After watching The Above for the first time I was admittedly a bit confused. More specifically, I did not quite recognize the ideas KJ was trying to convey to her viewers. I thought there was something specific that she wanted us to think about the balloon. I kept asking myself whether she wanted us to believe that the US had weapons on board the balloon, or perhaps the balloon itself is a bomb the U.S is plotting to release on these people. I felt like I was missing the big idea that everyone else could see. Finally, after watching the video a second time, I think I understand what KJ was trying to tell us. I believe the point of the film was not so much to expose U.S plans against Afghanistan, but rather to expose the creepy and ominous nature this balloon. Her biggest point is that no one really knows what the true purpose of this floating contraption. Yet it is always there; watching and lurking. I feel that Kirsten really captures the eeriness of this situation with her use of the camera. Many of the shots in the film focus on moments of everyday life while the balloons rest slightly out of focus in the background of the frame. This gave personality to the balloon. As it rested in the background of these shots, I would feel the strength of its gaze. I become uncomfortable. I became concerned.

As I mentioned in my post about my rough-cut, shooting this interview with Jasmine started off as exciting and quickly became very frustrating. I had a lot of trouble translating my ideas into a film that looked and felt good. Specially, I wanted the film to feel like it kept moving. I did not want my interview about a lively and upcoming DJ to come off as boring and dry. To achieve this, I reshot my main interview with Jasmine. I took myself out of the frame and spoke to her in a room that was better lit. When I got home I was proud of this new footage, but I once again became disappointed when I realized I forgot to turn the mic on during the interview. With Thanksgiving around corner, I found myself having to work with what I had. What I believe really saved this project was my B-roll. I felt like it not only filled in the gaps between the interview, but it also gave better insight into the type of person that Jasmine is. Thus, in this project I learned to take my time when shooting to help insure that I get better footage and to try and find ways to stay passionate about my projects even when they are not going well. I am a lot happier with my final cut.

Seeing a couple of examples of rough-cuts in class today got me thinking about individual creativity. Specially, I have been thinking a lot about different artistic prospectives and what drives someone to create what they do. My hunch is that it has a lot to do with how people understand their experiences and a lot do with how they want to see the world. Thus, for me when I see other people’s creations, I feel like I am getting a glimpse into their world, their mind, and values. For example, I was really fascinated with the intro and build-up to Francis’s interview in D. T’s rough cut. I think it was not only visually satisfying, but I also think that his shots went a long way in setting a mood for the film that gave us a glimpse of how it feels to be in a room with Francis. What is both interesting and frustrating to me about this is that I really do not believe anyone else could have thought to do this in exactly the way that D.T did. I guess that also shows the value off collaboration and sharing your ideas with others.

As a person who considers himself a creative, I am constantly coming up with ideas that I am passionate about and want to pursue. Thus, it was no surprise to me how quickly I found an idea for this interview that I was proud of. I wanted to interview DJ Zen (Jasmine Baneful) because she was quickly becoming an influential character on campus and because I feel we could relate in our passion for music. I thought this idea was perfect…. until I started filming it. All the situations that I imagined shooting her in, like a basement music studio and during a live performance were all unaesthetically pleasing and terribly lit. Realizing this after I had gotten a lot of the footage really killed most of the motivation I had for this project. I didn’t know what to do and ultimately, I ended up reaching for online footage to fill in the gaps between the not-so-perfect interview. Admittedly this was just to get the assignment done in time for class. But, I do not like working this way. I want to be proud of the work put out. I hope to improve for my final cut.

Working in groups is often a very difficult thing even when you have good partners. If I have learned anything so far in this project, it is that things will go wrong and sometimes you must be willing to take a position in the backseat even though you really want to be the one driving the car. This week there were some issues in our group with getting together to shoot the B-roll. This ultimately meant that I was not able to be there when my other group members, Annie and Ayanna, went to shoot the film. Not being there was really a struggle for me. As I said in class, I was really concerned if my group members’ vision would match my own and I even questioned their overall documentary making abilities. All I could do about this was hope that some of the ideas I mentioned in our discussions would matter when they went to shoot. After they sent me the footage, I quickly realized that I had nothing to worry about. I feel they did a really good job and feel the shots they took will really work as a good foundation for our film. Overall, I feel like we could have had better communication with this and I wish I could have been there. However, I have also learned to trust my team and I am excited for the rest of this project.

Hey guys!

This is the link to my rough draft of my interview assignment. Its missing a lot. Mainly, I think it needs more b-roll and maybe a better shorter intro. Let me know what you think!

Brooke Gladstone and Kirsten Johnson had very different ways of approaching an audience. Yet, the two of them were both very effective in execution. Kirsten’s aim seemed to be centered around engagement with the students in class. She surfed around the classroom; making a point to get very close to every student she spoke with. She was dynamic in speech as she would switch from being very loud and excited to being relatively calm and sincere. I really loved how she could read a moment and use her voice and actions to get her point across. On the contrary, Brooke remained poised and relatively stationary throughout her presentation. While this was very different from Kirsten’s approach, I still believe Brooke led a very insightful discussion. Brooke really understood that her job in the classroom that day was to inform and to provide new perspective. She did just that. She came with heaps of reliable information and she related her points to issues that were current and relevant. Overall, she offered an interesting presentation that anyone could draw something from. As a future artist and documentarian, I am expecting to be put into situations where I am going to have to share something with an audience. Seeing both Brooke Gladstone and Kirsten Johnson do this was very inspiring and I am sure I will be influenced by both of their approaches in my future presentations.

I truly enjoyed having Brooke speak in class. Being that I am a huge fan the NPR Tiny Desk series, I was excited to be meeting an influential person in the company. However, I did not know exactly what to expect from her presentation. Now after having listened to her wise words about the role of technology, about news and media, and about leading an effective argument, I am glad to have had a chance to hear her speak because I was opened to several new ideas. For example, I thought she brought up an interesting point when she began talking about fear of technology. She began comparing people who are afraid of the Internet today to individuals who in the past were afraid of technology that now seems nearly harmless and very useful. As a person who sometimes drifts towards the anti-Internet side of this argument, this was a nice reminder that change is not always bad. I also really liked her advice about the value of searching for a variety of reliable news outlets and even paying a little bit of money to allow news organizations to provide a good service. Finally, I thought she provided a wise answer to the question of how to win an argument. She said that the best way to get someone to believe what you believe in is to present them with information that makes your argument relevant to them. This is a difficult task. However, I am going to make a fervent effort to implement this and all her other advice into my day to day life.

A couple of weeks prior to the screening of Cameraperson, I remember reading in Bernard’s book about the selective process of manipulating footage into a story or an argument. I took a stab at this myself during the Instagram video assignment, where I compiled some of the random shots I had taken in the last few months into a movie about my summer. Doing this gave me a special appreciation for Kirsten’s work in her film. As a person who is very interested in documenting life as it happens, I was truly astonished at her decision to make this movie. More specifically, I was really drawn in by her idea to turn seemingly unrelated footage that she had recorded for other purposes into a new film that offered a unique perspective. And her execution was perfect. The movie was nicely balanced as she countered intense moments of anger and sadness with funny and more light-hearted content. For this reason, I believe that this movie was in many ways a refreshing reminder of life and what it means to be human. Overall, I think my main take away from watching Cameraperson was encouragement to keep trying to document my life and my experiences. I look forward to the different stories that my footage will reveal.