Fireside Chat

The Fireside Chat was an enjoyable experience. It may have been my favorite assignment of the semester. I initially worried that the night would drag on, however I found it to be very entertaining and revealing about my peers. Hearing their stories and experiencing their various methods of storytelling was enlightening and bond-forming. It reminded me in many ways of the Pinkhassov Portfolio in the sense of the potential for such a wide interpretation of a singular notion or idea. In the case of the text, it was a wide view of communication with deity.
I chose to share an experience I had while living in California. At the time it felt like a rather small experience, but with time and evidenced through repeated reflection, it has proven to be quite meaningful to me. It developed into ideas that eventually led into beliefs.
I think this class has been very useful in helping me understand previous experiences with storytelling. It has made me reevaluate the art that I have created in the past and consider it in new contexts. More importantly, it has influenced the way I feel a story can and should be treated.
In a way the experience reminded me of a comment made by Ross McElwee while he was visiting us. He explained that revisiting his films is a strange experience for him, almost as though they are no longer really his own, but someone else's story. When we shared our stories and beliefs, they became communal and part of a whole, no longer isolated.

Concerned Citizen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1NkuU9QUYY

The filmmaker has a unique vantage point of community and society. This vantage point comes from the benefit of having an object, such as a camera, to obscure himself. It makes it easy to observe and learn about those around us. With a heightened or perhaps even privileged view of community, the filmmaker should, as should any artist, be engaged and concerned as a citizen of a community.

We found that many of the community members who were most active and concerned about the welfare of others, were filmmakers. Particularly we found that filmmaker Dean Duncan and collaborators have made significant contributions to the Latter Day Saint community with their series Fit for The Kingdom. Dean privileged us with an interview where we asked him more about his decision to make the series. We discovered that his motivations came out of a sincere interest for the ‘neighbor’ and the importance of using documentary film to help promote positive self-reflection.

The reading by Arlene Goldbard, entitled Human Rights and Culture, says, “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.” I feel our video coupled with Dean Duncan’s voice over relates to the reading because it represents that we should be involved with our neighbors. The video also shows art and the advancement of technology from the beginning of filmmaking to the present.