Portraits

Today Julian and I got started on our joint project. The project we were given is simple. Take portraits of STACies, cut them into four strips, and put them up on a wall somewhere (or build one) so people can interact and change them around. Actually, I take back the word simple. Trying to figure out how to do put the portraits up on the wall is the hardest part. At first we were given the idea of building a metal structure so we can print the portraits on magnetic paper. Then in a way we moved away from this idea because we are working with 29 STACies and the proportions looked dumb.  After bouncing around a few ideas (leaving me out and having 28 people, possibly leaving julian out and having 27) we still didn't like the designs we were coming up with. Then I looked at the wall in the STAC room and saw the gigantic empty picture frame, thinking wow why don't we put them in picture frames? We both agreed that was a good idea but are both stumped on how to make it interactive once again because once you put a frame on a piece of art, it becomes in a way finished.

Not entirely sure where to go from there I started scouting places to possibly have the art hang up and ideally the cafeteria creates the most traffic. I want the art to reach everyone and not just the artists, tech people and instrument players for once. Making definite decisions is becoming a hard thing to do which makes me feel like a freshman again, which sucks.

The Accidental Masterpiece

I don't really know how to express my feelings while I was reading the intro to this book. If anything I was lost in the thoughts of my own mind while seeing the words of another's.  While reading I was saying to myself "wow its amazing how much passion these people have for something as trivial as light bulbs!" Then I think to myself... well I really don't have that kind of drive and end all be all mind set while making art. Does that make me an impostor? Am I still an artist or just a creator? Every year taking this class I always end up with more questions then answers & every year I'm left to redefine myself as a person or how I identify myself. Right now I'm not really sure where I stand,  but what I noticed most I was reading is how there was a beautiful transition from talking about one artist to another. It was so fluent after I finished reading I realized it was about multiple people and not just a single artist. I think the reason my favorite part of the into was when the blind man would touch paintings just to feel the art. I feel that might be me trying to hold on to the artist in me while it's slowing fading away.

The Myth of the Week

     The film today was interesting to say the least. I myself was extremely tired and therefore towards the last ten minutes began to drift in and out of conscientiousness. While the interview was going on I couldn't help but notice how not Campbell but how the other guy would say a phrase and then say it again and again twenty different times. It made me think about high status and low status which I do tend to think about quite often. It lead me to believe that the interviewer felt less intelligent while in conversation with Campbell and was trying to make himself look smarter. It started to bother me and while the topic of the interview was inspiring I couldn't help but want to maul the interviewer for distracting me. It could've been my imagination but regardless, it was irritating.

     My favorite part of the film was when Campbell said, "Life is not about finding meaning. Life is about the experience." This is something I identify with. I live everyday looking for something different to do, a new place to go, or talking to new people. This past summer when I went on my cruise a group of kids (believe it or not) went on and on about "Why do we both see the color purple the same? How do we know your purple is not my red? Why is the sky blue?" I continuously rolled my eyes because I hate trying to find the meaning in things. I take them for what they are, why bother dwelling on things that I most likely will never know the answers to and fry my brain in the process? Experiencing events makes my day to day life full of meaning. There's no need to go and try to find it. I take the little experiences and the big ones and try to focus on the positives of what is going on in my life. I move with the moment.

10,000 hours

I've had a Youtube beauty channel on and off for three or so years. My cousin and I have recently decided because we sometimes get bored of just talking when we hang out that we should create a Youtube channel. It all started when my cousin was looking at the list of most downloaded free apps for the week and came across the iMovie trailer app. We had four hours to hang out one day and she suggested we make a film trailer. This app has all of the shots and allowed time for these shots in the presetting's of the possible trailers. Then there are a few word screens you use for necessary captions. It took us about an hour to draw up the storyline of the trailer. We had my cousins house as the set and anything that entailed. We used the iPhone 5c to record. At first we thought it would be a good idea to having the trailer be about searching for food around the house and finally finding it in the fridge. We threw this idea out after realizing there was not enough of a struggle to get to the fridge. Instead because she had regular and golden oreo's we decided to make it about that because the original goal could be to get to the golden oreo's but after struggles realize that we might have to eat the regular oreo's instead. Overall it was easier to make because the only thing we had to come-up with ourselves was the story, because everything else was provided. It made the process much easier. I am already brainstorming ideas for short films because we hang out usually once a week so we set the parameters to be 2-3 people in the film and the longest it must be is 3 minutes in length. We are also making these videos mostly to entertain ourselves but we are going to document it on Youtube to show our evolution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozti9SqM500

My Achilles Heel

Freshman year of high school I was obsessed with television. It was my drug of choice. I used to go on Netflix, pick a show, and watch every season until I finished the whole thing. Sometimes I would watch up to 7 episodes of 40 minutes each night. It didn't matter whether it was good acting, plot, or filming because I needed to fill up my time with something. Of course if it isn't obvious my grades dipped somewhat during this time. Now my drug of choice is reading. On average I've been reading about 6-8 books a week. The reason for this switch is because after a while I realized that one, I don't like to watch the same thing twice, and two I needed something that took up much more time. As a result during this summer I turned to reading as the alternative. I love stories about bad boys so I used my trusty friend Google to find material. Now I use this website "goodreads.com," and I just scroll down the list of books under the category of "popular bad boy good girl books." I have come to realize the difference between a good book and a bad book, is similar to a bad show.

A way I can tell if a book is bad is by first and foremost which it language uses. If there isn't sophisticated language it is usually a sign I could be reading something better. If the author gives away hints to the plot but not enough for me to figure out exactly how things are going to pan out for the characters, that's a sign I should continue reading. When the author makes the action sequences so that I cannot understand what is happening and I have to reread the section more than once it is a tell that I will not be reading the sequel.

Overall I think I am going to start writing book reviews on my blog to make a daily practice of actually writing because its taking something I already like to do and adding some work aspect to it.

Monkey Tell, Monkey Tries to Do

We're all afraid of something. Today my fear was seeming fake while reading my monologue. At first while reading it I decided instead of trying to act I would just read it as I would read something aloud for English class. It came out monotone. BIG SURPIRSE. I didn't realize my fears where preventing me from getting to the desired result. After watching Sabrina deliver the monologue a few times and analyzing what I can steal from her, I realized I needed the basics such as emotion. The monologue was also very frustrating in that it had such awkward phrasing and so many dot dot dot's. Some of these needed to go because it was so choppy as Sabrina pointed out, but the main problem was with my delivery. As soon as I started acting, my face made the monologue look terrible. I tried to keep my face under control as I talked and Sabrina said it made the piece so much better. This was one of the most difficult tasks for me because as I was talking the way my voice would change and the emotion I would portray would be connected somehow. At least if felt as if that where the case. Another thing we figured out is that in the monologue there were a series of "plot points" as we called them which were crucial in delivery. If you messed up those lines or they seemed fake, so would the rest of the script. You also have to take the viewer somewhere you can't stay in the same emotion the whole time. I want to become a better actor so I can make that little voice in my head that says "you suck" to shut up.

Unfinished Works

Over the three years I've been in STAC I've written countless scripts. I've worked on so many projects and have work to show for it. The one thing that I've come to realize about myself is majority of the time I leave my works unfinished. I write script after script but never seem to make the music video, or preform the piece. Recently with the flop of my performance piece behind the sheet I have thought about my unfinished scripts. I really want to work on the piece incorporating the advise the group gave me. I also want to ask multiple people to perform in it because it would just look that much better and much more easier to understand. I want to change the piece so that instead of it starting behind the sheet it would begin with the doctors washing their hands and putting on gloves. Then after the doctors would step in front of the sheet. With using different people it will be clear there's more than who's who for example by the height difference in shadows and different voices. I am considering adding sound effects such as a beeping sound to further push that it is an operating room. I also want to take another look at my music video script. I want to see if I can make it work. It lacked flow the first time I started it. With a fresh set of eyes I want to see if I could make it flow and make sense to the audience. I also need have a clear view of what I want it to look like rather than a hazy view. If I don't know what the end product will be how will the actors or anyone else?

In other news, I am considering the possibility of making a short film every week. I want to contribute more to my 10,000 hours and keep my creative juices flowing.

Youtube

About two years ago I started a Youtube channel. It had a terribly embarrassing name that at the time I thought was a good idea. My videos were on a low quality camera and in a few of the beginning videos the camera even fell and I left it in the videos. I watched a few recently and thought I can't BELIEVE I ever thought these were good. As I started to watch more recent ones I realized that they got better progressively over time. My media is now a PC computer, Windows Movie Maker 7, and a Nikon Camera D5100. I used to have to verbally address the steps in my videos as I did them because the old movie maker didn't even have a narration option. What I meant to say is I've come a long way.

I needed a new start from my old channel because as I've changed over the years and matured I felt that my channel must as well. In STAC I've learned so much about shots and how to make videos have more flow. I was missing those aspects on my old channel. I've also learned how to cut down footage so that you only need the necessary film and are not watching any unneeded extras that will bore the audience. I also learned that from the statistics Youtube shows me on my videos that the average viewer will click the link to my video and watch slightly less than half of the video. This has brought to my attention in order to keep the viewers interest, have the best footage at the beginning, to hook them in and interest them. Youtube also works on PR and such. I started out posting my videos the summer of 8th grade and began with on average 40 views from posting the links to my videos on facebook, where as now I get about 80. Most people in school know about my videos and tell me they watch them which I find so humbling. I'm just doing what I love and I guess people appreciate that. Youtube in a way is sort of like STAC. I've in so many ways had to be creative, because in order to stand out, you have to have a distinct personality, creativity, and be unique. You need a distinct personality in order to establish a relationship with your audience To bring them into your life and make them feel as if they are a part of the life you live. For creativity, you need to come up with material that is your own. Of course they don't just materialize in your head and you steal ideas from others, but you need to be creative and you cant go around stealing other people's make-up looks because it would be the same video recreated. When Halloween videos role around you need to think of ideas that people will search and want to be. Once you establish a audience base you can basically come up with whatever you want, but until then you are trying to give the people what they want. Unique goes hand in hand with creativity, you never want to be the like someone else on Youtube, because why would someone be interested in something they've seen already?

For me the hardest part of making videos is the actual filming. Most of the time I have a very busy weekend with homework and social events so I try and film whenever I can. Trying to shoot videos yourself is extremely challenging. When I do make-up tutorials its so much easier because the cameras right in front of me and I can focus it myself and press the record button. In my last video I moved as away from my camera as I could but not far enough, so that from a sitting position I couldn't hit the focus button with my toe. On the other hand with fashion videos it is impossible to do singlehandedly. I cannot get the shots I would like by myself. I have to rely on others for that and you can't rely on others to follow through like you can yourself. I struggle with finding someone available constantly. I also struggle with getting rides to locations I intend to film at. I consider Youtube a side job from school. I try my best to put up videos every week or so because being consistent also makes a Youtuber great to subscribe to.

Youtube has taught me so much and contributed to my growth as an artist.

Orange is the New Black

I started watching this series after hearing great reviews about it online and Luke having mentioned it in class. I think that the whole show is about power. How to get it. How to use it. I am on episode three but so far none of the shots have jumped out at me. Which is what I was originally looking for,  but what I've taken from this show is how well they are able to portray a character with the simplest of actions. Also, the show isn't very over dramatic. Everything is so well written in and it is so much more realistic than most. For example, if you've seen the first two episodes you are well aware that they are trying to starve out the main character Piper. While during this starving out period, her ex-lesbian lover tries to give her food but piper throws it away. This shows Piper is stubborn and plays by her own rules. To top it off after that incident the ex-lesbian in the end of the episode isn't given food because the head of the kitchen was told about her giving food to Piper. No part of the show is left untold or goes unresolved. The highlight of this show is all the actions that are put in to show character. You can tell so much by how the person is handling themselves in jail. I also enjoy how the head of the kitchen Red is made out to be a terrible person because she tries to starve Piper to death but then there are flash backs to show that she too was once a regular human being with feelings. My favorite part of all though was at the end of the second episode where all the inmates are watching a movie and Piper does not have headphones, so all she can do is see the picture but then this one girl who previously helped her out sits next to her and offers her headphones. Little naïve Piper takes this as a gesture of kindness, when it was really Suzie's way of asking if she liked her. If she accepted her. It was a brilliant moment.

Steven Spielburg

This week I did not have to come up with something to start out my search for the "Library Post." In Social Studies class I was shown the beginning of Steven Spielburg's movie Amistad and I was completely amazed in the opening shot where it shows the slaves face sweating in flickers because there's lightning. I loved the fact that Spielburg shows the nitty gritty details and can get the story across on everything that's going on without words. That being said I goggled "Steven Spielburg" and a few other variations of that and through my chain of internet surfing I found a few video clips explaining the process in the making of Jaws . It was very interesting to say the least. What I expected to find was filming techniques and process. The library post is about finding things you can steal, for example shots. In watching these series of clips I watched something which I deem as much more important. In the video clips various people who contributed to the making of the film explain that their biggest problem was the shark. How the shark malfunctioned so much because they were pressed for time and how because of this the mechanical kinks they would hear more often then not over the walkie-talkies that the shark is not working. One of the people interviewed even explains that most scenes that include the shark was the only usable film. They also explain that in more recently people are trying to top one another and create bigger and better. Then Steven Spielberg says,"Sometimes bigger isn't better necessarily, sometimes bigger is too much." Which applies for so much of what we do in STAC. What I am going to steal from these clips is the mindset that getting a finished product is so much more important than trying to perfect it or making it "original." Sometimes you need to work with what you have just like the crew who were new to working on the ocean everyday for Jaws and even on occasion feel off their boats into the water. Work with what you are given.

 

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/videos/the-shark-is-still-working.htm

Kickstarter

Earlier I was poking around on Kickstarter. I was looking at different projects, ones that have just been successfully funded and others that have just started today. By looking at other peoples videos and layouts you can learn so much about what works and what doesn't. One thing I noticed is that people who for their blurb wrote an essay made me not want to fund them. Everything should be sort, simple, and directly to the point. People who wrote excessive detail almost bored me to death. When people in the videos said "ummmmmm" or "like," especially those who were in their 20's made me immediately want to hit them over the head with a chunk of wood. They should know better. We need to speak clearly and intelligently in our video. We have to tell people EXACTLY what they are giving us money for. I was watching a Kickstarter video called "Unspoken" and the concept and idea was so incredibly cool, yet in the video after countless interviews of different people in the project starts to talk about a past project. THIS IS A BIG NO-NO, save the credentials to the blur under the video. It confused me and I'm sure I was not the only one. We also must show not tell the audience, in too many of these videos people stand in front of a camera only explaining what the project will be and not their process or even clips of what it might look like. Personally I feel that this can give the audience the wrong idea and make them believe you are waiting for the money to even start the project. It just makes is seem you said to someone "Hey this is a brilliant idea, maybe I can get people to give me money and figure it out from there," it doesn't seem professional. Lastly our video must be unique and interesting to watch. BORING IS NOT GOING TO GET US ANYWHERE. If you show our video to someone they shouldn't be looking around waiting for it to be over or staring blankly ahead; captivate the audience. For length, it probably should not be more than AT MOST 4 minutes.

Shadows

Preparing for the talent show Friday, Today I worked out the kinks with my performance piece. I played around with the lights and brought my own white backdrop from home because after previously experimenting with sheets and cloth I needed something plain and thicker. The cloth blurred my shadow and the other material had paint all over it, which was distracting. So then today I played around with how close I need the backdrop to be for my shadow to be seen well and what to use for an "operation" table. A real table didn't work because it made my shadow unclear. Today I figured out I can use two stools. Originally I was going to perform this piece solo but after experimenting I realized although it would be an accomplishment, it is already confusing enough with me playing two doctors, there's no need for more confusion and it will be easier to understand this way. Julian will be the body in the scene, and by body I mean patient (he just doesn't say anything) . The  original script I was going to use didn't work out because the movements were too minimal and it did nothing for me personally when I tried it out behind the backdrop. So I am using four lines from the original script of an episode of 24 and just wrote my own dialogue. Tonight and tomorrow I will memorize. This idea also gave me another idea of a series of scripts I could possibly write and or perform behind a sheet where lets say, you think the couples arguing about someone being unfaithful but really its to get rid of the husbands mother or something and at the end of the scene the curtain is pulled away and you know what its really about.

Library

If not everyone knows by now I make tutorials on Youtube. Being someone who is into fashion I also watch many videos for enjoyment and also to steal things from. There is this Youtuber Evelina Barry whose videos I've always liked but one of her most recent videos just blew me away. A get ready with me video for people who don't watch them, is you filming yourself getting ready to go somewhere (hair, make-up, outfit) and most of the get ready with me video's on youtube is a person turning on their camera and fast forwarding the footage. Evelina's husband films her videos but the quality and shots of this one were stunning and so creative. Most of her videos are unique and quite unheard of, such as this one fashion video she did underwater. This specific video is so well edited and filmed it just flows so smoothly. I love all her videos because she takes her own creative spin on these boring videos that are all the same and makes them into her own. Yes, it might be her husband who films these videos but she edits them and is the idea behind it. I would watch it even if you're not into make-up because its mostly about the feel of the video and not even the main idea of a get ready with me video. I will be stealing some of these shots in the future especially the one from above the door.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ljBiko3UA

Talent Show

For the Talent show Friday I've had this idea for a while of performing behind a white sheet, in the dark with a light behind me with my shadow being the main focus of the piece. I think it would be visually captivating. Today I brainstormed the idea of having the piece be doctors operating and play both doctors and patient because it would mildly entertaining. I am currently searching for a script to use but so far the only thing I have found is an old episode of 24 which starts out in Korean (with English translations) and I love it but its too short so I will continue to until I find a piece that is both decent in length and quality. I am picking a script no matter what tomorrow so I can start to memorize and rehearse. This year I am hoping to rediscover a love for one of the disciplines but in the process I might try them all before I do.

Them Heavy People

I looked up the song "Them Heavy People" by Kate Bush and I'm honestly not a big fan, but that's probably because I have a specific kind of music I like and its not hers. Other than that personally I had to listen to the words and minimize the video because otherwise the video would put someone else's idea of what the songs about in my head. Listening to the song to me it seems the songs about her view on humanity. That being said this is the verse I added

They open my eyes to a new experience
They get me ready to explore
They make me ooze with emotion at times
It's not only anxiety, but I'm given butterflies too

Artistic Autobiography

Grace Theresa Macedo was born in New Hyde Park, New York on March 17^th, 1997.  She lived in a basement apartment with her Great Grandma until she was Two and a half and moved into the house she currently resides in in New Hyde Park. Grace as a child was very over dramatic so naturally she felt acting was her calling. Her first audition was for the Ellie Greenwich Musical at Center Street Elementary School. She landed a singing role as Dee Dee singing "Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry."

After her first taste of theater Grace was hooked and later starred in various Herricks Middle School productions such as The Music Man, The Sound of Music, and Guys and Dolls. Grace's biggest role and personal favorite was of Elsa in the Sound of Music because she felt the character had similar struggles to her own. During the course of her middle school career Grace took private singing lessons at Laconia Music Center and also from Susan Kalman. Grace is a free spirited girl and as a result took up painting in her middle school time as well. She was inspired by the works of Georgia O'Keefe, mainly painting different types of flowers. As high school grew close Grace auditioned for a special arts program named STAC. She auditioned for acting, singing and submitted pictures she had taken for photography. She was accepted into the program her freshman year. Grace worked in acting workshops in STAC, but when the fall play came around she was surprised when she did not make the cut. Taken aback by this rejection she slowly dabbled in the field of moviemaking. Grace had a fascination with abusive relationships at the time and decided to make a music video about it to the song "Unbeautiful," by Lesley Roy . Grace continued to write different scripts for different projects and after being in charge of some movies decided she liked directing. Grace continues to switch fields in the artistic community trying to find her true calling.

 

            Graces’s philosophy is to do whatever makes her the happiest, which is the main reason she is always trying something new.  She is still searching for her passion within STAC (Students Television Arts Company) run by Luke Delalio at Herricks High School. At the moment Grace is unsure of what she wants to do in any aspect of her life and hopes to be able to figure that out sooner rather than later.

Quarter 4

Q4 - WHAT IS REQUIRED of YOU

A Major

What is your major area of emphasis for Q4?

I am going to film direct and edit already written music video idea.

 

Are you exploring, or are you working towards a finished product? 

I am working towards a finished product that has been carefully thought out and is well researched because I want it to be the best work I can produce.

 

What do you envision as the end result?

I envision a music video that will leave you wondering what happened at the end and wanting to cry at the same time.

Are you working alone or do you have collaborators?

I need actors and have already asked Sabrina to be the main girl lead, as for male actor I am most likely going with Andrew because I had previously mentioned it to him.

Who are your community?

Sabrina, Danny M, Michelle M

Where are you now, where will you get to?

I am at the beginner stages and I really want the video to end with a wow factor.

What are 5 criteria with which we will evaluate your work on this this quarter?

Finished product

Research

Process

Effort (Time dedicated to the project)

Cohesiveness (How the video translates to the audience)

 

 

Minor

What is your minor? Why? How will it be useful to you? How will it be fun?

I think whenever I have free time I will read the book Luke has given me on directing, once that is finished I would write a bunch of scripts when I'm free or offer to direct one of the actors scenes. Reading this book with give me a background knowledge on directing and it will be fun when I get to write my own material

Where are your starting? Where do you hope to get to? 

I hope to end up with a pile of scripts and the technical knowledge of directing. I also feel these scripts will be handy if I ever want to turn one of them into a movie.

A Book

 

1) What is the book

"Steven Spielberg: A Biography"

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/steven-spielberg-joseph-mcbride/1102470212?cm_mmc=googlepla-_-textbook_instock_26to75_pt105-_-q000000633-_-9781604738360&cm_mmca2=pla&ean=9781604738360&isbn=9781604738360&r=1

Acting Exercise

I found this exercise to be interesting because buying into the 'scene' is not really buying into what you're saying and believing its real, but more the relationship and or debate with the others in the group. Sometimes you start to fall out of the scene such as when caitlin and I were discussing how to kill Nora's parents I laughed because killing a girl's parents due to the fact they gave birth to an ugly girl and named her Nora is quite ridiculous/far fetched. I am also looking foward to working on my 'the one that got away' project when I have the chance, which is good.

Blogging #2

Friday we went over different roles we play in a conversation. I found switching from role to role to be easy. Sometimes being disinterested in a conversation and becoming internal is nice for a change. Where as being a listener is fun too in hearing everyone elses opinions. It just helps me figure out where I stand in a conversation and where the people around me stand too.

BLOGGING

Yesterday I took some of my "The One that got away," photo's with Lisa. The experience of not having to worry if the project comes out shitty was really nice. Instead of having all this pressure we still took our photos but the experience was much more enjoyable. For my survaillance photo I first had this idea of a drug deal in my head because in many crime scene shows I watch there is always a sketchy drug deal done near a car so stealing this idea I told Lisa, Danny, and Danielle that they were a part of a drug deal. I kept snapping pictures while they did whatever they wanted and at one point Danny turned his head to face the camera to ask if I was done and it looked really cool on film, so I told him to do it again but instead of waiting for him to turn and then his face to change I kept snapping shots. The one I ended up choosing I then edited using an app called 'Wood Camera' and made the photo black and white with a grainy filter. I kept stairing at the picture and thought to myself that it was too wide, so I zoomed in so you could see the people a little bit better. Then I zoomed again still not liking the way it had looked previously. After a while I just liked Danny's face and body language toward the camera. It looked creepy as if he was up to no good which is exactly what I was trying to get across. When I kept seeing the picture all I thought was this looks like one of those wanted posters they hang at tthe police station. When I was talking to Luke he mentioned that the story you put behind it or how you frame it, a caption, thats what matters the most. So I am going to make a wanted poster to 'frame' the picture.

Today I went to the library with my group I googled 'how to make a bad movie' and after clicking a few links found a website filled with movie reviews of how terrible all these movies were. One was about a two headed shark eatting college students and the review said how they wished the shark had tweleve heads just so the movie could go faster. I thought it was so funny I told Courtney I wanted to do that because I thought it would be funny. Then she suggested we use horse heads instead which was a brilliant idea.