Challenges of Being a Filmmaker

                                    

Throughout the course of this year, my group and I have encountered several problems. Our trailer at the beginning of the year was somehow deleted, so we had to redo our trailer. Towards the end of the year, when we exported our almost completed film to present at Urban Arts, the computer couldn't read our film when we imported it back. The film could not render and we lost some attached files. So we continued working, adding on to the file that couldn't render, and in the end we had to start over, using an original copy of our film that could render.

I think going through those experiences was a nightmare, but I think it caused us as a group to get closer. We had to work together to fix the problem. With the computer breaking down on us we were able to get more advice and input on how to make our film better.

Advice I have for filmmakers is just to always save and render every chance you get. Always be careful with what your exporting and importing. Dont have several files of your film saved, maybe just the original and latest one you've worked on. Lets say you do have a lot of files saved, if something were to happen to you that happened to us, with your computer breaking down on you, it would be hard to find a file that works. Just always be careful you can never be to careful. Always render, always save.

Challenges Of a Filmmaker

Choosing My Interview Footage

Choosing what interview footage is to be put into the film and what isn't going to the film is probably the most difficult part of making the film, besides editing. We have to stick to our story line and the point of why I'm even in this film. Everyday the same questions are always in the back of my mind: does this show/prove the statement I'm trying to make about bullying? Will this inspire people? Will this film help kids like me? Or even help adults maybe, who are still stuck in their past? Will people enjoy my film or understand what is being said and why its being said? Everyday I walk into class and I sit down wondering if my film will be viewed and liked by others who don't know who I am, who are only seeing just a small part of me?
This week was critic week. So my film was viewed by my teacher who is also the principle and others. They had a lot of advice on what to change or put in/take out to make the film go along smoother. Honestly I am open to advice everyone is but certain things just shouldn't be changed. So where am I with sorting through my footage? I don't know. As a film maker, editor and actor, there are some things people just cannot have a say in. Some things you are left with controlling on your own and its best that way, but advice is always great. Sometimes advice can make your film stronger but if YOU like the way things are going don't change it, be happy with what you have but always have an open mind.
Right now in my film, my group and I are just putting the final pieces to our puzzle. Putting in any transitions, or adding extra b-roll, or interview footage. Our film is due next Wednesday and I think we will have everything ready by then. Hopefully people will like our film as much as we do, because everyone especially me has put in a lot of effort and dedication into this film.

The making of our soundtracks

For our film we had to create a soundtrack. We had to do this because we cant take other people's music, so its best to just come up with our own. We used Garage Band to make our soundtrack. Using Garage Band was easy, and fun. Its nice to play around with beats and things like that.

Our film is focused on me, and me telling my story about being bullied as a child, so I had more of a say with how the soundtrack would come out. Our music is softer, and slower because its a documentary basically I didn't want upbeat tracks because its a sentimental film. You need the music to flow with the film not bring it down or make people be interested more in the music then the story your trying to tell. Making the soundtracks weren't difficult but they weren't easy either. The process was difficult because I might like something I came up with that Zaria wouldn't like or the other way around. So it took us a while to come up with something we all liked.

Piecing together the soundtrack with the film, I would say wasn't that hard. If it feels right, if you like how the music sounds with a certain part don't question it. Just do it. You don't want to throughout the whole film have it sounding depressing, but the sentimental parts should be slow and low, and the uplifting parts should sound uplifting. 

 Our Trailer

My 4th Quarter Goals

In Quarter 3 I had started working on my interviews, soundtrack, and editing previous footage. Basically we had to make up our own soundtracks for our film. So creating those were difficult because I might like what I came up with but someone in my group would think it sucked. So finding something that we all liked took some time. We currently are done filming and now are just focusing on editing everything. Finding out how and where we ant to order things and all of that.
To finish my project by the end of the year basically we just have to order everything. See what goes here or there, make sure everyone in our group is happy/satisfied with how our film ends up. We also need to work on our soundtrack. Editing that and maybe making a few more soundtracks for our film.
My next immediate steps for this week and next week would just be to focused on helping Zaria with the editing because this is the hardest part of completing our film. Editing is our main priority. Film footage needs to be placed properly, edited properly, as well with the soundtracks and statistics etc. Also to work on the rest of my blogs for this quarter.

 

Steven Urry

 

 Six years ago a 13 year old boy named Steven Urry hung himself in his bedroom closet. He committed suicide because he was being bullied and tormented at school. It's a terrible thing to see young teenagers like Steven, or Amanda Todd, a 15 year old girl commit suicide because they think that's the best way to escape. Bullying needs to be put to an end because of kids like Amanda or Steven. Steven loved skateboarding, baseball, music and he just loved to have fun like every other teenager, but how can a kid like him really be happy if everyday he had to wake up knowing that people were going to torture him once again at school.  Steven's mother, Pam, found him in his closet, when she was looking for him because it was dinner time. What a horrible way to find your child. I feel so bad for his parents because I know they loved him, I wouldn't want my child to be so unhappy at such a young age, to the point where they have to just give up on life. Steven was artistic and didn't fit into his school, he stood out. To me I believe he stood out in a great way but to kids in his school he was a loser or a freak or whatever it was they called him! In the beginning of 7th grade was when the bullying got out of control, and he just couldn't take it anymore. It was too much for him. Earlier in school that day, the day he committed suicide, his tormentors set him on fire with a lighter and an aerosol can of body spray. They recorded their attack on a cell phone and posted it on the Internet.

Steven's parents found out abut Steven being bullied a month before his suicide. They did their best to help Steven. They filed police reports and talked to school officials, they were even going to switch schools for Steven before he committed suicide. But Steven's dad, Mike said, "We just found out too late, or maybe we didn't act fast enough, I don't know. The teachers and staff had no plan, no procedure in place to identify and stop the abuse."

"Tragically, many people knew what was going on, including many of Steven's fellow students. One of the bystanders wrote about her guilt and shame on her blog: We all knew what he went through. We knew who beat him up. We knew who locked him in a cupboard. We knew who had held his head under water in a sink. So why hadn't we told anyone? We were stupid. And we expected somebody else to do something about it. I wish I could apologize to Steven. No, I never bullied him up front, but if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. "

Kids had a chance to stand up and help Steven, be there for him, and yet they just stood back. Maybe they were too afraid to speak up or maybe they just didn't care, but to think that maybe if those kids did help Steven he could still be here, alive today? No one will ever know. But my condolences go out to his family.

To read more check out this Huffington Post article. 

New Yorks Times Article

Effects of Bullying Last Into Adulthood, Study Finds

• Studies have shown that victims of bullying at school are likely to experience psychiatric problems during this time in their lives. Researchers have found out that the risk of psychiatric trouble extends into adulthood. In some cases it might even happen a decade after. 

 published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday

This link is the newest study to establish what might happen to a victim of bullying in their later years. 

“It documents the elevated risk across a wide range of mental health outcomes and over a long period of time”

“The experience of bullying in childhood can have profound effects on mental health in adulthood, particularly among youths involved in bullying as both a perpetuator and a victim”

"Researchers found that victims of bullying in childhood were 4.3 times more likely to have an anxiety disorder as adults, compared to those with no history of bullying or being bullied."

Researchers show that bullies who were also victims were 14.5 times more likely to develop panic disorders as adult, and 4.8 times more likel to experience depression. This research also showed that men who were both bullies and victims were 18.5 times more likely to have had suicidal thoughts when they got older. Females were 26.7 times more likely to have developed agoraphobia (Extreme or irrational fear of crowded spaces or enclosed public places.) 

My Hopes for This Film

Telling my story through this film I am hoping will help people who are struggling with their past. These memories and nightmares will never be forgotten that I know will never happen but I want kids especially kids younger than me to understand that you can overcome this. There is a life ready to be lived ahead of you, and sometimes you just have to get through the hardships to reach the good times, and maybe someday you can look back one day years from now and be proud to say that people's actions and the hard times I've went through have made me stronger, and have made me the person I am today. I want people watch this film and not only be able to relate, but understand that my life still has its struggles and I know that bullying has affected my life forever, and my path of direction has changed because of others actions. I would hope in a good way because I can say I am wiser and stronger. I would also like for people to watch this film and realize bullying can really defeat a person if they feel like hey aren't strong enough or if they feel like they are alone, or if they don't have hope. When a young child commits suicide in my opinion I think is an act of feeling like there is no way of getting back up, or being happy ever again. A lot of kids that do commit suicide  I think they do this because they feel like this is the only way to be set free or to get away from bullies and being bullied. I just want to reach out to kids and I want them to know they aren't alone in this that there will be brighter days. 

Dont Be Afraid To Ask For Help

A lot, if not all kids don't go to teachers for help or tell anyone about their problems in school because people will call them a punk or a pussy. That's why for most of the time I was being bullied I didn't tell a teacher, and when I finally did tell someone I didn't get help. But I think when it comes to kids safety, your safety don't be afraid to ask someone for help. Be persistent, your life as a whole is more important than your popularity. People calling you a coward for asking a teacher to help you out with bullying issues don't worry about them, because they're probably going through the same thing and they're just to scared to say anything.Its easy to run away from your problems but you'll never get to far away from them because they'll always be trailing behind you.

The Road Forward

My group is doing a film on bullying through me telling my story. Our goal for this film is to show how being bullied is something that sticks with you forever. The name calling, the memories, the nightmares, they're all things that kids/people like me will never forget as much as we try to. If we can change a bully's ways by them watching this movie or change anyone's thought on bullying that's all we want. Through this first semester we had finished our trailer, but somehow it got erased and we had to restart it all. We are just about done with the new trailer.

By the end of this 3rd quarter we have to complete our trailer, upload it to Vimeo and start working on completing the actual film. We have some interview questions  already written out to help us start off the interview. We should have at least one interview completed if not more by the end of the 3rd quarter. We should also already have some of our film outlined and ready if not already edited.

In order to start filming we should first go over our interview questions together. So we can see which questions we like best and think will have the best responses.  and have Definitely having everyone in the group participating in the making of the film and having everyone there while filming is key. We need all the opinions and advice for the making of this film. I would say all groups need teamwork and I would also say is that everyone in each group should cooperate with each other, but if there something on someone's mind or if they think that there should be a change in something they shouldn't be afraid to say something. Everyone has their own right to say what they have to say if they're in the group.

My look on Sexting

Sexting has become very popular and viral nowadays. Girls are exposing themselves to guys or people that they like, and its getting out. Today sexting exposure is everywhere, especially on the internet. Including sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I know that girls dont want personal pictures of themselves all over the internet so why send it to someone in the first place? Maybe to impress a guy? Usually thats the case, but I think that a guy who really likes you wouldn't do something such as expose a girl. I honestly think it is the girls fault, it bothers me when I see how these girls that expose themselves are "Facebook Famous" or talked about badly by everyone on the internet. It especially bothers me to see when there are pages on Facebook that show these girls nude, so called smut pages. I think that a girl has a choice to do what she wants and if she wants to take the chance of sending a picture along those lines to someone she shouldn't be shocked if it lands all over the internet. The only way to stop sexting exposure and bullying is to stop sexting! Thats my opinion, but other people might think differently. I believe everyone has their privacy and once you send a picture of yourself nude your privacy is gone.

Statistics on Suicide Caused By Bullying

Suicide happens to be the third leading cause of death. Its averaged that 4,400 deaths per year are because of bullying. According to the CDC, for every suicide there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of kids in high school have considered committing suicide and almost 7 percent have already attempted to commit suicide.
Studies by Yale University have shown bullying victims are 2 to 9 percent more likely to commit suicide then non-bullying victims. 10-14 year olds are at a higher risk of committing suicide today!
Studies in Britain show that at least half of young kids that commit suicide there reasons to are from/related to bullying.

I think bullying has gotten worse by the years. Kids today are ending there life's at such an early age and they haven't even gotten to experience life or do any of things they've wanted to do. They haven't gotten to accomplish anything or just grow up in general.
Kids are avoiding school and missing out on their education because of bullies. I think people and teachers, people involved within the schools really need to step up and help out these kids that are suffering everyday.

"According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying"

Anti-Bullying Networks

Anti-Bullying Network: At this site there are several additional websites and tabs listed to help kids that are struggling with specific types of bullying and problems that they're having. There are also tabs for kids who want to help kids that their being bullied, organizations and alliances are also listed there, so if you want to help out you can visit some of these sites below:

Bullying.org: Is one of the sites listed on the anti-bullying network. This sites main cause is to increase the awareness of bullying and to help prevent it. They're main goal is to try and eliminate bullying in our society.

faceup2it: FACE stands for- Fighting Against Child Exploitation. This site is an interactive website whose main focus is on young kids who want to know the "real deal" about child sexual exploitation.

Hourglass Productions:This site has a video on bullying that will be very helpful to kids. It was created for young viewers, including interviews with teenagers using dramatic scenarios and expert advice this video focuses on both the bully and victim.

Kids Helpline: This site has a number for kids that are having problems in school. Kids can call this number to get advice and help from counselors. This site also gives teens and young adults ideas, options and information on where you can get help and connect. They always will lend an ear to listen! So if you need someone to talk to please go to this site and call!

The site Anti-Bullying Network has several other sites that are not included in here for kids in need of help and for adults who need advice and help as well. This site will be very helpful for anyone.