Nov 24th & 25th Entry #10

For this week's entry, please do some research on film terminology and techniques that you might use during your script writing. Create a 'cheat sheet' for yourself to reference during your groups writing. You should have at least 10 terms or techniques.

Animation - The process of photographing drawings or objects of a frame one at a time; by changing a drawing or moving an object a little before each frame is taken

Boom - A long mobile beam or pole used to hold a microphone or camera.

Clip - A brief segment excerpted from a film.

Dubbing - The process of matching voice with the lip movements of an actor on the screen; dubbing also refers to any aspect of adding or combining sounds to create a film's final soundtrack.

Iris - A technique used to show an image in only one small round area of the screen. An Iris-Out begins as a pinpoint and then moves outward to reveal the full scene, while an Iris-In moves inward from all sides to leave only a small image on the screen. An iris can be either a transitional device (using the image held as a point of transition) or a way of focusing attention on a specific part of a scene without reducing the scene in size.

Jump Cut - An instantaneous cut from one action to another, at first seemingly unrelated, action. Jump cuts will usually call attention to themselves because of the abrupt change in time and/or place.

Long Lens - Any lens with a focal length greater than normal; a normal focal length approximates the size relationships seen by the human eye, while a long focal length creates a narrower angle of vision, causing a larger image. A long lens alters perspective by flattening a subject into its background. 

Mask - A device placed in front of a lens to reduce the horizontal or vertical size of the frame or to create a particular shape (for example, periscope eyepiece, binoculars, or gun-sight).

Matte Shot - A process for combining two separate shots on one print, resulting in a picture that looks as if it had been photographed all at once. For example, a shot of a man walking might be combined with a shot of a card table in such a way that the man appears to be six inches high and walking on a normal size card table.

MOS - Any segment of film taken without sound. 

Moviola - A special projection machine (used by film editors) that holds several reels of film simultaneously and can run at variable speeds, backward or forward, and stop at any frame.

For the Audience:

-create the play as if it were for the audience

-make your film so that the audience understands what is going on

-another thing is that you should have fun while creating the film and also making it so that the audience is not bored out of their mind while watching it!

November 17th & 18th Entry #9

You have now learned what personal and critical responses to images entail. Now, using your ability to be discerning, find an image online that you believe would be worthwhile to respond to. Put a link to the image on your blog (NOT THE IMAGE ITSELF) and then write a

personal or critical response to the image of at least 400 words.




Imagine what it would be like with only one special person in your life. That one person always being there for you in your toughest times and always lending a shoulder to you when you need it most. Who would hold your hand when you were scared of would cuddle you when you were lonely. Not many people have experienced this life, but I know what this feels like.



I have this one extremely special person in my life that has always been there for me when I have needed him most. This person would be my Opa. Whenever I was feeling down my Opa would always bring me up with kind words saying that everything was going to be okay. He tells me that all I have to do is follow my stars and life will go on.



I have always pictured may stars being a blue in colour and a light yellow on the outside. I'm not sure why I have always seen them this way, but I guess it is because blue and yellow are encouraging colours to me.



This picture of these people holding hands remind me of my Opa and me this one time. We were holding hands and he was telling me that eerything was going to be okay with the life that I had ahead of me. He was saying that if ever I was alone when he was gone, all I had to do was look for a patch of sunlight and look for my shadow. Opa said that may shadow would always be with me because he was my shadow looking over me.



I am fortunate enough to still my special person in my life, but I know that evenutally lose him. When that time comes, it will ripe the remaining of my heart out, but I know that if I just look for my shadow, my Opa will be here for me!

That is what this picutre means to mean!

Oct 27th & 28th Entry #8

Shakespeare makes many references to mythological figures in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  He makes references to characters that would have been familiar to many of the audience members, but are unfamiliar to us.  Many of the characters he mentions come from Celtic folklore that many of the uneducated audience members watching from the pit would have heard in the form of folktales.  For the educated audience, references to classical Roman and Greek mythology are abundant and would be familiar to those people who had the privilege of attending school.

Your task is to access the online text of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by following the link provided on plone.  Begin reading the text by choosing an Act, and click on an interesting reference to a mythological character you would like to learn more about.  Once you have click on a character, you will be taken to a list of mythological characters found in the play.  Locate the character you would like to learn about and click on the name to learn more.  

For your blog assignment, you must choose 4 mythological characters that are referenced in the play and for each one provide some information regarding the meaning of the reference and the significance and history of the character.  You must write 50-100 words on each character you choose, so you may have to do some additional research. 

Puck: He is a supernatural being the the play. An amoral spirit that played mean tricks on people. He is a representative of the Trickster. Puck is someone that causes lots of conflicts and makes lots of mischief in the area. In the play Midnight's Summer Dream, Puck is Oberon's slave. He pretty much does everything that Oberon tells him to do.

Hermia: She is a young beautiful woman, with short brown hair. She is in love with a man named Lysander, but is being forced to marry a man name Demetrius. If she doesn't marry Demetrius then she will be doomed to become a nun for the rest of her life.

Cupid: Is the God of Love. He has wings of gold that make him able to fly like a bird. He carries a basket of arrows that he shoots at people to make them fall in love. 

October 20th & 21st Blog Entry #7

William Shakespeare’s influence on the English language is tremendous.  It is estimated that he is responsible for coining hundreds of new words and phrases that have survived the test of time and remain a part of our speech today.  Although it can not be said with absolute certainty whether or not Shakespeare invented these words and phrases himself, there is a long list of words that appear for the first time in his plays.  You might be surprised to discover that some of the phrases and words that you hear everyday were first written 400 years ago by William Shakespeare.
    

Your task is to research words and phrases that Shakespeare has been attributed with inventing.  Choose 10 words or phrases that were introduced by Shakespeare that you use or have heard used.  Give a definition of each word or phrase and tell me which of Shakespeare’s plays each one of your selections comes from.

1. Hobnob: to associate on very friendly terms (twelfth night)

2. Lackluster:  lacking liveliness, vitality, spirit, or enthusiasm (As you like it)

3. Besmirch:to detract from the honor or luster of (Hamlet)

4. Radiance:warm, cheerful brightness (All's Well That Ends Well)

5. Gossip:light, familiar talk or writing.

6. Ode:(originally) a poem intended to be sung.to look at, check, or observe closely (Love's Labour Lost)

7. Eyeball:to look at, check, or observe closely 

8. Academe: the public grove in Athens in which Plato taught.

9. Mimic: to copy what one is doing

10. Swagger: to boast or brag noisily

Blog #6

Oct 14th Blog Entry #6

Your assignment for today’s blog entry is to explore London’s Globe Theatre. Take the virtual tours and allow yourself to imagine the theatre experience during Shakespeare’s time. Write a short blog entry (minimum of 250 words), describing your impression of the theatre. Do you think you would enjoy seeing a play at the Globe? Where would you like to sit? Why? What is the most interesting thing you have learned about the Globe?

I think that the Globe is really interesting. I think that it would be cold in the winter, but in the summer I think that it would be a wonderful experience to have had. I would definitely want to go and see a play at the Globe because it looks really unique and old fashioned. I have never been to a Shakespeare play or production before and I think that it would be a really fun experience for me. I might get some what confused at first because I don't really understand all their dialogue that well. If I looked into it and studied Shakespeare I"m sure that I would catch on quickly and start to understand what was being said. 

I would want to sit in the middle gallery because in my opinion that is the best seat in the "house". You are looking down on the grounds of where the play was. If you were sitting on the ground floor, you would get a good seat because you would be really close to the cast, but it wouldn't be the greatest. If you were on the upper part of the Globe, you would have to look down and that would be extremely uncomfortable I think, anyways.

The thing that I find very interesting about the Globe is that in three activities there was over 750,000 people per annum. The Globe Theatre was completed in June 1997. To this day the cost of the Globe is approximately 30 million euros. It is estimated that about 20 million in euros is needed to complete the the last couple of projects started. I find that very interesting. And I would love to learn more about how it was build and how big it is also!

Blog Entry #5

Oct 6th & 7th

Reflect on your experience with the novel October Sky How effective do you think the activities and schedule were for this unit? How does it compare with other novel studies you have done? Do you think you gained more from this type of study? Why or why not?

My experience with the novel October Sky was overall pretty successful. I think that the activities were pretty cool for the novel but I think that they could be a little more interesting. Just writing blogs on each chapter was kind of boring actually. The scheduling was good for the timing. There was enough time given for each one and them overall. This novel study is different compared to the other novel studies that I have done in previous years. I would have liked this novel study more if the assignments were a little more interesting. I think that I might have gained more from this type of study but not as much as I would have liked. If we had done the assignments a little more differently, I think that I would have been able to gain a lot more than I did. 

The novel October Sky was interesting which made me actually read the book, but the assignments didn't appeal to me all that much. At the beginning, I was really into the blog assignments but then I got bored of them so I stopped doing them for awhile. It made me get behind on schedule, which made the last couple of blogs, not as good as the first ones that I did.

Overall though I enjoyed the novel, but think that the assignments could be a little more exiting!

September 29 &30- Friendship

Sept 29th & 30th
What is important about friendship? Discuss how important friendship is in terms of the novel and your own life.





Friendship is important in all sort of ways! Friendship is like a part of you because your true friends can make you feel anything. If you are sad, they are able to cheer you up. If you are happy and one of them are in a bad mood, they can make you in a bad mood too. Friendship is very helpful too. If you and your friends want to achieve a dream or goal, you can form a group and try to achieve it. With all of your smartness and friendship, you will be able to achieve it, or at least get very far towards it.





In October Sky, friendship is key also. There is a group of friends that decide to get together and put all of their brains together to build their dream. Rocket building! When one of them is going through a rough patch, they all seem to crash, but when one of them pulls things back together they all bring it back. Witha all of their brains put together, they are almost done achieving their dream! They have come along way because they have helped each other through the whole thing.



Friendship doesn't just have to be with you and kids your age, it can be with older people or even your parents. When you have a close relationship with people older than you or your parents, it can make a difference and can even be better than a relationship with kids your own age. In the novel October Sky, Sonny and his mother have a really close relationship and that has helped Sonny and his friends with their dream building too. It has helped alot because she would always stand up for the boys whenever they were being put down by the people in the town of Coalwood. I think that Sonny has a closer relationship with his mother than he does with any of his friends. That is the best friendship that there can ever be!

Sept 23, 2008

Do some research on photo essays on the internet. Once you understand the concept of a photo essay, write a brief description of what it is in your blog. Follow this by a short photo essay of at least 5 photos related to a theme from October Sky. For each image you find on the internet, you must include the following information:

1. the complete URL for where you found the photo
2. the name or title of the site you found it on.

A picture essay is a story that uses pictures to explain things. There is normally some sort of text below the pictures to desrcibe a bit more of what is trying to be told.

ncowie.wordpress.com

This are the main characters of the book. They are building a rocket.

http://www.homerhickam.com/

This is Sonny and Mrs. Hickam. She wanted Sonny to pursue in building a rocket. She beleived that Sonny could do it!

http://www.homerhickam.com/images/about/rb/qu...

Askjeeves.com

When Sonny decides to listen to his mother in building a rocket, he asks Quentin to help him. Quentin is the smartest kid in the school.

http://wzus.ask.com/r?t=a&d=us&s=a&c=p&ti=1&ai=30752&l=dir&o=0&sv=0a30052a&ip=408d5ff2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coalwoodwestvirginia.com%2F2006CFM4347.JPG

Sonny's father decides to help out the BCMA with their rocket building so he gets them a place to build them; Cape Coalwood.

Their they pursue their dreams!

Letter of Achievement

To: Mr. Keenan

I have now successfully completed my English 10-1 class. It went by extremely quick, but I was able to follow along with the information given to me. Whenever i got stumpted or confused, I just used my past experiences and idea's to get me back on track.

I think that Mr. Keenan is a very good teacher for me. I think this because whenever I didn't understand something, he would try to explain it to me at a level that I would be able to understand it. Every friday we would have a free reading period. Mr. Keenan did these reading periods to help us improve on our grammar and reading comprehension. Also, to help my class with comprehension, we watched the movie Jaws. We also read the the books called October Sky and A Midsummer Nights Dream.

We also did a few large projects, which I thought was a good idea instead of doing multiple small ones. We did some group projects and some individual projects. Working in groups for projects was very convienent because we got to learn how to work together. Working individually was aslo good because you can work at your own pase without your group getting mad at you for working to slow.

We also created a blog asn our English class. It was very confusing at first because I have never done something like it before. It was very convienent because it was alot easier to do assignments on the computer, but it had some problems. I cannot access it at my house so it was difficult to do my assignments, but we eventually figured something out in the end.

Overall, I think that my English 10-1 class was good and successful. Thank you Mr. Keenan for being one of the best english teachers that I have had yet!

From,

Jess Elkin