The Giver: Chapters 1 and 2

My Journal Entry For Chapter 1:
Three details of the story

• The main focus of the book is on one "family unit." A Father, a Mother, Lily (a seven), and Jonas (an eleven) make up this family.
• Jonas is feeling "apprehensive" about The Ceremony of Twelve that is coming up in December.
• Everything in this "community has order. There are rules that must be followed. Each "family unit" is only allowed one daughter and one son. Children are assigned to a family unit. Aside from these, there are many other rules. If any of these rules are broken, that person will be "released" from the "community."

Two events that I found interesting

• The words that the author uses to portray this community, add a sense of mystery. This is definitely not an ordinary town.
• The family unit discussed their feelings at their dinner table. It is alnnmost as if they are only allowed to feel certain feelings. They have to be honest about the feelings that they felt throughout the day, and as a family unit they work to fix them

One question that I have for one of the characters

• Father is a Nurturer and Mother is a worker at the Department of Justice. I am wondering what other jobs are in the "community."

Lord of the Flies: Chapter 11 and 12

My Journal Entry for Chapter 11:
Three details of the story

• Piggy needs his glasses to see. So he, Ralph, Eric, and Sam go to confront Jack. The hunters are not very welcoming and very violent fight break out.
• The hunters roll a rock down the hill and it strikes the blind, defenseless Piggy. Piggy falls off the cliff and dies. This is the second murder on the island.
• When Ralph goes to confront Jack, there are four boys and a conch, but only Ralph returns. The conch breaks. Piggy is murdered. And Sam and Eric join Jack's tribe.

Two events that I found interesting

• Piggy was so scared without his glasses. He was blind, yet he was the only one who could truly see. He saw more then the others. He knew that they were doing this the wrong way and that something bad was going to happen. The only voice of reason is now dead.
• Ralph was not being very smart by constantly challenging Jack's authority. I would say that all of this could have been avoided, but Jack was so wild, that I do not know.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• Jack has gone completely wild. He wants complete control. I want to ask him why he did not just steal the fire, instead of stealing Piggy's glasses.

My Journal Entry for Chapter 12:

Three details of the story

• Sam and Eric (now a part of Jack's tribe) warned Ralph that he was going to be hunted by the hunters.
• Ralph runs and runs away from the hunters. He almost dies many times. He has to think fast or he will die. The hunters have spears, fire, and smoke. All he has is a small stick.
• Ralph and some other finally get rescued when an officer sees the hunters smoke. The ship comes to save them.

Two events that I found interesting

• Ralph splits the Lord of the Flies into two, even though he is captivated by its similarity to the conch.
• Ralph was right all along. It was the smoke that saved them, and that is really the only reason that Ralph is still alive.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• The officer who found the boys was deeply disturbed. These British boys lost all of their civility when left alone on an island. I want to ask the officer what was going on in his head when he first saw Ralph.

We have all wondered what would happen if you left a bunch of boys stranded on an island without rules and without adults. William Golding gave us his thoughts on just that. We see the boys slowly turn from proper British boys to wild animals. I learned about the importance of rules and authority.

Lord of the Flies: Chapter 9 and 10

My Journal Entry for Chapter 9:
Three details of the story

• All of the boys but Piggy, Ralph, and Simon join Jack's feast. Jack has a fire going and plenty of meat. Piggy and Ralph go to find the boys and see what is going on. They see Jack with a mask, sitting there like an idol.
• After everyone has eaten their fair share, Jack makes them decide. Do they want to be with Jack or with Ralph? They are interrupted by a thunderstorm where they start to chant their familiar chant. Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!
• A beast comes into their chanting circle. Without a second thought, they attack it like animals, and kill it. That beast was Simon.

Two events that I found interesting

• Simon was trying to tell the boys about this man that was hurt. The boys were so caught up in the moment that they did not even listen or recognize that it was Simon.
• Before all of this happened, Piggy knew that it would not end well. he warned Ralph, but Ralph  did not listen.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• Ralph even seems like he is starting to slip to the wild side. I would like to ask Piggy what is wrong with Ralph. Do you think that you can turn the wild boys back into civilized people?

My Journal Entry for Chapter 10:
Three details of the story 

• Ralph is realizing what has just happened. Simon is dead... because of them. They murdered him. Piggy is trying to convince Ralph that they had no part in it.
• Ralph starts to forget their main purpose: being rescued. He is forgetting the civil things in life. He forgets the purpose of the fire.
• Jack and some of his hunters attack Ralph, Piggy, Eric, and Sam. They get into a fight in the night and suffer from many wounds. Jack also mangoes to steal Piggy's glasses. Now Ralph has no way to start a fire.

Two events that I found interesting

• Ralph dreams about going home and how things used to be, but those dreams turn into nightmares. He has forgotten what home is really like.
• Jack's hunters now protect their fort, and they do not let anyone in. They are almost completely shunning out all civilized people. They are even starting to torture people.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• By the end of this chapter, Ralph has few members, and no fire. I want to ask him how he expects to survive.

Lord of the Flies: Chapter 7 and 8

My Journal Entry for Chapter 7:
Three details of the story

• Ralph is bothered by the lack of personal hygiene around him. His hair is too long and needs to be cut . His shirt is stiff and needs to be washed. He and the other boys need a bath. His teeth are filthy and need to be brushed and everyone has dirty hair.
• You can tell that Ralph misses his home. He keeps remembering how things used to be and he wants it that way. He found a friend in Simon, because Simon gave him hope. Simon said that Ralph would go home eventually.
• Ralph stuck a spear in the pig's snout. He felt like he accomplished something, but the hunter treated it as nothing, which discouraged Ralph.

Two events that I found interesting

• In this whole chapter, they are still searching for the beast from the air. In the end, they think that they have found it. They see a shadow where there should be no trees. They think it is the beast. This is the first time that I see Ralph and Jack kind of work together.
• The boys are turning savage. One of the hunters games almost killed Robert. They treated him like a pig and that is scary.

One question that I would ask one of the characters

• I would ask Ralph if he is concerned about the future. Things are getting wild. Are the boys turning into animals?

My Journal Entry for Chapter 8:

Three details of the story

• Jack and his hunters start their own tribe. Jack is now Chief like he wanted to be (but only of his hunters). He is separated from Ralph, but the problem is that they need fire and to have fire they need Piggy's glasses. Ralph also wants meat, but to get meat he needs Jack and his hunters.
• Jack and his hunters kill a mommy pig and take out the guts. They then take all of the meat, and leave the pig's head o a stick for the beast. We discover that the dead pig's head is the Lord of the Flies.
• Jack is trying to get more people to join him. They are tempted to go because of the meat.

Two events that I found interesting

• Jack is trying to present Ralph as a coward. He really wants to be chief of everyone, and he is starting to play dirty.
• The boys are using their old way of life. They are no longer prim and proper. They forgot their manners and they swear. They are wild and they run around naked.

One question that I would ask one of the characters

• I really want to ask Simon what is going on, but I do not think that he even knows. What are the voices, beasts, and all of these mysterious things? What is really going on?

It is Time For some Encouragement: GLCA NEWS February 17th

It is Valentines' day, which means one thing at Glca: Encouragement week. Everyone at Glca has been working on encouraging one another this week. They try to keep their secret friend a secret until Friday, where everyone is surprised with the big reveal. And what at sweet surprise that is. This video is a few highlights of this special week.

Lord of the Flies: Chapter 5 and 6

My Journal Entry for Chapter 5:
Three details of the story

• The chapter starts with a much needed late-night meeting. Everything is going out of control. Ralph realizes the need for order, the need for rules.
• The boys are starting to realize their need for personal hygiene.
• After realizing that they have explored all of the island, they determine that there can be no beast; but then they realize that they know nothing about what is in the water.

Two events that I found interesting 

• During the meeting the boys are starting to disobey the rule of the conch. They are starting to lose respect for the conch and the person holding the conch.
• The children thought that there was a beast, but it was really boys getting up in the middle of the night.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• Piggy is the one with the common sense, but he is hushed. I want to ask him what he would do differently if he was chief.

My Journal Entry for Chapter 6:

Three details of the story

• There is an explosion in the sky and something drops down from the explosion in a parachute. All of this is unknown to the boys.
• Eric and Sam were in charge of the fire, but they fell asleep and let it die. Then, after starting it again, they saw a mysterious beast.
• After hearing the news of the beast, the big boys go to search for the beast near the rocks.

Two events that I found interesting

• Throughout this chapter, we see Ralph try to get his power and control back.  He is demanding more respect.
• Most of the boys are still focused on having fun instead of survival or being rescued. They have not yet matured.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• Piggy keeps getting left behind. I think that they are underestimating his skills. I would like to ask him how it makes him feel to be left behind with the littluns.

B-roll

The other day, a friend told me to look up b-roll, if I wanted to take my video-making to the next level. So I did, and this is what I found...

The first thing that I did was to just look it up on Google. I went to this website, and I understood the basic concept of a b-roll, but I decided to dig deeper.

I then looked it up on wikipedia . I discovered that you use b-roll to create flashbacks and other cool effects on your videos.

I wanted to find different apps that allow you to use b-roll and the first one I found was this. This link shows the many different ways that you can use the b-roll feature on filmakr. You can change the speed, audio, and order of your video clips.

When I just use iMovie, I have to go through many steps that are unnecessary when using b-roll. This will shrink the time that it takes me to make videos, allowing me to focus on making the quality of my movies better.

I love how this website explains it. "B-roll lets you show and not just tell." This website also shows you the difference that b-roll makes in your videos.

Now it is your turn to discover b-roll for yourself.

Lord of the Flies: Chapter 3 and 4

My Journal Entry for Chapter 3:
Three details of the story

• Jack starts to rebel against Ralph's leadership. He slowly grows more and more in the wrong direction.
• Shelters are made, but as people give up, the shelters become worse.
• They are starting got become more and more scared at the possibility of a beast.

Two events that I found interesting

• I found it interesting when Simon went alone into the forest. Simon is very quiet and mysterious.
• Jack seems like he has something to prove with catching a pig. I wonder if it goes deeper then that. I wonder what happened in his past.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• I would like to ask Simon why he is so quiet and mysterious. What is really going on?

My Journal Entry for Chapter 4:

Three details of the story

• The hunters finally catch a pig. They want to catch more.
• We learn about the mirages on the island that happen in the middle of the day. This adds more of a sense of mystery to the island.
• The boys lose a chance at being rescued because Jack lets the fire burn out.

Two events that I found interesting

• After Ralph smacked off Piggy's glasses, Simon was the one who picked them up. This adds to Simon's mysteriousness.
• While the boys were eating pork by the fire, Simon gave his piece to Piggy. Simon was again the only one showing kindness to Piggy.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• I want to ask Jack what makes him so mean. He seems like he has something to prove. He is mean to everyone, but especially Piggy. Why does he pick on Piggy?

GLCA NEWS February Tenth

This is the second GLCA newscast. Encouragement week is coming next week and the GLCA elementary students are really excited. I interviewed the students and put the footage together. I did not use any green screen technology for this, but I did use iMovie on the computer, which is something I have never done before.

I noticed that iMovie on the computer has so much more to offer then it does on an iPad. I could see that there are endless possibilities with it. While I enjoyed exploring it, it was also starting to annoy me. The app glitches out numerous times and I was unable to use the transitions that I wanted to use. I had to upload it to youtube a handful of times before it actually showed up. I also had trouble downloading the video clips. Hopefully, next time it will be easier to use.

When I was interviewing the students, I made some mental notes for next time. I asked them some questions that could be answered with a simple yes or no. Having one word answers is not very helpful in an interview.  I should have asked more complex questions.Some of the students played with their microphones, and that made the video clip unusable. Next time I need to make sure that there is nothing interfering with the microphones. I also ran out of space on the iPad that I was using to film. It is important to have a backup.

One important tip that I have for anyone making a video is to be ready to film at any moment. I have many shots that I would not have had if I turned the camera off. I figured that I could always delete footage, but I could never get back the moments that I missed.

GLCA News February Second

I have been working very hard on making newscasts for my school. I learned a lot  and I am excited about the results.

This first video is my first official attempt at a green-screen video. We had a special chapel speaker and this video introduced him. We enjoyed listening to him speak, and learning more about him.

As I made the video, I encountered a few problems. I used curtains as the "green screens" in the background. The curtains were supposed to be the same color, but when we took them out of the package, they were different colors. With the app I am using I can only replace one color with chroma key technology. This made one side of the screen have less quality then the other. Another thing that affected the quality of the screen was the smoothness of the curtains. I did not iron the curtains, so you can see the folds. I also need to be careful of the lighting, fair skin, and blonde hair.

I loved discovering how green screens work, and using that knowledge to make my first green screen video. I hope to make more videos like this in the future, but improving the quality, of course!


If you have any questions about the video, please comment below.

4 Tips on Using Green Screen Technology

Since discovering how green screens work, I have been experimenting with them.

I recently purchased the Do ink green screen and animation apps. I watched the introduction videos and played around with the features. I made one of my friends appear as if she was a monkey on the tower of Pisa. I made my sister have an identical twin and the twins high-fived each other. It was a lot of fun.

While I was doing this I made some observations:

1. The technology works a whole lot better if the screen is smooth. So if you are going to use chromo key, then make sure that your material is wrinkle free and pulled tight.

2. Be careful with the clothing you wear. When using this technology do not wear clothing that is the same color (or close to the same color) as the background you are using. Be careful not to wear sparkly clothing or anything that will reflect light. By paying careful attention to the clothes you wear, you are making your videos even better.

3. Do not move! While Do ink does work with motion, the video turns out better if you hold still. If you can, limit the motion of the video without limiting your creative expression.

4. Use the animations to take your video to the next level. Do ink has an app called Do ink Animations , that allows you to create your own animations and drawings. If you use Do ink Green Screen and Do ink Animations together, then you can put one of your amazing animations into your green screen video! There are endless possibilities!

LORD OF THE FLIES : Chapters 1 and 2

Our class has finished reading chapters one and two of Lord of the Flies. Our journaling is all done  and today in class we discussed the details.

My Journal Entry for Chapter 1:
Three details of the story:

- A plane, full of boys crashed onto what we discover is an island.

- On of the boys, Ralph is a boy a bit on the wild side. He becomes the leader of the group. "Piggy" is a chubby boy with asthma. Jack is the leader of a choir of boys.

-In this first chapter they are trying to become aware of their surroundings.

Two events I found interesting:

-I found it interesting how the boys stay calm. They seem not to know the danger that they are in.

-You can tell that they are intelligent. The boys realized their need for a leader and a plan. They took the right first step in going on a scouting mission.

One question I would ask one of the characters:

-I would like to ask all of the boys why they were together, on an airplane, and what caused that plane to crash. I would probably ask Simon, for he seems like he is honest.

My Journal Entry for Chapter 2:

Three details of the story:

-The boys decided to make rules. They decided that while they are on the island, they will have fun and be rescued.

-The boys make a fire, a huge fire.

-That fire burns down some of the island.

Two events I found interesting:

-The boys get out of control when they do not follow the rule of the conch.

-Everyone is ignoring Piggy. He is the one with the common sense. They need to think about their survival before their rescue.

One question I would ask one of the characters:

-I would ask Piggy, "How does it make you feel to have everyone ignore you? What could they be doing differently to have a better chance of survival?"

Class Discussion
As a class we discussed our opinions, questions, and comments of the book.

The majority of the class does not like the book. Some find the book and its dialogue confusing.

Our observations:
The Setting: 1954; atomic bomb;
     -Island- uninhabited; not very big
     -Airplane crash- all boys; varying in ages(5?-11?)
       -Ralf-the leader
       -Piggy
       -Jack
         -choir boys
       -Simeon- the quite one
       -other little boys
       -twins- Sam & Eric
       -Roger
     -forest-tropical?;Pacific Ocean?
       -pigs
       -fruit
       -lagoon
       -conch
     -Pink rocks
       -Mountain
     -Hot climate

Imovie

 I have been working a lot with iMovie lately. I had to write and film a book commercial. I love using IMovie, but I have encountered many problems. I hope that next time I will be able to avoid these problems.

1. IMovie video segments can only be 0.3 seconds short.
I know that does not seem like a big problem, but when you want to achieve a special effect then this gets in your way.

2. IMovie does not have a wide selection of audio.
The background music that IMovie does have it great, but there is not a wide variety. IMovie allows you to use music that you have downloaded as a background, but complications occur when you do not have downloaded music. It would be much easier if IMovie had more of a selection.
Of course, this problem can be solved by downloading your own music, or creating your own interesting sounds using the different features that IMovie comes with.

3. IMovie does not allow me to put the background music where I want it.
This problem may just occur because of my ignorance, but as far as I know, background music has to start at the beginning. It makes sense to have background music throughout the whole length of the movie, but what if I want it in just a portion of the film. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the music to just play in the areas that I wanted it to. There is a solution, but it takes a while.
First, you have to add the theme music, repetitively until it covers the area that needs to be covered. Then every time you want a transition in the music- from on to off, or off to on- split the audio. You will then have multiple segments of audio running throughout the movie. Then go and mute the audio in the places that you do not want audio. That is the only solution that I have found.

Although I discovered different problems while making this video, I also discovered new things that I can do with IMovie.

1. You can separate the audio from the video.
While I knew this already, I discovered what this actually means. It means that I can take the audio from any video in camera roll, and place it as the background music, the audio for another video, or simply just delete it. This takes my filmmaking to a whole new level.

2. You can speed up audio.
This has helped me so much. While videos from camera roll can only be slowed down, audio can be sped up as well as slowed down. That means that you can take a song from the selection of theme songs in IMovie and change it to a completely different sounding song. You can also do the same thing with sound effects. Using the many different features of audio speed on IMovie, you can create your own selection of sounds.








I am still discovering all the uses for IMovie, but this week, I was able to help a third and fourth grade class discover IMovie for themselves. So hopefully this helps you to discover iMovie.

LORD OF THE FLIES:Introduction

In school my ninth and tenth grade English class is required to read LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding. We are going to read this classic and are encouraged to write about different aspects of each chapter in our own personal journals. I am going to write my thoughts and what I take away from each chapter. We will be discussing the book in class, and we will see the book from many different viewpoints. So here we go... embarking on the adventure that is LORD OF THE FLIES .

Green Screens

Why they work and how to use them

Green screens have taken film-making to the next level. They enable actors and characters to travel to places without actually being there. So how do these magical time machines work?

Green screens work because of amazing technology invented by Larry Butler. This technology is able to detect the green of the screen, and replace it with an image of your choice. If a camera can detect many colors, then why does the screen have to be green?

Well, the truth is that it does not have to be green! Green is used because it is the color that is the farthest away from natural skin color.(Unless you have seen someone with green skin.) It is not a very common clothing color, so therefore it is used for a wide variety of projects. Green screens are great, but say you are the hulk or Oscar the grouch, then can you use this technology?

 "Green screens" do not have to be green, they can also be blue, or any color for that matter. Filmmakers use blue screens for filming when green screens do not work. Green and blue screens are very common, but most other colors are not used. 

In reality, neither the material used for the green screen nor the camera is the time machine. The use of a green screen, or chroma key has to do with what you do after you film. After filming an action-filled scene, you use chroma key technology to replace the green(or blue) with you favorite background.

 To try out green screens on your own, you can use apps such as Stop Motion Studio ( http://appcrawlr.com/ios/stop-motion-studio ), or Do Ink (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/green-screen-by-do-ink/id730091131?mt=8). There are a plethora of other apps that range in prices; so just explore! Although there are many different apps that you can use with green screens, they all have one thing in common: filters. The technology filters colors, which allows it to take the green, and only the green out.

For more information about green screens, check out the links below.

The science behind green screen                                                                                                        Who Invented the Green Screen?
                                                                                                                                                                Do you need a special camera for green screen?                                                                                                                                               Difference Between Chroma Key and Green Screen
What is Green Screen?