Fall's Peace

Fall to me is a time of peace because it's the time of year where everyone goes back to school or work and settles down for the year.  Although the year really begins in January I've always thought of the year starting in September, because that's when my life starts up again after my crazy and wonderful summers.  Since I was eight I've been going to sleep away camps where there is always something to do.  Fall is the time of year where my life is a little less chaotic before the holiday season starts up.

I called my video "A Peaceful Day at the Farm" because Andrea and I went to the farm the morning before Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast.  The roads were barren and it felt like driving through ghost towns.  We drove up to Homestead Farm where I have been going since I could ever remember.   I've always gone to this farm to find a pumpkin to carve for Halloween.  My mom always gets apples to use for the apple sauce that she usually makes for Thanksgiving.  I end the day with picking out some unusual gourds and a caramel apple.  I even got stung by a bee for the first time at Homestead Farm. Anyway, normally when my mom and I go we expect there to be tons of families and children running around everywhere.  I've never seen the farm that empty.

I used my cell phone to film my video which explains why the quality is pretty bad.  I then edited my film with Windows Live Movie Maker. Shot #1 is an establishing shot of the hills past the main part of the farm where they grown tons of vegetables and fruits.  The morning before Sandy it was already pretty windy so shot #2 is a close up of some plants blowing in the wind.  Shot #3 is another establishing shot of the main part of the farm.  It shows a very big picture of the different buildings across the lake where the animals are kept and the main store is held.  Then I changed from shots the scenery to shots of the produce that the farm sells.  Shot #4 is a medium close up of all the pumpkins being sold for Halloween.  Shot #5 are some of the many peppers that are at the farm and shot #6 are all the interesting gourds that are sold.  Shot #7 and 8 are two types of the apples that they sell at the farm.  I moved from outside to inside the main store where more produce is sold.  Shot #9 is kind of an establishing shot of the jarred foods that are sold along the walls of the store.  Shot #10 was a dandelion that was being blown in the wind, but I shot it in an aerial angle. The last shot is Andrea skipping down the road which finishes the film with a happy mood. I used an instrumental music called "Makros-Hope" by Markos from Sound Cloud because it helped evoke a peaceful and happy mood to my film.

Somewhere Between

Somewhere Between

Last weekend I saw the documentary "Somewhere Between." It talks about the stories of four teenagers who are adopted from China. It was really interesting to see the differences between the girls' stories.
The movie was really well done, but I would have liked to see more of the social interactions between the girls within their schools and communities. I wish the film could have emphasized more on the concept of the banana that based on first impressions people judge us upon our outside which is Asian. But culturally we were raised by white parents and we don't conform to the racial stereotypes of Asians. 

Then there was a girl from Philadelphia named Ann, who actually came out to the screening and participated in a question and answer session with the audience. It was interesting because she told the audience that now shed to is studying Chinese and wants to be an adoption social worker but in the movie had little interest in her adoption. Ann seemed to be the girl I related because of her easygoing attitude towards much of the ignorance about adoption. 

Fang from Berkeley California Fang remembers the day when her cousin brought her into the city and abandoned her on the streets. Because Fang was not brought to the orphanage as an infant her mother learned Chinese previous her adoption. Interestingly she is from the same orphanage as me. Fang has continued to speak Chinese and has visited over 20 times. Fang got to the point where she travels to China by herself and helped another family when thy went to adopt. Fang is really interested in knowing about her biological family and each time she returns to China she wants to know more.

Haley's story was completely different from Fang's. Haley is from Nashville Tennessee where she is "the only

Asian person within 500 feet." It was really interesting to hear Haley's connection with Christianity and the church. She said that even if she hadn't been adopted she would have found a way to become christian even in China. She said that god had a path for her to become christian.Haley ends up finding and meeting her biological family on a trip to China. Haley also wants to be the "first Chinese person to play in the Grand 'Ole Opry." She also competes in beauty pageants like her older sister who is not adopted. Geographically where you live can determine who you end up becoming. 

Jenna, from Newport Massachusetts was the final girl and it was interesting to see her opinions about how she identified herself as a first generation immigrant. Jenna is somewhat of a perfectionist and does multiple sports while attending a prestigious academy in New Hampshire. Her mothers are the ones to remind her to breath and take a break.

Dystopian Trailer Music

explosion- for beginning shot of the world exploding. Automatically dramatizes the trailer and tells the reader that its a dystopian post-apocalyptic society.





base music- has lots of tension and different variations and combinations of drones. This creates an eerie mood.

futuristic scary music. The creates a scary, negative, futuristic mood.



final sciency futuristic ambience sound that can be used to create an eerie, futuristic mood.

Sunny Afternoon along Sligo Creek

Sunny Afternoon along Sligo Creek

Scene 1: Me walking down a neighborhood street to get to Sligo Creek. The sun is glistening through the trees that surround the street.
Scene 2: A close up shot of water trickling in Sligo Creek
Scene 3: Another scene of the sun glistening through the tress but in a different location. I'm not walking for this one either.
Scene 4: A close up of water running through the creek, but then an establishing shot of the whole creek.
Scene 5: Sun shinning bright on a field. A tree comes into view and blocks the sunlight temporarily.

I created my 5 by 5 by taking different shots of the scenery near Sligo Creek. To shoot the 5 by 5 I used a basic point and shoot camera. I edited my clips with wevideo, which was surprisingly easy to understand. 

I'm pleased with how my 5 by 5 turned out. I wish that I could have maybe turned down the volume a little bit on some of the scenes but I couldn't figure that out on wevideo and it wasn't a huge issue. 

For my next video challenge maybe I can do a theme of the aquarium. I think that shooting different sea animals would be really interesting. A shot of a jelly fish could be really interesting.

The Lucky One

The Lucky One

I read a review of The Lucky One by Todd McCarthy on The Hollywood Reporter online. The movie review comments of all three aspects of literary aspects; literary, dramatic, and cinematic. The review of the movie, based on the Nicolas Spark's book, mostly explains the plot.
 The Lucky One and tells the story of a veteran named Logan who finds the picture of a woman who, by some mysterious fate, saves him from many of the disasters at war. Logan promises himself that when he returns from war he will find the woman who saved him and thank her. He ends up falling in love with the woman and realizing the problems of her life with her abusive ex-husband and bullied 8-year old.

McCarthy touches lightly on the dramatic aspects of the film. He talks about Efron's performance and comments that his potential was not shown. He also talks about the limited use of sets in the war zone.

 He talks about the cinematic affects, commenting on the interesting use of camera angles. He also talks about the beautiful light from the set in Louisiana.

All About Me

hi my name is ceci-

im a sophomore in highs chool and this is my first time blogging, second time if you count tumblr. im an only child and i have two cats named ollie and mittens.  i used to do gymnastics and now i dance. this summer i went to farm camp in vermont. my favorite desert is cupcakes. i just started playing ultimate frisbee and i have a lot of  energy. i really don't like capital letters because i think they look ugly. if i could travel the world i would visit greece, and i want to travel around europe in general. i like to have fun, not stress too much and just enjoy life.

in the film process i like to direct or be involved with the cinematography process. i like using the camera and in past projects i directed a live show. this year i think we can use these blogs to communicate with our teachers and create a network where students can also talk to one another. our teachers can tell us the homework or update new information. they can also post websites that would be helpful for projects or studying for tests. i also think it would be helpful for us students because we can work on our change projects together in an efficient way through our blogs.