I was quite impressed with this video that Joe Sangiorgio and Mike Stone produced in SMPA-112 Introduction to Digital Media. It’s worth noting that the team had a respectable cut to screen on 2 days after the event – great job guys!
It is over a week ago now that I woke up to the disturbing subject line in my inbox: “Documentary Institute Emergency.”
I read on to learn that The Documentary Institute at the University of Florida, the innovative program where I received my graduate degree had been completely de-funded due to budget cuts.
In the days that have followed, alums and current student have waged a letter-writing campaign and spoken on behalf of the Institute at university senate and board of trustees meetings.
It is not known yet if anything can be done to save the institute.
Several sympathetic articles have been published in Florida newspapers:
http://www.alligator.org/articles/2008/05/15/news/uf_administration/080515_doc.txt
http://www.filmstew.com/showArticle.aspx?ContentID=17249
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/orl-myword1308may13,0,7992274.story
At least a couple clear ironies emerged: at the same time this ground breaking program is losing funding, UF has just signed a big new deal with ABC to have an on-campus bureau, and the university present received an annual bonus last year equal to 2/3 of what the Institute needs to keep going.
No one knows at this point what the future holds for the DI, or the visionaries who run it, but it is a heart-breaker for me and many others that this program that has meant so much to us personally and for our careers could be coming to a close.
Thank you, Churchill, Sandra, Cindy, and Cara for all you have done, and please continue to fight.
So, we were going to the Hirshorn anyway, when the poster for this caught my eye.
What a unique experience. I mean, we are accustomed to sitting in the dark with people watching a movie. We are are accustomed to walking around a well-lit gallery with people looking at art. But what about this? Walking through a darkened gallery with people. Bumping into them. Becoming disoriented. It was somewhat reminiscent of a haunted house.
Which is not to diminish the works of art/films themselves. Some of which I liked more then others, but it was the overall experience of the exhibit that really stuck with me. The red curtain at the entrance, with museum goers silhouetted onto it – are they part of the audience or the art? Looking through a mass of people to glimpse a more popular piece; an interactive piece where the audience needs to figure out that to get the full effect one must look back toward the projector; and the gasp of audience members as a 4-foot project phallus swings into view from a low angle.
The exhibit ends on May 11, with Part II: Realities to follow in July.
Ok, so I have not written in this blog for a while. However, I am not going to write one of those contrite posts.
Why? Because I am not contrite. You may have seen me on Facebook, or LinkedIn, Playing online Poker (play money only) or even on World of Warcraft (not you would have know my Level 19 Night Elf Hunter was actually me).
You might have even seen some of my posts on the blog from my book: finalcutproworkflows.com.
My point is that for the last couple of years, I have been bopping around the web, trying out what is trendy, getting what I can from it, until I get bored. Then, I move on to something else.
You know what, I am not contrite about that either. I think it makes me a serial web hobbyist, and I am ok with that.
Perhaps the whole idea of cultural allegiance – stay true to your favorite band, favorite team, favorite news site, favorite sitcom, favorite social network . . . is getting just as old as one-way linear broadcast media.
So, maybe you will see me here, or on the Internets, or in some new “place” that has not yet been invented. I’m sure you can find me if you are looking for me, and I am ok with that.
I had a good ol’ time taping an interview with my grandfather Ben Klein on his 93rd birthday.
I think this one is my fovorite, but here is the whole playlist:
Doing some research for my undergrad class, and I came across Steenbeck’s website.
http://www.steenbeck.com/
They are still making and repairing film editing machines . . .
Saw a fascinating show at the 9:30 club last week. (Thanks, John for inviting me!)
Turns out that NPR simulcast the whole thing, along with a nice write up.
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about media as power.
I am interested in the HIV/AIDS issue partly because it is addressable almost 100% through education and empowerment – through media.
This issue, as well as others, is being moved substantially – not by governments but by media stars. And I don’t mean they are just raising money – they are interacting directly with a worldwide audience to educate and change perceptions – with many issues such as HIV/AIDS, this change alone goes a long way to solving the problem.
Some of the folks I work with refer to this as “social marketing” which is an interesting concept.
The lever being used most effectively in many political issues today is not money or might, but media itself.
A critical question to me is what are the most powerful forms of media? How are they being used? and what is the effect?
view my profile