Tag Archives: Digital Essay
Parenting
The poem that I wrote Paper #3 on was Frank O’Hara’s “Ave Maria.” The poem basically encourages “mothers of America” to let their children go to the movies, but the bigger message is that parents should basically loosen up and try not to set such strict rules, restrictions and limitations for their children. I disagree with this mentality–children absolutely must have structure in their loves, otherwise they will not thrive as individuals. In my digital essay, I tried to show different movie/show clips that exhibit instances of bad parenting with children and then I showed adults on shows like Maury and Jerry Springer going crazy and doing outrageous things. The connection I’m trying to make is that these adults were not raised correctly when they were children, and did not have parents keeping a close enough eye on them, which is why they turned out the way they did.
The Importance of Good Parenting
The point I was hoping to get across with the video of Veruca Salt (from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) was that parents who let their children have whatever they want become spoiled brats, and are impossible to deal with unless you give them exactly what they want, when they want it. Later on in life, those children don’t know how to accept the fact that they can’t always have all their wishes granted.
The reason I used the particular portion of the Flintstones clip that I did was because Betty tells Barney: “Barney don’t speak mean to him, reason with him.” That is a perfect example of bad parenting. There’s no reasoning with young children. Maybe you can try reasoning with a 10-year old or a teenager, but it does not work with children younger than that. A parent who reasons with his/her child will simply get taken advantage of, which is seen in the video when Bam Bam grabs Barney’s finger and begins slamming him around.
The rest of the clips I showed, like the ones with the mother and daughter who aspire to be prostitutes and the 42-year-old woman with a 14-year-old husband, were just funny examples of adults who act completely ridiculous because they don’t know any limits–they just don’t know when to stop. I think that, had their parents given them more limitations, they would not have been on the Jerry Springer/Maury shows (assuming the Jerry/Maury shows are even real and not staged, which they kind of seem to be).
My Movie!!!
I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud by William Wordsworth
I had quite an interesting time making this video considering I am not the type of person to usually enjoy something of this nature. It was a bit confusing at first because I am not very familiar with all kinds of movie editing software and after watching some videos on youtube of other poetic productions, I realized I would have to step my game up to make this video worthwhile. I edited the pictures online using a website called FotoFlexer, which is totally free and super easy to use. This is great for a novice or someone who will only have to do one or two of these types of projects. Then, instead of using iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or Final Cut Pro, I decided to use an online resource called JatCut that allows me to easily edit my slideshow without any complications. It is extremely basic but that is also it’s strength because anyone can use it with ease.
William Wordsworth speaks a lot about his love for nature and I wanted to show this here by showing how beautiful it is. It’s meant to inspire you and put a smile on your face. I actually used kittens to represent William Wordsworth because I see cats as part of nature and they are as beautiful as the daffodils. My main goal was to have each picture be indicative of the line it is showing. While Yann Tiersen is beautifully playing the piano in the background, you are meant to see the picture/text simultaneously so that it has a great impact on you. Psychologists have shown that when you add meaning to words, pictures, and memories, they are easier to remember and what I tried to do here is to link the lines of the poem with carefully selected images so that the viewer better remembers it. I think this video encompasses what I was trying to say in my essay and what Wordsworth has been saying in his poetry.
The Talk
Sylvia Plath’s “words” is something so personal but yet general. The meaning behind the poem, besides her experiences of tragedies including her father’s death and her realization that death is humanities’ fate, is that words are powerful weapons just like an axe. It can be beneficial or forever haunting; it can keep a fire going or kill zombies.
In the Video, it starts off with Michael waiting for Calvin. He eventually receives a phone call that sounds serious and urgent. Michael then rushes over to the meeting spot. On the way there, he thinks about two things that can happen once he gets there; either Calvin is calling to break up with him, or take the relationship to a new level. These are two possibilities but there are always more, which helps to strengthens my argument. The video ends with them finally meeting. I had the video a silence video with just a few words was to show the endless possibilities words can have.
hope everyone enjoys
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/WlsvioVdd9Y” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
You Were Born to be a Firework, Baby
Jenny and Eva’s Digital Essay
Since Jenny and I discovered that we were both working on a similar theme of self acceptance, we decided to collaborate on this digital essay to produce something simple but meaningful. Her poem was “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde which was about the deep emotion that someone feels when he/she can’t accept his/her physical characteristics because he/she believes that they are full of flaws. These people feel real pain and sadness wondering why they have all these said imperfections and questioning themselves why they can’t look better, perform better, aren’t better than others that they see. They don’t see a bright future for themselves because they are blinded by all the flaws that they find staring at them in the eyes, covering them from true reality. I chose the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman because I wanted to explore the other side of this theme of self acceptance which is those people that are able to celebrate themselves on being exactly who they are. Whitman uses a universal “I” that allows any person to relate despite different walks of life. This poem does not discriminate against anyone because of gender, race, age, religion, sexual orientation or cultural background making it an anthem for everyone. In these words, people can feel comfort because they know that they are worth something in this world and they should flaunt what makes them unique instead of seeing these aspects as flaws. I think that combined, Jenny and I convey both sides of this theme from those who hate themselves and that with hope they will come to embrace themselves.
When it came to thinking of what we wanted to do for the video, we decided that we wanted to create something with no words but simply told a story through images like the “emerging from the Subway” video that we saw. In the beginning of the video, we wanted to show the raw hurt and pain of those that are depressed because they feel they are of no value. They can’t accept themselves because all they see are flaws glaring at them. In the middle of the video, we wanted to display the options that these depressed people have by taking an action of some sort such as writing all their thoughts down in poetry or journal entry form and in talking about it with others among other options. In this way, they may come to realize the pain they are inflicting towards themselves and that with time they will know that they are perfect exactly the way they are. The end of the video shows the light at the end of the tunnel where though they may not realize it, there is hope for these depressed people to love themselves and ultimately accept that they are who they are. There is no need to try to conform to a societal standard of perfection which is impossible and fake. Instead, being true to themselves is perfection. When we were thinking of what background music to use, we decided against lyrical because we felt that words may take away from the simplicity of pure emotion. For the transitional song, we opted to use an instrumental rendition of Katy Perry’s “Firework” which starts out slowly and progressively becomes slightly more upbeat. Finally, we used an instrumental rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” because this is really an anthem of self acceptance and she is the Queen of Self – Acceptance.
Hope that you all enjoy and remember to “show em’ what you’re worth!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0BRap296KI
Special thanks to Jenny for being such an AWESOME partner and letting us combine our creative minds! 😀
Contact Lenses video essay
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/VM1h9eiV20U" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
The poem I chose is Contact Lenses by Audre Lorde and the reason I chose this poem is because I felt that it speaks to the general public about an issue that people all too often avoid. Contact Lenses is about opening your eyes to the truth and embracing the pain that comes with it instead of living your life hiding in fantasies and lies. Distorting your views and lying to yourself may seem like the easiest way out and the simplest conclusion but you will never be able to move on with your life that way. Sure, the truth can be ugly and it can hurt, but in the long run, it is all about stripping away those “contact lenses” and embracing the pain so that you can finally see the light and take control of your life. In order to convey this idea through a video ｗｉｔｈｏｕｔ ｂｅｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｖａｇｕｅ ｏｒ ｇｅｎｅｒａｌ, Ｉ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｐｉｃｋ ａ ｓｐｅｃｉｆｉｃ ｅｘａｍｐｌｅ ｗｈｅｒｅ ｐｅｏｐｌｅ ｔｅｎｄ ｔｏ ｌｉｅ ｔｏ ｔｈｅｍｓｅｌｖｅｓ． Ｉ ｕｓｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｉｎｓｔａｎｃｅ ｏｆ ａ ｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｓｈｉｐ ｗｈｅｒｅ ｙｏｕ ｋｎｏｗ ｔｈｉｎｇｓ ａｒｅ ｎｅｖｅｒ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｗｏｒｋ ｏｕｔ ｂｕｔ ｙｏｕ ｃａｒｅ ｓｏ ｍｕｃｈ ａｂｏｕｔ ｔｈｅ ｏｔｈｅｒ ｐｅｒｓｏｎ ｔｈａｔ ｙｏｕ＇ｒｅ ｎｏｔ ｗｉｌｌｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｂｅｌｉｅｖｅ ｉｔ ａｎｄ ｙｏｕ＇ｒｅ ｎｏｔ ｗｉｌｌｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｌｅｔ ｇｏ ｏｆ ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ ｔｈａｔ ｉｓｎ＇ｔ ｔｈｅｒｅ ａｎｙｍｏｒｅ． Ｔｈｅ ｏｐｅｎｉｎｇ ｓｃｅｎｅ ｉｓ ｔｈｅ ａｃｔｕａｌ ａｒｇｕｍｅｎｔ ａｎｄ ｃｏｎｆｌｉｃｔ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｃｏｕｐｌｅ ａｎｄ ａｓ ｉｔ ｇｏｅｓ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｐｅｒｓｏｎ ｃｌｏｓｅｓ ｈｉｓ ｅｙｅｓ ａｎｄ ｐｒｅｔｅｎｄｓ ｔｈａｔ ｅｖｅｒｙｔｈｉｎｇ ａｂｏｕｔ ｔｈｅ ｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｓｈｉｐ ｉｓ ｏｋａｙ， ｉｇｎｏｒｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ． Ａｓ ｈｅ ｉｓ ｐｉｃｔｕｒｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ ＂ｈａｐｐｉｅｒ＂ ｍｏｍｅｎｔｓ， Ｉ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｍａｋｅ ｔｈａｔ ｐａｒｔ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｆｉｌｍ ｂｌｕｒｒｙ ｔｏ ｓｈｏｗ ｔｈａｔ ｌｙｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｙｏｕｒｓｅｌｆ ｉｓ ｄｉｓｔｏｒｔｉｎｇ ｙｏｕｒ ｖｉｓｉｏｎ． Ｆｕｒｔｈｅｒｍｏｒｅ， Ｉ ｐｕｔ ｉｎ ｑｕｉｃｋ ｆｌａｓｈｅｓ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ａｒｇｕｍｅｎｔｓ ｉｎ ｂｅｔｗｅｅｎ ｔｈｅ ｈａｐｐｙ ｍｏｍｅｎｔｓ ｔｏ ｓｈｏｗ ｔｈａｔ ｙｏｕ ｃａｎ＇ｔ ｒｅａｌｌｙ ｅｓｃａｐｅ ｆｒｏｍ ｔｈｅ ｔｒｕｔｈ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｉｓ ａｌｓｏ ｒｅｐｒｅｓｅｎｔａｔｉｖｅ ｏｆ Ａｕｄｒｅ Ｌｏｒｄｅ＇ｓ ｕｓａｇｅ ｏｆ ｂｒｏｋｅｎ ｓｙｎｔａｘ ａｎｄ ｌｉｎｅｓ． Ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｅｎｄ， Ｉ ｗａｎｔｅｄ ｔｏ ｓｉｇｎｉｆｙ ｔｈａｔ ｒｅａｌｉｚｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ ｔｒｕｔｈ ｉｓ ａ ｖｅｒｙ ｇｏｏｄ ｔｈｉｎｇ ｎｏ ｍａｔｔｅｒ ｈｏｗ ｐａｉｎｆｕｌ ｉｔ ｃａｎ ｂｅ ａｎｄ ｔｈａｔ＇ｓ ｗｈｙ ｉｔ ｅｎｄｓ ｗｉｔｈ ｔｈｅ ｐｅｒｓｏｎ ｓｅｅｉｎｇ ｔｈａｔ ｒａｙ ｏｆ ｌｉｇｈｔ ａｎｄ ｆｉｎａｌｌｙ ｂｅｉｎｇ ｆｒｅｅ．
Digital Essay
http://youtu.be/bCTX_X49LpM
For my digital essay, I decided to film the process of me trying to understand the poem I chose to write my final paper on. I shows my procrastination and frustation for the project because it felt too vague for me to write about. For the actual video itself, I couldn’t really show knowledge without having text but basically I went for a walk around my community and wondered, how could people find knowledge and implement it into the lives of people. There are many ways to learn and teach and implement but not many people implement what they learn in school. i.e. when on earth would I want to do calculus anytime in my life after being forced to learn it.
The title of my poem was Health by Rafael Campo.As a medical doctor and a poet, he believes in relieving his patients off his patients through the reading of poetry to them.His poems focus on his patients not making too much of their state of health but having a good mental attitude and going on with their life.The video below illustrates this piont.It represents people who despite many health obstacles, chill out and acheive their goals.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/V0ojNCilPRs" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Digital Essay
As you all know, I did my digital essay project on “The Electric Slide Boogie” by Audre Lorde. The theme is a basic precept
that states “when you fall, get back up, and keep moving forward.” I fleshed this theme out by creating a scenario where I’m seemingly at the end of my line, but then after doing some thinking about the situation, realize that once you hit rock bottom, the only way left to go is back up. I supplemented this realization with the various texts scattered throughout the video along with a transition from grey scale to color. Another transition which i have made here is a shift in music. My first song is entitled “Vocalise OP.34, No.14.” by Hakase Taro & Kadokura Satoshi, and is seemingly an embodiment for melancholy, regret and despair. The second song is “Overflowing Emotions, Reunion” by Motoi Sakuraba, Shinji Tamura, and Motoo Fujiwara, which goes from soft and slow in the beginning to grand yet mellow at the end. With regards to Windows Movie Maker, I feel that it has a very simple interface that makes issues such as timing a snap. Unfortunately however, I feel like because of it’s simplicity, doing anything complicated in WMM would be a nearly impossible task. But anyway, without further ado, here is my digital essay.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/lri5dFUWF6I" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Digital Essay, Whiskey in Heaven
This was a fun project to do and i enjoyed it. My poem is All the Whiskey in Heaven by Charles Bernstein, he likes to joke around a lot and he used this poem to make fun of other poets, i took advantage of all of his readings of this poem and i created a video based on that, i have pictures of stereotypical love poems and then him reading his own poem and him reading how he thinks a poem should be, together i think i created a very powerful video. The songs all seem to fit and i love listening to them. Overall it was very fun to do http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4E6iB7VHFw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4E6iB7VHFw&feature=player_embedded
