Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
New photos, interview to come
Yesterday I got a hold of Martha Stone, who let me stop by for dinner at the shelter. I got some nice photos of the volunteers preparing dinner in the kitchen. I played around with different angles, and I think the pictures came out nicely. Again, the pictures are those of the volunteers, not the residents (I've been told several times not to come close to the residents at all). I have an interview set up for tomorrow with C.G., a volunteer at Cross Roads and a very friendly lady. Right now, I'm trying to think of solid interview questions that would tie up all my visuals and main content.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Some progress
It's been a pretty interesting week with some ups and downs. Last week, I interviewed and took photos of a few volunteers at the shelter, who were working in the kitchen. The lady was sweet to talk to, but the audio recording did not come out as well as I hoped it would. I'm trying to come back there and take more, better photos and maybe video, but the process of getting permission is rather difficult.
Unfortunately, those in charge of the shelter don't like the idea of me going anywhere near their residents. The only way I could take pictures there is by promising to not approach the homeless at all while I'm at Cross Roads. However, on Thanksgiving all the residents were invited to the South Church for community dinner, and I got a chance to speak to a couple of them. They would not answer specific questions about their experience or their situation of homelessness, but I think I got their personalities on tape at least.
I was surprised that the homeless themselves don't really have that big of a problem getting asked questions. They were pretty good people, and quite joyous. My project, however, still needs more work, and I'm getting really nervous about the deadline. I wish I had a better topic, but that's all I could come up with in a short time, so I'm trying to make the best of it. I really need more visuals, especially those pertaining to the shelter itself, which is hard to do. I have photos and video from the Thanksgiving event, but I want more photos having to do with the new facility at Cross Roads, since that is what over half of my audio is about.
Lastly, I was really, really impressed with the class projects I saw. I really wish I was better at thinking of good topics, such as the medical marijuana user, or any other topic in which the key person has no trouble telling anything on film.
Unfortunately, those in charge of the shelter don't like the idea of me going anywhere near their residents. The only way I could take pictures there is by promising to not approach the homeless at all while I'm at Cross Roads. However, on Thanksgiving all the residents were invited to the South Church for community dinner, and I got a chance to speak to a couple of them. They would not answer specific questions about their experience or their situation of homelessness, but I think I got their personalities on tape at least.
I was surprised that the homeless themselves don't really have that big of a problem getting asked questions. They were pretty good people, and quite joyous. My project, however, still needs more work, and I'm getting really nervous about the deadline. I wish I had a better topic, but that's all I could come up with in a short time, so I'm trying to make the best of it. I really need more visuals, especially those pertaining to the shelter itself, which is hard to do. I have photos and video from the Thanksgiving event, but I want more photos having to do with the new facility at Cross Roads, since that is what over half of my audio is about.
Lastly, I was really, really impressed with the class projects I saw. I really wish I was better at thinking of good topics, such as the medical marijuana user, or any other topic in which the key person has no trouble telling anything on film.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Cross Roads
So my horseback riding story isn't happening anymore, and I've switched to another story. There's a homeless shelter in Portsmouth, which just got a new facility to replace the old buildings. Cross Roads is trying to improve the quality of living for those who come there, while still making sure those people don't see the place as a permanent home.
At the open house last Wednesday, I got a nice interview with one of the people that works there. I've posted the audio of it on my blog. I think the quality of the audio itself came out nicely--I used the windscreen this time, so there is way less distortion.
I've also posted some pictures I took, which are pretty much photos of empty rooms in the new facility and the old building. Walking through the shelter, I was so surprised at the difference between the two. The new facility looks like a 4-star hotel compared to the old rooms.In the final project, I'll use only a very few of these photos, since the rooms are empty with no people in it. However, it's still nice to show how super different the two places are.
My next big step in the project is finding the people seeking shelter that would want to talk to me, and focusing on the homeless themselves if I can. I'm still working on finding that willing person, but there's a big Thanksgiving dinner held for all the residents by the Rotary Club, and I'm thinking that would be a nice place to come. Martha Stone, who I interviewed at the open house, is also helping me out. Also, tomorrow, I'm going to follow around a volunteer at the shelter in order for me to get more of a feel for the place and do more recording. I'm probably going to keep coming back to the place several times a week, because it's important for me to find a nice angle on the story.
At the open house last Wednesday, I got a nice interview with one of the people that works there. I've posted the audio of it on my blog. I think the quality of the audio itself came out nicely--I used the windscreen this time, so there is way less distortion.
I've also posted some pictures I took, which are pretty much photos of empty rooms in the new facility and the old building. Walking through the shelter, I was so surprised at the difference between the two. The new facility looks like a 4-star hotel compared to the old rooms.In the final project, I'll use only a very few of these photos, since the rooms are empty with no people in it. However, it's still nice to show how super different the two places are.
My next big step in the project is finding the people seeking shelter that would want to talk to me, and focusing on the homeless themselves if I can. I'm still working on finding that willing person, but there's a big Thanksgiving dinner held for all the residents by the Rotary Club, and I'm thinking that would be a nice place to come. Martha Stone, who I interviewed at the open house, is also helping me out. Also, tomorrow, I'm going to follow around a volunteer at the shelter in order for me to get more of a feel for the place and do more recording. I'm probably going to keep coming back to the place several times a week, because it's important for me to find a nice angle on the story.
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