Dual Majoring: Film and Religion

I had my second test in Leadership in Africa today. My teacher in that class is very good. His lectures are dynamic, entertaining and informative. It’s one class where I am learning a lot. It helps that I am a blank slate on the topic. Most Americans are actually. I hope to one day visit that continent and work to end extreme poverty.
I have not yet determined whether I should become a filmmaker focusing on social justice/religion or a priest. Or both! I like the idea of both. I love them both and I see film as a way to communicate about faith and the role of good in the world. Maybe I could do film school and then seminary.
I have been trying to find something to do over the summer that would guide me. I had an internship arranged at my church but it fell through due to a lack of funding from a sponsoring organization. The good news is that the Assistant Rector emailed and wants to take me to lunch next week to talk about my plans which might mean another offer for summer. Actually working in a church full time would teach me so much. I love all the clergy at St.John’s and I have been happiest this year while I was there. Serving wine during communion, reading the prayers of the people, being a torchbearer at Christmas and teaching Sunday School. The only downside of the film festival was that I had to miss teaching last Sunday.
I will probably take video production in the fall. I must confess that film is less than forgiving. I look forward to the opportunity to produce in digital. I have some strength in the editing software, probably because of my years of computer experience. It came naturally to me. In fact that was the strongest part of my work in film production. I managed to scrap together a movie from 5 minutes of film footage, which had a flare in every few frames. I added sound effects and non-sync voice. I was the only one in my class to do that. We showed our films with the Video class and they did not have any of the problems that dogged our work. They did not have any problems with light or a limit to how much they could film or how much film multiple takes would use. There was no 5 day turnaround to check the dailies. With all those restrictions removed, I could easily tell some of my stories. I can hear a train in the distance, it’s very loud, I suppose the air is clear tonight and the sound is traveling well. We are watching The Piano in film class tomorrow. It’s been so long since I’ve seen that. I went to the theater to see it when it came out in 1993.
I have 2 papers to write tonight, one on Revelation, a one pager and a 3 page rough draft for English. So I better get to it. 🙂

Ones and Zeroes

I just left my Leadership in Africa class where we have been studying Zimbabwe. Today was the final chapter on that nation so we discussed the current crisis there at length. I find it depressing to think of the general apathy of the collective world political community. My professor listed several compelling reasons that would prohibit foreign intervention to normalize the government there. It makes me think of the unanswered question of moral obligation to our fellow man. When do the human rights of a suffering populace trump sovereignity? In the U.S.’s case it seems to be only if there is a strategic or economic imperative. What about the imperative of common humanity? When does that matter? Why Iraq and not China or Zimbabwe? What will it take for people to become committed to the idea of global prosperity instead of the gain of the few at the cost of the many?
I saw a great little film about an experiment in Democracy in China called Vote for Me. It was revealing and troubling. The 3rd graders who were competing against each other for a coveted spot as class monitor in a classroom experiment quickly reproduced the worst of the dirty tricks that seem to accompany elections. The end result? A preservation of the status quo. All this is set in the confines of a spotless classroom in a beautiful school with children who have such an inbred sense of honor that they cry en masse when their actions are exposed as unethical. It is a society which values the community over the individual. A more opposite view of our culture would be hard to find. Their system seems to promote the kind of unity and singleness of purpose that America lacks. When it is positive, you see children who respect authority and are required by law and custom to take care of their aging parents. A kind of built in reverence for the aged that is unthinkable in our do it yourself or die society. One of the best quotes I’ve heard recently, from my all time favorite morning show, Matty in the Morning in Boston via podcast, pointed out that people who think our government should be run as a business are not looking at the situation correctly. The problem with seeing the government that way is that it fails to realize that in a business we’d fire all the poor people. That’s why our system hobbles along with on a wing or prayer, because we are inculcated with the belief that the poor deserve firing, or that their troubles are all of their own making, without ever once having the objectivity to realize that they are a critical part of our collective community. That how we treat our weakest citizen’s is the true measure of the Christian virtues so many seem to believe should underly our policies. Who did Jesus champion the most? The least of us…
It is an awful dilemma, and one we never spend time on discussing. We are too busy with the minutiae of our indivdual concerns. How sad. I am not saying that China has it right. It’s obvious to all that individual liberty and basic human right protections are regularly dismissed there. But can there not be a middle path? Does everything always have to be binary?
Here’s hoping that in our lifetime we somehow move beyond that.Off to Chaplaincy class. Back with more later. I’m badly behind in journal entries for class so I will be much more post happy for a while.

Saturday Sunshine, Saturday Stress

It’s Saturday, sunny and I have 3.5 hours before I have to be at work. I woke up with a migraine and I need a chai to begin functioning. How much time will I actually have to film some test footage today? 30 minutes?

ARGH! I wonder if I can take tomorrow off so I can have more film time. That will mean I will only work today and I really need the $. I think I better just try and check out the camera again on Monday and fit some time in during the week. I am missing the light filters and the canned air anyway. *sigh*

Hold on…I can buy some canned air at Staples on the way back from Starbucks.

I think I will just write to my teacher and explain my dilemma.

I also need to make some time for piano practice. I am behind.

The reading for my classes, which should be the hardest part to stay up with, is actually the easiest. I can do that anywhere, even at work. It’s going to school to USE the piano for piano practice. It’s finding free blocks of time to film.

Now I am having to write a whole new film since my first one was killed by Media Relations at Arlington National Cemetery.

At least I got my first paper in on time to “Creating the American Nation”, even if I had to stay up until 5 a.m. to do it.

If I have any time to think tonight I am going to try and work on my schedule, which seems a little out of control.

Time to go take some medication for the migraine! Jump in the car and go get my Tall 4 pump, nonfat, no water chai!

ttyl