Foot: Romeo and Juliet

After talking about Romeo and Juliet in Dr. Pytash's class on Tuesday and hearing multiple references to the 1996 modernized film version of the play, I decided to watch it on Netflix. I did this for two main reasons. The first reason was because I was intrigued to see if it would be something I could use in my future class. The second reason (and possibly more importantly) was because Leonardo DiCaprio is in it, and he is pretty much really hot. 

As soon as the movie started, I was surprised to hear the Elizabethan English being used in this modernized version of the play. At first it seemed very out of place for the time period the movie was taking place in, and I was sure that they would revert to the more modern English at any moment. When they didn't, I was very surprised. As I watched the film, I saw how pairing the Shakespearian language with the modernized story really helped to understand the language used in the original play. I think that this is something that could really be used in a high school English classroom because it can help students get a better grasp on the language.

I also think it was good to use the original language because it lets students see that Shakespeare really is universal. He is not an old dead guy whose literature doesn't mean anything anymore. Even with the modernized setting, his original words still made sense. I think this shows that his literature is still relatable to today's audience, and students will really benefit from realizing this. 

After watching this, I think that I will use this film in my classroom. When I was in high school, my teacher used the old version that is set in Elizabethan times. I did not enjoy this version when I was in high school because, although it added a visual to the confusing language of the play, it was still not something I could relate to. By setting it in a modern time, the newer movie gives students a view of the play that they can relate to. It is also very fast-paced and at times funny, so it is something that they are used to. 

Foot- Graphic Novels

Text and Dialogue

Balloons- In Naruto, there was two different types of balloons. Round balloons seemed to be used for normal conversation. When the characters were shouting or excited about something there were no balloons, or they become jagged. In Pinocchio, all of the speech balloons are round.

Captions- In Naruto there was a couple of captions but not really anything substantial. In Pinocchio they were a little more prevalent, and they were in square boxes. They were used when Pinocchio was narrating what happened to his father.

Emanata- These were used more in Naruto. I think that this is to be expected with manga. In my experience, I have noticed that manga use a lot more of these than regular graphic novels. Naruto used a lot of lines to indicate force, anger, or action. Also there was a lot of clouds and smoke used when magic was being used. In Pinocchio, the same sorts of things were used. Swirling smoke was used for when vampires died.

Labels and signs- In Naruto, there were some signs throughout the town in Japanese letters. In Pinocchio, there was a sign above Geppetto’s shop. Signs and labels were not a big part of either of these stories.

Lettering- Much like the balloons, Naruto has different lettering for normal speech and excited speech. For normal speech, the lettering is consistent in size and boldness. When characters get excited, however, the sizing gets inconsistent and it becomes bold. In Pinocchio, all of the lettering in conversations is consistent. In both books, the lettering for sound effects is artistic and large. In Naruto, the lettering for these sound effects actually takes on the appearance of the sound being portrayed.

Sound Effects- Like most manga, Naruto has a ton of sound effects for everything that the characters are doing. This includes sounds like slurp, much, thunk, glug, and sizzle. There are also sounds that don’t really make sense such as SHF, FWP, HMF. In Pinocchio, not as many sound effects are used for random things. The sound effects in this book are used to emphasize the fighting, which is the main aspect of the story.

Visual Effects

Characters- In Naruto, the characters are very detailed and have very strong facial expressions. In Pinocchio, the characters are very shaded and dark. Their expressions are always full of fear, anger, and hate. Both of the books use the appearance of the characters to help set the mood of the story.

Objects- The objects in Naruto are very detailed. Readers are able to see a lot of the minute details of things like clothing and even toilet paper and milk cartons. In Pinocchio, objects aren’t detailed as much. As a matter of fact, there aren’t a lot of objects to be seen. The main focus is on the characters. The main object seen in this book is Pinocchio’s nose. I think this is because the main thing the reader is supposed to focus on in this book is the anger and hate in the characters.

Icons- The main icon in Naruto is the symbol on the headband. This represents what Naruto wants more than anything else—to become a ninja. In Pinocchio, the main symbol is his nose. I think it really represents the innocence that has been taken away from him through the vampire attack. He used to be this cute puppet whose nose would grow if he lied. He now has to take this and use it to fight to the death.

Scenery- Naruto focuses a lot on scenery. The scenery is very detailed. Many of the panels are extreme long shots of this scenery. The setting seems to be very important. This is opposite of Pinocchio. In Pinocchio, the scenery isn’t shown as much. A lot of times, the panel behind the characters is completely white or black. I think this is, again, to emphasize the characters.

Depicted Action- Both of these books have a lot of action in them. Naruto, for me, was sometimes hard to follow at times because of this. Many panels would be close-ups of punches or kicks. In Pinocchio, the action is much more violent. There are staked and burning vampires all throughout. This adds to the mood a lot.

Borders- The borders in both books are pretty uneventful. In Naruto, the borders are plain, black thin lines. In Pinocchio, they are thin and black, but they are not perfectly straight.

Gutters- Once again, these are fairly uneventful. In Naruto, they are all white. The horizontal ones are thick, while the vertical ones are thin. In Pinocchio, they are either black or white (contrasting with the images on the page).

Panels- In both books, panels are varied sizes of squares and rectangles.

Open Panels- The open panels are the images that I think look the coolest. They are used in both books. In Naruto, it seems that a lot of action happens in these open panels. In both books, things that are shocking or exciting appear like this. I think this is because this is where the reader’s attention focuses because it is different from the rest of the panels.

Splash- This seems to happen more frequently in Pinocchio. Much like the open panels, scenes that were overly shocking or exciting were the ones that were given this treatment. An example of this is when the Pinocchio is hung from a tree or when he stabs a vampire through the throat as he tells a lie. In Naruto, this does not happen as much. The most readers see this is in the chapter titles and when there is an exciting battle scene.

Angles and Frames

Bleed- In Naruto, there is a lot of bleeding from regular panels. There will be a panel with three distinct sides, with the fourth bleeding off the side of the page. In Pinocchio, the only time the reader sees any bleeding is when there is a full page splash.

Close-up- In both books, close-ups are used to show extreme emotion. They are also used to show action such as punches and kicks in Naruto and vampires being staked in Pinocchio.

Headshot- These seem to be used in both books when focusing on one character when they are speaking. They are also used to show emotion just like the close-up.

Head-shoulder shot- These seem to be used for the same reasons as the headshots.

Full-figure shot- In both books, full-figure shots are used when there is more than one character in the frame. Also these are used when there is some sort of action.

Long shot- In Naruto, long shots are used a lot to look at the scenery around the character. As there is not a lot of scenery in Pinocchio, the long shots deal a lot with the action of the plot.

Extreme long shots- These are used a lot more in Naruto. There are many times where there is an extreme long shot when two characters are talking. This shot is so long that the characters cannot be seen—just their speech bubbles are present among the trees or building tops.

Reverse- Both books use this technique a lot. It is used largely when there is an emotional scene where the characters are conversing. This reminds me of a movie scene where the camera is going quickly back and forth between the two characters.

Rhetorical techniques applied in texts, visuals, and design

Exaggeration- Both texts used a lot of exaggeration. In Naruto, like in most manga, emotion and sound were exaggerated by emantas and sound effects. In Pinocchio, the hatred and anger felt by Pinocchio were exaggerated by the extreme shading used in the graphics.

Empathy/identification- I think that the reader can identify with characters in both books. However, I can see this happening more in Naruto. In this book, readers can identify with Naruto’s feelings of isolation and his lack of friends. Everyone, at some point, has felt left out and unloved. In Pinocchio, I think the main thing readers would be able to identify with is the loss of a loved one and the feelings of sorrow that come with that.

Mood/tone- The mood/tone of the two books are completely different. Naruto, although it has some intense moments, is very playful and funny, while Pinocchio is very dark and menacing. This mood is portrayed wonderfully by the illustrations and shading.

Simplicity/complexity- I would say when comparing the two books, Naruto is definitely the more complex story. The mythological backstory and number of characters can get kind of confusing. This complexity is illustrated in the graphics as well. Characters, objects, and settings are drawn with a lot of detail. Pinocchio, in my opinion, is a much simpler story. While there is a small backstory, it is extremely simple and does not cause confusion. The illustrations are simple as well, using two main shades and focusing mainly on characters, with few objects and background images.

Irony/satire- In Naruto, the irony comes when the child that is hated by the townspeople and does bad in school is discovered to have great power. In Pinocchio, it is ironic that Pinocchio has to lie to do good and save those he loves.

Realism/icons/symbolism- I don’t really think that either of the story had a lot of realism. I guess you could say that some of the issues that the stories dealt with were realistic. I think that the nose in Pinocchio was symbolic, like I said before, because it represents the children’s story and shows his loss of innocence. I also think that in Naruto, the fox inside of him represents the things that he can’t change about himself.

Order/disorder- Both of the main characters have disorder in their family lives. Naruto has no family and doesn’t even have a lot of friends that he can rely on. I think that him trying to become a great ninja can be seen as him trying to create some order in his life. Pinocchio also has no family because the vampires “killed” his father. Once again, I think that the revenge that he seeks is his way for looking for this order in his life that he doesn’t have.

Juxtaposition- I believe that both books deal with the juxtaposition created between the relationships of good and evil. In Naruto, this can be seen within the main character himself. He has both good and evil inside of him. The nine-tailed fox is the evil part of him that no one likes, but he is also a very loveable young boy. In Pinocchio, the good verses evil is much more evident with him fighting vampires. I also think the ending of this book introduces a very interesting aspect—love for his father, but hate for what he has become.

Relationships- Naruto is hated by almost everyone in his village, which is one main cause of conflict. Only a few people such as Iruka and Konohamaru really seem to like him. I am interested to read the rest of the books to see how these relationships progress. Pinocchio’s strongest relationship is gone. With his father dead he is almost all alone except for the carpenter and the fairy. I think that this causes a lot of sorrow for Pinocchio.

Point of View- Naruto is told in a very childish sort of way. The personality of Naruto is the main reason for this. Sometimes it also seems like part of the story is coming from the 3^rd Hokage when background information is told. In Pinocchio, the hate and revenge can really be felt in the narration. Even when getting background information, the reader can hear the sorrow for what was lost.

Pytash- Chapter 7

It is sad that a lot of people think that "only students bent on pursuing careers in university English departments need to develop the ability to analyze literature" (150). It is even worse that many professional people believe this as well. In one of my literature classes, I learned that colleges and universities are beginning to cut the liberal arts requirements for students--some schools cutting classes down from over a hundred to less then 50. I think this is appalling. Literature can do so much for you, even if you don't plan to be an English major.

As Jago says, "literature frequently provides a context in which to examine moral dilemmas"(150). Literature, in my opinion, is the conscience of society. It raises issues that many people many not think about otherwise and brings attention to problems involving things like sexism, racism, etc. If students are not subjected to this kind of moral examination through literature in a time where morals continue to be trampled upon and many times are not taught in the home, where will they get it?

I also think that the ability to analyze literature can help students in their overall academic lives. It takes a certain kind of thought process to do this kind of work. Jago stresses the importance of focusing on things like literature analysis instead of other, sometimes more appealing assignments. She says that doing literary analysis helps students to "think analytically and to marshal thoughts in an organized fashion" (154). Assignments such as these also help to develop in the students the ability to construct arguments, which will be helpful all through their lives.

Pytash- Final Reflection

It is hard to believe that the semester is almost over. Our class has really helped me become more confident with my teaching skills as I approach student teaching. Before this class, I had never written a lesson plan, and that bothered me. It was nice finally getting to do this. I think it really helped doing this with a text that most schools have their students read and that we will most likely teach in our careers. It gave me a much better handle on the text we read and made me see how I can do this with other texts. It was also really nice to see the groups present their lesson plans to get different ideas on how to present the text.

Just like last semester, we had a pretty good textbook. I didn’t enjoy reading this book like I did Beer’s text, but I did learn a lot from it. I liked how she had an example for everything she was talking about and shared lessons and activities she used when teaching a text. I found that I didn’t agree with her on everything. After spending so much time looking at YA novels last semester, I was kind of upset at her feelings toward the genre, and I thought she was a little extreme at times in her opinions at times. Overall, however, I think reading the book was beneficial.

Comparing this class to last semester’s class, I must say that I did prefer YA lit to this one. This, however, had nothing to do with the teaching style or activities. I just liked the subject matter better last semester. I did learn so much, though, and I definitely feel more prepared for student teaching because of this class.

Foot- Final Reflection

Many of the things that I have learned in this class will help me in my future career as a teacher. I can really see myself using the multi-genre autobiography. I think that this is a great way for students to see how texts have affected their lives. I also think that it is a great way to introduce the students at the beginning of the year. Also, after reading Dr. Kist’s book, I am a lot more open to the idea of using technology in my class. I now know how to use blogs, wikis, and nings in my classroom, and I definitely think that I will—especially blogs. They can be used for responses and portfolios for students. One thing that I really like is the use of Facebook. At first, I thought that this was really unprofessional, but I thought that I could at least start a Facebook group to alert students to homework and tests. After participating in the Facebook discussion groups, I can see the bigger projects that it can be used for. Overall, I definitely view technology in the classroom as more doable. I don’t think it will all come at once, but I would like to use some of these strategies in my classroom. Students are using these modes of communication in their everyday life, so why not incorporate them in their school life? It might even make class a little more interesting.

I think using these multi-modal means can enhance communication with both students and their parents. The Facebook group that I mentioned above is a great way to keep students reminded about different classroom activities. It also gives students a space to ask questions about class. I also think that blogs are a great way to keep in touch with students’ parents. Announcements and information about what their kids are doing in class would be interesting to them. Students’ work could be posted on the blog to share with family members at home. I really do believe that using these forms of communication can keep both students and parents in the loop and interested in what is going on at school.

Looking back at my blog posts and reflecting on my blogging experience, I see that I have become a lot more comfortable blogging. It doesn’t seem as forced anymore, or at least it didn’t until the end of the semester quickly approached, and I had a million other things to do. I see that as the semester went on, I began to include a lot more multi-modal aspects into my blog. I have videos, pictures, and links. I realize now how easy it is to send viewers to different parts of the web that relate to my posts or even bring those parts of the web directly to my blog.

I also have started to see blogs as things that I can get great teaching information from. In my blog about my Firestone experience, I mention such a blog. Also, when I was looking for links for my Wiki, I found a few blogs where teachers talk about their classes. I think that this is a great way to hear from other teachers and find out what worked for them and what didn’t.

Looking at the class as a whole, I must say that it was extremely complicated. Out of all of my education classes, this had to be the one that made me the most stressed—which I thought was really unneeded. Some of the assignments were much more complicated than they needed to be and I feel as though even though I learned from them, it wasn’t enough to make the tediousness of the assignments worth it. Although I felt like this for many of the assignments, I did learn some valuable things. 

Pytash- Canonical Wiki Reflection: 1984

Making this Wiki was extremely frustrating. The site was very buggy, so it was hard to adjust the format and make everything work. Also, finding 20 different lesson plans was tough. There were so many times that I thought I had found a great website for lesson plans, and I had to pay to get on it. I don’t think this is right. Reading Jago made me realize that teachers should be more open with their lesson plans and that we should all get ideas from each other.

Other than those two difficulties, I really think that I learned a lot from this project. The lessons I found would be fun and engaging for a large number of students. They aren’t just discussions and papers. Some are projects involve the internet, interactive role-playing, or projects involving art and creativity. I was discussing some of the lesson plans I had found with a friend who is a senior in high school and he said, “Why can’t our teachers find fun ways like those to teach the novels we read.” This made me really happy and I realized that there might be ways to get students into books that they may not necessarily want to read. The lessons that I picked can also easily be paired with the Ohio education standards and they are very diverse.

I learned a lot about my book while doing this as well. I learned about the climate of the world when Orwell wrote the novel. I also learned about a lot of things that are going on today that fit with what Orwell wrote about in 1984.

One thing that I learned about teaching this text is that it doesn’t have to be dry and boring. Some of the lessons I picked out I would even like to do because they sounded fun and educational. I am really excited because my cooperating teacher at the school I am student teaching at told me to think about some books that I would like to teach. I will definitely recommend 1984 now that I have all of these great ideas.  I really think that they would engage students and make them appreciate the novel more.  

Pytash- Classics Chapter 6

This chapter started out “promising,” saying that education is the only profession “that eats its young” (95). This did not make me very confident. What I learned, though, is that teachers need to learn from each other. I really like that Jago said that it is okay to take good lessons from other educators. This made me a lot more confident.

I really like the detail in which she described how she teaches The Odyssey. I think that giving background information of the type of story students will be reading and the time in which it takes place is extremely important. I also like the visuals Jago gave them while reading. I always hated trying to keep track of long lists of characters and their relationships and the places they traveled. Giving the students charts of characters and maps to show the setting is really helpful. This way they have one less thing they have to worry about understanding. In tenth grade, I had a teacher that actually let us bring in pictures of actors to represent the difference characters.  She hung them on the bulletin board so that we could refer to them. This helped a lot of students to picture the characters.

A lot of Jago’s lessons involved interactive activities for the students and I really liked them. One that I thought was cool was when she let them experiment with the language used by the author. This helped the students to become more comfortable with the difficult language. I also liked the idea of assigning groups of students to dissect different epic similes. I think the more comfortable the students are with things like this the easier it will be for them to understand and enjoy the text.

Pytash- Classics Chapter 4

This chapter really helped me to understand how to help students understand a difficult text. What surprised me was that to do this, one thing you can do is to help them understand the basic structure of stories in general. Thinking about it, I realized that it made complete sense. If a student can see that all stories are constructed in the same ways, then the student can at least understand the basic set up of the novel that they struggle with. If they understand this, it is one less thing they have to worry about, and they can go on to think about the deeper meaning of the story. Understanding the basic building blocks of a story such as story elements and action really helps reader to understand the story as a whole.

I also like that Jago said that understanding literary devices “gives readers power over text” (67). It gives them a way to talk about text and explain what they observe. I like that she says not to turn it into a game of trivial pursuit and start having students go on a treasure hunt through the text to find them for the sake of finding them. My tenth grade English teacher did this to us while we read All Quiet on the Western Front and I HATED literary devices for quite some time afterwards. Jago wants her students to be able to use literary devices naturally to make them more articulate when discussing literature.  

Pytash- Classics Chapter 2

This chapter addressed a problem that I believe many of us will see as teachers—students with poor vocabularies. I think that this is going to be one of the biggest hurdles that we will see when teaching high school students. This is especially true for students who are struggling readers. One of my fears is how to get struggling readers through the classics that we have to teach. Jago says, “for reasonable reading comprehension a student needs to know 90-95 percent of the words” (22). This seems like a lot. If they can’t understand even the words on the page, how are they supposed to understand anything else that the literature has to offer?

Chapter three shed a little bit of light on this for me. Jago has some really good ideas for building students’ vocabulary while reading classics. One of the ideas that I really liked was the vocabulary bookmarks. These are nice because students can pick out words that they personally don’t understand. It also gets them to actively read and not pass over words they don’t know without thinking about them like I have seen many students do.

Another thing that I liked about this chapter was how Jago picked a few strong key words from the text her students were reading, in this case Julius Caesar. She chooses words that will benefit the students and teaches them in depth what they mean as well as teaching the literature. I thought this was a great idea because she really got the students using the words, which is the only way that they will actually remember it.

Foot- Cleveland Film Festival Review

The ways in which the lives of humans and animals intertwine was carefully considered in a documentary directed my Lisa Leeman entitled One Lucky Elephant. The film follows the story of David Balding and his Elephant Flora as David tries to find the best home for the elephant he has raised as a daughter since she was brought to America as a calf. After raising Flora in the circus for 16 years, David begins to realize that she no longer enjoys acting and starts to question what really makes her happy. So begins his long journey to find an appropriate home for his “daughter.” After sending her back to Africa falls through, David begins looking in America for a zoo to take her in. Following a number of disappointing rejections and setbacks the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee agrees to take Flora in.  Here, following violent outbursts from Flora, psychologists diagnose her with post-traumatic stress disorder due to her violent capture in Africa. Questions of whether or not David should be allowed to continue to visit Flora are raised when those who care for her at the sanctuary think that it will worsen her PTSD to have him constantly coming and then leaving her all over again. To this day, Flora lives in Tennessee and the workers at the sanctuary have continued to refuse visiting rights to David. The plot of the film was very compelling. The audience is brought into the life of David and Flora very effectively. The lovable elephant captures the hearts of those watching, making it hard to not care about the outcome of her journey to find a suitable home.

Being a documentary, One Lucky Elephant was not like most movies. It followed the actual events of David’s search for a new home for Flora. According to Leeman, it took 10 years to film. This filming occurred off and on as the search progressed. It resembled a special that could be seen on Animal Planet or National Geographic. I think that films like these are popular because they let viewers see into a world that they would not get to see otherwise. They get to see the wonders of the world, such as magnificent elephants, and hopefully learn a little bit about them.

Because of the film followed the lives of those involved, no professional actors were in it. David, Flora, and those zookeepers and sanctuary workers were all the real deal. Many times throughout the film, different people were interviewed about what they experienced and how they felt about Flora’s journey. Their performances where very genuine because they were actually there. The emotions portrayed were real and that made the film even more memorable. The star of the show was most definitely Flora. She, among all those in the film, was the only “professional” actor. She did it for 16 years in the circus that was named for her. Seeing her was the highlight of the movie. She was extremely curious and constantly trying to reach out and touch things, including the camera!

The technique used in One Lucky Elephant was that of a documentary. No special effects were used because it is meant to be real life. They didn’t try to hide the fact that it was being filmed. Sometimes you could see the camera moving as someone held it or hear an interviewer asking questions out of view. While this is common for documentaries, sometimes I wished that I hadn’t noticed these things. I was really into the film and then that would happen, and I would be brought back to the reality that I was sitting in a theater. But at other times this was a good thing because it was much more down-to-earth. One thing I really liked was the use of home videos from Flora’s past. I think it added authenticity and made the audience feel as though they knew Flora personally. The dialogue did not feel scripted at all. It made the relationship between David and Flora seem more normal. Sometimes the camera would just follow them around their normal day. It showed how comfortable they were together. Because it wasn’t scripted, sometimes the thoughts of David made him seem like he didn’t know a lot about what was good for Flora and that he was being selfish. I think that they may have edited the film to show him acting like this near the end when Flora had moved to the sanctuary to stress that the common person does not necessarily know what is best for exotic animals.

While watching this film, heartstrings were definitely pulled at. The mixed feelings that David has about his relationship with Flora are very conflicting. This conflict is conveyed to the audience. He realizes that treating Flora like a human and not as an elephant may have been a mistake. His love for her and his desire for her happiness makes this realization an even harder thing to handle. He realizes too late that raising her without the company of other elephants was a mistake because she now lacks the social skills to interact with individuals of her own species. The difficulty that she has adjusting to her new environment when she is separated from David is heartbreaking. Despite the cross-species distance between Flora and the audience, the viewers can easily identify with her uneasiness and fear. They can also understand the difficulty that David has watching the elephant that he views as a daughter “grow up” and leave the nest.

The theme that this documentary hits on is the nature of human relationships with animals. It makes the viewer question the ownership of something that was once wild. Should an animal such as Flora be a pet or even daughter to someone who has no experience with exotic animals? What influence does human interaction have on animals like Flora? The film looks at how elephants are violently captured in the wild and how they are treated in circuses, showing videos of how Flora was forcefully trained to preform for Circus Flora. In the end the viewer is left to his own opinion if the best thing for Flora is not to see David and even if what David did in raising her was wrong. Although it ends with questions, I think this is exactly was the viewer needs. These relationships need to be called into question. No one can say for sure what is right, but we need to at least be aware of what is happening.

With these questions about what is right for Flora, came questions about David. How he is represented is really interesting. At first, I identified with David. The film made him seem like a loving parent to Flora and only wanting what was best for her. By the end however, this identification vanished. Once she was in the sanctuary, he became agitated and angry. While it is understandable that he would be unhappy with not being able to see her, he made it clear that he wanted what was best for Flora. Although psychologists and elephant specialists were saying that her not seeing him was best for her, he refused to see it this way. It made him seem very ignorant and selfish. At about this time in the film, information on how circus animals are treated was discussed. Elephants are tied with chains and ropes and pulled into the positions that their trainers want them in—over and over and over again. They did this by showing a home video of this exact thing happening to Flora. The film also showed news reports of elephants attacking humans in circuses, saying that little things can set of PTSD in elephants that have been violently taken from their mothers. By casting circuses and David in this way, the film really makes the viewer question whether of not elephants should be raised by humans and forced to act to entertain us.

One Lucky Elephant calls into question our ideology as humans that we are the commanding species on the earth and, therefore, must dominate all other species. The film stresses cooperation between humans and animals and makes the viewer realize that what we may think is best for the breathtaking animals that walk this earth may not necessarily be true. 

Below is the trailer to the movie and a link to The Elephant Sanctuary website's profile on Flora.

The Elephant Sanctuary

Foot- Cleveland Film Festival Experience

Going to the Cleveland Film Festival was a blast. It wasn't hard for me to choose a movie because as soon as I saw one about an elephant I knew I had to go to it. I invited my brother to go along with me and we had a great time. I had no idea where the festival was, so I was shocked to pull up to Tower City when my GPS said, "You have reached your destination." Had I known it was so close to Progressive field and the Q, I would not have worried as much about getting lost.

When we got there, we walked around and looked at all of the booths set up for the festival until it was finally time for the movie to begin. When we sat down there was a man sitting beside me with a name tag that said "Director" on it. My brother told me to ask him if he was a director, so I did. He proceeded to tell me that he was the director of the movie we had come to see, One Lucky Elephant. Unfortunately, he was just kidding, and I was so embarrassed for asking and then believing him. He then told me that you could by different passes for the festival. He bought the director pass and could watch movies opening and closing night as well as get into multiple movies a day. I thought that this was pretty cool if you were staying in town and wanted to watch a lot of the movies. The passes were pretty expensive, though.

When the movie started, the sound was awful. You could tell that only the front speakers were working, and they were extremely quite. They ended up restarting the movie 3 or 4 times to get it to work and a lot of people left frustrated. I am glad Aaron and I decided to stay because it was an awesome movie.

The movie was really good. It was about an Elephant named Flora who was raised by a man in charge of a circus. As she and her owner grow older, questions start to be raised about what is best for her and a journey to find her a new home starts. It was a documentary.

After the movie, we were able to sit and listen to the director talk about the movie. She had just arrived in Cleveland while the movie was playing. It was really interesting to hear her take on the film and what inspired her to make it.

The Cleveland Film Festival was a really good experience for me. It is definitely something that I will be hopefully continuing to go to throughout my life.

Pleasure "reading"- Godspell

Last night I went to New Philadelphia high school's production of "Godspell". It basically was a musical about the book of Matthew in the Bible. It took place in a dump and Jesus taught the people living there the parables and stories from the Bible. I thought it was amazing. They told the stories in funny, inventive ways. Going to it, I thought that it was going to be a spoof on the Bible and possibly make fun of it a little bit. This wasn't really the case. The musical taught main points from the Bible and even had a very religious ending. Being religious myself, this did not bother me, but knowing how much schools fight against anything religious I was extremely surprised that it was allowed to be done. In the end, they actually had Jesus saying goodbye to all the people he had spent time with and he was "crucified" during which he sang this horribly sad song. It was extremely emotional. There were tons of people crying in the audience and afterward the cast started singing a song saying over and over "Long Live God." I would love to find out the school's opinions on doing this musical. It just seemed very religious for a school. However, it was extremely good and the acting was great!

Here is a video from a college that did this scene in a similar fashion to the high school that I went to: