Luxon is gaslighting us on climate change
1 week ago
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Creativity and Thinking
From Debbie:
I've been reading 'The Element' by Ken Robinson after being lucky enough to receive it as a birthday pressie and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I don't read much non fiction but it is a very entertaining read filled with lots of interesting anecdotes and even more interesting ideas about intelligence and creativity and the thought processes around them.
I first was introduced to Ken Robinson's ideas when I saw a clip of one of his presentations during New Curriculum professional development a few years ago and it's good to know he's just as entertaining and funny in written form.
I'd recommend the book to anyone who in interested in teaching and learning or just creative thinking in general, which, in my opinion and one that would be shared by Robinson, is everyone. We are all teaching and learning, and being creative everyday. Or at least we should be.
One of the interesting sideffects of reading a book like this is that I'm now finding weird connections and wisdom in everyday activities, such as watching children's cartoons and reading kids' books with Dom.
One example is Dominic's favourite cartoon from Fantasia - the yoyo Flamingo.
If you watch this enough times, which is a scaringly high number if you let the Dominator have his way, you end up strongly identifying with the goofy flamingo who loves to yo-yo and find the journey to find a way to do what you love in spite of the pressure to conform really moving.
But the 'The Element' point for me that this cartoon really illustrated is the idea that doing what you love is the most important thing. Your creative endeavours may not be considered 'art' by others, they may not appreciate what you are doing or may actively discourage you but you should persist in doing it anyway.
To use the Robinson phrase, when the flamingo plays with their yoyo, they're in their 'element'. They're being highly creative and loving every second of it. It doesn't matter that others don't think playing with a yoyo is art or even a worthwhile activity and try press them to join in the synchronised dance.
You don't have to be a dancing flamingo. Stick with your yoyo. If others, throw your yoyo in a tree, get another yoyo.
The important thing is to keep yoyoing if that is what you love to do.
As Matt has mentioned, Dom is also very fond of the show 'Yo Gabba Gabba'. Normally, the sogs often only the very young useful advice. I already knew that I shouldn't bite my friends or eat too much candy.
However, frequent listening to one of the songs lead me to further analysis of the lyrics. The song is 'What is fun?' Plex the robot doesn't know what fun is and asks the others to explain it to him. (the exact line is 'What, what, what is fun, fun, fun?')
They answer, 'It's something that makes you happy.'
Plex then questions further, 'But what, what, what does it mean, mean, mean?'
Wisdom then follows, 'It's doing something that you really like.'
Then the other characters give Plex examples such as picking flowers, running in circles and eating noodles.
On the face of it, the idea of fun is a straightforward concept and only a robot on a kids' TV show would require a whole song to understand what fun is.
However, I finding that fun is a concept I need to redefine with age for myself.
When I was a child, fun was the ultimate goal of everything. I was able to find fun is almost eveything I did. School was for the most part fun, playing with friends was always fun and almost anything could be turned into a game. I was unburdened with any responsibilities and even doing a chore like washing the dishing was kind of like playing grown ups and often involved playing the bubbles or flicking tea towels, and more often than not, probably making more of a mess than I was actually cleaning up. If I was stuck inside on a wet day, I roamed about looking for some way to make fun and always manage to concoct some sort of game or mischief of some kind or another.
Everything was, and had to be, fun.
When I was an adolescent, fun was more about the places I was and the people I was with than what I was actually doing. I spent a lot of time feeling awkward and uncomfortable or so any time I was with people I felt comfortable around or in a place were I felt safe to be 'myself' became fun.
At this point in my life I realised it was possible to find things that other people thought were fun, distinctly not fun. Parties could be unfun if you felt uncomfortable around the people there and felt like everything you said or did was being judged in a bad way.
As an adult, the idea of fun largely became associated with relaxation. Responsibilities of work and money and owning cars and paying mortages are stressful. In my twenties, it came as a bit of a shock to me that now that I had the 'freedom' of being an adult, I had far less time than ever before in my life to do the things that I wanted to do. Fun became associated with free time and holidays. I was having fun doing the things that I chose to do in that time. I might enjoy large amounts time at work and like my job but they were also tainted by the aspects of teaching I didn't enjoy, like writing reports, taking home hours of marking or admin.
Fun was what I had in my evenings, weekends and holidays. Fun was about having control what I wanted to do and generally based around indulging my various hobbies and interests and/or spending time with friends.
Now, since becoming a parent, my views on fun and happiness have changed significantly again. A lot of it has to do with the scarcity of free time. I can't view fun as solely being the couple of hours when Dom naps during the day or the small part of the evening between him falling asleep and Matt and I conking out. If I did that, I would be viewing my life as diminishing in fun because I have far less 'me' time than ever before.
Also my attitude towards happiness, or at least my awareness of being happy has changed. Not long after we had the 20 week ultrasound, I got the gut-wrenching phone call saying that they detected some abnormality with the Dom's heart and lungs. The following days while we waited for further tests and did some disturbing research on the internet were not good. The worst case scenarios were too awful to contemplate, which meant our minds did little other than contemplate them. I vowed that if everything turned out OK and the baby was born happy and healthy, I would never take the good stuff in life for granted again. I would always appreciate how happy and lucky I was.
It's been surprisingly easy since then to reflect at the end of every day that I am indeed happy. Dom and parenthood have well exceeded my expectations and it doesn't take any self-brainwashing or force of will to be aware of my own happiness on a conscious level every day. Of course there are stresses in every day life and there are hard days or days where you're so tired that your fingernails ache from exhaustion but for me, happiness is a more permanent state than a fleeting period of relaxation or enjoyment.
Happiness for me comes from two things. Firstly, knowing that you did something worthwhile and fulfilling everyday. Secondly, acknowledging that you are lucky to have or had people in your life that you both care about and that care(or cared) about you.
Skipping back to the first point, to me it has become essential that every day feels like I have achieved something worthwhile. Not earning money caused me a surprising amount of alarm when I left my job. I had worked some sort of job for virtually all of my adult life and I realised that in many ways I had been conditioned into equating earning money with doing something of value. Obviously, looking after children is neither easy nor unimportant yet it feels rather undervalued when one becomes (ugh, I hate the term but for want of another I shall have to use it) a 'stay at home mum'. As a society I think we tend to equate the value of work with the size of salary. Certainly, as a teacher and in many other jobs, your pay increases as your perceived competence does. As your pay increases, you feel more valued, so it's not surprisingly that when you then move to doing something without pay, you can question the value the society holds on what you're doing. This feeling is not helped by bumping into childless colleagues who ask 'what do you actually do all day?'
It's become vital to me that I remained ardently convinced of the value and worth of looking a child. In many ways, it's easy. On the whole it is a challenging, enjoyable and immensely rewarding occupation. However, while it is fulfilling, there are no extrinsic rewards. No remuneration, no appraisals or performance bonuses, not even a colleague, boss or pupil that can say 'thank you' or 'well done'.
I have also found that I to do something productive in Dom's nap time as a valued part of my daily 'me' time. For me, this doesn't mean housework or anything domestic, or indeed practically useful. It means writing or, sometimes, editing.
And there is where I finally get back to the point about fun.
In my current lifestyle, I have often to forgo my previous adulthood notion of fun. I can't go off to watch a movie or slip out to a cafe to catch up with a friend while Dom is asleep, and more importantly, I don't want to as much as I want to write.
By the time Dom falls asleep, and more often somewhat earlier, I can't wait to get out the laptop and start typing away. At times in the mornings when I'm out with Dom in the park or I'm dancing around with him to music, my mind sneaks off to think about what I'm about to write or how to fix up something I did the day before. I now get excited about writing and crave the approaching times when I'll get to do some the way I used look forward to heading off for a glass of wine after work on Friday.
I'm amazed that even when I'm exhausted or have had a hard night or long morning, I can still get excited about my two hours of fun.
There was a line in the book about this. 'Activities we love fill us with extra energy even when we are physically exhausted.'
Parenthood has meant, at times, huge deficits in sleep and relaxation time, and yet I wouldn't say that it's made may less happy or less productive in writing terms, in fact it's the reverse.
Rather unexpectedly I'd say that making myself consciously aware of my own happiness and gratitude has made me more productive, and doing more of what makes me feel fulfilled each day makes me less tired.
Fun for me now is about being active and proactive towards achieving my goals, not passively enjoying relaxing activities (although I do still enjoy these when I get the chance).
Or as 'Yo Gabba Gabba' puts it:
It's something that makes you happy.
It's doing something that you really like.
But the 'The Element' point for me that this cartoon really illustrated is the idea that doing what you love is the most important thing. Your creative endeavours may not be considered 'art' by others, they may not appreciate what you are doing or may actively discourage you but you should persist in doing it anyway.
To use the Robinson phrase, when the flamingo plays with their yoyo, they're in their 'element'. They're being highly creative and loving every second of it. It doesn't matter that others don't think playing with a yoyo is art or even a worthwhile activity and try press them to join in the synchronised dance.
You don't have to be a dancing flamingo. Stick with your yoyo. If others, throw your yoyo in a tree, get another yoyo.
The important thing is to keep yoyoing if that is what you love to do.
As Matt has mentioned, Dom is also very fond of the show 'Yo Gabba Gabba'. Normally, the sogs often only the very young useful advice. I already knew that I shouldn't bite my friends or eat too much candy.
However, frequent listening to one of the songs lead me to further analysis of the lyrics. The song is 'What is fun?' Plex the robot doesn't know what fun is and asks the others to explain it to him. (the exact line is 'What, what, what is fun, fun, fun?')
They answer, 'It's something that makes you happy.'
Plex then questions further, 'But what, what, what does it mean, mean, mean?'
Wisdom then follows, 'It's doing something that you really like.'
Then the other characters give Plex examples such as picking flowers, running in circles and eating noodles.
On the face of it, the idea of fun is a straightforward concept and only a robot on a kids' TV show would require a whole song to understand what fun is.
However, I finding that fun is a concept I need to redefine with age for myself.
When I was a child, fun was the ultimate goal of everything. I was able to find fun is almost eveything I did. School was for the most part fun, playing with friends was always fun and almost anything could be turned into a game. I was unburdened with any responsibilities and even doing a chore like washing the dishing was kind of like playing grown ups and often involved playing the bubbles or flicking tea towels, and more often than not, probably making more of a mess than I was actually cleaning up. If I was stuck inside on a wet day, I roamed about looking for some way to make fun and always manage to concoct some sort of game or mischief of some kind or another.
Everything was, and had to be, fun.
When I was an adolescent, fun was more about the places I was and the people I was with than what I was actually doing. I spent a lot of time feeling awkward and uncomfortable or so any time I was with people I felt comfortable around or in a place were I felt safe to be 'myself' became fun.
At this point in my life I realised it was possible to find things that other people thought were fun, distinctly not fun. Parties could be unfun if you felt uncomfortable around the people there and felt like everything you said or did was being judged in a bad way.
As an adult, the idea of fun largely became associated with relaxation. Responsibilities of work and money and owning cars and paying mortages are stressful. In my twenties, it came as a bit of a shock to me that now that I had the 'freedom' of being an adult, I had far less time than ever before in my life to do the things that I wanted to do. Fun became associated with free time and holidays. I was having fun doing the things that I chose to do in that time. I might enjoy large amounts time at work and like my job but they were also tainted by the aspects of teaching I didn't enjoy, like writing reports, taking home hours of marking or admin.
Fun was what I had in my evenings, weekends and holidays. Fun was about having control what I wanted to do and generally based around indulging my various hobbies and interests and/or spending time with friends.
Now, since becoming a parent, my views on fun and happiness have changed significantly again. A lot of it has to do with the scarcity of free time. I can't view fun as solely being the couple of hours when Dom naps during the day or the small part of the evening between him falling asleep and Matt and I conking out. If I did that, I would be viewing my life as diminishing in fun because I have far less 'me' time than ever before.
Also my attitude towards happiness, or at least my awareness of being happy has changed. Not long after we had the 20 week ultrasound, I got the gut-wrenching phone call saying that they detected some abnormality with the Dom's heart and lungs. The following days while we waited for further tests and did some disturbing research on the internet were not good. The worst case scenarios were too awful to contemplate, which meant our minds did little other than contemplate them. I vowed that if everything turned out OK and the baby was born happy and healthy, I would never take the good stuff in life for granted again. I would always appreciate how happy and lucky I was.
It's been surprisingly easy since then to reflect at the end of every day that I am indeed happy. Dom and parenthood have well exceeded my expectations and it doesn't take any self-brainwashing or force of will to be aware of my own happiness on a conscious level every day. Of course there are stresses in every day life and there are hard days or days where you're so tired that your fingernails ache from exhaustion but for me, happiness is a more permanent state than a fleeting period of relaxation or enjoyment.
Happiness for me comes from two things. Firstly, knowing that you did something worthwhile and fulfilling everyday. Secondly, acknowledging that you are lucky to have or had people in your life that you both care about and that care(or cared) about you.
Skipping back to the first point, to me it has become essential that every day feels like I have achieved something worthwhile. Not earning money caused me a surprising amount of alarm when I left my job. I had worked some sort of job for virtually all of my adult life and I realised that in many ways I had been conditioned into equating earning money with doing something of value. Obviously, looking after children is neither easy nor unimportant yet it feels rather undervalued when one becomes (ugh, I hate the term but for want of another I shall have to use it) a 'stay at home mum'. As a society I think we tend to equate the value of work with the size of salary. Certainly, as a teacher and in many other jobs, your pay increases as your perceived competence does. As your pay increases, you feel more valued, so it's not surprisingly that when you then move to doing something without pay, you can question the value the society holds on what you're doing. This feeling is not helped by bumping into childless colleagues who ask 'what do you actually do all day?'
It's become vital to me that I remained ardently convinced of the value and worth of looking a child. In many ways, it's easy. On the whole it is a challenging, enjoyable and immensely rewarding occupation. However, while it is fulfilling, there are no extrinsic rewards. No remuneration, no appraisals or performance bonuses, not even a colleague, boss or pupil that can say 'thank you' or 'well done'.
I have also found that I to do something productive in Dom's nap time as a valued part of my daily 'me' time. For me, this doesn't mean housework or anything domestic, or indeed practically useful. It means writing or, sometimes, editing.
And there is where I finally get back to the point about fun.
In my current lifestyle, I have often to forgo my previous adulthood notion of fun. I can't go off to watch a movie or slip out to a cafe to catch up with a friend while Dom is asleep, and more importantly, I don't want to as much as I want to write.
By the time Dom falls asleep, and more often somewhat earlier, I can't wait to get out the laptop and start typing away. At times in the mornings when I'm out with Dom in the park or I'm dancing around with him to music, my mind sneaks off to think about what I'm about to write or how to fix up something I did the day before. I now get excited about writing and crave the approaching times when I'll get to do some the way I used look forward to heading off for a glass of wine after work on Friday.
I'm amazed that even when I'm exhausted or have had a hard night or long morning, I can still get excited about my two hours of fun.
There was a line in the book about this. 'Activities we love fill us with extra energy even when we are physically exhausted.'
Parenthood has meant, at times, huge deficits in sleep and relaxation time, and yet I wouldn't say that it's made may less happy or less productive in writing terms, in fact it's the reverse.
Rather unexpectedly I'd say that making myself consciously aware of my own happiness and gratitude has made me more productive, and doing more of what makes me feel fulfilled each day makes me less tired.
Fun for me now is about being active and proactive towards achieving my goals, not passively enjoying relaxing activities (although I do still enjoy these when I get the chance).
Or as 'Yo Gabba Gabba' puts it:
It's something that makes you happy.
It's doing something that you really like.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
What I ate on Sunday
I've been meaning to do this for a while, and it was quite fun :-) I didn't photograph the cup of tea, hot chocolate or glasses of coke zero I had. Foods only.
Delicious Weetbix with lite milk and no sugar. It took me a loooong time to get used to eating flavourless mush for breakfast, but now I quite like it. And find it has flavour.
I didn't eat both these cheese and tomato tuna sandwiches. One was for Debbie :-)
I have two apples and a banana every day at school, and most weekend days too. I often have more than one mandarin.
Small amount of dry roasted peanuts.
Mmmm, beef and potato and kumara korma with onion and cauliflower. And basmati rice.
I ate half this fruit platter. Debbie and I have fruit in the evening every day, usually 4 or more types of fruit. This one even had two types of grapes. Nom nom nom.
Result? 200 grams weight loss.
Delicious Weetbix with lite milk and no sugar. It took me a loooong time to get used to eating flavourless mush for breakfast, but now I quite like it. And find it has flavour.
I didn't eat both these cheese and tomato tuna sandwiches. One was for Debbie :-)
I have two apples and a banana every day at school, and most weekend days too. I often have more than one mandarin.
Small amount of dry roasted peanuts.
Mmmm, beef and potato and kumara korma with onion and cauliflower. And basmati rice.
I ate half this fruit platter. Debbie and I have fruit in the evening every day, usually 4 or more types of fruit. This one even had two types of grapes. Nom nom nom.
Result? 200 grams weight loss.
18 Month size comparison
Taken the day Dom turned 18 months, so a couple of weeks old now. It's pretty hard to get him to lie still for a photo these days :-)
Bowling photo - posted from Picasa
Next time I go bowling I'm going to try to finish with this pose for every frame :-)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Yo Gabba Gabba
Weekday mornings, TV2, at about 8.15am Dom's been enjoying American kids' show Yo Gabba Gabba. It features DJ Lance Rock with his mean ghetto blaster filled with characters:
The models of the characters are very nicely crafted (I kind of want a Moono and a Plex doll - for Dom of course). And the costumes for when the characters come alive are fantastic (I definitely want a Moono or Plex costume).
The show has lots of songs and animation and important messages like 'don't bite your friends' as well as a guest most episodes who demonstrates a dancey dance.
Elijah Wood's dancey dance can be seen online at the official Yo Gabba Gabba site (yogabbagabba.com). They recently had Jack Black doing disco dancing, and have had Tony Hawk as a guest too (he skated, rather than danced).
Debbie tells me it's slightly less compelling if you have to dance to it *every day* but I'm really enjoying seeing bits of it before I race out to work in the morning :-)
The models of the characters are very nicely crafted (I kind of want a Moono and a Plex doll - for Dom of course). And the costumes for when the characters come alive are fantastic (I definitely want a Moono or Plex costume).
The show has lots of songs and animation and important messages like 'don't bite your friends' as well as a guest most episodes who demonstrates a dancey dance.
Elijah Wood's dancey dance can be seen online at the official Yo Gabba Gabba site (yogabbagabba.com). They recently had Jack Black doing disco dancing, and have had Tony Hawk as a guest too (he skated, rather than danced).
Debbie tells me it's slightly less compelling if you have to dance to it *every day* but I'm really enjoying seeing bits of it before I race out to work in the morning :-)
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Friday, June 05, 2009
Random questions Friday
Why does Dominic enjoy wearing cowboy hats and pith helmets but pull off any warm hat that is actually his size as soon as I put it on him?
- Dom content in adult-size hat
What do the lyrics 'chips, chips' mean in the song 'Via con me'? I've had the song stuck in my head all day and cannot fathom it. 'It's wonderful, it's wonderful, it's wonderful, good luck my baby... chips, chips'. Is it scorn at English language speakers? Is it suggesting that we cannot consider the mysteries of love without bringing fried potato snacks into the matter?
How many hot chocolate drinks can you consume in a day before you suffer serious health consequences?
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Wintry week!
Ugh, it's too cold and rainy. Unlike Dom, I don't find splashing about and throwing stones in puddles to be great fun so I find little appealing about the current weather.
Personally, I think it's time to hibernate and we should only venture out into the cold to go on foraging missions to hunt/gather dunkable biscuits and warm comfort foods. I'm trying to convince the outdoorsy Dominic that staying inside in the warm is fun. I even got him a comfy foam armchair to encourage couch potatoness.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Farm walk photos
I've been meaning to post the photos of Dominic at Lindale's farm walk for a while. They're a couple of weeks old now (hence the sunny weather).
Farm walk photo 1. Dominic walks... on a farm. No animals nearby yet.
Cute pony! Luckily for the pony, it didn't fit in my pocket so I didn't steal it and take it home.
Feeding ponies is a good way to get them to come closer to small children.
And stick their tongues out for the camera.
Pigs are cute but really slobbery. And muddy.
Heh. This goat was on guard and ready to stick its head out for food the moment we arrived. I like the cheeky, pushy attitude of goats.
Deer are so cute. I think they were Dominic's favourite. He was so enthralled just staring at them.
Cows rock. In a perfect world, cows would taste yucky so no one would eat them and ugly animals like spiders would taste like beef steak.
This bunny (and the baby guinea pigs) also nearly got smuggled out to come home with us. So cute!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Failure
Given my tendency to become something of a neurotic and angst-ridden Artiste when reflecting back on projects, it’s not surprising that I’m finding the middle of this week tough. Matt, Dom and I had a fairly hectic weekend with the 48 film shoot at Matt’s school. Dom loved romping around the nice students’ centre with his lion walker, hanging out with teenagers (especially getting crumpled up bits of paper out of the wastepaper basket and handing them to the boys to take shots at the bin with) and exploring the college grounds while scenes were being shot. I ended up being more involved than I had expected. I got to write a couple of scenes when Matt got back from the school on the Friday night after the alarms had gone off, forcing the writing team to leave the base of operations. I then also helped with the panicked rewrite of briefer versions of some scenes late on Saturday night when Matt realised the film was way too long. I had a cameo role which was awesome fun, and I got to edit the 30 second breakout sequence which was heaps of fun. All in all I should be thrilled. It didn’t seem possible going into it that there would be any way I would get to write, act or edit whilst looking after the wee one but I actually got to do a bit of all three. Knowing what a mammoth task the 48 is, Matt and I had set our expectations reasonably low. The standards of the Wellington films tend to be really high, and as a couple of enthusiastic amateurs with a bunch of teens, many of whom hadn’t been involved in film-making before, just completing a film in time was going to be a challenge. As Matt said, as long as there wasn’t an outputting disaster and there was some sort of film on the tape we handed in, it would be a success. I think there are two possible approaches to the 48. One is to work as hard as you can to produce the best possible film with your resources. The other is to focus on the experience itself – make sure everyone who wants to be involved is in it as much as possible and give everyone a go. Unfortunately, I think we were a little caught between the two approaches, possibly to our detriment. On the one hand, we let students write (with Matt supervising), direct, operate the camera and do some basic editing stuff and every student who wanted to act got some screen time, even if some were non-talking roles. However, when things started to get in trouble (not enough coverage to edit the film, running out of time etc), Matt and I stepped in. On Sunday morning pickups, Matt took over the camera and the student directors kind of left the technical side of things to him and just focused on giving the actors feedback and direction. The end result feels a bit of a mish-mash that half feels like a student film and half doesn’t. Elements of the original longer script are there but they aren’t fully explored. Some of the best lines and great character moments have been cut out but on the plus side, the film is probably faster paced for it. By the standards we set for ourselves in advance, it should feel like a success. Did we and the students have fun? Yes. Did the students involved learn a lot about film-making? Yes. Did we make a film that they like and feel proud of? Yes. (From the comments we’ve heard from them about the screening). However, I can’t shake feeling a bit of a failure. Firstly, I am annoyed with myself that I think I made really obvious amateur mistakes in the script writing bits I was involved with. I had thought a lot in advance about the lessons I’ve learnt and the things to avoid, and yet I still did some of them. I guess when it comes to actually doing anything in the 48, the excitement and stress (and later on, sleep deprivation) can make you do dumb things. I hate that during the following days my mind seems to continually work out what I should have done when it’s too late. I have the briefest appearance in the film but I’m still not entirely happy with it. I was told ages ago that I exaggerate my facial expressions too much for film, and I still do it. There’s nothing like film to highlight all your mannerisms that you don’t like. Head wobbling - cringe. Tense neck with chicken throat syndrome – double cringe. And I was only in it for 3 seconds! But the real blow came from reading the harsh, but not surprisingly so, review from Steel Potato this morning. 2/5. Below average, therefore, in my mind, a failure. The really upsetting thing is that he slams one of the kids for being annoying. Now I’m worried that one of the students will find the review. Nothing sucks more than having nice, bouncy, enthusiastic teens being hurt by harsh personal criticism. I don’t know why the idea of the film ‘failing’ gets to me so much. I think I have a personal issue with the concept of failing. I remember in my first year of teaching when I had to hand back marks from moderation for sixth form research projects. One really nice girl had done an elaborate and beautifully presented research project on The Globe theatre. Due to some technical problems with the research log and source sheets, she got a ‘Not Achieved’. When I handed it back to her, she started crying and said ‘I may as well have not bothered doing it’. She had spent hours on this project and because the grade was Not Achieved and she would have 0 credits on her transcript, she thought her efforts had been pointless. This upset me then and it upsets me now. It goes against everything I believe in both in terms of education and life in general. The project wasn’t pointless. She must have learnt something from doing it. Heck, I learnt stuff I didn’t know about The Globe just from reading it. Even if all that experience taught her was some general knowledge about Shakespeare that might help her answer a question in a pub quiz 10 years from now (and the importance of a well-referenced bibliography), it wasn’t pointless. Yet the idea of failure is a powerful one. It can make you cripplingly afraid. I remember turning up to an audition as a teenager and wimping out from actually auditioning because I was afraid I wouldn’t get the part. It was ridiculous because the only way you can ensure you won’t succeed is to not try but back then it was easier for me to reconcile the idea of not getting a part I wanted because I didn’t try than to try and not be good enough. I didn’t want to fail. Not failing was more important than succeeding. Now that I’m older I try to force myself to try to do everything I want to be good at. I make films for competitions and I actually send the things I write off to publishers as opposed to keeping them hidden away where they are safe from rejection. Of course, this leads to a gut-wrenching amount of disappointment. Of the many competitions I’ve entered, the Rolling Thunder film is the only one that has ever won and I suspect that is in no small part due to the fact that noone else entered the contest. However, I am trying to re-programme my brain to view not winning as ‘learning and developing’ rather than ‘failing’. There is no audition that doesn’t help make you a better actor. Every film I’ve ever made has taught me something about making films, no matter how big or small my involvement. Everything I write helps me become a better, more disciplined writer. My goal should never be to win but to get better at what I do. However, that is easier said than done. I still want success on some level, I’m pretty greedy for praise too. I have to try to listen to my own inner Mr Miyagi. If my life can be likened to The Karate Kid film, and nearly everybody’s can, I may not be at the triumphant tournament scene yet. I’m probably still at the ‘wax on, wax off’ stage, cleaning a car or something. I may have to write 20 more novels and help make dozens more films before I can do the crane with a broken ankle.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Mr Sparkle
My costume for the 48 Hour film contest this year was kindly supplied by Debbie (plus a scarf from the drama department). The jeans are too big for Debbie now, but just right for me :-) Actually I could have used some pantsupinators on Saturday, as every time I walked more than 10 steps the jeans slid down a little. I even got to wear a pair of Debbie's boots to go with the bootleg jeans - I have pretty small feet and one of Debbie's pairs of boots was big enough for me :-)
I was originally going to wear a singlet with a gaping necked flamingo t-shirt over the top (draped over one shoulder), but I decided that I wanted to be warm, and we didn't know what time the kid with the t-shirt was going to show up, or whether it would even fit me. Given how cold it was I am very glad I went with a warmer costume!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
48 Complete
7 hours sleep, lots of work. 11 tapes used (though some had only 5 minutes recorded onto them).
Output at 3.30pm, spotted a typo or two (the word 'credits' at the start of the credits, and drama/dance instead of musical/dance on our intro titles). Fixed those, handed over finished version to the driver by 4pm.
Burger Wisconsin for dinner - very tasty.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
48 Script
Finished version 1 - just over 7 pages. Will edit.
Is Breakfast Club meets High School Musical, with dance instead of singing. We drew musical/dance :-)
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Licensed to Drool
Dom has completed another short (well, very short) film to add to his portfolio - My First Casino Royale.
We don't really have any expectations of getting anywhere in the 48 seconds competition but it was a lot of fun to make and it provided another excuse to get Dom dressed up in a tux.
As you can see by the following pictures, Dom is pretty much a young Daniel Craig.
Of course now after starring in a couple of films, what Dom really wants to do is direct. :-)
Monday, May 04, 2009
Setting up our 48 team
We'll be distributing this to our team shortly - any feedback on it? Also, please check out Debbie's questions for writers and see if anything's missing.
*****************************
48 FILM CONTEST INSTRUCTIONS
Making a short film is a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of work. Making a short film in 48 hours is a crazy amount of fun and work. The advice in this document should help you to have a successful weekend.
Before the 48
• Sign up members of the team. Actors, director, camera operator, sound, lighting, hair, makeup, editor, crew.
• Print out location, actor and music release forms.
• Start collecting non-copyright music to use in the film.
• Get to know the equipment and locations you’ll be using.
• Assign roles to team members. Make sure people understand their roles.
• Collect in team fees ($10 per person to help cover entrance fee, catering, tapes etc)
• Register and pay on the 48 hour website
• Complete permission slips for all team members
ROLES
Director – in charge of the film
Producer – chief organiser
Writer – writes the script
Actor – lead actors, supporting cast, extras
Camera – there may be 2 cameras going at a time
Sound – holding/setting up boom mic, checking sound
Set – helping set up locations
Hair and Makeup – for boys and girls
Costume – finding/giving feedback on
Runner/Assistant – helping with lots of stuff
Editor – capturing footage, assembling the film
What a director needs to do:
• Know the script well – what its intent is, where the beats are
• Have a clear view of how you want the film to turn out. This includes the look, feel, pace, sound and impact of the film.
• Control the team during filming, giving people firm instructions on what they should be doing NOW and what they will be doing NEXT
• During filming communicate with the camera operator, telling them what needs to be achieved with each shot (shot type, what its purpose is etc)
• Give the actors instructions on blocking (where to go), acting, keeping going even if a mistake is made etc.
• Give the actors feedback after each take to enhance performances
• Call Action and Cut at the beginning and end of each take
• Be the team leader
What a producer needs to do:
• Work closely with the director
• Have all the paperwork on hand
• Get release forms for all actors, locations, music etc
• Find some non-copyright music for use in the film, get release forms
• Try to anticipate what will be needed for the film
What a writer needs to do:
• Include all mandatory ingredients
• Keep it simple
• Write for your actors – have them play close to type
• Listen to the other writers, make sure they hear your ideas
• Be creative, but be mindful of the practicalities of filming (don’t write in too many explosions)
• Keep the enthusiasm high
• Be polite to other writers, be willing to compromise, be critical
What an actor needs to do:
• Try to learn your lines as quickly as possible
• Practise
• Keep going even if you make a mistake
• Be willing to look silly if the script requires it
• Be considerate of other actors
• Listen to the director
• Bring a lot of energy to every shot, from the first to the last
• Don’t look at the camera unless you’re told to
What a camera operator needs to do:
• Know the script well – what its intent is, where the beats are
• Talk to the director about what’s required for each shot
• Know the camera, how to operate it, how to use manual settings if needed
• Make sure the shot is in focus
• Make sure the shot is well framed – head room, talking space, well chosen angle
• Listen to the director for when to begin and end shots
• Tell the director at the end of a take if there was a technical problem
What a sound person needs to do:
• Keep your ears open during the shoot – planes overhead, electrical noises, people outside talking etc.
• Plug the mic into the camera and get the mic as close to the actors as possible (without being in shot)
• Hold the mic/boom pole very steady (using a mic stand can be good)
• Check the footage for sound as often as possible
What a set person needs to do:
• Listen to the director for what each location needs to look like
• Have an eye for detail – what’s in the background of the shot, what colours are on screen
• Be willing to move stuff around, scout for locations
• Remember how things were before, so they can be put back
What a hair and makeup person needs to do:
• Have some makeup on hand
• Be OK with getting in people’s personal space
• Listen to the director for what characters need to look like
• Take a look at how makeup looks on screen. Even ‘no makeup’ girl characters usually have eyeliner and a bit of lippy
What a costume person needs to do:
• Listen to the director for what characters need to look like
• Give actors feedback on how their costumes look, and how they could better
• Help people find the costume items they need – raid the costume cupboard, txt people, go to the costume hire place
What a runner/assistant needs to do:
• Listen to the director for what they need
• Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities to help
• Be prepared to help out in any way – it will be hugely appreciated
• Have a watch and cellphone so you can stay in touch
What an editor needs to do:
• Capture the footage
• Listen to the director as to which takes were best
• Keep your eyes peeled for problems – boom in shot, actors looking at the camera, continuity etc
• Assemble a rough cut ASAP
• Save often, and output a rough cut ASAP
Snapped in the car
Dominic's Kung Fu Panda obsession led him to claim the toy panda for his own when he was last down at his Granny's. The new BFFs were then caught by the paparazzi as they left together in a car headed up the coast.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Help with questions for a 48 hour script
Matt has been enlisted to help supervise a group of enthusiastic teens with the 48 hour film competition. This is his school's first year entering the comp so I imagine the adult input and advice may be quite considerable. One thing Matt and I wanted to do before hand was make a list of questions that the writers team should go through between writing the first and second draft of the script. Any suggestions for additions or adjustments to the questions would be appreciated! (They're pretty rough at the moment). Questions for writers about their script: 1. What is the film about? (50 or fewer words) 2. What is the film really about? (15 or fewer words) 3. What is it really about? (5 or fewer words) * 4. Have all the ingredients been used? (I know it seems obvious but still, it's important) 5.What is the main character like? 6. How should the audience react to this character? 7. How do you show what this character is like to the audience? 8. What does the main character want? 9. What obstacles or difficulties do they face? 10. What has the character learnt at the end of the film? (Nothing is fine as an answer) 11. What should they have learnt? 12. What is the most important relationship in the film? 13. In what way(s) is this a ___________ genre film? 14. How does your audience know what kind of film they should expect from the opening? 15.What's the hook or entry point into the story of the film? 16. What reaction do you want from your audience with this film? 17. This film should be shot in the style of .... 18. What's the climax of the film? 19. Whose Point of View are we following? 20. Can your script be simpler? Shorter? Clearer? Make it so! * I thought this should be three or fewer but Matt insisted on 5. These few questions are a common English teacher technique to get students from a plot synopsis to a theme when studying a text but I think they work well for analysis of your own script as well.
Friday, May 01, 2009
More good Noel Leeming experience
I've done a fair bit of shopping around for stuff for Media Studies, and was impressed today at the level of discount Noel Leeming have offered us on tapes. According to the phonecall I made today they're giving us something like a 48% discount on mini-DV tapes, bringing the per-tape cost below $5. That's pretty awesome when we need to stock up for next term, so we're looking at buying at least 45 tapes, possibly more :-)
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