Down to the Wire

Everything is coming down to the wire now. The project is in its last couple days of being a work in progress. Last actual class we took the final test, or quiz, or exam, whatever it is. Not going to lie, think I did pretty well. Being able to have that full sheet of notes might have helped. And the fact that I learned Boolean Connectors because it sounded funny. It's been rough the last week or so, lots and lots of work. It's kind of sad that out of the last three weeks of the semester, my easiest week far and away will be finals week. So this is life, eh?

Class, or Lack Thereof

Not a whole lot going on in class this week. I got extra credit for going on Tuesday, which I was pretty pumped for. Though if I had known that I could have left for home on Monday or Tuesday rather than Wednesday, but hey, I think I'd rather have the extra credit. Still going hard on that project trying to get it all done. Also, still trying to get the group video done, so we'll see.

Crunch TIme

It seems to really be coming down to crunch time on the whole project thing. I guess it's a good thing, I think that people work best when pressed up against a time barrier. Well, I do anyways. We luckily don't have a whole lot to really get done at this point. We just have to film a few videos, maybe with some interviews, and then put everything we have up on the whole iWeb deal. I'm excited to see it as a finished product though. I've had this picture of it in my mind since we came up with the topic. Hopefully it turns out the way I've been seeing it, or at least it turns out looking nice enough to get an A. But I'll take an AB.

Project Taking Form

This week we really go a lot done as far as the final project for the class goes. We basically got our whole web page designed and now we just need to fill it in with the content, easier said than done I suppose. I am pretty excited though. I feel like we will have a pretty good project when it all comes together. I really like the route we chose because it enables a kind of witty, sarcastic, heavy on wordplay type of writing. It's being funny but being serious about the ways Marquette falls short. It's funny that none of the dryers in Schroeder actually dry your clothes, but it's also serious that someone needs to fix those damn things. In any event, we should be getting a good portion of our stuff together this week. Nice to have some of it done so the little Thanksgiving break can be restful.

Frakes

This past week was a pretty interesting one. Learned a little more about Photoshop, which is always useful, but more interesting was having Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Bill Frakes speak in class. What he does is really inspiring to be honest. To see everything he can do, putting out all kinds of material, video packages, still photos, music videos, printed stories, heartfelt pieces, sports pieces, it really showed what a journalist can do. It shows the optimum potential for a journalist. It also shows the new era of journalism, in which journalism is not just the printed story, but everything that goes along with that: the video, still photos and the like. It really made me want to be a journalist if nothing else. It made be wish I was graduated and could do the kind of things he did, but there's a whole lot of learning to do before that point, unfortunately.

Web bound

Class today was what I had kind of been waiting for. We learned how to design a website using iWeb. I was pretty pumped, I can't lie. I have iWeb on my computer, never used it. Never even thought of using it. I had no idea what it was. I was pumped to learn iWeb though because it's really the last step of making the final project. We've learned photography, we hopefully know how to write, we've learned video editing, so we really have all the tools to polish off the project now.
Our project should be pretty good by the way. Kind of pumped for that too. My favorite kind of writing is the sarcastic, deprecating, dark humor kind of writing. I feel like it really allows the writer to be creative and use his/her mind to its fullest extent. I also feels like it really allows the writer to use a more expanded vocabulary. That's part of the humor of it. If one writes a regular article one really wants to use words that every one is going to understand easily. But with this type of piece the writer can really be more creative with words.

Rally to Restore/ and or Keep Alive Fear/ and or Sanity

Today's assignment was really an awesome one.
We got to make a rally poster for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's rally this weekend. It was cool because we were able to take our budding skills in inDesign and Photoshop and put them to use in a way that was both fun and creative. I tried to have a little fun with it and put in a little comedy, kind of using how Stephen Colbert, on his show, makes fun of Jon Stewart in a somewhat condescending way. I am trying to improve not really my skills, but my understanding and proficiency in inDesign and Photoshop so this was a really helpful exercise.

iMovie

Today in class we had an tutorial on iMovie. It was pretty exciting to be completely honest. I have a Mac and have iMovie, but I had never even thought of using it. The most exciting part about it to me was the fact that you can edit music in it, but it was a lot of other exciting parts to it as well. First of all, it will be useful when making a video for the upcoming project. Second, there are so many features that are fun to use. It's just like you see on television or something. You can fade in video, have transitions (my favorite of which is the map where you can select one city and then another, and it draws a line between the two, just like on the television!), and do a slow dramatic fade out. Also, they have the Ken Burns effect like in the cheesy crime profiles on A&E. All in all, it was a rather exciting class, much better than learning statistics.

Picture Assignment

Another Day

Learned a lot about photos this last week. Learned some more Photoshop and spent some good time messing around with it, lots of fun.
Once again, learned a lot about taking, or making, pictures. The whole rule of thirds thing, tight is right and things like that is stuff I will try not to forget. Didn't know a whole lot about taking and making pictures coming into this class so I think learning about it is really invaluable. There seems to be no doubt that it will be a skill I will need in the future. I am thankful to have the opportunity to learn from someone who is a professional photographer is really something special.

Pictures and Photoshop

     This week I learned a lot of new things. I had never really used Adobe's Photoshop before. Most of my friends not only know how to use Photoshop, but are rather proficient in it. It has always been something I had really wanted to learn. Unfortunately, I never really had the opportunity to learn it. Luckily, I got to learn not from one of my friends who uses it to screw around, but a professional photographer who uses it as part of his livelihood.
     I also had a good time taking a bunch of pictures for class. I took a walk downtown with some friends and snapped a bunch of pictures. Some were good and some were horrid. It was fun, however, to have an expensive camera and feel like a professional photographer. It made me wish I had my own camera so I could take it everywhere I go and capture all the amazing things I am able to see.