QSI Wolf's Eye - Issue #5
Sing Street Film Review - Written by Gaby B.
I don’t think I can pick a single favorite moment from John Carney’s Sing Street. On March 17th, 2016, a movie named Sing Street was released into theaters, with Ferdia Walsh-Peelo leading as Connor Lawlow and Lucy Boynton following as his interest, Raphina. The story follows a young man named Connor in the midst of his family troubles as he creates a band to impress his dream girl. The film takes place in Ireland in the 1980s, where Duran Duran was on the top of the charts and the Irish were immigrating to England. The film deals with broad troubles that could apply to anyone- divorce, financial issues, pining after your dream girl- but makes you feel connected to the story in a touching way.
While movies about the origin stories of bands are not unique in the film industry, this touching film is distinctive in the midst of the gritty, sexual, drug-addicted media aimed towards teens today. Shows such as Euphoria always have something to offer to the world, but when every movie becomes a Euphoria in their explicitness, it becomes difficult to find content that accurately depicts the teenage experience. Sing Street does what has been difficult to find in mainstream media today: a high school experience that accurately represents the awkward growing pains of teenagehood while simultaneously understanding the real issues they deal with. In Sing Street, Connor is not the handsome protagonist who immediately sweeps the dream girl off her feet; instead, he is the awkward teenage boy who doesn’t truly know himself yet, only charming in his clumsy stature.
This movie will certainly identify with you if you have ever had growing pains- AKA the “cringe” you feel when you reflect on your younger years. At the beginning of the movie, Connor is simply mediocre. His music is uninspired; rather than writing his own lyrics, he uses his parents’ arguments about money as lyrics in his song. However, as the movie progresses, we watch his music develop from meaningless lyrics that he can’t explain (“She’s got dangerous eyes.” “What does that mean?” “I dunno.”) to insightful ones that express his innermost thoughts and feelings (“You just can’t stand the way that I walked out from the wreckage”).
Connor’s progression through the story is represented in more ways than just his fascinating lyrics. For example, the first time the band plays together, they play roughly- but once Connor becomes more comfortable with his lyric writing and once the band becomes closer, the camera pans across the band members as they play rather than cutting scenes. The color palette also plays a role throughout the movie. However, rather than showcasing the main character’s progression in the movie, it displays Connor’s fantasies. In what might be the best song of the film, Connor and his band sing “Drive It Like You Stole It” at a school dance that mimics the one in Back To The Future. Connor watches as his seperated parents appear happy and together at his gig, and watches as his judging headmaster finally gives him his approval. He sees his brother finally clean-shaven and well-dressed, fighting off an unwanted attendee in the audience and becoming the hero of the show. Connor also watches his love interest walk through the door and watch the performance, despite her lack of appearance at rehearsals. As all this is happening, the colors are bright and vibrant. You can easily tell this is Connor’s fantasy, especially when it is over and the colors dim as it fades back to reality. Clearly, the film was well thought out, as every camera angle and small detail comes into play when you watch the movie.
Sing Street, overall, is incredible. I have never seen a film be musical without becoming a musical; I have never seen a movie touch on such dark topics while maintaining a hopeful tone. Every emotion that was displayed on screen was felt through the screen.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend this film and watch it again.
Truffles Recipe - Written by Aiganym Y.
British Literature Service Learning Unit - Written by Dariya K.
As a part of their service learning project, Secondary British Literature students took it upon themselves to clean up the old art room that became very messy and unorganized during the school year. The old art room is at the back of the ECEC, next to the music classroom. It was originally set to be the kitchen of the ECEC, but after construction, it became an art classroom that many long-time QSI students will remember. After the art room moved upstairs, this room became a dumping ground for many books, furniture, school supplies, learning materials, old school artwork, and technology equipment.
The group spoke with Dr. Garrett about his vision for the room. He explained that the room ought to be emptied in order for him to start construction on it as soon as possible. The students began by placing all of the items in larger piles, conquering each corner and side one at a time. This process proved very challenging, taking up almost 3 weeks of class time. After the piles were ready, with the help of the maintenance team, the piles were moved out of the room and either thrown out, moved to the basement, sold, or re-utilized.
The room now stands completely empty and ready for its new exciting project – next year’s secondary science lab! This experience taught the British Literature students many important lessons regarding teamwork, organization, and responsibility. Teamwork was used as the students were required to “divide and conquer” many full-off-stuff corners of the room. Organization came into play when planning which piles to create, which item belongs in which pile, which items to keep, and which to discard. Lastly, the project taught responsibility as they had to meet strict deadlines. Working with the maintenance team meant making sure piles were ready at appropriate times for the arrival of the maintenance team.
The British Literature Service Learning extends a huge thank you to Mrs. Silvas, Dr. Garrett, and the maintenance team for helping and guiding them through this project. With this project, our school can continue becoming a better place for learning!
Cleaning up the Art Storage Room - Written by Jaea K. and Ellina B.
For our service learning for the British Literature class, we (Ellina and I) did the project on cleaning up the art storage room. This served as a service learning as it involved making the school environment cleaner and more efficient for the students as well as the teachers to use. The goal of this project was to clean up the mess in the art storage room as the teacher didn’t have enough time to clean up and some students just placed materials on random spots, which created this whole situation.
To resolve the problem, to start off with, we talked to Ms. Aiza, the art teacher to get approval for the proposal of the project to identify what needs to be organized and cleaned up. Also, we talked to Ms. Silvas to see if this is the appropriate project that 2 of the members can do. After receiving approval from both teachers, we began going three times a week- on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays- starting from May 21st.
When we first went to the art storage room, Ms. Aiza assigned us work that would be useful or needed to be cleaned. Leading, Ellina and I to start cleaning the shelfs and stacking papers by the same color, texture, or materials in order. By taking this action, we could clearly see the difference of before and after. The pictures below clearly show the evidence of the result of how much work and thinking has been placed to make the place better.
When cleaning up the art storage room, we had to make the right decision by being realistic about what would be used in the future and parting with objects that would need to be thrown away. We developed this skillset of decision-making throughout this project. In addition, we saw the crucial importance of tidying up after using any space as it creates a mess. The resulting clutter from the mess can accumulate, making it difficult to find materials when needed, which is a direct consequence of items not place in the right spot.
One thing that must be noted is that this is not a permanent solution of making the art storage room clean; however, it is an improvement from the previous situation. Later for the purpose of having the art closet clean in the long term, students or teachers could put up posters that state ‘clean up before you leave’ or ‘tidy up your mess’. Also, from what I noticed, there isn’t initiative taken from the students to clean up the art storage room. Since there isn’t a rule placed or an awareness about why one should clean up and whether is it necessary by taking this approach into consideration, there could be major changes and results made.