The Digital Storytelling Project (I AM PERFECT)

We, Hippo Production would like to thank all who were involved in this film directly or indirectly

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Weekly Reflection (Week 14-Final Week)

This is the final week for Semester 4 students. We didn’t have Monday class because Miss Amreet was on-leave. Then, we proceed with our final class on Wednesday, 17^th of September 2014. On that day, we submitted our final assignment which was The Digital Storytelling Project Report and we continued with four other groups which have not presented their movie yet.

            The first to present was Ruffler’s Production team and their movie entitled ‘The Wishing Star’. The moral value which we able to obtain from their movie is that we need to be thankful and accept what we have because there are some other people out there who actually wish to have our life. Next to present was Farhana, Liyana, Rosnita and Asma’s group. Their movie is about ‘The Miracle of Altruism’. Altruism is actually a person who feels disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. Sometimes, we need to be this kind of person-- help others and stop being too selfish in order to surround yourself with positive vibes.

            ‘Longing For You’ is another love story from Grace, Nabilah, Atikah and Syarimazni’s piece of art. Finally, the group who last to present their movie and ended the class for this semester was Nadhirah, Farah, Mariana and Nazifah’s movie; ‘The Clever Mother’. Through this movie, we learned that you cannot fool your mother because she would definitely find out sooner or later.

Goodbye Miss Amreet!

We're going to miss you :)

-THE END-

Weekly Reflection (Week 13)

            The digital storytelling project’s presentation started this week and my group was the first to volunteer. There are three project presentations which was from my group with a movie entitled, I Am Perfect. Continued with Aminah, Amira Azmi and Nabila Izzati,’s movie;  Anna’s Petite Journal. The final presentation was by Syakirah, Fatin, Hamidah and Norizatul’s group. It was an animation film entitled; The Swaps Sisters.

Weekly Reflection (Week 12)

On this week, Miss Amreet taught us on the Interactive Multimedia: Narrative and Linear Narrative. A narrative is also define as a ‘story’. It is a series of events that are linked together in a number of ways, including cause and effect, time and place. Narrative also is something that happens in the first event causes the action in the second event, and so on, usually moving forward in time. Narrative interactive multimedia involves telling a story using many media and interactivity. Often the player is one of the characters in the story and sees action from the character’s point of view. It was also used for pure entertainment or to present information in an experiential way.

            Meanwhile, computer game is any game played with a computer involved. It includes all consoles (PlayStation, Xbox,etc), PC computers, mobile devices, interactive TV, and arcade games. Next, video game is any kind of game using a video display. Then, electronic games is a applies to all types of video and computer games.

            Classical linear narrative elements can be defined with the presence of character, structure, scenes and sequences, jeopardy, point of view and pace. Firstly, for the character; most successful film and video today clearly define their characters early in the piece. Who are the characters? Where are they from? What do they want or need, and why do they want it? What the character wants usually provides the action story of the film or video.

            As for the structure, once the character’s needs are established, then the writer can begin to structure the script. They key elements of classical narrative structure are exposition, conflict, climax, and resolution. Next, for the exposition or setup. The beginning of the story must set up the lead character, the setting and what the character wants- the goal to be achieved or the problem to be solved.

            During the conflicts, if the character achieves the goal in the first scene, it will be a very short story. To avoid this happening, the writer introduces conflicts or obstacles. (person vs. person, person vs. environment, person vs. self). Meanwhile, for scenes and sequences. A narrative is comprised of individual scenes and sequences. A scene is an action that takes place in one location. A sequence is a series of scenes built around one concept or event. It’s tightly structured script, each scene has a mini-goal or plot point that sets up and lead us to the next scene.

            Last but not least, pace and time. Pace is the audience’s experience of how quickly the events of the narrative seem to move. Many short sequences, scenes and both of dialogue tend to make the pace move quickly, longer elements slow it down. Finally, writers tend to accelerate pace near a climax and slow it down for expositional and romantic scenes.

Compare and Contrast Essay

Raising Boys and Girls

            Even though women’s and men’s roles have changed in the last fifty or sixty years as women have started working outside the home, the raising of boys and girls has not substantially changed. Boys and girls are still raised differently in terms of how they are dressed, what toys they are given, and where and how they are allowed to play.

            From the first day of their lives, boys’ and girls’ clothing differs in terms of colour and style. Boys’ colours are bold blues, reds, or greens, while girls are usually dressed in pink or other pastel colours. Boys’ clothing tends to be functional, while girls has decorative details such as ribbons, bows, and ruffles. Many outfits for babies and young children have pictures on them, and those images clearly mark them as for boys or girls. Boys’ clothing has images of trains, trucks, or sailboats.

            When parents and relatives select toys for young children, they choose playthings that reflect traditional male and female roles. Boys are given toys that move such as trucks and cars, or cannons or guns that school objects into the air, as well as toys that allow them to build structures or carry out science experiments. Girls are given toys that replicate the home environment.

            When boys and girls are old enough to play independently, they are treated differently in terms of how and where they are allowed to play. Boys are allowed to go outside where they can run, climb trees, and wander through the neighbourhood. They can get wet or muddy, and no one gets upset with them. Girls, on the other hand, are told to remain inside and stay clean.

            The way parents raise their children has an effort on their future lives. Boys and girls learn about their gender, or social roles as males and females, from their earliest experiences, from how they are dressed, what they are given to play with, and how and where they are allowed to play. Parents should realize that the roles their boys and girls will play in the future will not be as distinct as the male and female roles of the past. Their girls will grow up to be women who will work outside the home, and their boys will grow up to be men who will share in household responsibilities. Therefore, parents should raise boys and girls more uniformly to prepare them for the future.

Cause and Effect Essay

Social Network

            Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are names which captured the hearts of millions people across the globe, especially teenagers. This social networking site has a lot of advantages rather than drawbacks. But, the question is, why people are so into this kind of stuff and why it is somehow has become a must for some people to have and own an account for themselves?

            Firstly, they say that social network has opened a lot of door for opportunity to meet new people. The idea of meeting a lot of new people around the world by just staring and clicking on the website is one of the many reasons on why people took a chance to make start an account for them. The interesting thing is that, only through social network, not only they able to find their long-lost relatives but, the percentage show that 60% of users found their soul mates via this social network.

            In addition, basically social networking sites are user friendly. First, to make an account is easy as ABC. You just need to fill up an online form about little information about you. Then, by clicking agree with terms and condition provided, you are now one of the users. Hence, it is said that you do not need or require a lot of knowledge and skills to operate those social network. Next, Facebook is one of many other social network which people around the world said that it was a way to a very convenient and easy to access news and bulletins. Therefore, everyday you will get an update with things happened within your surrounding.

            The fascinating part which lures people to join social network sites is the joyous of joining groups that share interest and hobbies as same with you. By joining or creating the group, you are not only can give your point of view and thoughts about something, but you are able to exchange ideas, recipes, and so many things.

            As a conclusion, these three main features are the reasons which have actually captured the heart of many youngsters, and even elderly to be part of these social sites. In the future, social network could probably conquer the world by storm and wildfire. Expanding one’s network, add new friends, enhance their careers, make connections, recruit employees, and find people with scarce skills which summarise the reason for their popularity.

Argumentative Essay

School-Based Assessment in Malaysia

            The new school-based assessment (PBS) system is one of the form of assessment that have holistic value which is counted the cognitive aspect (intellect), affective (emotion and spiritual), psychomotor (physical) and social concord with the Falsafah Pendidikan Kebangsaan. This PBS system assessed the process and product with formative and summative which used the concept of assessment for learning and assessment of learning. The improvement of PBS system is implemented in 2011 for standard 1 and form 1 in 2012. But rumors has it, this PBS system is not well implemented and therefore are causing more disadvantages rather than advantages.

            Firstly, the reason why most of the lower secondary school students cannot accept the changes which is from the examination system to PBS system is that, students are losing out under the new school-based assessment (PBS) system as many teachers are forced to skip topics. According to the President of National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP), Tuan Hashim Adnan, said many teachers are concentrating only on certain topic which will be assessed under the system. For instance, if there are ten topics in history, but only five are assessed, some teachers take a shortcut and focus only on that five topics, this is for the sake of saving time. Just imagine, in the end, the students lose out because they learn less.

            Not only that, the teachers may be biased towards some students when evaluating students. Let say that this particular teacher have some sort of problem with a student she is about to asses; There is slight possibility that the teacher may be holding a grudge towards the students. Hence, she will put any band for the student as she would like. For example, there are 6 bands to evaluate the students. She might put the student she has problem with the lowest band ever which is 6, even though the student performed well for their assessment. All this due to the fact that your own teacher will be evaluating you and your future is in their hand.

            On the other hand, there will be lack of competition amongst them students and less interest in studies. All this due to the reason that students will have no real focus for their assessment rather than the previous Malaysia’s examination which are UPSR, PMR, and SPM. When kids do not have competition between them, it will be hard for them to boost themselves in their studies. As a result, students’ progression will be hard to follow and maintain.

            As for the conclusion, I strongly believe that the new school-based assessment (PBS) system brings more disadvantages rather than advantages. According to findings at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Buloh Kasap, 75% of their students strongly disagree if the PBS band system continued, and they also agreed that this type of system will give out negative impact towards not only to the students in the future, but towards teachers and school’s progression.

Informative Essay

Our Solar System

We live on the planet Earth. Our planet is one of the nine planets that revolve periodically around the Sun. The nine planets and the sun make up what we know as our Solar System. Nearest to the Sun is the planet Mercury. Mercury is a tiny planet that is hardly visible to the naked eye.

Further out is Venus, sometimes called the Morning Star or the Evening Star. It is thus called because it is frequently seen in the morning or evening as a very bright object in the sky. Next comes Earth. Earth is the only planet in the entire Solar System known to support life. Why is this so no one really knows. The fourth planet from the Sun is Mars. This planet is sometimes visible as a reddish object in the night sky. Viewed through a powerful telescope one may even see some details on the planet’s surface.

After Mars comes the giant planet Jupiter. It is the largest planet in the Solar System. There are a number of moons orbiting Jupiter. They can be seen through a telescope. Also the surface of Jupiter shows a variety of patterns of which a huge red spot is plainly visible. The red spot is said to be many times the size of Earth.

Between Jupiter and Mars there exist many small objects called asteroids. They are not normally visible but scientist have confirmed they exist. Next, come the beautiful Saturn. It is quite a sight to view Saturn through a telescope and see distinctly the multicoloured rings it is so famous for. Saturn is not as big as Jupiter but it is bigger than the other planets.

Further out we have Neptune, Uranus, Pluto. Pluto is the smallest of the planets and can hardly be seen even with a powerful telescope. Millions of miles separate the planets from one another. Thus, it is only recently that man could visit our neighbouring planets.

If we look at the night sky we see literally millions of stars. Our Sun is merely a star too. So could it be that there are other solat systems too? Perhaps each star has its own solar system. We do not know. One day when we are able to, we may find out.

Narrative Essay

Neighbour

            Robert E. Lee said that, “what a cruel thing war is...to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbours”. It has been almost two years since our family last communicate with Lee’s family who live right beside our house. We as neighbours do feel really bad for what had happened between us because we supposedly loving, caring, and taking care of each other. Unfortunately, one incident took the love away from us when we were being tested at the point where we thought that it was a crucial state of time which was during my sister’s wedding.

            On December 2012, a week before my eldest sister’s wedding, we informed all the neighbours about the reception’s date. The next thing we know, Mr and Mrs Lee went all ballistic and went to our house to confront. They said, “how come you and I have the same date for our children’s wedding? You know that we are a very busy business people right? Thus, you do not make our job at making Jeremy’s grand wedding a lot easier!” Those conversations went on and on. But, the saddest part was neither Mr Lee’s family or my family want to change the date because it was way too late for that. Hence, this is where our relationship started to drift apart. But, when two years passed by, this particular incident had finally broke the ice between us.

            It happened on a very ordinary day. I was studying at that time, but windy and breezy weather really did not do any favour for me to focus. “Hel...” I heard and thinking what kind of voice and words were muttered by that person. Then, again I heard. But, this time in much clearer voice, “HELP!” Immediately after that, I started to imagine all kind of bad things which can happen right now and sweats started  to gather all over my forehead and neck. Then what I saw next, shocked me to the bones. There is a guy wearing all-black get-up is hitting Mr Lee’s wife in the head and blood was coming and bursting out from her injured head. Next to him, I guess he was a ‘him’ because his physique is quite big and all muscle up. He was collecting all Mr Lee’s belongings. What I did next really came from my conscious and it did surprises me until today. What I did was, I immediately took the stairs which located near my family’s apple tree, watching those two tugs and slowly climbing the stairs. I wait for the right moment to make my moves.

            After that, right when one of the intruders ran out from Mr Lee’s house, I then quickly jump from the high wall which separates our house from Mr Lee’s. When I jump, my right feet hit the target that I wanted, which was the back of that guy head. That thief collapse right in front of my eyes, and not only that, amazingly, I think due to my weight above him and a strong knock to his head that I think made him passed out. Then, I heard a siren, a very loud and familiar siren coming from the west side. I was so glad the moment I hear it because I know I do not have to tie this tug on a tree so that he cannot run away after he gains consciousness.

            Finally, two policemen arrived and they dragged the unconscious thief at the back of their car to be arrested. After that, I saw the other five of my neighbours dragging the other intruder to the policemen. They said to me that they also heard a loud scream coming from Mr and Mrs Lee’s house and they quickly took action running after the escape intruder before he got away. Roughly, after thirty minutes later, I saw Mr Lee coming out of nowhere, crying, hugging, and thanking me from catching the thief. The policemen said to Mr Lee, if it was not from my brave moves, half of his belongings and Mrs Lee might be gone. It may sound harsh, but it is the truth. Then, my father arrived from work and Mr Lee explained everything to him. To my surprise, they both started crying and apologising each other. For me, even though this incident seems awful, but it did bring the best in it, this is what they say with ‘blessing in disguise’. We neighbours reunited back and we could not be any happier than we are today.

      

Descriptive Essay

STITCHES

Happy, free-spirit and imaginative four years old was who I am back in the year of 1999. It was also one of the worst years I had due to an awful incident which I able to remember until this day. That particular incident had not changed me the way I am today, but it surely made me become more careful when it comes to going-up and going-down the stairs. Yes, at the age of 4 years old, I fell of the stairs terribly until I got few stitches in between my eyes. Frankly, near my left eyes.

It began with me and granny in the very bright and cream colour living room. Grandma is holding something with needle and pink thread on her right fingers; I thought she must busy knitting stuff. We opened the sliding door with intention to let the fresh air coming into the house through the gate’s tiny hole. Yes, the weather was so breezy and when it touches my soft cheeks, I feel my body inhale and exhale the air and as if I could just lie down and sleeping soundly and dreaming about Barbie. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen because suddenly, I started recalling last night’s movie; Alice in the Wonderland. I remember one of the scenes very well. This particular scene where the cloud or maybe smoke gathered beneath Alice’s feet and then it lifted her to a tall mushroom tree. Hence, the ‘adventure’ began for me that day.

The next thing I know, I try to re-create the scene. Honestly, I don’t know why on earth I did something like that. But, I still remember that I wanted to feel like flying after re-calling the scene just now. The next thing I know, I saw a medium-sized red plastic bag also ‘flying’ around the living room due to windy weather which entered in our spacious space. I immediately ran after that plastic bag and when I had it on my hand, I put it beneath my feet and started ‘gliding’ towards the stairs.

Suddenly, when I am having fun gliding with very smooth plastic bag under my feet, then the next thing I know, I feel my body leaning forward but I tried my utmost best to stay back up-straight. Unfortunately, I lost my balance and slipped. The T-zone of my nose hit the edge of the stairs and it cuts open my skin. Thank God I did not break my nose. Red face and both eyes were what I remembered my grandmother’s condition at that time. Her brown-black eyes look into mine searching for the tenacious spirit within me. I know she wanted me to stay strong and stop crying. It is true that blood coming out a lot but then, the way she flustered when looking for a mobile phone made me realize that my condition is much more worse than I thought it were.

Approximately fifteen minutes after that, I saw a blue-black CRV car approaching home. I know it is my mother. She drove me straight to the nearest hospital. My arrivals there were welcomed by few female and male nurses. They gathered near me and brought me to the ER (Emergency Room). I cried so hard because obviously I was in extreme pain and I felt that my eyes will shut anytime soon. I was struggling so much until the middle-aged doctor yelled at me and until the other nurses had to hold my hand and feet because I was unable to stay-still. Actually, I will not struggle so much if they had provided me with anaesthetic before they start knitting my face.

Finally, after the excruciating stitches operation is done, I saw my father and mother came to my room and ready to pick me up. I do expect my father to become enraged for what I have done. But surprisingly, he rewarded me with ‘cloud-9’ chocolate for being so brave. I never felt so painful yet touched at the same time. It was probably the scariest incident that I have ever encountered. I do hope in the future that this incident would not happen again. I really do.

Weekly Reflection (Week 11)

On Monday's class, Miss Amreet asked us to discuss among our group members about the digital storytelling assignment. Meanwhile, Wednesday's class had been postponed because us, Diploma in English's students had a LI (Latihan Industri) Trip in order to expose us with work environment during the internship programme which we will attend on April next year.