Flight and Flying [Tuesday, July 14, 4th period]

[sith_happened]

Anakin had spent the morning getting rid of slight dings that the flight simulator had accrued by being (what the hell) alive this weekend.

"Today we're going to continue with land-based transportation," he said quietly, pointing to two motorcycle-esque machines hovering on either side him. "This is a swoop bike," he said, pointing to one, "and the one on the left is a speeder bike, the slightly newer model, which is also equipped with a laser cannon. Don't use the laser cannon, please. Both fly like the motorcycles of your world drive, but can get up to 400 kilometers an hour. That being said, you will be wearing helmets and there are two different scenarios based on your level of skill. One is a city planet with very tall buildings to miss. The second is a forest moon with trees hundreds of meters tall."

He gave the class a tight smile. "Please don't hit a tree or a building and explode. There will be mocking. If you do it intentionally, there will be detention."

He clapped his hands. "Begin."

Debt! And How to Get Out of It- 1st Period- Class #2

[slapbetcommish.livejournal.com]

Having handwavily instructed everyone to meet in the computer lab, Lily waited for everyone to take a seat at a computer before beginning. "Welcome back, everyone. Today I'm going to introduce you to something both horrible and wonderful, both at the same time. Ladies and... Yakko, meet: the credit card."

( cut cuz i can )

Photography [Period 6]

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

The class was meeting in the Journalism classroom this week, as Veronica had instructed last week. Once they all arrived, she looked around the room. "I hope you all took my advice about wearing old clothes." She was wearing a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee and a tank top that might once have been blue but was faded to grey.

"Today, we're going to learn how to develop the photos you all took for this week. Here is a sheet with some techniques. Today we're going simple, but later in the workshop you will be welcome to try some of the advanced techniques."

After going over all the chemicals and the process, Veronica provided them safety equipment and led them to the dark room. "I'll be here if you need help. I can't wait to see what you all came up with for happiness."

Once all the photos had been developed, they left the dark room and she gave them their assignment for the next class. "This week I want you to take pictures that convey sadness."

Mythbusting, Tuesday, Period 2

[tyler_gone]

Tyler smiled slightly at his class as they assembled. No lab supplies were in evidence, just a TV at the front of the room. "Morning. We're just watching a video here and then we're going outside for the experiment -- the Diet Coke-Mentos eruption."

He cued up a DVD player at the front of class. "This is an episode of Mythbusters --- yes, the show I named the clas for -- showing the science behind what we're going to do. I would have a lecture, but I wouldn't say anything the magic box won't already tell you. These guys are good."

The episode played, explaining that the reaction, in which Mentos dropped into a bottle of Diet Coke produce a fountain as tall as a person, is a product of the caffeine, potassium benzoate, aspartame, and carbon dioxide in the Diet Coke and the gelatin and gum arabic in the Mentos, as well as the rough surface of the candies.

When it was over, Tyler turned off the TV. "And now, you get to do this yourself. Grab a buddy and we're going outside. I have Mentos, Certs, M&Ms, Skittles, Diet Coke, regular Coke, and plain soda water, plus Diet Pepsi, so you can play around and see what makes the best fountain."

Film Through The Ages, Tuesday, Period 4

[chosehumanity]

"Last week, we talked about the dawn of cinema," Mitchell told the class. He was still seated on a couch, but it was rather obviously the Danger Shop - there was a door behind him that couldn't possibly be a door. "At that moment in time, film was a vagrant, travelling from city to city as part of vaudeville shows and fairgrounds. And they weren't much more than twenty seconds in length. That started to change around 1905."

He remembered a few things about that time. "It started in France," he continued, "The Americas hadn't quite shown their skill yet, too unstable until at least 1912, but the French were expanding. Due to new laws, they had more time to have fun, to relax, to go and see a picture or two. Films started to get longer, and companies started to get bigger: Pathe was the first to make, distribute, and show films all at once. Italy started to match this as well, sending films all around the world, going beyond the one-reel films that had been normal up until then. It was progress, and the stir went fast."

He grinned. "I was lying earlier," he said, "The United States did have something to offer. These theatres called Nickelodeons, that would show you a sixty-minute film program for a nickel or a dime. Seems mad now, but it worked like a charm back then. Soon, there were more theatres in the US than... oh, anywhere else on the whole planet." Someone was excited about the subject, yes. Nostalgia, if even by proxy, because he hadn't gotten out of Ireland by then. "The US wouldn't start with multiple reel films until the 1910's, though. Right around the birth of Hollywood. By 1917, they had the rules of American cinema down, the way you know them, these principles of classic Hollywood film."

"Framing, action, everything was being figured out back then. People started to talk about the psychology of characters, why they did what they did, and how to best show it. Might be hard to realise now, but nobody had really heard of a close-up before." He smiled again, with a memory. "They actually thought that the close-up was unnatural and had no sense of art. Can you imagine that?" A pause. "Well, I suppose those of you who aren't of this time can. It was just a big thing at the time, if you managed to get out and catch a film, it was... magic."

It took him a moment to snap out of whatever had made him look that far away. "Today, you'll get to look at an actual film set-up of the time. Mess around a bit, see what looks good and what doesn't. Experiment, like they did back then."

He waved at the Danger Shop, which had been set-up with a classic 180 degree camera set-up. "Go ahead."

[[ wait for the ocd up! ]]