Draft Audio Story

Working Wings- A Residential Transition Service

Inspiration and Story Elements

This video story is built upon all of the other assignments in this course in an effort to describe and market a new service I am interested in pursuing and one in which I have had some experience.

I wanted the images to portray three general areas which are seniors aging in place and individuals facing daunting challenges with reorganization or declutterization.  The last area would be small projects requiring assistance.

The audio is intended to align with each of the categories and the ambient sound will fill in the gaps.

I began with gathering footage from projects we have completed using the video on my camera.  I then used my surface to record video from current projects and existing sites.  I recorded all of the audio on my surface.  I imported all of this directly into Premier and created bins to categorize the images.

Technical and Design Process

The tools that I used in Premier included the mark-in, mark-out tool and the razor tool.  The track-select forward tool was very useful  to keep files that I want to keep together and move all at one time.  The Effects Control was used in every clip to either size appropriately or scale.

I have selected several audio files, but I still haven’t settled on one to use for the final draft.   I have also not settled on the final image, but I am leaning towards images of hands or hugs.

When I went to export, I had the same problem that prohibited me from submitting a previous assignment and found that it is a common bug within Premier and that I was in a mutual, frustrated company. The fix that I found was creating another sequence, copying all of my tracks into that sequence, scrubbing the tracks and saving under a different file name. I was then able to successfully export.

Storyboard

Ambiance audio will be a natural sound.  I am leaning towards birds chirping in natural surroundings.
 
I am still unclear about how to use transitions and change colors.  I will need to try a few different variations.

Self-Critique

Some recommendations that I received were to make the transitions between images smoother and to add a music track.  Other recommendations included adding a credit or title page at the end of the video to explain who edited the video and possibly add the link to my web-page for more information. Additional recommendations were to better highlight the before and after images and I missed appropriately sizing some photos so those definitely need to be fixed.

I plan to add a musical track as well need to improve both audio and video transitions.  I plan to use effects and will explore more YouTube videos as I have definitely been challenged with these techniques. 

The scale technique will help me re-size the photos for a better fit.

I will also be making changes to the final image to include some type of credit reference.  Finally, I will review the video in its entirety to see how I might improve the overall story and display.

Audio Info Story About a Void Space and Desire to help

Why Working Wings

Situated in a personal experience of assisting seniors obtain help for activities of daily living and different levels of medical care while also trying to manage a home and finances, the void became an obvious reality. The incredible cost of the services coupled with minimal availability, was only surpassed by the physical limitations aging brings with it. I started to wonder how seniors without the type of support we were providing could ever navigate this process and I became passionate about trying to support the aging in place concept in whatever capacity I could.

Unfortunately, about the same time, our neighbor of over 20 years passed away.  This left his home and property to his daughter who had never been a homeowner with over 30 years of interior content and repairs as well as a fully stocked garage that would be viewed as a premier shop to most. All of this needed to be re-landscaped into an environment that was manageable for her and provided a path forward. This circumstance led me to consider a broader view of my new business.

This audio story is an attempt to convey the journey towards a business motive in which I would provide the services to support these life changes.

Approach

With angel wings proving my inspiration to illustrate this work, I tried to keep this in mind as I approached the design.

I personally recorded two different recordings, I then recorded a musical audio, several outdoor audios and three internal I used a phone and the recorder on my Surface.  It was challenging trying to find audio that added ambience to this topic while not distracting. I spent considerable time revising the tracks and even tried using combinations.  I tried distorting and fading away a bit as the interview started.  I settled on an outdoor with some birds in the background and a few footsteps in the leaves. 

The interview I conducted was almost seven minutes and it was a challenge to find key points that could summarize the full story, so I settled on a few clips that gave an overall description of her situation and her gratitude at the end.   Editing the interview was painstaking as I cut the track in too many clips to remember to try to get them to flow together. 

I placed all the files in different tracks and kept a blank track beneath the one that was my primary.  I found the razor tool to be the easiest to work with so proceeded to cut each of the files in places that I thought captured primary thoughts or points

Constructive Comments

The comments I received suggested adding background audio.  I hadn’t included any in my draft since I was so unsettled on which to use.  The other recommendation was to make my post more attractive.  I incorporated both recommendations and hope that the use of my logo helps with that.

Although, still a work in progress, I am very happy with the logo right now.  I want to work on the “W” a little more as I want to infer wings and they aren’t there yet.

Lessons Learned

When interviewing, I would spend a little time coaching the interviewee.  While the “ums”,” “and” etc. can be edited, it is very difficult to edit speech impediments or very fast talkers.  Even when I zoomed the interview file as large as I dared, it was still difficult to make some breaks given the speed of the speech.  I tried to cut some the track, inserted breaks between them and then tried to either fade or change the volume of the background audio to mask a little.

I was so worried about the background ambience, I spent too much time collecting different options.  I underestimated the time it would take to parse the interview.  I should have planned on scheduling a second interview so that I could fill in gaps or have another alternative that would provide the same solution.

Sources:

https://www.aarp.org/money/budgeting-saving/info-2017/costs-of-aging-in-place.html

https://aginginplace.com/

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/aging-place-growing-old-home

https://www.piercecountywa.gov/2764/CAPS—Certified-Aging-In-Place-speciali

Working Wings Audio Story

Working Wings is a residential transition service that I am developing.

Inspiration

Years ago, my husband and children spent their time helping seniors remain in their homes by maintaining their yards and providing light home maintenance.  It was a period of our life that was arguably the most satisfying and one in which our kids were able to develop significantly valuable experiences.

Fast forward a decade where we are now working with our elderly parents.  My husband’s mom suffered a stroke about 10 years ago which left her left side useless.  After sharing an incredibly affluent life, the home care they were financing, began to drain their resources and my father-in-law’s health began to deteriorate. 

We re-located them here to Washington and began the process of liquidation of their two homes and several businesses.  Over the course of two years, the process was daunting and physically draining.  I started to wonder how seniors without the type of support we were providing could ever navigate this process.

I am attempting to use my audio story to convey the journey towards this business motive and I am still in the process of establishing the best way to showcase.

I decided to combine our early roots with this latest aspiration, but unfortunately about the same time, our neighbor of over 20 years passed away.  This left his home and property to his daughter who had never been a homeowner with over 30 years of interior content and interior repairs as well as a garage that would be viewed as a premier shop to most.

Approach

I personally recorded two different recordings, I then recorded a musical audio, and outdoor audio and three internal I used a phone and the recorder on my Surface.  I am still working with them to see if any or all will fit in the final and then I conducted an interview with the person whose house we helped with.

I have a new-found love for the zoom tool as well as re-sizing the actual audio file to capture the sections I wanted. 

I placed all of the files in different tracks and kept a blank track beneath the one that was my primary.  I found the razor tool to be the easiest to work with so proceed to cut each of the files in places that I thought captured primary thoughts or points

Work To Do

The entire track is too long so I have more work to do in trying to identify the most impactful components to try to shorten.

I have an interview scheduled next week with a person who has done home remodels to get his perspective on viability as well as how to best prepare our customers.

I want to smooth the transition between some of the tracks and need to adjust the volume- although, for the life of me can’t figure out how to do that.  Every time, I try to grab the yellow volume line, the entire piece moves and none of the other options I have found on YouTube have worked yet, I’m hoping for a miracle, and can’t wait for your feedback and input!

Self Critique

The feedback I received is really what I expected because I know that I need to make my presentation more attractive so that it can be engaging in a way that will help tell my story in a way that it can be appreciated. I will work on my sound techniques and hope that collectively will produce a better product.

I loved the post from the person who commented so I am confident that if I can incorporate those thoughts with my vision, I will get it to the level being expected. I love this forum and I appreciate the extra time my teammates contribute in my interest.

COM 561-Final Graphic Design

The graphic design I am posting is formulated from an occupation aspiration which is to project manage lifestyle transition in a varied market at the lowest possible cost. The transitions for which I am referring are varied.

Senior citizens make retirement decisions regarding their living situations that may include aging in place, downsizing their existing home or relocating into an alternative setting.  If they choose to age in place, our services would include preparing their home for safe living.  This might consist of placing grab bars, installing non-slip flooring and relocating electrical outlets for safer access.  The services would be established after interviewing the client and providing a draft plan that has been vetted to assure the safest environment possible.

If the choice is to relocate or downsize, this customer base would likely extend broader than the senior citizen age group. In this situation, our services would assist in packing and moving or, disposing of items that are no longer wanted and readying the property.  In readying the property, we may assist in improving curb appeal and interior interest or even assist in organizing daunting areas such as a neglected garage area or space in the house where attention has been prioritized to other locations.

The name of the company was inspired by a client who called me an angel and so I wanted the primary background to reflect one that looked like angel wings. I looked for an image of a house that looked traditional and inviting while locating other images that would reflect the type of services we would provide.

As a first draft, my goal was to establish a product that could be evaluated to critique the images with an eye toward determining if they could tell a story on their own with little text. I would like to use this design for a website introduction as well as potential business cards.

After creating a new image file, sized at 800X600 pixels, I embedded the Rays Sun Light image (n.d.) as a full background to depict my wings.  I found a picture of a house that I thought was traditional and inviting (Anon).  I used the lasso tool to remove all the background around the house and then centered it so that it would appear surrounded by the wings.  I proceeded to select a few more images to reflect the type of services we would offer. 

Moving to the text, I selected the text tool and after writing the “Working Wings”, I used the arch option to try to keep them in the shape of the wings.  I like the continuation of the lines. 

The feedback that I received suggested that the trees in the background distracted from the overall message and the colors appeared too dark.  Additional recommendations suggested that I use actual before and after pictures to best illustrate my overall objective.

Equipped with this valuable insight, I lost track of the number of iterations which also included experimenting with angel wing images that were completely different.  After several, I came back to the original because of the soft suggestion of angel wings in the clouds.

I tried different saturation colors, brightness and contrast before finally settling on this one.  I used the same image of the house but used the magnetic lasso to remove a little more and then feathered the edges a little more to try to get it to look like it flowed with the clouds a little better.

I then went to my photo library and originally selected three different before and after pictures.  I tried creating soft edges, varying colors and even blending them into the background a little more.  In the end, the entire thing looked just too busy.  I finally settled on two images that I think best illustrate a before and after and thought that instead of blending them in, I would make them look like pictures that stand on their own, so I experimented with the stroke and drop shadow until I got the border that I think looks nice.  I have to admit that the “after” picture is not ideal so I have reached out to this client to see if she could send me the actual final product and intend to replace it then.

Rays Sun Light. (n.d.).

[image]

Available at: https://pixabay.com/en/rays-sun-light-fog-forest-sky-3902368/ [Accessed 21 Jan. 2019].

Anon, (2019). [image] Available at: https://pixabay.com/en/residential-house-real-estate-2851256/ [Accessed 21 Jan. 2019].

COM 561 Sylvia Zellmer 1/30/19

  1. Self-Critique Comment

I was confident and comfortable with my vision and concept of illustrating the services I want to provide.  I had a very strong desire of locating an image that would portray “angel wings” in an abstract way.  I think I was probably so focused on the vision, that I didn’t have the bandwidth to identify with what might be seen out of another lens and validates the reason I have always been such an advocate of critical critique.

The input that I received validated the use of an “angel wing” image, but both concurred that my portrayal was conflicted by the trees/forest in the background.  They found them distracting from the overall message.  They also suggested using before and after photographs to illustrate the story and offered design terminology that afforded me specific areas of which I should explore.

Equipped with a confirmed vision and approach, I need to decide if the photo that I am using for the background to illustrate the “wings” is the best after blurring or diminishing the trees or if I should find a new photo altogether.  I also plan to search my own library for before and after pictures and I will try the design changes that were suggested to come up with the final design.

I don’t know if this is appropriate in this forum, but I find it valuable that the input I received was from two males.  Being a female and proposing services that are likely male dominated.  I was reassured that the feedback I received was so aligned and provides me more confidence!