Reconstruction

After the Civil War, the North or the Union was left with a country which had different beliefs than them, so they were faced with a challenge. How do you edit this place so you won't have another Civil War? Easy. Reconstruction.

Not so easy, actually.

Reconstruction took place between 1865 and 1877, and was when the Union needed new amendments, took three different presidents, it off-sparked American terrorism (most groups still around today) and racial tensions and battles which still rage on today. Reconstruction is the reason for why the Civil War (in many respects) is still around. I mean that the War is still alive and in battle today because there are still people fighting, and it's not even that difficult to find those people. You go driving around Virginia (which happens to be one of the main Confederate areas at the time) and you'll see a Confederate flag in the first 10-60 minutes there. Most people say its their 'Southern Heritage', thats a lie. The flag dates back to the birth of the Confederacy, it represents a country divided, and it represents the racist, greey part of that separation. If Reconstruction succeeded you wouldn't be seeing any of these 'so called' Americans flying the Red/Blue Confederate flag.

This Article (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/86418/the_flag_of_the_confederacy_still_stands.html) by Robert Switzer details the many confederate flags you will find flying today in the South and how it does not stand or symbolize anything good about Southern heritage, it is and always will be a symbol for segregation and hate, a symbol which people use proudly, but in reality, it is a symbol for greedy men and women who didn't want to lose their slaves (their 'property')

BLog #9

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/22/following-flow-pollutants/?southcounty&zIndex=169982

Okay, this article (titled 'Following The Flow of Pollutants') is very important. Even though I feel like almost everything Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) is important, this one is finally doing something. Most of what Scripps does nowadays is educating and researching about pollution and such, but this is a good example of what they try to do. Doing something that will educate many, and finally doing something that will help test which water is healthy to swim in (or do anything in) and what is not.

They are using top of the line equipment to test (most/all of) our beaches and inform and warn the masses. As the years go on into this millennium, our oceans are goign to get progressively more disgusting/polluted, Scripps is doing all they can.

Blog #8

Some ideas I have for the Media Saves The Beach project are all related to video ideas. I love filmmaking and documentary filmmaking has interested me since I was young. I want to do a video project with extreme informational themes and facts for it's audience.

The content that interests me the most is how important the ocean is, yet we treat it so poorly, but most people don't even know that we're doing it. Pollution is a serious thing.

Blog #7: Final Work

Blog #7

(Final Image)

(Final Artist Statement)

“My Old Friend”

Cinema has always been a medium of self-expression that always interested me. It's been a love of mine for so many years that it's difficult to remember the beginnings of this hobby of mine. Thinking back, I still remember standing in the hall of my middle school, where it all began. I still remember being that little 13 year-old middle school kid staring out the wide window, waiting for summer. My brother’s friend, Hunter, came down from the high school across the street. Summer wasn’t over for him either, but he had the time. He must have saw me staring out into nothing, because his next thoughts lead him to say hello to me. It did. He had been attending the school High Tech High Media Arts, so naturally I asked him how the ‘movies’ was going. He said it was going well, to my surprise, I had no idea. Two hours later I was at my house, quickly jotting down ideas for films, somehow he had inspired me to get into filmmaking, without me knowing.

I’ve never considered anyone my ‘idol’ before; I never have really seen the point. But when I stopped looking for one, my greatest idol appeared before my mind. It wasn’t Barack Obama, it wasn’t John Lennon, and it wasn’t Al Gore. No, it was that kid who talked to me in middle school, and he wasn’t a celebrity. He is a personal inspiration; it was that high school kid, that friend of my brothers, that friend of mine, Hunter Moskowitz.

Almost everything about Hunter was, and is, a constant source of inspiration to me. Everything, even down to the way he dealt with people; it was all his own way. And I’m not even talking about his filmmaking skills, which were at a level that an 18-year old high school student usually doesn’t attain, but it was his opinion of things, his way of expressing himself in all mediums of art. His films, even his filmmaking style, still remain constant sources of inspiration to my life and my choices. He would randomly call me up about something he had thought up of, something of which myself or anyone else would never come up with. But even past the ideas, past the amazingly odd stories and scripts, he was even good at executing them in the line of production. He would make short films, which housed such ideas so funny, so sad, or sad happy, things so out there that they would make you think, no matter what they were, and no matter who you are. Even his finished films are so out there they let you to crawl into his mind for a second; they make you to see what he was thinking. The amazing thing about him was that he was able to do all of this without loosing any artistic qualities by making his films into artsy pieces of trash. And in many respects, he was immortalized inside his own films.

You may be asking yourself why this is important, why you care, why you are reading this. I can't exactly tell you why, but I can tell you what I consider important. And what I consider important in all this is how important all this is, to me at least.. My only true American Icon or American Idol or American influence, was a personal inspiration, it was that high school kid, that friend of my brothers, that friend of mine, Hunter Moskowitz. Even though Hunter passed away last June, to me, he’ll always be that high school kid who changed my life.

Sources Cited:

David Krause, Chris Moskowitz “Interview With His Mom”

(September 11, 2009)

Hunter Moskowitz, “All Alone” (2008)

Hunter Moskowitz, David Krause. Personal Emails,

(April 2006-Febuary 2009)

Hunter Moskowitz “The End of The World” Film Script.

(Unknown Date of Completion)

American Icon Reflection

I feel like my writing started out with tons of content and ideas, but lacked any form of structure, grammar, or sign of correct writing. Basically, the revisions were to correct the textbook flaws, not the lack of content. I feel like the first draft, for me, is always the one with the most writing, and most ideas, spread across the entire page. I feel like I used short, real stories to capture and pull in the audience, that’s one thing I did a lot. I don’t know about if I had another draft, probably trying to squeeze in one more idea.

(one sentence which stands out to me)“My only true American Icon or American Idol or American influence, was a personal inspiration, it was that high school kid, that friend of my brothers, that friend of mine, Hunter Moskowitz.

This sentence stands out to me because I feel like it’s well written and gets the idea across to the reader. I feel like this is one of my best sentences, because I actually use part of it in the beginning, similar to the loop, I bring the readers back to the beginning, but expands on the idea with all of the new knowledge they have, to help understand with the new ideas and the old statement from the beginning

latest draft of photo

Photo Techniques

Some photo techniques I plan on using in my final photograph are:

1. Rule of Thirds: Even though the original photograph that I am recreating did not follow, the original had color, so I guess I can call mine a stylized recreation, seeing as though mine will have a larger size, zero amount of color, more contrast, and follow the rule of thirds.

2. This is a posed portrait: my photograph will not be a cheap 'done in five minutes' picture. It will be a posed portrait. Since I was there when he actually took the picture, I know how (I even know which kind of camera he used) he took the picture.

3. Vignetting: The orignal had an accidental vignette to the photo, mine will have an on purpose one, completely controlled.

Since I was with him when he took the picture, I have been able to be successful in recreating the photo in the same method he took the picture.

Blog #4: In Class Critique

My Artist Statement, currently at least, is basically all of my content down on paper. I tried hard to get all my thoughts and feelings (even beliefs) down, and I believe I succeeded in that matter, but now all I need to do is revise, organize, rewrite, and things of that matter.

My in class reviewer picked up on that, and understood that as a first draft it had content, but not organized or clean in any matter. He basically told me that I should include some quotes, and talk about some specifics, but other than that I just need to edit.

My major goals for my artist statement are for people to look at my photo, then look at my statement and have all of their questions answered, but also give them some background information. I want them to understand the background of my photo, I want them to understand why and how, and who my icon is/was, and who he is/was.

(Draft 2)

Cinema has always been a medium of self expression that has always caught my eye. It's been a love of mine for so many years that it's difficult to remember the beginnings of this hobby of mine. Thinking back, I still remember standing in the hall of my middle school, where it all begin. I still remember that little 13 year-old middle school kid staring out the wide window, waiting for summer. I still remember my schedule, boring, hot, pointless. I still remember my feeling, standing there, that kid was me. It was one of the last days of school, even though the days resembled that of a sunny summer day. My brother’s friend, Hunter, came down from high school. Summer wasn’t over for him either, but he had the time. He saw me staring out the window and thought it would cheer my day up if he stopped by and said hello. It did. He had been attending the school High Tech High Media Arts, so naturally I asked him how the movie making was going. He said it was going well, to my surprise, I had no idea. Two hours later I was at my house, quickly jotting down ideas for films, somehow he had inspired me to get into filmmaking, without me knowing.

I’ve never considered myself follower of one, therefore it has always been difficult for me to idolize someone. But when I stopped looking for one, my greatest idol appeared before my mind. It wasn’t Barack Obama, it wasn’t John Lennon, and it wasn’t Al Gore. No, it was that kid who talked to me in middle school, and he wasn’t a celebrity. He is a personal inspiration; it was that high school kid, that friend of my brothers, that friend of mine, Hunter Moskowitz. He helped me through many hardships during my life, and steered me in the right path so many times. But there was more than a sense of wisdom that made me idolize him so.

Almost everything about him was, and is, a constant source of inspiration to me. Everything, even down to the way he dealt with people; it was all his own way. And I’m not even talking about his filmmaking skills, which were at a level that an 18-year old high school student usually doesn’t attain, but it was his opinion of things, his way of expressing himself in all mediums of art. Still, his filmmaking abilities inspired much of the last 4 years of my life.

His films, even his filmmaking style, are still constant sources of inspiration to me. He would constantly call me up and tell me about something he had thought up of, something of which myself or anyone else would never come up with. But even past the ideas, past the amazingly odd stories and scripts, he was even good at executing them in the line of production. He would make short films, which housed such ideas so funny, so sad, or sad happy, things so out there that they would make you think, no matter what they were, and no matter who you are. Even his finished films are so out there they let you to crawl into his mind for a second; they allow you to see what he was thinking. The amazing thing about him was that he was able to do all of this without loosing any artistic qualities by making his films into artsy pieces of trash. And in many respects, he was immortalized inside his own films.

You may be asking yourself why this is important, why you care, why you are reading this. I can't exactly tell you why, but I can tell you what I consider important. And what I consider important in all this is how important all this is, to me at least. The difference between me and most people’s Icons or American Icons is that I’ve met mine, got to know him, and my icon changed my life. That is what’s important. My only true American Icon or American Idol or American influence, was a personal inspiration, it was that high school kid, that friend of my brothers, that friend of mine, Hunter Moskowitz. Even though Hunter passed away last June, to me, he’ll always be that high school kid who changed my life.

American Icon Resource List

(I'm posting this extra-early in case I did this incorrectly)

These are my remaining two potential American Icon’s and a list of 3 resources that will come in handy when writing my paper about them.

Merian C. Cooper was a filmmaker from the 30s, an Icon that I idolize greatly

1.  Exploits of Merian C. Cooper (Documentary) 

2.  A bio of Merian C. Cooper and his accomplishments:  http://www.jaxhistory.com/KingKong.html

3.  PIctures 

Hunter Moskowitz was a friend of mine who died in June of 2009; he had a great influence on my life:

1.  Email (to me about his movie)

2.  Pictures

3.  Film

American Icons, Blog Post #2

I feel like my icons are somewhat odd, or at least the American ones, since they are not very recognized to many people that I personally know, but I feel like they have impacted my life and what I plan to do with my life the most, even more/so than people that I have actually met.

My first inspiration is Merian C. Cooper, a film director most known for his film ‘King Kong’ (1933).  He also pioneered color filmmaking in the 50s, revolutionizing how we watch movies forever.  He is a man who, in a lot of aspects, revolutionized American film.  I was raised watching classic films and was inspired to become a filmmaker.  Merian C. Cooper was an incredibly smart, incredibly creative person, who first joined the filmmaking rush in the early 1900s, with his films of animals.  He was always inspired by his surroundings, which led to his films like King Kong, and this is Cinerama (a film that mixed new technology and amazing shots of the world and of nature to provide the first realistic film experience, taking people all over the world).  Both films revolutionized the way that people watched movies.  

I guess a guy like Cooper is an Icon.  If you ask any old film buff (including me) who Merian C. Cooper is, you'd get a direct answer.  He is an Icon, not a well known icon, but as far as his work goes and his innovations, I still consider them magic.  

My second inspiration is a personnel friend of mine, Hunter Moskowitz.  I knew him since I could remember, pretty much, he was a good friend of my brother.  He passed away last June.  He had the most influence on my life, compared to any of these other icons.  

On a Personal level, he was an incredibly good friend.  Almost like a brother, pretty much a brother.  He was the reason I chose HTHMA over the other two HTH schools, he was the reason why I decided to adventure into the realm of filmmaking when I was 13, he was the reason I did a lot of things, and the reason why I didn't do a lot of things.  When I found out, it really hurt me where I lived.

 On an icon level, he is, to me at least, a huge Icon.  His creativity allowed him to do and create images on the screen that I've never seen done before.  He was also able to write things so out there that it could be regarded as experimental, but it wasn't like that.  He was a good filmmaker, and a good friend, and an American Icon to me, and still is, and still will be. 

John Lennon, of Beatles fame, only lived to be 40, and as much of an impact that he had on American culture, you’d think a Beatle fan like myself would have rode the Lennon train, or at least see some concerts, if I were my age or older in the 60s-late 70s.  But I don’t think so.  Lennon (and all the rest of the Beatles) were notorious for using LSD and other strong hallucinogens to make them ‘creative’ for their music.  A lot of times they drew in a ‘drugee’ crowd.  I don’t condone doing drugs, especially mind altering ones. 

 

John Lennon’s lyrics are still an inspiration to me, even though when you grind out the glamorous icon image to what he was, an amazing artist who practiced drugs, I don’t think he is anything like me.  His lyrics inspired my thoughts and feelings, which is odd, because when I really researched Lennon, who he was, what he liked, what he did, I found that he wasn’t an Icon to me, but his lyrics were.

blog post #1

For humanities 2009-2010, I really am looking forward to learning about American culture and American history.  I feel like in the past, my classes have always skipped over learning topics on American history and American culture.  HTHMA, in my opinion, is huge on teaching about international subjects, international literature, and international culture.  I feel like I do not know enough about American history to be considered American, or American writing, as well.  I feel like this class is going to be a much more professional humanities English.

Not only am I looking forward to learning, but also I want to try to work hard and succeed in this class.  Junior year looks the most challenging so far, but I hope that humanities can be more about learning; in the past I’ve felt like the push was on grades, not learning.