Mockingbird

1. Put your ipod or other player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next song down to get your answer
3. You must write that song down, no matter how silly it sounds
4. Tag friends who might enjoy this

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Let me think about your sexy back

WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST IN A GUY/GIRL?
Soulja girl

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Luv sic part 2

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
That was then

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Looking boy

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Sleepless

WHAT IS 2+2?
You don’t know

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Bad day

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

I’ll be loving you forever

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Everywhere I go

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Kiss me thru the phone

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Poker face

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Run it

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Wherever you will go

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Shelf

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Don’t walk away

WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Cyclone

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Technologic

WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Let me love you

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
I’ll try

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Taylor

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
God only knows

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Gone going

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Drop it like it’s hot

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Find out

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Wreckless love

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Love

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

Mockingbird

Does TV make people tired?

Have you ever watched TV for the whole day and at the end of the day your muscles starts to be stiff and have a headache? Well, I have, because I am a big fan of TV, or more specifically, watching movies. But sometimes when I watch too long, my eyes starts hurt and then, I have a headache and later on, I feel sick. Maybe I’m sick because I got a cold or other flue, but I’ve been experiencing the same thing for 18 years, my whole entire life. Maybe it is because of my posture since it looks almost the same as the picture above. Some people might say its very uncomfortable, but to me, it’s the most comfortable position ever. Anyways, I’ve been having a lot of headaches lately, and I’ve been wondering if it has to do anything with watching TV, therefore I researched a little bit.

Some people say that because eyes and brain is connected, when your eyes get tired, it also affects your brain, which makes headaches. I think this has some real sense in it because whenever I have headache-watching TV, my eyes were also kind of reddish and stingy. Some people say that the posture is really important because if you don’t sit properly, then the circulation of blood doesn’t go well, which will end up aching some part of our body, or brain. I think this also makes sense because I’ve always had cramp with my weird posture.

I don’t know if these are true or not (I hope not) but I guess I just have to lessen my time on watching TV. Now, right now, some people might think that TVs are just the stupidest thing that has ever been created, but I strongly disagree with it. Instead of reading Newspaper, I am just simply listening to the anchor with visual details. For the talk shows, we can compare it to some kind of interview with some famous person learning about their successful lives or failures. So don’t argue with me about that one:]

Modern movies vs. Old movies

When you compare Transformer and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, you will see the improvement of the movie industry in few decades. The rapid change of movie brought more variety of topics and potential to cover because it has more “back-ups” than before. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a black and white movie where the sound effects and the voices were not really clear and some editing were sloppy too. On the other hand, Transformers is a super, high-tech movie that includes computer graphic and other features that was developed only few years ago. This kind of improvement brings in the movie industry more attention to them.

However, why do we study the old movies? In my opinion, I think the reason why we study so hard on the old movies is because it includes the basic principles of film making process and procedure. Because these days are so revolutionary, I think many directors and actors are going against the basic principles of film making, which makes the movie more unique and attached to the audiences.

But to me, I love modern movies, or should I say just ‘movies.’ Because the old, black and white movies don’t really exist in the younger generation, it has been forgotten or will be forgotten by them. I, personally, never watched black and white movie, but only heard about it. In later generation, I think they won’t even know how the movie industry developed from black and white films. To them, the only movie is the modern, advanced movies that are more familiar to them. Thus, this makes me one of the younger generations, who don’t even know the essence of black and white films. In conclusion, I don’t really sympathize with the ‘Old movies’ because I just wasn’t familiar with it due to my culture; therefore I think the ‘modern movies’ won this argument.

Interesting Actor

Along with the director, the other important factor of the movie is the actors. Because of the actors, people understand and sympathize with the movie. Because of the actors, the movie finds its place in the Academy Award nomination list or in a close DVD store. Today, I want to discuss one of my favorite actors, Will Smith. Since I was young, he seemed to be in every movie I watch, such as Independence Day, Men in Black, Wild -Wild West, Bad Boys, I-Robot, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness, I am Legend, Hancock, and Seven Pounds, and most of them, I loved the movie. The most touching movie I have ever saw was The Pursuit of Happyness, which is a story about a poor black, married guy finding his way to be successful and be a stock broker by doing interns.

The way he acts and talks looks very comfortable in the screen and I envy that because I am not really a loud speaker or a good speaker. I am one of those people who would like to stay quite on things that I am not aware of, but on the things I am passionate about, I do get very interactive and talkative. In this sense, I think Will Smith found his comfortableness in the screen.

Whenever I watch his movies, most of them end with happy endings and this somehow gives me more hope for my dreams. Thus, he became my idol. I don’t know how to explain but whenever I watch him in the screen, I concentrate on the film more than I ever did. He was also one of the Best 25 Actors in the world in imdb.com, which means that directors prefer him to be one of their top priorities and the audiences enjoy watching them.

In my opinion, I think there are thousands of good actors around the world. However, I don’t think there are thousands of exceptionally great actors around the world. Will Smith, is one of the powerful actors in the movie industry and I think he has exceptionally good talent on acting, compared to other Hollywood actors.

Interesting Director

When I watched some great movies, I didn’t really pay attention to the directors who made the movie. I just concentrated on the plots, characters, and the actors of the movie, but not the director. However, when I think about it, I think directors are the most important person in the movie industry because they actually compose and produce the “movie,” itself. Therefore, today I want to discuss the recent Oscar for Best Director winner, Danny Boyle, who filmed the Slumdog Millionaire.
Slumdog Millionaire was the “hit” in 2008 and 2009. Everyone was talking about it and the trailers came out every minute in the TV. In talk shows, they were talking about it and it was caught a massive attention when one single movie won eight our of ten Academy Awards it was nominated for, which includes the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song (two songs were nominated and only one got award), losing only Best Sound Editing to The Dark Knight. This is the only film that ever won eight Academy Awards.
Even though I didn’t see this movie yet, I already feel like I know the plot because people were talking about it and on talk shows. I am very looking forward to watch this movie in the future. But the interesting part is that the director of this movie wasn’t really the “famous Hollywood blockbuster” director. Not many of people knew his films and this movie was a low budget movie, but a hit.
This article is from the “Spoutblog – A Daily News Review Blog” and it is an interview with Danny Boyle about his career and Slumdog Millionaire.
One of the interesting parts in the interview was when he talked about what he learned in India, while filming the movie. This passage stood out to be because it gave us the attitude of the director and what is most important when filming the movie.

“Did you learn anything about yourself making this film? I mean, being in India the whole time. What did you learn?

Yes. I think, that’s the most important thing you do learn. Is that you go there and you think you’re going to learn about Indian culture and all those kinds of things. And you do obviously because you do research to make sure it’s accurate and all that kind of stuff.

The biggest thing is that hippy thing they tell you that you’re going to learn something about yourself and you do and you learn. You learn that you cannot control everything. And it’s this destiny thing of course. But, in the West, we don’t really value, because we believe we can change our destiny by hard work, by application, by all these kind of things.

But there, it’s so vast and you’re so small, you’re so meaningless. You learn your place, really. That you have a place and that you have a role. It’s very interesting and it’s a humbling thing. Because your role might be as a film director or it might be as a barber. But, you learn a kind of acceptance really that in the great scheme of things, there’s you and you’re there and you’ve got to learn. And there’s great value in learning that.

And it helps you make the film, because it learns you to respect the place you’re in. And when you do that, you’re not trying to change it. You’re not trying to control it, make it… You’re opening yourself to it. And when you do that, this terrible hippy thing happens where it comes back to you and serendipity takes place. These things fall into your lap, these gifts…”

http://blog.spout.com/2008/09/13/danny-boyle-interview-slumdog-millionaire-toronto-2008/

“Technologies” in Movies

When I watch movies these days, I see a lot of it dealing with technologies in our life. Some example movies are Echelon Conspiracy, I-Robot, Cellular, Transformers, and Eagle Eye. If you watched at least one of these movies, you will understand what I am saying. All of these movies deal with some kind of technology in our modern society. All of them are very high-tech and have a lot of meaning to it.

Some of these movies deal with flaws in our technology and how powerful the technologies are. For example in I-Robot, Echelon Conspiracy, Transformers or Eagle Eye, it deals with super-tech computers trying to conquer the whole nation. The community built the machine but now the machine is controlling over the community. I think this ironic topic is popular these days because today’s modern technologies are improves vastly everyday. These movies also predict the future for us if we don’t “control” the technology like in I-Robot. They are telling us that if we develop much smarter robots than humans, then someday they will be more powerful then human and will conquer the human nation. Therefore these movies tell us to be more careful and cautious over machines.

On the other hand the other movie, Cellular, deals with how modern cell phone technology is a very helpful tool in our life. The movie starts with a normal, California guy playing in the beach and getting a strange, mysterious call. When he picks up some woman claims that she has been kidnapped. Her phone is broken so she can’t dial anyone but because she was a high school teacher, she played with the wires and somehow the it called to a stranger, which was the beach guy. After he realizes that it wasn’t a joke, he does every to save her family and her. Later on, he discovers that the people who kidnapped her were the dirty cops and were looking for a video clip her husband filmed it, which contained them shooting people and doing robbery. At the end, the beach guy and the dirty cops fight and the beach guy wins by using his cell phone to call the dirty cop so the real cop can hear the sound of the ringing tone to know where he is and kill him. It seems very complicated when I wrote it but when you see the movie, you will understand the whole point. The interesting thing in this movie is that they emphasized that every body uses cell phone and it is actually very helpful in life if you use it correctly.

As you can see, I have noticed that many directors are focusing on the technologies and the consequences it brings to our society. I think it is because now days people just trying to develop and improve their life with technology without thinking about the future consequences, therefore I think we need still need to improve the technology but be more considerate and careful with it.

Film vs. Literature

Film vs. Literature. I know this is a pretty broad topic. Which is good? Film or Literature? I have always been a big fan of film because with film, you can create visual scenes which can be interpreted into thousand different ways. A single movie can have a year long discussion or even a single commercial can have a lot of different meanings. Depending on each person’s perspective, film can be a total different thing. I know that with literature, you can also express feelings and interact with the reader. I know that a single book can have a big discussion and can be interpreted differently according to different perspectives. But I believe that actually seeing what’s going on is easier and faster to understand than to read the passage and try to think of the passage as a picture. Basically, I believe that films can be easier to interact with the audience with more thorough understanding because it just gives you the whole visual image and explains in the film the characters, conflicts, and settings.

Here is a list of reasons why I think film is much stronger than literature:
• Film is much easier to interact with the audience
• Film sets an image and makes the audience more clear about the topic
• Each person has their own different interpretations about the film
• A whole chapter in literature can be explained with just a few scenes in film
• Film not only contains all the words that each character says in the book, but also the narrative voices of it with a visual image, which is more than literature
• Even you don’t understand the language or the culture, by watching the film, you will be able to understand what they are saying by looking at what they are doing
• Film is just great! :]

Do not be offended by this post. This is just my own opinion :]

What is movie/ film?

For the past few years, I have been attracted to films and the process of making films. Whenever I make a video whether it is for a school project or to surprise my parents in their wedding anniversary, I am very considered and devoted to making films. Not only making films, but I also love watching them. I don’t really analyze when I watch movies but whenever I hear about some good directors and actors worked together, I have high expectations and it makes me satisfied when it is truly good. I am one of those people who love watching dramas or TV shows all night long. By watching it, it makes a part of my life and I feel connection in my life with those characters in the drama. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I laugh, and sometimes I sympathize with the characters. I think it is also a really good stress reliever to watch a movie or dramas because it relaxes your mind and just puts all the attention to the movie not anything else in your life. But few days ago, this question came up to my mind and it is keep running around my head that I can’t think of anything.

What is film?

Some people might say that movies are just a “fun” thing to do and it is not significant to your life. Some people might say that TV shows are just to make money and waste of time to spend your time. But I say that films/ movies/ TV shows are a form of Art. Like literature, film is just another category of Art and I think we need to appreciate it. To me, literature isn’t really my favorite thing. Reading books and poems is not favored in my world. But instead, I love watching movies and dramas, which are just another form of Art.

Wikipedia puts film as a culture, power of communication, and an art.
“ Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating — or indoctrinating — citizens. The visual elements of cinema gives motion pictures a universal power of communication.”

I strongly agree that films are the cultural artifacts because each film reflects on cultures, which eventually affect them. Some films are used for education and some films are for entertainment. The most important thing is that with film, you can communicate with the viewers. Just like when you write an essay or a book about something, you indirectly communicate with the viewers.
This is why I love movies and films so much because I can communicate myself with the audience without even telling them. Because I am not a big fan of writing blogs or journals or even talking out loud about my life, I can express my feelings with a film. It indirectly communicates with the audience and they get the basic concept of what I am and what my mood is. With film, you can express anything you want to express. It is a piece of art that we have to appreciate it and that is what I think films are.

KIS Phoenix Film Festival

Attention! KIS Phoenix Film Festival is coming up! This is a student film festival sponsored by Korea International School! It’s time to reveal your creative ideas and film making techniques!

When?
Submission date is April 6th, 2009
Awards Ceremony is April 30th, 2009

Who?
Everyone is invited! But there are age level divisions, which are:
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
Teacher or someone older

How?
If you only write the application form, then you are in!

What?
You have six different categories to film, including Narrative, Public Service Announcement, Documentary, Animation, Music Video, and Video Art, and 3 different age level divisions, which are elementary, middle school, high school, and teacher or someone older.

Why?
This is your chance to impress your classmates or teachers by making a fantastic film! You will also have prizes and it is TBA soon!

Where?
You will need to submit the film before April 6th to either email it to phoenixfilmfestival@gmail.com or send the DVD or CD to Tim Bray or Greg Israel, Korea International School, 373-6, Baekhyun-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea 463-420.

I personally think this is a really good event that our school is hosting because this is the first time KIS is hosting a film festival. It will help the future filmmakers to be creative and competitive so that they will produce some quality videos. Since our school is 1 to 1 laptop system and many projects are making videos or pod casts, having a film festival will bring new, creative individuals to step up to the community and reveal their fantastic skills.

In this event, I am also planning to join the festival. It will be a good chance for me to start thinking about if I am really going to choose my path to this subject. I love making films and even though I am not professional at making films, I enjoy every thing I do to create one whole video. Because this is the first year that I am attending to a film festival, it will show me the basic idea of what film is how it works. I am really looking forward to put a lot of effort into this event and hopefully hear some good news in the awards ceremony!

Also, I hope a lot of you guys join it too!