I liked the film Peri made about Ms. Webster. She was able to keep me interested with her unique filming and edits. I actually didn't notice her film was just audio and not actually interviewing someone (I know) until I read Julia's post.
The reason why I liked Peri's video was that she was still able to visually appeal to me. She added clips from high school movies, had stereotypical high school pop music, and had editing that made it childlike and fun. I was engaged the entire time watching her film, and actually was a little nostalgic. Her choices of music and pictures clearly communicated her ideas despite an absence of the traditional interviewing in the SoaL films. I have known Ms. Webster for four years, but I feel like the film showed a side of Ms. Webster that we normally wouldn't have seen and a side that would normally take years of communicating with a person to see.
The Haque project on the other hand was an audio essay that was not visually enjoyable. The story was about Ms. Haque who was a physics teacher that used to teach at our school. I did like her story because of her strong personality and her role as a female person of color science teacher in an independent school, but I was not engaged. I honestly don't remember anything particular in the film that stood out pleasantly to me. I felt like the entire time I was watching this film I felt as if I was listening to an essay which unfortunately couldn't keep my attention. The bits of videotaped interviews once in awhile was normal in the SoaL films, but it didn't keep me invested in the film.
Good points, all. You'll see examples of why Peri's video works and the Haque video is less effective in an email I'll send soon. You're talking about how the second video isn't DYNAMIC; not enough changes to keep our interest.
ReplyDeleteYour point about Mrs. Haque being a woman of color, and that getting your interest (at first) is a great point I've not considered enough. One thing to consider when deciding a topic is to try to contribute to a variety of voices represented.
My ability to sit through these films was very different. At first I thought it was because Teen Therapy was the first one that I watched that made it exciting, and by the time I watched the Haque Project I was ready to be done, that made it more dull. I read Mr. Farrenkopf's email and realized how important the dynamic aspect is during these films.
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