Class Experience

I experienced a lot in this class. It taught me a lot from how to edit videos, how to perform on the camera, and to also use a teleprompter. I experienced how to film with a camera how to direct and also what it is like to work in a TV studio. I learned that this class takes a lot of work and to work in a business like this in the future will take a lot more work. This class taught me how a TV studio operates. My favorite memories will always be working with my classmates in the studio and filming, directing and using the teleprompter. It was really fun and we had a lot of laughs! Although this class was hard and sometimes rough, it will always be one of my favorite classes because of working in a TV studio. I think this class will help me in the future because I want to major in communications in college, and I think this class helped me prepare for it, as well as giving me the knowledge to use the TV studio equipment. I will always remember this class!

Class Experience

What I've Learned in this class was mainly how to edit/make videos I recorded. I also learned how to use blogs more and how to express your thoughts on the blog and it was pretty fun! My experience was very little to non because coming into this class I didn't know how to do anything and know I at least have a clue on how to edit videos and things. My favorite moments was when we were watching the Tupac movie, and the Mary Full of Grace movie while eating pizza. I also enjoyed when the Ugandan people came over to preach their organization and how we interviewed them separately on camera. This class will benefit my future because now I have a sense on what im doing with videos and how to fix my errors on those videos and using blogs more to share your thoughts on things publicly.

The Final Goodbye

I experienced a lot in this class. First off I got a good amount of time on camera, which has helped me to be more comfortable on camera. I also, saw the "behind of the scenes" aspects of making videos. I learned a ton about the editing process. Previously I knew nothing about editing and I can now edit videos quite easily. Some of my favorite memories were pizza Fridays, the Tupac movie, my "court order murder" struggle, and getting interviews was fun. I feel that this class will help me in the future because I want to go into the broadcasting and journalism field. This class will help because now i am confident on camera and I am familiar with the editing process, all things I will need to pursue my career.

Response To Arizona Shooting Tragedy

On January 8th, 2011, a tragesy occured outside an Arizona Supermarket. Jared Loughner, opened fire and aimed at his target Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who he shot in the head. He killed 6 people and left 13 wounded. One of the victims who died was a 9 year old girl, who Barack Obama talked about as well as the rest of the victims. When I heard President Obama's speech, I felt it was very sincere and from the heart. As he went more in depth about the victims and the situation you could really tell he cared about this situation.

The killer was Jared Loughner, a 22 year old, high school dropout who attended Pima Community College, but was suspended until he would get help for his mental problems. Loughner would have mental outbursts during school, which made other students scared for their well being. He lived with his parents and could not keep a job. Loughner even posted on his Myspace page about killing a police officer, and even videos on youtube about his disagreements with the law and officials.

Nobody could have seen this coming, he had never hurt or harmed anybody in his life, but according to people that knew him, they said he had become paranoid and believing that the government is trying to brainwash people's minds. This shows that if anyone that you know has mental problems and are mentally ill, you should get them help from a doctor and not wait for a tragedy like this one to do so. If Loughner were to get the help of a psychiatrist before the shooting, this shooting might have never happened.

To say the least, this is a very sad tragedy and one that could have been prevented. I am saddened for all the families effected by this, because I can only imagine what they are going through.

For more information on the shooting Click Here

For President Barack Obama's speech Click Here

Arizona Shooting

In Tunscan Arizona a gunman wounded 14 and killed 6. Including a 9 year old little girl. During a public event on a Saturday morning to meet constituents Representatives, Gabrielle Giffords , an Arizona Democrat and 19 other were shot outside a supermarket. 20 people were shot and 6 died in an attempt to kill Gabrielle Giffords. I think Jared Loughner needs mental help , because clearly he is not right in the head for attempting to kill a representative just because he had some strong opinions about this person. Gabrielle Giffords was targeted her enemies such as Jared didnt like what she had to say and did not support her opinions. Therefore she was shot in the head and is currently in recovery in the hospital. She did not support Obama's healthcare reform. This made her, according to New York Daily news a popular target.

For More Information Click Here

Response to Barack Obama's Tuscon Speech

President Barack Obama gave a speech on January 12th in response to the Tuscon shootings. On January 8th, 2011 in Tucson, Arizona a man with a gun opened fire and killed 6 people and wounded 13. Representative Gabrielle Gifford, was also wounded and she was the suspected target. Obama gave a really great and inspirational speech. It was such a great speech because he made the victims seem human rather than just a statistic on the news. The problem is that many times when a tragedy happens, immediately people feel bad but eventually their sympathy fades because all that is seen is numbers in news reports. But, Obama made them human again by giving the story behind the victims, especially the little 9 year old girl. It really hits home when people are reminded of actual person who was killed. I think that Barack Obama did a good job of reacting to a tough situation.

Click here to view President Obama's Speech

Details on the Killer

On January 8th, 2011, there was a tragic shooting that was aimed at Representative, Gabrielle Giffords. But would we ever know the reason of the shooting, done by Jared Loughner that day? Well some psychiatrists say it may take them months and maybe even years to figure it out.

Jared Loughner has been a normal boy who had grown into a man, but steadly, he was actually growing serious mental illness. "A partisan, highly non-scientific debate has erupted over whether extreme right-wing rhetoric could have inflamed whatever illness he may have and caused him to target Democtratic Representative, Gabrielle Giffords." Says Times Magazine, " We don't know the answer, but psychological research suggests that political rhetoric could never be the single cause that leads a person with complex mental problems to commit violance."


As a teenager, Loughner dropped out of Mountain View High school in Tucson before his senior year. After, he started drinking a lot, and even by then he had been using lots of drugs, not just pot, "but also halluciogens like acid" said Kylie Smith, who had known him since preschool. After traveling to the military processing station in Phoenix, which he trained for during the span of several months, he was told he could never be accepted because of his extreme use of marijuana in the past years.

After the army incident, friends said that he would occasionally speak in random strings of words, and started having run-ins with police over vandalization of street signs and drugs. They had also mentioned that he was becoming paranoid that the government was trying to control him and everyone else, he could no longer follow instructions, which was also the cause for his job loss at Quiznos and an animal shelter.

He started taking classes at Pima Community College (which began last year), his math professor, Benjamin McGahee stated that "He had this hysteria kind of laugh, laughing to himself." The police also found a camouflage tent behind the Lughner home, with a tableu, complete with a replica human skull.

People started saying that, "Still, one imagines that someone at Pima Community College should have responded more directly to Loughner's warning signs: the paranoia, the jumbled speech, the scary outbursts..." says attorney Charles Arnold.

Scientists are now saying that many signs point to one of the many psychotic disorders which is delusional disorder, or schizophrenia (for which the average age is around 20, which was about when Loughner started showing symptoms). Times Magazine also says "By several accounts, Loughner had become fascinated with lucid dreaming, a dream state you can enter when you're half asleep. You are aware while you are in that state that you're dreaming. Loughner's interest in in his lucid dreams are significant, because last year European Science Foundation reported that lucid dreaming 'creates distinct patterns of electrical activity in the brain that have similarties to the patterns made by psychotic conditions.' " The fact that he has been taking drugs, must have encouraged lucid dreaming, and kept him from falling into deep sleep. But even with all that information, nobody knows the reason for his shooting at Representative Gabrielle Giffords, and all the others.

For the Article CLICK HERE

For more info on Jared Loughner CLICK HERE

My Reaction to the Arizona Shooting

The recent shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords on January 8th saw 6 people dead and 13 others wounded. Ironically, one of the victims, a nine year old girl, was born on September 11, 2001. The day will be remembered as a tragic one in American history, but the events also raise a lot of questions for the future, such as how to treat the mentally ill before things get too late, and gun laws.

Jared Loughner, the murderer, had previously showed some signs worthy of suspicion, but not enough to be classified as psychotic behavior or mental illness. This puts into consideration how we can identify mentally ill and potentially dangerous people before things go too far. Loughner is a 22 year old man who has lived in the same with his parents since childhood, dropped out of high school, and then was not accepted to serve in the army because of drug use. As he started attending Pima Community College, he became openly discontent with the school and began posting videos on YouTube as well as messages on MySpace showing his unhappiness with school and the American government in general.

But nothing at this point was really worthy of being speculated for criminal intentions. This is why mental-health care should be more easily available to anyone who is of concern. Even though the signs were subtle, Loughner's family would probably have taken more of an effort to put him into therapy if they could afford it. Therefore, if public mental-health care was better across the nation, a few of these unexpected outbursts could possibly be avoided.

This also brings up the question of gun control in the US. It is very important that guns remain in the right hands so that no one with mental issues such as Loughner has the opportunity to lash out the way that he did.

Obama addressed the nation with a heartfelt speech a few days later and expressed that although nothing can compensate for the losses of the shootings, Americans should stand together and support the families of those who were killed to make it past this tragedy.

Shooting in Tuson Arizona

On January 8, 2011 6 people were killed and 14 people were injured in Tuson,Arizona, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Six people died, including a nine year old girl. The shooter's name was Jared Loughner. The investigators are saying that he had some mental illnesses that pushed him to do this. In an interview on 60 minutes his two good friends said he believed in nothingness and thought the government was useless. On a previous occasion, he had asked Giffords question and she couldnt answer and brushed him off. His friends thought that was what made her the target.

After it happened, Obama made a speech talking about the lives lost and what America needs to do to turn these tragedies around. He talked a lot about the nine year old girl. I can't imagine what that must be like for her parents, she was nine and had her whole life ahead of her. Amazingly, even though she was shot in the head, Giffords seams, so far to be on the road to recovery. The bullet just missed her skull and went through the side of her head and out the other side. The head is an amazingly delicate place and that was a one in a million chance. Obama also talked about two men that jumped out to cover their wives. Their final act of heroism was a sacrifice.

Before this happened Sarah Palin had created a map of "targets" that were marked with cross hairs. These were the twenty democrats that had voted for the health care bill. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been one of the twenty. There is talk that this could have been a reason for this attack. Even though I think that making that map was unbelievably wrong, I dont believe that was the reason for Jared's attack. He didn't seem to base his reasoning on that, in fact there didn't seem to be any reasoning beside the fact that he may have been mentally ill.

There was one difference that I noticed in this incident. In many shootings like these, other suspects  end up shooting themselves after. Maybe because they feel guilty or maybe because they don't want to face the consequences. What ever their reason, Jared did not shoot himself after the attack, in fact it took many people to tackle him down while he was reloading, to stop the shooting. What this says to me is that he does not regret what he did.

Tragedy in Arizona

You assignment, due Wednesday 1/19 is to create a blog/news report, in your own words about the Arizona shooting that took place and the nation's response.
No two blogs should be alike. There are many different aspects to this story such as:

- Why was Gabrielle Giffords targeted?
- Sarah Palin's response and "Blood Libel"comment
- Sarah Palin's Map
- Obama's Speech and Response
- Gun Laws
- Details on the Killer

Here are some links to get you started:
People who were killed 
Blood Libel Comment
Obama's Speech in Tuscon
New Gun Laws?
Arizona's Newspaper

Make sure to check grammar and spelling. Include links and pictures. I look forward to seeing on Wednesday. Have a great long weekend.

CSPAN Winners Response

The C-SPAN videos I chose were "I've Got The Power", "Stand Up, Speak out", and "Cancer It's Personal".

Each video won because of their details into their work and all the time they put into their work. Each were different and were creative in their own way. All of them consisted of videos recorded and interviews they conducted to make it look more professional. Some integrated music, personal accounts and self recorded videos.

The speakers used their own videos. as well as interviewing people. They also used different effects to transition one part to another.

I will probably interview and use videos in mine as well. I will also insert video transactions to make my video run more smoothly. Mine will probably not be as good as these kids because they put so much time and effort, and we have a short time table to get this done, but I will integrate many of their ideas into mine to make it better!

2010 Grand Prize Winner "I've Got the Power"

(Middle School)

I think that she won the grand Prize for her video, because she went into great detail about her topic. She added interviews, many were from people she found on the street and government officials. She included very detailed information, on not just the problem, but whats behind it also.

2010 First Prize Winner "Childhood Obesity"

(Middle School)

I think that this person may have won the first prize for their video because they included a lot of information about what was the difference of today and one hundred years ago. He interviewed job professionals and used a lot of shots of different places that were relevant to the topic.

2010 First Prize Winner "The American Melting Point"

(High School)

This person probably won the first prize for her video, was because she interviewed a lot of students, as well as teachers.

She used a lot of footage of others and not just herself speaking. She gave a lot of information about this topic, and went into great detail about it.

Past C-SPAN Winners

I Think the 2010 grand prize winner won because their video was very detailed and well edited. The video includes a lot of interveiws. I think this video is an excellent video and completely shows what is required. For the second video I chose "Girls Wear Pink, Guys Wear Blue", I thought that video was rather fair. It makes a lot of of sense and gave much detail in it. The video deserved its won at second place because it was a fair video and looked like their was much work put into it. The third video I chose was "Stand Up, Speak Out", I thought this video was really good. It had many iterveiws and was well edited with lots of detail. The techniques I can use for my own video are that I can work on getting more interveiws with people and local citezes, I also can work on editing better so I will be able to get a greater chance in winning.

2010 Grand Prize Winner: "I've Got The Power"

2010 Second Prize Winner: "Girls Wear Pink, Guys Wear Blue"

2010 Second Prize Winner: "Stand Up, Speak Out"

Cspan video winners

I looked on the cspan student cam website and watched videos of three past winners.


The first video was called "Stand up and speak out". It was about a boy who went to the white house almost everyday of the summer to film protestors. I think this video won because he spent a lot of time on it and used a lot of interviews. I think that interviews and getting the protestors on film was a huge component.


Another winner was "No child left behind". That was a look into the act that President Bush made in 2001. It says that schools and districts will be held accountable if the kids are failing. I think this video won because she also had a lot of interviews. It is important to find people that are influential in the subject that you are doing.


The third winner was "The truth about cheating". This video was about kids cheating to get ahead. I think this video won because they used a lot of cspan videos relating directly to the subject. I think that is a huge part of winning and it adds depth to your video.


An important thing we can do for our video is get good interviews. The interviews in these videos really shaped them. Another important thing is to get good cspan videos. If they directly relate to your topic it can help per sway your point.

Past winners response

I went onto the C-SPAN website and looked at some past winners. I did this so that I could get an idea of what I need to do to make my video good enough to possibly win.

1. "I've got the Power" 2010 grand prize winner. This was a good video because it was well written and well made. Also, she had many interviews of various people, from government officials to random people on the street.
2. "Cancer, It's Personal" 2009 grand prize winner. This was a good video because it was personal to the video maker and he obviously cared a lot about the subject. He did a lot of research on the statistics too. Also, he had good music in his video.
3. "The American Melting Pot" 2010 first prize winner. This video was good because it really grasped the concept of the project. They got a lot of good interviews and videos within the video. It was also a very good topic.
   

Past C-SPAN Video Competition Winners

The three C-SPAN video competition winners that I chose were the Childhood Obesity video (first prize in 2010), the Job Loss video (second prize in 2009) and the Freedom Of Speech video (second prize in 2010).

One thing that I noticed about all of these videos was that they consisted almost completely of interviews and videos. There were very few still images, which kept the videos from becoming dull. Very rarely did I see the actual kids faces in the video. Another thing that I noticed was the difference between the 2009 and the 2010 videos in terms of video quality and editing.

The kid who did the video on job loss and the economy in 2009 seemed to have less technology available to him, but he made up for it by getting three very good interviews, one with a state representative and one with a US representative. The video on childhood obesity had a lot of images as well, but the video with by far the most interviews and visuals was the freedom of speech video. In fact, it was entirely interviews, and by doing so the kid got a lot of intelligent people to put out well thought opinions on his subject. By doing so, he probably didn't have to do much script writing at all.

There wasn't too much key framing or video transitions in any of the winners videos, just basic interviews and videos, that sent out a strong message.

So even though I already have a pretty long script and a lot of still images, I plan on getting as many interviews and C-SPAN videos as possible to add variety to my project.

C-SPAN VIDEOS

For home create a blog featuring 3 past winners of your choice. In a blog create a link to each video and talk about
1- Why you think their video won
2- Discuss techniques/editing/filmmaking seen the the video
3- Talk about your own video--what techniques can you use that were seen in the video.

PAST WINNERS LINKS

Due on Tuesday for a grade.