was hoping to achieve the thought in the audiences that music and dance are never separate.. they come together, in the same tempo and conveys, in the same emotion..

the initial plan was to include more details to the play, like descriptions and critiques of the play.. which looks like,


but, at the look of it.. it looks really heavy on the right side with the huge amount of text that appears there.. so i took out all the descriptions and thus,


and now, it looks........
i have no idea too.. just slightly neater and clearer.. but it doesn't exactly feel balanced.. hmmm.. i hope i could improve further.. suggestions, anyone? (:


the planning process. *

i am so not into momentum yet when i had to design the poster.. all i could think of was the use of light and cheery colours to bring out the emotions of the viewers and also to limit the colour used such that the poster will be simple yet not too complicated.. so i chose colours ranging from the tones of black and white, as well as pink..

i wanted to avoid using any human expressions which may distort and lead the audiences' train of thoughts so i thought of a simple silhouette of a ballerina.. which could bring across the storyline - about a ballerina - as well as a wider room for imagination to the audiences.. so i took a photo of a ballerina and changed it into a silhouette..

furthermore, i intended for the fonts to bring out a more romantic and curvy feel.. together with the sense of smooth and gentle movements of the dance itself.. after trying out several fonts.. i tried with charming font.. but.. i guess it brought out a little surrealistic feel instead..

the play being a musical.. i thought it will be pretty much relevant to include some musical notes and scores, such that the impression of a musical is clearly brought across..

and thus, the final product, for critique. *




to me, the idea of a play poster would probably be one which does not totally reveals the storyline of the play.. it mus have the ability to provide space and room for the viewers and audiences to make assumptions and predictions about the entire story..

thus, i rendered that the poster has to be a little on the abstract side such that it portrays the general idea of the show.. but definitely not the clear cut storyline.. this way, it'll probably be more effective in generating attention and ultimately increasing sales of the production.. (:


DREAMS, to me, relates to dance in a way or the other.. maybe an unfulfilled dream of mine.. and hence, i decided to work around the theme of dance.. dance involves a lot about personal perseverance and a whole load of talent.. be it in creativity and originality or just the ability to really do it well..

with that in mind, i developed my plot and storyline to be encompassing around this girl named Ariel..


THE PLOT.

Ariel is a girl who loves ballet.. her aspiration is to be a professional ballerina oneday.. she did not have the opportunity to pick up dancing in her young age as her parents never had the thought of sending her for such classes.. she saved and worked real hard to put herself into the dance school where she moved a step nearer to fulfilling her aspiration..

not everyone is born with the talent for every single thing, and the same goes for Ariel.. she wouldn't classify herself as talented for this genre.. but her motivated and determined spirit pulled her through..

in the play.. you will see how hard she tries no matter how many times she failed.. it shows the audiences that motivation and determination is important in everything that you work in.. be it something you would really like.. or something that you've got no other choices to choose from.. the positive mindset together with the strong determination will bring you to where you would want to be..

finally, her hard work and effort is recognised by her patient and ever-so-loving instructor.. he picked her, together with her partner for 'the international ballerina selection test'.. she was astonished!

while working doubly hard with her partner to work into attaining that position.. she unfortunately sustained injuries on her ankle.. the most crucial element of a ballerina.. but yet.. she was determined to pull through..

it was only till one day that she realises how much her injured foot may affect the whole performance of the two of them.. who became very attached to each other as time passes.. and she knows just how much her partner would want to qualify for the selection.. that she finally decided sacrifice her little aspiration for the bigger and greater love for her partner..

she finally went for the selection test.. only to stand behind the screens.. attentively watching and mimicking their steps.. while her partner dances elegantly on the stage..

THE END.


Title: Dreams
Medium: Print

Design an A3 size poster for a play titled Dreams.
Theme of the play: Surrealistic experimental play about lost opportunities and dreams of a young Singaporean. A story of a person who sacrificed his/her life for someone else's future. Tone of the play is dark comedy.

Note: Above theme is general indication for visual treatment. Please feel free to develop your own story line and plot based on the theme.

Description:
Design a poster to promote an upcoming Jaba(fictional name) Theatre production.
The finished poster must be A3 size (vertical or horizontal format)
The copy must include credits, dates, times, venue and the admission prices. Additional descriptive copy written by you

Procedure:
Stage 1: (Classroom activity)
Approval: 1.5 hours
Develop a plot for the play
Research: Research internet for theater production posters. Identify positive aspects of good posters.
Concept development: Thumbnail sketches of your concepts (5 sketches minimum).
Feedback: Present concepts to your friends for discussion and select 1 for final development.

Stage 2: (week assignment)
Submission: Next week
Production: Develop selected concept into final product using adobe Photoshop and/or adobe illustrator.
Presentation: Print and present it to the classroom.
IMPORTANT: All visuals and text should be self developed. NO borrowing it from other sources (even if it is copy right free).