Mikey Botta

Mikey Botta
11/30/2016

Today's Objectives: Understand the formal requirements of a strong film review, and evaluate how a well-written review meets our class goals and formal expectations.

To begin class, we looked at the charts we had created yesterday about the movie reviews we had found (I guess? I was absent yesterday). After analyzing those charts and the goals created on them, we moved forwards with our discussion, and then began to take notes.

For the most part, our notes involved writing a movie/film review. The formal expectations that must be followed are:

• Deliberately title article: title is the first introduction to the tone/argument of your review.  Title is the last thing that is written. We were shown 3 examples of strong titles. One was "Interstellar - 'science trumps story in latest Christopher Nolan epic'"
• Credit relevant artists: Who is important? Director, actors?
  You can credit them explicitly by naming them in the article, or credit parenthetically.
• Provide necessary context: What do we need to know about the film and it’s production? Is it part of a series? Does it reflect a trend? What is happening outside of the film?
• Summarize Plot: not covered today.
• Evaluate content: not covered today.
• Evaluate meaning/theme: not covered today.
• Conclude: not covered today.

11/14/16- Claire Vreeland

Today in class we came in, found our computers, and sat down like we do everyday. Instead of working directly with Ready Player One we discussed a more general topic. We discussed the major differences between the topics in literature versus the themes in literature. We established that topics can be very broad and vague in literature or it can be one specific thing shown only once. An example we mentioned in class was that in Wall-E a topic was Old musicals or dancing. This is specific because there is one old musical and one dancing scene, but it is still relevant and important to the movie. But a theme makes a topic relate to a general claim that may refer to not only a specific piece of literature but pertains to the outside world, as well. We used examples from both Wall-E and Ready Player One. An example of this would be that a topic in Wall-E is love. Love is shown in Wall-E and it is one of the topics that is shown more frequently. This topic can be transformed into a theme by saying that Love conquers evil. This claim relates directly to Wall-E but it is general enough to relate it to an outside topic, or a different piece of literature. In Wall-E this theme is expressed through a lot of the movie but specifically at the end when Wall-E is trying to save the plant and ends up injuring himself for Eva and Eva is trying to save Wall-E. Although many believe that topics and themes are interchangeable, they are totally different and express two different spectrums of specificity.

Here is a video that gives a mini lesson on the difference between topic and theme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRjEbRhJjgw

Wednesday November 9th

A little jet lagged from the election our class worked on our private podcasts. Not the ready player one, in which we worked with our table, but the podcast in which we picked our partners, 4 movies and a book. It was actually and assignment given to us prior to this week. We had to find 4 movies and 1 book, with similar connections. Mine for example was Animal house, Caddyshack, Bill and teds excellent adventure, and Happy Gilmore. We chose our book to revolve around the same theme as comedy, it was Steve Colbert's book. It was a pretty slow day and all we did was discuss our books and let Mr. Rivers know what we were reading and watching, we also gave him a name for a podcast because that is the assignment we are doing with each of these pieces. We are reading a a quarter of a the book each week and watching one of the four movies as well. We are then going to podcast about similarities and differences, which is the reason our book needed to have some connections with the movies.
It was hard to do much because for most it was a very long night and was going to be a very long day, so in Mr. Rivers class and honestly within all my classes we kept it simple and easy. Not really doing much work, rather  just planning and getting ready for the work we are going to do in the future.


http://iruntheinternet.com/lulzdump/images/gifs/bill-and-ted-party-on-dudes-future-keanu-reeves-alex-winter-1390432802Y.gif?id=

Have a Triumphant long weekend.

Dianna Oelkers

Today in Mr. Rivers class we first grabbed our computers and opened up google classroom. He told us to vote in the SHS election, which was a survey on who you would vote for in the presidential election if you could. After this Mr. Rivers told us to go onto google classroom and click the assignment labeled "Podcast #2 Allusion , Audience, and Ready Player One". In that assignment we  open up the link to the class podcast. On there we had to look at and understand all of the "goals" listed. Then after that we had to pick a podcast to listen, and reflect on. Each student had to go onto the slide where the groups podcast link was and comment on what the group did well (relating to the goals you read before), and comment what they needed to improve on (also relating to the goals).
You had to follow the explicated format when commenting. :
("Episode Title")- (First name, Last Initial) (Period #)- (Goal #) (How did this podcast do the verbs in this goal? Provide/ analyze specific evidence of success). (Goal #) (How can this podcast better achieve this goal? Provide/ analyze specific evidence to support your suggestion)
Then after we commented on a groups podcast, you listened to your own podcast and commented on that. All the expectations on the first commenting were expected within the second one.
Both of these reflections were counted as a formative grade.
We worked on these reflections during the whole class.

Shelby Vermeulen ~ 11 - 7 - 16

Today in class, we created a new podcast for Ready Player One. Mr. River’s informed us that he applied commentary on the google doc that we turned in with our groups. He also recommended that we reflect on the comments that he made as well as our other classmates comments. By looking at the feedback we have and reflecting on our podcast, we can help to continually sharpen and improve our work. Mr. Rivers also recommended that we inform our group of the allusions and references we plan to bring up to create a better flow of conversation. In our groups we can also look at characters names, focus on the music, and/ or look at movies.

Mr. Rivers also proposed the question of:

What do these allusions do? How do they develop plot? Character? Tone? Setting?

For my group, we got some great feedback on our first podcast. We decided to keep our idea of starting off with a song and introducing ourselves. To keep the conversation going we introduce new references and facts that we found interesting.

Chris makeup

October 31st
   In class today we examined horror clips. we watched them for a couple reasons. The first being that it was Halloween and we were all in the spirit. the second being we were breaking down each clip and seeing what made it scary. As a class we all found similarities between each clip from a horror movie or short film. They all had parts that were silent, like in Black Mirror, when she wakes up it's silent. We also found that in every scene there was a moment when the camera would zoom in and or focus on the main character and blur out the background. We all found this interesting and came to an understanding, that when your focus on the main character it makes it harder for the viewer to see what is going on in the background. This put's the viewer on edge because maybe we something moving, maybe we don't. It allows the mind to wonder and create scary situations. The last connection we made between clips, was there is always an abrupt sound that catches the main characters attention, whether it's aloud bang, a slamming door, books falling or even in the case of Black Mirror a picture being taken. All of these combined is what makes a movie scary, or not so scary for some.
   We also found in the case of David Pumpkins that the mood of each character and the music can change how scary a scene or movie is. On the 100 floors of frights David S. Pumpkins was some guy with skeletons set on  the ride in order to scare people. However, due to the music and the main characters being confused, David S. Pumpkins wasn't very scary.
   As a class we all found it interesting how, even though we know scary movies are fake, they still put fear into our hearts. It's a crazy concept, that when you use all the key indicators, silence, scary music, sounds, and focusing the camera on a person or thing, it can stimulate our body into being scared.
   To sum it all up we broke down clips and found what makes horror movies scary, or no scary for some.

11/4/16 Sarah Veasey

Today in class we further discussed allusion. Allusion means that you are making a reference to something whether it be a book, movie, time period, etc. We also went over Dominant v. Subsidiary audience. A dominant audience is the main thing, we are mostly concerned with them. They are the ones that most author and directors are looking to engage so that they can further understand the piece of media better/fully. Their is also the subsidiary audience. They are more around the main focus, and aren't as important as the dominant audience. They are more of a question of importance.

Mr. Rivers kept asking the question, "Who is the dominant audience for reader player one and who is the subsidiary audience?" That question isn't really a yes or no question, it more a matter of your own opinion based on if you can understand the allusions in the plot line or not.

Today in class we also learned about Specifying Characterization, and considering how they tie in with Wall-E. Relationships such as Auto and the Captain or Wall-E and Hello, Dolly! are both important to this topic because they contrast between hate and love, and understanding and misunderstanding one another. All these understanding help develop the movie and characters because we get a sense of how they operate by themselves and with another character. Another question posed to the class was, "How do allusions specify Wade's character? Aech? Art3mis? Danio? Shoto?" This lead to our final task of the day, looking for allusions in Ready Player One to help with our podcast that we will be recording on Monday (Read all of Level 1 and 2 by Monday!).

Jack Valentine 11/3/16

Class Summary:

Today in class we began learning about allusions and their effects on film. Mr. Rivers first started with the basics, making sure each student understood the difference between illusion and allusion. Then focusing on the main lesson on allusions, the class learned what exactly allusions do. Finding that allusions reward and define audiences, Mr. Rivers dove deeper into both qualities. First understanding how the audiences gains a sense of reward through a sense of satisfaction, we learned about the various hints that lay in movies. These seem to be hard to pickup on. However, Mr. Rivers brought up various examples from Pixar Films which displayed hints to films that were later released. Next, the class observed how allusions can define the audience. This is done by revoking the jokes in which are set in films that only some of the audience may understand. This is due to the fact that in order to follow the joke or reference, the audience would have to obtain a prior knowledge of an already established piece of work. Finally we learned about the two different kinds of allusions.

11/3/16 Notes

IWBAT- analyze the multi-faceted functions of allusions

• Apply my understanding of allusions to Ready Player One

Illusion vs Allusion

• Illusion- like a magic trick
• Allusion- A reference that is either literary or historical

What do allusions do?

• Reward/define audience
• Reward Audience- Satisfaction
• Humor

Sometimes Subtle “ Easter Eggs”

Ex. monsters inc toy pickup. Nemo hint

• Honor- Homage
• Parody

Making fun of something because of their qualities

• Define Audience- Who should GET these?
• Is This familiar?

Dominant Audience v. Subsidiary Audience

• Wall-E: Children’s Film… right?
• Ready Player One???

• Specify Characterization
• ???

Allusions

• Explicit- names the reference
• Implicit- implied, not plainly expressed
  
  
  
  
  Pixar Film Hints
  
  

Michael Tartaglia 11/2/16

Today our class grabbed our chrome books and logged into google classroom. Mr. Rivers then told us that whoever was absent yesterday had to do their podcast today. Those who did their podcast yesterday got to listen to our peers podcast and our own. We analyzed both and wrote down what we need to do better and new tips we got from other podcasts. Every student in the class had to write a comment on just one group's podcast on google slides in the comment box. Our own criticism about our performance in our own podcast was posted directly on google classroom (privately to Mr. Rivers) about what we need to do to strengthen our podcast in the future.
In the groups we sit in, we discussed new ideas to incorporate in the podcast. For example, I suggested that we play "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper to open the next podcast as Wade talked about how it was playing at someone's birthday party in the OASIS. It strengthens the podcast and makes the podcast interesting that the group was closely reading Ready Player One. Using something from the book and bringing it alive makes the audience focused and entertained. It makes a podcast unique.

 

Juliana Oelkers 11/1/16

Today we started off class by getting our chrome books and logging on to google classroom. Then Mr. Rivers told us the plan for the class period was to prepare for our podcasts and then record them. Someone in each group shared a planning sheet with the rest of the group and everyone wrote one thing they would like to improve on from the past podcast. After that, each person in the group wrote questions using evidence from Ready Player One and Wall-E to discuss during our podcasts. After preparing, we were ready to record.
Each group went to a separate area so it would be quiet. Our group went into the hallway and did a sound check on our phones to make sure we would be easily heard. The first thing we did on our podcast was introduce ourselves. Then we asked each other the questions we had previously written and discussed them with each other for ten minutes. Finally, we saved it to our phones, uploaded it to google drive, and pasted the link on google classroom.