A Little Slice of Mary Kay

Ok. It's done. Again, more computer problems. I actually had to call my IT boyfriend to have him remote access my computer from Long Island to fix it for me because Audacity hates me. Movie Maker wasn't so bad though. I actually had to leave my computer open all night last night just so that my dad's interview piece would actually upload to my blog. I may have to do that again. Let's see, it's 5:30pm now.

I am quite happy with this piece. It really came together as like a human piece about the women who make a living being Mary Kay beauty consultants. I also plan to send this piece to the head consultant who was kind enough to let me sit in on her session to do this piece so she can show it to the group if she would like. I really hope they like it as much as I do.

So, here it is: Being Part of Mary Kay.

Fail.

And after over two hours of sitting here watching/listening to other people's pieces and waiting for my video to stop "uploading" and actually upload, I gave up and went home. Then I tried it again at home, and left it alone for 3 hours. I came back to an error message that my blog does not like my video. Woohoo.

So now I'm trying the "post it to YouTube" route. Hold please.

Well, embedding the YouTube video didn't work. Screw it. Go to the link. Thanks.

Mary Kay Project Link

Interview with My Dad

Yes. I finished it. A few days ago actually, but I finally got around to fighting with my computer to make it into a file that I could post on my blog. Now that that is finally done as well, here it is!

I like it. It turned out better than I had originally thought it might. I like the blend of talking about the economy, his struggles as a lower working class small business owner, and just being a guy worried about providing for his family and not killing himself trying to do so. It's a pretty good tribute to my dad, showing that I really appreciate everything he goes through and I want to share that journey with the world.

As for the pic, it's from the day that Help Me Howard found him on a street while he was cleaning windows and Howard found a woman to give $1000 to who in return gave it to my dad. He was seen as a struggling man who could use the help and he couldn't have been happier. It's only too bad I couldn't include a clip from that day as well, because we do have it on tape from the weekly commercial on TV! Very cool, and very funny. And was definitely the inspiration for this piece.

So, without further ado, my dad.

Now I'm going to bed. I'll fight with my computer to post the Audio Story Slideshow piece in the morning. Night.....

Coming to a Close

Now that we have finally reached the end of this semester, it is time to start thinking about whether or not I'm actually ready for my final deadlines!! So let's run down the list.

Project #1 - Finished, handed in, seen by class. Am I happy with it? Well, I think it was a pretty good first try at something I was completely unaware of before the class ever started. So, I'd give that a check.

Reality Radio Readings - All read and commented on. Good stuff. Will definitely be referring to that book in my future should I ever have to do an audio story again.

Project #2 - Tape recorded, snippets to be used have been selected and documented. Now I just need to order the selections and put them together in layered tracks with my ambient and natural sounds. Not done, but on its way.

War Reading - Read most of the book. Would like to finish it, though it will most likely be after the end of the semester. It may not be my favorite bit of reading, but I don't like to leave a book unfinished. I have certainly learned a lot from Junger though in terms of his entire piece of multimedia storytelling.

Project #3 - Tape recorded. Next step is select the snippets, order the selections, and layer the tracks. At least its started right?

So, current status update? I have a couple hours of work left to do but it's all stuff that I feel confident will be in good shape by next Thursday at 630pm. Here goes nothing.....

Story #3 - Check!!

Yes. I finally got it done. I spoke to my friend about going with her to her next Mary Kay meeting, spoke with the beauty consultant director in charge of her group, and last night, went to the meeting to get some tape and pictures!

So last night went very well. I interviewed some of the Mary Kay beauty consultants and took pictures of the girls, the guests, the products, and the event. I got a lot of great tape about how they got started with Mary Kay, what the benefits are for such a job, and what they've learned from their experiences. It was all very positive and upbeat.

I decided over the weekend that I really did like this idea because it was like a modern-day version of the Kitchen Sister's piece on the tupperware parties. The Mary Kay girls talked about being independent, having a flexible work schedule, and earning great rewards like free products, substantial incomes, and even cars!

I enjoyed doing this piece, which was what was important for me when deciding what to do in the first place. I think I was able to feel better about it after remembering the tupperware piece and liking the modern day parallel. I was able to get a better idea about how I wanted the piece to go; less in the direction of focusing on the economy like my second piece and more focusing just on it being a highlight piece about a specific group. It made it more unique for me in terms of the three pieces I have created this semester.

So that's it. Three pieces planned and taped. One piece done, the second piece almost done, and the third ready for editing. I guess the next week is gonna be pretty busy.....

Story Idea #3??

The end of the semester is fast approaching and I could not be more stressed out. LOL

Ok. Back to business. Over the past two weeks, I have been giving much thought to my ideas for Story #3 whilst trying to finish my piece for story #2. It's coming along, and so far I'm pretty happy with it. I just need to finish it asap so I can get one more thing crossed off on my list.

As for Story #3, I borrowed the ComKit over the Thanksgiving break in hopes that I would be able to get the audio and pictures while home on Long Island. First I tried to make it in time for my mom's bowling league night in order to do a story about the women there and get some great photos of the psychadelic bowling. However, holiday traffic ruined that plan.

Then I wanted to test out the "what are you thankful for this year" idea, but no one who wanted to share was around this thanksgiving, making that a bust as well.

Then I had an idea to go out on Black Friday and interview the nut jobs running around for the sales. Or I even wanted to take the equipment with me that Saturday to document my cousin's preperation for her wedding during our bridesmaid dress shopping event. Neither happened.

So now I'm here, thinking of ideas that I actually find interesting. And that's when it hit me. Maybe now would be the perfect time to revert back to my early in the semester idea of doing a piece of fiction. I would create a story that could be read audibly by characters and tape some friends reading the parts out loud. Then I could take pictures of this cast of characters in shots I think are representative of the story. This could work. However, I still don't really like it.

My problem is that I actually liked the ideas for my first two pieces before doing them, and I continued to like them while working on them. This one, I've had ideas I've liked, but missed out on the working on them part. And I have plenty of ideas I don't even want to work on. So where does that leave me?

With no ideas and no work. Awesome.

So now it's crunch time. I need to get this done asap because I have enough to worry about trying to finish my thesis. So here are some ideas I have that I absolutely need to pick from, because well, I'm out of time.

One. Documenting young girls who are turning to self-made businesses such as Mary Kay because they need all the work they can get during these economic times. Not a bad idea, and a friend of mine does this, so I definitely have an in. They meet Tuesday nights and I think it would be a good visual piece as well.

Two. Well. There really is no two. So I guess, One it is! Oh boy.....

Junger's War: "Fear" and "Killing"

While perusing through Junger's site recently, I found that the combination of information on the book, information on the movie, and connection between interested peoples/fans to the actual people in the documentary research made for a multi-layered and workable piece of multimedia. However, after my perusing and reading to the end of Book Two: "Killing", I still find myself very uninterested in this particular subject.

Yet, I must still evaluate them as a unit to assess how they tell the story of these men fighting a war in a far away, and very dangerous, part of the world. Each element does a particular job to express the harsh realities of a place so few people truly understand, let alone have heard of. I am one who had no idea that there could be such a distinction when referring to specific places where US soldiers were being deployed to during the war. I had no idea that there actually could be a place with such a terrible story to tell. Junger does a great job of capturing all the elements of that place by really showing the unaware what the realities of the situation are.

For example, the book itself goes through terminologies, names of places, and ranks and names of many soldiers that Junger came in contact with. We are able to see that though the unit as a whole is important to defeat the enemy, it is the many individual parts that make up what the whole really is. Each weapon, bunker, mission, soldier, officer, location, and attack come together to show us that war itself is not more than the sum of its parts.

The movie then acts as more of a visual stimulator. The book does a good job of making us aware of the impact war can have on people and places, but the movie really shows us the realities of a situation that seems so far away. And then the site itself, connecting real readers with the real-life characters from the documentary, takes those realities and shoves them straight up your nose. Together, with each step, we are more and more thrust into the reality that a war fought over seas is anything but far away.

Overall, I find that this way of telling one story in multiple medias really brings its impact to the heart of those that experience it. I may still be bored while reading jargon and names I don't understand or recognize, but I am able to appreciate the effort it took to bring those pieces to a light that will have a greater impact on the people it was created for, as well as about.