OUR PROJECT
AS THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS WORSENED IN 2015, MANY HISTORIANS BEGAN COMPARING WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY IN SYRIA TO WHAT HAPPENED IN EUROPE DURING WORLD WAR II. IN OUR CLASS, WE DID THE SAME. WE ASKED, WHY ARE SIMILAR PROBLEMS OCCURRING TODAY AS THE PROBLEMS THAT OCCURRED 80 YEARS AGO?
THIS LED TO FURTHER, MORE UNIVERSAL QUESTIONS: WHY DO PEOPLE PERSECUTE OTHERS? WHY DO PEOPLE FOLLOW CRUEL LEADERS? WHY DO PEOPLE SEE OTHERS IN NEED AND DO NOTHING? WHY ARE CIVILIANS TARGETED IN WAR?
WE CREATED BLACK AND WHITE SILENT FILMS TO EXPLORE THESE QUESTIONS AND TO DEVELOP EMPATHY FOR THE PEOPLE INVOLVED, BOTH FROM THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.
THE FACES OF THE FILMS ARE OURS. THE SITUATIONS ARE NOT, BUT THEY COULD BE.
AS THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS WORSENED IN 2015, MANY HISTORIANS BEGAN COMPARING WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY IN SYRIA TO WHAT HAPPENED IN EUROPE DURING WORLD WAR II. IN OUR CLASS, WE DID THE SAME. WE ASKED, WHY ARE SIMILAR PROBLEMS OCCURRING TODAY AS THE PROBLEMS THAT OCCURRED 80 YEARS AGO?
THIS LED TO FURTHER, MORE UNIVERSAL QUESTIONS: WHY DO PEOPLE PERSECUTE OTHERS? WHY DO PEOPLE FOLLOW CRUEL LEADERS? WHY DO PEOPLE SEE OTHERS IN NEED AND DO NOTHING? WHY ARE CIVILIANS TARGETED IN WAR?
WE CREATED BLACK AND WHITE SILENT FILMS TO EXPLORE THESE QUESTIONS AND TO DEVELOP EMPATHY FOR THE PEOPLE INVOLVED, BOTH FROM THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.
THE FACES OF THE FILMS ARE OURS. THE SITUATIONS ARE NOT, BUT THEY COULD BE.
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Screenshots and Blurbs that was were displayed on exhibition.
Silent Film Link https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/recent Group Poster This was the poster we displayed at exhibition. It had each of our roles and the 3 reasons answering our overall questions. Research Paper
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Group Member Reflection
Process
The first thing I remember doing when getting assigned to our groups was watching a documentary on ISIS and filling out a web. After we had some background knowledge we spent more time learning about the Syrian crisis and we were able to chose a question that our group was interested. Our group question was "Why Do People Follow Crazy Leaders" and we were each assigned a role. From there we spent lots of time researching and printing out articles. Our first draft was a word vomit and everyone was uncharge of critiquing everybody. In art class we then started learning about film techniques like lead room, POV, or over shoulder. That when we also took our research papers and turned it into a scenes for our silent film which were based off of our research papers. Each of my group members were in charge of each scene and we all took turns directing. Before we did the actual filming we had to get the scene approved by Mrs Joshua. He didn't really like one of our scene so we had to change it and he seemed to like it better. That when we got to acting. We all acted, Jonah spent the majority of the time finding stock footage, trinity worked on the screenshots, and I did the majority of the editing.
If my team members had superpowers...
Jonah
"I think that if jonah had a superpower he would be like elastic women because she is super flexible" Trinity
I totally agree with trinity. We had to constantly change our work because of the critique we would get and he always went with it. For instance when Mr Joshua didn't approve of one scene he helped with ideas but, when we came up with something else he rolled with it and was able to comfortably work with change. I also think he would be trinity partner in crime because I think that they would work well with each other. I see that they have no problem communicating with each other and I notice that they work on things together,
Trinity
Trinity is the other partner of their dynamic duo. Despite the fact that trinity missed a week of school she was really quick in her recovery with her work. Even when she was on bed rest she did all she could by working on the poster, her essay, and she was always looking for something to do. So that why her power would be healing because she can recover her work. Whenever I asked her do something or gave her a task she never questioned it she always got to work. "You guys were wonder women, you were both very hardworking" says Jonah and I totally agree.
Improvements
As a team member I think that I should communicate more with my group because when I'm work sometimes I get too locked in I don't really pay attention to my other group mates. I found myself feeling like I had lots to do and stressing about work when I could have communicated to my group members to give them something to help.
Strengths
I think that I worked well editing because Ive worked with editing videos so I had an idea of what I was doing when splicing and editing. Also with critique I felt I was strong in that area because I spent a lot of time reading through people essays, and we videos to give them good critique. I know how it feels to not get critique so I try to be the person that is able to specifically give them something to work on and give warm feedback. I feel that we all had different strengths that we contributed in our group and thats what worked really well for us.
If you could do this project differently..
If I had the chance to do this project over again I would change the set up for exhibition because I felt that our exhibition was kinda hidden. But, I really liked the way the films turned out, I like how we started off watching a documentary on how ISIS was formed because I thought that was good background information to know to kick off the project.
Exhibition Reflection
Exhibition night was very memorable for me. It was the night to show off all of our handwork and teach people we spend months learning. I was able to show my work to my family, my old teachers, and strangers, My first shift was humanities and at first it was a little lonely so I was able to go outside and invite people in.
At exhibition I was most proud of myself and my teachers. I was able to invite my old middle school teachers into my exhibition and teach them something. It was a good feeling seeing my old teachers so they could see how Ive grown as a presenter and just see the work I am doing now, I am also proud of my teacher because they were able really supportive and helpful. I thought that the films turned out great as well as the posters. None of this would have been possible without our teachers.
If I were to do exhibition I would keep the location but, maybe post flyers or hand out brochures so that people know that we are there. In the middle of the exhibition I volunteered to go out and call people in and I feel that we should assign those roles before the actual exhibition,
At exhibition I was most proud of myself and my teachers. I was able to invite my old middle school teachers into my exhibition and teach them something. It was a good feeling seeing my old teachers so they could see how Ive grown as a presenter and just see the work I am doing now, I am also proud of my teacher because they were able really supportive and helpful. I thought that the films turned out great as well as the posters. None of this would have been possible without our teachers.
If I were to do exhibition I would keep the location but, maybe post flyers or hand out brochures so that people know that we are there. In the middle of the exhibition I volunteered to go out and call people in and I feel that we should assign those roles before the actual exhibition,
Learning Reflection
Content
Way before the project started we had to write what we knew about the refugees in Syria, WWII, or about drones. For the refugees in Syria this is what I wrote "I think that a Civil War broke out and more people started dying as it went on. I also know that lost of countries don't want to let them in because of economy issues and the fear of terrorism" Looking back on my answers from what I knew then and comparing then now it seems I had a pretty good idea of what was going on.. What I know now is that ISIS started when the president of Syria started to kill sunnies because of his paranoia and covered it up with terrorism attacks. A civil war broke out and the government attacked back by hurting the protesters. That hardened the protesters and more and more started to take the streets. The remaining of Al Qaeda took advantage of their venerability and started to recruit people. Thats when ISIS became ISIS. Also I know that countries don't want to let refugees in because of the fear of spies. Back in WWII when hitler took power Jewish refugees were seeking places to go and they found some German spies. When writing a research paper I learned to do lots of little things that make a good research paper. Credible articles sources, how to site my information, and backing everything up with evidence.
Filming
At first I didn't really understand the type of film we were trying to create. A film with no sound, no props, no costume, or location. I learned that this film type creates a piece of work that honors the footage. A silent that honors the people in Syria. I really liked the splicing from our film and the different angles that incorporated I think it worked well with the transitions. Also I think that our film had really good flow and I think that has a really good effect on the film because it keep the flow nicely. If were to use somebody else film or editing technique I would use Ilysahs group how they used the drone to film of their shots. I thought it was cool shot how it panned out.
Way before the project started we had to write what we knew about the refugees in Syria, WWII, or about drones. For the refugees in Syria this is what I wrote "I think that a Civil War broke out and more people started dying as it went on. I also know that lost of countries don't want to let them in because of economy issues and the fear of terrorism" Looking back on my answers from what I knew then and comparing then now it seems I had a pretty good idea of what was going on.. What I know now is that ISIS started when the president of Syria started to kill sunnies because of his paranoia and covered it up with terrorism attacks. A civil war broke out and the government attacked back by hurting the protesters. That hardened the protesters and more and more started to take the streets. The remaining of Al Qaeda took advantage of their venerability and started to recruit people. Thats when ISIS became ISIS. Also I know that countries don't want to let refugees in because of the fear of spies. Back in WWII when hitler took power Jewish refugees were seeking places to go and they found some German spies. When writing a research paper I learned to do lots of little things that make a good research paper. Credible articles sources, how to site my information, and backing everything up with evidence.
Filming
At first I didn't really understand the type of film we were trying to create. A film with no sound, no props, no costume, or location. I learned that this film type creates a piece of work that honors the footage. A silent that honors the people in Syria. I really liked the splicing from our film and the different angles that incorporated I think it worked well with the transitions. Also I think that our film had really good flow and I think that has a really good effect on the film because it keep the flow nicely. If were to use somebody else film or editing technique I would use Ilysahs group how they used the drone to film of their shots. I thought it was cool shot how it panned out.