garyuniverse

2007-04-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Friday's interview went really well. Though Dr. B gave us a short amount of time to work with I think we got a lot done. Unfortunately Mrs. Dorris was feeling under the weather so we did not get to follow her around the house for b-roll or get a lot of pictures of them and their family. We did manage to film a few things around the house and the round table but we are filming again next friday so we may be able to get that if Mrs. Dorris is feeling any better. We already have a good amount of b-roll but I would like to get a little more, especially since the first time we went to their home Mrs. Dorris was so excited about showing us around. So i guess until friday we will just be working on the pproduction binder.

2007-04-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

we met in the library this morning and went over everything we need to get this weekend. travis went to Duke last weekend and shot some b-roll of the clock tower and some other things and yesterday he went with Dr. B to Wake Forrest where Dr. B has another group he meets with weekly. Travis got some footage of Dr. B, the meeting and some b-roll also. Tomorrow Travis and Matt will meet at McDaniel's for some more b-roll and MMM footage and afterward I will meet them both at Dr. B's house where we will conduct another interview. We went over the questions we would like to ask and made a list for Dr. B to look over. We hope to get a little more specific with this set of questions as this interview will be just with Dr. B and not Mrs. Dorris. We have asked that Mrs. Dorris gather some photos together for us of them when they were younger as well as their sons and anything else she would like to show us for us to use as b-roll. Also, since all three of us will be there this time two of us will work on the interview while the other takes the tour around the house with Mrs. Dorris for some more b-roll. all in all I think we are coming along nicely. We are going to start working on the production binder individually this week and we will meet next thursday morning to get everything in order. that's all we've got for now.

2007-04-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Travis and I finally got to interview Dr Bennett this past weekend. We were able to visit him and his wife and they were both very nice and helpful. Mrs. Dorothea is having some health issues, which will be a major part of our dovumentary, though she did make it through a good hour of the interview. I think it was the Arri light kit that really bothered her as they put off so much heat. We sat them next to each other and they both opened up to us with great ease. They actually gave us more than we had expected, answering questions we didn;t even think off asking and sparking ideas for future interviews. There was a load of B-roll footage all over the house that Mrs. Dorothea was very anxious to show us though we ran out of time. We will have a chance to go back again to take the tour and get footage of family pictures, Dr. B's library and anything else we can. There seemed to be loads and loads of B-roll in their house. The joint interview was great but we wtill have to get footage of Dr. B on his own and a more specific interview, which he also actually told us he wanted to do. He mentioned some questions he would like to answer and a few things he would like to show us like the "round table" upstairs where the group actually started years back. I also think class this week was very helpful. Beyond the festival information, discussing our project with Shannon did us a lot of good. We made some really big changes/decisions last night which is going to help us zero in on the more important issues for our doc. I don't know if we are going to be able to line anything up for this weekend because everyone is busy with Easter but we have plenty to keep us busy over the weekend. Happy Easter.

2007-03-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

alright, friday was good for us. we all met at 5am and got some b-roll footage at mcdaniel farms and also set up for a few interviews for next week. The weather was great and there seemed to be a pretty good turnout which was good for our shot of all the cars showing up adn filling the parking lot. Thad has been sick and his voice is all raspy so we decided to hold off on his interview and Dr Bennett is also very busy this week so we will be fitting him in next week as well. luckily we have not had any real trouble with checking out equipment so far which is very good considering what i keep hearing from other people running into problems. we have already got a few shoots lined up for next week and the equipment is already requested so now all we have to do is hope everyone remains healthy enthusiastic. travis has been busting his butt lately and with all of these interviews coming up i hope to be more help to him than i feel like i have been. he has kept contact with a lot of people and has been quick on his feet when problems present themselves and is doing a wonderful job of keeping the entire project on track, which is amazing to me considering all the other things he has going on outside of this project. luckily all of our schedules are still holding up though it is pretty hard to get together at just the right time and work around other people's schedules as well. beyond this i think we just need to concentrate on the interviews and getting some time with Dr Bennett. i feel like we are on the right track and this coming week should be both busy and very helpful to us.

2007-03-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

As far as the B-Roll reading goes I did pick up on a few things that seem pretty elementary though I didn’t really think about. One tip was to “Never leave a talking head without hand shots.” We did talk about this in class but it really is a great help to the editing proccess. I also think that Lexi’s group’s interview looked really good and the fact that we could see the subject’s hands lent a lot to it.

The BBC Pre-Interview technique is also not a bad idea. Even though the video we are shooting is nowhere near as expensive as 16mm, the idea of concentrating on sound seams very helpful. Though we most likely would have video to accompany the audio we would still have good audio if the footage was badly lit, shaky or any other possible problem arose. In this case, we could still use the audio with reenactments or other footage. This kind of eases my mind when thinking about messing up a shot. The stock footage could be very helpful as well and I will definitely keep this in mind when we begin to shoot the interviews.

The interviews are something we are currently working on. As we found in class on Wednesday a lot of people that Travis approached tended to answer the questions in a similar, very vague fashion. I think it was very helpful to actually sit down and watch this with the class because it certainly pointed out several areas which we need to concentrate on including sound, interview setting/background and especially encouraging/leading the interviewee to answer questions with more detailed and personal responses. I know a lot of this will have to do with our initial questions but I also think we will need to develop an ear for these “safe answers” and figure out a way to get the responses we need.

2007-02-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

Our group met thursday morning as usual and discussed some of the questions that we were asked by Lexi's group the night before. We are beginning to realise that our project is going to focus considerably more on Dr. Bennett than mentoring itself. This is actually good because I think i was getting a little to involved in explaining the history and process of mentoring when in actuallity there is no reason to do this. We also discussed the Proposal/Treatment assignment and split the Proposal amongst ourselves. We then met again this morning (Monday), pieced together our Proposal and discussed the Treatment and List of Possible Sequences. The Proposal came together nicely and we feel a little more comfortable about the Treatment now having discussed it further. We are currently trying to pinpoint our points of drama and come up with a solid structure for the film.
As far as my position in the group goes I think I am able to look at our project more from the outside as I am not an active church-goer nor do I necessarily consider myself Christian. While Matt and Travis have helped tremendously in building a story, making multiple contacts and keeping us on track I have found myself serving as a counter to any unintentional spiritual bias. We have proven to be a well rounded team and I am glad we are all able to bring such diverse ideas into the project. I think this is the right project for me as I hope to both promote all forms of mentoring as well as become more familiar with something that my predominantly Christian family can relate to. I think the level of importance our project reaches will be determined on how successful we are at showing the power and importance of mentoring relationships both globally as well as on a local scale (MMM).

2007-02-14T07:14:00.000-08:00

Reach for the Stars: Mentors Make Futures Bright- Lisa S. Stamps

Defines mentoring and discusses history of mentoring from Bible to the character of Mentor in the Odyssey. Discusses steps of the mentoring process and its potential to help youth development.

Mentoring Youth: Trend and Tradition- Christine Bennetts

Defines the differences of formal (organised by a third party) and traditional (happen naturally) mentoring relationships. Also the article contains a few interviews on how mentoring relationships started and how they were helpful to the mentee. "Young people obviously appreciate being appreciated. It is most important for them to hae relationships in which they feel they are taken seriously and that people have confidence in them."

Core Virtues for the Practice of Mentoring- Peter F. Wilson

Proposes three central virtues (integrity, courage and care) in significance to the mentor character. Discusses the benefits of mentoring for proteges and especially minority group members. Touches on character in psychology, management and spritual direction literature. "Spiritual direction is clearly distinct from mentoring, in that the primary objective of the relationship i sto develop the directee's spiritual resources with an intent to prepare him or her for Christian ministry."

The Power of Positive Relationships: Mentoring Programs in the School and Community- Eleanor Guetzloe

Discusses history of mentoring in America from providing middle-class role models for poor children to the formation of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. Also gives a few examples of mentoring programs that have developed aiming to meet the needs of disadvantaged youth. Defines a few types of mentoring (traditional, long term, short term, team mentoring) and discusses how programs vary due to goals, target populations, locations, sponsors and depth and length of relationships. "No ideal model exists; programs must grow out of their local contexts, be based on local needs and resources, and be developed collaborativelly be representative participants."

Improving the Mentoring Process- Kathy E. Kram

Questions the effectiveness of mentoring programs to implement change in jobs and schools.

2007-02-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

5 documentaries that may relate to our project:

Jesus Camp- Heidi Ewing/ Rachel Grady
This documentary is about a group of children who attend summer camp to strengthen their prophetic skills and "take back America for Jesus." This film does focus on Christianity and seems a bit obtrusive which is something we do not want to do with out project.

Bukowski: Born Into This- JohN Dullaghan
This is a documentary about Charles Bukowski, a writer and poet who influenced many. The film is made up of readings and interviews with Bukowski as well as those who he influenced. This may relate to our project in that it is a case study of a certain individual and how he influenced many.

Life of Buddha- Martin Meissonnier
This documentary explores Buddhism an dthe story of Shiddhartha and his spiritual transformation into the Buddha. Though Buddhism is the "religion of no religion" and we do not intend to focus primarily on the Christian religion, I think that the insights of Buddhist scholars and spiritual leaders may relate to experienced views of Dr. B and other men of the ministry.

Nobelity- Turk Pipkin
This film combines the insights of nine Nobelists and their first person views on world problems and the children who will face them. This relates directly to the idea of paving a way for our youth by teaching them from an early age on. By exposing our children to such information and mentoring them they will have a better chance of successfully solving/facing their problems when the time comes whether spiritual, economic, environmental...

Though this probably doesn't count as it has yet to be released, or named for that matter:
Gary Walters, a man from Minnesota, and his four children ages 10 to 15 are walking accross the state of Minnesota to raise awareness and money for the importance of youth mentoring. The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota’s Executive Youth Board is co-producing a half-an-hour documentary on mentoring with Twin Cities Public Television scheduled to debut in October. Though we obviously can't watch this, it is the only thing i could find about the idea of mentoring.

2007-01-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

Last week we got together and watched Nobody's Business, a documentary in which the filmmaker interviewed his father in hopes of learning more about himself and his family heritage. Throughout the film the father finds the idea of his life being interesting quite absurd and most of his son's questions silly and unnecessary. Though guarded and unconcerned, the father radiates intellegence and is often very funny. The style in which this film was shot seemed to combine historical and biographical elements. As the father failed to answer many questions about their family's past, the son began to research and find many facts such as names, birthplaces, times of death and even distant relatives with the same name. I enjoyed this film very much and after watching it I feel I have a better idea of the use of certain styles.
Though our group has yet to decide on or discover a style appropriate for our project I have a feeling it will be a Process style, which will include Biographical, Journey and a bit of Historical as well. As far as the Process style goes I am sure we will focus on a succession of events which will include a biographical study of Dr. Bennett, his journey through education and clergy to his present position as pastor/mentor and the obstacles which he has faced in the past and hopes to overcome in the future. As I mentioned in earlier posts we hope to include a Historical view of the subject of mentoring as well.
A few ideas as to who we hope to interview (other than Dr. Bennett) include men from each of the three catagories of mentorees in the program. Interviewing several "laymen" would be ideal as to gain an understanding from different backgrounds and viewpoints of reasons for seeking guidance through Christian mentorship. Interviewing those interested in becoming clergymen would give us an idea of some goals these men hope to achieve on their way to entering the ministry. Interviewing those already in the ministry would further our understanding of the importance of mentoring and uncover another set of goals which they hope to achieve and why. I am most interested in the idea of interviewing a man who has had Dr. Bennett as a mentor and has himself become a mentor to others. This should give us an idea of what up and coming mentorees may aspire to be and illuminate the importance of mentoring as a networking process.

2007-01-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

Our group found some time to meet before class on wednesday which is the first time all three of us have met together at the same time. We discussed our schedules and how we might find some way to work around school and our jobs so that we could find atleast one permenant time we can meet each week. My work schedule is a little tricky because it changes weekly but I think Thursdays are going to be our best bet. We also discussed the topic itself and where we stood as far as progress goes. We are going to meet Friday morning to watch the documentary Nobody's Business which will hopefully give us some insight into certain styles as we are kind of struggling to choose one of our own. Though we have decided that mentoring will be our topic and Dr. Bennett will no doubt become a case study, we would like to find a way to also focus on the idea and purpose of mentoring in itself as opposed to just documenting Dr. Bennett's intentions in mentoring. This has already proven to be pretty difficult. We briefly discussed what positions each of us may be interested in crew-wise and decided we will probably just shuffle around as far as researching and camera operation goes. I felt a little overwhelmed before class but once we finished discussing everyones potential projects and finding interviewees and styles I felt better as we had talked about a good portion of those things prior to class. Though there is still a lot to be done I am now a little more at ease with our current progress which I hope will help me focus more on what to do next instead of what to catch up on.

2007-01-19T12:55:00.000-08:00

My group's project is a documentary about mentoring. Dr. Bill Bennett will be the main focus of our project as well as the group/school he founded Mentoring Men for the Master. As posted on the website, Dr. Bennet's ministry is "dedicated to training , encouraging, restoring, and equipping young servants of Jesus in the Christian ministry." Though this statement is only a brief summary of what Dr. Bennett's ministry is about, any further knowledge may be gained by visting the website at www.mentoringmen.org.
Dr. Bennett has been a pastor for some 50 years so it can be said that the majority of values and teachings in his mentoring would be Christian based. Being an agnostic I have no biasis or personal issues with this other than my not claiming to be christian. I respect Christianity and value the religion's moral and spiritual foundation, yet I choose not to practice the religion myself. I think this is a great opportunity to learn more about a great man and his life long efforts to spread not only Christianity but also guidance and counsil for men around the world. Also, my entire family being Christian I value this project as an opportunity to learn more about a religion which they hold very dear and I know very little about.

2007-01-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

My main interests are cinematography and editing but honestly I am interested in just about every aspect of film. I am looking forward to learning much more about the camera itself in cinematography class and I have loved editing ever since I made videos with dual vcrs in high school. My main interest in the film industry is the fact that there are so many things that go into it that you could just get into almost any part of it. I also like that it often involves travel. At this point in my life I am ready to move around and try many things in many new places. I sincerely believe I could be happy working almost any position on a film set, from cinematographer to driving a truck around.

Current Classes
Cinematography
Film Production: Documentary

I attend school Mondays and Wednesdays from 2-9/9:30 and other than that I work bartending at Dockside Marina. My shedule at Dockside is different every week but I am almost always guaranteed to be working Tuesday and Saturday. For the most part my schedule at work is pretty flexible so I am able to work around school. This time of year is especially easy to get time off, however, starting April I will be working more due to sunny weather attracting more customers so my schedule will become increasingly demanding.