Throughout the semester, we completed many interesting projects throughout the Adobe suite. However my favorite was the logo project completed in illustrator. I liked this one the best because I feel like it applies best to my career professionally, and I have the best grip on the software. I like working with pictures but I like vector graphics without layers more than photoshop which felt cumbersome.

I feel like I can use illustrator skills in the future as layout editor at the Daily Evergreen. The Evergreen uses illustrator to arrange its pages so I’m excited to use the program going forward. Understanding vector graphics is a necessary skill in editing and I’m happy to have learned it. I plan on going into journalism when I graduate, and concepts such as audio editing and making logos. The audio editing is helpful for making interviews more coherent and concise.

The skill I wish we did learn is making photos more visually pleasing with things such as airbrush work, rather than working with abstract concepts. It is a vein concept, but I feel like many students would use it for photo editing and would apply outside of this class. The only outside resource I used was instagram pages for inspiration on visual and video projects.

Suggestions for the class going forward would be to have some more clear real world concepts connected to the material. For some photo editing is useful, others logo editing is but with clear connections to career paths it would make it more engaging for more people. Overall I am very happy with the class and all that I learned in it that will applied to journalism in the future.

The final draft turned out exactly how I wanted and I am very pleased with the results. The story is based off of the time I was stalked this semester by a gun advocacy group. This stalking included death threats and doxing my family.

While the experience was scary and traumatic talking about it was good for both my fiancee and myself. On the technical side I decided that raw unpolished footage fit the scene better than a rehearsed version. By portraying the experience as a raw personal affair it tells the story in a more accurate way and embodies the sequence of events in the best way it could.

The comments under the rough draft were to reshoot the footage which I was initially on board with, however after re-recording the footage I found that the first version felt more authentic.

The second piece of advice I got was to add introductions, and a transitions which I did. I recorded some voiceover work for an intro and a conclusion that explained the story well while keeping the project under 2 minutes. I used plain black transition slides because I liked the imagery it provides to the piece.

For the final draft I decided to use the same footage for the base of the story telling. While I wanted a polished more professional film I decided to do that in production while leaving the raw footage. I added an intro page and a transition slide so that it looked more professional as my critiques said.

Overall, I am very pleased with the way the piece turned out. I was skeptical when shooting, but after gaining a grasp on the editing software I am satisfied with the results and I feel like it tells the greatly impactful moment of my life well.

For my final project I am producing a video depicting the time I received death threats for my work at the Daily Evergreen. The style of video may depict a casting couch like what is common in pornagraphy, but the inspiration for this project was to simply be as raw and unfiltered as possible.

The final draft will be a more polished design with professional attire and a more professional setting, but for this initial draft I feel like a raw unfiltered version of this depicts the story the best, as an initial step to telling this impactful part of my life.

I shot the footage on my iPhone, the lighting and contrast looks powerful and the camera will probably be used again for the final draft. Distractions such as my dogs and loud neighbors will be neutralized for a better setting. For the final recording.

This topic was important to me because it marked a turning point in my journalistic career. This presented me the option to wither run away from journalism due to fear of further threats or double down and defend myself. By choosing such a personal topic I feel like by choosing a deeply personal topic it will make the story more compelling and authentic.

For the rough draft editing was minimized but for the final will have more effects, background noise and minimized ambient noise. The final draft will also be longer with more details shared. Overall I am pleased with the quality of the rough draft and I am excited to improve upon it for the final version.

Storyboard template

Constitutional carry USA threats, draft 1

For the final draft I decided to keep my own voice narrating my story because I like the clear and straight forward plot that ended up muddled when I tried to insert recordings into it. I believe this was due to the fact that I recorded in a different setting than I took interviews which made a stark difference that seemed unnatural when mixing and cutting for the final edition.

The topic of the importance of journalism is something that is near and dear to me as a journalist, and I would love to see people in other com professions do a similar topic to see what they come up with. Journalism is a truly necessary practice in this era and understanding perspective around it is imperative.

The Edward R. Murrow interview and Com calls all series are great inspirations because it shows how many different perspectives people can have on the same topic, even though the topic seems straightforward.

Journalism can be romanticized which can be true in some cases, but my goal was to speak my truth on how I view it as a public service that takes integrity and courage, but should not be talked about in the same light as those who put their lives on the line such as firefighters or police officers.

The way I recorded the piece was different than what most of the class did. I have a speech impediment, which I knew would severely impact the result of the project, so in order to lessen its effect I recorded in 20 second sections. Doing these bite sized pieces allowed me to easily cut out pieces where I stutter, am inarticulate, or sloppy. It also gave me the chance to re record over sections where I did not like my argument or the way that it sounded.

While this method leaves spaces and possibility of choppiness, it is the only way I can record without being embarrassed and ashamed to put my voice out for the class to hear. Overall, I am happy with the final project, and the fact that the piece only required minimal changes.

This project was inspired by the Com calls all video series that I, and many other students participated in. That series inspired me to really dig deep to think about what Com is as a program and not just, a piece of paper I get from WSU. Journalism is especially important in these times as President Donald J. Trump has repeatedly called journalism “the enemy of the people”, even covering up deaths such as Jamal Khashoggi and inciting violence such as the shooting at the newspaper. As a journalist this rattled me which is what inspired to think about the importance of journalists as public servants, rather than those whose job is to convince a viewer of an opinion.

On the technical side of things I look forward to getting more technical interviews conducted, as I was only able to get an informal one completed this week. My narration skills are also set to improve as I intend to work on my speaking skills and cutting ums and ahs out of my story. For editing purposes I recorded this piece in five different sections so that I will be able to pick out what I like and do not like later for my final draft. This will also enable me to splice in clips as I see fit from both interviews that I conduct and those with a creative commons license such as the Edward R. Murrow one used in the tutorials.

For my final version I look forward to greatly improving the piece I created in the rough draft. The main purpose of the draft was to have clips for later and to get my ideas recorded. It did not come out as polished as I was hoping but I know with more time for other audio sources, and editing it will turn out the way I envision. I am experienced in conducting interviews for The Daily Evergreen and am confident that I can get the sound bites I need.