Peace in the Middle East April 28, 2016

Why are the Palestinians and Israelis always fighting each other?

Palestinians and Israelis are always fighting each other because they had a disagreement over a certain part of land. The Palestinians wanted to have their own country, but Israelis already lived there.

What are the causes of their dislike for each other?
One of the causes of their dislike for each other is different thoughts on topics and opinions.

Has it always been this way?

Music Video

1. Over the 3 weeks we dedicated to this project, you did screenwriting, cinematography, editing, and directing. Which skills did you feel played the biggest role during creating your music video? Which portion of the filmmaking process went the smoothest for you? Which was the most difficult?

The skills that I felt played the biggest role during the creation of my music video was the screen writing and editing. I think that screenwriting was a major part of the creation of my music video because it made the rest of the process even easier. It allowed me to know which shots and which scenes I needed to shoot on the day of filming. I think that the editing was another big role in the creation of my music video because the editing of the clips as well as how long the clips go for are really important to the meaning and story of the video. I think that though these areas had the biggest role on my music video, it was also probably the most difficult parts. For the screenwriting, once I was done writing the whole screenplay and finished filming most of my clips I realised that my storyline didn’t really makes sense so I decided to re-arrange all the scenes. For editing, it was difficult due to the fact that I realised that I was missing a minute worth of film, therefore having to re-use clips from the video itself. I think that what went pretty smooth for me was the directing since I didn’t have to work with other directors I was able to decide on which angles I wanted to use.

2. Reflect back on how you worked on this project; what did you do well and what could you have been better at? What advice would you give future Digital Film students about working on this project?

Something I did well was making sure that the clips were straightforward, and made sure that the clips didn’t go on for too long. I think that another thing that I did well on in this project was using a variety of angles and applying the lessons I learnt in class with my actual film. I think that something that I could’ve done better was filming a lot more extra clips so I wouldn’t run out of clips, and I could’ve made sure that I had three minutes worth of film to apply to the music. I think that another thing I could’ve done better was with my time management, I definitely should’ve planned my time a lot better and filmed over a course of two weekends instead of filming everything in one weekend. Some advice that I would give to future Digital FIlm students about working on this project is to take risks. If you think some of your clips looks odd or different compared to others, take that risk because sometimes in a music video, taking a risk is better than playing it safe. Also another piece of advice that I would give to the future Digital Film students would be to plan your time and story out before you begin to film, screenplays may seem like a hassle at times but it definitely enhances the process of creating your film. Last thing I would say to the Digital Film students would be to pick a song that not many people know, sometimes the more less-known a song is, the more interested the audience will be.   

3. What was your overall opinion about the Music Video project? What did Mrs. Gach do well or what could she do better/change?

The Music Video project was probably one of my favorite projects this semester. Since the music video project is done individually, it allowed me to learn a lot more about my work ethic as well as apply the cinematography and editing skills myself instead of relying on others. I think that the music video project was by far one of my favorites because we’re constantly looking at new music videos being released by our favorite singers and artists, but we were finally able to take our favorite songs and create a story line for it. I know for me, I’ve seen a few music videos and after I felt as if the story they portrayed didn’t match the lyrics and the meaning of the song. I think that with the music video project it allows us student to be able to show off our skills independently. Mrs. Gach did really well with giving us a lot of freedom with a few rules. I think that this freedom allowed us to explore our own creativity and our own skills. Overall, I really enjoyed this project.

History Alive Notes

Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States 

• There was a military space nearby and she'd find bullet shells and army weapon left behind. 
• Vietnam war started in 1955 and went on for 20 years between South and North Vietnam. 
• It was one of the most brutal and contriversial wars that happened. 
• President of Vietnam began a campaign: "Denounce the Communists" where he abused and killed communists. 
• Immigration waves were when groups and different amounts of Vietnamese refugees immigrated to America 
• In 1975 was one of the major waves, which was the first.
• It consisted of soldiers and teachers and those who were posed as a threat to the Communists. 
• President Carter raised immigrant quotas. 
• Dec. 1991 Washington officially lifted the ban on US travel to Vietnam 
• Many refugees didn't welcome Americans. Many racial slurs were used. Ching Chong, etc. Before they immigrated there weren't many Vietnamese people who were able to take them in.  

Integration of Hollywood 

• More and more African Americans and Asian Americans began to win Emmy and awards. 
• Miyoshi was the first Asian to win an award after the Japanese were able to leave the internment camps. 

Song of the South: Racist or Revolutionary? 

• 1946 - Song of the South was out. Based on a plantation in the South, based on an African American man telling white children about story. The movie is very racist on Black culture, and on their stereotype. 
• African American movies nowadays are less racist. 
• There are a lot other Disney movies that are considered racist but are still shown to children till this day. 

Movies that Sparked Social Change on African Americans 

• Roots is one of the first movies that was released in 1977. Talked about slaves, the topic of slavery was ignored in America and informed Americans about African Americans and their lifestyle. 
• The Help talked about an African American writer who was trying to get more people aware about the African American treatment. 
• Showed White Americans what made an American, American. 
• Today there is discrimination on Asians, Americans, Blacks, etc. 

Irving Berlin 

• Wrote the song "God Bless America" he was a Jew but he wrote a very patriotic song. 
• He contributed to Jewish rights, he was the first to integrate on Broadway. 
• Wrote another song for the Black people to sing, and introduced more Blacks to the Black industry. 
• Used music talents in a way to bring change to integration.

1992 L.A. Riots 

• Aug. 11th a Black man was arrested for drunk driving. 
• Segregation in L.A. didn't allow African Americans to buy or rent property. 
• Bloody Christmas (1951) - White Police fought and abused African Americans. 
• Rodney King was beaten for over ten minutes for speeding once he was told to lie on the ground. 
• 55 people lost their lives during these riots. 
• These riots have shown the anger of the African American. 
• Racial discrimination is still an issue in the United States. 
• Martin Luther King Jr. would rally people up to join him in order to riot and protest against discrimination against African Americans. 

Alice Paul & Lucy Burns: Pioneers of Women Suffrage

• Alice Paul fought for civil rights, she was very violent. She went on hunger strikes she was very full on with fighting. 
• Lucy Burns was brought up by Alice Paul's actions, they met when they were in London. They met in jail, because their were jailed quite a few times. 
• They were said to become lovers. 
• thirty girls were beaten, hung, abused, one had a heart attack. 
• Many feminists at the time were lesbians. 

Child Labor - Lewis Hine 

• Lewis Hine informed Americans of child labor, used photography to show them what was happening in factories 
• Europeans immigrated and brought the idea that children should work 
• 200 million children were working in order to support their families 
• there were no laws against child labor 
• hired to the child labor committee 
• males worked in coal mines and factories 
• he took pictures of these children, he was the mastermind of a camera 
• allowed him to take pictures, he disguised himself in order to sneak inside the work places 
• connection: modern day slavery 
• his photographs were used to raise awareness 

Comic Books: How Comics Tie in with the Civil Rights Movement 

• the Black Panther was one of the first Black superhero 
• Stan Lee was one of the first to create a character that was Black and tackled the issue of racism 
• Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were often based on two of the characters in the comics. 
• Comics looked upon Blacks. 
• Fantastic Four was the first comic series with a Black character/hero. 

History Alive Project

History Alive Partner Interview

How did you become interested in this topic?

They were alway interested on comics, their topic is the impact of comics on the Civil Rights movement. Mr.Elms shared a lot of comics that were often racist.

How is your topic related to Civil Rights in America?

It's related to the Civil rights in America because most of the comics were drawn by White people, it shows how some people stood up for most minorities. It showed many propaganda.

What are your next steps to complete your project?

They have their basic outline, they just need to find pictures. They have their script down, they just need to decide what the design would look like.

What have you learned about your topic that is unexpected?

X men when Stan Lee they originally wanted to show how the world was very racist to X men and how the world were very racist to different minorities. He didn't know that Stan Lee drew X men to bring up the topic of racism.

My Favourite Music Videos

The music video for Jet Black Heart is a mixture of narrative and performance. As you can see in the music video, 5 Seconds of Summer had asked their fans to film themselves lip syncing to their songs in order to tell a story. It's not a very clear storyline but it may tell a story where all these different people all are hurting and they all have different stories but they pour out their hardships together through the song. Besides the fact that I've been a fan of 5 Seconds of Summer for a while, I think that one thing that really made this one of my favorites was the cinematography. Some of the shots and clips of the scenery really made the whole music video aesthetically pleasing. Especially the clip of Ashton and the LA skyline behind him, while he's in focus whereas the city lights are sort of a blur behind him. I think that another thing that made this really interesting is how well both the music and the imagery set the mood and emotion really well. Both set such a touching and deep emotion for the audience to feel different after watching. 

The music video for Carousel is mainly a narrative, it tells the story about a relationship. Something that I really enjoy about this music video is the creepy vibe it gives off. The music perfectly matches the imagery and leaves the audience with chills. I also really enjoy how the setting and how the colors as well as the rides really gave off that playful vibe as well. I also really liked the different shots, they didn't just stick to one type of angle or scenery. The different rides in motion, the close ups, etc. made the video a lot more interesting and the repetition really pulls the attention of the audience in. 

Civil Rights -- Review

Women's Rights

• Well Done 
• They had a really good connection to modern day 
• Pictures were well chosen and were mostly from a primary source 
• the whole video was done in a chronological order 
• All of the facts were pretty relevant 
• historically accurate, the research was presented well. 
• Needs Work 
• The music was a little distracting since I know the song, in some areas the music was a bit loud. 
• The timing of the pictures were a bit off. 
• The voices were often too soft or too loud. 
• They could've added a little more clips or videos. 
• Some of the text color was a bit hard to see/

Children's Rights 

• Well Done 
• Pictures were relevant 
• good facts 
• Repetition that emphasised how these children didn't have the rights 
• Need's Work 
• music was a bit distracting
• could've used a bit more clips/video 
• could've used less text on one page