Category: Arts & Entertainment

We Bridge was a three-day music festival and expo from April 21 – 23, 2023 in Las Vegas to showcase Asian culture through music, art, fashion, beauty, and more! We Bridge acknowledges the growing Asian influence on mainstream pop culture around the world. So, their mission was to connect those creative expressions all into one experience. The We Bridge Expo held hi touch engagements, displayed art by influential Asian artists, showcased fashion, offered food samples, and featured activities as well as retail opportunities. We Bridge even brought in a lineup of highly influential K-pop artists to perform live! I was so fortunate and I am very grateful to have attended the expo and concert on April 22. Here is how my experience went!

Once my cousins and I arrived at the convention center, we were very nervous since we didn’t know what to expect. We registered, got our wristbands, then headed inside the expo. We were greeted with a welcome wall and as we kept walking in there were cardboard cutouts of artists displayed to take photos with. My cousins and I walked straight to the Grammy Museum stage but as soon as we got there, the q&a for the group Oneus, was about to end. We decided to take a look around and found a wall that we could write on. As I was writing on the wall, my cousin told me to move. Turns out that Enhypen, one of my favorite groups, was approaching the wall to write their signatures. It was such an unbelievable moment that I am so grateful to have experienced. After that happened, we were just in complete shock so we stood near the Grammy Museum stage for a while until lining up for GA hi touch. We waited about an hour in GA to see Enhypen on the stage. The group introduced themselves, answered a few questions for the q&a, performed their song “Polaroid Love”, and then prepared for their hi touch engagement. For those of you who don’t know what a hi touch is, it is basically an interaction with the artists to say hi and give them a high five! The hi touch experience itself went by pretty fast. My video of meeting the Enhypen members was less than a minute long. There were a lot of people doing hi touch which made the whole process go by faster. The moment we were anticipating the most was over and so we left to go eat before the concert started. We came back to the expo to look at some of the paintings and when it was almost concert time, we headed to the arena and found our seats. It was pretty cool to have five different artists perform in one night. Performing that night was BE’O, ONEUS, VIVIZ, BAMBAM, and ENHYPEN. It was pretty cool to hear some songs I’ve never heard before live. All I can say for the concert is that it was so exciting, fun, and it made me really happy. Just in case any of you guys were wondering, I paid a total of $242 for this experience and I would pay that much again to do it all over. I am I hope that you enjoyed reading about my experience, I would’ve been more specific but then this story would go on for a while! I’ll leave some links down below if you’re interested in looking at photos from the expo!

We Bridge Expo Instagram

We Bridge Expo Twitter

Check out my reel dedicated to the We Bridge Expo on the VC Social Instagram!

This coming Thursday, April 20, 2023, Ventura College will be hosting an opening of their annual Student Art Show featuring works from students during their year at VC (Fall 22/Spring 23).  The event will take place between 6:30pm – 8:30pm, during which attendees will have the opportunity to view the art pieces in the New Media Gallery and Gallery 2 at Ventura College Main Campus.

The following has been taken from the Ventura College Events page:

“This exhibition honors the work of current and recent Ventura College students. The artworks are produced in various media including: painting, drawing, ceramics, design, illustration, and photography. This juried exhibition offers many students the opportunity to have their work viewed outside of the classroom with awards of cash prizes, including the $1,000 Best in Show/President’s Award.”

VC Social had the opportunity to interview Monica Furmanski, the assistant professor of photography. She has been involved with the annual student show since 2007, which was when she first started at Ventura College. 

She informed us that the opening event will start with a ceremony that includes awards given to certain participants and a reception to follow. We also asked her some more in depth questions about her past students and her opinion on the show.

Q: How do you think the Annual Student Art Show benefits the students/college?

Monica: “There are benefits for both the students and the college. For students, it’s an opportunity to exhibit their artwork in a professional gallery space, where people from the community and campus can see their work. Students get to experience what it’s like to exhibit their work and to be a part of the experience. The college benefits by showing off what our students are creating and making in the art department. A lot of what happens in the art department is in the classroom, and when we have a student show the college community gets to see what our creative students are doing. “

Q: Do you have any students that become full-time artists or make a career out of their craft?

Monica: “I do! I have had students go on to study at different universities, specifically in the arts and photography. Other students have gone on to pursue careers in the arts or they are using the skills that they developed at Ventura College to assist them in non-art careers.”

Q: What can viewers expect at the show?

Monica: “Viewers can expect a beautiful collection of art and photography created by our VC students! There will be painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, ceramics…there will be lot of art!”

We want to thank Monica for her time and on behalf of VC Social we wish good luck to those who have entered their artwork into the show and hope their future career in the arts is prosperous.

All works of art will be on display April 20th – May 4th.

You can find more information about the New Media Gallery here. 

Check out Ventura College’s various social media to keep up to date on what is happening on campus:

Ventura College

https://www.instagram.com/venturacollegeofficial/

Ventura College Main Campus New Media Gallery

https://www.instagram.com/new_media_gallery/

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! From Disney Classics to Horror Movies to Adam Sandler; Ella, Alex, Melissa, and Elizabeth talk and give their thoughts on it all. Listen in to learn some insights behind movies and shows that we grew up watching and add them to your movie watch list! Check out our socials!

Instagram: @corsi.ella , @alexgonza1ez , @melzzay , @lizabattt_

VC Social: Ella Corsi , Alex Gonzalez , Melissa Gutierrez , Elizabeth Fernandez

Binge Worthy – VC Social

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! From Disney Classics to Horror Movies to Adam Sandler; Ella, Alex, Melissa, and Elizabeth talk and give their thoughts on it all. Listen in to learn some insights behind movies and shows that we grew up watching and add them to your movie watch list!  Check out our socials!  Ella Corsi: Instagram @corsi.ella                   VC Social: https://vcsocial.biz/about-ella-corsi/  Alex Gonzales: Instagram @alexgona1ez                   VC Social: https://vcsocial.biz/alex-gonzalez/ Melissa Gutierrez: Instagram @melzzay                   VC Social: https://vcsocial.biz/about-melissa-gutierrez/ Elizabeth Fernandez: Instagram @lizabattt_                   VC Social: https://vcsocial.biz/about-elizabeth-fernandez/ 

Over the past year I have been going to concerts and during those times up until now, I never had to worry about my camera quality. Right before I was even planning on going to concerts, I bought a new iPhone and its camera features were pretty impressive. Luckily I got the phone right on time for concert videos and pictures. Now, I’ll go in depth of my experience with the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s camera.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has 3 back camera lenses. In the photos above, I am using the Ultra Wide Camera (left) and the Wide Camera (right) in section 511 of SoFi Stadium. The Ultra Wide lens is perfect for “zooming out” or trying to show more of what’s in front of you and the Wide lens is the usual lens to get a regular photo/video. Both lenses produce good quality photos no matter how near or far you are.

The third lens, Telephoto, is kind of tricky to work with. In the first three photos, I took those photos while recording with the Telephoto Camera in 1080p HD at 60 fps. I was in section C243 of SoFi Stadium and with the Telephoto Camera, it all depends on how much you zoom in. If you don’t zoom in enough, it will not smooth the quality of what you’re recording and instead you will get a more pixelated result. In photos 4 and 5, I was recording in 1080p HD at 30 fps. The quality is around the same as 60 fps but of course not as good. Lastly for photos 6 and 7, I was recording in 4K at 30 fps. When you’re closer to an object or person, you will get stunning results when using 4K. I was at the Honda Center in section 208 and that is the main reason why I used 4K instead of 1080p HD.

After going to these concerts, I learned that recording in 4K isn’t the best option to use if you aren’t that close. There’s no need to take up more storage when you can use 1080p HD and still get great results. I also learned that no matter what video quality you use while recording with Telephoto, you will always have to adjust the zoom and brightness to get the best result you want. Aside from recording with the Wide and Telephoto lens, I personally don’t use the Ultra Wide lens only because it doesn’t produce the best quality. If you’re looking for a phone with great camera quality, I strongly recommend getting the iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max and get enough storage for yourself while you’re at it haha.

Growing up during the early 2000s, I didn’t have the fortunate resources teenagers have today with finding their match to the proper foundation, or the extensive shade ranges that you find in your local Sephora. My foundation would turn out too dark or too yellow, and don’t get me started on the blending. Have you seen what paint samples look like at Home Depot? My foundation looked like Joyful Orange bordering next to Natural Almond, just a complete mess.

Thankfully, I have learned from my mistakes and want to share 3 tips I have learned in the last 11 years as a professional makeup artist. These tips will help anyone find their perfect match in foundation that fit within your budget. Not everything has to cost more than $35 USD.

1. Findation.com

I can’t even begin to explain how brilliant and easy this website is. I have been using Findation.com for the last 6 years and was amazing to work with during the COVID-19 pandemic and working as a beauty specialist trying to sell makeup without trying the product out on a customer.

The site has big claims as it states “1577 global brands, over 8,000 products, & 77,000 makeup shades.” Of course they couldn’t accomplish this without their users. Findation states they “use data from over 46 million foundation users worldwide and a sophisticated propriety algorithm to match shades between brands.”

When you reach Findation.com, you will be welcomed by the “Get Started” page, where you will proceed to enter in current or past products you wear that are an exact match in just 3 easy steps. For the sake of demonstration we’re going to use a L’Oreal Paris discontinued product for my search.

After you have filled out the short questionnaire, the menu will then pull up all the brands on their website in which your shade will match to another brand of any preference.

I personally have used this for clients who want to move into a cleaner brand, into a less costly brand, and even when looking for a substitute in a drugstore on vacation. The greatest part about this website, is that it doesn’t just do foundation, but does all makeup and even skincare. With the ease of access on your mobile phone, you can use Findation.com anywhere!

2. Finding Your Undertone

Neutral, warm, cool, red, blue, yellow, and green! A lot of makeup users aren’t aware that foundation has an undertone that matches our natural skin undertone. Some even result to swatching more than 10 foundations on their arm and end up looking like a monochromatic tiger. Here are some easy ways to determine your foundation match right.

First start by figuring out your skin undertone. According to Maybelline.com, there are 4 different ways you can determine your skin undertone that won’t make you frustrated or dizzy.

1. Vein Test: looking at the veins on the underside of your forearm can help determine your undertone. If your veins are green, you are likely a warm tone; if your veins have a bluish color, you are likely a cool tone.
2. Jewelry Test: Do you look better in Gold or Silver jewelry? If gold is your color, you are most likely have warm undertones; if you prefer silver, you are most likely to have cool undertones.
3. White Cloth Test: Put a white cloth next to your bare face and carefully see what color you skin takes on. Your warm tone will show if you seem yellowish, and your cool tone will appear blue or pinkish.
4. The White vs. Cream TestWhile wearing no makeup, hold up a white and off-white piece of fabric to your face. If your skin compliments the white fabric, you are warm in color; if your skin compliments the off-white fabric, you are cool in tone. If your skin is complimented by both, you are a neutral!

3. Ask for Help!

Yes, you may laugh at this tip, but it’s a great suggestion. If you do not have access to a friend or family member who is skilled in makeup, go to your local makeup store like Sephora or Ulta and have a conversation with the Makeup Specialist. Not many know this, but THIS IS FREE SERVICE!! You don’t have to purchase a minimum to get help to find the foundation that is right for you.

Also, if you are concerned about foundation looking different in the store vs. at home, ask your specialist for a sample of 2-3 foundations that you can try with your own set up. I’ve never met someone who refuses, we are here to help our clients for their own benefits.

One of the first aids I always suggest to clients, is Sephora’s Color IQ technology. Just a simple scan of the face addresses all of the client’s needs and puts it together in a digital look book.

With the ever evolving technology, you can get your foundation match in less than 20 minutes, and that’s from walking in the store, finding your match, purchasing, and walking out. Leaving you enough time to walk next door and get your fancy latte before you need to pick up the kids.

Now hit the floor running and go find a product that works for you!

Growing up a first-generation Mexican-American, I always felt there was a lack of representation in the media for people like me. As a creative, there was always some hesitancy to pursue any type of career in visual arts, music, or tv and film because there was nobody like me doing it. It wasn’t until now, in my mid-20’s, where I finally grew the confidence to follow my dreams of working in a creative field because of musical artists like Omar Apollo and Era.

Omar Apollo and Era are both musical artists that share a similar upbringing to mine, but what’s refreshing about these two is that they incorporate their culture into their sound and visuals. They implement elements into their work that’re staples to our culture, such as foods like Maruchan and Jarritos and television shows we saw our parents watch like Sabado Gigante and Destilando Amor. Furthermore, social media has made it easier for artists to express themselves in more ways than just music; social media users now make it easier to give us a glimpse of their lives.

The social media presence of these young artists is what really solidified the deal for me. Not only were they fearless in representing kids like me through their music, but they also weren’t afraid to show that part of themselves in their everyday lives. It taught me that I shouldn’t be afraid to be me and hide who I really am and where I come from. I know that they have also opened the door and paved the way for future generations of first-generation, Mexican-Americans.