editing stacy's story is going well and i'm wisely not worrying about b-roll. stacy's time span is currently at more then 40 minutes and in the end it'll surely be over an hour. it's gonna be tuff to edit back. just about everything stacy says is valid and important. all of it is really well said. editing this down to 20 minutes will be difficult. lots of stuff for extras i guess.
it's really interesting because stacy is presenting a very different take on the whole experience then alicia. and that's great for the film! in fact i'm really seeing two camps - both are great - both quite valid. on one hand there are those like myself and alicia (the Katies also maybe) i think very practical, logistical and very conscience of the basic needs to support the operations and also for the provision to the surrounding area. the other group has a focus on the kids establishing close personal relationships. alicia makes many valid arguments against "going" and i agree with them. but certainly not against what this second camp is doing.
the reason for folks like stacy and jarka and david and marta, casey in going is to connect personally to play, hug, hold and love the kids. at one point stacy described the "needs" children have from a developmental standpoint. keep in mind many of these kids are orphans and the staff really doesn't have the time for a great deal of the one on one attention the kids really need. volunteers bring this.
it's incredible to watch (i didn't have the luxury of participating). i'm a very emotional person, i think i was very comfortable - not getting too close. i didn't have that option any way. there is an element of this that is quite difficult though.
parting :(
it's hard on the kids and it's hard on the volunteers. i didn't (couldn't) get that close to the kids and leaving was still difficult. david who did get quite close, talked about "parting" one of the kids - the oldest and toughest was openly crying as david and marta said goodbye. i have to say though - it's better to go through the parting then not to have had the love. and we know more volunteers will follow - and pick up where others left off.
it's an interesting concept. to be touched over time by perhaps 100's of very caring people from around the world. as a child, perhaps an orphan, how does that effect you? it'd be interesting to follow up with an interview... with a kid who lived that. to know how that impacted them. i'm not saying it's good or bad - we all grow up under different circumstances, to lose your parents though - what could be worse?
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
stacy's story
i've pretty much finished a ruff cut of alicia's story and i started to add b-roll to it. decided this morning i was not going to continue on that path for now. i'm not sure what will be cut but i know right now it's 40 minutes in length and that's way to long. no point in looking for or applying b-roll until i know what's in or out. that's great though as it means i can start on stacy's story! which is also going to be great!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
alicia's story
when i first received an email from alicia bruce (of canada) i knew hers' would be a significant story to tell. she had this incredible selfless future planed and she was so articulate, mostly i felt a kindred spirit with respect to a desire to change the world and a willingness to make the sacrifices to see that happen.
we had a brief cross-over while in africa maybe a little over a week, i had a bad cold and she had allergies so neither of us were sleeping well, we both stayed up late chatting and she confided with me about her disappointment with international volunteering and even bigger issues. her plans and ideals around volunteering were being confronted by certain realities and circumstances. she made plans to leave early.
i was really impressed by her honesty. anyone else would have likely kept quiet and accepted it and made the best of it. she didn't. the amazing thing is how she turned this around - to do something even greater.
so now i'm editing this story and of course i can't reveal the details (no spoilers here :) - but being so taken/impressed by her honesty it actually clouded my ability to see how right she is, why she was disappointed in the experience, the SERIOUS flaws of international volunteering.
she's RIGHT!
it's not until i started to edit her story that i'm finally seeing what she was seeing. i mean i heard her say these things and i knew what she was saying - but bringing it together now - WOW! her going not only changed her plans for the future, it not only changed the lives of many woman and kids in molo, now i'm thinking she may change the whole practice of international volunteering itself. she said "it's powerful" she's referring to an insight she had while there. OMG it's POWERFUL! It's world changing and she said also "i'm lucky i went to Chazon" YES! we all were... it's their approach and sensitivities and understanding that helped all of us to come to significant conclusions and revelations. if the flaw she points out is fixed (and it needs to be) - then it'll completely change the face and approach to international volunteering.
i believe alicia is still just 19 :) - so i think we can expect great things from her in the future.
we had a brief cross-over while in africa maybe a little over a week, i had a bad cold and she had allergies so neither of us were sleeping well, we both stayed up late chatting and she confided with me about her disappointment with international volunteering and even bigger issues. her plans and ideals around volunteering were being confronted by certain realities and circumstances. she made plans to leave early.
i was really impressed by her honesty. anyone else would have likely kept quiet and accepted it and made the best of it. she didn't. the amazing thing is how she turned this around - to do something even greater.
so now i'm editing this story and of course i can't reveal the details (no spoilers here :) - but being so taken/impressed by her honesty it actually clouded my ability to see how right she is, why she was disappointed in the experience, the SERIOUS flaws of international volunteering.
she's RIGHT!
it's not until i started to edit her story that i'm finally seeing what she was seeing. i mean i heard her say these things and i knew what she was saying - but bringing it together now - WOW! her going not only changed her plans for the future, it not only changed the lives of many woman and kids in molo, now i'm thinking she may change the whole practice of international volunteering itself. she said "it's powerful" she's referring to an insight she had while there. OMG it's POWERFUL! It's world changing and she said also "i'm lucky i went to Chazon" YES! we all were... it's their approach and sensitivities and understanding that helped all of us to come to significant conclusions and revelations. if the flaw she points out is fixed (and it needs to be) - then it'll completely change the face and approach to international volunteering.
i believe alicia is still just 19 :) - so i think we can expect great things from her in the future.
Monday, January 24, 2011
i'm back - about the music
it's about time i return to blogging and now things are really moving fast and there is much to talk about. i have to do this at least a little each day.
i should talk about music for the film and how amazing and encouraging it is for me. i have been given permission to use five songs for the film thus far and all five are amazing and inspiring! From Moby three songs "We Start", "Scream Pilots (Ambient)", and "Wait For Me". The first two are not publicly available (part of his gratis site) but Wait For Me, is in fact, off his latest album and is the title track - it's such a beautiful song and will be played as we (three volunteers and three of our hosts) walk through Casino a slum in Molo. this experience (a little over an hour of time spent in Casino) has helped to define my life going forward.
Wait For Me
Sleigh Bell's are very graciously allowing me to use "Tell 'Em" for the trailer. The song is powerful both in it's lyrics and with it's delivery. "did you do your best today?" wow - i try to listen to this at least twice a day for personal inspiration.
Tell 'Em
i was recently introduced to a band called "The Farewell Circuit" - i listened to their music and found a song called "Brothers Eyes" it was "moving" to hear this song and i felt it had to be the title track for the film. it was like this song was written for the film. i had no idea how true that was. after contacting the band and telling them about the project i received an email from the songs writer - explaining that he too was in Molo Kenya (we were there at the same time), he was volunteering at the "tent city" that had been set up to help the war refugees, i was there at the chazon children's centre volunteering too. the song was written as a response to his experience in molo. so both the film and the song have the same inspiration. amazing.
Brother's Eyes
The Farewell Circuit well also score the film.
i'm hoping to get "Grace" from U2 and "If I could Be Where You Are" from Enya - i've been so fortunate thus far - it's just all coming together - and it's so encouraging and inspiring to me personally. i'm so grateful to be having such talented musicians being a part of this project... i never dreamt this was possible.
i should talk about music for the film and how amazing and encouraging it is for me. i have been given permission to use five songs for the film thus far and all five are amazing and inspiring! From Moby three songs "We Start", "Scream Pilots (Ambient)", and "Wait For Me". The first two are not publicly available (part of his gratis site) but Wait For Me, is in fact, off his latest album and is the title track - it's such a beautiful song and will be played as we (three volunteers and three of our hosts) walk through Casino a slum in Molo. this experience (a little over an hour of time spent in Casino) has helped to define my life going forward.
Wait For Me
Sleigh Bell's are very graciously allowing me to use "Tell 'Em" for the trailer. The song is powerful both in it's lyrics and with it's delivery. "did you do your best today?" wow - i try to listen to this at least twice a day for personal inspiration.
Tell 'Em
i was recently introduced to a band called "The Farewell Circuit" - i listened to their music and found a song called "Brothers Eyes" it was "moving" to hear this song and i felt it had to be the title track for the film. it was like this song was written for the film. i had no idea how true that was. after contacting the band and telling them about the project i received an email from the songs writer - explaining that he too was in Molo Kenya (we were there at the same time), he was volunteering at the "tent city" that had been set up to help the war refugees, i was there at the chazon children's centre volunteering too. the song was written as a response to his experience in molo. so both the film and the song have the same inspiration. amazing.
Brother's Eyes
The Farewell Circuit well also score the film.
i'm hoping to get "Grace" from U2 and "If I could Be Where You Are" from Enya - i've been so fortunate thus far - it's just all coming together - and it's so encouraging and inspiring to me personally. i'm so grateful to be having such talented musicians being a part of this project... i never dreamt this was possible.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Blogger's Block
It's been so odd. I've been feeling the need to blog, I have plenty to blog about, I've sat down to blog - but then I just don't feel like doing it. It's odd because there was a time when I was blogging everyday. It was in the midst of my big push for the weight loss and I'd stop back at my computer at work after my second run to do my blog. In other words I'd have to really go out of my way to get it done.
So now I have two blogs going - each about the two different film projects I have. As to the weight loss blog - good news there is that I'm comfortably back into the 14 mile a day runs. Though, on some days run a little less. It seems to alternate between 13.26 and 14.38 (still good either way).
As to the "Road to Pundamilia" my other film - I have finished the first rough cut of one segment. Hopefully today I will get a few more things at least planned out. It was an intense effort to get that first cut finished and of-course it's too long but I think I will move on to another segment. I think it would be better to get away form the first segment for awhile.
Not my best blog but better then nothing. Here's something I found today while searching through old emails from one of the volunteers in Africa. This is GREAT!
I´m so happy I went there, I´m so happy I experienced this all, now I´m more ready to help africa in the future, I´m ready to face corruption and disappointment and I´m ready to face love :) because in Kenya I saw more love than anywhere else in the world, I carried God in my arms and I kissed God good night, and God hugged me when I was leaving and made me feel wanted, needed, important, and all the kids in WWB loved God and He was always with them and inside them, all the little hearts I met there were filled with love...incredible, pure love for life.
and now I love Africa more than ever before...
– Jarka Bednarova
So now I have two blogs going - each about the two different film projects I have. As to the weight loss blog - good news there is that I'm comfortably back into the 14 mile a day runs. Though, on some days run a little less. It seems to alternate between 13.26 and 14.38 (still good either way).
As to the "Road to Pundamilia" my other film - I have finished the first rough cut of one segment. Hopefully today I will get a few more things at least planned out. It was an intense effort to get that first cut finished and of-course it's too long but I think I will move on to another segment. I think it would be better to get away form the first segment for awhile.
Not my best blog but better then nothing. Here's something I found today while searching through old emails from one of the volunteers in Africa. This is GREAT!
I´m so happy I went there, I´m so happy I experienced this all, now I´m more ready to help africa in the future, I´m ready to face corruption and disappointment and I´m ready to face love :) because in Kenya I saw more love than anywhere else in the world, I carried God in my arms and I kissed God good night, and God hugged me when I was leaving and made me feel wanted, needed, important, and all the kids in WWB loved God and He was always with them and inside them, all the little hearts I met there were filled with love...incredible, pure love for life.
and now I love Africa more than ever before...
– Jarka Bednarova
Monday, April 26, 2010
interesting shoot today
there was some filming for the "road to punda milia today". i was chatting with iratxe who is currently in molo and was sitting there with sam and lucy at the time and i asked her to ask them a question - after some detail as to why and some set up for the question she used her camera (a point and shoot - with video option) to ask them about the extra money i have been sending. not much really - $120 a month more then before - but it's money i'm able to send because i have cut back on some of my coffee consumption each month. not a big sacrifice. but we'll see how this small sacrifice on my part pays off in molo. i won't know till i see her footage. i'll have to give her a a credit for filming now :)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
organizing my thoughts
one of the things my friends covered at sxsw was how to approach the editing. i'm going to start by editing the individual stories first and then assemble/figure out the bigger picture. it makes a lot of sense as i have so much content and so many stories it's just hard to know how or if it all fits. i'm going to start with all things related to Molo Kenya.
this makes sense as Molo is the key to everything. if we can fix Molo the effect on the local region and well beyond is staggering. Molo sits in the Rift Valley and the Rift Valley is some of the most fertile land on the planet. it's akin to what we call the bread basket here in the midwest of the US. i interviewed the tribal chief of molo and he told me that when the rift is working they can feed all of Kenya, Uganda, South and Middle Somalia, large portions of Ethiopia, Northern Tanzania and Southern Sudan.
this makes sense as Molo is the key to everything. if we can fix Molo the effect on the local region and well beyond is staggering. Molo sits in the Rift Valley and the Rift Valley is some of the most fertile land on the planet. it's akin to what we call the bread basket here in the midwest of the US. i interviewed the tribal chief of molo and he told me that when the rift is working they can feed all of Kenya, Uganda, South and Middle Somalia, large portions of Ethiopia, Northern Tanzania and Southern Sudan.
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