Final Documentary

We made this thing.

You can watch it right
HERE

Final Project Reflection

For my group’s final project, we interviewed a guy named MacGregor Whiting. He has several digestive diseases and has resorted to an extremely unique, simple, self-discovered diet to make sure he gets all the necessary nutrients without any discomfort. Basically, his diet and entire outlook on food blows my mind because it’s never something that I could be strong enough to do. I guess these are the types of stories that I would really love to tell as a Mormon artist – I want to find interesting and unique stories about people who are a lot different than me. They don’t have to be different in a bad way, just different. Like MacGregor. I want to document and tell the story of people that I really respect and look up to because of their focus in life. I’m hoping that finding inspiring stories will help me grow as both an individual and a filmmaker. If I’m lucky, I will be able to portray them in a way that is beneficial to others as well.

In short, completing this documentary really helped me wrap my mind around what stories I would like to create or find. It showed me that I need to find people who share this dream so we can work towards it together. I’m glad that BYUs film program is as collaborative as it is, because sometimes I need motivation that only comes when other people are relying on me. I’m excited to work together with others to find interesting stories and portray them in a compassionate way. This collaborative effort also taught me that I still have a lot of patience to learn when working with others. No one was appointed “group leader” or anything like that, so we sometimes found ourselves chasing our own ending or goal. Obviously, I was rooting hardest for my vision and sometimes got frustrated when the other group members opposed me. In the end, I learned that these disagreements can create the best type of film because it contains so much from each group member. We were each able to help the others get over particular things that they were attached to so that the whole would be coherent and interesting.

Feedback Schmeedback

From a young age, I think I always knew that I wanted to be creative. I used to draw (actually, doodling would even be a generous way of describing it), sing, write, dance, whatever. A huge part of it was that I always wanted people to tell me that I was good at something. My family always gave the expected “great job,” but the task got tricky when I approached other people for feedback or just to show off a little bit – basically they were never as kind as my parents. While young me was mostly fishing for compliments, current me realizes that this formula can be used for much more than praise. It can, and should, be used to better yourself as an artist.

I’ve always latched on to people that I can trust creatively. I’m not sure whether the chicken or the egg came first in this situation, but I’ve always chosen friends that I am/would be comfortable showing my work to. I trust them to respect my vulnerability and be constructive with their criticism. Even when we butt heads over certain issues they have, it’s important that they are able to back up any problems they have, so that I will have a real reason to want to change something. I don’t enjoy it when the viewer tries to commandeer a particular project and takes away the artist’s (my) intent. I usually look for and try to give suggestions for how the artist’s intent can be strengthened rather than altered.

The reading was great in really helping me realize why I appreciate feedback so much. Being creative can be a lonely and daunting experience if you don’t have any outlets you can show your work to. Close friends are also emotionally distant enough to see the project with fresh eyes, like a real audience would. This means they can spot problems you may have overlooked or not realized. They haven’t seen the edit one hundred times or they don’t have the character’s back story imbedded in their brain, automatically filling holes as they appear.

Learning to receive, give, and actually digest feedback is priceless as an artist. I’m convinced that this is an easy way to grow and grow quickly. Just make sure they’re nice people.

Story Time

Being LDS presents the world to us in a very unique way, especially when compared to the rest of the world – the artistic world, the scholarly world, all of it. We have an increased knowledge, and, we believe, a true knowledge that gives us added perspective on everything. We are indeed a peculiar people. I know lots of people who view this outlook and our standards as a hindrance to our lives. They don’t feel that we’re living them at our fullest. However, I think that being LDS gives us even more opportunities to do more with our life, especially when it comes to artistry. Our art is filmmaking and I truly believe that we as Mormon artists will be able to craft unique, honest, and completely appropriate stories that come from our experiences in life. I’m sure the missionaries among us each encountered scenes so extreme it was as though they came out of a movie. We have vastly different perspectives on family, violence and sexuality then the rest of the world. These perspectives are more important and righteous and things that are important to infuse into our work. We can find stories of light anywhere we look because we are looking through a unique lens. In many ways, being a Mormon would make us an interesting character in any film. I think it’s important to stress that compelling stories of light don’t need to conform to any strict Mormon mold. In my opinion, some of the most uplifting movies or stories only reach this level by portraying things that don’t comply with LDS standards. Sometimes it’s just because the characters use colorful language or the film shows the reality of war. Sometimes the subject matter is more serious, like when we see a drug addict lose his livelihood but come out on the other side. While many Mormon artists will never make films with such extreme subject matter, it is important to realize that with the right amount of compassion, any story about anything can become a compelling story that is filled with light

Ba-dump, ba-du-dump

Well now. This article was a handful of words. And sort of a chore to read. If not for its length, I would have read it again to really understand the author’s intent. Despite this, there are a couple paragraphs that really stood out to me, even if the whole is a little intense.

First of all, I enjoyed when she was discussing how our religious beliefs need to help us understand other people, those who may be worse off than ourselves. The fact that we have the true church in our lives doesn’t mean that we’re inherently better than those who don’t. In fact, this paragraph seems like a sort of call to missionary work. She mentions William Tyndale, the man who was burned at the stake for translating the bible, and how he tried to make it applicable to everyone, even the poor plowboys. As members of the LDS faith, we need to be mindful of not only the poor but anyone who doesn’t have the gospel.

The author spends a lot of time comparing science and religion, a comparison that has been going on for centuries. She mentions the ancient Greeks and Romans who created Gods and elaborate stories to explain the meanings of the universe. She relates this to modern day religious types who are scared that science will, in some way, replace God. I’ve noticed this urge many people have to separate the two, but have never agreed. If anything, the complexity of our world, our bodies, everything reaffirms that there needs to be a God out there planning it out. Some things just can’t come together accidentally.

While I was trying to extract some sort of visceral meaning from the article, something that stood out to me was the accompanying picture at the beginning of the article. When thinking why that particular one was chosen, I related it to the author’s faith being sort of interrogated. As a result, she decided to write this meaty article convincing and explaining to herself, as much as her readers, why she believes what she does.

30 Second Film

New and improved.

Here.

My Pal Nick

Hey, hey, HERE it is.

What are your project’s strengths and weaknesses as a podcast?

I interviewed a musician, which means I was able to adequately represent him and his craft though an audio-only podcast. It would be hard to completely show the product of a filmmaker or artist in a podcast because there's no visual element. I love hearing filmmakers discuss their films over podcasts because it forces them to discuss more technical behind-the-scenes stuff or their creative process - stuff that might not translate well into a video.

This was the first time I'd ever interviewed anyone, and I'm pretty sure I could have found questions that better surfaced Nick's thoughts as an ex-Mormon artist and how his upbringing still affects him. I also should have framed it better so I didn't have to include so much of me asking questions.

· What did you learn about yourself as an artist while creating this assignment?

I learned that I am creative? That's weird, but sometimes I have my doubts. It was cool to be able to explore a medium I'm familiar with but have never tried out. I am pleased with my podcast and would love to do another one in the future. Also, hearing Nick talk about how Mormonism still affects the content of his songs was refreshing and stressed how important it is that I, as a fully active member of the church, put the same (in not more) care into my own work.

· What does it mean to you to be a Mormon artist

In my opinion, it means that you create things that will make the audience better in some way. This doesn't mean it has to be absurdly uplifting or G-rated, it can be something that makes the audience see a person, lifestyle, place in a better light. I want an audience to relate to my work and think about how they can see the world differently. And, of course, I would like to be able to do this while keeping inappropriate content to a minimum.

Islamic Exhibit

So, I checked out the Islamic art exhibit. But only cause I had to for homework. Thankfully, it ended up being awesome. I’ve never taken the time to really look at/study/try-and-appreciate this type of art, so this was a really wonderful experience. A lot of it wasn’t like anything I’d really seen before. I’ve seen Arabic writings, but never on a scale this large. It was awesome how they used their writing as an art form. As a simple dude that only sees it as undecipherable pictures, it really appears to be a work of art. I’d seen sculptures and pottery similar to the ones displayed in the Islamic exhibit, but even these were different because of their engravings and subject matter.

It seems to me that nearly everything in Islamic culture is meant to bring you closer to God. They write their scriptures and decorate the bindings with beautiful, elaborate calligraphy so it’s worthy of God. They understand the deep complexity of the earth God has created, but still find simplistic, geometric patterns to replicate. Christian artwork is quite often somber and meant to almost scare the viewer into repentance and piousness. This Islamic art invites the viewer to see how great God is and make their own decision to follow him.

I love how selfless all of the art was. There was never a “created by” or signature on any of the pieces, which is a stark contrast from modern art. It seems that the Muslim artists are too busy exercising their talents (and, because of this, almost thanking God for them) and bringing others to God to bother asking for praise. They are able to create because of the gifts God has given them, so they give all the praise to God through their art. It’s a really admirable thing, and makes me realize that I can be so much more thankful for what God has given me in my own life – especially when it comes to my creativity.