COMM CAPSTONE BLOG - FACULTY REVIEW

Overall, Nick and I's faculty review for our short film went pretty well.  We came prepared with a slideshow of all of our production notes (our schedule, script breakdown, some scene breakdowns, audition tape, etc.) as well as a teaser we put together for the film.  We also provided a folder with hard copies of our production notes so that the faculty could have a closer look.  I think we were prepared for any questions or concerns that the faculty may have had as well.  However, there were not many, if any that I can recall, negative comments and only one concern.  The concern was with our idea to use a green screen for a very small shot in our film, however when we and Jason explained how it would be done and that it could be done, the concern seemed to fade.

So again, overall the review went well for us, and I'm glad we were able to be prepared in time.

Project Progress

We've had quite a bit of progress with this project so far.  For the film so far we have:

• Delegated different jobs to different people involved in the project (with myself as the director/casting director)
• Done a script breakdown and noted everything that we needed including locations, costumes, props, sets, etc.
• Begun the process of creating a schedule of when we will shoot which scenes
• Begun the casting process.  We've held auditions once already and will probably hold another session.

During the Spring Break, Nick and I intend on getting together and putting together a good presentation with the materials that we currently have for the project.

Blog #6 -- Project Progress

So our project has changed a bit.  Nick and I are also in Jason's Advanced Production class this semester, and as a class we had to select a script to turn into a film to produce.  Jason provided the class with a few different scripts from his past students as possible options to choose from.  One of the scripts that Jason provided as an option was a script that I wrote.  The class ended up choosing my script and that is now what we are producing.  Jason told Nick and I that we could in turn use this project as our capstone project as well.  So I am the director, screenwriter, and in charge of casting for the film.

Production Agenda:

1) Casting Call - I am currently preparing a flyer to post to get people to come and audition

2)Location

3)Props

4)Production Schedule

Pre Production:

2/19-3/5

Production:

3/10-4/9

Post Production:

4/9-4/23

In terms of capstone:

Because the entire film would not be done by the time we have to screen it for capstone, Jason told us that we need to have at least a 2-3 minute scene edited and ready to show as well as the other deliverables.  (script, DVD, press kit, electronic press kit, stills, promo poster, etc.)

Blog 5 - Resource #2 - Practical DV Filmmaking

For Russell Evans' "Practical DV Film making", we're just going to be using the introduction because it is something that we used as a resource in our Single Camera Production class with Jason.  Evans does an overview of a few different things in this introduction that are imperative to successfully creating a film production.  First off, Evans talks about the film making process and states that there are essentially 3 overall stages in the process.  Each stage is a bit broad, and almost acts as an umbrella category.  The stages are:

Stage 1:  Planning

Stage 2: Shooting

Stage 3: Editing

Stage 1: Planning:  

Evans discusses how important planning is in the production process.  One huge reason planning is so important is because of how expensive changes that have to be made because of mistakes or inefficient planning can be.  There are a few different aspects to the planning process.  One aspect that Evans talks about is "visual blueprints".  Visual blueprints are essentially outlines of how you want your film to look and feel.  This involves writing an outline or a short story of what your project is and all of the scenes that take place.  Another aspect of the planning process is storyboarding. When you storyboard, you are basically sketching out each scene and the action that takes place in detail. The script is another aspect of planning.  Creating a script for your project is a rather important part of the planning process and includes all of your characters' dialogue, director's notes, action sequence details, etc.  

Stage 2: Shooting:

Evans says a few things about the second stage in the production process.  He talks about the usual "practical terms" of shooting which are "planning out a series of shots, go and shoot them just as you planned on paper, tick off the scenes one by one, and go home", but Evans makes a point in saying things don't always go as planned when shooting.  He tells the audience that they should expect obstacles and should therefore know their ideas "inside out".  As well he tells the reader that some shots that are ideal may not always be practical so one should "plan to improvise".

Stage 3: Editing:

 Evans says that editing your film is about "order, priorities, structure, pace, timing, and accuracy".  However, he makes a point to say that it isn't just about those technical aspects but "play, spontaneity, and creativity" as well.  He tells the reader that often it is instinct that tells you how to put scenes in the right order when editing.  However, he also explains that it is difficult to know when to stop editing, so you should know exactly what you want and stop when you get it.  

Evans, R. (2005). Practical DV Filmmaking. Waltham, MA: Focal Press.

BLOG #2: Information Found in "Constructing Panic" by Lisa Capps

For our capstone project, Nick Morgan and I have decided to create a short film.  For this film, we had two different ideas that we were trying to decide on to be the narrative for the film.  In the end, we decided to go with Nick's idea of the story of a man who suffers from agoraphobia and refuses to leave his home.  This character has two friends, one male friend who continuously tries to get the main character to stop behaving this way and leave his house so that he can have a "normal" life.  The other friend is female and she thinks that the main character should do as he likes as long as it makes him feel safe, and she enables him in this way.  Eventually, the character decides one day that he is going to go outside, but he ends of dropping dead once he's out there.

We're using a few different academic sources for research for this film.  Most of our resources are articles about filmmaking, such as lighting, composition, camera technology.  However, I thought it would be a good idea for at least one of our sources to be about agoraphobia.  So I found a book on Google Scholar called Constructing Panic: the discourse of agoraphobia by Lisa Capps.  This book defines what agoraphobia is, goes into who suffers from agoraphobia and how they suffer, but it also describes Capps interaction with a woman named Meg, a person with agoraphobia, who she interviews as a participant in her study of agoraphobia.

According to Capps (1997), "the term 'agoraphobia' means 'fear of open spaces', but is more appropriately described as a fear of being any place where one might feel vulnerable to fear and panic".  I thought this was very interesting because I always thought of agoraphobia as just being a fear of open spaces but knowing that it can be any place is an aspect that would be good to incorporate into the film.  Capps (1997) also notes that sufferers of agoraphobia "express fear of being in a place or situation where it may be difficult to escape or obtain help should they experience a panic attack or develop other potentially incapacitating or extremely embarrassing symptoms" (p. 3).  This means that agoraphobia can incorporate not only a fear of something bad happening to the person physically but as well as socially.

Another reason I wanted to do some research on agoraphobia on the film was to get an accurate idea of how a person who suffers from agoraphobia feels and behaves.  When reading, I came across this quote from Capps (1997): "Agoraphobic persons often describe feeling trapped by an over present threat of panic and their belief that they cannot risk leaving safe havens such as home" (p. 3).  This said to me that it is not as much the fear of the space but the fear of the actual experience of "panic" or a panic attack, so this creates a behavior of wanting to avoid any place that the person feels might induce a panic attack.

Capps also describes her meeting with Meg, a sufferer of agoraphobia and a participant in Capps' study of agoraphobia.  Capps describes pulling up to Meg's home and says that it had paint that was old and peeling but that front door looked beautifully detailed.  "The architectural contrast stood as a metaphor for a hallmark feature of agoraphobia: the attempt to exert control over a highly circumscribed space, to create a safe haven within a chaotic, often unwelcoming universe" (p. 3).  I thought this would be an interesting element to incorporate into the film; our main character's home could represent physical what it was a symbol of emotionally.

However, Capps makes a point in telling the audience that even though Meg has made her home a safe haven physically, the fear and panic from her past experiences haunt her as well as the possibility of future situations that induce the same fear and panic.  So even though the homes of these people are seen by them as their "safe havens", Capps says that still, "home is a paradise lost in that it cannot provide refuge from the mind and the scenarios it (re)creates" (p.4).  This element would be good to incorporate into the main character as to make the portrayal of him suffering with agoraphobia more accurate.



Capps, L. (1997). Constructing Panic: The discourse of agoraphobia . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 

COMM 352 - Blog #7 - A Computer That Teaches Itself

iO9.com put out an article on March 25th about the Pentagon's desire for a computer that can actually TEACH itself.  According to the article they are launching an initiative to "design automated tools that will make it easier to not just program computers, but to help computers teach themselves" (Dvorsky, 2013).  Now, if you have read this blog post that I wrote about the "Future of the Computer" than you know how I feel about where technology is going and you should also understand why having read this article has only scared the shit out of me even more.  Now I understand that advances in technology have done great things for the human race, and for the most part, will continue to do so.  However, the idea of a computer than can change, learn and teach itself is seemingly something right out of Terminator 2 (1991).  And comparing this to a film may seem farfetched, but I am just saying that the coincidence in the chain of events is eerie.


Maybe I am crazy and paranoid but I leave you with this quote from the iO9.com article so that you can REALLY think about what this means:

"And looking further ahead into the future , this could represent an important step in advanced computer bootstrapping - the ability for an artificially intelligent system to not just teach itself, but to re-write and improve upon itself. It could be seen as an important stage in the development of a recursively improving AI — a system that can continually become better at optimizing itself, potentially leading to an exponential increase in intelligence" (Dvorsky, 2013).

COMM 352 - Blog #4 - Wifi For All!

After reading this article about the concept of having "Free Wifi for All"(meaning having free wifi available to everyone in the country EVERYWHERE), I decided to make a pros and cons table to weigh whether or not "Free Wifi For All" is a good idea.

After creating the pros and cons table above from what I read in the above Washington Post article, I have decided that "Free Wifi for All" is a good idea that should definitely be pursued.  I fully believe that the pros outweigh the cons.  I also believe that the majority of the cons that are presented are coming from companies that do not want "Free Wifi for All" because right now they benefit financially from the lack of "Free Wifi for All", and the last thing they want is for there to be a disruption in that financial flow.

COMM 352-Blog #2-Patents & Steve Jobs

This story from TheVerge.com is an example of how Steve Jobs and Apple have used their patents as a means of seeking litigation and controlling the mobile market.  Now, the popular debate in regard to this is whether Apple is right in their actions or whether it is wrong that they have the ability to do this.  My personal opinion on this matter is that it is not right that Apple has the ability to sue someone for the shape of a phone, or as in the story above, sue a company for hiring former Apple employee.  The way I see it is that with these outrageous abilities to sue a company over the shape of a phone or the fact that they hired former employees of Apple is bordering on having a monopoly over the entire mobile market. I absolutely believe that the mobile market is big enough and diverse enough for more than one company to exist.  As for the story from TheVerge.com, I believe that former employees of Apple should be able to work wherever they want and if they want to work at a competing company, than the company should be able to hire that person without threat of litigation from Apple.  And lastly, for the idea of Apple being able to sue a company for have the same shaped technological device is ludicrous. Bottom line:  Apple does not and should not be able to own shapes.

COMM 352 - Blog #1 - Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz was a co-developer of RSS and a co-founder of Reddit; he helped "lead a campaign to defeat a law [SOPA] that would have made it easier to shut down websites accused of violating copyright protections"; and was also an advocate of free information.  It was because of his advocacy that, according to an article from the Associated Press, "he illegally gained access to millions of academic articles through the academic database JSTOR. He allegedly hid a computer in a computer utility closet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and downloaded the articles before being caught by campus and local police in 2011" (Wagner & Dobnik, 2013). While I understand how Aaron Swartz's actions could be considered illegal by some, I do not agree that he should have been pursued as heavily and with as much intimidation.  Because he was doing this for the people and he had no malicious intent when doing this, I do not agree with the treatment of Aaron Swartz before his suicide and I don't agree that the same laws used "to go after digital bank robbers" should be the same laws used to prosecute people like Aaron Swartz.  In fact, I do agree that advocates like him should " be protected from the full force of laws used to prosecute thieves and gangsters" (Wagner & Dobnik, 2013).  The lack of accounting for the variety of different technological "crimes" within our legal system is clearly a problem, the case of Aaron Swartz is just one example, and this needs to change.

COMM 352 - Blog #5 - Anonymous & Hacktivism

"Anonymous has always come to the defense of whistleblowers like Bradley Manning, who allegedly leaked information from the military to WikiLeaks; Aaron Swartz, the co-founder of Reddit who leaked academic documents and may have also contributed to WikiLeaks; and Barett Brown, who is facing 100 years in prison and did detailed research into the inner workings of American security firms. But of course, a murderous ex-cop is a lot harder to defend than these nonviolent liberators of information." -Patrick McGuire, Vice.com

This explanation of the "hacktivist" group known only as "Anonymous" by Patrick McGuire of Vice.com can probably tell you more about them than I could.  I only first became aware of "Anonymous" when they got involved in the Aaron Swartz situation (late to the game, I know) and in response to his death and the persecution of other "information liberators" like him, "Anonymous" hacked the Department of Defense's website and left this eerie message.

So, what exactly is "hacktivism"? 

Wikipedia defines "hacktivism" as: "the use of computers and computer networks as a means of protest to promote political ends." 

Now, other hacktivist groups exist, but "Anonymous" is perhaps the most well known, and now with the recent events involving Christopher Dorner, they are back in the light again.  As far as many can tell, "Anonymous" seems to be leaning towards defending Dorner due in most part to the contents of his manifesto.  In his manifesto, Dorner essentially accuses the LAPD of not only wrongfully firing him but he also accuses them of being corrupt.  "He describes racist harassment from fellow cops and writes about his being fired from the force after he made a complaint that an officer kicked a homeless man, a complaint dismissed by a judge" (McGuire, Vice.com). 

In regard to these claims, Patrick McGuire also states in his Vice.com article that "there is obviously some uncertainty from official channels surrounding the truthfulness of Dorner's claims, but even if the LAPD wrongfully fired him, he had no good reason to allegedly murder the daughter of the LAPD officer who represented him during his termination hearing, her fiancé and two other cops who got in his way."  I completely agree with McGuire's statement.  Whether or not these claims of LAPD corruption were true, Dorner did not have the right to go around on some self-prescribed "vigilante" killing spree.
  
However, according to McGuire, the biggest issue that "Anonymous" has with the recent turn of events involving Christopher Dorner was the apparent censorship of his final standoff with the LAPD.  According to McGuire, "Authorities were, in fact, telling news crews not to broadcast live footage of the cabin, and—while there is the reality that no one wants to see another human being shoot themselves on live TV again—footage appears to show LAPD officers yelling “burn this motherfucker," indicating that there may be a larger reason why the LAPD didn’t want live close-ups on the scene."  As well, a representative of "Anonymous" stated that "CNN, FOX, and every news affiliate present at the scene are suspect. They were complicit in concealing the truth by allowing the police to dictate what information the American public deserved to be privy to."  While I do not agree with "Anonymous" on defending Christopher Dorner, I do understand and agree with them that the public has every right to know what is actually going on; media censorship and controlling what the public can and cannot see is wrong.

So right now, at least when it comes to the issues stated above, I would say that I stand on the fence for the most part when it comes to "Anonymous".  But, perhaps as I learn more about them, that stance will change.

COMM 352-Blog Post #3-The Future of the Computer

Computers.  Where are they headed in the future?

 

"Will they stay much the same as they are now or will science fiction soon become reality?"

 

My outlook on the future of technology is built on my present outlook of technology: it already scares the shit out of me.  We already have so many technologies now that are unbelievable.  Some of these technologies most people know about, i.e. the IPhone, and some most people do not know about.  My opinion is that "science fiction will become reality" and sooner rather than later.  The really paranoid part of me looks around at these new advances in technology and says "yep, SkyNet goes online in about 5 years...max."

 

Think I'm just crazy?  That's fair.  But, hey, just for funsies, let's look at some examples:

 

1)  Remember in Terminator Salvation (2009) when John Connor is in the water and he gets attacked by those snake robots?  Those don't exist right?

 

Wrong.

 

 



2)  How about cyborgs and androids like in I, Robot (2004)?  We won't even be alive for that sort of technology, right?

 

Try again.

 

 

Meet Jules, watch as he carries on conversations with these people, and tells that baby that "one day [he] will come and find him."

 

 

3) Iron Man is not just a fictional super hero anymore.  The government has already been creating and perfecting robotic technology, such as exoskeletons, to benefit the military.

 

 

 

4) Then there's this thing:

Just imagining that thing chasing you is enough to freak me out about what the future of technology holds.

 

But, if you're still not convinced that you should be afraid, then I will let Brett Erlich explain it to you in this segment of Viral Video Film School:

 

 

 

 



Never Forget.

September 11th, 2001.  I was twelve years old when 9/11 happened but it has had a profound effect on my soul that I'm sure will last a lifetime.  For as long as I live, my heart will always be with those who were lost on this day as well with their loved ones.

"Short Hair Is Not A Cry For Help"---Thank you!

Long hair represents femininity and vulnerability and sex. It’s princesses and mermaids and porn stars. Short hair, on the other hand, says, “If you think I’m gorgeous, great, but this isn’t about you, pal.” Whoooo, scary! In an ABC interview when she was 15, Miley Cyrus showed off a photo of iconic British model Twiggy, all big eyes and choppy blond hair, and said, “One day I’m going to cut my hair like that. I know I am. I will.” So she did. But in a culture where a female doing something just for herself – not her fiancé, not her family, not her fans – is seen as transgressive, that’s enough to call her masculine and shocking and unstable. And that’s not just sad, that’s totally crazy.

-Mary Elizabeth Williams from this article about the recent "scandal" (and I use that term loosely) over Miley Cyrus cutting off most of her hair.

Look, I don't have any particular feelings (positive, negative, or otherwise) about Miley Cyrus but this article and especially the quote above from said article expresses exactly how I felt (except the bit about long hair, I don't really agree with that) when learning of the stupidity of the "debacle" over this girl cutting her hair.  I've been known to change my hair VERY often, out of sheer boredom and not because I was suffering from some 16th century-esque "womanly hysteria".  Every time I have ever cut my hair "super-short", it was always on a whim and always a totally liberating experience.  Now I understand how silly that probably sounds because it's just a fucking haircut right?  But, if you think  about it, this simple "haircut" is usually one of the rare occasions where what you're doing, you're doing only for yourself.  So I guess what I am trying to say here is that the girl just wanted a damn haircut and in the words of The Dalai Lama I think it was, "Calm yo tits, Hollywood..."

P.S. I think her haircut is cute as shit.

Picture Perfect Double Meaning

I stumbled across this advertisement for a Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot camera the other day, and as soon as I saw it the first thing that came to mind, besides the obvious fact that this woman is seemingly unnecessarily standing in a bra with the product centimeters away from "them" (the easiest draw in of all, BOOBS!), was a key point that I heard in Jean Kilbourne's Killing Us Softly 4.  That key point was the concept of women being dismembered at certain points of the ad.  Clearly, in this ad there is a beautiful woman in lacy underwear holding a camera, but the ad not only focuses mainly on the "camera" area but actually goes as far to cut the woman's eyes out of the advertisement completely.  As they say, the eyes are the window to the soul of a human being, so cutting the eyes out of this advertisement dehumanizes the woman, and she becomes whoever or whatever you want to imagine is standing here.  Jean Kilbourne also mentions that through advertisements, women are told that they are "acceptable only if they are young, thin, white-or at least light-skinned...".  Well I guess it is a good thing that this advertisement clearly proves that statement wrong because this woman is obviously not thin or white....oh no wait a minute.
        As well as noticing aspects of this ad that correlated with key points from Jean Kilbourne's Killing Us Softly 4, I also noticed parts of this ad that correlated with Erving Goffman's The Codes of Gender.  In this presentation, the differences between the body language of men and women are compared and contrasted.  Goffman notes that almost always women will be portrayed cradling or barely holding the product conveying that they are never in control of it.  You can see that in this ad as well because the model is gently grasping the camera between only two fingers, and I don't know about you but in real life, I am not holding an expensive ass camera with only two fingers.  Goffman also notes in The Codes of Gender that women are often portrayed as holding themselves protectively as if "the world around them is too much to handle", and this is clear in the ad for the Sony Ericsson camera because this woman has her arms wrapped around herself as if she is worried.  But, maybe she is just cold because she is in some room wearing nothing but a bra.....but you know who knows.
       And lastly, I would just like to point out the delightful little double entendre that this advertisement leaves with its audience.  The bottom of the ad states, "The Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot--stunning picture quality, whatever the size".  Now considering that phrase and the fact that the camera is centimeters away from this chick's boobs, which just happen to be pretty much the main focus of the entire advertisement,  I find that double meaning hilarious.



Enjoy Killing Us Softly 4 and The Codes of Gender here:

Flo From Progressive Has Insured Her Place In My Heart

She looks crazy...crazy adorable

As soon as I was asked what my favorite ad campaign at the moment was, there was only one bright eyed, red lipstick wearing lady that immediately came to my mind.  That lady is Progressive's finest insurance saleswoman known only as "Flo".

So, why do I love her so much?  I've mulled it over on several different occasions, and I always come up with the same reason first.  For me, that first reason for liking her that comes to mind is that Flo looks and acts like my sister-in-law, Rochelle.  When I say acts like, I mean when Flo says something funny, quirky, or weird, it is usually not hard imagining Rochelle saying something very similar.  I would consider Rochelle to be my best friend, hell, most of the time I drop the "in-law" part of "sister-in-law" when introducing her to others.  So when I see Flo, I am reminded of Rochelle, and in that way this ad campaign will always, first and foremost, be able to play off of my familiarity with that character.

As for the general public, I think the formula as to why it works breaks down into two simple reasons.  The first reason is the fact that, YES, to most of us, Flo is very funny, adorably quirky, and maybe sometimes a little bit weird.  These few simple character aspects actually prove to be successful in a couple of different ways.  The fact that this character is funny and quirky immediately catches the audience's attention as well as making the commercial more entertaining.  Also, these character traits make the character more relatable and therefore more trustworthy.  Finally, when the company sends out a commercial that is funny, it sends out the message that the company must also, obviously, have a sense of humor and everyone loves a good sense of humor, right?

Another reason why these commercials work so well is that along with Flo being portrayed as funny, quirky, weird, and charismatic, she is also frequently depicted in the commercials as being friendly and loyal to each customer individually.  Meanwhile, the "other" insurance company guys cannot even remember those customer's names.

Now, in "real" life, Flo is portrayed by actress Stephanie Courtney, who has done other stints on T.V. in shows like Mad Men and in movies such as The Heartbreak Kid starring Ben Stiller.  However, the commercials are done so well, and the actress' performance is so good, that it doesn't matter that I know who it is, my first thought when I see these commercials is never "Oh there's good ole Stephanie Courtney" but usually "Damnit, Flo, stop being so adorable".

(This makes me sound like I am in love with Flo, but I am not in love with Flo........maybe a little.)