i've been working on securing equipment for production. the problem i have is with jagtv's equipment i could be more flexible with my schedule and i'm more familiar with all of the audio equipment and harddrives. however i think the it building's equipment would give me a better quality image. whatever i choose will have to stay that way to keep consistant shots.

i'm relieved that finals are over so now i can put more time and energy into just the capstone. this semester's been difficult for me and i'm glad it's over.

on a side note, i found out i might be able to go to greece again to work on another documentary, which i'm very excited about.

again it's been awhile since my last post, and i apologize for that.

i've been making progress with the pre-work. I have set in stone the story and am beginning to story board the chapters. i'm hoping to start gathering b-roll after my finals are over during winter break.

i've also been scheduling interviews. i have talked with the owner of headliners tobacco and he has agreed to be interviewed. so has a pulmanologist that smokes hookah, which is an amazing find for this documentary. i'm also looking to other hookah bars and tobacco shops around indianapolis. unfortunately due to my finals schedule i'm afraid i won't be able to interview anyone until i start gathering b-roll. as much as i would like to get a head start on this, i'm also glad so i can devote my full attention to the cinematography of this documentary.

i'm also working on the specs of the film. so far i'd like to shoot and edit it in 1920X1080, full HD, in stereo. i'm not sure of the full running time. for the moment i'm aiming for 10 minutes as a minimum, but am going to make it as long as it needs to be to present all the information i think needs to stated; un-biasedly of course.

i'm having trouble getting the script started. i have a few different intros but picking up from that is difficult for me. this is something i'll have to spend more time on.

project update 11/24/10

i apologize for not updating sooner.

since my last post i've found other interviews that would work more in the favor of documentary production. the interview i've hoped to get from the eyptian cafe would not work due to scheduling and other production elements. i've decided to replace that interview with the owner of headliners tobacco shop. they sell many products, including hookah pipes, tobacco and accessories. i'm also contacting the pulmanologist tomorrow to set-up an interview.

i was also originally hoping to have a solid 20+ minutes for the documentary but i have a feeling that i may not have the full time for that. i've also been thinking about having small video segments from my macbook instead of/replacing parts of the narration.

Capstone Status as of 11/3/10

This is the first update for my capstone project. I've been really busy and forgot to change this from an old class.

My original idea for a capstone project was to cover how Indiana's school music industry is losing state funding, but a lack of materials forced me to switch my topic a few weeks into the semester.

Now I am making a documentary about hookah smoking, which is smoking flavored pure tobacco and molasses through a water pipe. This is a growing trend in America, but is a long standing tradition in many countries and cultures. My reason for making this my topic is to find my own solid evidence of whether hookah smoking could be considered a better alternative than smoking cigarettes. Most of the reviewed information I consider inconclusive due to the investigators not taking into account the vast difference between hookah tobacco and cigarette tobacco, which is pure tobacco and molasses for flavoring instead of the 400+ chemicals found in cigarettes.

I have found a interviewees for this documentary that are very involved in the hookah industry. They are shop owners and enthusiasts that are very knowledgeable and personable which will the interviews seem less ameturish. I also have doctors lined up, one being a hookah smoker himself. This was a very exciting find for me.

I also have a rough list of questions, that I will be updating soon. So far they are (copied from my treatment):

• Questions:
• Hookah industry:
• · Name/role with hookah
• · How long have you been involved with this?
• · How did you learn your trade?
• · Can you give me a history of water pipes?
• · What are different types of waters pipes you’ve used/seen?
• · What are the average ingredients in hookah tobacco?
• · How much smoke would one person inhale in one hour?
• · Do you smoke cigarettes?
• · Is it addicting?
• Medical
• · Name/position
• · Where did you go to school?
• · Have you worked on any projects involving smoking? Papers? Conferences?
• · What do you know about smoking cigarettes?
• · Do you know the differences between cigarette and hookah tobacco?
• · What’s the difference between the two?
• · What are the long-term and short-term effects can hookah have on someone who smokes 3 times a week?
• · Are there any benefits, physical, mental, social or cultural to smoking hookah?
• · Have you ever smoked hookah or cigarettes?
• · Is it addicting?

My next steps will be to story board, come up with an art directions, and a chapter sequence.

seeing vs looking

this assignment calls for us to take a LOOK at the difference between seeing and looking.

i think of looking as the most basic way of viewing something. as in looking at something without searching for something; without breaking down the visual landscape and without having a designer's eye for whatever you're looking at.

seeing something is different. i see movies and videos. i break down images and videos by seeing what makes an image an image. the rules of thirds being followed, the color schemes, the motion put on it, and how it's edited.

i remember as a kid i would try to figure out what the film crew was doing to get the shots they had. after i took my first video class i learned basic editing i knew how much effort an editor would put into every single clip. the more i learned, the more i SAW with video clips.

that's what i think the difference is between seeing and looking.

who the hell i am

this assignment came at a perfect time in my life. last semester i thought i had myself figured out pretty well but before winter break some changes happened that have affected me more than i thought.

i asked one of my fraternity brothers to tell me who i am for this assignment and even he had trouble telling me, based on the changes i've made this year. what we could both agree with is that i want to be successful and hard working as well as fun and out going.

the next person i asked is also a fraternity brother, but one of our new guys that doesn't know me that well. his response was "a funny, out going guy who works hard. he's like a tuxedo shirt, because it says i'm classy, but i like to party'".

i wish i had finished this little animation that could go along with this project, but lack of time this weekend won't allow it.

recap of class 3/29

so i presented the video, kinda a 2-fer since i'm afraid of public speaking too. i was nervous about how ppl would react to the music i chose, but it was my choice and i liked it. half of the reason i chose that would be to hype up the anxiety i felt about the music choice if that makes any sense.

then we talked religion. the end.

fear 2/2

my experiment was a success. i was able to look my fear in the face through a fairly safe manor and i definately feel more comfortable around it.

for those who don't know, i am deathly afraid of heights. for example, for spring i went to panama city with about 20ish friends. our room was on the 15th floor and the hallways were exposed to the outside. whenever we traveled to/from our room i would walk as close to the wall as i could; i couldn't even look over the edge. we had guys in another hotel who were on the 19th floor, and were surrounded by concrete. each time i would take a look, all i could see was gravity pulling me down to the concrete.

my experiment was simple, and my girlfriend's idea. she's a lifeguard at the iu nat(atorium), and during one of the lifeguard's inservice sessions they let me walk out on each of the diving platforms and look over the edge. granted i used to swim, and if i did fall there i would land in water, i was still scared sh!tless the first time i went all the way up.

i was actually surprised with people's reactions.

• my girlfriend had explained my fear to all the lifeguards
• they actually cheered when i was all the way up
• aly (gf) was running camera and was a solid model of support
  
• i originally didn't think that this would have any effect on my phobia, but...

i am now not afraid to look down when i'm going to work on the 3rd floor of the campus center. what starts the fear is my overactive imagination. i see myself falling over for whatever reason and all i can think about is the impact. i still see these visualizations, but now i'm not afraid of them.

i've always wanted to go skydiving even though i know i'm so afraid of heights but now i really want to go more because i feel that would help with this phobia that i'm starting to overcome.

for my project i'm making a video, but unfortunately i've had some issues with file formats. i just now was able to convert them into usable files and will start editing now, so hopefully i will have a finished product to show you.

feat 1/2

so since not many ppl know my phobia, and the ones that do won't be there when i conduct it, I SCIENTIFICALLY PREDICT THAT THE CROWD REACTION TO MY EXPERIMENT WILL BE MINIMAL IF ANYONE NOTICES AT ALL. however i can tell that my reaction will be full of fear. i tried to face these fears over spring break in panama city, and sober or not i am still afraid of this phobia, no matter who i'm with or any other circumstance.

my experiment will be conducted around 9pm at the nat on tuesday if anyone wants to come watch, or help document, it will be greatly appreciated.

class 3/1 recap

so class was interesting. the rock show (get it?) was cool. the food was...well i didn't try it. i ate before class. i'm glad i finally showed the class my animation. i wasn't too happy with the result but i was glad i'm finally getting the stones to speak in front of class.

stumble stuff

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2cfNuJ/notdoppler.com/multitask.php
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2WazJ4/blogoscoped.com/files/stripes.html
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1wIb2m/andyslife.org/games/sand.php
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/Abj4BJ/www.nowpublic.com/frozen_tsunami_waves_antartica_0
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2sdryK/copybot.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/the-50-most-interesting-articles-on-wikipedia/
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1voS5U/www.youtube.com/watch%253Fv%253DLkOnsIhIcu8
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2ulOHa/www.neave.com/lab/misc/imagination.html

onions = ogars

so this project was simple and fun. it's not exactly the most elaborate thing ever, but if you don't laugh you really shouldn't be in this class. these are always funny.

this is a little video i put together in ae last night.

class reaction 2/22

so today was pretty relaxing, which was needed. i was at a concert last night, and was hurting in the morning...and still a little drunk.

i was hoping to show my video i made so i can get some critiquing on it, but it wasn't that big of a deal. i liked watching ink too. it was different than most movies, and it was hard to get the story at first, but it was great after that.

free time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88XWIrdNvNA

for my time off from class, i worked on this video project. we shot this the friday before class and i had been editing it over time, but i went to put the final touches and the after effects intro in it on monday.

any free time i have i usually take up with playing guitar or video games. however i did have some time to think about free time and bliss. i'm not a fan. i like to be busy, and sitting around not doing something bothers me.

unfortunately i didn't really break any rules. this video was for a contest for the EPA and first place is $2500, so i thought it would be good to follow the rules instead of break them for this project.

circles shite

1. circles - incubus (music)

2. COCO

3. iphone (the home button)

4. tape reels

5. film reels

6. fans

7. @

8. pots

9. pans

10. blackberry (track ball)

11. light bulbs

12. screws

13. speakers

14. sound waves

15. the gerbil tubes (at iupui)

16. wheels

17. drums

18. 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

19. traffic

20. working at fedex (same shit over and over again)

21. fraternity meetings

22. doing laundry

23. driving a train

24. seasons

25. life

26. jay leno's never ending career

27. ZTB's tendency to pull my boss's strings

28. homework!!

29. COD: MW2

30. jimmy john's!!!!

Seeing sideways 2/8

so this was the third seeing sideways class.

i thought it was pretty cool that we turned off the lights to help get us out of our shells. i also like it because i get to sit back, rest my eyes, and wear my new sunglasses and get away with it all.

i also like the lack of structure in the class. obviously there's a point to everything, but it's not like a typical class.

lastly i'm getting used to the creativity of everyone else in the class.

crop circles

so this week we're supposed to blog about crop circles....or something like that.

i can't lie about this one, i think they're fake. a bunch of people that have senses of humor were able to gullible people to believe aliens had an important message for us. they say that they came all the way to this planet to leave a message imprinted on our corn and peas. i think this because i would do the same thing if i was in their position. i would like to know how much unexplained phenomena can be explained due to someone's prank that was never explained and that secret died out with them.

think about it. stonehenge, flying saucers, crop circles; how do we know these things aren't due to pranksters like me. people who would put their son in a balloon and set it free, but not really? someone who would broadcast an alien invasion based off of pure creativity? someone who would walk around their new house at 4 in the morning to trick their roommates that the house is haunted....like me?

now obviously i don't believe in things like ghosts, and i don't believe aliens are coming down to here see how well we wipe our butts, but i can't explain everything. somethings probably do have an explanation other than someone had a sense of humor, or got drunk and doesn't remember what they did, or whatever really happened. no one knows, and proving something will take a lot of evidence to convince any skeptics. almost to the point that it's not even worth trying. from what i can see we have better things to spend our time and money on.

so as for crop circles, who knows? if i try to voice an opinion on it, i'm sure someone will spend way too much time and energy to prove me wrong seeing as how youtube and wikipedia say it's quite a controversial topic. instead i'll just say that i like to think of unexplained phenomena with the simplest, more humorous explanation possible.

RULES

so here i am, sunday night, watching the end of the longest yard (newer). earlier today i helped my dad setup a new tv stand for his new big ass tv, and then did laundry and setup my new mac book pro.

that doesn't really have anything to do with rules though.

a few rules i really can't stand:

1) the requirements to get a driver's license.
i believe it should be harder to get a drivers license. i have defensive driver training from a trucking job i used to have, and i know i'm over critical about driving, but the way some people drive here is just ridiculous.

2) the big 21.
i really don't like the alcohol rules here. i'm basing this on the result of a study done in germany. there has never been an alcohol related accident on the autobahn. i think that's pretty impressive. it's because you can drink as early as 16 in germany. who are you with when you're that young? with family. people who take care of you, not some frat boys in college you just met a few months ago. another reason why they're so much more responsible is because they have a higher tolerance. i strongly believe that if the drinking age was lowered people would be able to show more responsible drinking habits.

3) phones and driving.
i know for a fact i can text and drive. not that i'm arrogant but i do know i'm coordinated enough to text and keep my eyes on the road. if i can do that in a 30ft box truck, i think i'll be ok in my little s10. however, not everyone else is. as much as it pains me to say this, i think this should be made a law that anyone under the age of 21 shouldn't be allowed to text and drive. the majority of people that do this are kids who have just gotten their license, and i think they need a lot of experience to make sure they have basic driving skills.

4) whaling in oklahoma
this one's just because i hate whale wars, and it's illegal to whale in oklahoma. there's no point for that.

5) iupui parking
i think everyone will be putting this down. iupui's parking rules are ridiculous. i parked at a meter on a friday night (10ish) for 5 minutes to drop off camera equipment and got a ticket for not paying the meter. if you use a meter downtown you don't pay after 6pm weekdays or at all on weekends. i also got a ticket on wednesday of last spring break at 1030 for parking in front of the campus apartments. who makes these poor people work these hours?

rules i'd like to see:

1) airport scanning
i'd like to see the new airport body scanners made mandatory for every passenger on a commercial flight. safety is the number one priority for the faa, and part of safety is security. i know people don't like the fact there could potentially be a revealing image of themselves, but i'd rather have that than some idiot trying to blow himself up.

2) shotgun rule
as a male, in a fraternity, we need a physical set of solid rules for shotgun, or who gets to sit in the front seat of a car. i've heard rules like you have to be outside, or you have to be within sight of the car but nobody can agree. also, wtf is with this "challenge" coming around?

3) student discounts. for EVERYTHING
as a working student (2 jobs, jagtv and fedex) money is important. and very tight in this economy. i would love to have discounts for food, supplies, gas, even alcohol. of course if this happened i would probably get a degree in everything and be a career college student.

4) changes on the death penalty
regardless of political party affiliation, i'm for the death penalty. i don't like using tax payer money to keep murderers, child molesters, thieves and other criminals alive in prisons with increasing populations. i feel that instead of spending $100,000 on lethal injection, we should revert back to the old school method of death by firing squad or hanging. some people call this uncivilized but keeping criminals that deserve it alive is worse.

5) free beer fridays
pretty much explains itself.

First vertical viewing class

The first class yesterday was pretty cool. We first introduced a partner then presented the egg projects. The weather outside was pretty crazy.

I noticed that some of my class mates are very creative and aren't afraid to show it. This tells me I need to open up more and not be so afraid to announce what I'm thinking.

Thinking 'bout that EGG

So I've started this blog as required by my seeing sideways class, which is interesting so far to say the least. I mean how many people take classes that have the homework "blog your thoughts about an egg"? I like it, so here it goes.

After grabbing probably the best kind of egg of all time and any dimensions, I had one thought: who was the first guy to want to eat this thing after it's come out of a chicken's butt? He/she couldn't have been completely there, if you know what I mean. However that thought got me going to another thought I've been thinking for a long time: How much work has it taken to get from the stone age to present conditions.

Some of the most brilliant people have changed the world for the better, and most people today take that for granted. I know I couldn't survive without a computer or cell phone and people like me used to be made fun of (I'm old enough to remember that). Now we have people that are so desperate for things like the internet they have wireless routers you can install on your car....for use while you're driving. Even that's starting to be outdated since everyone now has a blackberry or iphone and doesn't need wifi to plant crops in Farmville.

I think about an egg and am reminded of how far we've come in the years we have. At this rate my dad might get the jetpack for daily commuting like he's been wanting since he was 5. I'll get my flying car to avoid traffic, and then I'll be the old guy telling my kids "back in my day, not everything was a touch screen interface and cars drove on the road.

*Ironically enough, Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin". I'm dead serious.

The egg I thought about, which was a Cadbury egg by the way, makes me think about all the technology we have and what will come in the future.