Janelle 2009 Documentary Film

This film informed our audience in many different ways. It showed point of views from experts and normal people about our topic, sustainable living. We had a few interviews from employees at Alberici. They shared their knowledge of sustainable living and ideas on how to live sustainably. I learned many things in the process of making our film, and I hope our audience learned many things as well. Another objective was to persuade our audience. We used different pathos and ethos to help get our point across. We used research and visual metaphors to show that our topic is very important and is taken very seriously. We hoped that by informing our audience we could persuade them that sustainable living is very important to our environment, and how they can make a change by doing simple things. We also wanted to effect change in our environment and make a difference. By getting our film out there, we could show other people that living sustainably is important and things like recycling can make a huge impact in our economy. By doing all of these things, we have made a step in the right direction for our community.

Our title is, “The Future is in Our Hands,” and our introduction are pictures of many sets of hands, which include mine and all my classmates. The introduction ends with a picture of our entire classes hands. This shows that whatever we choose to do will set our future and the future for our environment too. In the subtopic, ‘why should we care about sustainable living,’ it shows many points of views of why we should care, and why people choose not to. I thought this worked very well because it helped to explain why this topic is so important. In the subtopic, ‘how can we live comfortably using fewer resources,’ it showed many simple things that you can do around your home to make a difference in the environment. This includes, unplugging appliances, turning off lights, using microwaves instead of conventional ovens, and energy-saving products. I thought this worked well because showing things that all people can do, not things that have limitations or cost lots of money is very important.

Something that could have worked better in our film was making sure that all voiceovers were clear and loud enough to hear. Also, that background music was cutout when necessary. In the first subtopic, ‘what is sustainable living?’ the voiceovers were a bit hard to understand. The voiceover for their quote ran over the street interview, and the quote was left silent. These things were just editing mistakes, but I feel the rest of the film was great.

I learned many things in the process of making this film, and I hope that everything I learned will stay with me. Before making this film I knew absolutely nothing about sustainable living, and now I almost feel like an expert on it. Prior to making our film we gathered much research and read different articles that helped our knowledge on the topic. Blogging also helped a lot too since I could look at all my other classmates work and learn from it, while learning from my own research at the same time. I also had a fantastic group who worked really hard from beginning to end. I very much enjoyed working on my subtopic, ‘How to live comfortably using fewer resources,’ and I am very happy I chose it.

I hope that everything I have learned this semester will stay with me in the future. I never knew how important recycling was, and now I will be more aware of recycling bins and not throwing away products if I know they can be recycled. I will also be more aware of the electricity used in my house, including turning off lights when they are not being used and unplugging appliances when they are not being used. This film has taught me so much and I will continue to use what I have learned in the future.

Article

Over the past few decades a great deal of research has addressed how we make decisions in financial settings or when confronted with choices having to do with health care and consumer products.

in the United States scientific community, where nearly all dollars for climate investigation are directed toward physical or biological projects, the notion that vital environmental solutions will be attained through social-science research — instead of improved climate models or innovative technologies — is anaggressively insurgent view. You might ask the decision scientists, as I eventually did, if they aren’t overcomplicating matters.
Doesn’t a low-carbon world really just mean phasing out coal and other fossil fuels in favor of clean-energy technologies, domestic regulations and international treaties?

Most people don’t realize how effective going green can be, and are never reminded of it. If companies would put the campaign out there more and people are reminded of it daily then maybe more people would take effect to it.

Article

For people living in colder climate, the cost of heating our homes through winter is large household expense. There is an environmental cost as well. Heating and cooling systems in the U.S emit over half a billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.

Here are six ways you can stay warm while reducing your homes heating costs.

Adjust Temperatures
You can save as much as 20% a year on heating bills by turning your thermostat down 7-10 degrees for 8 hours each day

Replace or Clean Furnace Filter
Clogged filters reduce air flow and cause the furnace to work harder, using more energy.

Pay Attention to Your Windows
Most heat loss in the average home is through and around the windows. Two things you can do are: work the drapes, and seal drafy windows.

Add Insulation to Your Attic
This is one of the simplist and mose effective ways of conserving heat in your home. You can save up to 30$/month in heating costs.

Get Rid of Drafts
A simple way to locate outside air coming into your home is with a stick of insence. Light the incense and inspect your home, from the inside, for air leaks.

Close off Unused Rooms
Spare bedrooms and unused space in your home will drain some of your homes heat. For added draft prevention, you can slip a draft gaurd beneath the doors leading to these rooms

These are all very small things that you can do that will make a large impact to the environment. It will also save yourself money, which is always good.I think if everyone would just take time to check these things, it would make a large impact on the economy.

While interviewing, i learned to be patient and always listen to what the other person has to say, making the focus on them.

When i created questions i had in mind how the person would be answering them. For example, the expert interview questions were very detailed and specific, since it was part of their job to specialize in this. And the street interviews were more general questions, giving the interviewee more space for an answer.

During the expert interviews i actually learned alot, and got much out of it. They had lots to say and it was very interesting. For the street interviews, many people had no idea what they were talking about, but a few had lots of great points to tell.

Article

If we make Earth day more of a lifestyle and start by making one green improvement from wherever we are, then sustainable living habits will sprout like weeds and multiply.

Learn about your local farmers
Meet with them or read about what they are producing and growing, and what methods they use

Question your local supermarkets
Talk to the manager about the source of their produce, how much of it is locally produced, organic, etc.

Get educated about regional, seasonal foods
It is difficult to go totally seasonal, but it is better for your health.

Become a concious carnivore
Look for meat that is humenly, naturally, regionally, and conciously produced. It will be more expensive, but much better

Grow Something
It is a great reminder of the connection of where food comes from and how good it is fresh.

Start a Dinner Club
It is fun and has a way of growing into something interesting and nourishing both physically and mentally.

Patronize resturants that use locally grown, organic foods
There are more and more chefs coming around to the concepts of sustainable, local agriculture.

Love the food you prepare
Find a way to de-stress, slow down, and enjoy the food preparation process.

Eat at least one meal per week with your family
Create a sense of family around a well-loved and thoughtfully prepared meal.

I think these are all very important aspects. Choosing your food carefully can impact yourself and the environment as well, which you must be careful of.

- always point the mic to the person whose talking, and not too close, not too far
- never be chewing gum
- Don’t let the interviewee take the mic from you
- When asking people to interview, be nice and don’t get frustrated if they walk away.
- When asking, be persuasive and make them want to be interviewed.
- Get your point across, let them know right away what your talking about
- Think of questions that keeps them talking, and keeps the conversation going.
- maintain eye contact

10 QUESTIONS:
1. What is sustainable living?
2. What are different ways you can recycle?
3. What is recycling?
4. Do you know what is recycable?
5. What can you do to make your home sustainable?
6. What are some everyday environmental products?
7. What are some ways you can save energy?
8. Have you heard of the effects of energy-saving lightbulbs?
9. Do you use any environmental-friendly products?
10. What are some different ways you can help the environment?

Follow-up for Expert Interviews
After about two weeks of waiting, my group still hasn’t heard back from the botanical gardens, but our class might stop there tomorrow on our field trip, so hopefully we can get an interview from that. We will also be getting street interviews tomorrow and im hoping those will go smoothly.

Our class just watched a video titled Film School for Video Podcasts made by Matthew Needleman. He had many tips related to story boarding and film making.

An important thing i learned was the rule of thirds which is to not film somebody directly in the middle of your shot. you should have them a little to the left or the right of your screen.

We also learned about story boarding which is where you draw a visual image of each shot you want in your film. If you want somebody to move you draw their starting point, and draw an arrow of where you want them to go.

Ideas for visual metaphors…

having many electronics plugged in, and showing how bad that is. Maybe flickering the lights to show an effect of using so many electronics.

Showing a trash can and taking out all the things that are recycable, since many people throw away items that can be recycled.

Having a puzzle of the world with a small piece that represents recycling, and how that fits in to the world.

The only place my group got a hold of was the botanical gardens. I asked if there was anyone they would recommend for us to do an interview with. She said she would find a person and get back to me. unfortunately, she hasn’t called back.
We also called the Waste Management of St.Louis, and for some reason, they had no idea what sustainability means.
We are hoping botanical gardens will call back, and maybe we could find a different company we can contact

WS Wide Shot- A wide shot is used to film the person’s entire body. It can be used to see different motions they are making, and the way they are standing

MA Medium Shot- A medium shot looks at just the person’s upper body. It makes you focus less on their emotions and more of what their body is saying.

CU Close Up- A close up is a view of the person’s face. This could be good for interviews, showing the emotions that are going on with their words.

ECU Extreme Close Up- You use an extreme close up to really see a person’s reactions and emotions. It is good to use for effect.