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Can We Help You? Video for Loyola DMS

By • On • In Instruction and Curriculum Development, Productions, Teams and Groups

Annually, there are massive updates to the online training courses for the Digital Media Services student workers. While planning media to highlight the vast array of equipment available through the department’s Equipment Loan Program, the team of supervisors differed in their ideas for what the video in training should look like.

Alma created storyboards for the three video variations and shot the footage for all of the videos simultaneously. Then she edited the video to each of the storyboard specifications. The video below is meant to promote the use of the equipment loan program because of its equipment selection and the friendliness of the staff. While students are not supposed to remember the entire list of equipment pieces, they should walk away with the impression that we have just about anything they need.

Alma shot the video using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. She edited the footage using Adobe Premiere CS6 with titles from Adobe After Effects CS6.

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Timelapse with Tilt-Shift Effect

By • On • In Photos and Videos

Video shot at one frame per two seconds on BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera.

Tilt-shift effect added in Adobe AfterEffects CS6

The Lycee Français de Chicago is opening a new school adjacent to some property Alma has access to. She perched with her Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera up on the 6th floor and shot timelapse video (one frame per two seconds) for the entire groundbreaking ceremony.

Alma added a Tilt-Shift look in Adobe After Effects to enhance the miniature feel that was already present in the footage.

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Sustaining Productivity Presentation at LUC Tech Day 2014

By • On • In Presentations, Self-Teaching

Using Evernote to embrace digital notetaking

There are a myriad of notetaking solutions available now, but Alma found Evernote first. Alma presented about Evernote and how it shortens the time between scribble and recycle. She can digitize, photograph, clip, crop, speak-to-text and embed with Evernote to save just about anything she needs to take note of. Then once the note is in the cloud, it can be organized by notebooks and tags. Alma can search the full text or OCR and even set a reminder. All of the above in any combination or permutation needed to get things done.

View the complete presentation from TechDay here (link uses Adobe Connect).

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Chad & Jeremy Collaboration

By • On • In Client Work, Design and Web, Photos and Videos, Productions

Chad & Jeremy, British Invasion Duo known for their Billboard hits Yesterday’s Gone, Summer Song, Distant Shores, Before and After, and more, reunited in 2004 and have toured since then, also appearing on several television and radio specials and PBS appearances.

Alma joined their team as official photographer and videographer in late 2013, touring with them in 2013 and 2014.

Alma’s main accomplishments since beginning this collaboration are:

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CCUMC Presentation- Computer Labs: Typing to Digital Media Powerhouses

By • On • In Presentations, Teams and Groups

Alma presented this with her Digital Media Services colleagues at the CCUMC (Consortium of College and University Media Centers) Conference in Oak Brook, Illinois in October 2013.

The presentation focuses on the evolution of on-campus computer labs throughout the past decades, from the time when personal computers were prohibitively expensive and dial-up internet created issues for family houses to now. The ubiquity of mobile computing and cloud software has placed a very different set of demands on computing spaces, including fast access to printing or kiosks, high-power creative and statistical software, and access to protected databases.

The presentation is available for review here.

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Chad and Jeremy Artwork Restoration

By • On • In Client Work, Design and Web

The first task Alma undertook during her work with Chad and Jeremy was to restore a piece of vintage promotional artwork from a show in the mid-sixties.

The original artwork was not accessible and was scanned at a low resolution, the resulting image looked heavily distressed. Alma used what remained of the image and the promotional photos used by the original artist to restore the image and make it high resolution enough for use in promotional materials. At the request of Chad and Jeremy, Alma also removed the cigarette from Jeremy’s hand.

Alma created a cameo alternate logo without the filigree edging for use in smaller items.

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Video Competencies Online Courses

By • On • In Instruction and Curriculum Development, Productions, Teams and Groups

October 2012 – May 2013, as Digital Media Specialist at Loyola University Chicago

Alma planned, developed and created a multi-tiered curriculum on Video Production. Using Articulate Studio 8, the short tutorials were made of powerpoints combined with narrative media and multimedia interactions and short assessments. Alma did have the assistance of several part-time staff, one was dedicated to the project for 10 hours per week for three months. A large part of the curriculum development involved teaching those who assisted with the development of the training media.

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Snell Wedding videos and DVD

By • On • In Client Work, Design and Web, Productions, Volunteering

Snell Wedding DVD Cover (Mockup)Alma had never shot video at a wedding before, so to be asked by her two close friends Courtney and Andy not only set a precedent, but it set goals at a very high level. Alma was present for much of their relationship, and she wanted to use this opportunity to show them how much they meant to her.

Alma used the video camera they received as a shower gift, so they could watch the footage and continue adding footage while on their honeymoon. This added an additional need for some speedy transferring of video during the reception, but Alma was able to give them the wonderful surprise of two short (snapshot) videos and a full DVD. Alma designed the DVD case to look like a feature film, complete with a plot, guided by the story of how they met and fell in love.

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Video Short Courses

By • On • In Instruction and Curriculum Development, Presentations

The series of video production short courses Alma developed for Loyola University Chicago included basic concepts in three different areas: preparation, production software, and special effects.

The workshop on preparation includes the different styles of pre-production documents, breaking them down and including what special needs they meet depending on workflow. Alma’s presentation on production software, or the Non-Linear Editor, is a mixture of background knowledge and workflow. This ties closely to Alma’s educational values, she has always felt that knowing why something is the way it is factors largely in how it is understood. The last presentation, on the Green Screen special effect covers how the effect works, and how it can be used.

With the increased access to high caliber video production tools, these presentations were supposed to entice the Loyola community to use video, and teach a little more about why things work (or don’t work) the way they do.

For more details on the specific topics of these presentations:

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