Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Ministry of Magic music video contest

Recently we entered (and did not win) the Ministry of Magic music video contest. Our idea was to do the song "The Curse" which would involve filming in low-light situations (sunset and sunrise) and lots of running. Some might turn away from the challenge, but we took it on with great excitement. We started with writing out our ideas for different verses and generally writing all over a sheet of the lyrics. Then we moved on to costuming which would require a vest, a fedora, and a wolf mask. We made our rounds at the thrift stores and bought some brown and black foam in order to make a mask. Unfortunately the low lighting of the videos means you can't really see the mask, but trust us, it's awesome. One evening Maggie and I journeyed out to a park with a large hill and filmed an entire sunset, and our official filming began on New Years day at dawn. Yeah, we didn't sleep that night. It was bitterly cold every time we filmed despite all the hats, scarves, earmuffs, and gloves we bundled up with from Maggie's trunk. I have to say, however, that the final product was totally worth it. Maggie is an awesome editor and I'm so thankful she enjoys doing that.
"The Curse" Music Video
"The Curse" behind the scenes

you should totally check it out, and our other Agent Ninja Face Productions.
-Anna

P.S. the scene with the werewolf waking up on the ground and the Teenage Werewolf bit were my ideas. Yeah, I'm proud of them.

Monday, January 10, 2011

The Tragedy of Snow

It's snowing right now and I have a snow day...which is supposed to be glorious and awesome but its not...why? you ask?

well i think its time for a list:

1. If it's snowing, then it's cold, so anything involving snow requires some hefty clothing and planning 30 minutes before in order to put all of the hefty clothing on.

2. You want to go out and do something with friends or with your dog or something on a snow day because you have this free day where you don't have to waste your time at school...but you can't.

it's snowing...

now I'm on saying that snow days are horrible, I'm just saying that thinking that snow days are wonderful and awesome...is a lie.

3. For optimal snow days, you must not only have snow but something else such as sleet later on in the day or a ton of snow at about midnight the night of the snow day, this ensures a second snow day.

If none of this makes sense, it is perfectly OK...I am currently sick and I never really understand what comes out of my .... fingers?...when I'm sick

loving snot from:

Kristen

Like a Mobius Strip

So my friends are all inspirational and stuff and encouraged me to do BOW 2011, so here I am in the second week of 2011 posting my first blog of blogging once weekly. I already fail. Spectacular. But I wanted to give this a try, so here we go.

I managed to get a small part in my school's winter play, which means I only have to attend about one third of the rehearsals. I'm fine with this, in fact, it's great. I love theatre, but rehearsal every single day can be a bit much. At my first rehearsal the guy sitting next to me turned to the girl next to him and asked about her scarf. His question was: "Is that a mobius strip scarf?" Her answer was: "What's a mobius strip?" So the guy, the girl next to me, and I all launched into a nerdtastically enthusiastic explanation of a mobius strip, followed by a high five for nerdiness all around. But then I suddenly came over all inspired. Why shouldn't there be such thing as a mobius strip scarf? So there you have it. I went home and knitted a mobius strip scarf.
My pattern was generally as follows:
cast on 22 stitches
knit one row
purl one row
repeat until you have a scarf long enough to wrap around your neck twice
bring the ends together to make a loop, but twist one end so it's a mobius strip
knit back into the original row of cast on stitches and finish

That is my very general, very non-professional pattern for a mobius strip, but let me assure you, I was successful.

Yes, in the photos below I am wearing onesie pajamas.




And so concludes my first blog of 2011.
With craftynerdy love,
Anna