Week of June 12

This week we had the Film Festival during school. Although my films were not included in the Film Festival, I felt proud of the films that were shown. It is kind of amazing to see all the hard work that my fellow classmates put into these films. It was very entertaining and appealing to the audience.

Week of June 4

This week we finished our narrative film, BUT it was something that some us were proud of. We are redoing most of the script and re-filming those scenes to emphasize and make our message more clear.

Week of May 29

This week we finished the story board and screenplay for our narrative film. We are ready to shoot for this weekend. Also,  I was able to go to the LAUSD film festival and I thought it was an awesome experience. The people there were very nice and lovely and it was memorable to walk the red carpet. In regard to the films some of them were not even THAT great, but they were quite entertaining.

Week of May 22nd

This week, we imported our footage for 2 interviews and we are currently waiting for a couple more. We are also writing our screenplay for our narrative film.

Week of May15

Last week my group and I met up with Ms. Shaath and she watched our footage for the documentary. She asked us to do more interviews and we did. We still need to record a few more and then edit it all together. In addition, we also began to plan our narrative film. We have begun to write the script for that film while we interview the other people outside of class.

Week May 8th

The week of May 8, we put together the few interviews for the film about teachers. I edited those clips and fixed some of the audio. We just need to do two more interviews for the students. 

Week of 24th

On Friday, we finished editing our film. We just need to get it approved and saved as a .mov. We have also discussed ideas for our next film and we area thinking of doing a mockumentary.

Week of 4/17

This week my production company and I continued to edit our film. We contacted our "actor" that is going to act as our film teacher for the beginning of our music video. We are barely going to finish this today because a couple of people that we previously wanted as the actor were not able to help us this week. Therefore, we are planning to finish recording that part of our film today and hopefully finish editing our entire music video today.

Week of April 10th

This week we got a lot of the editing done for the middle part of our film. During the process of editing, we noticed that the song we were using fit very well with our music video. However, after discussing some things we figured out that another song, "Good Life" by OneRepublic, would fit even better with the footage and concept of our video. Now, we are using this song because it goes along well with the mood of our video. We just need to finish editing this part of our film before we start filming the beginning and end of our video next week (most likely Monday).

Week of April 3rd

This week we went to City Walk and filmed the middle of our music video. We were able to shoot a well amount of footage. Currently, we are editing this portion of our film and have our song ready to import. Yesterday, we decided to change the beginning and end of our film. We want to make these scenes seem like the girls in the music video are being lectured by their film teacher. During this, the girls begin to imagine that they are at City Walk and that is when the music video begins. The end is just a snap back to reality.

Week of March 27

For this film, I am working with Gabriela Armendariz, Jasmine Medina , and Sasha Navarro. This week we decided to make a music video.  We want the music video to be very upbeat and fun (and maybe a little cheesy). It was kind of difficult to choose a song that we all liked to fit the mood of our music video.  After a while of discussing which songs we liked we chose the song Outside by Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding. We thought that it will fit well with the concept and idea of the music video (which is living in the moment and curing boredom for a while). We have started making the story board of what scenes we want to film and where we want to film. We plan on filming on Sunday because it fits our schedule and next week here at school. Gaby, Jasmine, and I are going to be the actors in the music video.

What Music Means to Me

Music is a significant part of my life. I listen to music almost the entire time that I am home even when I'm doing homework or reading. I know that a lot of people say that you cannot concentrate on your work with music, but honestly music actually helps me finish things. The music that I listen to the most is Indie Rock and Alternative Rock. My favorite band is Coldplay. I love that they are always coming up with a unique style of music and the fact that the majority of their lyrics can just pull at my heartstrings. Some of my other favorite bands include The Killers, Weezer, Coasts, Good Charlotte (who broke up, but now we have The Madden Brothers which is pretty cool), the 1975, and a lot of indie rock bands that are not necessarily popular as of now. To me, discovering new music is a hobby. Sometimes I pay attention to the sound of the song and sometimes I look for songs that have amazing lyrics. Sometimes, the song is a two for one and that makes it even more incredible. Depending on my mood, my music can shift from bands like Motley Crue (insert the little accent above the u) and The Darkness to a more pop group or artist like One Direction and Katy Perry. I am really open to a variety of music including EDM, chillstep, and spanish music like Shakira. I feel like as long as the song or type of music fits my mood, I am happy. Music just helps me relax and it helps me control my anxiety; I honestly do not think I could go a day without it.

Problems and Struggles High School Students Face

There are a variety of problems and struggles that High School students face. Many students face a lot of stress when it comes to the classes that they are taking. Some of these students struggle trying to balance out their schoolwork with sports, work or other activities. From personal experience, time is a problem and a struggle especially when you have a certain role in your home that requires extra work (like chores) apart from homework and extracurricular activities.  Another problem that high school students face is embracing their individuality. It is quite common for a student to not fit in with a lot of other people. However, to some students it is quite a struggle to embrace the fact that they are different than most people. Many students, including myself, struggle to find out exactly who they want to be in life. There is a lot of things and people in this community that influence the behavior and personality of a high school student. It becomes a problem for them when they cannot find a voice for themselves and are not able to have much self-expression at this young age. 

The Most Interesting Person I Know

The most interesting person I know is my brother, Jason. He is currently 20 years old and in college. I could honestly listen to him talk for a long time because he always has new thoughts and conspiracies that are just so intriguing. He is very open-minded and is able to come up with ideas about many different topics and I find that very interesting. Since he is in college, he has had different experiences that are either hilarious, weird, or eye-opening. The way he shares his stories is entertaining because he shows different emotions when he talks. He's not boring. I also find him the most interesting person that I know because he knows how to get away with a lot of things due to his personality. According to other people, he looks very intimidating when they first meet him. In reality, however, he is a huge softie that has a cool sense of humor and an array of interesting stories to tell.

My Anti Drug

My anti-drugs are writing and listening to music. For me,writing short stories and random blurbs is really relaxing because I am able to express myself without having to tell anyone how I am feeling or what I am thinking. It is easy for me to come up with short ideas and put them in words. Whenever I have dark days, writing and music put me in a state of bliss. These two things are able to distract me from stress and any other problems that I may be having in "real" life. My favorite thing about my anti-drug is that it lets my imagination run wild and it allows me to be more creative in my writing and ideas. If I don't have a notebook and pen with me I usually write things on my phone. To me, it is not necessarily a job, it's a stress reliever. In addition, music speaks to me on a spiritual and emotional level, so that serves as a useful anti-drug as well.

An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth allowed me to realize the problems of global warming and the ignorance that some people have towards the subject. The part of the documentary that stood out to me the most was when Al Gore mentioned his son's accident and how that had a great impact on his life. It made me think about how some things are taken for granted in this world. We do not really pay attention to what we have in life until it is almost taken away from us. Another part that stood out to me was the animation of the polar bear who was struggling to get on an iceberg. As a person who really loves polar bears and has done research on the endangered species, this stood out to me quite a lot.Even though it was a cartoon, it demonstrated how much of our selfish acts as humans can have a serious impact on the millions of other species in the world. We do not really notice it until someone puts a solemn image in front of us. When Al Gore mentions the rise of sea levels, it was quite shocking to realize that the progress of humans on land will one day be underwater. I think that that is already a warning that should be taken into consideration and I find it really disturbing how other people, including myself, fail to realize or acknowledge it sometimes.

Conflict

Conflict is what makes a movie entertaining. Without conflict a movie would be quite boring to watch. Watching a movie without intense conflict is like sitting in waiting room waiting for the doctor to come out and tell you news, when in reality he left an hour ago. In the movie Mocking Jay, there is conflict present throughout the whole film. The character of Katniss is trying to fight her way out of District 13 to save Peeta, but President Coin is determined to make her stay. There is conflict between District 13 and the rest of Panam as Katniss and her friends and family fight to start a revolution. President Snow continues the conflict with Katniss, which leads to more anger and tension. The constant conflict between the scenes makes the movie more intense and entertaining; it makes the viewer more intrigued. Without conflict millions of viewers would not want to see the rest of the series or any more films based on the Hunger Games. 

Undeserved Misfortune

In films it is very common to feel sorrow or pity towards a character that goes through something they do not deserve. This undeserved misfortune is evident in many film’s that appeal to the audience. In the movie Mean Girls the character of Cady Heron goes through undeserved misfortune as she finds herself a victim of popularity. The antagonist, Regina George, acts like her friend, but ends up stealing Cady’s crush by kissing the guy right in front of her. In that moment, the majority of the viewers feel hatred toward Regina and pity for Cady. This helps the audience have a strong positive feeling about Cady despite her actions later on in the film.  Undeserved misfortune is essential to keep the audience interested. If Cady had not received undeserved misfortune, then the audience would have hated both Regina and her, making the movie less intriguing. The viewer usually sides with the good character that receives undeserved misfortune because they are more relatable.

Beginning, Middle, and End

Every story must have a beginning, middle, and an end in order to make sense and entertain the audience. In the film,Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the beginning shows the main character,Scott, in a band with his friends. The timid guy ends up meeting a girl by the name of Ramona Flowers and strives to build a relationship with her. The middle of the film mainly focuses on Scott fighting Ramona's evil exes as if he is in a video game. The middle of a film usually includes the most action and conflict. This is seen in the middle of Scott Pilgrim vs the World. In the film, the ending serves as a solution for the characters' conflict. Scott ends up fighting off the evil exes and ends up with Ramona. After all the fighting, there was a happy ending. In other story lines, there can be a sad ending or a disappointing ending. However, the end is usually the result of the middle.

My Film Job

The film job that I would like to take is: editor. I have some experience with editing videos and making a final product with different clips so this job really interests me. Being an editor, I know that I will have to be responsible for the final product of the film. I also know that it can be very tedious and many factors/obstacles can get in the way. The computer may crash and the program might freeze, but I think that I can manage my time to put effort into it. I want to be responsible for the final cut of the film and make sure that all the scenes fit properly together (and that some scenes that don’t belong are not included). I feel like I can put together the film in a creative way so that it can look appealing to the audience. I’m very interesting in adding music that fits well with the film to make it more unique and entertaining to those who will watch it. Honestly, my preferred job is to be a director or a producer, but knowing myself I think I can manage the editing job better. For now editing is the job that I would like to work in.