L.A. Trip By Rahul Krishnan

Hey Classmates,

            On my Thanksgiving break I went to Los Angeles. We had a lot of fun there. Have you ever been to California Adventure at Disneyland? I went to Disneyland and California Adventure. I have been to Disneyland three times! I like California Adventure better though. I like California Adventure more because there are a lot more rides. My favorite ride there was a ride called Grizzly River Run. What happens is that you are in a raft and it goes through caves at a high speed! They call it Grizzly River Run because the mountain you see near the ride is shaped like a bear. The only roller coaster we went on was called How to Fly. It took a lot of sharp turns and sudden drops. The next day we went to Universal Studios. Have you guys seen that place? This one was not as fun as Disneyland for me. The only ride I liked was the Simpsons ride. What it does is it takes you on what feels like a roller coaster ride. But actually, you are still in the same room the whole time. It looks like you’re not in the same room because the movie playing around you makes it more realistic. Also, the ride shakes and sprays water at you to make it seem more realistic too. We also took a studio tour.  In the studio tour they take us in a tram and show us the sets and props from movies and television shows. We left L.A with a lot of good memories. Before we reached home we stopped by our friends house and had more fun. It was the best trip ever! This is all I did on my Thanksgiving break.

                                                           

                                                                                                Your Classmate,

                                                                                                Rahul

            

Movie Making

by Ishika Shah

        You’ve definitely watched a movie before, but have you ever wondered how a movie is made? Wondered how Superman ‘flies’? How light comes out from Harry Potter’s wand? The answer: special effects. Oh, and to find the answer to the first one, keep reading. Movie making is a long process, but it might be interesting to watch. 
          Before the filming for a non-animated movie begins, a few things are needed. The first thing on the scavenger hunt list is a crew of a directors, actors, cameramen, a producer, and many others. Next is the area for filming, and the first few sets. Finally, the actors need a script that tells them what to say and do.
           Lights, camera, action! It’s filming time. Scenes are pretty long, so they are filmed in shorter parts that are only a couple minutes long. Each part is filmed many times. It gets a bit boring for the crew, but it provides choices. The best one is used in the final movie. Everything is filmed with a camera that takes very quick pictures, usually at the rate of about 24 per second! The voice is recorded seperately. The scenes are not performed in order. Everything that happens in one place is filmed, then everything that happens in another place is filmed, and so on.
           Sometimes, actors need to be shown doing things that are impossible in real life. That’s when special effects are used. For example, when a super hero is shown flying, ropes are used to move the actor through the air. Using a computer, the ropes are erased. Another way to do it is to record the actor and the background searately, and then combine the two using a computer. If the actor does not know how to do something or there’s a dangerous stunt the actor must perform, a stunt double performs that bit for the actor. The stunt double looks very similar to the actor. Sometimes, objects are inserted using a computer. That’s called graphics.
           Often, movies are animated. There are two types of animation. Usually, pictures are drawn as in Madagascar. Every picture is a bit different than the one before it. When the pictures are shown quickly, it looks like movement. Sometimes, puppets are used as in Elmo. The puppets are set, a picture is taken, the puppets are moved a bit, a picture is taken, and so on. These pictures are also shown quickly to look like movement.  
             After filming, a few things happen. The different bits are put together to make the movie. The many pictures are printed on a few long rolls of film. The voice track is next to the pictures. Then the film is taken to the theater for everyone to get some popcorn, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
            Next time you see a movie, think about these things. I challenge you to see if  you can find one place where special effects were used! Also, if you know an interesting fact about movie making and I did not include it, please share it with me.

Math

by Wasi Alam

Mathematics is used in every single thing that we do on earth. I can't name anything that can not be included in math. Even finding the longitude and latitude of the earth, you' re even using math when your drawing, like when you use a ruler to make a straight line. Of where you put the pictures on your drawing and much more. We can not live without math. You can't even draw a straight line without knowing your inches and centimeters. Making a chair also includes math. It's not just like you draw a simple chair and start making it. You need to know how long it will be. Calculate how big it has to be, because otherwise if you just design a chair and sent it to build, your chair might turn out to be 900 feet high. That's why we use math. I hope you use math today, bye!

P.S. Do you know what 10x10 is ?