Constructing Creative Communication-Herzog

The driving question: How might I use technology to create and communicate?

So in an earlier blog post, I explained the project we were doing, and about the groups the class was divided into. If you didn’t see that post, here it is. 

Anyway, so for the last five Maker classes, I’ve been in the Herzog (a.k.a photography) group. 

We learned about a lot of stuff, including the rule of thirds, composition, mood, and my personal favourite, creating a GIF!

First thing we did was learn about ‘creating composition’. This is taking an image, then adding character to it by ‘bringing it to life’. We had to take a picture of something, then using Mark-up, edit it. I used a pair of scissors as my subject. 

I shared this with the class, and my teacher asked why the outer fingers have arms, and the inner ones don’t. I argued that it was too hard to draw the arms there. 

Next thing we did was go on a ‘themed photo walk’. We each chose a theme, (like a colour, a texture, a pattern, or something like that) then we all went outside, and got photos relating to our theme (mine was blue). Then, when we got back to class, we edited the photos using an app called Snapseed. Here is the collage I made from that:

Oh, and if you’re wondering what the rule of thirds is, let me tell you. 

So, you know when you’re taking a picture, and your phone has those grid lines on the screen? (If yours doesn’t, you can go to settings and turn it on)

(I didn’t know what to take a picture of, so I just took a shot of my Lego model of London)

When taking a photo, if you align the subject at one of the third lines, you can still have your subject the main focus, but you can still have the background in it.

Another thing we did that was really fun, was the Manufacturing Mood thing we did. We picked  an emotion at random, then we had to take a picture representing that mood. I got frightened. At first I didn’t know what to do, but then one day I was walking my dog, and it was still pretty dark outside, and I came across this garbage bin, and the lid was open and it was kind of creepy. Afterwards, I edited it using Snapseed. 

 

At last, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… 

My, amazingly spectacular awe-inspiring magnificent disconcerting sublime out-of-this-world stunning  dumbfounding phenomenal flummoxing GIF. 

The assignment was to make a reaction GIF. Other people put themselves in their’s, but I didn’t really want to, and someone I know volunteered, so it all worked out. 

Ok, I know what you’re thinking.

‘WOW that is really awesome Hannah, who is this guy? Seems like a cool person to hang out with!’

‘Nice, this PLP kid really understands how to tell a story and communicate an idea to create a reaction GIF that people post or share to express their personal reaction to something they are feeling. I really think Hannah understood this, and went out to make the best GIF I have ever seen. Also- this blog post is great! It really shows the amount of effort put into everything, and I believe it was well explained. I think it answers the driving question, which I think was ‘how might I use technology to create and communicate?’ So, my idea was that you can use many different tools to edit an image that can then represent an emotion or idea that you could share with others, and that can tell a story that others can relate to and understand. Well, those are just my thoughts! Anyways, great job!’

‘Can you get me the name of the skeleton persons hairstylist? Also- where did you get those cool shades?’

‘That must’ve taken a lot of work, what did you use to add all the animations?’

‘That is awesome, I’d totally hire this person to launch an advertising campaign featuring this sunglasses wearing skeleton.  

‘Amazing work! I love reading these blogs posts about projects that I have no context for!’

Thanks for all the great feedback! I’ll answer some of your questions below:

The skeleton’s name is Edmund. Here is some info about him:

  • He’s an exchange student from California
  • His best friend’s name is Jerry
  • Wants to be a closet designer
  • He likes listening to music on a cassette player
  • Favourite book is We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
  • Favourite TV show is Dexter
  • Second favourite book is Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini
  • Also enjoys watching Brooklyn Nine Nine

So that’s some info on Edmund! Maybe one day I’ll make a page on this blog all about Edmund, what do you think?

Anyway, back to the other questions, 

  1. Edmund does not have a hairstylist, the hair on his head is a wig from my Edward Scissorhands Halloween costume. The shades are from Walmart
  2. For all the animations, I used this app called Keynote

Anyways, thank you for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed learning about Edmund, and please tell me if you would want an Edmund related blog page.

Have a good day!

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