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Full E-book

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Uploaded by TheUntitled154 on 2016-03-09.

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Unit 5  6 Visual Proposal Storyboard Structure-2

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1. What do you like?
2. What do you dislike?
3. Do you think it's audience appropriate? (5-10 year olds)

'1. The narration and the script here is brilliant, it doesn’t use words that are too complicated for the age group to understand and the rhymes are really suitable. It’s also simple enough for younger audiences to understand, the music is fitting for the simple tone of it
2. Maybe the music could be a little bit quieter during the narration? I couldn’t really hear the part about the crustacean that well on first listening
3. It’s definitely appropriate! It’s simple enough with the visuals for them to understand but it’s not condescendingly simple (if that makes any sense)? Like how it doesn’t come across as being like something for a *really* young audience'

'The music is great but it's a little loud in places so I can't really make out what the narrator is saying? But I did have it on full volume so I don't know if it's that.
I really like the music tho! It's light hearted so the video doesn't feel as heavy as the subject is.'

These were two responses that I gathered from my focus group, and they both gave me rather similar responses. From watching on their personal computers, they found that the audio levels were a little imbalanced, which created a little confusion in regards to what the characters were saying in the first place. I can see why this would be a problem, and it it something that can be fixed with an audio edit, but I see the damage in having something that sounded off or not right. I appreciate the praise and agree that the simple tone of the music truly reflects the message we were attempting to send, and I found it interesting that one participant compared the way we composed the background tracks to the simplicity and clear animation style that was displayed.

Some lovely and well expressed reflections here Kat.

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For some reason or another, this was a task that I never got around to properly completing, and I don't actually recall starting it either. This may have been because I as focusing on audio tasks, naturally, or because I had been off sick. If I was in to complete this task, I may have taken an image off of the internet, and played around with textures to see what I could create out of that, as I like the idea of mixing up different patterns and shapes in order to create something unique and different, especially in terms of children's books. You may see that I'm very inspired by Charlie and Lola, and the general work of Lauren Child, a very talented visual artist and writer who uses photography rather beautifully to mesh various ideas into something unique and special.
Sadly, I never got to do this, but I probably would have struggled if I did, and to climb out of that struggle, I would have started with the easier tasks to begin with, and then carefully made my way up. So I'd have changed the initial colour, for example, and then played around with different textures.

Great reflection considering your abscene; you could've expanded more on how Lauren Child inspired you and how her style impacted on your own work.

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Visual diary - creating characters in proportion 

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Visual diary - creating characters in proportion 

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Visual tasks are admittedly ones that I struggle with the most, so the fact that we were getting these really informative tutorials by Dave was a big help, and this is one that I actually made some progress on. A few of the Photoshop tutorials were ones I missed out on, but there was a task which involved us moving around a character in attempt to learn keyframe animation. I struggled and paced my way through this as awkwardly as I could, not on purpose, but because I find Final Cut Pro a challenging program to use, with all of the short cuts and the strange menus that I really couldn't wrap my head around.
When problem solving, I took everything slowly and went with logic, clicking on bars that would make some sense, or taking the action slowly instead of rushing my way through it. This resulted in an unfinished experiment, but it was somewhat there and a little messy.

How did this impact your final E-Book?
My various issues impacted my final E-book in the sense that it wasn't finished as quickly as it could have been, mostly because Thom had been working on the animation solo and he could have used a lot more help than I gave him in terms of animation and general design. I regret not staying later and adjusting to animating in key frames, but my vague knowledge can be put to good use whenever I get the chance to work on a project such as this one.

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Beautifully expressed and well formed to show your thoughts on your research and how you shall apply it into your own work.

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Primary research One of our initial focus groups garnered us a lot of inspiration in terms of visuals and the colours we were intending to use. For example, most of the members mentioned the movie Finding Nemo as something they initially think of when associating the ocean and fish with animated...

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Sound minutes of meetings showing a clear divide of taks and contingency planning throughout.

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The general collection of answers left us with positive feedback that was both relevant and informative to each member. We were praised on issues such as music, voice acting and animation, but the general consensus told us that the e-book was generally too long and could have been condensed down to something shorter and less bloated. Whilst I think that the length of our book was valid and necessary for the story to work, I can see where attention span may come into play, as it is quite a long watch and slightly uninteresting after the first minute or so if you're not completely invested in what's happening. Another comment the questionnaires garnered was that the ending seemed somewhat vague, and this is understandable because Thom and I struggled very much to finite a clear and definite ending, and the ending we went with was more or less to wrap the plot up and end it on a conclusive note. Next time, I hope to properly plan out a plot before jumping into it without thought.

Lovely reflection :)

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Well done Kat; a strong and informed proposal here.

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Requirements and parameters As a basic guideline, the e-book must be around 8-12 pages long, so all of the basic content and more can be placed in with no hitches. Aside from the length, the book must contain an original animation, an original soundtrack and narration. All of the content has to ...

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Kat, this is a thorough and an excellent piece of reflection to a very high standard - you have been honest (and sometimes a little too harsh on yourself I must say). You have given lots of examples and have analysed well to effect. You should be proud of this evaluation.

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UAL Unit 5 & 6 Evaluation The main objective of the project was to create an audience appropriate children's e-book, with original animation, narrative and an original soundtrack. As well as testing our practical skills and encouraging us to apply whatever creative talents we may have, the pro...

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LO: Be able to evaluate solutions to an audio/visual based problem in creative media production.
Understand and anaylse the structure and content of an evaluation
Task: Continue writing evaluation
English: Writing an Evaluation using PEE skills and critical analysis

Maths: working out timings for tasks/creating graphs and charts to display feedback.

Personal target: Get a lot further within your evaluation and maybe even finish it by the end of the session. Proof read before hand in date.

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Since the Drive video was more of an analysis than the Whiplash one, the tone was incredibly formal in comparison to the laid back review. There was a heftier amount of commentary and the description lacked massively, due to the fact that the reviewer was picking apart the movie rather than inflecting his opinion on the viewer. Both videos share buzzwords and biased language, by the analysis uses those buzzwords to describe what Drive did right, rather than why he liked Drive so much. The Whiplash video was simply describing his opinion on the movie, his opinion on the performances in the movie, as whether you (the viewer) should go out of your way to see it or not.

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Lo: Be able to evaluate solutions to an audio/visual based problem in creative media production
Understand and analyse the structure and content of an evaluation
Tasks: begin writing evaluation
Extension task: analyse evaluation writing
Personal target: Get a good half of my evaluation finished.
English: writing evaluation using PEE skills
Maths: working out timings for tasks

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Thom will be spending the evening of 29/02/2016 working on the remainder of animation, and this will continue until it's completed. He's hoping to get it finished by the following Wednesday, but for now the production will most likely be done by Thursday the 3rd of March. James and myself will be working on paperwork, in the meantime.

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LO: Be able to use an integrated approach to an audio/visual-based problem in creative media production.
1. To identify team responsibilities required to solve a visual/audio based problem.
2. To apply practical skills, understanding and methods to solve a visual/audio based problems.

Personal target: Progress as far as possible in finishing any outstanding pre-production work.

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1. Today involved similar production orientated activities from the past few weeks, and our audio was officially wrapped up today. The narration and character voices have since been edited post recording, and I'm very pleased that we managed to finish up something so important. On the visual side, it was determined that my editing skills are useless, and whilst I'm attempting to work on those, I decided to visually contribute by designing a side character. I've learnt not to force myself into doing stuff that I'm incredibly incapable of achieving, but understanding that there's not such a bad thing about attempting to hone in skills and trying hard despite myself.

2. My main problem today was my brief foray into editing. I really have trouble when it comes to technical tasks and projects that involve me using programs such as Photoshop or even Final Cut Pro. I know that with extra practice, I may be able to sort out these problems, but I honestly get very stuck and need to ask for help almost constantly. My success came in the shape of audio work, once again, as that seems to be my strongest suit, and I was proud of the end product we achieved. As a team, we're a few steps closer to completing our book and I'm proud of that feat.

3. In all honesty, my problem solving could have been a little bit more focused on actually getting the main problem at hand solved. Since Thom is doing most of the editing, I offered to contribute, but it wasn't essential for me to edit. It's what he's most confident with, and at the start we all decide to work to our individual strengths. Despite my troubles, I am improving on the technical side, and I will be attempting to reconcile my struggles with editing.

4. The final outcome gives us a completed audio track, ready to be placed under the animation that Thom is working very hard to complete. If needed, I'm happy to step in and attempt some keyframes, I have no problem trying this at all. We've been a bit of a shaky group, to be honest, but we put our differences aside to get this audio done as a team. We all contributed voices so everyone had a part in the making, and the script was a co-written job that I'm very proud of in the end.

5. As said earlier, I've learnt to not push and force myself when I understand that I do struggle with certain areas, but that doesn't mean I'm going to cease working on the areas where I really do find it hard to even work.

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- Peer assessment
- Production meeting
- Complete team targets
- Screenshot/photograph completion of targets
- Focus group questions prepared
- Hold said group
- Write up notes

Personal targets:
Complete audio section, attempt editing/visual
Completed:  I created a new character for the book as I was struggling majorly with animating and found I was better with design when it came to the visuals.

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1. Today we all completed different tasks in order to begin reaching our final product. In terms of completion, I'm happy to say that the music was completely finished within the lesson, coming from memos that I'd kept saved and various compositions I'd written down. After a lot of struggle with many audio related issues, Thom and I managed to get that element finished, the soundtrack completely original and organic. I played my instrument, a ukulele, and he mixed the track to make it sound cleaner and smoother when played behind the book. As well as this, Thom and I managed to record at least half of the dialogue, ready to be mixed.
2. We had a few problems when recording, including the fact that half of the script hadn't been finalised and finished. This will be amended whenever we next have the chance, so this means post half term, but it did mean that we had to abruptly halt that part of the session and end up with only half of the script recorded. The script will be finished by the Monday we get back, and we hope to be recording that straight away, but we really did just want a clean and coherent script. Another problem would be some of the background noise. We were next to another room that wasn't as sound proof as the girls in there may have first assumed, so obviously this meant that some of their shouting and rambling may have crept into our final audio. Fortunately, this is something that can be fixed with some mixing and hopefully it will come out as crisp as possible.
3. The final outcomes were honestly a lot nicer than I had ever expected them to be. With Thom and I creating character voices and putting our best efforts forward, we managed to record some semi-professional samples, obviously not pieces that could be marketed yet but they were as quality as we could get them, and I was proud of our efforts. I was also pleased with the music we ended up going with. We used similar chords for all three pieces, and that was to give it a sense of continuity and clarity, therefore ending up with a smooth and crisp piece of work. For example, I'd pluck out a melody on C and F for a more serene moment, and then strum those chords fast if it needed to be angry.
4. I plan to apply some audio editing and video editing skills that I have been developing to my next tasks, as I haven't had the chance to display them just yet and I'd like to put some effort into the visual side of the book. I've been concentrating heavily on the audio as that's my sort of bag, but I realise that Thom and James shouldn't be set with all of that work just because I'm unconfident, so I'd like to give that a go and contribute in the best way I can.

There is a clear and vast improvement with your diary entries - well done!

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1. We conducted an interesting focus group and proposed our basic outline of an idea to that group. They gave us vital pieces of information such as what imagery to include when you're going with an underwater theme, and a big part of our colour scheme will probably come from that focus group, They helped us tap into things that we hadn't been able to decide on as a group, and they could see our influence's which gave us conversational topics and points to jump off of.
2. Our secondary research is something that's always crucial and something we will probably continue to do throughout the project. From the secondary research, we learnt new information and began to map out the key conventions of a children's novel. This can include; vibrant colours, short text, and animals. From looking at various children's books, you can spot clear trends and similarities, and we'll possibly take some of those to ensure we have a successful book.
3. - Unable to answer.
4. - Unable to answer.
5. - Unable to answer.

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1. What did you do today?
Today we were given our brief, which is to create an e-book aimed towards children in groups.
2. I learnt small items of knowledge and became aware of what our group would be working on for the next few months or so.
3. Some issue came up that stopped me from participating in the brief practical tutorial, so sadly I wasn't able to contribute or learn anything new, neither develop new skills. This will be rendered and changed within the future when I'm able to do so, but for today I was at somewhat of a loss.
4. I need to improve my technical skills, so within programs such as Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. I always struggle due to the challenging aspect of creating animations or changing an image, which is why I've always preferred to stick to the more creative tasks such as writing or creating music, but I do I'll need to apply any kind of Photoshop skill that I may have to certain elements of the oncoming project.
5. My main problem was acesssing the program on those certain computers, and this wasn't exactly solved but I did make notes and pay attention just so I could get something out of the session.
6. My next actions will be to take extra sessions and come in on my study days just so I can practice various Photoshop techniques and get to terms with using the program. I struggle with it so often that I really do need to get to grips with it and I believe that I can start to achieve if I practice.

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1. Apply practical skills to solve a visual and audio based problem and describe the process.
2. Will apply practical skills to solve a visual and audio based problem and explain the process
3. Will apply practical skills to solve a visual and audio based problem and critically evaluate the process.

Personal target: make progress on recording audio

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1. To identify team responsibilities required to solve a visual-based problem
2. To apply practical skills, understanding and methods to solve a visual-based problem

3. All will be able to apply practical skills to solve a visual and audio based problem and describe the process.
4. Most will apply practical skills to solve a visual and audio based problem and explain the process.
5. Some will apply practical skills to solve a visual and audio based problem and critically evaluate stuff.

Target: Start the composition for the e-book and possibly have most of it finished.

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LO: Be able to use an integrated approach to an audio/visual-based problem in creative media production 1. To identify team responsibilities required to solve a visual/audio based problems 2. To apply practical skills, understanding and methods to solve a visual/audio based problem Personal target: Understand what you have left to do in terms of pre-production tasks and make a list. English: Writing team minutes in correct format using formal language and conventions Maths: Working out timings for tasks, minutes of meetings, sound effects and animations

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Lauren Child’s backgrounds are generally very simple, usually only featuring two or three different colours or patterns. She uses a lot of simple, block colours, making it pleasing to the eye. The backgrounds are also relevant to the target audience, sporting an “arts and crafts” aesthetic, through the use of fabric-like textures.

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LO: Be able to use an integrated approach to an audio/visual-based problem in creative media production
- Demonstrate the ability to plan, organise and present ideas for a children's e-book
- To apply practical skills, understanding and methods to solve a visual based problem
- Identify your own personal target for the session and review at the end

Personal target:
Improve photoshop skills or at least practice.

English: Writing a final draft of a script
Maths: Working out timings for the tasks

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Script [Opening page is on a vast blue sea, a school of fish in the distance, we then cut into the fish on the next page, the smallest of them with an odd colouring floats nervously.] [Wanda, one of the group members scoffs down to the odd fish, and whispering begins in the crowd, as word and l...

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The pacing of this scene is one thing that's particularly interesting, as the music that the conductor dictates is controlled, careful, predictable, straight in a line with somewhere to go, but the music that the drummer plays is fast and angry and determined, and it really shows you the difference between their characters. The conductor rules the roost, he seems to know what he's doing, but he thinks he's in control, and the drummer sets out to prove that he has the control, he can create a statement with the music he makes. That scene defines the nature of either character in a strong way, but it also turns the dynamic that they'd carried throughout the film upside down.

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LO: - Be able to analyse an audio-based problem in creative media production - Identify key vocal elements and their purpose within media that reflect character/mood - Solve problems with audio and assess methods to resolve issues - Identify your own personal targets for the session Target this week: Engage more vocally with the rest of the class and push yourself to a higher degree English: Reading and interpreting scripts Maths: Working out timings for audio voice and script recordings

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For starters, our focus groups were a big influence on how the art styles would be conceived and then executed, so they gave us the ability to take our creative freedom and expand them with further ideas and fuller catalogues of creativity. It was conducted to help flesh out any thoughts we had and we have certainly taken it into account, maybe me more than the others, but it was still taken. The secondary research was just as beneficial, as it gave me the chance to properly observe the market and see what was popular within the audience. I found that many novels seemed to be favourites of children, such as the Harry Potter books and even The Hobbit, but basic books such as Goodnight Moon or The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar popped up, due to their simplicity and carefully constructed aesthetic's. The novels were both fantasy books, and ones that stick with children into their adult years, so it would be interesting to take a long form approach with our e-book, longer paragraphs and sharper visuals, though I don't think it would suit our target audience. Today involved a problem solving activity that invovled us taking the sketches we completed last week and attempting to add colour and/or texture to them with Photoshop. As a Photoshop novice, I was pretty awful when it came to basic functions, and struggled heavily with creating something that looked nice, because I honestly had no idea what I was doing, but after I'd calmed down and erased a couple of mistakes, I overcame my blank page by experimenting with colour and seeing what I could really do. I played with shading and texture and overcame my issues by selecting the correct tools and working to my current ability. Of course I can improve, but for now I was happy to give it a go. I was happy with my colour schemes, and this is something that can help the e-book for sure, as we'd need a clear palette and I know I have a good eye for that.

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500 Days Of Summer - Expectations VS Reality scene

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500 Days Of Summer - Expectations VS Reality scene

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This scene uses music as well as digetic sound to provoke the emotion that the protagonist feels and the song moves seamlessly between the dual situations, lyrics resonating so carefully for a song that had been pre-recorded before the movie was created. It reflects the character of Tom so well, and allows you to feel sympathy with him, sympathy that the rest of the movie hadn't properly encouraged before, and that's all down to the perfect placement of the song, Hero by Regina Spektor. It all blends incredibly well to set a sombre and hopeless tone, letting you in on the fact that Summer and Tom was doomed from the very start of the movie.

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Fairly Oddparents https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no8vgXg_rlw This theme song was so stand out to me as a kid, the principal characters featuring within it and the main story pushing the songs narrative. The upbeat pace of the song resonated with the constant shifting of story and plot from episode to episode, and it was just a lot of fun to be lead into that show most days with an equally as bombastic theme tune. It really got you excited to watch it, despite any mood. Kim Possible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIirnrn1vVI This opening was a little slicker than most cartoon openings, as the show in general was targeted more predominantly to the latter end of childhood years. It settled really neatly within the music of it's time and made all kinds of sense in that context. The guitar mixed with the sample sounds from the show worked really well to set the mood and tone, whilst staying faithful and true to the message and ideals. Steven Universe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfKUdmTq2MI A more recent show but it's a good callback to old cartoon openings and prepares you for the adventure and antics ahead, with the 4 leads providing different vocals to different sections and reflecting on the message of teamwork that runs throughout the series. It's bright and upbeat, but not paralysingly cheesy, using electronic sounds and a ukulele to create a positive sound and mood, regardless of what the episode brings in store.

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To be able to: - Analyse an audio-based problem in creative media production - Understand the use of music within various media forms - Identify key elements and their purpose within musical scores that reflect character/mood - Solve problems with audio and assess methods to resolve issues and identify your own personal target for the session and review at the end Personal target: Come out of your shell and allow your own ideas to shine without feeling ashamed of them.

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Today was a day of researching and designing, and I felt very in my element with the latter of the tasks. We looked through various children's books and explored the various components, as well as conducting a focus group that was albeit a little messy. I wish that we could have redone that rather than just left it, but we got most of the information that we'd needed and finished a document to add to the general portfolio. Tasks like these make me nervous, but with the help of my group members, it was finished and we could move onto the character designing task that came after a break. Straight away, I was drawing pictures of various fish and trying to get a good feel for what exactly I wanted them to look like. I don't claim to be an artist at all, but I am creative and I thought that if someone had to put the effort in, I'd do it. We're probably not going to go for a hand drawn book as our whole group isn't very comfortable with art, but a cut and paste design could be fun. It was suggested in our focus group and it seems like it could translate well with our fish themed endevaours.

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1. To develop primary and secondary research skills to develop solutions to a brief.
2. To understand how to solve visual imaging problems using proportion.
Maths target - calculating percentages of focus group data
English target - Develop questioning and research analysis skills

Primary research - peer focus group Q&A

Secondary research - mind map and mood board of ideas

Illustration techniques - character sketches using proportion

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I had to take an absence today due to an illness that had been spreading around the house, and whilst it was unfortunate, it meant that I could do the work from home, which I always somewhat prefer, even if it's not the most ideal situation. There are a lot of negatives that come with taking a day off, and missing most of the work is one of the main reasons, as you can't get the full information from a lesson at home through your computer, although technology these days makes it convenient and even easier to rest up and take a day off for yourself. It's not something I like to do regularly, as I feel like I may have missed a lot more than I really should be missing. I'll try to be in for the next lesson, but I wouldn't like to spread my illness around and around just before Christmas.

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Due to my previous illness that had stopped me from coming in, I had to take another absence, but I was briefly able to interact with my group to talk ideas and concepts for our children's book. Using a video calling service, I was able to be within the class, give my own opinions and share answers, even though I clearly wasn't feeling too well in the slightest. This was useful as it allowed me to be in another place even when I was unwell and unable to leave the house, but of course it didn't give me the full experience of being in the room and properly interacting. That there was my main problem, my group couldn't get a solid idea down properly and me not being there was part of the reason as to why it was unsuccessful. Fortunately, I don't plan on taking many days off sick in the future, but just for now, keeping contact with my group and working through the holidays are solutions that can fix big problems

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In order to import an image from your computer onto Photoshop, you choose file and then select open, which will take you into your documents.  After that, quickly find and choose the item you want to load up, and you can even sort out the dimensions to be a little more specific if really needed. You should now have a layer, and can add further ones if needed.

To add a texture, do the same process of opening an image onto photoshop with whatever image you'd like to add as a texture. Add it to a separate layer so you can overlay the material and then blend it in. This will see you editing the options that are already on the image, start this by bringing the image to a greyscale. After this, select overlay onto the image and select create clipping mask. Change the saturation back if needed and it should be ready.

Pictures could've helped here of your actual experimentation however it's still a good piece.

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- Most of the protagonists for that audience are animals or the story/book will feature animals - Bright eye-catching and fun colours - Visuals are a bigger focus than words, so story is much simpler

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- Character based story with possibly something music based - use your own music knowledge and what not - mic can come into use - animation/maybe stop motion? depends on the overall idea - work on teamwork skills - edit smoothly for the animation to run nicely - looking for something appropriate and friendly, as well as engaging and possibly informative

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Understand the contents of units 5 and 6. Identify the purpose and contents of a brief. Be able to analyse an audio-based problem in creative media production. Solve problems with audio and assess methods to resolve issues. Personal target: Feel a little more confident with talking to people you're not as comfortable with. H/W Reflect on the learning process with a podcast diary.