Pretty Little Liars: episode 2

     In this episode, of Pretty Little Liars, we find out some more information. we find that the man that Aria met in the bar last weekend was the new English teacher at her school. When she walks into her English class, for the first time that year on the first day of school, she is appalled to find to that she had made out and flirted with this man that would one day be grading her assignments.  As this show progresses we also get to see the relationship buil rather quickly amongst the four girls. they start reminiscing on their last friendship with their best friend Allison. Some things that the girls tried putting behind them in the past start coming back up in their lives. Spencer remembers a fight that she had with Aliison, and believes that her death was her fault.
      The police are all over town trying to find out how Allison died. They were also hopeful that they would find suspects to blame for the crime, however no has any concrete evidence amongst anyone at this time. the only thing in this episode that happens is more flashbacks of the past, and also assumptions of who the murderer could be.

Prettty Little Liars: episode 1

     A teen series, written by Norman Buckley, is definitely a huge hit on the ABC television network today. While watching the first episode I automatically fell in love with the show and the actors in it. The storyline is very mysterious, and always leaves you wanting more, wether that's accomplished before a commericial, or leaving you at a cliffhanger before the next episode. In the beginning episode you get to figure out the main characters, and in the beginning you get to get a taste of who the girls are and semi- what they are about.
     There is this girl named Hannah. She has the best of everything when it comes to material things. she is very much about her image, due to the fact that she recently overcame obesity. There is another girl named Spencer. She is the intellectual friend, who fell for guys very easily due to their appearance. She grew up in a house full high expectations, and now she is just looking to let loose a little bi, but her indiscretions come out as time goes on. Emily is another one of the main characters in this show. She is the athlete friend who struggles with her sexuality. Being that she grows up in a family with strong morals, she was afraid to let her inner self show, therefore she walks around looking a little bit depressed. Last but not least is Aria. aria is the most plain gain girl of them all that is the most simple. She grew up in a family with her parents, however things, that we find in the show, start falling apart at home. this causes her to leave home at night and go out. While at a bar Aria comes across this guy who is much older than her and finds through conversation that they have a strong connection.
     In this episode we find that there is a girl, Allison, who dies, a girl that used to be best friends with all of these girls. Before Allison died, the girls stopped talking and during this episode they end up being drawn together by a mass message being sent to girls constantly by this mysterious person known as, "A". "A" seems to know all of these girls secrets that they keep amongst each other, and it's "A"'s mission to reveal all of the girls secrets, and make their lives a living hell. The girls se the only ones who know about "A" and they assume that "A" was their best friend, Allison's killer.

Wee Willie Winkie Video Project

    Dring this course, Video Production 1, we had been given a variety of assignments; however there was a lengthy one that was assigned to us. Our teacher assigned everyone in the class to come up withconsiders concept from a nursery rhyme and then to make that concept a student made movie, and then later the class will come up with their favorite concepts for the movie. From the favorites chosen, the teachers chose four groups to go with along with teams for each one of them. The group that I was assigned to was Nathan. Nathan's movie concept steamed off from the original nursery rhyme Wee Willie Winkie. In Nathan's pitch there was going to be a cast of three people; a mom and her two children. As time went by, our group held production meetings. We made a finalized script within a couple of weeks, we picked out our actors, and then finally we picked a location. During this process we faced a lot of issues with meeting. Evryone in our group faced busy/hectic schedules, and therefore we hardly were ale to plan time to shoot our movie. Two shooting days were canceled because other things got in the way of people comings to shoots. Only one person in our group had an excusable reason for not being there, and that was due to him getting married. As time was drawing near the deadline for the project our group had yet to establish any shots, yet set time for a shooting date.
     As time went on my partner and I were the only ones putting in anytime to our project. We even had to go to our teacher and ask for an extension. For this I felt horrible, but I knew that after aking to an extension that my group had to get their shit together! From that moment on my partner and I sat back down and went back to the drawing board. We ended up splitting all the designated jobs for the assignments between us two, we set a shoot date, and we were able to shoot in one day, and edit all in one day. It was a hectic process, but the end product made us very thankful that we were persistent in getting things done.

Movie Review: Set It Off

     After watching the movie Set It Off many years ago, I decided to write my very first blog on this movie. For starters I love this movie. I love the character differences between the main characters I this film. The director for this film, F. Gary Gray, did a wonderful job casting. Actors Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise, were stunning in this film production. Eveyone of these women had a character in the movie that had a story that viewers naturally sympathized with.  It was easy to feel a heavy sense of emotion for each one of the main characters because their characters we're so relatable; each one of them had a sense of grit to them which made their struggle seem so real, and it also made their decisions in this movie seem like the only way out of their life struggles.
     In this movie there are four friends that live in poverty in Los Angeles, California. One friend loses her job, another loses her brother. A son is taken from child protective services by another woman, and the other friend strives to earn more money. Due to their hard life situations the women decide to make to rob several banks within the LA area. The LAPD suspects the women and later finds out that some information that might convict the ladies to the crime they committed. Eventually after the girls rob one of the biggest banks within the area, it draws the police closer to them and ultimately their fate is in jeopardy after that point.
     Jada Pinkett Smith's character, "Stony", was the level headed person within the click that had values for her family and at one point in time herself as well. She was the character that faced a lot of internal struggle within the movie. Due to the hardships that she faced during the movie, you as the viewer felt internally happy for her when she came across true happiness. When it came to Queen Latifah's character, "Cleo", I thought that her persona was needed within the film. Cleo  was the nonchalant girlfriend in the film that had a hood swag to her, and liked to have a good time whether it was listening to music while joy ridding other people's cars, or by smoking marijuana. Cleo was the character that lived in a shell and couldn't see herself leaving where she came from, the projects. If anything Cleo was the most tragic character throughout this whole storyline. "Frankie", Vivica Fox's character was the confident, firy, business woman that wanted to be a career woman. Without Frankie this entire crime committed in the film wouldn't have happened as smoothly as it did. Since Frankie worked in a bank she knew the ins and outs of the system. Frankie's strong will and determination to rob the bank was the start to the huge drama that took place within the film. Last but not least is Kimberly Elises's character. "Tisean" was the soft spirit within the group of girlfriends that kind of dissipated with all of the other girls' strong personalities. However her demeanor starts to change when her son is taken by the CPS and her urgency allows for this to happen. All in all I must say that I was satisfied with all of the girls' characters.
   
   

Nursery Rhyme Logline and Treatment Assignment

Color Blind by Habib Ayat

For this assignment the nursery rhyme i chose was a mix between 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and 'As I was going by Charing Cross'. The reason I chose two nursery rhymes is because I think it clearly describes what the two main characters are going throughout  the entire screenplay.

Logline 

 With a face half burned, an insecure man tries to find love, and has no luck until a woman with no sight enters his life.

Treatment

The scene opens up with a middle aged man getting dressed in a button up shirt, some black slacks, and a black tie. The camera shot is capturing him getting dressed and getting himself together, however the camera hasn't yet captured his face. 

In the midst of him getting ready we will hear an underscore of music to keep the viewers entertained while camera shots are taken throughout his entire house. This will give viewers a taste of the type of lifestyle he lives. The camera shots, which I like to call specials, that will be taken of his house is his bedroom. I want people to notice how on one side of the bed the bed is made very neatly and the other side is unmade. I want there to be a shot of pictures. In these pictures I want them to show how the man looked before the accident, I want to see pictures of him and his wife together. I want to then see a picture of her by herself, then finally I want to get a close up of her eulogy. 

At this time I want the next shot to be taken of the man in his bathroom, washing his face and once he drys his face off, the camera will do a mid shot of him, then a close-up of his face. The viewers will then see that his face was half burned, and through his body language people will be able to tell that he is not yet adjusted to his looks. Before he leaves he goes to his kitchen grabs a banana from the counter, and leaves out the front door to his house.

The next scene takes place at his job, a bank. The next camera shot that's going to be taken is him driving his car into the parking lot of which he works. Throughout his day of work, through taking close ups, mid shots and some master shots, we see that his co workers treat him a certain type of way because of the way he looks. They treat extra nicely, and don't like coming to him to when they have problems because of the pain he has already been through. When some clients come in to his office, through mid shots and closeups the viewers will be able to tell that his customers are seeing him for the first time, and react to him by either staring, not looking at him at all, or acting a little freaked out by his appearance . After dealing with his fare share of customers that day, he closes up his office and is on his way to walk out of the building (master shot) . As he walks outside to the parking lot (master shot), he gets a phone call from a friend (close up of phone so viewers can know the name of the friend) of his who begs him to go speed dating with him, being now they are both single. After moments of going back and forth he agrees and goes home to get dressed for his multiple speed dates.

The next scene comes up to the man running into his house. This shot will start out as a master shot but then easily zoom into a medium shot. He rushes to get his clothes on, yet this time while he is getting ready we do see his face. After getting dressed he walks to his late wife's picture. He talks through the picture explaining how he misses the time when they were together and happy. He explains that even though it hurts he has to move through the pain, and go on with his life (being that its been 7 years since the accident). The man kisses his late wife's picture and after a deep breath the camera will move from a medium shot of him sitting on his bed to a closeup of his hand removing his wedding band from his fingers for the first time in 7 years. 

The next scene takes place in a lounge. There is a underscore of music, and the place looks really laid back and welcoming. The lighting should be dim to set a little but of a sultry mood, yet keeping a sense of mystery. There we the the man and his friend dressed up completely different from one another due to their personalities and due to their sense of social life. The man is wearing  suit, while his friend is wearing jeans and a fitted t-shirt. There at the lounge rest so many beautiful women  Close-ups and mid shots will be taken of a few selected women, and the others will be captured using a master shot.  Then we will get a glimpse of the man hanging out in the lounge while his friend goes to the restroom. As he scopes the room his anxiety grows stronger. Through this character's body language the viewers will be able to tell that he's completely out of his element. 

As the friend gets back from the restroom the host of the event calls everybody to sit down. The host will first have a master shot taken of  him, then he will have mid shots taken from all different kinds of angles. We then will see the men sit down along with others as the women come to them one by one. Each woman that approaches the man is gorgeous, but as soon as they see his face they become disgusted and make up an excuse to leave. This part of the scene will contain mid shots and close ups of the man's and all the women's faces and body movements.These shots will really illustrate the emotions the protagonist is going through.
The camera will slowly turn away from the man and the shot will move to the front door of the lounge. As the doors open the camera captures a beautiful pair of red stilettos and a sexy blue cocktail dress.The camera now faces the back of the woman's head, so this shot would be taken behind the actress. Once the woman is all the way in the lounge she goes to the bar and orders something to drink. There the man enters the shot and we see the man from the woman's peripheral vision.
From here the woman and the man share conversation. As dialogue progresses there will be some added effects to show the audience that conversation is going well without hearing a word out of their conversation. there will be closeups and mid shots taken from all different angles of both the man and the woman as they are sitting at the bar. During the editing process there will be a slowed down speed effect to show how great of a time they are having. I wan to see smiles, and laughter, and I want them to gaze into each others eyes as if they would never see each other again. Through added effects you can tell these two are having the time of their lives. His bodily movements are completely still verses before.
A close up is going to be taken of the man's face as well as the woman's. This is the first time the viewers have ever seen her face. She wears black sun shades indoors but ends up taking them off for the man to show that she's not what she seems. No matter how beautiful or how smart she is, the woman is blind and has been ever since she was little. She looks at the man for who he is and not with her eyes. The man looks at the woman for who she is and is happy that a beautiful woman took the chance to get to know him. He thinks her blindness is a gift because she has a something that no other person has on this planet that he knows of. She has the gift of not judging a book by its cover.
The next scene shows the man walking the woman to her car where her driver awaits. He gives her a kiss goodnight that's long and passionate and indeed memorable. The woman gets in the car and the man goes to his car and watches the woman and her driver drive off into the distance. As the man drives off and gets on the main road he waits in traffic, but he can't stop thinking about the time he just spent with the woman. The camera fades off of him and it looks like the movie is coming to a close, however the camera moves up past a long line of traffic, and in the beginning of the traffic you end up seeing an accident. The car in the accident ended up being in the car accident. You see a man coming out  of the car drunk and the driver inside of the woman's car with his head laying on the steering wheel bleeding, he's dead. In the backseat and in the passenger side there is nobody there. We soon see as the camera angles shifts that the passenger side door is open and lying on the grass near the street lays the woman the man fell in love with in just one night, bleeding and bruised. As viewers watch the women laying in the grass, and from the way she looks alone, they can tell within an instant that she too is dead. Off near the side of the street walking up slowly in clothes that looked disheveled and dirty comes a woman to the dead woman's side. From the pictures shown earlier you see that this woman is the late wife of the man. She tears up as she's walking from seeing the woman lying there dead, but she's really emotional because she knows what she's about to do but she knows its what's best for her husband. She bends down beside the woman and touches her. Her touch heals the woman brings her back to life, and the movie comes to a close as the late wife vanishes.

Time of Day Project

  Another

assignment that was given to us in video production class was our time of day project. In this project we had to take a picture of any image that we would like to that was located outside. We had to take pictures at sunrise, midday sunset, and twilight. My partner and I, Jessica Armstrong, chose for our image to be a tree that sits outside of her apartment. The image that you see on your right hand side is a picture that was taken of the tree midday. The time that this picture was taken was around 12:30 pm. Jessica Armstrong is the one responsible for taking this picture.....DOESN'T IT LOOK PRETTY???!!

  This picture that is located on your left hand side is one that I took of the same tree in the exact location that Jessica took the picture. I took my picture a precisely 12:37 pm, so this picture was also taken midday. The only thing that differs between the two pictures is that one is in color, and this one is in black and white. Later when looking at our other pictures, that we’ve taken, know that my partner Jessica took the pictures in color, and I took the ones in black and white. The other photos will be presented with captions, that way you know which pictures were taken at a certain time of day.

This picture here on the right was taken at sunrise. Notice how the tree’s light is darker than midday….this picture was taken on Tuesday morning, and that morning was one that was gloomy. The time that this picture was taken was around 6:45 am.

On the left hand side this is the same image of the same tree taken three minutes later by me, except like I’ve stated before this picture is in black and white.

This picture here was taken as the sun was starting to go down. Due to both Jessica and I our schedules were completely off so we did the best we could with making it around sunset. This picture was taken around 7:30 pm. Once again Jessica is responsible for taking this picture.

 

This picture was taken by me at around 7:58 pm, however we took this picture on two different days due to a conflict within our personal schedules.

 

Last but not least this picture was taken at twilight. As you can see the tree can hardly be seen. This picture was taken by Jessica at around 10:37 pm.

 

Here on the right is the picture that was taken at twilight by yours truly. Lol…..This picture was taken at around the time of 10:30