My Creativity

I am at college to learn to become a better comic book writer because i want to be really good at story writing, character creation and place creation.

I have to learn how to be able to create stories that are fun and interesting.

I have to be able to create characters as if they were real people so people can relate to them and care about the characters life and what they do.

I need to learn how to make locations and objects as well.

Then i have to create my first story and then try and get a job in a comic company.

If I get the job i just write the stories and give them to the artists to draw and then i will continue doing that for the rest of my life.

If I don't get the job i will have to find artists and publish it without pay and if it becomes popular i will be able to continue creating them until a company finds out and brings me into there company.

Since some of my characters are inspired by DC Comics i would probably go to work for them.

Task 3: Evaluation

Video Ideas:

Superheroes - Comics

Origins / Alternate Realities?

The video:

Me talking about characters, there origins and alternate versions of the characters with images of the characters from google.

I will talk about Batman.

Video Critique:

My video is finished now.

It was kind of hard and was also time consuming But it went ok.

This is the first time I did a voice over. It was challenging because I could hear my terrible voice.

I got the video idea from the fact that i planned to do origin videos as a series on my YouTube channel.

My videos sound quality was distorted and muffled. I had to re-record all of the sound again using a different microphone and then i had to edit the audio levels. I also had to make sure the headphones were good and that all the settings and dials are on the correct setting.

https://youtu.be/HBb0MoOivm0

I edited a video which is an advert about a rubber duck, made for comedy and to teach me how to use editing and other important creative media information.

I am not very good at editing so it is not very good.

My research into comic and video game media helped me think of the idea of making this video. I used the DC Comic Database Wikia to look for the information about Batman to use in the video. The video was targeted to Comic fans.

here is a screenshot.


Some ideas from the original idea list were changed or removed entirely and some were just updated slightly.

My version of the video did not have any text or added images onto it because of time constraints and my terrible editing skills.

The original idea before we did the rubber duck advert.

DC Batman Comic Advert.

30 Seconds

Show images and clips from Batman comics.

Voice over & pretend reading.

No script, improvising the whole thing.

Different camera angles.

Someone else filming with the camera.

Make location look like a place where you would read a comic (Library).



Rubber Duck Ideas

We decided to make an advert about rubber ducks.

we made up what it could do including:

Connect to wifi
Connect to smartphone
Slices and dices food
Makes grilled cheese
Gets rid of sadness
Is a companion
Duplicates via button
Can fit inside a bag
Pocket size (compact)



I verbally gave my ideas to the group and gave visual examples on some of them as well.
I also appeared in the advert video itself in three scenes.

I know how to record my voice properly now because of this video, so if i ever make audio recordings again i will be able to do them properly.

I am better at editing and putting together videos in an editing software, my skills on this could be better but i can use these skills for future video editing, like a YouTube channel.

I know how to use video cameras and mics so in the future i will be able to set them up and use them for videos and recordings.

We made a mind map with the product name in the middle and what it can do around the centre. The idea of making a rubber duck was just a random thought that everyone else liked and decided to do.

The target audience was probably teen to adult because it was like a house item that did things like cook and do massages. The advert met the target audience because the audience that watch the advert have seen real ads and will find the over acting funny as the parody makes fun of adverts so they will be entertained by the advert instead of being annoying like real ads are.

Conrad found music that fit the advert and took on the roll of leader and actor for the video and told everyone else what they should do for the video. I was added as another actor and came up with extra ideas to make the video longer. Ethan was the narrator voice and Joella was the recorder who used the video recording.

When we first started the video project i was researching to make a superhero based advert, I watched superhero ads for the Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 movie trailers to come up with ideas and a few obscure comic book ads. In the end we ended up going with a parody ad about a rubber duck that could do impossible things. We experimented by filming each other answering questions to learn how to use the video camera and microphones and we gave ideas for the ad and then I made an alternate version of the duck ad.

Billboard.


The billboard is trying to get creative people to do creative media courses at North Notts College.

The target audience is any creative person who wants to learn more about the creative media world.

I used images of different types of comic characters from different comics. They were big and on a blank white background and they are all famous characters so that will attract people.

The images have to attract creative people into wanting to go to the college.

We used the impact font to make everything clear to read.

The layouts change went from a group of characters all together with the writing in the blank spaces in the first billboard to the second billboard where all the characters were at the bottom and the writing was at the top.

I kept the colours of everything the same so people wouldn't think that the characters are the wrong colour which can sometimes bother fans of the characters.

I rasterised my images from a vector which changes the image from an outline into pixels so i could edit them better.

I transposed my images on separate layers so i would not ruin the images by accident.

I skewed the image so it was at an angle just like the billboard itself. This makes it look more like it is apart of a real billboard since the billboard image was at an angle too.

I also shift scaled the images to make them the right size without making them go blurry or stretched. This made the images bigger and visible from a distance.

For the billboards I researched and looked at different posters and real billboards to find out how billboards are set up in different layouts because I made two. I experimented by trying to draw some video game characters in PhotoShop but i was not very good, then I made a poster advertising creative media courses at NNC and also a random poster that was just to teach us how to position multiple images on the same poster without overlapping.

For the second billboard we went to a bus stop to take a photo of a real billboard to edit our design onto it so it looked more real.


If i did this again i would put less text on the image and make the writing bigger so it would be even easier to read and would take less time to read.

Conclusion.

Thanks to my lessons in creative media at college i know how to do basic things on photoshop and premiere to make videos and images.

I am slightly better at drawing on paper and on the computer thanks to my friend Ethan Hansen helping me.

I know a few things about how to use and set up cameras, video cameras and microphones.

I learned how to make a blog and how to edit and submit posts.

I learned to use simple shapes as a template for when i draw things and also for characters that wear masks to draw the face and then add the mask on top and then rub out the parts that are supposed to be covered.

I am slightly more confident in my ability to create physical creative things.

I am good at using layers in photoshop now and i remember where some of the tools are now as well.

I am kind off ok at video editing now.

I know how to edit audio and video separately.

I can change the colour of images on photoshop and change the shading and contrast and also invert the image colours entirely.

I communicated my ideas by writing them down, talking to others about the ideas and testing the ideas in the software before i used it for the proper thing.

I know how to cut parts out of images if they are not needed or how to get rid of an entire background, I can also combined more than one image together as well.

I know how to use PhotoShop and do creative things in PhotoShop like changing the colours of the image or inverting the colours, i can change the shading and removing parts off images that are not needed.

I can use all of these skills to edit the images, videos and sounds to target the right audience depending on what i am working on and who the target audience is.

When i first started i did not know anything about PhotoShop or video and audio recording, After a few days i began getting a better memory and i could remember the basics of all of the things like changing sound volumes, cutting video and audio or changing colours in images, Now i can remember slightly more advanced things like how to draw using a mouse or pad, how to balance the sound and a few other techniques with editing.

Task 2: Research

Media: Superhero Comics

Superhero comics first started with a superhero named The Phantom who appeared in newspaper comic strips but they became popular once full comic books started with DC Comics creation of Superman.

The most famous comic companies are DC, Marvel and Dark-Horse who have lots of characters, places and objects of importance to those fictional series.

The jobs in the comic industry include the artist who draws the images, the writer who scripts the stories editors who check the story, marketing and sales department who try and advertise the comics so people will buy them. There are also the legal team who make sure no copyright problems will happen and partner companies who do things like special crossovers and create movies, TV shows and video games of the characters.

Characters usually have very well known origins, allies, teams and enemies. The most famous characters include Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, The Joker, Lex Luthor, Iron Man etc.

There job is to create stories that entertain the people who buy them threw comedy, story lines, entertaining scenarios, drama and emotions.

I want to be a comic writer because i have been writing characters and stories since i was really young and it is the best thing i am at doing.


Media: Video Games

Video games started out as simple things like a 0's and X's and a space shooter on a radar but video games didn't start properly until the arcade game Pong (a table tennis-like game with multiplayer).
Video game mascots (famous and popular characters) first started after Pac-Man appeared and then when video games started loosing audience Mario was created by Nintendo to save the gaming industry and it has evolved since then.

The most well known gaming companies include Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, Namco, Capcom, Konami etc.

The jobs in gaming include the graphics designer who makes the stuff for the game like objects and characters, artists who draw artwork for the game, testers who make sure the game works, the director who makes sure the game is what it is supposed to be and game shop employees who sell the games.

The characters usually have power-ups or weapons and maybe vehicles. The most famous of video game characters include Mario, Link, Pikachu, Master Chief, Crash Bandicoot, Pac-Man, Mega Man, Sonic and many more.

A video games purpose is to let you play through fictional things that you wouldn't be able to do in real life, they can also have stories that make you care about the characters and horror games are there to scare you.

DC Comics makes comics obviously but they also do animated series, movies, tv shows, cartoons and other things. They advertise all of these things usually with video trailers but they also do posters and billboards.

DC posters usually have the main heroes and villains on the cover with the actors names somewhere near. The posters usually use dark colours for the background and includes the date of release at the bottom and the title at the top or in the middle.

The audience of the poster are fans of Batman, DC Comics or superheroes in general, although people who are fans of an actor might also go and watch the movies. The poster uses cool images of the well known heroes and villains with background using the hero symbols or the city and sometimes both. They also use the dark background with the brighter characters on top of it.

DC trailers take clips from the show, movie or game combining parts of the plot, they use mostly action but a little bit of humour in order to show us how entertaining the movie will be.

Fans of Wonder Woman, DC Comics or female superheroes would be most of the audience although if someone is a fan of the actor they may also go. The trailers use the same dark background with brighter characters, the action and humour combined to make people want to watch the movies.

Marvel, Like DC is a comic book company that also do movies and other media.

The posters to marvel movies like The Avengers always have the main characters in cool poses with some background like a city with explosions happening.

Fans of superhero team ups, Marvel or the famous actors will go to watch the movie.

The marvel video trailers use a lot of humour to make you know the movies are funny so we will want to watch them, they also show off the characters and a bit of plot along with some action.

The actors names are a long the top to show what famous actors are in the movie to make people want to come for the good acting.

Fans of marvel, superheroes or the actors would go to the movie but the movie is also about outcasts and is a comedy so fans of comedies and outcast characters would also go to see the movie.

The Marvel movies use a lot more humour than DC which uses more plot stuff and action in there adverts and trailers. There posters however are both almost the same, with similar techniques like the characters and the actor names.

Advert Idea: DC TV Shows

Trailer for all the shows using clips from them showing different characters

Product is for superhero fans

List of Shows & Channels

Constantine (NBC) - (Ended)

Arrow (The CW)

The Flash (The CW)

Legends Of Tomorrow (The CW)

Supergirl (CBS & The CW)

List of Heroes

List of Villains

Adverts i watched

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4kpKZQtfkw

Spider-Man Comic Advert (1996)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aYz9RtFuD8

DC Comics (90's)

billboards I looked at.

This billboard is advertising a video game called Fallout.

The target audience is gamers and fallout fans.

The billboard has the games title and release date and also the games mascot doing his iconic thumbs up, wink.

The board is simple but the reason it is appealing is because you can see the big bold text saying the name of the game and also shows you the character mascot that makes you want to play the game.

The writing is big and bold but in the iconic series font that the game is known for.

This billboard is advertising the movie Deadpool.

The target audience is marvel fans and movie fans that are old enough to go to the movie.

The Billboard shows when it will be in cinemas and used funny icons to spell out the name of the movie.

The billboard is appealing because it uses deadpool's humour.

The billboard uses simple easy to read text to tell the date but uses funny emoticons to spell the name of the movie. Deadpool, using a skull to say dead, a poo to say poo and an l to finish the word.

This advert is advertising burger king jobs.

The target audience is people who want to get a job in food related places.

The billboard uses the company logo and easy to read, red font.

The billboard is appealing because it makes fun of it's rival in a funny way.

The writing is red, big and easy to read but also funny.

My billboard inspiration

My billboard idea comes from the fact that when i was at school the staff always told me that comic book writing wasn't a real job and that i have to look for something else but i know it's a real job because i read an article online on how someone who was told not to pursue a job in comics now writes comics about The Flash (who he was a big fan off).

It will have comic characters pictured together and at the bottom it will advertise North Notts College.

Task 1: Experientation

On Photoshop i did a picture of me inside a bin but made it look like it was night time and i was green.

I learned how to crop images, put images into photoshop and change colours.

I also made a picture of a bunch of art being put together randomly onto a map of the world. I used layers to put them together and cut and rub out the background.

I also learned how to record sound using microphones and video camera.

I learned how to use different types of microphones, where to plug them in and what type of microphones they are. I also learned how to use a video camera. Like what each button does and where to plug inputs into. I only filled in a little bit of the assessment sheet because i didn't get to try some myself and use the muscle memory to remember how to do it later.


Here are some screenshots of me and Ethan making videos inside and outside, which meant we had to change the camera and microphone settings based on the location so we could see and hear properly.



I also have the full video of the interviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6an9QGElmeE&feature=youtu.be

We used photoshop and edited different pictures to learn how to use it properly.

Here is one of my pictures, where we drew our own things, i drew a Yoshi and coloured it.

Then i added Kirby.

Then finally i added pikachu.

That is all i did, i tried drawing Mario but i couldn't get it right.


Creative Media Poster

For my poster i splat paint onto a paper and then took a photo off it and then messed with the colours until it looked like a thermal image. i then added photoshopped photos off paint tubs and a tub full off paint brushes.

I added a creative media fact that not many people know.
Comics are written and then artists draw them, not the other way around.



Skills i will find useful in the future are that i will be able to edit and crop images in the future.
I know how to change the colours and sizes of an image without ruining it.
I now have photography skills so i will be able to use cameras to take photos for projects or just for taking normal photos during life.

Now that i know how to use PhotoShop i can use it in the future to make more creations in PhotoShop. I can change the colours of the images, cut and add images onto each other or remove parts of images and manipulate images in many ways like flipping them or stretching them or resizing them and so many other things.