Lightning & Colour | Wonder Film Study | Writing

Atmosphere - how you feel in a situation. (Mood)

1. Scene - Auggies first day at school - when Auggie walks into class everyone is staring at him. When he asks to sit down Amos says the sit is saved. 

•  Angle/Shot - long shot/eye level of class, closeups of Auggie to see his emotional reaction.
• Lightning & Colours - Warm - makes the classroom feel safe & welcoming.
• Bright Colours -  gives the room energy and life 
• Natural light coming from the window

Lightning and Colour - colours used in the scene, e.g nature palette had colours from nature - brown eyes.

• Warm/Cold - warm makes feel safe/comfortable. The cold makes feel clean/sterile
• Bright - vibrant, jump out 
• Dull - faded, muted, blends in
• Natural - sun/moon light 
• Artificial - man-made light, e.g lightbulbs 
• Bright Colours -  gives the room energy and life 

Effect on the Viewer - happy, chilled, exciting educational, inspiring. 

Director - want to credit a happy and safe atmosphere in Mr Brownd classroom. Even though it feels this way, Julien & Amos's behaviour is unkind. 

In the scene of Auggies first day at school, lighting & colour are used to create a safe and welcoming classroom environment. For instance, bright warm colours are used on the warm walls and natural light comes through the windows to make the space look lively. This makes the audience feel excited, inspired and that space is educational and supportive for learning. This was done to show Mr Brown had created a classroom space that would be welcoming to new students like Auggie. 

Coinciding with this is the use of body language is positive.  The children and the room are sitting up and smiling and paying lots of attention they are learning ready. This reminds the viewer of the theme kindness because the lightning and colours make the room welcoming for all students. 

Rat Dissection | Science

Kamusta readers! Welcome to another blog of mine!

Last Wednesday we did a really cool and exciting experiment.  It is a Rat Dissection experiment, we gonna need to open the rat's body and find where they're organs/digestive system is located because that's what we are learning about in class. Some of us are really gross out of the bad odour of the rat. 

The tools that we used to dissect the mouse are:

• Scalpel 
• Scissors
• Tweezers 
• Pin

As far as I know, the rat's digestive system is very similar to our digestive system. 

I really love the experiment because I've got a chance to look at a rats digestive system and I've tried something really cool that's out of my comfort zone.

After the experiment, I learned a lot on the digestive system and organs of the mouse. 

Work Shop 2: Wonder | Essay

A - Fight - Jack fighting Julien because Jullien called August Pulman (Auggie) a freak 

• Teacher pulling Jack off.  - Mr Brown 
• Dutch Tilt used - shows something is not right. 
• Low Angle 
• Makes look one person smaller than the other.
• Jullien looks weak and vulnerable.

Viewer feels - Shocked - didn't expect Jacks reaction, surprised, concerned, uneasy. 

Director - Surprised, sad, worried for Jack. 

Other techniques - Music - creates atmosphere, minor, slow-motion - make more intense. 

In the film wonder, low angle shots were used effectively. This is demonstrated in the scene where Jack attacks Jullien because he called Auggie him a freak. In this scene, a low angle dutch tilt shot is used to make Jack look stronger and Jullien weak and vulnerable. This makes the audience feel shocked, surprised, and concerned because we didn't expect a violent reaction from Jack who has not be aggressive before this point. The purpose of this was to show the theme of kindness as Jack finally stands up for Auggie.  Combined with this is the use of quiet, minor music and slow motion to create an atmosphere and make it more intense. This can be contrasted to Nature Reserve fight scene where Auggie now shows kindness by standing up for Jack 

B - Fight Scene - Nature Reserve - Auggie makes friends, high 5 no plagues, Jack, Amos and others. They beat up and ran away from 7th graders. 

• Wide-angle, Long shot -  makes us feel like we are a bystander watching an important moment, the emotions are the characters, not ours. 
• Audience - joyful, proud, cheerful, ecstatic, relieved - Auggie finally is included - has friends.
• Director - shows Auggie is finally fitting in, shows the theme 'importance of friendship or kindness' 
• Other techniques - Lightning - use of shadow - silhouette on the lining the boys, feels like they are all in it together
• 
  

Wonder - Film Notes | Writing

Wonder

Intro - Close up, spaceman jumps into the shot, slow motion shot to give us the feeling we are in space.

• intro symbol of the astronaut helmet covers his face, represents the barrier August puts between himself and the world

•  music - starts quite slow but the tempo and dynamics increase to build energy in the scene. We hear a radio of ground control talking to an astronaut. 

•  next is a tracking shot as we move away from the figure. It is now a boy in a helmet jumping on the bed.

• Close-up shows us August 'reality' or view of the world but as we pull back we see the real world.

• August talking narratively and talks about his life while showing some footage. 

• 1st narrator
• Auggie
• 2nd narrator
• Via
• 3rd narrator
• Jack
• 4th narrator
• Miranda
• Last narrator
• Auggie 

• Quote = Dad/Nate: " It's like leading a lamb to the slaughter"

• 2 mins - the building suspense as we still haven't seen the boys face. We don't know what's wrong but hints it's bad - hospital scene, helmet, tags, school convo, Auggies dialogue in the voice cover.

Star Wars - a symbol of Auggie wanting people to treat him normally - a safe place in the Star Wars people so no one stares at them.

• Seen - Auggie introduces self, padawan braid,
• Star Wars character Darth Sideuous used by Jullien to make fun of Auggie.

Quote = Summer: "When being given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind."

Halloween Scene - 42:56

• Body language - change, now has head hed high, walking with a contidient stride, interacting with other
• Music - Happy/Upbeat - monster mash, fast tempo, lots of energy.
• When he hears jack saying "if I looked like him I'd kill myself" - music tempo gets slow, quiet dynamics to make us focus, use of diegetic sound - kids laughter.
• Symbols - Halloween mask - physical/barrier between others and Auggie 

Significant - We see Auggie lose faith in the idea of friendship - If Jack can be that mean behind his bach how can he trust others.

Links to the Theme - Popularity and acceptance we see this through Jack as he says what he knows Jullien wants to hear so he doesn't become the target/get picked on 

Jacks Fight Scene - 1:06:00 - 1:08:00 

• Start an eye-level - mid/medium shot, makes us feel a part of the convo.
• Sounds are diegetic 
• Low angle shot as the boys hit the ground, this makes the fight seems more dangerous. Moves to a close up the struggle. 
• Dutch tilt and low angle make Jack look more aggressive and violent. 
• Music - minor (sad), quiet dynamic - creates focus and intense, slow temp.
• Shot in slow-mo so we see the event more clearly.

Significant - Shows the theme of popularity/acceptance. Jack has learnt from his mistake and is standing up for his friend.

The Nature Reserve Fight Scene - 1:29:00 - 1:32:00 

• During fight shots used to make Auggie and friends bigger - more powerful and the bullies weak and vulnerable.
• Music has a fast tempo to built intensity.
• Friendship - Auggie finally feels accepted  when the others boys - doesn't have to hide behind a mask anymore

Significant - Auggie has grown as a character, he is now willing to stand up for himself.

Kindness- respecting others, look after each other, speak nicely, include others.

• Example 1 - Summer sits with August. This shows the theme of kindness because Summer left the kids who were saying mean things to go and sit with August who looked lonely. Kindness is important to the story overall because without it Auggie (August) will not build confidence, make friends and feel accepted. 
• Example 2 - Auggie shows kindness when he shares his answers with Jack. This links to the theme because Auggie sees someone in need, Jack isn't even his friend yet, but helps him anyway. This is important because it is the first step to enabling Auggie to make friends, being kind starts this friendship that will be important later in the film.

Importance of Family and Friendship - through this relationship Auggie and others learned the values of trust and self-confidence. They are less alone.

• Example 1 - The scene where Miranda talks about spending Christmas with the Pullmans. 
• Links to theme - Miranda is happy and included by the Pullmans.
• She is ignored/forgotten at home.
• She realises that she misses having friends/family.
• Important because makes Miranda recognise what she's lost/misses and she makes to reconnect with Via and the Pullmans. 
• Example 2 - The boys come to rescue Jack and Auggie.
• Auggie is included, has friends and is feeling trust and self-confidence.
• Ultimate example of acceptance and friendship, his classmates had his back without him asking. First time they treat him as an equal.

Being Kind vs Being Popular - doing the right thing even when your friends don't, others pressure you.

• Example 1 - Julien, picks on Auggie in front of others =, Auggie is an easy target, it makes Julien look popular when the others laugh.
• Links to theme - Julien chooses to be popular at the expense of others, chases to bully Auggie to seem popular. 
• Important because it shows choosing popular has negative outcomes. Julien eventually loses his friends, leave school and is unhappy. However, Jack, who choose kind has lots of friends, is happy and doesn't get kick out for bullying.

 "When being given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind." - Summer 

Self Directed Learners

Hi everyone this is my goal for this semester in English.

As a Self Directed Learner I
Have a positive attitude to all parts of learning including setbacks.	Know what skills I need to develop so I can learn.	Can tell others the ways how I like to learn and what suits me best.
Know what work I need to complete and set goals based on this.	Manage my learning time so I complete all tasks.	Catch up on work I miss or fall behind on in my own time.  I would not waste my time in some useless things. I’m gonna sleep early so I wouldn’t be tired at class and getting my work done at the right time. I’m not gonna mind other people businesses and focus on my one.
Ask for feedback when I am unsure.	I reflect on my learning by asking: How do I know what I’ve learned? Can I explain what I’ve learnt to someone else? Can I apply what I’ve learned when creating my work.