How costumes were made for "The Hobbit"

In this article Hero Complex talks to Ann Maskrey about how she designs the costumes for the new film “The Hobbit”. She talks about how hard it was to design different yet similar costumes for the 13 dwarfs in this movie. Ann had only about 4 weeks before the movie started to film to figure out these costumes. She was in a major time crunch but she likes a challenge. I liked how she talked about all of this because I could not imagine designing costumes for major movies like this.

Ann talks about how making her favorite costume combines all the elements of making a movie costume. For Radagast’s costume they use embroidery designs and made different fabrics and even made his hat look like moss. They made his character look like he was from the forest by layering fabrics to look like tree bark. Ann takes lots of pride in this costume.

I really look forward to seeing this moving and looking at the different costumes. I will look at them all and think about how much work Ann and her team put in to them. I’m glad I learned about these costumes before seeing the film because now I think I will appreciate them more.

Country Music Hollers Back at Hip-Hop Disscusing "Homeboy"

County music is made to appeal to the small town people who have lots of family morals and enjoy the simple things in life. In the article “Country music Holler back at hip-hop” they talk about how recent songs stick to these ethics but in a more hip-hop style song way. Country music talks about the rule people and not people from cities or heavy populated areas. A lot of songs also talk about how rule and urban people are “against” each other.

A great example of this is the song “Homeboy” by Eric Church. This shows the rule vs. urban aspect of country music very well. This song talks about boys in high school talking about the “ganster” boys who wear their pants to the ground. They talk about how eventually they will miss and wish that someday they were back with their high school crush without worries. The song ends by the rule boys talking to the gangsters about how they better come home and make it up to their parents before it’s too late.

“Homeboy” is a perfect example of country music and about how rule vs. urban people can be so different. Even though some of the more recent country song incorporates more hip-hop style music they are still using the same country music rule vs. urban family morals they have always had.

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2

“Twilight” Breaking Dawn Part 2 has an awkward scene with Jacob taking off his clothes to show that he is a wolf.   Cynthia Fuchs talks about this in “pop matters” and says that this scene is “something gay”. I think this scene is just meant for all of the girls that are crazy about Jacob and Edward. It’s for the girls that have fallen in love with these boys throughout the last movies. It’s not to add a “gay” scene.

Besides that this movie has a surprising climax that keeps everyone on the edge of their seats. This movie adds something that the book does not. I have never watched any of the other movies but I went to this one and found it very interesting. I did not understand a lot of it but that’s because I didn’t see the other movies. For people who know the whole story this movie is a great ending to this story.

This movie provides a great fairy tale ending for all the twilight lovers in this world.

 

 

 

"Realism and Anti-Realism" & "Looking at Movies--Genre: "The Western"

Realism in movies are movies that model the real world. "Into the Wild" is an example of realism because it showes the story of a person on his adventure. I think this can easly be seen as realism because the movie says its based on a true story. "Twilight" is an example of anti-realism because the things in the movie are made up, not based on the real world. For verisimilitud I think of the movie "Avatar" because eveything in that movie is made up but on screen it all looks real. It looks like its an actual place with these blue people who actually live there.

The character type found in romantic movies is a couple that has  a hard time getting together but then ends up in love. Usually they dont like each other at first or have some sort of problem with each other. Then become more friendly and then end up in love. Most movies in this genre follow the same pattern and end up the same. They end up with the coulple madly in love living happily ever after or in some ending up very sad because someone dies that they love. Either way romantic movies are made to get their audience to feel the romance in the movies.

Screening Report

 

I picked the scene where he drives away and leaves his car. In the beginning of this scene he sees a flash flood warning sign. He then is sleeping in his car and a flash flood moves the car. This is important because it is the beginning of his adventure and shows how his journey is not all going to go as planned. It then shows his car the next morning and shows him leaving it and taking off the license plates so he won’t be tracked as fast. Then he burns his money, showing that he is will not be dependent on money. As he walks away from the car we get the feeling that his journey is really starting. This scene is where his adventure really starts and shows us that he is seriously doing this and doesn’t care to be found at all. Making this an important scene that sets up the rest of the movie.

Scene can be found by going to 4 on the scene selection menu, scene starts at the flash flood area sign.  

Journal 4: Chris Browns Beating

It was all over the media two years ago when Chris Brown beat his girlfriend Rihanna. Now he is back in the media with his new neck tattoo. Brown says his tattoo is a sugar skull modeled on a MAC cosmetic design, but it looks a lot like Rihanna’s beaten face. It is wrong what he did and now he has this tattoo that most people think is him bragging about beating her. Many people think that men who beat women like to brag about it and are proud to show it off, thus why he would get this tattoo.

 

 

The other point of view people have about this tattoo is that he wants to remind people of his shame. By doing this it would remind people of the bad thing he did but also let people know he will never do that again. Brown never comments on the medias thought of his tattoo so we don’t know for sure if it’s supposed to represent beating of any sort. It’s up to your own thought on what this tattoo represents but I personally don’t think he would be bragging about beating her.

Writing about my favorite movie: The Notebook

As i was thinking about what to write about for my favorite movie I keep coming back to the Notebook so I decided to just stick with that. I love romantic movies and thats why the Notebook is my favorite because it is a very popular romantic movie. The Notebook is a clasic so how couldnt anyone not like it? Everyone iv ever met has liked the Notebook even guys cant say they dont like it. If i hear someone doesnt like it I could convince them.

To tell a good movie apart from not so good movies in my opinion are the endings. In the Notebook I love and hate the ending so I think that makes it a great ending! If you have never seen this movie I wont give away the ending but it is very good and the whole movie builds up to it very well. It is also an unexpected ending which is also good, i dont like movies that you can predict everything in and the endings.

The story line of the Notebook is original and exciting. It has very clear rising actions and falling actions and a clear and exciting climax. This also makes it a great movie and is another reason this sweet movie is my favorite.  I think everyone should watch this movie even if your not a fan of romantic movies.

Recycling helps save the environment. It helps prevent pollution, saves nature, and helps reduce cost of reproduction. Over 41 billion glass containers are made each year but only about 30 percent are recyclable meaning 70 percent go into a landfill. A great way to recycle and get use out of old glass bottles is bottle breaking. Bottle breaking is a simple and exciting way to make cups, or containers out of bottles. You can use the cup to drink out of or use it as a holder. All you need is string, acetone, fire, and a bucket full of cold water. These bottles also make great homemade Christmas presents! If your family members are heavy drinkers they would love to get a cup made from their favorite drink bottle. You can also use your new container in your office to hold pens, or in your kitchen to hold spoons or even as a flower pot! There are so many uses for these new containers that you have made and recycled.

To start off you want to gather all the materials needed to break a bottle. You will need a bottle, string, fire, acetone and cold water. The string must be 100% cotton so that it can soak up the acetone well and burn longer and hotter. You will need 100% peer acetone, not normal nail polish remover with acetone because it will not burn long enough to affect the bottle. Any lighter or match will do to get the fire going. Scissors are optional to cut the string after wrapping the bottle but fire works as well to cut off the extra string. Also need a bucket of ice cold water that is big enough to submerge half of the bottle in water. If the water is not ice cold it will not shock the bottle enough to break. If the bottle does not break because the water is not cold enough just add ice. And of course a glass bottle of your choice.

The first step to breaking a bottle is to wrap the string around the part of the bottle that you want to break. While wrapping the string you want to leave about five inches of string hanging on the cut side. Wrap the string 6-8 times around the bottle then cut the string about 5 inches from the bottle. Cut the string either using a scissors or you can burn it using your lighter or matches. Then take the two loose ends and tie them tightly together so that the string is tight to the bottle. Cut the loose ends off as close to the knot as you can. Slide the bundle of string off the top or bottom of the bottle whichever is easier, and place the string in a cup of acetone. Make sure the acetone completely covers the string. It does not matter how long the string is in the acetone as long as it is completely immersed. Take the bundle of string out of the acetone and carefully slide it back onto the bottle. The string may be a little tight but just keep sliding it down to where you want the bottle to break. Using the tips of your nails or fingertips work the best to slide the string onto the bottle.

Take the cover off of the bottle and hold the bottle at the base of it with the top slanted toward the bucket at a 30 degree angle. Hold the bottle with your left hand and use the lighter or matches and light the string with your right hand. As the string is burning continuously and slowly turn the bottle so that the fire gets distributed evenly. As the fire gets smaller and you begin to see blue flame it’s getting time to dip it into the water. When you see that all the flame is gone quickly submerge the bottle into the water with the top of the bottle straight down into the bucket. The bottle then should break on the line where the string is. Once the bottle breaks carefully take the broken pieces out. From there recycle the top and any random pieces that broke off, be careful not cut yourself.

The bottle will not always break as well as you would like it to so you may want to try a couple times. This technique is difficult to perfect so don’t give up. As you begin to play around with bottle breaking you may want to try different kinds of bottles. You will find that certain bottles work better than others and this may be because the thickness of the glass will always be a little different. The main things that can go wrong is the water not being cold enough and the string not hot enough. Adding ice to the water will help and wrapping more string around the bottle may also help. Be patient and play around with this and you will soon find what works best.

In the end you end up with a unique new glass, pencil holder, or flower pot. While saving yourself some money to have a new set of glasses you also helped a little to save the world; one glass bottle at a time. Now instead of 30% of bottles being recycled you recycled more. Next time you want to get a gift for someone but are a little short of cash just start breaking some bottles.

By: Heidi Weber, Stephanie Belter, and Natalie Trumm

How to build a Hut

The first thing you need to do to build a hut is make a strong frame. There are different styles of huts you could build but for mine I made 2 long sticks and dug them into the ground standing straight up and then had a long stick on top of them for the top beam. Then get sticks long enough to lean them up on the top beam. After covering the sides with sticks you then cover them with pine branches and needles for protection from rain and wind. For more protection add fallen leaves on top of the pine to fill in the gaps. Then if needed add more pine. To be sure it all stays together take some rope and tie the branches down where needed.

Packer Game

 

"Junk Mammals"

The Packer Game on Monday had Packer fans everywhere going wild. The replacement refs made a bad call and fans got very angry about it and were upset for a long time. Maraniss's argument is that the Seahawks should not have taken their victory with such glory. They should have wanted the truth from the call insted of acting like they had done something great.

My opinion on this is that football is stupid and fans take it way too far. I think a game is just a game but i also see where the writer is coming from. The Seahawks should have wanted to clear up the bad call so i think they did the wrong thing by acting like they won it with pride. At the end of the article the writer wrote how if he was in that possition he would have made it right but i dont believe that. I think people in professional sports will do anything for a win.

"Disconected" was interesting about how three students went without computers. It showed that they had trouble going without computers and showed how other students didnt think it would be possible. It was funny when the boys were cheating and cool how the girl went even longer than she had to. It also made me think about my own computer use.

The kitty cat dance!

my first post

This is a test