Scratch Game Design

                       Chase Game                     Platform Game                           Freedom Game!

Hey everybody! So, I know normally post long, finished posts all at one time, but for a while I will be frequently updating paragraphs and newly completed games, until Christmas break, when all three games will be done, and this post finished. I have embedded my first finished Scratch game, HoeselM_Chase, and a platform game, HoeselM_Platformer. In the chase game, you use the arrow keys to avoid the bat and catch the apple! In the second one, the goal is to jump up the platforms till you catch both bugs! Use the arrow keys for that one to. Feel free to try them out and send me any comments with critiques and the likes, and by the end of the quarter, I will have the last game (HoeselM_Freedom) uploaded here for you to try, as well as my typical finished writing. So, check out my games, and let me know what you think! (Updated)

User experience influenced my game in many ways. For the most part, it was making sure my character's movements were smooth. I also focused on the apple''s movements, making sure it moved randomly, instead of a predictable pattern like I had at first. I thought about adding a timer, but I didn't want to over complicate my design, so I just stuck with score for now. In future games I plan to try out timers, but since this was my first I decided to stick with a simpler design. I know the end is a little jerky, which was unfortunate because I know that makes it a little unpleasant to play towards the end, but I plan on working out the bugs more, and making a more solid ending for my game.

Over the course of these last few weeks, we have created three games. (At least we will by the end of first semester) As you can see above, my first game was a fairly simple chase game, where the goal is to catch the apple without letting the dragon touch you. My second game, (which I'm was currently working on as I wrote this- I'm a multitasker) is a platform game, meaning you have to jump around on the platforms till you reach the top, or whatever the game's goal is. For mine, the objective is to get the poor, hungry frog up high enough to reach the fly, which he will then feast upon, and send you to level two. I currently have two levels, and plan on keeping it that way, unlike my first and final games, which have three. Speaking of my third game, (which I am/was in the process of making as I write/wrote this, let me go a little more in depth as to how it works. Basically, I mixed the skills I learned coding both platform and chase games to create a multi-level game that takes place in space. It starts out as a chase game, similar to my first project, where you use the arrow keys to move one alien away from another, and attempt to collect all of the planets. Once you reach a certain amount of points, it changes to a platform game, where you have to climb the platform to reach the planet. The final level is a combination, where you must avoid the aliens while climbing platforms to reach the planet!

Whew! That was a long last paragraph. Seeing as I am on a deadline, (Deadlines. Am I right?) I better keep this one short. I'm basically going to explain some of my best coding moments, and some of my difficult bug fix. So, lets jump in, and get this done quick! My best code so far has defiantly been my gravity engine, in game two. I'm very impressed with it. It worked out really well, and even though I'm not quite sure I could repeat it, for one glorious moment, I knew how to code a gravity engine. The hardest bug fix was probably when my apple in game one decided it only liked two corners for some reason. It was really weird, I kept trying to get it to go to random corners, but for some reason, it would go to two, and then just skip the rest. I bet if I went back now, I could get it to work better, but back then it was like, "What." Who knows. It's all fixed now, so that's what's important. Besides, I ended up just making it move all around, instead of limiting it to corners, and it worked great.

Look at that. Another crazy long paragraph! Wow, I'm really on a role today! Now, I know I haven't mentioned any links yet, (Bad Maddie) and there is no way I'm going back and adding my usual prompts, so bare with me, and check em out anyway. I have one that's going to lead you straight to Scratch, which you should totally check out if you haven't yet. It's a great place to experiment with coding, share your work, and see other peoples. While your there... check me out at MKHoesel. You can see my portfolio, give me some helpful comments, maybe even follow me. Even if your not really into coding, you could go on just to play some cool games. (Like mine) If your not interested... why did you click on this post. It's literally called "Scratch Game Designing." You'd think that would be a pretty good hint. I don't know, maybe your just here to read my hilarious banter. Whatever keeps you coming back. I also have a link to scratch Wiki, which was my guiding beacon during this whole experience. Like, seriously, I don't know what I would have done without it. Also, I'm not going to leave any links, but you can check out the sidebar (It's right over there------>) where you will find a helpful link list to all the G.T students blogs. Seriously, check out their games, we have some really awesome ones! Anyway, I'm going to shut up now, because look. I've done it again. This paragraph is ridiculously long. So, with that, I'm going to leave you. See you in 2016!!!

(Pssst- Links and an Extra little message.)
Hi! I just remembered that the third game isn't up yet... whoops. I will post it as soon as it's finished, but I had to finish that last paragraph. No cheating when you have to update every few days. Sorry, it will be up soon. Now, without further ado- the link list. ;)\

Scratch
Scratch Wiki:)

Invention Commercial

Hey Everybody! Today I'll be talking about our latest project, where we came up with an invention idea, then made a prototype and filmed a commercial for it. Now, the posts for this project are a little different than usual. Normally, I do two posts a project, one chronicling the process, and one reflecting on the finished project. This happens because we usually focus on one project for each mid quarter. However, this past mid quarter, we have been very busy, from experimenting with coding, to doing composition technique videos, to finally completing the invention commercial, so instead of doing two posts, I've finished three, one for each project or task we've completed. In today's post, I will explain the commercial, my team, which is the same as my team for the composition techniques video project, and some of our goals and roles during and after production. So, here you go, read on, and don't forget to check out the lovely link list at the bottom!

To begin, lets talk about some of my teams main goals for this last project. Of course, one of our goals was to finish with a project that we were proud of. That is always an important part of the process, to finish with your best work. I am proud of our finished video, and even though I'm not sure how it will hold up against the harsh critiques of this class, I believe we worked hard to turn in something worthy of being watched. We also wanted our video to thoroughly explain what our product does, and how it works. I believe that our commercial does both of those things, even though we probably could have had a stronger explanation of how it works. Basically, our final product was something I feel I can be proud of, which is what is really important.



You may remember my team, which I described in my last post about Composition Techniques. (I'll link it below... Check It OUT!) If not, here is a quick overview. By know, if you've read enough of these, you probably know that Kasiah (AKA Kass/Cas) is pretty much a regular partner of mine. She is amazing, check out her blog, which I will also link below. Also on my team is the cheerful Kyler Arruda Sukehara, whose blog I will also link to. Now that I've rewritten a biography on them, lets move on. Some of our best team moments happened during post-production- I'll elaborate on that in a minute- but we had some pretty great times during the actual production of our video. I think the most memorable would be the time we filmed voice-overs in a room with two other teams, also trying to film their voice-overs. It was kind of a disaster, and I don't think anyone really filmed everything they needed, but we got most of it done, and it was nice to bond as a team as we fought for a turn to film. When we filmed our visuals, it was actually just Kass and me. It went well, but after four hours of filming, it gets hard to stay focused and finish those last couple of shots. Not to mention our camera died, and we had to wait half an hour for the battery to charge. (We watched Supernatural. I regret nothing.)

During post- production- I told you I'd elaborate- the three of us had a lot of fun putting our video together. Of course there was the typical stress of meeting a deadline- even a soft one, like we had for this project, but overall, we got along really well. I lovingly refer to Kass and Kyler as my Drama Queens, because they bicker so much. Not bicker as in, like, full on arguing, but little spats here and there, and it ended up being really funny. We all took turns editing. (Cass and I totally didn't take turns being crazy dictators. God. No one has any faith in me.) It all worked out in the end, which is the important part.

Anyway, thanks for reading! As I said before, there are links to Kass/Cas and Kyler, so check out their wonderful blogs, and their take on how our project went. (Make sure they aren't saying mean things about me in their descriptions ;) Just Kidding!) I also have a link to my precious post, so check that out for some more info on my lovely teammates and composition techniques. If you go even farther back, who knows what you'll find, so check it out, explore the chronicling of my strange and dark middle school years. Thanks for reading.

(Pssss- Links!)

• Previous Post
• Kass/Cas
• Kyler

Composition Scavenger Hunt

Hello, dearest inter-web people! How's everybody's week going? I can't believe we are almost halfway through second quarter. Where is the year going! Before we know it it will be summer vacation, and then off to... high school. I don't know whether to be scared or excited. Anyway, before we get to carried away thinking about the future, lets get started on the actual blog post. Today we shall discuss one of the most important aspects of filmmaking- Composition Techniques.

To start off, let me tell you about the Rule of Thirds, and why I think it's the most important composition technique. I mean, they are all important, and you should use a variety of them, but Rule of Thirds is the one I find myself using the most. Interview compositions, landscape shots, portrait photography, close ups/ex. close ups, vertical subjects, it's a very versatile rule, and can make or break your shots. Of course, always remember that rules are meant to be broken, because you can get some really great shots by putting your subject in the middle. If you want to go a little more in depth with when and when not you should use the rule of thirds, check out the great article I have linked below.

Now, lets talk about some of the most difficult techniques, and how we can use them. I find that the most difficult techniques to use are the more complicated ones, like contrast in content, leading lines, or parts of a whole, that are hard to get right. They need to be done in a specific way, which means most of the time when you try to use them, it can get a little confusing. When I want to use them, it doesn't come as naturally to me as shots like rule or thirds, extreme close ups, and unusual angles. I use those techniques constantly, so they don't feel as confusing, or unusual, like some of the others.

On my team this time around are... you guessed it, the lovely Kasiah, and partnered up with us is Kyler Arruda Sukehira. We are working on another project together, which I will talk about more in my next post. Though it's been a little tough, seeing as Kasiah was in San Diego for the first couple weeks, and me and Kyler had to fend for ourselves, we got it done, and it turned out pretty good for a two day project. While filming, me and Kyler took turns shooting and adding voiceovers. Overall, it went well, and I can't wait to continue to work with them!

So, that's all I've got for today, but check out the links below, I've got some cool stuff. An article on rule of thirds, a list of all the composition techniques we used, and of course, Kass (Or Cas, if you prefer... subtle SPN reference;) and Kyler's blogs! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you next time!

(Psst- LINKS!)
Rule of Thirds
Comp. Techniques!
Kyler!
Kass(CAS)!

Cracking the Code

Hello my friends from the web! We just got back from an excellent week long Fall Break, and as you all know, that means goodbye to Quarter 1, and hello to Quarter 2. Before we know it, its going to be Christmas! After that, just a few more months until summer vacation! But I'm getting ahead of myself. For know, lets focus on what's happening here in room F-101. As you've probably gathered by the title, it has something to do with coding. That's right folks, we are learning how to write code. Watch out! Make sure to check out the link list at the bottom, it's going to have some great articles, and
an online coding course! So anyway, before all of this caffeination wears off, (teaaaaaaaaaaa) I'm going to start this post!

So, to begin today's post, I'm going to explain the reasoning behind why I think everyone should learn how to code. Coding is basically a set of written instructions used by computers or a program to do something. It's important to know how to code because we live in a world controlled by software. As this article from the Guardian explains, "We are already living in a world dominated by software." (Why Every Child Should Learn to Code, Crow) I'm going to link to this article, you should definitely check it out! It really puts into words what I'm trying to express, probably a lot better than I can. In America, over 1 million jobs are unfilled, simply because no one has the technical knowledge to fill them. Coding is a great door opener. No matter what you want to do, coding is a great skill to have, so check out a class, or take the online course, An Hour of Code. This site will also be linked.

I have actually coded before this assignment. It was covered it a little bit in my science class last year, so I had a basic understanding of how it worked. However, in this class, we have gone more in depth, so I got to expand on my previous knowledge. I really enjoyed coding, and moving through lessons. I would like to continue to learn more about coding, and continue to learn more about this important skill. Coding is so important, and understanding it puts you ahead of the rest of society, because we are so dependent upon technology.

If I could design any project or game, I would want to design one of those addictive games that you just can't stop playing. It would be fun to watch people get hooked of something I created. I mean, that sounds kind of evil, but when you think about it, creating a game that everyone plays, and can't stop playing would be pretty cool. An example of those kind of games are the ones like Candy Crush, or whatever, that pop up on Facebook. I would make the jingle a little less mind-numbing, though!

Okay, sorry this post was so short, I'm kind of rushing to finish at this point, but I hope you enjoyed! IF you have an extra couple of minutes, (which I'm guessing you do if you are reading this) check out the great sites I've linked to. Dan Crow's article for "the Guardian" perfectly describes what I tried to explain, so check it out. Also cool- Code.org's great program, which is the site we used to step into the world of coding, and this article from "Code Conquest" which explains coding really thoroughly, if you still don't get it. See you all next time, and if you have any questions, just comment below! Bye!

Psst- Links!

• Dan Crow's Wonderful Article!
• An Hour of Code
• What Even Is Coding, Anyway?

My Humorous Monologue

HoeselM_Comedy from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.

Hello, great internet peoples! Today I'm going to finish off where I left off and tell you guys a little more about the comedy project I wrote about last week. As of this intro, I have not yet finished the monologue, but by the time this post is up, you will have a lovely, hilarious video to watch. About cats, of course. I'm very excited to share with you this final week of Comedy Monologues, so let's begin!

To start off this week's post, I'm going to explain a little bit about what I have learned from this project. This has been a very fun project, albeit a little stress, which is bound to happen, of course. I really enjoyed learning how to write a joke, even though I kind of failed at it. I'm funny in bursts, random bursts of humor, not in concentrated joke material way. Throughout this project I expanded my knowledge of iMovie, which is kind of a given. I also learned more about my sense of humor, and what makes me laugh.

In this paragraph I am going to explain what pad is, and why it is crucial to use it. Pad is the three seconds of nothing until the action in a clip starts. You don't see it in video a lot of times, because it's edited out. It's crucial to use it because if you don't, than the camera will likely cut out the first few seconds of video. Pad has saved me from losing parts of my monologue, and it only takes about three extra seconds. In our class, we start by saying rolling once the camera starts filming, and then action after a few seconds have gone by. Yay pad!

Throughout this video, I have learned a little more about my weaknesses and strengths regarding film making. A few knew weaknesses of mine include actually being funny. As I've said before, I AM funny, just in bursts, not in the way it takes to write a comedic monologue. I liked the way my project turned out, but I would have liked to work on it more. However, as they say, "An artists work is never done, the deadline arrives." I am a strong writer, so the writing in my piece was good, it just wasn't all that funny. I also believe I had some strong B-Roll shots, and I am overall happy with how my final turned out.

I know this post is a little short, and a little rough, and a little less funny than usual, but I am honestly just happy that this quarter is almost over, because I am exhausted! So I'm going to sign off now, and leave you with a few words of wisdom... bring salt, burn the bones, and watch the Impala. For those of you who got that reference, I love you, we should be bestest internet friends. Now goodbye to all, and enjoy your break if you live here, and your last few weeks of school if you live somewhere else. Or maybe you already had break. Or maybe you don't get a break? I don't know, but enjoy no matter what situation you are in. I love you all, don't kill the internet while I'm gone!

Comedy Writing

Hello my fabulous fellow media enthusiasts. If you read my last post, I left a hint about what our newest project is. If you got it, good for you. If not, that's okay because I'm about to explain it all! So, if you read the title, you were probably able to discern that we are doing something about comedy. This is another project I'm pretty excited about. Do you remember last years project, Visual Poems? If you didn't read that post, I'll link to it below, and you can check that out. Not to mention you can read more of my hilarious bantering! It's a win-win. You get banter. I get page views (Hint hint). Well, this project is going to be similar, except instead of a poem, we will be reading our very own comedic monologues. When I say our very own, I mean it. We actually have spent about two weeks doing research and all that jazz to figure out how to write our own monologues. So, without further ado, I present to you... Comedy Writing

So, the great question we will be answering in this paragraph is... Why is sense an important character trait? Well, I mean, what would you guys do without my hilarious sense of humor to keep you smiling? The truth is, humans crave laughter. We bond with people we can laugh with, and a sense of humor is an important character trait we look for in relationships with others. We look for things that make us laugh online, or in our realities. Laughter is something that fuels us, that makes us happy, and without it, life would be dull and colorless. The color of my laughter is purple. Don't ask me why, because I have no clue. What's the color of yours?

While writing my humorous narrative, I came up with a few tips I would like to share with you, in case you're ever in a jam and need to write up something funny. I started by brainstorming. My idea of brainstorming is a little... unconventional. Instead of coming up with a bubble chart or something to write out productive ideas in, I basically write anything that comes to mind. Then, sometimes, I find a gem amidst all the garbage, which will sometime become my story. Another tip I have is base your jokes off of a funny experience you've had, or something funny about your life. Let's see... do your research is another good one. If you don't know how to write a joke, it's not going to be as funny. When I write, one thing I do is just get everything out on paper. I know that sounds kind of like brainstorming, and I guess it's kind of similar. However, it's a little more productive. I write my whole essay, or in this case monologue, out, so I can work from there. I don't try to make it funny. The main goal is to get it on paper, so when I edit, and begin to cut down on my work, that's when I go back and make it funny. It helps immensely, having every part of the story and then some spread out in from of you. Once I have a huge amount of writing, most of which is unnecessary, I begin to cut down. When it's cut down to size, I begin to edit. That's my final tip. Editing is a crucial step for me, because if I don't edit my work, especially when it comes to comedy, not only is not going to be funny, but it's going to make sense. That's five, (Thank goodness, I'm running out of tips!) so I'm going to move on!

My comedic monologue is about cats. Yes, you heard me correct, I said cats. Specifically my cats. I explain my experiences with cats, from ones that liked to use my clean laundry and a toaster as a litter box, to one that sat in my garage and attempted to kill everything that moved. Yes if you are wondering, the idea did come from a brainstorm. It turned out pretty good, and as of this week we've filmed the monologue and B-Roll, so by the end of next week I'll be (hopefully) done with editing, and maybe even have a blog post started. The next post will most likely have the finished video, so stay tuned! My monologue is funny, mainly because I've had some very funny cats. So thanks for that cats.

Anyway, that is all I have for today, or rather this week, so check out these links, browse the blog a little bit. I have some crazy old stuff on here, it's basically a portfolio of everything I've done in the three years I have taken this class. We've done some cool stuff, and I explain how a lot of it works, and how it can be done, so check it out! For links today we've got my old visual poem post, because it was a similar project. Below that I've got a link to a quiz you can take to get the color of your soul, which was as close as I could find to the color of your laughter. I have a great article about writing jokes, courtesy of Wiki How, and we all used it in the process of writing our monologue. Last but not least, I have a list of really corny cat jokes you can use to impress your friends. Enjoy! Anyways, bye for now. Signing Out.

(Pssst- Links!)
Visual poem
Color of Your Soul
How To Write Jokes (Actual article we used)
Corny Cat Jokes (Didn't use this one)

Motivational Poster

Are you ready to be amazed by the stunning beauty of my final motivation project? I swear guys, this time it's for real. My final poster will blow you away with it's wonderful motivation prowess. Okay, so at the time I'm writing this introduction it's not completely finished, however, by the time this post is complete it will be. So sit tight, and prepare to be amazed. I'll see you at the bottom, because we all know that those who read these only read them to read my lovely sarcastic intros and conclusions. Anyway, keep on reading to finally get to find out what we did with our Manifestos, personal quotes, and those fabulous symbols I had posted on the last post without telling you what they meant. Tricky of me, I know.

So, I'm going to start by describing all of the requirements for our motivational posters. First of all, we were required to use those three symbolic images we took. Mine were on my glasses, combat boots, and candles, and if you want to find out how they represent me, check out the hashtag #gtsym1, #gtsym2, and #gtsym3 on google+. You'll also see the rest of the GT student symbols, and it's really cool, so check it out. We also needed a portrait of ourselves. The lovely Kasiah Vercelli took mine, I'll link to her blog below. Our personal manifestos and personal quotes were also a requirement, and the text had to be nicely kerned. Also important was the kerning of our text, a triadic color scheme with one dominant and two harmonious colors, blending options such as drop shadows, stroke, outer glows, and bevel and emboss, and layer adjustments for our pictures like color balance and exposure.

Now I'm going to move on and explain the step by step process we used to create our pictures. We started by writing out our personal quotes and manifestos. Then we kerned them until they fit perfectly without any gaps. After that we added effects and a triadic color scheme to the text, as well as adding our portrait and symbolic images. Next, we added color balances to our pictures to make them match the triadic color scheme we had chosen. Finally, we focused on adding the finishing touches and layer effects to the pictures to make sure they stood out.

I'm actually really happy with how mine turned out. Usually when I do a project, any type of project, I never feel ready to stop. With this one though, I feel like it turned out really well, and I believe that I followed the requirements. The biggest challenge for me was getting my pictures balanced and with enough color balance. I hadn't realized that by choosing yellow I would end up having to use 6 different color adjustment layers! In the end though, I'm glad I chose yellow, and saved my blue and purple for the text, because this way the text really pops, which was my goal. My base color was the warm purple on my manifesto, and the two supplementary colors were the turquoise used for the personal quotes, and the yellow used for the pictures.


Okay you guys, thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next project, it's going to be really fun to film, (hint) so check it out. The first post will come in about a week or two, depending on how long we will be spending on this project. It's going to be a barrel of laughs! (hint two) Until then, enjoy yourself by checking out the links below, to help you understand the "techno babble." If you already speak fluent babble, check out Kasaiah's blog to see her poster! By the way, the first kerning link leads to a definition, the second to a fun little game related to it! See you later my lovelies!

(Psssst- LINKS!)

• Kass!
• Kerning1! Kerning2!
• Triadic Color Scheme!
• Visual Balance!
• Layer Effects!

Personal Manifesto

Hello Everybody! I'm back!!! I know, it's been a ridiculously long time. All summer, in fact. Well, I'm finally back, and it's hot out, and the end of the day, and I'm so ready to go home, but not before updating you guys of everything that's going on here in room F-101. Keep on reading, and I'll see you at the bottom. :)

So, first G.T project of the new school year... exciting! It's going to be a personal manifesto motivational poster thing, and it's going to be awesome. Before I give you all the details on that though, I'm going to tell you a little about myself. One interesting fact about me is that I've completed several sessions of junior lifeguard training, and although I haven't been to a state championships yet, my district, Kauai, has been undefeated for 12 years! I'm also a swimmer for Mokihana Aquatics, and have gone to several state invitationals off island. I live in Hawaii, which is pretty normal for me, seeing as I've lived here my whole life, but to the readers who live in Germany, or wherever, I suppose that could be interesting. Another fact about me is I have actually only been out of the country once, on a cruise to Alaska. We stopped at a port in Victoria, Canada at 10:00 p.m, and stayed there for about an hour and a half. It was really nice, although everything was closed. How many facts is that? Three? All right, two more. Let's see... I keep lots of journals, not the kind where you make daily updates about your life or anything, just composition books that I use to write ideas down in. Heres a fact that goes with that one; I write a lot. Just stories that I make up, whether short or long, and I love to create charts that organize different characters. I'm really into character development and all that.

Thank goodness we're done with that. Let's move on to writing a personal manifesto. So, for those of you who don't know what a manifesto is, let me give you a short explanation, and then if you still don't understand, or you want to go deeper with that, then you can check out the lovely link I'll be leaving for you below. A manifesto is a basically a creative, public declaration of your goals, beliefs, and ideas. Now, without further ado, my 2015-16 manifesto!

Be true to yourself. Live your life like nobodies watching. Do what makes you happy. Surround yourself with people who love you for who you are, not who they want you to be. Be the best version of yourself. Laugh often. Be happy. Love who you are. Love others for who they are. Appreciate what you have, for there is always someone who has it worse. Push your self past the limits set for you, whether by yourself or others. What you put in is what you get. Never give up on your dreams. Do something creative every day. Appreciate the people who care about you, and who help you grow as a person. Learning is crucial. Make mistakes, learn from them. Have courage. It's your life, take control of it. Live your passion, and find the joy in it.

So that was that. Manifesto has been written, and I actually have more than the required amount of sentences for today... but I have yet to explain why my manifesto matters to you. To be honest, I'm practically making this up as I go along at this point... lets see. My manifesto should matter to you because I believe these are things that everyone should strive for. I think that anyone who tries to find something that relates to their life in this list will. Everyone should have a motto, or something they live by, wether you publish it in a manifesto or not.

So, that's all the wise advise I had stored up over the summer. I'll see you all next time, and don't worry- I'll be keeping up with blog throughout the school year, as it's a school assignment. I'm not quite sure what will happen next year, when I move up, and leave K.M.S, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I have enclosed two links, one to a google image search that explains manifesto, and a link to Mr. Sanderl's blog, which has links all GT student blogs. Until next time my darlings!

(Pssssst- here's the links for today)

• MANIFESTO
• Mr. Sanderl's Blog

Music Videos Rock!!!

Hello Everyone! Today I'm going to elaborate a wee bit on last weeks post. So, I'm going to start on that, might as well get right to it! Sorry for the lack of a long, winding, distracting entry paragraph, but I'm tired, so we'll all have to make do with what we have. Maybe I'll come back later and rewrite this. (I say this every time and never do... I'm such a flake.)

As you all know, my team consists of the wonderful, beautiful, and talented Julie Castro and Kasiah Vercelli. We have all contributed to the project so far, with Julie and I focusing mainly on filming, and Kasiah being our fabulous movie star. Kasiah also did a band poster for us, showcasing some of her Gt student skills. The editing of the video was done mainly by Julie and I, with the occasional constructive criticism from- who else- Miss Kasiah. We all contributed to the creation and completion of our music video. 

I think our audience will enjoy our story. We interpreted Taylor Swift's song in a way we felt was relatable and fun. Our story is about a girl who is explaining how she overcame adversity to love herself for who she is. There is, of course a lot of dancing! What would a music video be without it?

Our music video shows what we learned this year by showcasing the skills we've gained. We did our best to use composition techniques and interesting and creative camera shots. Kasiah made us a beautiful band poster, with assistance from the rest of us. Julie and I got to explore iMovie's many effects, and use them to enhance our story, not take away from it. Finally, all three of us used the skills we gained this year to edit our long, winding clips into 2-4 second scenes!

Thank you everyone for reading! I just noticed I'm not in any of the pictures above... oops. Oh well. This is the last Gt post for the year, so I might not get a chance to write again until August! I'll see you then! Or maybe before? We'll see! BYE!

Lyrical Livelihood

Hello Everybody!!! I'm really excited to inform you all that It is the last five weeks of school for us on Kauai... or at least KMS! the countdown to summer begins! And those of you who consistently read (Hello Mom) will know that this time of the year means one thing... MUSIC VIDEOS!!!! Read on to find out more.

Now, for those of you GT students who know the inner workings of these blogs, you know that we are given specific questions to answer. Most of the time these are answerable, but this time we have been asked to do the impossible. Mr. Sanderl wants us to choose our favorite song, and share it with you. It is not physically possible for me to choose a single song. I love music. I mean, I can't play music, but I love listening to other people's music. Some of my favorite artists are Queen, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, Panic! At the Disco, 5 Seconds of Summer, The Beatles, Ed Sheeren, Hozier, Plain White Ts, AC/DC,... lets just say there are too many to list here. My favorite songs are my favorites because they make me feel things, whether those feelings be happy, sad, inspired, or impowered. If I connect with a song, then it goes on my playlist, where I repeatedly listen to it. I don't really get tired of songs I love.

For our Music Video this year my team, which consists of the wonderful and beautiful Kasiah Vercelli and Julie Castro, will be doing "Shake it Off" by Taylor Swift. Yes, I know, we've been made fun of plenty by our friends already. You have to admit though, it's a pretty encouraging song, and it's fun and easy to dance to. I do love Taylor Swifts music, most of the time, and we wanted a song that would be fun to dance and sing to, so we could be inspired. The video for the song is really fun, with lots of different forms of dance, so we want to express that through our video. We also really like to dance.

We have a very eccentric plan for our video. Our idea is basically to follow the lyrics, and make it one big dance party. For those of you who have seen the video for "Shake it Off", you've seen an example of what our video is going to look like. A lot of dancing, that's for sure. I don't want to reveal too much yet, because there will be another post soon, and I'm pretty sure that it will go a little more in depth, as the second posts usually do. Until then, read the production plan, and enjoy the sneak peak!

That's all for today folks! Thank Y'all so much for reading, and I will see you next time! Bu-bye!

Our Animation Story

Well. Hello everyone. I'm here today to inform you all that our animation is finished. There has been some rough patches, but we pulled it together, and finished it. It's been a hard week, not just for me, but for all the G.T students, so I want to say that I'm really proud of all of us. Today I'm going to explain our story a little better, because I know last time I didn't really go in depth with it. So, I'm going to start writing, and I'll see you at the bottom.

Our focus statement was Julie Overcomes Writer' Block. It was about our teammate Julie, and her struggle to overcome the wall in her head, and finish her essay. We show Julie struggling with her blank paper, which morph into paper soldiers, and the archers that the wall produces to force
her back. Her pencil becomes a sword, and she uses it to fight off the soldiers and the wall, and finally the wall collapses, and Julie is free to finish her essay. Our focus statement tells our story because throughout the project, that was our guiding idea, and we would always come back and look at it to refocus.

Our audience will learn that even though writers block does happen, and can feel like a battle is going on in your head, it always ends. Creative juices aren't frozen forever, and soon you will be back to normal. The best thing you can do is remember this, and just do your best. I know that in GT, our creativity is put to the test, but I think sometimes we get a little too frantic. Sometimes we just need to take a step back, and breath for a little while.

Okay, now I'm going to tell you all about the best and worst moments with my team. The best moment was easily when we got a four out of four on the rough cut, it was like all of our hard work finally paid off. The worst was definitely not making the deadline for the two scene teaser. I'm not going to get into that to much, because why dredge up ickyness? Anyway, we've had our moments, both good and bad, and the important part is that we've grown as a team.

Thank you all so much for reading, and I want to give one last shoutout to all us G.T kids, because you know what? Animations are over, and know it's time to get excited for the music videos! Okay, see you all next time! Bye!

Animation Outakes

Why hello my evil army. Today we will be learning all about animation. I can hear you all saying, "But Maddie, you've already done a post on animation!" My answer is yes, I have, but it's a new year, and a new project. I will link that project down below, so you can enjoy some fetus Maddie. Yay fetus Maddie! Anyway, let's explain this project and my lovely teammates, and I'll see you at the bottom.

 This year, my lovely team consists of Julie Castro, Jayse Matsuyama, and Denae Sacramend. I have worked with Denae before- don't tell Mr. Sanderl- but I have not yet worked with Jayse or Julie, so I got to meet some new people. Which I actually survived, which is surprising seeing as I'm terrified of people. Now, for some interesting facts about my lovely team. Let's start with Miss Julie- she dances hula, and she has two brothers. Now for Mr. Jayse. Jayse is a surfer, which is one of the many perks of living on a small tropical island. He also paddles for Puu'wai, the canoe club that we both belong to, so we're teammates. Finally, let's move on to Denae. Denae loves animals, and she is a very random person. Which is a very, very good thing. 

Now to explain stop-motion animation. Basically, stop-motion is a type of animation that you create by taking pictures, then putting them all into I Movie, or Photoshop. This creates video that can look like your doing the impossible. The next thing I'm going to explain to you is a .GIF. These are small animation files used mainly for the internet. By mainly I mean entirely. You have probably seen a .GIF before if you use social media sites, but I have a couple here anyway, for your viewing pleasure. It stands for Graphic Interchange Format.

We are telling Julie's story, and it is all about writers block. You should all care, because I'm pretty sure most of you reading this are G.T students, and I know that if you are in G.T, creative juices can be a stretched a little thin. In our story, we exaggerate on how it feels like there is a battle going on in your mind. I know when I have writers block, I feel panicked and desperate, as well as frustrated. I hope to convey relatable feelings through this, and also remind everyone, though it may seem like you'll never be able to write again, writers block doesn't last forever, and eventually the ideas will come back to you.

All right loves, that's it for today. I hope I've cleared up some of the mystery about animation, and I hope you'll check out the linksI have posted! bye, and I will see everybody next time... if anyone bothers to read these besides Mr. Sanderl.

Links!
Julie Castro
Jayse Matsuyama
Denae Sacramend
.GIF
Stop-motion
Last Animation

Typography Images

Hello Everybody! Today I'm going to tell you all about Typography portraits. I'm feeling a little distracted today, so I won't go on and on with the humorous beginning paragraph like I usually do. I'll just jump right in and tell you all about them. They happen to be incredibly interesting, so listen up. A typography portrait is basically a portrait of someone that looks like it's made from text. Now, you can make these really personalized by using text that represents the person you are doing, or you can just find some text that makes no sense and copy and paste it in. This all depends on how well you know the person, so if it's a really good friend of yours, write down things they love, or things that represent them, and it will really have a message, an impact.

My biggest challenge so far throughout this project was figuring out how to actually make them. I realize this sounds confusing, just wait, I'll explain. The thing is, these portraits can be really technical. There's a lot of complicated procedures in Photoshop, and so it can get a little overwhelming. That being said, now that I understand the process, I'm excited to do it again, because this is a really beautiful project, and it can be so meaningful if you let it. We've done three, one of a great innovator, one of a teacher at our school, and one of ourselves. For the self portrait, we answered these questions, and so it was a really personal message we shared, and I just loved it.

For the first image I made, I really was just trying to figure out the steps, and get the basics locked down. I got a portrait of Marie Curie online, then went to Wikipedia and got information on her. I copied and pasted the information to a textbox in Photoshop over her portrait. My second portrait was of my math teacher Mr. McHugh, and it turned out pretty cool. We got a lot more in depth this time, which I enjoyed because it was a challenge, and I love pushing the boundaries of what I can do. For my me portrait, I really felt like it was a representation of me, and I really liked it. I am a little bit shadowless unfortunately, so it's a little hard to see my features, but I still enjoyed the experience. Thank you for reading, comment below if you enjoyed, and if you didn't well, keep it to yourselves, no one likes a hater! Bye!

Double Exposed Portraits

Why hello innocent viewers. I am here to explain the mathematical equation of.... wait, don't go, I swear I'll stop talking about math, I swear! Now, moving past my daily dose of weirdness, (and math issues) I can explain what this post is really about. In class this week, we will be covering a little something I like to call Double Exposed Portraits. Don't know what the heck I'm talking about? (Don't worry, you're not alone, most of the time I have problems understanding myself!) Just keep reading, (That sounds like Nemo "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming) and I will enlighten us both. Also, I apologize for my distracted writing today, and the formality of last weeks post (I know I posted it on last Monday, just pretend! Shh...) I'm really tired, and will likely rewrite all of this later anyway. (Not likely) Anyway, enjoy learning about photography till your heads explode... hopefully not like they do when you look up at the clock and realize you have another 25 minutes of math class left.....

Okay, now that I'm all serious and focused, (Yeah right) we can begin. Basically, portrait photography is pictures of people that display how they are feeling, their emotions, their mood, their personality. Fun fact about me- it is actually one of my favorite types of photography. A Profile shot is when you take a profile of a person, which is basically a fancy term for osilhouetted profile, and those look wicked cool.
ne side of their face. This is different from other forms of portraits, because you can only see one eye, one side of their face, so it's a totally different view. Silhouetting is when all you can see of an image is the basic shape, because all of the details are blacked out, or shaded in, or something like that. So you can make a portrait that is a

Double exposures are basically when their is a profile shot, and it is combined with two other images, so it almost looks like the person has images dancing around in their heads. It is a way to express the person. You want to know how to make them? Read on! You start by taking three images. I'm sure you can take more, but that's the amount we are using this time around. One is a profile shot of yourself, or a person. We had other GT students take ours for us, so we could use our selves in the shot. The other two will be things that inspire you, or things that you love, things like that. Then you take them into Photoshop, and merge them together. You then take the dodge tool and outline your portrait, which should be on the top. Next, you crop your image, and change the blend settings to screen. Now you can make adjustment layers, and customize your color balance, curves, saturation, exposure, and more!

In my first example, I took shots of the sun shining through the leaves of trees. I wanted to kind of stick to a nature theme. Once I had those shots, I had Kasiah* take my portrait. In my second, I took two pictures, one of the banana trees outside of my house, because I often spend weekends working on them with my dad, so their special, and one of the pages of a book. I shouldn't even have to tell you why their is a book. Gosh. Then I had miss Kasiah take another shot of me. (P.S Thanks to Kynan and Tim for letting us steal their camera!) Anyway, that;s all for today! If you liked reading about all this digital media stuff, then come back soon. We love you here at Miss Maddie's G.T portfolio. See y'all next time! Byez! (That is an expression me and my friends cherish... I know, we're strange!)

*For those of you who are familiar with my blog, you all know kasiah. If you're new, or just don't pay attention, scroll to the bottom of the page. I'll wait. She's the girl on the left. With the nerd glasses. This is a joke. You will get it if you look at the bottom of the page. Go. Anyway, when your done with that, go check her blog out. Usually I'd link it, but I want to use this opportunity to give the K.M.S Gt class a shoutout. Check out everyones blog at the sidebar, I'm sure my classmates would appreciate you seeing their work, just like I do!

HDR Photography

Hello Everyone! I'm so excited to share with you today a post about photography! We just began photography this quarter, so this will be our first project! Right now we are mainly focused on HDR photos, which I will do my best to explain in that next paragraph, but if you want to know even more, visit the link below, because that will probably give you a much better idea. It's the same link we used, so it should help you a bunch. Ok my pretties, enough introduction! On to the interesting stuff!

HDR photography is short for High Dynamic Range. Not High Definition, or anything like that, though it's a common mistake. Basically what you do is take several different photos, all from different exposures, then put them together to create a super cool surreal looking image. It takes the best details from all the photos, then puts them together to create beautiful images! I love the ending look, where it's very detailed, and colorful, and just looks stunning! What I dislike, though, is the horrible ghosties you get if the camera moves. I'm really scared about my final project, I'm worried that there was too much movement, due to the fact that we didn't have a tripod. Wish me good luck!

In order to create HDR image manually, you need to take several photos, ranging from the darkest to lightest exposure. Then take them into Photoshop. From there, you need to hit file, automate, then merge to HDR Pro. Once you have them arranged, you can customize them. There are many different settings to choose from, and also other customizations such as exposure compensation, gamma, detail, and vibrance and saturation.

The thought process behind my landscape was to capture the colors of the sun on the mountain, and the interesting cloud formations. The clouds looked surreal even before the editing, and I thought that would come out really well in the end. My superimpose was the combination of my experiment (Kasiah's Face) and my landscape. The word I used to describe it was Inspire. I thought she had a sort of far off gaze, and the view looked inspiring, so I thought that was suitable. Anyway, that's all for now, I hope you come back next time to read about whatever crazy project we have next! Also, make sure you check out the link below, I'm sure they explain HDR way better than I ever could!

HDR Photography

Movie Trailer Critique

Hello my loyal followers... or whoever reads these. Hellooo fellow G.T students, and of course Mr. Sanderl. I'm very sorry for the lack of posts, as many of you guys know, it was winter break! Since Christmas is a time for spending time with family and friends, I tried to connect with humans more than screens. Impressive, I know. Comment below with what you did this break, and if your glad to be coming back! I have mixed feelings... Anyway, today's post is, if you hadn't guessed by the title, a critique of our last project in Mr. Sanderl's class before the break- Movie Trailers! If this is your first time reading a blog post, and if your not in a K.M.S GT class, then you should head over to the post all about the project, I'll link it below.

This project was really fun! We wrote, filmed, and edited our own movie trailers with teams of four. (Team will be linked below... check their blogs out!) Our trailer was at first a murder mystery, but do to the audience we were supposed to be gearing it to- 1st graders- we made it a comedic take on a mystery. It's about a young society dame who's amethyst ring is stolen. She and her friend the detective must find the ring before it's to late. If you want more information, check out the links below to see my other post about it, and of course my wonderful teams take. My teammates were all seventh graders this time around, and they are all good friends of mine. I felt we worked really well together despite the tension and pressure that working under a deadline inevitably brings. We all had really good ideas, and we tried to use as many as we could, but it's impossible to use all of them. Despite that, we pulled it together in time, and finished with an extra point on our finished projects, bringing all of our class averages up.


Our trailer's success I credit to our trailer plan's flexibility. We would be filming a scene, and one of us would, like, jump up and be like, "Oh, I have such a great idea." We did our plan in a way that made it easy to change, and thanks to Google Drive, we were able to check it constantly. I narrated our video, so I wrote most of the voice acting script and snyopsis, with help from Talia, and Arianna and Kasiah mainly worked on writing the script. We all contributed equally with the plan, and I think our movie reflects the plan almost perfectly. We got a little lazy with changing the plan towards the end, but their close enough. I actually had swim practice on the first day we filmed, so I had to miss most of the filming that day. I felt so bad, but they did great, and the next two times we filmed I was there, loud opinions and all. We all contributed to our team's success, and clicked as a team, and that was a major factor in our sucess.

The project requirements consisted of length, and technical things. All together, it needed to be about 1:30- 2:30. Technical requirements consisted of having five scenes, a voice actor, dialogue, foley, text layovers, and our Movie Posters. We ended up using Kasiah's, which you can see by heading over to her blog, or checking out the video at the top of the page. (Please, Please, Please check it out- it's funny, and won't disappoint, even though it is geared to a younger audience. It will also make this post a little clearer.) If you would like to see mine- you do, it's fabulous- check out my Movie Posteine, I lor post, linked at the bottom. We had quite a lot of scenes, so that was a breeze. I was the voice actor, and that was really fun. Our characters were creative, and their dialogue explains them, and gives them life. We had foley, which I will link an explanation of at the bottom, of typewriters, thuds, doors slamming, and screams. Our text layovers, were, well, text layovers. You can check them out below. (Shameless video advertisement) We did complete all the requirements, and even went a little further, which earned us great grades!

Our class critique is always my favorite part of the video process. I love seeing other people's finished work. On the other hand though, I get incredible anxiety about other people seeing my work, so sometimes it's not as fun. Our video was fairly critiqued, and we did very well. I don't know why, but for some reason I thought we would get marked down. However, that was apparently just nerves, because we did great! I do agree with the results, we did a lot better than I thought we would. I like hearing my work critiqued, it helps me improve my skills, and makes me a better film maker.

Movie Poster Promo!
Kasiah, Talia, and Arianna's blogs!
Foley