My First Filming Experience!

       Hey everyone!

      I mentioned in my first blog post that I was thinking about starting my own YouTube channel.  I wanted to become active in the BookTube part of YouTube.  I recently started watching videos by people that are considered Booktubers.  I really enjoyed watching their content and thought to myself, "I bet I could do that!"

      I've been wary about YouTube because there is a lot of hate in the comments and people can just be downright cruel to each other.  I didn't know if I really wanted to create a channel and start putting myself out there.  But after watching these videos for about a month, I noticed a trend.  These Booktubers raved about how loving the BookTube community is and how much they love creating their videos.  They talked about how many friends they have made and how much fun they have talking about books and sharing their love of books.  That's what really sealed the decision for me.  I don't have very many friends that I can talk to about books.  Books are a huge part of my life and I want to be able to talk about them with people that actually care about books as much as I do!  BookTube is such a loving and accepting community, and I think it will really help me out in being able to talk about books and make friends.  Since I would like to be a writer and work in the publishing business, having a blog and a YouTube channel dedicated to talking about books will probably be really helpful, too! 

      So after making my channel, I needed to figure out what I would do for my first video.  I wasn't really sure how to start.  But I finally decided on the Taylor Swift Book Tag.  This is just a fun little challenge where you choose books off of your shelf that go with a selection of Taylor's songs.  So I prepared my little sheet of the prompts and songs. 

      The next part was the hardest to get through.  In order to be on YouTube, you're going to have to film yourself.  I'd never done anything like that before and I didn't really know how I felt about it.  I was actually really nervous about it all.  I didn't really know how to start.  I put off filming for another week.

     However, this week I was getting more and more excited to share my choices for the tag!  It was a really fun idea and I decided that on Friday, I would just do it.  I would sit down in front of my laptop and just film it.  When it got to the time to start filming, I was really nervous.  I was shaky and didn't know if I could really do it.  It was like I had stage fright even though I was alone in my room.  I got all of the books ready on my bed and took a deep breath and just went for it.  If I waited any longer, I would probably psych myself out and the filming would be put off longer.  

      As I introduced myself, I could tell I was shaky.  That's the hardest part, I think.  The intro isn't something that I really think about when I watch a video, but it's always there.  I thought to myself, "How in the world does an intro work?!"  But I couldn't keep doing that, I just had to go for it!  And I did.

      Before I knew it, I was having fun.  A lot of fun.  I was sitting all alone in my room, talking to my computer screen about books.  It sounds so strange, but I had a lot of fun with it.  I had a story to go along with each choice and I wanted to talk about why I chose the books I did.  By the end, I felt more myself and felt more confident, even though I still have a long way to go.  After I finished I went straight into editing.  I really really enjoyed myself and I am so glad that I decided to do this whole BookTube thing.  I really had a great time and I can't wait to start filming regularly.  

      Here's the link to the video.  Take a look if you haven't already!  

Visual Effects and Shakespeare

      I took a class last semester called Dramatic Script and Literature.  We commonly called it our Script class or Script Analysis.  There was one particular lesson where we were talking about how Shakespeare compiled this list of the most important aspects of a play.  I wish I still had my notes from that class so I could list them all in order, but the very least important of them all was spectacle.  That can translate into special effects or visual effects. The other more important pieces of a play were plot, dialogue, etc.  My teacher talked about how today a lot of movies use a ton of special effects, but they aren't really needed to enhance the quality of the film.  I didn't really agree with him on that because I really enjoy movies with a lot of visually stunning parts!  But it wasn't until this weekend that I really noticed how little spectacle matters.

      My mom and I decided to go out on a mommy/daughter date for valentine's day.  We decided to go see a movie.  We were having a hard time choosing which movie to go see.  It was between Kingsmen and Jupiter Ascending. We discovered that Kingsmen had a lot of language, and for my mom, that can ruin a movie, so we decided on Jupiter Ascending because... Well, it looked really cool.  The critics gave it some really bad ratings and we heard that it had flopped over its opening weekend, but we tend to like movies that the critics slam anyway, so we decided to give it a chance.

So we got to the theater and got all settled in to watch the movie.  It started out okay, I was enjoying it, but it wasn't the best movie I'd seen.  Then it kept going.  And it got worse.  And worse. And even worse.  The dialogue was terrible.  The chemistry was lacking.  The plot was so confusing that at an hour in, I had no clue what was going on.  We left half way through the movie.  We never leave a movie.  It was just so bad that we couldn't waste our time sitting through it.

The only good part about the movie was the special effects.  The make up and creature designs were wonderful.  There were really cool landscapes and really beautiful costumes.  The monsters were really neat.  Even the voices of the non human creatures were pretty well done.  But it couldn't save the movie.  I'd never experienced that before!  I love movies with a lot of spectacle and a lot of crazy CGI'd scenes--within reason, of course. But this movie didn't have much to back it all up.  I realized the next day that Shakespeare knew what he was talking about.  Spectacle cannot be the high and mighty point of a film, or a play, or anything really.  There needs to be a solid foundation to set up a story.  It can't be really cool creatures and pretty spaceships and sparkling cities.  The dialogue, and story need to be just as strong.  Without them, it'll just fall apart.

If you enjoyed this movie, let me know what you liked about it!  What worked for you to make it enjoyable?  If you didn't like it, let me know when was the point that it started to fall apart for you?

Cleaning Out that Bookshelf!

      Hey everyone!  This is my first ever blog post and I'm very excited to start sharing with you.

      About a week ago I got the urge to reorganize my bookshelves. I have one large-ish one in the front of my room.  I've had it since I can remember.  There are little doodles on it from my middle school years as well has vending machine stickers.  Cringe. I also have a small shelf that should be hung up on the wall, but I keep it on the floor.  Before my reorganizing, I kept my favorite series on it--The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare.  For those of you who have read those books, that was a lot to keep on a tiny shelf.  And lastly I have a tower I used to use to sort out my clothes when I was in elementary school.  It has little sections for each day of the week, and it is an eye sore.  So I would like to get rid of it ASAP.

       So, while going through my collection, I realized that I had so many books that I just had not read.  As I looked through them, it became pretty clear that I would never read a few of them. As a book lover, I used to think that it would be HORRIBLE to get rid of a book.  Any book!  However, I've recently stumbled upon the lovely Booktube community on YouTube.

       For those of you who haven't heard of Booktube, it's pretty simple.  The youtubers that take part in this community make videos about, you guessed it....BOOKS!  I was so excited to find people that talk about books online.  Even though a lot of people I know read books, I've never really had a good solid group of friends that I could talk about books with, and now that I've found Booktube, I can do that!  As soon as I can, I plan to start uploading my own videos.

       Anyway, back to the point of this all.  I discovered that people actually get rid of books.  The Booktube lingo for this is called an Unhaul.  And oh my goodness, it is a glorious discovery.  While I used to think that I would collect every book that I could touch, that's just not something that is realistic, at least for me.  The more unread books that I had on my shelf, the more anxious I got.  I found myself feeling guilty about neglecting books and started asking myself, "What should I actually be reading?" I would get discouraged and just not read much at all.  I had acquired a lot of books from just saying, "Sure, I'll take it."  But when I really looked through my collection, I realized that I had a total of 29 books that I didn't want!  I ended up getting rid of almost all of the books that I'd just taken out of this strange need to have literally all the books.

      So now I have this collection of books that I really love and can't wait to read.  But I also still have this stack of books that I don't know what to do with.  So I figured that I would list them all below for you all before I list them on Amazon or take them over to Goodwill or the bookstore in town.

 1.  The Divide by Nicholas Evans
--This book is about a group of hikers that find a dead body on a snowy mountain.  The dead body is that of a teenage girl on the run.  It sounded interesting, but just not something that I wanted to pick up anytime soon.

 2.  Civil Disobedience and Other Essays by Henry David Thoreau
       --Some of you may recognize this book.  I honestly have no idea why I kept this so long.  It was given to me by my History teacher in high school.  I never read it for… pretty obvious reasons.

 3.  Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
--I read this at the end of last year for my Script Analysis class.  It’s a play about mathematics and life.  There’s a touch of mystery to it.  It was too heady for me and I don’t plan on ever reading it again.

 4.  My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
       --This is one book that I’m not so sure about getting rid of.  I watched the movie and really loved it, but I heard that the ending of the book is completely different.  My mom read it and she said that she was very disappointed in how it all panned out.  I just don’t know if I would enjoy reading it.

5.  Abarat and Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker
--Now, I have had these two books on my shelves for probably ten years…maybe more.  The art work is really creepy and intriguing, but when I tried to pick up the first one, I just couldn't get into it.

6.  Nightmare Academy: The Veritas Project by Frank Peretti

--This book seems right up my alley.  The description is really creepy and dark, as to be expected from the author.  But, sad news is, it’s a sequel and I don’t have the first book.  I just don’t plan on buying the first right now.  Maybe I’ll pick it up in the future.

7.  Dance With Me by Luanne Rice
        --This is just a typical love story that I’m not that interested in.  It was a "sure, I'll take it" book.

 8.  Dark of the Moon by John Sandford
--Typical murder mystery crime drama type. A "sure, I'll take it" book.

9.  Glennis, Before and After by Patricia Calvert
--This is a middle grade (a book for younger kids) book about a girl with a father who is in jail.  She believes he is innocent, but when she discovers a secret, her world is turned upside down.

10.  Alias by Mary Elisabeth Ryan
--This is another book for younger kids about a boy who moves around a lot with his mom.  There is a lot of mystery surrounding her.  One day he stumbles across something on the internet about the Vietnam War, and his mother has something to do with it.

11.  The Reef  by Nora Roberts
--Another mystery type of book, I believe.  It was a "sure, I'll take it" book.

12.  Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
--This is another that is missing the first book in the series.  But it’s about dragons, so it’s probably cool!  It’s for younger audiences.

13.  The First 48 by Time Green
--This was another “sure, I’ll take it” book.  It’s a crime drama.

14.  Mandy by Julie Edwards
--I remember seeing my classmates reading this in elementary school.  It’s probably been on my shelf for ten years, too.

15.  Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
--Another murder mystery and a “sure I’ll take it book.”

16.  Chill Factor by Sandra Brown
--Yet another murder mystery earning its spot on the “sure I’ll take it” list.

17.  The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
--This is also on the “sure, I’ll take it” list.  I was interested in reading a Stephen King book, but when I realized I wasn't into the story, it sat on my shelves for quite a few years.

18.  The Red Unicorn by Tanith Lee
--I went through a unicorn stage for a while, but never got around to reading this.

19. The Black Unicorn by Tanith Lee
--Part of the series above.  I think there was another book in the series that I didn't have, probably the second one.

20. Chesapeake by James A. Michener
--This was something that I had to read in high school.  Those of you who read it with me remember the torture that it was.  It’s almost a thousand pages long!

21.  What We Did Last Summer  by Elizabeth Craft
--This was a cute little summer romance book.  The cover and the title are terrible, but don’t judge a books appearance!  I just won’t read it again.

22.  Anna Christie/The Emperor Jones/The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neil
--These are a series of plays.  I read the last one in my Script Analysis class last semester.  I wasn't all that impressed, so out it goes!

23.  Crimes of the Heart  by Beth Henley
--Another Script Analysis play that I don’t plan on keeping around.

24. Left to Die by Lisa Jackson
--Here’s another “sure I’ll take it” murder mystery.

25.  Waste Land by Michael Newton
--This was another book that was just given to me.  It’s really interesting from the back.  It’s about a couple that went around the country murdering people, I believe.  It’s actually a true story.  The author also wrote a book called My Daddy is the Black Dahlia Murderer. It just isn't something that I’m into right now.

26.  Rules of Deception by Christopher Reich
--Another “sure I’ll take it” book.  I believe it’s a murder mystery.

27.  Hangman by Faye Kellerman
--Another “sure I’ll take it” book.  Probably about illegal killing.

28.  The Best Laid Plans by Sidney Sheldon
--And another “sure I’ll take it” book.  I had to look up the description because my copy doesn't have a dust jacket.  It looks like it’s about a woman scorned kind of thing.
 

~~~

      If you've made it this far, congratulations!  I know that was a lot.  As you could see, most of the books I decided to get rid of were in the "Sure, I'll take it" category.  It goes to show that it really isn't necessary to accept every book that is offered to you.  But of course, if it really seems like something that you would like to read, then go all for it!  This was a really great experience for me and I'm really glad that I purged my shelves.  If there is anything on this list that sounds interesting to you, please let me know and I'll let you take it off my hands.