Ben 2009 Documentary Film

Ben McNulty
5/22/09
Ms. Pomerantz
1st block
Our documentary on sustainable living was shown as its final product today. I thought that everyone’s documentary was good but, there were parts that did not go well. But every segment got its point across in a different way but, some of them weren’t seen as easily as others.
The documentary had a lot of information that was interesting to hear but, in the end, I don’t feel that it would persuade anyone that did not live sustainably to live sustainably. There were many aspects of information that could have changed their life style if they did not live sustainably before. I felt that the documentary would not have persuaded anyone into living sustainably. Since, it did not persuade people to change it would not affect change to those that the film was targeted to. The information given in the film was interesting, but it wasn’t focused to where it was supposed to be focused at.
The film had many things that went wrong. Even though it was not persuading, would not affect change to those that the film was targeted to. The information given in the film was interesting, but it wasn’t focused to where it was supposed to be focused at. There were many good parts of the film that I liked. The interviews went well. They were straight forward and focused enough to know what they were trying to say. My favorite thing about the documentary the ending of the “what are the effects on the environment group”. They explained why people think selfishly and, why people might not want to change unless there’s benefit from it. I believe that this group did the best out of all of the other groups. Also the still images went well with the documentary.
The documentary had a lot of information that was interesting to hear but, in the end, I don’t feel that it would persuade anyone that did not live sustainably to live sustainably. There were many aspects of information that could have changed their life style if they did not live sustainably before. I felt that the documentary would not have persuaded anyone into living sustainably. Since, it did not persuade people to change it would not affect change to those that the film was targeted to. The information given in the film was interesting, but it wasn’t focused to where it was supposed to be focused at.
The film had many things that went wrong. Even though it was not persuading, the film’s visual metaphors looked well planned, but in places, they didn’t make any sense because it wasn’t explained like it should have been. Like the visual metaphor of the “Why Should We Care Group”. When I saw it, I was thinking that it didn’t make any sense. But my group and I thought that it did because we knew what the message was, to live more sustainably, instead of using so many resources. But when I see it in the eyes of the audience, it didn’t make any sense. This was because they didn’t understand the message because we didn’t make it easier to understand. Also, the music didn’t match the mood of the documentary. This was because we didn’t have the resources to get better music for the documentary. Also, the editing had many slip ups. For example, in some places, when there was supposed to be narration, there wasn’t until after the thing being narrated was past, which made the narration go over something that wasn’t narrated.
There were many things that I learned during the time of this project. I leaned that making a film/documentary takes a lot of work that takes up even more time. Also, research on a topic is even harder to do. I had never blogged before, and if I did it was for very little time. Since the over half the project was finding article, reading them, and blogging about the articles, I learned more than I had anticipated about blogging. Since I work with others in most of my classes, I learned that not everyone will agree or think the same way you think. Everybody has their own opinion that may not agree with your opinion. Also, to get things done in a group you need to work together.
I did like this project, but I didn’t like the topic at all. My group worked hard on our documentary, especially brad. He did the most and, he worked the hardest, but it was a group effort and I think that we all did well.

Okay everyone if you want to see this documentary show up at 8:00 am-8:45 am to watch this amazing documentary!! it’s going to be awesome

This article is interesting to see where the people of the United States think about their top priorities. It’s Ironic to hear this since we made civilian interviews the other day. Almost all of these people said that this was an important issue to deal with, but I wonder if our group asked people which topic is more important between the economy and the environment. I believe that these topics go hand in hand. Dealing with the environment makes more jobs inevitably helping the economy. I agree that a really good way to deal with alternative energy is the wind turbines. These things don’t do anything except rotating and creating energy from the wind, something that never stops or runs out.

1 When you hear sustainable living, what comes to mind?

2 Could you tell me what that means to you?

3 Do you live sustainably?

4 How do you if you do?

5 Do you think that the government has was for S.L.?

6 What laws should exist?

7 Do you think that people would follow these laws?

8 What recourses should be conserved more than others?

9 Why do you think so?

10 Do you think that the government cares about this topic?

A guy is eating a gummy bears whlie sitting next to a baby which starts to cry. The guy represents the current generation and the baby represents the future generation. At the end,the guy gives the baby some gummy bears.

I watched a video on different ways to make a video more interesting by Matthew Needleman. I learned that by using the rule of thirds you can make the thing you are filming more interesting to watch. It is important to use this to make the visual metaphor more interesting.

Looking at these 4 shots you can make the thing that you are filming look different and more interesting.

Wide shot:
I think that this is used for showing people doing things that they are demonstrating or what they are wearing

Medium shot:
To show people being interviewed by the cameraman

Close up:
Shows peoples’ faces more clearly

Extreme close-up:
Show the seriousness of the person showing their expression

I researched my follow up question for myth #7 on the 10 myths about sustainability.

I found this article about the tax bebefits that the government has for eco friendly cars in the united states.

This article talks about the top 10 myths of sustainable living

1st nobody knows what sustainable living really means
-not true the UN gives a perfect definition on what that means.
-using resources enough that there is enough for future generations

Follow-up question1: how much of a certain thing that we use needs to be saved or used by the UN’s standard

2nd sustainability is all about the environment
-At first it was meant to get other poorer countries to a certain level of equality based on resources -It’s mainly about controlling our waste enough to keep the environment clean so that the future generations won’t have that burden.

Follow up: how much waste is not able to be dealt with by this generation

3rd “sustainable” is a synonym for “green”
They overlap a certain points but green means “natural over artificial”. But it mostly means different types of energy such as nuclear energy.

Follow up: would it be safe and better for us to switch to nuclear energy

4th It’s all about recycling
Yes, it’s apart of it but, it is more about energy and transportation

Follow up: Why is this always focused on recycling

5th sustainability is too expensive
It is only if you have an energy source that is quite opposite
Why is this more expensive?

6th sustainability means lowering the standard of living
It means to do more with less, but it even creates more jobs by addressing the climate change which wills increasingly more jobs
Follow up: How does this topic creates more jobs

7th Consumer choices and grassroots activism, not government intervention offer the fastest most efficient routes to sustainability

It is true that the rising gas prices made large car sales go down, which made the research into other sources of energy. Also, to control the c02 emissions, the government has put a tax on this to control it

What current tax benefits has the government issued to certain cars?

8th New technology is always the answer
President Obama says that putting air properly into your cars can save lots of money just like President Kennedy put on a sweater to reduce heat

Follow up: What other ways can we save money by doing something with our cars differently?

9th Sustainability is actually a caused by overpopulation
It is true that this is a problem, but it will only get bigger so, we need to begin to cut down and use more with less

10th: Once you understand the concept, living sustainably is a breeze to figure out
Not true it will always be changing like for example, the biofuel made for a substitute cuts down the supply for livestock and other people.

What current practices are still considered sustainable?

The article gives information on the fact that the U S government gives money to people for turning in gas guzzling cars to buy newer, more gas saving cars. This is a great way to let people know about what the government can do if you have a car that does use a lot of gas.