Joseann's Blog

The documentary that I liked

joseann — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:14:21 +0000

During the rough cut session I liked a Jewish documentary. It was very professional though themes were missing yet it was enjoyable. I have always wanted to explore a Jewish community because of the link that Christ has with the Jews. He came for them yet was rejected. It is because of them, the gentiles – people apart from the Jews, that we received salvation through Christ.

And I realised that communities in Australia are harder to access because the communities are more insular.I maybe wrong. In India it is different. Access to most communities can be established easily.

My war against Facebook

joseann — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:35:02 +0000

And so I have declared war on facebook. I have deleted my albums and will no more be an active member. Facebook can never be a community but a pain. And it is all evident now in the problems that the social media is facing. There is a price to pay and letting go of boundaries will challenge the identity of a person and eventually may put the life of the person at risk..

Belonging to every community there will be problems but problems in the physical can be dealt with by moving away or responding to it. But virtually it becomes harder to manage reputations.

Doco Review

joseann — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:31:00 +0000

Next time I should remember to slow down the speed of visuals and remember not to use too many images. To read a word a human being takes upto 3 seconds. This was an issue in my documentary. I got carried away by the amount of great looking images available.

Anyways…

I did it. There is a feeling of nostalgia ..it is as though an integral part of me is over and I have to move on. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience as I knew I would.

Another blackmark for facebook

joseann — Wed, 19 May 2010 04:00:27 +0000

In a matter of 2 hours after my second post about Fb was written at 1.33 p.m I found yet another coverage adding to the blackmarks Fb has recieved. Does this signal the downfall of Fb. I wouldnt be surprised to see the banning of this social networking site very son or atleast some kinda restrictions. “The facebook thing changed it”?? was the Educational Regional director’s response. It seems to me that Fb is being regarded as a evil form like Peter Parker in Spiderman being overcome by the alien symbiote which transforms the people interacting with it…

Theme

joseann — Wed, 19 May 2010 03:00:34 +0000

Defining a single theme

What is my theme? The documentary centers on Christianity more. The conflict is the stigma.It is about a community. The linking back of the conflict to the community is in how they deal with the conflict as a community.So here as a community they are informed in church through sermons or meetings or cell groups they attend that it is normal to be stigmatized. They share with each other and pray for and with each other in cell groups.So they are able to tackle stigma better than those who do not believe in the power of sharing, participation or fellowship.

Fellowship is an aspect of true democracy. The free dictionary defines it as “the companionship of individuals in a congenial atmosphere and on equal terms”.

But according to my script I talk about how the leader – Christ is stigmatized. The cross itself was a sign of stigma.But although in the religion and to others the symbol is now one of victory and glory – the members are still being stigmatised. They dont fight it. But allow it to transform them. To test them and make them stronger.

So my message is “Overcoming evil with good.”

But I wonder if it is applicable universally?

The believers have verses to support the message of “overcoming evil with good”. But what about the rest of the world who have not accepted Christ.It is human nature to give “eye for an eye”.

But I could conclude saying community support which I define as fellowship is good because belonging to a good community is beneficial where people dealing with stigma, bullying or ailments can be empowered to become over-comers.

Facebook – to delete or not to delete

joseann — Wed, 19 May 2010 02:29:02 +0000

Social networks are powerful in their ability to shrink the world to a global village…but considering their vulnerability makes me question just how powerful they are in the enemies hands too. Every article I have read recently about facebook including “the sexiest video attack” and the users being exposed simply because they were unaware of the change in privacy settings seem to highlight the vulnerability of facebook, the murder of a teen who was lued by a stranger. We as users should be aware of the consequences.

Permissions..

joseann — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:27:34 +0000

It’s amazing how in small things I get assurance that I am doing the right thing. While getting permissions from one artist we shared our born again experiences with one another. Irrelevant in this context but considering social media, the flexibility it has given us – I am an Indian, mailing from Australia and getting connected to an American artist.In Mcluhan’s term it is a “global village”. It was good that they wanted to see the documentary script and now that I have written it all down the picture seems to be clearer.

Document narration

joseann — Sat, 15 May 2010 13:24:09 +0000

I couldn’t make my documentary flow as the art of narration is new to me. I have decided to look up on some books. One book I found was “Documentary story telling for video and filmmakers by Sheila Curran Bernard. Few tips that I learnt were

1.What I say depends on what the audience needs to learn. And here I paused to think of introducing the universal theme in a subtle manner.The key theme is

Community support in overcoming challenges

What can I say in the story to introduce a theme like community support. Community groups are becoming popular to an extent but I hesitate to say all groups have positive outcomes.My documentary talks of a positively deviant group. In a collaborative world belonging to a group need not necessarily mean that it is good or ethical or moral or even humane.Maybe my documentary doesn’t have a universal theme. I am inspiring Christians to become overcomers of stigma using their church community support. If their church doesn’t offer support my documentary will urge them to become leaders. Using their negative experiences as stepping stones personally or for members in the group.

I close my eyes and I feel that every person is dancing. Dancing to different tunes. The community I belong to are dancing to a calm, peaceful, graceful song that speaks of love. Undying love for their Lord and savior.They did not choose Him but He chose them and died for them on the cross. It is their act of love in obeying his words and not cursing their enemies but in choosing to bless them.It is their act of love in choosing to refuse conformity to the world’s ways.It is their act of love in choosing to spend their time with Him.

On strong INTRO’S…

joseann — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:11:27 +0000

As I was going through some online documentaries, I liked this Christian documentary. I liked it because the opening question drew me into the doco. The very opening was quite sensational and I felt intrigued. The backdrop , the music , the tone and info conveyed by the narrator are quite “pulling”.

I also liked this doco on Stigma. Makes me wish I had video editing skills.

I like the ” interactivity” some online documentaries have to offer. I guess I will be using flash website to put up my content.

Some thoughts on Mockumentary..

joseann — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:55:58 +0000

I thought it was hilarious but it does become difficult these days to distinguish fact and fiction. It seems as though most of our news is a parody in itself.

1.Land without bread :

I thought it was for real because there are certain communities where weird practises still exist. It did look like archival footage but again the fine line between fact and fiction seems to be more pronounced.

2.This is Spinal Tap:

Seemed like one of the spoof movies to me. I was laughing uncontrollably and the “choking over vomit” was hilarious until Jenny said that such things did happen. If I had known of the occurences then the doco was quite convincing. The context , the screaming fans, the stage , the singers – the authenticity of the whole “the golden age” singers seemed to be convincing to me.

3.Borat:

Seemed offensive and rude to me. I wouldn’t call it as a documentary. Thats why it’s called a mockumentary I guess – but that shouldn’t give the director the power to shame practises of culture and society. It is a cheap form of infotainment.