Passion Project Update

So far we are still developing the script although we do have the story line down.  We have also identified one or two shooting locations and we are working on obtaining costumes.  One of the big obstacles we are facing is sound.  When filming there is no real way to get a good sound from a large distance away.  We could try to attach microphones to the actors but that would cost a lot of money.  This is going to be a problem we have to work around.  Something we consider is doing a voice over throughout the video. Other than that we are just going to keep pushing forward to accomplish our goals.

Passion Project Update

A new passion project has started and this year I am working with a group of four other students on making a movie.  It is a final fantasy based story line and we are trying to incorporate a lot of music into it.  It is going to be a huge task to accomplish in less than six months, but we are all really pumped about it.  So far we have partially developed characters and picked out a few places for filming near my house.  We are also continuing to look for costumes and editing programs. Hopefully we can get a lot accomplished in the next two weeks since that is when our next update will come!

Is Empathy Achieveable?

Over the past couple of days we have been speaking about empathy and its affect on the human race.  Jeremy Rifkin has been leading us (my class and I) through a discussion about empathy.  I found that categorizing ourselves less and great disasters bring out individuals empathetic sociability.  Take 9/11 for example, for a period of time the whole nation came together and worked things out.  I also find that less categorization will make us feel more like a group of people than an individual.  This however removes our feeling of "specialness"  as I like to put it. What is there about the concept of empathy that conjures up so much derision? Why are some so frightened? Perhaps it's because being empathic requires giving up the pretense of being special and anointed. It means being mindful of other points of view. It means abandoning the idea that rank self-interest governs all behavior. And, most important, it means being open to the plight of others.  This is a quote I took from an article entitled Will we heed Obama's call for a more empathetic society?  by Jeremy Rifkin.  I especially like this quote because it suggests that we as humans want to feel special in some way and less categorization means removing that.  The only way to help other people is by removing our own privileged life.  SO the overall question we were asked was is empathetic sociability achievable on a global scale? I personally believe that it is possible, but not in my lifetime or yours.  It will take many years for people to realize that we need everyone alive to continue surviving as a human race.  Some say that Rifkin is ideological, I think he's just a man looking in the right direction.  After if we tell ourselves we can't then we never will. Many of the most pressing problems today can be solved with empathy, but that in turn will make new problems.  However, together we can make it better for hundreds even millions of lives, all we need is a little bit of love.  A big ice cream bowl of love with some empathy sprinkled on top and hope as the chocolate sauce.

Passion Project Update

Justin and Taher - So far our project has not gone as well as we hoped.  Apparently there is hardly anything on Google about the future.  We found a whole bunch of pictures to build off of, but we need to finish our construction and start our model.  We also realized that there is a lot more we have to do at home instead of at school.  We have a lot to do and no time at all so its time to start the work.