Camera Techniques

 

Making Choco Chip Banana Cupcakes

  Today, we made banana chocolate chip cupcakes in class. Here's a picture:


     On my way to class, I sort of got lost. I ended up remembering where I was supposed to be: the same place like always. We set our bags down on the seats and got into the kitchen. There, we put on our aprons and washed and sanitised our hands. We got into groups of four and three. One team asked us for help with turning the oven on. We got our ingredients and started making the batter for the cupcakes. We prepared the muffin tray and put some cupcake wraps inside as we put bits of the batter in each paper.

    After we put the cupcakes in the oven ready to bake, we got our dishes washed. I washed the dishes with almost no problem. We finished baking the cupcakes after the others managed to finish theirs. I packed mine into a ziplock bag I used to hold my food. I had a minor problem getting them in because of spacing and because they were just too hot. Eventually, we were let out and I headed off to badminton.

       This is just a short blog for my Home Economics/cooking class. However, thank you for reading this anyway! Thank you and have a good day!
              - Me

A Lockdown Interview

 This is an interview conducted by me with Year 8 student, Jrae Wilson.

How did you feel when lockdown was stated?
  Jrae says that he doesn't know. He probably didn't keep track of things during then. He is very distracted by his chromebook.

What did you do during lockdown?
   He says that he didn't do much. He played board games with his family. That was all he said.

What was the most interesting thing that you did/ happened during lockdown?
    He said that his sister-in-law had a child. The baby's name was Mihaka. He also doesn't know how it is spelled.

What did you feel during lockdown?
    He felt a bit happy. And he was also a bit sad. He also told me that he was a bit distressed about the lockdown.

What changed about you during lockdown?
    He says he doesn't know. I think that almost nothing about him changed. I may be correct as nothing observable about him has changed.

What did you feel after lockdown ended and that you had to go to school?
   He says he felt joyful. He does seem gleeful when I got back from school. Then again, I didn't see a difference.

Picture of the student, Jrae Wilson.

The Language of Film

       Movies have existed since 1895, the first time we were exposed to moving pictures, and a new genre of entertainment. But what are the elements when it comes to making one? This is a short and brief dictionary explaining the elements of a movie.

Body Language - the conscious and unconscious movements and postures by which attitudes and feelings are communicated

Costumes - a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period.

Hairstyles - a particular way in which a person's hair is cut or arranged.

Make-Up - cosmetics such as lipstick or powder applied to the face, used to enhance or alter the appearance.

 Music - vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.

Silence - complete absence of sound.

Symbols - a mark or character used as a conventional representation of an object, function, or process, e.g. the letter or letters standing for a chemical element or a character in musical notation.

Colour - used to set the tone of a scene

Lighting - it creates the visual mood of a scene; it tells the audience where to look

Props - items on a stage that are movable or stationary or in the background to set the scene

Settings - when and where the story takes place

Dialogue - the speech of the characters in a story

Sound Effects - to help create a mood, to stimulate reality; to add or create something off a scene that isn’t there

Special FX - used to create fictional characters and scenes, sometimes with the use of mechanics

This is just a brief post with certain words. Thank you and goodbye!

- Me

A Puzzling Vase

  Hello, this is a post-lockdown blog. The first right after quarantine ended. This is just an activity that I did.
    - Me

  So, after I got home yesterday, my mom got a gift from someone. It was a box with the picture of a plastic vase with a picture of a bird on both sides. This is what it looked like:
  fig. 1. picture of container

My mom opened the box and to our surprise, the vase was a piece-by-piece item. There were puzzle pieces that needed to be attached to certain parts of the vase and several other pieces to create the rest of the puzzle.

We started by attaching the top pieces onto what looked like the rim of the vase. It proved to be harder than anticipated, because we couldn't get the fit the pieces correctly.
   fig. 2. me putting the top parts together

We ended up moving onto the middle part of the puzzle; we would find out how the top and bottom pieces were connected. I shuffled through the pieces to try and find the correct pieces before we went to sleep. I was so enticed by the puzzle, I wanted to finish it before we slept.

We did two parts of the puzzle. My mom did the blue bird's side, while I did the sparrow's side of the vase.
 fig. 3. me doing the body of the puzzle

Once again, I shuffled through every single piece to find the ones that fit the image. Sure, the pieces would fit, but they also aren't the same part of the image.

As I drove myself to finish the body of the puzzle, my mom began working on the bottom parts of the puzzle. It was a lot easier to do than the body and the top. My mom took more pictures of me doing the puzzle. It took some time and effort, but eventually, we managed to finish the puzzle.
    fig. 4. me almost finishing the puzzle

We finished the puzzle right before it hit 9:00 pm. I assembled the rest of the vase, and there was the finished product. She took a picture of it with the box it was in.
  fig. 5.1. The blue bird's side of the vase
fig. 5.2. The sparrow's side of the vase

When we looked around the vase, we noticed that one of the pieces were out of place. We agreed to fix it tomorrow because it was getting late. Of course, when I got home the next day, I fixed the puzzle.

She sent me some photos (the ones above) so I could use them for this blog.

    Thank you for reading this! Please provide some feedback for any future blogs. Once again, thank you, goodbye, and have a good day!
         - Me

Game Review

  Ahh, video games. I love video games, especially the ones that make you angry and might want you to crush it down into dust and burn its remains. This is just gonna be a short post reviewing several games. Whether it be mobile, PC or Console or online and flash games, I'm reviewing the ones I know here. There won't be any spoilers or anything for the ones with story.

   Road of the Dead/ Road of the Dead 2:
 
    First uploaded to newgrounds.com on Oct. 10, 2010, Road of the Dead is the pinnacle of what Adobe Flash could be. You play as John Creasman, a mechanic who drives through the chaotic and bloodied Highway 65 in Evans City, going through military checkpoints, mines, spike strips, carpet bombings, zombies and mutated zombies. You upgrade your car using RP (Road Points, or, something) to go faster and last longer before your car blows up or you're shot down by the guys in green. There are also a variety of challenges if you've finished the campaign.

    The first time I played it was kind of different, because I had never played anything like that, let alone made with the Flash engine. But now that I've played it after a long time, I can say it was exhilarating. The zombies clinging onto your hood if you weren't fast enough gives you a timer in your mind right before you die (provided you've lost your windshield, that is). When your car gets on fire or when your screen starts flashing a red tint, is where you start panicking mentally. You have to plan your next move carefully, because one step can rip a hole through you, your everything and your car.

   Three years later, the sequel, Road of the Dead 2, is released in the same platform on Aug. 26, 2013. The story continues in the same city at the same time, except you play as two soldiers going through the city in a fruitless effort to escape the city. Every checkpoint has been devastated and the entire city is in chaos. Best part about this, you can now shoot! That's right. Unlike being able to shoot clinging enemies, you can now shoot enemies regardless of where they are. The obstacles (aside from dumpsters and hill tops) are completely destructible, meaning you can destroy them by shooting them, or running them over. You can also upgrade and buy weapons and rescue civilians, panicking and running around in the streets.

   When I found out that you can shoot and the entire game was voice acted in entire places, I was surprised. I knew I was gonna have a hell of a fun time playing this and I did. The lack of a windshield in this worried me, but with the windshield, it would have ruined the point of being able to shoot anything at all. The arsenal you have filled me with power. I thought I was completely invincible (forgetting the whole blowing-up-the-car thing), but I was left completely horrified when the guns didn't kill them in one hit.

     Plague Inc. (mobile and PC):

  Plague Inc. is a game where you play as a virus. From a harmless bacteria to the cause of a zombie apocalypse, it's a scenario-making game in where you evolve a virus and try to kill every human on Earth. There are also special viruses you can get, from what I remember, you have to buy them or complete the previous virus scenario.

   When I was younger, I used to download Lucky Patcher and use it so I would have to do nothing to get everything. With or without the cheats, I loved it. The tension and the music was fitting and the gameplay was flawless. The closer the cure was closer to finishing, the more panicked I was. And if I couldn't do anything, I accept the loss.

    Minecraft (mobile, PC, console):

  Minecraft is a sandbox-building game where you try to survive against monsters and survive on your own or let your imagination run wild and build anything your heart desires. Or you could do both with your friends!

   The first time I was introduced to Minecraft was the long, forgotten Lite version. I would make a brick house high in the sky to avoid the zombies that tried to eat me. I can hear the old hurt sound effect. The moment I was introduced to the full version was the moment where I wanted MORE. Eventually, I forgot about it for a few months until I got the full version in 2019. It was peaceful, quiet, and nice. You could just live your best life or die trying to survive, or create the things you've dreamt of. What can I say? It's wonderful.

    PUBG (mobile, PC, console):

   You've probably heard of this, but otherwise, I'll tell you about it. PUBG is a realistic multiplayer shooting game that holds many maps, gamemodes and weapons. Get the trophy on your own or share the achievement with your friends as you evade or kill other players and stay away from the zone.

   PUBG, is a pretty awesome game. The visuals are extremely realistic and the mechanics are quite simple. However, when I play, a large amount of lag suddenly happens, making me unable to move or making me an easier target for other players. Even though, the gamemodes and the fun more than make up for this. Wonderful game. If you're gonna download this, pray that you have a lot of free space.

  Madness: Project Nexus:

  Madness: Project Nexus is a 3d side-scroller, shoot 'em up Flash game based off of the original series created by Matt "Krinkels" Jolly. You play as the main protagonists trying to shut down Project Nexus. You can also play "Arena Mode" in which you fight people and survive for as long as you can and create your own Madness character while being able to use them.

    This game was very fun. Though it might seem violent, it is just another side-scrolling shooter game at the end. The designs are simple, but they never fail to amaze the players. Whenever I play the game, I immediately ditch the story and start screwing around with Arena Mode. The gameplay is also a bit slow and laggy, but I don't know if it's the FPS or the game or the browser itself, but it's slow. Gory and violent and it has guns, all of my favorite categories.

   And that's it for this post! Thank you for reading this and please provide me with some feedback so I can make these better for future reference, no need to waste your time on the comments. I don't read them :\/ (Forget I said anything).
      - Me

Blogging from Home: The Return

  Heyyy... I'm not dead. (yay)
    - Me

    So, I haven't been doing blog posts all the time because I kind of lost the motivation to. When you're assigned with school work, your brain immediately says, "We'll do this the day before the due date" and if you and your brain are ambitious enough, you might as well finish the thing today and screw around with your time during the whole week (or month).

    There are several things I can put in the category of: 'Things I Lost All Interest In'

   Those would be:

• school work
• various mobile apps

   And if you think that that's it, we'll find out in 10 years.

      Speaking of losing interest, I am the type of person to lose interest in most things. Install a new game? Lose interest of the others. Watching YouTube? Lose interest of everything else. School work? Lose interest in that too. I'm not very ambitious myself and when it comes to decisions, picking one is ultimately unclear to me. 

      *ahem* I'm gonna fill you all in on the things that happened while I wasn't posting. My parents got to work now and they would have me do things for them while they were away. I also had all the time in the world to myself. Actually, that's the whole quarantine. 

     My usual schedule is now: 

• Wake up at 8:00 am
• Eat breakfast (preferably cereal)
• Free time
• Eat lunch at 12:00 nn or later
• Parents come home
• Eat dinner at 5-7 pm
• Sleep

   I drew a few things. I can't really post the pictures here because I have no idea how, really. Plus, I don't want to. Me and my mom also made some of those Oreo/Marshmallow dessert again. If you don't know what that is, it's melted marshmallow mixed with butter and Oreo cookie crumbs. It doesn't matter about the type of marshmallows or Oreo, you just need those things. The butter is for extra flavor and non-sticky-ness.

   I also tore apart our room looking for my ruler which I managed to get back after I misplaced it between the bed gaps. We also watched a movie called 'Guns Akimbo'. It's that Daniel Radcliffe meme.

   I also did a couple of chores around the house. I also had this bizzare dream of the ghost of the character Robbie Rotten from LazyTown haunting a small town. The situation was so bad, a special task force unit was sent to contain it.

This was a short blog, but it's the first one I posted after a couple of weeks. Like I said, I'm usually unmotivated. Anyways, thank you and have a good day!

      - Me