Fireside Chat

What do I believe in? This is a question with many different answers. For my Fireside Chat, I wanted to explore a kind of collection of my beliefs. I have so many thoughts in my head that I do not share and many of them are beliefs. We all have many thoughts we do not share, normally negative ones. We claim we are okay when we are not because it is hard to find people who will actually listen and care. One on one I share openly but in bigger groups I like to listen. I normally don’t feel good enough or like people care what I feel in bigger groups, especially in film classes where people tend to have strong opinions. Because I live in my head so much, most people don't know me fully which I think is the same for everyone to a certain extent. We see this phenomena in media also. Film and books both have a lot of voice overs of thoughts characters say only in their head that are very important. Without these inner monologues we wouldn't know the characters as much. There is a quote from the novel Gone Girl that sums up my feelings about inner thoughts very well. It is a monologue said by one of the narrators. I was going to recite it after my audio file but I felt it was more powerful to not say anything after I finished because of the subject matter. So instead I wanted to include it here since it did put my beliefs into words. She said “People love talking, and I have never been a huge talker. I carry on an inner monologue, but the words often don't reach my lips… I generally don't say things out loud, even when I should. I contain and compartmentalize to a disturbing degree: Inside me are hundreds of bottles of rage, despair and fear, which you might not guess from looking at me.” -gone girl

The actual Fireside Chat was really enjoyable. It was fun to see everyones different take on the same simple prompted. It really helped me learn more about everyones character. The night helped me learn more about myself and others. I appreciated how vulnerable and raw people were. Because many of the beliefs shared I also feel the experience made me feel closer to my classmates. I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and I am genuinely sad it is ending.

Concerned Citizen

Amber Epling: Nurse, Teacher and Volunteer

By James Hall and Britany Toolson

For this project the first person I thought was my aunt, Amber, and when I told James about her, I agreed that she would be a great subject. 

She has always been an inspiration to me of living a selfless life. She chose a profession that is all about helping out their community, the medical field. She teaches which is another thing that is very community building. She also helps the world community by going on a trip or two a year to different third world countries to repair cleft lips and palates. I could tell that Britany really loved her aunt, and that in addition to her community her aunt had added to the strong foundation of Britany’s life.  

 Cleft lips and palates are not something we see in first world countries often because they are fixed shortly after birth. In other countries however, they are often not able to be fixed and can cause a lot of physical and emotional trauma. She does these trips completely voluntary, donating her time and paying her way. 

Scheduling could of proven difficult because Amber lived several hours away. However, Britany contacted her aunt right after class and it was fate. She was coming up that week to do some shopping with her nephew. Obviously we couldn’t follow her to another country and watch her do surgeries, but we got photos from previous trips she has taken. There were so many good photos and instead of just scanning the photos we decided to take inspiration from the Mormon Channel’s “His Grace” video series and lay the photo’s out. We thought it would create a more “quiet reflective homely feel”. 

Filming was the easiest part; because Amber has done so much we got a lot of footage of her talking. There was a lot of good stuff and we struggled with deciding what to cut. One thing that ended up on the cutting room floor we liked was about different sizes of community and communities helping communities. She talked about how her local community will donate items for her to take which helps the larger world community. While editing the footage, I noticed how much Amber said “we” instead of “I” either in relation as a teacher or as a part of Operation Smile. That to me said a lot about her character, that she didn’t want to take all of the credit.

Another interesting thing that Amber touched upon was the treatment of people with cleft lips and palates within their community. She tells about how they are teased, and harassed. They struggle to find a place within their own community because they talk funny. In the reading Arelene Goldbard says: “But no individual has the power to instantly reverse decades-old policy trends…” Though Amber is helping these individuals the bigger issue is that within this community (as well as probably all other communities) is the trend or pattern of discrimination. It is sad that these individuals are so unaccepted within there own society that they have to solicit help from other communities to alter their appearance enough in order to fit in with their own community.  Not to mention that most of them are kids. But in the article it also said: “The antidote to despair is to remember the world to come.” Amber exemplifies this attitude, by serving and serving a lot. She describes it as an addiction, but I believe it is a burning hope. And she is a key component in that world to come. By giving of herself abroad she fuels the fire in the many countries she has visited as well as her community at home.

Medium Specificity

The YouTube series The Art Assignment is exactly what it sounds like. On it, each week a different artist is highlighted and gives a unique assignment that may challenges art as you know it. The show aims to “demystify the art making process and bring you to a wider understanding of what art is and what it can be.” This weeks class assignment also did this.

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do for this assignment. While I was reading Setting The Record Straight it made me question the definitions of other art mediums. So, I decided to look up some definitions for collage. I found that collage is universally defined as an artistic composition made by attaching various materials to a flat surface. I decided to explore that idea a bit more. I normally think of collages as physically cutting things out of magazines, that you might not think normally goes together and posting them together. For the project I thought it would be interesting to try collaging digitally instead of physically and try things that were a little closer related.

While out hiking in Eureka, I took a bunch of pictures while standing in the same spot. I wanted to see what they all look like put back together. After, I went though and played around with different pictures in front and how wide I wanted the final piece to be. I organized it to be as esthetically pleasing as I could. I didn’t worry much about making each picture fit perfectly because I felt that achieves more of a collage feel. I changed the overall contrast of the group of pictures but not pictures individually.
I thought it was very interesting that all the pictures were taken within a few minutes but the colors changed.Even though it wasn’t the nicest day out and each individual picture wasn’t that great, I think it looks cooler then one of the pictures would on it's own. Collages let you take things and put them together to make something new and sometimes better then one of the parts by themselves.

Process Piece

 By Emma Lynn and Britany Toolson

To create this piece, Britany recorded her monthly Tysabri infusion. The whole process normally takes about three hours. We then took all the audio and recut it to create a complete, cohesive story. The piece starts with Britany getting called back to start the medication. Next she gets her blood pressure taken and is asked a few questions before the medication can be ordered. It takes two times to get the IV in but the medication is then started. Once it is over the IV pump beeps to inform the nurse. Just like the other videos we watched this week, even though the final audio is so simple and short, this process it tells helps you get to know the subjects of the piece.

Something that really stood out during this process was how candid everything seemed to be. This caused me to reflect on how some processes are so natural to some, while being completely foreign to others. The process of Britany getting an infusion is something I [Emma] personally have not experienced. However, it just seemed to natural and repetitive to the subjects, both Britany and the nurses. This made me think about some of the videos we watched this past week. Creating a smokehouse from scratch is something not everyone experiences in their lifetimes, but by following a man chopping down wood, building this smokehouse, and telling his story, we are able to appreciate his skill. Although some processes can be different from what we know, we can also find something very familiar. For example, most people have experienced being greeted by a friendly doctor at some point in our lives, much like our process piece. The family scripture study video also reflected this. A lot of Mormon families are very familiar with the chaos of family scripture study, and can therefore connect with that particular process. When it comes to processes, audiences are able to appreciate differences or reflect upon the familiar.

This week made me think a lot about the film No Country For Old Men. In the film, the lack of a score really emphasizes the sounds and the processes they show. One scene in particular is when Chigurh is trying to kill Moss starting in the hotel and then out on the street. Without even watching the scene you can tell what is going on. The gunshots, breaking glass, choking, and heavy breathing tell you what you need to know. You also get to know the characters by the processes they carry out. For instance you see Chigurh is a hit man and cares little about human life by the fact that he kills many people for money. This project along with No Country For Old Men and the videos we watched really shows the impact sound has and how much you can learn from seemingly simple processes.

Processes are very beautiful, and being able to portray a process through only audible elements proved to be a rewarding challenge. Even without visual elements, we learned that a narrative can still exist. Our final process piece is able to show a larger audience a process they may not be familiar with. By gaining insight into Britany’s life as well as the lives of the doctors and nurses, audiences are able to gain a better appreciation for both Britany’s bravery as well as the doctor’s medical skill and training. Our final project is able to convey an everyday process to a larger audience in a new and interesting way.

Music Mosaic

Little Numbers by Lambert

Careful observation let Dillard find things that surprised and moved her. She then painted a beautiful picture of what she saw and felt through her writing. Reading Seeing helped me to think deeper about things and become more present. It also helped me consider wider possibilities related to the instrumental song.

The piano rework of Little Numbers by Lambert made me think about a love story (of the same name) I read a few years ago. It reminded me of their journey as individuals and as a couple. I could see different scenes play out in my head while I listen to the song. The more I thought about it the more I related it to more fictional couples stories which is where I got my inspiration for the art.

The song starts out mellow and melancholy. It is very basic with not much going on but I think it is expressing a lot. The solo piano gives a very longing feel to the piece. This to me is each couple before they are together. Each person is alone, and feels like they are missing something. Eventually the song starts to pick up and becomes sort of a dialog between each of the parts. This is when the couple meets and gets together. Everything is happy go lucky and great but then something always happens. The music becomes melancholy and discouraging, almost more then at the beginning. Ever couple goes through their rough patch(es) but eventually decide they want to be together which is the end of the song. At this point it takes a more hopeful and upbeat tone again.

I chose to take pictures of different couples and overlay famous simple quotes each said. Even though each couple has a very different story, they all follow a similar story structure and archetype. To me, at it's simplest, it just comes down to love. The song reminded me of a more natural, muted color palette so I chose to make the pictures fit that. I felt like the basic nature of the images worked well with the song. Just because the song and the images are simple doesn’t mean they don’t say a lot though. Just like in Dillard’s writing, you can get a lot out of simple stories.

Thinking and Writing Assignment

Cultural guilt and pleasure has become very entwined. We watch/read/listen to something, we like it and then we feel bad about that. The television show Glee is one of the things that has given me the most pleasure and entertainment over the last few years. Yet society makes me feel guilty for enjoying it because it is a musical for girls that had a lot of original mass popularity. Like everyone, I have internalized social norms about who I should be and what I should like and if I do not something is wrong with me. I should love Guardians of The Galaxy, The Dark Knight Trilogy and Tarantino films but I do not. I should not love Glee, Titanic and The original Spider-man Trilogy but I do. This makes me question my worth and makes me feel insecure about what I like.

At one time or another, every aspect of our culture has been condemned as unworthy, spiritually harmful or even morally detrimental, yet the all survive. That shows everything has their good aspects. A lot of the media that is considered a “guilty pleasure” are things that young girls would enjoy. Pop music, young adult novels, chick-flicks. Our culture demeans women, especially young ones, and their likes, which needs to change. Often, “guilty pleasures” have mass appeal and many deem things with mass appeal as less cool.

Glee was popular and critically acclaimed at the beginning. Sure, Glee is not the most well made show on television but it had made a difference in people. One fan said, “It would completely devastate me if Glee were cancelled anytime soon. It’s given me a lot. It’s given me friends that care about me and gotten me through a lot of hard things the last few years… at the end of the day, it’s changed my life more than most people have.” It had millions viewers at the beginning, chart-topping albums, sold out tours, dozens of Emmy nomination, two Emmy wins for best television series but most important, it also makes people happy and teaches them good messages.

We are told what we should like. If we do not, people will think we are not as sophisticated or cool. I was looking at a magazine with best and worst lists of 2014 and for the most part I agreed but there was an album on the worst list that I loved. It made me feel Insecure about liking it.

In Glee there is an episode that talks about “guilty pleasures”. The characters felt ashamed for liking things ranging from The Spice Girls to Facts Of Life to Mamma Mia. Throughout the episode, the characters realized that they had the same “guilty pleasures”. They all become more honest with each other and their feelings. Instead of hiding them back away, they decide to enjoy them proudly. I think we should do the same.

Shonda Rhimes said that calling something a guilty pleasure is “like saying the show is a piece of crap but I can’t stop watching it. To me, that’s what a guilty pleasure is... I think it’s a very insulting thing to say about someone’s show. Calling a show a ‘guilty pleasure’ is like saying ‘I’m embarrassed to say I watch it but I can’t stop.’ That’s not a compliment.” You can probably still say that some media is “guilty pleasure”. For example many reality shows. But if it is entertaining and people are enjoying it they must be doing something right.

The title “guilty pleasure” does not just assign worth to movies, music, etc. but also to the person who likes them without guilt. It is essentially saying there is something inherently wrong about liking it. It creates “hierarchy of who and what is important. It puts our own preferences above others as more worthwhile and categorizes those who genuinely enjoy things we think should be guilt-worthy as less-than.” We should not feel guilty about what we love because someone told us it is not sophisticated, smart, cool or well done. Why not stop the idea that some media is more enlightening than others? We should “acknowledge the wide spectrum of pleasures that media can offer us and do not immediately insist that these pleasures must also be sorted into a moral hierarchy.“ We all deserve to feel good and to enjoy the things we like without regret or feeling less about ourselves. Glee, or anything else, is not something anyone should feel guilty about liking.
“The next time you feel you have to defend something about yourself, ask yourself, why am I feeling I must defend this?... Do not feel you must say anything. Be who you are.” -Orin

Links

http://luckyjak.tumblr.com/post/47721792544/princeblainers-so-many-people-are-on-the-glee

http://www.salon.com/2013/02/10/shonda_rhimes_calling_a_show_a_guilty_pleasure_—_it’s_like_saying_its_a_piece_of_crap/

http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/01/guilty-pleasures/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/magazine/all-of-the-pleasure-none-of-the-guilt.html?_r=0

http://neurolove.me/post/76606142168/the-next-time-you-feel-you-have-to-defend