The Finale

We have reached the end of another very fruitful, instructive, and exciting class this semester. In our Electronic Media Production II class, we learned about different social media platforms, had the opportunity to explore different ways to present projects,  and we learned about the world of blogging through the amount of post and type of post we had to do.

Twitter has revolutionized the way we communicate with others across the world and the way in which we share news. Due to Final Exams, having 6 classes and a job, and becoming the technology director at my church, I haven't been as active as normal on Twitter. I did tweet the Facebook Live link from my church service on Sunday and during the break I plan to tweet more of my thoughts and share my blogs. 

On Twitter I am Zach_Mr2Cool. 

This is a screenshot of my profile page.

Been that since I initially joined Twitter. I'm Zach and I'm cool so no need to change. I enjoy Twitter. I learned how hashtags work more in detail and connected with more people as a result of this class.

Linkedin is one of the more professional social media classes. Linkedin is for people who are trying to network with other professionals. Linkedin functions as what some people have called a brag sheet. You create a profile and you tell all your accomplishments in academics and other awards that you have won.

You show the world the best version of you. If the right person sees your information they can connect with you directly or connect you to someone else that can use you or see what kind of talents you can use to help them.

You can view my profile by clicking here.

Pinterest is the newest site to me because I've never used it or been on it. From my experience, Pinterest is really a giant collection of pictures and collage like spaces called boards that can be used to explore your deepest interest and express them.

I created boards for my favorite basketball team the Lakers, another board that uses scriptures and other powerful things to help people get through their days and to keep people uplifted when they are beginning to get stressed, and on my last board I will be posting my favorite songs and artist there so that people can be exposed to some good, positive, uplifting, Christian based music.

You can view my Pinterest site by clicking here.

Prezi is another site we experimented with. Prezi is like Microsoft PowerPoint on steroids! Prezi has so many features and things that you can do with it that it's almost confusing if not for the tutorials and helpful hints. I struggled through making my first Prezi but it was a productive experience and I could see myself using Prezi again for future presentations.

My Top 10 Prezi presentation was so fun. I did the top 10 quotes or things that I tell myself to stay encouraged and to stay focused. You can watch it by clicking here which will take you directly to my blog post about it.



For our green screen project we had to show everyone where we want to be. I chose the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. I started with a basic picture of the Eiffel Tower.

Then I took a picture of myself in front of a green screen so that I could blend it in with the picture of the Eiffel Tower.

To blend the pictures, we used the Adobe Premiere software and an effect in it called Keying.
Keying allows you to remove the green screen background behind you and leave just you on top of the photo.

After that, I simply add text on top to let everyone know that this is where I want to be.

I have been using green screen for a while now and this project allowed me to see another avenue that I can use the green screen to do. I've only used green screens for videos and virtual sets so this was a brand new experience for me.

Kizoa was a site I never heard of before. It sounded like something crazy to me, maybe even an instrument. But Kizoa is like an online movie maker. You can drop clips or pictures together and create slideshows with different effects and music included to play in the background. They even have templates that you can use to do your slideshow. I really like that all your videos are saved on the site and that you can download them anywhere as long as you are logged in to your account.

For my first Kizoa, we had to do a Bulldog Scavenger Hunt around our campus and make a video slideshow using Kizoa. You can view mine directly below.

I enjoyed Kizoa even though it was more confusing than I wanted it to be.

This semester has truly been one of the most fun for me. Through this class I was able to become more knowledgable of social media sites and other presentation sites. I was able to learn more about editing in Adobe Premiere and was able to teach other some of the things I've learned. I also experienced what it's like to have to be consistently updating a blog.

That's the most interesting discovery I may have made all semester. Blogging requires consistency and dedication. And I learned how to blog more effectively and reader friendly like not having a bunch of text jumbled up together, including captions with pictures, and including a good bit of links for readers to click on and using effective tags so that readers can easily find my post and search my blog.

I had a blast this semester and if you'd like to view my awesome teacher Mr. Harwood's class blog, you can by clicking here.

Thank you for joining me as I reflect on a great year! Stay tuned for what's next! 

Bulldog Hunting with Kizowa

This was one of the funnest things I've did this year. We went on a Bulldog Scavenger Hunt around the beautiful campus of South Carolina State University where we had to find and take pictures of the Bulldogs we found. I included my favorite finds.

Kizoa is a site we used to create this slide show. Kizoa is unlike Prezi or other video makers. I think the site has everything you need to create very good video even music that you can add directly from the site. It is fairly easy to use and doesn't make you do much of the work.

The Kizoa Assistant feature pops up often and is very helpful when you're constructing your masterpiece.

Here is my presentation! I encourage you to use Kizoa on your next presentation.








Kizowa

Where I Want to Be

I really want to be in Paris, France to visit the Eiffel Tower. So many people I know have visited it and said that it was amazing so I'm ready to see what all the hype is about.

This image was created using Adobe Premiere Pro. With the help of a green screen and the Keying Effects in Adobe Premiere, I was able to place myself in a picture of the Eiffel Tower, coming out to look like I took a selfie in front of it.

I started with this picture of the Eiffel Tower. 

\

I took a picture in front of the green screen with a little smirk. 

I added myself into the picture and used the keying effects as I described earlier. 

And finally I added text to show the world where I want to be! 

Have some fun and put yourself where you want to be!!!! 

Prezi Presents: Notes to Myself

Prezi is an amazing alternative to doing presentations. They have many custom templates to choose from and give you the option to bring in your own image to use as a background as well. It is alot smoother than Powerpoint to me.

 It's so interactive and attractive to me that I would advise anyone to at least give it a try. For my first Prezi I did the top 10 things that I say to myself! Enjoy.

Pinterest Peeks Much Interest

Pinterest is a giant collection of pictures and collage like spaces called boards that can be used to explore your deepest interest.

From sports to food to tattoos to whatever you love, you can find it on Pinterest. Pinterest was founded by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp and launched in March of 2010. Before making one, I never have been on Pinterest or knew that much about it.

I have a board for my favorite NBA team the Lakers which has a few of the players from the team on it and I hope to add more to it soon of Lakers legends and icons. It is called Laker.

 I have another board for encouragement called "HELP". The idea for this board is to use scriptures and other powerful things to help people get through their days and to keep people uplifted when they are beginning to get stressed.

My last board, CHH MUSIC, is for music because many people look at me crazy when I say I only listen to gospel music and christian rap. People think Christian rap can't be good and real so I will be posting my favorite songs and artist there so that people can be exposed t some good, positive, uplifting, Christian based music.



Whole Foods has a very appealing Pinterest page to me. My girlfriend is vegan. Yes, completely vegan. No dairy, no gluten, nothing. So as a result, I've been to Whole Foods enough times that I should work there.


There Pinterest is full of just great recipes for any time, any season, or any mood. Seeing all the food and meals and recipes makes you want to go there and get the ingredients which I believe is the goal. Not only do we want you to make good meals, but you can't make many of these meals without coming here to shop first. They suck you in. (View Whole Foods Pinterest click here)

Another company I like is Express and they have a Pinterest page as well  If you want to see it, click here.

I truly don't dislike Pinerest at all. I think it is a great social media site that can be used for fun or to bring attention and awareness to things or for business.

I just don't see myself spending hours on it. I'm not really into pictures and all that at the moment. I may give it another go later on, but for right now I am not really into it that greatly.

But follow me on Pinterest and see what I come up with!

"Jalen Ayers?".............Here but Not Here

For the first few weeks of school, teachers would start calling the roll and notice that one student was absent again, again, and again.


While teachers were repetitively calling his name every day Senior Jalen Ayers was at Advanced Camp, which is a necessary camp and training to become a Second Lieutenant in the Army. He was there from July 6th to August 6th and went to Colorado where he was chosen to be a Platoon Leader and got to be an acting Second Lieutenant.


While at Fort Carson in Colorado, he was able to visit Pikes Peak which is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. Ayers said that he would encourage anyone to go out there and "just see the amazing sights and be able to realize that there is a God."

(Jalen Ayers at Pikes Peak in Colorado)

Ayers is a Senior Broadcasting major from Charlotte, North Carolina where he grew up being a very successful basketball player. He moved to Columbia when he was going to high school because his dad got a job offer he couldn't refuse.

"Why am I leaving Charlotte?," asked a young Ayers. He knew nothing of South Carolina but when he got to Columbia for high school he started playing football.

"I was pretty decent at it," said Ayers. Pretty decent? Decent enough to get a football scholarship to Tusculum College in Tennessee.

(Jalen Ayers pictured at Awards Banquet)

 He went but it was a really small town. Ayers said if you wanna celebrate "you go to the one Applebees there and that's it.

He realized after the season that he had zero passion and desire for football. He didn't want his parents to have anything to do with it so he called every HBCU he could; he desperately wanted to have a more loving and family experience than he did in Tennessee.

A fried of the family decided to give Ayers the help he needed. Juan Maultsby, program director of the Honors College at South Carolina State assured Ayers that he could get into SC State easily and that if he didn't like it he could always transfer.


Ayers decided to come to State. He joined the the National Guard a year after because he wanted to get back to Charlotte for free. He didn't know however that he had to go to basic training for a semester. After that, he enrolled in school but got deployed to Afghanistan for 9 months giving Ayers another unexpected setback.

When he returned from deployment he said that "it was no longer about getting back to North Carolina; I have to finish school."

Since he didn't want to deploy again, he decided to join the ROTC program at SC State to be able to pursue finishing his education.

"Joining ROTC was the best decision I've probably ever made," said Ayers.

Jalen Ayers (right), with his brother Juwan (left), and his father Mr. Ayers (center) 

He thought since he deployed he had it all together already but, credits the sayings of his father as his piece of humble pie.

"Be a leader, not a follower; But in order to lead, you have to follow first. He beat it in our heads," said Ayers.

(Jalen Ayers teaching ROTC students from multiple colleges) 

Now Ayers is over the Bulldog Battalion as the Battalion Executive Officer. He is inspired and passionate about building up what is already one of the best, most productive general producing programs in the nation.



According to Ayers, the bulldog battalion has 19 generals in the U.S.  Military, with two more coming within the next 2 years. That number is second only to West Point, which tells you how profound the program here is.

"We produce leaders, we are known for producing generals who are ready to lead. That's why I'm so hard on the students. Because I know what we come from and I know how serious this is," said Ayers.

"I will probably always come back to State once I graduate to make sure the Battalion never dies down. I am passionate about mentor-ship so I always intend to be helping and giving back," said Ayers.

To find out more about Jalen,

Check out Jalen's blog here and follow him on Twitter.

#Twitter

The hashtag symbol has become super popular. Millions of people not only use hashtags created by others, but they create clever hashtags themselves. The success of the hashtag can be tied directly to the launch and uprising of Twitter in July of 2006.

Twitter has revolutionized the way we communicate with others across the world and the way in which we share news.

Since the launch of Twitter, many news outlets had to figure out how to successfully use Twitter to give news to the people. The challenge of that is to be attractive enough to catch the eye of users as they are scrolling. Now, just about every organization, including sports teams, has a social media coordinator or team.

I use twitter to quickly gain access to news mostly. I follow many journalist, reporters, and sports anchors to stay abreast about sports news. I follow Adam Schefter, Adrian Wojnarowski, Skip Bayless, and Stephen A. Smith just to name a few.

I also follow many Christian poets to keep up with tour dates, their success, their struggles, and just how they operate to encourage myself since I do Christian based poetry as well.

 I tweet to encourage, inspire, and to share my faith. Most of my tweets are about God or sports and sometimes I will tweet about how i feel but, I try to keep my feelings out of things,,

Twitter had very small beginnings but,it has gained traction so fast and it has been used effectively by President Donald Trump....well maybe effectively isn't the best word for it.

"crooked Hillary"

"You can't stop me"

"Handicapped and minority students don't need education."

"Something happened to a black person so they will vote for me!"

Whether you're a mail man, an athlete, a teacher, a high school student, a custodian, or the President, you can create a Twitter account and join the social media world. How you use your 140 characters is all up to you. I would just recommend that you Tweet Responsibly. 

#followmeontwitter #thanksforreading #prayfortrump #ican'tmakethisstuffuppeople

Linked In to Linkedin

Linkedin is a powerful tool that can be used to help you land your first job, connect to people with similar jobs or interests, and even to help you find someone who can help you further your own knowledge or understanding.

Linkedin really does connect you with real professionals.

I am almost overwhelmed by the amount of people I can connect with directly on Linkedin. There is no junk in the way, no random pictures, and no foolishness to distract you from what you are looking for and that is people to connect with on a professional level. The reach of Linkedin is uncontainable. 

Linkedin is a social network, but I like to call it the only professional social network.

Linkedin is not a place for you to show everyone what you're working with. It is not the place to tell people how crazy and terrible your day is going. Linkedin is a professional atmosphere for professionals to engage other professionals. 

For tips on how to make your Linkedin profile more professional, click here.

Join Linkedin if you're looking to expand your career and connect with other professionals.

Link with me and view my profile here.

Until next time, thank you!

Solar Eclipse 2017

Here in Orangeburg, SC,  I was able to witness the first total solar eclipse from coast to coast in the U.S. in nearly a century. I had the awesome privilege to see it with some of the kids I teach and my coworkers at H.I.S Children CDLC .

Enjoying the phases of the eclipse!

Don't look without your glasses son!

 

Keep watching! And nice glasses face Mahagony!

Coolest girl on the block!

About halfway there! 

Unfortunately, this is where my picture journey of the eclipse ends. I was so in awe and caught up in the moment that I didn't even take anymore pictures! (I know, I know, COME ON JOURNALIST!!)

However, there are plenty of pictures gathered from all over social media of the eclipse right here!

I had an amazing experience on this day and I will never forget the moment or the people who were around me when everything was going on! 

Put Some Respeck On My Name

Do you remember Birdman's infamous rant on the Breakfast Club?

Well if you have ever faced the same problem I have your solution right here. Find out how to get your copy of Respek!

If you wanted to hear what happened after Birdman's rant, just click here.

Special thanks to Eddie Massey for his participation. To find out more about Eddie, visit his Facebook page.

Thank you again for viewing my blog and thank you joining me and my fellow classmates for a whole semester! Hope to see you again soon! This isn't goodbye, simply see you later!

ViZion Sports

For our latest project in Mr. Harwood's class we had to do a group project. We decided to do a sports talk show since we both love sports so much!  Join Marshall and I as we give you the latest NBA Playoff news.

Hope you enjoyed the show! 

For more information on my co-host Marshall Padgett check out his blog here. 

Special thanks to Aaliyah Charles and Sha'yauna Bowman for working behind the scenes. 

To view Shay's blog,  simply click on her name. And for the latest in NBA Playoff action visit Bleacher Report.  Thanks for visiting my blog! 

Quick Takes With Stephen Mason

We learned about the picture in picture edit option in Adobe Premiere Pro. I used this option to do my version of Quick Takes.

Click here to see my teacher Patrick Harwood's version of Quick Takes.

To rip video from Youtube, I used keepvid. You can to, just click here.

Your Face Is Shining

In my Advanced Production Class we learned about the four classic lighting techniques. All of these techniques are different and make different things pop!

Butterfly Lighting gets its name from the butterfly shaped shadow that is created under the nose by placing the main light source above and directly behind the camera.

Split Lighting requires the key light only.

Rembrandt Lighting consists of the key light, fill light and back light.

Broad Lighting consists of using the Rembrandt lighting setup but the subject's face has to be turned off center so that the broad side is more exposed.

 

For more ideas on lighting check out this article. 

Give Me Lighting For 3 Points

During this assignment we learned about the three point lighting technique. This technique is widely used in photography and film and it was very helpful to learn this technique so that I'll have proper lighting in my photos and videos.

In the photo below, we can see all three lights and how they are set up using this technique.

In the next photo we can see how all three lights affect our subject, Shay'auna Bowman. Click here to see her blog.

 In our last photo, we capture how the image looks in the viewfinder.

Thank you Isaiah Hughes for being an amazing subject as well. To check out his blog, click here. 
For more information on three point lighting, check out this very insightful video tutorial.

Light Up

The purpose of this assignment was to see how much direct sunlight and lighting overall affects picture quality. We went outside on a bright sunny day and we took three pictures. The first picture we took was with our backs to the sun. 

This picture was extremely dark and hurt the image quality because of the position of the light. 

We then used a reflector to redirect the light onto her face and it made the image so much more visible and enlightened. 

This last picture shows how the reflector is used to redirect light onto the subjects face. This project was fun and I would use a reflector again if I was shooting footage or taking pictures in sunlight.

Pedestrian Bridge Almost Complete

The Pedestrian Bridge at South Carolina State University is almost done. The bridge will allow students who live in Campus Corner and University Village to safety walk over the street, rather than across the street.

This bridge will make students feel a lot safer and also prevent any future accidents involving students being hit by cars.

The Sequence

This week in our Advanced TV Production class, Mr. Harwood instructed us to record a sequence of actions from start to finish. I teamed up with my classmate, Aaliyah Charles, to show one of the many ways that you can exit our Communications building after class.

While doing this video, I learned how important it is to ensure that the next video in a sequence of videos is a continuation of the one before it. Each video should be another part of the same story and not just random clips. I also got the royalty free music you hear in the background of this video from a site that was suggested to me. If you are looking for royalty free music, visit incompetech.com and search through their collection of royalty free music!

Trump Obama POS Interviews At SC State

Donald Trump was officially sworn in to become the 45th President of the United States on January 20th, 2017. There are many different views on how Donald Trump will man the reigns and responsibilities that come with being President. My fellow classmates and I interviewed several students at South Carolina State University to see what they had to say!  

Donald Trump has been President for a few weeks now and many people still don't know what to think of him or the people he is appointing to his cabinet. Trump's recent appoint of Governor Nikki Haley to be the US Ambassador to the UN has been questioned seeing that Haley endorsed Marco Rubio during the Republican Primary.

During his campaign, Trump promised to make America great again. Only time will tell how great America will be over the next 4 years.

About Me Now

I'M BACKKKKK! No applause, no applause, just throw money. (lol just kidding). My blog came to an abrupt end as I was unable to pay for school the semester I started this blog in so I didn't keep posting. But I have returned and I'm excited to be back!

I haven't really changed much in two years! I'm still simple and straight to the point.
I did learn that I only can function in the things I'm passionate about.

I still enjoy writing everything! Songs, stories, poems, papers, everything! You will be able to see much of hat content here as I will be frequently updating this blog! 

Media Gumbo is still a gumbo of media so I'll always have a tasty variety of info here for you! Enjoy!