Hidden Gems: Public Art in Silver Spring

Hi Readers! This is my new Independent Video Project on what it is like to live in Silver Spring.  It combines two of the main things I love about Silver Spring, Maryland: the murals and multicultural diversity.  I highlighted my favorite pieces of public art displays in the downtown area.  I hope the British kids coming to visit CAP enjoy it, as well as Blair Students.  We often take for granted a simple piece of sculpture or painting as we pass by, but taking a closer look helped me to TRULY to appreciate the hidden layer of intense history and stories!  I hope you guys enjoy this tour through Downtown as much as I did!
(This was shot using an iPad 2)

The Fire of Flamenco.....and then some

Flamenco.  Not a lot of people know exactly what it is, more or less, have an interest in it.  To me, its an art form, a form of expressing ones feeling, in either dance, music, or any form of movement.  It can be broad or narrow, and interpreted in so many ways.

A traditional dance and music style originating from Andalusia, Spain, Flamenco is a tantalizing melting pot of arab, gypsy, and spanish art.  The tocaor (guitar player) accompanies the bailaor (dancer) and cantaor (singer).  To me the mixture of these three artists, along with a clapping rhythm allow for the most simple yet versatile mode of expression. Anger, love, jealousy, glee, and despair are just some of the multitude of feelings expressed in this art form.

Of my favorite beats/rhythms of flamenco is the traditional buleria.  This slow, and passionate style is very raspy and mystic sounding to me (a facet I love).  Here is one of my favorite examples, featuring the renowned Estrella Morente and one of the three flamenco dynasties: Los Habichuelas.

Flamenco can be a single art form, or a musical festivity enjoyed by many.  One of the three flamenco dynasties is called La Ketama. Here is one of their popular DVD albums.  I love how its so improvisational and family-oriented.

Finally, flamenco is slowly evolving with tastes from other nations and Spain's youth.  Here are two examples.  One is a collaboration with more modern artists: Nina Pastori and Raul Rojas.  The other is a flamenco rendition of a famous Turkish folk song.

This post was almost like poetry for me.  It helped me put out my true feelings for this art form, and I enjoyed sharing some of my favorites with you:)

Documentary Review: Science of Babies

The documentary, National Geographic: Science of Babies is an observational piece that examines the complex and dynamic subtleties of baby development during the first 12 months.  This eye-opening documentary is literally set in stage at the beginning.  The picture opens with a curtain rising revealing the minute and seemingly normal activities of a baby, playing on an empty theater stage.  From this “center stage,” the narrator pulls the viewer into the first stage of the baby’s life, delivery.  Intense B-roll footage of baby deliveries as well as the post delivery process is shown.  However, the magic is shown in the experiments done.  Revealing infant-kind’s inheritance from evolutionary processes, the documentary unexpectedly discusses the magic of language learning, walking, social recognition and other behavioral biology changes a baby undergoes in just ONE year. 

            The documentary’s method of storytelling is literary and dramatic, and real-time in its cinematography.  In terms of the literary working, the concept of a baby is dramatically interpreted as a character on stage, learning, interacting, and experiencing.  One stage of the baby’s performance might be the throwing of a ball, and this catalyzes a camera documentation of research relating to motor skills development.  Researchers and Scientists become the center players now, portrayed through close up shots of Computer Screens and Machinery, Medical Imaging, and Animated shots of orbiting neurons of Baby’s inside world.   In addition to the more literal cinematography, the baby’s point of view is also figuratively established to give an insider view on how a baby actually develops.  This is done through clever camera tilts and jerks give the sense of how a baby walks at first. 

            Although, I loved the artistic and visual aspect of this documentary, the real treasure was the breathtaking discovery and research-based knowledge!  Scientists and Human Development experts from all across the spectrum contributed their perspectives on essentially evolutionary trends on why babies develop the way do.  Neurobiologists, Cognitive Scientists, Behavioral Specialists, and Pediatricians, gave a variety of inputs, resulted in a diversified knowledge.  For instance, when explaining why babies are able to process words in the way they do, Computer Scientists compared their ability to being superior to robots, while Pediatricians looked at the more social and environmental trends that allow one to learn words.  Psychologists focused on how babies loose abilities to detect subtlety in facial expressions of primates, but inherently learn how to do math.  These ground-breaking discoveries weren't the only impressive facets of this documentary.  The social and game/play-oriented experiments through which this research was done WAS ACTUALLY FILMED! Thus, I got not only a literary/informational perspective of the science in general, but also was able to see the proof and play behind it.

            I highly recommend this documentary to behavior science or biology aficionados.  The facts are packed with interesting NEW AND COMING research, as well as a plethora of scientists and well-reputable sources.  For the softhearted and baby-loving audience, this documentary has plenty of sequences of crawling, giggling, and happy babies, are sure to delight your guchi-goo!  A unique balance of biology and babies earns this documentary four out of five stars!

Interfaith Healing: A Lesson from Newtown's Vigil

The tremendously heart-wrenching and sad massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, resulting in the death of 27 innocent lives, has sparked a wave of grief in the humble town of Newtown and the nation as a whole.  As we heal from this tragedy, it came to my attention how beautiful and amazing the interfaith dialogue has been, in helping to alleviate the grief or at least hare it with others.

After watching CNN's broadcast of the Vigil in owner of the victims  I realized many of the commonalities of the religions' messages.  These messages of peace, comfort, healing through prayer, and community strength, all seemed very close to my heart.  It was a joy to see how each major religion had a representative and advocate for peace from their perspectives.

In line with the Vigil at Newton were the International Conference on World Religions  and Blair's creation of its very first Interfaith Club, founded by Juliette Provost.  For me faith and dialogue are too methods of not only healing, but also UNDERSTANDING and AWARENESS.

Prisons: Permanent Punishment or Road to Recovery?

Prison, to me, is not a widely explored social topic.  They are places where the criminals, murderers, robbers, rapists, and fiends of society are locked away, shunned, and kept safely away from the outside world.  This however, raised a question in mind.  Can prison systems around the world serve has a rehabilitation effort rather then total life punishment?

In many instances, American prisoners are often wasting time in their cells, doing some service work but not learning much.  In Turkey and Kuwait, torture is a huge mechanism of fear, thus instilling the concept of a punishing sentence.  However, a unique, strict, yet cleverly effective system is Japan's.

In a Women's Prison near Tokugawa, discipline is taught through doing tasks, such as laundry, meditation  constant cleaning, housekeeping and other sources of occupation.  Creating and maintaining a disciplined lifestyle is often the key to rehab and bettering oneself in prison.  I think other nations should following the Japanese Model.  Rather than having prisoners waste their lives away, why not be productive and turn them into positive members of society instead of returning as  what they were before.

Documentary Ideas: Dance, Language, and Refugees

Although a few vague ideas for the documentary project have been swirling around in my head, its time to solidify them into clear visions.  Here are three.

Bilingual at Blair

Everyday at School, I notice sooo many languages being spoken.  As a group of individuals we are so diverse in our speech.  I want to pinpoint on both ESOL learners and students of equal fluency in two languages   The Documentary will be thus two fold, uncovering the challenges of learning English as well as the ups and downs of being bilingual   The project will be mainly interviewed-based, consisting of real-time footage of students   Shots of classrooms, cultural shows and exchanges will also be included.  The purpose is too relay the diversity and usefulness in being Bilingual.

Documenting Dance

Through both Blair dance classes and local studios, I want to document the learning of dance among teens and kids.  Specific styles such as flamenco, interpretative, Chinese or Indian Classical, and Hip-hop are too be concentrated upon.  The purpose is to relay the pressure, purpose, and craft of learning dance as a process and a journey in learning.  Animation visuals will portray this as a road to becoming that never quite ends, but continues in fruitful quest.

Refugee

A strong number of refugees are present in the DMV area.  Through interviews both far and close, the documentary will portray the story of being a refugee immigrant in the U.S. and how it differs from just normal immigration.  I plan to use poetry as a catalyst for narrating the film.  Historical facts about refugee history will also be given as well as everyday perspectives from refugees, teachers, policy-makers, and refugee organizations such as the Association of Bhutanese in America.

Fall Video Challenge- Leaves and Harvest

1. Tree of Red Leaves

2. Teeny-tiny Pumpkin 

3 Ingredients 

4 Raking the Leaves 

5 Fall Harvest

6 Tracing a Leaf 

7 Basket of Apples 

8 Apple Crisp Ready to Bake

9 Apple Crisp Ready to Serve 

10 Happy Autumn!

Fall is a time of incredible fruit desserts, cool breezes and more fruit desserts.  The foliage is earthy and rich and its a great time of transition but also favorite holidays.  In filming this short video, I use an ipad 2.  I made use of different camera angles and did some preliminary set up of scenes, especially in shots 5 and 10.  I tried to use the movement of the camera to around certain displays of foilage, color, and apples, but also to move toward things such as the tree.

Autumn is a very calm season too me (which is why its most favorite).  As a result, I used calm vocal music and a cheerful Ukulele tune to exemplify the mood.  I did some light blurring of shots just to make it dreamy.  Again, this is to exemplify how I feel about the season.