Juliana Concepcion Public Feed

Austin Powers: Film Noir

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in Reel Reading · Giknis · D Band on
Made by Juliana Concepcion, Cacy Thomas, and Ellie Kreidie

Drama, crime, and secrecy are all part of the game. As a staple of classic Hollywood film, film noir is unlike any other genre. With long complicated plots, dark and dreary sets, and cheap budgets, it is it’s own entity. Traditionally this genre is used to portray the characters in a film accepting their fate. They are solemn and sarcastic with a flare for static drama.

The theatrical conventions of film noir as well as the cinematography are born from the same origins. Some staple cinematic elements used in this genre are low-key lighting, hard shadows, black and white, and dramatic scoring.

Some well known film noir directors are Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder. Each man has produced a multitude of crime dramas using the cinematic techniques of black and white, sad and dramatic music, as well as dark shadowy settings.

Austin Powers in Goldmember is a groovy, tiedye blanket of a film. Mike Myers only adds to the mojo as a crime fighting, 70’s possessed spy trying to stop the adorably malevolent Dr. Evil. Evil has teamed up with Goldmember, a gold obsessed Dutchman, in order to kidnap Powers’s father and send him back in time. Along the way, Powers receives help from unlikely allies and scattered clues to find his father and return back in time.

With an all star cast beside him with the likes of Beyonce, Seth Green, Britney Spears (briefly), and Michael Caine, Mike Myers characterizes both Dr. Evil and the infamous Austin Powers. Known for its silly humor and constant laughs, Austin Powers in Goldmember is one of the most celebrated and treasured comedy blockbuster hits of the early 2000’s. Released in the US on July 22nd, 2002, with a box office intake of nearly $300 million, Austin Powers in Goldmember is the perfect parody of a classic film noir motion picture.

In order to create Austin Powers in Goldmember as a film noir we changed the entire physical look of the film as well as the feeling of lines spoken. We incorporated the key theatrical conventions that make noir what it is. This includes deep shadows in black and white, rain, jazz music, narration, smoking, a hard boiled detective, and a femme fatale. Each of these elements instantly transformed the action comedy of Austin Powers into comedic film noir. We also took lines from the original trailer and changed the style in which they were spoken so that it fit a mysterious film noir tone. The blocking was directed in a way that allowed for Austin Powers to sometimes be seen through an obstructed view, because we wanted to display him in as much shadow as possible. When compared to the original trailer, our version has much slower pacing and longer shots. We wanted to keep the sense of humor from the original Austin Powers’ personality, so we kept some of that, but also made him a bit of a tougher and more stern character. All of this mixed with the shady bridge location and ideal rainy weather made for the perfect Austin Powers: Goldmember film noir transformation.

Juliana Concepcion Capstone

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in Capstone · Siswick/Kay · Wed on
​During this past year, I began to gain a love for all things sound design. I loved recording and editing the sound in my film projects, listening to the beats playing in Mr. Herman’s classroom, and seeing many of my friends make their own music. A month into my senior year, I knew that for my Capstone, I would produce an EP, and score as many short films as I could.

By exploring sound design through film scoring and music production, I opened up a whole new world of possibilities for myself. I made it my goal to learn the music software “Logic Pro X,” which I had not previously used before. I did not get as far as I’d hoped to be in learning the software, but I surely know a whole lot more from when I first started. Considering it’s a heavily loaded software, I’m proud of the progress I’ve made with it, and I am motivated to continue learning how to use it.

It was difficult a lot of times to find a good balance between my capstone, school, and career work time, I have learned that that is just a part of life, however, and if I really want to master the craft of sound design, I’ll have to put in a lot of extra work, which means a lot of extra time. My EP, which includes six songs, and website, which includes a full portfolio of the work I did this year, are linked below.


Works Cited

Carter, Tiann "Shaking off the Dust - Sampling Vinyl." DJ TechTools. March 12, 2015. Web. January 30, 2017.

http://djtechtools.com/2015/03/12/shaking-off-the-dust-sampling-vinyl/

This source was useful to me because it provided me with a basic breakdown of sampling in hip hop. It showed me where I should look to find specific kinds of samples, giving me specific genres of music to look out for if I’m trying to give me music a certain kind of sound. It also pointed me towards looking at vinyl to sample from, and I have a couple old records that I can use, but I don’t have all of the equipment. So I will probably stick to digital sampling from youtube from funk, soul, jazz, and classical genres of music. For good drum sounds, it says I should look into “classic tribal tracks or 90s tribal house.”


Caswell, Estelle. “Kanye deconstructed: the human voice as the ultimate instrument.” Vox. September 1, 2016.

http://www.vox.com/2016/9/1/12735222/kanye-west-human-voice-instrument

I watched this tutorial back in September and was very fascinated with the breakdown of Kanye West’s use of the human voice as the “ultimate instrument” in his music. I learned how that earlier in his music, he often used the actual human voice from different samples, and then he transitioned to using synthesizers somewhere in the middle of his career, and now he uses a good combination of both. I think what I’m trying to do is to start out using samples of people’s voices, because I haven’t quite figured out how to make use of good synths yet. So, I am probably on the same track, and it’s interesting to see how that process plays out for producers.

Fox, EJ. “How to use samples to make a beat with Logic X, Ultrabeat, and EXS24.” Youtube. October 2, 2013.

https://youtu.be/I7Si3DKkF0Q?list=PL6CG7jEhI9V4qd9T5ObZl2dLSOhvedb5E

This tutorial introduced me to the Ultrabeat plugin, which has become so useful for me in loading up samples so that I can create beats from them. It also gave me a refresher on using the EXS24 plugin to load up my sample to first. Ultrabeat lets me have a smooth workflow though, and it has a lot of good presets as far as drum kits go; they’re more diverse than what’s in the standard logic library it seems, for some reason. I’m not sure if I’m going to use them because I’ve transitioned into using sampled drum sounds, but it’s a good backup option to have. This tutorial was also useful in helping me see how to play samples over a loop.


Goodz, Piffery. “Chopping Samples, Time Stretching & Sample Pitch (Transpose) In Logic Pro X #DailyHeatChecc.” Youtube. August 4, 2013.

https://youtu.be/CVU_N1EnQME

This has been one of the most useful tutorials I’ve watched on youtube for getting acquainted with Logic Pro X and its features so far. This tutorial taught me how to chop up a sample properly, and it showed me which settings I should use if I’m trying to achieve a higher or lower pitch with my sample. I also figured out how to control the different parts of my sample in a multi-output mixer at the bottom of the DAW, so that might be useful for me so I can keep my sample organized as I’m editing and adjusting it.


Heal, Michael. “Every Sample on Kanye’s ‘The Life of Pablo.” Genius. February 16, 2016.

https://genius.com/a/every-sample-on-kanye-s-the-life-of-pablo

Watching this short video helped me to get a feel of how Kanye samples old songs in his songs. Kanye West is pretty much a master at the art of sampling, so that is why I looked to this video first as opposed to sampling techniques of other artists. The article also broke down how many times he’s sampled a certain artist, and gave a breakdown as to where each sample came from and how Kanye achieved the sample in editing. This will be very helpful for me in my search for good samples and sampling techniques.


Moseley, Roger. “Play Again?” Keys to Play: Music as a Ludic Medium from Apollo to Nintendo, University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2016, pp. 236–274, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1kc6k47.9.

In reading this source I was given a different perspective on how music connects with us on more than just a surface level. Sometimes sound is meant to emulate a certain picture in our minds, or it reminds us of something in our childhood. This source even points out that the ways in which a lot of music is being made now (electronically) is almost like this childlike way to make music, because it’s not “sophisticated.” However there is something to be said about new keyboards/music machines having a similar look and feel to toys. It evokes the childlike, creative parts of us, and takes us back to primitive ways in a sense with the simplicity of it, but at the same time such machinery really is sophisticated. It makes me think about my MIDI keyboard and how I feel using that rather than the computer keys to make music. It’s helped my creative process so much more.


Patteson, Thomas. “‘The Joy of Precision’: Mechanical Instruments and the Aesthetics of Automation.” Instruments for New Music: Sound, Technology, and Modernism, University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2016, pp. 18–51, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ffjn9k.6.

This is an article about instruments being seen more as self-creating machines, rather than a tool for musicians to use. It tells of how instruments fell victim to the aesthetics of machinery. One quote that really stuck out to me in it is, “If today’s arts love the machine, technology, and organization, if they aspire to precision and reject anything vague and dreamy, this implies an instinctive repudiation of chaos and a longing to find the form appropriate to our times.” I’m thinking that I can use this quote somewhere within my capstone, and form some more opinions and thoughts around it.


Schmidt, Patrick. “What We Hear Is Meaning Too: Deconstruction, Dialogue, and Music.” Philosophy of Music Education Review, vol. 20, no. 1, 2012, pp. 3–24. www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/philmusieducrevi.20.1.3.

I was introduced to the idea of “listening vs. mis-listening” in this source. The author claims that they are not opposites of each other, but rather that “mis-listening” is just a different form of listening. The author claims that mis-listening is essential for deconstructing music and creating a dialogue for music, and dialogue is essential to music. Music is like a language itself. By mis-listening we can open our minds to different ways to hear or create things, and different ways in which we interpret sound. This is an important thought for me to keep in mind during production, and it is an idea that I will come back to every time I listen to what I’ve made.


STEEZYASFUCK. Youtube. Web. February 2, 2017.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsIg9WMfxjZZvwROleiVsQg

This youtube channel posts beat tapes almost daily, and I listen to a new one almost every day, or at least every week. Looking out for what other artists are doing and listening to the techniques they use is crucial for the process of production. I take a little bit of inspiration from each track I listen to. This channel consistently helps keep my creative process on track, and it ensures me that I will not fall into a creative slump- which I did find myself in earlier this year. Since I’ve discovered this channel though, I’ve been on top of my creative process.


Vanilla. “Sweet Talk.” Bandcamp. September 6, 2014.

https://vanillabeats.bandcamp.com/album/sweet-talk

This album has served as a lot of the inspiration for my deciding to make my capstone about music creation. I began listening to Vanilla last year and this quickly became my favorite album of his. He expertly cuts up soul samples and creates a tape that is interconnected with itself; each song leads into the next one. I’ve spent hours studying this album for it’s smooth beat transitions and high pitched samples. Piano intros and outros are weaved in so smoothly. The producer also uses nature sounds, such as rain, to enhance his beats. I take a lot of inspiration from this album, especially with how all of the songs feel like they fit perfectly together with one another.




Advanced Essay #4: Importance of Storytelling for Survivors of Violent Trauma

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in English 3 - Block - E on

The goal of this essay is to argue and stress the importance of what it means for survivors of violent trauma, specifically soldiers and war veterans, to share their stories and memories pertaining to the trauma that they have experienced. Initially, I wanted to do research and investigate the effects of holding onto important memories or stories and not sharing them, or in other words, secrets. However, I came to realize that that was more along the lines of a research paper vs. an essay with a controversial thesis, so as I shifted my focus to survivors of violent trauma, I was able to contextualize my thesis better and take a new route for this essay. A wide variety of sources are included to form a full view of this issue.

*

The human memory is extremely complex. It stores an infinite amount of moments, events, emotions, and more. Essentially, those are all of the elements of a story that is waiting to be told. That’s all memories really are, anyway: stories. As always in the case of stories, it is up to the person to decide whether or not they are willing to share them or not. No matter the circumstances, this always remains true. This conscious decision draws the line between secret and visibility. We keep secrets for many reasons. However, in the world that we live in today, it is not always easy for us to share the hard stories- those stories that have affected us on the deepest of levels, that rein ever present in our lives. This becomes even more true when we focus on the struggles survivors of violent trauma from warfare are forced to face. When their stories can’t be told, it only causes them more difficulties when it comes to their mental and even physical health. Survivors of trauma need to be able to have an outlet to comfortably share their stories, in a way that is best fit for them. It is all of our jobs to listen to them and to provide them with the proper resources for them to do this.

Dr. James Pennebaker, a psychology professor and researcher, once created an experiment to test if writing about traumatic experiences and feelings reduced the amount of times the patients seeked extra help. In an article written by Eric Jaffe, he says it included  “...a concentration camp survivor who had seen babies tossed from a second-floor orphanage window” and “...a Vietnam veteran who once shot a female fighter in the leg, had sex with her, then cut her throat.” Additionally, he says that “In one study of 50 students, those who revealed both a secret and their feelings visited the health center significantly fewer times in the ensuing six months than other students who had written about a generic topic, or those who had only revealed the secret and not the emotions surrounding it.” Even just being able to write down the experience and the emotions and feelings surrounding them were helpful to these people. It caused them to feel more at peace with themselves, and feel less of a need to reach out for help from the health center. That just goes to show how vital it is for their to be outlets for survivors of trauma to reveal their stories.

Sharing stories or experiences doesn’t always have to mean it is between two people. Powerful moments can happen between a person and the God that they look up to. For example, there is a somewhat popular image on the internet that shows a Russian soldier from World War II about to go into battle. He is looking downward, staring into space. He holds a cross between his fingers, and holds that same hand up to his mouth. The man is praying, it seems. In this moment he is speaking to his God. The man behind him is passionately yelling something, but that is not what he is focussed on. This is a moment of intimacy, the last quiet moment before this man enters a battle that may cost him his own life. However, he does not seem angry, or have a hard look on his face. It actually appears as though the corner of his mouth is turned up into a bit of a smile, and the corner of his eye seems soft. He is finding peace and solace within his God. The soldier holding the cross may very well be scared deep down inside, but he is accepting the circumstances and preparing himself as he must. For some people, it is merely a God whom they must open themselves up to.

Sometimes, depending on availability, veterans will get involved in programs that will allow them to share their own war stories to groups of people. Mike Felker, a veteran of the Vietnam War, is one of those people. In one of his presentations, he mentioned someone from the war who was called Big Man, and attached a short story he wrote about his experience with him. In it, he says, “I tried to pray and beg him back to life. By this time another patrol had come to the side of the cliff. Chuck, a hospital corpsman from the Third Platoon saw my hysteria, that my frantic efforts were futile. He shook me hard and slapped me when I started crying that Big Man was alive. I stopped, comprehending finally he was dead… I watched, as I will always watch, until he disappeared.” It is saddening to realize how emotionally and mentally scarring this must still be for him to recall. However, it is clear that being involved in a program where he can tell this story, and share his writings about the story, is helpful to him.

It is quite the hardship to experience trauma on such a grand scale and to have so many stories to share with no means to share them. Without some sort of outlet for those experiencing or those who have experienced violent trauma to share their most powerful stories from their memories, they may face a whole host of other mental, and sometimes even physical illnesses. This is why it is important that we listen to these people, that we provide for them the programs and resources in which they can feel comfortable sharing their deepest, darkest, and most difficult secrets or experiences. Everyone should be able to take what is in their minds and release it to the world in some way, shape, or form that is comfortable and safe for themselves.



Works Cited

"Feature Story: Writing to Heal: Research Shows Writing about Emotional Experiences Can Have Tangible Health Benefits." Feature Story: Writing to Heal: Research Shows Writing about Emotional Experiences Can Have Tangible Health Benefits. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

"Mike Felker's Writing." Mike Felker's Writing. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

"The Science Behind Secrets." Association for Psychological Science RSS. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Identity and Belonging Podcast- Juliana Concepcion

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in English 3 - Block - E on

From the moment we were assigned this project I knew that I wanted my Podcast to tell a good story. I wanted it to be engaging, interesting, and maybe even a little humorous to make it even more enjoyable. Instead of having a very structured interview, I had planned for more of a conversation to take place, for my interviewee to tell their stories and experiences with identity and belonging. This was something that I wanted to be proud of, and be able to look back on years from now and still say it wasn’t that bad of a podcast. I was determined to work very hard to achieve these goals, and so my ideas started flowing right away.

The first step I took with the project was finding someone to interview. I wanted someone who I knew would have a lot to say about identity and belonging. It just so happened that my friend and I were talking about how her professor at the time told many interesting stories in her social work practice class, and so I realized that he would be a great person to interview for my podcast on identity and belonging! Once the idea was brought up to the table, it didn’t take long at all for her to set up an interview for me, and so I’m really lucky for that part to have gone well for me. I’m also lucky that the interview went very smoothly, and he gave me a lot of material to work with. The hardest part was editing, as I figured it would be. I had multiple hours worth of footage, though the interview didn’t actually seem that long. GarageBand gave me many problems, but in the end it all worked out and I was able to create a podcast that I can say I am proud of.

​

Advanced Essay #3, Identity: The Journey of a Lifetime

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in English 3 - Block - E on

Introduction

In the following essay, I reflect upon and analyze the different types of identity we are faced with in the world, and our journeys that help us to build onto that. Identity is complex, and it is certainly not concrete. There will always be pre-conceived ideas about ourselves due to the history and nature of our world, but then it is up to ourselves to deal with those ideas as we wish, and form the identity that we want others to find true about ourselves. This essay speaks on my own experience in identity, and how I have chosen to make sense of it.


*

We are brought into this world looking outward. The first specks of light gleaming into our eyes, the first bits of sound from the outside world entering our ears. Life is absorbed into us. We observe people, situations, social interactions, our surroundings. As we grow older, we begin to look inward. There comes a time where with everything we’ve collected and stored in our brain, we begin to connect it to this “self” that we discover. We are never-ending puzzles, and we pick up the pieces to it as we go along the way. But what happens when the pieces don’t fit in? When people hand us pieces, and tell us, “This is who you are, this is who you are supposed to be...this is what the world thinks of you,” then what happens then? Do the pieces stay as parts of us anyway? Building your identity is a constant battle between what you think of yourself, and other people’s judgement and expectations. It is up to us to fight for what we believe ourselves to be, so that one day, the rest of the world can see us for who we truly are.

One thing for me that I have found has shaped much of my identity is the people I surround myself by, that I converse and build relationships with- my friends. As I began to cultivate just a few strong friendships, I found myself learning life lessons that I otherwise would not have learned until much later. I know what a good relationship looks like, what a bad relationship looks like. I know how I should be treated, and the situations I may find myself in in the future. It all gives me time to think about life deeply now, and make the best of it when the time comes to make the real decisions that will impact my identity. But with all of the lessons I have learned, all of the pieces I have collected, I found that I couldn’t just leave them all sitting around. It was time to start connecting them, time to start focussing inward, finding where they apply to myself. To be honest, this is something I have started very recently, coming into this new year.

In focussing inward, I find that there are a lot of things make up my identity. Being both white and Puerto Rican, it’s not particularly easy to claim the Puerto Rican part of my identity. Many times people are shocked, as if they can’t even believe that that is actually part of my identity. “How could you possibly be Puerto Rican?,” I’ll hear them say. As if I didn’t already have trouble claiming that part of my identity, due to more personal reasons, people’s disbelief made it a lot easier to just ignore that side of me. Growing up, however, I realize that it is a part of me, and I share experiences with other people who are in the same position that I am. In a New York Times article written by Wesley Morris on self identity, he says, ‘‘Self-identified’’ means ‘‘I’ve seen myself and not because of anything you did.’’ It certainly takes time and dedication to tear down everyone else’s ideas about you, and although they will still remain there because we’ve been so conditioned to listen to them, we know the truth about ourselves.

It just wouldn’t be true to say, however, that the way that we self-identify is all that identity is. Identity is a lot more complex than that. I have decided that there are mainly three different types of identity: self, or private identity, public identity, and perceived identity. Public identity and perceived identity are not one in the same. Public identity is the information that we choose to share with others, the parts of our private identity which we are willing enough to be open about. Perceived identity is how others choose to view that information, and the identity that they wind up forming for you. It can be difficult to think about, that there are so many ways to view identity, but that’s a huge part of what life’s all about. We’re all on this journey together.

Sometimes when everything gets confusing, and all of the pieces of my life are scattered all over the place, I’ll go back to a time of peace. Around eleven o'clock at night, the moon shining full and bright behind some clouds. Even a few stars scattered through the otherwise pitch-black sky. I can hear the ocean’s waves crashing in the distance, a familiar, soothing sound. Smaller waves crash onto the shore, creeping up to my toes and swallowing my ankles whole, until eventually the cold water recedes back into the depths. I get chills up my spine that make the strands of hair on my arm stand up. I look up at the moon and feel it looking back at me; and in that moment, I feel as one with the world, and both me and the world know who I am.


Advanced Essay #2: Children’s Books: Importance in Influencing World Views of Children

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in English 3 - Block - E on

The following essay discusses the influence of children’s books in how children view and interact with the world around them. I specifically focused on the certain skills that children gain by reading children’s books, and why parents or apps on a tablet can’t always teach them as books can. Children’s books serve as a guide for parents when it comes to teaching their children other life lessons, and this is something that cannot be forgotten. I think that I probably could have tightened up my thesis to make it more controversial, however I still think that my analysis was strong, and my thesis had its strengths as well. As a writer I am always looking to improve, to make my writing more powerful, so I will continue to do this in the future.


*

I sat in bed, my tiny fingers clinging to the soft blanket that comforted me. I was just four years old. My mom sat beside me, a square shaped hardcover book in her hand. This was routine; every night I waited for the words to pop up and catch my attention, for my mind to fill with new ideas and concepts. Tonight, she held a new book in her hands- Leo the Late Bloomer. My Aunt Lisa had given it to me as a present, and even had it signed by the author himself, Robert Kraus. I distinctly remember the images of the tiger fretting over not being able to do what the other animals did, and his parents being worried about him. As the book concluded though, I learned that it sometimes takes more time for people to grow up and mature, and that was okay. This book taught me not only to be patient with other people, but to be patient with myself, because someday I too would get to the place where I wanted to be.

Learning how to read is one of the most essential things that we associate with growing up and developing. Our lives center around the fact that we can read. Reading helps us to understand the world around us, and view things from multiple perspectives. For many of us, it all starts with children’s books. Many of our first intellectual concepts of the world came from us learning how to read children’s books. The ideas prevalent in them helps for a young mind to develop thoughts and ideas about the world. Without children’s books, we would not have the same ability to communicate with others in a thoughtful, genuine, empathetic, and open-minded manner. It is the responsibility of the authors of children’s books to create books with meaningful lessons about life and human interaction, lessons that our parents can’t always teach us; it is additionally the responsibility of parents to be there to answer questions as they read to their child and pass knowledge onto them through books.

As a child, it was important for me to understand that people developed at different times; after all, no one is the same, and when the concepts of “right” and “wrong” are shoved into our faces by the world at young ages, it is important to know that they do not just apply to everything. Not everything is clean-cut or concise. Had I not learned this lesson from a children’s book, I might have been held back in the way I viewed the world, and in turn may a different person than I know myself to be today. Of course our parents can teach us all of the lessons that they want to, but lessons like this one can sometimes get lost more easily than we may expect them to. The least parents can do is just sit down and read with their child, allowing them to answer questions and further understand the material being presented to them. It is an important experience for children when their parents read them life lessons that were specifically engineered for them to hear.

Similarly, in an article titled How Changing Your Reading Habits Can Transform Your Health, Michael Grothaus, the author, quotes Dr. Josie Billington, who works at the University of Liverpool as the deputy director of the Centre for Research into Reading. She says, "Reading can offer richer, broader, and more complex models of experience, which enable people to view their own lives from a refreshed perspective and with renewed understanding...This renewed understanding gives readers a greater ability to cope with difficult situations by expanding their ‘repertoires and sense of possible avenues of action or attitude.’" It is imperative that this logic is applied as early as possible, because the sooner we can give kids “refreshed perspectives,” the sooner they will learn to think open-mindedly. Of course kids are going to disagree with each other and get into arguments, but the more accepting they can be towards each other at that young age, the more accepting they will be towards their peers as they grow older, going into their teens and even adulthood.

Christopher Myers wrote The Apartheid of Children’s Literature, an article in The New York Times. In this article, Myers wrote about the representation of black people in children’s books. Speaking about children as a whole, he says, “They see books less as mirrors and more as maps. They are indeed searching for their place in the world, but they are also deciding where they want to go. They create, through the stories they’re given, an atlas of their world, of their relationships to others, of their possible destinations.” As this states, when children read books they see them as ways to go about their life, with new thoughts and ideas about their existence emerging as they read them. Not providing children with as many maps as they can get their hands on would be an injustice to them. Depriving them of new roads and paths to travel down, and not helping them understand the world and how to interact with it would prove to be a failure of society, with us being responsible for it.

In conclusion, children’s books are essential for creating empathy, thoughtfulness, open-mindedness, and an overall understanding in the minds of children as they communicate and interact with others. Seeing as though we are in the digital age, and books as a whole have become less valuable, we cannot forget the value of children’s books. A world without children’s books and the messages they teach children would prove to be a world where the future of our society is less understanding of the world and how it works. No educational apps on a tablet or phone can teach them lessons quite like children’s books. Words written on paper hold a lot more power than we seem to think. They are more thoughtful, descriptive, and allow children to actually grasp them in their hands. Books create a more personal experience. Between personal experiences of my own and professionals who have done research on literacy for years, it can be concluded that children’s books are the requisite for an accepting, understanding, and progressive youth.


Works Cited

“How Changing Your Reading Habits Can Transform Your Health.” Fast Company. N.p., 2015. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.fastcompany.com/3048913/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/how-changing-your-reading-habits-can-transform-your-health?utm_campaign>

Myers, Christopher. “The Apartheid Of Children’s Literature.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/opinion/sunday/the-apartheid-of-childrens-literature.html>

Children’s Books: Importance in Influencing World Views of Children from Juliana on Vimeo.

Advanced Essay #1: Unprecedented Paths

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in English 3 - Block - E on
This paper was written to show how much power friendship can really have in shaping all of our lives. I feel that through this essay, I was able to describe my experience very well, and show just how important friendship is to me. I think that I could improve making the larger idea just a little stronger​, even though I think I did a good job strengthening it in the revision process. I could also improve the overall flow of the essay. Overall, friendship can mean something different for all of us, but there will always come a time when we will need the support of others in our lives.

I entered the doors on the ground level of the school theater. As I walked across the blue vinyl flooring, I took in all of my surroundings. The cushioned seats, the soundboard on the mezzanine level, and above me to my right, the stage. I watched as my band instructor, who also happened to be in charge of soundcrew for the play, walked down the carpeted stairs from the mezzanine. Smiling from ear to ear, he instructed me to get on the stage and help the blonde haired girl he called Cosette untangle the wires. “Jules, this is Cosette. Cosette, this is Juliana.” The small blonde girl had a friendly smile, one that told me I was safe, and I waved my hand smiling back to greet her. I have a feeling that she could tell I was nervous; this was my first sound crew rehearsal, and my social skills back in eighth grade weren’t anywhere close to where they are now. I still had yet to feel the importance of a true friendship in my life.

As I studied her and gathered my first impressions, it began to feel as if I were staring into a mirror. Her eyes weren’t coated in black eyeliner as mine were, and her slightly blonder hair wasn’t flattened down by a straight iron; it was still straight, but had a little wave to it. Even our facial features were strikingly similar. It didn’t take long for our band instructor to notice this similarity between us, and thus I was soon given the nickname “Baby Cosette.” In the duration of the three other years we had been attending the same middle/high school, with a population of only five hundred kids, it was hard to believe that I had never once seen her in my life before. Somehow, everything was meant to align in this moment, and it was finally time for her to be introduced into my life, and me into her’s.

It’s been a little over two years since that first interaction occurred. I put down the eyeliner and the flat iron, and my hair is a little shorter now. After deciding she needed change in her life, Cosette’s hair is now red (and she’s grown fond of wearing a fedora nowadays). I can’t imagine the paths I could have taken if the one that led me to her had never existed. My life was sailing towards treacherous seas, and this ship would not have stayed grounded if it wasn’t for her anchor. I would have gotten a lot more hours of sleep, but sometimes the best conversations happen at three in the morning. If we didn’t have each other, our greatest secrets would stay trapped inside our heads, bouncing off of each part of our brains and begging for a way out through our mouths. There comes a time when everyone needs the support of someone else. We weren’t built to bear all of the weight of the world on our shoulders alone, or keep every good moment to ourselves. Humans share ideas and become stronger through friendship, as we gain a new perspective in which to look at the world around us.

For someone who has been to hell and back, Cosette is filled with so much life. Pain, sorrow, emptiness, happiness, wonder, amazement, and even pure joy- she has seen the whole spectrum. Her resilience is like none other than I’ve seen. Everyday she fights to stay alive in a world that has wanted her dead. She is my inspiration and all that I strive to be as as a person. We all need that one person to look to in our lives.

A lot can happen in two years, let alone one year. You meet new people, and two friends become a group of four. New memories are made. Sometimes it’s staying up until the sun rises just to change the lyrics to some song in hopes that it’ll give us all a good laugh. Other times it’s dancing around in separate rooms to celebrate an important event in our lives. You all wind up growing together, and ultimately become stronger people. With friends like mine, you never know what you’re in for when you wake up the next day. You could be hearing the best or the worse news of your life, and there’s nothing that you can do to prepare yourself. So you hope for the best, and move through life with as many laughs as you can. That’s what friendship is all about.

I’ve never had much of a history of being terrified of change. To some extent, change brings out a fear in us all, no matter how small. We are creatures of habit, we can’t help it. This being said, I’m quite terrified of losing my close friends. Everybody seems to have some sort of plan for their future, or at least have some idea of the road they’re going to travel down. I feel as though I may be left in the dust, as I have no sense of direction. I’m is just another lost soul trying to make her way through this complicated world. However, I’m sure a lot of people feel this way too. As long as I’ve got my friends by my side though, the world shouldn’t be as much of a scary place.

Climate Change Monologue Project

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in World History - Block - C on

Part I: Introduction

In this unit of study, we learned about climate change. First, we started off by watching a documentary about the climate rally that happened in New York. We got to hear from officials, scientists, and just everyday people speaking out about what it is and what the rally would do. One thing we learned were that carbon dioxide plays a major role in the change of our global climate. We also learned about the impacts it had on some communities and towns, like the typhoon that happened in the Philippines. After we watched this documentary, we got to listen to a sample monologue, and learned ways that we could make our own monologues interesting and thoughtful. Finally, we created, revised, and even performed our monologues in class! 


Part II: The Monologues


Monologue #1: John Appleseed’s Asparagus Farm- Tragedy of the Drought

Honey...yes, I know, the farm didn’t bring in much money this week. I don’t know what else to do. There’s just not enough water for the crops. (Looking stressed out, he slumps down into a chair by the Kitchen table). Half of the asparagus field’s already gone dry. Get more water? From where?! I can’t just scream at the sky to give us rain, Lisa. It doesn’t work like that. Well I’m not God, so. Look, I don’t understand it either. They’re saying it’s something about climate change...the scientists. What do you mean “What does a drought have to do with climate change?” ? It’s got everything to do with climate change! The weather changed, and it’s been like this for awhile now. Keeps getting worse. So the climate, changed! Geez. I’m sorry..I know you were just asking. Just seemed pretty obvious. Well I don’t know what they’re gonna do about it. We’re over here auctioning off water. Water!! $1,350 an acre-foot! Remember when it used to be $135. Times are crazy. At this rate, next month I don’t know how we’re gonna survive. I don’t. How’re we gonna pay the- oh hey sweetiepie! How was school? Now why are you pouting? No pouting. Here, I think I’ve got something to cheer you up. (Hands her a watercolor painting of a sunflower.) I painted it last night. Just for you. (Her face lights up, and she jumps up to give him a hug. She thanks him for the painting and goes up to her room.) How sweet is that. Yeah, I know I shouldn’t be using the water. It was only a cupful. There may not be enough water for the crops, but I’d give it all to my sunshine if I could. Look, I don’t know what we’re gonna do about this. I’ll make some calls, see if I can get us into an auction or something. Bill’s probably got someone I could talk to, or Annie.


Monologue #2: Ralph McKelly: Coal Keeps the Bills Paid

Hello everybody...(waves) hey Janice! Bert, how’s my boy doing? Hey y’all, alright now settle down! My name is Ralph McKelly, as most of you may already know. I used to work at the Eastern Kentucky Coal Mining industry, along with a handful of other faces in the crowd. Yes, used to. I know, I know, it’s a shame. It’s a damn shame. See, Washington don’t care about us anymore...no. With their EPAs and regulations. You know what I think of the EPA? The “Environmental Protection Agency?” I think that they’re full of it. Talkin’ about regulations. They don’t got one good reason to shut these coal mines down. They don’t got no proof! This is God’s land, He gave us coal, so we burn it! Y’know, one of my favorite songs, “Coal Keeps the Lights on,” by Jimmy Rose...yep, him! Well, it says, “They don't care that much about the little man or the calloused hands. It's a way of life 'round, just like it's always been.” And I just think that that is so powerful. Coal has always, always, been a way of living ‘round here. It, “keeps food on the spoon in my youngin’s mouth.” My daughter, she’s grown now, but we got people like Bert here. His daughter’s five. He just got laid off from the mines too. Just this July. And like me, mining’s been his entire life! I remember when my dad brought me down to the mines, first time. I was nine. The black ash, smoke reaching out to the sky- it fascinated me. And so, I’ve been there ever since. So now, we’ve gotta figure out what we’re gonna do from here. Are y’all with me! Okay!


Monologue #3: Brenda Ekwurzel: Life of a Scientist

(Extending her arm to the far left corner of her desk, she answers the ringing phone). Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Oh hello Jill!...So I’ve heard...It’s frustrating, yes. I agree, all of these rallies against the EPA have to be countered. Ah, so you’ve seen my blog post on carbon emissions! Well the amount of carbon dioxide in the air right now is quite alarming. You know, I’d be willing to hold one of these countering rallies for your organization, to spread actual knowledge about this issue to others. Oh, you were just about to ask me that! Haha, well you know I’d stand up for the EPA any day. So, it’s a done deal. Oh, nothing much is going on right now. Lot of work. Oh, he’s good. He just got a promotion at work! Yeah, I’m so proud of him. He’s been working for this for awhile now. The cats are good, yes. Haha, MInnie is turning seven this year! February…yes come in and visit! You know we always like visitors. Yeah, the guest room’s all refinished as well! We added that on-suite, you saw the pictures, right? It’s always good to change things up a bit, you know? Well how are you holding up, I know the divorce must have been tough on you...yeah...yeah, I can imagine. Well I’m glad you’re doing well now, Jill. We’ll have to catch up more soon! I’ve got some more research to get done now, so I’ll have to catch you later. Alright, keep me updated on this rally! Goodbye!

​

History- John Appleseed monologue from Felix SD on Vimeo.

La casa de Britney Spears

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in Spanish 1 - Manuel - B on

Esta es la casa de Britney Spears. Esta en California.


1. La casa tiene muchos dormitorios.

2. En el jardín delantero, hay un árbol.

3. En el jardín delantero, tiene muchos flors.

4. La casa tiene tres ventanas en el segundo piso.

5. En el primer piso, hay dos ventanas.

6. La casa tiene muchos baños.

7. La casa hay una cocina grande.

8. La casa hay dormitorios grandes.

​

Negative Space Reflection

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in Art - Freshman - Hull - y1 on
photo 1
photo 1
photo 2
photo 2

A. What is negative space?

Negative space is the part of a drawing or photograph that surrounds an object. It helps to highlight the image and draw attention to multiple parts of it, in a way that makes it look simple. Negative spaces lets you see the outline of the  

B. Explain how you found negative space in 1. your cut out?, 2. in your stool drawing?

1. In my cutout, I was able to find the negative space by looking at the stencil and identifying the two different colors. Based on those colors, I could see that the white shapes were the negative space and the dark grey areas were the objects. This helped me figure out what I should cut and how it compares/fits in with the other spaces.

2. In my stool drawing, I found the negative space by looking at the things behind the still life. This made it so that I was able to focus on the outline of the shapes. I shaded in the space that wasn’t part of the main objects in the drawing, which is the negative space.

C. Why does it help an artist to see in negative space?

It helps an artist to see in negative space because it adds depth to the drawing or photograph. You get to see some parts of the drawing that you wouldn’t usually be looking at.

D. How is negative space useful in creating art?

When creating art, you can do some very creative techniques with negative space to add depth and interesting aspects to your drawing. One thing that an artist can do is utilize the negative space to make the viewer see multiple images in the drawing.

Final Perspective Drawing

Posted by Juliana Concepcion in Art - Freshman - Hull - y1 on

Displaying photo.JPG

a. What is one thing that you learned specifically that you did not know before?

One thing that I learned and did not know before was that a vanishing point is the key to a perspective drawing. A vanishing point is a dot that marks the center of a drawing.

b. How did leaning this thing make your drawings better?

After I learned about the vanishing point, I used it to create lines called orthogonals. These lines made some parts of the drawing seem farther away or closer, depending on where they were in relation to the vanishing point. This made my drawing look more polished.

c. If you did this assignment again, what would you do differently?

I think that next time, I would try to include more details. Also, I would add some color to it so that it wasn’t just a sketch.

d. What is your advice to someone who has never drawn a one point perspective drawing before?

I would suggest that if someone has never drawn a one-point perspective drawing before, that they go through a couple of tutorials and practice drawings. These tutorials did a good job of teaching me how to draw a quality perspective drawing.

e. What resource helped you the most and why?

I think that the tutorials were a big help for me. They taught me about the different parts and aspects of a drawing. After the tutorials, I was able to create a quality perspective drawing.

​

¡SLA es súper chévere!

Posted by Juliana Concepcion on

Me llamo Juliana. Mi apodo es “Jules.” Tengo catorce años y mi cumpleaños es el doce de julio. Soy estudiante de Science Leadership Academy. SLA está en Filadelfia. Está cerca de un 711 y Arch Gourmet. SLA es moderno y divertida. Hay 500 estudiantes y cinco pisos, pero el cuatro piso es apartamentos. Tenemos muchos clases diferentes. Tenemos muchos computadoras y armarios. Además, tenemos muchos programas, por ejemplo, poesía, fútbol, robótica, y baloncesto. Soy participar en poesía porque me encanta para escribir.

Tengo muchos clases diferentes, por ejemplo, tengo historia y tecnología. Mi favorita es inglés. En la clase de inglés, leemos, escribimos, y hablamos. Además, actuamos a veces. Materiales que necesitas son un lápiz, una computadora, y el libro. Para tener éxito en está clase, tenemos que ser responsable y participar activamente. No me gusta mucho geometría porque es difícil. Trabajamos duro en la clase de geometría. Todos los días hacemos actividades. Algunas materiales que necesitas son una calculadora, la carpeta, y un lápiz. Para tener éxito en está clase, tenemos que tomar apuntes y hacer la tarea.

Mi profesores favoritas son Él Señor Kay y La Señorita Jonas. Él Señor Kay enseña inglés, y La Señorita Jonas enseña historia. La Señorita Jonas es muy simpática. Es bastante tranquila. Recientemente, ella se caso. Su clase es interesante y fácil. Él Señor Kay es mi profesor favorita. Él es increiblemente amable y cómico. Le gusta poesía, escuchar música, y baloncesto. Su clase es bastante divertida. ¡Él Señor Kay enseña muy bien! Me encanta su clase porque me fascina literatura y poesía. Los dos profesores (Él Señor Kay y La Señorita Jonas) es magníficos.

¡Me encanta SLA! SLA es súper bien porque mis profesores y compañeros de clases son muy amables. Lo que más me gusta de SLA es el camino somos enseñado. Me gusta proyectos más bien que pruebas. Sin embargo, no me gusta algunos clases porque son aburridos. ¡En general, SLA es súper chévere!


Click here to see me PowToon: http://www.powtoon.com/p/fIEWZZGOTYP/

Juliana Concepcion Q2 Media Fluency

Posted by Juliana Concepcion on
Media Fluency

In my slide, I portrayed how music is a representation of myself.  I made the slide look this way because it is a simple and minimalistic, yet effective way of catching someone’s attention.  The elements of design were what influenced my decision making when creating this slide.  There are multiple elements of design I used in this slide.  These include contrast, bleeding, the rule of thirds, and empty space.

I used contrast in my slide by adding a pop of color, as opposed to just seeing black and white in the slide.  The “music” and “me” being red and the “equals sign” having a black font color indicates that music and me are the same.  For bleeding, I made my image slightly go off of the slide, to give the effect that there is still more to see of it.  I used the rule of thirds by making “music” go in the first third, and the equals sign divided it with “me,” which is in the second third.  Finally, I used empty space by using a “minimalistic” style, which I did my own research on.  Empty space looks more professional compared to slides with too many visuals going on.
Media Fluency (1)
I learned a couple of different ways that I could change my media fluency slide after receiving constructive criticism from my classmates. First, I found a new image, because my previous image pixelated when it was projected. Also, I got rid of my attempt of bleeding the image off of the page, because it was more of an eyesore than the proper way of bleeding the image, which would be actually taking the whole image and placing it so that a whole side of it is bleeding off of the slide. The last thing I changed was moving my quote more towards the image. Ms. Hull set us all up for failure. She did this by not exactly telling us how we had to set up our slide. She gave us some resources, but otherwise it was all up to us. I'm very content with the final product of my work, and I feel that I learned a lot about how to properly design a slide.

Home Network Drawing

Posted by Juliana Concepcion on
For this project, we were instructed to draw our home network.  We had to include our Internet Service Provider (I.S.P.), our modem, what type of wire we use, and all of the electronic devices that require internet connection to be used.  Some things I included are laptops, my printer, my Wii, and my family's smart phones and iPods.  Through this project, I learned how my internet is connected throughout my house, and how my home network works.  I really liked how I was able to see how many devices are actually connected to the internet in my home.  I wonder what my classmates' home networks look like in comparison to mine.  This project was very interesting and I enjoyed taking part in it!
mind mapping software
RSS