Documentary Proposal

For my documentary, I want to show how generations have changed using the perspective of childhood. How are children different now than they were ten years ago, twenty years ago, so on and so forth. I plan to interview a few people from each age group. From kids to elderly, all giving their perspectives on childhood and how they lived, or living as a child. There are three different types questionnaire, the first being for the kids (ages 5-12) asking them what they do now, and what they think kids from a decade ago did, and what they think their parents did as a child. The second questionnaire is for the adults (13+) asking them what they did as a child and what they think is different about children today from when they were a child. The age of the second questionnaire is still debatable, since teenagers are still kids themselves and are not yet adult, but this documentary is focused more on primary childhood age. A third questionnaire made for teenagers, combining questions from the two is a possibility.

A few examples of the questions (from both questionnaires) I will ask are:

1.     What is fun to you?

2.     What is boring?

3.     What is dangerous?

4.     What is good?

5.     What is bad?

6.     What is disrespectful?

7.     How much time do you spend (spent) playing outside?

8.     How much time do you spend (spent) inside? (watching tv/video games/computer/etc.

9.     What do you think kids were ten years ago?

10 What do you think your parents did when they were your age?

11 What are different about kids today than when you were a kid?

12 What’s the same?

13 What do you think about kids today? (Pros/cons)

14 What do you want to be when you grow up?

15 What did you want to be when you grew up?

16 What is (was) your favorite toy?

17 What is (was) your favorite show?

18 What kind of music do (did) you listen to? (favorite artist/band)

I plan on filming the interviewers as they answer the question, and get footage of kids and what they do on daily basis (playing on a playground, watching tv, playing games, running around etc.) And possibly what teenagers/adults do on a daily basis (homework, work, hanging out with friends, social interaction) And maybe showing pictures of when adults were children and children holding/playing with their favorite toy. 

Documentary Proposal

For my documentary, I want to show how generations have changed using the perspective of childhood. How are children different now than they were ten years ago, twenty years ago, so on and so forth. I plan to interview a few people from each age group. From kids to elderly, all giving their perspectives on childhood and how they lived, or living as a child. There are three different types questionnaire, the first being for the kids (ages 5-12) asking them what they do now, and what they think kids from a decade ago did, and what they think their parents did as a child. The second questionnaire is for the adults (13+) asking them what they did as a child and what they think is different about children today from when they were a child. The age of the second questionnaire is still debatable, since teenagers are still kids themselves and are not yet adult, but this documentary is focused more on primary childhood age. A third questionnaire made for teenagers, combining questions from the two is a possibility.

A few examples of the questions (from both questionnaires) I will ask are:

1.     What is fun to you?

2.     What is boring?

3.     What is dangerous?

4.     What is good?

5.     What is bad?

6.     What is disrespectful?

7.     How much time do you spend (spent) playing outside?

8.     How much time do you spend (spent) inside? (watching tv/video games/computer/etc.

9.     What do you think kids were ten years ago?

10 What do you think your parents did when they were your age?

11 What are different about kids today than when you were a kid?

12 What’s the same?

13 What do you think about kids today? (Pros/cons)

14 What do you want to be when you grow up?

15 What did you want to be when you grew up?

16 What is (was) your favorite toy?

17 What is (was) your favorite show?

18 What kind of music do (did) you listen to? (favorite artist/band)

I plan on filming the interviewers as they answer the question, and get footage of kids and what they do on daily basis (playing on a playground, watching tv, playing games, running around etc.) And possibly what teenagers/adults do on a daily basis (homework, work, hanging out with friends, social interaction) And maybe showing pictures of when adults were children and children holding/playing with their favorite toy. 

Assessment 4

1.  1.What was your initial reaction to the Big Idea Project?
   
   

   Initially, I had been a bit confused at what I had to have my Big Idea.  I was unsure what was 

   
   

   considered a "Big Idea" and what wasn't, but soon I realized I shouldn't think too hard about it.

   
   

    I just needed to think of a Big Idea that I can relate to, and that anything really could be my Big 

   
   

   Idea.  Then, I thought the Big Idea was a great project because we had a bit more freedom with

   
   

   this project than the others. 

   
   
   
   
2. 2.What was the biggest challenge you experienced doing the projects?
   
   

   The biggest challenges I experienced doing this project was just coming up with the ideas 

   
   

   really.  Since we didn't have a set assignment for what we had to do, that was a little difficult.

   
   

   Thinking of what you can film, while being under certain restrictions took a lot of thought.

   
   
   
   
3. 3.How much did the Idea Blog and the first writing assignments help you to create works of art?
   
   

   The Idea Blog helped me brain storm and get into the flow of things.  Often times when I was 

   
   

   stuck on a video idea for the Big Idea Project, I would often refer back to my brain storm ideas,

   
   

   and go from there.  Also, the artist influence was an inspiration for my videos as well. 

   
   

4. 4.How often did you find yourself coming back to the Idea Blog for inspiration or reminders?
   
   

   Very often.  Just like I explained above, my Idea Blog always helps me and gets the gears in my 

   
   

   turning for ideas when I get stuck.  And the artist influence is also a big influence for not just my 

   
   

   videos, but for other artwork as well.  I think I could always use my Idea Blog, and I will

   
   

   probably still use it even beyond the Big Idea Project. 

   
   
   
   
5. 5.What part of the project was the most meaningful and important to you personally?
   
   

   I think coming up with the Big Idea was the most meaningful part to me, because it relates to

   
   

   me, and how I think and feel personally. 

   
   
6. 6.How did you structure your time to meet deadlines?
   
   

   It was hard to structure my time to meet deadlines, when there has to be three videos due at a

   
   

   certain time, it was difficult to make a schedule when I should have each video done. 

   
   

   Especially when it comes to slow workers like me.

   
   
   
    7.What would you change about your own time management if given a second chance?
   
   

   I would probably give a more well thought out schedule.  Not just for when I should get videos 

   
   

   done, but for when I should film, edit, etc. 

   
   
   
7. 
   
8. 8.Do you think I had appropriate expectations of what you could do in the given time? Why or why not?
   
   

   I feel like it could go either way, honestly.  Some people really are slow when it comes to work, 

   
   

   I'm very slow, and so it kind of seems that a month for three videos to be done is very hard to

   
   

   achieve.  However, for those who work at a more steady pace I believe a month is enough time

   
   

   to get three videos done.  In the end, I feel like this is a lesson, and that I need to figure out how

   
   

   to work faster and not worry about the little things in projects.  

   
   
   
   
   
   
9. 9.How could I have helped you achieve more?
   
   I don't think there was anything you could have done, it's not that I had any problems or
9. 
   complications.  All issues were due to my behalf.
   
   

   
   

   10.    What is your current opinion of the Big Idea Project?
10. I thought it was a wonderful and well thought out idea.  I think it gives students to express

    
    

    themselves more and think outside the box and experiment with their own style of artwork.

Assignment 3: Artist Influence - Robert Longo

An artist that influences me is Robert Longo. His artwork is very expressive, using people doing poses or actions in a overdramatic way.

 

His artwork is a lot like the same, almost repetitive, but at the same time it's captivating and interesting. I can't pick just two pieces of his work to put here. 

To me, Longo's use of people in dramatic poses seem to speak a lot about how people sometimes feel on a day to day basis. They are often dressed in formal/work attire, which I think speaks a lot about their daily working lives and the frustrations and stress that comes with. I think it says a lot about how we all have to obey or commit to a certain daily ritual day by day in order to make a living in the world. I almost get a zombie feel to some of these pieces, as if we are slaves to our repetitive daily routines.

I feel like Robert Longo's art is a lot about people's longing to fulfill their desires but have to do what society expects us to do, and do what others think is appropriate, or right, or "normal". I feel like Longo's art is what people feel like behind their fake smiling faces, for those who are not truly happy in what they do. My Big Idea is having a sense of belonging, and I feel like a lot of the people within Longo's art lost their concept or feeling of what their sense of belonging is, and so they go along with the rest of society, because they have to and since they don't know where they belong, they go with what they think they belong to, or what others think they belong to.

Assignment 2: Answering the Questions

Why do we all yearn for that feeling of acceptance?

Everyone wants to have that feeling that they're accepted for who they are, whether they are kids or adults. We yearn for it because it gives us a feeling of satisfaction or relief that it's okay to be who you are, and people respect who you are.

Why do some people pretend to be something that they’re not?

When it comes to the sense of belonging, some people, teenagers essentially, want to belong to a part of a clique or a group of people, it gives them a sense of importance they believe they lack. Even if the group won't accept who others really are, some people really focus on trying to mold themselves in that perfect fit the way others would like them to be, instead of trying to find a group that will accept them for who they are.

Why is it so hard to find who we are?

At a very young age, kids are influenced by their parents, siblings, peers, and media that sometimes as we get older we get lost on who we are, what we want to be, what our family wants us to be, what our peers tell us what's cool or not, and what the media tells us what's cool or what's not. We get tangled up in what others say who we are, rather than what we say who we are. As we get older, it becomes more difficult for some, to the point where it's hard to know exactly, sometimes we don't know at all until we start to search within ourselves.

Why do we constantly try to search for who we are?

Your identity is like a 1,000 piece puzzle that you are putting together since birth until adulthood, and probably are still putting pieces together even then. If we don't know who we are, it's like having a giant hole in your chest. We yern to find our belonging and who we are in order to fill that hole, because it doesn't feel right.

Why aren’t we all the same?

It would be a boring, boring world if we were all the same. We wouldn't learn about the differences in the world which are essential in everyday life. We would just associate with people just like ourselves, and where is the learning in that?

Why are we all different?

Differences are what make the world. Different personalities, different opinions, different ideas, different people. You will constantly meet people who are different and disagree with what you believe in, and that's okay. Because we are all different, we learn to tolerate and to accept, and to make ourselves a more rounded.

What is normal?
Normal has such a broad definition, and is constantly being debated about. What exactlyis normal? What's "normal" to someone is just a matter of opinion. What might be normal to one person, might not be to another. It depends on how you were raised, and the environment you live in. Everyone has different views and opinions on the world, and what's considered "normal" in it.

What is strange?

Just like normal, strange is just a matter of opinion. What might be strange to someone, is normal to someone else and vice versa. Everyone's brains works differently, and everyone is raised differently. So in retrospect, isn't everyone strange in some way?

Assignment 1: The Big Idea - Sense of Belonging

Big Idea: Sense of belonging

Potential Topics: deviating from social norms, the missing piece, loss of identity, found identity, cliques, outsider looking in, peer pressure, community, linked chains, broken chains, depression, happiness, feeling of relief, coming together

v  Why do we all yearn for that feeling of acceptance?

v  Why do some people pretend to be something that they’re not?

v  Why is it so hard to find who we are?

v  Why do we constantly try to search for who we are?

v  Why aren’t we all the same?

v  Why are we all different?

v  What is normal?

v  What is strange?

v  Sense of belonging is about finding what fits you

v  Sense of belonging is about finding what doesn’t fit you

v  Sense of belonging is about finding what doesn’t fit you

v  Sense of belonging is about being who you are

v  Sense of belonging is about who you are not

v  Sense of belonging is about searching for you purpose

v  Sense of belonging is about sense of community

v  Sense of belonging is about filling that empty hole

v  Sense of belonging is about different kinds of people

v  Sense of belonging is about individuality

v  Sense of belonging is about reaching out to others