There will be no class on November 17. We are meeting on November 22. We will have a Final Cut Pro Quiz and do a Mise-en-Scene exercise. Revise basic windows in FCP, basic tools and short cuts. After our discussion, I decided that the class is not optional.

Sound design exercise is due on November 22.

Assembly of Final Project (a very very rough cut)  is due on December 1 and is worth 50 points. We will also have Production Quiz on that day.

Rough Cut is due on December 8 and is worth 50 points.

Final Cut of your project is due December 15 and is worth 300 points.

Grades are updated on the Grades page.

Here some research I found on the benefits of music in children.

According to “ Kids Health.org” children that studies music do better in reading learn coordination, goal-setting, concentration, and cooperation are more likely to do better in math and science because music helps build reasoning skills and cognitive development, which are important to both get along better with their peers and have higher self-esteem are more likely to go to college. More importantly music bring together a sense of community.

For many years the United States Government have been bickering over whether or not to legalize gambling. Gambling falls under many different types, the lottery is a legal form of gambling. Certain states, like Nevada, have cities that have legal casinos. The focus of this piece is the day to day gambling on sporting events in the underground world, which includes betting through websites or calling a bookie. According to the New York Constitution Section 9 paragraph 1, “

Each state has there own gambling rules, under law if you make a “bet or wager” on a legal website (legal only because they are run outside U.S borders) while you are in the United States, it is therefore illegal, along with any “bet or wager” to  a book maker in the states.

ChildHelp.org states that children sure from child abuse and neglect consistently at all age groups. Over 3 million reports of child abuse are made every year in the United States. And what’s more disturbing is that 90% of juvenile sexual abuse victims actually know who their abuser is personally. Child abuse does not discriminate against ethnicity, culture, or religion and abuse could lead to a continuing cycle of abuse to other children years in to the future.
The American Social Health Association gives some helpful advice on being able to have children speak to you, which can help avoid situations like this, and if a situation does take place, a child is able to speak up about it so problem could be resolved. Children are more likely to talk to an approachable parent. And if they aren’t able to speak to the parent, they are likely to talk to someone else. The worst thing that can happen is for a child to keep things in, because that can lead to secrecy and isolation which down the line can turn into depression or anxiety or even emotional stress.
Also, children learn their values by constantly watching the people who care for them by seeing what is being done. They might feel it’s ok, or that person is safe because their mother or father is in their presence. I’ll be attempting to display all these things in my fiction piece.

this face book fan page indicates that people are not happy with the fare hike http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=73698246213
Another account on twitter states the peculiar things that you see on the MTA and decided to poke fun at it http://www.mtapeople.com/
this NY times article engages people to discuss how to better the subway system http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/how-would-you-improve-the-subway/

It appears that everyone around the world is on Facebook besides me. Well maybe not everyone but almost every person I know. It is time that I explore the reason for all this, after all I haven’t been living under a rock. I want to find out what the purpose of being on Facebook is, and the initial reason behind one deciding to join this site. How long do Facebookers spend a day on this site? Doing what exactly? Are “400 friends” really necessary ? Are your “400 friends” really your friends or just people you have encountered during your entire life?

Nowadays when a guy meets a girl and wants to pursue a romantic relationship, the first thing that comes out is “let’s facebook each other”. Has Facebook become an easier way to get to know someone without really getting to know them? Social scientists have begun to refer to all of this as “ambient awareness”. Which is described as  “very much like being physically near someone and picking up on little things he/she does – body language, sighs, stray comments- out of the corner of your eye”. New York Times writer Clive Thompson referred to this in 2008 as “digital intimacy”. Intimacy, it certainly is. By going through one’s profile page instead of actually taking the time to get to know a person on a one-on-one basis. It is almost like snooping but with the permission.

According to the Institute of Security and Technology, each day there are over 100 million Facebookers who access the site with 3.5 billion minutes spent on it, while an outstanding 1 billion pieces of content is shared weekly. Facebook founder Mark Zukerberg pointed out in 2009 that if “Facebook was a country it would be the sixth most populated country in the world”. Social blogger Pedyi Parker acknowledges the positive aspects of the site but also states that this form of networking suggests more disturbing things about how our society regards privacy and personal information. Parker further questions how this generation of Facebookers will deal with the challengers of the actual real world, compared to what I would suggest the somewhat comfort of the digital world they that have become accustomed to.

Considering that I’m an outsider (non-Facebooker) looking in, it is as though society has become too lazy when it involves building relationships. Perhaps Facebook serves as the medium for one to stay in touch with acquaintances without the effort of actually visiting or spending a few minutes talking on the phone. What would a day or a week without Facebook be like for those who engage in this networking site?

I. re: Final Project, you can make one of the following:

1. a mini-documentary that offers a some what in-depth analysis of an issue; 5-7 min. Remember, it is always better to plan to make 10 min and then cut 3 out.
2. a short 5-7 min. narrative film
3. Two shorter projects: 1. PSA (30 sec. no Voice Over) and a Mock Commercial (3 min), the latter must have Voice Over and a quick “vox populi” (interviews with strangers, usually passers-by answering the same question), narration. Make it about something that does not exist (hence – “mock”).

II. re: Motion: You will only work with STILLS, we’ll do an exercise with video after next class. The task is to make a 30 seconds video.

- Import 7 stills into FCP (originally taken by you, downloaded from the Internet or scanned old photographs).

- Record a voice over that tells the story about your stills (like an example with Cleopatra that we did in class or your personal story or a PSA). If you want to record in the lab, you need to check out a microphone from distribution that needs to be plug into the tower. Alternatively you can do it on many computers (iMacs) and laptops or on smart phones at home or at school, that have a mic.  In Apple go to Quicktime, File -> New Audio Recording, click on RECORD, speak, click on STOP recording; the file is in Movies (or search for it, it is titled “Audio Recording”). Bring it to school and import the file into FCP.

- You can also add music if you want.

- There should be smooth transitions between all pictures. In terms of movement, there should be all of the following: up, down, left, right, zoom in, zoom out, rotate; they can be combined, for example a picture can be moving left while simultaneously becoming large (zooming out) or rotating. You can use more than one picture on a frame. Make sure your motion is slow enough, use Cleopatra clip for guidance re speed.

The exercise is due next class and is worth 25 points.

III. Finally repost research for your Final Project. Do not post links, for guidance use Research chapter in the Final Project Outline Page. 1-2 paragraphs. Worth 10 points.

According to “ Kids Health.org” children that studies music do better in reading learn coordination, goal-setting, concentration, and cooperation are more likely to do better in math and science because music helps build reasoning skills and cognitive development, which are important to both get along better with their peers and have higher self-esteem are more likely to go to college. More importantly music bring together a sense of community.

This documentary would be on Patricia Robinson Music Studio. Patricia F Robinson Music Studio is a private music school that has been in the Bedford Stuyvesant community for over 80 years. In this documentary I would discuss what the school does as well as how it affects the community in which it is located. While the music school plays an important role in the community, each year there is a struggle to stay open. I want to shed light on the obstacles the music school goes through in order to stay open to teach the students of the community. While this piece is about the music school, it will also shed light on the many issues that urban communities are dealing with, such as funding extrcircular activites such as music and art. While there is claim that students in low income communities are not doing well in school, the one thing that help them increase their scores in schools are being taken away from them.

This piece will focus on the owner of the school Patricia F Robinson and how overcome the issues that she dealing with to keep the music school open. While doing this I will focus on how the music school affects the community and the relationship she has with her students. Part of the documentary will be how she prepares her students for their annual Christmas concert. At the end of the documentary I would show the hard work and preparations.

Here is a taste of what I’m hoping to capture for my doc.
What I really want to be, behind the camera, is a fly on the wall of a authentic- old-world style- butcher shop (old-world style- the technique of slaughtering animals, dressing their flesh, selling their meat or any combination of these three tasks- and that’s it). The reason behind my interest, as always, stems back to tradition. I want to reintroduce the family butcher shop and all it encompasses- personality, sounds, techniques and quirks.

http://www.history.com/topics/halloween

http://www.halloweenhistory.org/

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rNAXt9jLXWwC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=halloween+history&ots=Ikrb72EIFi&sig=sf9P5OzHe2LnOYPLjNa9L8Ucg7s#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/display.asp?id=7058

Here are a few links I found for my topic. The history behind Halloween is quite interesting and I’m sure most people don’t know about all of it. However, my documentary will focus mostly on people’s opinions and experiences rather than on the history of the topic itself.