Monday June 22th

On Monday we had a meeting at 10am to basically discuss how things are going. There was some genuine concern based on last week’s events. Things were chaotic, unorganized and some of us probably felt disconnected from the process. However, we have regrouped and this week so far has been good. We decided to have a two-hour meeting before each class to schedule the day and do delegate responsibility. This was the schedule we came up with for Monday 6/22/09:

First 15 min (2:15) – Ice breaker (Teresa) Festa Junina?

2nd 15 min (2:30) –talk on being ambassadors and how to get the best out of a video letter. Alejandro and Nadia will show a prime example on how it should be. The camera should be a friend or a child who knows NOTHING about life at Luta Pela Paz

3rd 30 min (3:00) – Review of examples on proper video ethics. (Nadia)
• Holding the camera still
• Zoom use
• Rule of thirds
• Don’t film towards the sun
• How to set a scene
• Sounds and respect

4th 15 min (3:15) – Explanation of the day’s events. What we will be filming
Boxing, Informatica

Back up themes
Brincadeiras
Futebol
Chance to hold the cameras

5th 15th min (3:30) – Break

We followed the schedule and it turned out to be a great class.

Monday we taught the kids the basic ethics of filming. We basically informed the kids that with this project, they are ambassadors of Complexo de Mare. They are representing their community and need to get the best out of a video letter. Alejandro and Nadia showed the students a prime example on how it should be. What we reinforced is how the camera should be treated as a friend or a child who knows NOTHING about life at Luta Pela Paz. Everyone seemed to be excited and nervous about the opportunity to be ambassadors of their community.

However, we had to let them know that to properly do this they needed to learn the proper ethics of using a camera. Nadia led this discussion with translating help from Teresa one of the students from PUC. The basic rudiments that were followed were:

• Holding the camera still
• Zoom use
• Rule of thirds
• Don’t film towards the sun
• How to set a scene

The end result was a positive one. It’s the first time we got the kids filming activities at the Luta Pela Paz outside of the Festa Junina. One of the kids David is aspiring to be a journalist and shoot documentary films. He is very much into the project. So much so, that he admitted how nervous he was and we all saw he was visibly shaking. However, once we started rolling he was a natural. Another Natural on the camera is Rayanne. She loves the spot light and excels well in it. We also had some other students film one of their boxing classes. While excited, it proved to be more difficult because of the loud speakers in the gym.

Joel Malebranche
New School University, New York