Blog #4: MOMI

I really enjoyed the trip to the Museum of Moving Images. I learned a lot but I also got an up close look at some of the things we learned in class. It is one thing to learn something and see it presented to you as a lecture. But it is another thing to see it up front and personal. The optical illusion of the bird and the cage really stuck out to me because seeing something that alters your perception or perspective of things is always cool and interesting. Being able to make a flip book was probably the best part of the trip to the museum. Before taking the class, when I first saw a flip book I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now being able to make one and see it when I’m older, I am more interested in the way it works and how it is conceived, especially one in video. It makes me think of the making of cartoons and other media aspects. Another favorite part of the trip was the Mad Men exhibit. It was really interesting how things were put together with such precision and detail. Overall the museum was a great experience and I would attend again.

Blog #3: Relationships Between Shots

I chose a piece of media that I constructed myself. I composed a documentary on natural hair. In this piece those interviewed were people who have been natural their whole life or have chosen to transition. What it means to have natural hair is for the hair to be free of chemically altering substances that changes the texture of the hair. To transition means at some point the hair contained chemicals but the use has discontinued and the natural hair is growing out.

Within this piece editing was a huge factor, aside from the questions for the documentary itself. The inclusion of a lot of b roll and actual styling of hair was essential to the completion of the piece.  The use of the song “I Am Not My Hair” by India Aire was very important to the overall documentary. The lyrics to the song described how confidence and hair are important and how this one part of a human being does not define you. This is what I wanted to portray when I made the piece. I wanted to show the importance of hair to woman but also the beauty with and without it. The b roll within this piece shows people the different textures and styles African American woman have. The timing and cuts of the frames within the piece are synced with the questioned asked and even the lyrics in the song.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpP_QS9HtUY

Blog #2: What I hear

I live in Rego Park, Queens, a neighborhood that has been gentrified and is surrounded by brand new stores. The areas that have not been impacted yet are more residential this includes my home. I live in Lefrak City which is an apartment complex filled with different types of people, cultures and places.

For an hour I walked around my neighborhood and listened to the sounds of my community.  Depending on the weather you can encounter many different types of people and different amounts of people outside of local shops and on the streets hanging out with one another. On this particular day, there were people outside the stores and beauty salons. Each conversation was a loud blur but certain words stuck out to me. Men and women were talking about their children and money or bills. In the background I would hear the regularly scheduled Q38 bus making its stops and men, woman and children being let on and off. The area in which I live is rather dangerous so there is a lot of police presence. Occasionally I would hear sirens and the sound of various walking patrolmen’s walkie-talkies.  Every once in a while I would hear an airplane flying above.