Final Essay: What I Learned in MultiMedia
Katlyn Gardner
I’m not gonna lie, I decided to take Media Production for the high school credit, but I also was really looking forward to learning more about editing videos and photos and learning how to green screen a video. My brother had a project in his Sophomore year where he had to make a video on the lesson that he was doing and he failed because he didn’t know what to do. So I knew that I would benefit from this class. I learned many cool things this semester and I am glad I took this class.
One of the first things I learned how to do was how to do transitions in your video. No, not like cool effects to go from one clip to the next, although I learned that too, I mean video transitions you see in big movies that help change from scene to scene. For example, a match cut. This is a movement of the camera or an object to match a movement from the scene before. So like if you were to throw a ball somewhere outside of the frame, you would match that movement to show where it went in the next scene. You can do so many different transitions for so many different things, the options are endless.
Another thing I learned is how to use a green screen. Using a green screen is definitely one of the hardest things I learned in this class. It took a LOT of time and effort, especially since I was using the video reference in a foreign language. I always gotta make things harder on myself. But when I finally learned and finished it looked really good actually. I think that in the future when I am asked to make a video for a class project I will definitely use this skill to my advantage. The hardest part of a green screen is making it look real. You have to match the lighting of the room you’re filming into the photo or video you’re editing in. if you don’t it looks choppy and just bad. You also don’t want to wear any “reflective” clothing like white. It will leave a green highlight on your clothing that will show that you’re using a green screen or get rid of it but it takes out that part of your body making you look weird. There are so many factors you have to consider when using a green screen. But it is still a really cool skill to know and use.
Lastly, I also learned how to photoshop pictures. I was really excited to learn this skill for many reasons but one of the main ones is so I can make myself look better in my Instagram photos… jk I don’t have Instagram, but! I still think it’s another cool skill to know. I now know how to edit photos to make them look different. Most of the funny or creepy photos you see on the internet are all photoshopped. When they think 
of photoshop, some people think of people making themselves look prettier or more attractive, but it’s so much more than that. I can take a picture of my dog look like they’re at a park with a giraffe playing fetch. (inside joke hehe) the possibilities are endless honestly. (example on the left)
To wrap this up, I learned a lot in this class and these are just a few things I learned about. I had so much fun just making things my own and/or working with other people on projects. I was hesitant to take this class but I learned so much; more than I thought I would. I can’t wait to use these techniques in the future and expand my knowledge of how technology works.