Journal 2_2

Question from last week:
What is the history behind a documentary?  Who first came up with the idea?  What were the first documentaries to start the genre?

Until the 1920s, film was limited to a short clip because of lack of technological innovations.  These films were short clips of one scene, and called "actuality" films.  These films evolved over time, from the 1890s to 1920 from "actuality" films to "travelogue films."  Travelogue films are considered "travel documentaries"  that were used to introduce different parts of the world in the early 20th centurty.  It wasn't unitl 1922 that the term "documentary" began to be used. 

The "Father Of Documentaries" and "pioneer of documentary film" is Robert J. Flaherty.  Born in Iron Mountain, Michigan in 1884, his life was destined for prosecting iron.  Without much schooling, Flaherty worked prospecting iron ore for ten years, where he gained his information for the his first film--and the first "documentary" film ever, Nanook of The North.  After his first success, he worked in the field of film for the rest of his life.  Working in London, England and the United States, he traveled the world filming documentaries.  Although none of his other works matched, Nanook of the North, he is widely considered the "father of documentary film."

This week in class:

A)  This week we watched a film called The Persuaders.  Another documentary, this one focused on the effects and techniques of large-scale marketing campagins in the United States.  The film focused on the starting of "Song Airlines," an airline targeted toward women, and it's unique marketing camapign.  It shows the amount of science and market research that goes into a marketing campaign, and the flaws of Song's failure.  The other topic we covered this week was that of our midterm documentary project.  We spent some of class focusing on our "storyboards" for each of our documentaries.  Never before did I realize how much planning goes into a documentary, or how much footage one has to sift through before getting a key edited part.

B)  The Persuaders was an eye-opening documentary into realizing how much science goes into tricking the consumer to buy something.   The most interesting part of the documentary to me was when they interveiwed a Frenchman who had moved to the United States and lived in a manison in a wealthy part of New York.  There, he held seminars for corporate advertisers to learn "the code" of a successful marketing campaigns.  It fascinates me that coporations will pay this man millions of dollars for advertising ideas, but advertising and the amount of "stuff" the consumer buys effects a company's success.  On average, a better marketed product will make more money than other competitors.  My own documentary, HYPE, is about the "hype" of Harry Potter 7.  I atteneded the premier last Thursday in order to video and interview those people who attend the midnight premiere, staying out till three in the morning, to claim they are the first to see the film.

C)  In The Persuaders, one of the main topics is that creating a product or advertising campaign that creates  a culture or lifestyle.  One example they use for this created "culture" is apple's iPod.  My own example is Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling has created a product that, ultimately, has become an icon for thousands of poeple around the globe.  In just Midlothain, Virginia, the entire "Commenwealth Stadium" movie theatre was sold out on Thursday, November 18th at midnight in order of the public to view the new product first.  People dress up like characters, join websites, and buy their tickets in July because of this craze.  The Persuaders goal is to allow this kind of craze over a store-bought product.  When people's emotions, memories and passions become involved in a media product, that is when the corporations know they have completeled their goal, and then they make a lot money. 

Question for Next Week:

In my research this week, I found a site by the "International Documentary Association."   What is this association about?  What films does it sponsor?  It is accredited all over the world?  When was it founded?

Sources:

Kuhn, Annete. "Flaherty, Robert." Screen Online, The Definitive Guide to Britian's Film and TV History. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/480547/.

"Documentary Film." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film.

"Robert J. Flaherty - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 27 Nov. 2010. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0280904/.

International Documentary Association. Web. 27 Nov. 2010.

Journal 2_1

Question From Last Week: How many different political parties are there in the US?  How many different little factions make up the two policial parties?

Since there are new political parties forming every day, it is hard to get a concrete list of the registered  policial parties in America.  From my research I did gather several major and minor parties I had never heard of before.  The two major parties--the ones every American hears about--are the Democrat and Republican parties.  The Democrat leaning liberal, the Republican leaning conservative.  All other political parties compromise with the platforms of these two parties, as to remain a 2 party system.  If a minor party decides to nominate a candidate, most likely all that will happen is the vote will split for the party in favor. 

There are several obscure minor parties.  On the national level the three largest are the Constitution, Libertarian and Green party.  The constitution party believes that all problems would be solved if the government went back to a strict contruction of the founding documents of the United States.  They believe in small government and that "when the government grows beyond scope, liberty is compromised."  The Libertarian party also believes in small governent.  It's slogan is, "Minimum Governemnt, Maximum Freedom."  Small government mainly is concerned with economic policies, and stresses a very free marked, "laizez-faire" economoic system.  The Libertarians also like to think that they focus on the American Heritage as well.  The Green Party is the most liberal of the three major minor parties.  It's main focus is consistutional reform through ammendments, but it's platform states much about promoting democracy to the masses, gun control, peaceful foreign policy and disarmament etc. 

There are many smaller political factions in the US as well, the list include the following and more:

• America First Party (2002)
• American Party (1968)
• American Patriot Party (2003)
• America's Independent Party (2008)
• Boston Tea Party (2006)
• Communist Party of the United States of America (1919)
• Florida Whig Party (2006)
• Independence Party of America (2007)
• Moderate Party (2006)
• Modern Whig Party (2008)
• National Socialist Movement (1959)
• New American Independent Party (2004)
• Objectivist Party (2008)
• Party for Socialism and Liberation (2004)
• Peace and Freedom Party (1967)
• Pirate Party of the United States (2006)
• Progressive Labor Party (1961)
• Prohibition Party (1869)
• Reform Party of the United States of America (1995)
• Socialist Equality Party (2008)
• Socialist Party USA (1973)
• Socialist Workers Party (1938)
• United States Marijuana Party (2002)
• Unity Party of America (2004)
• Workers Party (2003)
• Working Families Party (1998)

This Week in Class:

A)  This week the class examined two seperate and opposite things.  To begin the week, we spent a class studying the effect of bias in advertising and the idea of a "brand" name item versus the generic item. The class discussed why people are loyal to certain brands and what makes brands successful.  As always, the most discussed topic was food.  What is it that makes people trust Fresh Market, Ukrops or Whole Foods more than Food Lion or Kroger?  What attracts people to overpriced stores like Freshmarket?  What items--not only food--do people tend to be willing to spend more money on and why?  These were the questions answered in our discussion.  The next day, in celebrance of Veteran's Day, the class viewed "The Way We Get By," the first non-political documentary watched in class this year.  The documentary is about the Maine Troop Greeters-- a group of volunteers that live in Bangor, Maine.  Together, these people greet incoming and going troops for Bangor International Airport, a hotspot for military transports to Afghanistan and Iraq.  We examined the effect volunteering has on a person's well-being, especially veteran's and seniors.  Many people in the class had personal ties to family members/loved ones serving in the armed forces.  It was by far the most emotional documentary we have watched all year.

B) In the brand debate, we decided that people trust brands that are familiar, have good advertising and look professional.  The experience of a Whole Foods or Freshmarket draws people to shop at the overrpriced stores.  The rareness and quality of the food there almost makes the grocery store like a "museum of food."  In short, we concluded, we trust brand names because we know them, and we are willing to pay for items we care about and use on a day to day basis.  The documentary we watched, "The Way We Get By," had an emotional impact on me.  Putting aside everything we have learned this year, there was no bias or policial scandal--but only dear men and women setting out to do a good cause.  The movie was patriotic in the best way, and not once did it insult.  The themes of the film were inspiring, the people they interviewed were wise and likeable and the way they made the film was superb.  Learning that volunteering can actually extend your life years does not surprise me at all.  I believe the happier you are, the longer life you'll want to live.  Many people believe helping people is their first way of becoming happy, especially a man featered in "The Way We Get By",  Bill Knight, who believes the only thing left for him to do on this Earth that is beneficial is to help other.  In "The Way We Get By" everything from the music, the background on people, the storyline, the topic, the filming techniques of changing up the angles of the interview and voicing over the interview to other scenery made the film more interesting and able to hold a variety of topics.  I will take the ideas of this film and use them in my documentary.  From this documentary I learned the more interesting interviews a documentary has, the better film it is.

C)  Micheal Moores' documentaries are very different from "The Way We Get By."  Not just in content, but in style of making a documentary.  First of all, in "The Way We Get By" viewers do not see or hear from the documentarien once, the story is told soley through interviews.  Micheal Moore is featured in several of his video clips and voices his opinions loudly throughout all of his films.  There are no guerilla interview tactics in "The Way We Get By," and not one soldier is bothered to be interveiwed in front of the camera.  The documentariens follow the three people who have agreed to be on flim throughout the entire time, and through their encounters a strong story--and most likely a more true one-- is developed.

Question for Next Week:
What is the history being a documentary?  Who first came up with the idea?  What were the first documentaries to start the genre?

Sources:

Standard, By This. "Constitution Party Platform." Constitution Party National Political Headquarters. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php.

 

Libertarian Party | Maximum Freedom, Minimum Government. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. http://www.lp.org/.

 

"List of Political Parties in the United States." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States.

 

"The Green Party of the United States." Green Party of the United States | Homepage. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. <http://www.gp.org/index.php>.

Journal 1_7

Question from last week:Find out about the Tea Party and Rent Is Too Damn High Party.  What are their platforms? Who are their leaders?  Why are they formed?  Will they make an effect on the the elections?
The tea party is a highly conservative grassroots organization that, according to their mission statement, brings awareness to any violations of our nation's secutiy, soverignty or domestic tranquility.  The three most important issues in the tea party platform are fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets.

Definitions of each issue are as follows:
Fiscal Responsibility: Fiscal Responsibility by government honors and respects the freedom of the individual to spend the money that is the fruit of their own labor. A constitutionally limited government, designed to protect the blessings of liberty, must be fiscally responsible or it must subject its citizenry to high levels of taxation that unjustly restrict the liberty our Constitution was designed to protect. Such runaway deficit spending as we now see in Washington D.C. compels us to take action as the increasing national debt is a grave threat to our national sovereignty and the personal and economic liberty of future generations.

Constitutionally Limited Government: We, the members of The Tea Party Patriots, are inspired by our founding documents and regard the Constitution of the United States to be the supreme law of the land. We believe that it is possible to know the original intent of the government our founders set forth, and stand in support of that intent. Like the founders, we support states' rights for those powers not expressly stated in the Constitution. As the government is of the people, by the people and for the people, in all other matters we support the personal liberty of the individual, within the rule of law.

Free Markets: A free market is the economic consequence of personal liberty. The founders believed that personal and economic freedom were indivisible, as do we. Our current government's interference distorts the free market and inhibits the pursuit of individual and economic liberty. Therefore, we support a return to the free market principles on which this nation was founded and oppose government intervention into the operations of private business.
(http://www.teapartypatriots.org/mission.aspx)
Other core beliefs:
Illegal Aliens Are Here illegally.
Pro-Domestic Employment Is Indispensable.
Stronger Military Is Essential.
Special Interests Eliminated.
Gun Ownership Is Sacred.
Government Must Be Downsized.
National Budget Must Be Balanced.
Deficit Spending Will End.
Bail-out And Stimulus Plans Are Illegal.
Reduce Personal Income Taxes A Must.
Reduce Business Income Taxes Is Mandatory.
Political Offices Available To Average Citizens.
Intrusive Government Stopped.
English As Core Language Is Required.
Traditional Family Values Are Encouraged.
Common Sense Constitutional
Conservative Self-Governance

These three definitions reflect the direct attacks at liberal policies and bias toward conservatism in their mission statement.  The power word "liberty" is used often to reflect the "other side (liberals) is taking away freedoms and overstepping the rule of law.

The founder of the tea party is a 22 year career Navy Lieutenant, Dale Robertson, whose protest that has turned into a successful, elected, national political party was started as a protest to Obama's so called "unconstitional" stimulus bill.

Yesterday, over 60 seats up for election were won by the republicans, several of which were actually tea-party candidates.  This organization had most definitely made an impact on the elections.
The "Rent is Too Damn High" party platform is mainly to say that government should focus on the domestic issues first before  any other policies come into place.  It is based of the New York State, and did not take too much effect on the election nor has it spread.  It's outrageous name gets the party more publicity than anything else.

This week in class:

A) The first thing we did in class this week was discover our "political compass" in terms of whether we truly do lean right or left on issues.  We took two different surveys, one short and one long, to determine our political standing.  In both, my  standing was a slight "left libertarian" but mainly a centrist.  As you can see here on the graph, I am in the left-libertarian block, but more toward the center than usual.   Left-Libertarian signifies that on my social issues I am liberal, while on government systems and some economics and I am more conservative.  I had never thought of myself at all conservative, so the results suprised me a little.  The next thing we did was watch another documentary, "The Divided State" about a controversy at in Utah. 

B) A student at Bringham-Young University made a film of the controversy of Michael Moore speaking at Utah Valley College.  Why is this a controversy?  Utah is the most historically conservative state in the US.  The film illustrates the true divide between-truly- democrats and republicans- during this time.  The community outside of the College actually filed a lawsuit against the student government, and metioned in public hearings that school administration should step down after letting this kind of abomination happen.  In a way, Micheal Moore is an intrusive figure into their safe-haven of conservative beliefs, but when you see the rally of Republics by Sean Hannity before Michael Moore comes, you see why Utah needs to hear the other side.  Hannity singles out Liberals and blames everything on them: his speech/rally was completely one sided, as was Moore's.

C) Combining the two themes from this week, I have to wonder how many of the people in Utah's "cult" of conservative republicans actually believe in the conservative platforms.  So many people are influenced by where they live, their parents and other experiences to shape which political party they are.  To prove my point I did yet another "typology test" at this the following website:  ttp://typology.people-press.org/typology/results.php.  This survey ask several questions on your beliefs, and then asks you what party you associate yourself with.  The first time I went through, my response was that I considerred myself a liberal democrat, and my result was liberal.  Keeping all the same responses on my beliefs, I re-took the quiz.  This time, I reponsded that I considered my self a conservative republican--but with the same beliefs.  I got a completley different result! I was now part of the "upbeat" party.  How does what I consider myself affect which political party platform matches most with my beliefs?  Unfortunately, society has decided it does. 

Question for next week:
How many different political parties are there in the US?  How many different little factions make up the two policial parties?

Sources:
The Rent Is Too Damn High Party. Web. 04 Nov. 2010. http://www.rentistoodamnhigh.org/.

 

State, By. Tea Party Patriots | Find Your Local Tea Party. Web. 04 Nov. 2010. http://www.teapartypatriots.org/.

 

 "Typology Test." Pew Research Center Political Typology. Web. 04 Nov. 2010. http://typology.people-press.org/typology/.

 

 Welcome to TeaParty.org. Web. 04 Nov. 2010. <http://www.teaparty.org/>.