July 2015 – Mr. Brett T. Butler

Wow, talk about a wonderful way of creating presentations, lessons, directions, reviews, or report with Adobe Slate! I had such an incredible time making my presentation on the History Of Drums using this free application from the App Store. This app was of my choosing because it was very versatile in the design layout of what I wanted to do specifically when presenting my report on percussion instruments. Take a look at this description straight from the company: “Named App Store Editors’ Choice, Slate lets you turn your next newsletter, report, invitation or travel adventure into a gorgeous visual story that delights readers on any device. Simply tap to select a unique look — beautiful fonts, color and magazine-style design are automatically incorporated. Fluid movement and elegant motion are applied instantly. Share your Slate story link anywhere. Grab attention, increase awareness and inspire action. Stand out.”

The design layout and way you can just present information when you scroll down your presentation looks incredible. It makes PowerPoint look pretty monotonous with layout and other versatile options which Adobe Slate has for the user. With this application on the iPad you can design stories that are striking and captivating to the person reading your report on the topic. The different theme selection is excellent for a person that doesn’t want to completely redo everything in their report. With the Adobe Slate selecting a new theme will not make you restart on your design but instead it reformats the text to your new style you chose. Check out the Slate website with some examples to view!

https://slate.adobe.com/a/DKqnN

Brett T. Butler

While taking some time to think about what exactly I wanted to make my movie about, I thought about the various events that took place in Kansas. The event that struck my mind assiduously was the Dust Bowl occurring back in the 1930’s. This event had stuck the lives of thousands and impacted not only people living in Kansas but other plains states as well. Throughout my process I did some research about the various impacts of the dust bowl and found some incredible videos and information from PBS and the Kansas Historical Foundation.

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While browsing the web, the information such as pictures, videos and documents found during the 1930’s is incredible. These were the perfect ingredients to help make my movie come alive. I had a fun time working with the different types of text layouts and transitions incorporated within the iPad application iMovie. I like the versatility of space that you could put as much video/pictures/voice recordings into your movie. I selected lots of images off Google and figured the appropriate tour guide voice over would be appropriate for my movie. I also used the camera app to record some nice HD recordings of myself talking to the audience so they know exactly what I look like and make it personable.

I felt pretty good about this project and planning was an important capturing all of the elements to take my audience back to a time that was a lot more difficult. The music option you can incorporate with iMovie is great so you can add some background music that fits the setting you are describing! The volume adjustment is great because sometimes my voice was quiet during presentation and could easily be fixed with sliding up the volume bar and bringing down the music volume. This project was fun because it made me think about the different types of history that Kansas has been through, which has been ever-changing. People should remember the history good/bad to observe and learn from the important events that impacted society and sometimes the world. Below you’ll see my creation of my movie talking about the Black Sunday event occurring on April 14, 1935 and affecting many people in the state of Kansas. “Don’t ever forget history’s past..”

Brett T. Butler

Month: July 2015

Digital Storytelling with Adobe Slate

CKV; An Expedition Back in Time!