CAP Hollywood Reflection

Our CAP Hollywood project is going very well. In the past week, we finished all the filming we needed, and I think the shots we have look really good. Visually, this film is going to be very nice. I appeared in some of the filming we did, and I also made the poster, which we finished last week. Tomorrow, I am going to come into school during the HSA time to record some voiceover we decided we needed to increase the clarity of the story. This won't take long, and then since Jasper will be there, we will be able to edit and put the voiceover in the film. For the rest of the week, we will just be doing fine editing, I think.

CAP Hollywood Reflection

First of all, I'd like to say that so far the CAP Hollywood project has been one of my favorite projects in CAP this year. I really like the creative free reign we get with the story and the filming. My group has finished almost all of its filming, and we'll certainly be done by this Wednesday. We filmed the bulk of our shots last Saturday at Kalanzi's aunt's house, and we would have filmed everything, but we had some last-minute logistical problems. We still need to film a couple scenes with a younger actor, but we'll be doing that after school this week. Unfortunately, I got really sick this past week and missed all but twenty minutes of Mr. Mayo's class, so I haven't been able to contribute much. I'm sure my group did plenty of work without me, and I know I'll be able to do a lot more this week. Next week, we need to finish filming and come up with a title. The filming part we'll easily get done, but coming up with a good, creative title is probably going to be pretty difficult, given that we can't seem to get past a certain other title that I won't mention. We also need to get our rough cuts done, but I'm sure we'll be able to do that.

Natalie's Official and Fully Endorsed List of Exquisite Books for Reading (Part 1: Vaguely Feminist)

It has come to my attention that I am apparently considered to be well-read. While I do not think this is necessarily true, and I would argue that reading a ridiculous amount of mediocre books is not the same as reading a lot of good books, I will try to make a little contribution to society by writing a list of books I've read recently that I consider essential.
I'm going to purposely leave Terry Pratchett books off this list, because otherwise they would dominate it. But let it be known that I heartily recommend them to everyone, especially Night Watch, The Truth, and Soul Music.
I've also decided to divide this list up by themes, and spread it across several posts. The first theme will be books that deal with feminism or strong female characters, explicitly or vaguely.
Without further ado, may I introduce:
Natalie's Official and Fully Endorsed List of Exquisite Books for Reading (Part 1: Vaguely Feminist)

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy and The Diviners, by Libba Bray
One incredibly good series and one equally incredibly good start to a series. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy is a wonderful set of dark fantasy novels set in Victorian England, and the Diviners is the first in a new trilogy of dark fantasy books, this time set in 1920s America. Really absorbing reading, and they contain some of my favorite female book characters of all time.

When Everything Changed, by Gail Collins
Nonfiction this time, but very well written. A history of American feminism and the evolution of gender roles, starting in the 50s if I remember correctly. Surprisingly easy to read and absolutely rife with interesting information. One of the better birthday presents I've received. Thanks Laura!

The Warrior Queens, by Lady Antonia Frasier
Again, nonfiction. A more difficult read than the previous book, but I found it fascinating. Discusses many warrior queens across history, but specifically focuses on Boudica, Matilda of Canossa, the Empress Matilda, Zenobia, Elizabeth I,  Jinga Mbandi, the Rani of Jhansi, Tamara of Georgia, Isabella of Spain, Louise of Prussia,
and some others I can't remember off the top of my head. Scholarly but absorbing, and I found it especially interesting that the author kept bringing up archetypes for warrior queens throughout history, like the Holy Armed Figurehead and the Appendage. Incredible book, overall.

Pope Joan, by Donna Woolfolk Cross

Just finished re-reading this incredible historical fiction novel. The existence Pope Joan, also known as Pope John VIII, has been greatly contested by the Catholic Church since the 17th century. This book lends marvelous character and depth to the story of the only female pope. Interesting from a feminist perspective and a historical one, because it paints a dramatic picture of the 9th century in Europe. I highly recommend it.



Tune in next time for the continuation of my list!

Dickens and Why I Love His Work

Charles Dickens

Continuing on last week's theme, I'd like to talk about another author I admire almost as much as Terry Pratchett (although not actually because I admire very few people as much as I admire Terry Pratchett): Charles Dickens.
Charles Dickens is best known in America and probably also the rest of the world for writing a lot of long books that people have to read in school. "Dickensian" has become by and large a byword for something complicated, depressing and Victorian. Is that stereotype correct? In a large part, I think not.
One of the things I look for in a book or book series is whether or not the author's personality shows in their writing. I enjoy books that are unique in that they convey in some way the spirit of the author. For example, reading Terry Pratchett's books gives you a fairly clear portrait of the type of person Terry Pratchett is. Dickens's books are filled with moments when his own opinions and character show through. Just from having read several of his books, I can tell that he is witty, opinionated, and wildly anti-establishment, at least for a Victorian.

Mr. Bumble, Dickens's idea of a
government representative

 In Oliver Twist, Dickens constantly takes shots at the British government, and particularly the system for dealing with the desperately poor that was in place at the time. All the authority figures in the book, including Mr. Bumble the parish beadle (beadle: a lay official of a church or synagogue who may user, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational, or ceremonial duties) and the members of the board of directors of the workhouse where Oliver grows up, are corrupt, bumbling idiots. They are also generally aggressive and completely unsuitable for dealing with the plight of the poor. Clearly, this portrayal is not usual for the Victorian period, when draconian measures and institutions such as workhouses and debtor's prisons tended to be par for the course. Dickens's own experiences, including the time his father spent in debtor's prison, color his writing in a  unique way.

Mr. and Mrs. Mantalini, two very funny
characters from Nicholas Nickelby

Humor is also a big component in most of Dickens's works. For each tragic death of a mentally challenged orphan cripple, there is a scene with a outlandishly debauched rake and his overemotional wife. All of the supporting characters in Dickens's books tend to be slightly overblown. Whatever characteristics they have are emphasized tenfold. This means that yes, the tragedy and misery is incredibly horrible (although probably not far from the truth of the time), and yes, all the villains are completely evil, but also all the funny characters are very, very funny. For example, Fanny Squeers, the spurned love interest in Nicholas Nickelby, is hilarious in her pretensions and overblown attentiveness to Nick. Many characters in Dickens's works are in fact fairly good and cheerful, like Mr. Brownlow in Oliver Twist and Scrooge's sister in A Christmas Carol; readers just seem to remember the wicked characters, like Fagin and Ralph Nickelby. 

The first time I read A Christmas Carol, I couldn't believe that it was really written by Charles Dickens, with his reputation for the depressing and miserable. Oliver Twist, too, is a mixture of misery and happiness that almost completely belies Dickens's reputation. It is strange that one of the most famous writers in the English language is so poorly represented in the public consciousness. I absolutely adore Charles Dickens's writing, and I think if more people judged it for themselves instead of going off his reputation, they would as well.

Discworld and Why I Love It

As some of you might know, my favorite author of all time is an English author named Terry Pratchett. I've never been able to convince any of my friends to read his books with any lasting success, but nothing in the world will make me dislike his Discworld series.

Terry Pratchett

Discworld books are not nearly as popular in the United States as they are in Britain. Before the advent of the Harry Potter series, Terry Pratchett was the most successful living writer in Britain. There are Discworld conventions, Discworld video games, Discworld stores- there's even a town in England that is officially the sister city of the main city on the Discworld, Ankh-Morpork. 

But why do I, personally, love Discworld so much? Because I do love it, that's certain. I recently bought a copy of The Compleat Ankh-Morkpork (misspelled on purpose) that came with an enormous fold-out map of the city. I also own The Discworld Companion, Science of the Discworld, and The Wit and Wisdom of the Discworld, as well as of course many of the actual Discworld books. 

I love Discworld because Terry Pratchett captures for me the perfect balance between absurd and serious. Most of his books appear comedic at the start, and for some people, read like straight farcical humor. But there's more to those books than comedy. I tend to distrust anyone who says those books are satire or comedy, because they aren't just that. In Night Watch, a book that borrows heavily from Les Mis and is undoubtedly funny, Terry Pratchett uses humor to make his readers consider the nature of revolution and rebellion. Inside all the jokes and references are lines like "don't put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That's why they're called revolutions," and "we who think we are about to die will laugh at anything”. Funny at first, but just think about them. Central to the plot of Night Watch is the idea that our ideological fervor and hope for the future is absolutely useless in the face of stark reality. Night Watch is the story of a "glorious revolution" that fails. It fails completely. Much like in Les Mis, the people of Ankh-Morpork don't rise. Pratchett uses humor to disguise his message until you are ensnared. He tricks you into thinking about important things.

Death in Soul Music

 In Thud!, another book featuring Sam Vimes, the commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Pratchett discusses war, prejudice and the violence inherent in every person. Death is also a major character in most Discworld novels. Pratchett introduces Death as a detached anthropomorphic personality who amusingly tries to understand human life, and speaks entirely in capital letters. Death is not scary, nor is he inhuman, entirely. But he unfailingly does his duty. In Mort, he rightly says, "THERE'S NO JUSTICE. THERE'S JUST ME." 

Pratchett's attitude towards Death is uniquely influenced by his own situation. Several years ago, he was diagnosed with swift-onset Alzheimer's disease. In 2009, he announced his intention to commit assisted suicide once his disease reaches a critical point. When he was knighted for "services to literature", he chose as his motto "Noli Timere Messorem", which in Latin means "Don't Fear the Reaper". 

But I didn't need to know those things about him to understand how he feels about death, life, and humanity. All those opinions are woven into the funny, dark, magnificent book series, the Discworld.

This week, we got to work with the British kids! We made short, 1-minute movies with props that we chose at random. I worked with Olivia Snell, who also stayed at my house (and was wonderful). We got our prop, a large blue-green stone, and also a diamond ring, because no one else chose that one. We actually ended up using the ring more than the stone, because that was just the way our plot developed. We had a plot originally that involved fairies, but because we couldn't do the special effects we needed for that, we had to discard that idea. We needed a fair amount of extras for this film, and organizing that was fairly difficult. We stayed after school one day to film, and got all the footage we needed in one day, which was nice. The most important thing I learned from this experience was the importance of working fast when getting shots. We finished our project early and had a lot of time to fine-tune it because we got all our shooting done in one day. I hope that for CAP Hollywood we will be able to finish shooting in a similarly quick way.

Takoma Park is certainly not the only city nearby with public art, but it is unique in the volume and quality of its art.