Reflection on second term.

 Second term of my year zero at college comes to an end and I can admit now that I have created some more of the work I am proud off. Overall I have enjoyed what I was learning, I have enjoyed the processes and new module which is creative media.  My first expression on the subject was positive. I enjoyed creating photography project and working on my chapbook. Both projects can be found on my website, updated on wix. I had some difficulties with research again. This is something I need to improve. I know it is a crucial and very needed skill at the university. But my researches for this term are now updated and can be found under various dates in February and March posts, according to the lesson order in learning zone.

I was looking forward to this term when I found out I will be working on a photography project - I was excited to take my SLR camera out of the drawer. I also had new module, that was about film and cinematography and soon in a third term we will be making the movies and video clips, and again I have something to really look forward too. 

As I am planning to learn English translation and prepare myself to the work of interpreter or certified translator I wasn't expecting to do so many creative projects. Now I really know that I do have some ideas and I can create something out of nothing, that improved my self confidence. This term has shown me my strengths and week points. I realised that I have few talents but as said by Christiano Ronaldo (2022) "Talent without work is nothing" so my main task now is to work on the talents that really can give me joy and satisfaction as well as work on my weak points in university work. I look forward to what future brings to me. 

References:

Ronaldo, C. (2022) Talent without hard work is nothing. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=645161033248138 (accessed 13/02/2024)

Website portfolio: book project.

 Today we were uploading our chapbooks to the wix website. My chapbook has been made in canva.

To create a sub page with my book project I went to left hand side menu in wix, clicked on site pages and menu and on "add page" button. The page has been added to my website, then I dragged it down in the menu to attach it under my portfolio, changed the name of the sub page to my project title. 

Then I went to the created sub page and added a heading at the top, changed it to the book title, next I have clicked on left side menu to add a button. I change it to say back to portfolio and moved around to the left side bottom corner of the page. Button got linked to my portfolio page by clicking left button of the mouse on the button and choosing link icon (chain).

Next I went back to the portfolio page and added a picture of my book (snip took from canva) and then in the left hand side menu I clicked on "add" then "button" and I added a button that later was linked to my project page, button was named with my book title. Bothe elements got moved to the right side of my portfolio page. 

Then I have changed the main pictures by other two projects to something more suitable. And made sure that all buttons are working correctly by going to preview and clicking on each button. 

When I made sure every button is working correctly I went to embed my project to the book project page. To do that I went to canva, clicked on share button in right top corner, clicked on "more", chose "embed" option, in the dialog box opened I have chose the HTML code and clicked "copy". Then I went back to wix , in to left hand menu I chose "add elements", then "embed code", "embed HTML" and waited couple of seconds for my project to appear on the site. Next I changed the size, made sure everything nicely composed on the page and that it is placed similarly to my previous project. 

Below you can see the preview of my project page.

Next I have checked the mobile view for all my pages and made sure it's composed nicely and that all buttons are visible and work properly. All elements were moved around to be in the correct order, I checked the preview if all buttons are linked correctly and then added a "back to top" button from the left hand menu and made sure it is linked properly.

 

Next step was adding an introduction to my chapbook project. To do that I added a paragraph from left hand side menu, made sure that letters are set to the same font as on the other pages, that is Arial, size 30. Then I started writing the introduction. 

Then I have changed the picture accompanying my first term project, as I wasn't happy with the one I have chosen. To do this I took a snip of the cover and replaced the picture used previously. I also decided to change the colours of the buttons on every page on my website to make it look better and match with overall colour scheme. When everything was completed I saved the changes and republished the website. 

Website gallery; photoshoot project.

 Firstly before editing my website gallery I checked my copyright information at the bottom and changed the date to 2024.

Next I went to left hand side menu and clicked on three dots by the feedback, to make it invisible in the menu. 

Then I have created a new blank sub page to add it under my portfolio. Sub page is called a gallery. To do that I used left hand side menu and add a page button, I chose blank page in the dialog box, then manually named it "gallery", next I dragged it lower to place it under my portfolio page. 

Next I started creating elements on the project page. I have added a text and the name of the project, later I added a paragraph in which I started writing the introduction. 

I then added a button by clicking on the add tool and choosing button. I then dragged the button I chosen on to the space on the page. I then clicked on the button and renamed it "back to portfolio" and then I chose a link to portfolio. Then I went to the design box and changed the font and overall shape and design of the button. And then previewed the page and clicked on the button to check if it is linked properly to my portfolio. 

In my portfolio page I added a picture chosen from wix free images, I have changed the picture for my previous project as well, using free images from wix. Next I added a button using left hand side menu and named the button with the title of my project. Button got linked to my project page, to do that I pressed the "link" icon above it and linked it to the project. My project sub page has been named with the title of the project. To do this I clicked on the three dots by the page in my website menu and renamed it there. 

Next in my project page I decided to add the gallery for my photographs. To do this I went to left side menu, chose "Gallery" and looked for the one that was interesting. Then I deleted all of the example photographs and started adding my project photographs from the folder on a computer. 

Each photograph suppose to be named, for this I have clicked on each photograph in editing mode and added a name in the right side menu box. 

Then I have resized the gallery to make it look good with the page design. 

This is the outcome of my work. 

Later I checked the mobile view to make sure that everything shows correctly on my website and all of the buttons are linked properly. I also decided to change the colours of the buttons on ever page on my website to make it look better and match with overall colour scheme. 

References:

Brion, M (2021) The Importance Of Light In Photography Available at:

The Importance Of Light In Photography    - Mark Brion Photography (Accessed: 04/03/2024)

Creative writing, part 2. The egg, the scales, and the tail.

Chapter 2.


Peter crawled out of his nest very early. World outside was still a little bit too dark to go out. He slowly stomped to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and roared, making sure his dad could hear him.
- I’m getting your chicken ready, boy - said dad through the bathroom door.
When Peter walked into the dining room, the chicken was ready for him on the table. Raw and cold, just how he liked his breakfast.
He started crunching onto the chicken, when dad placed a bucket of rain water next to him. Right on time, raw chicken used to make Peter very thirsty.
- I need to drop the truck to mechanics today, get ready right away, we’ll have to go early - said dad.
- Roaaar roar! - said Peter.
Peter finished munching on his chicken and slurped all of the rain water from the bucket. He got his backpack and hat ready, and walked out of the house through the garage gate, like always. Dad was already sitting in the cab.
Peter crawled up onto the truck and bumped on the roof of the truck with his tiny arm, to let his dad know he was sitting comfortably.
They drove off to get Peter to school, he loved going there very much, and he really enjoyed his truck journeys. Everyone in the city knew them, people were smiling and waving to Peter. One of his favorite neighbors, the shopkeeper, would usually throw a bag of apples or onions.
- Enjoy the snack, boy! - the shop keeper would shout.
- Roooar! - Peter would reply while waving to the man.

Illustration generated by by ChatBox AI 09/02/2024.

School was always fun for Peter. He was the most popular boy here, everyone would play with him at the playground. His teacher, Mrs. Happy, had to make sure that all kids take turns while playing with Peter, so the break time would be fun for everyone. Hide and seek was a little bit difficult, due to Peter’s size and loud stomping, but most of the children enjoyed playing the “Run from the t-rex” game, Peter had invented.

Generated by ChatBox AI - 06/02/2024

Peter is always excited during the lessons. He would reply very loudly to Mrs. Happy’s questions, even if he was not exactly sure if he was answering correctly.
- Six plus eight equals … - Mrs. Happy would say.
- Roooaaaar! - Peter replies.

Generated by ChatBox AI - 06/02/2024

His day was going very well, Peter was having a lot of fun at school, and he was very proud of receiving a star of a day sticker from Mrs. Happy. As soon as his dad showed up to pick him from school Peter rushed to show him the sticker.
- I am proud of you son. - Said dad - Now take your staff, we will be walking home today.
Peter jumped with excitement. He will walk now all the way home, greeting the neighbors and waving to everyone on the street. He might even see the shopkeeper and be able to tell him how much he likes apples and onions.
They walked together, Peter was very happy to roar to children on the street. Children were very happy to be roared at.

They walked and walked, when suddenly Peter heard someone’s little feet running up the stairs. He opened his eyes and realized he was in his room, in his own bed. He saw his little sister Amelia rushing into the room.
- Wake up, it's my special day! - she said.
Peter jumped out of the bed very quickly, reaching for his dinosaur plush toy that fell from the bed at night. He grabbed Amelia's hand and led her downstairs. He was very excited to see the room, balloons, ribbons, and the cake, and all the rainbows. Amelia loves rainbows as much as Peter loves his plush dinosaur.

More of the book available The egg, the scales, and the tail.

Flipbook creating process.

 Today during the lesson I started creating my flipbook with the stories written for my chapbook. To create the flipbook I have used a canva website. I used my google account to log in and chose a magazine template to start creating a book.

After choosing and opening the template I have deleted all of the elements from the front page. And then started creating a cover of my book. I wasn't happy with the outcome of my previous practice and decided to make the cover with an illustration instead of a photograph. The illustration was generated by the DaVinci AI app on 17/02/2024. The image was built on a prompt - Black panther, green tyrannosaurus rex, and dragon's egg in the jungle. These are the main elements of the stories. 

I started with choosing a background for the writing, and then placing the image on the cover. To do that I clicked on "elements" in the left side menu - then looked for desired colors. I wanted it to look brighter, so I looked for a blue and green background. 

Then I added the cover illustration and looked for a nice font for the title and for my name. I used a T button on left side menu and looked for a font called White Christmas.

 I used the same font for my name and for the book title. My name is written in size 40, title is written in size 49. I am happy with the colors of the cover. It has a fairytale look, that goes with the theme of my book. 

Next I have started building the pages. First page of the book will only have my name and title, then page no. 3 will have the contents. To create the pages I moved to the next page and deleted all of the elements. Then I have added a test filed by using a T button on a left side menu and changed the text to my name and book title. I have used the font called Arimo, for my name size 40 nd for the title size 49. 

Below you can see the content list created for the book, page numbers might slightly change as last story is not finished, yet. Font used for this page is also Arimo, font size 19 - this will be used in my book in all three stories. 

For next page I have deleted the elements from the template page and looked for a background. It will be a page with the title of the first story - The egg. I used orange pastel background and the image generated by the ChatBox AI App 06/02/2024 - prompt used for the image was - 8 year old bronze hair girl on the sandy beach with a dragon, view from behind. It took me good 30 to 40 minutes to be get the image without anatomical errors. I used below image for the cover of my first story, with the title written in Arimo, size of font was 100. 

Then for the next page, I created a blank page and started copying and pasting the first part of the text from my Word document saved on a Google Drive - the link will be available at the bottom of this post. 

For the text, I used Arimo font size 19.

Later I continued adding text from my Word document and adding some more illustrations from the folder on my Desktop. I have been generating the illustrations for the past two weeks using two apps - ChatBox AI and DaVinci. I added a page box on each page and started moving elements around to make it look interesting for a young audience. 

Story 1: The egg.

 

    
 

Story 2: The scales.

   

Story 3: The tail.

The below image was generated in and ChatBox AI app - I was typing an instruction about the colour of a cake and the number of candles, unfortunately, the AI illustration apps do not recognize the numbers or positions, so I had to use a picture created and modify it in photoshop by removing some candles - the picture isn't perfect but I needed a cake with four candles.  

     

I have continued this for each page of each story, and then at the end of the book I have added a page for information about the author.

The next page I have created is an index of all of the illustrations, this needs completing as the book is not ready yet. The list will be updated every time I add a new illustration to the book. This page will include the copyright information.

On the back cover, I will add a picture of myself with all three children that became my inspiration, picture will have a description. I might add some information about the book on that page as well. This is how it looks so far, I decided to use a nice green leaf background from canva stock, as I think it goes nicely with the theme and the picture.

Later I added some elements using canva stock as symbols from the book. 

I was not happy with the front cover of the book and decided to play a little with the free designs available on canva. I have used some elements in desired shapes and a ready-made background to create the below cover, which I think is more child friendly and I am happy with it.

Link to my Word document on Google Drive -  The egg, the scales, and the tail. Marta Vlckova.