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aineryeo · 3 years

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Sweet Tea ௹ OSAMU

Sweet Hibiscus Tea — Better Twin. 🍵

SYNOPSIS: You are not a protagonist but your best friend definitely is. When will you ever be, sweet little side-character? » 6.2k Words

THEME: A li'l bit of a slow burn love story, angst, just a treat as my first fic in a year. | Bit of profanity, cussin', teen drama. And use of dialogue references!

NOTE: Low-key felt like this was crap, rip. I still love you so much ‘Samu :( I may have not written this the best

If you were to think of what your role in life was, you were sure you were a comic relief character, and your screen time was just cut short because the viewers in the show you call, “Life” are not giving you the best reviews. With the amount of times you felt like you were cycling through all your days the same, waking up… Waking.. Up.. Wake— Yeah, that was about it.

Everything else was an objective agenda. You were a sufficient klutz, whatever that paper was. You ponder, in your inner monologue while you’re tapping your push-pen on your school desk in Inarizaki.

“— And we’ll be designing our own living rooms as part of the Course Outline for Interior Studies in the general subject.”

You had a best friend, continuing to ignore the incessant babbles, you say as you write a little note to remind yourself to think of a living room design to finish the work quickly later. You had a best friend, who you can easily say is the main character of life. You swear, as she sat close to the window, and how she wasn’t mean, she was charming; it was so hard not to like her. But she’s also insecure, keeps to herself enough, having you by her side.

“Hear that ‘Samu?”

“What now, ‘Sumu?”

“Interior Designin’! Weren’t ya listenin’ ya scrub.” Bleach-blonde hair.“What about it?” Disinterest; Bleached hair too, but ash-grey.

“Ain’t Kori-Kori real good at stuff like this?”

You observed the two famed twins of Inarizaki High. Actually no, you were forced to; how? Well, you sat between them, not like that ever stopped anyone, nor did it ever interfere with your boring experience of being a 2nd mid-year Senior. You just wanted to get up, and leave, get a job or something; not going to lie.

“Is there anyone talking at the back right there? Anything the class would like to hear, pretty sure.” Professor said, which immediately shut the two up, the other was blatant and oblivious, even whistling.

“Guessed so.” Your professor went on right after.

Your chin was resting on the heel of your palm now, but you felt someone roughly, no really, they roughly tapped your shoulder, the touch was from a clearly heavy hand. It came from your right, which was…

“Hey missy, pass this on to my brother, will ‘ya?” He grinned widely, his other hand that held the pen used to write a note in the torn paper from his notebook that most likely didn’t have any notes despite it being mid-year. You let out a bit of a grunt, not moving from your position, but you did use your hand that was tapping your table to pass it on to the other Miya without sparing a glance.

“...”

Your arm was about to die.

You turned to the other Miya, a small frown on your face as he ignored your outstretched hand, his eyes were closed, arms crossed but he was definitely not sleeping, it was obvious enough. So you tried to aggressively wave your arm that held the letter while keeping an eye on the doting teacher upfront, trying not to be obvious. His brother had noticed that he was ignoring you as well, shrugging when your frown deepened, back straightening on your desk, your free hand now tapping on your table instead of being a rest for your head.

“Hey ‘Samu ‘ya jerk…!” Atsumu whispered, a volume tad higher, to his brother who proceeded to ignore him; and technically, you too.

You groaned and ignored the two, equally annoying twins that are involving you into a situation you don’t want to get involved in. So you just slammed, actually no, not slammed exactly but you did harshly place the torn paper that contained some unnamed letter from Atsumu directed to Osamu. Wistfully, this was noticed by your professor.

“Y/N. I believe it’s been made clear that passing notes is not allowed in my class, rather, on any occasion that involves other subjects as well.” They scolded.

You sucked a breath in between your teeth, your hand ran through your hair in an attempt to calm you down. “Switch seats with Yokori. This seating will last ‘till the end of the year, ‘lest you misbehave again. This applies to everyone else who has been swapped constantly.”

Yokori gave you a solemn smile, knowing you hated this, she gathered her belongings and quickly sat to avoid any more trouble; even opting to give you a pat on your shoulder on the way to her desk near the window, though not quite beside. One classmate separated you from being directly beside the scenery of school grounds that held the gym where your schools’ famous volleyball team resides for practices. Actually, this classmate was one of their players, Suna Rintaro? Your impression on him was that he was quiet… Enough, if not provoked or talked to at all, which you guessed was part of your luck. Because you were definitely not going to talk to him, less it required you to by any of your classes together.

So you sat, your professor continued, and your eyes landed on your best friend that sat on your previous seat, since your first year of middle school. Bored expression on once again, your thoughts dialed back, and you noticed a quick interaction from Atsumu towards your best friend who flushed slightly from the two’s attention, noticing that even the twin who ignored you earlier began perking up, just a little bit. And the feeling was slight but you felt a tinge of annoyance, proceeding to push it to the back of your mind, not letting the feelings against your best friend surface. Because she was good, and undeserving of it, obviously.

The bell rang, it was time for lunch!

Lunch is a happy time, because you can buy yourself chocolate, and you can, well, eat lunch. What else is there for? You were bored out of your mind at home after doing your homework, and studying enough for the day so you practiced cooking. Which you admit, was very enjoyable, especially when you finish. Today was tuna sushi rolls, seaweed-strapped spam meat, seasoned rice, and hot tamarind soup in your insulating tumbler. You didn’t notice light gray irisess eyeing you in your little daydream about your lunch for today.

“Y/N, you good?” Yokori, said best friend went next to you, who had just finished gathering your lunch bag. You nodded, smile small. “Yep, let’s go.”

The class dispersed quickly, you two walked side-by-side as she timidly told you a story about her situation earlier.

“So Atsumu-san was passing notes to his brother Osamu, right? T’was so weird because they kept asking me questions, but Atsumu-san was nice, he wanted help with that Interior Designing project we have going on.” She laughed, scratching her cheek. You nodded along to her story, she was used to your rather quiet demeanor, she knew you were still listening. “They said it’d be cool to attend their after-school volleyball practice.”

“Mmh. Really? They’re annoying though.” You humored her, to which she chuckled.

“I mean… It shouldn’t be bad to try it, right?” She said with a big grin, bright.

You jutted your lips forward as you bobbed your head in agreement, already taking your chopsticks and lunch out when you found a free table. “I guess so.” You said, mouth chewing on a roll.

You pour a portion of soup to get the food down your throat onto your tumbler’s cap that serves as the cup, and drank, “So I told them you’re coming with me, I’d be too nervous by myself… Hehe..” and spat.

“Kori, what?”

“Come with me…” She looked at you, nervously smiling with her eyebrows raised in mock questioning, “-please.”

“Okay.”

“I promise, I’ll ask you next ti— wait, really? Holy shit, Y/N, thank you! I’ll pay you back, for sure. I didn’t expect you to agree quickly, d’you have a crush on any of the VBC members, perhaps?” She teased.

You were eating continually, mouth full of rice as you pointed your metal chopsticks toward her. Speaking with your mouth full, “I don’t think there was any point trying to say no if I’d say yes in the end anyway. It already happened, what can I really do?”

She nodded in understanding, you were always like this, relaxed about what happened around. It was worth idolizing, at least. Your head felt like it was burning, the back, you mean. Was someone staring?

You were now sitting outside of the gym, deciding to hang around outside instead of watching sweaty boys play for hours. Kori became more relaxed, so you took the go-mark and asked to leave when you noticed that she was. The team was fond of her, you note, Shinsuke Kita the Captain even thanking her for thinking of buying them snacks and helping them around with their manager to fill up the boys’ water bottles. The team gave her attention and copied their captain in terms of providing gratification for her deeds. You heard her ‘lax conversation next to the banter with the twins that was a normal recurrence.

You were simply a drifting particle, a bystander.

Actually wait, you remembered that you had packed yourself a little snack in case you had to stay in school for some surprise activity you forgot about, or situations like this exactly. So you took out your little box of homemade onigiris, not noticing the figure looming at the door. It was their break, and you were about to bite.

“Hey, that yours?” You hear, stopping your bite mid-way, turning your head to see ash-grey.

“Huh.”

“Ya deaf or what, missy?” The nerve.

You looked at him, and bit on the prism-shaped rice, then looked forward once again, closing your eyes even. ‘Till you heard shuffling and a sleazy figure sitting next to yours. That was when you opened your eyes, mouth slightly agape. Osamu Miya, sat next to you, his legs spread, and his arms were holding his whole posture as his head faced yours.

“If yer gonna look at me like that, the least ya could do is gimme one, little miss.”

You shook your head and swallowed. “Stop calling me little miss, old man.”

“Hoho, old man?” He says, humoring you, you can smell his cologne from here, mixed with sweat from his practice. He leaned forward, his arms now intertwining, resting on his knees, he was facing you with a small smile.

“Yeah, I’d call you shit hair but your hair ain’t the color.” You shrugged, but it was the type of shrug where you slightly move your hands outward. So when you did, the hand that held your bitten snack was when the big fox ate his fill. “Mm, tastes good.”

“Fucki-” You screeched. His eyes went wide when you just shoved the onigiri in his mouth, “It has your germs now, better not choke, gran’pa.”

Osamu was trying to give you a snide reply back but he couldn’t, with the rice stuck in, he just kept chewing. As you stood up and yelled to Kori that you were leaving. You were a side character, nothing more, you thought; as you walked away from the boy who had tried reaching to you, but you failed to notice.

“So… He invited me to their house to hang out.” Yokori said happily on the phone, you were trying to sketch a few designs you felt like doing so hummed, already quite satisfied, spinning on your chair right after. “So…”

“No.”

“But I haven’t said anything yet!”

“You were about to ask me if I can come with you because you’re nervous to go alone, the usual, hm?”

“...”

“Hm?”

“...Yes.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“N-”

“I’ll order you takeout pizza!”

“...Okay.”

You heard her cheering yes! On the other line, to which you just slumped in your chair to. And so, the day came and you were right behind Kori, who was knocking on the Miya residence as of the moment. The one who greeted the both of you was Osamu Miya, you internally groaned, their parents were off, you heard.

“Tsumu!” Your best friend smiles, greeting the other twin brightly; and smiling so wide at the twin at the door. “Hello ‘Samu!” She said, before the blonde had pushed past the door to beam at her.

“Brought your li’l friend along, cutie?” Atsumu jokes, rustling your friend’s hair before beckoning the two of you to come in. You walk past Osamu who you had mild grudges with. Your friend turned to you, “I’ll be helping Atsumu with some plates for the project, we’ll be up in his room!” She said, innocently.

“Mmh, okay. I’ll stay here?” You asked, more to yourself, you didn’t really know where to stay. This wasn’t your place.

“Accommodate the guest ‘Samu, I need’a do important school stuff.” Atsumu waved off as the two walked up the stairs on the way to the boy’s room, pretty sure. You stood there in the middle for a couple minutes, unsure. The renowned ‘less annoying’ Miya was sitting on one of their kitchen stools, his cheek digging into his palm, just staring at you. You stared back. He stared back. You were both staring.

You broke. “Not gonna let me sit, or anything?”

“Sit anywhere or something.” He droned, still looking at you. He was enjoying it.

So you looked at the couch beside you, then spared a glance at him, about to sit until he spoke again, “Hmm, not there.” He said in his low voice that contained an underline of mockery, you were sure. Though to him, it was simply amusing, to watch you that is. If anyone outside the two of your observing based gazes, he was actually sporting a noticeable smile. A small triangle smile, as if he was shy to make it any bigger, in hopes of hiding something.

You tried the two other chairs, the floor, leaning on a wall, but it was all a reject. You were embarrassed every time. Did you really have to go through all this just to get takeout pizza? You’d have to ask more later, that's for sure. So you tried for a last option, there was a tall stool right beside his, and well, three others far from him. So you tried the farthest tall stool from him, which was the far left. He shook his head no, you furrowed your eyebrows, you moved to the second stool, still no? Every move made your head wrinkle further down ‘till you reached the last seat, right next to him. To which he finally said, “Got it, pretty girl.” with a big boyish grin.

You didn’t have time to react to the nickname before finally letting out a sigh as you stretched your arms, and legs before laying your head on your arms that were resting on the table in front. That whole interaction probably took at least half an hour, you didn’t really know, you didn’t have a watch. “Pretty, my ass.”

He hummed, resting his head on his arms as well, though he was facing you. “Yer ass is.”

“The fuck.”

“Ya got a bad mouth.”

You groaned, and buried your face in your arms. Wanting to escape this. But you were lying to yourself if you said that you didn’t subconsciously enjoy his attention. You weren’t used to it, you weren’t supposed to feel this, right? It wasn’t, it just, it’s not you. Right? You shook your head to which the boy watched you do, getting your head up, posture straight and looking at him. He looked back, like he always seems to do.

“What do you want from me?” You say.

Osamu kept his mouth shut, still looking into you, thinking of what to say. Unwilling himself to tell you what he’d rather. So he asked a question, “D’ya cook?”

“Yeah, I make my own lunch and snacks.” You said, wary. Already feeling suspicious, you raise both your brows.

“Let’s cook.” He suggests.

Here’s the thing, you can’t do anything right if someone’s watching you too intently. It feels awkward, who in their right mind is able to do this right when he’s gripping your wrist that was stirring the batter for what the both of you decided to make, muffins.

“Ya gotta put in the right amount of strength.” He instructed.

“I’m starting to regret mentioning that I don’t bake often.” You thought, you thought you just thought that it was only in your thoughts. Oh no, you were becoming redundant, was it always this hot?

“Yer burnin’ figuratively, and literally. By that, your eyeballs are wide as fuck.” Osamu pointed out, he was biting his lip, to keep from a wide smile. “Tryna bake with yer hot gaze?”

What? “Huh.”

Now Osamu had wide eyes, I think it came off more sultry than intended. So he moved away from you as if you were burning his skin, though technically, you really were. Playing it cool. “What?”

“My what.”

“Yer… What?”

You were staring at him with a confused expression, about to open your mouth when, “Hey scrub! Make me a snack, I’m starvin’ over here.” Atsumu yelled from the room, you heard Kori’s small laugh and a faint, “Don’t be so mean, ‘Tsum.”

“Right. Let’s put ‘em in the tray then straight to the oven, yeah?” Osamu started, standing next to you, his face was not quite visible due to his wide shoulders, if you knew better, he might be obstructing your vision to not see the steaming heat from his ears. Spoiler, you did. But you chose not to poke at a sleeping bear.

“You sick? Got red ears?” You poked at a sleeping bear.

Actually, you were expecting a snark reply, it was easier that way. Just be sarcastic back. It was when the both of you were done, and placed the tray containing the muffin batter in the oven to bake, did Osamu dip his index finger in the bowl of slightly empty batter, facing you, and licking it off his finger. You really tried, you did; you tried not to look at the way he did that so unabashed. Dipping the same finger on the last remaining batter before menacingly leaning closer to you, inches from your face. If you could measure it exactly, 2.8 inches? So close.

Your weight moved from the heel of your foot to the front, again and again, what was he doing?

“What are you—?” You began before you got cut off by his finger wiping the batter on your lips, it made it look like you had a mustache. You stood there surprised for a few seconds, not knowing how to react, and hated how you expected something so different. It was until you heard a click of a camera and a low chuckle vibrate from the boy in front of you that you took the few remaining flour that was right in your reach to throw it in front of his face, making a huge fog of flour. He coughed for a bit, his eyes were glistening as he took the bowl next to him, using his whole hand to wipe leftover batter, getting ready to chase you.

You noticed. So you ran, but not without screaming, the leftover flour bag in your hand.

“No, please,”

“You asked for it, pretty girl.” He replied breathily, both of you were circling the kitchen island.

It took a good ten minutes before he decided to jump the island, and ran to quickly get hold of you with both of his arms, his hair tickling the side of your neck which made you laugh too hard, flour was all over his hair and apron, you failed to notice the handprint of batter right on your chest because you were struggling so hard to get off his grip. He was laughing too, you put on your scowling face, though not really mad, to face him, who in turn faced you as well. You didn’t notice the distance between the two of you was nearly non-existent; I repeat, nearly.

“Hey ‘Samu! I’m starvin’ and I smell yer bakin way over in my room.” You heard quick footsteps down the stairs, which made you jump in your skin. But even with that speed, you were still caught. Because Atsumu had an unreadable expression, “This place is a mess! Did we interrupt too early, hm?” Kori taking a peek right behind Atsumu.

You heard a dry cough from the other twin, facing the other direction, you facing the other as well. None of you spoke in time, so you took it. “No, uh, we weren’t, nothing was happening.”

“The scene of the crime is proof!” Atsumu pushed, teasing, as he continued his way down next to Kori.

“Shut it ‘ya scrub.”

“Yer the scrub, scrub.” They started bickering, real easy like that, trying to beat each other up. You noticed Kori walking down the stairs as well, first with an expression you couldn’t quite place, as if she was thinking deeply. But when she noticed you looking, she quickly changed into a bright smile, even sporting a blush, ready to tell a story about what happened behind the closed doors of Atsumu’s bedroom.

The day ended quickly after that, Osamu forced Atsumu to help the both of you to clean the kitchen while Kori volunteered to. It continued on like that, Kori dragging you into one of her meetings with Atsumu, you complaining but coming anyway, and you end up stuck with Osamu as she goes to her rendezvous with Atsumu that at this point, you have no idea what they’re doing. You just tag along.

Right now, you were beside Osamu in the gym during their break from training. Near the door, his teammates a good few distance away as he sat on a bench with his usual posture. Slumped back, his arms arching, one behind you that you fail to think of anything. Just as a general position. You were voicing out a thought you had in a while, seriously.

“So I was balls deep into ghosts way back—”

He looked at you, disgusted. “GROSS,” Shoving you lightly, “God, please never, ever say ‘balls deep in ghosts’ to anyone ever again. I feel like washin’ my mouth having to repeat that.” He even added this mild shudder that was just an exaggeration.

“What? What’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t really want to think about anyone having sex with a ghost.”

“Huh, who said anything about ghost sex?”

“You did, Y/N! Just now!”

“I didn’t—Oh, holy shit. No. Oh no.”

“What?”

“Does ‘balls deep’ not mean you’re standing in, like, the shallow end of the pool, metaphorically. Like up to your balls or something.”

“No! Balls deep is—It’s…”

“Balls deep is…”

“Why are you two talking about balls?” Suna interjected, acting as if he was just hearing about your conversation now. He was actually listening since the start, noticing the short distance between the both of you, interest hiding behind his eyes. “Balls, as in, dick or something? That’s wild.”

“Suna, no!” You screeched.

Osamu was biting back a laugh. The team was watching the three of you converse, getting used to the sight of you with their teammate. Assuming other things up the clouds. Atsumu was watching his brother with hawk eyes, and so was the girl next to him, Kori, though she was looking at you. If Suna was being honest, he didn’t notice any form of chemistry between your friend and the piss haired twin. They were all smiles and bright, but they always looked like they were thinking of something different. Though he doesn’t know anything about it.

Practice ended. It’s been months, and your interactions with Osamu have gotten more laxed. Your thoughts about being nothing more than a side-character was starting to change, because with him, you felt that you were a number one choice. You felt that you were a main character. Osamu felt the same, being with you felt like time was moving too fast and he wanted to spend it more with you, he was becoming insatiable. With you, he didn’t feel second to his brother for once. Lingering touches, his hand forgetting to unhook from yours, and his arm slinking around your shoulders as he yawns and asks for one of your homemade snacks as he starts to make some after-school snacks to give back to you.

You were invading his mind as much as he was invading yours. Sitting next to you during lunch, asking what’s in your bento, vice versa. Why was everything sailing so smooth? It was like it was just him and you. You heard rumors from the Miya fans that they were thinking you were Osamu Miya’s girlfriend. Forgetting your inferiority, sometimes the universe was just cruel, so it had to humble you.

“Atsumu and I broke up.” Kori sobbed.

Not to you, but to Osamu. You gripped your bag’s strap tightly. You peeled your lip with your teeth until the middle bled, so you sucked in the pain. No, you were not the protagonist. You weren’t, you never will be, and you never are in the past, present, and future. So you sucked in a breath to collect yourself, seeing Osamu pat the girl to attempt and comfort her, badmouthing his brother. “Sorry,” Her first gripped his shirt tighter.

“Osamu, please. It’s—I always liked you. It was just you.”

She wasn’t a bad person. She wasn’t, but why? You wanted to hit her, that, or jump off a building and die. None of them noticed you yet, at least that’s what you thought, but the sobbing girl had already seen you before she started bawling, and the other twin was forced to give her a tight, but awkward hug.

“Yokori… I liked you.”

You were about to walk to them normally after licking your lips from the blood, wanting to appear as a third party, to not let this happen. It just can’t. but you were pulled back by your collar. Who—

“Atsumu?”

He put his index finger in front of his lips to silence you, “Shh.”

So you followed him confused, he held your hand away from the scene. Leading you to the gates, the school half-empty, their practice about to start in half an hour or so. “Atsumu, why?” You croaked.

He had his eyes widened a bit, why? Actually, why did he pull you from that scene? His other hand that didn’t hold yours, which you didn’t bother to remove with the energy seeping out of your body quickly; it was taking everything in you not to break down. It went to his nape, rubbing it in question to himself, why? It was just that, seeing you staring at a scene when he knew you liked his brother, at a scene too painful, for a best friend who was just trying to do their paper, he knew. So his arms safely wrapped around you as you stared dead into his eyes, looking at his features that resembled the other who had unknowingly captured your heart.

Your bleeding lip trembled, your eyes turned glossy of the tears held back, Atsumu looked at you, empathetic. He broke up with your best friend because he couldn’t see it happen, every time he saw you with his brother, that wasn’t what they both had. They were simply not meant to be, and he was fine, he just didn’t know, but he was glad that because of it, he found out that she liked his brother more than she did him. He’d be angry, he should be, for his sake, but he wasn’t angry for him, he was angry for you.

He hid your face into his chest instead. You didn’t sob, solely because you thought you didn’t deserve to. But you cried, you let your tears soak in, “You look like him too much.”

“Shhh, I know—” Sigh. “It’s okay. You don’t have to look at me.” He said, trying his best to comfort you, caressing your hair. As a pair of grey eyes watched the scene from a distance, unable to hear, but able to see. Maybe he saw too much as he grimaced.

Osamu tried his best not to punch his brother right in the jaw, or push him away so he could yell everything he’d kept cooped up inside before you came running along, turning monochrome into a saturated-vision of the world. His teeth were pressing down on each other hard enough, he thought it might break, and shatter, just like his heart did. Of course, you chose his brother. Everyone always does. Every time he thinks he’s got it all, it’s all swiped underneath by his twin. Everyone says that it wasn’t their talents, or skills in volleyball that was the greatest gift they had ever received in life. It was their twin. But right now, he just thinks he was a curse he had to always deal with.

He jolted as he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Suna.

“Practice. Kita’s calling. Call your brother.” The ever-observant boy runs over as he scans the scene, and hisses as he sees you wrapped in his brother’s arms. Though he knew more than that, he had first-class seats to this theatrical after all. But he’d rather not be part of the act club, it wasn’t his forte.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” Osamu replied, briefly. A bit tense, still.

He looked back to Atsumu who had let you go, and you who were walking away already. On the way to your home, he was sure. But he can’t help but cringe, thinking of it as your way of walking away from him.

“Practice! ‘Sumu!” He yelled, devoid of anything.

You jolted, you were a bit far but he yelled really loud you could still hear it. This didn’t go unnoticed by him, but you were both overcome by swirling emotions that stopped both of you to do the bare minimum, smile and wave, no after-school snacks. Atsumu jogged towards them, not noticing his brother’s attempt at hiding his huge frown. Practice was hell for Osamu, he didn’t want to see his brother right now, not when he still thinks of your precious little form hugging his brother’s, not his.

When his brother accidentally served a ball hitting Osamu behind the head, it was more of a switch for his anger; his rage.

“Fucking hell.” He said, turning viciously towards his brother who was uttering lighthearted apologies. It wasn’t until he started stalking towards Atsumu did the team start watching them like hawks, Aran thinking it’s just another one of their silly fights. But that thought was cut off when Osamu suddenly launched a fist towards Atsumu. “Ya just get off on this, huh? Ya get off on giving me bullshit every time.”

“Woah, ‘Samu I said I was sorry. What the fuck.” Atsumu said, brows furrowed, voice starting to get scratchy at his brother’s tight grip on the collar of his shirt. His hand quickly gripped his brother’s wrist tied to his shirt, attempting to get it off him, starting to get riled up from getting hit out of nowhere. “What’s your fuckin’ problem?” He said, about to kick his brother off of him.

“You. You just took everything from me, ‘Sumu. You took them.”

Osamu breathed heavily as Kita instructed the team to peel the twins away from each other as this wasn’t one of their silly fights at all. It held other issues. The captain knew that practice wouldn’t be able to continue like this, so he made them do drills before allowing them to go home. Looking pointedly at the Miya’s. The two brothers did what they were told to, going off to do their drills, and getting ready to go home.

They were walking silently side-by-side, both faces covered with a frown, Atsumu’s face having a bruise by the jaw whilst Samu didn’t have a scratch, only because Atsumu was realizing where it all came from.

“Did ya see?”

“Fuck you.”

“Look— It’s not what ya think, ya idiot.” Atsumu started, Osamu raised his brow at his brother. “I don’t want to say anything. Figure things out yourself, scrub.” Then the blonde started walking faster, leaving his brother behind to ponder.

The next day came by, he tried calling you but it never got through. Did you block him? What did he do? Did you really get repulsed by him to avoid him to that extent? That involved his texts getting left unanswered. You didn’t come to school today, he asked Kori, who he had rejected yesterday, and who was supposed to know about you more than he did. Though he was aware that you often felt inferior to her, as he told you the same about his brother, it was a feeling that you two were all too familiar with.

“I don’t know where she is, I’m sorry. She’s not talking to me either.”

Osamu stayed quiet at that, he thought you just needed time. So he let it go, looking forward to talking to you the following days. But that was the problem, you weren’t there in the following days either. He knew where you lived but he didn’t want to impose as your family didn’t know him very well yet either. He stopped himself from visiting until it hit the second week of your absence. Where were you? Why have you disappeared as if you never existed in the first place? He was growing worried, he wanted you to exist. He loved existing when you were around. And he wanted to clear everything up after getting multiple clues from Suna, and his brother, obviously.

It was until the class of the second week you were gone, when Osamu promised to visit your house after school, did their teacher tell them news that tore Osamu in half.

“One of our students Y/N L/N has transferred schools. The administration just finished filing her transfer after her visit yesterday, she didn’t get to say goodbye as her family moved out the same day. That’s about it, the first class is Physics. Have a nice day ahead, students.”

His ears were ringing. You were gone. Gone like the liquid that slipped past his hold. Atsumu looked at his brother in pity, knowing how much he had lost at that time. And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t hear Osamu crying in the shower when they got home. Or when he tried to not get his snot on his pillows, sniffling in the night. His heart ached for his brother.

It’s been years since 2nd year in High School, and Osamu has just opened up Onigiri Miya. His brother had gone pro on Volleyball, and he couldn’t be more proud. He still finds himself thinking back to a few months of pure bliss in highschool, and he tried dating a fair share as well, in hopes that he’ll get what he had with you. He didn’t. So he dedicated himself to his work, and his passion: cooking. A few more years and his business was a success, to which was hell for the first few months, having no investors, and all. He was wiping down his counter, black cap on, his hair not having the same old bleached-grey hair. Instead, it was back to his natural dark hair.

“What is this place, really?”

“The name reminds me of someone from my highschool days. But I only heard about it now, is it really good?”

“Yeah, totally! We should bring our superiors here, and see if we get a few favors, hmm? The onigiri here is a star-choice.” Osamu sees someone turned around, laughing prettily, smiling all-wide, they were bright. Until the same eyes he used to look at in such a close distance, caught his own. His heart skipped two beats, or maybe skipped beating this whole time, maybe he died because god, did he finally send his angel back to him?

It was when you uttered his name under your breath, from the entrance that rang the bell prior to the conversation he overheard earlier did he confirm it. “Hey pretty girl,” he says, as he takes off his cap, ruffles his hair, chuckling deeply, and looking directly back at you; your heart spasms. “Where have you been?”

Bonus:

“Yeah, he was a real bitch when I first talked to him in high school.” You badmouthed him loudly from your table, which made him yell from the kitchen, “I was trying to see if you’ll take my hand and put the note there, okay!” Laughing, you didn’t notice him stalking behind you until he placed a kiss on your cheek. “Grumpy-ass.”

Living with 'Samu! ⁆ End Credits

#miya osamu #Miya #Osamu #Haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #Haikyuu!!#Inarizaki #miya atsumu #Atsumu #Osamu x Reader #Osamu x you #suna rintarou #Slow burn #Angst

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crispy-chan · 3 years

Text

carriwitchet ch.5

pairing | han jisung x reader, 3racha x reader genre/warnings | fluff, angst, high school au, slow burn, friends to lovers, love square word count | 3k a/n | sorry for the long wait. I really have to be in the right headspace for thsi series but i'll try my best to update it more often from now on. also - this chapter is a lil bit sadder than usual. enjoy <3

my masterlist

CHAPTER 5

“Hello there N/n,” Changbin beamed as he ran towards you. (I trolled you all kekeke)

“Oh hi Bin,” you waved at him, as he tackled you into a bear hug. This wasn't unusual in your relationship, the both of you being quite affectionate people. However, the hug was getting a little too long, even for a person like you.

“Ugh, let go. I can’t breathe,” you groaned, patting his back.

After he finally let go of you, you got to have a proper look at him. He definitely dressed up for the occasion. He sported a crisp white button-down (that outlined his toned biceps) tucked into black ripped jeans and topped off the look with his signature high-end cap. Overall, he looked pretty damn handsome. Suddenly, you felt a bit underdressed in your cardigan.

Changbin turned around to find you staring. “Whatcha looking at?” he smirked cheekily.

You immediately blushed and swatted him away, turning around to pretend you were looking at the movie options. It was a stupid move since you guys have already agreed on the movie, but Changbin was thoughtful enough not to call you out on your bullshit.

He must have sensed your discomfort though, because he leaned in and whispered in your ear, “you look really pretty today.”

You felt shivers run down your spine as he said that and felt a soft blush stain your cheeks. You pushed that thought out of your mind, focusing on securing a spot in the line so you could purchase your tickets.

Changbin looked amused at your antics but gracefully decided to drop it. Both of you approached the counter and asked for the tickets. You agreed on two back-row middle seats but argued for a while on who should pay.

“Stop being ridiculous Y/n, I'm taking you to the movies for your birthday so you're not gonna pay.”

“Oh come on, I can just pay for my own ticket,” you tried to protest but Changbin was already swiping his card on the terminal.

“No. I'm paying and that's final.”

You wanted to further object but decided to drop it at the unamused expression of the part-timer behind the counter. You didn't want to be kicked out after all and the annoyed whispers of the people behind you led you to simply drop it.

You reached the minibar and started to roam over the menu.

“Do you want to buy popcorn?” Changbin inquired, smiling at your apparent excitement.

“Of course. What's going to the movies without having popcorn?” you laughed as you stuck your hand in your pocket, struggling to pull out your wallet.

Changbin frowned at that, not liking that you wouldn't just let him pay so he put his hand over yours, halting your movements.

“Come on,” he whined, “just let me pay, ok? I invited you as a birthday present so the least I can do is actually pay for it.”

You groaned at that but finally agreed, albeit begrudgingly. Whiny Changbin was actually pretty cute.

Wait for what?

“Fine but I'm paying next time, ok?”

Changbin just shot you a wink and a sing-songy “maybe,” as he went up to the counter and ordered one extra-large popcorn and two medium sodas.

He pulled out his wallet and took out his credit card before swiping it over the terminal. Damn, why did guys always look ten times more attractive when paying by card? That must have been surely the mystery of the century. After grabbing the order, he pulled you in the direction of where your movie was being played.

“So, are you scared?” he teased.

“Oh shut up Bin! I'm sure it can't be that bad, right?”

“Well good thing you've got me to protect you,” he chortled.

“In your dreams.”

“Which seats do we have again?” you asked while climbing up the stairs.

“Twenty-seven and eight,” he read from the tickets.

You finally got to your seats, placing the popcorn on the floor for a moment before shuffling around to sit properly, lifting the popcorn from the floor, and placing the sodas in the cup holders on the armrests.

“Don't forget to turn off your phone,” you reminded Changbin while pulling out your own to not disturb anyone.

“Your right, thanks.”

The lights in the room slowly dimmed as all the ads started to run. After about ten minutes, you were feeling a little tired as you absentmindedly leaned your head on Changbin's shoulder. The boy was startled at first but cracked a smile at your zoned-out expression. When the movie started, he gave you a light nudge to get you to focus on the screen.

You whipped your head up in surprise, your cheeks heating up at you slip up as you quickly sat back, eyes directly on the movie. Changbin internally chuckled at your flustered state, redirecting his gaze at the screen too.

The movie was actually quite interesting, save for the occasional jumpscares that scared the shorts out of you. During one of the scenes, you could tell that the main character was walking straight into a trap and you really didn't want to witness it.

“Oh god, why is he going there?” you whined, “isn't it obvious that she's there and that she'll kill him.”

You couldn't stand it anymore, almost launching yourself onto Changbin's lap (while doing some gymnastics to get around the armrest in between you) as you pressed your head into his chest to drown out the movie completely.

“Why did I even agree to this in the first place?” you moaned, “I should have said no.”

Changbin had a hard time suppressing his chuckles at your adorableness. He'd never tell you this but he was actually glad whenever you snuggled up to him. At this rate, he was afraid though that the movie might be too much for you so he slightly nudged your shoulder.

“What?” you whispered, looking up at him with those big eyes. “Just that, you know - if it's too much, we can leave and go get ice cream or something,” he muttered, his palm going to brush some stray locks of your hair behind your ear.

You felt your heart skip a few beats at the gesture, choosing to snuggle back into his arm to avoid his intense gaze.

“I'm fine Bin, sorry for… sorry for acting like this. I should be fine now,” you smiled, moving away from him and sitting back in your seat. Embarrassment started to creep on you with how you just behaved. You hoped that Changbin didn't think you were too weird after this.

The rest of the movie went rather smoothly, none of the jump scares being nearly as frightening as the previous one. Changbin still did reach out to hold your hand whenever he sensed something even mildly alarming.

When the final credits rolled, the both of you started to pick up your stuff, heading out of the dim room while chatting about the movie.

“Look, I'm sorry for all that,” you started nervously, “but please don't tell anyone. I'd never live it down if they catch wind of it.”

He smirked at the display of you begging him like that but after seeing how worried you were, he decided to drop it.

“Don't worry N/n, I won't tell anybody. Besides, why would I share something as cute with the rest? This is now a thing between you and me only,” he smirked.

“Okok, that's enough,” you said firmly, not wanting to talk about it anymore, “let's go get something to eat.”

------

You entered the cozy cafe and took a seat near the window in a quiet corner. You scanned the menu, getting a little too immersed in choosing what you want as you completely zoned out when the waiter came to take your order.

“N/n,” Changbin flicked your forehead lightly to bring you back to earth. “What do you want to order?” he asked, pointing to the waiting part-timer who was slowly losing his patience.

“Oh. sorry, I'll have the latte and a matcha pudding, please,” you murmured, hoping the boy heard you. Luckily, he did as he scribbled down your order and briskly walked away.

You sighed, hating yourself for spacing out like that and making a fool of yourself. You were zoning out all day and you didn't know why. Maybe it was because of the movie - you were quite scared after all, no point denying that but you had this underlining feeling.

After finishing your drinks, Changbin walked you to the bus stop (insisting it was late already, and you shouldn't walk alone) and thanked you for coming with him.

“Seriously. Bin, stop,” you chuckled, “why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you. It was lovely, I didn't realize I needed this but I actually really did. I had lots of fun, and I hope you too.”

“Of course I had fun N/n. As long as I'm with you, I’ll always have fun,” he patted your head with a wink, shooting you the finger guns as he walked away.

You were still laughing about it as you got on the bus, his corniness proving to be really funny as always. You realized you actually missed some of his stupid jokes, the momentary separation between you two suddenly seeming way pettier.

You softly hummed the melody of For You. Again. But you just couldn't help it, the song had such a calming effect on you. It was your go-to song when you were stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed with school. And hey, who knows? Maybe there really are blessings waiting for you.

Getting off the bus, you walked the short walk home and rummaged for your keys. After stepping in, you made your way to the bathroom. You jumped in the shower, feeling ready to wash off all the sweat and lather yourself in that coconut body lotion.

------

On Monday morning, you walked into the school building, exhausted from just going up the few steps. You didn't get much sleep last night, opting for preparing for that chemistry exam even though it was on Thursday.

You see, chemistry was never exactly your forte. That's why you had mad respect for everybody that understood it, which was unironically about half of your friend group. Felix and Jisung were absolute chem and bio whizzes, making you wonder if they ate workbooks for breakfast. On top of that, Iris was also quite good which left only you, Mei, and sometimes Changbin to stick together

It was quite painful watching everyone understand the lecture and later not study at all, only for them to get a better grade than you, who had studied for three hours every day a week before the exam. You learned to suppress those feelings, not wanting to come off as rude, it wasn't their fault after all that you just couldn't beat those damn formulas into your head.

Chemistry today was especially hard, the teacher dividing you into pairs and handing you worksheets to complete with your partner.

You were paired up with Changbin, who usually fared better than you but today, he was none the wiser.

“God damn, I have no clue how to do this,” he cursed under his breath, scanning the handout with visible distaste.

You laughed at his antics, going through your backpack to find your notebook. “Neither do I but I think we should manage with the help of my notes.”

“Yeah, your notes are a literal lifesaver, thanks.”

You plopped the notebook on the desk, opening it and turning the pages to find the needed material.

With the help of your trusty notes, the two of you managed to complete the paper, even finishing before the bell rung and giving you some time to chat.

You left the classroom with a smile, feeling like you probably won't fail the next exam.

If you just put enough time into preparation, you could maybe even scrape an A. Today was Monday - that meant that you still had three days left to prepare. You studied for three hours yesterday, familiarizing yourself with the theoretical part of the topic. Now all that was left was to not forget it and go through the formulas to make sure you could build the proper equations.

Let's say you could cram in about two and a half hours of studying every day until Thursday. With that much dedication, you could likely do pretty well. While you were counting in your head and mentally planning out study sessions, Jisung ran up to you from behind and scared the shorts out of you.

“Wassup, N/n. Wanna hang out?” he put his arm around your shoulder and playfully nudged your side.

“No Jisung,” you threw his arm off, speeding in the direction of your locker, “sorry but not this week.”

When you saw his pouty face, you patted his hair and added, “the chemistry exam. I need to study as much as I can.”

“How come you didn't ask for help? I can tutor you if you want, I know how you despise chemistry.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to decline, Sung. I want to manage on my own.”

“I see,” he murmured, “that sounds a lot like you, actually,” he crinkled his nose and laughed. “See you tomorrow then.”

“Bye,” you waved at his retreating figure. Maybe you should have taken up on his offer. He was really good at chemistry, after all. You blinked, thinking about what would happen if you agreed, wouldn't do you any good. Plus, Jisung was a busy guy, he had a lot of things on his mind and you didn't want to bother him so it was better you declined.

You trudged your way home, entering your room and slamming the door shut. It was going to be a long day. Opening your notebook with a sigh, you started to go over the stuff for the n-th time. Oh, how you wished you were good at science. The stuff just didn't come easily to you and you had no idea why. You tried everything! All the methods there were but you could just never figure it out until you studied for hours. Maybe that's what you needed to do? Just suck it up and study some more.

You were about to just do that but the sudden clang made you put down your notes for a second. And then you heard it. The beginnings of a loud argument that brewed between your parents almost every day. They always fought over the pettiest things like who put the dishes in the wrong place in the dishwasher? Who left their cup on the table? Where was the remote?

Whenever you heard someone raise their voice, you could feel your thoughts spiral down the deep end. It was like this trigger that sent your thoughts to this dark place. Blocking out the noise, you picked up your notebook and tried to concentrate on studying as to distract yourself. That's something you really needed at the moment.

At ten pm, you decided you had enough. Standing up to stretch your sore limbs, you threw on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt, not even bothering to brush your teeth as you made a dive for your bed.

It was a dreamless night.

------

The next morning, you practically moved on autopilot. Pulling on your clothes and shoving breakfast down your throat, you left the house without even bidding your parents goodbye. You ran to the bus stop and pulled out your headphones to listen to some music.

“Yeah I know, we know If it's you, you can do it, ayy Don't give up, oh no You persevered up until now What's the worry? Believe in yourself”

That helped a lot. It calmed your racing heart and gave you hope. You struggled with some pretty harsh thoughts and just bottled it up because you didn't feel like you had anyone to talk to. Listening to their songs provided at least a little comfort and let you somehow channel this stuff out of your system.

------

The day at school was pretty uneventful, you were only assigned an English essay and a few math equations. Nothing you couldn't handle.

It must have shown that you didn't sleep too well, many of your friends asking if you were okay at the sight of the black circles under your eyes. You bit back a sob and tried to patiently assure them with a fake smile that everything was indeed okay. That you just binged a Netflix show till four am and were tired.

They all bought it.

Except for Jisung.

He watched you like a hawk for the entire day, being extra kind and doing little things for you here and there to better your mood. You appreciated his efforts, you really did but no amount of candies and encouraging little notes would make you forget the upcoming exam as well as the stress piling up on your shoulders.

After class, you skipped lunch and went straight to your locker so you could leave as soon as possible without anyone noticing you.

“Oh hey, Y/n. Wanna grab lunch together?” Changbin smiled at you before bending down to tie his shoelaces.

Shoot. You completely forgot that Changbin didn't have lunch in the canteen on Tuesdays. You racked your brain for possible excuses, before eventually settling on the lamest one.

“Sorry, I have to study for chem. I'll probably just get something to go near my place.”

With an apologetic expression, you backed out of the hall, and almost ran to the exit with a quiet “bye” thrown in the confused boy's direction.

You ran down the cobblestone path, ignoring the grumbling of your stomach. When you told Changbin you'd get something near your place, you were lying. You figured there wasn't time to spare and you planned to invest every second possible into preparing for the exam. You knew it was wrong, to skip meals and lock yourself in your room for hours but you didn't know any better. Every time, you told yourself it was the last time you'd pull a stunt like that but as they say...old habits die hard.

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gear-project · 4 years

Text

My response to the Closed Beta Survey:

People were asking me for more specifics on how I felt about the survey, so I guess I ought to outline in a larger broader sense what I think so far of Guilty Gear StrIVe.

Graphics:

Outside of individual characters/animations, the stage graphics needed some better rendering for certain objects. Things like grass and smaller objects looked “plastic” or “lego-like” in some areas, so that could be tweaked.

Lighting seemed okay, effects from various attacks also looked very good, and better than I was expecting at the time. Clash/Offset graphics need improvement so that they appear more obvious to players (I still miss Danger Time however... that added an extra spice to the game that GG has missed since the original Instant Kill screen in the first game, perhaps it can be optional in certain modes?).

The beta was especially slow in terms of load times between matches though, and even the matching function for netplay was sluggish as well.

I would like to see actual dramatic clash intros instead of “talking head sequences” for rivalries in the future... the first trailer suggested that was possible, so I hope they can actually achieve this once more like Accent Core once had for Sol and Ky especially.

Animation-wise, nothing really outstanding to note other than the fact I still find Ky’s battle stance to be somewhat strange for him, given the screen-facing perspective... I just find it particularly odd to have his battle stance changed so much since the older games. While Millia’s stance did change, it was more subtle, for example.

The Tension gauge didn’t seem to provide enough information to me, and was rather overly simplified, and I would like better notifications when my risc guard gauge is high. Character select still looks dull, though I did like the post-match rating system. I think players would benefit not just from ratings when they win, but tips and advice when they lose as well.

The lobby still needs a lot of work, but I did like the concept of only having access to certain “floors of the tower” depending on how strong you are as a player. It makes things feel more like a dungeon exploration than just a netplay lobby. Gatekeepers truly do exist... so such gameplay should reflect that.

I would like to see something closer to what Granblue Fantasy Versus has, times of day, weather, minigames to do while waiting between matches, or even just a place to mess around with stuff.

Sounds:

Everything sounded okay, albeit random. Normally I have sound effects much louder than music, as certain sounds serve as important “tells” during a fight. Voicework tends to come second to that, but I did note that in certain underground stage areas, character voices gained acoustics, which was an interesting change.

I also liked how the voices gained a dramatic echo like the Guilty Gear X era once had, particularly for Overdrive Attacks, which I hope they keep.

Controls:

I’m going to say this up front, but I never liked the concept of throw wiffs for Guilty Gear... while it might be more useful for games like BlazBlue, GG was more fast-paced, and generally geared more towards spacing and neutral attacks, giving throws an opportunity to neutralize an attack at close range.

This made throws safer, but also kept players in check who were always about close-range mixups. Option selects were also important in older games too.

Add to this, and I dislike the idea of them being attached to the Dust button. This makes it difficult to do things like run up and perform a Dust attack, or airdash in with a Dust without accidentally inputting a throw input.

Unless they came up with a way to better control throws as opposed to pressing Dust and a Direction (or give it a better input window), I’m not sure I like things how they are.

Another issue I have is the Roman Cancel Button... under most circumstances, the default Roman Cancel macro is P+K+S... this was always the default button in most games, but you couldn’t opt for other macros, like S+K+H, or P+K+H. This is important for characters who negative edge inputs, like Johnny or Zato, as they might need a different macro input so they can better “hold certain buttons” without having to rely on the default Roman Cancel input. This applies to other things like Slashback, Blitz, or Faultless Defense as well. Limiting input macros just leads to more problems if you ask me.

Gatling Combo cancels seem “okay” for now... and I understand why they put limits on Punch and Kick buttons, simply because those kinds of moves have higher priority and are safer in most situations. I think it makes sense to limit benefits when priority is on taking less risk in a fight.

In other words, using stronger attacks is more of a gamble, and therefore should get more natural benefits. Bigger risk, better rewards. This goes for guarding as well. While blocking itself isn’t taking much risk (or rather, raising RISC), players who use technique like Instant Blocking or FD blocking should get benefits from using it.

I don’t know if Blitzshield will return, but I wouldn’t mind if it did, especially if it functioned the same as Slashbacks in older games, especially on block or wakeup.

Gameplay/Nuances:

Not enough special moves/tools for characters to my liking... though some felt overpowered. Ky’s 6H acting like a Dust Launcher felt way too powerful for someone like him... though I can understand why such exists if it’s a slow attack.

Other characters felt “sluggish” at certain areas, like Chipp Zanuff and his combo routes (which would normally feel easy to chain together). Even Alpha Blade felt a bit slow.

Airdash Speed/Height also felt slow and limited. Also I don’t like the idea that forward Airdashes have the “Air Hike” glyph (DMC), but Air Backdashes do not as much. If they’re going to have air dash “tells”, it should work for any form of airdash. That’s especially needed for crossups and IAD situations.

Also it felt like Backdashes weren’t very safe, not to mention the damage output being too high.

I missed moves like Ky’s Grinders or Sol’s Riot Stamp... or even classic moves like Tyrant Rave Alpha, Sidewinder, or Crescent Slash.

Lots of characters felt lobotomized and overly simple to my liking, compared to their more developed older versions. Even EX characters felt more developed in the older games.

I’m still not sure how I feel about Roman Cancels having a “hitbox” or “launch hit” when they go active, but I guess it takes getting used to. It’s not a bad tool, but I’m not sure how effective such would be as a Dead Angle on defense.

I was also told that blocking reversal moves (DPs) in the air causes a large blowback... I find that interesting, but I don’t know if there’s pushback when blocking said moves on the ground.

It’s fine if you can FD moves to deal with reversals safely, but common blocking without Instant Blocks should at least have some knockback to put some value in reversal moves.

Other Stuff:

I liked the concept of getting to use normal attacks immediately after certain key special moves (like Sol’s Vortex), or the simplicity of the juggles. Though I hope they improve things like Dust Air Combos... right now Dust only causes launch on counterhit, there are no more ground Dust combos like Xrd had.

It also felt like the window for an air combo was very small as you could only do 3 hits at most after a Dust Homing Jump. I would like to see more uses of Jump Dust for characters, or even momentum-based combos.

Things like Impossible Dust (homing jump cancel) or even Jump Install would also be nice.

I would like to see more character-customization, like having different types of weapons/outfits, abilities, or stats, in an adventure-style game (like Granblue currently uses, but bigger in scale perhaps).

I would also like to see different modes of gameplay, like an Isuka Mode, or a 3-on-3 battle setup for team battles (not necessarily tag style, but KOF style teams as well).

I would also like to see GG Generations return... classic modes for every style of play:

GG1 Mode, GGX Mode, GGXXAC Mode, Xrd Mode, and maybe even a GG2 mode that makes special moves resource-heavy (like Granblue currently employs). Having separate modes of play would satisfy everyone... EX fighting styles as well, to further expand character play. Gold Bosses and Darkside enemies need to return as well.

I would also hope they explore the prospect of a GG animated film or movie, though that’s still wishful thinking. Having English novels would also help move things along.

Roster-wise, I just want everyone to return at their best, along with really cool new faces.

Closing Notes:

Experiencing the beta first-hand, I can definitely say it has Guilty Gear aspects at its core, but I felt wanting more. I know they can pull it off, and I gave them everything I could possibly want in the game.

There’s a possibility they might update the beta later on... so I hope I’ll get to participate in that as well.

#Closed Beta Test #Long Post #Wishful Thinking #Ideas

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gwgamesterm1 · 5 years

Text

The Number Game

Concept:

The first game we were going to build was one where the player would choose a number and the computer would attempt to guess it, with the player indicating whether the computer's guess was too high or too low until it was eventually correct. Ultimately the task wasn't too complicated as it's purpose was to ease us into unity and coding with C#.

Terminology:

Hierachy = Where active assets and game objects are kept.

Method = A block of code that contains various statements, these statements perform particular operations based on the purpose of the method.

Variable = An area used to store values of different data types. These date types are Integers/Bool/Float/String

Integer = A whole number

Bool = Yes or No

Float = Decimal Number

String = Text

Namespace = Used to organise code and tell the script where it can draw data from

Debug.Log version:

To start we made a more primitive version of the game which would be played entirely within the Unity console. In order for the text to be printed on the console, the Debug.Log (" ") syntax is needed which uses a string to show the text. We use this particular line of code a few times in the Debug.Log script as it is the only way we can receive feedback while testing the game because there is no visual elements. To start, we used the code to create a welcome message, a pick an number message and a highest and lowest message.

After the various text messages were written into the script, we added two integers within the Start method which represented our highest and lowest number, these were then given the name max and min respectively. E.g. Int max = 1000;. The names of the integers were then added to the Higher and Lower strings so they could reference the number.

The next step was to allow the player to interact with the game, which meant we needed to add a few inputs into the code. First, we created three more Debug.Log strings to instruct the player, these were for the High, Lower or Correct inputs.

Within the Update Method, we wrote: If (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.KEYNAME). This like of code is used to recognise key presses made by the player.

If = If this thing happens and if it's true or false, do something.

GetKeyDown = Key press.

KeyCode.INSERTKEYNAME = The key or controller input.

In a child code block of the If statement, we added a Debig.Log string so the code would inform us of our key press. We wrote three of these to to with the higher, lower and correct inputs.

This comes with an inherent issue though, which is that we can presses all three keys at the same time and the script give you all three outcomes for those inputs, so we needed to add an If, Else statement. Added the Else statement simply allowed the code to pick one of the three inputs instead of using all three at once.

We quickly learnt that keeping our variables within the Start Method caused issues with the rest of the code, this was because they couldn't be referenced by the If statements since they were in a separate Method. The work around for this was rather simple, we just had to move the integers from the Start Method into the Class, this way they could be referenced from both Methods.

We then added a guess integer that was the average of the minimum and maximum values. This guess value came into play with the Guess = max and Guess = min code, these essentially raises the or lowered the maximum and minimum values depending on the player input, e.g. 1 to 1000 with the guess of 500 would turn into 500 to 1000 if the player chose higher.

Once we had the code which would narrow the guessing range, we added one final piece of code which was Guess = max + min/2. This added box the maximum and minimum values and divided them by two, giving a new guess. The computer would continue to divide the remaining min and max until it had the correct answer.

Final Number Game (Coding):

Functionally the code for the number generation was rather similar, the main difference in the final build is that the computer doesn't guess the same predetermined numbers, this is due to a line of code that turns the guess into a range rather an division of the maximum and minimum numbers. Within the same script, the input for the higher and lower has been changed, so instead of having a key press to influence the computer, the player will instead press buttons on the game screen.

In the final game, there was a second script which handled the changing of scenes, helpfully called the SceneLoader. My understanding of how this particular script works is very limited, but in essence all the scenes in the game are assigned a number and the script allows you to access that number through an integer. For this to work, the code must be a part of a public method so it can access and be accessed by code outside of that particular script.

Final Number Game (Photoshop):

Since I hadn't worked with code before, it gave me some inspiration for my overall visual design and I decided to go with something reminiscent of the hacker screens that you'd see in older movies and TV shows. First I created a 1920 by 1080 document in photoshop with a black background, I then added some transparent rectangles with white outlines to create the outlines for the areas of the screen. I got the code text from a website called Hackertyper which created random code with every key press, most likely so it could be used in movies or TV shows. I copied the text into photoshop, turned it green and gave it faint slow, just to help it stand out even more from the dark background.

The screen seemed a bit bland to me, so I decides to add a video screen that would show the hacker, so I got a stock image of a hooded figure off of google as well as photo of a foxes head. I got the idea of the fox hacker from Watch Dogs, where the main character's hacker alias is the Fox.

Using some of the techniques I learned in my level 2 course, used the polygonal lasso tool and the average filter to turn the foxes face into a geometric photo.

Once I created a few more small details and made the three scenes recognisable different, I imported the backgrounds into Unity and turned them into sprites.

Putting the Game together:

After all of the assets were in their respective scenes, I added in the buttons which would be uses to interact with the games. I then added a text box so the computer had somewhere to place the numbers.

With the debug game, we attached the scripts to the camera because it was the only object in our scene, but its generally better to create an empty that we can use as our game object, so I creates an empty in the hierarchy and attached the scripts to it, then attached the game object to the buttons and selected the proper code.

Once I tested the buttons that controlled number generation, I moved to the build menu to give each scene the correct number so the SceneLoader code would function.

Evaluation:

I rather enjoyed creating this game, despite its similarity and while taking my lack of experience into account I'm rather proud of the end product. During the process I learned quite a bit about how C# and unity function, I know also think I'll have an easier time recognising certain terms that are uses throughout game design. I don't feel completely comfortable with code however, so I definitely need to work on that, hopefully the next project will help deepen my understanding.

0 notes

askkayleefrye · 7 years

Link

http://ift.tt/2eLAih0

After missing its 2016 iteration, I was so happy to be back at Wizard World Chicago this year!. Like all Chicago Comic Cons, this event took place at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL August 24th-27th.

I attended with my sister, Little Dove Cosplay, who was showcasing a new Sansa dress on Friday & Saturday… but I am getting ahead of myself.

Since we were presenting two panels, we picked up our badges in the ‘Exhibitor/Vendor’ section in Hall B. In past years, we were able to pick these up from the VIP or other sections, but this year we waited longer in line.

On Thursday evening, we walked the con floor and established what we wanted to see before heading to the “Make a Nerdy Living” panel. This panel featured The Pumpkin Geek, Amanda Meyer, Emily Evans, Scott Larson, Onrie Kompon, and later Mogchelle showed up (who was overbooked and hustled from panel to panel with nary a moment’s rest!). I was really impressed by what The Pumpkin Geek had to say; he was incredibly personable and gave good advice, like how reaching out over social media allowed him to save money traveling to different cons by staying on folks’ couches. Despite the panel being titled “Make a Nerdy Living” (emphasis mine), the majority of the panelists have a “day job” that pays the bills separately from their nerdy passion projects. This disappointed me because I still don’t know how to turn my passion into something that pays the bills. With six panelists, the conversation felt crowded and no one really got enough time to talk. Friday, Tess wore her X-Men: Days of Future Past Jean Grey cosplay, super comfy for a short day at the con, and I wore my coveralls.

On Friday, with an increased attendance, security had folks go through several metal detectors set up outside. Though some lines were dedicated to folks without bags, everyone filed through whichever line they could. Tess was dressed as Sansa in her black, season 6 dress (the one with all the feathers) and had her trusty direwolf purse with her (it’s name is Lady), and I wore my blue silk jacket and flip flops along with my coveralls for more of a pilot episode look. Once we got through security, I hosted my panel on ‘The Expanding Firefly ‘Verse,’ which is always shiny. This year, I incorporated new info on upcoming board games and some rumors about the fabled Firefly Online. I met with a bunch of other Firefly cosplayers for pictures with them before going to Artist’s Alley. This year (unlike my last Wizard World Chicago in 2015), the Artists Alley had its own huge area between vendors. I think this was a nice set-up, though I didn’t care for the second floor of the convention center being only cars and a haunted house. Oh well, it meant me and my sister didn’t have to crowd on the escalator!

We closed our Friday night watching “Dungeons and Dragons Improv,” featuring a Bloodrager Dwarf named Buttsteak, a punny bard halfling named Matthew McConaughey whose signature tune was “Take On Me” by Aha, and a shapeshifting gnome by the name of Cuddles who could only turn into marbles. These three were on a quest to rid Detroit of the Unicorn plague, fight a Spiderman-o-taur (half bull, half spider-man), and get a lapdance from Striptease the Unicorn, but in the end it turned out they might have been part of the problem. We left the con with tears of laughter streaming down our faces.

On Saturday, we returned bright and early so I could catch a panel called “Intro to Podcasting.” Despite several experts (David Vox Mullen, John ‘Bear’ Kolb, Patrick Newson, Paul Hinic, Nick Mataragas) clearly knowing what they were talking about, the panel was not very planned out. The panelists didn’t follow an outline and it was more of a Q&A than an introduction… and they kept pimping their new website which is a podcasting platform. Vox Mullen advocated paying for all of your own things (a website to host, etc.), and spoke most of the time, leaving very little time for Hinic and Mataragas to speak. I don’t think this panel was wasted time, but it definitely wasn’t what I was hoping for or expecting.

Saturday, I wore my screen accurate floral top with my coveralls, and we naturally went to see “One Season and a Movie: A Conversation with Summer Glau & Jewel Staite.” The panel started late, but it was refreshing to hear Lindi of PureFandom instruct everyone in the Q&A line for “No Personal Requests!” When asked where they would want their characters’ stories to go, Jewel answered that she wanted Kaylee and Simon to have lots of babies, and Summer offered River as babysitter. Jewel politely declined.

Jewel’s favorite episode was “Out of Gas,” while Summer’s was “Objects in Space.” “I don’t know if you can recapture something in the same way,” Summer said, when asked about a Serenity 2 focused on River. “I really respect what the show was.” Finally, if Summer could change one thing about Firefly, she’d wear shoes and brush her hair more. Ha!

After that panel ended, we headed down to Game Of Thrones Trivia, though sadly we didn’t participate (or win). It was a nice way to get excited about the season finale and hear speculations on how it would end. Tess was again wearing her black Sansa dress, and a lot of folks really loved it. After that, we went to the Creative Stage which was at the back of Artists’ Alley near a food station. I really like how this Creative Stage was set up and I think C2E2 could learn a thing or two from Wizard World. Not only was there more than one microphone, there was also an A/V set up to show a powerpoint! This was the first time I presented my panel “Getting Started With Etsy” and I was really glad to have Laura of Rebel Among the Stars Studios alongside to help me. We both have very different ways we use Etsy; she does it full time for a living, whereas I do it to fund going to conventions. We got some excellent questions and I can’t wait to see new Etsy stores that I hope were inspired by our info!

Sunday was a much more relaxed day since we were quite tired! We love that 5 Hour Energy has a booth at cons, because drinking those made us able to get through our last day! On Sunday, I wore my Elizabeth Swann cosplay and met up with friends (Sparrow Style Entertainment & Gormassmuss) who were both cosplaying Jack Sparrow! Since I was walking around with my sister as Sansa Stark, a lot of people thought I was a Game of Thrones character too. Whoops! I may have to start cosplaying Margaery again! Tess had opted for her pink King’s Landing Sansa dress, which she loves to wear because it makes her feel like a princess.

Overall, I had a really great time at Wizard World Chicago. I was excited to present both old and new panels, while spending time at a convention with my sister

My next convention is New York Comic Con, October 5-8th. Stay tuned for a panel announcement soon!

Like this article? Wanna support the work I do? Support me on Patreon or send me something from my wishlist!

#IFTTT #WordPress

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growthvue · 6 years

Text

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Joe Brennan on episode 297 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Digital filmmaking can successfully be integrated into any class. Learn practical tips and ideas from Joe Brennan for making movies in the classroom.

Advancement Courses has more than 200 graduate level online PD courses for K-12 teachers. Go to advancementcourses.com/coolcat and use the code COOL20 at checkout for 20% off any course.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e297

Date: April 24, 2018

Vicki: Let’s talk about making videos with kids!

Today we’re talking with an expert on the subject, Joe Brennan Creativity and Innovation Specialist. He is in Illinois.

Joe, where do we start, making videos with kids?

Where do you start?

Joe: Anywhere you want to.

I’m a big proponent of using it in any classroom, with any subject.

I teach a graduate class, and I challenge my teachers to do it, regardless of what they teach. The math teachers, the science teachers, the PE teachers complain that it just wouldn’t work in their discipline. After a couple of weeks they figure out, it can!

Vicki: Give me an example.

What would be an example of a video you’ve seen in math or in history?

Give us an example of a video in an unlikely subject

Joe: One of my favorite ones in math that a teacher did was the division sign as Eeyore. It starts out with lonely division sign perched on a chair, I guess.

And it says, [delivered in an Eeyore voice] “Nobody likes me. Every time a teacher says we’re going to divide, there’s a groan in the room.”

Vicki: (laughs)

Joe: Then he kind of becomes the division sign, and describes what you have to do when you divide, and how it’s the opposite of multiplication and things like that. It just kind of puts a human voice (not necessarily a face) on it. But he talks about the application.

So that was, I think, a fourth grade or fifth-grade math teacher.

Vicki: Think about it. I make videos in my classroom and digital film and… you know.

You want to have a purpose, though. So how does a teacher start off finding a purpose, and then helping their kids plan out their video?

How does a teacher begin to structure the purpose and the plan?

Joe: Well… Do they want to review? Do they want to introduce something?

It depends on what class it is.

I go right back to the writing process with this. Whichever model your school uses to teach kids how to write, I always boil it down to the “Tell ‘ems” method.

Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em. Tell ‘em.

Tell ‘em what you told them.

You’ve got the introduction, body, and the conclusion sort of thing.

But you can do that visually, and it’s much more memorable for the kids when they kind of see it and hear it at the same time.

I downplay using music. It can really be a crutch. We don’t want to make music videos.

Vicki: Joe, take us through an example of how you’ve coached a teacher recently through this process of making videos with their class, and the objectives that you covered.

Give us an example of how you coached some video projects

Joe: We try to employ PBL tactics, whether we’re 100% PBL or not is up for discussion.

But I have a fifth-grade class that just finished that just finished reading Night of the Twisters.

They made videos on disaster preparedness — tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, you name it.

My favorite ones are the ones where the kids kind of do a newscast. They’re at a desk like you see on the nightly news, and then they go to a reporter on the street.

The use a little green screen.

They could be in an earthquake. They could be in a flood. They could be in a hurricane.

Then they talk about what people have in their preparedness kit.

I forget what else they pick up from the novel, but they employ all those things.

I guess there’s a little aspect of a book report in there. There’s a big aspect of current events, and kids making an argument, presenting themselves, public speaking.

Vicki: So, they’ve decided their topic.

How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Are you big on scripting? Storyboarding? How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Joe: The quickest, easiest thing to do is shoot and edit on the computer, iPad, whatever your device is going to be.

The big thing is preparing.

So it’s a pay me now, pay me later, or pay me much later sort of a thing.

We want a script. We want a storyboard.

Of course, you can edit things in post [production.]

But the more you can line up ahead of time, the more you know what’s coming, and what each team member’s part is going to be.

Kids take turns behind the camera or in front of the camera. Or they’re on the side doing some sort of coaching or moving props in.

But definitely, you want a storyboard. You want a script. Keep those separate.

I also like Jason Ohler’s storymap idea

http://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/assessmentWIX.cfm

You can almost simply that using the story spine sort of thing, “Once upon a time… Something happened… Because of that…. Then that…” And eventually, you come to the conclusion.

Vicki: You know, the scripting and the storyboarding is something the students really — I know in my classroom — they’ll fight me on it!. But it just HAS to be there. Otherwise, you just end up with a mess.

I don’t know why kids think that they’re just going to go to the next viral YouTube video.

Kids think they can just point and shoot without a plan

And it just doesn’t work that way, does it, Joe?

Joe: Exactly. It’s just like stream of consciousness writing.

Vicki: Yeah.

Joe: If you didn’t have an outline or do a first draft before you put pen to paper, or started typing… it shows.

Vicki: It does. It just turns into a mess!

I think it’s just when we start with video — and I made that mistake early on — I guess it’s kind of ignorance, in some ways. We just don’t know better. Once you know better, you guide your kids through the scripting, through the storyboarding, or use Jason Ohler’s storymap idea.

Hardware and software choices?

And then what do your students shoot on? My students shoot on — I have a Gimble, and they put their phones in it, and we usually rip off of their iPhones or their Droids and we pull it into something called Pinnacle Studio.

So what do you use with kids?

Joe: Oh, Pinnacle Studio. Nice!

We use iPads and iMovie.

Vicki: Awesome! And iMovie is incredible.

So actually shooting on the iPad, and then pulling it right into iMovie, huh?

Joe: Right, and they also have the Do Ink green screen program.

Green screen options

Vicki: Ohhhh! So where’s your green screen at your school?

Joe: Anywhere we want it to be.

Vicki: So is it moveable?

Joe: This was such a big hit with our five language arts teachers that they got their own green screen. I have a portable one I lend out from my center. I also have two green walls in my studio technology office area. They can shoot anywhere.

One of my favorite pictures is — we have an open balcony area, and we’ve got three green screens set up — and kids are using both sides of them at the same time.

Vicki: Wow! Well, how’s that for audio, though, huh?

Joe: Well, that’s a challenge!

Vicki: (laughs)

Tips for overcoming problems with background audio noise

Joe: They have also learned the trick that you don’t have to get the dialogue. You can do a great job with narration. Tell the first person’s story, and your character could be in the picture which your voice is coming sort of in retrospect.

If you watch young Sheldon, I kind of like the way the old Sheldon talks about what Sheldon is going on in the show.

Vicki: Yeah. When you do have actors and you do have audio, that tends to be the most difficult piece of what I do with my students, is capturing that audio. We actually invested in a road microphone set which is pretty expensive to be able to capture that. But it is so difficult to get good sound off your set, isn’t it?

Joe: It is. It is.

I’ve got some iRig mics that — when the kids do their news broadcast sort of thing, they can use. But the more I can get them to narrate their story, have live actors, or have pictures they borrowed from the internet with historical people… and then do a narration in post and use one of the nice microphones or at least get closer to their iPad in a more contained area where they don’t have a lot of the background noise…works much, much better.

And also it helps to make a shorter story.

Shorter is better, and concise is nice.

Really, you just don’t want kids to make something that’s more than three minutes.

And if they can do it in 60 or 90 seconds, that’s even better.

If you’re not fighting dialogue, and people working through their lines — if somebody’s doing it with a narration, you can get the same amount of information, or more information in that short time period.

Vicki: Joe, as we finish up, what’s the simplest way to start?

Simplest way to get up and running?

Joe: You just do it.

But you’ve got to prepare. You’ve got to get that script. You’ve got to get a storyboard, with an idea of what your pictures are going to be. If you’re going to borrow things from the internet or use still pictures or use something else besides live video, get all that stuff lined up first.

Vicki: OK, teachers! So making videos, making digital film is an incredible way to really enhance learning in every subject.

In my own classroom, it’s one of the most exciting things that we do. I’ve actually added another digital film project this spring, just because my students are really in to making digital videos.

It does take a little bit of work, though, and you do have to plan ahead.

Thanks, Joe, for this great advice to help us make better videos with our kids!

Joe: My pleasure!

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford [email protected]

Bio as submitted

After seeing how well video making worked for his Spanish students, Joe moved from the Spanish classroom to an AV/Media Coordinator position. He is an American Film Institute Screen Educator and an Apple Distinguished Educator. He is currently serving as the Creativity & Innovation Specialist at Meridian Middle School in Buffalo Grove, IL as well as teaching in the Wilkes University Instructional Media Program.

Blog: http://joebrennan.us/Digital_Storytelling/Handouts.html

Twitter: @joebjr

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post Making Better Videos and Movies with Students appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students published first on https://getnewdlbusiness.tumblr.com/

0 notes

succeedly · 6 years

Text

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Joe Brennan on episode 297 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Digital filmmaking can successfully be integrated into any class. Learn practical tips and ideas from Joe Brennan for making movies in the classroom.

Advancement Courses has more than 200 graduate level online PD courses for K-12 teachers. Go to advancementcourses.com/coolcat and use the code COOL20 at checkout for 20% off any course.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e297

Date: April 24, 2018

Vicki: Let’s talk about making videos with kids!

Today we’re talking with an expert on the subject, Joe Brennan Creativity and Innovation Specialist. He is in Illinois.

Joe, where do we start, making videos with kids?

Where do you start?

Joe: Anywhere you want to.

I’m a big proponent of using it in any classroom, with any subject.

Vicki: Give me an example.

What would be an example of a video you’ve seen in math or in history?

Give us an example of a video in an unlikely subject

Joe: One of my favorite ones in math that a teacher did was the division sign as Eeyore. It starts out with lonely division sign perched on a chair, I guess.

And it says, [delivered in an Eeyore voice] “Nobody likes me. Every time a teacher says we’re going to divide, there’s a groan in the room.”

Vicki: (laughs)

So that was, I think, a fourth grade or fifth-grade math teacher.

Vicki: Think about it. I make videos in my classroom and digital film and… you know.

You want to have a purpose, though. So how does a teacher start off finding a purpose, and then helping their kids plan out their video?

How does a teacher begin to structure the purpose and the plan?

Joe: Well… Do they want to review? Do they want to introduce something?

It depends on what class it is.

I go right back to the writing process with this. Whichever model your school uses to teach kids how to write, I always boil it down to the “Tell ‘ems” method.

Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em. Tell ‘em.

Tell ‘em what you told them.

You’ve got the introduction, body, and the conclusion sort of thing.

But you can do that visually, and it’s much more memorable for the kids when they kind of see it and hear it at the same time.

I downplay using music. It can really be a crutch. We don’t want to make music videos.

Vicki: Joe, take us through an example of how you’ve coached a teacher recently through this process of making videos with their class, and the objectives that you covered.

Give us an example of how you coached some video projects

Joe: We try to employ PBL tactics, whether we’re 100% PBL or not is up for discussion.

But I have a fifth-grade class that just finished that just finished reading Night of the Twisters.

They made videos on disaster preparedness — tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, you name it.

My favorite ones are the ones where the kids kind of do a newscast. They’re at a desk like you see on the nightly news, and then they go to a reporter on the street.

The use a little green screen.

They could be in an earthquake. They could be in a flood. They could be in a hurricane.

Then they talk about what people have in their preparedness kit.

I forget what else they pick up from the novel, but they employ all those things.

I guess there’s a little aspect of a book report in there. There’s a big aspect of current events, and kids making an argument, presenting themselves, public speaking.

Vicki: So, they’ve decided their topic.

How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Are you big on scripting? Storyboarding? How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Joe: The quickest, easiest thing to do is shoot and edit on the computer, iPad, whatever your device is going to be.

The big thing is preparing.

So it’s a pay me now, pay me later, or pay me much later sort of a thing.

We want a script. We want a storyboard.

Of course, you can edit things in post [production.]

But the more you can line up ahead of time, the more you know what’s coming, and what each team member’s part is going to be.

Kids take turns behind the camera or in front of the camera. Or they’re on the side doing some sort of coaching or moving props in.

But definitely, you want a storyboard. You want a script. Keep those separate.

I also like Jason Ohler’s storymap idea

http://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/assessmentWIX.cfm

You can almost simply that using the story spine sort of thing, “Once upon a time… Something happened… Because of that…. Then that…” And eventually, you come to the conclusion.

I don’t know why kids think that they’re just going to go to the next viral YouTube video.

Kids think they can just point and shoot without a plan

And it just doesn’t work that way, does it, Joe?

Joe: Exactly. It’s just like stream of consciousness writing.

Vicki: Yeah.

Joe: If you didn’t have an outline or do a first draft before you put pen to paper, or started typing… it shows.

Vicki: It does. It just turns into a mess!

Hardware and software choices?

So what do you use with kids?

Joe: Oh, Pinnacle Studio. Nice!

We use iPads and iMovie.

Vicki: Awesome! And iMovie is incredible.

So actually shooting on the iPad, and then pulling it right into iMovie, huh?

Joe: Right, and they also have the Do Ink green screen program.

Green screen options

Vicki: Ohhhh! So where’s your green screen at your school?

Joe: Anywhere we want it to be.

Vicki: So is it moveable?

One of my favorite pictures is — we have an open balcony area, and we’ve got three green screens set up — and kids are using both sides of them at the same time.

Vicki: Wow! Well, how’s that for audio, though, huh?

Joe: Well, that’s a challenge!

Vicki: (laughs)

Tips for overcoming problems with background audio noise

If you watch young Sheldon, I kind of like the way the old Sheldon talks about what Sheldon is going on in the show.

Joe: It is. It is.

And also it helps to make a shorter story.

Shorter is better, and concise is nice.

Really, you just don’t want kids to make something that’s more than three minutes.

And if they can do it in 60 or 90 seconds, that’s even better.

Vicki: Joe, as we finish up, what’s the simplest way to start?

Simplest way to get up and running?

Joe: You just do it.

Vicki: OK, teachers! So making videos, making digital film is an incredible way to really enhance learning in every subject.

It does take a little bit of work, though, and you do have to plan ahead.

Thanks, Joe, for this great advice to help us make better videos with our kids!

Joe: My pleasure!

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford [email protected]

Bio as submitted

Blog: http://joebrennan.us/Digital_Storytelling/Handouts.html

Twitter: @joebjr

The post Making Better Videos and Movies with Students appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students published first on https://getnewcourse.tumblr.com/

0 notes

patriciaanderson357-blog · 6 years

Text

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Joe Brennan on episode 297 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Digital filmmaking can successfully be integrated into any class. Learn practical tips and ideas from Joe Brennan for making movies in the classroom.

Advancement Courses has more than 200 graduate level online PD courses for K-12 teachers. Go to advancementcourses.com/coolcat and use the code COOL20 at checkout for 20% off any course.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e297

Date: April 24, 2018

Vicki: Let’s talk about making videos with kids!

Today we’re talking with an expert on the subject, Joe Brennan Creativity and Innovation Specialist. He is in Illinois.

Joe, where do we start, making videos with kids?

Where do you start?

Joe: Anywhere you want to.

I’m a big proponent of using it in any classroom, with any subject.

Vicki: Give me an example.

What would be an example of a video you’ve seen in math or in history?

Give us an example of a video in an unlikely subject

Joe: One of my favorite ones in math that a teacher did was the division sign as Eeyore. It starts out with lonely division sign perched on a chair, I guess.

And it says, [delivered in an Eeyore voice] “Nobody likes me. Every time a teacher says we’re going to divide, there’s a groan in the room.”

Vicki: (laughs)

So that was, I think, a fourth grade or fifth-grade math teacher.

Vicki: Think about it. I make videos in my classroom and digital film and… you know.

You want to have a purpose, though. So how does a teacher start off finding a purpose, and then helping their kids plan out their video?

How does a teacher begin to structure the purpose and the plan?

Joe: Well… Do they want to review? Do they want to introduce something?

It depends on what class it is.

I go right back to the writing process with this. Whichever model your school uses to teach kids how to write, I always boil it down to the “Tell ‘ems” method.

Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em. Tell ‘em.

Tell ‘em what you told them.

You’ve got the introduction, body, and the conclusion sort of thing.

But you can do that visually, and it’s much more memorable for the kids when they kind of see it and hear it at the same time.

I downplay using music. It can really be a crutch. We don’t want to make music videos.

Vicki: Joe, take us through an example of how you’ve coached a teacher recently through this process of making videos with their class, and the objectives that you covered.

Give us an example of how you coached some video projects

Joe: We try to employ PBL tactics, whether we’re 100% PBL or not is up for discussion.

But I have a fifth-grade class that just finished that just finished reading Night of the Twisters.

They made videos on disaster preparedness — tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, you name it.

My favorite ones are the ones where the kids kind of do a newscast. They’re at a desk like you see on the nightly news, and then they go to a reporter on the street.

The use a little green screen.

They could be in an earthquake. They could be in a flood. They could be in a hurricane.

Then they talk about what people have in their preparedness kit.

I forget what else they pick up from the novel, but they employ all those things.

I guess there’s a little aspect of a book report in there. There’s a big aspect of current events, and kids making an argument, presenting themselves, public speaking.

Vicki: So, they’ve decided their topic.

How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Are you big on scripting? Storyboarding? How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Joe: The quickest, easiest thing to do is shoot and edit on the computer, iPad, whatever your device is going to be.

The big thing is preparing.

So it’s a pay me now, pay me later, or pay me much later sort of a thing.

We want a script. We want a storyboard.

Of course, you can edit things in post [production.]

But the more you can line up ahead of time, the more you know what’s coming, and what each team member’s part is going to be.

Kids take turns behind the camera or in front of the camera. Or they’re on the side doing some sort of coaching or moving props in.

But definitely, you want a storyboard. You want a script. Keep those separate.

I also like Jason Ohler’s storymap idea

http://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/assessmentWIX.cfm

You can almost simply that using the story spine sort of thing, “Once upon a time… Something happened… Because of that…. Then that…” And eventually, you come to the conclusion.

I don’t know why kids think that they’re just going to go to the next viral YouTube video.

Kids think they can just point and shoot without a plan

And it just doesn’t work that way, does it, Joe?

Joe: Exactly. It’s just like stream of consciousness writing.

Vicki: Yeah.

Joe: If you didn’t have an outline or do a first draft before you put pen to paper, or started typing… it shows.

Vicki: It does. It just turns into a mess!

Hardware and software choices?

So what do you use with kids?

Joe: Oh, Pinnacle Studio. Nice!

We use iPads and iMovie.

Vicki: Awesome! And iMovie is incredible.

So actually shooting on the iPad, and then pulling it right into iMovie, huh?

Joe: Right, and they also have the Do Ink green screen program.

Green screen options

Vicki: Ohhhh! So where’s your green screen at your school?

Joe: Anywhere we want it to be.

Vicki: So is it moveable?

One of my favorite pictures is — we have an open balcony area, and we’ve got three green screens set up — and kids are using both sides of them at the same time.

Vicki: Wow! Well, how’s that for audio, though, huh?

Joe: Well, that’s a challenge!

Vicki: (laughs)

Tips for overcoming problems with background audio noise

If you watch young Sheldon, I kind of like the way the old Sheldon talks about what Sheldon is going on in the show.

Joe: It is. It is.

And also it helps to make a shorter story.

Shorter is better, and concise is nice.

Really, you just don’t want kids to make something that’s more than three minutes.

And if they can do it in 60 or 90 seconds, that’s even better.

Vicki: Joe, as we finish up, what’s the simplest way to start?

Simplest way to get up and running?

Joe: You just do it.

Vicki: OK, teachers! So making videos, making digital film is an incredible way to really enhance learning in every subject.

It does take a little bit of work, though, and you do have to plan ahead.

Thanks, Joe, for this great advice to help us make better videos with our kids!

Joe: My pleasure!

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford [email protected]

Bio as submitted

Blog: http://joebrennan.us/Digital_Storytelling/Handouts.html

Twitter: @joebjr

The post Making Better Videos and Movies with Students appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

0 notes

athena29stone · 6 years

Text

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Joe Brennan on episode 297 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Digital filmmaking can successfully be integrated into any class. Learn practical tips and ideas from Joe Brennan for making movies in the classroom.

Advancement Courses has more than 200 graduate level online PD courses for K-12 teachers. Go to advancementcourses.com/coolcat and use the code COOL20 at checkout for 20% off any course.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e297

Date: April 24, 2018

Vicki: Let’s talk about making videos with kids!

Today we’re talking with an expert on the subject, Joe Brennan Creativity and Innovation Specialist. He is in Illinois.

Joe, where do we start, making videos with kids?

Where do you start?

Joe: Anywhere you want to.

I’m a big proponent of using it in any classroom, with any subject.

Vicki: Give me an example.

What would be an example of a video you’ve seen in math or in history?

Give us an example of a video in an unlikely subject

Joe: One of my favorite ones in math that a teacher did was the division sign as Eeyore. It starts out with lonely division sign perched on a chair, I guess.

And it says, [delivered in an Eeyore voice] “Nobody likes me. Every time a teacher says we’re going to divide, there’s a groan in the room.”

Vicki: (laughs)

So that was, I think, a fourth grade or fifth-grade math teacher.

Vicki: Think about it. I make videos in my classroom and digital film and… you know.

You want to have a purpose, though. So how does a teacher start off finding a purpose, and then helping their kids plan out their video?

How does a teacher begin to structure the purpose and the plan?

Joe: Well… Do they want to review? Do they want to introduce something?

It depends on what class it is.

I go right back to the writing process with this. Whichever model your school uses to teach kids how to write, I always boil it down to the “Tell ‘ems” method.

Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em. Tell ‘em.

Tell ‘em what you told them.

You’ve got the introduction, body, and the conclusion sort of thing.

But you can do that visually, and it’s much more memorable for the kids when they kind of see it and hear it at the same time.

I downplay using music. It can really be a crutch. We don’t want to make music videos.

Vicki: Joe, take us through an example of how you’ve coached a teacher recently through this process of making videos with their class, and the objectives that you covered.

Give us an example of how you coached some video projects

Joe: We try to employ PBL tactics, whether we’re 100% PBL or not is up for discussion.

But I have a fifth-grade class that just finished that just finished reading Night of the Twisters.

They made videos on disaster preparedness — tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, you name it.

My favorite ones are the ones where the kids kind of do a newscast. They’re at a desk like you see on the nightly news, and then they go to a reporter on the street.

The use a little green screen.

They could be in an earthquake. They could be in a flood. They could be in a hurricane.

Then they talk about what people have in their preparedness kit.

I forget what else they pick up from the novel, but they employ all those things.

I guess there’s a little aspect of a book report in there. There’s a big aspect of current events, and kids making an argument, presenting themselves, public speaking.

Vicki: So, they’ve decided their topic.

How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Are you big on scripting? Storyboarding? How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Joe: The quickest, easiest thing to do is shoot and edit on the computer, iPad, whatever your device is going to be.

The big thing is preparing.

So it’s a pay me now, pay me later, or pay me much later sort of a thing.

We want a script. We want a storyboard.

Of course, you can edit things in post [production.]

But the more you can line up ahead of time, the more you know what’s coming, and what each team member’s part is going to be.

Kids take turns behind the camera or in front of the camera. Or they’re on the side doing some sort of coaching or moving props in.

But definitely, you want a storyboard. You want a script. Keep those separate.

I also like Jason Ohler’s storymap idea

http://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/assessmentWIX.cfm

You can almost simply that using the story spine sort of thing, “Once upon a time… Something happened… Because of that…. Then that…” And eventually, you come to the conclusion.

I don’t know why kids think that they’re just going to go to the next viral YouTube video.

Kids think they can just point and shoot without a plan

And it just doesn’t work that way, does it, Joe?

Joe: Exactly. It’s just like stream of consciousness writing.

Vicki: Yeah.

Joe: If you didn’t have an outline or do a first draft before you put pen to paper, or started typing… it shows.

Vicki: It does. It just turns into a mess!

Hardware and software choices?

So what do you use with kids?

Joe: Oh, Pinnacle Studio. Nice!

We use iPads and iMovie.

Vicki: Awesome! And iMovie is incredible.

So actually shooting on the iPad, and then pulling it right into iMovie, huh?

Joe: Right, and they also have the Do Ink green screen program.

Green screen options

Vicki: Ohhhh! So where’s your green screen at your school?

Joe: Anywhere we want it to be.

Vicki: So is it moveable?

One of my favorite pictures is — we have an open balcony area, and we’ve got three green screens set up — and kids are using both sides of them at the same time.

Vicki: Wow! Well, how’s that for audio, though, huh?

Joe: Well, that’s a challenge!

Vicki: (laughs)

Tips for overcoming problems with background audio noise

If you watch young Sheldon, I kind of like the way the old Sheldon talks about what Sheldon is going on in the show.

Joe: It is. It is.

And also it helps to make a shorter story.

Shorter is better, and concise is nice.

Really, you just don’t want kids to make something that’s more than three minutes.

And if they can do it in 60 or 90 seconds, that’s even better.

Vicki: Joe, as we finish up, what’s the simplest way to start?

Simplest way to get up and running?

Joe: You just do it.

Vicki: OK, teachers! So making videos, making digital film is an incredible way to really enhance learning in every subject.

It does take a little bit of work, though, and you do have to plan ahead.

Thanks, Joe, for this great advice to help us make better videos with our kids!

Joe: My pleasure!

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford [email protected]

Bio as submitted

Blog: http://joebrennan.us/Digital_Storytelling/Handouts.html

Twitter: @joebjr

The post Making Better Videos and Movies with Students appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/e297/

0 notes

aira26soonas · 6 years

Text

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Joe Brennan on episode 297 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Digital filmmaking can successfully be integrated into any class. Learn practical tips and ideas from Joe Brennan for making movies in the classroom.

Advancement Courses has more than 200 graduate level online PD courses for K-12 teachers. Go to advancementcourses.com/coolcat and use the code COOL20 at checkout for 20% off any course.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e297

Date: April 24, 2018

Vicki: Let’s talk about making videos with kids!

Today we’re talking with an expert on the subject, Joe Brennan Creativity and Innovation Specialist. He is in Illinois.

Joe, where do we start, making videos with kids?

Where do you start?

Joe: Anywhere you want to.

I’m a big proponent of using it in any classroom, with any subject.

Vicki: Give me an example.

What would be an example of a video you’ve seen in math or in history?

Give us an example of a video in an unlikely subject

Joe: One of my favorite ones in math that a teacher did was the division sign as Eeyore. It starts out with lonely division sign perched on a chair, I guess.

And it says, [delivered in an Eeyore voice] “Nobody likes me. Every time a teacher says we’re going to divide, there’s a groan in the room.”

Vicki: (laughs)

So that was, I think, a fourth grade or fifth-grade math teacher.

Vicki: Think about it. I make videos in my classroom and digital film and… you know.

You want to have a purpose, though. So how does a teacher start off finding a purpose, and then helping their kids plan out their video?

How does a teacher begin to structure the purpose and the plan?

Joe: Well… Do they want to review? Do they want to introduce something?

It depends on what class it is.

I go right back to the writing process with this. Whichever model your school uses to teach kids how to write, I always boil it down to the “Tell ‘ems” method.

Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em. Tell ‘em.

Tell ‘em what you told them.

You’ve got the introduction, body, and the conclusion sort of thing.

But you can do that visually, and it’s much more memorable for the kids when they kind of see it and hear it at the same time.

I downplay using music. It can really be a crutch. We don’t want to make music videos.

Vicki: Joe, take us through an example of how you’ve coached a teacher recently through this process of making videos with their class, and the objectives that you covered.

Give us an example of how you coached some video projects

Joe: We try to employ PBL tactics, whether we’re 100% PBL or not is up for discussion.

But I have a fifth-grade class that just finished that just finished reading Night of the Twisters.

They made videos on disaster preparedness — tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, you name it.

My favorite ones are the ones where the kids kind of do a newscast. They’re at a desk like you see on the nightly news, and then they go to a reporter on the street.

The use a little green screen.

They could be in an earthquake. They could be in a flood. They could be in a hurricane.

Then they talk about what people have in their preparedness kit.

I forget what else they pick up from the novel, but they employ all those things.

I guess there’s a little aspect of a book report in there. There’s a big aspect of current events, and kids making an argument, presenting themselves, public speaking.

Vicki: So, they’ve decided their topic.

How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Are you big on scripting? Storyboarding? How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Joe: The quickest, easiest thing to do is shoot and edit on the computer, iPad, whatever your device is going to be.

The big thing is preparing.

So it’s a pay me now, pay me later, or pay me much later sort of a thing.

We want a script. We want a storyboard.

Of course, you can edit things in post [production.]

But the more you can line up ahead of time, the more you know what’s coming, and what each team member’s part is going to be.

Kids take turns behind the camera or in front of the camera. Or they’re on the side doing some sort of coaching or moving props in.

But definitely, you want a storyboard. You want a script. Keep those separate.

I also like Jason Ohler’s storymap idea

http://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/assessmentWIX.cfm

You can almost simply that using the story spine sort of thing, “Once upon a time… Something happened… Because of that…. Then that…” And eventually, you come to the conclusion.

I don’t know why kids think that they’re just going to go to the next viral YouTube video.

Kids think they can just point and shoot without a plan

And it just doesn’t work that way, does it, Joe?

Joe: Exactly. It’s just like stream of consciousness writing.

Vicki: Yeah.

Joe: If you didn’t have an outline or do a first draft before you put pen to paper, or started typing… it shows.

Vicki: It does. It just turns into a mess!

Hardware and software choices?

So what do you use with kids?

Joe: Oh, Pinnacle Studio. Nice!

We use iPads and iMovie.

Vicki: Awesome! And iMovie is incredible.

So actually shooting on the iPad, and then pulling it right into iMovie, huh?

Joe: Right, and they also have the Do Ink green screen program.

Green screen options

Vicki: Ohhhh! So where’s your green screen at your school?

Joe: Anywhere we want it to be.

Vicki: So is it moveable?

One of my favorite pictures is — we have an open balcony area, and we’ve got three green screens set up — and kids are using both sides of them at the same time.

Vicki: Wow! Well, how’s that for audio, though, huh?

Joe: Well, that’s a challenge!

Vicki: (laughs)

Tips for overcoming problems with background audio noise

If you watch young Sheldon, I kind of like the way the old Sheldon talks about what Sheldon is going on in the show.

Joe: It is. It is.

And also it helps to make a shorter story.

Shorter is better, and concise is nice.

Really, you just don’t want kids to make something that’s more than three minutes.

And if they can do it in 60 or 90 seconds, that’s even better.

Vicki: Joe, as we finish up, what’s the simplest way to start?

Simplest way to get up and running?

Joe: You just do it.

Vicki: OK, teachers! So making videos, making digital film is an incredible way to really enhance learning in every subject.

It does take a little bit of work, though, and you do have to plan ahead.

Thanks, Joe, for this great advice to help us make better videos with our kids!

Joe: My pleasure!

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford [email protected]

Bio as submitted

Blog: http://joebrennan.us/Digital_Storytelling/Handouts.html

Twitter: @joebjr

The post Making Better Videos and Movies with Students appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/e297/

0 notes

ralph31ortiz · 6 years

Text

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Joe Brennan on episode 297 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Digital filmmaking can successfully be integrated into any class. Learn practical tips and ideas from Joe Brennan for making movies in the classroom.

Advancement Courses has more than 200 graduate level online PD courses for K-12 teachers. Go to advancementcourses.com/coolcat and use the code COOL20 at checkout for 20% off any course.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Making Better Videos and Movies with Students

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e297

Date: April 24, 2018

Vicki: Let’s talk about making videos with kids!

Today we’re talking with an expert on the subject, Joe Brennan Creativity and Innovation Specialist. He is in Illinois.

Joe, where do we start, making videos with kids?

Where do you start?

Joe: Anywhere you want to.

I’m a big proponent of using it in any classroom, with any subject.

Vicki: Give me an example.

What would be an example of a video you’ve seen in math or in history?

Give us an example of a video in an unlikely subject

Joe: One of my favorite ones in math that a teacher did was the division sign as Eeyore. It starts out with lonely division sign perched on a chair, I guess.

And it says, [delivered in an Eeyore voice] “Nobody likes me. Every time a teacher says we’re going to divide, there’s a groan in the room.”

Vicki: (laughs)

So that was, I think, a fourth grade or fifth-grade math teacher.

Vicki: Think about it. I make videos in my classroom and digital film and… you know.

You want to have a purpose, though. So how does a teacher start off finding a purpose, and then helping their kids plan out their video?

How does a teacher begin to structure the purpose and the plan?

Joe: Well… Do they want to review? Do they want to introduce something?

It depends on what class it is.

I go right back to the writing process with this. Whichever model your school uses to teach kids how to write, I always boil it down to the “Tell ‘ems” method.

Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em. Tell ‘em.

Tell ‘em what you told them.

You’ve got the introduction, body, and the conclusion sort of thing.

But you can do that visually, and it’s much more memorable for the kids when they kind of see it and hear it at the same time.

I downplay using music. It can really be a crutch. We don’t want to make music videos.

Vicki: Joe, take us through an example of how you’ve coached a teacher recently through this process of making videos with their class, and the objectives that you covered.

Give us an example of how you coached some video projects

Joe: We try to employ PBL tactics, whether we’re 100% PBL or not is up for discussion.

But I have a fifth-grade class that just finished that just finished reading Night of the Twisters.

They made videos on disaster preparedness — tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, you name it.

My favorite ones are the ones where the kids kind of do a newscast. They’re at a desk like you see on the nightly news, and then they go to a reporter on the street.

The use a little green screen.

They could be in an earthquake. They could be in a flood. They could be in a hurricane.

Then they talk about what people have in their preparedness kit.

I forget what else they pick up from the novel, but they employ all those things.

I guess there’s a little aspect of a book report in there. There’s a big aspect of current events, and kids making an argument, presenting themselves, public speaking.

Vicki: So, they’ve decided their topic.

How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Are you big on scripting? Storyboarding? How do you help them get ready to shoot?

Joe: The quickest, easiest thing to do is shoot and edit on the computer, iPad, whatever your device is going to be.

The big thing is preparing.

So it’s a pay me now, pay me later, or pay me much later sort of a thing.

We want a script. We want a storyboard.

Of course, you can edit things in post [production.]

But the more you can line up ahead of time, the more you know what’s coming, and what each team member’s part is going to be.

Kids take turns behind the camera or in front of the camera. Or they’re on the side doing some sort of coaching or moving props in.

But definitely, you want a storyboard. You want a script. Keep those separate.

I also like Jason Ohler’s storymap idea

http://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/assessmentWIX.cfm

You can almost simply that using the story spine sort of thing, “Once upon a time… Something happened… Because of that…. Then that…” And eventually, you come to the conclusion.

I don’t know why kids think that they’re just going to go to the next viral YouTube video.

Kids think they can just point and shoot without a plan

And it just doesn’t work that way, does it, Joe?

Joe: Exactly. It’s just like stream of consciousness writing.

Vicki: Yeah.

Joe: If you didn’t have an outline or do a first draft before you put pen to paper, or started typing… it shows.

Vicki: It does. It just turns into a mess!

Hardware and software choices?

So what do you use with kids?

Joe: Oh, Pinnacle Studio. Nice!

We use iPads and iMovie.

Vicki: Awesome! And iMovie is incredible.

So actually shooting on the iPad, and then pulling it right into iMovie, huh?

Joe: Right, and they also have the Do Ink green screen program.

Green screen options

Vicki: Ohhhh! So where’s your green screen at your school?

Joe: Anywhere we want it to be.

Vicki: So is it moveable?

One of my favorite pictures is — we have an open balcony area, and we’ve got three green screens set up — and kids are using both sides of them at the same time.

Vicki: Wow! Well, how’s that for audio, though, huh?

Joe: Well, that’s a challenge!

Vicki: (laughs)

Tips for overcoming problems with background audio noise

If you watch young Sheldon, I kind of like the way the old Sheldon talks about what Sheldon is going on in the show.

Joe: It is. It is.

And also it helps to make a shorter story.

Shorter is better, and concise is nice.

Really, you just don’t want kids to make something that’s more than three minutes.

And if they can do it in 60 or 90 seconds, that’s even better.

Vicki: Joe, as we finish up, what’s the simplest way to start?

Simplest way to get up and running?

Joe: You just do it.

Vicki: OK, teachers! So making videos, making digital film is an incredible way to really enhance learning in every subject.

It does take a little bit of work, though, and you do have to plan ahead.

Thanks, Joe, for this great advice to help us make better videos with our kids!

Joe: My pleasure!

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford [email protected]

Bio as submitted

Blog: http://joebrennan.us/Digital_Storytelling/Handouts.html

Twitter: @joebjr

The post Making Better Videos and Movies with Students appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/e297/

0 notes