Reflections

Coming to class the first day of college, I have to admit I was extremely intimidated at what this new chapter of my life would bring.  How my classes would work; the people I would meet; and how I would handle life on my own were all questions that lay ahead.  I am a very controlling individual, and having to anticipate the unknown was intimidating. However, from the first time I sat down in my WRD 110 class I was fascinated and found myself genuinely intrigued.  Going through the syllabus, I realized that this was unlike any other classes I had ever taken.  I had always been passionate about writing and the world around me, and I quickly discovered this class was the perfect outlet for this academic interest. I was able to speak openly about my beliefs and opinions and apply my love for writing in a practical manner.  Having my own blog that I was actually excited to write for was a much better alternative than the endless papers of formality in my previous English courses. Being able to express and debate my views on certain subjects was even more beneficial, given that I am naturally a very vocal and opinionated person. 

            Having the ability to read the various articles and videos also allowed me to think of the world in a different manner.  I was able to see how people across all circumstances viewed their society; ranging from something as trivial as nude photos to the death penalty. Not only that, but I was able to deliberate the subjects with the class on a deeper level than meets the eye, and hear my classmates views in turn. In my opinion, being someone who is truly knowledgeable is found in the ability to see varying opinions, philosophies, and understandings of the world around them and respect these ideals.  This class allowed me to truly be able to accomplish this.

            On the first day of class, I remember a few assignments really standing out to me. The idea of giving a public speech and making a documentary that would account for nearly all of my grade terrified me.  I had given speeches in the past and they had almost always ended in me running out of breath or feeling as if I was about to faint. Nevertheless, I ended up actually being very proud of myself in this class and conquering a huge fear that had always intimidated me. The final project itself has been an ongoing roller-coaster.  Being able to produce something that entails hours and hours of work over a semester is something I had never yet experienced. To be honest, I was slightly fearful because I am a huge control freak and perfectionist. Giving up some control and having my grade rest on collaborated efforts was definitely my biggest struggle. I found myself initially getting into some fights on how I wanted the project to look, and I realized through it all that I couldn’t always have everything my way. That’s truly what I am most proud of about this documentary; the fact that it came from a group of people’s efforts, ideas, and opinions and not just my own. As confident as I am with our documentary, an aspect I would have changed was being able to get more interviews and varied footage to incorporate within the film. I was mostly responsible for getting the group to work and organizing all of the ideas, scripting, coordinating, and helping in the process of filming. I initially created a color-coordinated binder with corresponding dates and jobs for people within the group. I brainstormed and went to Keenland to help film. I also went through all of the footage and picked out which footage was useable and would work well in the documentary, and the order everything should fall in. I scripted a lot of the documentary and created a theme for the overall product, and always coordinated team meetings. However, this ties in to what was frustrating for me about the project itself. After doing a lot of the work for scripting, framing, filming, organizing, and having all of these ideas it was hard to give up control of the project and let the other members of the group go through and change things for the final product. I have to admit that I was annoyed but now I realize that it’s actually a good thing to let others have input, and sometimes put aside what you want and come together as a team.  That is one very important lesson I personally took from this class. 

            In conclusion, I really have enjoyed this course and found it to be my favorite class of my first semester here at UK. It allowed me to be able to think about the world around me in a more critical light and learn more about the campus and community of Keenland. My overall spectrum of communication improved from this class as opposed to my previous courses as well, because I didn’t write formal essays, but was able to improve on my public speaking, group member skills, and even produce a successful documentary.  I couldn’t ask for a better instructor, and felt that you were both passionate and knowledgeable about the course material, and as an added bonus had the ability to add humor into everything. I wouldn’t have changed anything, and I loved this class because we were all so different, yet came together as one in discussion and collaboration.  It was very laid back, yet still allowed me to fulfill my passionate love for reading and writing and acquire other important skills in the process. Overall, this course has really been an amazing experience and prepared me for years to come. I will always remember this course as one that has positively influenced my first college semester. 

Life Captured in Seconds

Having the assignment of measuring the longest shot in a music video would seem to be easy. However, as I was watching a few of my favorite videos, I began to notice just how quickly shots actually do change. Often, there were two to three-second shots constantly changing scenery, atmosphere, and angles within the videos.  As I watched in awe of this discovery, I also couldn’t help but notice how much was being able to be expressed within these small glimpse’s of film. So much so, that I had gone my whole life watching these small films, being moved in one way or another emotionally, without the slightest idea that it was being done within a matter of seconds.  I realized just how much can be effectively expressed within these short segments, and how much truth and emotion can come from such simplistic and varied footage. I decided to choose the music video, “You and I (Nobody in The World)”, by John Legend. I found this video having very unique and effective close shots. The whole video is a collage of these close shots, which through their progression is able to tell a magnificent story. I felt that this really was able to bring to light the beauty and impact shots have upon making a truly effective and impactful short-film. The longest shot I found was the closing shot, lasting fifteen seconds and slowly fading into darkness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi3bc9lS3rg

‘Round and ‘Round We Go

I’ve never really heard much about coal, or cared much for that matter. Being raised in Michigan, the coal industry never came onto the local news and never played a large factor in my life. However, after watching this mere seven minute documentary, “Born into Coal”, I am widely opened to a world that is much different than my own.  I feel as if I too had been sitting in West Virginia on a kitchen countertop, eating a sandwich and talking to these people about their lives and occupations. This documentary seemed to be a mix of both the narrative style and human interest. It combined the overall wide-range topic of coal alongside a classic narrative plot, in which the documentary begins with a contestant in a beauty pageant and ends with her inevitably winning the pageant. The whole documentary isn’t based off of this narrative style pageant and climatic event, but instead, the human interest of coal mining is subtly incorporated within. In my opinion, this was a wise choice because it really brought together this overall lifestyle and was able to successfully compile it into a movie lasting only seven minutes.

One shot that really stood out to me was towards the beginning of the documentary, when Arianna is established in a bright pool with the dreary poverty of West Virginia encompassing her. Right before this shot, there was a close up of her in the pool, and you did not get a sense of what was surrounding her.  At this moment, you are able to finally see what environment Arianna is growing up in; one of miners and mountains. You visually are able to see that she is spinning in a pool of water with nowhere to go. I think the fact that she is spiraling around in essence is symbolic of the cycle of working class life in West Virginia, and the repetition of stereotypes that this encompasses. The main reason this shot really stood out to me was not only the overwhelming contrast in color, but the establishment of an underprivileged, beaten down environment. This works in context of the film as a whole in establishing the way of life for these people on a broader spectrum, and the inevitable continuation of such a small community lifestyle. For my documentary, I would like to re-create a shot similar to this, which is able to incorporate the overall environment of Keenland in relation to something more intimate or contrasting. This will allow people to see a broader picture of the lifestyle of these people either attending the races, or the jockey’s themselves. This shot in “Born into Coal” gives of a broader sense of an idea that is much larger than the actual shot in itself, and I hope to do the same within my documentary.

Keenland Documentary Group Contract

Jimmy-Interview coordinator 

Megan-Story coordinator

Noah- Filming coordinator

Daniel-Editing coordinator

Oakley-(Group, Storage, Email) coordinator  

The Last Supper

On Death Row, prisoners are given a “last supper” of their choice; a last remnant of their legacy and humanity here on earth. Now, this proves to be controversial because it shows a sharp contrast between food, a strong symbol of humanity, with that of murder, which in essence is robbing those of their humanness in itself.  One presentation of this contrast, “No Seconds”, goes to show this visual rhetoric and support the author’s beliefs through a series of pictures and captions.  The author is able to portray this contradiction in ideals through many visual elements. The presentation begins with a brief summary of what the author’s understanding of this practice is, without an overwhelming amount of bias pertaining to the death penalty itself. The font is small and black with a white pale background, giving off a sense of eeriness and emptiness. All the pictures of the meals are detailed and colorful, with contrast to the white background and small black lettering, further exhibiting the discrepancy in the practice of a “last supper”. It almost goes to highlight the beauty, color, and life of the food in comparison with the harsh reality surrounding the condition, which is represented by the meek font and white backdrop. Not only that, but the pictures are very detailed and give you a sense as if this is your last piece of fried chicken before the lights go out forever.

            Another compelling visual element is the font, which seems to be drafted by a typewriter back in time. This may go to show the authors belief in the archaic and barbaric element of the death penalty.  As far as the captions themselves, they are brief and bullet pointed remarks on the facts and realties of the prisoner as well as the details of the meal itself. In my opinion, they are done this way to show how we are dehumanizing these people and briefing there lives but at the same time there is an extensive list of the details going into their last meal, which shows just how human these people really are. 

As for the other presentation, “The Last Meal Project”, the author is more direct in his argument and view on the topic. He chooses red font to introduce the subject, giving off the initial visual of blood that is being spilt. Each slide shows a picture of the convicted with their choice of meal overshadowing them. Beside that image is crinkled up paper with red font, giving statistics about the covicted and their execution details. This presentation seems to be more bias than the other, seeing that the reason they were convicted in the first place was chosen to be left out of this presentation. The crinkled paper seems to give an eerie sense of “garbage” within our society, which we throw away, or wrinkle. The pictures of the actual people humanize the situation further and create a ghostly atmosphere.  There are also notes in-between slides, which give facts about why the death penalty is unjust.  I think the presentation I found more compelling was “No Seconds”, because even though it displayed less argumentative information than the other, visually I found it to be more thought provoking. I think the contrasting elements and realism in “No Seconds” gave it more of an eerie and authentic impression.  The first author wants to show you more of an unbiased view of the contrast and hypocrisy of the idea of a “last supper”, while the second wants to prove more of why the death penalty is inhumane.  Another presentation that may have also gotten this point across would be if they had pictures of the actual prisoners eating their last meals, which would have added to the realism visually.

            Both of these presentations were able to take a monumental controversial issue, and express that issue subtly through visual rhetoric and sharp contrast.

Conquering Fears

Fear is a funny thing. Its something we all find ourselves unable to escape, and somehow controls all of our lives in one-way or another. Whether that fear be of heights, spiders or something even as serious as death itself, we all find ourselves falling victim to these stressors again and again. For me, public speaking has been that certain boogieman hiding in my closet at night. I often find myself unable to breathe, shaking uncontrollably, and my heart beating out of my chest whenever I am presenting in front of a class. But like all fears, we must come to terms with them eventually. When I first heard I had to present in front of the class for this speech, and was going to be graded heavily on it, I admit I lost some sleep at night. Even the thought of getting up in front of the class for three minutes without even a single notecard sent shivers down my spine and butterflies in my stomach. I am often an overachiever and the thought of not having control over something due to my natural physical response to fear drove me crazy.

However, because of that I practiced night and day to perfect my speech. I would find myself in the shower, the mirror, or in front of everyone on my floor going over it again and again until I’m positive that everyone wanted me to switch dorms. When the day finally came for me to give my speech, and I walked up to the front of the classroom and I experienced something different then the feeling I am so accustomed to when it comes to public speaking. Yes, I was shaking, but I actually felt confident in my ability to deliver an amazing speech. Now, watching myself up there, I have to admit I am a little proud. Not because of the fact I didn’t stutter, or blank out, or even faint, but because I took something that use to be my most sacred fear and turned it into something that I could conquer.  I actually looked confident up there and articulated my words well. I talked slowly enough and added dramatic pauses where I needed them to be. The points I made looked well thought-out and well informed. However, I think I could work on the authenticity of what I was saying because it sounded slightly fake due to how much I had rehearsed, but other than that I couldn’t be happier. I think what I could mostly improve is how comfortable I am in front of the audience. I have to take baby steps, but I hope to move to a point where I don’t necessarily have to rehearse every spare second of everyday, and can come across more natural in the points I am making. This was a huge turning point in a fear that used to control my life. Slowly but surely, I hope to someday be able to hear of a speech being assigned and not instantly have the desire to run for the emergency exit. Until then however, I feel content in the fact that me, Megan Quillen, delivered a successful speech.