1st Draft: Claw Stars

 

My Final Thoughts

Dear Blogger,

As I stated in the last blog, this one is going to be a very long one. I know you are really eager to see the final product, but you will need to wait a bit... unless you decided to scroll to the bottom. To those who didn't immediately scroll to the bottom because you are actually an amazing person, here is my thoughts about the project as a whole.

You've probably already read my other blog posts and the thoughts I had with each specific step. I didn't know what the final product would look like, so most of the time I was just commenting on how I felt at the time. Let's start from the beginning: Decision Day.

Technically the "Decision Day" blog isn't the first blog post I did, but it was probably the most important blog I created. It was the turning point of the entire project. Just to recall your memory, decision day was when I decided whether to create a short two minute opening of a film or four pages of a magazine. At the time, I thought that the magazine would have been more doable than the film. I can now confirm that the film would have not only been harder, but also borderline impossible for me to accomplish. I know that I could come up with a killer plot for a film. Heck, I could even storyboard in the same day. But the problem was getting the videos. I had no time during winter break to film.

I traveled to Las Vegas and Arizona with my family for the majority of the break. When I did come back, not only was I tired, but it was also New Year's Eve. I don't know about you guys, but my family takes the whole day to celebrate the new year (even though we couldn't invite anyone). So what would that leave me with two to three weeks to do all of the shooting, editing, and polishing. Yeah... no. That would not have worked out. I'm very happy that I saved my self all the trouble and chose the magazine project. 

I'm going to go over this next session pretty quickly because I already covered most of it before. When I was deciding whether to pair or not, I really had to consider the pros and cons to each side. I know that I don't work well with most people; but I also, knew for a project like this, I needed someone who could help me if I get stuck. Paring up was a very good decision. It actually worked out for both Bailey and I. Every time someone needed help, 99% of the time the other could help out. If I didn't have Bailey, I probably would have had to rush this more than it already is. So thank you so much Bailey for being my partner for this project. 

So when I was choosing a topic for the magazine, I needed to make sure that it was something both me and my partner, Bailey, could do. By that, I mean it has to be something we could both write about and get pictures for. That is why we quickly jumped to doing a magazine about pets. It was a good idea since both Bailey and I have pets and we know people who own pets. It would be easy to get pictures and interviews. And it was.... for Bailey. For me, I had to rush it a bit with the pictures and interviews. Thank God for the internet to get the interviews. Even though my parents surprised us with the trip, I probably should have seen it coming (even though we are in the middle of a pandemic). But, I was still able to get it done. 

I think I should have chosen something easier, like home living, but I'm honestly happy we chose animals. It let me go out a bit in a time where we can't really go out much. So that was nice. I had a blast getting the pictures and interviews. I know you guys couldn't really listen to the audio from one of my interviews, but if you did, you would know that if was fun... mainly because Maddie kept climbing on my mother and I during the conversation. Fun times!

When writing the article, I wanted to make it like a scientific review with a few personal stories sprinkled throughout. If you have read my previous blog post, then you will know that I said that water dripping from a pipe is much more interesting that whatever the heck I wrote. The reason I went for a scientific approach first was because I only know how to write two things: journal article reviews and argumentative essays. I can also write very detailed non-fiction fantasy stories, but that doesn't apply here. 

Anyway, after realizing my mistakes, and getting the interviews, I started to change the writing in my article from a journal article review, to a semi argumentative essay. For starters, I ditched pretty much all the scientific research but one. I figured that one was enough to get my point across. Then I used most of the interviews and had that as the center of my article. After all, the magazine was supposed to show how pets helped their fellow humans. What better way to show that than having their owners go on and on about how they positively changed their lives. If I ever need to write another article, I think I will take it on as an argumentative essay to prove something. It won't be anything that will change the views of the audience drastically, but definitely something to get my point across.... you know, maybe I should have chosen a hot topic that people are constantly debating on.... oh well...

On to the editing. So I probably waited longer than I should have to start the editing. It did seem like a very VERY big obstacle so I knew I put it off when I shouldn't have. Eventually when I did muster up  

the courage to start editing, I found that it wasn't as hard as I originally thought it would be. Sure, I did feel better with Premier Pro when contrasting it to Indesign; however, after doing some research, I got the hang of it. I do think that overall Premier Pro was easier for me, but it wasn't too hard to adjust to Indesign. I should have just been open minded about the app; it would have saved me a lot of time. Never the less, I still finished it and I think it looks great! I've been rambling for a while so without further ado, here is the almost finished product!

Now when I say "almost finished" it just means that I'm happy with the product I created and I'm still making a few more tweaks for tomorrow. So when you see the four magazine pages tomorrow, there will be a few changes to make it look better. I'm not sure what I'm going to change at this point. I guess that we'll just wait until tomorrow's blog post.

I have to say, I never thought that I'd be kind of sad to stop these blog posts. I know that after tomorrow's blog post, I won't be posting anything else because the project is done. There's nothing left to do. It feels... weird to say the least. I enjoyed doing this project, even though some of it was a bit rushed and made me feel a bit panicked. These blog posts have become kind of a weird project journal/diary to me. I know that's the point, but I've never thought of it like that until recently. Huh... I guess that's just how things are. Funny. Anyway, if you've made it to this point of my rambling, I just want to say thank you for coming on this trip with me. Even if the final product isn't the best out of the bunch or if I get a bad grade on it, I can say that I'm really proud of it and I'm glad that I was able to share it with you. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Until next time, farewell dear viewer.

Putting Together the Magazine

Dear Blogger,

So I just realized that I haven't put anything up specifically about the process of putting everything together... my bad. So I started working on getting everything on to Indesign right before the interviews blog post (like a day or two before). This was when my feature article was full of science junk that would probably make watching a water drip from a pipe more entertaining. Because I didn't have the photos at the time, I had to put shapes in place of where the pictures would go and put the text around that. I don't have a picture of the original way it looked, because I saved over it with the new and better versions, but here is a recreation of what it looked like:

Yeah... they aren't perfect replicas of what I did originally, but this is just to give you a visual of what it used to look like. I also didn't put the article in this mock version of what I did because... I also may or may not have saved over it... anyway.

After I got the interviews, I immediately decided to fix my article. And fixed it I did! Now it turned from the most boring piece of writing in the world, to a somewhat argumentative essay. I mean... it still works its duty as a feature article. It's at least some what entertaining. I did notice that I took out a lot of the science evidence which left some room that I needed to fill. That is why I had three interview parts. I did not really expect to have the extra interview, but it definitely helped me a lot in terms of padding out and picture opportunities. So that was nice.

A little bit less than a week later of editing, I came up with this.

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Minus not having the content page completed and seeing the outlines of the text boxes, I think this looks somewhat professional. The reason you still see the textboxes is because it wouldn't let me upload the normal thing to blogger, so I settled for a few screen shots. At this point I had two problems: the content page and the look of the animal puns. Lets get the big one out of the way. 

The content page is the hardest for me. I should probably explain that the content page for my original magazine, before getting the interviews, wasn't there. I was still having a very hard time organizing it all so I just worked on the other parts and get them out of the way. That same mentality carried over when I was getting the final product together, as you see in the second set of pictures. I do know what I want it to look like, it's just getting all the parts together on the page.

The animal puns help make this magazine stand out a bit compared to other magazines. I wanted to visually exaggerate them, but I didn't realize that the way I did it looked like someone took a blue highlighter and smeared it on certain words. I'm sure I'll figure out a way to make it stand out a bit without it looking bad.

So the next blog will be up tomorrow and then I will have a blog post that shows the final product on Friday. I'm saying this because those will be the last two blogs that I post. The next blog will be pretty long. I will be talking about the project as a whole and how I feel about it overall. Then it is the end. So... I guess I'll see you then.

Interviews Part 3

 Dear Blogger,

So I really didn't expect to make a part three to the interviews and you probably weren't expecting it either. Oh well, on with the interview!

This interview was with a younger teenage, Olivia, and her sister, Ava. This was about their family pets (well pet now since their fish died). We did this interview through text, then I went to their house to take some pictures of their cat afterwards. I didn't want a repeat of recording the interview then not being able to get it on blogger so you have to write down a summarized version of the answers they gave you and all the authenticity is gone.... Anyway, you will notice that I asked a few more questions this time, mainly for clarification. Olivia was mainly answering the questions, but Ava also answered  some, also mainly for clarification. So here is the interview:

What pets do you have and how long have you had them?

           We have a family black cat named Magenta who's six yrs old, and we've had here since she was             8 weeks. There were also Ava's two fishes

            Hi it's Ava. I had four fish. Two blue betas one named Bubbles. One name named Harold glen                bubbles Crowell Ponte-Katzman jr. Bubbles lived for 3 months. Harold lived a year and a                     half

Did you or your family adopt one of them (referring to the fish) due to the pandemic?

            No. There all dead

How much of an impact have your pets made on you before the pandemic?

            My cat is my best friend and I have lived here and used her for emotional support a lot in the                 past

        

Anything about the fish?

            I loved both fish very much. Bubbles was my first pet ever. And his death was traumatising

            Harold was also beloved and gave my comfort and confidence in my self to take care of                         something

            Me

Have they, I guess just the cat at this point, made a more positive impact since the pandemic and if so, in what ways have they positively affected your life during these hard times?

            Magenta is really good for my anxiety and hells me feel like everything isn't burning down. Her                 being there to eat breakfast is a good constant and important to my routine.

            *helps

Minus the grammar and spelling errors, because I took the text directly from our text, this is a pretty good interview. Now, of course I will fix and polish it when I put it into the magazine, but I really like this one. It shows how their pets are their emotional support as well as the impact of their pets on them. I like how they stated that Magenta helps them with their anxiety and keeps them on routine, which is great! I want to some how figure out how to fit Harold Glen Bubbles Crowell Ponte-Katzman Jr. into my magazine. I don't know if I will, but I'll try. I just think that name is awesome! 

Now here are the pictures I took. I wasn't able to get anything with either Oliva or Ava in the photo because they didn't want to be in any of the pictures (which I respect). So here are some of the shots. Again, no commentary, but at least there isn't as many pictures to mindlessly scroll through like last time (sorry about that by the way). So without further ado, here is magenta!

 

Interviews Part 2

Dear Blogger,

So... I tried for hours to get the audio for the third interview, but it just wasn't working. So I give up. Here is a general basis to the answers I got with the pictures that I took. I'm not really going to be doing some commentary this time.

So the two interviewees are and elderly couple who have had their pets for many years. They love their pets a lot. This is probably the strongest out of all the interviews.

What pets do you have and how long have you had them?

We have Rosie who is our 12 year old pug. We have Sophie, who is also a pug. She is 13 years old. There's Maddie, our little puppy, who is almost year old. She is a French-bulldog. We also have Abby who is our very shy cat.

I did not ask the second question because I knew they had their pets for a very long time.

How much of an impact have your pets made on you before the pandemic?

Well our pets have always had a positive impact on us. They are the ones who keep us happy and encourage us to go out more. They are just such a delight to be with.

Have they made a more positive impact since the pandemic and if so, in what ways have they positively affected your life during these hard times?

Well, our dogs are happier that we are more home often. They are more energetic. We may not be feeling much different due to the pandemic, but our dogs are very happy, and that's what's important.

And here are the best of the photos that I took. A lot of them are similar shots just different versions of them or the dogs decided to look at a different direction 

Interviews

Dear Blogger,

This blog is to talk about the two interviews I conducted and the responses I got from interviewees. Now I didn't meet many of them face to face, (thank you modern technology). I was able to get pictures of the elderly couple and their pets because I went to their house for the interview, but the others I will still need to get pictures. I will be gathering those pictures and showing them to you in a different blog. Let's start with the questions.

I came up with four main questions:

1. What pets do you have and how long have you had them?
2. Did you or your family adopt them due to the pandemic? (I only asked this one if they said they had their pet for a year or less)
3. How much of an impact have your pets made on you before the pandemic?
4. Have they made a more positive impact since the pandemic and if so, in what ways have they positively affected your life during these hard times?

Now, certain questions were somewhat altered depending on what they answered for the prior questions as you will see in the following examples. When interviewing, I tried to get a variety of people with different backgrounds, age, and living situations to ensure that the answers don't end up similar to each other. The only similarity is that for everyone who I've interviewed, they have stated that their pets have affected them positively during this pandemic. So here are the interviewees and their answers.

The first interviewee is an eighteen-year-old woman named Brianna Mowbray. She lives with her mother and father and has postpone going to college until next year, mainly in fear of catching the corona virus because she has very bad asthma (which is understandable). So here are the answers that I received from her:

What pets do you have and how long have you had them?

            A black lab named Sophie I've had her for 8 years an African Grey Parrot named Zachariah but             we call him Zach for short he's been with our family since before I was born.

(Clearly they did not adopt their pets due to the pandemic so I moved on to the third question.)

How much of an impact have your pets made on you before the pandemic?

               Before the pandemic Sophie made me more active and Zach he was just there for company

Have they made a more positive impact since the pandemic and if so, in what ways have they positively affected your life during these hard times?

                Well Sophie motivated me to get out of the house after I lost my job and Zack he always                        made me smile since he has the ability to talk but he always says the weirdest phrases.

This was not a bad start to my interviews. You may have noticed that some of the answers are answered as if they were through text. That is because they were from her texting back the answers after I asked the questions. I didn't want to alter anything for this blog. I'll do that when I put it into my magazine. I like this interview because it comes from a person who has lost her job and her pets helped her get her back out of the house. It really helps bring the appeal that pets help us; which is the entire premise of our magazine.

The second interviewee is a seventeen-year-old teen named Angel Thomas. She currently moved from Florida to New Hampshire for her senior year of school. I interviewed her because she is the only person I interviewed that doesn't live in Florida. This was the main reason I interviewed her. So here are the answers I received:

What pets do you have and how long have you had them?

            two cats, almost a year now

Did you or your family adopt them due to the pandemic?

            nope

How much of an impact have your pets made on you before the pandemic?

            none, i didnt have em yet

Have they made a more positive impact during the pandemic and if so, in what ways have they positively affected your life during these hard times?

            yes, they've been a cuddly support and are very much adorable one of them laid on my lap for                the first time the other day

As much as I want to use this one, I don't know if I'm going to be able to. The answers are very short and don't really explain much. Plus, I won't be able to go to her place and take pictures, because she is in New Hampshire. Oh well, at least it's another interview to fall back on.

I did have a third interview that I recorded the audio on my phone, but currently my computer is giving me a lot of trouble uploading it to blogger, so I'll put it in a next blog post if my computer decides it wants to work. (I've been going at it for hours and am very frustrated). But I did get the interview and a few pictures so I will be working on putting that in the magazine and work on getting the audio file up on blogger later. I'm going to save the pictures that I took for that blog post because I feel that it works better if you can see the pictures as while listening to the audio. So see you until then.

Caption and Side Title Names

Dear blogger,

So, I am happy to say that I am officially finished with my content in my feature article!!! Yay! I'm not putting it here though because I want to wait to show it off in the finished product. All that's left is getting the other pictures and interviews. I have decided that the interviews will be a part of a small little section that goes with the pictures in the feature article. This also means that my feature article is just a bunch of stories and scientific evidence bundled up together, but I'm ok with that since I'm just trying to manage my time at this point.

But you've read the title of this blog post, so let's get to some naming.

Now, I already had the name of the feature article, which was "Pets to the Rescue" with the added caption "Have a ruff day? Here's an inside look to how our favorite friends have helps us make it through this cat-ostrophic year." Yes, I love the animal puns. Bailey and I already agreed on adding animal puns to our titles, captions, and feature article. I think at this point I'm probably the only one who is using animal puns in my article, but we agreed the use of animal puns brings character to our magazines. Sure it may be childish, but it makes our magazines stand out a bit.

Now for the other side title names. These will be on the side of the cover pages as well as in the table of content page. Some names I've based on the extra pictures I took (like the pictures of the dogs at the Grand Canyon and my fish Orion), others are just animal puns I came up with that could be the title of some compelling articles. So here is the list:

• The Mountain Dogs
• Can't Get Any Betta Than This: A Guide to Raising Your very own Betta Fish
• The Tweet on the Street
• Toadally Worth It
• Feeling Irrelephant? Have some motivation from Otto, ZooBorns's baby elephant!
• Hello Polly! The Singing Parakeet 
• Don't Forget Your Pugs and Kisses!

I think the funniest thing that happened was during my brainstorming process of coming up with names, I kept flashbacking to when I was six or seven and got excited when the newest edition to Ranger Rick came out. I don't think I accidentally took a name or title that they used. If I did, it was completely coincidental because I have not touched or read a Ranger Rick Magazine in at least six years. I think these are nice and add a bit of flare to the magazine. I'm probably not going to use all of them, but it's nice to have extras on hand. Just as a failsafe incase Bailey and I came up with the same or similar names.

This Week's Progress

 Dear Blogger,

So... I completely forgot to do a blog post this week because I was so busy working on the feature article as well as other school work, so here it is. I mainly focused on writing my feature article this week. The plan is to get the feature article done, get pictures, then put everything together. Pretty simple right? I did look up a bunch of scholarly articles that featured scientific tests based on how animals affect a human's mental state. 

One example of this is the journal article, "Using Attachment Theory and Social Support Theory to Examine and Measure Pets as Sources of Social Support and Attachment Figures" by Michael Meehan, Bronwyn Massavelli, and Nancy Pachana.. Their research focused on the effect of animal company, mainly pets, on human's social support and attachment figures. Their research was around four aspects: proximity maintenance and interaction, emotional attachment behaviors, emotional support given and received, and emotional and monetary value. They found out that humans who spend more time with animals have mostly exhibited behaviors that are associated with well mental wellbeing. Now this is a very brief description of their results, but that's really all I need. After all, I'm not doing a journal article summary, I'm writing a feature article about how pets mentally help their owners. This information is just to emphasize my point by saying that science supports it. It makes the article credible and shows that this information isn't just being pulled out of thin air.

Another notable thing that happened was that I got some more pictures. Some of them are my beta-fish, Orion, and the other one is a picture that Bailey took. Remember when I stated in an earlier blog post that Bailey was going to help me by getting some pictures? She was able to get one earlier this week. So let's end this blog post with some pictures of animals (with added commentary).

So this is my beta fish, Orion. I love him. Anyway, this picture was just to introduce him, I don't think I'll use this one in the final cut.

This one is nicer than the first one because he is actually looking at the camera. However, the glare from the glass is just killing all the pictures. This one is one of the best ones though.

This one shows him at a different angel. This is also one of the few shots I got where the glare isn't killing the photo. I like this one.

We got one of him facing forward, but that green light at the top doesn't work. I think I may need to cut it out if I use this one.

These two show him under the blue light. I kind of like the side shot. Gives you a full visual of the fish.

I think this photo is great! I will definitively use this. I just wish she took a few more. That's ok, I'm still glad she got a photo for me. Thank you Bailey.

I'm sure that these pictures will do great. They will most likely be in the table of contents if I use them since they don't directly relate to my feature article. The fish picture that I do end up using will probably need to be edited because of the light and the glass. Other than that, I think these are great! Until next time!