Fredricks West Coas Experiance

Quinn: Summer Lovin'

An Establishing Shot of Quinn (Moogie) getting off her scooter.

An Action Shot of when the hose sprinkler turned on and began splashing her.

This is a Detail Shot of Quinn and her bathing suit.

The Importance of Jon Stewart

Recently Jon Stewart, the former host of the satirical Comedy Central news show "The Daily Show," gave a testimony to Congress about it's handling of benefits government benefits for 9/11 first responders and victims.

Stewart has been advocating for the first responders for awhile, and in a 2010 episode Jon devoted an entire episode to push for a bill to help victims of 9/11.

Jon Stewart has been an important voice for America. After taking over the host position for The Daily Show from Craig Kilborn 1999. 

Two years later Jon Stewart would be faced with the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Giving a heartfelt monologue about the attacks 9 days after.

For me one of my first memories at the age of 5 was of 9/11, and my parents watching Jon Stewart after.

So I as I grew up Jon was always on the television, giving me insight to what was going on in the world. 

I remember his commentary on the Iraq Invasion, the Bush administration and just making me laugh, even if I didn't fully understand it at a young age.

 Jon Stewart was always there for me to understand whats going on, and him leaving television after my high school graduation was strange.

Jon has been someone for me to look up to. It's hard to put into writing, let alone 500 words, what Jon Stewart means to me.

 He helped shape my world view, the man got me to read and keep up with what is important in the news and politics, and to find the humor in them (which is sorely needed right now).

Jon is someone I will always look up to a person I strive to be, these words in school blog post cant convey what Jon Stewart means to me.

  

Jon Stewart got his start as a stand-up comedian in 1986, than branched off into television with a couple shows on MTV in 1992. From 1999-2015 Jon Stewart given his commentary on our politics, through his show, books and movie Rosewater.

 He was a consistent voice calling out hypocrisy from where ever it may be in our politics. Him and "The Colbert Report,"Comedy Central's other news satire at the time, gave commentary to post 9/11 America, using humor to inform people of politics, and to lampoon news media outlets for their bias and poor reporting.

 From tragedies, to advocating for bills, and calling out bullshit in politics, hypocrisy of politicians. Growing up in the 2000's Jon Stewart was a voice of reason for me and for many and still is.

 The recent testimony to congress is a reflection of what he means to many Americans.

  

Seattle Is Dying

Eric Johnson of KOMO news, documents the current Homelessness crisis in Seattle parallel to that of Portland, San Francisco, and other western cites. In this documentary Johnson talks with the police of Seattle and their experiences with this "epidemic" of homelessness, and the homeless people of Seattle and their stories, comparing both of them together giving a clear picture to what is the problem, and ways we might be able to fix it.

Johnson references that city officials are saying this is a housing problem, in fact it is a drug and mental health problem, and both police and the homeless confirm this. Showing police video of police officers trying to deal with unruly homeless people, and showing the many drug addicts on the sidewalks.

After going into the database of offenders shows how many of them are arrested and then immediately released, thus giving the perpetrators no reason not to do it again. Due to new laws passed of what one can be arrested for and how long, the database shows how many are repeat offenders, much to the public and police's disdain.

Johnson than goes on to talk to a former popular Sheriff, who was well regarded member of the community, known to stop and help the people in need.
He quit the force after many years, and he states how he left due to his inability to do his job due to laws passed that have restricted the Seattle Police from being able to do there job.

Johnson shows that this is one of the causes in the crime spike we see in Seattle and other west coast cities. He even interviews one of their top repeated offenders on the streets, and he confirms it adding that he loves it. And when residents confront city officials about these problems of robbery and assault, and that the Police need to be allowed to do their jobs and arrest these people, city officials are dismissive, and don't listen to the criticism presented to them of their policies to the dismay of Seattle's residents.

Johnson then compares the crime and police patrolling in the areas where city officials live in, against the policing in the rest of Seattle, showing the favoritism and unequal representation to other parts of Seattle's districts, where crime and public drug use is prevalent.

Eric Johnson's investigative journalism should be commended, he points out a major problem in west coast cities pointing out the underlying problems, and brings faces to a problem not many want to talk about. We need to change how we deal with homelessness and address what it really is, a drug problem. We need to find ways to help these "lost souls," instead of walking past the, ignoring them as they suffer at our feet.

Johnson points out that we need to give them means to be able to come back, instead of living in torment on our streets, showing how other cities have dealt with this problem, and succeeded on reducing the crime and homelessness.

How the Artists behind "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" Created the Film so Visually Appealing

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a movie that taken a vast amount of risks as it took the animators a year until they were finally happy with the art style. This movie stands out as the most visually appealing films in 2018.

When the production team was deciding how they wanted the movie to look, it took a year until they were finally happy with the art style. Sony hired 177 Animators in the making of this movie which is twice the amount any other film would have. The artists decided to make the film not too realistic but it feels like a realistic cartoon. This features an art style that co-exists with characters in the style of Noir, Anime, and a Cartoony style.

Kirby Krackle
Photo Courtesy of Sony

In scenes having to do with energy in the film, the artists used an artistic choice called the Kirby Krackle or Kirby Dots. It is typically used in smoke and explosions, too.

Pop Frame used

Photo Courtesy of Sony

In many scenes during the film, the animators inserted Pop Frames or hand-drawn shots that replaced some of the 3D shots to give it that comic book feel.

Color Blobs in the background

Photo Courtesy of Sony

Color Blobs were used to replace the idea of animating vehicles and people that were too off in the background.

To create a depth of field, the colors align on the subject. Lights often used the Half-tone technique which used dots in gradients. The shadows also had their own style. The shadows were done by using criss-crossed lines called Hatching. In the film, Miles Morales is animated differently than any other character. He is animated "on Twos." It means that a pose will fall on two frames instead of one. The goal is to make the poses more pronounced.

Out of all the techniques used such as the Kirby Krackle, Pop Frames, Color Blobs, Half-Toning, and Hatching, Sony has undoubtedly took the audience by surprise. The artists took a lot of risk by making this film stand out from any movie with it's innovative art style that payed off tremendously well in the end.

NPR as a Platform

NPR, or National Public Radio, is an online platform that regularly publishes nonfiction audio and written stories about a variety of topics.

(Stephen Voss/NPR)

NPR is a nonprofit organization that creates and distributes news stories to a large audience trying to “create a more informed public.” According to NPR, they hold themselves to be accurate, fair, complete, honest, independent, impartial, transparent, accountable, respectful, and produce a high-quality story. They try to be accurate by verifying information and challenging what assumptions they have coming into a story. To be fair is to be professional and make a reasonable effort to get the side of those who might be criticized. They try to tell a complete story by avoiding errors of omission and explaining if they do not know something. NPR aims to be honest by giving credit to those who provide information and by avoiding fiction and being honest about any hypothetical situations.

NPR publishes very frequently, with stories coming out more than once a day, with each organized with ones like it.

John Oliver: The Most Human-y News Anchor

Matthew Phillips

According to a 2018 study from the Knight Foundation and Gallup poll, the American public's trust in the news media is in decline. While many suppose that this decline is in part caused by the Trump Administration's nonending criticisms of the media as "fake news" and "the enemy of the people," data supporting this theory is inconclusive. 

However, the fact remains that the news media has an image problem. Part of this problem stems from how devoid of humanity journalists may sometimes seem. This image problem is not new. Stigmas abound which characterize journalists as conniving, distant and focused on the story first, often at the expense of the people involved.

There is ongoing debate in the world of journalist as to whether or not we should be reporters or humans first. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer, as each instance is different. While the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics offers some guidelines, ultimately it is up to the discretion of reporters and editors as to how they should proceed. This has led to mistakes in the past, which could in part explain journalists' perceived lack of humanity.

Enter John Oliver and HBO's "Last Week Tonight."

Really? Yes, really.

Increasingly, many young people between 18-30 are turning to "Last Week Tonight" as a viable news source, despite Oliver's insistence that he is not a journalist.

For over five years, Oliver's weekly program has focused on a variety of important yest seemingly mundane topics, which Oliver simplifies into easily digestible segments. 

Notably, "Last Week Tonight" has tackled abortion laws, infrastructure, gerrymandering, net neutrality and civil forfeiture, among numerous other often difficult to understand topics. Each episode is informative, yet Oliver knows when to lighten the mood with a joke or take a needed aside about another topic before getting back to the point at hand.

During the show's six season run, Oliver has also conducted a number of interviews with key figures, including most recently Monica Lewinsky in an episode about public shaming, Anita Hill in an episode about workplace harassment, and former NSA employee Edward Snowden for an episode about government surveillance.

However, Oliver's greatest strength is in his openness about his his beliefs and biases. While most television news anchors maintain a neutral tone when reporting on difficult topics, Oliver is unafraid to call out individuals, organizations and policies for their unethical practices and to wear his emotions openly. This openness can seem like Oliver is "telling it like it really is," a compelling sentiment among his key audience of young democratic progressives.

In crafting a message for a younger audience, Oliver often features guest stars who serve to drive a point home, often through elaborate gimmick or audience call to action. 

In a recent episode about the unethical dealings of pharmaceutical mogul Richard Sackler, Oliver brought on actors such as Michael Keaton and Bryan Cranston to read excerpts of Sackler's testimony from a 2015 deposition. All of those clips can be found here.

Through his own expressions of emotion, Oliver inspires his audience to action, with each episode typically ending with some call-to-action, either through a witty hashtag for his followers to use, or more specific directions.

Overall, "Last Week Tonight" is fun. Oliver isn't afraid to be silly or embark on shenanigans to make a point. The following clip is now years old, but still captures the essence of why so many people regularly tune in: