Week of June 12

Last week the film festival seemed to be a success. People were cheering for all the films (especially the comedies).  I really enjoyed the energy and seeing people appreciate the films even if they weren't taking a class.  It was a really large audience and when my film came on my heart skipped a beat. I love it when my film is on the big screen and I hear a contrasting silence from all the previous laughter.  I know my film, so I wasn't really surprised to watch it.  My favorite film was the friendship PSA. It made me laugh and although it was super cheesy, it was actually really funny.  It was also really great being able to see the other film students and the work they produced. I think that one of the things that make it fun is that we recognize each other. I'm really excited for the evening film festival so that others can also indulge in our awesome films.

Week of June 5

This week Salvador and I shot, edited, and completed our documentary on Luis Angel. It was really tiring and I'm done for the week.  Except I'm not, I have a test tomorrow and my cousins are visiting from out of the city so I'm going to try and get them to help me shoot something for our biology film. (Which we completed the lyrics for) We just need to know what to shoot.

Week of May 29

We have started filming for our ethnic documentary.  We are ready to conduct an interview for our Luis Angel documentary.  The questions are ready and organized.  Today we're going to get some shots of Bell High School as establishing scenes.

Week of May 22

This week I've almost completed the lyrics for my ecology song. I'll be done with it for sure next week. I've been invited to create a film about the diversity of Bell High School students.  It will be a documentary and the longest part should be the interviews and editing. We are deciding what still shots to include of the actual school.

Week of May 15

I managed to finish 2 films.  I am looking forward to completing 2 more films. I attended a film festival this weekend because my film "Age of Consequences" was submitted. After looking at it on the big screen with an audience, I felt really confident about it.  I saw other films and I was able to learn from them. Now I see why we need to incorporate a clear message in all the films we make.  Not all the films were concise or too interesting, but there were definitely some great ones. It was nice to see the other ideas that students express through filmmaking.  Personally, I thought I would win because people gave us really great  feedback during the break.  I was proud to at least be able to participate because it means my film stood out among many others that were submitted.  I was impressed by the fact that Bell High School had the most films accepted despite the other schools and programs that held an artistic title.  I also enjoyed interacting with all kinds of students.

Week of May 1st

It's going to be a challenge, but we have to manage a film and finish it by next week or shortly after. I decided to make a PSA about the California drought and I want to include very visually stimulating images: quick and easy. I want to make it like the style of the TV show Dexter opening.  Mostly close-ups but I have yet to determine how to put it together to mean something powerful.

Week of April 24

We finally finished our first film on Friday.  I thought it would be amazing, but it fell through because of communication (I think).  I learned that its really hard to be efficient when you can't keep check of the production because everyone has a different period. Personally, I thought it turned out great; however, I felt that the work wasn't distributed evenly. If it's okay, I think next time I'll work with only one other person.  I don't want to talk about that film anymore, so moving on... I have an idea for our next documentary.
I want to interview the memory club instructor, Luis Angel because he's interesting and inspirational (at least to me he is). I believe that his experiences are relatable to us as high school students because he tells us that he didn't make the best out of his young adulthood, but now he aspires to do many things.  He is generous and wise.  I would like to bring out some of his experiences and turn it into a film for other students to watch.

I'm not sure about my third film. I thought it'd be easy to make a music video on a biological subject because my biology teacher is making that an important project after AP exams. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.  Another idea I had was to make a PSA because I would love to make a film that is short and concise, but I don't have a clear idea on the subject.  I thought about making one about being "pro-peace" rather than "anti-war" but to me that's a spiritual concept that probably wouldn't mean much to other people, so I won't even go into detail.

Week of April 17

Production Company: Velveteens
Group Members: Salvador Garcia (Period 3), Martha Alcaraz (Period 3), Cindy Molina (Period 2)
Type of Film: Documentary
Subject: Global Warming Future

We have not yet finished our film, but we are very close to finishing.  We have been working hard all week to make this work so it appeals to all of us and still gets the message through.  We are almost done working on the clips according to the more effective way we decided to rearrange the videos.  To be completely honest, I wasn't proud of my video last semester. I am confident that the film we're currently working on will definitely be one I can be proud of and will even want to flaunt. It's so nice seeing it finally come together.

Week of April 3rd

Production Company: Velveteens
Group Members: Salvador Garcia (Period 3), Martha Alcaraz (Period 3), Cindy Molina (Period 2)
Type of Film: Documentary
Subject: Global Warming Future

This week we did not manage to film because half of our group was not dedicated enough to be available. To be completely honest, we have had some trouble communicating because everyone disagrees with each other and they don't want to adjust their ideas to something we all like.  I decided I'm going to have become a monarch next week if I want to get anything done. However, we did not waste time in class. I was able to finish downloading about 30 clips from Youtube of natural disasters.  It took me a while because I tried to make sure all the clips were concise and high quality.  I am still importing the videos to the other computer, but we have already started cutting the films down and putting everything in order.  This has also been time consuming because the minutes for the videos add up to at least 2 or 3 hours. By next week we should be done filming and I am expecting to have a completed film by next Friday. 

Week of March 27

Production Company: Velveteens
Group Members: Salvador Garcia (Period 3), Martha Alcaraz (Period 3), Cindy Molina (Period 2)
Type of Film: Documentary
Subject: Global Warming Future

This week we finally came up with a solid idea for a film.  We decided to interview the young generation and ask them what they wanted to do in the future. After compiling these clips, we intend to compile clips of recent natural disaster news reports to illustrate that our bright little generation won't have a future at all if we don't seriously act against global warming.  We already got shots of about 10 children (along with the consent forms) and we want to expand our question to pre-teens and teens to have a more expansive, but still young age group. Today we will most likely go out and get more shots since next week most other schools will have spring break and we won't be able to question the children after school. We have already started downloading the news reports and next week we'll start to edit the clips.

What Music Mean to You

Music is a distraction to me; it helps me numb my thoughts for a while.  I don't like listening to music while I do something that requires thinking like homework, reading, or listening to someone else.  Music is like a treat at the beginning and end of the day. It might be weird, but I have to be in comfortable setting to enjoy my music, preferably sitting or laying down. I also don't like listening to music with other people because it feels weird since most of the time when I listen to music I prefer to be alone. I think music can make you feel any way.  Depending on what I listen to, it will make me feel different emotions. Usually I just daze out and focus more on the instruments, beats, and noises rather than the lyrics themselves.  I like to listen to music at night before I sleep and in the morning while I shower. To me music is kind of personal activity.

Problems + Struggles

I know for a fact that everyone goes through a strange time in high school that comes with hardships. The transition from teenager to adult can be harsh because we start to develop our own personal outlook on life. The problem with that is that our ideas can often clash with others including our parents, teachers, and other students. Sometimes its hard to stay true to yourself since we're still at an age in which we're vulnerable to contrasting opinions. There are plenty of classic problems students might experience such as being a first-generation college student; the parents might be more conservative and limit the student's potential.  In other cases groups of friends can divide because some might want to live in the now and others want to work for their future; those who are stuck in between might follow a side that is not necessarily beneficial. Young adults are young! It's not unnatural to want to be free and have fun all the time, but it is so crucial that a student understands how to balance these elements of life. Being responsible can discourage some students. All the influences can be for the better or worse, but in the end it's up to the student to decide what they'll do with their environment.

The Most Interesting Person in the World!

The most interesting person that I know personally has got to be my best friend's dad.  My best friend has told me many, many, many stories about tons of subjects and a lot of them include her dad. He basically grew up exploring the world on his own, so he has had the freedom to do lots of interesting things. Another thing is that he's pretty sociable and knows a lot of people which have added on to his knowledge. Both my best friend and her dad know a lot more about the world than I do and there's always more.  In the past few years, I've been able to join them in making more memories. One of the stories that comes to mind is one where my best friend was only a kid. She had a pet hamster and it crawled into a shoe. My best friend and her dad were launching the shoe back and forth, playing catch. It was all fun and games until the shoe landed against a wall and found the hamster dead. Her dad thought it was funny and he was laughing while my best friend cried. It's only funny because it was so long ago and I think it's really interesting to listen and look back at old memories.

My Anti-Drug

I would say that my anti-drug is being at my best friend's house.  We don't see each other often because she attends a different and farther high school.  She's taking the harder AP classes like chemistry and calculus so she's busy with homework most of the time.  The thing about being with her is that we're so close that her parents let me come by whenever I want (once I visited at 3am).  Her parents work most of the time and she's an only child, so it's just her, me, and her many pets. It feels like the world pauses when I'm with her.  I feel at ease because if only for a few hours (or days) it feels like nothing else matters. All we do is lay on her couch and watch television, eat snacks, listen to music, take very extended naps, and talk about anything that comes to mind. I don't know if that makes me sound lame and lazy, but it really helps me relieve some stress because at her home I don't have anyone scolding me or any pressures from the outside world. It's also nice to be with her because she's like a sister to me and it feels nice to be with "family"opposed the routines of living with no one other my mind.

An Inconvenient Truth

My first reaction after listening to Al Gore's collection of statistics and data on global warming was one of utter shock.  I could not believe, after 10 years of the film's existence, that I had never watched or even heard of these facts.  Of course I was aware that global warming was a problem, but it didn't matter to me when I was younger because I couldn't see the large-scale effects of this catastrophe.  I never imagined that, I, so minuscule, could do anything about it anyway. I was impacted by the immense importance of truly understanding this ongoing event.  I wondered why this wasn't mandatory to watch in high schools at the very least.  I've already started telling people about this because I was just so appalled and I can not stress enough how vital it is that we comprehend and act as soon as possible.  This film eliminated any doubt I had that global warming is a threat to humanity.

One of the most interesting things that caught my attention was the severe climate changes that we have already inflicted on our home planet. We are unbalancing conditions towards the point of extremes that we have already experienced.  For example, in the 14 years before 2005, we have already noted the world's 10 hottest years. In addition, we have already experienced more hurricanes in warmer waters by the coasts. There is expected flooding in almost all of the world coasts. Ancient glaciers are now melting away and sea levels are rising and killing millions and dismembering homes. We are facing the consequences now and the time to act is now.