Category Archives: PaperAssignment

Digital Essay

This is the video for my digital essay.  The essay was on the song “War”, by Bob Marley and the Wailers.  I used a song by Bob’s son Damian and footage from WWII, till present day war footage in Iraq, finishing with images of peaceful leaders of our time who were able to make change without violence.  The thesis of this essay is that nothing has changed over the last 100  years. We still have wars, and corruption. But the lesson to keep in mind is that there have been people who have made big changes through peace, and if we want to evoke change now, everyone needs to wake up, stop fighting and clean up their own little area of the globe.  Anarchy media did not recognize my vimeo URL so that is why there is no thumb nail.

It’s a bit late to be putting this up, but I wanted to get some feedback on my video idea first before I started on it.

“Shark finning is the cruel act of cutting off the shark’s fins while it is still alive, then the still living shark is wastefully thrown back into the ocean to die a slow and painful death.”

The main purpose of my video would be to spread awareness about the illegal shark fin trade. This practice, aside from being undeniably cruel, is pushing certain species of sharks to the point of extinction. I first became aware of this issue after seeing this [link] drawing, and it has been on my mind ever since.

Now on to the more technical stuff. Since there’s no way for me to actually go diving anytime within the next couple of weeks to film this, I settled for what I felt would be the next best option: stop-motion animation. I’d planned to start drawing small ocean-dwelling organisms being eaten by progressively bigger ones until the final one (most likely a tuna fish) would be eaten by a Great White shark. The shark then gets caught in a fishing net and is pulled upwards and out of the screen. After a short scene of just the ocean scenery, the shark (now finless) comes into view again, after having been dropped back into the waters to bleed to death. The last scene would be a short dialogue between a waiter and a customer in a restaurant in which the customer orders shark fin soup for lunch.

Any opinions on whether or not this idea would a bit too extreme? That’s really my main concern at this point, so feedback would be appreciated.

heyy everyone!

Since Jenny and I were both so inspired and influenced by Malisa’s amazing post about perfection and how hard it is to accept yourself with all your perceived flaws, we decided that we would collaborate on a video and hopefully come up with something awesome. If my memory serves me right, she proposed to do something with the more painful side of the difficulties people have in flaunting who they are and the role that they play in this harsh world because of the judgment, stigma, and ridicule that they have to face. I am thinking of adding on to that with also showing some of the hope that is coming out in present times and that even when they are feeling at their lowest, there is comfort in knowing somewhere out there someone is willing accept you exactly the way you are. We haven’t quite fully mapped out what we’re going to do but I really liked the simplicity of the “emerging from the subway” video and how it told an unspoken story. I think that we’re going to have some darker images of people struggling to accept who they are and maybe show that there is some light in the world. I would also like to incorporate some music; some with darker tones but also developing into hopeful perhaps lyrical music.

As a last note, in the same episode of the “Born this Way” Glee they also sang a mash up of “Unpretty” by TLC and “I Feel Pretty” by West Side Story comparing the two sides of how people feel about themselves and that they can bring themselves down. Sometimes you are your biggest critic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DBEdshgTUY

A very common New Year’s Resolution among many Americans is getting fit and in shape.Hence on the first week of January each week, many Americans gain gym memberships.Mark Doty’s poem “at the gym” examines human obsession with the physical appearance of the body and their quest to gain the “perfect” body is the poem i intend to use.

 My digital essay will include a combination of slideshows a skit to get this point across.

The poem that I have chosen for the project is The Pig by Roald Dahl. I chose this poem because of he following lines that were inside the poem and plan to capitalize on this section, segment:

He worked out sums inside his head,
There was no book he hadn’t read.
He knew what made an airplane fly,
He knew how engines worked and why.
He knew all this, but in the end
One question drove him round the bend:
He simply couldn’t puzzle out
What LIFE was really all about.
What was the reason for his birth?
Why was he placed upon this earth?
His giant brain went round and round.
Alas, no answer could be found.

What LIFE was really all about, that line in the poem really stuck out to me because I honestly can’t figure out what the purpose of life as a human being is. I plan visually present this poem through, maybe animation. Yeah, most likely animation. Animals, for example are raised to be butchered and become food for human beings through these massive grinders. I would show a pig going through the grinder and coming out as bacon, pork chops, etc. I would then show a cow going through the grinder coming out as steak, milk, etc. I’d probably throw a few more animals in there as well. I know, this may make me sound like a terrible person, but it is all in the name of showing the poem visually. Anyways, finally or in the middle of the visual, I would show a human going through the grinder. There is a jam in the machine as it does not know what humans are suppose to come out as. There are simply too many options: business men, painters, fashion designers, professors, etc etc. Actually, should the grinded human meat come out as a pie (Swenny Todd reference) Anyways, can it be that the point of Human life is knowledge? I’m still working on a thesis at the moment.

It’s not that I hate poems it’s just that I find it hard to decipher them and to fully enjoy the beauty of words in a poem. I’m really having a hard time thinking of a theme that I want to do for this essay. I wanted to think of a theme first so it’s easier to find poems that fit the theme. Right now, the only theme I’m okay with is something along the lines of “Self Acceptance”. I guess this might be the theme I’ll go with because I was inspired by Malisa’s post (https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/happiness2011/2011/04/23/blog-post-6/) which I really like and tonight’s episode of Glee which is about acceptance. I feel that now, people really look down on themselves and do not choose to think optimistic in any situation. This really bothers me.

Well my mind just went blank so to end this…”Born This Way”(Cover) – Glee Cast.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/RdqC5-xtT6U" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]