A Look Into America's Food Inc.

 This afternoon I sat down with my two younger brothers to watch a documentary film called Food, Inc. I first learned about this film in my Journalism class and, although many of my classmates had already heard of or seen the move, the title was completely new to me. At first I was hesitant to watch this film because I'm a squeamish and impressionable person, especially when it comes to animals. The picture of a cow with a bar code stamped onto its side on the cover of the film did not do much to sway my interest either. In the end, I decided to give the film a chance, because I wanted to know the truth, even if it came at a cost. What I found in this film was astonishing. Both myself and my brothers sat attentively with our jaws literally hanging open at times as we became enlightened as to where our food came from. As I was watching the film, I couldn't help but think to myself how amazing it would be if every single person in the world were required to watch this movie. Although there would be immense skepticism, it would be impossible to watch this film and not feel inspired to make a big change in your community. Entertainment Weekly did an excellent job at summarizing Food, Inc. stating that, “More than a terrific movie—it's an important movie.”

The movie Food, Inc. takes it's audience on a disturbing but incredible journey as it seeks to “lift the veil” that massive food industries have placed between consumers and their “kitchens” or production plants. This documentary is both expository and interactive as the the filmmakers, Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein, are trying to inform the audience on an issue while still making themselves present in the on-screen action. Food, Inc. explores the issue of food and worker exploitation by dividing the topics up into subcategories. The film first gives a short introduction on supermarkets and labels before moving into its first topic: chicken. The storyline then transitions into corn, then soybeans, spinach, cattle, pork, etc. Throughout each of these subsections, the filmmakers give the audience a deeper look into the issue by shooting on location at farms controlled by major food corporations like Tyson, Smithsfield, Perdue, and Montansto. Each subsection also includes interviews with farmers and workers, captions, footage from hidden cameras, close-up shots of the animal and worker abuse that goes on in factories, and snippets of background on how the food industry has changed over time as demand has rapidly increased. Suspenseful music and different cartoons are also added in to set the mood and explain different concepts to the audience through animated visuals. The lighting and characters, however, are all kept authentic. Only natural light seems to be used in the film. All of the characters are presented as is, without any makeup or costumes. The conversations appear natural and unrehearsed as well. Using all of these different little details, the filmmakers are able to slowly reveal the horrors behind the extreme industrialization of modern day food production. But not all the film is set in such a morbid tone. The filmmakers chose to spend the last 15 minutes or so of the documentary reviewing what the average person can do to help stop this serious issue and made sure to end on a positive note.

I would highly recommend this film to anyone and everyone, especially the younger generation. Because sometimes the truth, although not easier, is necessary if we wish to flourish as a planet and achieve universal harmony.

The movie Food, Inc. is rated PG for some thematic material and disturbing images. It has an approximate running time of 91 minutes

If you are interested in learning more about this movie, the film's official trailer and website are both posted below:

Website: http://www.takepart.com/foodinc

Trailer:

The Butterfly Effect

This week my grandmother flew in from Buenos Aires, Argentina to visit my family for the holidays. On the ride back from the airport we started catching up and soon stumbled onto the topic of current Argentine politcs. At first I wasn't very interested in the conversation because I didn't think it to be relevant to my life and I also wasn't very interested in foreign politics. I became more engaged, however, as I began seeing connections between my life and Argentina's policies. President Kirchner's policies specifically seemed to have a big impact on my family and, by extension, myself. And so, I decided to dedicate this post to a reflection on how someone thousands of miles away can have an influence on my life.

Before I get into the philosophical aspects of it, I'd like to give a brief background on Kirchner's policies that are affecting my family in Argentina. This is a translated transcript of what my grandmother had to say about her country's politics:

“It's a very serious problem. The problem is that Kirchner has spent more money than the budget allows. Kirchner doesn't want people to spend money outside of Argentina so that she can use that money within the country to pay off all the debt she has put Argentina in. On top of that, there has been an since there were bad politics with Argentina's foreign commerce. Because of all this, it's now practically impossible to exchange pesos (Argentine currency) for dollars.  This has an impact mostly on the middle class, which can be seen with the increasing poverty rates. There's also a high indication of inflation, around 30% annually, which is making the Argentine peso lose value. The middle class wants to save up on dollars because its a more stable currency but its almost impossible to get them. But the rich, on the other hand, have a lot of dollars saved up outside of the country so it doesn’t impact them. But I'm not rich. . There's also the issue of internal debt. Kirchner has made it harder for people to fly anywhere, to leave the country. This is also political because there is more internal touristic consumerism since people can't leave Argentina. For example, people go to Mar de Plata and spend a lot of money that stays within the country. Because of inflation, people who use to be able to travel for 15 days can only travel for 10 days now. One dollar use to be one peso but now one dollar is 4.5 pesos and you can't even get the dollar because the banks won't give you the official currency. So instead people go to the “Blue Dollar,” which is an illegal market that sells one dollar for 6.5 pesos to anyone. A lot of people resort to unofficial means of getting dollars in order to be able to travel and visit their loved ones. But everything gets really expensive and its a horrible error that this president is committing. She's also driving people to get into boats and cross the river that divides Uruguay and Argentina to deposit their money in another country with a more coherent president.”

What I heard from my grandmother left me truly awe-stuck. I had no idea how terrible the political situation in Argentina was because I never take the time during my daily life to consider how things may work in other countries. I then realized that it has been far too long since I've taken a world history class and that I needed to start taking some initiative to be more aware of the world around me, especially in my own culture.

So now, the philosophical stuff. It's not very interesting, just me reflecting on the old conjecture that the flap of a butterflies wings could cause a hurricane halfway around the world. Although its not that extreme in my case, I am still being impacted by Kirchner. Because of some of her policies, its very difficult for my family to visit me. Consequentially, my interactions with all of my mother's side of the family and a fourth of my father's side is stricly over Skype. I think I should look more into the issue before I say anything else, but what I've heard so far has left me appalled. 

The PMS Store

I've decided to dedicate this post to an idea I have for what I believe would be a very marketable business. The idea for this business came on a day  my friend and I were walking to Whole Foods to pick up some ingredients to make dinner.* On our way, we passed a store. Although I can't recall it's name, I do remember that its initials spelled out .PMS. This got us talking about how funny it would be if there was actually a store for women called The P.M.S. Store, in which women could buy the stereotypical things they might crave while PMS-ing. There could be stacks of chick flicks, a large assortment of gourmet chocolates, roses, perfume, Ibuprofen, teddy bears, and racks of warm robes. In the back there could be freezers full of Haagen Dazs ice cream. They would also sell those pouches you can fill with warm water. Everyone who worked there would be required to give female customers compliments as they left the store. It would be awesome. The more we thought about it, the more enthusiastic we grew.  We thought we'd just come up with the most genius idea ever, and wondered if anyone else had already thought of this, and if such a store existed somewhere. When we got home, we went straight to the computer to do some research.  It turns out there weren't and stores in current existence, at least not on the Internet. So just in case you were thinking of starting your own original business, this could be the market for you. That is all.

           

*So for that dinner I made some potato salad as a side. There wasn't any mayonnaise though so I had to make my own. In case you didn't know making mayonnaise requires using a raw egg. Anyways, I ate it really happily and didn't think much of it until 24 hours later when I had to spend the night at the hospital thanks to Salmonella. Not fun guys, don''t eat raw eggs. There's no way it'll be worth it.

The Supernaturality of Being Human

Superhero movies have recently become immensely popular. In the last decade there has been a surge in the production of superhero movies with "The Avengers," "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Amazing Spider-Man," "X-Men," "Iron Man," "Captain American," "The Fantastic Four," etc, etc, etc. But why are these kinds of movies so popular? Because, they click with something inside of us. Sure, most of us just laugh the intense scenes off with snarky comments and general impudence. But there's no denying that after watching a superhero movie, you feel a sense of elevation. You wish you too could have extraordinary powers and save the world. The funny thing is though, that you can (now its about to get cheesy). All too often, we absorb ourselves in a longing to have such a gift bestown upon us that we overlook the supernatural abilities we already have. For example, our opposable thumbs. If those were just taken away one day, life would be ridiculously hard. What about our ability to walk on two legs? Or see color? Or create language? Or our body's ability to heal itself and morph if survival is threatened? Those sound like pretty cool powers to me. You probably aren't convinced by these average examples though, so I'll try to provide more impressive ones. What about that sense you get that something just isn't right. That ability that most parents have to sense when their child is in danger even when they're miles apart. That's pretty cool. Usually it just takes the right circumstances for our powers to show. Like how we can lift incredible amounts of weight or run incredibly fast when put in life threatening situations. For example the old woman who lifted the car to save her son, or something. There's also those monks in some mountains who can regrow limbs. It just takes dedication people! The mind has incredible potential, far beyond any being's comprehension. I'm just saying, that old refrain "You can do anything you put your mind to" is way truer than it gets credit for (cheesiness again). Anyways, believe what you want, but the fact that there already are super-humans out there proves that its possible to do more than we do. The only thing holding us back is lack of determination and commitment. We're too afraid to be the first Eagle to fly the chicken coop. I just called society a chicken coop. Bam. But actually, humans are pretty cool so you should look into learning how to fly and walk through walls. Because you can do it. And most importantly, I believe in you.

Falling for the Fall

Capture the Fall: Sligo Creek


I had a lot of fun with this project seeing as it gave me an excuse to go out and take a nice, long walk. I got all of these clips one day when I was inspired to go outside into the freezing weather and capture the beauty that is Autumn. Personally I hate the Fall, but I have to admit it does look much prettier through a camera lens. I tried to intermingle peaceful nature shots with some more bizarre shots (e.g. car lights blinking, a rotting pumpkin, and a cat rolling around) since Fall isn't all about nature. After capturing the footage, I used WeVideo to put all the clips together and edit everything. The really hard part was actually finding the music for the project since I couldn't figure out how to download anything on my really slow and temperamental computer. But here are the fruits of my labor, so enjoy!

Earthships are AWESOME

         Earthships are awesome. It's not even debatable  When I first learned about them in 8th grade Earth-space science with Mrs. Peters (who I miss very dearly), I thought it was just about the coolest thing I'd ever heard of. Later I had the chance to design my own Earthship as a project. This I also enjoyed very much. Since I'm not sure how much everyone knows about Earthships I'll just give a general idea of what they are. Basically, they're completely sustainable homes that are super convenient and cheap to live in. So if its a house, then why is it called an Earthship? Because they're just that cool. Who wouldn't want to casually say "Oh yeah, you can come over to my Earthship later and we'll figure it out." Awesome. So anyways, Earthships are each originally designed and easy to build. In fact, a couple who had never built anything in their lives were able to single-handedly construct an Earthship in only 3 months. Earthships are also way less expensive than normal homes. The Simple Survival models cost around $7,000 while the more intricate ones start at around $70,000. Still not convinced that Earthships are a big deal? Ok.

1. They are made completely out of recycled materials. Tires, glass, cans, etc. Yet they are stunning. 

       <----ew, landfills.

           2. Earthships all have a couple of greenhouses that grow food ALL YEAR. The plants make the environment even more beautiful. Plus home grown food tastes so good. A lot of people also choose to build a fish pond of chicken coop as a source of meat.

           3. Earthships are so ingenious that they maintain a steady temperature of about 70 degrees year round. Even in blistering cold or hot climates. They are also built to let in lots of natural light.

           4. Earthships produce their own all-natural energy with solar panels and wind turbines. They also have an amazing system for recycling water. So you'll never be short of resources.

Are you convinced now? Me too. What I can't grasp then, is why people haven't been giving more attention to these revolutionary designs. I would think that by now everyone would be living in an Earthship. Or at least some project to start the process would have begun. I guess its just one of those things I'll never understand. Which I'll probably write more about in a blog some other week. Anyways, if you want to learn more about Earthships, which of course you do, then you should watch these videos or do some research on the world-wide web.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2so9hyNWxc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=haiWcI5NJo8&feature=endscreen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKCdQUGH7qo&feature=related

The Magnificent World of Platypi (or is it platypuses? platypoda?)

I'd like to start this post off with a few images. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

  
 

Now, you must be thinking to yourself , my stars, why, that might be the most adorable thing my eyes ever did see. Don't be fooled. The platypus is not a creature to be toyed with. These glorious creatures are the sole survivors of their family and genus. According to myth, when the platypus was first discovered, scientists were outraged, believing the whole thing to be a cruel hoax in which someone has sewn a duck bill to a beaver-like animal. The platypus continues to amaze the science world with its awesome existence and will probably never be understood. So, without further ado, I present you with a plethora of facts about the platypus.

1. Although the platypus is a mammal, it doesn't bear live young. According to Wikipedia, it is one of the five existent species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs. This is one of the most commonly known facts about platypi.
2. There is no universally accepted plural for the word platypus.
3. Unlike a duck's hard beak, the platypuses bill is made from pliable cartilage.
4. As its natural defense, a platypus has poisonous spurs on its hind legs with venom strong enough to kill a dog.
5. The platypus uses its tail as a fat storage device. More than 50% of the animal's body fat is found in its tail.
6. A platypus' bill has a receptor system that can detect the electric impulses in other creature's muscles. The platypus uses these readings to locate their prey.
7. The word "platypus" means broad foot an comes from the Greek word "platys" meaning broad and pous foot.
8. The platypus' growl has been described as resembling a puppy's growl.
9. Only the young have teeth, after the platypus grows they fall out. Adult platypi use grinding pads in their bills to chew foot.
10. When the first platypus egg was hatched in captivity in 1999, a zookeeper described the accomplishment as the,"zoological equivalent of reaching the peak of Mount Everest".
11. There is not a single zoo outside of Australia with a platypus in it. This is because of the Australian government's strict rules about the removal of platypi from the country.
12. Platypuses are very solitary creatures.
13. Instead of beast-feeding, mother platypuses "sweat" milk which their young then lick off their fur.
14. The platypus has legs like an Otter, webbed feet like aquatic birds, a bill like a duck (hence the term, duck-billed platypus), and a tail like a beaver.
15. It's scientific name is "Ormithorhynchus anatinus."
16. The platypus has no visible ears.
17. Platypuses typically grow to be around the size of a typical household cat. Small but dangerous.
18. The platypus walks on it knuckles and only exposes its webbed feet for swimming.
19. The platypus swims with its ears, nose, and eyes closed.
20. The platypus sleeps an average of 17 hours a day.
21. Platypi don't have stomachs. Now all they have is a useless tube connecting its esophagus to its intestines.
22. To be able to run, the platypus retracts the webbing on its feet and exposes its nails.

And now, some videos to further entertain you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7_l_FdIuLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsd7ZfdZcNU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ycejyi2t4A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Whh_eSA68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVPd6hf-Nlw

I hope you are as thoroughly amazed as I am. Unfortunately, I was unable to do as much research as I would have liked to since Hurricane Sandy knocked out my power for a couple of days. In order to give these awesome creatures the proper retribution they deserve, I'm considering doing a follow-up post about them in the future. In the meantime, if you would like to find out more about the platypus, Google is always there for your convenience.

Redemption Songs

     The funniest things happen to you on the Metro. I guess its just one of those places where the unexpected should be expected. Or maybe its just me. Since as far back as I can remember, the metro has been a sort of a gathering place for the unlikeliest of people to have the unlikeliest of encounters. Just try sitting on a bench there for ten minutes and you'll see what I mean.
      One time I saw an elderly woman doing chin-ups on those bars you hold onto when there aren't any seats left.  Another time I saw a little girl standing at the Metro's entrance, sadly sucking on her thumb. In one arm she held an over sized stuffed bunny, in the other, a sign that read, in rather crudely written letters, "I'm Running Away," or something of the sort. But that's another story
     Today I'd like to focus on something of a more extraordinary nature that occurred to me very recently. On Wednesday I was taking the metro to L'Enfant Plaza in D.C. when I saw a yellow piece of paper laying on the platform. Naturally, being the snoop I am, I slowly picked the letter up and opened it very discreetly. It was addressed to a person named Delilah. I guess she'd forgotten it there. Before I go any further I'd like to remind you that this actually happened. For some reason most every teenager I know has a really difficult time taking much of anything seriously. When something gets uncomfortable, we laugh or make a surprisingly inappropriate joke to ease the mood. Much like Chandler Bingh. But this made me stop and reconsider. Mrs. Cullen taught us that a good writer can stop and make you say "Hey, I never thought about it that way" even if you still don't agree. Well this good writer happened to be a current inmate in a detention center somewhere in Maryland.
      Getting back to the story, I began to read the letter and learned it was written by an inmate named Joseph. He was to be released from jail in two months. Although he did not disclose what he was being held for, he went into immense detail about an epiphany he had had in prison and what he planned to do when he first got out. "I got the first day all planned...Imma catch the train in Baltimore. Imma go to Lucas' day care and try to see him. They probably won't let me but Imma try. Then Imma go surprise my Mom at work. Then Imma go spend some time with her. Imma tell her everything." Joseph references this "she" several times in the letter. He says, "I want to take things slow because I have a lot of trust issues when it comes to her. She and I are going to have to rebuild our foundation. But I love her and would like for us to be together. But I wanna do it right." Most of the letter isn't sad though, surprisingly enough. In fact, Joseph has it all planned out. He wants to go back to school and become a social worker. He also hopes to visit some juvenile detention centers when he has more time to make sure that young kids are set in the right direction and can have a better life than he did. Most of all though, he wants to spend as much time as he can with Lucas and hope he can forgive him. That was pretty much it. I'd like to go into more detail but didn't want to say anything more that might give away too much information. I would have scanned the letter and posted it but it had some vulgar language worked in there. It was also unnecessary to get the point across. I was just inspired by how this guy managed to get such a positive perspective on what had happened to him and was so focused on fixing things rather than lingering on the past. Some of the things he said were cheesy, but they came from the heart. Its nice to know that its never too late to change yourself. As Bob Marley's song goes, "None but ourselves can free our minds." So I wish you luck, Joseph, whoever you are.

*Names of people and places in the letter were changed to protect the privacy of these individuals.

Archival Footage for "Barcode"

I found this Archive on the Stock Footage Collection
My group is doing our dystopian trailer on a society in which beauty and talent have been completely erased and replaced with complete, unquestioned conformity. At the beginning of the trailer, we wanted to incorporate a  montage of short, fast clips like at the beginning of the trailer for the movie Gattaca. I chose this clip because it includes footage of many different beauty products and a woman dressed up in fancy clothing. I also found a few other clips with similar footage we could use:

http://archive.org/details/LifeMinute-SummerBeautyEssentials228
(shots of some more beauty products)

http://archive.org/details/CarollsB1941
(clips of women getting their hair done at a salon

http://archive.org/details/PeacedelicHiroyukiNakanoBARCODE.
(clips of a bar code; the citizens in our society all wear bar codes in order to be identifiable)

Apart from that sequence at the beginning, however, the rest of our trailer will be clips we shoot ourselves. The beginning sequence will require a lot of different footage though since each bit will only get a maximum of a few seconds on in our timeline.

A Boy and His Robot

Here is the link to my 5x5:
A Boy and His Robot

1. First Shot: My little brother and his stuffed robot waking up to an annoying alarm and smiling (isn't he                             adorable?)
Second Shot: An overhead shot of my little brother brushing his teeth with his robot in his arms.
Third Shot: My brother eating his cereal while his robot reads a good book.
Fourth Shot:My brother tying his shoes with his robot by his side.
Fifth Shot: My brother and his robot walking out the door to face a new day together.

2. I had a LOT of fun creating this video with my little brother. He loves to act so he was super excited about getting to star in my film project. To shoot, I used a Pure Digital Flip Camera which I borrowed from Mr. Mayo. I was grateful that the school had a camera to lend me since mine recently broke and we haven't gotten a new one yet. I edited my clips using wevideo.com. Although it was frustrating at first because it wouldn't let me cut my clips or export them, I figured it out with the help of a friend and after that it was really easy to use. 

3. 5x5 was a great way to start of the year and get our creative juices flowing. The fact that it could only be 25 seconds long was challenging in a way because you had to trim a lot of the excess footage to get the perfect 5 seconds. I think I did a good job with my 5x5 though, and it was pretty fun to shoot it too.

4.For our next video challenge we should either do something much shorter, or much longer. If it was to be longer, I'd like for us to have an opportunity to make a video that tells a full story and is a couple of minutes long. If it was to be shorter, I think each student should choose a theme and make ten seconds video of a bunch of fast-moving clips that relate to that theme, like in the opening for the movie "Gattaca." 

Dystopian Trailer Critique

2018. Chandler Tuttle. NR. 2009
In this 25 minute film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron, people live under the rule of a brutal government that keep everyone exactly equal by outlawing anything mildly extraordinary. That is, however, until a ballerina (Alina Faye) decides its time to show the world her beauty and talent through one great act of defiance that sends this seemingly perfect society into a chaotic tumult.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL9zg7-rzPc

         This trailer is exemplary because it follows the majority of the original dystopian premises and is able to get a message across without giving too much formation away. The red font on a black background is used to communicate to the audience the values of the society and hint at what's going to happen. Most of the images in the trailer are used to show how the government handicaps people and maintains the citizens under their rule. Using both images and text, the director is already able to give the audience a pretty good idea of the main character's personalities and struggles. The setting is also showed pretty well, although no shots of the outside are shown, maybe for a reason.
         I mostly chose this trailer as being one of epitomized standards, however, because it shares a lot in common with the ideas that my group had for our own dystopian trailer. The general premises are pretty much the same: that people are living in a society were beauty and talent are looked down upon while normality and dullness are held up as ideals. In addition to the general premise, we also want to use many of the same film techniques that were used in the movie including the background music, the fuzzy earpiece noises, and possibly the text as well. I'm sure our trailer will turn out looking differently than this one but I just found it interesting that there was already a movie with ideas that are so similar to the ones we have.

Reflection on Technological Collaboration Article

1. The article "World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others," by Will Richardson presents his ideas on how educators and schools should adapt their educating techniques to better fit the new technological age. Mr. Richardson explores and explain how many great, new learning opportunities are presented by the new "Collaboration Age," as he calls it. According to the article, teachers need to, "think of [themselves] as collaborators first and content experts second." Instead of trying to shield students from possible dangers associated with the world-wide web, teachers should help students avoid these dangers by teaching them how to appropriately use the internet and networking sites. In doing this, they will help students learn how to get the most out of the new range of opportunities presented to them now. All over the world, some of these revolutionary changes to education are already being implemented with excellent results.
2. Near the end of his article, Will Richard says, "Anyone with a passion for something can connect to others with that same passion--and being to co-create and co-learn." I'm sharing this quote because I thought it was a PERFECT epitome for the entire reasoning behind why its so important for students to take advantage of the Collaboration Age. By writing and reading blogs, online articles, and other websites, students have the chance to meet new interesting people, get advice from professionals, and share their love for something with someone who feels the same way.
3. Something from the article that I found surprising was the fact that a student was expelled from his school on the ground of "cheating" when all he did was create a study group on Facebook for sharing notes. The article didn't really go too into depth with it so there may have been more to the story but it just struck me as interesting. I was also surprised by the number of schools that are already implementing new methods for education.
4. I was actually very intrigued by the ideas that Mr.Richardson had to share. I'd like to learn a little bit more about what would go into the process of changing texts and curriculum at schools to suit the Collaboration Age before forming a concrete opinion, but the arguments presented seemed very logical and convincing. If the statistics and ideas the article shares about connected learning are accurate though, I think it would be very beneficial for Montgomery Blair to consider going through some of the changes that other school all over the nation already have.
5. I'm really interested in psychology, all kinds. The human mind is really amazing.

Diigo Link: http://diigo.com/0sy3e

Movie Review Annotation Assignment

1. I annotated a movie review by Aanchal Johri titled, "The Dark Knight (Surp)rises)." The review was published by our school's newspaper "Silver Chips."
     This particular movie review was very structured and written in an easy-to-follow format. The author begins the review with a short but powerful introduction including his general opinions on the movie. The introduction is immediately followed by an overview of the movie's plot with some additional information on the two previous movies in the trilogy without giving away any important information. Next, the author gives a general introduction of his specific opinions on the actors followed by more specific examples. Lastly, the author reviews the cinematographic aspects of the movie and ends the review with a short conclusion in which he highly recommends the movie to anyone who has yet to see it. The overall tone of this review could be described as admiring and enthusiastic. Amid all the praise, however, the author fails to make any mention of the incredible lengthiness of the movie.

2. Our quarterly movie review assignment should allow CAP students a fair amount of freedom while still keeping some sort of structure. I think it should be something along the lines of we get a list of topics we need to touch on (e.g. the acting, the plot, etc) but then its up to us to decide how we want to format it. Also, the movie reviews shouldn't be too long; probably longer than a paragraph but shorter than a full out essay.

Hyperlink to my Diigo annotated page: http://diigo.com/0su88

First Blog Post

1. Hi, I'm Milena! I like kittens and sunshine. I also like clean laundry because it's warm and smells nice. Platypi are the best animals ever. They're the best because they sweat milk and have poisonous glands on the back of their legs but still manage to look really cute. Regarding film-making, I'm particularly interested in the recording part and the different cinematographic techniques that can be used. I'd rather be in front of the camera than behind it but filming is fun too. My favorite film project that I've worked on has to be my Info flow show opening sequence. This particular project took a lot of planning, editing, and overall creativity. I'm hoping to use this blog to discover more about film making and share my findings with the world.

2. We can use our blog to...

• display past projects in addition to new ones as we complete them.
• give our peers feedback on their projects for future refrence.
• share change project ideas and progress with our other group members.
• share any interesting information related to the class or film-making.

3. I chose this picture for my first blog post because I feel like the new school year is a time for everyone to open up to display the talent and creativity they have to share. This photograph is also just really colorful and inspiring so I thought I'd share.

image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurenceshan/108050432/