Convo provoking questions

Why are we doing interviews?...Are interviews really the best way to capture our subject?

How can one best "encourage" the interviewee to tell them your story?

The Art of the Real

Brainstorming for the project:

campus athletes
admissions officer in engineering or business
the nighttime clean-up guy at the undergrad*

I want to aim for something that will be unique to the experiences that I have week to week. I want to learn more about one of the people who is part of my everyday life, yet I know nothing about.

voice over narration

Objectivity in Media

All media is created by humans and is therefore all subjective. The important part is realizing this as a viewer and seeking to understand how the authors point of view affects the message that is trying to be relayed. The lack of objectivity in media is what makes it art.

My Case Competition Experience

This past Friday I participated in a case competition that was sponsored by Philip Morris. Our team failed miserably in presenting a product that was close to what the company expected from a winning team, but this afforded us a great opportunity to learn about what Sales is like in the corporate world. I learned that selling anything is less about the information and more about the art of conversation. People will give their business to someone they trust and who is able to present some element of understanding when it comes to the other persons needs.

Learning from an individual is always more effective than learning from a book. There is something about being able to see the sincerity in an individual's face that gives more credence to the advice that is being given.

Questions for the audience

Did the two symbolic decisions seem too stereotypical of a college student?
Did the fork in the road decisions make sense as general symbols of decision making?
What images would you have liked to see instead of the ones chosen?
What kind of decisions are you forced to make on a day to day basis at school?

My Process During Creation

For this video, I put a significantly longer period of time into the planning stage. Before I filmed anything, I already had in mind the images that I wanted to capture, and what I believed those images would convey in my work. Once I had gathered the necessary footage, completion of the project came down to trimming the clips, and tying everything together with music and words. I feel that I put a much more concentrated effort into this project, and because of that, produced a much higher quality product. I will be much less nervous when I display this video to the class.

Inspiration Box

Things that inspire me:

success
friends
parents
money
possessions
other successful people
love

Quotes:

'So do all who see such times. But that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that we are given.'
-Gandalf

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."
-Emerson

"A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?"
-Einstein

"Tis a far greater thing to dare great deeds and to win great triumphs, although checkered with defeat, than to live amongst those poor souls who neither suffer nor enjoy much because they live in a gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt

Video

espn
pgatour
JIBJAB

Websites:

gmail
facebook
styleforum
inc.

Reflection on the Film

I believe that the film perfectly reflects the goals that Vertov states in his manifesto. The film brings together thousands of random images to bring some idea of a story to the screen through the use of countless symbols. The film is truly unique and different from anything that I have ever seen. It gives me an entirely new appreciation for the way a story is created through film. The expertise shown in this piece puts most of today's films to shame.

My Creative Video Making Process

After analyzing my footage from the first day of shooting, I noticed that the work I had done was very chaotic, random, and difficult to understand. I had failed to complete the planning part of the process, and therefore, I produced a sloppy product. On the second day, I started out with an idea of the words that I wanted to represent with video, and then set out to find ways to create those words. Even with that small amount of planning, I developed an entirely new shooting mindset, and the quality of my product increased substantially. For the next video project, my goal is to lay out a pla of attack for shooting my footage, and then find any and every way to represent the images that I want to capture.

My Decision Making Manifesto

The decisions we make define the way we are perceived by others. At this point in our lives, we are constantly faced with decisions that could be considered "forks" in the road, and those decisions do not have identifiable right answers. The choices we are faced with everyday are based on assumptions, guesses, and our best estimations of the future. Therefore, I will make these decisions with these principles constantly in mind.

I will be true to myself and trust my instincts even when those around me are in doubt. I will make decisions that reflect the person that I try to be each and every day. I will understand that when decisions are based on unknown information, my most important resource is myself. I will understand that making the right decision is not always the goal, sometimes the lesson learned from making the decision is supreme. I will stick by my decisions once made because I believe this is an important attribute to consider when judging the character of a human being.

Sharing my Work

I never mind sharing my work when I know that I have put forth my best effort. In those cases, I know that no matter what I hear, or no matter the criticisms put toward my work, I have done my best and I only have room to improve and no need to have regrets. However, when I have not put forth my best effort, fear starts to set in. When you become self-conscious of your own work, every fault in the project seems to stick out like a sore thumb, regardless of how big or small the mistake may be. The lesson learned from this? Always do your best, and no matter the perceived quality of the work, you will never have anything to regret.

10 Things I Saw Today Friday-Sunday

Friday:

1. A desolate computer lab at 3 AM
2. A stumped TA
3. MY SISTER
4. An impromptu interview
5. EMOness
6. A busted party
7. A late arrival
8. Man vs. Wild marathon at 2 AM
9. Jimmy John delivery lady at 3 AM
10. My pillow at 3:30 AM

Saturday:

1. My debut as a grillmaster
2. A FLYOVER
3. A close call
4. Saturday homework
5. Too many movies
6. A wild sibling
7. The nightlife of Champaign from my balcony
8. Early bed
9. Sister at 3 AM
10. Safe and sound guests by 4 AM

Sunday:

1. RAIN
2. FLOODS
3. Sun
4. A very disappointing loss
5. A lost QB
6. An unbelievable defense
7. Online quiz upon online quiz
8. Video homework
9. Pancakes for lunch
10. My bed for once...as opposed to the couch

Response to "Rituals of Preperation

Twyla Tharp's comments in this selection could not be more true. For some reason, it always seems that the human tendency is to want to be lazy and never get started on the task at hand. Regardless of the magnitude of the task, human nature seems to prohibit us from getting going, and the more important the task, the harder the start becomes. Rituals are the conscious solution to the laziness of the sun conscious mind. For example, although Tharp's subconscious may prohibit her from truly desiring to get up, get dressed, go to the gym, and then perform a worthwhile workout, her conscious mind can tell her to get up and get in a cab, at which point, desire is no longer a factor in the decision since logic would prevent her from turning back when she has already made such progress.

Traditional fear of failure prevents me from getting started on the video project. With little experience making video, and the apparent expertise of many members of the class, there are no guarantees that my project will bring me the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that I always strive to achieve in my work. However, I believe that I have discovered the trigger that will help me not only get started, but finish a with a quality product.

If I could give up one thing for a week to clear distractions from my creative process, it would be movies. I am a movie junkie. Anytime a movie that I may even remotely like comes on to one of the movie channels, it becomes a necessity that I sit and watch it in its entirety. Without movies, I would watch 25% of the television that I currently watch, and would clear countless hours that could be reallocated to more productive activities. Not to say that I don't believe movies have positively affected me. I believe that quality of my creative process, and my openness and inquisitiveness about the world have stemmed from viewing hundreds of movies on both the big screen and at home. However, sometimes one needs to clear a path through the creative genius of others to allow personal creation and genius to freely flow.

10 Things I saw today Monday-Thursday

Monday:

1. Fresh set of work on my desl
2. Champaign-Urbana through a camera
3. My bike!
4. Someone trying to be someone else
5. New and interesting buildings on campus
6. The entire class catalog for Fall '08
7. A winner
8. A meeting of 200
9. Collaboration
10. My new team

Tuesday:

1. Champaign-Urbana through different eyes
2. Another Econ class from the inside of my apartment
3. A packed house
4. The other side of town
5. The beginning of another apartment search
6. A disappointed face
7. Fury
8. A BEAUtiful night
9. A Friday on a Tuesday
10. My first D.P. Dough

Wednesday:

1. TOO MUCH disappointment
2. A failure
3. Bad teammates
4. Frustration and sadness
5. The weak side of a strong friend
6. Total vulnerability
7. Nighttime bike riding
8. Drunken debauchery
9. A shocking string
10. My new wife

Thursday:

1. First shift
2. A brother and co-worker
3. Econ class FROM the econ classroom
4. Office of admissions and records
5. Wild girl
6. Delicious chicken fingers
7. BUFFS
8. Custard Cup
9. Halloween candy
10. Denial

My Rituals

I guess I have one very reliable daily ritual. First off I always wake up early and eat something and then watch TV. For some reason I always feel as though I have missed some big event in the world in the past 8 hours and that I need to catch up. Other that, and the fact that I eat throughout the day and sleep every day, I can't really say that I ever do the same thing twice. I wander a lot, eat different places, take different routes too and from class and subconsciously keep myself guessing.

McCloud Reading

This is one of the deepest thing I have ever read. To be honest I have not had time to develop and worthy thoughts on the subject. When I have contemplated it, I will post again.

What makes a great website?

GMAIL: Relevant buttons are easily accessible and the homepage is colorful and intriguing. I visit gmail at least 150 times a day.

WEATHER: It's easy to find your state and the radar. Streaming video of the current radar made it critical for my job at the golf course this summer.

ILLINOIS.EDU: It's necessity puts it into my top 5 but with the new homepage, it's very easy to use and much more visually appealing. The relevant links jump out at you now and I don't mind having to log into it every day.

FACEBOOK.COM: I use the new facebook and I really like it. All the posts and everything are consolidated on one wall and the bumper stickers and apps and everything are only accessed if you want to see them. It had reduced the clutter on people's homepages and you still have access to every bit of news about your friends activity

How I see the world

I would have to say that overall, I have a very optimistic view of the world. I believe that making mistakes is ok and that that is how we best learn about ourselves and our surroundings. I believe that in the end, things tend to work out , even if the end result is one that I had not previously imagined. Because of these views, I don't mind taking risks when making decision. The way I have always seen it, even if the worst case scenario should come to be, it could only lead to a valuable lesson being learned. However, this kind of thinking requires some kind of fail-safe, and for me, that's the knowledge that I believe I am a rational decision maker. I would never make a decision that could be a detriment to myself or others with the simple rationalization that "I'll learn from it."

10 Things I Saw Today Wed-Sun

Wednesday:

1. My brother sleeping on a couch

2. paintings much older than I

3. a whole new world through my computer

4. 100 anxious PM's

5. discerning fellow brothers

6. the best workout facility in the nation

7. extreme disappointment in friend

8. late night at potbelly's

9. the inside of my old dorm

10. nighttime on the balcony

Thursday:

1. big rain drops all day

2. 1200 girls wander the quad

3. 95 people shake with fear in front of me

4. 100 brothers arguing for their favorites

5. Diddy Blog 16; There ain't even no crack heads in Alaska

6. 20,000 worth of cookies

7. A hall of flags

8. The perfect business process

9. Lighting over the union

10. an old friend

Friday:

1. 4:30 AM

2. Sleepy pledges at 6:30 AM

3. 100 very crabby brothers

4. BIF

5. 10 very festive friends

6. my first apt. party

7. 1200 differently dressed girls...wandering the quad

8. 20 extremely happy new pledges

9. my favorite movie

10. my best friends

Saturday:

1. a shalacking

2. thousands of faithful fans

3. my favorite pastime on campus

4. a very "excited" "brother"

5. my sister

6. a meltdown

7. a great recovery

8. a very late entry

9. happiness in my sister

10. a late night feast

Sunday:

1. A lot of nothing

2. hundreds of used kleenex

3. first home cooked meal

4. many hungry friends

5. a retail palace

6. another shalacking

7. a long awaited purchase

8. frustrating news on my computer screen

9. my new roomates?

10. potential cribs

My Creative DNA

1.-2. What is the first creative moment that you remember?

- My first creative moment was when I colored a complete picture inside the lines for the first time (yes I actually remember). I remember that moment because everyone who helped at my kindergarten, from the principal on down to the student helpers, made a point to praise my perfectly colored picture (not because it was good but because I was the last kid to figure out that slopping color all over the page defeated the purpose). Who knows, maybe they killed a potential abstract art genius that day because I haven't colored outside the lines since.

16. Money: I'm driven to make lots of it so I can make the lives of my family members as easy as possible. I think that money corrupts most people, but if used correctly, is an incredible gift.

Power: Again, extremely valuable if used correctly. The most efficient and functional form of government would be a single person with absolute power who was able to weight every opinion equally and make a decision for the good of all. However, the world has not yet had an absolute leader of this magnitude.

Praise: Nice when you get, but I never hold mr breath for it. If you do anything for the praise, you've done it for the wrong reasons.

Rivals: Are a necessary part of any equation that leads to success. Without a rival pushing you to do your best, your greatest feats will never be achieved.

Work: Gotta do it, but don't do too much. All great achievements come as a result of hard work but it's easy to get caught up in work and allow life to pass you by. Ideally you play somewhere in the middle.

Play: An equally important part of the success equation. Play unlocks creativity and frees the mind from the stresses of work. Work and play in equal parts is always essential.

17. I most admire performing artists because they have talents that I wish I would have pursued as a young kid. They visual and audio performances that they are able to create never cease to amaze me, and I love being an observer of the.

33. My greatest dream is too one day be able to be proud of the things that I have accomplished and creates during my time on the earth. I hope one day that the elusive sense of true self-satisfaction will not be able to elude me anymore.

My 100

What is literacy?

Literacy is being able to comprehend and truly understand the meaning behind some kind of visual stimulus.

Reflections on "I Walk into a White Room"

- I am notorious for exhibiting complete unrest when I have to complete a project or paper. My process of completing any project usually involves doing a little, walk around, do some more, eat, a little more, watch tv, do some more...etc. until the project is done. However, I don't think those behaviors are as much about procrastinating as they are my creative process. Being able to step away from the task and concentrate on anything else for a period of time has always helped me clear my head of any clutter, and ultimately, produce my very best work.
- Every morning I wake up between 6:30-7, usually work out (though I slacked on that all summer), eat breakfast, and then get going on whatever I have to do that day. I have always been an early riser, which I undoubtedly get from my dad, and I have come to appreciate being able to get up and out in the morning, even on a campus that doesn't even begin to stir until about 9 am.
-I believe everyone has their own "touch of gold" talent. Although I agree that natural talents must be unlocked with hard work and dedication, it is undeniable that individuals can have strong natural inclinations to certain tasks. For instance, great writers tend to have an ability to formulate words into strings that captivate audiences though the readers can rarely explain why. While it may be true that, with hard work, anyone can write an informative expository essay, it isn't necessarily the case that anyone can write a best selling fictional novel. True talents are "touches of god." Hard work is what unlocks their greatest potential.