Monday, November 17, 2014

Concerned Citizen


Concerned Citizen from Morgan Akana on Vimeo.

         We as film students at BYU are given lots of opportunities such as access to equipment and spaces like the Open Lab, the Pocket and The Cave where we are able to exercise our creativity. But that is an exception to the norm. Many artists struggle to practice their craft and skills simply due to the fact that they have no where to do it. We stumbled upon this blog post by Sandy Askey-Adams where she discusses her opinion on studio space. She says “I know an art studio does not make you an artist but you do need a place of your own for pursuing your passion”. She makes the point that an artist needs a separate place free of distractions.  She goes on to state that not having a set and determined place and “taking out and putting back can play havoc on creativity”. So it’s important for artists to have a space exclusively for their art.
        We were fortunate enough to interview Zenobia Taylor, who manages a local art studio that welcomes any artist of any medium in need of space to practice their craft. Provo Art Studio is a recent addition to Provo’s community located in south Provo. We find her to be a great example of a Concerned Citizen. She has provided the opportunity for local artists to pursue their artistic endeavors that they may not have otherwise pursued. Not only has she provided space, she is creating a community and a collective for the artists. Since there are so many different mediums welcome, it allows the artists to inspire each other’s work. Not only does she have separate studios, she holds a weekly art gallery that allows artists to showcase their work. 
      Watching the Beehive Stories, we were inspired by the simplicity of the story. This man’s job may seem minute and unknown but he is the start to many different processes that define that community.
       She may just be a small cog in the wheel, but her influence and passion for this community will have some long lasting effects. Provo is a growing place for artists. We have venues like the Velour or Muse but to get to those places, artists need to practice and work up the confidence to share their work. That starts in their studios. And thanks to Zenobia, certain people may acquire the courage to perfect their work and then share what they have to offer to their community.

Olivia Taylor & Morgan Akana

Monday, November 10, 2014

Game For Change


The Dangers of Cyberbullying



        Cyberbullying is a growing problem in our adolescent today. It is different from the traditional bullying that still occurs, but can be more harmful. Our world is constantly creating new forms of technology that make it easier for us to take advantage of it’s purpose. Even though it has made communication greater, it has also damaged our morals. We tend to find ourselves hiding behind these gadgets, because there is less consequences when you are not face to face with the person you are toiling with. Cyberbullying has become the easier way to hate on the flaws that people portray. I do not think this issue is recognized enough, or brought to our worlds attention often enough. It is a serious issue that many young adults and kids go through, and the only way to prevent it, is to share the stories that have been affected. 

       There are so many different ways for cyberbullying to occur. We sometimes forget that we how easy it is to offend someone. Even though you may be joking or just trying to be sarcastic, we do not know how the person on the other hand of the joke may be feeling. Many people choose to hide their feelings, and not to show their distress, in fear of embarrassment. No one should ever have to hide their feelings. Kids or even young adults that are being bullied should know that there are people out there who want to help them. Thats why there are special hotlines, such as the suicide prevention hotline. The number is 1-800-273-8255, and it is open 24/7. It is just a choice for those that feel like their life might not mean anything anymore. These people want to help them and show that there is a reason to live. 

      So many kids have to go through this electronic hell. Most of the time they are too embarrassed to tell anyone, so we never know who to help. Maybe they do not want to face the reality that they might need to call someone about it, let alone tell their loved ones. So thats why there are websites that allow anyone to report any bullying activity they may see. So that the victim can be helped by a bystander, rather than themselves. One of the websites is called NoBullying.com. We are the only solution to saving these kids from doing anything drastic to their precious lives. 

      One other reason I chose to pick this social issue was because not so long ago I watched the documentary “Bully” directed by Lee Hirsch. It came out in 2011, and it followed a couple different stories of boys in elementary that were being bullied. It was filmed in the state of Mississippi. When they were actually filming the documentary, they kept it on the down low and did not tell the principle of the school that it was for anti-bullying. This allowed them to really dive into the horror of these young boys and the tormenting they have to go through every day. It is a very heart breaking film ,and I definitely warn anyone who chooses to watch it, that it can become disturbing at points. I truly admire this film, it brought a lot of awareness for this social issue and it continues to. 


       Cyberbullying is a serious ongoing problem that is not addressed often enough. It is up to us as a human race to reach out to those that seem alone and distant. You might just be the deciding point for this person’s motivation to keep on living the life they fear. 

Monday, November 3, 2014

World Building

newspaper.jpg

In our world, gravity isn’t a constant. Instead, it just sort of wildly fluctuates throughout the day. This idea was somewhat inspired by the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slapstick. In it, sudden, rapid shifts in gravity’s force cause the whole of society to plummet into chaos. When we were pitching ideas, Slapstick immediately came to my mind because of how drastically this one thing changed the world. I thought that this idea could be interpreted in a lot of different, really interesting ways. Our world is a lot less intense than the one described in Slapstick, the whole of society hasn’t collapsed. Instead, people have had to make adjustments to live their day to day lives despite the random shifts in gravity.

We created concept drawings of different ways typical items would be altered in order to function in this world. For example, towns would have domes over them to stop things (including people, and even the air itself) from floating away into space when gravity fluctuates into its weakest levels, or anchored chairs with buckles that allow people to strap themselves in and wait for gravity to return to normal. Another idea we had is a vest that has a controllable mass, that can be increased or decreased depending on the strength of gravity allowing people to still walk around during the fluctuations. All of these ideas would have varying levels of quality, richer people would be able to afford better equipment while the poorer would have to settle for things like strapped down chairs. This would create a very clear distinction between the upper and lower class.


WB concept art.jpg

One example from the class that we drew inspiration from was the notice from the film, District-9. This public notice gave us the idea to create our own for our world where gravity is not constant. So we wanted to create a sign that portrays a particular public issue that commonly occurs in our world. We wanted to show how littering is a very eco shattering problem, more than it is in our present world. When people choose to litter in our world, it can be lost into our atmosphere every time our gravity starts to fluctuate. In this world, you are unable to simply pick up litter from the ground, because it floats around the atmosphere, getting in the way and polluting the air. Another issue that this fluctuation in gravity creates is sudden, forceful garbage rain caused by higher levels in gravity makes trash jettison towards the Earth with extreme force.


It was interesting to think of all the implications that such a world demands, from the obvious (the need for mass-changing vests and chairs with “seat belts”) to the more unapparent (like the need for domes so that the atmosphere doesn’t float away, or the litter problem). We tried to imagine what the everyday life of someone living here would be like, and it helped us to come up with more creative ideas. Though we all agreed that living in this world would not be fun, the citizens of it have made it manageable for themselves, and that is what we tried to convey with this assignment.

Olivia Taylor, Morgan Akana, Jesse Baird, Taylor Davis