Blog 1 – Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection

It's all just a matter of following your passion and finding the joy in what you do, whatever it may be.

1. What three lessons were most helpful for you to see, and why?

• A: I believe the presentations that were most helpful for me to have viewed were the ones done by Andrew Morris, Brandon Le, and Desiree Zarate.

• Andrew Morris (Film Directing):For Andrew's presentation, not only did I thoroughly enjoy his presentation, but was very much astonished at the creativity of his presentation format. Andrew strayed away from the typical "cookie-cutter" presentation style by using the format of an awards show like the Oscars. He used "nominees" to explain his answers and provide background information to win the category of his Essential Question. Upon finally revealing to us his best fit answer to his EQ, he explained why he chose it in the form of an acceptance speech. I learned from him that Senior Presentations doesn't necessarily have to be just a presentation, but a creative experience for the audience to both learn from and enjoy.

• Brandon Le (Film Editing): For Brandon, I really liked his final activity in which the class participated in to apply the acquired knowledge that was attained over the course of the presentation. Brandon's activity was to view a video project he had made that was riddled with editing errors and purposefully set mistakes. It was then up to his audience to pay close attention to find these errors and then present them to the class. Since the videos themselves were highly entertaining and very-well executed, the audience was engaged throughout the course of the activity. With this, it shows that by having a well-prepared activity for the audience can influence the level of enthusiasm and engagement of the people carrying out the task.

• Desiree Zarate (Culinary Arts):To be honest, by signing up for Desiree's I was a bit skeptical, because Culinary Arts wasn't ever a topic I was intrigued by. However, walking into the classroom, I was completely surprised to find that the environment was set up like a restaurant. Her presentation itself was very enjoyable and was completely engaging. There was so much I had learned about all the preparation that goes into a single meal from sitting there for only an hour, and I'd have to say that I was very happy to have signed up. Desiree's spirits were so high and was very excited to share her knowledge andexperiences she had gotten from her mentorship. With her enthusiasm, the presentation itself felt more like a personally put on seminar rather than an assigned project. I found that with good tone, you can help boost the audience's interest of a subject he/she isn't even that intrigued about.

2. List one thing that you learned about the senior project in interviews that will help you get off to a good start?

• A: One very valuable piece of information I received upon interviewing the seniors about the projects, were to keep persevering when searching for a mentor. Typically, I'm one to accept when "No is no" and won't really move on from there. From the advice given, I just need to learn to thank them for their time, and go on the search once more.

3. What topic(s) are you considering, and why?

• A: The topic I am considering to do for my Senior Presentation is Filmmaking. The creation and craftsmanship of a film was always interesting to me ever since I was appointed the position of "camera-recorder person" by my family at events and gatherings like Birthday parties. I also feel like with film, that there is never a shortage of information to learn. Everyday people come out with different techniques, different stories, and different experiences to share. I believe that no can ever possibly learn everything there is to know about movie making and that there's always room for more potential to grow. In addition, filmmaking is my true passion and what I want to pursue in the future as a career.

4. What EQ do you think might be interesting to consider in guiding a project like this? (Please don't worry about any sort of formula...we want this question to come from your genuine interest).

• A: How can a filmmaker best maximize the affective domain of the audience's viewership experience?

5. What are some ideas you have about finding summer mentorship?

• Currently, I am searching for a summer mentor. If possible, I have a couple friends who have siblings in the film industry as well as family members that have connections that I can potentially ask for mentorship from. Additionally, I was thinking about enrolling in some summer film courses and entering a film festival in order to expand my knowledge of this topic.