Yesterday in class we got into large groups to discuss our projects, and I think that this was very valuable. I loved hearing about the ideas that others had- they were all really great- and I think that our group worked really well together and was able to help everyone enhance their current idea even more.
Personally, I think the group discussion gave me more ideas for how I actually want this video to come out. My current project idea was inspired by the story I wrote for the paper and that my group did our Soundslides project on about the marijuana protestors in Manchester. This was honestly the most fun I've had reporting yet. I am not really sure why, but I really enjoyed working on such a complex and controversial issue that has so many sides to it, from the people who want total legalization, to those who are simply in favor of medical marijuana, to those who don't want any level of marijuana usage allowed. However, it was in talking with Matt Simon, the director of NH Compassion, a group that is working in favor of the medical marijuana bill, that I became really interested in learning more about medical marijuana.
I know I want to focus on a patient, Clayton Holton, who is 23 and has a rare form of muscular dystrophy. He weighs only 90 pounds and only weighs this much because he has been smoking marijuana to increase his appetite. I have already talked with him some, and plan on meeting with him probably next weekend for a preliminary meeting and interview. The group liked my idea and was able to give me some great ideas for actual shots and things to include in the story, which was very, very helpful, as this was something I was still unsure of.
I am definitely excited about this project, but also nervous. I still am not sure how confident I am in my abilities, especially when it comes to video. I will definitely have to work on planning this whole thing out a lot better than I planned out my last video. Last video I didn't plan very much, mainly because I didn't realize how much I should have planned, and then was kind of lost when it came to actually videoing and filming sequences. The only other thing that will affect my project is the outcome of the NH state legislature vote next Wednesday. I feel like the tone of my story, I guess, kind of depends on the outcome of this vote. If the veto on the medical marijuana bill is overridden, then my story could be a happy, vitorius one- Clayton has been an outspoken supporter of the legalization of medical marijuana in addition to a medical user of the drug. If the bill is not passed, the story would most likely have a sadder tone, showing how he has to break the law to have a higher quality of life, etc. This is the main thing that I am unsure about, and will have to see what happens on Wednesday.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
An Experiment in Video
This week, our assignment was to tell a story through video. I went to the Smith Hall Peace Gallery and found it very difficult. There was not much action, so it was very hard for me to find sequences to film. I filmed a sequence beginning outside the building and moving into the actual gallery.
However, the hardest part was actually uploading the videos- I had so much trouble and in the end could not even get all of my clips into Windows Movie Maker. This week was very hard, and since I am a big perfectionist, I am not at all happy with my work this week. I am hoping that with guest speakers this week and next week I can improve my video work as quickly as possible.
However, the hardest part was actually uploading the videos- I had so much trouble and in the end could not even get all of my clips into Windows Movie Maker. This week was very hard, and since I am a big perfectionist, I am not at all happy with my work this week. I am hoping that with guest speakers this week and next week I can improve my video work as quickly as possible.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Analysis of Photography
One of the stories that is part of the New York Times series One in 8 Million, stories about everyday people who live and work in New York City, really struck me as a particularly moving story that used photographs to convey emotion. This story was the one about Freda Degannes, a woman originally from Barbados who survived a very difficult surgery and who doctors now call a walking miracle.
This story certainly contains the elements of a good story- it has a beginning, in which Freda explains her first symptoms and her trip to the doctor when she found out that her stomach was full of blood clots. It has a middle, in which Freda tells of her decision to go through with the risky procedure in an attempt to save her life, and an end, in which Freda describes the ways in which her life has changed since having this procedure. The story, in describing (and showing through photography) her changes both in behavior and also in attitude, shows clear character development- the audience is able to both hear and also see the ways in which Freda has changed.
This change, or character development, begins with the photograph of her severely scarred stomach. Although the audience cannot see her face, this photograph conveys so much emotion and pain and truly shows the power of still photography. In the last picture, which depicts Freda lounging beside an open window, with the sun streaming through, and a smile on her face, the audience is able to better understand her change of attitude since her surgery. While this picture is being shown, Freda is describing how she sees the world as a more beautiful place, and realizes the things she used to take for granted. These words are really echoed in this photograph, in which Freda looks truly happy for the first time in the series of pictures. It shows that even after all this pain and suffering Freda went through, she came out of it happier than she went in.
This story and its photographs also demonstrate very important characteristics of journalism, such as relevancy and conflict or emotion. This story is relevant to anyone living in New York, as Freda is one of their neighbors, but it is also relevant to anyone who has ever had a struggle in their lives or experienced any sort of pain or suffering- it is one of those universal stories almost anyone can relate to and would find interesting. There is so much conflict and emotion in this story- conflict is found in her decision to go through with a potentially life-saving, but potentially deadly surgery and emotion is found in the success of this surgery and the words of both Freda and her doctor, who said that Freda helped him to believe that God is really out there.
However, emotion is also found in the photographs of this story. Not only in the expressions on Freda’s face throughout the pictures, but also through the composition and presentation of the photographs. Since the photographer was shooting in black and white, there was a lot of contrast in these photographs that really helped to increase the drama and emotion portrayed in the pictures. There was one photograph in particular that seemed to really use contrast between the colors black and white to convey emotion. This picture is the one in which Freda is sitting, dressed in all black, sitting in front of a sunlit window, against a white wall, with a vase of white flowers next to her. Since Freda herself has dark skin and dark hair, and is wearing dark clothes, the viewer’s eye is automatically drawn to her and her face, which helps to focus in on the emotion she is expressing- helplessness. In this way, the photographer really uses the black and white composition of the photographs to portray even more emotion than if the photographs were in color.
To me, it was this power and this emotion that these photographs were able to convey that lead me to choose this story to write about. While I looked at several other stories, including others in this black and white series, this story in particular was able to make me feel what its subject felt. It conveyed to me the truth of this woman’s life- the pain she went through, and also her strength. This strength was conveyed through her words, but also, to me, through the use of black and white photography and the contrast between the two colors. To me, the stark contrast between the black and white kind of represented the contrast between her life before the surgery and her life after the surgery. I also really liked it because it seemed to me this contrast was part of the photographer’s style. While there is naturally contrast when using black and white photography, it seemed to me that the photographer tried to increase this natural contrast, such as in the photograph I described earlier in which Freda is dressed in dark clothing and sitting in front of an all-white wall and window. This seemed to be a common factor among the other pictures in this story, and was the major reason I chose to analyze this piece.
This story certainly contains the elements of a good story- it has a beginning, in which Freda explains her first symptoms and her trip to the doctor when she found out that her stomach was full of blood clots. It has a middle, in which Freda tells of her decision to go through with the risky procedure in an attempt to save her life, and an end, in which Freda describes the ways in which her life has changed since having this procedure. The story, in describing (and showing through photography) her changes both in behavior and also in attitude, shows clear character development- the audience is able to both hear and also see the ways in which Freda has changed.
This change, or character development, begins with the photograph of her severely scarred stomach. Although the audience cannot see her face, this photograph conveys so much emotion and pain and truly shows the power of still photography. In the last picture, which depicts Freda lounging beside an open window, with the sun streaming through, and a smile on her face, the audience is able to better understand her change of attitude since her surgery. While this picture is being shown, Freda is describing how she sees the world as a more beautiful place, and realizes the things she used to take for granted. These words are really echoed in this photograph, in which Freda looks truly happy for the first time in the series of pictures. It shows that even after all this pain and suffering Freda went through, she came out of it happier than she went in.
This story and its photographs also demonstrate very important characteristics of journalism, such as relevancy and conflict or emotion. This story is relevant to anyone living in New York, as Freda is one of their neighbors, but it is also relevant to anyone who has ever had a struggle in their lives or experienced any sort of pain or suffering- it is one of those universal stories almost anyone can relate to and would find interesting. There is so much conflict and emotion in this story- conflict is found in her decision to go through with a potentially life-saving, but potentially deadly surgery and emotion is found in the success of this surgery and the words of both Freda and her doctor, who said that Freda helped him to believe that God is really out there.
However, emotion is also found in the photographs of this story. Not only in the expressions on Freda’s face throughout the pictures, but also through the composition and presentation of the photographs. Since the photographer was shooting in black and white, there was a lot of contrast in these photographs that really helped to increase the drama and emotion portrayed in the pictures. There was one photograph in particular that seemed to really use contrast between the colors black and white to convey emotion. This picture is the one in which Freda is sitting, dressed in all black, sitting in front of a sunlit window, against a white wall, with a vase of white flowers next to her. Since Freda herself has dark skin and dark hair, and is wearing dark clothes, the viewer’s eye is automatically drawn to her and her face, which helps to focus in on the emotion she is expressing- helplessness. In this way, the photographer really uses the black and white composition of the photographs to portray even more emotion than if the photographs were in color.
To me, it was this power and this emotion that these photographs were able to convey that lead me to choose this story to write about. While I looked at several other stories, including others in this black and white series, this story in particular was able to make me feel what its subject felt. It conveyed to me the truth of this woman’s life- the pain she went through, and also her strength. This strength was conveyed through her words, but also, to me, through the use of black and white photography and the contrast between the two colors. To me, the stark contrast between the black and white kind of represented the contrast between her life before the surgery and her life after the surgery. I also really liked it because it seemed to me this contrast was part of the photographer’s style. While there is naturally contrast when using black and white photography, it seemed to me that the photographer tried to increase this natural contrast, such as in the photograph I described earlier in which Freda is dressed in dark clothing and sitting in front of an all-white wall and window. This seemed to be a common factor among the other pictures in this story, and was the major reason I chose to analyze this piece.
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