Regent Park Focus

This week, the Multi-Media group started working on creating a webpage that we coded ourselves. We had a partner and also had to brainstorm in order to continue with our project. Shian did briefly explain to us about coding and got us comfortable with coding. She also managed to get us closer by making us work in partners over the course of the summer. Shian also did an amazing job at taking us through the coding process and having the patience to teach us step by step if we were struggling. When we were finished, we showed off our web pages to everyone else. On Thursday August 16th, we started another group project where we have to come up with a virtual reality themed webpage. Basically we insert images into 3D objects and have people connect to the mini-VR (virtual reality) app and move around to read certain stuff on the web page. Shian also demonstrated to us most of the common parts of VR coding. By: Divine Bailey

This week, the Multi-Media group started working on creating a webpage that we coded ourselves. We had a partner and also had to brainstorm in order to continue with our project. Shian did briefly explain to us about coding and got us comfortable with coding. She also managed to get us closer by making us work in partners over the course of the summer. Shian also did an amazing job at taking us through the coding step by step and having the patience to teach us step by step if we were struggling. When we were finished, we showed off our web pages to everyone else. On Thursday August 16th, we started another group project where we have to come up with a virtual reality themed webpage. Basically we insert images into 3D objects and have people connect to the mini-VR (virtual reality) app and move around to read certain stuff on the web page. Shian also demonstrated to us most of the common parts of VR coding.

Today, we started the day off with Shian’s program which covers general knowledge about new media. To be more specific, we worked on coding using a program called Processing Java. She also taught us about key terms that are used in coding such as function call, argument, variables, assignment operation and user-defined variables. Learning about coding is very intimidating and time-consuming. Just learning the basics is a complex task with many symbols to memorize. I will admit though, that it has gotten a little bit easier since this is our second day learning about coding. The fun part about the program is being able to make visuals using coding. Today, we were able to make a square background with the freedom of choosing any size and colours we would like. In addition to that, we learned how to make circles and lines appear in the background as well. As we go deeper into the program, the more respect and admiration I have for people who do coding and artist who incorporate cod...

By: Levi Linton This week introduced some new techniques to the group as well as the development of old ones. We began the week by learning about basic computer coding and how we can use the language in our projects. We began practising our skills on MIT App Inventor, which is an online gaming engine which allows anyone to create applications for the computer and Android devices. The objective by the end of the week is to produce an engaging app for the audience assigned to each group. Everyone has ideas, but now they must execute them. Continuing with the projects from last week, interns have been editing their footage, planning out their independent project ideas and finishing their articles. Matthew has already written the script for his independent project and is in the process of finding actors to feature in the short feature film. Radio Franco is airing their third show on Wednesday with featured guest, Sekouba. The RPTV team is in the process of editing their pilot show Wha...

What is That?: Episode #1 Levi, Valentina, Matthew, Divine Last week we filmed our pilot episode of What is That? The three of us tried and rated each one of the mysterious food items brought in. The items consisted of a bag of chips called “Tyrant habanero super spicy mix“, a drink called “Ramune”, an unfamiliar fruit called a dragon fruit also known as pitaya, and a healthy nutritional bar called “Maze Bar”. We all tasted them, then gave our honest opinions about them. The chips were given an overall rating of 3/10, Ramune was given a overall rating of 4.5/10, Pitaya was given a 7/10 and Maze bar was given a 5/10. The pilot episode turned out to be very comedic and educational, which made it engaging with anticipation for the next. We did a great job at keeping the discussion going even if it was just random conversation and staying enthusiastic throughout. A few things we could do differently for the following shows is to keep the cameras rolling for the whole episode and m...

In the third episode of new music showcase radio show Refresh, host Nate Gurarie played songs all across the genre board. Some highlighted pieces were Godsend by Bry, a single from the Irish singer-songwriter’s crowdfunded EP. Another track that was played was Collarbones by Braids, a song from the Calgary art-rock band released on a two-track single. Nate finished the show with the song Dreamo by Edmonton singer Sean Nicholas Savage. A dreamy, quirky ending for the show. Listen to Podcast: 2018-07-30

Catch da Flava Radio- Politalks Kaleb and Kaylin For Catch da Flava Radio show we discussed our interview with Rachel Lauren Clark a video segment we did on Politalks and later delved into the upcoming municipal elections. Based on the interview we pulled up important clips and gave our own point of view on the issues she spoke on, such as not enough transgender people are being represented in politics. We later shifted into the October 22, municipal Elections. We talked about John Tory who is running to be re-elected as mayor. We discussed Tory’s campaign and the things he has accomplished right now as mayor. The October elections will also consist of voting in Toronto City Councillors that represents the ward of your district. They have now opened two new wards one of them is ward 23, which is for the area of Regent Park, Cabbagetown and St. Jamestown. For more information on all the candidates running for the October elections, please visit: http://app.toronto.ca/vote/candidat...

Health Talks on Catch da Flava Levi, Valentina, Divine, Matthew July 30th Last week our group hosted a radio show for Health Talks on Catch da Flava Radio. We discussed our experiences with video games and the reasons behind the newly classified mental condition issued by the World Health Organization. Based on the panel, our guests concluded in disagreement to the idea of the mental disorder classification. Overall we thought that the amount of gaming time could and should be restricted and controlled by the game developers to prevent negative connotations towards gaming. We did a great job of keeping the conversation going with very little pauses in dialogue. The discussion topics and examples were engaging and kept the show interesting throughout. One thing we could have done differently is bring in some factual information to back up our opinions within the debate. For example, we could have listed percentages of players on the games we discussed and even people that have b...

Every morning this summer, I have had the pleasure of teaching and giving young people the opportunity to create their own interactive stories. Interactive stories can be thought of in three ways: the viewer can choose the path of the story, the viewer can manipulate the story, and the viewer is immersed in the story.  For the first focus, I assigned projects where the youth were able to use Eko Studio to build a story from scratch in pairs. The next project was to create an interactive web-series pilot. The stories turned out great, and I am thrilled with what everyone was able to accomplish in two weeks. Today I taught an introduction to computer science, as our theme is stories that can be manipulated by an audience. We are going to be building our own mini-apps using the MIT App Inventor. We're off to a great start this month!  More to come! -Shian

In this episode of Radio Franco, Live From the Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre, we talked about places like restaurants, shops, Culture Centre and helping program that is all based or introduce the French culture to the citizen of Toronto. Also, we tried to guess french Idiomatic Expressions like Raconter des salades, which means lying, and  C’est la fin des haricots which means everything is lost . Dans cet épisode de Radio Franco, Live Du centre d’art médiatique jeunesse Regent Park Focus, nous avons parlé de restaurants, de magasins, de centres culturels et de programmes d’aide basés sur la culture française. Aussi, nous avons essayé de deviner les expressions idiomatiques françaises comme: Raconter des salades, ce qui signifie mentir, C'est la fin des haricots, ce qui signifie que tout est perdu. Listen to Podcast: Download MP3 This radio series is supported, in part, by the Ministry of Francophone Affairs to support cultural and community activities f...

Episode Summary: It’s the first episode of Ask the American hosted by Regent Park Focus’ sit-in Americans: Brandon and Caleb! This episode opens with an introduction to Brandon and his guest. We will learn about what brought them both to Toronto and to Regent Park Focus. Both will share their experiences of traveling and what they have learn about the True North so far. Topics will range from everything from food, love, money, the diverse nature of Toronto. Not too bad for the first show, eh? Notes: This is the first time that Brandon and Caleb appeared in the studio. The soundtrack was created by Brandon Berry. Host(s): Brandon Berry & Caleb Listen to Podcast: Download MP3

In the second episode of new music showcase radio show Refresh, host Nate Gurarie played quite a number of songs. Some highlighted pieces were Talia by King Princess, a Brooklyn-based young artist who writes self-described “queer love songs”. Nate had gotten a chance to see King Princess perform that week and enjoyed talking about the intimate performance. Another song played was Disaffection by Ought, a song off the third album by the post-punk band from Montreal that displayed a lot of retro themes.

This week marks the halfway mark for most of the interns at Regent Park Focus. The interns were really busy this week from editing footage that has been collected from the past week or so. Last week the interns created an interactive story pilot and have edited the pilot throughout this week. Each pilot is now up on the Regent Park Focus YouTube channel. We also had a chance to display our pilot to the class. The RPTV news team were editing they’re interviews with Sureya Ibrahim and Afrah Ismail from the Toronto Centre for Community Learning and Development. Four videos have been filmed for the Politalks show and is now onto editing them. One of the interviews with Rachel Lauren Clark is finished editing. Also the Past, Present and Future team has finished editing their first interview as well. The RPTV team filmed their first show called “What is that?”. They tasted foods that can be seen as obscure or different towards certain people. They tasted foods like dragon fruit, a local p...

Regent Park Focus Blog Post July 16 - 20 This week was a busy week. The students have finished filing their interactive story pilots now it’s onto the editing. They also acted in their own videos which allowed them to try out new stuff and get a little creative and step out of their comfort zone to really make the videos impact more. This week was also full of filming. From filming Politalks interviews to interviewing for the RPTV news segments. Now that all the footage is in, it’s time for editing for the next week or so. We have captured lots of this great community and really see how everyone bonds together. Our RPTV news team also got to experience the Taste of Regent event where there is live music and food from many different community members. It happens every Wednesday across the street from Daniels Spectrum. For radio, there were a couple segments about issues and topics that pertain to everyone. We not only had some political talks but also addressed issues with par...

Radio Show 1: Sur Radio Franco tu trouvera de la musique seulement en Français. Pour notre première émission on a commencé par introducir le co-animateur (Mathieu), co-animatrice (Valentina) de cette émission et d'où ils vien. Dans notre épisode on a couvert la définition et l’origine de le mots “Francophonie” avec l’histoire de notre culture francophone. Par la fin de l'émission on a couvert un événement courante qui s’appelle la fête national de belge. In Radio Franco you will find songs in french. We started off by presenting the co- hosts of the show (Mathieu and Valentina) and where they come from. For this first show we define “La Francophonie”, the origins of it and it’s importance.We also gave some inside of where to find french speakers in toronto by giving a current event happening in the city. Listen to Podcast: This radio series is supported, in part, by the Ministry of Francophone Affairs to support cultural and community activities for...

In the first episode of new music showcase radio show Refresh, host Nate Gurarie played a diverse collection of songs. Some highlighted pieces were the single I Feel Free by DILLY DALLY, a Toronto soft-grunge band who Nate was really excited to play, as he has been listening to them for a number of years. Another song that was played is Essuwonike by Jeremy Dutcher, a Two-Spirit operatic singer and composer was played. Over the years Jeremy Dutcher has been preserving his ancestry by transcribing traditional Maliseet songs from archived recordings and making his adaptations available to all. Listen to Podcast: 2018-07-16

This week marked the first full week for new Regent Park Focus Summer Staff. New Media Coordinator Shian has been leading the interns in a morning course about Interactive Storytelling. After an exercise in re-adapting TV scripts, the staff were split into two groups and wrote a script and filled out call sheets for a pilot episode of an interactive web series. Last week Music Production Coordinator Levi has been helping youth create their own beats. There’s plenty of room for more students, so come by any weekday from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM and learn about music production, editing, and mixing! In the afternoons staff have been researching and writing their own articles for the monthly Catch Da Flava Magazine. The pieces are looking to all be very interesting, so keep an eye out for the online and in-print release! The staff continued their work on producing shows for the TV and radio station, getting familiar with the inner workings of film and radio production. Groups started f...

For the first week of the summer multimedia internship at Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre, we had the great time of not only meeting the people we would be working with throughout the summer; but got to create our own interactive storytelling project with a partner using the platform, Eko. With this project the youth were able to plan and create a summer story in which imagination would thrive as, Eko allowed us to use video footage we planed and shot as well as those found online. Additionally by using this platform we had the power of creating pathways that would enable the the viewer to choose between alternating paths within the videos and story structure as well as being able to view multiple videos at once. This all being possible with the use of this free online platform showed to us by our New Media Coordinator, Shian Grace. Later on towards the afternoons the summer intern group would work collaboratively; whether in groups or pairs; to plan a series of pr...

This week (Aug 21- 25) for the Regent Park Focus Summer Program, participants wrapped up video editing for the Neighbourhood Kickstart Summer Camp program and held a screening of the videos on Wednesday, August 23rd. Youth participants were also there to film for the screening and get feedback from the summer camp. A few participants focused on preparing a segment on Student Life and Mental Health for Catch Da Flavour Youth Radio. For the first half of the segment, students had prepared a pre-recorded interview with registered psychologist and media personality Doctor Oren Amitay, to comment on the current climate of mental health among the student body. For their second half, they discussed their personal experiences in school and how it has affected their mental health. A few other participants worked on developing their games, such as a Tic-Tac-Toe platform, a Pokemon-style game located in the neighbourhood of Regent Park, and a mental-health themed game. They have bee...

This week (Aug 14-19th) Youth participants finished up their rough edits for the ten part video series in partnership with The Neighbourhood Group Kickstart Program. Participants collaborated to create uniformity in the videos by creating the same background images, credits reel and font type, to build communication skills and teamwork abilities. The rough draft of their videos were completed by the end of this week. Some participants also participated in the youth radio program Catch Da Flava. This week they focused on the issues of affordable housing, looking at local speakers on the topic and current events on affordable housing in Toronto. They had guest A.J. Withers come to studio to talk about the topic and their book on the topic. For the second segment, they had a panel discussion on affordable housing. A handful of participants also continued development in gaming, learning how to work with various different gaming programs and software. Some finished up ...