This I Believe

Imagine the world ten minutes from now, an hour, a day, a week.  How about a month from now, a year, ten years, fifty years, a hundred years.  What will the world be like a thousand years from now, ten thousand, a million years from now.  How different will the world be then.  Will human beings still be around?  When you start to think about it a human life seems to take place in a blink of an eye for the universe.  On the timeline of the universe our birth and death are practically right next to each other.  In some ways everything we do exists for an instant and then is erased, given enough time.  The human collective memory quickly forgets about people from a few generations back.  Though this may at first glance seem to be depressing, it is actually quite liberating when you start to think about it.  Since your life takes place in a such a short instance with everything done erased, you can now live it the way that matters most to you, without the anxiety that societal conformity often brings.  Everyone dies, but now everyone lives, and the knowledge that those facts bring allows people to live.

We came into existence almost magically from the intial replication of some cells during our birth.  We were born into a world without any meaning, but the simple act of living creates meaning.  At every moment we create purpose by the choices we make, and that purpose that we create is just as real as anything else in this world even if it wasn’t there before we created it.

This I believe Rough draft 1

I wanted to get footage of my friend, but he’s been busy during the earlier part of this week.   I plan on putting a second rough draft later on during the week when he should be free.

Editing

Shooting and editing are both crucial parts for a film.  With shooting one has the ability to capture the images that express an idea.  With editing one takes those ideas and puts them in a language the audience can understand.  The editor takes shots and composes them into sentences.  The way those sentences are constructed determine the overall poetry for the film.

I like editing, although at times it can be tedious, trying to get the image, sound, and music exactly the way you want them.  In that way it’s like producing music.  I’ve worked with music programs.  And the detail that is needed to produce a seemless transition can be time consuming, but like it it has the potential to be very rewarding.

some ideas for films

I was thinking of doing it on music, and how important it is in our lives and how abundent it is as well.  So much of our life has music played with it.  It has the ability to evoke powerful emotions.

My other thought was on how my belief that life is an adventure, and in it I would use one of my friends and the way he lives as an example.  I’ve been talking with him and plan on shooting with him this week when he has enough free time.

Beliefs

1.  a. I believe that freewill is an illusion.

b.  I believe reality is fundamentally no different then a dream.

c.  I believe human beings have a soul, and I believe that that soul is the same thing as consciousness.

d.  I believe consciousness is a physical manifestation

e.  I believe when you die your soul dies too.

2.  How did this idea form?

Most of these ideas took several years to form, and was a process.

How firmly do I believe it?

I believe as much as I believe that this macbook is really in front of me, and that I’m really in a classroom.

Why do I maintain it?

Well it is not as if I would like most of these things to be true, but the evidence to me seems clearly and almost unrefutable to those ideas.  I would like to believe something else, but belief is not something you can will.

What would make me change my belief?

a.  It would take alot.  First one would have to explain how this freewill manifest itself in a purely physical system, then why it would manifest in humans, in a way that is logical consistent and believable.

To be honest I find it hard to contemplate something that would change these beliefs.  There would have to be a more logical explanation then the ones I’ve already formulated for why I shouldn’t believe them.  While this is not imposible I think it is outside of my current mindset to give examples of such, because if there was such an example I think I would have already changed my beliefs.

Everything Is an Argument

leather cover prayer book implies that this book is more important then other books.

A Boston Red Sox cap says the Red Sox are a great team.

A Livestrong bracelet says cancer is something we should be fighting more.

A label on a best-selling rap CD implies that it is a good CD.

The health warning on cigs argues that they are dangerous.

A belated birthday card says that the reciever is not very important.

The cover of a SciFi novel argues why you’ll like the book.

A rolex watch says that the person is very important and worth alot of money.

A USDA Organic label evokes enviormentalism to me, and trying to be healthier.

the Nike swoosh- Just Do It, reminds me of athletes.

The golden arches – quick unhealthy food, and obesity

The Sean John label – I didn’t really know this label.  Not really sure what it tells me.

Coke can- refreshing, lots of sugar

Sleeping Beauty’s castle on the Disney logo- fatasy, fun, adventure for children

Oprah Winfrey – not really sure what it evokes

Vietnam memorial – unjust war

Ground zero – terrorism

a Dollar bill evokes power and possibly greed, also for some reason wall street.

Leaving U of I

I feel that the project was what I wanted it to be.  I had a hard time with this section, because I don’t really like making documentaries.  There is less control with them then narratives or avant-garde films.  However I felt pretty happy with the outcome.  There were some sound difficulties, but for the most part I felt that it turned out the way I wanted.

In Class Exercise 10/27

1.  food at Chilly’s, poweraid, Death Cab concert tickets.

2.  Why did you choose to buy: Cause the advertisement made it looks delicious, I like the taste, I like the band

Does the advertisement resonate:  Well I was hungry and the commercial made it look good, I don’t think it was somehow tied to my personal aesthetic.   I don’t think the advertisements are really

Are documents truthful?

Subjectivity is everywhere. I don’t really think there really is a absolute objective reality, at least not one that is directly available to us. All we ever get is approximation to this objective reality. photographs, videos, and documentaries try to capture reality, but often only get close to the truth. Two documentaries can use some of the same pieces and still create different conclusions.

learning from conversations

The only thought that’s coming to mind right now is when I was at Edit Fest this Saturday with the IFV. We talked about Final Cut and After Effects. Also about the different Mac options. I learned why I shouldn’t get an imac to do editing work.