"Bowling for Columbine" Review

This is the cartoon from Bowling for Columbine that depicts the American history of fear.

For the documentary review assignment, I watched Bowling for Columbine, which I've seen sporadically throughout the years, but never the whole way through. I decided to watch it because it talks about the American gun culture, which is extremely relevant now after the Connecticut shooting. I want to give my condolences and prayers to the families of the victims and the community of Newtown before continuing on.

Bowling for Columbine opens with archival footage of various things, such as bowling and automatic guns. Michael Moore goes into a bank that also sells guns and gets an assault rifle, showing what little effort is necessary to obtain a gun. The first 30 minutes or so of the film talks about the lack of gun control in the country and the large gun culture that exists. Moore returns to his home town of Flint, Michigan to interview local militia about gun ownership. Moore continues his description of violent culture by using archival footage to show U.S. military actions in other countries, such as Vietnam and Chile.

Moore transfers to telling the story of Columbine by cutting to black and overlaying an audio track of calls to the police department during and after the shooting at the school. He then uses archival footage from the security cameras of the high school of the shooters and the chaos. Moore spends time talking about what happened and why it happened. Immediately after, he shows footage from the Gun Expo the NRA held in Denver just 10 days after the Columbine shooting. Simultaneously, he shows the protest held on the same day that included family members and friends of victims. This whole segment of the film introduces the problem that exists regarding gun culture and violence. 

Moore goes on to interview various people about the issue of gun control. He raises the question of why does America have such a high amount of gun use, even when other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent games as we do? Moore then describes the effects of the media in bringing attention to murders and crimes. Although the crime rates across the country have been decreasing, the media coverage of crime is doubling. Moore uses a brief cartoon (above) to show the American history of constant fear; fear of the Indians, the slaves, etc. Moore travels to Canada and finds that Canadians, although they have large gun ownership, are not as afraid of the world as Americans are. He interviews two Canadians whose homes were broken in to but they still do not lock their doors at night. Moore goes around Toronto testing home doors to see if they are locked and none of them are locked.

The recurring theme of the film is that fear is what leads America to be different than other countries whose cultures also include large amounts of violence. Moore does an exquisite job of explaining this idea while also making it entertaining. There are serious parts of the film, but then there are funny parts. This combination keeps the viewer hooked on while there is serious material being addressed.

I was not impressed with Fahrenheit 9/11, but I really enjoyed Bowling for Columbine. I would highly recommend it to anyone, but particularly those who think increasing gun control is the only solution to the large amounts of shootings. This film does an excellent job of causing the viewer to really think about American culture and reflect on what defines us as Americans.

Bowling for Columbine. 1 hr 59 minutes. Rated R for some violent images and language.

Documentary Idea

I had this idea for our documentary project when my group was talking about the cool things you can find and do in DC.

I thought we could do a documentary on the homeless people of D.C. There are so many homeless people I see on benches in parks, outside doors on the streets, and standing on the sides of the road. I'm sure many of them have extremely moving stories of how they got to be where they are. I'd also like to see their views on the future; if they have any plans or if they are just living day by day.

We could interview various people all around D.C. and maybe get some street walkers and see what they think. I would really like to have different perspectives on the issue of the homeless, I don't think the documentary would be complete with just interviewing the homeless. We could also find people who volunteer in soup kitchens or who lead community outreach programs to hear their perspectives. We could also find people who maybe thought the homeless deserved to be where they are. It would create a more dynamic documentary to have various ideas, even if they are controversial.

This topic could be easily turned into a StudentCam documentary project for the C-SPAN competition, if desired. We would just have to add footage from C-SPAN news or other programs. I would like that, but it would be a lot more work and if it our documentary didn't turn out the exact way I wanted, I wouldn't want to enter it. I'll just have to see where it goes and see what my group wants to do.

I've also played with the idea of doing a C-SPAN doc on education in this country, but I don't think I'd have enough time to do it justice.

Piano Dreams

This week, I decided to write about my long time desire to learn how to play the piano.

I think the piano is the most beautiful instrument ever. It's so amazing to watch one's fingers fly over the keys, creating such gorgeous music.

A few years ago, my family got a keyboard. For the first couple months I didn't use it. Then one day I was watching music videos on youtube and I found this guy David Sides who does piano covers on popular songs. I liked him a lot and thought it was so crazy, the way he recreated the songs.

After that day, I vowed to learn how to play the piano. I bought a learner's book for 3 bucks and taught myself the keys. I learned how to play a couple songs like Fur Elise and Boston by Augustana. I never knew how to read music in treble clef. I played the viola for 5 years and that has it's own clef. I never bothered to learn to switch over, so everything I learned, I learned by ear which probably isn't the best way to learn.

But when I got to high school, my dream to learn to play the piano was pushed aside. There was so much else to focus on with sports and school. I cut corners when I tried to learn, which probably contributed to the fading of my dream.

I wish I hadn't stopped, but I can't spend my whole life looking back and wishing I had continued to learn. I think I'm going to take some time to re-teach myself. I really want to be able to play an instrument. I think music is the key into a totally new dimension, one that I want to be able to control.

Learning an instrument can really help you understand your learning style and teach you that to be good at something, you have to work. It's really beneficial to your mental health.

So, this is why I'm going to learn to play the piano again. My first goal is to be able to play Apologize, which is the first song I watched David Sides play. But ultimately, I want to be able to play Variations on the Canon in D that George Winston plays. I have the sheet music for that, so it will be a good way to learn to read. I know that song is really hard to play, but I will push myself to succeed!

Battle Born

This week I had no idea what to write my blog post about. So, I decided I would just pick a song from the latest Killers album and write about what it means to me.

I chose the song Battle Born, which is also the name of the album. What speaks to me the most out of the song is the chorus;

Up against the wall

There's something dying on the street

When the knock you down

You're gonna get back on your feet

(No you can't stop now)

When they break your heart

When they cause your soul to mourn

Remember what I said

Boy, you was Battle Born



 

It represents a struggle, or many struggles, and the need to recover from them. No matter what happens you have to pick yourself up and keep on going. There will be hard times, times when you feel like you just can't go on. But you have to, if you give up you're letting your troubles beat you, letting them win. The term "Battle Born" really encompasses the idea that we were born to fight and to struggle through life. That's probably why the last line, despite the bad grammar, is my favorite one.

 

Another verse that really speaks to me is the bridge;

 

You never know

You never learn

You never shine

If you never burn

 

What I really like about this part is that it shows that if you never get hurt or you never make mistakes, you can never reach your full potential of life. You have to make mistakes to learn from them and you have to learn in order to live. There will always be risks, but you have to take those risks to get anything out of life.

 

So, overall I think this song pretty much represents my whole motto for life. Move on from the bad, you have to have faith that there will be good on the other side. It's like Dory from Finding Nemo, "Just Keep Swimming".

 

Here's the lyrics video made by some random person.

 

Curriculum 2.0

I've decided to write my blog post this week about education in Montgomery County. What with the recent shooting of the Pakistani girl and the heated presidential debates, education seems to have become a higher priority in the eyes of the world.

The curriculum 2.0 system recently implemented in elementary schools in Montgomery County eliminates all advanced classes, claiming that by leaving the higher level kids in classes with the lower level kids will help the not-as-smart kids become smarter. There may be some truth in that, but the system holds the smarter kids back, causing them to move at a slower pace and learn at a lower level than they need and deserve.

Kids easily get bored, especially younger kids, so won't they be excrutiatingly bored staying in classes where the teachers have to teach to the lowest level? I went to a private school for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade. Everybody was in the same level of math and reading classes; I spent most of the classes staring into space. I know I am not extremely smart, but I do know that I can learn things relatively quickly. I had to switch into the public school system so that I could take more advanced classes.

By taking away advanced classes, we are holding are kids back, forcing them to adjust to the standards that we demand of them. This will teach the kids to never strive for higher goals and to never push their boundaries. This will teach them that mediocracy is acceptable and even encouraged. With attitudes like these, society will be stuck in a rut forever and advancements will not be made.

Injuries

This past week, I found out I tore my ACL. This requires surgery and an approximate recovery time of 6 months. This is probably the worst thing EVER. I've been playing sports for 11 years and not once have I gotten more than a scrape.

The thing with tearing your ACL is that it is relatively easy to fix. It is becoming an extremely common injury among athletes. The doctor that I'm going to is the lead orthopedic surgeon at Georgetown University. He says that he's had 2 women's soccer players tore their ACL this season and he performs over 300 grafts for ACLs a year.

One would think that there would be a way to prevent major injuries in sports. But, they're sort of unavoidable. Wearing a brace might help, but that just makes you reliant on the brace and you may soon find you can't play without it.

As the number of sports injuries grow, so must the knowledge of them. More and more doctors nowadays are specializing in "sports medicine". When you think about it, it makes sense to have sports medicine as it's own field because injuries caused by sports occur differently. Also, most people who suffer from injuries want to get back out and play as soon as possible. Sports medicine doctors can make that happen.

But a lot of times, athletes think they're ready to play when they really aren't completely healed. There are tons of cases where an athlete gets surgery and rushes the rehabilitation process, only to re-injure it. Now this injury is definitely preventable. Ya sure, the pros probably want to get out there immediately, but there's no need to be stupid about it. Is it worth risking your whole career for one more month of rehab??

I believe the medicinal field is extremely prepared to deal with sports injuries. The technology is state of the art. The knowledge is extensive. The doctors are competent.

What it comes down to is the inevitability of getting severly injured. There's really nothing we can do except take the proper measures to heal correctly. You can't help it. You owe it to yourself to get back out there and keep doing what you're doing.

Well, this is at least what I keep telling myself as I sit and wait for surgery.

Progress of Dystopian Movie Trailer

Scriptwriter
Our script process is going extremely well. Everybody in our group contributes their creative ideas to the script. Our trailer will feature governmental and technological control, shown through a news report and headphones used as props. We are showing that the main character, Jett, feels out of place in his world by showing part of his backstory at the beginning of the trailer. The trailer will mainly feature dialogue from the scenes. The only exceptions will be the news report at the beginning of the trailer that will give the premise and a small voiceover saying, "In the near future..." to establish that the dystopian world is not too far away.

There are 5 scenes in our trailer; the first one being the news report. After the news report, the next scene is of Jett and Alex. After Alex is killed, it will fade to black and show Jett walking through the streets where he sees the headphones and understands that the government is controlling the people. After that, Jett enters an apartment building where Alex left all his gear. A training montage is then played of Jett and Ellie. Following the montage, it shows the pair suiting up for an attack and entering the building.

Overall, our dystopian trailer is looking very promising. I'm excited to begin filming and can't wait to see the finished product!

5x5 Project

 

 

1. Scene of coach

2. Scene of kid under tree

3. Scene of juggling

4. Scene of kid kicking ball

5. Scene of players on field

 

I used the camera on my phone to film my brother's soccer game. I used WeVideo, the web-based video editor, to edit my video. I found it was easy to figure out and use. The one thing I didn't like was that I shot two of the clips in portrait view and I don't like the black bars on the sides. Overall, I liked how my video turned out. The scenes don't particularly fit together, but the over-arching theme makes it work.

 

I really enjoyed this video challenge because it forced me to open my eyes to what was going on around me. I also like the idea of putting short clips together to form one big thing as opposed to filming a large time alotment. What I think would be a lot of fun is to do something similar to this; take various clips but instead set them to music or some sort of audio not original to the recorded sounds. It could be sort of like a music video.



Dystopian Trailer Critique

Minority Report. Steven Spielberg. PG-13. 2002.

Captain John Anderton believes the system of "PreCrime", where criminals are caught before the crime takes place, is perfect, until he is targeted by the department for a crime he has no knowledge of his intention to commit.

 

This trailer uses action packed scenes and blue and gray colors to create a dramatic, eye-catching trailer. The trailer begins with the police crashing through a window. The focus then shifts to white text that appears, with a crashing sound effect to bring emphasis to each new phrase that appears. This text tells the premise of the story which is aided by brief scenes of John Anderton about to be arrested. Once all the text is finished, a quick montage of scenes and a crescendo of the background music creates a rush of adrenaline in the viewer. It ends with the badge of the PreCrime Department flying in from the foreground to become the "O" in the title Minority Report.

The use of metallic, dark colors creates a very futuristic look. The color scheme develops a certain chill through the viewer, which is greatly increased with the scenes chosen. Dialogue, as opposed to narration, is used to help define the characters and brings the viewer into the plot line.

Overall, the director did a spectacular job of creating drama and convincing the audience to watch Minority Report.

 

What really affected me was the text intertwined with scenes from the movie. That is a great way to give your audience background knowledge while showing them the great things in your movie. The color tones of the trailer also bring the setting to life and emphasize the dystopian lifestyle. Using text and darker colors is something I'd like to use to create a serious, professional dystopian movie trailer.

"World Without Walls" Reflection

I read the article "World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others" by Will Richardson for an assignment. This article talked about how new technology such as blogs and Skype can help people, students specifically, learn much more than they could in a normal classroom. It also describes the mass opportunities for connection and learning that can be found.

Something I found really interesting in this article is the idea that effective teachers are found, not given to students. Richardson says that he believes that her kids, "best, most memorable, and most effective teachers will be the ones the discover, not the ones they are given." He says that educators must first be considered the connectors, and content experts second. He claims it is, " no slight against the people in their face-to-face classrooms" but if I were a teacher, I would be offended. I definitely believe teachers have a great impact on their students. They can motivate and inspire their kids in a way that no technology could ever replicate.

My sister is an English teacher who teaches in inner city schools. Although it is a hard job, it is extremely rewarding for her because she changes the kids' lives. Many of them would not have ever considered going to college if not for her. A teacher forces the kids to learn when many of them don't want to. I'm sure that in some cases, if the teacher merely "connected" the students, the students would choose not to grasp that connection. The bond created between a teacher and a student is extremely important for the student's learning ability and motivation.

I'm not trying to completely put down electronic learning. In a ever-developing scientific world it is important for young people to have the skills to use technology to their advantage. For example, I think these blogs are a great way of connecting our class to the technological world. It is vital for people to be able to adapt to the changes and by using the technology to our advantage, we can do just that. But, I believe there is a limit. I don't think there will ever come a time where electronic learning could replace a live classroom.

This topic definitely interests me a lot. I've always toyed with the idea of becoming an educator, so I'd really like to learn more about the evolution of learning.


My Annotated Article

Diigo Movie Review

For my first time using Diigo, I annotated a New York Times Movie review by A.O. Scott on "Beasts of the Southern Wild". My review deeply analyzed the meaning and theme of the movie, but did not discuss the cinematic or dramatic aspects of the movie that much.

The review begins by describing the main character, Hushpuppy, as "an American original, a rambunctious blend of individualism and fellow feeling". I personally think the little girl makes the whole movie, her stick-it-to-'em attitude and her courage stands out above all else. The review describes Hushpuppy's confidence and certainty in herself, but also mentions the contrasting adult view, which consists of a little, vulnerable girl who lives in a poor area with a sick father. The review gives nothing away about how the movie ends and, in fact, doesn't discuss the plot all that much. Throughout the whole review, there are only a few mentions of the cinematic and dramatic aspects of the film. It mentions that Quvenzhané Wallis, the girl who plays Hushpuppy, is an "untrained sprite who holds the camera’s attention with a charismatic poise that might make grown-up movie stars weep in envy." The sole cinematic aspect mentioned is that the director, Benh Zeitlin shot the movie on 16-millimeter film instead of in a digital format and credits cinematographer Ben Richardson with finding the rugged, ragged beauty in nearly every shot. A. O. Scott dives deeply into the meaning of "Beasts of the Soutern Wild", writing that the young heroes of the film remind us of the metaphysical arrogance of childhood." Hushpuppy tells herself that in a thousand years scientists will know the story of her and her father and the Bathtub, the area where they live, because she is leaving behind charcoal drawings wherever she goes. What she thinks and what the world actually is are, "perceived, by an awakening mind, as opposites." Towards the end of the film, it begins to show that the self and the world must too be equal. Hushpuppy stands up to giant monsters and shows that she can be anything she sets her mind to. The review is written in a witty, yet casual way which really parallels how the movie is done; a silent, powerful meaning hidden in a simple plot line.


For our quarterly movie review assignment, I think it would be best to follow a basic structure. The reviews should discuss all three aspects of film. We could also find a way to come up with a creative aspect of it, like writing the review in the form of a news report or creating a commercial for the film, but still include the three aspects. Some reviews could just be in paragraph form, but I think giving students the option to do their own thing with it would make it a lot more fun. Overall, I'd prefer to write my own review instead of reading somebody else's.


Annotated Movie Review

First Post

Hi my name is Leah and I'm a 10th grade student. I like playing soccer and lacrosse. I want to go in one of those underwater shark tanks and get really close to the sharks. I also really want to go cliff diving like the werewolves do in the Twilight movies.

I haven't really done much in filmmaking, but last year we created news shows and produced and filmed them in the TV Studio. I liked that a lot, not being the actual talent, but more like the behind-the-scenes people. For our Interdisciplinary project last year I was an audio technician and a director and I really enjoyed that. But for the news project I was one of the anchors and had to read of the teleprompter and I did not enjoy that. I'm excited to take a class that focuses solely on filmmaking, as opposed to just having it be projects on the side.

These blogs are a great way to collaborate and share our ideas with other students on projects, both in this class and other classes. They can also be used to share work that we are proud of from our classes.


Image Source: Cliff Dive