Josh's "required" Blog about South Africa

The title says it better than I could. An interesting way for me to make required posts about my trip to SA and how the documentary is going. Julianne Moore is BEAUTIFUL!

[jmoretti1]

very expressive eyebrows...a response video for SA trip.

[jmoretti1]

6th "Required" post

WE WENT ON A SAFARI! I TOOK SOME PICTURES. ALSO i wish i had brought a better camera, as the lens I was using was amazing for wide shots....which is exactly what you don't want if you want to capture cool looking animals up close. I did get to see lions though. I believe camera lens's have become a racket, and a way to squeeze the life blood out of every aspiring photographer (much like property tax for anyone, anywhere, anytime). I've got a camera with an auto lens that has 28x optical zoom (all you really need as a non- "make my living by photographing" photographer. The camera cost me (after tax) like $99. It's quality is also amazing (same as the nikon i used yesterday). I've been asking around and it seems that anyone who has a cannon pays for the name more than anything, and then a minimum of 3 extra lenses (which are ungodly expensive). It upsets me that they are able to get away from this because people, especially newcomers into the photography world, would rather start with or pay for a name that use common knowledge and end up with something like a Fuji-film that does everything, and much more, than the cannon for like half the price. Enough of that pish-posh though, because the safari was magnificent. Tonight we are eating many deliciously cooked dead animals and I'm salivating in anticipation!

[jmoretti1]

5th "Required" Post

Just got back from a farm up in northern SA. It was very fun. I also, while there, went to Winterburg, and climbed a mountain, which, when finally reaching the top, I proceeded to urinate off of the side because 1. I REALLY had to go, and 2. who can say they've taken a whiz off the side of a mountain? (but mostly number 1) As a quick recap: I played tennis with an Elan (type of deer like creature thing), Got to meet a man named Olaf, caught some bass in a dam, swam in an ice cold SA mountain river, and a dog stole my steak off of my plate. The dog and I bonded afterward over our shared love of red meat. I feel by now it's important to mention my very...satirical...style of writing. I don't really enjoy the plain form "Here's what I did, yadda yadda yadda" type stuff. I find adding simple, lighthearted sentences and maybe a jab here or there kind of takes you (the reader) on a journey. I don't want to feel like I'm talking at you, but with you instead, and being that these posts are required, I feel having my own personal one for the trip means I should be able to inject my horrible personality into it. Having said that there is a great deal of sarcasm in my writing as well, so please take everything i say with a grain of salt, except for this: I love this place and will fight tooth and nail to return one day, maybe even permanently, but only in the winter!

[jmoretti1]

4th "Required" Post

Now that I've officially lived here a week, i can tell you that life great here. It really does give you an outside perspective of the states and all of the locals' opinions on them. Though there are many perceived "issues" with the states, there is really only one major difference I've seen in comparison to here; The most prominent problem with the states in hyper-sensitivity. My god, here people are very Laze-Farrie, and just very chill. The states you say one wrong thing at the one wrong time and you have to go on an apology tour and the world hates you for 2 weeks before you fade into obscurity. Also, people are very beautiful. The only ugly person I've seen in this country is myself, and I only noticed that because I happened to look into the mirror on my way out the door this morning. I like this place.

[jmoretti1]

3rd "Required" post

Today was fun. Johan (pronounced Yo-Han) is a very cool and sarcastic tour guide for the campus, but it's his sarcasm that gives him personality and makes it fun to work with him, which (to reiterate) is why he's cool. Chris, another one of our guides, and now an official producer on my doc (I did it first you posers!) is also cool. He drives a golf, so you know he's trustworthy.

Everything here has been cool, and I could definitely see myself living here permanently, but only during the winter, however the coolest thing by far is the plethora of different vehicles offered in this country vs. the U.S.A. Not only have I come across over 20 different booming popular car brands on my walks and tours but there are TONS of vehicle factories around the area.  In hindsight, a Doc on the SA vehicle industry would have been easier and most like more informative, BUT it would not have been the right choice!

With the aquatic species conservation doc (the subject may have slighty morphed...) I've not only gotten to meet cooler people than everyone else (haha!) but I've also had the chance to go out and see some amazing things of nature. "What'd you do today, sit in a classroom and talk about politics?" Hell no, I went out and got to see mountains and rivers. Lets just say that, even with more sights to see, I and my sterling crew have already gotten the best experiences out of this trip more than anyone else has come close to. Take that! MWAHAHAHAHA #notsohumblebrag

[jmoretti1]

Day 1 vid finally uploaded, enjoy....

[jmoretti1]

1st required post!

Since my "required to have" Tumblr has refused to upload anything, i am taking a chance that txt may be the key. I have video coming soon about the arrival day, but will fill you in on yesterday since I have to. It was fun. Thats pretty much it.....naw it was actually pretty awesome. We went to a lecture, then went to another one. We met up with with a guy named Chris who had excellent contacts for us to interview/ meet with and in my specific case fish with. He seems like a cool guy and I am seriously thinking about giving him a producers credit for this very reason; He, without any bias, has decided to help me out of the kindness of his job, and still genuinely expresses interest in it. Did i mention the amount of work and enthusiasm? It almost matches mine (and I'm not even being sarcastic either!)

Pretty much everyone we've met has been awesome and other than the comp i borrow causing me issues (it's a STUPID machine!) everything has been fun. Check back daily to see more of my required updates.

-Josh

[jmoretti1]

I'm required to post this video for the class, and it is a great example of what happens when you foolishly delete files off of your flash drive without looking at what they are first and have 40 minutes to scramble stuff together for a 2 minute video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf0IG20r7Lw&feature=youtu.be