Let's just say you're sitting at home one day, letting your mind wander, when suddenly it occurs to you that you don't know what film noir is. So you google it. This is the first and only search result:
Pretty Noir, if I do say so myself.
Basically, we were put into groups and told to make a film based on an object picked completely at random. My group chose a pair of binoculars. As you can see, we did an excellent job of centering the story around the item. We were also allowed to pick one genre from a list, and we elected to make a movie in the style of film noir. We didn't really face any challenges, except maybe having to export two times because we forgot to end the music.
I learned a lot of things that will be applicable to CAP Hollywood, such as teamwork, leadership, communications, arts, critical analysis, and what have you.
Farewell for now.
Here's the video
Here's Jasper's blog
Friday, February 8, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
A Downtown Goof
Our most recent independent video assignment was supposed to be about life in Silver Spring. I decided to partner up with sam,
since this particular assignment was not very independent. When we
first began to film, we didn't really know what we wanted to do with the
assignment, just that we wanted it to be shot in Downtown Silver
Spring. Then, out of nowhere, this happened. Enjoy.
Shot with a Fujifilm s400, edited in Premiere Pro. The music we used was Chacarron Macaroon by El Mundo. The video can be found here, in case of embedding trouble.
Shot with a Fujifilm s400, edited in Premiere Pro. The music we used was Chacarron Macaroon by El Mundo. The video can be found here, in case of embedding trouble.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Hello Again
I listen to records (ironically, of course) because that's what all of the cool kids these days are doing. So you can imagine my excitement when my mom's friend let me take what I wanted from her old record collection.
The purpose of that shaky intro was to let you know that I have been listening to a lot of old school music lately, and I thought I would make a post sharing my favorites with you. This is the post.
1.
Chuck Berry (The Great 28)
Elvis was a lie. You want the real king of rock and roll, you need not look any further then Chuck Berry, one of the world's first rockers. He took blues and rhythm and turned them into an entirely new genre.
2.
Billy Ocean (Love Zone)
Billy Ocean is the undisputed king of R&B, at least in my book. His soulful vocals blend beautifully with the smooth, sometimes jazzy, sometimes experimental instrumentals.
3.
The Allman Brothers Band (Eat A Peach)
The Allman Brothers Band is a rock band with an emphasis on blues, a genre of which I am extremely fond. The long tracks will often consist of imrov that lasts several minutes and surprising complex solos based around a single chord. I must say, I am approve.
4.
Louis Armstrong (The Great Summit)
This is one of Louis Armstrong's latest albums, recorded in 1961 and released in 2001. But man, do I love Louis Armstrong. He and Duke Ellington have been favorites of mine since I started playing trumpet in 5th grade. I'm afraid if I try to get into the specifics of Armstrong and Ellington's styles I won't do them any justice, so I'll keep it at that.
The purpose of that shaky intro was to let you know that I have been listening to a lot of old school music lately, and I thought I would make a post sharing my favorites with you. This is the post.
1.
Chuck Berry (The Great 28)
Elvis was a lie. You want the real king of rock and roll, you need not look any further then Chuck Berry, one of the world's first rockers. He took blues and rhythm and turned them into an entirely new genre.
2.
Billy Ocean (Love Zone)
Billy Ocean is the undisputed king of R&B, at least in my book. His soulful vocals blend beautifully with the smooth, sometimes jazzy, sometimes experimental instrumentals.
3.
The Allman Brothers Band (Eat A Peach)
The Allman Brothers Band is a rock band with an emphasis on blues, a genre of which I am extremely fond. The long tracks will often consist of imrov that lasts several minutes and surprising complex solos based around a single chord. I must say, I am approve.
4.
Louis Armstrong (The Great Summit)
This is one of Louis Armstrong's latest albums, recorded in 1961 and released in 2001. But man, do I love Louis Armstrong. He and Duke Ellington have been favorites of mine since I started playing trumpet in 5th grade. I'm afraid if I try to get into the specifics of Armstrong and Ellington's styles I won't do them any justice, so I'll keep it at that.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
2 Pac - Final 24 Film Review
For my documentary film analysis, I watched 2 Pac - Final 24. The film, which is one in a series of several dealing with celebrity deaths, documents Tupac Shakur's life and how it related to and ultimately culminated in his untimely demise.
2 Pac - Final 24 is split into two alternating sections, one dealing with the last 24 hours of Tupac's life and one telling the story of his rise to fame. A mixture of interviews and narration are used to guide the story. The parts dealing with Tupac's final hours use primarily narration accompanied by dramatic re-enactments, while the story of his life is told through A-roll of interviews and archival footage of Tupac performing and being interviewed.
The movie, while primarily about Tupac's life and death, also incorporates some of the people who played a large role in one or both, such as his mother, rival rapper Biggie Smalls, and the CEO of Death Row Records. It is told primarily from a third person point of view, but incorporates first-person when the subject of an interview describes a part of the story.
It also has a dark, mysterious mood to it and follows the format of an action/spy movie. It incorporates cinematic aspects characteristic of spy movies such as a split screen with a timer shown to depict what is happening at a certain time before the tragedy occurs. The lighting is very moody during the interviews, and the dramatic re-enactments all take place at night, which give the film a dark feel. The music used consists primarily of hip-hop beats.
The dramatic re-enactments use actors to portray the people who were actually present during the events described in the documentary. Using pictures and actual footage from said events as a reference point, the filmmakers recreate the scenes as closely as possible using sets, and costumes.
Overall, 2 Pac - Final 24 is a very well-made film and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in hip-hop history. It is also very engaging, more so than most documentaries, because of the murder mystery format. The only thing I didn't like about the film was that all of the people interviewed were close to Tupac, resulting in a slightly biased image of the rapper.
The movie:
2 Pac - Final 24 is split into two alternating sections, one dealing with the last 24 hours of Tupac's life and one telling the story of his rise to fame. A mixture of interviews and narration are used to guide the story. The parts dealing with Tupac's final hours use primarily narration accompanied by dramatic re-enactments, while the story of his life is told through A-roll of interviews and archival footage of Tupac performing and being interviewed.
The movie, while primarily about Tupac's life and death, also incorporates some of the people who played a large role in one or both, such as his mother, rival rapper Biggie Smalls, and the CEO of Death Row Records. It is told primarily from a third person point of view, but incorporates first-person when the subject of an interview describes a part of the story.
It also has a dark, mysterious mood to it and follows the format of an action/spy movie. It incorporates cinematic aspects characteristic of spy movies such as a split screen with a timer shown to depict what is happening at a certain time before the tragedy occurs. The lighting is very moody during the interviews, and the dramatic re-enactments all take place at night, which give the film a dark feel. The music used consists primarily of hip-hop beats.
The dramatic re-enactments use actors to portray the people who were actually present during the events described in the documentary. Using pictures and actual footage from said events as a reference point, the filmmakers recreate the scenes as closely as possible using sets, and costumes.
Overall, 2 Pac - Final 24 is a very well-made film and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in hip-hop history. It is also very engaging, more so than most documentaries, because of the murder mystery format. The only thing I didn't like about the film was that all of the people interviewed were close to Tupac, resulting in a slightly biased image of the rapper.
The movie:
Monday, December 10, 2012
Don't Take This the Wrong Way...
Since we've been given a lot of freedom with these blogs and are told to write whatever is on our minds, I'm going to do just that. And what's on my mind right now is plagiarism. I recently got in trouble because a paper that I wrote comparing two poems was too similar to that of another student (who will remain anonymous). I'm not denying that they were similar, but I have a few things to say.
The student in question was absent the day that we were assigned this paper, which I'm sure is a common excuse for plagiarism. However, in class the day that we were assigned this paper, we went over the rubric, which was to compare the literary elements used to develop tone, and our teacher essentially told us which literary elements were present and what tone they helped to establish. Needless to say, the only step we as students needed to take from there was to add more words to what she had told us. Therefore, it was inevitable that the majority, if not all, of the papers be overwhelmingly similar, considering we were essentially told what to write in class.
The student who got in trouble alongside me was not in class and therefore was not spoon-fed the answers. So to help him, I let him read my completed essay as an example, knowing that they would all be, in essence, the same paper. However, and not to put the blame on him, but he did not know exactly which ideas were mine and which ones were given to us in class. The result was too papers that were a little bit more similar than the rest.
I'm not saying that I wasn't in the wrong and that anyone in particular is at fault, nor am I trying to gain anything by saying this. But if the purpose of plagiarism is to prevent us as students from stealing each others ideas, then when the ideas were not really mine or anyone else's to begin with, but rather the ideas and knowledge forced upon us by the county curriculum. I could understand if it was math or another subject where the prevention of plagiarism is actually ensuring that students retain the material, but what is there to retain in an instance like this? The point of comparative essays is to better our critical thinking and analysis skills, which can't be done if we are given someone else's analysis.
The student in question was absent the day that we were assigned this paper, which I'm sure is a common excuse for plagiarism. However, in class the day that we were assigned this paper, we went over the rubric, which was to compare the literary elements used to develop tone, and our teacher essentially told us which literary elements were present and what tone they helped to establish. Needless to say, the only step we as students needed to take from there was to add more words to what she had told us. Therefore, it was inevitable that the majority, if not all, of the papers be overwhelmingly similar, considering we were essentially told what to write in class.
The student who got in trouble alongside me was not in class and therefore was not spoon-fed the answers. So to help him, I let him read my completed essay as an example, knowing that they would all be, in essence, the same paper. However, and not to put the blame on him, but he did not know exactly which ideas were mine and which ones were given to us in class. The result was too papers that were a little bit more similar than the rest.
I'm not saying that I wasn't in the wrong and that anyone in particular is at fault, nor am I trying to gain anything by saying this. But if the purpose of plagiarism is to prevent us as students from stealing each others ideas, then when the ideas were not really mine or anyone else's to begin with, but rather the ideas and knowledge forced upon us by the county curriculum. I could understand if it was math or another subject where the prevention of plagiarism is actually ensuring that students retain the material, but what is there to retain in an instance like this? The point of comparative essays is to better our critical thinking and analysis skills, which can't be done if we are given someone else's analysis.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Incoming Documentary
Now that the dystopia trailers are done, the next major group film project that we have been assigned is a 3 to 5 minute documentary. This past Friday, our homework assignment was to describe an idea that we've had regarding the documentary's topic. I really liked the topic that my group came up with, so I decided to share it with you.
Blair is known for it's arts program. And I don't just mean the CAP. Blair has a great film program, an award-winning newspaper, an outstanding theater program, and, of course, a great music program. My group wanted to do something about the arts scene at Blair, so we decided to focus on the thing that we were the most interested in: music. Originally we planned on focusing mainly on the hip hop scene, but we decided that there was enough variety amongst the artists at Blair to make a documentary about the music community as a whole.
I am looking forward to making this film. It will be interesting to interview and tell the stories of all the bands at Blair, such as Ladle Fight, as well as the solo artists, like Brian Griffin. Hopefully we will be able to cover most of the artists at Blair, but I have a feeling that since the time limit has to be taken into account, we will end up focusing on a few artists in particular.
Here's an example of what I want it to be like:
Blair is known for it's arts program. And I don't just mean the CAP. Blair has a great film program, an award-winning newspaper, an outstanding theater program, and, of course, a great music program. My group wanted to do something about the arts scene at Blair, so we decided to focus on the thing that we were the most interested in: music. Originally we planned on focusing mainly on the hip hop scene, but we decided that there was enough variety amongst the artists at Blair to make a documentary about the music community as a whole.
I am looking forward to making this film. It will be interesting to interview and tell the stories of all the bands at Blair, such as Ladle Fight, as well as the solo artists, like Brian Griffin. Hopefully we will be able to cover most of the artists at Blair, but I have a feeling that since the time limit has to be taken into account, we will end up focusing on a few artists in particular.
Here's an example of what I want it to be like:
Sunday, November 18, 2012
HP dv6-7010us Review
In my last post, I briefly mentioned that I would be getting a new computer "soon." At the time I wrote that post I had already ordered the computer, and it arrived a few days ago. I feel that I now have enough information about it to make a review, so lets get started.
The process of choosing a computer to get was difficult. I had been wanting one for a while, but it wasn't until my 4-year-old laptop's battery warped and the track pad stopped working that I decided I was in need of something more modern. So I began to do some research. Since I was on a pretty tight budget, I had originally wanted to build my own computer. However, by the time I had assembled a fairly decent parts list, I discovered that for the same price that my build was going to run me, I could get a laptop with even better specs.
The first laptop I looked at was the Dell Inspiron. There are many different models of the Inspiron, but there were two in particular that I liked: The 15R, of which one model was 550 dollars and had 500GB storage, 4GB RAM, and an Intel i3 processor. The other one was also a 15R, but it was 800 dollars and had 1TB storage, 8GB RAM, and an i7 processor.
I was just about to buy the 550 dollar model when I discovered that HP, a brand which, due it's mixed reputation, I had not considered, made a computer for the same price as the 15R, but with better specs. The computer, which was a dv6-7010us, had 750GB of storage, 6GB of RAM, and an AMD A8-4500M CPU. While this may seem like the obvious choice, it took me a while to settle on whether the dv6 or the 15R would be a better buy.
The main thing about the dv6 that I was concerned about was the processor. While the A8-4500M is roughly equivalent in performance to an Intel i5 processor, I had had little to no prior experience with AMD processors and had heard mixed reviews of them. However, I eventually decided that it would be worth it to get the dv6, because the A8 CPU, regardless of whether or not it performed as well as the i5, was still better than the i3, which was the processor that the 15R came with.
And there you have it. I am very pleased with my dv6-7010us. I have also been monitoring my CPU usage, and taking that into account, it looks to me like AMD is just as good as Intel.
Until next time.
The process of choosing a computer to get was difficult. I had been wanting one for a while, but it wasn't until my 4-year-old laptop's battery warped and the track pad stopped working that I decided I was in need of something more modern. So I began to do some research. Since I was on a pretty tight budget, I had originally wanted to build my own computer. However, by the time I had assembled a fairly decent parts list, I discovered that for the same price that my build was going to run me, I could get a laptop with even better specs.
The first laptop I looked at was the Dell Inspiron. There are many different models of the Inspiron, but there were two in particular that I liked: The 15R, of which one model was 550 dollars and had 500GB storage, 4GB RAM, and an Intel i3 processor. The other one was also a 15R, but it was 800 dollars and had 1TB storage, 8GB RAM, and an i7 processor.
I was just about to buy the 550 dollar model when I discovered that HP, a brand which, due it's mixed reputation, I had not considered, made a computer for the same price as the 15R, but with better specs. The computer, which was a dv6-7010us, had 750GB of storage, 6GB of RAM, and an AMD A8-4500M CPU. While this may seem like the obvious choice, it took me a while to settle on whether the dv6 or the 15R would be a better buy.
The main thing about the dv6 that I was concerned about was the processor. While the A8-4500M is roughly equivalent in performance to an Intel i5 processor, I had had little to no prior experience with AMD processors and had heard mixed reviews of them. However, I eventually decided that it would be worth it to get the dv6, because the A8 CPU, regardless of whether or not it performed as well as the i5, was still better than the i3, which was the processor that the 15R came with.
And there you have it. I am very pleased with my dv6-7010us. I have also been monitoring my CPU usage, and taking that into account, it looks to me like AMD is just as good as Intel.
Until next time.
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