Slug & Lede

Pawel Dwulit’s video piece, Cats Need Homes, features the interesting story of Frank Currell, a Scarborough resident who has over 80 cats living with him.  Now, after years of caring for the stray felines, he has to give most of them up due to the death of his wife and health reasons.

One thing that I really liked about this video was the different shots of the cats.  Instead of just viewing them lying around, Dwulit showed one peeping out from under the kitchen table, two black cats behind a set of canned goods, and a close-up of one with its tongue out.  This variety of shots kept me from getting bored.

Another part of the video that I thought was done well was the use of b-roll.  A more specific example of this is when Frank is talking about “his boys” helping him out, and the video cuts to his son and possibly his son’s wife in the kitchen with some of the cats.

One detail that I noticed during the piece that I feel could have been done better was some of the audio editing.  About halfway through the video there was an awkward pause that didn’t really have any good nat sound or anything.

A second small thing I noticed that I didn’t really fit into the video was when the picture of Frank’s deceased wife.  I felt like the shot was forced and it was also tilted at a weird angle, so that made it kind of awkward to look at.

If I had edited this piece, I would have only done a couple of things differently.  Mainly, I probably would have gotten a better variety of shots with Frank in them.  I might have shown him feeding the kitties or cleaning the litter box or something other than just sitting on the couch petting a cat.

I think that a video was the perfect type of media for this story.  I don’t think that text really could have conveyed the enormity of how many cats this man has.  I think that actually being able to picture what a house filled with over 80 cats looks like is much more effective than simply stating, “Frank Currell owns more than 80 cats.”

          The sun shines as the Sin City Shooters video begins, highlighting the emptiness of the vast desert, heightened by the metal crunch of gunfire reverberating through the canyon as a motley crew of gun enthusiasts discharge bullet after bullet.
         

          Evelio Contreras weaves commentary with plenty of movement, pushing the constant crash of gunshots to the forefront. Even as the shooters praise the sport, the “satisfying whop” of lead on lead remains.
 

            As for the footage, the crew did an excellent job dealing with the bright desert sun cascading down.  Seemingly everyone donned a pair of sunglasses, shielding from the bright, hot light. In one frame, however, the camera captured the sun, angling up towards a group of people at an awkward angle. Although short, the frame encompassed the feeling of the day, accentuating the warmth and delivering the knowing feeling so well.

           This warmth did not appear in any other scene as the crew positioned interviewees excellently. The distance was just about right, as was the gap to the left, showing an expansive view of the landscape as well as fitting the person into the frame comfortably.

           This deliberation failed to find its way into the transitions, as the video delivered a barrage of images, ostensibly jumping from one to the next. Although it accentuated the action, the lack of transitions was manifest and created a rough experience. Video’s strength as a smooth, transitional medium does not come through as well as it should have.

          Additionally, the close ups of the hands and guns were few, but executed well. Seeing the shot of a man’s hands grasping the gun at the beginning adds a dimension to the video by providing some diversity. Some more shots like that would have been helpful as the rest of the video focuses entirely on people and scenes set in the desert. Understandably so as they were in the desert, but breaking up the monotony with more close ups of the firearms would have been helpful.

My sister being oh-so-cool with members of Houston Calls.

This is a photo I took of my younger sister Michelle, 17, with members of the band, Houston Calls. We were at a show at the Webster Underground in Hartford, CT on March 19. She’s posing with lead singer Tom Keiger (in the middle) and guitarist Dan Diaz (on the right). Also in the background is band member “Okie” Okamoto (you know, the guy who looks like he’s imitating a dinosaur). The headlining band that night was Valencia while You, Me, and Everyone We Know and A Loss for Words opened the show.

Harry Caray

This is a picture that I took last summer in Chicago.  The picture is of the Harry Caray statue located outside of the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field.  Caray was a legendary announcer for the Cubs who passed away in 1998.

In a remote countryside of Vietnam, photographer Ehrin Macksey and Robert Lucius, executive director, take viewers on an unforgettable journey through the meek and dull halls of Van Mon, where a small population of elders suffer from Leprosy disabilities.

Our journey through Van Mon begins instantaneously. Just as the violin begins its fast melody, viewers are quickly flashed black and white photographs of Van Mon refuges. Their sad and lonely faces become richly etched into my mind. Macksey has immediately captured my attention. At first I felt that the pictures went by too fast, leaving me no time to closely examine them. However, I felt that slowing down the music and slowly flashing the photographs across the screen gave viewers a better sense of the sadness these people feel on a day to day bases.

An additional key aspect to the video was the black and white photographs that were consistently used throughout the piece. Black and white photography seems to carry an element that colored photos lack. They show peace, nature, beauty, sadness, and loneliness in many different contexts. This color scheme works beautifully with the Van Mon audio because it illuminates the dark, isolated, and depressing world that these disabled individuals live in.

Macksey’s use of slow moving video was also a immense addition to the piece. As Lucius explains the horrible conditions that these elderly people must live in, a nurse is pouring a bucket of water on a naked man bound to his wheelchair. That is their bathing environment and the slow moving picture allows viewers to really picture the grotesque and horrendous conditions.

Although I thought this piece was moving and powerful, I do wish they would have explained what Leprosy is at the beginning of the video. Throughout the video we learn and see the effects that the disease has on the human body, yet unless you have prior knowledge, the full extent of the disease is left unspoken. I also felt that the video piece was a bit long and that some of the edits were a bit obvious. For instance, at .57-.50 seconds it is apparent the editors cut a section out a put these two segments together. This is evident but Lucius’s words slightly overlap themselves.

Van Mon: A Forgotten Existence is a powerful and meaningful video. It is a rare topic covered, yet the passion that these directors and photographers have towards the topic is passionate. Their pictures, audio, and slow moving videos transforms these forgotten souls into remembered ones.

Big Ben Clock Tower, London

 This picture was taken in London on December 21, 2007 during winter break.  My parents and I went to visit my uncle who lived in London at the time.  He took us on a tour and I was in the car when I snapped this picture.  It was a lot of fun and hopefully I’ll get the chance to visit again soon.

I thought that Pawel Dwulit’s video about the 80 cats being given away for adoption by a a man named Frank Currell in Scarboro was interesting, to say the least. I was a little shocked at first by the mere idea that an owner could own that many animals in one place, and was even more surprised to see through the video that the animals and home seemed to be in very good shape.

We’ve all read and seen videos and news stories about the horrors of homes with 100 dogs or 50 cats, and in a way, I suppose this video was able to give a face to the names of all the people we read about that hoard animals.

Though I thought that the story within itself was interesting, I was quite disappointed by the lack of context provided to the viewer during the progression of the piece. Why did Currell and his wife have so many cats? How did they manage to take care of them all? Do the pets have names? Have they ever faced ridicule or problems for having so many pets? I just felt that there were far too many unanswered questions left for the viewer to speculate answers for. 

I thought that the dialogue given by Currell was very good, I just think that Pawel Dwulit should have expanded upon the story of the man and his wife to clarify what happened to her, and how his having cancer has affected the lives of the animals.