Movie Reviews

Review #1 - O Brother Where Art Thou?

I'd like to say that this movie was visually stimulating. The use of colors (saturation, desaturation), scene transistions and the lighting make this movie great and unique. The story line however, was one I had a hard time to keep interested in. Sometimes I didn't know what they were saying, and I paid more attention to the visual elements and structure than the story line. I guess I just couldn't really relate to the story. But, I will hand it to them for their choice in music. It did add to the overall feel of the movie, and I actually knew some of them because I sing with a gospel choir...ANYWAY. All in all, good movie.

Review #2 - Pecker

Bahahaha! Hilarious movie! Unlike O Brother Where Art Thou, in my opinion, this movie has such a rich story line. I was kept interested and entertained. The way it was shot was definitely plain, normal, and most likely on a lower budget than O Brother, but I think added it's own charm to the movie. The characters and the message of the movie were what made this one great. I can definitely relate to this movie; he's a photographer, I'm a photographer. But I always try and steal some street scenes and candids of my friends and family. I've actually seen this movie before and watched it the first time when I was twelve. It's where I learned what tea bagging was. Watching it again definitely makes the point of the movie more clear, easier for me to understand what it was all about and appreciate it more than I did before. And, I also get all the other jokes that I never understood when I was twelve.

"I love you more than Kodak!"

52 Weeks to a New Me

I don't know where the idea came from, if I heard it from someone else or if I just thought it would be something fun do to, but it's a good way to start to a new year, a new path and a new me! Hopefully by the end of the year Ill reach my goal.

Since the year was coming to an end, what was the first thing you did? You made your new year resolution! So, I randomly thought of things that I didn't like about myself. It wasn't much of a task to list off at least a dozen in ten seconds. They're things that bug me but I never really pay close attention to or put off to solve on another day. They can be little things, habits of yours you don't like, habits you wish you had and things you need to get done. There's obviously quite a few, and trying to accomplish it throughout the year whenever seems a little scattered. You always have the drive to change at the beginning of the year, but once we get a little deeper, we either have no time or give up because it's too hard. We end up with unfinished goals. One week seems like a reasonable amount of time to make these goals a habit. The structure helps me keep focused and reminds me of what all my goals are. I also try to keep similar goals together in a month or two.

Here's an example, this is what I have planned out for January:

Week 1, Jan 1-9: Cut out pop and drink 8 glasses of water a day.
Week 2, Jan 10-16: Get up between 6-7 every morning, and go to sleep between 9-10:30.
Week 3, Jan 17-23: Eat breakfast.
Week 4, Jan 24-30: Make the bed every morning (I always leave it to my mom).

Each new week, you still have to carry on the goal of the previous week(s).

Little things like that are things we can change and benifit from. Try it yourself, what have you got to lose? Optimism is no crime, but a vision of something different.

Let's hope I progress to something different. =]

AT Notes

Eureka! I finally made the AT notes blog. Here's the link: AT Notes
Get as much use of it as you can.

Notes Gallore!

Today I realized that people were in need of some notes, especially with the test this week. So, I remembered that in my grade twelve year, my precal teacher had us using blogger to post up our notes from class for those who might of missed class as well as for clarification. Every class we rotated to do notes and posted it as soon as we could after class was done. Since I don't mind sharing my notes at all, I thought that it would be helpful to post up our school notes. So I made a seperate blog! I have one for our CI class, and will have one for our AT class as soon as I'm done with the CI test. I thought that the CI notes needed to go up first since it is relevant to what we had going on this week. I'll post up the notes at the end of every week. Give me some feedback, or suggestions. =)

CI Notes

Finally, A New Post!

I know it's been a while since my last post, but I've come back to share some piece of mind. Yesterday we did our self portrait presentations and I had a blast shooting it, but It was the presenting part that got a little nerve racking; I laid it all out. I feel that I have nothing to hide and that I'm willing to share a bit of me that is critical to who I am now.

I had six seperate pictures that worked as a chronological narrative. I'll go into a bit of detail of what each means to me.



The first picture is reference to who I was eight years ago; the girl in school that no one wanted to talk to unless you needed something. I was made fun of, harassed, and branded; at home and at school. Those words seeped under my skin and I started believing it. I was trapped. I couldn't say anything and I felt like I was backed into a corner, pushed to the ground and unable to stand up for myself. The one word that I couldn't get off my chest was fat. I heard it from everyone, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone. I felt like I had no support system, and all I ever did was cry. What else could I do? I was so young...



The second picture signifies the struggle of trying to drown out those voices. I got sick of hearing the same things and feeling the same way. Those words that bothered me were no longer apparent, but in some way those voices were able to influence me, and steered me into a direction I didn't intend on following.



The third picture; things settled down and I finally felt like I could be something else, someone else. I did what I needed to do, to satisfy myself as well as others. I wasn't that girl who had all those words attached to her, but someone who was a little more proud. Still, I wasn't too sure of who I was becoming was healthy, both physically and emotionally.



Numero four. After all that hype about being proud, I realized I kind of wasn't proud of who I became. I was still frustrated with the same things because I tried to solve them with the wrong answers. It wasn't until last year when I decided that I had to get out of that state of mind. I've always held an inner strength, but I failed to realize. And though I had to step out into this new light of thinking with very little assurance, I knew this time would be right. That when my life came to an end, I'd be happy with who I am, the decisions I've made and love myself no matter what anyone else said. A scary world indeed, but I'm glad I opened that door for myself.



The fifth and sixth picture are a pretty accurate representation of who I am now; this goofy girl who loves to smile and have fun. These days aren't so grim, and even when life throws the occasional obstacle, I can find my way around it. It took a long time to get to this point, but I can finally say that I do love myself. I am in no way perfect, but I know that I'm a good person.

Everyday is another day to grow.

Speak of the Devil!

Just a little after finishing my last post on photojournalism, around 11:30 pm last night, I heard sirens. I thought they were just passing by, but I realized after a minute or so that they were parked nearby. I looked out my living room window and saw eleven cop cars parked right in front of my house. Before I knew it, I was running to get my camera and taking pictures. The rush of excitement came over me. I didn't realize until a few minutes later, that that was what photojournalism was, and I was practicing it. I didn't want to miss the fleeting moment to take a picture, but I acted without thinking. Now I'm even more sure than before, that this is the direction I want to go.

IS3

I really want to get into photojournalism. The natural feel, emotion and overall interpretation generate such "bare" photographs. Photojournalism seems to be the most true to it's nature, and it is what it is. You can interpret it anyway you like.

Photojournalism was practiced as early as the 1850s, but the pictures werent't published until the 1880s, due to printing presses only being able to publish from engravings. The first pictures of photojournalism were of the Crimean war done by Carol Szathmari. The artform became more popular during the 1920s.

Here are three sites that I found to be useful:

Black Star
Photojournalism - Window to the World
Steve McCurry

Now, for the three pictures that I like:

Afghan Girl by Steve McCurry

This is a famous, famous picture that first appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1985. What really captures the viewer is the detail in her eyes and her expression. Her piercing eyes and alertness is what is so striking. There is also a nice use of complimentary colors that makes this picture even more interesting. I can sit and look at this picture all day.

Joy of Living by Arthur Fellig

What I like about this picture is how he creates irony with the sign in the background. It really gets you thinking how life is cruel sometimes, but we have to go on. Sometimes the joy of living is life itself, and that is clearly the case in this picture. There are so many other little things that you think about when looking at this picture.

Gandhi by Margaret Bourke-White

Gandhi, what more can I say? A moment that captures him in his element, his thought, and his life. So quiet, so peaceful, such a shame he was assasinated. Either way, it's a great composition and really captures the essence of Gandhi.