Wow...I can't believe that we only have four more days until the end of the school year. Time has really gone by so fast. Do you know what that means? Summer break is happening in four days! This summer, I don't want to spend anytime just laying around the house, I want to get some things and achieve some goals for myself. Summer break is a time for us to take a break from the long school years and get ourselves prepared for the next school year that follow. So, I think I should spend my summer learning and improving on some skills. For this summer, my goals are to maintain all of the things that I've learned in Algebra, continue media production as a hobby, and to have fun.
    First, my goal is to maintain all of the lessons that I have learned in Algebra this year. Every time that summer comes along I always forget about 25% of all of the things that I've learned in my classes. I hope that this situation does not happen for Algebra. It is such an important class for me that I can't afford to forget some of the lessons learned. From functions all the way to quadratic functions, I don't want to lose all of the things that I learned. Hopefully, next year I can advance to geometry and I know that if I forget the math foundations that Algebra has to offer, I'll probably have a hard time trying to master the skills in a higher math class. So, to achieve this goal, I need to reference the old math books and review once in awhile.
    Second, I hope to continue media in some way. I didn't sign up for media as a freshman, but media is a good hobby to do on the side. Taking pictures and video is like an art form that I can do on the side of the main responsibilities that I have. It would be a complete waste if I don't continue media in some way. Just like algebra, forgetting everything I learned in media is like forgetting how to sleep, you would have lost a useful skill if you forgot how to do it. All of the experiences, memories, and lessons learned would be thrown in the trash and flushed down the toilet if I don't do something. To achieve this goal, I'm going to take pictures following the composition techniques, make videos just for the fun of it, and practice all of the skills learned in media. The only obstacle to this is that I don't have an editing software to use to make videos.
    Finally, my main goal for this summer is to relax and enjoy this break from the school year that we had. I want to do things this summer. I really want to enjoy this summer break. I want to learn how to cook, draw some pictures, and even ride a bike around Kauai. My main goal for this summer is to avoid being lazy and just sitting around the house all day. Do you guys remember that blog about how I get my information? Well, Popular Mechanics offers DIY project to do for kids. It's always on the very last page of the issue. While going back through some past issues that I have, I stumbled on a water ballon launcher project. I don't know which issue it was on so I'll have to go back. If I don't find it, I want to attempt to at least try one of the projects that they have to offer. There are a ton of things that I can find to do during the summer. These are just a few of the things that I want to do that will help me avoid wasting my summer on the couch.
    In conclusion, summer is quickly going to come by and that will be my break to transition from middle school to high school. Before entering Kauai High, why not learn some new skills? My goals are mainly to remember the lessons I've learned this year, create new hobbies that will last for years, and avoid being lazy. Just like always, I hope that every summer will be better and better than the previous. I want to do so much and I know that I have a whole lot of time to get these goals done. 

    This is probably the hardest blog that I'm going to write. This is my last blog for the year. After all of the things that I have written for you audience, it's time for my year in CKTV media to end. I can't believe that I'm already sitting here writing my final blog to you. One suggestion that was made to end the school year is to write a last will and testament before I leave Chiefess. So let me start by saying that I have accumulated very little assets during my year here in CKTV. To start, I would like my laptop computer number 20 to go to one of the new incoming students to media. This laptop has been with me throughout the whole school year and helped me a lot with completing the projects that had to be done during the past few quarters. One thing that I would not like to be shared is my quietness. It's not a good characteristic to have in media. All new incoming students need to speak out and share their ideas out in class. Another asset that I would like to share out is my excitement that I have to this class. My excitement should be shared throughout all of the incoming newbies. This excitement will drive them to do the very best they can in media. It will motivate them to do more and experience more in this class. If the keep this excitement for the whole year, they will have a really awesome time. Before I go I would like to give my thanks to Mr. M. This is the final words that I want to leave this blog with. I really appreciate that I decided to joined your class as an 8th grader. My only regret is that I didn't join in the 6th grade. You were right, I accomplished so much in just this one year alone. With your help, I traveled to New York (one item crossed off my bucket list), my team and I won second place in the Nat Sounds competition, and my first quarter story was able to go onto Hiki No. This really leaves me with the "What if" question. What if I joined earlier? What would I have accomplished. There aren't too many teachers out there that runs a class like yours. A lot of the classes at Chiefess don't even have the student mentor style of teaching that you run. I've learned so much and it really makes me sad that I only have 4 more days in media, it's really been a great run and I hope that CKTV media will continue to thrive and represent Kauai just as it has for all of the years that it's been at Chiefess. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!

    We are about 1 week away till the end of school and we are scheduled to be editing our videos at this time. Personally, I don't like editing, it's such a long process and it is very time consuming. I'd rather spend a couple of hours filming a video than spending a couple of hours editing a video. Though, after editing a couple of videos an watching this short video about editing, I realize that editing is just as important as filming. Without editing, a video wouldn't have been made and all that you have is just multiple shots of scattered film. Editing is like the process of retouching what we filmed. It helps convey the story of a video and guides the shots into the correct order that represents the story well. We all need to know when to cut a shot and also know what shots we can use for a film. Editing is made just for that. Now I see that shooting and editing are two separate arts that combine together to make the art of video production. This video here talks about what an editors feel while  they edit an interview. Now I understand, that there are so many crucial decisions made while editing.

Here's the Video:
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    To all of the new incoming students to media, I'd like to congratulate and welcome you to CKTV. Even though I won't see you next year, I'd like to leave this year with some advice for you to be prepared for the years to come in media. I'm a first year student in media and because I'm an eighth grader, this will be my first and last year in this class. To begin, there is a whole list of advice that I could tell you but most of it comes from common sense. Of course, you have to meet your deadlines and avoid procrastination, but there is a little more to this class than just working with cameras and creating videos. The advice that I'm going to tell you is lessons that I've learned throughout this school year and advice that I should've gotten before I started the year.
    First, the one most important advice that I could give you is to make as many friends in this class as you can. In fact, make it a goal for yourself to create close friendships with every single one of the students in media. This year, the whole focus of the class was to create an Ohana. I really agree with this because the closer that we got, the more open and cooperative we were with each other. This really helped especially during the STN competition when we really had to depend on each other. Making the class feel like an Ohana made this school year a special one. When you make friends, you get to meet new people and have buddies that will support you during your years here at Chiefess. Sometimes, the closest friendships can last for a lifetime. I learned that being social and speaking to new people is a good thing. I met some really wonderful people during my year in CKTV. It was so much fun that we all became friends, this made the trip and the WHOLE year a really exciting and joyous memory. So remember, making friends will make your CKTV experience a whole lot better.
    Secondly, cherish every single moment that you have in CKTV media. I really regret having spent only one year in media. If I started media in the sixth grade, I would've had three whole years of great memories. There are so many things that you will do in media that you would want to do again. Time is one of the things that you don't have control of in media. Soon, the year will start for you and in a zap you'll find yourself sitting in class already editing your fourth quarter video. All of the fundraisers and events that we had was so much fun for me. Even though it was a lot of hard work, it all leads to the major event that will come, which is the STN Competition that will be held in Anaheim next year. Once the competition is over, your time in media will will get less and less and it will feel like the year is over already. So, everything that you do that leads up to the competition, live in the moment because all of the fun time will go by really quick. Remember to just enjoy yourself in the years that you are in media.
    Finally, learn as much as you can in during your years in media. Learning about cameras and video production is one thing in this class, but learning life's little lessons is another. Before entering this class, I thought that it would be just like any other and there would be plans for the day and we just learn about cameras every period. Boy, was I wrong, the whole process of the newbies getting mentored by returnees changed my whole perspective of what learning really is. I thought that in school, we mostly learn from our teachers, through media, I learned that when you work together with anyone who is experienced, so many lessons can be learned. In my case, I learned a lot from not just my partner but all returnees in media. Having the whole mentoring process in media really helped me understand media because I could communicate with many of my peers in my age group. Besides the mentoring, I learned a lot from all of the events that we did. From the fundraisers to the trip and everything else in between, I learned so much. I learned how to be social, how to work in groups, and strengthened many skills. I learned from the students, the teacher, and even the media parents. So, don't expect to leave this class without a few life lessons up your sleeve.
    In conclusion, you will have a blast in this class. You'll make so many memories and so many friends. These three pieces of advice are just a few lessons that I've learned along the way. As long as you stay on schedule and don't slack off, you'll be in great shape. I can't explain in words how much this class will touch you. There aren't many classes that offers so much. You even get to go on a trip to the mainland. I hope that none of you signed up to this class just because of the trip. I hope you all signed up for all of the lessons that you're going to get out of it. You're going to have so much fun and I hope you make the most out of your media experience. I also hope that my advice helps you get prepared a little. Media is just a class that you'll have to experience to understand how much fun I had. Good luck Newbies!
   

    Boy, do I have a pretty interesting Youtuber to talk about today. Meet Colin Furze, the inventor, filmmaker, builder. His videos focus mainly on things that he builds that would be considered amazing to the fellow audience. He built things such as a hover bike, turbo engine stroller, and a thermite launcher. To top it off he has no background in engineering. His Youtube videos are dangerous and that't part of the excitement. He shows in his videos the fun that science can offer. He is one of the Youtube channels that actually show Youtube's roots. Instead of putting timed skits or videos that have a lot of production value in it, he makes videos that show what the audience wants to see. His channel shows that there are good things in Youtube to watch that was made purely for the audience. Kids in school may think that science class is a boring subject, but through his videos Colin Furze literally shows how "fire" science can be.

    We are about three weeks away from the last day of school. The fourth quarter is already halfway through. That means our videos are due in a couple of weeks as well. The remaining number of weeks that we have left will go in a snap and I hope that we have enough time. So far, my partner and I have finished our TIAS and Script, now comes the part where we actually go out and film. As much as I like to film and use the equipment, filming is the most time consuming part in the process of creating a video. We have to worry about production value, scheduling, and the amount of time we have left. In my opinion, I think we are a little behind schedule. The three reasons why we are a little behind is because of time, scheduling, and actor availability.
    The one biggest problem that we have is time. As mentioned earlier we have three weeks left until the last day of school arrives. So that means, we spent 6 of those weeks just trying to plan out our video idea. As long as 6 weeks may sound, it went by in a zap. Today, I looked over the goals that I had for the fourth quarter and I noticed that one of them was to use my time wisely. Yet here I am, writing a blog about how I'm not using my time wisely. We met all of the deadlines such as the TIAS and the Script, but we did not complete half of our filming for the video yet. Our video idea is really big and we may have overthought the amount of time that we need to finish it. We spent all of this time trying to plan the video, that we we didn't take into account the amount of time that we really need to actually start filming.
    Second, we had some issues on scheduling days to start filming. Our video is on school stereotypes and the different people you see around school. So we needed to schedule times that we could film. Apart from that, we needed to have actors in our film, plus a teacher, plus a class to use as the setting for our video. We really over planned our video. We knew that there wouldn't be too many actors available to be in our film and we most importantly needed a teacher that is willing to be an actor as well. The planning for our video took quite some time into our schedule because we were over thinking which teacher we could use and which students would be available to act for us. We spent all this time trying to think of people that would say yes because it's really a bummer for someone to say no in being a part of our video. I think if we didn't spend all this time over thinking our video, we could be about 3/4 the way done in filming and make it in time to start editing. 
    Finally, we had some troubles with actor availability. This paragraph ties in with the second one because of how it was kind of a challenge to find actors. Getting student actors was a little than trying to find a teacher to act. We know how busy teachers are and we didn't want to take away their valuable time for them to act in our video. I have to admit that we may have procrastinated when it came to finding a teacher to act for us in a video. We created a whole list of teachers that could possibly be in our video but we never did try to ask them to be in our video. Finally, we had the idea to ask Mr. Shanklin to be the teacher that could act in our video. That would also mean that we could possibly use his class to be the setting of our video. So we asked Mr. Shanklin and fortunately he agreed to be a part of our video. When we first started filming in his class, it was a perfect environment. We encountered some minor problems and we can fix that. So if you're reading this, thank you Mr. Shanklin and the students that were willing to act for us.
    In conclusion, I think that we are behind schedule to complete our video. Our biggest obstacle is time. We spent all this time planning for the video that we forgot about the time that we need to film. Also, we took such a long time trying to find a teacher in our film that we completely forgot about the schedules we made to complete the film. This coming week we are going to really try to catch up on schedule, once this week passes, we only have about two more weeks until the year is over. We still have to edit the video and we can also edit while shooting. If filming isn't done by this week then that's going to be a huge problem. We should have followed the schedule and complete filming yesterday. I know we can catch up and we're very fortunate to have actors that are willing to give up their time.

    In the previous blog, I talked about how music can change our lives, now, it's time to talk about how cinematography and music work together to visually see our favorite songs. Many hit songs have made it to become a music video, it's time for the singers to show off their acting skills. Instead of listening to music, why not see it? Music videos makes song a lot more captivating. It helps bring life to the story that a song has. The shots on many music videos creates a video that looks very dramatic. This helps draw in the audience and make them connect with the song. Instead of having an auditory experience, listeners can have a visual experience of a song. We can see a song and understand the story that it has to tell.

Here's the Video: 

    The death of legendary musician Prince dealt a major blow in the world of music. The world lost a very talented man and extraordinary singer. With hits such as "Purple Rain", "1999", "Little Red Corvette", and "When Doves Cry", Prince will never be forgotten. His death lead many to think about music and how it impacts our world. Music itself is one of the greatest motivations in life. Not only does it make us feel good, it helps us release our expressions and bring out the best of ourselves. Music has been part of the human culture for a very long time and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. For this weeks blog, I'm going to reflect on the power of music and how everyone including me can be touched by just listening to a single song.
    To begin, just like everyone else, I like listening to music. Whenever I'm doing homework, chores, or just on my free time, I'm listening to music. What's kind of unusual is that my taste in music is for songs that are thirty to twenty years older than me. I love listening to songs from the 70's and 80's (sometimes 60's). The type of genre that I like to listen to is Soft Rock. The difference between Soft Rock and Hard Rock is that Soft Rock focuses more on lyrics than instrumental beat. In my opinion, many songs in our time focuses more on the instruments than the actual words. It's like the number of words in a song is getting less and less every time a new hit is released. That's the reason why I listen to Soft Rock from the 70's/80's, the songs are really stories that have a much deeper meaning in them. Artists like Billy Joel, Christopher Cross, James Taylor, the Eagles, and the Beegees, all have a story in their songs. That's why I enjoy listening to old music just to hear the story that it tells us.
    When I listen to music, my favorite artists are the Beegees. Whenever I put on my headsets, the first song that I listen to is "Staying Alive" by the Beegees. From their high falsettos, to their great harmonies, the Beegees is my favorite band hands down. They are the reason why I enjoy old music a lot. When I first listened to the Beegees, I knew that Soft Rock was the ideal genre for me. In fact, I've listened to so much of the Beegees, that I can isolate all three voices from Barry, Robin, and Maurice when they harmonize in their songs. They've had so many hits that they are a common band to refer to when you think about disco songs. They even had their music go on to a motion picture, which was "Saturday Night Fever". It's too bad that there is only one surviving Beegee left, nonetheless, I still continue to listen to their music when I need inspiration or motivation.
    Finally, I turn to Soft Rock because of how it's song tells a story. I can feel the singer's emotions whenever I listen to Soft Rock. The lyrics and the singing tone makes the listener feel something after the song is done. There is always a deeper message in Soft Rock songs, a message that is the listener's responsibility to decode. A connection to daily life will always be made whenever I listen to Soft Rock songs. It motivates me and makes me feel good whenever a song ends. To me, Soft Rock songs is like a clever way to tell a story that includes instruments. Soft Rock is like the ideal genre that harmonizes lyrics and instruments into one great song. These types of songs bring me to another world that helps me hear things in a much brighter perspective.
    In conclusion, music is a huge part of everyone's life. It touches us and helps us deal with problems. Music always finds ways to bring us up when we're down. Without music, the world would be a very dull, lonely, plain, and bland place. There would be no life or enthusiasm. We can learn so much from music and it can help us spread so much. In a way, everyone has a connection with each other because of music. We all listen to it and we all enjoy it. Now if you excuse me, I have some Beegees to listen to.

     Last week, I did a freebie blog on mistakes that major motion pictures forget to correct before it reaches the big screen. Now, it is time to talk about some of the mistakes I made throughout my life. Some of the mistakes that I made are a little personal for me to talk about but others are just plain silly that I have to talk about it. I've made so many mistakes in my life and I'm glad that I made them. I'm glad that I made them because of the things that I've learned from them. I've learned a lot of life's virtues just by mistakes alone. I've learned patience, generosity, and even the lesson of not having any regrets in life. Three mistakes that I've made in my life is rushing during a robotics competition, not buying many souvenirs during the STN trip, and not joining media in the 6th grade.
    To start, I learned the value of patience during my first robotics competition back in elementary school. I can be a pretty patient person but that moment in the competition made me really, really stressed. The robotics competition was the very first school related competition that I've been to. So I really didn't know what to expect. In the robotics competition, there are a set of challenges that are made for each individual team to participate in. There's a speech segment, a skit segment, a teamwork segment, and the actual team vs. team segment. Every segment except for the team vs. team was very relaxed. Our team did well and we really felt life one unit. Then, the team vs. team competition started. This is the main part of the competition, the part where the robots are put into use. Just like every other team, we practiced after school to perfect our programming and making sure that the robot does what it is tasked to do. The only difference between the competition and practice is that 50 other schools are watching how you perform. So the stress level escalates very high in a rather fast rate. One false move and your decision could result in success or fail. The way that this part of the competition works is by students lining up in correspondence to which task that the robot must complete. We all did good and there were times when the robot did not execute the task completely. So, when it came to my turn to start the robot, I was nervous. My hands were shaking and I had trouble just walking up to the platform board. To start the robot, you have to place it in a safe zone, which is the designated area to place it on the board. There are a set of lines that surround the "safe zone" square. I remember that I had to place my robot on the 5th line for it to reach the target that it had to go to. Also, I had to put it at a certain degree because of how I programmed it. I did this perfectly 3 times in a row during practice, but something wasn't right during the competition. I felt rushed and really uncomfortable that I didn't have the mind to be patient while placing the bot. I just counted the line that it had to be at and forgot to angle the robot so it aligns with the target. So when the robot performed it's function, it went the wrong way. We had two opportunities to do the robot but the second time ended up in fail as well. I was really bummed that I didn't make it. I learned that whenever in stressful situations, patience is the key to success. If you rush things, it won't work out, so patience really does go a long way. We ended up in 4th place and with just a couple more points, we could have gone to third and qualify for the state championship.
    Second, one mistake that I made was not buying enough souvenirs during the STN trip. As much fun and exciting memories I had on the trip. I didn't bring much home to remember it. I didn't want to buy too many things on the trip because I was too worried on money conservation. I thought that if I buy too many things then I would run out of money to last for two weeks. Another problem that I had with buying things was the weight limit on my suitcase. This was my first time to the mainland so I didn't know what to expect. I packed up so many things that it was to heavy for my old suitcase. So I settled for a suitcase that was too big now that I think about it. I didn't really think of packing so that there is enough room for things that I possibly would want to buy. Now that I think about the trip, I realized that not buying too many souvenirs was the biggest regret on the trip. At least I was able to bring some things, such as a replica of the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. Also, I bought a shirt for my mom and some trinkets for my brother. I wish a bought more so I could give things to my grandparents and just to remember the trip. I learned not to have any regrets which is something that I'm still working on today.
    Finally, one mistake that I made is something that I just found out not to long ago. That mistake is not joining media in the sixth grade. I explained in an earlier blog why I didn't join in the sixth grade. The reason is due to the fact that media is an advanced class. Now, I learned that just because something is advanced, doesn't mean it should prevent us from doing it. Throughout this year, I learned a lot and I think that if I was in media for three years, I would be a much more different person just by all of the experiences that we are exposed to. Not joining media in sixth grade is a huge regret. Despite of all of the work that's put into it, media is a fun class to be in. Just thinking about this makes me wonder how much I would've learned if I stayed in this class for three years instead of one. I wonder how much I would've accomplished. Just like the las mistake I made about souvenirs, not joining media taught me that having regrets in life sucks.
    In conclusion, I've made many mistakes throughout my life. No one is perfect and that includes me. Many mistakes that I've made taught me so many life lessons. That's one of the best ways that we remember our life lessons, it's through all of the mistakes that we've made. The bad consequences that come from our silly actions help us become better people. The biggest mistake that one could make in their lifetime is not learning from their mistakes and having the same mistake happen continuously.

    The world is full of important news, why not make fun of it? That is the main goal of late night talk shows. Starting at around 9 o'clock, the talk shows start, and the hosts begin their monologue. The monologue is one of the main events of the show. It determines whether the audience wants to change to another show, or keep watching this one. The monologue covers a variety of current events. News such as politics all the way to sporting events and everything in between. Instead of telling the news like any other news anchor, the hosts adds their own twist to the news. What starts off as something important, ends up to being a joke for the whole world to laugh at. After the monologue, the show starts off with their first guest. Guests varies from celebrities to people that are the topic of popular conversations. Instead of just interviewing the celebrity and asking questions, the show makes the celebrity play a game or a special challenge with the host. This adds more action to just a regular interview that you see on the news. This helps promote the celebrity or person and the event or movie that their sponsoring. After a couple of interviews with celebrities, the host moves on to doing some things for the show. The host does segments that adds more of a comedic twist to the show. They could do something such as answering fan mail, or reading tweets, or even going down to a dojo to practice Tae Kwon Do. Closer to the end of the show, they end it with a finale that leaves the audience with a good feeling of the show. The finale could be a skit or a game that includes the audiences participation. Even viewers at home are drawn in to the feeling of being a part of it all. It takes a lot of work for a Late Night Show to go right. The camera angles must be specific. If not, it would be like a regular news cast. Late Night Shows need good writers that will make the audience laugh with any joke. If Late Night Shows didn't exist, we would all view news as something that is plain and boring. With Late Night Shows, we can see another perspective of news and it relaxes our worry of bad news. We can always laugh something off with Late Night Shows. 

Here's the Video:
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In Honor of Mistakes: