last day.... D:

Today is the last day of SIA... I really liked this program, and am grateful towards Christine, Rick, and Nick for being amazing instructor people. Some of my favorite parts of the program was the tours, the boat trip, and learning about copyright.  My least favorite part was the fact that we were staring at computers all day and so at the end of the day we were so tired. Some of my recommendations are free doughnuts and Bacon.

Sophia waves goodbye with anenemenome arms

I leave this program feeling very very happy. I especially liked the atmosphere of the group and surrounding space, if that makes sense. The eleven of us (plus Rik and Christine and Nick) have bonded over the struggle of finishing on time and the stress of collecting assets and the joy of learning. We've gone to movies and worked really well as a team. We've played football and eaten all types of food. I do
wish we could have explored the rainforest and planetarium a bit more, but overall I feel like I've learned a lot about the Cal Academy, scientific research, and video editing. I love Premiere so much it'll be like saying goodbye to a baby. A $500 and highly technologically capable baby, but a baby nonetheless. So long and farewell. Over and out.

==> Hannah: Have your last day at the program...

Well, here it is. The last day. It seemed to come out of nowhere....
What to say... Well, I did have quite a fun time working on the video, even if premiere is annoying as heck. Everyone here was quite nice, and I'll miss 'em... I just wish I had more energy to report with. I'm  tired.

Last Day (and a tear streams down Cole's cheek)

Today is the last day of a fantastic experience. I made several new friends, learned about science and filmmaking, and experienced the incredible Academy of Sciences (not mentioning the great improvement of my Frisbee skills and new ability to use MUNI). I have learned skills that will be valuable for the rest of my life, and I would totally do this program again.
One of the greatest parts of this program was the humongous wealth of resources available at the Academy. With the fantastic software and technology they use, the experienced filmmakers helping us along the way, the scientists who made the video possible, and the exhibits that inspired us to create and learn. Not to mention the relaxed and personable guidance from our program organizers, Rik and Christine. I also loved the relaxed feel of the program, with our hour long lunch/frisbee sessions, and our ability to screw around (to an extent).
As for the challenging/dislikable parts of the program, they go together. I felt that there was too much introduction, and not enough time to actually create the video. If we had more time to do that, this program would be just about perfect.
Also, we had Panera almost every day

Setting Sail at SIA

The Science in Action: Built for Speed program allowed me a closer view of the Academy through preliminary tours through several of the collections and labs.  Most beneficial were the interviews we had with several of the scientists, who informed us on conservation and other topics related to the preservation of the oceans.  Additionally, the small size of the groups permitted closer teamwork and ensured that everyone was able to gain the skills needed to complete the project.

One of the most incommodious aspects of Science in Action was the time constraint for the video itself, because of which our group had to delete significant portions that would have otherwise contributed greatly to the overall message.  For example, we omitted a section on the Mako shark and did not mention the role of trawling and long-line fishing in destroying ecosystems.

I suggest future SIA programs allow more time for production and the video itself.  Many of the participants would also have appreciated being able to see the Living Roof and other exhibits.  The group size was definitely helpful, and I hope the next SIA program proves successful as well.

Day 67

Day 67: The fight is over. After months and months of living undetected among the creatures, yet constantly shrouded in a cloud of fear, help has arrived. The ship, Mary Ann, arrived at the shores yesterday, and the natives attacked on sight, but they were no match for England's gun powder and fighting spirit. I am finally returning to my home land. My mother, my poor old mother, she must think I am dead. Alas, the terror that I had become so used to in the past months has yet to fade, my mind is still addled and I do not feel quite right. The ship's crew has been avoiding me...I fear that I will not be accepted back home. The ship always sways, the clouds never stray. My sanity will never be the same. Goodbye, shores of mysterious fog, goodbye, days of hunger and pain, the constant darkness that consumes my mind, always on the brink of insanity, never myself. Goodbye.

Goodbye.

Captain John Smith, 1867

WOW! Science in Action! So much fun! over the past week me and my program-mates have gone through a long process of making a science squid video. I think my favorite part of the program was finally finishing the actual video and the feeling of completion and pride. I am really grateful to my teammates for doing so much, so to Brandon, Sophia the younger, and Hannah, THANK YOU!!! Its been a great experience!
Grace

Super Sassy Squid Squad Analytics! ~Arun Shriram (Favorites, Disliked things, and Suggestions)

What I liked the best about the program:

1. The amount the people in the program was perfect. A dozen people splits up evenly into 3 groups of 4, and 4 people is small enough to assign roles and big enough to use more teamwork.
2. I also liked the tours around the place. They were awesome! It was cool seeing the behind-the-scenes of the aquarium and the millions of specimens the academy has.
3. When I was waiting for my parents sometimes I explored the academy and the entire building was amazing! 
4. I'd like to give a shout-out to Nick, Rik, and Christine for being awesome advisors and helper-outers. Nick was really friendly with the kids and it was easy to work with him. Christine was really friendly with us and she did a really good job of helping us along the way. And Rik was a fancy dresser (he forced us to say that) and also helped us continue and finish our projects. It was great having these people!
5. My whole team was awesome. Brandon, the great "artist" and scriptwriter, did a great job writing the script and aligning the entire script. Sophia was awesome because she pretty much did ALL the premiere editing. We wouldn't have a video without her. And Juliette did a great job finding lots of assets and without her we wouldn't have the animations done by her Photoshop skills!

What I didn't like about the program:

1. The amount of time we had to do our project. We virtually started on Wednesday and were expected to finish it on Thursday.
2. That's... pretty much it. :)

My suggestions for the program to be even awesomer:

1. More time for the production! 3 days minimum please? We can pace ourselves more evenly that way.
2. Choose teams and topics earlier. We could have gotten to know our team better and assess valuable skills. Also we could have done more research and formulated ideas for our videos earlier if we had chosen our topics earlier. 
3. Otherwise, that's it!

Thanks for an awesome program! I loved it a lot!

The Final Destination

Science in Action: Built for Speed Program

Things I Like: The group size was conducive to forming, the lab and classroom were better suited to the program, for it allowed us to spread out and talk amongst ourselves, learning to fully use premiere was fun and interesting, and the tours were fun.

Hardest Part: Technical difficulties were a major hassle throughout the project, finding assets that were useable was difficult due to the specific nature of our project, and creating a video that fit the time limit was frustrating.

Recommendations: Keep the group size the same, give the kids more time to explore the academy, more time to form the video would be nice, and getting into groups sooner would be accommodating.

Yuan Ming Pan 2013 SIA last day blog T_T

1. What we like best? What I liked best out of these two weeks is bonding with everyone and working as a group to crank this video out in less then 3 days! Also, I liked lunch and how we still were bonding even though we were not in the same group.  
2. Challenges? TIME!!!! TIME!!! There was not enough time!!!! every program there is always less time to do our project it seems. Also, the copyright stuff was a pain and TIME!!!!!  
3. Improvements? MORE TIME!!!! Longer program time and time to work on our projects. Also, crank out our groups and decide on a topic early so then we can worry about the assets and need be go film the assets on our own.  

Science in Action Reflection

What I liked the most.

I likes being able to work with my group without interference from the outside world. Our group was able to make a lot of progress with the limited amount of time that we had.

Something that I disliked about the program is that we did not have that much time to plan out our topics and get to know the skill sets of our groups. Aldo shortening the script and video was also difficult. And the most frustrating of all was not knowing if some of the footage was usable or not.

A recommendation that I would make is to have people to get into there groups earlier which would create more time to organize and storyboard. 

All and all I had a great time working at the academy. I am lucky to be with a great group of people and to have awesome resources like Rick, Christine, and Nick.

program reviews

Like:

• group size
• tours
• scientists
• food
• working with technology
• independenceness?
• food

Dislike:

• not enough time to work on video
• copyright
• copyright
• copyright
• copyright
• um.....copyright

recommendations

• start groups earlier
• more food
• time to explore the academy
• food.
• keep number of people at twelve. 

Process notes for Humboldt Squid video

Process of choosing topic 

we researched a lot about squid movement and habitat and range and stuff. At first, we were thinking about sort of like a movie/horror trailer, but then we thought about it, and we decided that it would be characterizing the squid as a villain so we didn't do that in the end.

On Creating the video

it was really hard to find actual video footage, and all the actually good footage we could find were not usable. WHICH SUCKS BECAUSE ITS REALLY GOOD FOOTAGE AND WE NEED VIDEOS NOT PICTURES AND GOD WHY US COPYRIGHT SO ANNOYING WHYYYYYY WHHHHHYYYYY WE NEED VIDEOOOSSSSSS. 

what am i supposed to write about "premier" like adobe premier, or like premiering the video or like what...... not sure. can't think. too much ..... to handle..... if only there was no such thing as copyright. BUT THATS IMPOSSIBLEEEEEEEE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COPYRIGHT WE HATE YOU.

DAY 5

15:52
Friday, June 14th, 2013

The weather is stormy, like my tortured mind.

 I am stranded in this hell hole. Yet they still believe I have changed, that I have become one of them. My resilience is still strong, they will not take me over. I will resist. The other day my sanity showed signs of wavering, but I stayed away from them to hide my weakness. They have yet to show signs that they are aware of my true identity. I fear for my life, I weep for my lost family.

I am not sure I will make it.

Captain Johnson, Log 42




Hey Guys!!! Today i got to experience first hand, what it is like to be a camera operator, when I manned the camera during the interview. At first it was difficult to get the angle and the alignment right, but by the third eight minute interview, I had it down and was able to successfully keep filming done well. It was a great introduction to real life filming.
-Grace

Brandon J, SIA Day 5 (see ya on Monday)

Moe-mentous Progress in "Superfish"

Today's Science in Action activity involved pre-interviewing several scientists.  My group gained some information regarding sustainability, harmful fishing practices, and, of course, fast marine organisms.  Ultimately, we decided to interview Maureen "Moe" Flannery, the Academy's ornithologist, mammologist, and collections manager, on Monday.  Questions we prepared will hopefully elicit answers that elucidate dolphins' place in the ocean's ecosystems and ways people can help sustain fish and other marine animal populations.

day 5.

Today was the first full day working in our group. We did many things, one of which was researching our topics. Our video is going to be about the many adaptations that marine animals have that allow them to go fast. We decided to research Humboldt squid, flying fish, spinner dolphins, tuna, sailfish, and the mako shark. we had to find websites tat we were sure would have true scientific facts. We ended u using a lot of info from the national geographic website and from youtube videos.

Sophia cooperates and compromises

Today we began the interview process! I enjoyed talking to Aaron Pope, Manager of Sustainability, and Bart Shepherd, Director of the Steinhart Aquarium, especially, but unfortunately we can't use those clips for our final video UNLESS I find a way to reduce background noise. 'Tis my mission for the next week as official video editor-in-chief! We will be interviewing Moe Flannery next week, which is quite the compromise as we barely have any mammals or birds in our topic. But neither do the other groups so...taking one for the team. Yay for teamwork. We did get to hear a lot of interesting information about Bart's diving experiences and Roberta's background and Aaron's passion for sustainability. All in all, a very tiring, informative, and excitement-packed day. Over and out.

A rather Humboldt interviewer

Today, I interviewed three different scientists, each of whom had varying degrees of knowledge about our topic. The process was rather difficult, for each person had different things to say on each of our topics. Also, some had auxiliary difficulties, such as looking at me, the interviewer, and speaking loudly. However, the experience taught me to tell the person to look at me, as well as come up with questions beforehand that I have no problem repeating.

Phelpers United: The Preinterviews

Today we had the pleasure of interviewing three Academy scientists about our topic, concerning Michael Phelps' speed in comparison to fish. Mainly, this was a very difficult process, as only one of the scientists related closely to our topics. In our interview with Roberta Brett, the etymologist, we struggled to find connections between bugs and fish movement. However, she gave us some helpful info pointing us in the right direction, which ended up to be extremely useful. Aaron Pope, manager of sustainability, was able to talk enthusiastically and sympathetically as we racked our minds for something to say. Finally, Bart Shepherd, the director of the Steinhart Aquarium, was able to provide us with meaty information. He could answer all of our questions, and we reached a consensus that he should be our interviewee. Overall, it was a successful day, because we got some great hints as to what information to pursue and answers to our questions.
#phelpers

Blog number 5

hello earthlings. it will not be long before squid take over.. muahhahahaha... soon I will join them in their success. muahahahaha these foolish earth dwellers have no suspicion of me. Well anyway, today my group did many things, but I will focus on interviewing the scientists. It was a good experience, and we sorted out what we really needed to be in our video. I think that our best candidate was Aaron Pope, manager of sustainability. He seems most comfortable with interviews. but soon.... soon... i shall be ruling the world along with my fellow squid men people things.

expect my reign. expect it.

Mmm blog. My Fav Day. Dayah five. Burritos ~~~Arun

Our group did something AMAZING today.
We..... did many things
LIKE..
1. collaborating on role members
2. interviewing scientists
3. coming up with questions for the scientists
4.  Had no particular feelings towards figs
5. Watched random videos kind of relating to our topics
6. Getting mad at Arun :P

So what I wanted to talk about today was the collaboration on role members
We went through a lot of struggle (30 seconds of cat fighting over roles) but we eventually resolved our differences and settled for things. I'm the nerdy computer geek (kind of) so I'm the cameraman and the asset collector. I hope I eventually know how to do those things (hahaha joke).
Well that's it for today
So I will see y'all tomorrow
Yeah..
P.S.... BURRITOS
~Arun :D