The Value of My Time & Skill

Posted on by jesse

There is so much more to video editing than most people realize. The editing process is also way longer than most people realize as well. Those who work in video production are very much under-appreciated for this very reason. To most common folk, anyway. There was this one time that somebody I barely knew messaged me on Facebook and asked me what it would cost for me to create a 3 minute flashy video of him driving his semi-truck around. He didn’t realize what he was asking of me. I informed him it would require an entire work day of following him around so that I could get different shots from different angles of the truck, then it would take about another 5 hours of editing. I also let him know that I don’t work for free, so roughly 15 hours at 50 bucks an hour was going to cost him $750. Funny thing is he never responded to that message. I am not going to utilize my skills for free. Not unless it is for a good cause, like the documentary I am creating for 4PA.

To be honest, I don’t know when I would even have the time to do projects for other people in the first place. It’s been crazy enough just trying to do this one for 4PA with school, work, etc. Bottom line though is that I feel I am worth at least $50 an hour if not more if someone wants to pay for my services. Now, if it’s for a good cause like the non-profit, 4PA, then I might just do it for free. I see this as my way as contributing to the cause because I do believe in what they are doing.

As far as marketing goes, I think that the best way to market myself would be through social media and the web. However, like I mentioned, I don’t really have the time at the moment to be doing outside work, but that could change once I am done with school!

Definitely check out the following video:

Textbook Relevance

Posted on by jesse

First off, I must say that Susan Weinschenk’s “100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People” is one of the best books I have ever read. I must admit that I still haven’t completely finished it, but I learned so much just after reading the first few sections. It touches on some very interesting points about the psychology when it comes to individuals and the user experience. To summarize the book in one sentence, I’d say don’t make things hard to do or read because most people only do or read things a certain way and most of the time they are very unwilling to put in more work than necessary when consuming information or enjoying an experience. This very much relates to our Hero’s Journey project because we are working with a virtual environment that is meant to be encouraging and engaging for the user. We want them to stay in the world and follow the path to the end to learn more about what they could pursue an education or career in. We have to pay attention to so many different details to ensure this happens. They are more than likely not going to stay or continue through the path if it isn’t easy and convenient to do so. If they have to go out of their way to try to figure out what to do or which way to go, they may give up. Society is very lazy today! That is just the truth of the matter.

The Watchmen graphic novel was also great. I still haven’t finished this either but not only is it an amazing original story but the way that the story is delivered is also brilliant. The graphic side of the novel certainly makes it a much more immersive experience which is exactly what we are trying to do with those who visit our virtual world for the Hero’s Journey.

Shining Light in the Darkness

Posted on by jesse

Today, I watched “Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times”. There are a couple things I want to point out here.

First, depending on where someone lives and what they do for a living, the pandemic may very well be the darkest days they have ever lived in their life. Some people may have even lost their minds due to it. Individuals were told they had to stay home and socially distance from others. This led to a new pandemic that we are currently dealing with today: loneliness. For many, Second Life and other virtual worlds such as Animal Crossing were a great opportunity to connect with others and socialize again.

Second, I feel that this video relates to what we have done in this class because everybody who used these virtual worlds to find hope during the pandemic were essentially following their own hero’s journey by interacting with objects and environments that the developers of said world had created.

I can’t say that I personally know anyone this happened to, but I am very confident that the virtual worlds of Second Life, Animal Crossing, etc. probably saved many peoples’ lives. It gave them a chance to reconnect with society, establish and maintain relationships, and have a safe place to be themselves.

I would say the best way to market our project would be through the virtual world itself, social media, signage on the Peninsula College campus, and through the college website.

Metaverse Madness

Posted on by jesse

Virtual worlds, Second Life, and the Metaverse as a whole are very immersive experiences. This is because they immerse the user much more than an older type of medium such as just reading a book which leaves a lot open to the reader for interpretation. With something like Second Life, it is much more visual. Much more hands-on. The user can be whoever they want, whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want. It’s hard to beat the amount of freedom the user has to immerse themselves in this experience. In my opinion, the only thing keeping this from being a 100% realistic, fully immersive experience would be the fact that you can’t physically walk in the world of Second Life with your physical body and physically touch the items in it. A VR headset could be used to give the user the impression they are in the world and physically interacting with everything, but I would say that’s as close as we are going to get for now. Second Life is truly amazing. You can go into this digital world and get a job, build a house, sell the house, rent property, provide services for other users, you name it!

Even graphic novels are much more immersive than just reading a standard novel. The graphic novel paints pictures for the reader and helps them feel more like they are right there inside the story with the characters. Hence, an immersive experience.

My experience with virtual worlds is still pretty limited. I have some experience with it on the internet, in video games, and a little bit of time on Second Life now, but there is still so much I don’t know or understand about the metaverse. I must say that I am very excited to learn more about it. I’m only 33 years old right now. I can’t even imagine what our technology is going to be 40 years from now. It’s mind boggling to even think about.

Marketing Me!

Posted on by jesse

It’s that time of the year again! It is time for the 10th Annual Moving Pictures Film Festival at Peninsula College. I submitted a few videos to the film festival last year. However, this year has been a little different. I have been extremely busy for most of the quarter and feel like I have been somewhat rushed to get my work done so I don’t quite feel that I’ve really been able to put my all into much. The one project that I really am putting my all into isn’t done yet either. That would be my documentary about the local non-profit, 4PA. I did throw together a quick trailer for it though! I will be submitting the trailer to the festival this year at least. I will certainly submit the final product to the film festival next year for sure. Like most creators, I’m probably just being a little too overcritical of myself and my work.

I have also had the honor of producing the film festival this year by putting all of the videos together into one video file. I’m also hoping that I will be available the night of the festival so that I can actually attend it. Sounds like I missed out last year when it was discovered that my friend who starred in a lot of my work was apparently already famous.

I will be very proud of my 4PA documentary once it is done and will market it heavily. You can count on that. I will also make sure I market the film festival on social media by sharing online posts.

The Impact of the Watchmen

Posted on by jesse

First and foremost, “Watchmen” was the first of its kind. It stood out from the crowd in an exemplary fashion. It put other comic books to shame. The writer, Alan Moore, took a more non-traditional approach to writing it. For starters, the storyline doesn’t take place in a fictional city like most other comics do. It takes place in New York city. Also, this story was portrayed as more realistic. While it is still loaded with physical impossibilities, the comic had a more real feel to it due to its setting, timeline, and character personalities. You would also find that the Watchmen graphic novel didn’t look like it fit in on a typical comic rack. The front cover would seem much more boring than that of a traditional comic book. These factors definitely made it unique.

https://screenrant.com/how-watchmen-changed-comic-books-forever/#11-cold-war-commentary

It’s been several years since I have seen the 2009 film adaptation, but I do remember owning it when I was a kid. I can recall the first time I watched it and what my reaction to it was. I could tell right from the beginning that something about this superhero story was vastly different from any other superhero story I had ever seen or read before that. There was just something about how it was filmed that made all other superhero movies seem like corny fiction but this, this was real.

https://www.vox.com/2019/10/18/20917361/watchmen-hbo-comic-superheroes-explained

This work of art was certainly one of a kind and I am still waiting to see something that tops it.

A Modern Day Rick Steves

Posted on by jesse

I’ll start off by saying that I recently caught the travel bug and fantasize of the idea of being able to travel the world and getting paid to do it. This is my newfound dream. I hope someday that I am able to have a job where I work remotely so that I may start to travel the world and zig zag across every country and continent to explore and experience all of the different foods, cultures, peoples, traditions, and history. I want to document it all create content online about all of it, therefore establishing a brand as a world traveler that educates others. I want to blog, vlog, write articles, and make lots of YouTube videos about all of my travels.

While this is only a dream, if I am able to accomplish this one day, I would hopefully be able to incorporate the virtual world into all of this and create an AR app that others could use if they begin to travel the world and experience my experiences through the app. They could use it to find and take part in the same activities that I did or to find good services that I have used and reviewed. It would basically be an interactive AR travel app. They could also use it to learn about the history of different locations. I basically want to be a younger, more hip, more modern version of Rick Steves!

Edutainment

Posted on by jesse

What is edutainment you ask? Why, it is the delivery of education while the viewer is also being entertained. The best example of this in my own memory goes back to my childhood. I won’t ever forget watching those videos in elementary school classes. Bill Nye the Science Guy. It’s hard to just say that without singing it like it was sang in the renowned television show’s hip, upbeat intro sequence.

Bill Nye certainly mastered this technique. He delivered short and sweet bits of valuable information to young viewers while often acting somewhat silly to add a factor of humor to the mix. This formula keeps things from getting stale. We tend to to tune things out when they become slow-paced, repetitive, or not as stimulating.

This day in age, we need that constant stimuli to keep our brains engaged. I apply this same method when I create training videos for the company I work at. I always try to incorporate some type of mild humor in it to keep the viewers engaged. This also ensures that they are always paying attention and willing to watch the videos in the first place because they can expect to see some funny twist on what would normally be a very dry and boring topic.

https://futureparty.com/edutainment-short-learning-videos/

https://youtu.be/g5BHxozBPuA

Proposal Comparison

Posted on by jesse

I have read through several other immersive engagement proposals and looked for connections and similarities between them and my own. I appreciate the symbolic value of the objects that Kathryn wishes to create. I feel that the reward of her gold star at the end of the hero’s quest is very comparable to my holo-projector that will display a college diploma on it.

On the other hand, Danielle’s drawing tablet item compares more to my video editing workstation I wish to place in the world. I am also hoping that this object can help them consider if it is something they would be interested in learning more about at Peninsula College. Adobe Premiere Pro can be a pretty intimidating application from first glance, but it looks sleek. I’m hoping that potential new students seeing editing taking place using the software on the virtual workstation will inspire them to look into it more.

I also drew a connection between my holo-projector item and James’ map scroll. These items share something in common. They will be handheld items that can be picked up by the users’ avatars and interacted with. I am a little intimidated by attempting to create these objects given my lack of experience with 3D design and Second Life, but am more than willing to give it a shot!

My Ultimate Level-Up

Posted on by jesse

I would have to say that I had a couple different perspective widening experiences with media. The first was when I was in Stevens Middle School in 6th grade. We would watch a daily news broadcast on the TVs in the classrooms. The broadcast was produced by the 8th grade students in Mr. Edwards’ Advanced Media Technology class. I immediately knew what I wanted to do when I got to 8th grade. I thought it was so cool that we could produce things like this as an 8th grader. Next thing you know, I was in that very class when I was an 8th grader. I stood out from the rest of the class though. I didn’t help produce the daily segment with everyone else. I was off working on my own weekly segment called “The Jesse Report”.

The second experience was more recently as an adult. This hit me once I realized there was potential for me to practice my media production skills at my current job. This got me back into the game. I had a newfound desire to chase my dreams once again. After heading down this path, I started to discover all of the technological advances we have made in media production since I was in that Advanced Media class in middle school. I hadn’t really kept up with the times to be honest.

What type of player am I, you ask? Why, I am definitely a cross between the achiever and the explorer. I love playing games like Bethesda’s Fallout & Elder Scrolls series plus the entire Assassin’s Creed franchise. The AC games are great for the integration of historical events, landmarks, and locations into a fictional storyline. These games offer a huge open world that is ripe with many different locations to discover, quests to complete, and collectibles to find.

I want to level up in life by completing the Multimedia Communications program at Peninsula College and seeing what the future brings.

Side note: I had really hoped to find an old video on YouTube of the Stevens News Network from back in the day, but had no luck.