Category: blog

Details in the Process

Capturing Footage – Equipment

For my recordings, I used my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to capture the footage. Due to my topic having to do with blue light, I found an old backup phone. It was my LG G8 ThinQ, which has a much worse camera, so I only used it as a prop. I asked my boyfriend to help with recording when I had to be in frame. Additionally, I offered him to play a part at the end which he gladly accepted.

Additional Visual Material

The additional material I chose included a couple of diagrams that explain the biology side of things. Then, I found one image to help show one of my points. Lastly, the remaining material is all videos that visually support the audio from my podcast.

Basis for the Video

My Shot List

Click to View

Narration	Visuals
Background noise of an alarm blaring, person pressing snooze, and shuffling with an audible yawn	Record: person laying in bed then alarm and shuffling a yawn (sleep mask on person)
Have your parents ever demanded your phone at night so you would actually go to bed?	Find: stock footage of adults with hands out, beckoning
Sure, it was probably because you like to doomscroll and would end up falling asleep around 3am.	Record: person scrolling at night with phone on bright
But the fear of blue light definitely plays a role. What if I told you that it might not just be blue light that keeps you up at night?	Find: person looking shocked at blue light
Within your retina are specialized cells called ipRGCs (intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells) which are like built-in alarm clocks.	Find: diagram of ipRGCs
They measure the amount of light so they can set your body’s master clock.	Find: high cortisol alert diagram but with high vs low light
Morning light signals cortisol to keep you awake and simultaneously your body starts a 16-hour countdown and once this hits zero, it releases melatonin to make you sleepy.	Find: clock ticking by on fast forward

This is exactly why blue light should be considered a myth. Though ipRGCs are most sensitive to blue light wavelengths, scientific studies have shown that total light intensity matters almost as much.	Find: guy wearing glasses bluelight filtered
A 2011 study published by The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism states “As a result of this exposure to electrical light between dusk and bedtime, presleep levels of melatonin were reduced by 71.4%, and total daily levels of melatonin were reduced by about 12.5%.”	Make: text on screen of the quote
Background noise of another alarm going off, myself saying “Hey! I’m not done yet,”	Record: turn around (like a 4th wall break) and say that
The solution isn’t about the color of light coming out of the screen. Rather, it is about the amount of light.	Find: wavelength diagram and intense light plus dim light
If you want to use your phone at night, the best solution is to dim your screen and keep the phone further away from your face. You might want to keep your body clock in check!”	Record: dimming the screen, moving it away from the face

Recorded Footage

Video Project Footage

My Shot List

My transcript with added details

Stock Image from Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay 
Intro Music(0:0-0:10)
Introduction(0:11-0:25) 
A-Roll: A video of me introducing my topic on camera
Audio: Hello, my name is Dena Subhi, and for this project, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite hobbies, which is reading. Since I was a kid, I have found reading to be a relaxing hobby that allows me to explore many different amazing stories.
The benefits of reading (0:26-1:01)  Stock Image from Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay
 B-Roll: A video of me showing multiple books while my narration continues   
Audio:It’s also a great mentally stimulating activity. This is because reading allows you to explore new interests and learn about many different topics. One of my favorite things about reading is that there is almost always at least one book that somebody will enjoy. Whether you like science fiction, fantasy, comic books, or any other type of book, there will almost always be one you can really enjoy. While it can be difficult at times to figure out what types of books you will enjoy the most and which ones best suit your interests, once you figure it out, reading can become incredibly fun. 
Stock Image from Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay 
My favorite genres and books (1:02-1:42)
A-Roll: A video of talking about my favorite genres on camera
Audio: My favorite genres to read are murder mysteries and fantasy books because I find their stories to be exciting and that they often have really interesting characters. 
B-roll: A video of me showing the Six of Crows Series while my narration continues
Audio: Some of my favorite fantasy series are Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Some of my favorite murder mysteries are The Disappearance of Rachel Price and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, both by Holly Jackson. I like murder mysteries because I enjoy watching the main character try to figure out who the killer is before it’s too late. I enjoy fantasy because I have always loved learning about mythical worlds and the different adventures the characters have.
Conclusion (1:43-2:00)
B-roll:Title card that says “Go find a story you will love” with stock image from Erik Mclean from Pexels.com 
Audio: In conclusion, I think reading is an amazing hobby and that you should give reading a chance even if you don’t think you will like it because I’m sure you will be surprised and be able to find a book you love. Thank you for listening to my project.

Video Project Checkpoint

My Equipment

For this project, I mainly just used my phone to record my A-roll and B-roll videos. I also used Clipchamp to edit my clips and images together.

Visual Material

For this project, I used stock images from Pexels and Pixaby, along with A-roll and B-roll videos that I recorded. At the end of my video, I included a title card. I used these visuals to make sure my video stayed interesting.

The Blue Light Myth

Transcript (Click to View)

Transcript

Speaker 1 is Glar5

[introduction music]

[alarm blaring, then a yawn]

00:00:11 Speaker 1

Have your parents ever demanded your phone at night so you’d actually go to bed? Sure, it was probably because you had a habit of staying up till 3am. But the fear of blue light definitely plays a role. What if I told you that it might not just be blue light that keeps you up at night?

00:00:27 Speaker 1

Within your retina are specialized cells called iPRGCs, intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, which act like built-in alarm clocks. They measure the amount of light so they can set your body’s master clock. Morning light signals cortisol to keep you awake and simultaneously your body starts a 16-hour countdown and once this hits zero it releases melatonin to make you sleepy.

00:00:54 Speaker 1

This is exactly why blue light should be considered a myth. Though iPRGCs are most sensitive to blue light wavelengths, scientific studies have shown that total light intensity matters almost as much.

00:01:07 Speaker 1

A 2011 study published by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism states, “As a result of this exposure to electrical light between dusk and bedtime, presleep levels of melatonin were reduced by 71.4% and total daily levels of melatonin were reduced by about 12.5%.” While blue light is the hardest on melatonin production, other light sources can cause similar levels of harm to sleep.

[alarm blaring]

00:01:36 Speaker 1

Hey, I’m not done yet! Sheesh, that was jarring.

00:01:40 Speaker 1

Anyways, the solution isn’t about the color of light coming out of your screen, rather it’s actually about the amount of light. If you want to use your phone at night, the best solution is to dim your screen and keep the phone further away from your face. You might really want to consider keeping your body clock in check.

[outro music]

Production of the Podcast

Equipment?

I used my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra voice recording app to record the audio. The audio from my prior blog post wasn’t as high quality as I had liked so I rerecorded and took testing samples to ensure there was no background noise like fans or too much movement. For the editing, I did that on my laptop which involved transferring over the audio files.

Editing Software?

The software that I used is called Soundtrap. It is free to use and was extremely easy to learn. I really enjoyed the editing process. First, I added all of the audio files to the editor and then began splitting them to trim out several seconds of silence. After that, I was able to organize everything, such as putting the intro at the beginning and outro at the end. I had to trim down some sections so that I was exactly at 2:00 minutes.

Sources

Research for the Podcast

Melatonin and Sleep – NIH

Exposure to Room Light before Bedtime – JCEM

Melatonin Suppression by Light – NIH

Circadian Rhythm – Sleep Foundation

Melatonin – Mayo Clinic

Attributions

Phone Photography of a Very Blue Room

Intro and Outro Music

Introduction

For this assignment I chose to talk about the importance of reading. I talked about why reading is a hobby anybody can enjoy. I also talked about which types of books I personally enjoy and why.

My Process and Equipment

For this project, I used my phone and downloaded a voice recorder app. I recorded my audio in my room since it provided a quiet place to work in. I recorded multiple takes until I was happy with how I spoke and the length of my audio. I didn’t use any background music or sound effects.

My Outline and Script

Audio Transcript

1. Introduction(0:0-0:17) 

Hello, my name is Dena Subhi, and for this project, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite hobbies, which is reading. Since I was a kid, I have found reading to be a relaxing hobby that allows me to explore many different amazing stories.

2. The benefits of reading (0:18-53)

 It’s also a great mentally stimulating activity. This is because reading allows you to explore new interests and learn about many different topics. One of my favorite things about reading is that there is almost always at least one book that somebody will enjoy. Whether you like science fiction, fantasy, comic books, or any other type of book, there will almost always be one you can really enjoy. While it can be difficult at times to figure out what types of books you will enjoy the most and which ones best suit your interests, once you figure it out, reading can become incredibly fun. 

3. My favorite genres and books (0:54-1:40)

My favorite genres to read are murder mysteries and fantasy books because I find their stories to be exciting and that they often have really interesting characters. Some of my favorite fantasy series are Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Some of my favorite murder mysteries are The Disappearance of Rachel Price and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, both by Holly Jackson. I like murder mysteries because I enjoy watching the main character try to figure out who the killer is before it’s too late. I enjoy fantasy because I have always loved learning about mythical worlds and the different adventures the characters have.

4. Conclusion (1:41-2:00)

In conclusion, I think reading is an amazing hobby and that you should give reading a chance even if you don’t think you will like it because I’m sure you will be surprised and be able to find a book you love. Thank you for listening to my project.

Digital Studies Audio Project Folder

Literacy Trust Guide on The Benefits of Reading

Topic Explanation

My topic is about how only blue light having an effect on sleep is a myth. The truth is that other wavelength color of lights can also have a strong impact on sleep and melatonin production. The purpose of my podcast is to educate others about this topic.

Script Outline and Recording Plan

My plan for recording is to do it in my bedroom but to turn off the fan in my room so that the audio is clear. To record my audio, I will be using my phone voice recording feature because it produces high quality audio while already being in my possession.

Script (press to view)

Introduction

“Thinker of Thoughts” [in a deep, deep voice] 

Background noise of an alarm blaring, person pressing snooze, and shuffling with an audible yawn 

Topic Introduction 

“Have your parents ever demanded your phone at night so you would actually go to bed? Sure, it was probably because you like to doomscroll and end up sleeping around 3am. But the fear of blue light definitely plays a role. What if I told you that it might not just be blue light that keeps you up at night?” 

Background 

“Within your retina are specialized cells called ipRGCs (intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells) which are like built-in alarm clocks. They measure the amount of light so they can set your body’s master clock. In the morning, these cells signal for cortisol to be released so that you stay awake. While this is occurring, your body starts a 16-hour countdown and once this hits zero, it releases melatonin to make you sleepy.” 

Explanation 

“This is exactly why blue light should be considered a myth. Though ipRGCs are most sensitive to blue light wavelengths, scientific studies have shown that total light intensity matters almost as much. A 2011 study published by The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism states “As a result of this exposure to electrical light between dusk and bedtime, presleep levels of melatonin were reduced by 71.4%, and total daily levels of melatonin were reduced by about 12.5%.” 

Importance 

“While blue light is the hardest on melatonin production, other light sources can cause similar levels of harm to sleep.”  

Background noise of another alarm going off, myself saying “Hey! I’m not done yet,” 

Conclusion 

“The resolution isn’t about the color of light coming out of the screen. Rather, it is about the amount of light. If you want to use your phone at night, the best solution is to dim your screen and keep the phone further away from your face. You might want to keep your body clock in check!” 

Acknowledgements (aka sources) 

• Glar5 (creator) 

• “Special thanks for today’s research go to the National Institutes of Health, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the Journal of Biological Rhythms, the Sleep Foundation, and the Mayo Clinic.” 

Outro 

“Thinker of Thoughts Out!” [in a deep, sleepy voice] 

Background noise of snoring 

Summary of the Process (Thus Far)

The equipment that I used for recording was my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. It took a testing take and then a couple of drafts before I was able to get my most recent recording, which is linked below. This process began with planning, creating the script, practicing without recording, then testing the audio quality, and lastly recording takes.

Recording

This recording is just over the exact 2-minute requirement. Therefore, it will be cut down and edited during production.

DGST101 Recording

The images I made

For my website icon, I decided to make a simple but pretty design that could easily be tied to my website. I decided to make pink and purple flowers with my initials in the middle of the largest flower. For my header, I decided to keep a similar theme by using the flowers above my name. I decided to make these images because I thought a simple floral design would fit my website well.

How I made these images

I made both of these images with the same software, Affinity, since I found the software to be the easiest to use. I created my site icon with Vector Studio and my website header using Pixel Studio. I decided to export these files into PNGs since I felt this would give me the best quality. I used a fill tool to give the flowers a gradient effect. I also slightly changed the shape of the flower to give me a flower with five petals instead of twelve. I also used the teardrop shape to make the leaves in the header.

Vector vs Raster images

I made my site icon a vector image and my website header a raster image. Vector images use lines, equations, and curves to make their designs. Raster images use pixels and are great for creating highly detailed photos. Raster images can also become pixelated after being enlarged too much. However, vector images often maintain their quality even when they’re resized.

Adobe Guide for Raster and Vector images

Affinity Website

Why These Images? And What are They?

These images are built on some of my favorite things. Firstly, the key part of my logo is the deep, dark red heart with the spiked ends coming out of it diagonally. My favorite shape is the heart because it represents love and life, while the spikes coming from it represent defenses. Then, there are the crescent moons that represent eyes and are capable of carrying emotion. The speech bubble shows the power of speech and contains the name of my online persona, Glar5. The tear drops and spirals were fun little shapes that I wanted to include and the “3” used for the mouth is my favorite emoticon. I decided on the combination of all of these because these shapes have meaning to me, and together they become part of a bigger picture.

Behind the Scenes: Software and Processes

The software I used was Affinity, which was created by Canva. It was a really simple, easy to learn application that allowed me to create my entire logo and header in one place. Specifically, I used the shape tools to make the base of my idea. Then, I used the color tool to find the perfect colors for each shape. The text tool allowed me to add my name, Glar5. Further, I was able to use the grouping tool to combine all of the heart’s details for easy copy and pasting. Lastly, the tool that definitely brought it together the most, was the measuring tools to ensure that everything was lined up properly.

What File Types and Why?

For my file types, I chose PNG for my logo and WebP for my banner/heading. My logo is a PNG file because it is best suited for logos or icons, which is my primarily application for it. I want to use it as a branding, therefore the best choice was PNG. As for my banner, I used WebP because it is optimized to support higher loading speeds. This will help my website load faster which keeps users staying on the page longer since they aren’t waiting a while.

Sources

Affinity – Software

CRO:NYX Digital – Image File Type Guide

Reflections on Copyright

Copyright is an extremely important legal protection that provides exclusive use of an individual work to the creator of said work. An interesting thing about copyright is that there is no registration required. As soon as something is created it is under ownership of the creator. There is such a thing as fair-use which protects those who use a creator’s work for education, criticism, and for the news. However, what if creators want their work to be used regardless of the purpose? Creative Commons allows creators to automatically provide permission to those who would like to use their work.

Why did I choose CC BY-NC-SA 4.0?

I chose a Creative Commons (CC) license rather than a full copyright because I would like my work to be able to be used by others. Why this particular license than any of the other CC ones? I would like my work to be credited to me so that I can stand by it and present it as mine. I don’t want my work to be commercially used because I don’t want others to use my creations for advertising or money-making purposes. Lastly, if my work is used in any way then that new work must be licensed under this same license. The 4.0 simply means that this is the 4th version of the CC license.

Using the work of others ethically

It is important to respect how others want their work to be used. As a creator and a viewer, it is your responsibility to know about copyright and CC licenses. One of the biggest challenges about fair-use is that it is acceptable for someone to use your work for criticism. While this can be frustrating, it is everyone’s right as freedom of expression. Overall, it is necessary for creators to understand their rights.

And who doesn’t want silly cat pictures??

Sources

3D Broken Copyright – Image

Cat with Pepperoni Pizza – Image

My Domain Name

Why I chose this name

I chose the domain name because I wanted it to be simple and easy for others to find. I also wanted to make sure it was something I could use in the future without it being tied to any class. Since I used my name for my domain title, I can easily continue to use this domain after I graduate.

My Online Identity

How I use the internet

I mainly use the internet for both educational and recreational purposes. I often use the internet for school so I can complete assignments, research topics I need to understand, and find any reputable information I need. I also use it for entertainment when I use social media, search for topics I’m personally interested in, and watch videos. I still generally have a weak online identity since these are the main ways I use the internet. I think building websites will be a very interesting and helpful way to strengthen my online identity.

Wix Website Building Management Guide

Who am I on the web?

Everyone has their own identity, both inside and outside the screen. It is something to be valued and taken seriously. Therefore, on the web, I am Glar5 and I plan to use this identity for sharing my work, personal projects, and any silly thoughts I have. I want this blog to be a place for me to share my hobbies and interests.

Importance of identity on the web

I believe that having an identity on the web is as important as having an identity in the physical world. I prefer to call an online identity an online persona, or the person you portray yourself to be on the web. This is an excellent concept to think about because it could lead to many opportunities like employer recognition, online friends, an outlet for creativity, and so much more!

Why did I pick this domain name?

This domain name actually has a history! It goes back many years to when I played my first online game as a young child on the platform Webkinz. My parents created my account for me and that was the username that was automatically generated for me.

What made it stick with me?

This username has stayed with me ever since then because my parents used it for other online platforms, like Animal Jam and Club Penguin. I’m not even quite sure what exactly “glar” means but it reminds me of glare (as in to glare at someone) which seems silly.

Sources

Who is She? I Monster Lyrics (Song in the Image)

Online Persona – Social Media