PAA Promotional Video

In complete honesty, this promotional video would almost steer me away from considering PAA as an option. 
Firstly, I wouldn't be able to take it seriously... The backdrops are corny and the music is indeed outdated. Although the student interviews were an element of the video that I enjoyed, almost every interview ended with the same thing: "Not only does it help me in _____, but in other things, like life, as well." Not only was it redundant and distracting, but made it seem as if they weren't being completely genuine with what they were saying. Even the teachers (I won't name anyone) seemed unsure about what they were saying, whether it was because they were nervous and trying to say the "right" things, or simply didn't look at the camera, which made it feel as if they weren't really talking to an audience anymore, but running off of the top of their head on what to say. I do believe that they had good intentions, but the discomfort they felt was apparent. I appreciated the parent interviews, and they did well.
The style of the video made PAA seem like a weird religious school with all of the weird backgrounds of crosses and stuff. It was merely off-putting and didn't seem very professional. I would personally love to see a whole new style overall. Something fun, fresh and creative, but completed with quality and professionalism. 
I'd like to add some pretty cool things that PAA has to offer, like the Portland Adventist Academy Abolitionist Movement and the ESL program that is always booming with new students. I would say the music matched up to the visuals, only because they were both equally not awesome. 
The use to two different videos at the same time was confusing and the little boxes everything was displayed in made it hard to take seriously.
Truly, it felt as though not very much time was spent on the making of this video. Apologies if there was much time consumed in creating it, but I feel like a promotional video for PAA could be simply radically done. 

High School News Group

http://www.myhsj.org/

A Response to "Broadcast News."

              "Broadcast News" was definitely an interesting film, in more ways than one. To watch it, was like following three characters throughout their lives- with their career life being a main part of it, loaded onto the storyline was their odd emotions and reactions, their personal, even sexual lives... However, even though their lives are very much involved with each others', it didn't end that way, at all. Not the greatest ending in my opinion, but it was less predictable than It could have been.

              The humor, was consistent and adequate... How they handled their relationships and career, however, was not. It seemed as if there was a sort of weakness and confusion on whether they knew what they wanted of not, it was easy for them all to become distracted and they were torn down with ease. This also shows me that it could be fairly challenging for them to be consistent with their values and virtues. This is proven by, for example, Tom's fabrication in emotion during his interview, and/or Jane's so-called "love" for Tom. He didn't have the real, raw talent and knowledge that Aaron truly had- yet he was kept behind the scenes and Tom's anchoring was basically, "staged."

              Personally, I was more able to identify that Aaron belonged in the television news side of things, and Tom in show business. Why, you ask? Aaron could write, he knew his stuff, and was passionate about his job. Tom was more about appearance and charisma, but was rather uneducated and a total airhead when he had to anchor, himself. Television news requires what Aaron had, and although Tom looked good on camera, he would most likely be better in show business. He's obviously a good actor, because he had Jane fooled- the woman who is solid in her work, the person you wouldn't think would get easily tricked, or swayed. 

              Predictably, my opinion on who the most complex character is, would be Jane. Firstly (with no intention of being sexist), the female mind is interestingly different from that of a man's- The mind of a woman is probably more sensitive to the environment it's exposed to, reacts in various different ways when put in extreme conditions, and even the way they think through things is unique. Secondly, because she is the only female in the presence of two males, there is definitely a stark contrast in how situations will be handled and controlled, if that. 

              In conclusion, the movie was probably fairly diverse and had a better-than-bad storyline. The actors were exquisite and the humor was awkwardly rich. I very much appreciated being able to discover it through marvelous professors who obviously have excellent taste in films. I loved the fact that it was made in the 90's, which is a great time in our history fashion-wise, although not so great politically. (Strictly my personal opinion.) 

              

Don't Worry.

"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." Matthew 6:34

Worrying and planning ahead are different things. We go to bed with that nagging concern about what will happen "tomorrow."
Sometimes we let this take over our lives. We allow our days to be intruded with these worries, and sometimes we even become depressed. It’s hard to let go of that “nagging concern…” And I know that even through prayer, it won’t always completely leave us- it may still be in our minds, but in a mild fashion and some of the burdening may go away. (Clearly, Jesus is referring to worrying about what will happen in the future and not just literally tomorrow.)

It may be a conflict that troubles us. We may be facing someone who has hurt us or that we have hurt.
But whatever happens, happens for a reason. This is where our faith gets a little shaken up- we have to trust in Him. There is no pre-solidified answer, but that makes it beautiful. It gives people something to believe in. Whether we think so or not, everyone has a natural desire to believe in something.

Jesus wants us to let go of our anxiety. We must live in the present moment.
If we don’t live in the present moment, we will never catch up with ourselves. We will never truly live life in the point in time in which it matters, which basically defies the purpose of trying to live our lives without worrying.
There are too many opportunities we could miss today by worrying about what might happen tomorrow.
The Lord could come between now and tomorrow and all our worry would have been silliness.

"When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul." Psalm 94:19-20

Don’t worry so much. If you do, the life ahead of you is basically meaningless. You must decide to rip out the roots of the “nagging” sensation that occurs within. Take it out, straight from the heart, where it hurts and bothers us the most.

Basically, know that God is there, and to become vulnerable and turn our heart to Him is the best answer. We can’t carry a burden on our own, not for very long, at least… The point is to realize that we need him- even when we don’t feel like praying, or talking to Him at all, we must recognize that it is how we feel. We can take that and just tell Him, You know what? I don’t feel like talking to you, and I don’t want to talk about it right now… But I do know that You’re there and always willing to listen. I’m here, carrying this all on my own, making my own walk difficult. You can take it all away; I just have to give it to you. And until I’m ready to completely let go and turn it over to you, I will just have to endure the rough journey.

My Favourite.

A little something I wrote in approximately three minutes and six seconds to emphasize my interest and preference for the British spelling standard. I typed in frustration as the computer attempted to "correct" the words I fancied. I found this to be very distasteful and irritating. I must, however, include that I don't exactly like every way the British spell certain words or verbs. However, many are well enjoyed and appreciated by me. Here is a short snippet to serve as an example for your reading.

My favourite colour is grey. I find it humorous that some think that it isn't glamourous. I've seen it in a catalogue at the Clackamas Town Centre, the mall with the new theatre. It is an honour to live nearby. Even though it is far enough to where I must drive my automobile there, there is room for analogue between driving and walking. There are quite a bit of metres between my home and the galleria. Despite what many others may think, dialogue may still take place even in the comfort of a modern automobile. I've learnt and dreamt of the day where I can say I merely "leapt" to the Town Centre.

Terrible work, but it gave me an excuse to utilize these words.

High school. A mere series of mental toils and memories made with friends. For the moment, it seems to last a lifetime. When it's all over, it is only a flicker of life's adventures that have been lived but never forgotten. I sit here in realization that high school does, in fact, flutter by in the blink of an eye. It's almost over, but at the same time the year has just started. I have much to learn and much to conquer. I wait longingly and impatiently to see where I end up in the flow of life. No matter what happens, where I am, or who I am with, I know that there are the good times and the bad. High school was honestly a whole lot of bad. Seeping through those cracks are rays of good, love, positive energy and excitement. Spending four years with nearly the same people creates a bond that can be quickly broken as soon as we are out of high school. This scares me, because it can be hard to love. I have learned to love many people who may or may not be in my life in the future, and that causes me to fear. What if I don't want to let go? What if I want to stay where I am, comfortable, in the know of people and what's happening? My melancholic and phlegmatic personality want to go along with that relaxed, laid-back lifestyle where nothing really changes. Honestly, I want to go against it. I am so excited to start a new branch in my life that will extend to places as far as anyone can imagine. To meet new people and live life with them, being the best that I can be and being an image of God to them, with open arms to comfort souls. Life may not come along as we imagine, but that doesn't mean it won't be great. It's up to us to live our lives happy, well, and move forward as legendary vikings and fearless leaders. We are adventurers, seekers of journeys and battles we will victoriously overcome. Life is good, life is great, and it truly can be seen when you just take the time to look at it.

Plans for Project One

I have two ideas for my project but I haven't decided on which one I'd like to pursue.
I plan to use one picture. The idea is to show different parts and perspectives of the same picture and/or object, with some sort of voice over and music in the background. My second idea is to create a poem on windows, and pick out specific parts of certain pictures that contain windows. This, of course, will include the required voiceover and optional music in the background. My whole plan is obviously weak, but I'll have fun with it and mess around as I go along.
-----
I've already begun on my project. I decided to go along with the idea of using windows. I'm having a pretty good time so far, and it has kept me from napping today, which I am grateful for, because maybe I'll be able to get more than four hours of sleep tonight. :D.
-----
Writing my own poem for the voiceover that will be added into it later on. Getting pretty excited about this.

Questions On The Film

1. Write a 1-2 sentence synopsis of the movie. Who are the major characters?

My Kid Could Paint That is a documentary on the early life and fame of a four year old girl who is seen as a prodigy, selling paintings for thousands of dollars in art galleries. Such a story created quite a stir in the media and art world, with many questions arising from many people around the world. What started off as an innocent and honest story turned out to become a controversial, masked and much disputed subject. 

The major characters are Marla Olmstead, Mark Olmstead, Laura Olmstead, Elizabeth Cohen, and Amir Bar-Lev.

2. Marla's parents give permission to the documentary director of the film, Amir Bar-Lev, to make the movie. At a certain point, they change their minds. There is a tug-of-war over who owns the story. Who controls the story now? Marla's parents or Bar-Lev?

It seems as if Bar-Lev controls the story. He always had the power to control it, being the producer of the film. He could make it seem as if the parent's side was right over the media, and vice versa. What the parents wanted, of course, was to sort of clear their name and have the documentary be a sort of proof of Marla being the real artist. Towards the end, especially, it seemed as if Marla's parents spun out of control, losing their credibility on the story, leaving people possibly confused and/or undecided, unable to pick sides on who to believe, the parents or the media.

3. Marla's story started off as a cute little human interest story. As a result of media interest, the story takes a dark turn when people began questioning if her father is helping create the paintings. What determines when a story has "run its course?" When is a story in the media done? Can you think of examples in the news where a story seems to have run its course, but is artificially kept alive in the press?

I believe that a story in the media becomes stagnant when too much controversy occurs. At a certain point, people may become sick of it, not knowing who to believe or what opinion to follow. People usually like a good story with a bit of controversy and then a solid ending. In this case, however, nothing is really solved in the end and people are left to make their own decision on what they believe, rather than having the media or set-in-stone facts to tell them what to believe.

An example would be that of the missing boy named Kyron. So many twists in the story only anger the audience and people eventually give up and their opinion on it turns sour. 

4. In the beginning, Bar-Lev was allowed into the family's home to document a sweet little story about a four-year old child. And then the story began to change...

What sort of responsibility do you think a documentary filmmaker or non-fiction writer has? Is Bar-Lev just documenting the story? Or is a part of the story; is he helping actually create his own version of the story?

A person in that situation has many responsibilities. I think someone who is in such a position as this is in an intense place. This said person is getting closely involved in the lives of the family and friends of the family who may be used as credible sources or who may be interviewed for information and different points of view. If you mess up, your documentary can be cut short by who you are making a documentary of. 

I did get the impression that he was actually creating his own version of the story, kind of implying that Marla's paintings like "Ocean" were very different than the others that seemed to be more "polished" or refined. My final thought on it, though was that he really wasn't attempting to do that. I really do think he was just leaving it up to the viewers, because in his documentary he was able to get both the good and the bad of the whole story. 

5. What did you think of the documentary overall? Did it capture your interest? How did it change the way you perceive how stories are portrayed in the media?

I thought that the documentary was very different and interesting. I was very much pulled in by the negative possibilities of the story the Bar-Lev brought out. It didn't quite change the way I see stories brought out by the media, but it did give me a sort of insight on what people go through. It gave me sense of ugly. It was a dark, dirty, chaotic mess of pain and distress. It's something not everyone thinks of when they see something brought out by the media.

6. The story has now seemingly fallen off into oblivion. The documentary was made in 2007 so what information can you find to add to the story? What has happened since? What are your final feelings/thoughts regarding this story?

I've read through a couple of blogs, and it appears as if she is still painting. A more recent painting, called New Art, is selling for 30 grand, a bit more than what she was making on paintings that were included in the documentary. She is now in second grade, and her parents say that she is even less able to paint as often as before, and her style of painting is changing- it's no longer as abstract, where now she is starting to paint things such as horses. Her parents sell the paintings through the website alone.

I do feel as if maybe she really did paint them all. There is that lingering thought that maybe Zane was really painting them, or painting them with her, or that maybe her father helped her, even if he didn't have to pick up a paintbrush. My thoughts are that it is a possibility that she may have gone through a process where she changes certain techniques and colors in her paintings, creating a whole new feel and flavor. It seems as though most strokes and circles and similar elements stay the same in her paintings, but seem to almost change as a whole throughout her "career" as an artist. I really don't like knowing that I could be giving her the credit that doesn't belong to her, or not giving her enough. Whether she completed them all on her own or not, I still do believe that she is an artist and has a talent that many cannot claim to possess. It could just be a child playfully painting with no deeper intent in her art. Even then, I do appreciate her work, and I would love to hang it on my wall... for a nonexistent price, of course. 

One of my personal favorites by Marla Olmstead.

An Introduction To a Blog's Future

Although this blog has been created for classroom purposes, It is available to be used however I wish. At the moment, however, I am listening to the strong and vibrant voice that belongs to the one and only Jonny Craig. Whilst indulging my ears on the musical glory that they are feasting on, I am luxuriating on miraculous amounts of  Snickerdoodle cookies, provided by Mr. Jonny Ashlock, the ultimate baker of all time. Being a ridiculous seventeen year old teenager, my intentions for this blog are solely based upon the future, when I evacuate the system of high school and further advance my schooling career at a university. For now, however, it will be used for class, and maybe the occasional silent posting of my converging with cookies and the harmonic but angelic voice of a man singing to me through tiny holes purposely put into my laptop. Other than that, this blog will be used full-force (hopefully), once I enter the world of not being in high school anymore.