Sky KID`s SKYNET

The main characters of the movie - two little tigers

Do you love animals ? And what about tigers ?Are you fan of Freddie Highmore ? If you answer yes to any of these questions you are going to really love the movie Two Brothers. I see it as a coming of age movie as well - only this time we have several characters who came of age - two little tigers , a boy who cared about one of them and Guy Pearce who plays the role of an adventurous hunter and writer .

Raul ( Freddie Highmore ) and his parents

I picked the DVD in a video store - while looking for some new titles for my collection. Did not notice it at first until the friend I was with pointed the actor on the cover and asked me if I knew who he was. Naturally one glimpse was enough to recognize Freddie Highmore - which on it self meant that I had to get the movie. And I am glad that I did that - despite of the rareness of the scenes in which Freddie appeared . As my friend said to me back in that store ” His role is not major - the major one is of the two baby tigers - but it was this movie that made him known to the world”

The little tigers in the movie are adorable. They love to play in the river, bathe in the sun and get into trouble- much like their human equivalents. The movies directors worked with the best animal trainers - and this resulted in one of the greatest movies about animals ever to be made. The tigers - Kumal and Singha - were able to convey a full range of feelings: love, fear, sadness, loneliness, joy and even angerl.Add to that a breathtaking scenery and absolutely beautiful scenes and you will get an idea of what to expect .

The bottom line is that trough the movie does not provide any surprising twists in its plot - its well worth seeing and it goes on to my favorite list straight away. Some of the scenes are really touching and while watching the movie and after its final credits I felt sorry that those animals are almost gone - thanks to the actions of the Humans , who destroy their natural habitat and hunt them for pleasure .

Official movie site ( link ) Movie`s Kids page of this movie ( link)

Who is Freddie Highmore (link)

I could not resist posting about all those wonderful experiences I had today . If you have read my post titled Exploring the Island and My Biking Route - by now you know that I am spending my summer vacation on an Island in the Mediterranean Sea . I am getting around it on a bike - which a friend of my Mom lend me for the duration of the Summer. I am biking almost everyday to the nearest beaches - but so far have made two longer trips ( 40 km ) exploring the Island. What I am looking for are nice views , beaches ,adventures and yes friends - as I am yet to make some . Not knowing anyone here I am setting off to the trips by myself - but so far can not say that felt bored even for a single moment. Today I set off at 10 am - and all I had in my backpack was a towel , my digital camera with a small tripod , sandwich and swimming goggles. I head to the German Zone - called that was because the majority tourist there are from Germany - but can`t say that I liked it much there - its just that commercial beaches - with road on their edges do not attract me. However as soon as I left that zone I kept biking into a rual area and soon discovered amazing beaches . By that time I met 2 other tourists ( like me hehe) - biking on that round - there are quite a few but these two were really nice - a couple from Germany and we chatted for a while.

Will not bother you with more details of my day - but I do want to show you some of the pictures I took :

The beach I discovered:

Another great place for diving :

And :

For more photos - click here

Recently I decided that its time for me to devote some more attention to this blog. That`s why I want ahead and got a domain name ( skykid.org) and a hosting plan. At first I was considering moving the entire blog there - but decided that this won`t be a good idea as skykid.wordpress.com is well known - and I am more or less ( rather more than less ) personally attached to it. Instead I decided to develop a whole new Sky Kid 2.0 blog and associate it with this one.

Nevertheless  I tried to export my database and import it at the new place - with no luck as there is a 2 MB restrictions per file - while my database turned out to be about 4 MB. Extremely frustrated I went on in forums , blogs …etc trying to find a solution.  At the end I found a way and decided to make it available on my blog . Its tested and 100 % working method !

Create a file under public_html and name it php.ini  . Put the following in it
upload_max_filesize = 6M
post_max_size = 6M
Replace the 6 with whatever size you want.
You will then need to add this line to a .htaccess file:
(Please replace “yourusername” with your cpanel user name an add to the end of the comand line the folder(s) to the location of the php.ini file - Also there is a space between path and /home)
suPHP_ConfigPath /home/Yourusername/public_html

Let’s talk about lens time.

I guess first we should say what it is. Lens time is your time in front of the camera lens.

Now why is this important? Your a singer or dancer, not a marketing agent or a salesman. You want to do your craft. How much lens time and the quality of that lens time is how they decide who they sign to entertain. You are an investment. And although they seem nice and may have you thinking they are doing this because they like you, never lose sight of the fact that it takes money to do these things and it doesn’t grow on trees. They will invest only in the good acts, the most entertaining. Lens time is how they measure you. The more they see your face and hear your voice, the more someone has invested in you.

Everyone wants to be on a winning team. If they see your face a lot, they assume someone else thinks you’re going to pay off in the end by bringing lot’s of people to see and hear you. Lot’s of people who will part with those dollars for parking, drinks, food entry fees and the like. There is the return on their investment. So if you like to do your craft and you want to be the best then you need to learn a few things besides the song or dance in your act. You need to learn how to act in front of the camera.

Lots of our young singers transit back and forth from stage singing to acting. This brings about some confusion regarding treatment given the camera lens. It can be confusing especially to the very young.

This should act as a general guideline for you or your youngster.

First let’s talk about acting. When you are acting on stage as in a play like Oliver, or Maybe the little prince, your interaction is with the other members of the cast. Your audience does not exist. They are looking at your pretend word through a window. You pretend they aren’t there. The same goes for the camera. It is so those in another room can also see through their window into your pretend world. So when you look at the camera lens you return them to the reality they are seeking to escape. In short, don’t look at the lens. It is not there.

Now let’s discuss entertaining and interviewing.

When you are on stage entertaining, whether singing dancing or juggling, the camera is your audience and is more so your audience than the people sitting in the seats in front of you. The people sitting in the audience will think you looked directly at them if you even glance in their direction. The camera is usually feeding screens behind you or to the sides of the stage. It may also be feeding a recorder or a broadcast system. When you are singing, the camera is you best friend. Sing to it, look affectionately at it, and smile when ever it goes with the context of your song. If it is a sad ballad then look sorrowfully at it. The camera will help you create an emotional bond with your audience. A bond that lasts long after your song and event are over. Here is a wonderful example of great lens technique.

Notice how each singer appears to be singing to you, personally. Didn’t you feel that connection?

Watch this video and think how you feel from scene to scene. In the open, some interviewers look and speak to the person asking the questions and some answer to the lens. Which has greater impact on you, the viewer?

Hopefully the emotional connection lasts all the way to Amazon.com or long enough that they order your personalized CD. Don’t be afraid to put an “add on” with your order for an autographed CD for and additional sum. Maybe make half of that sum for a charity. Many will cherish the personalized nature of the CD and be willing to pay the additional sum. It also helps in branding your talent. But that is for another writing.

So the bottom line is this. Love the camera and it will love your bank account and get you more work.

Interviewing is soooo important. It can also be the scariest. You’re not singing a rehearsed song. You have to come up with answers. This is so important I can’t express it adequately. If you interview well then you will get more lens time than you can shake a stick at.

If you interview by answering each question with a yes or no or worse yet, shaking your head yes or no, then it really doesn’t matter how much talent you have you just went down a notch or two on the call back list. So you need to learn to converse. That means using several words at a minimum. Ideally you want to take 30-45 seconds for your answer. With a one word answer your cameraman doesn’t have time to tack you, zoom in and focus. You have to allow enough time for him to do that and then transition back to your host. With one word answers your audience will get ill if they bounce back and forth so what you end up with is a two shot; a shot where you share the lens with your host.

They [the audience] are not there to see your host. They are there, to see and hear you! They will judge your sincerity and character by your answers and the tone of your voice and most of all, by your eyes and the lens.

Interviewing is a little different in the way you treat the lens. You start off looking at the person asking the question and then look to the lens and back at your host at the very end of your answer. You also lower your voice at the end of you answer. Going up indicates you are not done speaking. These are signals to the producers to prepare for a switch. That may be a little tough for our British contingent as they have a tendency to go up instead. Get over it.

It is important that you learn to speak slowly, don’t rush it. Speak plainly and project well. Pretend there is no microphone and you want to be heard. That doesn’t me to yell, but to speak loudly. One way to set the tone of the interview is to take the opportunity to thank your host for the invitation to appear before answering your first question. Let it go something like this:

Host Marie: Well Johnny, you have quite a voice for a little guy. How long have you been singing?

Johnny: Well, before I answer I just want to thank you for this invitation to sing it has been just wonderful, you and your staff are simply the best. [Pause for the applause to die down.] Now to answer your question, I started singing when I was very young. Mom said I would pretend that I had a microphone and sing along with the radio. I guess I would have been four or five maybe. But I didn’t start singing professionally on stage until I was nine.

Now what did we do? We captured 20-40 seconds lens time that we would not have had with a simple two or three word answer. Think about how valuable that time is. That is 20-40 seconds more that the audience has to learn your face, voice and personality. All very important.

The questions you are likely to be asked are generally easy to predict. And your mom or dad can help you rehearse and practice to stretch out your answers. They can also ask the booking agent to ask what questions you might be asked by the host, before the event. That way you have the opportunity to think how you will respond ahead of time. There are catch phrases you can use to give yourself time to think or to avoid questions that make you uncomfortable. But that will be in my next work on Interviewing.

Just make them laugh and you have purchased lens time that is invaluable. And more importantly, they will move you up a notch on the call back list. More interviews, means more opportunities to sing.

Relax and smile into the camera. Remember that $miles go a long way towards you getting lens time.

On 11th of May I posted a short note about reaching 200 000 hits . Less than a month later there are 26,734 new hits. That`s quite an achievement - I would like to thank Bestpi for helping me keep the blog updated while I was away. Also thanks fly to michalangelo for being with me almost from the very begining and commenting on my posts. And of course Ikarus for his comments and incredible blog ( which is one of main main sources of inspiration).

Last but not least thanks for all of you being here and reading this !

I love biking . And I love swimming too - which I guess explains why the place I am going to spend the next three months is a perfect one for a summer vacation. I had some troubles to find a bike - and if you have followed my Twitter updates you would know that today a friend of my mother lent me one of his . Its a great bike and I enjoy riding it - but you know the boss of my Mom told her that he is going to buy a new bike for me as a present ( :

Took only few photos today - and they are not that special , but you still can get some idea of my biking route.

Eres mi héroe is a nice Spanish coming of age film in which the story is told trough the view point of the 13 year old Ramón. His dad changes frequently jobs and Ramón often have to face the situation of being the new kid in the school. Ramón has trouble fitting in which is probably why he tells us : ” I felt like a soldier pushed into a dead end ambush.”

One day he makes a life changing choice :

... to become invisible.
Then he defines his own three vital rules of survival and swears to himself to obey by them or die. His rules does not make his life easier , but come handy at times. As he comes of age and gains understanding of the life and his own self following these rules becomes a harsh if not an impossible task.

Rule number 1
Not to fight.
Everyone’s stronger than you.A punch hurts, but not as much as a kicking.
Rule number 2
Not to snitch.Snitching will not be forgiven.Snitching can have deadly consequences.
And rule number 3
Not to cry.They want you to cry,that’s why they hit you.

Not to fight, not to snitch,and not to cry.

Eres mi héroe feels like an autobiographical film and if you enjoy coming of age movies you are guaranteed to adore this one. The young Manuel Lozano does a respectable job in the role of Ramón and his acting is so good that many of you may re-experience their first kiss or wonder as a teenagers . The soundtrack is exceptionally good and if you are found of Spanish music ( like I am ) you would truly appreciate it.

IMDB page (link)