To Spread a Message: A News Story

The final Action Project for the Journalism course of 2017 has me stepping up to the plate and reporting my very own news stories. Yes, this third unit is all about text stories and how they are composed. Leads and hooks were a heavy focus early on, teaching us that you can summarize a good story in the first and last paragraphs. A big challenge when finding a story was actually having the time to... well, find one. Yet in a stroke of awkward double-edged luck, something occurred right in my own neighborhood, to someone I know well. With that, I hope you enjoy the report.

Vandalism: Is Lincoln Square Not as Safe Anymore?

By the end of June, local resident finds her car windows utterly smash into right here in Lincoln Square. "I consider it a safe neighborhood, but then again a few blocks away the mayor's son was mugged* so I guess you can't be completely safe anywhere."

*An outside report from dnaInfo.com 

As a disclaimer, due to the nature of this incident, the people involved would like to remain anonymous, or it was merely considered to be for the best.

The victim's car windows on the curb side (left half of the vehicle) were destroyed, except for the passenger's seat in the front.  No items were misplaced, and no authorities were called either as it was dismissed by the victim to simple vandalism, however the victim's husband is aware of why this could have happened, and asked their mechanic about it. 

The mechanic who recently tuned up the Chrysler is at odds with his competition, or at least that's one of his theories. This juvenile act of vandalism could be to send a message to the mechanic himself, who share his opinions on the subject, "I didn't really think anyone would go this far, I'm sorry to hear about the damage. I'm going to talk to [my friends] and see if they can get me more information. Can you not mention us for this [news report]?"

The mechanic is known for fixing issues issues but not necessarily preventing them, according to the husband, which is why he assumes it could also be some previous and vengeful customer.

This isn't the first crime that has occurred in Lincoln Square however, and the victim is on the side of the fence that's just blaming this on a drunk passerby. 

But is Lincoln Square not as safe as it was once praised to be?

Magaret Lois, who lives near Lincoln and Wilson, is a part of the neighborhood watch. Incidentally, she's also one of the few members, however she states that Lincoln Square isn't just "suddenly safe just because people don't get caught". 

Lincoln Square has a reputation for being a crime free neighborhood, but it seems that it's far from pure. Tanveer Ali and Mauricio Peña reported on a story of a stabbing that occurred 2 years ago in which a 20 year-old woman died trying to break up a fight.

It seems Lincoln Square has its far share of crime, and considering this incident not being reported to officials, it can make you wonder how much else is going on in this neighborhood.

Crime seems to spring in frequency around late June in Lincoln Square.

Charlie Chaplin: A Loud Silence

The second unit of the 2017 Journalism course I am taking focused all about sound. From pitch to volume, tempo and such. I studied what makes radio shows successful and reflected upon which voice reflected the 20th century best. I chose to go with critically acclaimed silent film actor, Charlie Chaplin. His career is expansive, and truly he is an icon for making people feel better, from laughing or through messages he speaks from his soul. A speech in particular he wrote sums up the guidelines that I think humanity should abide by. Ones of equality and encouragement to help others. This was in a time back when racism was heavy, and yet we had one man speaking to all kinds of races, speaking OF all kinds of nationalities, but referring to us as one.

Charlie Chaplin was a man who wanted to help others smile, and for that, I believe that he should not only be the voice that single handedly represents the 20th century, but all of humanity. An example to follow for sure.

Time	Teller	Text
0:00 0:26 0:59 1:49 2:12 2:47 3:05 3:21	VG Carlie Chaplin begins Chaplin still speaks, but as if in disdain from witness unjust actions He changes his tone and increases the tempo in which he speaks Chaplin begins to yell, to shout with pride and passion His rhythm goes steadily, as if matching his own passionate heart beat. He begins to calm his voice, in the name of hope Once again, he starts up, really bring life and fire to his voice in a dynamic range of pitches with a final shout with more dramatic pauses as he continues	Charlie Chaplin. Comedian, actor, writer, director, producer, and the 20th century itself. Many know him for his critically acclaimed performances in his silent films, but when we hear his voice in The Great Dictator, it’s something else to remember him by. Ironic isn’t it? Just take this time to reflect on his speech from the film that debuted in 1940. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.... The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish... Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Meaning of Life

In the class Journalism in 2017, a course focusing on all manner of news, this first unit has risen with the awareness of the art of photojournalism. There were some challenging points of finding the right subject matter to the pictures of as not everything is practical or symbolic. For the Action Project, we were assigned to start up an interview and ask the interviewee what their meaning of life is. My interviewee was an former underclassmen and still is a close friend of mine, who'll be known as Manny. The project goes off into being 1000 words in length and touches upon how photos can relate to the meaning of life.

"Manel", VG, 2017

With a medium aperture and high shutter speed, I snapped this picture of Manny as he operates on a laptop. His vibrant hat defines his head as it rests on a focal point and center stage, with his face and eyes centered and looking towards the dim screen. His room is captured and the most bland and uninteresting angles, effectively highlight the focus to his hat. Who's wearing the hat? Manny is, and your eye proceeds to scan the rest of the figure seeing him hunched over with  his hands contrasting with his lighter colored shirt. Matching with his opinion on life, there's not much information from this picture aside from the laptop being relatively used, so there's experience shared with it. Other than that, it's a plain background with no more information than the blank error screen due to a lack of internet connection. This aligns perfectly with how he sees life.

"I don't really know what life means, because it's a subjective flaw we all must overcome."

There's nothing but emptiness on this fixed perspective. A single touch of personality almost overridden by the bleak and blank environment. In a world where everything is common, there are minuscule defining points. "Flaws" if you will. The picture, while barren and uninteresting, as an art piece, captures this tone of one or a couple things standing out to make it distinguishable. The lack of information adds to the mystery that is life and the very fact color is reserved to a focal point was actually a bit of luck on my framing. You can really hear the silence in that room.

Transcribed Interview:

Has life always meant the same thing to you or has it changed? Why?

I don’t know what life means yet, and the level importance for things times change.

Do you have any story about the meaning of life or more specifically, why you don’t know what it means?

It’s not my job, it’s not our job to live life to understand it. Well that’s just me, I don’t think there’s a big message in the end or a destiny everyone has. But what I think life is will always be different from the next person.

Is there anything that influenced your thoughts on life?

No, I think it was just a general consensus I’ve had since I was a kid.

What image would you associate with the word “life”?

I think of either a spark or of the color white because of how spontaneous and somewhat blank it can be.

Considering you live life but aren’t aware of its meaning, have you come across anything that’s made you doubt reality?

Well when something is too perfect or lines up just too well, and I also have an interest in the glitches in the Matrix theory. I don’t believe it but it’s interesting. But before I get sidetracked, I just know that when something is too flawless, it gets me suspicious.

So in that right, you might say that you think life is flawed. Going off of that, do you think life should be flawed or is there someway we can make it perfect?

What would be the point of living a life where you have everything at your disposal with no reward or achievements? You’ll be miserably bored and want to die by the time you’re 25. People work for what they want to feel accomplished, or else there’s no point. That’s like booting up the game and then you use a gameshark or something, which gives you everything, then there’s no point.

Alright then, so as a final question, in this concept of flawed life, what would you say is the best example to explain these concept?

Well since everyone perceives life differently, there will be different flaws. For me, there are certain societal expectations that I don’t understand, so human nature would be my example of a flaw. Flaws are subjective, and everyone’s life has some flaw. If there weren’t any flaws, there would be no point.

So life itself is a subjective flaw?

Yeah, basically.

Hm, alright, thanks for the interview.

Mhm.

Comins Dot Com

The first and last Action Project for the STEAM course Social Entrepreneurship. As the name implies, the class is in regards to entrepreneurship. Throughout the units, we learned how to develop a business, identify key members, find our target audience with demographics and psychographics, along with discovering just how we can pitch our ideas to investors. Initially, I immediately knew I was going to relate my project to art, but thinking about a specific business I could use my art for was a bit challenging. I settled on making comics that could connect people. My main motivation was the fact that I could share art that people could connect upon. It was definitely a challenge to say everything I wanted whilst staying in my 2 minute time frame, but real elevator pitches have no leeway, and despite my business model directly consulting the consumer (instead of an investor) people's time is priceless. You have to make what they're hearing worthwhile and quick.

Victory. Tranquility. Respect.

The final Action Project for the humanities Endurance course has been assigned. And we must write out our own survival guide book to success. This third unit, Apotheosis we reflected upon our survival. What we've endured, how we've been reborn, and how we're dealing with our lives now. The struggles I went through included stating requirements to reach my goal, as I could technically reach it at any time. To be an artist has no specific requirements, it's such an open term and I consider myself an artist currently. Others have called me skilled and I've worked in so many mediums that I don't think isolating myself to just one style would be accurate. Just below, you can read through the book and I thank you for reading.

The Spice of Spanish

So this 3rd period class I've taken all year was Spanish. The final assignment was to write a story, 100-200 words, entirely in Spanish while using 2-4 new words we look up. Everything else was reviewed in the course and I can actually say that while I was doubtful of the course at first, I definitely learned the basics of Spanish by the end of it. Gracias para leyendo.

Mi vocabulario:

Pájaro

Picante

Migraña

Irritante

Un pájaro de Puerto Rico tiene una migraña… El pájaro está enfajado. El pájaro es un chico se llama Falconie. El pájaro tiene una migraña porque comió patata frita que es picante. Falconie mirada para un bebido. Falconie encontrar un rana que se llama Pepe. Pepe es irritante, pero sabe dónde está la bebida. Pepe hablas, “Hola, quieres vai para come?  Yo soy un rana. Tu no es un rana. ¿Que comes? ¿Comen mosca? Comemos mosca! Seguir me!” Falconie no comen mosca y esta frustrado con la rana. “TU ES UN RANA! Yo preciso agua. ¿Donde esta?!” Falconie diche. Falconie toser y toser porque la picante batata frita eres mucho seco. Falconie caída y morir… El fin.

A Dozen Hours

The Humanities course Endurance rolled up with a new project. Dedicate your life to something for 12 whole hours... Wow, that's... Much easier than it sounds in my case. You see, I have much spare time, but instead of taking the easy route and choosing something that would make a loophole, I thought about being productive. After seeing David Blane pursue his own passion of his career, which was holding his breath for the longest anyone ever could (being the amazing magician that he is, this stunt was one of his greatest feats), I decided to stick to my realm of comfort and expertise. Art. I wanted to animate for twelve hours... And I've done that before too, which is why I actually found it challenging to expand upon the... well challenges of making art for 12 hours.

Considering how this animation project was intended for school, I thought about being more organized, so I made a storyboard for my animation. That lone took 2 fun hours and then I thought about animating for another 5 hours, but on that day, I only got in 3 for before growing tired of the character I was drawing. More specifically, the software I was using (Krita) was not meant for animation. That painting software restricted me to keyframing each and every frame. At the time, I didn't have the means to make layers for stills or moving parts, I had to make a new drawing each time, and considering my lacking attention span or at least my speed art habits, I wanted to move on. I managed to draw about 12 frames whilst trying to figure out just how exactly I would go about with the rest of my storyboard, which would have no doubt lasted at least 30 seconds. Mix that with the only option of making a new drawing each time, an estimated 8 frames per second, and that's... 240 drawings. So I went with someone I thought was a little bit more fun to draw.

A villain's strut.VG.2017

Sonic the Hedgehog​ is a beloved character from Sega, and one big part of my childhood. His rather splendid design was always exciting to draw, and I used my actual animation software, Tupi, to create the GIF you see below. 

Sonic Bouncing About.VG.2017

And this video right here was a documentation of my time spent, thanks for reading through.