Movie Poster Promo

In G.T we have a new project that has been assigned, which is creating a movie trailer and accompanying
it with a movie poster. After collaborating with my amazing team we came to a conclusion and decided to name our movie trailer, "Letters To John". The main characters in the poster above are Andrea (myself) and John (Gabe Sifuentes). In my movie poster, I have us sitting on a dock; which was one of Andrea and John's favorite place to be together. In this I have faded Gabe's body. This symbolizes how John has disappeared out of Andrea's life and how she is left alone to handle with the hardship.

Included in my poster is also the movie title, reviews, the media production, characters names, and a brief synopsis. We titled our movie, "Letters To John" because it is the main idea of what our story is about. Andrea is stranded in her own perfect world when her boyfriend suddenly goes missing. She is relieved when she finally gets a letter from him telling her that he's okay. With that message, she decides to send letter after letter to John and helps him with his depression. I also included, "A story about persistence, love, and courage" which is giving a little hint and an attention grabber to the audience. Oh, and one more thing; the reviews! I added reviews from movie critics around the world to show my audience of what some experts think of the movie.

To add interest to our text, we were taught about kerning. Kerning is used to space out words or letters and also has the ability to make a phrase, sentence or word more eye catching and intriguing. This technique is not only interesting but it also makes words easier to read. Kerning can be used in movie posters or anything that you want... you could even use it in an essay's title. Kerning is very helpful, for example, if you have a sentence and the color, size, and font is perfect but the words are over-lapping each other or squished, kerning spaces the words and/or letters out for you.

The layer effects and filters I used in my poster had numerous effects on the over-all feeling and final product. For example, I made the background darker than the main characters because I wanted Andrea and John to be the main focus. I also made John a little faded to represent that he is not in Andrea's life at the moment. In addition, I tried to stick with two colors for the text so it wouldn't be too overwhelming but I also added some effects on the text to make them a little more noticeable than before.

Visual Literacy

During the second quarter in our seventh period class, we were given a amazing project to complete. Mrs. Sanderl, the art teacher, introduced us to an inspiring art form; book folding. Book folding is when you come up with a word of your choice, choose a font, print the word out on a template, and then start folding away. Trust me, it's a very complicated process. At first I thought it was going to be a walk in the park, but I soon came to realize that I may have to restart a few times. We got inspired to do this project from a man named, Isaac Salazar. This American book artist, reuses books that are going to be disposed or are not in use and later turns them into a work of art. Visual Literacy is the ability to receive  meaning through an image and is the belief that meaning can be produced through reading. This project is an example of Visual Literacy because after the individual picks a meaningful word, image or number, it forces thought and interest upon the viewers mind.

With this opportunity, I decided to fold a book that read "Sing". I chose this word because I have been singing for as long as I can remember and I just simply love to sing. The font I incoorperated, I believe really matched my word. It's a simple font, but it also has a special flow to it that really went well with my word. Singing has a flow of melody, words, and meaning. Singing does not only help me but I know how it also connects to a lot of other people; I wanted my word to have a special meaning not only to me but also to others. For the book, I folded around 337 pages.


I believe my book turned out pretty good and I'm inspired to create a new one. Although I was quite satisfied with the result, I noticed that the I and N were a little smaller than the S and G, so it was a little difficult to read it. If I were to do this project again, I would probably fold the pages more accurately and I would also choose a image next time. Even though there was a lot of frusteration during the process of folding, I had fun and I'm sure that people will want to inspire others to do the same.  

Proactive or Procrastination?

Recently I asked myself, "Am I proactive or a procrastinator?" Well really, I'm both. At times I can be quite the procrastinator; not really with schoolwork, but with home priorities. After a long day of school, all kids want to go home and just relax, maybe take a nap, go to the beach, eat some ice cream accompanied by a movie, or we may just not feel like starting up our school brain again. And sometimes I feel like that. But usually right when I get home I begin my homework so I can finish it ahead of time and don't have to worry about the assignment later on. But it's another thing when it comes to chores. I usually put it off and wait until my parents remind me about it. Trust me I do plan when I'm going to do these things but sometimes it just slips my mind. But over-all I think I'm more proactive than a procrastinator.

The amount of free time I have always depends on how proactive I am. For example, I sometimes put my work aside so I can have free time for the afternoon but that always back fires. I then have heaps of homework to do the next day, from putting my previous assignments aside. But at other times, I'm really determined to finish my homework right when I'm assigned to it so I can have extra time during the afternoon or weekend.

If I were to change my work habits, I would most definitely try to be more proactive. Although I always find a way to finish all my assignments in on time and get good grades on them, it does cause me a lot, and I mean a lot, of stress. If I were to finish my assignments right when I got home, all of that stress would slip away. To fix my procrastination, I would try to forget about all of my distractions, and just focus on what had to be done. I will now try my best to always be proactive, and hopefully have a lot of free time after making my homework my first priority.

My Visual Poem

During the second quarter we had to create a Visual Poem. With this opportunity, I decided to write a poem about a place that I cherish; Hanalei. I was excited to film footage for this project because I got to remind myself of how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place like Hanalei. I decided to revolve my poem on my outlook of this amazing place and what others may think of it too. I know that everyone has that one special place where they could just go and forget about all of their problems, so I choose a topic where people could relate upon.

Throughout my video I applied several effects to bring out the feeling I was trying to create. For example, with the clips of the sunset I enhanced the colors so the audience could feel like they were at the beach watching the enchanting sunset. In another clip I slowed down the motion and towards the end, I included a transition that fades so my last lines and picture could linger in the audience's minds.

Over-all, I believe my project had a great end result. I thought my poem had a good feel to it, my visuals accompanied my wording well, and I believe I edited my footage accurately. I am quite satisfied with my result, but there is a couple of things I could improve. With a little more time, I could have re-filmed my poem lines so it would sound more clear and it could have also been read a little slower. But again, I think I did a great job and I'm glad that I could share my love for my home with everyone.

Please feel free to watch my video down below

AnakaleaL VisualPoem from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.

Finished News Story

Yay! My group and I have completed our news story; Hurricane Iniki. I believe our finished product was great and included the required criteria. Our story was about the *horrible hurricane that hit the island on Kaua'i on September 11, 1992 and how the Kaua'i people were affected. We really wanted to reach out to people of all ages and educate them about the dangers of a hurricane and how to be prepared. We also wanted people to hear first-hand about what could happen to you or your family doing a hurricane. Although it took us quite some time to film the interviews, gather b-roll, and edit, my team and I worked very well together and got the task done.

 I must give a big thanks to my teamates; they went above and beyond and I couldn't do it without them.. so thank you Lilio, Russell, Seth, and Noa! I also really appreciated all of the people who agreed to contribute to our project and  were willing to be very open towards my team and I. We were able to film six interviews in all and learned a lot from each individual. With-in the six interviews we got information from all different ages; three ten year olds shred their knowledge, as well as three adults. My teamates and I loved getting to hear the stories and advice from each interviewee... we greatly appreciate all of their help!

I am very pleased with our final product! We worked very hard while trying to make our video the best it could be, and with overcoming any problems that we faced by resolving it as a team. I liked how we got information from several people of all different ages, so all audiences could connect to each interviewee.

After completing our video, the class critiqued each film one by one (All of the videos were amazing!) When getting the heads-up of our video being next; I must admit we were all afraid at first, but after the first couple of seconds we realized that we didn't do too shabby. We were also more than happy with our results; I did agree with everyones votes and kind comments.

Down below is our final product, please feel free to watch!

P1T6 Hurricane Iniki from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.

Real World Report

Picture By: Getty Images

While searching for an interesting story I came upon the headline "Police Worry Over Copycat Attacks". This story was about an 18 year old man with wicked intentions, who had been one of the authorities many concerns for his connection to rigorous Islamic groups. Many authorities are keeping a watchful eye on the community. They have been forced to act in this behavior due an attack on two officers outside the Endeavour Hills station in Melbourne's western suburbs last Tuesday night. He planned to cut off their heads and post the gruesome images online. He was then shot after assaulting the two policemen; a Victorian police officer and an Australian Federal Police officer (AFP). Using a small knife he stabbed the AFP officer unfortunately in the face, neck and stomach. The Victorian officer was also stabbed in his arm. After his vicious actions, Numan Haider was shot by a single round, fired by the Victorian officer and later died.

My opinion on this topic is that I believe the police officer did have the right to shot the man because he assaulted the police officers first. Although I think this, I am still sadden at the thought that such a young man was killed. I think they did this because they didn't want anybody else in the community to get hurt or even killed again.

We should be well informed and aware on this subject because we don't know if more people have the same intentions or even worse. Also this was a human life that was killed and more people should be aware of this. One more thing about this event is more violent interactions can occur as well as terrorism.

Here is a little more information about this topic. Video By: "The West Australian"

Lessons Learned

So far this project is going quite well and we are producing great work. During this project my team and I are becoming well aware of how preparation is key when warned about a hurricane. I find it very interesting that we are getting feedback from people that actually experienced Hurricane Iniki. The stories just amaze me! From these stories I believe my team and I are going to be well prepared if a hurricane does happen to approach Kaua'i.

Our biggest challenge that we had to over come was editing our interviews and filming applicable
B-roll.  It took us quite some time to edit, due to filming seven interviews; when editing these interviews we had to cut out any mistakes including the little ones. So, when editing our interviews there were numerous cuts in them so we had to film lots of applicable b-roll. We didn't only need b-roll to cover the interviews but also for our voice-overs. So, my team and I are still planning to go out and film more. Most of our b-roll are pictures of the destruction from Hurricane Iniki and we need a little more video for our b-roll. We also took b-roll of the roads and places that were hit so it was pretty hard to keep the camera stable while traveling down bumpy roads.

I believe the most valuable part of the film making process was going out to the community and getting information from several different individuals and a wide range of age groups. I also loved getting to work and edit with my group because we got to work problems out together, get great ideas from one another, and got the work done by cooperating. I can't wait to finish and produce our final product

!

HikiNo Behind the Scenes

Our new project is to complete and produce a great video for Hiki No. My group; Lilio, Seth, Russel, Noa and I decided to compose a video about hurricanes, its negative affects, and how people should prepare for the worse. By doing this video, we are not only teaching others about this storm but we are learning as well. We decided to base our project on hurricanes because we wanted to raise awareness to everyone about how hurricanes can change your life. Fortunately we haven't been hit here on Kaua'i during this 2014 hurricane season, but we are all definitely keeping our eyes and ears open. We are trying to persuade people that this situation should be taken seriously; they should stay tuned in to their local weather announcement centers, prepare for the worse, and hope for the best!

 I believe my team and I are working very well together. But one thing I think we can improve upon is communicating with each other and planning more ahead of time. Although we are doing good as a team, I think we can work harder to make everything close to perfect! We all know that the only way we will stay productive and complete our task is by working together as one. A couple ways I can help my team is by trying to complete our pitch sheets during my free time, encourage my team to keep filming (You can never get too much footage), and I will also do my fair share through-out this project time.

While the camera is not rolling my team and I are editing our interviews, thinking of what we can improve on, and planning on what we can film next. Our interviews have gone very well along with our B-Roll. We have been transcribing our interviewee's comments; by doing so we are able to brainstorm about what B-Roll would go good with the replies. I love how we have five students in our group because we can all get great suggestions from one another and also learn how to overcome obstacles. Everyone in our group has their own special talent and is more then happy to share it with everyone; which has really helped us as a team. I hope you get the chance to tune in to HIKI NO, every thursday night at 9 to support schools from across the Hawaiian Islands, and I also hope you will get to see our video!

The Experiment

Our very first project was called, "The Experiment", which we could do anything we wished to create in Photoshop. So with this opportunity I decided to make an appearing drawing of myself. With-in this process I first, took a picture of myself in Photo Both, then opened the picture in Photoshop, where I traced myself in different layers and slides to create the "magical" appearing picture. After I completed the tracing step, I colored in my school shirt to create a contrast of content effect. How is it contrast of content? Well, everything was back and white, where as my shirt was green.

Although this task was difficult, it was a great way to test my prior knowledge of Photoshop and the accurate steps to complete my project choice. Even though I had some trial and error, (by some I mean a lot), I think my finished project was pretty good.

My finished product

Back to School

I had such a wonderful summer filled with happiness, family and friends but now, it's back to school. So far my 8th grade school year is going great, I have amazing teachers, wonderful classes and fantastic friends. My favorite moment so far was being picked to be one of the two anchors for our daily KMS news. To get this job we had to participate in an interview with a couple of other classmates, so when I was chosen to be an anchor I was very excited and anxious of what laid ahead. Another exciting but scary moment was when we were given the mission to start a project in photoshop by ourselves, using our prior knowledge of photoshop, without asking questions. With this opportunity to create anything our heart desired, I decided to do an animation of myself appearing on the computer screen. By having this task we are practicing a couple of our GLO's; Self-Directed Learner, Complex Thinker and Effective Communicator.

My work in progress

My biggest challenge so far was remembering what tools and steps I had to do to complete our first project. Luckily I remembered where most tools were located and the correct order to finish things in. I will be successful this year by completing all given assignments, giving it my all, and staying positive throughout the year!

Metamorphosis Animation

During the fourth quarter we were given the opportunity to create an animation video. Our video had to have a form of something morphing into something else. My team mates (Keegan, Lilio, Ku'umomi) and I decided to make a film that could bring awareness to many people about bullying. Our video also consisted of three different types of animation, stop-motion, claymation and digital art. Our first scene had Lilio playing as the bully and picking up an innocent flower, with this flower she starts to tear the petals from the stem and throws it to the ground. The next scene we had the flowers make their way down the stairs which Keegan (friend) picks up and begins to gently place the flower's petals in their rightful place. The flower is placed on top of the railing and starts sliding on top of it and then it "fly's" into the air and starts to morph into its human self (me). So with this story we had the flower representing a girl that was being bullied but a friend had her back and helped her "pick up her broken pieces".

I believe our finished product was pretty good; as it was our first time dealing with three types of animation. I think the best part of our video was the digital art because we got to make the scene more unique by getting to draw out the scene. One thing that my team and I could improve is our stop-motion because during the scenes that had stop-motion we didn't use a tripod which could have reduced our camera movement. In addition, stop-motion is used to make inanimate objects come to life or to make an object do something that they couldn't do normally. For example, instead of having our characters walk we could've made them fly or slide into the scene. But overall I think my team and I did a great job.

Words of Wisdom

One of our recent projects was "Words of Wisdom". My team (Lilio, Loren, Hershel) and I decided to interview Dave Stewart (my grandfather). Before filming we had to make a production plan that included the subject, what B-roll we would collect, what would be said on the voice-overs and what shots we would film. After completing our production plan I interviewed my grandfather and asked questions about his earlier years. He explained how at a very young age he was offered to go to the beautiful island of Kaua'i and how he couldn't resist because it was his dream to come here. He also explains how important it is to be hard working, as it can really help you achieve your dreams. He tells how through hard work and perseverance you can one day accomplish anything, just like he did. He now has a big family and two very successful businesses.

Our finished product is up above... feel free to watch it, enjoy!

Five Tips For

One of the first projects I've completed in G.T. was a "Five Tips For"... video. In this video my team mates (Bailey and Kora) and I had to demonstrate how to accomplish something in 5 easy to follow steps. Our topic was, "How to make your parents happy." We choose this topic because we thought this could be helpful towards some people and we thought our video topic was different in a way.

A couple things that we could have done better was preventing camera movement by re-filming and making some of the titles larger. Filming and creating this video was not only fun but it was also a great learning experience. I learned how to use composition techniques and voice-overs correctly and how they make a video so much more interesting. I believe my group and I had a great finished product!

Composition Techniques

While filming there are many different composition techniques that can make your video eye-catching. These techniques include, rule of thirds, framing, unusual angles, leading lines, emotion, action, close up, reaction, contrast in content, repetition of shapes, group shot, parts of a whole, horizontal, and vertical. But the main four composition techniques are, rule of thirds, framing, unusual angles, and leading lines. So... what are these techniques? 

Rule Of Thirds
The rule of thirds makes an image or a subject look well balanced and makes it interesting. Also the rule of thirds breaks the subject into three equal parts, both vertically and horizontally. When the subject is in three parts, the subject's eyes are at one of the intersecting lines.

Framing 
Framing is a technique that is used to draw the attention of the viewer to a certain subject. Also, while framing it's essential to pick a great place with many fascinating "frame" like objects.

Unusual Angles
Unusual Angles is when you take a picture from an angle that is strange or unique. By creating a picture with unusual angles it adds many different effects to your image.

Leading Lines
Leading Lines are lines within a picture that focuses the viewer's eye to a specific object. Some examples of leading lines are, train tracks, a road, etc.

All of these techniques are a great way to make any photo or video phenomenal!

P4T5 Composition from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.

Three Shot Sequences

In great video stories, sequencing usually consists of 3 short clips from interesting angles and different perspectives. Most shots that occur in sequencing are, wide, medium, and close-up shots. These shots are a way to unfold an action but in a fascinating way. When using this method in visual storytelling all shots should be different and be focused on one object. Also, before filming different shots the camera operator should think of what angles will be eye-catching to an audience. Always remember, sequencing is a great way to add interest in any video!

After researching about sequencing all G.T. students had to construct a short video with a sequence. My groups topic was "Surprise!". While filming we had to plan ahead of time to think of interesting angles that would compliment our video and catch our audience's eye. 

A great sequence would first start with a wide shot that captures the main subject, then it would cut to a medium shot that shows what particular thing the subject it doing, and lastly it would cut to a close-up or even an extreme close-up. Within these shots, you should also use composition techniques.

Below is my groups example of sequencing.

Practice Profile Story

Before filming our Profile Story my group and I had to create a Practice Story. Our Practice Story had to include a subject (student from G.T. class), the actual interview, voice-overs, and b-roll. My group and I (Lilio Masi, Loren Weiner, and Hershel Weiner) decided to interview me because they thought the topic that I was going to share would be fascinating. My story was based on how I love to sing and how my life revolves around singing.

A couple of things that we struggled with was, finding b-roll that matched what I was stating due to filming b-roll before the interview. We had to film our b-roll first because there wasn't enough lavalier microphones, so in the end our b-roll didn't really match what I was saying in the interview. Also we didn't get to rehearse our voice-overs so you could hear the unsure pauses, but over-all I believe our video had good quality.

Since it was our first time creating a Profile Story we had some trouble creating our finished product but I believe my group and I worked very well together and did great. After being critiqued my group and I knew what we had to create to make our videos go from good to GREAT.

Profile Project Progress

G.T.'s new project assignment is, "Elder Words Of Wisdom". During the pass couple of weeks we have thought of an individual that has an inspiring story, and one who can influence young children. So my group and I decided to interview a man named, Dave Stewart. Dave tells us about his life and his risk-taking. He explains that, though at times you will come face-to-face with some hardships, if you have motivation and work hard one day you will live up to your dream. At a very young age he took a risk, and now knows it was the right decision because he owns successful business's, Kayak Hanalei, and Hanalei Wave Riders. After school my group and I checked out cameras, and first interviewed, then we filmed our B-rolls and voice-overs.

What are B-rolls and voice-overs? Well, B-Roll adds visual interest that assists and compliments a story. When it is placed over an interview the addition of fascinating imagery can help the viewer relate to the story. B-Roll can also be used to hide any cuts in an interview and classify what is being said through similar visual details. When used correctly, Voice-overs help narrate a certain story by first grabbing the audience’s attention, filling any gaps with great transitions between any mistakes, and lastly summing up the overall message of a story. But if used incorrectly, voice-overs can make a story hard to follow or dull.

My team and I have been working great together, we have made great progress with our editing in Final Cut Pro-X and Production Plan. One thing that the whole team could work better on is communicating. Communicating is key if you want to finish anything successfully with others. The thing that was hard was, our whole team meeting after school to film and having some team mates not coming to help edit when given extra time to.

After turning in our interview's rough-cut my group and I were critiqued. While reading through my classmates comments, I've noticed that our interview would be much better if we gathered more B-Roll. My group will go from good to great by filming more B-roll that goes along with what the interviewee is stating and also use our knowledge of composition techniques and sequencing and apply that to our "Profile Project."

Practice Story Reflection

For this project my classmates and I had to brake-up into groups of 3 to 4 and think of an inspiring or interesting interview story. Before filming all groups had to decide on a topic, my groups topic was, "Lele loves to sing", this video would show my passion for singing. My group members were Lilio Masi, Loren Weiner, and Hershel Weiner. We all had one day to film our B-roll and one day to film our interview, and another two days were given to record a voice-over, complete our transcripts and edit our interviews. This project was constructed in Final Cut Pro X.

Some things that I believe my group and I could have done better was planning ahead of time and I believe if we all had set jobs we could have prevented last minute edits. Also when we had the time to film our B-roll, we should've came up with more "scenes" to compliment our video. But over-all I think my group and I worked together well and accomplished what was needed to be completed.

From this practice story my group and I now know what we can do better for our final interview project. For our next story, we will be more prepared, we will also plan ahead of time and we will work together as a team!

Spherical Panoramas

These are my two finished Spherical Panoramas that I made in my G.T. class. To create these worlds, I first took two sets of 10-15 images in a 360 degree rotation while having a 10-15% overlap. I then edited my pictures in Adobe Camera Raw before compiling them into a panoramic image using Photoshop's Photomerge plugin.

Next, I resized both panoramas to be square and filtered them both by using the Polar Coordinates tool. My final worlds were later selected by using the elliptical marquee tool and were feathered
to refine the edges of my images. After applying a black or white background I used the quick selection tool to cut out an image of me. After resizing the cut-out image so it would fit perfectly into my spherical world, I added a shadow effect to make the image of myself look more realistic... and those are the steps to creating my spherical panoramas.

Polar Panoramas

These are my two finished Polar Panoramas. I first researched the process of creating a Polar Panorama before choosing a great location to take my two sets of at least 10 images. When taking these images I moved the camera vertically while making sure I took them with a 10-15% overlap. After I created my panos by using the Photomerge plugin in Photoshop, I resized the two images to be square. I then rotated the square images with a 180 degree turn before implementing the Polar Coordinates filter.

After finishing both Polar Panos, I partnered up with another student and had a portrait photography session. These pictures would be used to imitate the feeling of being on top of the world. After editing my portrait photos, I used the quick selection tool to cut out the background, refine the images, and  resize them perfectly so they would fit my worlds. After resizing I created a shadow effect by copying, warping the portrait layer, decreasing the exposure to black and setting the opacity to 40%. All of these steps added up to creating my Polar Panoramas!

Final Photomontages

Here are my two finished photomotages, inspired by the famous photographer David Hockney, who created similar "joiner" like images. To make these images I used a digital camera to take several different shots of a specific subject. By doing so it creates an image from many different perspectives and is an attention grabber. I also used photoshop to compile the images and to create these photomontages!

All About Me

Hi, I am Leleaka Anakalea, the producer of this blog. I am a former student of Hanalei Elementary School. I am now a seventh grade student at Kapa'a Middle School and new to the G.T. program. This blog will include my finished projects that I created in my Gifted and Talented program ( G.T. )

I am very lucky, I live in a beautiful place called Kaua'i. In Kaua'i there's is nothing but blue and green. The breath-taking ocean surrounds this island and the tall lush mountains compliment these oceans. I was born and raised on Kaua'i and have gotten to see it's beauty for 12 years.  

Here are a few other things about me, I love being with my family, I believe that family is the most important thing in the world! I am so grateful that I have such an incredible family! I also love to sing! You can find me singing day and night, day after day, every minute every second. I sing while working on homework, surfing the web, while walking around my house... I sing everywhere. The songs I enjoy to sing is, R&B, Hawaiian, pop, and old school. I believe singing and music creates a positive atmosphere for everyone!

As I said before this is my first year in G.T. and I have loved learning about new technology and how to use it. I have enjoyed getting the opportunity to learn new techniques and getting to explore many things on a computer... and only in G.T. will you be able to do these things!

Magazine Cover

This is my finished Magazine Cover for Singing Forever, that I created during the fall of 2013 at Kapa'a Middle School. I made this magazine cover by using a digital camera and Photoshop to create multi-layered images that describes myself.