WRD Documentary

YouTube link to Documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NlfRGhtKCA&feature=youtu.be


Short Essay:

            I chose to talk about how Facebook can affect one’s ability to get a job. The argument I was attempting to make is that it is important to monitor what one posts on Facebook because employers take it into consideration when hiring for a position. In my documentary, I spoke to three students of different ages and majors as well as a business professional. When I began my project I thought that the students I talked to would not be concerned about what they posted but as I continued to interview them I saw that there was a range of opinions. Dylan’s (sophomore) answers to my questions fit more with what I was expecting about not worrying about it too much. Maredith (freshman) pointed out that she monitors her Facebook because she has many younger people looking up to her and she wants to be a good role model through her Facebook but she doesn’t monitor it for the employer’s sake. Bailey (Senior) seemed to have the most thoughts toward the importance of monitoring Facebook because of the three students she is the most immediate one to go into the work force. Ray (Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Bush Brothers & Co.) provided a perspective from the work force. Being in a position to hire, he could shed light on how much companies really focus on the potential employees Facebook.

I think that the video succeeded in that it showed that monitoring Facebook is important. None of the students I spoke to had any provocative material on their Facebook but I think that since they had different view points the video still worked. If I had more time I would have tried to find people like the two in the opening two shots. I also would have liked to be able to talk to more professionals about their thoughts on Facebook. I contacted several others but their schedules didn’t have any openings when I needed to shoot the footage. I think that my shots were pretty good except for the few shakier moments of the camera as well as the black bag in my interview with Ray.

Although my documentary expressed my thesis, I came up short in that it wasn’t very thought provoking. The video wrapped itself up in a way that didn’t allow the audience to draw their own conclusions. However I did really like what Ray had to say about Facebook so I wanted to put as much of our time in together in the documentary. I think that the music and the pictures in that broke up the interviews and questions helped the documentary be far more interesting for the audience.

I think overall the video was successful in getting my message across, I just think that with more time it could have been more interesting than it currently is and it could have including a wider range of view points which would have added more value to the documentary as a whole. 

Documentary Time Schedule

Time Schedule:

I plan on shooting the footage for my documentary over the next week, the weekend, and thanksgiving. Unfortunately many of the people that I have agreed to be in my documentary are going out of town this weekend so it delays the work that I would have liked to get done over the weekend.

Monday: Send out my questions to the people I am interviewing// Rent Camera

Tuesday: Interview two people 

Wednesday: Interview two (or three) people 

Thursday: Edit footage I have up to that point

Friday: Interview two people // Renew Camera

Saturday: Interview two people 

Sunday: Interview two people // Return Camera

Monday: Edit more footage

Tuesday: Edit more footage

Thanksgiving Break: Interview two people//Edit footage // Renew Camera—use computer camera

Shots:

-       Outside of the Student Center

-       Someone’s scandalous page (name and face blurred)

-       Someone’s really conservative page (name and face blurred)

-       My dorm room

-       Apartment

-       Apartment

-       Loft

-       Library?

-       Black slides with white letters for each of the questions being asked (transitions)

Questions to Ask:

-       Do you have Facebook?

-       Why did you get Facebook?

-       How much do you monitor what you post on Facebook?

-       Do you care how much other people see of your profile?

-       Do you think not having a Facebook and affect your ability to get a job?

-       How do you think Facebook can affect your ability to get a job?

-       How interested do you think employers are in Facebook when looking to hire people?

-       Do you think that companies have the right to fire you if you post something inappropriate on Facebook about yourself or the company?

Documentary Proposal

I am interested in filming a documentary that focuses on how college students present themselves on Facebook, if they consider what future employers think about the things they post, if they do not have a Facebook how do they think that might affect them, as well as how professionals actually view Facebook when looking to hire. I want to investigate how students use Facebook and whether they think ahead to what other people may think about what they post and how things from their past may influence their ability to get a job. The rhetorical situation of the documentary is that eventually every one of us is going to try to get a job and our opportunity at that job is at stake because of the things we post on Facebook and the way we present ourselves. I would like my film to help college students understand that the way they use Facebook could have a great impact on their ability to get a job or interview after graduation.

I am going to talk to college students who have Facebook, college students that do not have Facebook, and business professionals who are in hiring positions. I think that these different types of people will be able to share different thoughts on the subject in order to compile a more complete picture of what employers think about when looking at a potential employee’s page. The audience for this documentary is for college students that are interested in getting jobs.

The narrative direction I see this documentary headed is one that prompts students to be aware of what they post on Facebook because it is could have a major effect on their ability to get a job.

I plan on shooting this documentary in a variety of locations including the William T. Young Library, my dorm room, my friend’s apartment, Knoxville, the student center, and the outdoor area in front of the student center. The style of the documentary will be pre-prompted interview style similar to The Archive. Also like The Archive I plan on using softer lighting. I plan on shooting in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving as well as over Thanksgiving break. I feel as if I can do this project in the time allotted if I edit the film, and arrange the footage as I go instead of waiting until the end to do all of it.

I will arrange the footage so that I have several student statements interspersed with facts, leading up to a professional’s thoughts. 

Maybe Not So Dark Days

The documentary was really interested for a variety of reasons including the people they chose to talk to, the way it was shot, and the tone of the film. I was surprised that most of the characters highlighted in the documentary were men because from my experience with the homeless in downtown Knoxville, most of them are women. I appreciated that the people in the film were so willing to let the audience into their life, I thought it was really intriguing that they were worried about things being clean and attractive even though they were living in tunnels. I was also interested in the building of actual semblances of housing that could be distinguished from others. I also thought that it was really valuable to have a variety of age groups talk about their lives in the tunnels and what they do for money.

            I was interested in the choice of black and white shot selection. I was anticipating the documentary to be depressing or talking about people who had “given up.” By the end of the documentary, that clearly wasn’t the case. There was so much hope shown by the people living in the tunnels when they were told they would have real housing. I thought that the film could have ended with them breaking down the tunnel housing but in retrospect I was glad that I got to see them in their new homes because it showed that the government did in fact follow through when they told Amtrak that they would get everyone out of the tunnels.

            This documentary was much longer than the other ones that we watched but I thought that it was necessary because instead of it being an interview like The Archive it was much more of a story about different people and their lives and how they lived and it showed change over time. Even though it was so long, it did keep my interest the entire way through. 

Short Documentary Ideas (4)

1) How do you use Facebook to gain knowledge about someone (how do you navigate someone's page/what parts of their profile are you interested in)?

2) What kind of image do you aim to get across through your profile, how is that compared to the way other people see it?

3) Why/why don't you have a Facebook?

4) How do you decide which users to accept as friends?

This I Believe Audio Remix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEY1HuCUvxk&feature=youtu.be

Video Games Video Games Video Games

           Some how all of the guy friends I have play copious amounts of video games. I have the friends who when we hangout would rather play video games than do almost any other activity. My friends in high school were more interested in games with more high quality graphics and more intricate plots. My friends here at UK have a strange obsession with bad, and I mean bad, video games. They play games such as Anticipation (video game Pictionary, with stick figures) and a game where the goal is to bring a yogurt machine to some really wealthy business people who are determined to cause problems.

            The woman giving the Ted talk focused on how video games began similar to paintings. She made a connection between cave drawings and much more famous works. Similarly games like Anticipation could be compared with games such as Halo. I felt that the woman giving the speech was rather dry, uninteresting, and a slow speaker. I did not agree with her assertion that video games are becoming an art and I had a difficult experience trying to listen to her and follow the points she was trying to make. I am more in agreement with the author of the article that advocated that the art form was in the process of forming the video games.

            I think that the art of video games is created during the process but I also agree with Ebert in that I don’t think that video games, in themselves, are art. I am ignorant in the fact that I have played on a game system no more than 10 times in my lifetime but I do not see them as an art form.  I completely respect the amount of art and creativity it takes to put together the images and plot for the game but I feel that the actual enjoyment of the game is entertainment instead of art.