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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

There's a Boy in the Closet

This is my One Minute Movie. It's called There's a Boy in the Closet. Sorry if the quality's bad.

One Minute Movie Q/A

Pre-Production:
How did you come up with the idea for your movie?

I came up with this movie using the multiple possibility chart. And of course talking to my partner.

What was one of your biggest Challenges during the writing process?

One of the biggest challenges was being able to express the story without words.

Did you write many versions of your script?

There were not many versions of the script for us. We had he main idea out, we didn't change the story much. We deleted some unneeded action demands, and speech. But the main story didn't change much. It was mostly incorrect grammar.

What was your biggest challenge during pre-production?

The biggest challenge that we had in pre-production was finding a location for shooting. The setting was in a janitors closet, but the only people with the keys to the closet were the janitors. In the end we had to ask for use of a closet that normally we would not ever get use to, and we were told not to touch anything. The art room was a little hard to get since people have to have class in it and there was only one time slot to film in the room. But other than that we were really lucky when we filmed in the hallways, no one walked into the shot.

Did you use your storyboard to plan your shots? Describe how this process helped.

The storyboard helped us plan out the angles of the shots and what should be included into the shot. Otherwise it would have been hard for us to imagine exactly what the shots would be of.

Production:

What was a challenge that you had during filming of your movie?

One specific challenge we had during shooting was that the story was all about a door that wouldn't open from the inside, and in the end someone opens it from the outside and saves the day. However the closet we had access to was actually locked from the outside and only people on the inside could open it. It was very difficult to plan the shot so it looked like it was being opened from the outside when it was really someone opening from the inside.

What was something that struck you about filming a movie?

It struck me that there were so many jobs that had to be done to complete a good movie.

What is something that you might do differently next time if you had a chance to film?

Next time I have a chance to film, if I had more time I would record sound effects to add into the film. Right now my film is a silent film, but with a soundtrack. I think sound effects would add more depth to the story.

Post Production:
What was a challenge you had during editing your movie?
Did you have to rerecord some of your movie? If so why?

During editing we were working with a new program that we weren't used to. So a couple times we accidentally deleted some files. You can imagine that can be a little challenging. Luckily we recovered the files and we didn't have to re-record any of the movie.

Did the movie come out according to the script?

The movie was very much like the script, I think the only thing that was different was that we took out a scene and replaced it with anther due to space restrictions.

Did the movie match the story board?

The movie matched the storyboard as well, except for that same scene. And once we changed and shot a shot that wasn't in the storyboard.

What challenge did you have finishing your movie?

Finishing the movie in the end was a challenge when we didn't have a picture for the DVD skin and we had to change the format of the movie from project to actual movie.
What advice would you give to another young movie maker?

Monday, March 9, 2009

Inside the Outsiders


This novel by S.E. Hinton tells a story of brothers, friendship, and innocence. Ponyboy Curtis has gone through a hard life. His parents are dead and he only has his brothers to raise him. To top it off him and all his friends have been classified as the bad kids in town, the hoods.

This book explains well the struggles of teens throughout the world, and the bonds you can make because of it. There are many strong themes that show these points in the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who might be having a little trouble with bullies, or feels that their family doesn't love them. Any person who just wants to read a good book.

The movie was well done piece. It was very much like the book. I even heard some direct quotes. I think the feeling and themes transfered well onto film. But I don't know if the movie represented how the author wanted you to know that Soc and Grease were the same. I don't think the actors got that point.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Persons of Moral Courage: Eleanor Roosevelt


7 facts about Eleanor Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was her uncle and FDR was her 5th cousin once removed, then later became husband and wife.

She had six children.

Eleanor Roosevelt was often called "Reluctant First Lady" because she was reluctant to be the first lady.

She held press conferences held open only to women reporters.

She helped refugee issues, home front issues, and soldiers' concerns. During WW2.

"Of one thing I am sure," she wrote, "in order to be useful we must stand for the things we feel are right, and we must work for those things wherever we find ourselves. It does very little good to believe in something unless you tell your friends and associates of your beliefs."

As an active leader in many organizations Eleanor chaired the first Presidential Commission on the Status of Women from 1961 until her death in November 1962. She sat on the boards of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Association for the United Nations, the Citizens Committee for Children, the Advisory Council for the Peace Corps. She helped found Americans for Democratic Action, the National Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy, and the Tractors for Freedom Committee. When organizations she suported were under attack (the American Committee for Yugoslav Relief, the Encampment for Citizenship)she agreed to serve as their honorary president to defend their reputations.

Many opposed what she did, but she did it anyway. She changed the Status Quo.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Tic-Tac-Toe with the Wave

Theme: Quotes that represents the Book and Me.

The Book: The quotes I chose to for the book have things to do with individuality, equality, the lures of power, and speaking your own mind. I feel that those are the themes that are strongly represented in the book and these quotes go with it well.

That all men are equal is a proposition which, at ordinary times, no sane individual has ever given his assent.-Aldous Huxley
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
-George Orwell
Men are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference.
-Voltaire
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
-Abraham Lincoln
To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to know its pleasures, we must go to those who are seeking it.
-Charles Caleb Colton
If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors. There is no other.
-Carl Schurz
Self-reliance is the only road to true freedom, and being one's own person is its ultimate reward.
-Patricia Sampson
To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.
-Robert Louis Stevenson

Represent Me: These quotes reflect my lifestyle. I like to lounge around, and laugh also. I also like to tease and I really am not a sporty person, more of a bookworm, but I think it's funny because I fence too.
If nobody spoke unless he had something to say, the human race would very soon lose the use of speech.
-W. Somerset Maugham
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
-Bertrand Russell
We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh.
-Agnes Repplier
The fascination of as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of the gun.
-P. G. Wodehouse
One is not born a woman, one becomes one.
-Simone de Beauvoir
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword.
-Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Setting: The Time and place in which people find themselves and when events happen shape those people and events in important ways.

If Laurie hadn't stayed behind to clean up at the Grapevine she wouldn't have walked by where David was waiting for her when she did. If Laurie had gotten over he fear of the dark, she might have not walked by the tennis courts to feel more safe. Then David wouldn't have known where to wait for her, then they would have never had the confrontation and David would have had the same opinion that he'd always had about the Wave. Instead of being shocked into the truth.

That would set off a chain reaction of events in the book. David wouldn't have taken her to Mr. Ross's house, Mr. Ross wouldn't have had the same idea he'd had (since they gave him Carl Block and Alex Cooper) and the ending of the Wave might not have happened the way it did. Plus, Laurie needed the friend outside of the Wave.


Character: 20 years in the future

Robert Billings is the Boss
By Laurie Saunders

Robert is the coach of the baseball game. After his first season and winning the playoffs, he has made the Giants the team to beat. His star player and brother Jeff Billings is having a hard time, he has a broken ankle and might have to sit this season out. Robert was also voted the most eligible bachelor of 1989 . Twenty years after his high school graduation, he's looking forward to the reunion. I'm sure some of them are begging to meet him too, after all while he accepted the trophy he thanked his high school teacher a Mr Ben Ross, saying "He changed my life and made me able to have the future I have today." It's also been reported that Robert and his suspected friend Amy Smith, are going to tie the knot in the near future.


FLASH NEWS:

Weintronic just released the next gaming fad. Heavy gamers have been waiting for this for a while. Brianne N. top game designer has just announced that the game will feature: flaming bunnies of doom, and slimy creepy crawlers. While teaching oceanology at the university on the weekends, she has discovered a headcount of 3 new deep sea species. There is some speculation that she swims with great white sharks. Not surprising for the Olympic Women Champion of 2022, in fencing. She was last seen at best friend Carly Anderson's wedding (to esteemed computer programmer Andrew Brooks). Her next book is due out Fall next year. We also have gotten news of a little tea date between Brianne and friends, Carly, Kamil (2015 winner of So You Think You Can Dance), Aubrey (new Broadway star), and Laura Mendoza (film director).

Q/A: How does the need to belong and be accepted by others cloud our judgment and keep people from making good choices?

People sometimes have clouded judgment and make bad choices because they have a fear of not having their opinion accepted by others and fear not belonging.
If every one around you believes the same thing and are all agreed except for you, it would be hard to tell them, to argue your case. For example, in the book the Wave, while everyone really excited about Laurie was not and it was very hard for her to argue with her friends and watch as all of them turn against her. But she did in the end, on the other hand other members of the Grapevine opposed the Wave, but in the end feared the Wave too much to even show up at an anti-Wave meeting at her house.
Others like Brian thought the Wave was stupid. He said so when Laurie had not wanted to salute him at the football game. But his judgment was clouded by fear of not being in the same group as everyone so he did not voice his thoughts. He could have told them, but he was of what people would think.
Robert was the complete opposite. the had been weird before that, he simply obeyed orders because he totally got sucked into the Wave. He was the one that everyone was trying to be out of fear. Only Robert didn't know that, he was accept finally because the things that everyone was doing out of fear Robert was totally devoted to, so when it was taken away so was his world.

My Memory Box

By the way this is the picture of my memory box for my memory box project.