Thursday, June 17, 2010

Self Evaluation

In this documentary, I worked as the producer, I filled out the daily logs everyday and kept our team on track to getting what we wanted done. I helped with the interviewing and filming alongside of the other members when extra help was needed. I also took part in the editing process by putting in my two cents of when and how shots should be used. Along with the written work I also created the movie poster for this documentary.

The part I did best was keeping our group on task and on time. I kept a list of the shots we wanted to get in order to make this film a success. I also learned the different ways to edit and how the editting process works. I was able to add and remove shots when necessary, how to change volumes on clips and so on, which is significant to me because I never knew how to do that confidently before this film.

If i had to change something for next time, I would reduce the length of shots and excess talking that was in our overall film. I would want to be shorter and more to the point so that audiences stay engaged in the film and not get distracted. To get to this I would be more clear on what actual questions I want to put in the documentary before doing the interviews.

I would want you to notice all the hard work I put into all the written aspect of this project, by keeping a daily log I knew exactly what gone and when and what order the shots would be in when it came to the editting process which saved us alot of time. Also along with the written work, I would like you to realize that even though I was a producer I really stepped up and helped out with all the other aspects when it came to making this film what it was. I want you to know how much I learned from this project and how much fun I had making this film and everything I learned about the Yorkmills music program.

The Sounds of York Mills

1~ the film is told from the point of view of a student in York Mills who is exploring the different bands at our school. The students are showing the different musical taleents and different stlyes of music found in York Mills played by both teacher and students.

2~ In this film the most effectively used documentary techniques would have to be interactive because we got involved by interviewing the different bands. And also observational because at some points we just filmed the bands jamming out and just being themselves. We were just watching as a third party not getting involved.

3~ The style of the film was to show who the bands were and the talents that they held. We did this by having interviews with the bands and some members individually and then filming the bands playing together. This serves the content because it exposes who the bands are to the viewers and then goes into detail about who the bands are and their inspiration(s).

4~ my favorite character in the film is Brian Davis. When we sat down and talked to him individually he gave us a very good insight into music in his life and music in his band. Brian was very natural infront of the camera and didn't try and put on a show he just told us what we wanted to know and gave us good answers. If I had to cast one perosn for this part I would cast no one but Brian Davis himself because noone else would be able to show the passion and love you can see in his face when he is playing or even talking about his music.

Monday, June 14, 2010

3D Mapping Technologies

3D Mapping is a new advertising technology that has been made recently. I personally think that it is a very cool and futuristic idea to project the advertisements like this, but as with everything there are pros and cons to it.

PROS:
- it easily draws attention to the advertisement
- a way for advertisement to keep up with movies, that are all becoming 3D
- makes the audience feel as if they are a part of the advertisement and makes them want to stay to see what this is and what is going to happen next


CONS:
- people might be fooled that it is real, and in this situation if they saw the building starting to crack they might call the police for help
- to see the advertisement the proper way you must be looking at it from a certain direction or else it will not work properly.
- The weather conditions and time of day must be perfect, you would not be able to project something like this if it is light out because you wouldn't see the projections very well and same with if it was raining

"Canadian-ness"

What is Canadian-ness, is the way we act and interact with each otehr and other people around the world. Being Canadian in this day in age is being multiculturtal. Accepting anyone not paying attention to their race or religion. In class we had a discussions about what we thoguht Canadian-ness was and someone said we are nice, Candians are known for being very nice to everyone, but after our discussion and thinking about the people I've met in different places around the world I came to the conclusion that Canadians are no more if at all more freindly than other countries. We are just more accomodating.
Canadian-ness is what the rest of the world knows us for, the things that they think we do. It has been thought we live in igloo's, but no that is not what makes us Canadian. Canadians are very similar to American's because the two countries are attached and rely so much on each other.
Canadians use the heroes to shape who they are nationally and internationally differently. There are many heroes and famous people that are known in Canada as Canadians but no where else in the world. One of the most famous icons we talked about is Laura Secord she was a Canadian and did great things for us. A chocolate store was named after her and is well known all over Canada but not in the US or elsewhere in the world. Thus it is not showcased to others what she did unless they take a course on Canadian History. An internationally known icon is Celine Dion, her music went worldwide and is one of the first to show the world that talent can come out of Canada aswell as the US.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Reel Canada Film Festival

In the morning I saw 'How She Move' and in the afternoon I saw 'Nurse. Fighter. Boy'
These are two Canadian movies, I know that they are Canadian because they both take place in places around Canada. There were a few of scenes and sets in the afternoon movie that i recognized a park or the area.

Most other Canadian movies i have seen, you can tell that they are Canadian because of the language. The way it's spoken and pronounced and the accents that the characters or people have are clearly Canadian, but both of the films I saw weren't like this. The characters either had another accent (Nurse. Fighter. Boy the women had some sort of African accent) or they were talking in alot of slang and thus the Canadian accent didn't show through as well as other movies.

In the mornign movie there was an actor that I recognized that I know for a fact is Canadian. The actor was Shawn Desman, although he has been in US movies and music was released in the States, he is truly Canadian and living here currently. Shawn now owns a dance studio in the Toronto Area which he teaches at and runs.

One last way it was easily noticeable that the movies were Canadian and not American was that it was easily visible that their budget was low because the quality of the movie wasn't the best. The cinematography in both the films, I found to be very shaky almost is if it were a home video. American movies have a much higher budget and thus the quality is much better. They can spend more on effects and such. Canadian movies have to be very resourceful and creative with their ways.

Pros and Cons of Reality TV

Reality TV consists of many shows ranging from The Swan to American Idol.
There are many Pros of these shows for example with Identity change situations like The Swan, 10 Years Younger and What not to Wear the people are found with new looks and thus they are happy and confident with themselves, with their bodies and styles. In these situations there are also some Cons including the fact that the person and their personal style is taken away. They portrey certain hidden messages including;
- You need to look a certain way to fit in and be happy
- If you're not comfortable with yourself come to us and we'll make you feel like you are
- Materialistic consumerism
Once these hidden messages are portreyed then stereotypes start building. Stereotypes including;
- You have to be be pretty or you won't be liked
- You have to fit a certain mold in our society
- You're not happy unless you're pretty
These hidden messages can be harmful to mostly women and especially young girls who are watching they will grow up thinking they ahve to be pretty and thin and look a certain way and that is how things such as eating disorders start to develop.

One major Con of a certain kind of reality TV is that poeple can benefit and be aided in shows like Extreme Makeover Home Edition, people who have had a tragic incident in their family or life get their house, that is falling apart or not big enough, rebuilt and remodeled. The Con of a show like this is the poeple always end up with these massive. gorgeous houses that they don't have the money to maintain.

Some general Cons of Reality TV are that people get a false sense of who they are and what they can do. And they get a false sense of reality. Most people that part-take in reality television are attention seekers who wish to just be seen on TV and would follow along with anything that is said or done.

I think if I were to pursue a reality television show I would go with a talent show like American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance, because those don't have hidden messages that tell people they can't be happy the way they are, these shows simply showcase the talents that people have and let them be known for what they are good at.

In general I do not recommend reality television because there is no show that is completly 100% reality all of them have some pieces of script or the people who are being filmed are asked to do something differently to make the show more interesting. On shows like SYTYCD and American Idol votes can be screened and rigged and also the shows aren't actually live. The shows are filmed earlier in the day and then aired at airing time.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

12 bits of technology we would uninvent

In class we discussed a site found on the internet with the 12 recorded things that people would choose to uninvent if they could. Some of the major ones that I agreed with were;
- The car alarms; I think we can all admit that when we hear them we don't go running to see if someone is breaking into the car it is coming from (which is why they were originally made) we choose to ignore them, then get angry and annoyed when they continue unheard and unstopped. They are an invention that nobody pays attention to and would rather not have to listen to.
- Indestructible blister packs; I understand the reason that they were made which is so that the product can't be take out of it's package and stolen but these packs are pushing it to an extreme. They are impossible to open without some sort of sharp utensil. It gets tedious trying to open them and i would rather buy another company's product that didn't wrap their product in this packaging.

Then there is one major one on the list that I don't agree with:
- The automated checkout scanners, I personally like these because first of all there are several with shorter lines and thus you get through faster. Also I know when I make trip's to the grocery store it is usually before or during my dance nights I will walk over to the local Sobeys to buy some dinner and I will be listening to my Ipod. I'll find what I want, go up pay and not have to take it off where as if I went to a person doing check out I would have to be respectful and take off my Ipod. If I didn't I wouldn't be able to hear them. I'd rather keep my Ipod on listen to my music, then listen to some chashier try to make small talk and fake a smile at me.

If there was one thing I would choose to uninvent that is not on this list it would probably be the microwave although helpful to heat things up, they are completely unnecessary and just harms our bodies. Everything you do in a microwave you can do on the stove or in the oven or in a toaster or even a toaster oven. The only need for the microwave is to do this faster but in reality most foods just get soggy when microwaved (or so I find). Also factor in the fact that microwaves let out microwaves aka radiation which is known to cause cancer and is bad for our bodies. So why put our bodies at harm when we can do the same things a safer way and get the same outcome?