The purpose of this video is to educate and raise awareness of the amount of waste that is produced from technological devices that are thrown out on a daily basis. The target audience for this documentary are individuals between the ages of sixteen and forty. The age range of the audience represents the people who use and replace cell phones, iPods, and computers at the highest rate. This documentary is intended to show the targeted age range the depth of the impact they are making in regards to electronic waste. The use of electronics is at an all time high, making this documentary extremely relevant to the issue of global warming as a whole.
After reading the article E-Waste: The Dark Side of the Digital Age, it is clear that computer companies, especially in the United States, have yet to catch up to many other industries when it comes to "going green". Taking this article and creating a visual interpretation leaves many options that can be covered, but what seems to be most interesting is the sense of irony in the E-Waste issue. The critical argument, therefore, would be examining how ironic it is that computers and technology increase our abilities to communicate, to understand, and overall seem to provide a sort of advancement for humankind, however it is these same machines that are causing a magnitude of health and environmental risks. How is it that companies that seem to be on such the forefront of advancement are still ages behind in recycling and environmental management. The interpretation will also look into other industries that have been able to jump onto the environmental band-wagon by being more "green", and examine why or how the computer industry has yet to follow suit. Overall the visual interpretation will work to provide answers as to why these companies are so behind, examining the damaging effects and the consequences if this hurtful behaviour continues.
How we would turn this article into a short documentary is to begin with brief video clips of people using different technologies, and lined up to buy technologies while the intro of the song “money” by Pink Floyd is playing. From there we would have narration about the changes in technology, advancement and availability. For example, the number of different apple I-Pod changes would be displayed with images. We would use two different narrators. From here we would show someone throwing the technologies in the garbage and then show a pile of e-waste. Some of these clips would be online pictures and videos but we would also include video that we shot ourselves. The original video would display interviews of our classmates discussing their own individual impact on electronic waste and their thoughts and strategies on how this waste can begin to diminish. We would then insert a clip when they say, “this is a public service announcement.” From here we would give a discussion of facts about the amount of technological waste produced. The issues it raises would be depicted with more video clips, an interview, and more music that accentuates our point like Wake Up America by Miley Cyrus, and Given Up by Linkin Park.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Scene Analysis of Supersize Me
The documentary that I chose to analyze was 2004’s “Supersize Me”. This Morgan Spurlock documentary explored the risks of living the “fast food” lifestyle by having Spurlock himself eat nothing but McDonald’s for thirty days. While undergoing the diet Spurlock also works to explore the fast food industry itself, as well as the examining the causes and affects of the ever increasing obese population in the United States and World wide. The scene that I decided to analyze was the opening scene of “Supersize Me”. This scene seemed most appropriate because it introduced the issues the documentary would be examining, provided very interesting facts and statistics, and was very attention grabbing. The scene begins with a large group of young children singing a playground song about fast food restaurants in which they state “I like food, I like food”. The camera starts by focusing on the whole group, but eventually singles out two very obese children. I found this to be a very affective opening shot because it is interesting to see how much children really love fast food, and provides a shocking appeal by centralizing on over weight children. This shot fades to black and a quote by Ray Kroc, the founded of McDonald’s displays on the screen. This quote says “Look after the customer and the business will take care of itself”. I found this quote to be here for irony purposes because it seems from the obese children, and the following shots of this scene that McDonald’s no longer seems to care about the customer at all. The quote then fades into a shot of a large American flag gloriously waving while Morgan Spurlock begins his voiceover discussing how everything is “bigger in America”, especially the people. This part of the scene sets up that the documentary will mainly be focusing on the unhealthy lifestyle of American citizens, it also gives a sense of “hitting home” for audience members who are from the US. Spurlock continues his voiceover, giving statistics about the United States recent climb to being the fattest nation in the world while showing various shots of obese people from the neck down. Giving statistics while showing obese people is very affective because it gives more a human quality to simple numbers. This technique also has a way of creating shock appeal by showing many very overweight people, a quality that people have come to see as unappealing and over all unhealthy. Spurlock continues to give statistics about obesity and American, as well as the increasing access and use of fast food restaurants and eventually comes to tell about a law suit that occurred in the United States in which two teenaged girls sued Mc Donald’s for making them obese. Spurlock shows enlarged copies of the legal documents of this case which helps provide him with the basis of his experiment. He shows that in the legal documents it is argued that if one could prove that Mc Donald’s intends for an individual to eat there for every meal of everyday and that this would be in fact dangerous, that the case against McDonald’s would stand. This brings us to the introduction to Spurlock himself, and introduction of his diet experiment. Overall I found the opening scene of this documentary to be very attention grabbing, shocking, and appropriate for this film. It introduces many issues related to obesity in America, and World wide. It shows that American corporations do not truly care about the health of their customers, but rather the bottom line. This scene provides important information that the audience can carry with them throughout the documentary as well as long after watching this film.
>- April Morrison
>- April Morrison
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Assignment # 2: Scene Analysis
Vince Carter
Beyond the Glory
The documentary I chose to analyze is titled Vince Carter, Beyond the Glory. In telling the story of Vince Carter before leaving the Toronto Raptors, this documentary highlights three dominant topics. These three main topics include: Vince Carter’s journey from childhood to his success as a star player on the Toronto Raptors, Vince Carter’s brother and his struggle to stay out of jail, and Vince Carter’s agent “Tank” Black and his betrayal of the Carter family. The scene that I chose specifically was part three of five. This scene discussed all three topics.
The documentary does various things in terms of its approach to capturing Vince Carter. First, the scene covers each of the three dominant topics one at a time. By doing this, it is evident that there are a few areas that the director wants to discuss or get across to the audience. By choosing a few main events in Vince’s life, it allowed for the creator of the documentary to expand on those topics and made it easier for the viewers to remember and understand specific pieces of the documentary. The greatest aspect of the documentary, in my opinion, was having Vince Carter himself speak numerous times throughout the film. While the documentary showed various pictures and videos of Vince, Vince appeared directly afterwards providing his insight on each depiction.
In terms of video making, the director of Vince Carter, Beyond the Glory, did an excellent job of getting his or her point across by constantly displaying new pictures, videos, and interviews to hit home each event. For example, in this scene in particular, the narrator talks about Vince’s immediate success with the Toronto Raptors while a picture of Vince on the cover of Sports Illustrated is shown. Then a clip of Vince at the dunk competition is viewed, Vince speaks about the dunk competition via interview, his cousin Tracy McGrady speaks and a picture of Vince’s Rookie of the Year award is displayed, all in a matter of two minutes. Slow motion video clips are included in the documentary along with interviews from his former teammates, mother, step-father, brother, and Toronto Raptors coach Butch Carter. The documentary excels at providing the audience with a whole view of Vince Carter’s life by dividing events into small yet detailed fragments, how Vince Carter became infatuated with basketball, his college basketball career, and his time as a Toronto Raptor. The fragments then piece together at the end of the documentary to give the audience a large picture of Vince. Through the directors efforts, including music and sports commentators voices, the documentary pumped up the audience, allowing them to feel how Vince felt during his basketball games.
As a whole, scene three presents Vince Carter at his peak of success in terms of basketball but at his lowest point relating to let downs and stress off of the court. This scene is effective in furthering the documentary overall by explaining how and why Vince came to be who he is at the end of the film and how he got there. The scene simply adds to the story of Vince Carter by extending details on to what had been previously stated in the documentary. The videos and interviews in this scene allowed me, the viewer, to feel the excitement around Vince in North America around his arrival to Toronto. The dunk competition footage especially, followed by Vince himself commenting on his preparation and emotions during that time, helped to push Vince’s story to a new level. Basically, the entire documentary shot a part of Vince Carter’s life in story form and this scene was a segment of the story that needed to be told to complete the film. I truly enjoyed every aspect of this documentary from the upbeat music to the basketball videos and especially the interviews of Vince and his family and friends.
RG
Beyond the Glory
The documentary I chose to analyze is titled Vince Carter, Beyond the Glory. In telling the story of Vince Carter before leaving the Toronto Raptors, this documentary highlights three dominant topics. These three main topics include: Vince Carter’s journey from childhood to his success as a star player on the Toronto Raptors, Vince Carter’s brother and his struggle to stay out of jail, and Vince Carter’s agent “Tank” Black and his betrayal of the Carter family. The scene that I chose specifically was part three of five. This scene discussed all three topics.
The documentary does various things in terms of its approach to capturing Vince Carter. First, the scene covers each of the three dominant topics one at a time. By doing this, it is evident that there are a few areas that the director wants to discuss or get across to the audience. By choosing a few main events in Vince’s life, it allowed for the creator of the documentary to expand on those topics and made it easier for the viewers to remember and understand specific pieces of the documentary. The greatest aspect of the documentary, in my opinion, was having Vince Carter himself speak numerous times throughout the film. While the documentary showed various pictures and videos of Vince, Vince appeared directly afterwards providing his insight on each depiction.
In terms of video making, the director of Vince Carter, Beyond the Glory, did an excellent job of getting his or her point across by constantly displaying new pictures, videos, and interviews to hit home each event. For example, in this scene in particular, the narrator talks about Vince’s immediate success with the Toronto Raptors while a picture of Vince on the cover of Sports Illustrated is shown. Then a clip of Vince at the dunk competition is viewed, Vince speaks about the dunk competition via interview, his cousin Tracy McGrady speaks and a picture of Vince’s Rookie of the Year award is displayed, all in a matter of two minutes. Slow motion video clips are included in the documentary along with interviews from his former teammates, mother, step-father, brother, and Toronto Raptors coach Butch Carter. The documentary excels at providing the audience with a whole view of Vince Carter’s life by dividing events into small yet detailed fragments, how Vince Carter became infatuated with basketball, his college basketball career, and his time as a Toronto Raptor. The fragments then piece together at the end of the documentary to give the audience a large picture of Vince. Through the directors efforts, including music and sports commentators voices, the documentary pumped up the audience, allowing them to feel how Vince felt during his basketball games.
As a whole, scene three presents Vince Carter at his peak of success in terms of basketball but at his lowest point relating to let downs and stress off of the court. This scene is effective in furthering the documentary overall by explaining how and why Vince came to be who he is at the end of the film and how he got there. The scene simply adds to the story of Vince Carter by extending details on to what had been previously stated in the documentary. The videos and interviews in this scene allowed me, the viewer, to feel the excitement around Vince in North America around his arrival to Toronto. The dunk competition footage especially, followed by Vince himself commenting on his preparation and emotions during that time, helped to push Vince’s story to a new level. Basically, the entire documentary shot a part of Vince Carter’s life in story form and this scene was a segment of the story that needed to be told to complete the film. I truly enjoyed every aspect of this documentary from the upbeat music to the basketball videos and especially the interviews of Vince and his family and friends.
RG
Assignment #2: Scene Analysis
The Carter Documentary
According to the producer, this documentary was intended to give a look at the life of rap star Lil Wayne. In a way I disagreed with the producer as two topics were overly predominant, both his addiction and recording process were noted on countless occasions. The scene that I analyzed was one that focused primarily on the stars addiction to syrup (cough syrup). The approach that is taken in the documentary is to follow Wayne as he travels around the world doing shows and recording. It also contains interviews with Lil Wayne’s manager and daughter. The creator of this film lets the audience know that although they were supposed to have the opportunity to interview the rap star, after watching the footage he revoked his support behind the picture. The scene I observed I believe to be one of the main reasons he withdrew his support. In the section I analyzed the camera catches on numerous occasions, the star filling his drink with the cough syrup. The video making techniques they use to address this situation is to layer in the background of the scene, different Lil Wayne songs with lyrics concerning syrup, to expose a strong connection between the star and his drink. An interview with his manager is also used to verify the fact that Lil Wayne is addicted to the medicine and that he refuses help. Another video technique the crew uses is to flash through existing interviews that Lil Wayne has done to show him answering questions about the drink and to show him with the plastic cup almost always in his hand. The final video technique the film producers use is the show a cell phone video of when they attempted to confront the artist with an intervention, which resulted in him publicly outing his manager and entourage on stage. The scene ends with another one of Lil Wayne’s songs with lyrics asking that no one try to interfere with him drinking the cough syrup and definitely don’t attempt to take it away from him.
I felt that this scene was very interesting and important in the video, in order to get a true representation of the stars life. I did see a disconnect, as there was very little content prior to Lil Wayne becoming famous. That was one element that I disliked, as I appreciate chronological order. I thought that this scene was a sufficient depiction of the artist’s addiction and that continuously showing him with the drink, or discussing it throughout the film, actually limited the continuation of the video. At times it seemed to be more about addiction or cough syrup than the stars life as a whole. Overall, the scene left alone, without readdressing it, was well placed and did allow the topic to be grasped as you moved on to the next aspect of Lil Wayne’s life. The documentary did provide a backstage pass to the stars current lifestyle. My scene was integral in piecing together the messages in his lyrics with his behaviour, in order to get a different picture of the star and forward the documentary.
JL
According to the producer, this documentary was intended to give a look at the life of rap star Lil Wayne. In a way I disagreed with the producer as two topics were overly predominant, both his addiction and recording process were noted on countless occasions. The scene that I analyzed was one that focused primarily on the stars addiction to syrup (cough syrup). The approach that is taken in the documentary is to follow Wayne as he travels around the world doing shows and recording. It also contains interviews with Lil Wayne’s manager and daughter. The creator of this film lets the audience know that although they were supposed to have the opportunity to interview the rap star, after watching the footage he revoked his support behind the picture. The scene I observed I believe to be one of the main reasons he withdrew his support. In the section I analyzed the camera catches on numerous occasions, the star filling his drink with the cough syrup. The video making techniques they use to address this situation is to layer in the background of the scene, different Lil Wayne songs with lyrics concerning syrup, to expose a strong connection between the star and his drink. An interview with his manager is also used to verify the fact that Lil Wayne is addicted to the medicine and that he refuses help. Another video technique the crew uses is to flash through existing interviews that Lil Wayne has done to show him answering questions about the drink and to show him with the plastic cup almost always in his hand. The final video technique the film producers use is the show a cell phone video of when they attempted to confront the artist with an intervention, which resulted in him publicly outing his manager and entourage on stage. The scene ends with another one of Lil Wayne’s songs with lyrics asking that no one try to interfere with him drinking the cough syrup and definitely don’t attempt to take it away from him.
I felt that this scene was very interesting and important in the video, in order to get a true representation of the stars life. I did see a disconnect, as there was very little content prior to Lil Wayne becoming famous. That was one element that I disliked, as I appreciate chronological order. I thought that this scene was a sufficient depiction of the artist’s addiction and that continuously showing him with the drink, or discussing it throughout the film, actually limited the continuation of the video. At times it seemed to be more about addiction or cough syrup than the stars life as a whole. Overall, the scene left alone, without readdressing it, was well placed and did allow the topic to be grasped as you moved on to the next aspect of Lil Wayne’s life. The documentary did provide a backstage pass to the stars current lifestyle. My scene was integral in piecing together the messages in his lyrics with his behaviour, in order to get a different picture of the star and forward the documentary.
JL
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