Blog 26

1. Link to award: http://www.ivieawards.org/enter_ivie.asp

2. Summarize the basic requirements including entry fees, contest deadlines, permission forms, file sizes, and other requirements:

Entry Fee: $10

Deadline: April 1, 2010 (but it needs to be in at-least 20 days before)

File Size: Irrelevant, as long as its uncompressed, HQ

3. Will your work be accepted?

Not in my current film's status. The requirement is at least 7 minutes in length, my film will only be able to span 5 minutes, which makes sense for the amount of interviews and script length. But my original intent was to compile and edit my video along with another student film. We decided this early on, so we've been using the same equipment and narration etc.

Great Gatsby Essay

(Draft 1)

Evaluate The Great Gatsby as a criticism of the corruption of the American Dream:

The Faux Dream

The American Dream is a national philosophy in/of the United States in which democratic morals are professed as a promise of prosperity and wealth for its people. The American Dream, first expressed by James Truslow Adams in 1931, says that citizens of any class can achieve a "better, richer, and happier life.", or move up social classes. But the American Dream was a fantasy, a myth, and had already been proven to be so years before Adams had stated this.

We’d all like to believe that you can become a rich, high class citizen by doing an honorable days work, but this is a lie. As told in the Great Gatsby, the lead character, Jay Gatsby, is a mysterious man. A government agent? A drug store owner? What does he do? That is the question for the most of the book. Until it is revealed that he is nothing more than a common bootlegger of the 1920’s era. Yet he started out smart, athletic, but had nothing but a dream to become something more than an American citizen, a member of the America high class. So he did what he had to do if he ever wanted to reach full happiness, in this case it is the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, but that is the point of the American Dream, the right to purse happiness.

Before the American Dream even materialized in the minds of the masses, it was proven incorrect, false, fictional, a lie. The author of the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, understood something about people, he understood how we work, how it is inevitable to have some form of segregation one way or another.

"Better, richer, and happier life." The first page of the Great Gatsby, Nick Carroway (the narrator) says this about the way his mind works: “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” Nick’s attitudes toward Jay Gatsby are of two minds and contradictory. At times he seems to disapprove of Gatsby’s ethics and possible illegal activity, but he also romanticizes and admires Gatsby, describing the events of the novel in a nostalgic and elegiac tone. Nick has nothing, similar to Gatsby, before he got into illegal activity, and Gatsby continuely tries to get Nick involved with whatever Gatsby does, but Nick declines time after time, showing Gatsby that Nick still sees hope in the American Dream.

He is Gatsby’s neighbor, and he is the one who gets him his golden girl in the end. Gatsby has done illegal things to move up his class status, and yet he has still not reached happiness, which in other words is Daisy. And in the end, it took Nick, who is a nobody, to get him his happiness, but its not lasting.

In the end of the book, Gatsby finally meets up with his golden girl Daisy, but at the price of his life. Gatsby spent over 6 years reinventing his life, breaking the law, and putting his future in the line for happiness, trying to achieve a "better, richer, and happier life." Gatsby does attain this, but breaking the original philosophy that we have all grown up believing in.

"A lot of people have been bootleggers. I'm not justifying the behavior I'm just saying it was the thing to do"

Sources Cited:

1. “The Great Gatsby” F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
2. “The Center for The New American Dream” 
http://www.newdream.org/about/

MSB Current Events

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

-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

2. http://www.slate.com/id/2182758

-Basically a new news story about the advantages that Reverse Osmosis (AKA Toilet to Tap) has over other leading filtration processes. Well, mainly the summarized advantages of RO and the parts when it really compares it to other filtration processes.

3. http://theconstanceblog.blogspot.com/

-From Constance's blog, a new law will allow California to help fund recycling and reuse of water programs for discarded tires in Mexico. California ships millions of discarded tires to Mexico, annually, thousands of which flow back across our border which ends up littering the beaches of San Diego.

Newly Found (Relevant to MSB Project) Events:

4. http://discovermagazine.com/2008/may/23-from-toilet-to-tap

-Yet another site that retells the importance of toilet to tap and summarizes how it works.

5. http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep04/toilet.html

-Psychologists lend their expertise to overcoming the public's aversion to reclaimed water.

Optional Assignment: Professional Example

http://www.ehow.com/how_4488049_write-documentary-scripts.html

"Some filmmakers will have a rough script written before they begin shooting while others will wait until all the footage is shot and then have a writer come in to piece together a story from the footage. Still others want a writer to come in after the documentary is almost entirely edited and simply write the narration."

This piece of writing/html tutorial is an extensive professional, extremely helpful source for help on writing a documentary script. It goes through hthe entire process of writing a script, from research to filming, to incorporating your interviews into your previously written script. I found this very helpful in writing my script for my video (which is almost complete).

MSB Update

Article:

http://www.slate.com/id/2182758

1. Summarize the event:

Basically a new news story about the advantages that Reverse Osmosis (AKA Toilet to Tap) has over other leading filtration processes.

2. What is the most important info presented in the story?

Well, mainly the summarized advantages of RO and the parts when it really compares it to other filtration processes.

3. What info is missing?

It's cons.

4. How does this info play into your MSB work?

My documentary is about Reverse Osmosis (AKA Toilet to Tap), so it plays in very well. I am actually using that as a new source on my updated script.

1. Name of organization:

San Diego Council District 8

2. Mission statement (copy/paste from their site):

The Tijuana River Valley is not just a District 8 resource; it has been recognized as being "wetlands of international importance" with economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value by the Ramsar Convention. I have made the area a priority during my tenure as a District 8 representative because I feel strongly that we need to be responsible stewards of this environmental treasure.

Last winter, rains caused storm channels in the valley to overflow. Polluted water flooded the area. Three horses died, 21 property owners and ranch hands needed to be rescued, property was damaged, and there was significant environmental damage to an area that is essential to the survival of more than 370 species of migratory and native birds, including six endangered species.

To prevent a recurrence of that disaster, I worked with city, county, state, and federal officials to declare a state of emergency and secure expedited permits that have allowed us to dredge pilot and other flood control channels before the rains begin this year. This effort, helpful for the short term, is part of a larger multi-agency, bi-national movement to comprehensively, and permanently, address pollution and solid waste in the valley. I will keep you informed of our progress.

3a:

Council President Ben Hueso spoke directly to District 8 constituents with a State of the District event held at San Ysidro’s Casa Familiar Civic & Recreation Center located at 212 East Park Avenue. Because District 8 is not geographically contiguous, Hueso hosted a similar community meeting last week at Perkins Elementary School, 1770 Main Street, to address accomplishments affecting residents living in the northern part of his district.

3b:

An important interaction with a local city or county government agency:

Council President Ben Hueso was joined by City Council leaders, Mayor Jerry Sanders, San Diego residents and members of the San Diego Organizing Project, an active, faith-based community organization, to protest the State of California’s announced intention to take City of San Diego funds to help close their $24 billion budget deficit.

“At Council this afternoon, we will formally object to the State’s intentions by considering a resolution opposing the state’s proposal to seize additional city tax funds,” said Hueso. We will also take a stand against enacting any new unfunded mandates.”

Overall, this does not count as an organization.

Nick & Gatsby

I feel like Nick Carroway and Jay Gatsby are similar, even though Nick has nothing, and Gatsby seems to have everything. But I feel like they are similar because the way the author/narrator (Fitzgerald/Nick) describe himself compared to Gatsby makes it seem like their the only two normal people in the entire story.

Gatsby is continually showing surprise for Nick's actions, because their so different from his neighbors. I also think that the reason why they became such good friends is that they have so much in common, they were in the war...and their normal.

The Great Gastby Blog #1

1: The narrator is Nick Carroway

2: The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, accomplishes a lot with the narration. In many ways the Great Gatsby is an experimental piece of American literature because of that very reason, the narration. It's a fantastic narrative that breaks the 5th wall and is open about his reflections on the events happening. It's fantastic and makes you think what's going to happen at the end of this.

Example Work Sample

1. What is the most successful element of this work sample? Why do you believe this?

I think they use professional technology and also a mixture of comedy to convey a message.

2. What is the message of the work? How do you know?

Well, it is a video compilation of fictional PSA's, each with a different message.

3. Who or what is the intended audience for this work? How do you know?

Well, the audience is pretty much for anyone inside the US, along with the fans of the TV show 'The Office' because their using these PSA's as promos for the TV show.

4. How do specific elements of the work sample come together to deliver the message?

Comedy and line delivery (mixed with the styles of the video) make us laugh and think, also possibly want to watch the Office.

5. Describe one technique the creator of this work used. Why do you think this technique was used for this specific piece of work?

It has an interesting mixture of close-ups and medium shots of the actors when their delivering their lines to catch our attention.

6. Why did you choose this work sample?

Mainly...mainly I liked the style, it was trying to mock/depict an average American Televised PSA for different causes, but I really like it, it takes all of the elements that a normal short PSA has and included it into their video.