Process Journal Entry Twenty Seven

25^th of December, 2013

As of the 20^th of December my product was finished. I edited all the photos that needed to be edited and I placed them in the correct order for both of the stories. In total, the two stories, coincidentally, consist of twenty one photos each. As for the editing and the outcome of the photos I would say that I have made the stories to a high standard. However, with that being said, I have noticed that some photos still need more editing, as in I have to make a few changes to make the photo look more pleasing and professional. I also decided that in order to improve my product when the photos are being displayed digitally I will add appropriate music to the background. I was thinking something along the lines of piano music that has no lyrics what so ever. I think the best place to find this would be on YouTube. I plan to find either a well-known artist or even an aspiring musician would be acceptable, as long as I remember to credit them and source them at the end of my story.

Even though my product is more or less finished I still need to find out what software I will use to display the photos on exhibition night. The software I used to edit my photos, called Lightroom, has a slideshow option  where it will display my photos in order without me having to switch between photos. I also have the option to add music and an opening slide and a closing slide. However, I might not end up using this software to display my photos on exhibition nights because I can only add a certain amount of text to opening and closing slides and I would like to have a closing statement at the end of each story. I plan to do more research when on softwares or applications (for the iPads) I could use when I get back from holiday seeing as I will have easier access to the internet.

Lastly, I plant to work on editing my report during the holidays, but I would like to do the majority of editing during the focus days. I also have an addition three days to work on it since I decided against going to ski camp this year.

Overall I feel like I am on schedule with work and I am extremely proud of the outcome of my product. I look forward to exhibition night when I can see people’s reaction to my final product. 

Process Journal Entry Twenty Six

12^th of December, 2013

During the course of this month I have been working on finishing taking photographs, editing the photos and working on the final report. I have managed to finish photographing; I was officially finished with it on the 22^nd of November. I have been editing my photos up to this point and I plan on finishing the editing process by the time winter break is over or, if possible, before I go on vacation which is Wednesday the 18^th of December.

I downloaded a photo editing software, recommended to me by a photographer, called Adobe Lightroom. So far, from my experience with it, it has been proven to be very useful and I think that it makes my pictures look more interesting and eye-catching. I plan to edit all my photos using Lightroom. So far I have edited 17 photos out of the (about) 30 that I need to edit to complete the product. I have set a goal for myself, which is to edit at least three photos a day. I have been trying to follow this rule strictly, but with the amount of schoolwork I was receiving it was hard to keep this goal up and some nights I found that I had not edited any photos.

As for the report, I have written a rough draft of it and submitted it to my supervisor. In addition, I met with my supervisor this week on Tuesday. She gave me a hard copy of feedback on how to improve my report, but she also said that my report is very well written and strong. Something that I need to ensure that I work on is cutting down my word count. The report is supposed to be 3500 words and mine is about 3600 words at this point, and do the things that my supervisor suggested will add to the word count as well. I plan to work on my report during the break, but then polish it during the focus days that I have in January.

I believe that by following the advice my supervisor gave me I will be able to achieve a seven for my grade; that is the grade that I am aiming to get.

Lastly, I need to pick 10-20 process journal entries that I would like to be submitted for moderation. I have decided that I will do this over break. For exhibition night I plan to sign up for a table and display my pictures on two iPads and on my computer. I plan to position the two iPads on either side of the table and then have my laptop in the middle of the two. People who visit my exhibit will be able to flick through the photos and see both stories. I am thinking that it would be best to have both stories on all devices rather than having one story on one device and then another story on another device. In addition, I think that it would also benefit people coming to see my product to also be able to read a pamphlet or poster about my AOI and how my project relates to the AOI. This will also help me to prove in my report that I have learned a significant amount about Health and Social Education by giving evidence.

Process Journal Entry Twenty Five

12^th of November, 2013

Last Friday we had a work shop on our specific AOI, mine is Health and Social Education. The workshop helped me understand what is expected of me in my final report, as in what I should mention, and it helped me have a better understanding of the AOI, even though I think before the workshop I had a sufficient understanding of the topic.

I took the following notes so that I would remember what to include when it comes to writing my report:

Health and Social Education: Related to tissues involving physical and mental health and relationships with others

Guiding Questions

• How do I think or act?
• How am I changing?
• How can I look after myself and others

“…the aim of this project is not simply to display knowledge,,, they will… illustrate their appreciation of the dimension of the areas of interaction. They will… expand their appreciation of the dimensions of the areas of interaction.” –Words of Advice from the IBO

Show awareness of…

• Ourselves in the wider society – including issues such as freedom, government, health policies and globalization

Reflect on…

• Ourselves and others: including issues such as relationships, sex and death
• Understanding ourselves: including issues such as personal management, self-esteem and growing up
• Looking after ourselves: including issues such as personal hygiene, diseases and substance abuse.

You should show evidence of how we make choices about…

• Ourselves in the wider society: including behavior and ethics
• Ourselves and others: including personal values and taking responsibility
• Understanding ourselves: including self-control or needs and wants
• Looking after ourselves: including diet and exercise.

How I will be assessed:

Criteria A: Planning and Development

• This is about your goal and how the AOI is focus of that goal

Criteria F: Analysis of Process and Outcome

• Here is where you will clearly show an understanding of the dimension of HSE
• Ask yourself:
  • What have you learnt in and beyond your specific project
  • Are there wider ramification of HSE?
  • Does your process work reflect HSE or was it product driven

The IBO says:

• “In this reflection, students should review the ways in which the project has been focused on the chosen area(s) or the interaction, and on how dimensions of the area(s) have been explored and developed.”

Criteria D: Analysis of the Information

• This area is about the analysis of the information, but it must also include personal and thoughtful reflection.
• Ask yourself:
  • Is my goal truly based on HSE?

In Your Report:

• Clearly state what the focus Area of Interaction is of your project in your introduction
• Include feelings and reflections that show your understanding of the ideas
• Therefore you must refer to them constantly

 

 

Process Journal Entry Twenty Four

6^th of November 2013

Today it was parent teacher student conferences and I was lucky enough to not have to attend many meetings so I had the chance to do more photos with Victoria and Nell, seeing as I am going to be away in Holland this weekend.

It worked out well because I finished my conferences and Victoria finished hers shortly after, whereas Nell met us at the school, since she doesn’t live too far away.

I managed to get a lot of shots done, I only have to take four or five more shots and then I will be done with the photographing part of my project. I changed the locations of some of the photos so that everything would be in a five minute radius of each other, since we were working under time constraints and having to travel into town, which is where I originally intended some shots to be, would take too much time.  However, the change in location did work out and the new places still fit the criteria for what I had in mind.

The next stage in my completing my product would be the photo-editing, I am thinking about researching good photo-editing programs and planning on getting VDI, which lets me access my desktop on my school computer using my own personal computer. Through VDI, I am planning to use Photoshop and I will research how to use that as well, so that I can navigate through the system easily.

I predict that I will be finished with my product around December, which is past the “due-date” for our product, but I am not concerned seeing as Mr. Gereats said that it is okay if we take longer and I had it already planned in my time line that I would take up to December to complete my product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Process Journal Entry Twenty Three

1^st of November, 2013

On the 26^th of October I arranged with about ten people to do the group shots at school. However, on the day of many people messaged me saying that they could not make it that day. At first I was extremely disappointed and a little stressed out, seeing as time is running out to my Personal Project and people only told me on such short notice. However, I had six other people who decided to show and who were already at the school. So I decided that the show must go and photographed my group shot with only six people including Victoria, who is the main character.

The group photos show Victoria being bullied by the main bully (Mikaela) and her posy, which includes the person that saves Victoria in the second story, who I call the savior (Nell). In the first story the savior just stands by while the bullying is taking place and does not even try to stop it, but you can see she is opposed to the bullying taking place by the way she is standing and her facial expressions. In the second story Nell decides to do something about the bullying and stops Mikaela and the others. She then helps Victoria up and hugs her, showing the start of their friendship.

The group I was working with, Mikaela, Nell, Victoria, Carolin, Miranda and Ella, were very on task and focused. They did exactly what I asked them to do without questioning; some of them even offered constructive criticism on how I could make the shot look better. Many of them took initiative and did not require much direction.  

I managed to get some great action shots by setting the camera to take many photos one after the other. I have many to choose from and the girls were very willing to do things as many times as I asked them to.

What I had the girls do is scream and yell, actual insults at Victoria when they were bullying her. I wanted to shot to seem as real as possible and what I found is when people are actually saying things that reflect their emotions they make much better facial expressions.

What I found amazing was that when we were finished with the shot the girls who played bullied felt the need to give Victoria a group hug and tell her that they love her and that they did not in any way mean what they said about her. I joined in as well and we all took a photo of us smiling. I intend to put that at the end of story one to say that no one was harmed in the making of this story. I really enjoyed seeing how the girls thought of making it clear to Victoria that they did not in any way intend to hurt her. It really shows that these people are conscious of the effects bullying can have on a person.

After, the group shots ended I had to opportunity to take some individual shots with Victoria which show the aftermath of the bullying in story one. In preparation, I looked up a video on how to make realistic bruises and saw that it is very easy; you just use purple, black and brown eye shadow. I layered these colors to make it as real as possible around her eye and adding some red spots to show that she was punched hard enough that the blood started to clot. I also gave her the appearance of having a bloody lip by using black eyeliner with different shades of red lipsticks. I think the make-up turned out great and I was told that it looked realistic as well. Possibly with some editing I can make it look even more realistic and even more terrible, as in painful.

Overall the photo-shoot was a great success and I am really grateful to everyone who helped me. I predict that I only need to have Nell and Victoria over for two more photo-shoots and then I will be finished with the photographing part of my product. Next I will start editing, but I presume that that will only take a month to do and I can finish that by the end or even mid-December. 

Process Journal Entry Twenty Two

22^nd of October, 2013 

My October break was pretty full because I went on the school trip that went to South Africa, so I did not have to chance to work much on my personal project. However, I am completely on track and once again following my timeline. I have currently finished my planning and I am well on my way with my product.

I have had Victoria and Nell over many times to shoot different sections of my story and this weekend I am planning on doing many shoots from the first story and the second story, including the big group shots, which only consist of ten people.

I decided to have only girls in my shot because I found that only girls wanted to sign up to do it and then I thought that it would be better if I had made all the bullies be female because the main bully is female and I thought that it would appropriate if the main bullies’ posse then joins in because she is the “leader” of the group.

In addition, having male bullies might be seen as extremely inappropriate or unrealistic, seeing as it is not acceptable for a male to hit a female and most males who are bullies are seen bullying other males rather than females.

Overall my project is going very well. I plan to have all my photos taken by the end of November and then start editing in November as well. I have had a great photo editing software suggested to me for Mac computers, but I am still going to do some research on affordable but good photo editing softwares.

Process Journal Entry Twenty-One

28^th of September, 2013

 

                Major changes had to be made to my project today, in order for me to able to get the product done in time.

                I originally had Mikaela set as my main character, but since her personal project is very time consuming she could make practices, especially the one that I had set today. I have to start shooting the stories this week because I wanted to get a lot done today, seeing as I cannot work on Personal Project work during the October break (I am going to South Africa on a school trip).

                I felt that Mikaela not being able to show up to many of my photo shoots would be a reoccurring problem, so I changed my main character to another one of my friends, who I knew would be available more often.

                I decided in the end to make Victoria my main character and have Mikaela as another character in the story, possibly as the bully because her part would then be a less time consuming role and she would only, ideally, have to show up to one photo shoot.

                I am planning to do a big photo shoot after the October break with all the people in my story who are being the bullies. That will mean that I will get the chunk of the first story and second story done.

                In order to do this I need to ask people in my grade to be extras, I may even offer C and S for it so people would be motivated to do it.   

Process Journal Entry Twenty

26^th of September, 2013

I thought it would be a good idea to add to my research by looking up the definition of words such as: depression, anxiety and suicide. I also thought that I would take Ms. Clark’s advice (which I received after I handed in my bibliography) and research my AOI more.

Depression: (psychiatry) a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason.

Anxiety: distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune

(psychiatry) a state of apprehension and psychic tension occurring in some forms of mental disorder.

Suicidal: (suicide) the intention of taking one’s own life

DEFINITIONS TAKEN FROM DICTIONARY.COM

Notes on Health and Social Education

• Focuses on a range of human issues that exist in human societies (for example: social structures, relationships and health)
• Focuses on the key aspects of development leading to complete and healthy lives
• It focuses on:
  • Physical health
  • Social health
  • Emotional health
  • Intelligence
  • The aim of this AOI is to develop students understanding and responsibility of their wellbeing and their social and physical environment.
  • Allows students to reflect on the following:
    • Physical
    • Psychological
    • Sociological
    • Economic
    • Legal

In addition I read some articled on Encyclopedia Britannica on depression and suicide, however since all the information that was relevant I had already taken notes one I didn’t feel the need to take more notes, however I cited it in my bibliography.

Process Journal Entry Nineteen

The 18^th of September, 2013

 

                I have officially finished my planning for my first photographic story; this means that the second one will not take nearly as long to do because some of the pictures are repeated.

                I plan on starting to photograph the first story this weekend, starting off with the shots I only have to do with the main character, which was been chosen to be Mikaela. I chose her because I know that she is good actress because we do drama together. I also know that we work well together and have a good dynamic, meaning that she won’t contradict me and she will stay focused throughout the process. I still need to ask people to be bullies in my scene, however I will probably ask people in my grade to do it seeing as I don’t need to know if they are good actors or actresses because they will be in a group shot and there will not be nearly as much focus on them.  

                I also plan on using color to represent tone in my stories. The first story, resulting in the main character killing herself, will start off in faint color and then slowly fade to black and white, making each photo have less color. The last few photos will be black and white. This is to symbolize that before the main character had some purpose to her life and still had the willpower to continue on in this world, however as the depression progresses she loses her “light” in life and finds no purpose to live anymore. The other story will be similar but then have a twist ending. The photos will start off in muted dark colors, then darken to almost black and white, but then gain color when the savoir tries to help the main character. The last photograph will be completely in color.

 

 

Process Journal Entry Eighteen

28^th of August, 2013

To continue my research I decided that I would like to research the effect that bullying has on depression, since that it was triggers the girl’s depression in my photographic story. I looked at, firstly, what I can only describe as an article written about the effects of bullying on both victims and bullies themselves in Duke University.

Written Brian Krans describes being bullied as, “the cold sweat that builds on the back of your neck anytime a bully is around. It’s living in constant fear of being a victim.”

Research shows that there is a high level of anxiety among victims of bullying and bullies themselves. Victims of bullying live with an increased risk of depression and anxiety. It can have a dramatic affect well into the bullier’s or the person who was bullied’s life.

I also decided to look up some news results as well to see if bullying has affected any teenagers with depression.

I found an article talking about how bullying during teenage years affects people well into adulthood.

U.K. researchers have found that people who were bullied in childhood are more likely to have substance abuse problems, to be sick (mental illness), lonely, be unemployed, get depressed or attempt suicide when they are older or even in their teenage years directly followed after the bullying.

Bullying victims were six times more likely to start smoking, be diagnosed with a serious illness or develop psychiatric disorders and they are twice as likely to struggle with keep job and saving money.

The information that I found was what I predicted was correct. I believe this is because I have a better understanding of depression and why people develop depression and therefore I can predict reasons as to why one might develop depression.

Bullying is the main cause of depression in my main character’s case, but it is not what I want my story to focus on. Rather than focusing on how bullying is a horrible thing, although it is one of my themes, I want to focus on how someone with depression feels and goes through, informing people that it is a serious illness and that it can change a person’s life. This links back to my AOI, which Health and Social Education. My purpose is to educate people about depression and the dangers of it at the same time showing people how depression can be caused and what implications it has on a person’s life and other’s.