Another beginning

I have begun another blog for one reason only: to make my puzzle photos (and maybe little planets also) available for sale as prints. I'm going to start this process with Fotomoto and see how it goes. I don't think Etsy is the place for this and I really am hoping to have a hassle-free process, which I think will work with this second site. I will include a link to it at the top bar of this blog, but just in case, the link is: photosbykatrinakb.blogspot.com

I will be adding these photos periodically rather than all at once. Many of them will already be familiar (particularly any newer ones).

Enjoy!

New Mizzou Little Planet

When I originally posted some of my first little planets, I had no idea they'd be so popular. And so I have re-done the Mizzou Little Planet, using a better camera and other techniques to make it look better (it also helps to not have someone running through the shots). Here is the updated Francis Quadrangle little planet:

To purchase a print, visit photosbykatrina or contact me by email or in the comments.

Favorite Motion Graphic Videos

Back when I was working on an Infographic for UM System (previous post) and the ADEPT introduction (previous post), I went through all my favorite motion graphic and infographic videos. Here are some of the motion graphic videos that helped inspire me... some have been around for a while and I continually come back to them, others are new finds for me:

7 Billion: Are You Typical?


Google - Introducing the Chromebook
Google - Introducing the Chromebook from Devon Hong on Vimeo.

Crisis of Credit


Oil'd
Oil'd from Chris Harmon on Vimeo.

Getting Lost
Getting Lost from Marco Bagni | LostConversation on Vimeo.

Don't Worry, Drive On: Fossil Fools & Fracking Lies
DON'T WORRY, DRIVE ON: Fossil Fools & Fracking Lies from MONSTRO on Vimeo.

The World is Obsessed with Facebook


Psychatric Answering Machine Typography Annimation


The Girl Effect
The Girl Effect from alexnbc on Vimeo.

Good: The Hidden Cost of War

Show-Me a Valuable Infographic

Early this year I was tasked with creating a motion infographic for the University of Missouri System that the President could use to share statistics outlining the value of UM in the state. I was frantic getting this project finished and I'm so glad that it's been released for the world to see:

(I do not own the copyright to this video. Copyright 2013 University of Missouri Board of Curators)

A weekend of great films! True/False 2013

The True/False Film Fest of 2013 hit full-on just over a week ago (I know, I'm behind) and after several weeks of volunteering on the venue design crew and making blu-ray discs for the festival bumpers, it seemed T/F came around the corner while I was looking the other way and I smacked right into it. Regardless, it was a busy and exhausting, but fun weekend. So, what did I see and what did I think? Oh, I'm so glad you asked...

Friday I went to the Secret Screening Gold at the Forrest Theatre with my folks. They had tickets, I did not, and since I can't talk about the film itself except to say that I enjoyed it, I'll talk about the Q process and the venue itself. So, for those unaccustomed to the "Q" process that T/F employs, here's a quick how-to: T/F sells passes and reserve tickets. Once all the reserve tickets are sold, your only option for getting into the film of your choice is to wait in the Q (if you have a pass, you've already paid to get in, if not, you pay when you head into the theatre). Because T/F sells only about 80-90% of available seats as reserve tickets, each film/venue has a Q and as far as I know, each film always lets in people from the Q. How many people depends on how many reserve ticket holders show up. I Q'd for this film at the Forrest Theatre, which seats 190 (I heard) and my number was in the 48-53 range (I don't remember, geez it was a long weekend with several Qs). I got in! There is one other thing I want to say about this venue - the venue design is stunning, you truly feel like you're in a forest, but if you're seeing a film with subtitles, make sure you get a good seat! Alas, I did not have a good seat.

Probably the film I was most excited for was Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell, which I successfully Q'd for Friday night. It was a lovely film and I'm so glad I got to see it. There was a short that played before it called My Favorite Picture of You, which was also a lovely piece. Both films seemed like projects that each director needed to do for some personal reasons. Having felt like I "grew up" with Sarah Polley - she was the main character on my favorite childhood TV show Avonlea - it was interesting to get a glimpse into her real family. I really liked how she incorporated reenactments to tell the story of her mother, as told by older siblings, her father, and her mother's friends. Sadly, she was not able to make it to the fest...but I bet I would've been too star-struck to actually say anything to her anyway.

Saturday morning I went to Blackfish at the Missouri Theatre. It was the story of captive killer whale, Tilikum, whose genes have made their way into a very generous number of other captive orcas since he's one of the few male orcas kept for breeding. The film was expectedly astonishing. I was most impressed, I think, by how the flow of the film kept me captivated the whole time - at some times feeling worst for the whales and then at others, for the trainers. I will not look at captive animals in the same way again. It will be on CNN films sometime in the future.

Then I saw The Gatekeepers. To me, this film felt a little sterile. Part of my problem with this film was how much it expected it's audience to already know the background and history. I really couldn't keep up.

Manhunt, however, I thought was a terrific film! After seeing it, I decided it was my favorite film of the festival and that lasted through the next two - also very good - films I saw. It's about the female investigators who sort-of foresaw the 9/11 Al-Queda attack. Giving what felt like a very full picture of investigation to end result, this film was definitely one of the best of the weekend and I would encourage anyone and everyone to see it. It'll be on HBO soon...

Where's the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington wins the prize for longest title this year. Also a good movie and incidentally the only one I cried in, but not the best of the weekend.

Sunday morning I saw most of Moo Man which was fun, but I didn't feel like I missed the end of the film (for the record I had to leave due to other festival obligations - making the bumper discs for Sunday evening's screenings).

Then, with a winning finish, I saw Twenty Feet from Stardom. (Side anecdote: My folks and I got Q tickets 1-3 for this and felt like a nerd but I don't care because it was so worth it.) Hands-down best film of the fest! No seriously you should all go out and see this film. It features rock-stars who are out-shined by the amazing backup singer subjects of the film. And wow, what voices! So incredible and an incredibly well-done film! And when one of the stars of the film - Lisa Fischer - came out on stage you could just feel the energy in the room increase from her presence.

Well, that's it folks. It's always a tough weekend, but so great to be a part of the festival!

Motion graphics meets alcohol and substance misuse

How much do you know about alcohol and substance misuse and it's affect on society? Maybe it's one of those "out of sight, out of mind" things for you. It certainly was for me until I was given an opportunity to create a video that explains to health care professionals why they should care and what they can do about alcohol and substance misuse in their patients. Before you click away from this thinking "I'm not a health care professional, that's not for me," let me just tell you that it impacts you... even if not directly.

Someday, I'd like to see this become a PSA, but while I'm dreaming that vision away, here's the video I created that is now the first part of a training series:

ADEPT: an introduction from Academic Support Center on Vimeo.
An introduction to why health care providers should care about alcohol and substance misuse in their practice. The ADEPT training teaches health care providers what they can do about alcohol and substance misuse. MU-ADEPT (Alcohol and Drug Education for Prevention and Treatment) is funded by a grant from SAMHSA and utilizes SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment).

This is a perfect example of the kind of project I've been waiting for and why I wanted to work for an educational institution. The creators of this training series needed a way to convince their audience that this training is important. They were passionate about the information but it just wasn't coming across in their peruse-on-your-own powerpoint presentations. The hope is that this video is both educational and engaging.

For screen shots and more information about the creation of this video, visit the project on my behance portfolio.

Quilling - First Snowflakes

I love snowflakes. I don't know if it's their uniqueness or how beautifully they fall to the ground, but I think they are stunning. Several years ago I realized how much I like the icicle ornaments my mom hangs on her Christmas tree. They sparkle and shimmer and give the tree a somewhat uniform look, which it seems to need when it doesn't have tinsel (which is a pain) or garland (which I don't like). In the past I have not had much luck trying to get my hands on a bunch of icicle ornaments, but a couple of snowflake ornaments got me thinking that maybe they should be the unifying element in our tree. So, after striking out at the stores, I began looking into making some.

I came across some beautiful snowflakes made by quilling paper. I started pinning what I found, and then one day, after attempting this quilling thing with a toothpick and paper shredded in a shredder (don't try it, it doesn't work very well), I headed over to a craft store to pick up the real tools. I even got some patterns for snowflakes, but after doing a couple of them, I re-affirmed that self-made patterns are more my style. So, here are some of the snowflakes I made in the past couple of months:

A few hints for those also wanting to try this out:
Use a grid or guides. I used grid paper I already had, then used my quilting ruler to get my 60 degree corners. I also didn't want to buy a corkboard just for this, so I used an old piece of foam-core, to which I attached my grid and guides. Then I put down a piece of wax paper so that any glue that seeped out would not adhere my snowflake to the background.

I found someone who suggested adding glitter to make them sparkle, an idea I really liked, but found hard to implement. I was unsuccessful at finding paper that already had glitter in it, so I tried making my own with glitter spray. Unfortunately, this made the spirals relax too much and was difficult to make the glue stick. My solution: adhesive spray, then dump glitter over the snowflake (on wax paper of course), then use glitter spray (to fill in the spaces I missed with the glitter dump) and clear topcoat spray. Also, glitter that's the same color as your paper will hide the places you missed so much better!

I've been thinking... now that Christmas is past, that I should move on to letters and words. But I don't want to attach mine to a background, so I'll have to experiment. That is, if I can get away from the snowflakes.

All photos copyright Katrina Kouba Boles