Dr.Leech comes for a visit!

On Thursday Febuary 11th, our media class had a great pleasure of welcoming Dr.Leech to our classroom. For a living Dr.Leech is in the marketing of the media everyday. He came into our class to show us different commercials and show us how easy it is for the media to get our attention and make us believe what they want us to believe. We were shown a wide variety of commercials which had different sub texts, texts and many different target audiences. For example, on commercial that was shown was a commercial for Dixie cups, it showed cute children talking about how gross germs are and the reaction in the class as a whole was "awwwwww" which is exactly the reaction that was planned to happen. This commercial was not necissarily supposed to catch the eye of 17 and 18 year old students but its the reaction that was had.

Another commercial was for the beautiful (and my future car) the Audi R8. In this commercial it was set up just like the Godfather to relate it all back to the movie. Now whenever someone sees the commercial or even now the movie the Godfather, it will relate back to the car, and the car is now related to an old classic movie. This is a beautiful car , and I have never seen the god father so that part did not mean anything to me. It is a gorgeous car and I plan on driving it one day! hehe :)

The commercials that were desgined for my age group would deffinatly be the make up commercials. As Dr.Leech said, they are basically saying that everyday girls should look like they were air brushed and have no pores. But that is not physically possible! Everyone has pores in order to live and its not like guys judge girls by the size of their pores! This commercial deffinatly annoyed me the most. It takes unrealistic standards and makes teenage girls believe that they need to look like that in order to be attractive or "sexy" the medias deffinition of that anyway. By Dr.Leech coming in and showing us the sub text it really opened my eyes and showed me that there is always something behind what the media is trying to say and its like they are trying to mold people into something that they aren't and it is not right. Now don't get me wrong not every commercial is in the wrong, but im just saying that sometimes what we see in the commercials isn't always what they are trying to tell us.

Media Comsumption

In class we did a project that measured the amount of time that we spent on different types of media. There was print media comsumption such as hours reading fiction/non fiction novels, newspapers, magazines and so on, and electronic media such as the radio, internet, web games, instant messaging and so much more.

Within the class all around most students had a higher time consumption of electronic media consumption over Print media. This shows that more students are spending alot of time on the computer on programs such as msn , television, youtube and facebook and not reading books or the newspaper. By being on the internet people are now able to find out things that are happening in society just as easily as they would be able to if people were reading the newspaper.

My total consumption of both print and electronic media was 120 hours a week. With 27 on print and 93 on electronic media. When actually dong the survey to see how much time i spend on the internet and all those differnt media uses, it was kind of an eye opener. I realized that instead of spending so much time on the computer or television I could have been outside more or out with friends. I am a pretty active person so before I never realized how much more free time I could have had. By being on the computer I like to be able to know what is going on in society and it is an easy way to stay in touch with the world because everyone is on it. But i would have to say that my guilty pleasure would be my cell pone. With me my cell phone is never too far away. The only place where i dont have my cell phone on me is when I am at the barn. I send way too many texts dailey but I had my cell phone taken away from me for 9 months so I know that I am able to live without it. So when my teacher told us to go an hour without using an electronic device it was easy for me to put my computer and cell phone away for two hours when I went to the gym, I still used my ipod but that was so I am able to be distracted from the real world and just work on me!

Multiple Intellegences!

So online, I took a few quizes to find out what my multiple intellegences were.
I was pretty certain that I would come to find that my top choice would be visual, because for me to really understand something I have to be able to see it and write it out, but I was very suprised on some of my results.
The top two results that I recieved from more than one quiz, were Interpersonal, and Music/Rhythmical.

I was really not suprised by either of these results.

For Interpersonal, I was not suprised because, well for those who know me, I am always with people, I love being in with a crowd of people, and I know how to interact with others very well. I also have very good conflict resolution and communication skills that work well within a large group of people. I have always been taught to be a leader and I love being one. I know how to follow behind someone when nessicary, but I love taking charge.

I believe that this benefits me in life because I am able to work with others, as well as by myself. In life there are going to be times to work in those situations and I believe I am well rounded enough to handle them. For example, I am the captian of the York Mills Senior Girls volleyball team, I am there whenever they have issues or need someone to talk to, this proving that I am a leader and have good skills with others. But also , My main sport in life is horseback riding, within this sport although it may seem all individual, it is also a realtionship with the horse, and your trainer, and I am very talented at horseback riding.

The second multiple Intellegence that I got was Music/ Rhythmic. I was not suprised to see this, because I am a huge fan of music. I believe that music has benefitted me because it gives me an esacpe, its always nice to listen to the radio, and many people say that I know every word to EVERY song of all differnt types of genres. this benefits me because I am able to enjoy different types of music with my friends, who all have somewhat different tastes, and I am also able to introduce them to differnt music groups. Another benefit is that by playing my flute, I have learned a new skill and have improved so much over the 7 years I have been playing. I have also been able to memorize things now by listening to them because I memorize so many differnt songs it becomes easy for me!

So these are just two of the things that makes me, ME! :)

NYC '09

On April 22nd , 32 students from York Mills CI boarded a bus and head off to New York City. it was a eight hour drive bt with stop offs on the way it became a ten hour drive. the drive out was pretty long but pretty much everyone slept. we drove through massive hills and barns and then all you could see was sky scrappers.

We stayed in the Hampton Hotel in New jersey. We arrived out out there at about 8pm. we had time to go out for dinner and wander around. Everyday we were out there our bus left at around 8am to head out to New York for a full day of touring! we visited The Rickfellor Center, Ground Zero, Radio City, Time Sqaure, Empire State Building and many more places.We also had time to shop around which was alot of fun.

I must admit that the second night, When we went up the Empire State Building, was the best night. all the grade 11's and 12's seemed to hangout together and just joke around. So many pictures were taking from up the Empire State Building. But then when we got back on the bus at like 10pm thats when the real fun began, we had an awesome driver named Anderson and he would play tunes such as Beat It by Micheal Jackson, and the whole back of the bus would just sing and dance along. And that happened every night after that.

It was so sad to leave. mostly because you became such good friends with those people you went with who you might not be good friends with at school but out there you were inseperable. it was an amazing trip and I will never forget it.

Our movie - Scribbles.

So the production of our movie was very fun. it started with coming up with an idea and then creating story boards to draw and organize our movie. The idea of our movie was to have a girl and a boy who are in the same class and sit in the same seat at differnt periods. The girl draws on the table and the boy makes it a beautiful picture. This is how their conversations start through writting on the table. Filming this movie was alot of fun because there was alot of stop aniimation that we would be doing. I would have liked to be in the movie, but oh well. haha

The group i was with was pretty productive except the gys didn't really seem too into it. The one thing about my movie that i did not enjoy was that only one person in our group decided on their own to take the movie and edit it themselves. It is nice that they did it, but it didn't give anyone else a chance to learn how to edit.

Me and my cell phone..

I received my first cell phone when i was a mere twelve years old. It was a massive cell phone looking back on it now, a tank that could with- hold being thrown on the ground and into water. It was pay as you go. A low price of twenty dollars used to be able to get my cell phone and I through the month with texting and calling. Eventually as i got older my dad decided that i was responsible enough to go on a rogers plan! yes My own plan with deals and texting and free calling after 6! so for my 15th birthday i went on my first phone plan! i was so excited i was the first child with my own phone! I didn't know what i was getting myself into.

And then that one chilly October day, I got the best phone a girl could ask for. The blackberry curve. Everywhere i went it was right there with me in my pocket or in my purse, but most likely in my hand , TEXTING. At first just a few hundred a month, and then it started getting out of control, texting during class, at work, late into the night, and up early to see if i had missed anything. My phone became one of my best friends. but then again, most teenage girls can't be seen without their phone right next to them.

I also used to do alot of calling, i had free outgoing calling all day, but what i didn't realize was that one of my good friends cell phone number was long distance so at the end of the month when the phone bill came it was ridiculous! My dad was so angry! i went from having a 50$ phone bill to who knows how high it was! . This happened probably three times when my dad finally said, "Your phone is cancelled." You can only imagine. I begged him to not cancel it, i even offered to help pay the bill. but he said i wouldn't learn my lesson if i did that. So in the cold night of Febuary my cell phone got disconnected. it was a hard night. no texting. no calling. well calling but on the house phone. It was so depressing.

It is now May and i have learned to live without my cell phone. Sure every once and a while i wish i had one so my parents and friends could call me if im not at home, but i am fine without it and it is sure alot easier to study without your phone going off every two minutes. I also now notice how much time people actually spend on their cell phones and how rude it can be when your having a conversation with a friend and they are checking their phone constantly.

My dad was just looking out for me :). even though now i think i want my phone back! haha

we will see how well that goes over!

REEL Canada - water

On April 16th, 2009 my media class went to Sheppard Grand to see different Canadian movies. I went with Brooke and Leora and in the morning we saw the movie "Water", and in the afternoon we saw "Shark Water."

The first movie that i saw started at 9:30am and it was the movie "Water" Directed by Deepa Mehta, and written by Anurag Kashyap. starring Saraia who played Chuyia, Buddhi Wickrama who plays baba, and Lisa Ray who plays Kalyani. In a short version, this movie is about a young seven year old girl ( Chuyia ) who becomes a widow, and the rules where they live is that if you are a widow, you either burn with your husband, marry his brother, or live in a widow house. Chuyia lives in a widow house and makes friends with many of the women there. her and Kalyani become close friends, Kalyania is also a widow. They spend alot of time together and they end up meeting a man that eventually falls inlove with Kalyania and asks her to marry him. Even though marrying a widow is looked down apon. Kalyania finds out that her fiances father is a man who she is the mistress of. She calls off the wedding and ends up killing herself. Chuyia ends up with the man on a train at the end of the movie.

The story is a good plot. but even writting it out its so long and it just went so slow. The scenes in the movie were gorgeous. the place where the movie was shot was a very good choice, made you feel like you were there with them. The music that was played was also very well decided where to go. The whole theme where the water tied in with the movie was a very good idea. I enjoyed most of the movie, but the middle parts of the movie were very slow and some weren't necessary to be in the film. The guest speaker we had was the sound guy which in my opinion was not the greatest choice.

The afternoon film that i saw was a documentary directed and written by Rob Stewart. It is an eye - opening film that is visually stunning and will change the way you see oceans. It is about a guy (rob) who dedicated his life to prove that sharks are not as dangerous as they have been shown to be. In this documentary you see illegal fishing and the potching and de - finning of shark fins. The movie was very interesting and i enjoyed it greatly.

The guest who camee and spoke at the end of the movie was Rob Stewart himself. He told us about different things he has accomplished and informed us about issues going on still with sharks. He then answered questions that anyone asked. The movie was very imformative and if you didnt know what was happening with sharks before this movie you sure do now. I greatly enjoyed this movie and would see it again.

Rob is also very good looking. haha

it was a great day all together with chinese food for lunch!