The majority of this morning, I spent with my group... frantically trying to get our video done. It was coming together pretty well for the most part, but there were definitely parts that needed to be tightened up. For example, there were three sections of "interviewing" me that we filmed in the wee hours of last night. After 26 takes (literally) of me laughing at some point during the line, we FINALLY got it right! However, once we woke up today from our sleep deprivation, we realized that my voice sounded like I was about to crack up at any given second.... so that was no good! We filmed all three new takes this morning (and I would like to add, it only took 3 takes!). So literally there was footage in our final video that was shot the very same day.
Regardless, we all worked so well to pull it all together. After scarfing down a very quick lunch, we all headed to the library to prepare for our presentation. Basically, we needed to talk about how we worked together as a group, what each group member's specific role was, how we managed our time, and the story of how we chose our topic. It was a bit stressful putting together the presentation in the hour before it was to be given, but we managed ;)
At 2pm, Judgment Day began! We all arrived looking "smart" (British for "dressed up"). As about 10 audience members trickled in, it enhanced our excitement as well as our nerves. The basic arrangement for the afternoon was that it was an hour-long event. One group would give their 10-minute introductory presentation, show their 10-minute film, and then field questions for 10 minutes from our lecturers as well as any audience members. After, the next group would go.
The style and organized nature of the event was a little intimidating, but overall, it went so fantastically. The other group went first and I was just so proud of them and all the work they had done. Because we had been a bit secretive with each other, in the sense that this was the first time I got to see their video, I was so impressed! Their video was truly spectacular! They focused on how citizenship is such a broad term and that everyone thinks of it in a different way. They also added in globalization and how that changes the definition of citizenship for lots of people. It was very well-done!
Right after, it was my group's turn to go! We gave a very smooth presentation... Here is how it went:
Evidence of teamwork and fair and appropriate division of laborWhat happens when you put four Fulbrighters together and tell them to make a 10-minute video about citizenship? Well, we all have our own ideas on what to do and how to do it. Our group was no different. All four of us shared unique ideas that played an integral part in the film. As we watched the final film product, we were able to look through and see different parts “belonging” to one group member – in the sense that it was their idea, and they made it happen. This was a very cool dynamic as we could see the evidence of all of our collective ideas come together in a montage.
But what is really exciting is to see how it all came together. Without open communication, constructive criticism, creativity, and hard work from each of us, none of this would have been put together quite so well. In particular, after reflecting on the final product, we have realized that we all did a bit of everything. In general, we were all very flexible with our duties. But for each of us, the following roles were where we really shined:
Jason was the camera man. Wherever we went, he reminded the group to not just take pictures, but to video tape as well, since it will turn out nicely to have a wide variety of video shots in our project. Once, he was so patient that he took 27 shots of an interview until it was right.
Jamie was the aesthetics manager. While taking into consideration all the information and concepts to pack into the video, she edited the footage in a way to creatively express those topics and make the film aesthetically pleasing.
Alex was the organizer. She helped think through and structure the video so it flowed well – like an essay. She kept us grounded to a format for our video, in order for it to make sense.
Nadia was the voice! Not only did she patiently do all of the voiceovers for our video, but she was very good at communicating her ideas, as well as giving others constructive feedback.
Through all of our specific roles, as well as flexibility to do whatever is needed, our group was able to create a video that reflects all of our ideas, and some of the most interesting concepts that we’ve learned during our time here in London, and at Roehampton University in particular.
How we came up with our topicAs the weeks have progressed, one thing is certain – we’ve changed our mind A LOT. Our issue lies in the fact that citizenship in general is very broad. During our academic program, we had a total of 10 lectures covering a range of different topics, from security to sustainability to patriotism, and they all had connections to topics of citizenship.
Our preliminary plans for our video were to explore what citizenship meant to different people. Our thinking was that people essentially redefine citizenship based on who they are and what they feel like doing as a citizen. For example, some people just define citizenship as having a passport, but others define citizenship as having some responsibilities and duties. To find this information, we took our cameras everywhere we went and simply asked people to define citizenship… but that didn’t seem like enough.
After visiting the UK and Scottish Parliaments, we decided to take the angle of political participation. We thought it would be a good idea to find out what makes some people participate, and others not. As we interviewed people from here on out, our questions changed to how people politically participated, why they are motivated to do so, what they felt they accomplished from this, and so on.
The main issue we had with that was we felt like we were going to make unfair and broad generalizations. With our heads spinning we almost settled for making our video on the ambiguity of citizenship until we thought of the topic we have today. Here’s the story.
During our stay here, we haven’t had much of a chance to watch TV (well, unless you count watching the Simpsons dubbed in French in Brussels) but we have had access to the London metro newspapers. We have collectively read several articles about David Cameron’s Big Society and Boris Johnson’s fight with Democracy Village.
This is what sparked our interest. We wanted to discover what the London community thought about active citizenship in general, and then explore different avenues in which people engage in active citizenship. For this, we chose the Big Society and Democracy Village, so that we could take a more contemporary and current approach to our video. To take it one step further, we chose the thesis of our video to analyze the disconnect between how the government says it wants citizens to be more actively engaged, yet it squashes the efforts of some citizen’s activeness. Succinctly, we explored the disjointedness of the government’s rhetoric (what they say) and reality (what they do). From this structure, we created our video.
Time management and paceIn terms of footage, we interviewed people whenever we had the opportunity. Also we each used our cameras to document scenery. We would actually like to thank the other team for letting us borrow a few seconds of their Democracy Village footage that went unused for their film. We uploaded footage, and edited what we did and did not want as we went along.
On Tuesday night, we heard the news that the protesters of Democracy Village had been evicted. At first we were entirely upset at the thought of not being able to return to Democracy Village to speak with the protesters. After calming down a bit, we realized that it would actually turn out to be the perfect arena for live news.
During the past couple of days, we’ve molded our new footage with the old. Everything was done on Nadia’s computer so that we could use the iMovie software. We all learned how to use it fairly quickly, and were all able to help with the editing aspects of the video.
To work most efficiently, we divided our video into two main sections – Big Society and Protesting – and split the work accordingly. Then we all came together to create the beginning and ending of the film. Everyone had a say in editing the finer aspects of the film, from transitions, to song choices, and grammar.
After our presentation, we debuted our video! Again, while watching it, I just felt very proud of what my group had done in such a short amount of time -- we finalized our topic on Tuesday night! Thank goodness we ended up changing our topic, or else it would have been very similar to what the other group did. Instead, we changed it to exploring what it means to be an active citizen and how people define it differently. We then go into discovering the disconnect between what the government says (rhetoric) and what the government does (reality) -- as in, the UK government has said many times that it wants its people to be more active in politics, the community, etc, but then they squash efforts (Big Society, Democracy Village) if people do indeed try to be more active. We left our conclusion wide open, essentially, but just made the point that no matter how you do it, it is important to make your voice heard instead of staying silent.
After the whole spectacle, both groups had to sit in the next room while the "judges" deliberated about our marks. Segolene made us COOKIES! :) After the other group got their marks (they did very well!), it was my groups turn. The lecturers were very proud of the fact that we took a bold stance on very contemporary UK issues and that we dappled in the political world as much as we did. They were very proud of that :) We got an 80%, which is insanely good... (remember, British grading system! Over 70% is a very strong A)... so needless to say, we were very happy!
After relaxing for a bit, we all headed to Pizza Express for dinner. Don't let the name fool you, because the restaurant is actually a sit-down restaurant and its pretty nice! We headed over to Louisa's house and we had a lot of fun playing Fuzzy Duck and the Animal Game! For Fuzzy Duck, you go around in a circle saying "fuzzy duck." When someone says "Does he?" the circle reverses and everyone says "ducky fuzz," until someone again says "Does he?" and it changes back to "fuzzy duck." It was hilarious because it's such a tongue twister that everyone is bound to mess up! Then, the Animal Game is where everyone chooses a certain animal sign using their arms or hands. Everyone does a beat similar to "We Will Rock You," and the game works by someone does their own sign, and then the sign of the person they want to pass it to. For some reason, we would always get insanely fast, so by the end of it, hands are just flying around! It is hilarious to watch when someone blanks out and forgets what sign to do. Great game!
Showing off our animal signs!
In other epic news, Alex and I debuted our hit song "Mind That Gap" or "Ride That Tube," sung to the tune of "Rock That Body" by the Black Eyed Peas. The morning that we got footage from Democracy Village, we made up the song in our sleep deprivation. It is fantastic :)
Oh well, it all worked out! My luggage BARELY made the limit... it was like 24.6 kg and the limit is 25. I was sooo lucky. I thought for sure I would have to pay the excess weight fee!
That's just my carry-on baggage! Finally, something with wheels :)
We went through customs, which was relatively easy, and then we had to go through security again, which was way more intense! We even had to do a body scan. It was just bizarre because we had gone through security, been on a plane, and went right into the airport again... so I'm not sure why we needed to go through such intense security again, but oh well!
Heading home.
Alex and I were travel buddies!
