My Final Project

Thank you to the scholars and staff of Maya Angelou Public Charter School, Evans Campus! You all are great!

Wednesday's Excursion

Wednesday was GREAT! I attended a community service field trip with a group of 13 students from Maya Angelou Public Charter School and "interesting" can't begin to describe the day's events. Those kids are hilarious! I enjoyed talking to them and watching them work at Food and Friends: packing food, loading groceries and actually making food. Even though most of them came on the trip to get out of school and working the other half of the day, hopefully they left feeling like they did something good.

I took some 200 pictures, 15 minutes of video, and probably 20-25 minutes of audio to work with for my final project. The pictures came out ok, but I have yet to check the audio and the video. I have so much to work with, I'm sure it's going to take me at least 20 hours to complete this project. I'm excited to see how it will turn out...

Time to get back to work!

Audio Portion

I've really like this class...this has definitely been one of my favorite journalism classes since being at Maryland. I don't know what to expect for the audio...but I do have a lot ideas floating in my mind about the final project. This portion is going to be the final piece of the puzzle I need to prepare for the project. I plan on going to Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington, DC and film there for a day. I think they're going on a community service trip later this month, so that will be interesting to see.

Mall Madness and the Night Vision Setting

This has been an interesting week. My organization hosted Alpha Nu Omega Week, which is a series of different events each day. We introduced our newest members to the campus, had gender-specific sessions (i.e. the sorority talked about self-esteem and the frat talked about something else), and one of the best programs we had was playing on McKeldin Mall last night at 10pm.

Mall Madness really was a throw-back to my childhood. We played red light/green light, sharks and minnows, and "capture the flag." There's just something about running up and down a field in nearly-complete darkness that makes you fall over with laughter. Everything was funny last night. Somehow, I became the photographer...and it was HARD! Although, I have a nighttime setting on my mom's digital camera...it's not the best. The truth is it doesn't really work that well. I tried to catch action and capture the sense of enjoyment everyone was having, but I don't feel that I was successful. :-( Because I could'n't see anything on the viewfinder/screen, I just pointed in one direction and hoped for the best...sometimes I got a decent shot...others, not so much. I wonder how real photographers take pictures at night?

New York Trip and Playing around With the Camera

I went to New York last weekend with a friend to see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Terrence Howard and James Earl Jones. It was an awesome play and I had a great time...until my camera batteries died...so, there wasn't too much picture taking in New York...this was the first time I had been there since January 2001.

I thought photography would be easier than video and in some cases it is. I can take multiple shots of the same thing or have the subjects do something again so I can try to reshoot. Yet, it's been difficult to get the types of shots I want. (Even when I'm shooting multiple shots.) I think part of the problem is that I'm using an older digital camera with less settings. Despite the limitations, somehow I've been able to get some pretty good shots. With Tim's advice, I've been trying new angles and actually stopped using the flash (gasp!). All in all, I'm learning a lot.

Untitled for Now

This was an interesting week. It's always an experience coming from a substantial break and then trying to reacquaint ourselves with everyday life. I went to New Orleans for Spring Break and had an AMAZING time. I worked with a group called Gulf Coast Volunteers for the Long Haul and every day we did something a little different than we did before. No two days were the same for me, even though I spent a majority of my time at Sarah Reed Elementary and A.P. Tureaud School. If I talked about everything that happened on the trip...this post would be 10 pages long...so I'll just give some highlights...

• Working on specific assignments with some of the kids I came in contact with. There were three who really struck me and I felt a connection to.


• Painting the 8-10 ft. fence at McDonough Elementary School. We transformed this rusty "prison" fence by painting it forest green.


• Building relationships with the people on the trip. (Staying up until 1am, just talking)


• Interviewing New Orleans legend Leah Chase, owner of Dooky Chase's restaurant.


• Going to the Bayou and taking a swamp tour!
• St. Patrick's Day Parade and getting LOTS of FREE stuff!

This week, I had to fight back tears and feelings of deep sadness, because all I wanted to do was return to New Orleans and be around the other volunteers and work on a worthwhile project that impacted the community. Check out some of my pictures from the trip!

Taking Pictures This Week

Taking pictures this week was interesting. I tried different angles and ways of holding the camera. I don't know how successful I was, but I think I took a couple of good shots (which is OK, since we only have to turn in three anyway). I wanted to make sure the pictures reflected a piece of who I am and what I'm interested in outside of school work. I will be featuring some pictures of my sorority's events. As a Christian ministry on Maryland's campus, what we do to serve God is important to me. Hopefully this will be conveyed in the shots...

But of course, my week would not be complete without a little technology mishap...

Right before I went to download my photos, I realized the USB cord my mom gave me for her camera wasn't the correct one. This wouldn't be a problem if she didn't live an hour away... or if the assignment was not due tomorrow. I guess I will have to figure something out...

Life Lesson for the week: Always check your USB cable...one size does not fit all.

Up next...photojournalism!

I'm actually excited to start the next portion of the class...Video was fun! I got to play around with a camera and editing and tap into a new skill (that definitely needs to be developed). So...YAY! :-)

I've used a digital camera before and I've done some artsy-fartsy stuff with the various functions...(sepia and black/white tones are great!)...but this will be the first time I'll use photography on this particular level. We'll see how it goes. Once I actually take some photos for the class, I will post them.

Somewhat Finished Product...finally!

So here's my campus sequence...I attended a literary reading featuring William Henry Lewis, a University of Maryland Associate English Professor. Enjoy! Let me know what you think...

AAAARGGGHHH!

The worst feeling in the world is knowing that you just spent 20 minutes filming a really interesting event, but that 20 minutes of film is shaky and the audio is messed up in the best parts!

AAAAAHHHHH! wow...what do you do once you've filmed and downloaded an assignment to the computer and it refuses to do what you want it to? I now understand why working with this technology can be so frustrating! At this time, I'm still working on the editing portion of the piece, but every time the camera hiccups (and yes, somehow the audio does hiccup), I feel my muscles tighten... I think I could only salvage less than half of the interviews and sequence shots, which is a real bummer (especially since my grade is on the line...)

(Deep Sigh) ok, enough complaining/venting...back to work!

Sequence Assignment

I made two "sequences" (I guess). I don't really know what I'm doing...(nervous laughter) ;-)

Man on the Street Interview

Getting My Hands a Little Dirty (but in a good way)

So, I'm really starting to get into this non-print media class...it's really fun! (And I'm not just saying that to get brownie points.) I honestly feel this way; it's like I've opened a door in a mansion that leads to a room I've never seen before. On Sunday, prior to my interview, I started playing with Windows Movie Maker because I have the application on my laptop and it's pretty easy to use! I started working on a slide show of my Freedom School experience this past summer. There isn't much in the video, just some music over a couple of pictures and a title page. When it's finished, I'll be sure to post it!

Working on movie maker ignited a little fire in me about the possibilities of production and how I could piece together my own "man-on-the-street" interview (one of my assignments due soon). Monday was an absolutely beautiful day (before the torrential downpour and 30-degree temperature drop) . The perfect day to shoot my interview! As expected there were tons of people outside.

I met a really interesting kid named David on Monday; he became the subject of my assignment. It's funny because I actually saw his bright blue "Obama and Arenas for President 08" shirt before I saw him. He was very willing to talk to me and offer some great footage for my interview. Our interview lasted about four/five minutes, but he was very insightful, especially when talking about Barack Obama as a presidential candidate. It always makes me smile when I hear about "young people" getting involved with the election or at least becoming well-versed in candidate's platform.

Even though my current field of interest is print-journalism, I can see myself in this other area of video and photography...it's good that I'm getting my hands dirty now...

Free Food and Knowledge at the WHPNA Compeitition

On Saturday, Feb. 8, I went to the White House News Photographers Association Eyes on History Television Contest at National Geographic Studios in DC (that place is really cool, I'm going to have to check it out sometime). I actually enjoyed the event more than I thought. (While I still would have preferred not to have gotten up so early on a Saturday morning with only five hours of sleep, the contest was still good. Because I got there so early, I was able to eat some of the breakfast spread they set up for the judges. YUM!)

I looked at clips in both divisions: photography and editing, but I chose to spend most of my time in photography, which was pretty interesting. The judges were serious about their job, but they kept the atmosphere pretty light-hearted. It was funny because they were allowed to skip certain clips and it was pretty obvious after the first 10 seconds whether a piece would win a placing. For a couple of the clips, the judges didn't even wait that long! :-/ Some photographers didn't stand a chance. I did see some of my teacher's work submitted, which was also weird (mainly because I wanted her to win but there were a lot of good pieces! ) We weren't allowed to talk (or interfere) during the judging, so I couldn't put in a good word for her. Sorry!

The judges were great. I learned so much from just listening to them banter. I don't necessarily have a photographer's eye (yet) but I do have a bit of a stepping stone now.

Some of my favorite pieces from the photography division were in the “spot news” and “general news categories.” Although, “Rally against the Iraq War” won second place in the spot news category, I believed it should have won first. The camera work for this particular piece certainly stood out among the rest. The camera’s “strobe effect” gave the piece more of a documentary-style, even though it was a “breaking news event” that was “shot, edited and aired within 10 hours.” I also enjoyed “Viet Vets Remember Fallen Bros” from the general news category. The work included close-ups of some of the emotional veterans. At moments, I found myself becoming teary-eyed, because the piece drew me into the pain of the surviving veterans. Because the piece was so crisp, I initially thought someone at washingtonpost.com did it. I found out later that my guess was correct. I found the online organization stories much more intriguing because they were done in style that is quite different from television reporting, which I see all the time.

The judging helped me to better grasp what I should keep in mind when I start filming for this class. I learned about some photography terms and gained a stronger understanding of what makes certain shots great and other ones boring. Overall, I enjoyed the experience at the competition. Everyone was friendly and willing to answer questions or explain what some things meant. Yet, just by simply listening to the judges, I was able to gain a great deal.

Yeah...so, it was worth only getting five hours of sleep to come and see the judging...in addition to free lunch, I was able to take a three hour nap when I got home. :-)

Biographical Sketch

Hello!

My name is Nina Sears. I'm currently a junior print journalism major with a Sociology concentration. Since being at the university, I've worked a great deal with the Maryland Association of Black Journalists and am a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. I've written for both the Diamondback and the Eclispe newspapers. I have two reporting internships under my belt: Big Builder Magazine and the Baltimore Sun. Both were great experiences because I actually got the chance to write and gain clips early in my journalism career.

I am also working toward a certificate in African American Studies. Over the summer I worked with the Children's Defense Fund and Maya Angelou Public Charter School in NE Washington, DC in a program called "Freedom Schools." Essentially, I was facilitating a reading curriculum created by the CDF. It was an amazing time; I enjoyed working with the "scholars" over the summer. Now that I'm a tutor at MAPCS, seeing them succeed in school makes me feel like I did something worthwhile.