I'm Back!

I'm taking a Creative Writing class at school, and I have decided to post my work, whether I like it or not, on my blog. I haven't actually used this thing in over a year, but I'm going to start again. I may post more than my classwork, but hey, I am pretty busy.

My first assignment: Introduction to Self
Guidelines:

• You may write poetry or prose
• You may NOT use first person
• You do NOT need to tell the truth
• Don't try to tell everything
• Be succinct and specific
• Consider what can be seen, what is hidden, what you want to reveal
• Don't try for a finely tuned, polished product. Rather, let words and ideas flow... let the language lead your imagination someplace unexpected
• You MUST include ALL of the following words in any order (look them up if you need to). You are allowed to modify the word to fit the grammar of the sentence.
• TRYST
• SNIFFLE
• INANE
• FRACAS
• PIRATE

So here it is...

Somewhere Between

She didn't realize that her life had spun out

Of her pristine, perfect, narrow world

Until she was amidst the chaos, fracas, unrest.

Insomnia took over, and eventually her nights became days,

Her days became inane.

She was going through the motions.

She lost her Purpose, her niche, her thing.

She couldn't accept that she wasn't the best anymore,

And that hurt.

She had been pirated of all life and enthusiasm.

No longer the girl her childhood friends knew

No longer the girl people thought she was.

She sniffled to her mama, and asked what,

What could be wrong with her?

But she closed her mind to all suggestions and continued

Spinning into disarray…

But the girl, she found herself

Somewhere between Risk and Trust,

Who had held a tryst, it seemed,

Just for her.

Some Photos I Have Taken

Just because I can... I think I'm gonna go set up a Flickr account now.

Aaaaaand... DONE!

Can you believe it? We are FINISHED with our short film. I honestly can't comprehend it. I'm a little bit thrilled, but at the same time, I know that this is the last time I'll be editing like this, because I am not in BNC next year. So... this is pretty bittersweet.

I am really proud of our film, and I hope everyone likes it! I will post another sneak peek within the next few days. 

COME TO CAP HOLLYWOOD ON MAY 29TH AT 7PM!!!

Highway 19--Almost Done! EEEK

Sneak Peek: The cutest actor in our production-- Hayley!

Highway 19 is in the final stages of production, and it will be completed by next week! Come out to watch the CAP 10 short films on May 29th at 7pm in the MBHS Auditorium! 

Our short film finally has a complete soundtrack, and it is very good (if I do say so myself). We have a country-rock vibe and even some Buddy Holly. Now I know you're dying to see it!

SPOILER ALERT: We need a gun for one very crucial scene in our film, but we are not allowed to bring guns (even fake ones) to school. So this predicament has required some serious thought and innovation. We are going to experiment with the green screen. Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be too cheesy.

On Monday, our editing time was cut seriously short, as the Blair computers were not available for login until 20 minutes before the end of the class. This required me to go in at lunch to accomplish what I needed to get done on Monday. The class time that we lost due to the network errors weren't wasted though. Many of us got in some much-needed review for the Government AP test :) During lunch on Monday I FINALLY fixed the color correction to be perfect in the flashback scene; however, it was changed yet again--to what I hope will be the final-- by Isaiah, our story author and director.

Today, I started to balance the audio levels. It's harder than it sounds. I have to find a good balance for the music that plays in the diner. It has to sound like it is playing in the diner; not like the other parts of the soundtrack that play over the movie.

Next week I hope to finalize the sound levels and fix the credits. I just realized that I forgot to include that our film is based on the short story "Melting Snow" by Isaiah Silvers. OOOPS! Can't forget to give Isaiah his well-deserved credit.

I'm really excited for this event, and I hope we win a lot of awards :) If we don't get best soundtrack, I will be convinced that it was rigged (just kidding... maybe :) )

So please come to CAP Hollywood!!!!

UPDATE--5/18/13

**SEE BELOW FOR MORE SNEAK PEAKS**

A lot has happened with our film in 3 days. I spent about 3 hours on Thursday and Friday each. On Friday, we finally got to shoot (get it?shoot?) with our fake gun. That alone has improved our film by A LOT!!! I am planning to color correct the entire film, and add in a shot of a jukebox. If we have time, I am also going to make fancy opening credits, buuuut we'll see. I am not quite sure how that will turn out. And, oh yeah, I finally found the last addition to our soundtrack. It's another Buddy Holly song :)

Sneak Peek: This one gets no explanation. You'll have to come to CAP Hollywood to find out what it means!

Adapting Melting Snow

Sneak Peak: Our main character as he walks on the side of the highway.

"Melting Snow", a story written by my classmate Isaiah, is now the story that we are adapting into a short film. The story explores what young people do when they feel left out of life.

I am really excited about how the production is going so far. We have already done all of our filming at Tastee Diner and on the side of a highway... Cool, right?

We have been editing for about a week and a half, and we've already made a lot of great progress. I am my group's editor, so the pressure is on, as I try to work out my differences with Final Cut Pro and make this short film look professional.

Here is what we have achieved so far...

Editing Week 1

• Imported all footage into our timeline and laid out a rough rough-cut
• Tried to come up with a new title for the film adaptation (because there isn't any snow...)
• Started color editing the flashback sequence. I have never done color editing before, and it really enhances the effect!
• Found two thirds of the music for our soundtrack
• Finished the credits
• Started working on a movie poster

Editing Week 2 (This week)

• Fixed some of the awkward jump cuts
• Picked out a title font!!! It's getting really professional, guys :)
• Imported all of the music into the timeline; adjusted sound levels for soundtrack and dialogue
• Came up with a production company name: Chicken & Corn Productions
• AAAAND we finally came up with a title. We considered a lot of different title (North, Highway to Hell, and I think at one point: Melted Snow). We finally settled on Highway 19!

While we have made a lot of progress, we still have a lot more to do as a group. We have to finish our movie poster, finalize our flashback music, and record voice overs. I hope to get all of that accomplished by the end of next week. That way, we'll be able to use the last week of production for small adjustments.

Once we record voice overs, I have to put them into the movie. I also have to put in opening and closing music, as the music I originally found, isn't the best. I also hope to come up with a cool intro and add more cutaway shots of the diner (which I may need to get more shots of).

And, oh yeah. We need a pistol for one really crucial scene in our film, and we don't have one. What to do, what to do?

***Come see our short film and others at the CAP Hollywood awards event on Wednesday, May 29!***

Many Notes Lead to Sweet, Symphonic Ending

A trip to Café Cullen* will bring your palette many delights. The one-day-only restaurant is a buffet style service, and it features many different kinds of food. This small, but homey restaurant offers a wide variety of appetizers, main courses, sides, and desserts.
The highlight of the appetizer menu is by far the sambusa. This pastry, generally found in East Asia, was perfectly made at Café Cullen. The outer pastry was fried to a crisp, and each one was shaped in a two-bite triangle. The inside was filled with spicy shredded beef and seasonings that complemented one another well. While the pastry was well made, it left something to be desired as far as a dipping sauce or chutney. The dish would have been complete with more acidity.
The cranberry orzo pasta salad was the star of the entire meal. Orzo is, in my opinion, pasta that is not used hardly enough in cooking. You will find this rice-shaped pasta to be cooked at an al-dente that any Italian grandmother would praise. The dish hit every part of the palette. A bite consisted of an explosion of flavors—mint, almonds, dried cranberries, and a light drizzle of olive oil.

A close second to the orzo was the potato salad. This was not a simple potato salad one would happen upon at a family picnic, but a well-composed dish. One can clearly taste the thought put into its making. The hearty sized potatoes were complimented by occasional bites of crunchy asparagus, green pepper, and red onion. The flavors were married together with the acidity of red wine vinegar.
A four bean salad, more cleverly composed than its name were next on the menu. While this dish left many raving of the flavors, I found its seasonings to be slightly overbearing. The oregano left an aftertaste that let me reaching for my glass of lemonade. Overall, the ingredients were well cooked, but the execution and flavor pairing needs more thought.

Desserts made up nearly half of the menu at Café Cullen. There were a variety; lemon cake, almond cupcakes, brownies, cake pops, hot milk cake, and many more. The lemon cake was perfect. It had a moist cake and a tart and creamy lemon icing. Lemon zest was added to both the cake and icing, not leaving anything to be desired flavor-wise. The almond cupcakes with a simple vanilla buttercream were delicious. The almond flavor was, again, reminiscent of Italy. The cake in this dessert was also fluffy.

The brownies were some of the most delectable I have ever tasted at a restaurant. They were chewy, but not too. They were fudgy; sweet, but rich in chocolate. A rival to any homemade version, though they would have been better with walnuts.

The cake pops—not usually something that would appear on a restaurant menu so much as Starbucks—brought the restaurant from three stars to two. Cake pops as a culinary invention are despicable. Their gooey insides make you believe you are consuming raw batter, though it is really cake smashed together with any old icing. The mashed up mess was, at Café Cullen, coated in a far too thick shell of milk chocolate. These are meant to be a sort of desert amuse-bouche, yet a one-bit consumption would leave one in a desperate search of something to wash it down.

The hot milk cake was the dessert menu’s savior. What other deserts lacked in presentation, texture, and taste were forgotten in this piece of cake. The sponge cake was made with milk, flour, hints of vanilla, and love. A light dusting of powdered sugar was all it needed to be exceptional.

Overall, my trip to Café Cullen was successful, and it took me around to world and back to my own kitchen. The menu is vast, and the flavors leave nothing to be desired at the end of a meal; unless you order the cake pops.

*Cafe Cullen is the name of my Journalism teacher's fictional restaurant for our introduction to restaurant reviews.

My New Camera

I got a Nikon D3100 for my birthday! I'm so excited that I now have a DSLR. Now maybe I can try out some of the cool techniques featured in The Berger Weekly! I have only had it for one day, and I have taken quite a motley (English vocab word) collection of pictures. Expect to see some more pictures in the future.

My short film group will also be using this camera to shoot. We are already thinking of some great new cinematic techniques :)

Here are some of my pictures:

My grandpa

Oh say can you see...

Orchids

Hyacinths

Poinsettia plant

My handy wrapping skills on a birthday present for my uncle. I made the bow myself.

Family game night playing Ticket to Ride: EUROPE.

And I won :)