“The Truman Show” 3 Academy Award Nominations: Best Supporting Actor: Ed Harris (Christof) Best Director: Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society) Best Screenplay: Andrew Niccol Winner of 3 Golden Globes: Best Actor: Jim Carrey Best Supporting Actor: Ed Harris Best Original Score Objective: You will write a three to five page paper analyzing “The Truman Show” by writing on any of the following topics (Due _____________):

 1. How do camera angles and camera movements affect the movie? What unique shots are used in the film and how do they impact the audience? How is framing used to remind the viewer of the cameras themselves? What impact do cameras have on you as a viewer? Pick a particular scene when you think cameras play an important role in the mood of the film.

2. What impact does music have on the movie? Why is particular music used for certain scenes? Why does the music stop when Truman sails into the wall? How does Christof display the importance of music in his television show? How are other sound effects used to add to a particular feeling? Is this movie deserving of a golden globe award for best original score?

3. What does “The Truman Show” say about the impact of mass media on our society? How does the movie use product placement in a sarcastic way? Is this movie realistic when thinking of current trends in web broadcasting? Would you watch this show? Would you be an actor in the show? What is the irony of a movie about the making of a live television show? Compare this movie to “Bullworth”, “Wag the Dog” or another movie about mass media.

4. Does the movie have a deeper symbolic or philosophical meaning? Do the names of characters like Truman (true man) or Christof (Christ of) have deeper meaning? In what ways is Christof like a deity (“I’m the creator”)? What is the meaning of Sylvia’s (Lauren’s) picture that Truman carries? How is the symbol of water used? How is repetition used in this movie (much like “Groundhog’s Day”)? Why doesn’t Weir use the symbol of the Truman’s ring that Niccol wrote into the script?

5. How do additions or subtractions from the script affect the story? Do you agree with the changes Weir has made? Do you like the opening of the movie? How does the rolling of credits for the television show impact the audience? How are flashbacks and foreshadowing used? Is the dialogue and character interaction natural? Which characters are developed in the story? What is the climax? What conflicts are resolved? Does the story make sense to the viewer?

6. Do you agree or disagree with philosophical statements made in the movie? “We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented”-Christof. “Truman’s world is normal. The world where you live is the sick place. Seahaven is the way the world should be”-Christof. “There’s no more truth out there than there is in the world I created for you. The same lies, the same deceit. But in my world, you have nothing to fear”-Christof. “I know you better than you know yourself”-Christof to Truman. Truman replies, “You don’t have a camera in my head.” “There is nothing fake about Truman. It isn’t always Shakespeare but it’s genuine. It’s life”-Christof. “Nothing is fake. It’s merely controlled”-Marlon. “What right do you have?” Sylvia to Christof. “The whole world revolves around me”-Truman.

 7. Is “The Truman Show” realistic? Are there any flaws in the story? How realistic is the set with its 5,000 cameras? Are the actors realistic? Is it possible for something like “The Truman Show” to occur in the future? What technology would be needed?

 8. How does Weir juxtapose the two worlds happening simultaneously? What importance does the man in the tub, the mother and daugther in the restaurant, the two old ladies on the couch and the two men working the security lot have? How does Weir weave the two worlds (Christof’s studio and Truman’s world) together?

 9. Do you like how the movie ends? What do you make of Truman’s last words: “In case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night”? What happens to Christof? What happens to Truman and Sylvia? What happens to the viewers of the Truman show? What do you think would happen in a sequel?

10. Did you like this movie? Why or why not? Comment on the cinematography, sound, lighting, special effects or any other technical aspects. Comment on the characters or the actors themselves. Comment on the script or the story used in the movie.

Current Events Quiz Week of Feb. 24 – 28, 2014

Questions: 1. What state’s legislature passed a controversial bill that some say discriminates based on sexual orientation and others say promotes religious freedom? Extra Credit: What happens to the bill now? 2. Comedy director, writer and actor Harold Ramis died this week after a long illness. Name one of the classic movies he wrote, directed or acted in. 3. What country’s president has fled to an unknown destination after being ousted from his post and charged with mass murder? 4. Who is the Russian president, recently watching the Olympics in Sochi and now watching what is going on in the neighboring country in Question #4? 5. In another much-hyped change in late-night viewing, who took over Jimmy Fallon’s old job hosting “Late Night” on NBC? 6. What 40-day religious observation begins next week? 7. A man known as the world’s most wanted drug lord was arrested in what country last weekend? 8. What did Dale Earnhardt Jr. win last week?

1. Arizona, the governor has to sign or veto it
2. Caddy Shack
3. Ukraine
4. Putin
5. Seth Meyers
6. Lent
7. Mexico
8. Daytona 500

Monday Feb. 24,2014

Explain in your own words what video sequencing is. 3-5 sentences. What are 3 main benefits to shot sequencing? What are the Key ingredients to shot sequencing?

A video sequence is a number of shots that have been collected and plan for them to work together to tell or show an action or event that may occur or has already happened. The video sequencing helps to tell the story and communicate information.

• Shot sequences promote continuity
• Shot sequences compress time
• Shot sequences add a professional polish

Key ingredients:

1. together
2. specificity
3. variety

2.20.14

1.What is Action and Reaction shooting? 2.Which has more impact and why? 3.Describe some examples that show how important Reaction is.
                                                                                                                                                                   
1 .Action: The part of the story that is informing the watcher, reader, or audience and preparing them for the reaction in the story.
   Reaction: The part of the story that appeals to the watcher, reader, or audience by connecting with them emotionally by instantly hooking them into the story.
2. I believe that reaction has more of an impact because it appeals to the watcher, reader, or audience by connecting with them on an emotional level.
3. When Susan Boyle is about to start singing and then the audience and judges are completely shocked and filled with amazement by the performance she gave.

Current Events Quiz Feb.17 - 21

1. What country had at least 14 reported dead this week in clashes between protesters and police outside its parliament building? Extra Credit: What is the city where this is happening? 2. Of course the Olympics has been in the news spotlight all week. Name one sport where the U.S. is doing very well. 3. But one sport’s participants have done surprisingly poorly. What is that? Extra credit: At least some are blaming what new piece of technology for the problems? 4. What did an Ethiopian pilot do this week that made headlines? 5. What singing/performance duo, who already had been in Russian prison for two years for their actions, were again jailed – this time in Sochi? 6. Who premiered as the Tonight Show host this week? 7. What country was the site of a photo that went viral this week of a 4-year-old boy, temporarily separated from this family while crossing the desert to escape the fighting in his homeland? 8. Some experts say the proposed increase in minimum wage will be good because it will increase the earnings of low-wage Americans, but it will be bad because _______________.

1. Ukraine, Kieve

2. Figure skating

3.Speed Skating- The technology in the new suits

4.Hijacked a plane to Switzerland for asylum

5. Pussy Riot

6.Jimmy Fallon

7.Syria

8.Prices could go up, and Fewer jobs

Camera techniques

    Left Side 
Thumb - eyes on third
Pointer - the nose knows(open to the biggest empty place)
Middle - audio
Ring - background ( depth,texture, different colors, person 6ft from the wall)
Pinkey - lighting

Right Side
Thumb - Action
Pointer - Reaction
Middle - Wide (Give an overall feel for the setting and surrounding)
Ring - Medium (Less setting and a lot more detail, focusing on a specific area)
Pinkey - Tight (Close up shot, basically all of the shot is detail)

Camera Movements
Zoom- Magnifies the image
 Zoom with your feet if possible (walk closer)
Tilt- Moving the camera Up and Down
Pan- Moving the camera Left or Right

Sound Bite- A small piece of the interview that can typically stand alone

B-Roll- Extra footage of what ever story of whatever your covering to help enhance the story

1. can change the angle
2. can change the height (low or high)
3. can change the focal length (wide medium or tight)

Shooting six

1. Camera
2. Tripod
3. Microphone
4. Headphone
5. Power -source (Battery)
6. Media (Tape or  SD Card)

NBC interviewer

1. Did NBC go too far? Why or Why not? 75 to 100 words.
- I think that the interviewer did go a little to far. At the beginning the questions were simple and not that emotional and then towards the end they started getting more emotional and more focused around the fact that he had a brother who had recently passed away. And as a reporter you should know the limits and when to stop asking the sad emotional questions and kind of change topic. But she still had to do her job and ask the tough questions.

~Word count: 84

Tackling the Challenge

 1. How did the reporter put the viewer in Josh’s shoes with the way she started the story? 2. The interview with Josh and his interpreter required two cameras. Why? 3. How did the coach’s first sound bite give you a sense of the team’s appreciation of Josh? 4. If you could ask Josh or his interpreter one question, what would it be? 5. What are some of the major obstacles Josh has to overcome to play football as the only deaf person on the field?

1. At first she showed the normal sounds you would hear at a football game then she put it in his perspective     and showed that he can not hear any of the other normal sounds that another person could.

2. It took two cameras because one camera has to focus on josh and the other has to focus on the                     interpreter. 

3. He may lack the ability to hear but being unable to hear heightens all of his other senses and he has good       vision so he tell a lot of the other players what they can do to improve on their position strategies. The           coach does see him as having a disability.
4. I would ask them how hard is it to deal with him being deaf during school? Like does she go to class and       interpret the whole lesson?
5. For starters on major obstacle is that he can't hear when the referee blows the whistle and he keeps doing     the play.

Dirty Job: Taxidermy

 1. How did Mehleena the reporter quickly make it clear she was a participant in the story? 2. Which natural sounds added texture to the story? 3. “That was going to take some pretty gruesome work.” Why was that voiceover used when it was--how did it prepare the viewer? 4. The concept of “reporter-as-surrogate-for-the-viewer” means what? 5. Did the story make you appreciate the preservation of animals, or make you wonder why people do this in the first place? Explain.

1. She made it clear by saying she was going to skin the dear, and used video recording to prove that she had actually done it.
2.A natural sound that added texture to the story was the saw when they were cutting the antlers off of the dears head.
3.It let the views know that there was going to be some pretty disgusting and gross stuff in the story.
4.It means that the reporter was going to be a part of the story, not only to inform the audience but she was an actual character in the story.
5.This story made me wonder why people do taxidermy in the first place. It is gross and even though the animal is dead they should be stuffed and put on a wall for decoration.

Steps to writing a story

1. Find a topic

• Do teens care/Should teens care? 

2. Create a focus statement

• Subject,Verb,Object

3. Collect some information

• Who are the experts?
• opposing sides/ or none
• Interview questions
• be informed on information related to the topic

4. Interview

• ask open ended questions
• Sound bite- piece of audio that can stand alone

5.

Current Events Quiz Feb. 10 – 14

 1. What famous former child star died this week? 2. What newscaster was sidelined during the Olympics because of an eye infection? Extra Credit: Who is replacing him? 3. Name the U.S. Attorney General who has been in the news several times in the last week with announcements about same-sex rights and calls for changes in state voting laws. 4. House Republicans finally agreed Tuesday to lower/raise (choose one) the U.S. debt ceiling limits. 5. What popular mobile game’s creator pulled it from app stores this week? 6. Keeping track of the medal count at the Olympics is challenging, but name one of the countries that had multiple gold medals by Tuesday. 7. What professional sport was in the news this week when one of its top draft prospects announced he is gay? 8. What European president visited the White House this week, attending a state dinner and discussing ways to deal with the Syrian crisis?

1. Sherly Temple

2. Fob Hastess, Mat Lauer

3. Eric Holder

4. Lower

5. Flappy Bird

6. Netherlands

7. Football

8. President Holland, France

Toy Story

 1. The camera work in this story is very advanced.  It uses various angles, foregrounds, sequences, and lots of tights.  List three shots that were the most memorable for you.
 - The train going around the train track.
 - The gigantic pink head of the dinosaur
 - The huge teddy bear standing in by the entrance of the museum.
2.  How does the proprietor’s joke at the start of the story help establish him as a character?  What does it tell us about him?
 - The jokes at the start of the story showed that toys are the other half of him figuratively. He puts so much time and effort into the museum. It also shows that he is a total kid on the inside meaning that even though he is older he doesn't let that effect his ability to have fun and enjoy life.
3.   There was no reporter stand-up.  Should there have been?  Explain your answer.
 - No because the story was entertaining, funny, cheesy, and informing all at the same time. There is no nee for a reporter stand up.
 The photograph provided a nice surprise.  How did that further establish him as a character invested in the toy store?
 - The photograph showed that he as the owner has invested do much of his time into toys and even though he is older now that doesn't mean he cannot have fun.
5.  Was there information you didn't get that you really wanted?
 - No not really.


focus statement: One sentence that will guide what the story will be about.

Shayna's Story

One sentence focus statement:
         Shayna has fallen three miles from the sky and is still alive with a young two week old baby in her that is also still alive.

Elementary student creates device for diabetics (video)

Summary:
A young boy named Elijah who suffers from type 1 diabetes has created a new invention to prevent Lipohypertrophy from occurring. So he created a body mark syringe to mark the body and let the user know not to shoot the insulin in the same spot next time.

Reaction:
I thought this story was amazing as well as informing. It shows that even a little boy with big dreams can accomplish anything that he puts his mind to. But also within this story there are other children who are incredibly intelligent and aim very high for their age.

Shayna's Story

1. Describe how the story incorporated the technique, "Make them laugh before you make them cry."
2.  How did the story structure help “save a surprise” on at least two occasions?
3.  Which soundbite will you remember the most from this piece?
4. How do the Anchor's comments after the feature help bring the story full circle?
5. What information would you like to have that the story did not include?

1. The story incorporated the technique, "make them laugh before you make them cry" by showing how she had a rough time but when the nurses heard about her story and her being pregnant during the fall and her and the baby still being alive after the fall.

2. Well the first surprise is that she fell three miles and still lived, then she had to go through treatment and still the baby was born with no complications or deformities from the strong medication that she had to take.

3. The sound bite that I will remember the most is her instructor yelling at her to "pump the break".

4. It allowed the transition from her hospital and having the baby to going sky diving one more time 6 months after having her so to get over her fears.

5. I probably wouldn't include the part about her always wanting to do the "biggest craziest ride possible".

Easy Access

 1. List three pieces of natural sound in this story. 2. How did the reporter tease the viewer in the beginning? 3. When the reporter made the call to the online vendor, she gave a lot of clear information about who she was, and why she was calling? Why did she make it clear the conversation was being recorded? 4. How did the prosecuting attorney’s letter help this story happen? 5. The story reveals online alcohol sales to minors. How concerned are you that it might actually give teens information they did not have?

1.Ripping open the package, dialing the alcohol business, and the mouse clicking of the computer.

2. The reporter teased us by not really telling us what the report was about they instead showed a package on the door step and how the package had gotten there.

3.So that in the slight chance that there might be a trial against the business that evidence can not be thrown out of the case, and also so that the company knew that they were doing something wrong and illegal. Also it is common courtesy to let the person know that they are being recorded.

4.The letter helped this story by showing that there was a reason that they were buying alcohol for a project, the letter helped with the process of buying the alcohol.

5. I'm not that concerned because in Minnesota it is not legal to buy alcohol online. But also I never knew that you could by alcohol online and i'm guessing that a lot of other students didn't know about it as well.

Current events quiz 2/2 - 2/6

1. What award-winning actor died last weekend of an apparent drug overdose? 2. What Southern state now has a severe weather task force after two inches of snow last week totally paralyzed its largest city? 3. With the Winter Olympics starting in Sochi this week, the Russians have some challenges. Which is NOT a problem the media have reported? a. The host nation is being accused of shooting stray dogs. b. Some of the hotels are not ready. c. Russia’s anti-gay laws have upset human rights groups. d. All are issues the Russians are facing. 4. The big named winter storm this week is ______________________. (HINT: The last one was Maximus.) 5. A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week is exploring privacy in the digital age, especially related to credit cards. Name one of the two retail companies whose executives have been testifying because recent security breaches put millions of their customers at risk. 6. What recent sporting event broke records for the most watched TV event in U.S. history? 7. In a strange and some say unbelievable story this week, a man was found in the Marshall Islands after doing what? 8. What social network site turned 10 this week?

1. The game maker in catching fire
2. Georgia
3. D
4. Neka
5. Target, Nema Marcus
6.  Superbowl
7. Drifting in a boat from Mexico
8. Facebook

Whose video

 Whose Video?
1. Why was important to show the You tube clips of fights recorded at schools? 2. The Student Press Law Center source makes it clear students always own their cell phone video footage. How do your school administrators handle this? 3. What are some alternative ways to conduct the interview with the SPLC lawyer other than over the phone? 4. What was the point made by the second stand-up, and how did it relate to the focus of the story? 5. Cite examples of how this story practiced the journalistic concept of “say it, prove it.”

1. It is important because it shows proof that there are actually students who don’t care about others and want other people to see the students beating up on each other.
2.  I’m not exactly sure on how the administrators run things here because I've never been in that position, but I do know that my old school runs things very strictly about video recording a fight and uploading it.
3. Some alternative methods could be video messaging like Skype, or meet in person for a 1 on 1 interview.
4. The point was to show the process of how a video is taken or recorded to a phone, and then uploaded to the internet. It related to the focus of the story because the whole news video is about whether or not students should have or not have the right to record and upload videos of other student to the internet without punishments for their actions.
5. She said that students in many schools were uploading videos of fights, and then she showed a video of a fight.