the party's over...

It’s hard to believe that our time at the Virginia Ball Center has come to an end. I remember being so very nervous at the beginning of the semester. I was questioning if it was really a good idea, if I would get anything out if it, wondering if I should have taken regular classes, etc. However, this seminar turned out to be one of the best experiences of my college career.

Even though it’s been said a hundred times, the VBC felt like a workplace to us. It felt as if we were going to a job every day rather than going to class. Rather than attempting to please only our professor, we were attempting to please both the staff of the Ball State University Museum of Art and high school students and teachers. Which, in case you’re wondering, is much harder than it sounds. We were working for clients, on a project that will actually be used in the world. It won’t just be something we show to our professors and them only. It is a tangible, usable, product.

Going into this project, I knew very little about art. I knew some things; I had obviously taken art before in school. My sister is an art teacher, and I’ve learned a lot from her over the years. Art was often discussed in humanities classes here at Ball State. I think my real problem was I never really understood it. When we would go to an art museum or exhibition, I would look at the art for a minute, then just try to mimic everyone else’s facial expression. I never knew what it was I was supposed to be looking for. This class though, made me realize it’s okay to just look at what’s there. I didn’t immediately have to start deducing the meaning of a work of art; I could just stand there and absorb the fact that a painting is of a sponge. By simply looking at something, my ability to decipher it’s meaning grew. While I’m sure I’ll never have quite the appreciation as some other people, I know as a result of this class I have more appreciation for art than many other people.

One thing that was important to me in this project was improving my technical skills. I wanted to be able to get in Dreamweaver so I can say I’ve done work in there. I wanted to sit down in Final Cut Pro and start applying editing techniques I hadn’t had the chance to. I wanted to listen to what professional’s had to say about the work I wanted to run off with the Sony Z1U and learn more about it. I can happily say I did all of those things. As I packed up the Z1U to turn back in yesterday, a small part of me died. I am so sad I don’t have 24/7 access to one anymore. A fun part of this project that I normally don’t get in the tcom department was free reign. I was free to take the cameras, take final cut, and really make what I wanted. I had some stipulations, but for the most part, it was the project of students.

While obviously everything I learned in the seminar is invaluable to me, I cannot say enough how incredible this group of people is. First off, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group work together so well. We had plenty of issues, but for the most part, we were a well-oiled machine that could get work done, and that could do It will. Secondly though, pretty much everyone in this group was just fun. We all enjoy each other’s company so much. The other night we were out and I told Laura that I am deathly afraid of drifting apart from everyone and not staying friends. However, I will stop here because I could ramble about the people forever. For that you can refer to my post titled “why we’re awesome.”

After all this, I can safely say that my semester at the VBC has, so far, been the best semester of my college career.

Finishing Up

Week 15:

This past week was definitely a week for finishing things up. My main focus was on the documentary. While I had the majority of it edited and put together, I had about 3 minutes that still needed edited, not to mention all the color and audio editing I had to do.

Putting the last 3 minutes on wasn't very difficult. I knew essentially what I wanted, so it wasn't terribly difficult to put it together.

What WAS difficult was the color correcting and audio editing. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when I begin editing videos. Even if a clip is only on the screen for 2 seconds, I want it to look just as good as the rest. So, I obsessed over the color and audio for 3 or 4 days until I was happy with it. I will never be done with the documentary though, I'll be editing it for the rest of my life. It's something long and varied enough that I will always make changes. It will never be completely done in my eyes, this is just the first finished version.

why we're awesome

Week 14:

One thing I was very nervous about coming into this program was meeting new people. It always takes me a long time to make friends and start hanging out and getting along with people. I don't know why, it's just the way I am.

Naturally, I was a little terrified going into a program where I really didn't know anyone. I had previously had classes with some people, and come in brief contacts with others, but I can safely say I didn't know anyone coming into this seminar. To my happy surprise however, I discovered that this group of people is AWESOME.

First of all, I don't think I've ever worked with a group that was so productive. Looking back, it's amazing to see how much we've accomplished this semester. We have an entire website nearly complete. We wrote the content (and edited it 4 billion times), we put it up on the page, and we did it well. We all seem to work really well together, and even when we've run into roadblocks everyone has done an awesome job of working through them. I think over the semester we've really learned to trust each other with things and have become a well-oiled machine.

Also, I never expected this group of people to be so much FUN. I can safely say I've made a lot of new friends this semester. When we're not working hard we're just sitting around talking about life, watching silly youtube videos, and just having a fun time. We also spend a lot of time hanging out outside of class, just playing games, watching movies, etc.

For me, it's just exciting that I get along with almost every single person in the group. They're people I want to continue hanging out with the in future, and people I'll really miss when they graduate. I know I've even tried to overlap my schedule with a few people for next semester.

As Laura said, it's almost like we're at summer camp. We've had such a good time and met so many friends it's hard to think of a time where we don't spend everyday together.

I've done all sorts of stuff. and everyone else has too!

Week 13, Post 2:

Throughout the semester, I'm proud to say I've accomplished quite a lot, and have made many contributions to this project. However, it's always important to remember that I wouldn't have been able to do a lot of that without help from other people. So here's a reflection of what I've done, and what other people have done that have enabled me to finish things:

Tour Group:

I wrote two scripts. Then I rewrote them approximately 4 billions times.

I recorded, edited, and put the audio tracks on Dreamweaver.

Special Thanks to:
Cara and Amy for all the revision work they did. None of the scripts would have been finished for recording.
The Museum of Art for providing us all access to object files, as well as Tania Said for revising our scripts.
Stan Sollars for allowing us to record on campus and getting my ID access.
Finally, to Laura Gilbert and Austin Hepp for being the voice talent on the audio tracks, because I sure as heck wasn't going to be.

Tech Group:
I helped put together mock-ups for both the tour landing page and tour interior pages.

I've been helping put the tour leg of the website into Dreamweaver. (See previous post to see how much we accomplished in just one day!)

I helped design the Art In Sight logo.

Special Thanks to:
David Hentz for making the templates and getting the site up and running in Dreamweaver.

Laura Gilbert for coordinating all of us and getting the style sheet completely put together.

Sarah Burns and Kelly Laffin for helping put the mock-ups together, as well as putting the site on Dreamweaver. (They did most of it, I just put in the audio files)

Valerie Morris, Rachel Hartley-Smith, and Steve Schuler for teaching us about web work and helping us out.

Documentary Team:
I've filmed a lot of b-roll and many interviews.

I've been editing away. I have the opening, and a section and a half done.

I put together the plan for the documentary so we actually know what we're doing. (Or, I do at least)

I've written the interview questions for all the interview questions.
Special Thanks to:
Laura Huffman and the VBC for giving me all this equipment to work with. I will certainly miss the 24/7 access to HD cameras.

Rick Henry and David Hentz for the extra filming they've done. And to Rick for taking over filming interviews when I just couldn't do it anymore.

Rick Henry for editing all the youtube content.

I think that just about sums it up. I'm sorry if I left you out. But know that I appreciate all of you and all that you do =)

productivity is an artform in itself

Week 13:

Today, most of the class took off to Monroe Central High School to "test-drive" the website. That's all good for them, but Sarah, Kelly, and myself stayed behind to get the tour leg of the website put together.

Wouldn't you know that with just THREE of us we were 10 times more productive than usual. Here's a list of what I finished today:

I finished editing the tour recordings that I was able to. I have 2 to re-record, and 2 more which need music added.

I edited a small section of the documentary.

I added the 10 recordings I had done into dreamweaver.

We put the website on the server.

And I wrote this blog.

Plus, we took a long lunch at the Sunshine Cafe today.

Furthermore, Kelly and Sarah got all the pictures and text up on the tour pages. Granted, some of the pictures are distorted and not quite right, but we're going to fix that.

All in all, it was one pretty productive day. I think I accomplished more today than I usually accomplish in a week.

Recording the Tour and Near Death Experiences

Week 12:

For me, this week was dedicated to recording the tracks for the museum tour. Until this morning, everything had been going extremely well. The recording equipment was working. I knew what I was doing, the readers were awesome. Our only problem was coming across a few words that no one could pronounce. It's resulted in the need to re-record a few scripts, but nothing too major.

Of course, then today came. We went in a different studio, which apparently didn't even HAVE the program on one computer, and the computer that did have it wouldn't allow us to open a session. It was frustrating to say the least. No worries though, we'll finish up Monday.

On the bright side, every script that has been recorded has been edited. It wasn't terribly difficult to do, and sometimes I even amaze myself with my mad skills. I successfully edited a few things mid-sentence, and it's impossible to tell. My new goal is to edit mid-word and make it sound flawless. In either case, I'm hoping the audio tour will be recorded and exported by Tuesday night.

Laura, Sarah, and I all had a near death experience today (that may be a bit of an exaggeration). As we stepped onto a Ball State shuttle, we were overcome by some sort of...gas. Needless to say, everyone on the bus was unable to breathe and subsequently was coughing. We were trying to open windows to no avail....it was like a bad horror movie. Thankfully another bus came and we all got on that one instead.

So all in all, it was a pretty productive week for me.

well this was a random week.

Week 11:

I have to say, I really didn't accomplish that much this week, but in my defense there was only so much I could do.

One thing I did was finish revising one of my tour scripts. I think this is the last time, and I will rejoice over that fact. Looking back though, I am pretty proud of myself. For someone who isn't exactly an art aficionado, I thought I did a good job compiling scripts about.....art. One thing I strove for was to make sure the students listening to the tour could relate to my scripts. I worked to make sure I was talking about things they will find interesting, I said it in a way they will understand, and that at the end, they'll be able to relate to the art at least a little bit. I like to think I've accomplished this goal with the two scripts I wrote.

One exciting thing that happened this week was getting Final Cut Pro installed on the G4 computer. This means I can work on the documentary while others are working on the website. It's an exciting moment.

This week I also discovered an awesome Facebook game called SimSocial. I've only been moderately addicted.