Story Starters: 38 Ways to Beat the Blank Page

1. Describe something that happened while riding a bicycle.
2. Recall a time when you got in trouble.
3. Describe an incident at a movie theater.
4. What is one kind of art that intrigues you? Why?
5. Tell about something you did that was “out of character.”
6. Describe a way that you and your family were affected by war.
7. If you had to give away a large sum of money, who would you give it to and why?
8. Tell about an incident that something to do with water.
9. Describe something your parents did for fun.
10. Describe a fad from the decade you were born.
11. Tell about a time when someone held your hand.
12. Tell about an incident when you couldn’t stop laughing.
13. Describe one of your first girlfriends or boyfriends.
14. Tell about a move you made from one place to another.
15. What is an experience that you would consider close to a miracle.
16. Tell about a famous person you have met.
17. Describe your first experience living away from home.
18. Describe visiting or living on a farm or ranch.
19. Describe your most embarrassing moment.
20. Describe your most frightening moment.
21. Write a page of apologies.
22. Write a page in which something is broken.
23. Write a page about a jinx.
24. Write a page that takes place in the woods.
25. Write a page about being too cold or too hot.
26. Write a page about taking your time.
27. Write a page in which someone kills something by accident.
28. Write a page in which a child comforts an adult.
29. Write a page about something you wish you didn’t know.
30. Write a page about something you regret revealing.
31. What’s your greatest joy in life?
32. Do you have a big regret?
33. What’s one thing you always thought mattered, but really doesn’t?
34. What’s love all about anyway?
35. What advice do you wish someone had given you earlier?
36. What’s the best meal you ever had?
37. Where does god, fate, or luck figure into things?
38. Is there a key to your happiness?

Final Draft EDU Survey

NMA Seniors

Click here to complete the Final Draft EDU Survey.

The Interrogation Script

5th & 6th Periods

CLICK HERE for a PDF of The Interrogation Script.

Downloadble C-SPAN Footage

NMA Juniors


This page has free downloadable footage from C-SPAN that might be useful to some of your projects. Take a look. Make sure to download the "Hi-Def" version.

C-SPAN StudentCam 2014



- A. Manriquez

Avid Media Composer Tutorials

NMA Juniors

I so desperately want to be there with you to continue to show you everything you need to know about Avid Media Composer. Since, I cannot, I am going to trust my colleague, Steve Holyhead to show you instead.

Follow this link to Getting Started with Media Composer.
Watch the 8 videos available TAKE NOTES!

Good luck, gang! I'm trusting you to stay focused.

Saturday, I plan to come in from 8am to 2pm for those of you that want to get some work done. I expect the Irish-American and Native-American teams to come in.

- A. Manriquez

Write your Bios

NMA Juniors

Today, it's time to write your bios. Sign in to your Google Drive and open the team's Narrative Proposal document. In there, you will write your bio. Please include your team role.

So, you're a student and don't have much production experience, eh? That's okay, say so! That's your current occupation, "Student at Hollywood High School".

List all the NMA projects you've worked on since 9th grade and what your role was in it.

What do you want your career to be? What do you aspire to? Put it in there.

Are there any extra-curricular activities that you have been consistently been a part of that you are proud of that says something about your character? Add that, too!

It shouldn't take you a whole 50 minutes to write it, so make sure it's polished up and that your teammates have proofread it.

The post below this one has an example and a link with tips for writing your bio.

- A. Manriquez

Writing Your Bio

NMA Juniors

Here's a link to The Seven Steps to Writing a Professional Bio

Below is a sample Bio... mine.

ANTONIO MANRIQUEZ is a filmmaker and educator who started his career at the age of fourteen with the Encore Cable feature, Common Bonds, which premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. His experience as a teen filmmaker has encouraged him to give the same opportunity to today’s youth.
For over a decade Manriquez has taught teens in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He is responsible for organizing the LAUSD’s first Apple Authorized Training Center to teach Final Cut Pro at Cleveland High School in Reseda, California. He currently teaches film and video production at the world famous Hollywood High School’s Media Academy, which is soon to be the first high school program to become an Avid Authorized Training Program.
Manriquez also places much of his efforts on improving media and film education in Los Angeles with the Media Educators of Los Angeles. MELA is an organization dedicated to keeping all media educators in the greater Los Angeles area connected and collaborating with one another for the benefit of the students, the community and the entertainment industry at large.

Doc Pitch Narrative Proposal Template

NMA Juniors

Team leaders, follow the link below to open the Unified American Experience Film Pitch Entry Form Narrative Proposal Template (Whew! That's a mouthful.)

http://goo.gl/qsDEqw

• In Google Drive, go to File > Make a copy
• Rename the copy to "(Demographic) - Narrative Proposal"
• Go to File > Move to folder
• Choose your team's shared folder (NOT your individual video assignments folder)
• Now write your narrative
• Be brilliant
• Good luck!

- A. Manriquez

Tips From Nancy Duarte's Slide:ology

NMA Juniors and Seniors (especially Seniors!)

Below are some links that you need to read and watch to help you make the most effective slides for your project presentations, beginning with the 10 Tips From Nancy Duarte's Slide:ology.

Tips From Nancy Duarte's Slide:ology

The Secret Structure of Great Talks

Slideology

Do You Design Slides More Like Nancy Duarte or Guy Kawasaki?

How to (continue) to Write a Documentary

NMA Juniors:

YOUR HOMEWORK: Read chapter "PUTTING A SCRIPT TOGETHER" (pages 38-46) from How To Write a Documentary.

Take notes to be turned in tomorrow and individually, list what the "three Cs" are in your team's documentary.

- A. Manriquez