Fridays in Phoenix

Pulp Fiction, poorly recreated in Storyboard That

The idea for my final project came accidentally, when Pierre asked is it possible to make video from panels in Storyboard That. I asked yes, but it would look really rudimentary. I still decided to try, with scenes from one of my favourite films. This is, by definition, a stop-motion animation. Panels are made from resources offered in Storyboard that, than screen-grabbed and edited in Premiere Pro. The process is very limiting, because there is only so much characters and features offered in Storyboard That. On the other side, this make it easier,  because real stop-motion animation, where author controls every aspect of the material is very long and difficult process. 

The Craving for Freedom

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, about 4 in 5 victims of intimate partner violence in the United States are female. In France, 89% of people who suffered from domestic violence are women. In most cases, women who suffered or are still undergoing domestic violence are trapped in their relationship. They remain in it because they fear being rejected by their religious community and relatives, or to protect their children while suffering. In fact, the weight that society holds over our choices, decisions, and lives can be so heavy to the point that people spend their whole lives suffering what others determine as being their path, to the detriment of their well-being and fulfillment.

Many people prefer to live in the denial of themselves, obscuring the reality by telling themselves that things will eventually work out over time, forgetting that nothing changes unless and until they decide to change it.

THE CRAVING FOR FREEDOM is a fiction that addresses the situation of those who have suffered and/or are still suffering from intimate partner violence and social rejection, to free themselves by overcoming their fears. This novel presents and discusses different themes, scenes, stories from different cultures, against a backdrop of intrigue and passions. It’s a condensed mix of spirituality, religion, sexuality, philosophy, and science, in a style of writing easily accessible to the general public. It aims to lead readers to develop a high level of “self-awareness” and “self-presence” by liberating themselves from social expectations and pressures that keep them submissive, so as to give meaning to their existence by “frightening the fears that frighten them”.

When I Grow Up

The Girl and The Beast - A Short Story

For my final project, I wrote a creative short story and created GIF illustrations with some of my favorite quotes. Figuring out the process for what I saw in my head was the most challenging part. I knew I wanted to somehow be able to see the words being written out, and I knew how to make GIFs from class, but I didn’t know how to get from step one to a final product. Additionally, Medium works better with GIFs than video files, and I wanted the animations to automatically play as you read along.

After some research, I discovered that a drawing/painting app I have on my iPad (ProCreate) can record a timelapse of your canvas as you create the artwork. I used this tool to record myself creating the quote illustrations, which were saved to my iPad as 5 second videos. From there, I uploaded the videos to Photoshop, edited them to be at a slower speed, cut out the parts I didn’t like, and exported them as GIF files.

Overall, I am proud of the work I created. It was fun to doodle on my iPad and illustrate words that I had written. I had originally wanted to submit my Medium story to a publication on Medium, but in the process of writing, I decided to submit it to Canyon Voices instead. It is an ASU creative writing magazine, and they accepted my work. It will be published in upcoming edition! I’m excited to be published not only as a reporter, but as a creative author too. 

I also signed up to be part of Medium’s Partner Program, which allows writers to receive compensation for their work, depending on how much interaction it gets from Medium users. We’ll see how it goes!

Miles Away From Home

Disney and sports: Is the House of Mouse a sports power house?

For my final project, I used Medium to display my writings on Disney’s involvement with sports. Each section has different forms of media to display what I was trying to say. 

The first section is a short story on why Super Bowl winners say, “I’m going to Disney World!” after the game. This was told through Headliner because it’s a story. I wanted to guide you along the process of how it became a thing.

The second section is a timeline on Disney’s involvement with sports. I wanted to show how long they owned certain teams and what is still ongoing. 

The third section took the longest, but was fun. I originally thought about showing the films in Disney+, but I realized that I should be creative and do them in an artistic way. I remembered that we learned how to use Storyboard That, and I went with it. It was hard to find accurate objects and scenes for these movies, but I was happy that there was a sports section. I also had to watch the films again that I hadn’t seen in a long time. And then I wrote what I felt about them.

This project was fun and I’m so glad that I get a space to combine two things I love: Disney and sports.

First, Not Last

Here for my final project in Advanced Online Media, I created a Weebly page to host a small collection of mixed media articles chronicling my final months as an undergraduate student at Arizona State University. 

I am the first person in my immediate family to receive a bachelor's degree. I evaluate my own journey and what other students experience in similar situations. I also take a glance at whether education policy is Arizona is helping at all.

Christmas Around the World

For my final project, I made a Tumblr account with a brief overview of how Christmas is celebrated in five countries: the United States, Japan, Peru, New Zealand and Italy. Initially, I planned on using Medium for my project, but it wasn’t turning out the way I was envisioning — even when I made the Tumblr, I had to tweak the HTML to make it look closer to how I’d like (and I imagine I will have to continue to tweak it as I add more content).

Moving from Downtown to Tempe — Is it the Right Decision?

For my final project, I wanted to assemble detailed research on a potential move from Phoenix to Tempe. My internship takes place out there, and I believed that most of my waking hours were spent there as opposed to Phoenix. To supplement my decision, I looked at factors such as pricing, a construct of my weekly schedule, professional opportunities, class restrictions and more. 

At the same time, I wanted to make sure that this project wasn’t independent. I interviewed three people, Matt Boerner, Matt Chupek and Rob Werner, who each began their college careers as sports journalists while living in Downtown Phoenix. The first two guys elected to move to Tempe while Rob chose to stay in Phoenix. I asked them specific questions about my concerns and found it helpful in building an ultimate decision. 

Along with these videos, my project consists of a pair of infographics and charts to back up my choice. 

For my final project, I started a gameplay series on my pre-existing gaming blog about a game called Stardew Valley. Within this series there are articles with tips and tricks on particular subjects within the game. I paid close detail to the permissions I was granted to use screenshots of my game in each post. 

I set up a special page on my blog that has the posts, the game creator’s first trailer and easy access to contact me with suggestions. For each post, i made an edit with the title. I plan on making this an ongoing part of my blog and I’ll be adding some more elements leading up to December 9th so stay tuned. 

Generation Gap

Mandalorian in Sonoran Desert

Downtown Phoenix Eats Final Project

For my final project, I used Medium to write three restaurant reviews for food places in downtown Phoenix. They are Pizzeria Bianco, Taco Chelo, and Matt’s Big Breakfast. At the bottom of each review, I included star ratings on different aspects of the restaurant, from the quality to the creativity.  

I also wanted to display some of the skills we learned throughout the semester so for each restaurant, I made a different media element. For Matt’s I used the text tool and filters in Photoshop to create a map of their different locations. For Pizzeria Bianco, I made a headliner video with text and photos I took at the restaurant. Lastly, I made a gif in Photoshop of someone flipping tortillas at Taco Chelo.

I created my own publication called Downtown Phoenix Eats and published my stories there. I hope you enjoy! Here is the link.