Hi, I’m Becky Stern

Hi, I’m Becky! I’ll be your instructor for Making Studio. Here’s a little bit more about me: I love to make things and share them. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved to do all sorts of crafts, like sewing and knitting. I learned some DIY electronics in college at Parsons School of Design and fell in love with combining electronics with soft materials to make art, costumes, and other gadgets. I’m a self-employed content creator. I’ve published several hundred step-by-step guides about everything from jewelry making to internet-connected displays. Before striking out on my own, I was product manager at Instructables, director of wearable electronics for Adafruit, and senior video producer for MAKE Magazine. You can find more of my work on my website and my YouTube channel and Instagram. After Parsons, I went to Arizona State for grad school, where I dropped out twice– once from a Ph.D. program and the second time from an MFA in sculpture. I’ve lived in New York City for 17 years, and I was raised in Connecticut. I’m really excited to get to know you and your creative work.

I usually ride my Vespa scooter to get to class.

I love animals, and I’ve got a dog and two cats.

Please feel free to reach out to me at any time. I’m always happy to schedule a 1:1 meeting or help over Slack or email between 8 am and 10 pm.

I’d love to get to know you a bit more, as well as get you set up on the class blog. Please check your email for a WordPress invitation to MakingStudio.blog, create your account, and introduce yourself in a new blog post. Please include a recent photo of yourself, and let me know where you are from, what you were doing before coming to PoD, any other info about your background that you care to share, some of your favorite things to make, do, and eat, what you are most looking forward to in this course, and what you are most apprehensive about in this course. I’d also love to follow you on social media if you want to share your links.

Video Review

Hi team,

Here are the transcribed notes for the videos we viewed in class today!

Effective

  • Shows product being used
  • diagram overlay
  • combining close-up shots (detail) with medium shots (context)
  • Shot composition
  • Shows software workflow
  • Leads viewer to where to find more information
  • Tripod to stabilize
  • Shoot during daytime -> diffused lighting
  • Establishing shot
  • Giving/restricting “personality” of characters/objects
  • Surprise and humor
  • Music changes to fit theme

Distracting

  • Over-the-top acting
  • Too slow/fast
  • Hands shaking
  • Background noise / poor audio
  • Irrelevant music
  • Extraneous b-roll
  • Too long
  • Too much motion

Video Notes : from class

#chrisRand

Here are the notes we took during last class on the video examples Becky orchestrated for us. In the comment section, please add anything I left out and I will amend this post.

AUDIENCE : (get to IT in the first 15 seconds)

  • potential customers
  • gadget freaks
  • tech industry folks
  • entertainment
  • other makers

TECHNIQUES :

  • write a script
  • story arc
  • implying thought through close-ups (intrigue)
  • manual focus
  • variety of shots
  • point of view
  • perspective
  • white balance
  • depth of field
  • call to action
  • concise editing
  • audio quality
  • tripod
  • free-hand camera (not a tripod)
  • split screen

VISUAL STYLE:

  • intrigue
  • cool subject
  • provocation
  • humor
  • clarity through repetition
  • don’t leave the audience hanging
  • nuance
  • object as character
  • empowerment
  • emotion
  • empathy

img_5386

Homework for Next Week

  1. Play with the RGBWstrandtest code for your NeoPixels and make a video of your animation.
  2. From your Arduino kit booklet, complete Potentiometer exercise Circ-08, DC motor exercise Circ-03, and make videos of each.
  3. Create a blog post with all three of your videos embedded (hosted on instagram, youtube, vimeo, etc., NOT uploaded directly to blog)
  4. Parts research for innovative switch project and order parts, email Becky for help figuring out which parts could be used for your switch ideas.
  5. Make a blog post about your innovative switch ideas with sketches

*Don’t forget to post them by Wednesday 8pm and put them in a right category (“Arduino” and “Works in Progress”)