CAS Project: Documentary Film J-Term

 January 20th, 2020

C/A/S Project

   Blog 1

     Over the course of the past two weeks we have been filming for a documentary in the making. As such we've had to plan and schedule our shoot which will surround two local coffee shop and bar owners. Scheduling the shoot proved to be quite difficult as there were many conflicting events and it seemed hard to find enough time to block out. As well, planning questions was somewhat easy but reading off a script during the actual interview proved to be pretty much worthless. In the end all it does is ruin the flow of the interview. Of course we have the ability to cut and clip both video and audio as we please, but if every portion of the interview doesn't sound conversational, it may be difficult to withhold continuity. I do love this project though. We get to direct and create our own films so we have a lot of freedom to be as creative as we'd like to be. The only real limitation we face is the time limit of two weeks which in reality boils down to about 4 days once we've collected all the b-roll and conduct the interviews.  

Blog 2

Despite our preparation for the interview and our already gathered footage, the interview was much more difficult and complicated than we had hoped for. The activity itself wasn’t too complicated but the place of filming and the film itself both soon became issues. The framing was off for the entire interview so we should’ve started over but we soon realized that was impossible and the audio was crowded because the interview was conducted in their local coffee shop. Regardless, I was extremely content with the content of the interview and saw their story to be inspiring as they talked about the hardships they endured since having opened their business some 11 years ago. They spoke on the difficulties of remaining in business during times of struggle but also supporting the community during times of hardship such as Hurricane Harvey. This became a really great opportunity for us to get to know some of the members of the local community and so we suggested the following name for our feature film; Locally Owned. 

Blog 3

Although this project isn’t technically service, I would like to think our telling of their story was in good nature. The reality is, many small businesses struggle lots no matter how successful they may seem. My hope in creating such a documentary as this was to shine some light on the stories that often aren’t told. Despite some difficulties in our editing portion, we were able to come up with a quite nice result. As well, my own time that I had spent working on editing and what not outside of class really came into play. I was able to move somewhat quickly throughout the editing process regardless of errors that were made during the actual production of the film. As well, my own understanding of film came into play over the course of this film's creation. It was also helpful having 2 peers who didn’t lack creativity. As well, because I am more familiar with the post production portion of film making it was extremely helpful for me to be out in the field making the video as well. Not only did I have the chance to direct, but I also had the opportunity to recognize and attempt to correct mistakes made in previous films I had directed.

 

CAS Blog 18: Activity LO4

 February 12th, 2020

Activity

Leaning Outcome 4

        As I continue to develop my skills in a variety of mixed martial arts, I remain content with my own progress. I am extremely happy I started this because it has been my main form of activity across the past year or so since the beginning of COVID and quarantining. As well, because I practice one on one, I get the chance to learn more and work on what I need to work on as opposed to a group. Although this the last CAS blog I will be writing, I will continue to work on this sport throughout the remainder of my high school career and through the summer until I depart for college. I also find it very important to learn a form of self defense and so I am happy I had an opportunity to learn so much not only about the sports at hand but also my own safety. I still however, need to work on my form so I can maximize my performance. As of now, I am still struggling to some degree with consistency of power again in part because of my size but also because I have yet to truly still perfect my form. I am continuing to work and will do so for as long as I can even when I am in college. 

CAS Blog 17: Service LO4

 January 12th, 2020

Service

Learning Outcome 4

        As I near the completion of my internship, I've gotten to see what the final product will likely resemble and it's quite amazing to see what I've helped to create. Of course there are still a couple of artworks to be added to the project, but for the most part everything is complete. Understanding my own contribution to the representation of Mexican Americans and Latinos within my community means a lot to me. And so seeing this project being completed makes for a great end to my internship with the University of Houston and the Inter-University Program for Latino Research. I am so excited for this digital board to be showcased not only to the rest of Houston, but also to the artists who are represented within the board itself. I am excited to see their reaction to the massive amount of work that has been put into this project and am even more excited for the representation it represents with respect to the community it showcases. 

CAS Blog 16: Creativity LO4

 December 12th, 2020

Creativity

Learning Outcome 4

        The last time I spoke on the subject of editing and what not I talked about how I was working to better understand flow and how to make clips seem fluid. Again, a large part of this correlates to how editors choose to match this flow with the clips. This means I've had to learn a lot more about music than I thought I'd have to. Mixing and cutting music I've found to be quite difficult and no matter how clean I may make something sound it always bothers me because it sounds different than the original. Regardless, being able to tweak the bass and mix and match different parts of the song has come in handy many times especially when trying to create interludes of my own or trying to insert interludes from popular songs and media. Being able to mix audio helps when trying to make visuals more stunning and satisfying. For example, actions that end on beats are simply more satisfying because it contributes to the flow of a video. Learning how to mix audio has also helped see in school as I work on my comparative study for film. Because I understand more about audio it's a lot easier to do it faster when trying to complete this rather lengthy project of mine. 

CAS Blog 15: Activity LO1

November 12th, 2020

Activity

Learning Outcome 1

         For the first time in a very long time, I've been able to play soccer again. Although the sport has meant a lot to me in my life I have become quite rusty and so even though I just went to the park with a former teammate of mine I felt quite embarrassed by my constant mistakes. At this point, I have to make an effort to play a little every week so if it comes down to it I can still play in college. Although this goal does seem unlikely (playing in college) I would still like to be able to perform at an adequate level even if it is just in a recreational league or for the school club. I continue to have issues with my shot placement as I always have however, they've worsened a great deal since I've had to stop playing. I find it hard to continue as well with COVID so I'm trying to limit who I play with if I play with anyone at all. 

CAS Blog 14: Service LO4

 October 12th, 2020

Service

Learning Outcome 4

        For the first time I've been able to really see my work. We were asked to download an app so we could see the progress the digital board had made and we got a chance to see what our photos looked like in the context of the project. It's starting to look extremely professional although it remains unfinished. I am continuing to collect photos and upload them to the sight but I find myself more motivated to complete the work now that I can see the outcome and how spectacular it looks. What's also good is that I've been able to transfer many of my skills from both film class and editing to make sure these pictures are high quality and are cut up correctly as to play to the aesthetics of the digital board and the environment it presents. As I continue to work on the project, I continue to research many of the artists to write blurbs about them so when their artwork is featured, so are they. I've learned a great deal about them and their past making this project all the more inspiring. 

CAS Blog 13: Creativity LO4

 September 12th, 2020 

Creativity

Learning Outcome 4     

   As the summer comes to a close, I've been able to learn more about After Effects and something else that is extremely important in my hobby, flow. Pace and flow can really make and break edits. Clips can be cool and what not but if they fail to be properly composed, the flow of the video can be messed up and will end up looking worse than it should. A large part of this flow comes from the songs you choose and how you choose to transition from clip to clip. Meaning you could transition based off the beat or the lyrics. For the most part these are the two means of transition. Regardless, you have to create a flow that finds itself complimenting the music or lyrics of whatever song you've chosen. Because flow is so important, I've ended up watching many, many other edits and editors in order to understand how they transition. I look for where they do it in correlation to the song, but also the techniques they use when transitioning to make their flow seem fluid and flawless. 

CAS Blog 12: Activity LO4

 August 12th, 2020

Activity

Learning Outcome 4

        Because of COVID I've had to postpone my playing soccer and so my main form of activity is MMA as I don't attend a real gym. I've continued to progress and have mastered a number of moves as well as defensive plays. At this point however, a majority of my training has been kickboxing and boxing based. As this isn't the only type of combat, nor is it common to stick to hands and legs only when faced with hypothetical real world combat, other art forms should be introduced to make for a more well rounded candidate. I've started to learn some wrestling and a lot more jujitsu so I can remain in control of the hypothetical situation even if I find myself on the ground with my opponent. However, again I am faced with the issue of mass. Simply put, it's easier to control something you're bigger than. For me, this is hardly ever the case. As such, I have to be extremely tactical when considering my moves and I have to learn how to best use my limited weight to my own advantage when facing bigger opponents as this will more than likely be my position if this unfortunate hypothetical is ever to come true. I have continued working on these tactics and jujitsu itself for the past month or so and hope to see great progression as I progress in my training. 

CAS Blog 11: Service LO4

 July 12th, 2020

Service

Learning Outcome 4

        Traditional community service has become more difficult for me because of COVID. Regardless, I continue to work on my University of Houston internship from home. I have continued to upload images of various artworks around Houston and have even had to learn a bit of coding in order to do so. The Gibson Group (who heads the project) has never had to be this online and limited with in person contact and what not. As a result, their creation of their own website isn't exactly user friendly because of the complex nature of the digital board process. They've had to instruct me and 4 other graduate students on how to upload both in batch and single and have also taught us how to move about the website and mark images for different uses. Although this sort of thing isn't necessarily in my realm of knowledge, I do find it very useful to learn all of this as technology is undeniably a huge part of my future and the worlds. 

CAS Blog 10: Creativity LO1

 June 12th, 2020

Creativity

Learning Outcome 1

        Although the introduction of COVID-19 has been frightening and certainly life changing, I have been spending loads of time at home and have had great disruption in my normal schedule. Despite work remaining quite heavy for both school and internships, I do find myself more free with the absence of soccer for the most part. As such, I have had the opportunity to continue to grow my understanding of both After Effects and now also Photoshop. Photoshop has been quite difficult for me especially because I'm not great with hand drawn art. Learning about how to use it to emphasize portions of frames and to make stickers that I can use as additions to my edits. As well, I've begun to mess with the 3D effect in After Effects moving to create layers within my edits. It's really cool because with these effects I can shift the reality of characters. I can create more realistic backgrounds regardless of them being from completely separate pieces of art and or shows. Understanding this has guided my creativity to a whole new level because of my own capability. I look forward to the summer where hopefully I can further my work and understandings within both After Effects and Photoshop.

CAS Blog 9: Activity LO1

 May 12th, 2020

Activity

Learning Outcome 1

    I believe this to be my second blog regarding my MMA training. I've felt myself progressing greatly over the past months, my motions quicker, more accurate, and inevitably landing with more power than in previous months. I take pride in my skill and am practicing much more at home now too. Power is still something I struggle with. The reality being, I'm rather small for my age so most of my power is drawn from speed and perfection of form. This means I have to work a lot harder at becoming faster because I can't expect the same level of blows to land even when I do put my all into a throw. Despite this, I have gotten much, much better at being accurate and fast. Although I was always semi interested in this sort of exercise, it was suggested to me by my mother. However, at this point I see as so much more than a chore or task. I thoroughly enjoy it and the healthy, active lifestyle it invites. Of course, this is not to say I can't continue to improve as I will work to do. But I am content with my level of skill to some extent. And at this point I truly do look forward to continuing my work and to better myself in these fields of martial arts. 

CAS Blog 8: Creativity LO1

 April 12th, 2020

Creativity

Learning Outcome 1

        The amount of time I've been able to put into editing has increased by a lot because I'm getting faster at it so it doesn't take me as long to learn new things. It's so exciting to be learning something that I enjoy so much and that connects really well with something I love, movies. When I watch movies now I don't only appreciate writing, directing, cinematography, but also the editing. I find it so much more fun to admire the special effects and color grading that goes into movies. I've become at this point quite strong with color correction myself. Color correction is not only important for making a piece visually striking, but can also enhance quality by a great deal. I've not only been able to better understand it, but my own work is starting to look a lot smoother with the introduction of this important film aspect. 

CAS Blog 7: Service LO7

 March 12th, 2020

Activity

Learning Outcome 7:

    Ethics astound me. Without doubt, every person has some form of ethical code but the differences within these codes varies so greatly from person to person that I often find myself on the soccer field surprised by the lack of morals and ethics I encounter. One of the things I love most about my team is how diverse it is. We have 2 Germans, 3 Englishmen, 4 Americans, 5 Mexicans, 2 Venezuelans, and 1 Nigerian. I adore our diversity, but in the state of Texas, this often isn't the case. It's quite shameful, the actions of others and I find myself filled with rage on a consistent basis. The names my teammates and I often face racial slurs and at some points they become quite hard to ignore. The only thing that keeps us inline is one another and of course our coach. We've had kids on the other team be ejected before because they've said something just a little too loud. Regardless of this ejection, I firmly believe their tendencies and ethics remain intact and untouched. If anything, I would assume this push back would deepen whatever anger they have promoting the ethics they've created for themselves. Within these choices of actions exists hatred and conflict, something that should eternally be frowned upon. 

CAS Blog 6: Activity LO3

 February 12th, 2020

   Activity

Learning Outcome 3

    This week I've made an effort to start a new form of activity. I've opted to start learning how to properly fight. By this I mean I have started some MMA classes with a trainer and will continue to do so for as long as I can. I see this as a new equally enjoyable form of exercise with respect to my soccer training and also an opportunity to learn self defense. Because the world is so unpredictable I see it necessary to at least be able to protect yourself. I began my training just last week and although I am currently swinging like a caveman, I find it absolutely thrilling to learn how to properly control my body and put it to use as best I can. Next to soccer, this is easily the most enjoyable form of exercise I've had the pleasure of being introduced too. 

CAS Blog 5: Service LO6

January 12th, 2020

Service

Learning Outcome 6:

    This past week I started my internship with the Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR). I am going to be working with a couple of Doctorates and a group from New Zealand known as the Gibson Group. They are a software company that specializes in the creation of virtual 3D spaces and I will be collecting images for them of artwork around Houston. This connects to the sixth learning outcome however, because of the significance in the art being represented. Every piece of art will be Latino created and so this board aims to represent a largely under appreciated and underrepresented community. Representation of minorities has always been an issue and although this project will undoubtedly not solve that issue, it does aim to represent some of the unappreciated Latino artists that exist within Houston. It is also extremely important to note that this project is being backed and partially funded by the University of Houston and the group I will be working alongside comes from New Zealand again speaking to the global significance of my recent internship. 

CAS Blog 4: Creativity LO4

 December 12th, 2019

Creativity

Learning Outcome 4:

    It's been roughly 3 months since I last spoke about my editing and software use. Although classes, homework, internships and soccer have kept me quite busy, I've made it an effort to test a new aspect of editing every Friday of the week. This doesn't mean make a full edit as I would like to do, but instead just get practice and ensure my consistent use of the program so I don't forget anything but also so I can experiment on a smaller level. I find it hard to sometimes follow through on the ideas that I have because so many come to me so fast. Regardless, I am making sure I am working on something so my skills can develop with the program as time goes on. Furthermore, I have opportunities to use the program outside of my hobby time. In film class I've ended up using After Effects a good bit and learning different things there about how I can optimize the program and get it to work best. I am looking forward to continuing with the program once I get my PC this coming holiday as my laptop struggles with the program. 

CAS Blog 3: Activity LO5

November 12th, 2019

   Activity: Soccer

Learning Outcome 5:

        Soccer is a huge part of my life and entitles much of the activity that I do falls within the boundaries of this sport. I have practice 4 times a week excluding games on the weekend so I have plenty to write about. Within this past week I competed at my second Blue Chip tournament with my state ranked team. Although we ended up facing a variety of well talented teams we did quite good considering we'd only been a squad for a little over 8 months. Our movement off the ball is absolutely spectacular and we play an extremely fast ground paced game. In order to accomplish this sort of play style at our level of competitive play means we have to be collaborative in every sense of the word. We have to not only to meet each others expectations skill wise, but we have to recognize the patterns and independent styles of our teammates to ensure chemistry. Understanding the game isn't hard, understanding what should be happening on the field isn't all that difficult either. But in the heat of the moment, recognizing and enacting on the best course of action takes an absurd amount of commitment and collaboration prior to walking on the pitch.