I'm pretty sure that all of us are excited for summer break and for the school year to be over. But, it is not time yet to check out from school. We still have a month left and we need to finish stronger than when we started in the beginning of the year. If we work hard now, we can have lots of fun later in the summer. So, to make sure I don't slack off I am going to set some goals for the end of this school year.

It is very easy for me to get distracted these days with social media and games. I usually watch a show before I get to my blogs or spend lots of time on Instagram before I do my other homework. So, I will start doing my homework first instead of doing "useless" stuff like social media. If I do this, I won't be rushing the night before it's due and have weekends where I don't need to do homework.

I am also going to put lots of effort into my work and do my best. Even though it's my third year at Chiefess and I want the year to be over with. I still have to produce my best work! When I try my hardest, I can make some great projects but when I slack off my work is not as good. To finish the year strong, I will put my best effort into everything!

Lastly, to finish the school year strong I am going to stay organized and be on task. Organization is very important so you know where things are at. I would say that my binder is pretty organized but my schedule isn't. During classes, I have been working on the 8th grade slideshow more than my 4th quarter project. So I am going to be aware of how much time I spend on certain things. For now, radios are my priority.

I can't wait till it's summer time! But for now, I am going to finish this year strong by not getting distracted, doing my best, and being organized. It's not time to check out yet, we have less than 20 school day left!

I'm pretty sure that all of us are excited for summer break and for the school year to be over. But, it is not time yet to check out from school. We still have a month left and we need to finish stronger than when we started in the beginning of the year. If we work hard now, we can have lots of fun later in the summer. So, to make sure I don't slack off I am going to set some goals for the end of this school year.

It is very easy for me to get distracted these days with social media and games. I usually watch a show before I get to my blogs or spend lots of time on Instagram before I do my other homework. So, I will start doing my homework first instead of doing "useless" stuff like social media. If I do this, I won't be rushing the night before it's due and have weekends where I don't need to do homework.

I am also going to put lots of effort into my work and do my best. Even though it's my third year at Chiefess and I want the year to be over with. I still have to produce my best work! When I try my hardest, I can make some great projects but when I slack off my work is not as good. To finish the year strong, I will put my best effort into everything!

Lastly, to finish the school year strong I am going to stay organized and be on task. Organization is very important so you know where things are at. I would say that my binder is pretty organized but my schedule isn't. During classes, I have been working on the 8th grade slideshow more than my 4th quarter project. So I am going to be aware of how much time I spend on certain things. For now, radios are my priority.

I can't wait till it's summer time! But for now, I am going to finish this year strong by not getting distracted, doing my best, and being organized. It's not time to check out yet, we have less than 20 school day left!

   Florida is right around the corner and I'm more excited than ever! We are going to visit many different places and learn about many different things! I am most excited for competing at STN, visiting Full Sail University, and going to Universal Studios.

   The whole reason why we're going on the trip is to compete at STN (Student Television Network) which is a Media Convention. I have learned so much from the past Conventions and I can't wait to learn more in breakout sessions and during competition. I am in the Spot Feature Category which is one of the harder competitions. My goal is to meet the deadline and create a quality video. With so many Middle Schools, competition will be harder than ever so I want to do well! 

   I am also excited to go to Full Sail University which is a college that specializes in Media. My older brother goes to College so it will be cool to get a taste of what college is like for him. In the future I want to pursue Arts and Communications, so I'm already starting college tours early! It will be interesting what College life is actually like!

   On last year's STN Trip, we went to Universal Studios in Los Angeles and learned a lot about how movies are made at Universal while having tons of fun! I'm sure that Universal Studios in Orlando will be bigger and better. We all watch movies that are made by Universal so it's awesome to go behind the scenes and learn about how much hard work and effort goes into making movies and TV Shows. Not to mention that they also have rides!

   Our trip is less than a week away! I can't wait! We are going to have lots of fun and work really hard. We'll also make great memories that will last a lifetime. I'm excited for everything on the trip but I'm mostly excited for competing at STN, visiting Full Sail University, and going to Universal Studios. 

   Our fourth STN practice was at the Marriott Hotel in the ballroom. We had it at the Marriott to stimulate what it's going to be like at the actual convention. When we go to Orlando, we won't have the luxury of being able to go back and get an extra battery or another tripod. So, it was good to have our practice there. Overall, all the teams did well and there were improvements that everyone made. I think my team is ready for STN although we need to work on going deeper into a story. Other than that, we're all set.

   Spot Feature is a very hard competition because you have to go out and find a story. You have no clue of who you're going to meet and what they're going to say. I think Brandon, Kaden, and I need to work on going deeper. Sure, everyone has some kind of story but, we want to leave a trail of golden nuggets when people watch our video. To do this, we need to ask questions with more depth. We should also ask more questions and talk story with the person before we film them. If they're story isn't what we're looking for we can always move on to another person who may even have a better story. 

   Practice makes perfect but, I don't think our team needs it. We have done a consistent job of meeting our deadlines and doing well at our past practices. We all work well together and contribute our different strengths to make good videos. We are a strong team and I am confident that we will do well when we go to STN. We don't seem to have a problem with time. Although it would be nice if we had 3 hours of production time, but we just have to deal with what we're given with. 

   At our fourth practice we improved going up to people. At our third practice we were very hesitant to go and talk to people. But this time we just went for it, we saw a group of people and we just started talking to them. The thing hat I like about Spot Feature is that you get to meet a random stranger and totally get to know them and a story that they have. That's an amazing feeling to get to meet new people that you wouldn't normally meet or people that you had no clue about their background and a story about themselves.

   In conclusion, our fourth STN practice went very well. We have improved from our last practice by not hesitating to talk to people. All we really need to work on is going deeper into  the story. I don't think our team needs an extra practice because we work very well together. 

   Wow! Time flew by really fast, in a good way! The quarter is coming to an end and our projects are also coming to it's due date. I think this quarter was one of my best quarters out of all three years of not procrastinating. Taylynn and I are definitely ready to turn our project in on time. And the key to that was working hard and staying ahead of the game ( NO PROCRASTINATING). Taylynn and I have our scripts approved, we have all of our audio on our timeline, and we just need to add broll.

   One of the major steps in creating a video is making a script. Making scripts can be pretty difficult and can take a lot of corrections to make it great! Taylynn and I turned our scripts in early before the due date. We only had a few minor things that we had to adjust like, changing the wording of a stand up and rearranging two points. In the end we had about two or three different versions of our script, which is really good if I say so myself.

   Once we revised our script, we started to make the skeleton of our video which means that we put our audio/sound bites onto the timeline. I taught Taylynn everything she needs to know when doing this important step of editing so she'll know what she's doing next quarter. We are now finished with our audio part of the video including all of our interviews, stand ups, and voiceovers. I let Taylynn do the voiceovers and she sounds really great with a peppy voice and an awesome tone. 

   We are currently adding b roll which is the video that you see while people are talking about a certain thing. We started to make some sequences but, we just need to figure out where they go. Adding b roll is pretty tricky for me because you need to make sure that the b roll matches what the person is saying. I'm kind of worried about that because we only have b roll of the Garden, plants, and people working in it. Hopefully, it will turn out fine.

   Taylynn and I have worked really hard this quarter to make a great project considering that this is my last News Story I'll make in this class (well, as a quarter project) so I needed to make sure it was going to be a great one. So, dedication definitely helped us strive through the quarter. We didn't even procrastinate! I'm not worried about our deadline because I know we will turn our project in on time!  

   It's the greatest time of year, and it's here! I have to admit it, Christmas time is my all time favorite season! Christmas lights are up and down streets, the smell of Christmas Trees fill the air, everyone's kind and giving, and most foods are topped off with peppermint. To go along with all of that, is the best Christmas Movie ever, A Christmas Story. I love this movie because it's funny, a family favorite, and it gets you into the holiday spirit.

   A Christmas Story is sort of an old movie which came out in 1983. It's about a boy named Ralphie who wants a BB gun for Christmas. But, his parents, teacher, and even Santa Claus say the same thing "You'll shoot your eye out". He thinks that he'll never get one but, he actually does and realizes how it's not as cool as he thought it would be. This movie is hilarious! From times of Christmas failures and eating duck for Christmas dinner, receiving a pink bunny suit as a gift, and so much more. It's hard not to laugh in this movie!

   My family watches this movie every year and never seems to get sick of it! I guess you would say its a family tradition to watch this movie. The comedy is a big factor in why we love to watch it. Besides my mom, none of us like the dramatic soapy Hallmark movies that play all through December. Without the funniness, I doubt it would be a family favorite. With our lives so busy, it nice to just relax and watch a Christmas movie with your family.

   I also love "A Christmas Story" because it gets us into the Holiday Spirit. As I mentioned before, this season is my favorite. And this movie puts me into the right mindset of this Holiday Season. It shows us the joy of Christmas and how we shouldn't be so stressed in this busy time of year and not to be so caught up in our own worlds. 


    In conclusion, my favorite favorite Christmas movie is "A Christmas Story". It's a great movie because it's funny, a family favorite, and it gets you into Christmas spirit. I suggest that you watch this movie and I'm sure you'll love it!

      How many times do you watch TV a week? For me, I watch TV about 3-4 times a week. The Average American watches 34 hours of TV per week which seems like a lot. In 15 years from now, I think that number will drop down by a lot. I'm not saying that people will stop watching TV and play outside more but, I think they will rather watch TV or shows on their electronics.

      Today, there are many apps where you can watch shows that you may have missed, like abc Player or abc Family. Many people thought that 3D TV's would be apart of the future but, it hasn't been quite the buzz. It's hard to tell how TV's will expand and grow from here.

      Many people have everything at the touch of their fingers, they can watch whatever they want when they want. With a normal cable TV, you can only watch what's on the different channels. In the future, I would want TV's to be able to play only the things that you want to watch. For example, I like to watch movies on FX, and Dance Moms. With a Futuristic TV, we would be able to categorize our channels to Comedy, Thriller, or Kids. This way, we can watch the things that we want to watch.
      
     If TV doesn't turn out that way, I think people will see less TV's in homes. This is just because many people would rather watch Netflix or Youtube on their Tablets or Phones. Technology is becoming more on the go and it would be pretty hard to lug a giant TV around with you every where you go.

     In conclusion, I think TV's are slowly fading away. It seems pretty hard to picture a houses without TV's in them. But as technology becomes bigger and better there could be a high chance that TV's could be an ancient artifact in 15 years. 

A new year has begun and that means we have started our 1st quarter projects! As a project update I would say that my partner Taylynn and I are on the right track so far! We have gotten two interviews, we started looking for 5 good sound bites, and we are working together great.

Taylynn and I got an interview with Sue Kanoho who works at the Kauai Visitors Bureau and Kalani Vierra who works at the Ocean Safety Bureau. In our interview with Sue Kanoho, she is very dark from the lighting, it did not look bad on the camera but, I guess you can’t always trust the camera screen. We still need one more interview with Shelbi who works at Expedia which is a concierge service that sells activities but they also inform visitors about the dangers of the ocean. We have called her twice and even left her a message, and we have also emailed her. If she doesn’t reply this weekend I will go to her office and ask her if she or somebody else would like to be interviewed.

We have finished transcribing both of our interviews. I transcribed Sue Kanoho’s. And then I showed Taylynn how to do it so she could be able to transcribe Kalani Vierra’s. She catches on very quickly and was even able to finish it last class! So now we are trying to find the five best sound bites out of what they say. The five sound bites is the base of the story and how it’s being told. So they have to be important bites!

And lastly, Taylynn and I are working great together. She’s a seventh grader but she is brand new to media so I’m teaching her everything I can. So far I’ve taught her how to call and talk to people on the phone to set up interviews, ask questions at an interview, import clips, transcribe, and so much more! As I said before she catches on pretty quickly and is able to finish things on her own. Although I haven’t taught her everything there is to know about making a news story, I look forward to teaching her more!

In conclusion, our first quarter project is going well. We do need one more interview but ,we already have two interviews that are already transcribed. We started looking for 5 great sound bites, and Taylynn and I are working together great! Hopefully we will be able to create a quality project on time!