Konnor Abram is Born!

Konnor Abram is born!!!

Here is some pics.  Taking a couple months off from school to take care of my wife and new baby!

Chocolate and Vanilla - Final Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0XiEPBbrbE

Here is my final project of this course.  I really enjoyed making this since my daughter is the main attraction.  It's a good adoption story!

Wait For Me

This is the music video for Week 2 of this Audio and Video course.  The footage, well I wish I had the equipment to take this type of film, but it is from straycinema.com.  They posted all this footage of a film about to be released, and let everyone do their own edit of the film.  You then can post it to their website.  It doesn't look like all the film but at least its enough for everyone to make their own version on how they see the story.  The music was from Moby's "Wait For Me".  straycinema.com had a link to a website that Moby has with a collection of free songs you can use in your projects so long as you e-mail them and explain your film and that you don't make any money off it.  So, strictly for festival or student films.  I was trying to make a story for this music video.  I hope I succeeded.

Week 1 - Bank Heist

This was the product of week 1 of Applied Audio and Video.  We were given as an exercise this really old footage of a dramatized bank heist, probably made in the late seventies by film students.  I did have a lot of fun with the footage though and hopefully made it interesting.  

Family comes first

      The month of July was supposed to be a great class.  "Camera and Image"  Sounds great right?  Taking pictures of whatever you want and really studying the art of photography.  I decided to drop this class.  I did it for family.

 We planned a trip to the Grand Canyon with my in-laws for a family reunion.  Since we were at a campground, and very little opportunity to find a wi-fi connection to turn in assignments and I would also be missing a week and a half of class, I decided to drop it.  Part of me wishes I could have taken that class but I put family first in all things.  Also, it has been a nice month off without any assignments to turn in.  The Photoshop class was fun but a lot of hours go into projects, especially if you aren't proficient at the software.  I am a bit apprehensive about this next month's class.  I think its the part of me that wishes to be idle when I come home from work or over the weekend.  Now, due to the class as well as other work commitments, I probably won't be idle at all, ever.  The new class starts on 9 July in about a week or so.  This is going to be "Digital Video Editing" which is going to be great!  I will have some videos to post on this blog.  Video is my niche anyways.

Here are some trip photos!

Native American Dancing at the Rim

Grand Canyon Rim

Roswell NM.  Just passing through

Tired after Grand Canyon Rim sight-seeing
and trying to keep Breanna's hat from
getting lost in the wind.

 

Images Four and Five for Final Portfolio.  I really like the way they turned out.

Image Three of Five

Here is Image Number 3.  This was my wife's idea and it was awesome!  She can be my inspiration, sometimes she has better ideas than me.  We just got this ultrasound as mentioned before and this image was composited between two ultrasound pictures.  The head was from one ultrasound and the body was from another.  I composited them together, add in a little toy just to make sure he is having fun in there.  I really like the way it turned out.

Here is my second image for this week's final project.  I think it turned out really well.  This is my attempt to the surrealistic which I really like.  It's always really interesting to look at and look at some more.  Well I have two more, no wait, three more to go before Sunday midnight.  It has been one crazy week.  I can't seem to find the time for myself to get these projects done.  Being a husband of a pregnant wife and a father with other responsibilities that have to be dealt with is really tough.  We are wrestling with the IRS so they can give us the adoption tax credit which is a real beast.  There is more waiting since they want more documentation.  I can't lie, it's nice that they are willing to give us that money just for adopting but it's really tough waiting for this check.  The budget is wound up so tight right now.  Oh well.  We are really learning a lot about ourselves.

Exciting Packed Day

So, good news today.  Today Breanna turned one year old today.  Money is tight so a party WAS out of the question since we couldn't afford it but we can have a small party on Saturday with cake and maybe ice cream.  Also exciting, we found out that our unborn little girl is actually a boy!  Thanks to high tech 3-D ultrasounds we could see everything in high res.  It was a good day Tater!

This is the first image of five for my final project.  First of all, as always this turned out differently than I planned.  I was going to put a tree in the middle of the glass ball but it turned out as a tribute to Japan and their struggle to heal from the Tsunami instead.  I hope you like it.

Memorial Day 2012 - Reflections

So I need to come up with five images for my final project and I have three solid ideas that I want to work with.  Two of my ideas have to do with trees.  I don't know why.  Maybe I am a closet tree hugger.  I am frustrated that I haven't gotten any grades from my WEEK 2 projects and it has been nine days since I turned those in.  I think this may be one of the longest waits for grades I have ever run into.

I don't remember mentioning this but my wife is pregnant.  She is due late August so I may have to cancel August's class.  Possibly September class.  Sam is going to need me.  I hate missing class but this is too important.  Thank goodness for paternal leave.

Talking to a member of my church the other day has made me really want to think about getting out of the military.  The man I talked to at church, I really thought he was a Master Sergeant in the Air Force, turns out he is only an E-5 and he is now planning on getting out of the military. Getting out means that I really want to finish school by the time I am done here in Texas.  That makes me a little scared to think about.  I could get out and get a government job or go right into something my degree will lead me towards.  I know I can make more money as a civilian with my job experience in the military but it doesn't interest me as much as a film editing job or anything that has to do with my degree path will take me.  Maybe I can do those things on the side.  I think this is what every military man thinks about.  Ironically, I write this very blog on Memorial Day 2012.  Seems inappropriate to talk about leaving the military on a day like this.   I will just retain a portion of my mind centered on those who are standing the watch in Afghanistan or those that are still in Iraq however small numbers they may be.  We should think about, and not just on Memorial Day, those who are knowingly going into hostile terrain who run towards it like a finish line.  

Well I can't think of nothing more to say, it had just seemed like it had been a while since I published anything, it does help just writing this to keep going with school.

Developing my vision.

Reading this week's essay on Developing Vision has really led me to believe that art is a lot harder than I thought.  Because I am not sure what my vision is.  I know that I want to be happy and that I want to raise a family.  I know I want to have work that I can get excited about which is why I chose this degree field.  I am required to really look deep within myself and find that vision.  One thing I can put my finger on is that my art can illustrate how I see the world.  How do I see the world?  That can take too long to explain.  I really hope that I can express it in the art to follow.

Here are the two images that I am most proud of.  There were four images due but the other two I couldn't get right.  I really like how the logo turned out.  It looks very runic in a way.  Pegdaar is a nickname I picked up while serving on the USS Bunker Hill.  Every guy in the division had a nickname.  I must have had four or so nicknames before this one stuck.  Pegdaar the Destroyer.  Sounded like a warrior from old times.  I thought this logo captured it.  The other one, my wife helped me with the composition a little.  I think it really turned out well.  The footprints are Breanna's when she was born.

Logo?

Here is the assignment.

Using your name or your "company name" select a typeface and utilize it in an image.
Please think of Color, Design, and Type attributes when doing so.
You may have the type over a photo or any other type of background that may be relevant
to your style.

If you really want to challenge yourself try to create a complete logo that embodies
your personality or your company.


You know it's funny how you know when you get an assignment about something creative that embodies your own personality and that naturally leads you to a creative block?!  Why would my own personality be so foreign to me that I don't really know how to express it in art?  Tonight is a online class meeting so I hope it goes well.  I also haven't recieved a grade for last week's assignment yet.  I turned in the image on time but realized there may be something wrong with it because Facebook wasn't uploading it properly.  I fixed it and now its running normally.  I then uploaded the fixed assignment to my instructor and there doesn't seem to be any record of me turning in any assignment on the day before it was due.  I explained the situation but I am only half worried that this may affect my grade.  I think the instructor should be cool and give me full credit.

First Week Back to School Down

If you are reading this blog, thank you so much!  If you are you are probably a Facebook friend or a family member that I have told about.  I don't know if many people outside of my "friends list" will actually read this.  I am not writing this so people can click "Like" and get self satisfaction that people "Like" me.

I have been slowly progressing in my Bachelor's Degree for, let's just say, "some time".  I know its because as you may know being a member of the human race, life happens and your personal objectives get put aside for cuter "my wife" and smaller, cuter beings, "my daughter and one on the way" than myself.  But look at me blaming my laziness on other people!  I can get burned out after the first two classes and a break is in order.  But, not anymore.  Not if my wife has anything to say about it that is... you know what I'm talking about.  I need something to keep me going, to vent and to celebrate to the small world.  I will be posting my latest creations.  Although, I don't think I will post my latest creation, since there may be copyrights about it.  I don't know, maybe I will here it is.  I really love Alfred Hitchcock and his films and I am not sure why it took me that long to come up with it.  I really hope this blog will add more fun to this degree plan, Bachelor's Degree of Digital Media.