Reflexión Para el PSA

​Mi grupo y yo hicimos un PSA sobre basura en el río.
Por crear el PSA, la cosa más importante que aprendí fue una persona puede hacer un diferencia.
Me gusta el PSA de mi grupo porque el PSA es bajo y conciso.
Si pudiera hacer el proyecto otra vez, yo cambiaría las frases en el video; para hacer las frases más detallada.

PSA



LBGT Rights by J.Long, S.Skelton & B.Thompson

For our second quarter benchmark, we created a video about LBGT rights and had some insight from a couple peers and included brief information about what role the United States plays in this. We looked into section one of the 14th Amendment for our project.

Citations

1. y wedding of josh & ryan [Web]. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laV8nNV9EBk

This video is about a gay couple Josh & Ryan getting married  In New York city. Marry me gay specialize in gay marriages and is filming this marriage to show everyone that gay couples can also fall in love. Gay couples love is just as true and vibrant as a heterosexual couple's love.

2. Marriage for same-sex couples. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/marriage-same-sex-couples

This website is about gay marriage and equality. People who religion  doesn't approve of gay marriage can criticize gay couples but the government cannot. Marrying the same sex is only acceptable in 20 states (plus D.C)  and people are working hard to expand this across the country.
This website also talks about the defense marriage act and marriage in the United States.
u.s. constitution: Fourteenth amendment . (n.d.).

3. Retrieved from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment14/

This website is about the 14th amendment. The 14th amendment is broken down into 5 sections. The 14th amendment  is about babies being born from an immigrant inside the U.S gives the mother (& family) of the baby permanent residency. It is also about slaves rights being denied and so forth and so on.

4. 14th amendment rights [Web]. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6aDzJ9Eab4&feature=youtu.be
This video is about a girl who created an animated feature to discuss the 14th amendment. She wanted to get the message of the 14th amendment out to people who doesnt know about it and is living it everyday. She wanted to explore the creative side of history.



Benchmark Reflection



My reasoning for choosing this topic is because this is a topic that is taken lightly in the society today. We, even I myself is guilty of calling people "gay" when I feel like they're doing something out of the norm for their gender which is wrong of me. I do not mean any harm by it but I've come to realize how bad of an impact this can have on people. Being gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender in the world today isn't easy and I felt like it'd be a good idea to make a video reminding people that they are human & their sexuality doesn't define them. 

We did stumble across one big challenge which was what exactly would we include in this video. We didn't know if we wanted to base this off of one person's life with facts or not. We ended up just making a video with facts included in it.  Aside from the challenges, I liked that we had to make a video and focus on a provision of the Constitution in a creative way.  The most interesting fact that I came across was that a Defense of Marriage Act was passed giving the states the option of rejecting or allowing gay marriages. I felt like that law should have never been passed being as though the US shouldn't regulate who people chose to love and be with.


After watching the project, I noticed the audio was not the best and it could use some MAJOR improvements. The music was higher than the interview audio which is a mess and should be fixed. If I were to do this project again, I would start the filming earlier because we probably would have more access to filming equipment and our final product would have been so much better. Also, we wouldn't have had to use many youtube videos if we would have done so. However, I did learn about the 14th Amendment and how that second section of the 14th Amendment shouldn't be taken for granted. Me, because I have my freedom and I am a heterosexual female does not go through problems where I feel as though I'm being rejected or deprived of rights. Therefore, I take this section of the 14th Amendment lightly whereas those who are LBGT take it seriously because they are deprived of their right to live in the way they want to.

Imagination Gone Artsy: Copy a Master

This is where my imagination went crazy. I made a night and day version of a famous drawing. 

This is where my imagination went wild. I was confused at first when we were first assigned this project because I didn’t want to spend too much time on one project because I was still working on other things. So I googled: “famous paintings.” And Better Days by Judi Lynn showed up. My first reaction to this picture was BLACK AND WHITE. I went to my art teacher, Ms. Hull, but she just left so I found the Emma, a student teacher in our class, and she said that it was best if I had two versions so I went home with two sheets of paper and drew two mirrored versions. This was going to be a day and night version of the painting. And then I was starting my first charcoal and painting project.

My favorite material to use was the charcoal because I learned new techniques and my aunt gave me her old charcoal kit. It was a bonding moment for us. She gave me a few pointers on her they worked. My favorite tool was the charcoal eraser she gave me because it could give me the different shades I wanted. I liked the charcoal side the best and I think it turned out very well. When I say that, I mean that I am 98% sure that it’s “hanging up on my wall” worthy. The other two percent is adding the final final touches. And yes, I meant to use TWO “finals” because I didn't know I was done until my painting dried and the colors faded. I wanted my drawing/painting to mirror each other and that was really frustrating to draw because I would end up drawing the picture instead of its opposite side.

If I could do it differently, I wouldn't use so much paint because that really curled my paper and made it really wavy. I also would keep in mind that when painting, there are different steps to do so. You need your bottom layer and then your middle layer and then add your final touches! Then I finished!

 

 

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Imagination Gone Artsy: Five Photos

200 Photos/Edit 200 Photos ~ Five Best: 
I love taking pictures in general. I always carry around a camera for any surprises that come my way. So this project was pretty nice. Taking the pictures was the easiest part. I took so many pictures but altered only five of them using photo shop. The before go before the pictures I photo-shoped.

Charcoal Clear Cup/Aquarium Cup:  
For the first picture, it was some what of a challenge to do because the picture was all gray and only charcoal. How would I change this picture, I thought...and then well lah! The cup looked like a fish tank so I colored int he cup with a paint brush and erased the blue in order to have fish. Then I accidentally inserted a stencil and erased what I tried to select...but it was a fail because I erased everything away. After all my hard work of trying to select it...its gets erased. But then my cousin comes over and says it looks pretty cool and added in a fish and some bubbles. Then I chose the sprinkle paint stencil and painted in sand. I also experimented with the other stencils like the grass (green) and the star (fish) stencil.

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Happy Face/ Happy Hamburger:

For this picture, I didn't know what to do with it. I played around with the color contrast and made it more yellow. I also cropped it so it would be bigger and closer up on to the face. Next I thought that the face looked like it was about to eat something so I used the magnetic lasso tool to pull out the picture, copy it, and paste it next to the face. That's basically all I did to the picture.

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Elephant/ 3D Elephant:

For the elephant picture, I rotated it first. I also darkened the picture a bit. Then I thought that the elephants should be changed around because it looked so boring. I was playing around with the effects with this picture. When I came to the 3D effect, it hurt my eyes so much, I had to keep it and ask other people what they thought...so guys, does the 3D picture hurt your eyes? 

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Book Shelf/ "I finally have pets!":

For this picture, I love it a lot because I finally have pets! Haha, just kidding. This picture was a challenge because I wanted to add something but I didn't know what and keep it natural looking. Then, I thought...PETS! I don't have them so it'd be nice to trick a few people! So, I found a few pictures online with pets in a white background and used the magnetic lasso tool to laso around the pets and then I reverts the little lassos to delete everything but the pet. Finally, I have pets! I want to thank Ms. Hull because she showed me so many tools and formats I could use.

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Elephant and Dog/ Color Blast Dog and Elephant:

For this picture, I love it because it has my both of my favorite animals in the picture and I was looking at my 3D elephants while looking at this picture and thought..."what if I could make my own 3D picture or something close. So I picked a very neon pink and blue and started randomly coloring it in. Then, I figured that it needed another color in order for me to feel like it is done. So I added a neon green and well-lah! I finished it!

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Finally,
When I work with photo shop, I am reminded that anything can be added and changed. I begin a piece by painting the setting. When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of relief that I am doing something right. When people see my work, I'd like them to see what I am capable of. Here's a bigger look:
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Photoshop Picture 2
Photoshop Picture 2

Imagination Gone Artsy: Bottle Coin Purse

Internet Sculpture:
I was really excited to make this bottle coin purse because I saw a picture of in the spring of my freshman year. I never made it until now because I didn't think I could. But Ms. Hull changed my view. The first couple of classes we had on this project...well, I lolly gagged and then one night, I was overly stressed so I put everything aside and pulled out my supplies, the "how to" packet and spent two hours making it. 

Throughout the whole process, I learned the challenges of sewing, bleeding, and patience. To make this bottle coin purse, I needed the bottle part of a two 20 littler soda bottle(at least 3 inches up), zipper, string, and a needle. First I had to prep and make the holes for the string to go through. I left at least two millimeters from the top of each of the separated bottle bottoms. 

Getting the zipper to stay was the hardest part but then when I got that down the next hard part was to put the needle through the correct hole. I got so frustrated with this part that I had to let my mom take over but then I realized that even she couldn't get it down because she sewed it on backwards. Thanks mom! After I got that down, I was really proud of myself. In the middle of showing my dad, I realized that the zipper wasn't on tight enough so I had to add another string to tighten it and then I had my dad make a knot for me with only less then a centimeter of string. My poor dad. 

The hardest thing I had to work with was when I combined all of my materials to make one thing. It was really tricky. The easiest thing was making the holes. The holes were on the top of the separated bottle bottoms. It was hard to figure out when my project was done but my dad said it was getting late so I added the final touches and showed my family. Then I took my pictures and called it a day. I want viewers to know that anything is possible. So if you see something online that you want to make, it is possible!
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Imagination Gone Artsy: Larger Clear Object:

This was one of the best quarters I've had all year. It's been amazing knowing I can make a mess and something pretty and one of a kind can come out of it because of Ms. Hull. All quarter Ms. Hull guided us and stayed in the back while were did our own thing. Through out the quarter, I've made a lot wacky and cool things:

Large Clear Object:
This cup didn't require much inspiration or imagination. This was assigned to us after we learned about how to use charcoal and how to use it to your advantage instead of just getting it all over you. My most favorite tool when it comes to charcoal is the paper towel because you can use it wet or dry. You used the wet paper towel when you wanted to erase something and you use the dry paper towel to faded the charcoal. I love the feeling I get when I smudge the charcoal perfectly. I also love when I can step back and look at my work and gaze at it. I feel as if this piece turned out very well because I used the charcoal to its fullest potential because I showed where the light was, fading, and dark/light lines. Ms. Hull taught us a lot and she said we could use the paper towel technique so I used that the most through out my whole drawing process.

When I work with charcoal, I am reminded that art can be seen in different views. I begin a piece by making a shading for the whole sheet of paper. I know a piece is done when I can step back and look at my art and feel proud of it. When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of happiness because I want to go home and show my parents so they can be proud of me. When people see my work, I'd like them to have to take a second look and say I did a great job.

I am not currently working on anything. Although I would love to take some of my drawings and painting back into the art studio and add some finishing touches on my art work so they are perfect when I hang them up.

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Illegal Domestic Spying: Zillah and Trevor

This is a small project that was done surrounding the issue of illegal domestic spying and what exactly caused the NSA (National Security Agency) to go from looking and tapping into calls coming from foreign countries to being able and going around tapping into any cellular device even emails on occasion looking for a "domestic threat". This is meant to give a brief inside into a specific piece of a bigger idea surrounding the privacy of the American People; this also goes against the 4th amendment which states that without a warrant appointed by a three-judge court a search a seizure can't be performed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0v1OuQirMQ&context=C3e65be8ADOEgsToPDskLn2XijvV__y1uKIO46rzHx


Why did you choose this topic?:


Me and my partner chose this project because not only did it seem interesting but it was something that we as young adults could relate to because of our involvement in the electronic community and how we used phones on the daily basis and didn't think something like this could happen.

What did you like about this project? What was most challenging?


I liked how as we went through everything we learned and gathered more information regarding what exactly this was dealing with and that it was a much bigger issue than just the idea that we were looking at, however at the same time it was very challenging when looking for the exact points and information we could use so that it would be relevant to what we were trying to convey in our video.

Describe the most interesting fact or event that you investigated.

The most interesting fact that we found was during one of the court cases the judge in the case went back to square one with one of the heads of the NSA asking him to briefly talk about what it was this was intended to do and in doing so never really denied the fact that they never asked for a warrant to be issued to tap into phones that weren't foreign

How could this project be improved?


I think that this project could be improved by maybe making the video a little longer as well as making it so that there was more detail in the video for the audience to get more out of it as a whole.

Where did you run into trouble with the project?

We ran into trouble when looking at where exactly different points and clips should be placed because we had so many to use and so many that went with each other that it was hard at times to actually pick out which clip would actually convey a message.


What went well with this project?


I think the projects main goal and the ideas found in the video were some things that went well for this project as well as the concepts for the video

If you had it to do over, what would you change about your decisions or your process?

I would probably change just the process by which we went about looking for things as well as what exactly we were going to use to make the project an overall success.

What did you learn?

I learned about how certain amendments can be skewed and changed around to fit something in particular but I also learned about how the government has complete power to do whatever it is they see fit to do.

Laying Black

Code switching is necessary. At least, that’s what’s gotten me this far. Is it a skill? Probably. Something to acquire and become good at. I’ve always been pretty good with words – a silver tongue it’s called.

“Ay ma, what’s for eat up in here?”

“I already ate. You betta find somethin in here for you starve. You better not go to bed hungry, boy, It aint good for you.”

“Aight mom, I won’t”

“We got some fries you can whip up right quick”

“Aint that what we had yesterday?”

“I don’t even want to hear complaints. It be people in Africa that would eat fries every night.”

“Ugh. I know mom. Fine I will.”

It’s an interesting thing, slang. One can’t be bad at it. The simpler it gets, the easier it is to get the main point across. That is of course, if the person in the conversation is a patron of partial English too. It’s picked up easy, and it’s unique because a deliberate effort is needed to abolish it completely unless one was never influenced by it in the first place. Its staying power is offset by its lack of compulsion. What I mean is, it’s hard for a person that speaks “proper” English (i.e White people) to demote to slang. When talking “proper” it feels irreverently inconvenient. Most words that are effectively condensed in slang feel too deliberate and imposing, almost arrogant to be used in intimate or casual talk.

Unless of course, one is adept at code switching. It’s no longer about “acting white” or “being black”. It’s about getting what, (and who) you want using the right language. As James Baldwin said in his essay “If black English isn’t a language, then tell me, what is?”, …”The price for this is the acceptance, and achievement, of one's temporal identity”. It doesn’t feel natural- to code switch I mean. Or rather it is much more comfortable to stick to one dialect, tone, language, theme, even status quo. For the price of leaving my inner comfort I can excel much better than I ever could restraining to my “Black English”. Not to say Black English is restricting, although, due to specific reasons it should not be used outside of intimate conversation.

When I was young, 5 or 6, everyone spoke it- Black English I mean. I was home within my comfort zone. I had not been exposed to anything else. Back then It was fine to have one mindset, one code, and to be ignorant of any other was not only acceptable, but sadly widespread within my community. At that age, of course, my community did not consist of many people outside of my family. Then there was school. School is a place where solitude was only obtainable through great effort. There was always a curious boy or girl who wanted to know what another name. To my credit, I wasn’t the least bit shy. If I was I most likely would not have the skills I do. I probably wouldn’t even attend the school I do now.

When I got a little older, I started to realize just how important code switching was. I was about 9 or 10 when I saw just how “clicks” formed. Similar people grouping together to for stable community inside one dysfunctional one. I noticed how different they were. Separated by music choice, neighborhoods, earlier childhood relations, even as general as gender. Usually one would blend into one that fit his or her category. Not me. Now 12 and 13 I watched, observed the wildlife in their artificial habitat.

  

New Tech Slide

​ This time, I made my slide less boring, with more repetition. Also, I used contrast between the colors , black and red. I also made the text large and easy to read. Overall, I created a new slide instead of simply making changes to my other one, because I knew that my previous one did not have as much potential as this one has.
new tech slide

Music and Science Collide at SLA

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Stephon Alexander, an internationally known physicist, and accomplished jazz saxophonist, visited SLA earlier this month as a guest of The Franklin Institute to share his vision of how science and music are really one. The talk focused on cosmology and quantum mechanics, which he related to sound through the wave phenomena present in both, and through the physics of sound in everyday music. Dr. Alexander also took the science of music to a new level, exploring geometric patterns in saxophone improvisation. He illustrated his points using his saxophone - and at the end, gave an improvised jazz performance.

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Dr. Alexander has been featured on PBS's "Nova" for "The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers" and has collaborated with Will Calhoun, the two-time Grammy-winning drummer from the band "Living Color." He recently won the National Science Foundation Career Award and was elected a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. Born in Trinidad, Stephon grew up in the Bronx, and is now Associate Professor of Physics at Haverford College, Assistant Professor of Physics at Penn State, and is beginning a new tenure at Dartmouth College.  
"Music is a wonderful device to communicate the beauty of physics. Matter isn't a boring, dead, solid thing. It's vibrating energy that maintains its consistency through resonating, just like a unified harmonious orchestra playing. I like to demystify the Big Bang by breaking it down in terms of sound. By connecting physics with music, I want to inspire young people and open their eyes to new possibilities."

-- Dr. Stephon Alexander

Video Blog - Sec. 1 of 14th Amendment

For the video, I focused on gender and the workforce. Because of last minute changes, I presented this video as if I was doing something on a daily basis, which was a video blog that I usually do every week about anything. Thing is, it is pretty long so I knew I wouldn't put this in the competition, BUT I felt as though anything that would be cut out from what I have, would leave out major important details. 

Benchmark Reflection

I chose that topic because it revolves around me a lot. I am a hard-working female, and so are other females in my family. I felt that it was important to show everyone that females are also important. 

What frustrated me was that my plan A didn't work (plan A was the original benchmark plan on moodle), so my project is my plan B which was turning it into a video blog. I liked that better actually because I was able to be myself, and express my opinions and facts. If my timing was better, it would've looked better than what is shown now.

I really enjoyed interviewing my great-great aunt, who worked at Pennsylvania Hospital for 41 years. She gave a lot of interesting thoughts, facts & opinions. Also, one of my C-SPAN videos were interesting too (the 2nd one shown). I learned something that I felt should've been in my project, which about the Womens Act.

I complained about timing this whole project, and I know it's my fault. It took me forever to come up with a topic that I really wanted to stick with. Once I came up with that, I rushed into creating a script for myself, and a plan. Come to find out, plan doesn't work. So it also seemed as though I was rushing through this project, but also I was taking advantage of time. That could've been handled better. Also, I went OVER the time limit.

I really LOVED that I was myself. I didn't have to put on some type of character, & I used a method that I do on a daily basis. I was about to combine that into a project and it didn't seem difficult to me on how I wanted to show it. I just wished that if my timing was better, everything would have been way better that what I displayed.

During this project journey, I learned about how the women became involved with the 14th amendment, and how important it is. I also learned how the Equal Protection Clause would affect women if it didn't exist. I also learned from both my aunt and mother that we need equal share and we will get there. It's just a shame that we have to work 5 times as hard as Caucasian females, and males in general.

english advertisment


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1961082/advertizemnt%20.pdf

My advertisement is showing and explaining to kids that you don’t need fancy and expensive shoes to fit in with others. You should be happy for what you have. The majority of kids fall into the trap of buying these fancy and expensive shoes just so they can be popular.  In my opinion people should like you for you not the sneakers you have.   It should only matter on how the person is treated.  If a person is nice to you then be nice to them if not then not. If I was to do this benchmark again I would not change my process because it was an easy structure for me to do and I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with going through things.  The class’s feedback was very helpful in helping me with making a successful advertisement