The Stepping Stones (Blog #1) PRELIMINARY

My name is Veronica Castillo. I am in 10th grade, a sophomore in high school. A fun fact about myself is that ever since this June I have been attempting to watch a movie a day. So far I have thankfully been successful in achieving this new set goal of mine. 

I chose media studies because I have always been very interested in the different aspects of media. I studied broadcasting for my three years in middle school, serving at my church in the media department operating all types of different cameras, making social media posts to promote the services, and editing as well as filming a bunch of different promotional projects for their YouTube channel, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. I also took a theater, cinema, and film production class online over the summer. Long story short, I’ve simply always been interested in everything that this class has to offer and I am thankfully familiar with a lot of aspects we’ve discussed so far in class. 

I hope to develop my skills in editing and coloring of film this year in this class. I feel like those are such big aspects of a film that to me as the viewer can really make or break the experience. I think editing can really help establish the story and coloring can serve as a important cinematic aspect of the overall production. Skills I would like to develop in this class are my creative skills. Especially with coming up with a unique film idea that I’ve never seen before as a movie lover.

I currently feel pretty excited about this class but also nervous especially about those 40 expected vlogs. I’m looking forward to actually filming the movie. From past experiences of working on film sets they have always been some of the best days in my life even though they are stressful. They are definitely memorable moments that I can't wait to form with my crew for this upcoming project.

 

The types of media I consume the most are films, YouTube, and music. Being that I have been watching a movie a day, it has quickly become one of my most consumed media forms. YouTube videos are simply entertaining to me and sometimes I do use them for when I’m trying to figure out how to do something and I just look up a tutorial. Music to me is something that somehow always makes me feel understood and I love all the different elements a song requires. Examples are lyrics, instrumentals, mixing and the overall production.

The media plays such an important role in my personality by showing me so many different aspects of life, cultures, relationships, different personalities and perspectives I would have never even thought about if I hadn't seen it in a media form. Media has opened me up in so many different ways that over the years it has changed me and is a big part who I am as a person today. A movie can always determine my mood for the day or even the week and very rarely the month. If I watch a movie that I thought was an absolute masterpiece and the message hits close to home I will genuinely be thinking and talking about that film for weeks to come. Films are a big part of my interests overall but sometimes there will be a time when I’ll watch a movie and the main character may have a hobby I think I might enjoy so I will most likely give that hobby a try. A prime example of this is due to me watching Challenges last summer, I tried out for the tennis team at school. I got in only because there were just enough people there for me to be able to be a part of the team and not have to actually know how to play. Ever since then I have played tennis at the very least twice a week and I plan on trying out again this year.