7 Favorite Movies of my Two Year Old Son, Renard
March 16th, 2009
Renard Watching Cars with Headphones
Renard, my two year-old boy, has always been attentive viewer, whether watching a movie or a TV show. Since he was just a four month old baby, he would curiously look at the television with the expression like he actually understands what the show is about. As he grew older he eventually had favorites like Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues. When I got my laptop, we tried to let him watch a few kid’s movies but he doesn’t have the patience yet to watch movies. The one movie that changed all that is Disney-Pixar’s 3d animation Cars. Renard loves cars so there’s no surprise that Cars became his earliest favorite movies. Since then, Renard learned to enjoy watching movies but he is very choosy. Here is a short list of movies that Renard wants to watch.
7. Shrek the Halls
Renard learned to enjoy watching movies but he is very choosy
Shrek the Halls is not a movie but rather a short holiday special for television starring Shrek and his “family”. We let Renard watch this show during the holiday season and he liked it. Shrek was very grumpy in this movie, despite being a Christmas special, but Renard enjoyed watching it nonetheless. There is one part though that gets him scared, and that’s the part where Santa Claus ate Ginger Bread Man’s lover.
Even after the holidays’s were over, we still play it from time to time. And if we were to let him watch this more often, Shrek the Hall would easily surpass Wall-E.
6. Wall-E
If not for Wall-E having a set of wheels, Renard would probably not watch this movie at all. Renard watches only the first part of this movie. The reason I placed Wall-E before Shrek the Halls is because somehow, Renard learned how to imitate Wall-E’s sound when he is “speaking”. This is quite amazing because as I said he doesn’t watch Wall-E for even more that 10 minutes.
5. Kung Fu Panda
Po, the panda voiced by Jack Black in this movie, is Renard’s favorite movie character. The only reason why Kung Fu Panda was not in the top 3 of this list is because he prefers the much shorter Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five, rather than this full-length movie.
4. Bolt
Bolt’s opening sequence is one of the most exciting one’s I’ve seen and Renard seems to recognize that, too. The opening sequence is filled with action that includes a chase, showing cars, motorcycles, choppers and other automobiles. If not for those, Renard would have not watched Bolt in the first place. Renard was only interested in cars back then.
This movie made Renard fond of dogs, though we don’t own one. He would point to a dog if he sees one and says “dog”. He would even immitate it’s bark.
If he wants to watch Bolt, he would just say “dog” while Elza is on the laptop.
3. Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five
Secrets of the Furious Five is an animated short based on the movie Kung Fu Panda. In this short, Po was asked by Master Shifu to teach Kung Fu to young students. Po tells the stories of the Furious Five to the students to teach them the “secrets of Kung fu”. Po, the panda voiced by Jack Black, narrates the stories in a very interesting and exciting manner.
In this movie or short, Renard actually learned some kung fu. He would imitate a kick by raising his feet as high as he can, which isn’t really high enough to be called as a kick, and stomps it to the floor as hard as he can, as he says “Hiyah!!”. Renard would giggle every time he Po doing some his funny moves, and calls him “Namb-da”, in which means “Panda”. Like I said earlier, Po the Panda, might be Renard’s most favorite movie character.. for now.
2. Speed Racer
Speed Racer is the one movie that Renard can easily relate to. In the movie, the protagonist, Speed Racer, is also fond of cars and automobile racing since he was a child, just like my baby boy. In the scene where the young Speed daydreams about driving a car in a race, Renard also does the same, imitating the way the young Speed Racer is imagining, holding the steering wheel and making an engine sound by rumbling. Renard loves the race sequences the most especially the final race in the movie.
This is the movie that gets played most lately but it seems that Renard has gotten tired of watching it too.
1. Cars
Cars is the first movie that we showed to our baby and the first that Renard ever paid attention to. Renard was interested in cars even before we showed him the movie so there’s no doubt that he would like the movie Cars. Disney-Pixar’s Cars is a great movie and only solidified Renard’s enthusiasm towards cars, (maybe) forever.
It was his favorite for a very long time until he eventually got tired watching it and watched other movies instead. Nonetheless, this movie should definitely be the number one in the list despite of being overplayed lately and even if he doesn’t want to watch it anymore in future. And that is simply because this movie the first one he loved.
Posted in Personal | 2 Comments »
In a parade, expect everyone to be in high spirits especially the participants. Be sure to always be in the look out for unique personalities that bears a very irresistible smile. It may be a cute kid, a beautiful lady, passionate young lad or man with a powerful look. In a parade, a smile is the easiest but also the most important facial expression or emotion to capture. So make sure to photograph lots of smiles. It doesn’t always have to be a smile, though, as long as you see a strong emotion or facial expression.
When photographing the parade participants be sure to feature their costumes as well. When confronted with a group with uniform costumes, try to photograph the person that stands out the most. Find a person that exhibits his personality with his or her costume rather than just randomly photograph anyone. I know it seems to be a little “discriminating” advice. But that’s what photography is, selecting a subject. You can’t just photograph everyone in the parade.
There will be a lot of action and movement in a street parade, from people dancing, to people cheering. Be sure your camera is set to capture this action. Make sure you use a fast shutter speed, about 1/160 or above, to prevent motion blur. Learn how to operate your camera to obtain the most optimal settings quickly.
