It seems like a lifetime ago the PLP 9 class was gliding down the roads of Florida, eating crispy churros and pretending to be astronauts at NASA. Almost four months later, and here we are, with my Imaginary Worlds project.
As a part of our fantasy unit in humanities, we were focusing on the creative world of Disney. From reading Alice in Wonderland to researching imagineers to screaming on Big Thunder Mountain, the Fantasy unit was based around the question of what draws us into Imaginary Worlds.
These worlds can be part of a fictional story, a movie plot or even just something you think of in your head. We were trying to figure out why humans were so fascinated to read about a princess caught in a tower rather than real history about the tales. Disney, being one of the most imaginative companies on the planet, was a great place to learn to answer our question, so what did we do? We went to Disney World!
I suppose I should talk about the project before I get to excited about the trips events. We were assigned to create a short video about a ride of our choice from the Disney World parks. I chose Mission : Space because I’m a total space nerd and I love everything to do with space. We had to research our ride and ultimately figure out how the Disney engineers (also known as the ‘Imagineers’) used different techniques to make the ride come to life. Fun, right? Right.
Mission : Space is a space travel simulation thrill ride. It uses cinematography and intricate architecture to make you feel as if you are part of the first mission to Mars. The video explains exactly how the Imaginners draw people in, so I won’t spoil it, but I will say that I was too chicken to go on the zero gravity experience and opted for the non spinning version of the ride.
My first draft was kind of a mess. My audio was inexistent, I had nasty black bars on the side of my video, my clips made no sense and it was just boring to watch. I didn’t put in a lot of effort and it really showed.
My second draft was a pretty big improvement, I had a bit of audio and cut the video down. It told a better story and had more relevant historical clips.
My final draft, the third draft, was a drastic improvement. I added clear audio, removed the black bars on the sides, added a couple more relevant clips, and it transitioned way better. I’m proud of my final draft and how it turned out.
Overall, I learned about a lot of techniques authors, filmmakers and story tellers in general use to create a magical experience for their audience.
Now for our trip!
Florida was one of the best experiences of my life. From becoming so much closer with my classmates to waking up for Mickey Mouse waffles each morning I had a blast. Here’s an overview of the crazy nine days in a couple paragraphs.
We explored each Disney park, and two of the four included workshops. At EPCOT we got to learn about different cultures around the world and what makes us world citizens. We visited all the countries in the World Exposition and it was so cool! In Hollywood Studios we learned about marketing and creating our own personal brand. We also set goals that I’m sure I’ll be mentioning in a future Health and Career post.
Our class also went to Universal Studios where I rode SO many roller coasters. It was amazing. We also went to the Ron Jon Surf Shop, on a scenic nature drive to see alligators, a airboat ride and then my favourite part — NASA!
I’m a space nerd as many of my classmates know, so NASA was a dream come true to me. I got to see the Atlantis Ship, go through astronaut training and another rocket simulation ride (this one was cooler, sorry Disney.) I learned so much more about Space and I got to meet an astronaut as well! It was probably the best day I’d experienced in a very long time.
Florida will always stick with me as one of my favourite experiences. I learned so much about goal setting, citizenship, space, fantasy and of course, alligators. Here’s a couple clips of exactly how Florida was spent.
Until next time…