Stop-Motion Animation Le Djinn
Le Djinn from Emily Hernandez on Vimeo.
What a process! I instantly chose stop-motion for my project because I've been a long time fan of the medium. Everything in my video was hand-made and my own design, from the puppets to the set. I chose to work with hand-made armature puppets instead of clay because I wanted to manipulate something that is animator-friendly. I will state now and forever more that I am not destined to be an animator. Therefore, I decided that it would suit me to spend more time creating a puppet than spending that time animating clay frame by frame. My favorite part of the process was researching how to make armature puppets and using my own innovations to suit my style and budget. I'll admit that I did spend a fair amount of money on supplies, however I was fine with that because I wanted to have control of what I was producing. Thankfully I was able to borrow a camera and tripod so I didn't need to use my phone. This was especially important to me because my plan was to use different camera angles to enhance the dramatic effect.
The actual animation process was pretty difficult for me because I eventually ran out of time because I had to spend so much time assembling a set and two puppet figures. It was at this point that I was cursing myself for choosing to build such an elaborate set when I could have saved much more time and just animated pre-made objects. In a rush, I had to animate on the floor of my garage since I wasn't able to build a suitable stage. As a result, my frames are all a little shaky because the tripod kept moving as I stopped to animate between each frame. Even though it isn't as polished as I'd like it to be, I'm still satisfied with the end result. I feel that my vision still translated and I was able to explore a new craft (puppet-making) which I plan to do again in the future.
The actual animation process was pretty difficult for me because I eventually ran out of time because I had to spend so much time assembling a set and two puppet figures. It was at this point that I was cursing myself for choosing to build such an elaborate set when I could have saved much more time and just animated pre-made objects. In a rush, I had to animate on the floor of my garage since I wasn't able to build a suitable stage. As a result, my frames are all a little shaky because the tripod kept moving as I stopped to animate between each frame. Even though it isn't as polished as I'd like it to be, I'm still satisfied with the end result. I feel that my vision still translated and I was able to explore a new craft (puppet-making) which I plan to do again in the future.
Adobe PhotoShop Lesson
Lesson Plan
| lesson_plan.pdf |
Cheat Sheet
| cheatsheet.pdf |
Teacher Sample
| a1_hernandez.jpg |
Prezi
Tutorial
My group included Elizabeth Park, Michelle Rimpo and Mitchell Danford. My responsibilities included managing the group's progress as well as putting together the tutorial as well as my own teacher's sample. I enjoyed the collaboration because all of the members did their jobs thoroughly and we didn't have any severe communication /time management issues. When I work in group projects it is often the case that I worry that I'm not performing enough, so for this project I wanted to take on more responsibility. The only issues I encountered while making the tutorial was documenting every step while I was making my own teacher sample. Sometimes I forgot to take a screenshot of a step and I'd have to do some backtracking for the sake of the tutorial. Besides that, I overall enjoyed the lesson and it was refreshing to work in PhotoShop again.
Art of the Southwest: PowerPoint and Handout
| handoutsouthwest.docx |
| southwestart.pdf |
Instead of choosing a single artist, I decided to make my PowerPoint presentation a brief introduction to Native American art in the Southwest. I focused on the art and history of two nations: the Hopi and the Dine. I thought a lesson with this subject matter would be useful because it bothers me when people, especially teachers, homogenize Native American cultures. Hopefully this PowerPoint can act as a brief introduction to show how varied and different Native groups can be, even if they're from the same region. I chose to make my presentation in PowerPoint because I prefer its interface over Prezi... and it doesn't hurt that I was already familiar with it! It can't be stressed enough that the ability to make presentations in programs like PowerPoint and Prezi are invaluable skills to have- not only for teachers but for students as well. I am a firm believer in programs like these because they allow us to organize our ideas and present them in a clear, interesting matter that also grabs our audience's attention.
As the Spirit Wanes the From Appears: A Podcast of Vancouver Illustrator Nomi Chi
| podcastfinal.m4a |
| podcast_script.docx |
I enjoyed making a podcast because it was a (somewhat) simple way for me to familiarize myself with new technology like Garageband and Audacity. Overall I didn't have too many problems occur with the process of making the podcast. One issue that became a little frustrating was the general interface of Garageband. It's such a large program so there can be no double-tasking which caused difficulties having Microsoft word open so I could read my script. Also, my voice audio would suddenly stop or corrupt while recording, as would the music track I added. Besides those flaws, I think that learning how to make podcasts is a worthwhile skill to have, particularly in the context of art education, because it enables students to create their own media and also gives them ownership of their research. This skill is also interdisciplinary because it hones their public speaking skills as well as writing, which isn't typically utilized in the setting of art classes.
