I painted 'Starry Night' on a boomerang (oops)

Carrying on from our study on migration, we had to paint an Australian aboriginal boomerang. We were supposed to paint it so it told a story, using common Aboriginal methods of painting and abstracting along with using the colour scheme they used: red, yellow, black. 

My boomerang is a reproduction of the infamous painting 'Starry Night' by Dutch post-impressionist (impressionism is a form of art, usually recognised by the use of the paint strokes) Vincent Van Gogh. This is my favourite painting, it is supposed to represent the view from an asylum in the stunning Southern France.

This isn't really an aboriginal painting, I know, but I had fun doing it and I'm pretty proud of how it came out. I've painted on a lot of mediums but I have to admit I've never painted on a boomerang before. I would try and abstract it through the use of dots, if I got the opportunity to do this again - which I hope I do get, because this was really fun to do. If only we got to paint in every other class *hint hint* 

As for the other side of my boomerang, I only had one quarter of the period to complete it, so I quickly painted some simple clouds on a sky. It's not my best work but it looks fine. 

One side of my boomerang↓↓↓↓ 

And the other side ↓↓↓↓

SCIENCE: Dry cell vs wet cell batteries

Did you know there are two kinds of batteries, and they are both powered in very different ways? These different kinds of batteries are called wet cell batteries and dry cell batteries. The main difference between these batteries is that dry cell batteries get their power from an electrolyte paste, whereas wet cell batteries get their power from a liquid electrolyte.

What are electrolytes?
Electrolytes are substances that have the ability to conduct and generate energy and power, so they're used in batteries. They're also found in the human bodies, animal bodies, and atoms.

Although both really good at their job, wet and dry cell batteries are used for different things. Wet cell batteries obviously contain liquid, so they usually stick to powering things that remain upright such as buses, airplanes, cars, motorcycles, and those sorts of things.
Whereas dry cell batteries are a bit more versatile and can be flipped and moved around easily. That's why we find dry cell batteries in things such as mobile phones. Furthermore, dry cell batteries can last for around 5 years, unlike wet cell batteries which don't exceed a life of over around 2 years.

Wet cell battery















Dry cell battery

THE HUNGER GAMES FILM STUDY: Costumes in film

Atmosphere/mood: how you feel in the surroundings.

1. Reaping scene, district 12
Simple, faded, raggedy clothing (dresses and skirts for the girls, shirts and shorts for the boys) that are a bland grey and dull blue in colour from being washed. These clothes are their 'Sunday best' because it is important to look presentable on reaping day. Moreso, the clothes act as 'uniforms' so everyone in the district looks the same, possibly to be able to recognise them. 
Whereas Effie Trinket, from the Capitol, her clothes and makeup are bright and colourful. The girls almost exclusively have their hair braided, the boys have short, crew cut hair. 

2. The Capitol
Everyone in the capitol wears glamorous, colourful, futuristic clothing, the director made it weird on purpose to represent how fashion has changed in the years in Panem. Makeup is very 'extra' and excessive, clothing is big, and hats are tall and vibrant. 'Over the top, loud and bright' fashion is in. Everyone looks very different and unique, in contrast to District 12. Men and women both wear makeup and it was common for them to wear coloured wigs. More effort and technology has been used to create the Capitol's clothing, whereas District 12 had really poor quality clothing and shoes. 


3. Beginning of the arena
-Dull colours: green, blacks, grey, etc.
- Jackets, cargos, t-shirts and hiking boots are worn.
-All look the same, because it doesn't matter what they wear when they die, makes it easier to watch them be killed. 
-Lightweight clothing
-Clothing matches environment and climate (humid)

~Seel paragraph~

In the infamous reaping scene, costume and makeup is used effectively to demonstrate the imbalance between the rich and the poor of Panem. For instance, the children of District 12 are dressed in almost-identical, dull, and over-worn clothing. In contrast, capitol citizen Effie Trinket arrives decked in a bright purple dress, an enormous matching headpiece and excessive make-up. This makes the audience feel sorry for the people of District 12 because Effie is, essentially, a symbol of wealth. We see that not everyone in Panem lives in poverty. The director did this to show the hard life of those in Katniss's home district. Coinciding with this is Effie's behaviour. She is loud, happy and confident whereas the people of the district are timid and quiet. This can be juxtaposed to the scene where Katniss and Peeta arrive in the Capitol. In this scene, everyone else is rich and clean, while they are the different ones. 

Digital technology blog link

https://sites.google.com/hornby.school.nz/digi-tech-site/home

Hey everyone, I've made a Google Site with all of my digital technology work on it, feel free to visit it and leave some comments, I really appreciate each and every one of them :) 

THE HUNGER GAMES: Settings in film

THE HUNGER GAMES FILM STUDY: Music in film

Track1
-Early in the movie, sort of an intro music
-Strumming a string instruments, slightly fast
-Unnerving sort of tone




Track2
-Picks up pace, tempo is faster than Track 1, gives the audience a 'moving' sort of feel
-Strumming, flute, tambourine: very unique instruments
-Futuristic, exotic
-Like you're going on the journey
-Builds up in anticipation, gets louder and slightly faster
Used when Katniss was hunting


Track3
-Sad sounding, like someone (Rue?) has just died
-Montage music? 
-Slow violin music
 (can't find the link to this music, oops)

Track4
-Deep, slow and sad
-Double bass instrument used, violins possibly
-Triumphant yet there's something 'wrong' 
-Gets faster and higher as the end nears
-Played in the reaping scene


~Mr Taylors lesson~

Song1:
Happy
Carefree
Chill
Fast tempo
Packed with major chords
Jack Johnson-vibes

Song2:
Sad, solemn, sombre
Slower tempo 
Driving down the highway, sad, vibes
Predominantly minor chords to give a sinister effect

CHORDS
Major: rich, full
Minor: sinister, a much different feel 

DYNAMICS (volume)
Louder: montage, to focus on the music, to portray strong emotion
Quieter: subtle, to focus on the scene and not the music itself


~The reaping scene~

As the tributes walk in: 
No music or dialogue as the children walk in, to get the audience to focus on the scene. 'Deathly silent' is a good word to describe it, everyone is feeling quite sad and sombre. A sense of realism, suspense (what's going to happen?), is portrayed through the use of silence. 

Propaganda film: 
The music is 'triumphant', uses minor chords, suspenseful. At a medium tempo, it is neither sad nor happy. Quieter and subtle, as not to draw the audience's attention

As the reaping happens: 
-Silence as Effie picks the card, suspenseful. Combined with the use of a close-up. 
-Eerie silence as Primrose walks up. A dutch tilt is used, along with silence, to let the audience know something isn't quite right. 
Silence as the three-finger-salute is used. 
-When Peter Malarkey, a new character, name is announced, the slow, sad, sinister and subtle violin music is used to portray how Peeta, and the District, is probably feeling at that moment: anxious, nervous, sad.
-Music is used to introduce Peeta, makes the audience feel sorry for him, as he is isolated, from the poorest District. The triumphant horn portrays a chance of victory.
-Minor chords used predominantly

~SEEL Paragraph~

In the reaping scene, music and silence are used judiciously yet effectively, to portray a foreboding (something evil coming) atmosphere. More specifically in this scene, the tributes from District 12 are selected for the games and we see Katniss volunteer as tribute for her sister. The male tribute selected was Peeta Mellark. Silence is used when the glamorous Effie Trinket draws out and reads the tributes names to make us feel like the moment is real, to make us focus, and draw out the suspense of the scene. The director has done this to make the audience feel worried about who will be chosen. Music was used to introduce the character of Peeta when his name is drawn. The music predominantly consists of minor chords and a slow tempo, which makes the audience feel sorry for him. This, combined with close-up shots of Peeta's worried facial expressions, draw the viewers in. 
(Include link to either next paragraph or another time in the film) 

HUNGER GAMES: Workshop 1

In 'The Hunger Games,' camera shots and angles are used effectively to show the theme of power. We see this when President Snow is addressing the crowds at the Tribute parade. In this scene, the director uses a low angle, over-the-shoulder, extreme wide-shot to show that Snow has control of the parade. The purpose of this is to introduce the antagonist character and show the power and control he has over others, including Katniss. Coinciding with this is the use of lighting, focusing on the tributes and Snow to show that they are the most figures in the scene. This can be juxtaposed to when the tributes, Katniss and Peeta, reclaim power from Snow in the arena by threatening to eat the nightlock berries and robbing Snow of his victor.