Final Blog :( End of Junior Year :)

From the beginning of the year we did a lot of reading and talking about different events that were happening outside of school and the things that we liked about our summer but I really did not start liking this class until the end of the year when we start the trilogies and began to learn about the different camera angles. I really liked when we did the Lord of The Rings trilogy, it was fun to learn about the different angles and talk about the meanings. We also watched the Matrix trilogy, which was my top favorite. I do wish we would have done more film comparisons and watched more movie trilogies because then it would have been a lot more interesting for me. Although next year will be interesting for the next class but yet it wont be as fun because they wont have Mrs. Collins to help them understand more and crack jokes with. I will miss Mrs. Collins very much and I am sad that I will not have her for my senior year.

Digital Nation Blog

We just finished our presentations on our Digital Nation topics. I chose to talk about virtual worlds mainly because it talks about the health and healing used for soldiers in Iraq and the addictions that people may have today with virtual worlds. The first tab that I had looked at talked about health and healing, which talks about a new method that doctors are using today to help the soldiers that have come home and are dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Virtual Reality: Through A Soldiers EyesVirtual Reality is a process in which soldiers with PTSD go through to relive their own experiences to help with the stress they have back home. It also allows the doctor or therapist to help the patient get their lives back to normal. Virtual Reality is like a gaming system but only used for therapy. The doctor can set the computer simulation to any type of scene for any type of situation that the patient may have encountered. The simulation can be set up by time of day, how many vehicles are on the road, how many people are in your vehicle or around you. Things can be blown up, you can be shot at and helicopters can be flying above. The patient may also remember a smell that triggered a memory and the doctor can provide that smell and once the patient reacts to the smell the doctor will know exactly which smell it was, like rubber or carbon from a carbon bomb. The patient will also experience vibrations from the chair they are sitting in that may help the experience of an IED that may have just gone off. A lot of patients say that this experience doesn't feel real, it feels more evocative, like a mood and memory aid than an emersive simulation. Virtual Reality balances a person to except and embrace those problems and let them go to get rid of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Another topic that I took notes on was Raquel's presentation over Relationships. Raquel talks about a lot of different situations about people that are creating fake relationships online because they don't have that in the real world. An identity was created to make the girl more beautiful online than in real life. Another girl that has an eating disorder searches online and finds unhealthy support online and it makes her condition a lot worse. My favorite tab that Raquel talked about was Bubbe, the 83 year old grandmother that becomes every ones grandmother online. Bubbe becomes the online cook and teaches online users about the food that she cooks and how to make it. The last tab that Raquel talked about was huge because it is about online bullying. A boy killed himself because he was on websites and kids were bullying him and lying about liking him. A girl that he knew from school thought it would be funny to flirt with the boy and act like she liked him when in the end she laughed at him not knowing how much it would hurt him. The boy looked up websites on how to kill himself. A website taught the boy how to tie a noose and what the best type of rope to use. Because of the bullying from other people online the boy hung himself at a very young age. Parents wish they could protect their kids from things like this but with the way things are today and what is online, it is very hard to protect anyone from online bullies and websites that could teach kids things that could be a danger to themselves and the people that are around them.

digital nation post

I just finished watching the Digital nation introduction and it tells a lot about the technology and how it is being used today. Parents are mad and don't like the internet and the cell phones cause there kids are learning more and more every day about the stuff online and how to search the web, because of this the kids are not as social with family and friends. They are constantly using text messages, email, and many other things to communicate with people. The only problem is that a lot of the text can be misunderstood and can cause problems. It is becoming awkward to talk in person and people are socializing a lot less.

blog post of class presentations

After watching The Lord of The Rings our class did film comparisons to any epic film that we liked and then compared it to LOTR on a power point. Some of the movies that were chosen I had not seen so I was left confused when the power points were being presented.
    Raquel was the first to go and she did 300. It was a good thing that I had seen 300 before and knew what she was talking about when she was comparing the two movies. I liked how she compared Frodo and King Leonidas’s courage by showing that they both have to over come their fears. Frodo has to over come the fear of the rings power taking over him and King Leonidas gets over the fear of taking on 120,000 Persians against his 300 Spartans. This was a good comparison cause it shows what the two main characters have to go up against and how strong they need to be to over come the challenge.follow this video link
    Vincent went second and he chose to do Braveheart. I have not yet seen this movie so I was very much confused during the presentation. The movie sounded very interesting and intense and I liked the parallels of King Théoden rallying his troops to fight Sauron’s armies and William rallying his troops to fight against the English. This is a good parallel cause it shows both characters preparing for battle. Another good message from both movies is that they are both fighting for freedom and fighting for what you believe in.follow this link
    Reece came next and he chose the matrix, another movie that I have not seen. Reece did really good with his comparisons and he made it somewhat interesting to where I now want to watch the movie to understand it more and what really happens to Leo. Reece showed a lot of courage and valor between the characters. In the Matrix humans fight the machines, Trinity fights for Neo, and Neo goes to the machine world. In LOTR the humans fight the Orcs, the Fellowship protects Frodo, and Frodo travels to Mordor. These comparisons of courage and valor are very good because it shows you who the humans fight and who the main characters fight for and where they are traveling to in the end.follow this link
    Dalton was last and he chose Saving Private Ryan, which is an extremely great movie. This movie is a little foggy to me because it has been so long since I have seen it but yet I still remember most of it. It was kind of funny to compare the supernatural forces for LOTR and SPR mostly because in LOTR all the forces are magical and have some sort of power behind it like the ring, sword and Gandalf’s walking stick are all used when it is slipped on a finger or struck on the ground and in SPR they use man made forces like airplanes, tanks and guns that shoot and destruct with big explosions. This shows their strengths against the enemy and the upper strength that they may have towards them.follow this link

Film Comparison

Film comparison for media2

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Slings and Arrows

Since I missed last Friday, I did not get to see the movie Slings and Arrows. From reading Raquel's blog post I noticed that the characters wore a lot of crazy outfits.

SNOW DAY!!!!!

I hate snow but I love it when we get out of school. This year we have not got very much snow and now it's hitting us really hard. I would have loved to have a white Christmas but that didn't happen. Oh well!! As long as it snows enough to get out of school then I'm happy.

Epic Film "Pirates of the Carribean"

For this weekend I am going to watch the "Pirates of the Carribean" Saga to compare it to "The Lord of the Rings"

Courage

Courage plays a big role in this film mainly because of the main characters that are in the Fellowship. Sam shows a lot of courage for Frodo when he promises Gandolf that he will protect him and keep him safe. Frodo shows the most courage out of all of them because he is the one that has to carry the ring all the way to Mordor to destroy the ring. Frodo has a lot of responsibility with the ring and that takes tons of courage to carry his world that is left on his shoulders. Everyone like the Hobbits, Dwarfs, Elves and Ents are all counting on the one little Hobbit to save them all from evil. Courage plays out in life in general when someone is facing another person that they may be afraid of facing. Courage is like the "Grey's Anatomy" show when everyone at the hospital is under attack and Derrek the brain surgeon faces the shooter face to face before he gets shot. Because of the incident at the Seattle Grace Hospital, their tragic event effected everyone there and gave them courage once another shooting had occurred later at a near by college. This courage reminds me of the courage that Sam and Frodo have when they face the Orcs and the evil side of Gollum.

"The Rord of the Rings"

            In Media Communications, we just finished watching The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship and The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers. The director of the movie is Peter Jackson. The main characters for The Fellowship are Gandalf the Grey, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimili, and Borromir. Sam is a favorite character because he shows a lot of bravery and courage for Frodo. Three main Epic elements include the Elves with supernatural things, the hobbits and the dwarfs. Movies that relate to The Lord Of The Rings that are Epic would be Titanic and 300. 300 was a good epic movie because the soldiers go out to fight against the evil emperor and try to take control over there land. Learning about important filming elements and epics is important because we might be interested in filming and learn more things about how to create a film for later use. The setting is very vast. It includes the Shire, Rivendale, Isengard, and Lothlorien.

         The First Epic characteristic describes heroism in the hobbits. The hobbits live in the shire and they have houses made inside the hills of the shire. Hobbits are very friendly and happy. Four characters that live in the shire are Frodo the main character, Sam who is Frodo’s best friend and protector, and Merry and Pippin who are followers that have just come along for the journey. The fellowship of the ring is a group of and elf, two men, a wizard, three hobbits and a dwarf. Once Frodo has the ring in his possession Gandalf the Grey makes Frodo leave the shire to escape from the dark riders. Sam happens to follow along and then they run into Merry and Pippin. Once the Hobbits reach a small town where they find Aragorn they go to Rivendale where the elves are. When they reach Rivendale, Frodo’s protectors are chosen and they become The Fellowship. In the second film of The Two Towers Gimili, Legolas, and Aragorn are tracking the orcs to get Merry and Pippin back and save them from death. While tracking the two hobbits they find out that the two hobbits have entered the forest of the Ents.

         The second Epic Characteristic is supernatural. Supernatural involves the elves and the magic that they have. For example Frodo is given a sword that glows when orcs are near, he also gets Elvin armor that never breaks. Another example of supernatural is in “The Two Towers”. Aragorn talks to Arwen in his dreams and he tell her that he won’t live much longer because he has lived with the elves for so long that his aging has slowed down. Aragorn is really 87 years old but he doesn’t look like it at all.

         The third and final epic characteristic to talk about is the guides. The guides that help Frodo on his journey to destroy the ring help support and protect Frodo. The guides are Sam, Aragorn, Merry and Pippin, Gimili, Legolas, Borromir, and Gandalf the grey. They are called “The Fellowship of the Ring” because they are the guides and protectors for Frodo. A good example that shows the guides protecting Frodo is when they are crossing through the Mines or Morhia fighting off the gremlin looking creatures that try to kill them and the giant troll that almost killed Frodo. Gandalf showed a lot of bravery and courage when he fought against the Balrog to protect Frodo. The fellowship also protects Frodo when they are attacked by the first group of Orcs that were sent out by Sauron. Borromir fails Frodo when he tries to take the ring from him and he dies in battle against the Orcs with honor that he had got as far as he did. In “The Two Towers” Sam continues to be by Frodo’s side and protect him when they run into Gollum. Sam tries to do everything he can to help Frodo and he becomes more than a best friend to Frodo. He becomes his master and he devotes his life to Frodo.

         The trilogy is of three fantasy adventure films from the book that J. R. R. Tolkein wrote. They are the fellowship of the ring, the two towers and the return of the king. J. R. R. Tolkein wrote “The Lord of the Rings” from his earlier book “The Hobbit”. I think these themes still apply in the world today with the people in your life like your family and friends that actually care about you and would put their lives in danger for you.

Cinepoem

Cinepoem

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cemetery photos

 This picture is really cool. I like how the gate frames the big tree at the entrance to kind of give you a warm feeling when you are visiting the loved ones that have passed. This picture is kind of a long shot of the tree and the tomb stones in the background and then framing because the gate frames the tree.









This photo is my favorite because its a long shot of the road and the trees are kind of enhancing the photo.

This photo is a medium close-up of the tomb stone and a long shot of the rest of the cemetery. The trees help the photo look a little more gloomy but with more detail as well since it is in black and white.

 This photo is enhanced with the color of the leaves and the blue sky behind it. This is a low angle shot that is making the students look over powering as they are up in the tree. It can also be a long shot of the student at the top of the tree since he is so far away.

This shot is interesting because the tree is framing the cemetery in the back ground and the fence kind of levels the shot. The tree is a close-up and the cemetery is a long shot. It all comes together and frames the entire shot. The clouds enhance the shot and add more detail to the cemetery look.

Red Balloon

I just finished watching "The Red Balloon" and this movie really caught my eye. Even though this movie does not have a lot of talking in it, the music is what really made it interesting. In some of the sketches that I had drawn for my story board I had noticed that there is a lot of emotional shots like the close-up shot of the boys face after he was told that he could not take the balloon onto the bus. The boy was very sad and you could see the emotion on his face without words. Another shot that was very interesting was when the boy was standing outside on the balcony telling the balloon to obey him and to not go anywhere, this shot was a frame shot. This shot centers on the boy talking to the balloon and it also shows how dramatic the coloring is. The shutters were a light grayish blue and then the balloon just pops out with the bright vibrant red. This movie is really interesting because of the coloring and music that makes the shots even more dramatic than they already are. I love how everything else is kind of dull and dark and then the balloon is just this bright red that sticks out and catches your eye. There is a lot of up beat jingley music and sad lonely music when the boy cant find the balloon. A really interesting shot is of the boy running away from the church because he is not aloud to have the balloon inside so he runs away from it and you can see the church in the background with a bunch of tall buildings and the little boy looking so tiny, this shot is a long shot that shows the sky. Another shot that shows the boy really small is a high angle shot of the boy running away from other kids that are trying bully him and take the balloon away from him. I really liked this movie it symbolized friendship between the boy and the balloon and how fragile friendship can be at times.

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Drowning Ruth podcast

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First Bog about Novel

Well I am half way through my book and so far I have become very interested in what is going to happen in the rest of the story. My character Amanda has returned home to her home town and decides to visit her sister. Though Amanda was always annoyed with her sister Mathilda as they were younger, she still goes to there old house where they grew up on the island as kids. Mathilda still lives in that house with her daughter Ruth and her husband Carl. Carl is in the Army so he is not able to come home til they allow him, especially since he is over seas. Once Amanda has been home for awhile a very tragic accident occurs Amanda has realized that Mathilda has not come home for several hours. With the weather outside very cold and snow on the ground, Amanda starts to worry. Amanda had gone in to report Mathilda as a missing person when her body had been found trapped in the ice of the Nagawaukee lake. This part of the book was tragic with all the detail that the author has put into this story and how much she goes back to their childhood to explain more about their adult lives.