Time-Based Instruction
Project 3
Materials: Twisting balloons and pump
Goal: Teach someone how to make a balloon dog( 1 minute video-max)
Oct. 17
The balloons arrived a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been making some balloon animals for my friends. This was the first tutorial I watched and it was very easy to follow. My first attempt is shown on the left. The most difficult part was just trying to tie the balloon.
The next step was changing the proportions to make it look more like a dog and deciding on how much extra to leave at the end of the balloon(which would change the look of the tail).
Oct. 24
Still working with proportions, I began looking at some of the art by Jeff Koons to see what a typical balloon dog looks like. Shown below is an example of his work. I tried my best create similar proportions when I was making the balloon dog for my first storyboard.
Oct. 26
Storyboard 1
Before I started, I wrote out the steps that I though I needed to include in the storyboard. This ended up being too much because some of the photos were repetitive and unnecessary.
Oct. 27
Critique Notes:
- too much contrast
- overhead lighting works better
- include more steps on tying the balloon
- action vs. verification shots
- stretching the balloon step
- introduction and conclusion
- gesturing to direct the viewer
- keeping a consistent orientation of the balloon
- limit elements=less distracting
- simple/plain background
Some things I need to keep in mind: Point of View and Amount of Time
I can show myself as the maker or I can film someone else creating the balloon animal. How do I indicate the amount of time for each step?
I made the storyboard by taking a video and then going back and taking screenshots for each step. Should I continue with this method or should I take individual pictures.
I’m considering starting the video by showing the finished balloon animal so the viewer has some idea of what the end product will look like.
Oct. 28
For my first video, I focused on the lighting because there was too much contrast/shadows in my storyboard. After I figured out how I was going to shoot the video, I broke it down into steps. One thing I thought would be helpful when learning how to make a balloon dog, is for the maker to show the audience which section of the dog they are about to work on. I used the green dog to break down the process into basically three sections: (1)snout and ear, (2)neck and front legs, (3)body, back legs, and tail. I also included an image of the finished balloon dog at the beginning of the video to give the viewer some idea to what the finished product will look like.
Oct. 29
Group Notes:
- finding a balance between clarity and choppy
- make the tying of the balloon clearer
- have the green dog at the beginning so it’s not as abrupt
- lots of clips pieced together or one continuous video
Nov. 2
Overall, I kept the same pieces of the video, moved some of the pieces around and added the green dog at the beginning of the video. Before I spend more time on taking another video, I want to get more feedback so I have more things to think about when I’m shooting my next video.
Nov. 3
Critique Notes:
- maintaining proportions
- placement(centering the dog in the frame)
- make sure my hands aren’t blocking what I’m trying to show
- decrease the intensity of the balloon squeaking(somewhat distracting)
- less shots(less choppy)
Nov. 5
Notes from Class:
- showing vs. teaching
- focusing on nuances
- adding pauses
Criteria for an Effective Video:
- showing confidence(trustworthy)
- centering the object(placement)
- keeping the same orientation(clarity)
- good pacing
- audio should be helpful instead of distracting
- good lighting
- make sure hands aren’t covering the steps
- point of view
- teaching instead of demonstrating
Nov. 7
For my final video, I considered adding markings to show the proportions I used, but in the end, I figured that half the fun is just messing around with the sizes. Instead of sticking to one set model of what a balloon dog should look like, I think it’s more important to make what you think looks best. I spent more time showing how to tie the balloon because it’s generally the most difficult part to figure out. Using the yellow balloon dog, I pointed out the regions they would be working on.
After finishing this project, I realized it’s important to communicate ideas in a concise manner so that it’s easily understood. There are a lot of things that are poorly communicated, so if we as designers keep in mind how to create an effective teaching tool, we can change how the information is communicated. Through the combination of aural, visual, temporal our goal is to create an effective learning tool that tells a story.
