Friday, March 30, 2012

Goodbye, Media Magic! Until Next Time...



Wow... I can't believe how fast the time has gone! These eight weeks have been a blast! During my time here, I have learned how to direct most of our pieces, how to use every shot in several different ways, and how to use the wonderful movie making program iMovie. As fun as this entire experience has been, there are three times that have been engraved into my memory. Those three times were making the silent movie, learning how iMovie works, and meeting all of my amazing partners here at Media Magic. I'll treasure these memories because these actions made me a better person in film and attitude.

                   -Charles Smith, signing out.

Good Times With the Cast

Um, let's see... Media Magic is a big family to me. I remember when I first came to Children's Media Project. I felt like I was clueless the whole time. Now I feel that if the old me came here, I could teach him a lot. Starting with iMovie I learned a lot. Learning how to answer an office phone was kinda fun.  And learning how to get different camera shots. The first day was so funny because I got to meet some people, even though I knew most of them. The second day was even better because everyone was so quiet even thought there was one girl. But my best memory was the last day, everyone working together and reading each other's minds. It was true media magic, I can't wait until it starts again.

Shaquille of Media Magic


Media Magic: The Last Hoorah

My Media Magic experience was amazing. I loved being here and meeting new people, all of whom I had never met. My favorite part of Media Magic was creating the silent movie from start to finish. My group thought of a great idea, put pen to paper, and picked up a camera to film. Shaquille did a great job editing. It was a hilarious.

Although we didn't get much footage on the walkway, it was a beautiful day outside, and I loved just taking the time to sit down and free-write. That wasn't the only gorgeous day that we got to go outside: we went by the river to the park and did a zombie-esque humanimation. It was so much fun!

I had a great time here at CMP. I learned a lot and I'm so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and completed what I needed to do.

Sarah

It's Our Last Day!



The time at Media Magic was AWESOME!!! I also wish that it hadn't ended so soon. It was really, really fun here and I hope I get accepted to be in the next program that they're doing. One thing I learned that was fun was how to edit movies on iMovie. Another thing that I learned was how to use a flip camera.  I also learned a lot about animation, which was also pretty awesome. Three great memories that I have are the making of the silent films, The last day of Media Magic because it was so fun just being here today, and the making of Media Magic Man. All those memories are the best to me because they were really fun and enjoyable to me. I feel sorry for the couple of people that missed the last day because it was great here.

DonDre Sanders

Thursday, March 29, 2012

The Last Hootenanny



Well, people, here we are: the final trial, the last of the gauntlets, and the final boss. I'd say that my favorite memory was when we created the silent film for our show. It was really awesome because I helped write the storyline, but I was sick one day so I couldn't act in it. One thing I liked about the program was the way the teachers taught us and understood what we were doing: they did it well. Another thing is we have so much work experience from this, and this can help us get a job in the future in film making if we are serious enough. And finally, the friends I made while I was here which includes everyone, including the teachers and the volunteers, won't say names but thanks for this great opportunity and I hope I'm here next time for...

MEDIA MAGIC!
                                     -Sincerely, Billique Smith from Media Magic

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Media Magic Day 23 - Part 2

Today we finished editing all of our videos since our last day at CMP is tomorrow. My crew finished filming some outros that involved editing. My favorite outro filmed today was the "Pencil Thief" starring Billique and Charles.



The other two were "Snapping Fingers" and "Speech to the People." "Snapping Fingers" consisted of Billique, Charles and Nick in a blast from the past, snapping their fingers  in unison. "Speech to the People" had Nick a leader quality to him that made everybody cheer.


It was a lot of fun seeing the end results of everybody's projects. They look great. I saw Shaquille's which looks amazing! It's the silent film that we filmed a few weeks ago. He made it black and white to make it seem like a real silent film. With the music behind the footage, it turned out perfect.

I'm so excited to see how the episodes come out, and how all of our hard work really paid off.


Media Magic Day 23 - Part 1



Today at the wonderful world of Media Magic I worked on a 30 second short and the rest of the group worked on filming intros and outros for several episodes we are currently working on. Some of the different types of videos we were constructing consisted of a silent film, mock News, and Lanterns genres. The best part of the day for me was viewing the picture above, because it's hilarious. I also loved working with Final Cut Pro even if it is overly complicated.

~by: JG

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Media Magic Day 22


Today was a repair day on the Media Magic web show. We made interstitials, edited pieces, and passed ideas around for potential media projects.  Everyone worked great today on the progress of Media Magic projects. My help to the group today was directing and editing the silent film intro for a silent film project for an upcoming episode of Media Magic.         





Thursday, March 22, 2012

Media Magic Day 21

Today, here at Media Magic the group opened up the day doing a Radio Round Table which is when everyone gathers around in a circle and we record and discuss topics that everyone, at some point in their lives, has to go through. Today's Radio Round Table Topic was "Friendship." After everyone had their responses recorded we moved on to the next task, editing the various videos we have recorded.



I edited a silent movie named "Money Has No Words."  I personally feel that it came out great, and I really enjoyed editing it.  I really enjoyed the hilarious scenes that occurred between the characters.  I'm really looking forward to working on more videos like this one.





Blog Post By: JG

Media Magic Day 20

You have no idea who this is, do you? Well no, of course not! I'm Martha, the new joinee to Media Magic. The events of today? Well, since you're so excited, let me tell you! We participated in a very interesting activity called "Agree or Disagree." We were presented with a problem, varied opinion, or broad statement and we had to decide whether or not we agreed or disagreed, the options being on either parking lot side and neutral being in the middle. The opinions were varied and all over our option spectrum.

Overall, I really enjoyed it.  It was a fun and inviting way to voice our opinion without disagreeing too harshly.  It showed just how diverse people's opinions can be in regards to yours.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Media Magic Day 19

Hey there, guys! It's Charles, here, for another behind the scenes look at what went down at Media Magic today! First off, we used these bizarre chinese lanterns as props to create scenes from all kinds of film genres.


After everyone came back in from the outdoors, we played a game of Celebrity Heads! It's played by sticking a piece of paper on your head with a famous name on it, and you try to guess who you are by asking tons of questions. Afterwards, we looked at a screening of our first episode, which was amazing! Hopefully it'll be up in a few weeks after we make a few editing tweaks of the episode. See you guys later for next week's installment!










Thursday, March 15, 2012

Media Magic Day 18



Today at Media Magic we have officially started working on making our episodes. There are three episodes that are currently being constructed. They will probably be roughly around 5:00-6:00. Our goal is to hopefully get these three episodes out by the end of next week. Also today there was a lot of rushing around but all of that just made it more fun at Media Magic. I believe if we keep working productively like we were today, we will have the episodes done by the end of next week. Overall, today was a great learning process for all of us and just a really awesome day at Media Magic.

blog post by - DonDre Sanders  

Media Magic Day 17


Yesterday, the people of Media Magic and I went on a little field trip to the Walkway Over the Hudson.  We walked from Media Magic to the walking bridge, and I had a lot of fun on the way there. We were listening to music, talking to each other, and taking in the great outdoors of Poughkeepsie. Personally, I hate walking anywhere, even to school, but I had a lot of fun walking with my friends. When we arrived at the bridge I noticed that there were a lot of people walking the bridge either by themselves or with other people. I noticed a lot of dogs while I was walking along the bridge, I guess people use the bridge so their dogs can get exercise. While walking on the bridge we stopped and took time to write about anything for a couple of minutes, which we call a "free write." I decided to write about how unicorns are able to live on the bridge and ride people over the bridge.


Reflection of the Day: Think of a time that you were influenced by an advertisement and describe it.

One time when I was watching t.v. I saw a commercial that was selling those butterfly growing things and for some strange reason I wanted it so badly that I actually got it.

                 blog post by - Giovanni Ford

Monday, March 12, 2012

D.I.V.A.S visit to CMP!



On Saturday, March 10th, the D.I.V.A.S of Sister2Sister held their monthly meeting at CMP.


After getting to know one another, Domonique of DIVAS and Mary Ellen of CMP led a discussion about the tired old definition of democracy, and a new, living definition of democracy, one where making sure our voices are heard is more important than celebrities and politicians.


Then, we did a writing roundtable on the question:
"What's one thing you wish more people knew about Poughkeepsie?"

Some of our responses were:

"One thing I wish people knew about Poughkeepsie is that it's not that much of a violent place, although it may be boring to live in at times."

"One thing I wish people would know about Poughkeepsie...how beautiful most parts of it really are and how it's not always bad. The kids just need motivation and a good role model. Kids feel like that 'what's the point of doing good if no one notices it.' They need recognition."

"One thing I wish people knew about Poughkeepsie:
-Poughkeepsie is falling apart and it needs to get back on track.
-Karinas' live in Poughkeepsie and they are awesome.
-Poughkeepsie is a great place. The people on the other hand...ehh..."

"One thing I wish people knew is that viole
nce isn't approved."

"One thing I wish people knew about Poughkeepsie is that not all of its citizens are ghetto and rowdy. Some are quite well behaved, in the general sense of the word."

"One thing I wish people knew about Poughkeepsie is not everybody is rude and mean. And not everybody is bad."

"1. The amazing outcomes that the kids do.
2. The organizations that people put out and they are shut down because no one wants to pay to keep them open.
3. Karina and Kareena is in PK & we're amazing
4. It's a great place but people like to pick out only the bad outcomes of PK."

"One thing I wish people knew about Poughkeepsie is that it exists."


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Media Magic Day 16



Today at CMP we talked about the ads in store windows and how people put smoking ads right next to ice cream ads. That's a bad idea: even though the stores are just looking for the money from the ads, in the long run kids are influenced the most.

The run down stores are a bad look for Poughkeepsie itself. Poughkeepsie needs more businesses to better the economy, so we at CMP got together and started writing out our ideas to the Mayor describing what we are lacking in the city of Poughkeepsie.

We reflect on our trip down Main Street, Poughkeepsie.


Here's the question of the day:

When have you seen an ad on t.v. and it made you go out and buy something?

"All the time, because I love seeing video game ads on t.v.  Mostly because I really really wanted the game. But the ad helps remind me to go buy it."

blogpost by Shaquille   :D

Before leaving, we had a dance-off!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Advertisments in Windows, by Giovanni

Today everybody in Media Magic went on an adventure to find various advertisements that target different types of groups. When I walked down Main Street I saw many advertisements everywhere I went. Most of the advertisements that I saw were targeting either African American people or people who like to party. I think that the advertisers planned this because there are a large amount of African Americans on that side of town.

There was a poster that had a large amount of women in the front and the men in the back, which i thought appealed to guys who wanted to go to a party with lots of women. Also, on the same poster there was something that was said "18 or over for girls and 21 or older for men," meaning they want more women to come to the party so the guys would be happy. Most people wouldn't had noticed that it was advertising for both men and women, but in different ways.



One time time I was watching T.V. and I saw a commercial for a video game that I had  never seen before, and for some strange reason I had a strong urge to buy it, which I did the next day after bothering my mom multiple times. I think I liked it because it had a lot of fighting and I like fighting games.



Who would win in a fight, an astronaut or a caveman?
Personally, I think in a fight between an astronaut and a caveman that the caveman would win because cavemen are stronger and even though they are not that smart they are smart enough to create fire.

Blog post by Giovanni

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Experiment in Free-Associating Writing by Billique

Well, "scandal" is a very interesting word when you think about it, huh? I mean, it's a fancy way of saying you planned a scam or that it's a get rich quick scheme or something. Well, a scandal is a pretty flexible word when you think of how to use it. It can refer to many things such as a person, a plan, a place. Another word also comes to mind: "flop," do you know what flop even means? It means to mess up or it can be combined with other words to make this positive. It can be used to describe a mistake, a person or a broken object. Oh, and I've got another word for you all: "shot." It can be very usable, like I could say I shot you, but another guy could say his t.v. is shot - see what I mean?  I could mean this as in me having a water gun or saying my t.v is broken. Oh yeah, and why is the spanish word "yo" so taken out of context in today's modern society? It is a form of greeting, and a linking word. It's used almost as much as "like." Me, personally, I think it should be used for conjugations anyway. Well, it's been real swell, people, hope I can talk to you all soon on the blog - so till next time, I'm
                                                                              Billique with CMP.

P.S What does the word "speckledorf" mean to you? Next time I blog, I will tell you.

P. P. S. I was told to mention "horseradish" ... (grimaces with disgust.)  Is it a horse, is it a radish? Is it from a horse? So many questions arise when you think of this.... whatever it is. Another word that sounds wrong is "kerfuffle," which is British for a fuss or disturbance. You want some more? You got it friend...
and here's your final word of the day (drum roll) : FLIBBERTIGIBBIT, meaning a whimsical woman.