It seems like only yesterday that I stood in the Virginia Ball dining room staring awkwardly at the 16 other students that would soon become some of my best fellow workers and friends. At that time, I do not think any one of us could have imagined the roller coaster that was ahead. Four months and a documentary later, I realize how unique of a semester it has definitely been. I truly enjoyed the opportunity to take part in an immersive learning experience here at Ball State, especially one with this particular subject.
When I was in high school and even younger, sports were always a big part of my life. Even now, as my playing days have come to a close, I still find myself glued to the TV several nights a week watching the Colts, IU basketball, Lady Volunteer Basketball (OF COURSE!!!) and other sports which is why I thought this specific seminar was going to be such a perfect fit for me. I was not disappointed. I learned so much about sports in general, the female athlete, Title IX, and exemplary women's athletic programs, all while gaining a lot of real world skills that I will continue to take with me past this project.
"It's not exactly something they cover in history class…" said Mia Tabberson in our documentary; this is the perfect idea about Title IX. Title IX is certainly not something that you hear about often, even in history classes with women who would probably not be there without it. However, it is such a crucial part of everyday life for many women. I know I never thought about Title IX when I was involved with sports and several of the Burris Owls from this year had similar feelings. We, as a society, have gotten to the point where we do not have to think about Title IX much anymore, which is a great improvement. However, it is a never-ending process and a law that needs to continually be challenged and reflected on as years pass. I enjoyed the opportunity to truly reflect on the opportunities that are being given to women today with sports and also in academics, business, and all other areas in which women have made such great strides toward equality. I hope through our seminar, that not only our students had the chance to learn more about female athletics and Title IX, but that those who viewed our documentary also took the time to think more about the immense opportunities females are being granted today.
Continuing to reflect back on this semester, I have gained so much knowledge in other areas besides Title IX. I have learned how to work effectively and cooperatively in a group setting. I have learned skills that I never thought I would, such as operating a camera and setting up lights. I have collaborated with 16 other students and 2 wonderful teachers that have such different talents and personalities but also have such similar goals and work ethics. It has been a semester of ups and downs, but I am thankful to have had the opportunity to take part in immersive learning. Good luck to next semester's seminars!
Showing posts with label seminar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seminar. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2007
Coming to an End
It's Friday afternoon, and very shortly our Fall Seminar will be officially over. It's odd to think that I will have to get up extra early in order to find a parking space, I will have to walk on campus, or that I won't be receiving daily emails from Kecia.
Last Tuesday night we had our last screening of the film in the Letterman Building, and we had an amazing turnout! Shortly after 7:00 p.m. the room was packed and we had to bring in more chairs. The walls were lined with people, and there were even a few Burris players sitting on the ground in the front. This time we even had a few very insightful questions. After the screening I had a several of my friends come up to me and tell me how wonderful the film was, which is always great to hear.
Wednesday was our final day of class. We turned in our portfolios and watched the completely FINISHED Behind-the-Scenes! Well, there was one small clip we had to fix, but after that it was COMPLETELY finished. It was nice to hear our classmates compliment us on the work we had done. The music boys were really pleased that we used a lot of their songs. Now we are just waiting for our copies of the movie. I'm very excited to go back home and show my family the work that we have all done.
The ending of the seminar is rather bittersweet. It's nice to finally be done and not stress, but then it's sad because our class has such a close bond with one another. I would do the stress and long hours all over again, for an experience like this one.
Last Tuesday night we had our last screening of the film in the Letterman Building, and we had an amazing turnout! Shortly after 7:00 p.m. the room was packed and we had to bring in more chairs. The walls were lined with people, and there were even a few Burris players sitting on the ground in the front. This time we even had a few very insightful questions. After the screening I had a several of my friends come up to me and tell me how wonderful the film was, which is always great to hear.
Wednesday was our final day of class. We turned in our portfolios and watched the completely FINISHED Behind-the-Scenes! Well, there was one small clip we had to fix, but after that it was COMPLETELY finished. It was nice to hear our classmates compliment us on the work we had done. The music boys were really pleased that we used a lot of their songs. Now we are just waiting for our copies of the movie. I'm very excited to go back home and show my family the work that we have all done.
The ending of the seminar is rather bittersweet. It's nice to finally be done and not stress, but then it's sad because our class has such a close bond with one another. I would do the stress and long hours all over again, for an experience like this one.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
He built WHAT?
Some of us have been spending some pretty crazy hours at the mansion lately. Last night, I arrived around back in around 10:30 pm and headed upstairs to the East Parlor, where my office is located. As I approached, I heard power tools and smelled sawdust; for a couple of terrifying moments, I thought that one of my students had finally snapped, and s/he was taking out pent-up frustrations on the lovely hardwood floors or the VBC furniture. All I could think was, "Donna (our office manager) is going to kill me!"
Rounding the corner, I found that the ever-resourceful Blake was in the process of building a teleprompter. Yes, folks. Building. A teleprompter. A few days ago the TCOM kids worked up this incredibly brilliant scheme to make it look like folks were speaking directly into the camera while they read the text of Title IX; they inverted the text (backwards) on a laptop screen, which they then set up beneath the camera, and they used a mirror over the laptop (and under the camera) to reflect the words back to the subject being filmed. Apparently, that wasn't enough for Blake, who returned from Menards armed with enough materials to actually construct a base and frame to hold the laptop and the mirror.
Forty minutes later, Blake was calmly vacuuming up sawdust and the new apparatus was ready for shooting the next day. My point is simply this: that one of the best things about this semester for me is watching the students identify what they need, think through the problem, and then find ways to CREATE solutions. It's not unlike watching Dan and Adam match musical themes to bits of film, or watching the narrative team piece together a story out of a million jigsaw pieces of footage we have shot, or watching the students brainstorm ways to visualize an abstract concept that we want to convey in the film. I was just surprised that this time the problem-solving was so, well, tangible.
Given our struggles with finding an HD projector for the gala screening, I am half-convinced that I will come in tomorrow night and find Blake building one of those, too. . .
Rounding the corner, I found that the ever-resourceful Blake was in the process of building a teleprompter. Yes, folks. Building. A teleprompter. A few days ago the TCOM kids worked up this incredibly brilliant scheme to make it look like folks were speaking directly into the camera while they read the text of Title IX; they inverted the text (backwards) on a laptop screen, which they then set up beneath the camera, and they used a mirror over the laptop (and under the camera) to reflect the words back to the subject being filmed. Apparently, that wasn't enough for Blake, who returned from Menards armed with enough materials to actually construct a base and frame to hold the laptop and the mirror.
Forty minutes later, Blake was calmly vacuuming up sawdust and the new apparatus was ready for shooting the next day. My point is simply this: that one of the best things about this semester for me is watching the students identify what they need, think through the problem, and then find ways to CREATE solutions. It's not unlike watching Dan and Adam match musical themes to bits of film, or watching the narrative team piece together a story out of a million jigsaw pieces of footage we have shot, or watching the students brainstorm ways to visualize an abstract concept that we want to convey in the film. I was just surprised that this time the problem-solving was so, well, tangible.
Given our struggles with finding an HD projector for the gala screening, I am half-convinced that I will come in tomorrow night and find Blake building one of those, too. . .
Monday, November 26, 2007
Ups and Downs...and Ups again
As the semester comes closer to its end, I find myself looking back and evaluating my experience at the Virginia Ball Center. Coming into this semester, I was very excited to have an out-of-the-classroom learning experience. I was a bit nervous about the different type of workload...one semester-long project that cannot be finished by simply cramming at the library the last week of classes. I was also anticipating the diversity of the group of people I would be working with.
My parents kept telling me that this would be a very challenging experience, but completely worth the time and effort. I actually slightly disagreed with them because I knew we had at least 15 people in our group...how challenging could it be if all the work was split up between us!?
The semester started off as good as I could have imagined. Our group got along from the start and soon developed inside jokes and positive group dynamics. I thoroughly enjoyed our class discussions that usually involved gender issues, which is one of my all-time favorite topics. I would leave our daily meetings feeling intellectually fulfilled.
As our semester progressed and we broke off into committees, the stress level of the project increased. It became my number one priority to work with the narrative committee. Many days I found myself feeling completely bogged down and full of stress from trying to develop skills and creative ideas to help produce a narrative for the film. At times, I would feel as if we were making tremendous progress...only to run into another one of the various speed bumps along the journey. Discouraging...
Finally, Finally! A skeleton narrative was produced which was followed by a storyboard. At this point, I could feel our project starting to really come together...there was an end product in sight and we would successfully accomplish our goal.
We have had to place together interview clips/voiceover, visuals, and narration to fit into our storyboard. This required the time-consuming process of going through each and every reel of footage (85 discs to be exact) and recording timecodes for each clip. When I saw the rough cut of the documentary last week, I felt very proud of our work... and thankful that I had been motivated enough to sit at my computer for 13 hours straight the previous day/night in order to give the editors more clips.
I saw clips throughout the documentary that I had personally chosen and it made me feel great inside. It really showed me that all of our hard work throughout the semester has been worth it. If I felt that incredible sense of accomplishment from seeing the rough cut, I cannot wait to feel the sense of pride when we show our final product on Dec. 6!
To sum up this semester in one sentence...
This semester has been the most stressful and challenging educational experience of my life thus far, but the development of skills and sense of accomplishment have been completely worth the time and effort.
Looks like my parents were right...again!
My parents kept telling me that this would be a very challenging experience, but completely worth the time and effort. I actually slightly disagreed with them because I knew we had at least 15 people in our group...how challenging could it be if all the work was split up between us!?
The semester started off as good as I could have imagined. Our group got along from the start and soon developed inside jokes and positive group dynamics. I thoroughly enjoyed our class discussions that usually involved gender issues, which is one of my all-time favorite topics. I would leave our daily meetings feeling intellectually fulfilled.
As our semester progressed and we broke off into committees, the stress level of the project increased. It became my number one priority to work with the narrative committee. Many days I found myself feeling completely bogged down and full of stress from trying to develop skills and creative ideas to help produce a narrative for the film. At times, I would feel as if we were making tremendous progress...only to run into another one of the various speed bumps along the journey. Discouraging...
Finally, Finally! A skeleton narrative was produced which was followed by a storyboard. At this point, I could feel our project starting to really come together...there was an end product in sight and we would successfully accomplish our goal.
We have had to place together interview clips/voiceover, visuals, and narration to fit into our storyboard. This required the time-consuming process of going through each and every reel of footage (85 discs to be exact) and recording timecodes for each clip. When I saw the rough cut of the documentary last week, I felt very proud of our work... and thankful that I had been motivated enough to sit at my computer for 13 hours straight the previous day/night in order to give the editors more clips.
I saw clips throughout the documentary that I had personally chosen and it made me feel great inside. It really showed me that all of our hard work throughout the semester has been worth it. If I felt that incredible sense of accomplishment from seeing the rough cut, I cannot wait to feel the sense of pride when we show our final product on Dec. 6!
To sum up this semester in one sentence...
This semester has been the most stressful and challenging educational experience of my life thus far, but the development of skills and sense of accomplishment have been completely worth the time and effort.
Looks like my parents were right...again!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Sweet #11
Burris has done it again. Not that we weren’t expecting them to, it was just the icing on the cake. Two Saturdays ago, the Lady Owls won their 11th State Championship against Brownstown Central. For us, it was the classic ending that we had been anticipating from the beginning of the semester.
Way back in August, I was one that was hoping to be impartial the entire time we were filming. The game, the girls, the essence of what the school was and is – that was our subject. We, the Virginia Ball Center, were planning on doing a documentary from an indifferent stand point. No one was going to get “too involved.”
On November 2nd, I was the red-head with the “Owl Eyes” shirt on, screaming my head off (and loosing my voice a few times) because the refs didn’t know an “out” call from an “in” call.
As you can see my hope in the “stand by and watch” documentary was no more. I had become a fan, a fan of Burris volleyball. Not just the game, but the entire process of how it’s played the team members and coaches. I’d even gone so far as when someone would ask if Burris was going to win, I would say yes, and proceed to knock on wood.
The overall experience has made me realize that even when documentarians attempt to film their “subjects” from a bipartisan view point, it’s practically impossible. You have to completely take yourself out of the emotional aspects of everything that you film. Now we are in the process of putting the film together. Because it’s a “documentary” one would hope that we show a film that shows the straight facts, but I can say confidently, that the pride we have for Burris will shine throughout the film.
Way back in August, I was one that was hoping to be impartial the entire time we were filming. The game, the girls, the essence of what the school was and is – that was our subject. We, the Virginia Ball Center, were planning on doing a documentary from an indifferent stand point. No one was going to get “too involved.”
On November 2nd, I was the red-head with the “Owl Eyes” shirt on, screaming my head off (and loosing my voice a few times) because the refs didn’t know an “out” call from an “in” call.
As you can see my hope in the “stand by and watch” documentary was no more. I had become a fan, a fan of Burris volleyball. Not just the game, but the entire process of how it’s played the team members and coaches. I’d even gone so far as when someone would ask if Burris was going to win, I would say yes, and proceed to knock on wood.
The overall experience has made me realize that even when documentarians attempt to film their “subjects” from a bipartisan view point, it’s practically impossible. You have to completely take yourself out of the emotional aspects of everything that you film. Now we are in the process of putting the film together. Because it’s a “documentary” one would hope that we show a film that shows the straight facts, but I can say confidently, that the pride we have for Burris will shine throughout the film.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Immersive Learning = Unexplored Territory
Ball State makes all of its campus tour guides memorize the definition of immersive learning. How do I know this? Because I am a tour guide myself. Of course, being three months into a bona fide immersive learning experience, I felt no need to memorize the printed text. On tours I just talk about my experience. But I always think to myself, the other tour guides must be very befuddled when trying to elaborate.
I sometimes find it difficult to explain exactly what it is. Not the project, mind you. Give me two minutes and I'll explain our (broad) project goal. Give me three minutes and I'll read you Ball State's immersive learning definition. But ask me about the heart and effects of immersive learning and you'll be sitting a while. But don't worry! I'll just hit some high points here.
My parents never had to light a fire under me to get me to work. I get the feeling the other 16 group members (all of whom I met at the start of the term) would tell you the same thing. But immersive learning has brought me onto an entirely new and, thus far, unexplored level of motivation. There are no tests and very few mandatory class meeting times. Yet, I find myself waking up at 9 in the morning on days when nothing is on the schedule, working for hours on tasks I assigned myself. No one tells me to do probably about 90% of the work I do. I just do it. And I know I'm not the only one. There is something about an atmosphere where 17 talented and motivated people have been thrown together knowing that the university has invested money and so many other resources in our work. Everyone wants to create something extraordinary. Everyone wants to leave their mark. And everyone cares. That's my favorite part: everyone cares.
In summary, immersive learning is this: As we move along in the semester, the bar just keeps raising higher. And the coolest thing? No authority figure, no parent, no outsider is doing that. We the students are raising the bar ourselves.
I sometimes find it difficult to explain exactly what it is. Not the project, mind you. Give me two minutes and I'll explain our (broad) project goal. Give me three minutes and I'll read you Ball State's immersive learning definition. But ask me about the heart and effects of immersive learning and you'll be sitting a while. But don't worry! I'll just hit some high points here.
My parents never had to light a fire under me to get me to work. I get the feeling the other 16 group members (all of whom I met at the start of the term) would tell you the same thing. But immersive learning has brought me onto an entirely new and, thus far, unexplored level of motivation. There are no tests and very few mandatory class meeting times. Yet, I find myself waking up at 9 in the morning on days when nothing is on the schedule, working for hours on tasks I assigned myself. No one tells me to do probably about 90% of the work I do. I just do it. And I know I'm not the only one. There is something about an atmosphere where 17 talented and motivated people have been thrown together knowing that the university has invested money and so many other resources in our work. Everyone wants to create something extraordinary. Everyone wants to leave their mark. And everyone cares. That's my favorite part: everyone cares.
In summary, immersive learning is this: As we move along in the semester, the bar just keeps raising higher. And the coolest thing? No authority figure, no parent, no outsider is doing that. We the students are raising the bar ourselves.
Tracking the Trailer
I hope everyone who's following this blog has had time to check out the theatrical trailer that we recently edited together. You can see it here:
http://wbbrenneman.iweb.bsu.edu/VBC/trailer.html
The more I watch it, the more I really like it. Considering the amount of sleep lost to get it ready, I would really appreciate any feedback from our collective viewing audience. Be it good or bad, I would really like to know what you think.
Working on this was exhausting and exciting. Evan, Jon, Audrey, and Blake put in a lot of time and thought towards the storyboarding and editing.
I worked primarily on editing the music to fit the trailer. The music was a nearly complete idea that me and my esteemed colleague, Adam (the Wilsonian Man), had been working on for a couple of weeks. As I was frantically trying to decide how to score the trailer, I grabbed this musical idea and threw it onto the first thirty seconds of the movie. It didn't fit perfectly, but it was pretty close. Most importantly, it had the right feel. So I consulted with Blake, and we agreed that this was the music for the trailer. We then hashed out specific edit points where the music had to line up with the video, and decided to meet each other half way. I began to cut up and re-orchestrating the music to accommodate the different scenes while Blake finished editing the video using the rough cut of the music as a template. Once we were happy with our work, we combined it and did some final edits to nudge things into perfect sync. Then I did a mix down of the music and we adjusted the dialog to sit on top of that, and presto chango, it was 4 in the morning and it was done. It was pretty fun. Once we got really rolling, we didn't want to stop until it was totally finished. I'm really excited about the final editing of the whole film. Seeing all the pieces of the puzzle lock together is going to be extremely satisfying. And it'll be intense!
http://wbbrenneman.iweb.bsu.edu/VBC/trailer.html
The more I watch it, the more I really like it. Considering the amount of sleep lost to get it ready, I would really appreciate any feedback from our collective viewing audience. Be it good or bad, I would really like to know what you think.
Working on this was exhausting and exciting. Evan, Jon, Audrey, and Blake put in a lot of time and thought towards the storyboarding and editing.
I worked primarily on editing the music to fit the trailer. The music was a nearly complete idea that me and my esteemed colleague, Adam (the Wilsonian Man), had been working on for a couple of weeks. As I was frantically trying to decide how to score the trailer, I grabbed this musical idea and threw it onto the first thirty seconds of the movie. It didn't fit perfectly, but it was pretty close. Most importantly, it had the right feel. So I consulted with Blake, and we agreed that this was the music for the trailer. We then hashed out specific edit points where the music had to line up with the video, and decided to meet each other half way. I began to cut up and re-orchestrating the music to accommodate the different scenes while Blake finished editing the video using the rough cut of the music as a template. Once we were happy with our work, we combined it and did some final edits to nudge things into perfect sync. Then I did a mix down of the music and we adjusted the dialog to sit on top of that, and presto chango, it was 4 in the morning and it was done. It was pretty fun. Once we got really rolling, we didn't want to stop until it was totally finished. I'm really excited about the final editing of the whole film. Seeing all the pieces of the puzzle lock together is going to be extremely satisfying. And it'll be intense!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
I totally dominated Final Cut Pro!
Yep, you read right. The philosophy/psychology major has mastered professional editing software. Well, maybe I didn't master it, but it feels like I did! This past week I spent most of my time working with Teri and Samantha D on the behind-the-scenes documentary. During the all-nighter we started to pull together all of the footage of the class that has been taken thus far. We soon realized that while we had lots of footage of classmates doing things, we didn't have anyone talking about our project. We decided at that point to do a couple interviews with Aaron L. and Rachel. We also created a list of all the subjects that we needed people to speak on so that we can 1) use the footage we already have and 2) create a documentary that is representative of our creative process. At this point we want to interview our classmates on the subjects of interviewing, the reunion, the Tennessee trip, frustrations with the project, learning new skills, our own attempts at playing volleyball, and our enhanced appreciation and excitement for Burris volleyball. I'm sure we will add more subjects as the semester progresses.
On Wednesday, Samantha D. and I discovered that Kecia expected a clip of the behind-the-scenes documentary by next Tuesday. We looked at the mess before us and decided there was no way to we could create a trailer that hit on all the subjects that we wanted to cover. We had been working intensely on a small section devoted to the all-nighter narrative meeting and came up with the idea to just focus on that section for the Tuesday screening. It was very important to us to create a trailer with structure as we need to get used to envisioning the project, itself, as a story. We added an introduction and a nice wrap up, as well as a few surprises of which I am quite proud. By the time we were finished we had created a trailer with a little story line and even some music.
The completion of a 3 minute and 42 second trailer might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but for me it was. I had spent most of the semester completely avoiding anything associated with technology. I was convinced that I would break or mess up any of the great work that was being done by my more technologically savvy classmates. Tackling this fear was a huge achievement for me. I also experienced the reward that comes from creating something tangible. Most of my college experience has been spent reading and writing papers. A whole semester may result in one paper that I actually like, but this was totally different. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but I finally felt like I had something to show for all of the work I (and the others) had done. It is simply different from turning in a paper at the end of the year, or giving a presentation. I was so excited about what I had completed that I told everyone I saw and even called my mom. That's something I have never experienced with a good paper and it's awesome. I can't wait to continue working on this part of the project!
**And thanks to everyone who popped in and imparted some of their wisdom on us: Adam, Dan, Aaron L., Blake, Laura Huffman, and anyone else I have forgotten**
On Wednesday, Samantha D. and I discovered that Kecia expected a clip of the behind-the-scenes documentary by next Tuesday. We looked at the mess before us and decided there was no way to we could create a trailer that hit on all the subjects that we wanted to cover. We had been working intensely on a small section devoted to the all-nighter narrative meeting and came up with the idea to just focus on that section for the Tuesday screening. It was very important to us to create a trailer with structure as we need to get used to envisioning the project, itself, as a story. We added an introduction and a nice wrap up, as well as a few surprises of which I am quite proud. By the time we were finished we had created a trailer with a little story line and even some music.
The completion of a 3 minute and 42 second trailer might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but for me it was. I had spent most of the semester completely avoiding anything associated with technology. I was convinced that I would break or mess up any of the great work that was being done by my more technologically savvy classmates. Tackling this fear was a huge achievement for me. I also experienced the reward that comes from creating something tangible. Most of my college experience has been spent reading and writing papers. A whole semester may result in one paper that I actually like, but this was totally different. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but I finally felt like I had something to show for all of the work I (and the others) had done. It is simply different from turning in a paper at the end of the year, or giving a presentation. I was so excited about what I had completed that I told everyone I saw and even called my mom. That's something I have never experienced with a good paper and it's awesome. I can't wait to continue working on this part of the project!
**And thanks to everyone who popped in and imparted some of their wisdom on us: Adam, Dan, Aaron L., Blake, Laura Huffman, and anyone else I have forgotten**
Friday, October 19, 2007
All-Nighters and Boxed Webs
This week the group and I decided that we needed to sit down and hammer out more of a narrative for the film. Since we are college kids, we decided to do this in the form of an all- nighter at the mansion. (Because really, who wouldn't want to sleep at the mansion??) Most of us congregated between 7 and 8 with food, and started talking about the plan for the rest of the evening.
Once we had more of an organized game plan, we watched a couple of the interviews together while we finished our late dinners, then began coming up with sub-groups and categories. These were branches of our big themes such as gender, community, and sports. We all decided we needed to be more specific and came up with many sub-topics to focus on. After this we ventured up into the creepy 3rd floor and started designing our "box web". We started with Burris history and branched off from there. We also made lists of follow up interviews we want, interviews we have yet to get, and other footage we need to make a good movie.
While some of the narrative team was in the attic, other members of the group were working on the behind-the-scenes documentary while our musicians were composing a song for the film. Both made very good progress. Kristen, Teri and Samantha had clips to show us throughout the night, and interviewed Aaron L. and myself so they could incorporate sound bytes into their film. I have yet to force myself to work on editing with the Final Cut Pro, so I have a lot of respect for those that have sat down and learned it. And as for the musicians, we could hear the drumming all the way in the attic. It amazes me how they can complete a song in one night.
After descending from the attic, the Aarons went on a pizza run to keep the rest of us fed and motivated. The narrative team watched and read through interviews, finding the parts that we found insightful as well as fitting into the narrative topics we had just layed out. This was more difficult then I thought it would be. Nearly every interview has so many good sound bytes within it. This makes it difficult to choose just a few from each person.Around midnight some people started trickling out because of work or meetings in the morning. Others stayed and kept working until about 2 a.m.
After that our productivity went a little down, but those of us that were left listened to Adam and Dan's newest song. Then we had a little drum circle/jam session which helped keep up our spirits. We slept (ghost free) for about four hours, claiming both couches and floor space.
The first of what I can only imagine will be many all-nighters was incredibly successful. We showed Kecia our web the next morning, and she seemed pleased with our work. She also listened to the new song which she enjoyed. I learned that many of us work a lot better at night and it's when many of us are free since our jobs fill our daytime hours. The narrative keeps coming further and further and I can't wait to see the final product.
Rachel
Once we had more of an organized game plan, we watched a couple of the interviews together while we finished our late dinners, then began coming up with sub-groups and categories. These were branches of our big themes such as gender, community, and sports. We all decided we needed to be more specific and came up with many sub-topics to focus on. After this we ventured up into the creepy 3rd floor and started designing our "box web". We started with Burris history and branched off from there. We also made lists of follow up interviews we want, interviews we have yet to get, and other footage we need to make a good movie.
While some of the narrative team was in the attic, other members of the group were working on the behind-the-scenes documentary while our musicians were composing a song for the film. Both made very good progress. Kristen, Teri and Samantha had clips to show us throughout the night, and interviewed Aaron L. and myself so they could incorporate sound bytes into their film. I have yet to force myself to work on editing with the Final Cut Pro, so I have a lot of respect for those that have sat down and learned it. And as for the musicians, we could hear the drumming all the way in the attic. It amazes me how they can complete a song in one night.
After descending from the attic, the Aarons went on a pizza run to keep the rest of us fed and motivated. The narrative team watched and read through interviews, finding the parts that we found insightful as well as fitting into the narrative topics we had just layed out. This was more difficult then I thought it would be. Nearly every interview has so many good sound bytes within it. This makes it difficult to choose just a few from each person.Around midnight some people started trickling out because of work or meetings in the morning. Others stayed and kept working until about 2 a.m.
After that our productivity went a little down, but those of us that were left listened to Adam and Dan's newest song. Then we had a little drum circle/jam session which helped keep up our spirits. We slept (ghost free) for about four hours, claiming both couches and floor space.
The first of what I can only imagine will be many all-nighters was incredibly successful. We showed Kecia our web the next morning, and she seemed pleased with our work. She also listened to the new song which she enjoyed. I learned that many of us work a lot better at night and it's when many of us are free since our jobs fill our daytime hours. The narrative keeps coming further and further and I can't wait to see the final product.
Rachel
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
My New View of Volleyball
If you had asked me what I thought I would gain from this project, I would not have said an interest for volleyball. I’m not much of a sporty person, at least that’s the evidence of my past, but I have fallen into the net so to speak.
Many interviews I’ve seen and read, whether from teachers at Burris or parents of players, seemed to express the same surprising change. Volleyball wasn’t on their radar until they saw the Burris women play. Perhaps any sport, if it has the skill and drive set into its foundation, will gather a community around it. Or is it a supportive connected community that fosters a successful sport?
Either way, watching Burris volleyball was an experience I was not expecting. In particular I am thinking of the Central versus Burris game. Wowee. Instead of yawning like I did at high school football games, I was anxiously wringing my hands.
It was really interesting to see a contrast from the intensity of the biggest game of the season to seeing Steve’s 5th grade gym practice. He worked on the basics with the kids. These kids were so organized and attentive, it seemed as though Steve’s focus infected everyone in the room. My gym classes were rather scattered and not very productive. I never learned a drill or skill, just that I couldn’t do a chin up.
Although being a spectator is a blast, I am very glad that everyone is doing such a good job of logging all our footage because stopping play by play to type what happened can be taxing. But transcribing and reading all our hours of footage so far is like the practice for our documentary. If we keep the focus and dedication during these “drills,” our biggest event will be a wonder to watch.
Many interviews I’ve seen and read, whether from teachers at Burris or parents of players, seemed to express the same surprising change. Volleyball wasn’t on their radar until they saw the Burris women play. Perhaps any sport, if it has the skill and drive set into its foundation, will gather a community around it. Or is it a supportive connected community that fosters a successful sport?
Either way, watching Burris volleyball was an experience I was not expecting. In particular I am thinking of the Central versus Burris game. Wowee. Instead of yawning like I did at high school football games, I was anxiously wringing my hands.
It was really interesting to see a contrast from the intensity of the biggest game of the season to seeing Steve’s 5th grade gym practice. He worked on the basics with the kids. These kids were so organized and attentive, it seemed as though Steve’s focus infected everyone in the room. My gym classes were rather scattered and not very productive. I never learned a drill or skill, just that I couldn’t do a chin up.
Although being a spectator is a blast, I am very glad that everyone is doing such a good job of logging all our footage because stopping play by play to type what happened can be taxing. But transcribing and reading all our hours of footage so far is like the practice for our documentary. If we keep the focus and dedication during these “drills,” our biggest event will be a wonder to watch.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
PTSO Presentation
The Oct. 9th PTSO meeting was the first chance the Virgina Ball Center has had to represent ourselves as students and really talk about our side of the project. Four of the seminar's members, including myself, gave a four minute presentation. Each of us talked about an area that we were passionate about, and were able to accurately represent what we are hoping to accomplish both for the Burris community and for ourselves through this immersive learning experience.
Honestly, I don't think I could tell you what I said in front of that crowd. I'm always shocked by how nervous I am presenting to my classmates, and how my mind just switches over to business mode when I'm in front of a foreign crowd. I fell right into my groove and felt really comfortable.
The audience - small, but mighty in their question asking - was interested in what we were doing for their community, but also very interested in each of us as students. We talked our majors and how each of us chose to be a part of this seminar because we believe that it truly will change us as people.
The teaser shown at the end of our presentation definitely perked their interest. I was excited to see Dr. McGee's clip at the end, with him sitting in the front row at the meeting (he was my first interview for the project).
I'm incredibly proud of my co-presenters and hope to have more opportunities to share our excitement about our project.
Honestly, I don't think I could tell you what I said in front of that crowd. I'm always shocked by how nervous I am presenting to my classmates, and how my mind just switches over to business mode when I'm in front of a foreign crowd. I fell right into my groove and felt really comfortable.
The audience - small, but mighty in their question asking - was interested in what we were doing for their community, but also very interested in each of us as students. We talked our majors and how each of us chose to be a part of this seminar because we believe that it truly will change us as people.
The teaser shown at the end of our presentation definitely perked their interest. I was excited to see Dr. McGee's clip at the end, with him sitting in the front row at the meeting (he was my first interview for the project).
I'm incredibly proud of my co-presenters and hope to have more opportunities to share our excitement about our project.
Friday, October 5, 2007
With a purpose...
I recently went to
More about the honorees and the gala can be found here: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/news/topstories.html#gala092707
Being among so many people who are so passionate about their work and commitment to social justice was quite inspiring. One of the speakers commented about the reputation lawyers sometimes are faced with as soulless and untrustworthy, remarking that, for these people, that portrayal couldn’t be further from the truth. The work being done and issues being tackled by them are nothing but admirable, and they deserve to be proud of themselves.
I really do admire these people and aspire to work among them. I want to have a positive impact on important issues—mostly education. This seminar provides the opportunity for our team to address Title IX and the issues of community, sports, and growing student-athletes. It is very empowering to be able to work so closely with such talented peers on such a big topic. We’ve fully invested ourselves into the seminar, and I can’t wait to see all that we accomplish.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Victory!
Burris Dominated...
From Prepvolleyball.com:
Class 2A top-ranked Burris won all four matches to win the Ben Davis Invitational. The Owls defeated Zionsville 25-10, 25-14, McCutcheon 25-18, 25-13, Jennings County 25-17, 25-13, and Martinsville 18-25, 25-17, 15-12. Taylor Unroe topped Burris with 38 kills and 26 digs.
For me, these scores show that Burris is in control of the court. They play at a highly competitive level throughout nearly entire tournament and dominate other teams. The determination to win and play at such a high level of intensity is a major reason as to why Burris wins state championships.
The fact that I get to follow such a competitive and accomplished team is very rewarding because my high school volleyball played the same way. There are not many opportunities to see high school girls working so incredibly hard and putting forth so much effort. Volleyball is definitely a sport where you can see true dedication and intensity.
These girls have pressures in all areas of life (school, what to do after high school, parents, friends, social pressures, appearance, etc...). On top of everything that goes along with being a high school female, this group of girls dedicate hours upon hours to practicing and playing volleyball.
In my opinion and from my own experiences, it takes a huge amount of dedication and determination to stick with this sport at such a competitive level. If you are not playing to achieve high goals then you should probably get out. I cannot compliment the Burris girls and others teams enough for pushing themselves to the limit in volleyball.
From Prepvolleyball.com:
Class 2A top-ranked Burris won all four matches to win the Ben Davis Invitational. The Owls defeated Zionsville 25-10, 25-14, McCutcheon 25-18, 25-13, Jennings County 25-17, 25-13, and Martinsville 18-25, 25-17, 15-12. Taylor Unroe topped Burris with 38 kills and 26 digs.
For me, these scores show that Burris is in control of the court. They play at a highly competitive level throughout nearly entire tournament and dominate other teams. The determination to win and play at such a high level of intensity is a major reason as to why Burris wins state championships.
The fact that I get to follow such a competitive and accomplished team is very rewarding because my high school volleyball played the same way. There are not many opportunities to see high school girls working so incredibly hard and putting forth so much effort. Volleyball is definitely a sport where you can see true dedication and intensity.
These girls have pressures in all areas of life (school, what to do after high school, parents, friends, social pressures, appearance, etc...). On top of everything that goes along with being a high school female, this group of girls dedicate hours upon hours to practicing and playing volleyball.
In my opinion and from my own experiences, it takes a huge amount of dedication and determination to stick with this sport at such a competitive level. If you are not playing to achieve high goals then you should probably get out. I cannot compliment the Burris girls and others teams enough for pushing themselves to the limit in volleyball.
Growing Pains
Today we begin Week Five of the seminar. For the past month the students have been sharpening their skills and gathering up tools, and now it's time for me to get out of the way while they get to work. We have studied film theory, watched a slew of documentaries together (and debated their relative merits), read widely in issues of gender, explored the basic principles of ethnographic research, and discussed how narrative is crafted. The students have participated in workshops on shooting and editing, conducting interviews, and gathering research. By the beginning of last week, it was clear to all of us that the foundation for our project was firmly in place and it was time to start building.
This seminar is both the most exciting and the most terrifying experience I have had as a teacher. Getting seventeen high-achieving, incredibly motivated young people in one place and trying to harness all that energy into a cohesive project. . . well, let's just say that there are days when I can feel the sparks exploding around us. Few of us are trained to work collaboratively, and many of us in the room (myself included) have learned to enjoy the feeling of individual achievement, not to mention the security (or is it an illusion?) of control. There are moments when what I am asking them to do seems impossible. But there are other moments when I catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of what we might be able to achieve, or when I realize that they are already pushing each other to stretch and grow.
I am learning about myself, as a teacher and as a person, because the intimacy and intensity of this experiences demands it. I already knew that I am a control freak, and yet it has surprised me how difficult it is for me to step back, let go of some of the control, bite my tongue when a conflict arises, settle in and be still and trust them to do what I know they can do. I already knew that I work best when I am deeply focused, and yet I am astonished at how obsessed I am with this project; I wake up in the middle of the night with ideas and plans and worries, and I think about it every waking moment. It's exhausting, and humbling, and invigorating.
Today, looking out the window at the impossibly gorgeous September morning, I can't quite believe that I get to come to work and do this.
I am going to try to hang onto the peace of this moment, because I have a feeling I will need it as we start picking up speed towards our goals.
This seminar is both the most exciting and the most terrifying experience I have had as a teacher. Getting seventeen high-achieving, incredibly motivated young people in one place and trying to harness all that energy into a cohesive project. . . well, let's just say that there are days when I can feel the sparks exploding around us. Few of us are trained to work collaboratively, and many of us in the room (myself included) have learned to enjoy the feeling of individual achievement, not to mention the security (or is it an illusion?) of control. There are moments when what I am asking them to do seems impossible. But there are other moments when I catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of what we might be able to achieve, or when I realize that they are already pushing each other to stretch and grow.
I am learning about myself, as a teacher and as a person, because the intimacy and intensity of this experiences demands it. I already knew that I am a control freak, and yet it has surprised me how difficult it is for me to step back, let go of some of the control, bite my tongue when a conflict arises, settle in and be still and trust them to do what I know they can do. I already knew that I work best when I am deeply focused, and yet I am astonished at how obsessed I am with this project; I wake up in the middle of the night with ideas and plans and worries, and I think about it every waking moment. It's exhausting, and humbling, and invigorating.
Today, looking out the window at the impossibly gorgeous September morning, I can't quite believe that I get to come to work and do this.
I am going to try to hang onto the peace of this moment, because I have a feeling I will need it as we start picking up speed towards our goals.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
I'm so glad I don't have to do interviewing.
Thank god there are more jobs to be done than interviewing. It is simply not my thing. I found the exercise to be enlightening, for sure, but I wouldn't want to do it again. It was difficult and uncomfortable from the very beginning.
First, we were assigned to write a list of events that we perceived as being pivotal in our lives and to give this list to the person assigned to conduct our interview. I found this hard because I don't consider many events in my life to be very interesting. Also, it is hard to really open up for an assignment. I would be putting myself out there. I surprised myself by actually disclosing quite a bit of personal information during the interview. It was not the easiest topic, but I did it with a smile and a laugh (gotta love defense mechanisms). I suppose that speaks to Megan's skill as an interviewer. She certainly made me feel comfortable enough to share the information. I guess I didn't realize exactly what I said or how it came off until we watched the interviews in class. It sort of hit me hard when I realized that now everyone in class knew that personal information. Of course, it was my choice to say what I did, but I guess I didn't really think through everything.
I also found being on the other side of the camera difficult. I'm not the best person at coming up with and asking questions. I felt like I should have been "probing" deeper into some topics, but I just couldn't think of the right questions to get there.
All in all, I think the experience was a positive one, even if it made me uncomfortable. I have so much respect for those who can conduct great interviews. It is definitely a gift to be able to make people comfortable enough to disclose personal information for something public like a documentary, and also to know the right questions to ask.
I also have gained empathy for our interviewees. The interviews may not be that difficult for them, but to sit through a screening with people from their community while they watch themselves speak about personal and possibly difficult situations will be trying. I think it is very important that we remember that and show our subjects respect. I have no doubt that we will show them anything but the utmost respect, but it is certainly something to keep in mind.
First, we were assigned to write a list of events that we perceived as being pivotal in our lives and to give this list to the person assigned to conduct our interview. I found this hard because I don't consider many events in my life to be very interesting. Also, it is hard to really open up for an assignment. I would be putting myself out there. I surprised myself by actually disclosing quite a bit of personal information during the interview. It was not the easiest topic, but I did it with a smile and a laugh (gotta love defense mechanisms). I suppose that speaks to Megan's skill as an interviewer. She certainly made me feel comfortable enough to share the information. I guess I didn't realize exactly what I said or how it came off until we watched the interviews in class. It sort of hit me hard when I realized that now everyone in class knew that personal information. Of course, it was my choice to say what I did, but I guess I didn't really think through everything.
I also found being on the other side of the camera difficult. I'm not the best person at coming up with and asking questions. I felt like I should have been "probing" deeper into some topics, but I just couldn't think of the right questions to get there.
All in all, I think the experience was a positive one, even if it made me uncomfortable. I have so much respect for those who can conduct great interviews. It is definitely a gift to be able to make people comfortable enough to disclose personal information for something public like a documentary, and also to know the right questions to ask.
I also have gained empathy for our interviewees. The interviews may not be that difficult for them, but to sit through a screening with people from their community while they watch themselves speak about personal and possibly difficult situations will be trying. I think it is very important that we remember that and show our subjects respect. I have no doubt that we will show them anything but the utmost respect, but it is certainly something to keep in mind.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Reeling to Go
Hello all,
First off, I just want to second everything Aaron had to say about Title IX and such. I'd also like to say that I, too, am extremely pumped about working on this documentary. With the group of people we have, I think we're going to turn out a really good film. What I gathered from meeting you all this week is that we all were expecting to produce a film that is on par with professional studio work, and I think that is awesome.
I am also enjoying analyzing other films. I think it is crucial to determine what angle we want to produce ours from. I've found myself watching TV different lately. I am constantly listening to the audio for gliches, which I kind of did already, but now I am really paying attention to style and production quality for different interviews/talkshows. It's interesting to see how different stations and shows do things a little differently.
That said, I'm also getting really anxious to start some big time work on this project and see how the season and characters shape the narrative we present. And that work is definitely getting ready to show itself.
Dan
First off, I just want to second everything Aaron had to say about Title IX and such. I'd also like to say that I, too, am extremely pumped about working on this documentary. With the group of people we have, I think we're going to turn out a really good film. What I gathered from meeting you all this week is that we all were expecting to produce a film that is on par with professional studio work, and I think that is awesome.
I am also enjoying analyzing other films. I think it is crucial to determine what angle we want to produce ours from. I've found myself watching TV different lately. I am constantly listening to the audio for gliches, which I kind of did already, but now I am really paying attention to style and production quality for different interviews/talkshows. It's interesting to see how different stations and shows do things a little differently.
That said, I'm also getting really anxious to start some big time work on this project and see how the season and characters shape the narrative we present. And that work is definitely getting ready to show itself.
Dan
Thursday, August 23, 2007
I'm pumped!
I just wanted to start this off by saying how excited I am to be working on this project. This has been an awesome week meeting and getting to know everyone. I have to say my biggest surprise was actually going to the game on Tuesday and watching the girls play. They really blew me away with how good and talented they are. I have always been a proponent of girls being able to have the same opportunities in sports as guys, but I think I fell into the trap of thinking that and never acting on it. I never really took the time to watch a lot of women's sports and appreciate the hard work and talent the athletes have. Already this project has changed the perspective I have on "title IX" and the way I view women's sports.
I had a great time on Tuesday shooting with Blake, (even though I only shot about 10 seconds). It was a lot of fun learning how to use the camera and practicing following the ball and the players. I have absolutely no experience with filming and using cameras so it was a new experience for me. I'm really excited to learn more new things this semester, including getting to know the whole project team better.
As an anthropology major, it is rare to be able to work on something like this. Anthropology is a very traditional discipline that doesn't stray far from the classroom, except for archaeology. However, anthropological documentaries are an emerging subfield that is growing in popularity. So, I"m really anxious to see what this project is going to add to my perception of my major as a whole.
Well I'll stop rambling now but I just want to say that I hope that everyone is as excited as I am about being a part of this. I'll see you all shortly.
Go Owls!
-Aaron L.
I had a great time on Tuesday shooting with Blake, (even though I only shot about 10 seconds). It was a lot of fun learning how to use the camera and practicing following the ball and the players. I have absolutely no experience with filming and using cameras so it was a new experience for me. I'm really excited to learn more new things this semester, including getting to know the whole project team better.
As an anthropology major, it is rare to be able to work on something like this. Anthropology is a very traditional discipline that doesn't stray far from the classroom, except for archaeology. However, anthropological documentaries are an emerging subfield that is growing in popularity. So, I"m really anxious to see what this project is going to add to my perception of my major as a whole.
Well I'll stop rambling now but I just want to say that I hope that everyone is as excited as I am about being a part of this. I'll see you all shortly.
Go Owls!
-Aaron L.
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