DIY "Unexpected" Video Stills

DIY "Unexpected" Video

"Television: Then & Now" Norms Group Video Stills

"Television: Then & Now" Norms Group Video

"Reality Check" a series from This American Life

This story is about a bull owner and a band called Ghost of Pasha. The problem in this story is that the two are being judged by society and is tricked by what is really real and what is there dream. And the solution is to establish the difference between the truth and your dream no matter how much it hurts.

Greenfield, Lauren; "Money + Kids"

This video shows a bunch of kids with money and kids without money. There was a group of kids where everything is handed to them because they ask for it. And another group of kids where they have to work hard to get something they want. Some were just plain spoiled, some had worked for what they have received, some hid the truth about there money, some were barley making it and some were just brats.

Vida, Vendela; "Girls on the Verge"

Amador, Alexander; "My Brown Eyes" from ENTERING NEW TERRITORY

Alex lives in an area where gang activity is very high and he gets involved in a gang. He doesnt always like being involved in gangs because it causes people to die. But he says they are family. His brother got arrested and now cares for his mom. Alex prays that his life will not end up like his brother's. He doesnt want to get arrested, but he looks up to his brother for taking care of his mom.

Smith, Alison; "Curve" from RED edited by Amy Goldwasser

Alison is 16 years old and the complete opposite of Amy. Its her against healthy bodies. She is not liked by other girls because she is naturally "super" skinny. And she thinks it is not fair that she is too skinny and she thinks that other girls dont understand how hard it is to be a skinny person. As much as it sound mean, she really isnt trying to be mean because she is saying that she has a hard time being skinny.

Morand, Cindy; "The Border" from RED by Amy Goldwasser

Hunt, Amy; "Sleeves" from RED edited by Amy Goldwasser

Amy is a sixteen year old teenager that is very self conscience about her body. Most of her friends are skinny, but she thinks they are only her friend because they feel bad for her. And she hears people make fun of her in the worst possible way. But she finds the need to defeat herself way before others have the chance.

Goldberg, Karen; "Social Network benefits validated"

This article talks about how social networking is good and bad. Parents give their opinions and some think that social networks are ok, some think that they are bad. And some choose no side, they think it is up to their child to have one or not. But kids need to know that they need to be careful when they are on the internet. and who they make friends with online.

Hefferman, Virginia; "Being There"

A group of kids find facebook more conforting than myspace. Even though the two are very similar but they have there differences. The article goes on to talk about status updates and how pointless it is to know everything that someone is doing at that very moment. And it also talks about what is socially acceptable and what is not accepted.

Myspace Article

This article tells us the truth about MySpace and why so many kids sucked into using it. Kids want a place that they feel is an easy place to find social comfort and MySpace is that place. MySpace is a place where these kids can choose to portray themselves in anyway they want. So if a person is not that attractive in real life they can show themselves and become more attractive looking online.

The RIGOR Article by Tony Wagner

Today's skills are what students need in to build successful skills. 21st Century Skills are survival skills in order to allow people to become productive citizens. There are 7 skills and they are critical, collaboration, agility, initiative, effective oral skills, curiosity, and imagination. One must work hard to obtaining these skills.

"What's Next?" Norms Indiviual Video Stills

"What's Next?" Norms Indiviual Video

Ritual

Driven to Drive

My right of passage would be when I finally received my driver’s license. Because without my driver’s license, I felt so bad when I had to be dependent on other people to pick me up and drop me off places. And for my problem with the whole process of getting my license took about two long years. I started my driver’s training classes Fall of 2006. It was so stupid going to a class room and do packets of work that is straight out of the driver hand book. I remember sitting in the back, listening to my ipod in that freezing class room. While my Filipino teacher would try joking around with you, I would always try my hardest to avoid talking to him. After completing that class that I could have easily taken online, I took my permit test and passed the 1^st time. Then I started my behind the wheel training. My behind the wheel teacher was my same class room Filipino teacher. He was a good teacher it’s just that sometimes it takes me a while to learn things. So he would get mad at me for not knowing what to do. So after doing 3 driving sessions with him, I could now go practice with my parents. I would get lazy and not practice that much and basically didn’t go to the DMV for a while to take my behind the wheel test. I finally went and took it, I was so nervous that day, as we were waiting in line with my mom in the hot building of the DMV in Arleta. So we get to the front of the line and this was a day before my 18^th birthday, May 4^th, they said that I didn’t have the right paper work. And it wouldn’t matter if I had it or not by the next day because I was 18 by the next day. I had to leave and come back another day to take it. I ended up waiting too long and my permit expired. Well after that I had to study the handbook again so I could pass the permit test again. I headed to the Arleta DMV that day with my mom, confident as ever. I headed to the testing center with my head held high. I answered the questions to the best of my knowledge. I stood up and walked to the desk and handed my test to the lady so she could correct it. Then she handed it back saying I failed! I got 24 wrong! I was so confused. How could I fail something I already passed? A few weeks went by after that, and this time I did some deep studying. I headed back to the horrible place called the DMV, and I took my time on the test and I failed again! So then the lady said I can take it one more time but if I failed again I would have to pay $10 to take it again. The second time I was taking it that day I was praying to God that I would pass so badly. I turned my second test in and then she said I only got 14 wrong. I was so relieved. Now I just had to practice my actual driving. A few weeks pass after driving almost everyday with my parents. And I headed back to the horrible DMV, hoping it would be my last visit there for a while. I took the behind the wheel test with the same lady that failed me the 1^st time. Oh and did I mention that I failed because of an ambulance. I was heading down the street and I heard the ambulance and was about to pull over and she said in a stern voice “pull over!” and I knew I failed. But back to this time. I was so nervous, praying that I would pass this time, we went around the block and then she made me go into a neighborhood and then a busy street. Then she made me pull into the DMV, I parked the car and waited for her while she made notes on her clipboard. Trying to read what she was thinking off the expression of her face but I couldn’t. Then she looked up at me and said “Congratulations, you passed!” She smiled and handed me a paper saying I passed. So after dealing with drama with learning how to driver for 2 years, it sure pays off to be able to depend on myself to drive myself anywhere I want to. That is with my parents permission.

Versus

My Days

As a senior in high school, this year I have become so busy with every week. I go to school at Granada Hills Charter High School. I get to school around 7:30 am and leave around 1:00 pm. After that I usually head to my church, where I volunteer, and I am also a youth leader with the Youth Ministry at my Church. I go to the Center @ Granada Hills. I usually go by my church and see what I can help with. And if I cant do anything to help out, I will do my homework there or hang out with the Youth Pastor, who is also my best friend. After that I will head home (if Im not already there) and get ready for work. I work at a Grocery Stored by the name of Hows. There is only 5 in Southern California. And I usually work a 4 o’clock to 10 shift. That’s because my boss thinks that I can only work at night. Oh well. But I go to school 5 days a week. I go to church 3 days a week. And I go to work about 4 days a week. So I have a pretty busy schedule. I remember in my previous years in high school I would come home from school and be so bored and have nothing to do. I would sometimes spend my Saturdays alone, watching tv, going online, or play video games. Now I can’t even remember the last day I had nothing to do. Even on my days off I am busy. But these are my norms. Now when I get out of this routine I have created, it kind of messes up everything. Like if I don’t have church on a Wednesday, I would be at work or at home, and it would confuse me because I am usually not at those places on a Wednesday night. Also I normally work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday/Sunday. Now if I have a Monday off of work, I freak out because I am at home (there is nothing wrong with being home) but I love it because I get to catch up on playing wii fit or I get to work on something I don’t normally have time to work on. In a way these things conflict with my norms because it is a change in my schedule.

Social Networking

Travis Gergen is typing on Donald’s new laptop. 2:20 pm

I personally think that social networks today are becoming more and more useless. It seems like they are more to keep someone busy while they are bored. Or give someone a purpose. I am saying this because social networks like facebook and mypace are meant to keep people social with others. But it seemed to me that when I didn’t have a myspace, (because one summer I was tired of all the drama myspace caused so I deleted my account and I had mostly a drama free summer) I had fun without it as well. In a way it is also good because you keep in contact with long distance friends. But I only made one to view pictures of friends and stuff, only because I am interested in seeing pictures of people. I don’t go on myspace and try to get a million friends and try to get 200 comments on each picture. I look at myspace as a place to share a little bit of information with my friends. But from time to time I do enjoy myspace but I am so glad I am not one of those “myspace whores” the ones that go on every chance they get and have these decked out profiles. If you go look at my profile, it is plain and simple. Because I am cool like that. The only thing that I concern myself with on my myspace is my pictures. I think it is because my fascination with pictures that drives me to do that. I am not the person who tries to get the best possible shots of myself on page. I use pictures that include my friends or maybe have been taken by my friends. But I cant really choose a side because I am on both sides. I think it can be bad if there is too much information about yourself on your page or something. And I am not really cool with very young kids having social networks because they don’t even need them. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t need a social network. I can do fine without one.

What Matters Most

What matters most to me is Jesus. It might sound cliché to you, but it is true. I would not be the person I am now with out him saving me. If it was not for the trails and tribulations he put me through I would probable in the worst state of mind. My friends have even noticed that I am a different person ever since I was saved by Christ. I am so thankful that I have Christ in my life, to help protect me from so many temptations. But even as a Christian, I do suffer from sinful temptations. Thankfully Jesus forgives, he wipes your slate clean, and you start over new. In my life, what matters most to me is having Jesus in every step of it.

"Roller Boogie"

Rob Sheffield tells about his passion with rock-and-roll. As a teen, Sheffield made playlist for school dances. He was so in love with this hobbie that he didnt worry about anything in the world. I wish I could have done that when I was 13 years old.

"Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life"

John Stellers talks about how he went from listening to music on CD's to listening to music on iTunes. He feels great when he buys CD's, and enjoys the whole process of a new CD. He loves itunes but doesnt want to go through with itunes all the way. And he loves the play count option on iTunes.

"Play"

Olive Panter, 16, writes a story about music. Olive grew up listening to music and learning how to create art- in all of its ways. She drops a lot of bands and musician names showing her infromation of music. She likes all kinds of music. She finds out that everyone has different music and that means everyone has different lifes.

"What Truthiness Taught Me About Being (Un)Cool"

Sarah Schelde, is obsessed with Stephen Colbert. She even likes to accept Mr. Colbert's life myths. The narrator claims that she owes her individuality to this Colbert because it helped her to achive her goals. She admires Stephen Colbert's strong sense of morals.

"Appeal From an Angry Not So Emo"

Kali Moriarty, 15, feels people at her school pick on her group of friends becasue the way they act. They call her group "emo". Kali infroms us that the bullying needs to stop becasue is can cause physical harmed to ones self. The story talks about how hard it is to be a teenager sometimes.

"Just Watch"

Saskia Boggs, 17, tells about the role television plays in her family's life. Saskia thinks that watching T.V. distracts her from talking with others and it competes with music to get poeples attention.But Saskia tells us how hard it is to stop watching television.

"The Depth of Depp"

A crazy girl or you could call her a teenager named Grace Habegger talks about her love with Johnny Depp. She is an actress, the narrator is inspired by Johnny Depp and his 'amazing' talent playing the characters he has played. Grace tells us how she 1st heard of Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands. She learns about acting from his work. Grace loves listening to Johnny Depp speak in interviews because he makes things sound more important to the world. She loves the way Depp takes care of his family.

"The O.C.- The Road Warrior"

Summer & Marissa talk about voice overs. Summer records her voice and then plays the recording. In the recording, Summer speaks what she thought about what clothes she is/was going to wear. SHe comes up with an understanding that we need to make decions even if people already make decions for us. Marissa doesnt get it, Summer argues that voice-overs make stories more dramatic. Which is true because just look at our videos

"High School Confidential- Episode 1: Lauren G. and Cappie"

Lauren G. and Cappie are two high school girl. Completly different from eat other. But they are both in the same grade, and the cameras follow them around from 9th grade to 12th grade. They both tell the best and the worst things that have happend to them through out high school. Lauren G. became a cheer leader, but she developed a tumor in her brain. As if high school wasnt as bad as it is. And Cappie starts as a party girl and trys to find help by hanging out with boys because she didnt have the greatest realtionship with her father. But both girls go through tough struggles and become a even better person in the end.

"This American Life- My Way"

The cameras follows three people with crazy personalities. 1st is 14-year-old Joe lives in his own world of Dungeons and Dragons. He doesnt like to deal with the emotion love, so he decides to never fall in love. Not even with his family. Brad Blanton is a polititionwho thinks that being completly honest is always the best policy. He promises to never lie because lying makes him come off as wrong. Marcus Halevi is a photographer who takes pictures of unbarble acts. The 3 are all very different from the normal person and they dont want to change the way they are.

"This American Life- God's Close-Up"

Two people tell us about their favorite Biblical scenes. McPherson is a Mormon who travels around Utah looking for men with beards, which is a hard because Mormons dont reallylike men who grow beards. The bearded men are used as models as Jesus and His followers and Ben paints the scenes. The second character, Christy, is an atheist and she is a very confusing girl. Her father is a Christian. Christy says she does not believe in God, but she likes painting pictures of Jesus. Bob and Christy like to paint their personal interpretations of images in the Bible. Which is very confusing to me.

"Running"

"Running" Juan is a guy who is obsessed with running. Especially the streets of LA. The narrator observes everything around him.The narrator keeps the story fast just as he is running. Rodriguez loves the beauty of life because he thinks that Los Angeles is nasty.

"Born to Run"

Bruce Springsteen reflects on the creation he took to produce his record, "Born to Run". Springsteen musician searching for people to listen to his music. His lyrics tell his emotions in a song format. This video has video footage of Springsteen in the studio and on stage. It has interviews with Springsteen, his producer, engineer, and band members were also in these videos. After watching this video, I am inspired to make my story nothing like this.

"My So Called Life- Pilot"

The girl talking tells us her thoughts about high school in this television-form personal narrative. She lives with her mom, dad, and younger sister. BY making an extreme change, she dyes her hair. The show has acting, music, and voice-overs. After watching this I want to show a side of me that people would not expect.

"Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence"

Paul Feig tells us about his insecurity as a kid. He tells about school and his mother and how they empacted his life. You feel bad for him becasue of his name, But he seems to be crying about such a silly thing. But I can understand becasue it can affect you in a major way when you grow older.

"I Am From" Video Stills

"I Am From" Video

My LA

Though I am not from Los Angeles, I am from Granada Hills, which is in Los Angeles County, which is the same thing, right? But I have been sheltered from the dark side of LA my whole life. I have only been to down about 4 times my whole life. Been to Hollywood probably 25 times, to see shows at the El Capitan. But I have been to North Hollywood many many times. So many times that I almost lived there. But I know most of the streets there and I know so many people there, but not the whole city just a good 50 to 100 people that live there. But I love North Hollywood, I love how they have the NoHo art district that is only a block long or so. But in the block it has a few cool art stuff but nothing crazy. I basically lived on Burbank and Lankershim. Because I use to go to the church right on that corner called The Center at North Hollywood. That church was so big and I was discovering new rooms in that place for weeks. It was amazing how big that place was. Unforchanetly, our church didn’t have enough money to support such a large piece of property so we moved to Granada Hills. We still love our church, plus its not about the building or location. It’s about God.

Travis Gergen, 18 ;Dos and Don’ts

What fires me up is life. I mean the point of life is to live it out as long as you can and do what is best, great, and fun in life. You have to live your life out to the fullest, but stay in the boundaries of society. What I mean is that you can have fun but you can’t go all crazy and loose all your morals and other things while you’re having fun. Like I can go out and have fun with friends, as long as I don’t go drinking, do drugs, or have sex. I think most kids do whatever they want to do, without any restrictions. I have boundaries that I won’t cross, but I once have crossed these boundaries. But I try my best to not even go near these boundaries anymore. Anyways back to the point, what fires me up is life and all that I can do. I choose the safer routes when the outcome can be dangerous. But with things that I know the outcome could be I will take ricks and chances. I want to basically not look back at situations and say “I should have done that”. No regrets anymore. And I know I’m all over the place now but I don’t care anymore. Live your life to the fullest without hurting anyone.

"I am from" Poem

I am from a place of annoyance
From stress and hurt
I am from a place where I don’t like where I am at this very moment
From a place where I can’t control myself
I am from a place where I am no longer talking
From a place where I can only scream in my head
I am from a place where I want to scream so badly at someone
From a place where someone is underneath my skin
I am from a place where I wish I was really happy
From a place where I am angry
I am from a place where I can’t do anything with quality
From a place where everything I produce is just crap
I am from a place where I think I need therapy
From a place where I slowly start feeling better
I am from a place where I am starting to talk again
From a place where I am smiling again
I am from a place where I am getting my day back
From a place where I am choosing the mood I am in
I am from a place where I am not letting the events in a day decide my mood that I am in

Mixed CD Poem

I have paid attention to many things in my life
I decided that I should go to rehab when I grow up
I have been chasing pavements forever
I felt like I was lost and real, and the spotlight was on full blast
I felt so damaged and like there was no angel watching over
I knew that the energy would come to me
When I started breaking dishes, I was becoming hot n’cold
I was begging for mercy to finally take a bow
I felt like I was in disturbia
All I wanted to say to myself was “Live your life”
Her name was Valerie, she was pretty much damaged
She happen to be in love with an American boy who decided to come back to LA
She wanted to meet a womanizer, but she was just hanging around a bunch of single ladies
She would say to her-self “I hate this part”
But she knew that she would find a pocket full of sunshine soon enough
Also she knew very well that she would be bleeding love
And if you take one step at a time life keeps getting’ better
And that’s when she knew that she would now say “Live your Life”

Attention (2008)

Attention is a playlist I started April of 2008. At the time I had a beautiful girlfriend, I was becoming a leader at my church, and I was in a very interesting film class. Now the true meanings of some of these songs may not relate to me in anyway. For example, the song “If I Never See Your Face Again” by Maroon 5 feat. Rihanna, did not apply to me in any way. Me and my girlfriend would change the lyrics to “If I never see your face again I will mind”. Most of these songs when I hear them now bring me back to a time in my life where I enjoyed life at the fullest. The song “Chasing Pavements” by Adele, reminds me mostly of my girlfriend because I listened to that song for the first time when I was with her. We had an event at my church called a Lock in. Its where the kids sleep over at the church (with adult super vision) and they could play video games, hang out, or stay up all night. I remember I was with my girlfriend Kristina and we were watching T.V. in one of the rooms of the church and on the T.V. was some morning show. The T.V. was kind of fuzzy, so you couldn’t see the picture completely. Anyways, Adele was performing on this morning show. I just remember sitting on the couch with my girlfriends legs laying across my knees and hearing this song. Then turning and looking into her beautiful dark brown eyes. And that’s one of the memories I get from this playlist. But the meaning has nothing to do with us; just the song reminds me of her. The song “Disturbia” by Rihanna brings me back to when I was taking a Pierce College class on the Granada campus. The class was cinema 107; we would watch films and analyze them and studied what made them interesting etc. My professor was Professor Costa, one of the best teachers of all time. He was so down to Earth, and explained things in depth to you if you didn’t understand. And he would make sure you would understand exactly what he was talking about. Also he would give us free time, because he had us for 4 hours a day, and during this free time I would listen to my ipod or read my bible. During the same time I was in that class I downloaded on iTunes a new song by Rihanna. But this song was not a single yet so I felt like I was discovering gold when I 1st listened to it. I remember sitting in the seat closest to the door in F7, with the door open, feeling the warm summer breeze. This another time I enjoyed. Now to go to a time that was not so great. This summer, my church moved from North Hollywood to Granada Hills. It was a big transition. We lost a lot of members of our church such as staff, leaders, and students because of distance issues. Now this was a sad time for me because I was saying bye to a lot of good friends that I would not be seeing that often anymore. But I discovered this song on YouTube. John Kappas is a YouTube artist who is slowly rising. Now listening to his music in a sad time helped me cope with a lot of things. But I don’t want to go into too much with that song because as I said that wasn’t a high point in my life. And if you notice the songs after that were mostly comforting songs for me. Later on around early October, I listened to songs like “Reebok Video” by Yelle, this was a high point of my life because I just got my 1st job, and a day after I got my license, and I could listen to this song in my car when driving. And I wouldn’t have to worry about my mom liking the music because I was driving. But when I hear the song I think of ending summer and driving to and from work (because that was the only place I drove to at that time) in my dad’s 95 green Chevy truck. I could hear the hard beat of the song cover the engine’s load growling sound.

"Handwritten" Mixed CD Playlist

I Could Tell Stories: Sojourns in The Land of Memory by Patricia Hampl Summary

Patricia starts off with describing things with out putting any feelings or emotions in to them. At 1st she is just talking about meaningless musical stuff. But later on she starts to describe the creating of music and what it takes to make music and all sorts of things. But later on I figured out that there was some true depth to this. Because she started to talk about the complexity of creating music.


Relating this to making a movie: this can be related to making a movie because music and film making are both artistic activities. Just how she was talking about how the draft of something is where you just let free and put anythingvand everything into it. But then later on you revise your draft taking out unnessisary things to make it a true work of art. That is what she is talking about when she talks about the complexity of creating music. Well it's the same with creating a movie it is a very complex prosses but the results are amazing at the end.

Talladega Nights Remake: Director's Cut

Talladega Nights Remake: Movie Poster

This is a poster for Talladega Nights Remake.

Talladega Nights Remake Video

Remake Video Behind the Scenes Video

Talladega Nights Remake: Video Stills

Ricky gives Girad a hug and congradulates him for loosing.

Ricky visits Girad at his house.

Susan gives Ricky a pep talk.

Ricky is attacked by a Cougar.

Reese Bobby convinces Ricky to drive again.

Cal and Carly are gettin married!

Ricky stabs himself in the leg.

Ricky and Girad get in a fight at the bar.

Ricky has his first race.

Lucy Bobby gives birth to ricky.

Talladega Nights Remake: Behind the Scenes video stills

These are stills from the behind the scenes from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby