Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!!!!! I'm SOOOO excited right now!!! Can you guess why?! Our Second Quarter Project is going to be on Hiki No!!! This is such a big accomplishment for me, and it's a HUGE honor to be on Hiki No. To be honest though, if I was to tell myself at the start of Second Quarter that if I did my best, our story would be on the one and only Hiki No, I would have probably laughed out loud and said "Yeah, right!". This is because Sierra and I had a HUGE problem with our video, that at one point, I didn't think we would be able to fix. What happened was after we finally chose our topic (that actually Mr. M suggested, so really the whole Bethany Hamilton story was made because Mr. M) we went to Bethany Hamilton, and long story short, the sound was HORRIBLE. The mikes weren't working and we had to use the regular camera sound, and it turned out super bad. It was something that definitely needed to be fixed, but because Bethany was so busy and it was already a big sacrafice to let us interview her the first time, I was pretty sure there was no way she would have time for a second interview. However, I ended up asking her again, and she was super nice about it and said yes. I am happy to say the second interview of her went MUCH better. Now when I look back, it's cool to see how everything worked out the best it could be. I think that Bethany Hamilton is a really amazing person, and it's so cool that I was able to create a video about her, and have it go on Hiki No. If one thing's for sure, I know I couldn't of done it without Sierra, Brooke, Mr. M, Sarah Hill, Noah Hamilton, Mike Coots, and Bethany Hamilton, and I hope when they watch it (if they do, of course) they will be happy with the outcome and know because of them, the video was a success.

P.S. If you want to watch our Bethany Hamilton story, it will be on at 7:30 pm on January 31 (this Thursday) :) I hope you enjoy it!!!

I'm so sad!! If you're wondering the reason, it's because I didn't get my pen pal yet! I have checked my email again and again, but the first letter from my pen pal still hasn't arrived yet :( Oh well, I guess there's nothing I can really do about it, but I hope I find out who my pen pal is before we go to California. But if not, I'll just get to meet my pen pal in person, which is good too. The only thing is, I won't know what to get my pen pal from Kauai if I don't get an email before I go on the Media trip, because right now, I don't even know the slightest thing about my pen pal, like if they are a boy or a girl. Hopefully, I'll receive my first pen pal letter soon!

In my whole 12 (and more than a half) years of life, I have had many great experiences, fun times, and amazing days. Looking back, I can't even count all the awesome times I've been lucky to have. However, when asked what the best day in my life is, one day definitely stands out from the others: the day when my family and I all went to Magic Mountain in California. This day stood out among the rest because I got to be with family, everyone in the family let go of stress and worries and just had fun, and I got to go on awesome roller coasters at an awesome amusement park!

As I mentioned before, one  reason why the day at Magic Mountain was the best day of my life was because I got to be with family. And when I say family, I don't just mean my mom, dad, and sister (I only had one sister at the time), but I mean all my 9 uncles and aunts and grandma. And all of my aunts and uncles are super cool, and I know it kinda sounds weird, but I have an uncle who's the same age as me, and we get along SUPER well. Anyways, it was a real treat to get to see and be with all my family, and they just made Magic Mountain that much better.

Another reason the day in Magic Mountain was the best day of my life was because when we went everyone got to let go of stress and worries and just have fun. When we went to Magic Mountain, it was really nice to see my parents let go of stress and just have a blast. I loved seeing everyone laughing (including myself)  and having a great time with everyone, and not fighting about anything. Everyone who came with us to Magic Mountain was wearing an orange (and when I say orange, I mean bright, highlighter orange) shirt, and looking back at pictures, I laugh at how ridiculous we looked. But on that day, I didn't care if I looked ridiculous or weird, and I didn't have to worry about anything, and that was another huge reason why going up to Magic Mountain was the best day of my life.

Finally, the  last reason why going up to Magic Mountain was the best day of my life is because we got to spend the day at an amusement park. And I don't know about you, but I LOVE amusement parks. It's good they don't have one on Kauai because if they did I would probably spend all my money there! Anyways, it was like a dream come true to go on all the rollar coasters. The only bad part of the day was when I really wanted to go on this rollar coater called the Goliath, but I couldn't because I wasn't tall enough :(. Overall though, being able to go on ride after ride after ride was just... AWESOME, and it is definitely one of the reasons why the day we spend at Magic Mountain was the best day of my life.

In conclusion, though there have been many amazing days in my life, when asked what the best day I've ever had was, I would definitely say the day I went to Magic Mountain. By seeing everyone let  go of stress and worries, getting to go on rollar coasters, and being with family, Magic Mountain truly was magic.

So, in this blog I just wanted to tell you guys all about my PSA idea. Basically, my PSA is going to be all about the worst possible effect of doing drugs, which is death. The PSA is going to open up to two girls at the park, and then one girl says she knows where a drug dealer is selling crystal meth at a really cheap price.I either want to show that the girls are really bored, and that's why they are interested in the crystal meth, or one girls call the other girl and then they meet at the park and then go to get the crystal meth. The two girls then go to the drug dealer and ask for the drugs. At the end, one of the girls takes out her wallet and asks how much the drugs cost, and the drug dealer replies, “You’re life”. Then the PSA will fade to the message, which is “Is it worth what you have to pay?”. I have a couple of other ideas that I might choose to put in or not, but I'm not sure yet. I'll definitely know by next week. But anyways, that's the basic outline of my PSA. I'm hopeful that if I follow through with the three goals that my PSA will turn out successfully!

So, as I explained in my last blog, last week Saturday we had the first STN Practice of the school year. Just to give you a quick recap of what happened, I was in a group with Lilly, Brooke, and Mari, and we were assigned to make a 3o second commercial advertising a CKTV hat. We had 4 hours (2 hours of filming, 2 hours of editing), so from 8am to noon, we worked really hard on our commercial. Overall, I think that it was alright, but it definitely had room to improve!

One way that we could have improved our commercial was by making it a little more clear. You see, at one part of the commercial, when Brooke was starting to get popular, a boy was supposed to ask her out, but when it came time to act out that scene, I think the boy got embarrassed, and instead of asking her out he just poked his friend and said "Gavin". We decided to still include that part in the commercial, but I don't think we should have because when everyone watched it they didn't understand that part.

Another way we could have improved our commercial was by re-checking it to make sure it flowed before turning it in. For the most part the commercial was okay, but at the end of the commercial we wrote "Get you free CKTV hat today for only $13.99 (or something like that). If you noticed, we wrote "Get you CKTV had" instead of "Get your CKTV hat". I think that was a pretty big error because it didn't make sense and you could really tell we made a mistake (which is very unprofessional-like)! I also think if re-checked our video before turning it in we could of cut down one second of the video (since the commercial was one second too long) and also just fixed anything we saw.

However, we did have some good things about our video that I think should be noticed. For one, we turned it in on time! This is a big accomplishment, and I think we were able to do this because we worked well as a team and were able to stay on track. Another positive thing about our video was that we used a special effect in our video to make it more interesting, which I think people enjoyed. Also, although there were a few errors, I think for the most part people understood the commercial and it was clear that we were trying to sell the CKTV hat.

In conclusion, I think that the first STN Practice was a success. Our commercial had some errors, but overall it was pretty good, especially for the first STN Practice. Next STN Practice though, I will no longer be in the commercial team, but instead be in the Movie Trailer team. To be honest though, I'm actually pretty excited because the movie trailer team was actually my first choice. Well, I guess that's all for now, but I'll definitely make sure to write about the next STN Practice!

So just yesterday, the first STN practice of this school year (and my first practice ever) took place. I was in a group with Lilly, Brooke, and Mari, and we were assigned to make a 30 second commercial that advertised a CKTV hat. We had four hours to do this, two hours of filming, and two hours of editing. I think that it went okay, I mean we definitely could have done better, but yet our commercial wasn't bad (especially for the first STN practice). Basically, our commercial showed a girl who was ignored by others and not cool or popular, but when a CKTV hat suddenly appears to her and she starts wearing it, suddenly everyone notices her and compliments her hat. Then, we advertised the hat by naming some of the great features and giving the special deal of getting a free CKTV shirt if you called to order your hat in the next 5 minutes. A few errors in our video was a spelling error when advertising the hat, and also at one part it didn't make that much sense in what happened. However, I think that our advertisement was okay for the first practice, and now what we know what we have to improve upon, so we can make an even better video at the next STN practice!

Oh my goodness! I can hardly believe it! It's Third Quarter!It's a new beginning!And it's time for a new project! But this isn't just any project... this isn't another News Story (like what we did in First and Second Quarter), and this isn't another project were we will have our partner to rely on. This Third Quarter Project will test our responsibility, and it will serve as a chance to show what we can do. This quarter we'll be required to create a PSA, and I've set three goals to make sure that my PSA will be the best that it can be.

My first goal to make my PSA the best it can be is to NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!!!! I really cannot stress enough how important it is to NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO THINGS! If you do that, I'm almost 100% certain that you won't be completely pleased with your project because it will turn out sloppy, and nobody wants that. The last two quarters (and especially First Quarter) I have really learned not to put things off until the last minute. Another thing I have learned is that if you have extra time to do something that doesn't need to be done at that time, still do it. It helps you get a head start on things, which can be really helpful, because in Media, time flies by!! In conclusion, this quarter, one of my goals to make my PSA the best it can be is to not procrastinate and to get things done!

Another goal I have set to make sure my PSA is the best it can be is when filming, make sure to have good quality. What I mean by this is to take good shots and have good sound. I mean, the quality of the shots and sound can make a HUGE effect in the impression people get from your video. Sure, you can have a really good idea and message to your video, but it still needs to have good quality, or else it's just not that enjoyable to watch. When filming, I want to make sure to not have any continuity or camera movement, and make sure to have good coloring. As far as the sound, well, I just pretty much want the sound to be clear and understandable, and not have the wind or any background noise be in it. By having great sound and shots, I know it will make my PSA just that much better!

My final goal to make my PSA the best that it can be is to change it from good to great. Now you've probably heard me talk about this concept before, but basically, it just means to go the extra mile to make your video polished and professional, and go from good quality to excellent quality that will really stand out and make a difference among lots of other videos! This quarter, it's going to be especially important to do this, because anyone can make a good PSA, but it's the people who take the time to change their video from good to great who get nominated for Olelo or Teen Video Awards, and that's what I'm shooting for. In conclusion, my last goal to make my PSA the best it can be is to change it from good to great.

So, if you can't tell, I'm just a little scared about Third Quarter because it's something new and I will have no partner to help me. However, despite my nervousness, I'm also excited and I'm confident that with these three goals, Third Quarter will go smoothly and my PSA will turn out really good. Wish me luck!