GLO portfolio Link

http://www.wix.com/chadaboy/10th-grade-glo

GLO portfolio parent conference

Through the GLO portfolio parent conference I was finally able to see the final product of projects my son was working on during weekends with his friends and understand their purpose; the six objectives (i.e. outcomes) that were to be accomplished.  It also became clear how the use of technology aided in the learning process of various subject matter by providing a means of self expression, developing organizational skills, and teamwork.  Learning through media also helped motivate self-directed learning and complex thinking in understanding issues and solving problems.  More importantly, since one's ability to communicate effectively and influence others is an important attribute of a good leader, it is impressive to see young people develop a passion for something and evolve towards putting together quality performances and quality products with ethics in mind to communicate what they learn.  After all, if you cannot communicate what you learn and trigger a response in others, what's the purpose of learning?

- Keith Masuda 

This I Believe

            There was a time in my short existence on earth where I was always almost never truly happy.  I was always basing my happiness on short-lived shallow things.  Whenever I didn’t have these things or I couldn’t get it I would complain about how much my life sucked and I was a very depressed angry little boy.  Many of my family and even close friends knew me as a drama queen.  Definition:  A depressing person who over acts to every situation and that no one wants to be around and is typically an UNHAPPY person

            When my brother graduated elementary school my parents got him a cell phone for his achievement.  I did my usual bit and asked them if I could have one.  They then told me politely that I was too young and I would have no good use for it.  I then continued with my little one man show and all that night I complained insultingly to my brother how spoiled he was and that he got everything.  I then continued to rant loudly to myself when it didn’t seem my parents would budge.  When my mom finally came up stairs to tell me to be quit I even went as far as to say the three words that would crush any moms heart “ I HATE YOU”.  This all happened over a little plastic thing that you could talk to people with.

            When I was in middle school I had a mad crush on a girl.  All my close friends know this classic story.  I wrote love letters and even gave a $20 gift certificate to this girl (which she later gave back).  I asked this girl out 5 times and got rejected four times by her and one time by her friend for her.  After the fifth rejection I cried and was greatly sorrowed.  Mr. Drama Queen had returned. 

            Then one day my dad and mom announced that they would be going to a funeral for a friend who had struggled and at last died of cancer. When my Mom and dad came home with the itinerary of the funeral I took a look at it.  It talked about how this man even near death instead of complaining, or saying how his life sucked; he retained a heart of gold.  Definition: Someone who is kind and understanding of other people.  Someone who’s HAPPINESS affects other people like a virus.

            From that day on I decided not to be a spoiled little materialistic brat.  Instead I decided to try to be a happy person that would aim to make the world a happier place.  Instead of viewing happiness in shallow materialistic things I would find happiness in things that really mattered like friends, family, god, and within myself.  Don’t get me wrong I’ll always want newer things but, I’ll never base all my happiness on it.

Project Icarus Journal #4

As soon as Project Icarus was presented to us I knew I wanted to make a video for two reasons: I love filming and hope to major in it, and I have a youtube channel I'm trying to keep updated so minus well kill two birds with one stones.  The only question was what type of video should I make?  At first I thought what the heck I'll make an action film.  Then reality  hit me.  I only had about two weeks to get this done and if I was going to do an action film I would need prop guns, and gain top knowledge on effects and angles almost instantly.  Then it hit me.  What if I did comedy.  That is the genre I have always been best at and it cost minimal money and not that much skill in the editing department.  So I began running different scenarios and plots for a sitcom taking examples from Seinfeld and Modern Family plots.  I then got a cast of people who would be helping me and typed out a script that matched their abilities to act.

Project Icarus Journal #3

By trying new things and exploring different activities I have found many passions all of which seem to fit in the same category.  Ever since I entered Menemac I found myself loving to make funny videos.   I loved the simplistic challenge it offered.  A comedic video does not require any tricky shots or Michael Bay style explosions or a millions of dollars.  It just required funny quirky characters,  a creative imagination, and few good jokes which I had access to all without any cost.  I found this to be very true as  I began filming and found how simple my shots were yet it was still enjoyable to watch because of the characters I made and the jokes I used.  In my whole sitcom editing was to a minimal and mostly just included transitions and has no special effects.  The reason is because the genius and quality behind my sitcom is behind the writing and the acting.

In my life I have typically learned that I am very lazy for the most part.  It is hard to motivate myself to do anything that does not have a short term reward.  Something has to be truly fun and creative for me to be motivated towards learning or doing it.  When I found myself typing out the Sitcom script I found myself enjoying every line I typed out and visualizing it coming to life in my head.  Epic scenes poured into my head of how I was going to film and I just wanted to get the project  done.  I didn't care about grades or rewards I just wanted to finish the project to see some thing that I crafted get done.  I thought about the project at all times and wrote out lines and drafted, re drafted, and even found researching to be fun.

As I was working on project Icarus I learned about the comedic art of writing.  How character development  is the most crucial part in writing.  In  a sitcom, the characters need to be unique.  Each character needs to have their own personality and jokes that match them.  For example: in Seinfeld George is kinda cheap and low on confidence whereas Kramer is somewhat overly confident and weird.  They each have completely different jokes that are made for them and their characteristics are easily recognized.  I also learned about the drafting process.  I often had to trash good jokes because they did not match with the characters or the story.

For half of my life I thought school was a nuisance.  I thought that if I ever found the inventor of public education I would inflict some pain.  But, as I entered middle school it was like an epiphany.  The reason we had school because it is the only I can get a decent job and help advanced society for the better.  Without schooling I would probably just end up as some crazy nut who didn't contribute anything to society or do anything good in my life.  The purpose of school is to help guide us through the hardships of life and help us to find a passion.  I learned this to be true through project Icarus because I would never have found passion for film without school.

Project Icarus Journal #2

I needed to quickly find a quick and witty way to make a quick sitcom.  So where do I go first you ask?  Google of course.  I soon found some very interesting pieces on how to write a successful sitcom.  I soon learned that the writing is not all in the jokes but, more in the character development.  If I could craft these witty and comedic character then lines would just flow from me.  As I found myself writing the script I found this fact to be very true.  Sitcom writing is not like writing a drama or a sci- fi.  In some ways its harder because you have to be able to write in a way that makes sense and makes the audience laugh.  You have to know where and when to place certain witty lines and even know how to trash a joke (no matter how funny it may be) if it does not make any sense with the story.  I found my self having to trash a lot of prime jokes I came up with that didn't match the storyline as I was writing.

As I got deeper into my research I soon learned from watching the the classic Seinfeld and the modern hit Modern Family that you could make a sitcom out of almost anything or even nothing.  For example,  Seinfeld crafted a classic comedy episode out of a soup kitchen.  The characters  in the sitcoms that I watched were each unique and had different quirky characteristics.  As these simple rules and facts entered my mind I shaped my sitcom under these few simple rules.  I mad each of the characters unique, quirky, and different.  I then used a plot that was simplistic yet funny and my writing and jokes all matched the story.

Project Icauraus: Journal 1

Throughout my whole life my favorite genre of movies, television, and even youtube videos has always been comedy.  I  love the fact that comedy allows me to come home after a hard day with school or friends and allows me to sit down to watch a tv show like seinfield and just laugh at life.  Back in 2007 when I first watched the youtube channel nigahiga and his video "how to be ninja"  I knew that I wanted to not only enjoy and laugh at comedic videos but, I wanted to create a channel myself and make people laugh.  Only one problem,  I could barely use a camera and the only editing program I had was windows home editing which was not good nor compatible with any cameras I had.  Then on the summer of 2010 it seemed like a blessing from god when I got into Menemac.  I now had the tools to edit and the teaching to make a good video or two.  In 2011 it finally happened.  Me and my friends made a youtube channel and uploaded our first video.  Only problem was, it was not very good or funny.  The shots were crooked and I had not written a script for it so the lines were raunchy and not well thought.   What I hope to do this time around is put a lot more thought into my sitcom and make the lines with more of a punch as well as get better shots and make the characters have a distinct personality.  I plan to take inspiration by using some of the techniques they use in Modern Family, Seinfield, and my favorite web series Jake and Amir.