The Many Artistic Perspectives at Winthrop University

In light of the end of the year, I thought it would be a wonderful idea to compose two collage videos on a topic that makes the majority of liberal-arts students happy:  Art.

In my first video titled "Students' Favorite Form of the Arts" I informally asked a number of random students on campus what their favorite form of artistic expression was.  The video showcases a wide-variety of answers with some unique insight as to what was so inspiring about what they chose.  Click here to watch my video.

Others were goofy, some were shy and one or two may have been caught at an "awkward" timing.  Overall, I encourage everyone to watch this video and absorb the two minutes of Winthrop diversity for the arts!

While shooting this montage, I loved getting a laugh out of some responses and hearing some honest, in-depth truth about what moves the creative mind.  However, because I was asking random students, most people were irritated and suspicious with my slight intrusiveness as many were exhausted from studying for exams.

During post-production, I had little to no troubles other than finding my videos on the SD card (but that only occupied a half hour of my time at most).  Honestly, post-production was a breeze and couldn't have enjoyed the editing process more!  Again, click here to watch my first video.

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My second video titled "The Arts at Winthrop: Music, Visuals, Theater" is much more formal.  With this video I followed one student involved in each of the following majors:  Music, sculpture and theater performance.  In the video, each student showcases their individual talent according to their major---I am most proud of this video over any other video I have shot and edited in the past several months of my amateur experience.  I feel as though I was finally 100% successful in reaching an audience, editing a better visual and auditory experience together and overall, justly portraying the message I wanted to be heard.  Click here to watch my second video.

While shooting this piece, I felt very intimate with my three subjects (being in their personal workspace for creativity) and thus I was more motivated to have that portrayed on camera.  I scheduled appointments with each individual at night when they were most creatively ready to work.  So I got a lot of great B-roll shots and intriguing interview responses that made shooting fun---there were absolutely no issues at all.

During post-production, I supplied the names of each subject as subtitles during their first interview appearance.  Somehow one of the names was erased and replaced with the stock title of "TITLE."  As a disclaimer, I would like to credit Ceciley Bigham as the nameless interviewee and I apologize sincerely for the unprofessional mistake.  I did not fix this simple mistake because, for some peculiar reason, this video took an accumulated six and a half hours to export and upload to youtube.  Had I fixed the error and redone all of the uploading, I would have been up all night and failed an early exam of mine.

Other than these problems, editing was a delight as always and I had an immense amount of fun finding creative ways to present a truly thought-provoking subject.  Again, click here to watch my second video.

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In summary of my videos from the past four months or so, I think I've improved a lot already.  Little did I know that film editing and journalistic filming would become a peak of interest to me.  I am already considering a change of focus in my studies within the mass communication department.  I hope these last two videos are a pleasure to all.  

Winthrop University Department of Residence Life

Winthrop University has a lot of opportunities to offer students for their future careers.  Many students who live on campus are offered a lot more social experience and communal service than those who do no live on campus.

I put together a video of the daily student life on campus, focusing on those who take part in "Residence Life."  In my video, I had the pleasure of interviewing the Vice President Director of Residence Life, a residence hall assistant, an employee at the resident gym on campus and a current resident in Richardson Hall.  Click HERE to watch the video!

Residence Life offers a number of meal plans that suit individuals' eating preferences and a variety of different style residence halls.  Community dorms include Richardson Hall, Woffard Hall and Margaret Nance Hall.  Suit style includes Thomson Hall, Lee Wicker, and Phelps.  Appartment style offers The Courtyard at Winthrop.  Residents can eat at the main dining hall, Thomson Cafeteria, or at the Digorgio campus center.

Students on campus seem to grow much closer at Winthrop than at most other school's I've visited.  At USC or Clemson, students are "really more of a number than a name" as Cindy Castons, vice president of student life states.  The social prosperity in students at Winthrop is a much more blooming experience than those at other schools.

The project was a lot of fun;  I got to explore the benefits of living at Winthrop, the nature of students and faculty and I enjoyed putting the video together through the editing process.  Editing took a lot of time because I had to learn different characteristics of the software, Adobe Premiere.  I am very proud of this video and think that it does justice to the Department of Residence Life.  As quoted by Riley Ketcham, freshman resident to Richardson Hall, she would "recommend anyone to live on campus!"

Greatest Fears of Winthrop Students and Faculty

I composed a video through interviews with Winthrop campus-goers to expose a particular question: "What is your greatest fear?" You can watch my video HERE.
The responses seen in the video vary from humorously silly to vulnerable, honest answers.  Those featured in my video should be highly regarded for answering a personal question on camera.

Interviewing people was a lot of fun---their responses made me laugh and even find some insight to human reaction toward the world's frightening products.  I found myself enjoying the editing process as well.  Finding ways to group certain fears and turn a long response into a quick-and-easy one was quite satisfying.  The only difficulties I had with making this compilation video was the time it took to export from Adobe Premiere and the time it took to upload to Youtube.  I suppose I used a lot of editing and that took some effort on the computer's end.

I hope you enjoy my video, because I surely do.  Again, click HERE to watch the responses of Winthrop University students to an unprompted "What is your greatest fear?" on camera!

Bancroft Hall

I did my first project for my Multi Media Story Telling class on Bancroft Hall, an office building on the Winthrop campus.  Professors and faculty members use the office rooms for out-of-the-classroom work between classes.  I enjoyed having Bancroft as my subject because of how much it made me feel at home.  After studying what it has to offer, I plan to visit the writing center much more often.
While making this video, I had some difficulties working with the mac computers...I have nearly no experience with them.  I had to take my pictures and record my audio twice.  I also had to start my editing over after using a different mac and saving the project incorrectly.  But after much effort, I'm quite proud of the video.  Click here to watch it.
I hope that this video will reassure you all that Bancroft is a place for academic support; professors are always willing to help during office hours, and the writing center is always accepting appointments.  Plus, its an incredibly peaceful place to study.

Flu Shot a Scam to College Kids

Winthrop University college students offer opinions on this year’s flu season.  The Controversy behind whether or not the flu shot is an effective vaccination carries into campus life.

According to the Center for Disease Control, the flu shot is the biggest step in protecting one’s self from catching the influenza virus, though many people don’t buy it.  In fact, a portion of American citizens are convinced that the flu shot causes flu rather than prevents it.  Dakota Fitzgerald, a freshman Broadcasting major at Winthrop University states that she had fallen ill with the flu after getting the flu shot for the first time and because of the mishap, she hasn’t had one since.  

It may be that the younger generation at college is coming to terms with their direct opinion as opposed to a doctor’s.  Repercussions, according to the CDC, involve community outbreak and increase of death amongst citizens with weak immune systems.  

However, the testimonials against vaccination increase with Winthrop students.  Kate, a senior Science Communication major, recalls her household being hounded by the illness at a young age.  Since then, her mother had no intention of vaccinating her children for the flu season again.

Choosing not to listen to an authority figure such as the CDC is a brave gesture made by many college students, especially after reading some of the webpage’s statistics; flu associated deaths ranged from 3,000 to 49,000 each season from 1976 to 2007.  

Writing Basic News Leads

1) Lead: A man was killed this morning upon striking a fire truck with his van at a Rock Hill intersection.

   Nut Graph: At 7:10am, Charles R. Lydon died at the intersection of Post Road and Rollins Avenue after colliding with a fire engine reportedly responding to an emergency call.  Lydon was driving north on Post Road at an estimated 40 mph before the crash concerning two firemen.  The condition of the firemen as well as who was at fault has yet to be determined.
2) Lead:  Bigger cars may mean a safer drive according to the Highway Loss Data Institute.
  
   Nut Graph: The Highway Loss Data Institute, a company branch of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, released studies today to D.C. concerning the safety advantages in driving a station wagon or van.  According to the report, small, two-door model vehicles earn injury repair frequencies and repair losses at a 30% higher rate than large cars, receiving 40 to 50% better claims.

3)  Lead:  Is an all-American food too dangerous for your children?
  
   Nut Graph:  The Journal of the American Medical Association featured an article today on why hot dogs are a choking hazard to children under the age of four.  According to the article, an American chokes to death from a bite of this old-standby every five days.  

4)  Lead:  Family holds funeral for the wrong body after a morgue mix-up

  Nut Graph:  51-year-old Kristine Belcuore died last week to a heart attack.  Her family hosted a funeral on Saturday with over 100 friends/ family members without the understanding that the morgue proposed a month-dead, unclaimed corpse in place of Mrs. Belcuore.  Employees, in apology claim that someone must have misread a tag.  

Class Interview: Travis Hawkins

I recently had the pleasure of exchanging a series of interview questions with a class peer  shortly after introducing one another.  To recollect my first impression of this gentleman, the following is my conjecture of his human character:
            Travis Hawkins is no “average Joe” college student.  From Hartsvill, SC, a “boring and small” town according to Travis himself, he spent his pre-university years seeing movies for $2.25, improving at ping pong and developing a creative mindset to interpret for a college major---specifically, visual creativity.  As a surprise, he even tells me about his religious adventures, originally following a “Wicken” religion and eventually settling down to this day with Baptist Christian views.  “I absorb it all for the full story/ truth,” a characteristic that makes him a decisive person amongst his most passionate perspectives.

To combine this knack for visuals with his technologic savvy, he decided upon a “Digital Information Design” major after conflicting with his potential submission to a “Criminal Investigation” major.  “I spend a lot of time in front of a screen” Travis tells me.  While most may say this is a poor habit, it seems to benefit the steadiness of his educational direction.  After years of playing games such as “Minecraft,” and “Halo,” Travis has learned to appreciate the creativity behind the production.  In addition to video games, he is also strongly opinionated on movies (especially after seeing them cheap in Hartsville).  His favorite movies come from one of his greatest interests:  Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” series.  Travis claims to be a “HUGE” Batman fan, mentioning his collection of comic book memorabilia and other collectables. 

            Amidst his lesser passions, Travis occasionally enjoys the music of The Monkees and Simon and Garfunkle.  Shortly after discussing a mutual taste for the two artists, he tells me that he could be, unfortunately, an insomniac.  However, I personally see this as the tragic flaw of a creative mind---with the mind at an electric flurry during the night’s late hours, it could spark an artistic idea that will be world famous one day. 
            There you have it!  Travis Hawkins:  The name of an all-American, eighteen-year-old student, but there’s a superhero behind that everyday name just waiting for society’s distress call for creativity.