Juan Lourenco @juanlcw-blog - Tumblr Blog

Final Project Proposal

For my final project I wanted to document the progression of my music taste in my life. The music will be playing throughout the whole video, transitioning into different genres for different eras of my life. To accompany this visually, I have not decided whether I will create an animation to portray the interval of my life that is occurring, or if I will portray them through recording. Each song will be definitive of a genre, and I have also considered a combination of animation and live action video. The visuals will directly correlate with the style of music, depicting why I was listening to this style and what influences were placed upon me, creating an accurate representation documenting the progression of my music taste in my life.

dbdcrown-blog

Chinese International Student Interview by: Drew D’Andrea

Levi Xu- Freshman International Student Interview

How was your experience growing up in China?

“I spent my middle school years living in a boarding school. I liked it a lot because in that school I met my best friends. They made me feel really happy, even though my grades lowered because of it. I wasn’t nervous about getting into a good high school, because i was confident in myself. One of my friends had a villa nearby the boarding school. Only on the weekends could you leave the school. We used t go to his house and play on the weekends.”

What did you have to do to get into high school?

“Unlike the US, in China, we had to take an entrance exam to get into high school. I prepared for the exam for three years beforehand. The exam was hard, and you get ranked based on your grade. If you are really talented academically you can go to a honors high school. I went to a normal high school. In high school we had to choose a certain direction to take, such as science or art.”

Was your social life similar to middle school? Or different?

“I didn’t make new friends in high school, i just stayed with the friends i made in middle school. I regret not meeting people in high school.”

How did you decide to come to America?

“my parents thought it would be a good idea to go to college in America. I learned english for one year in china, and then I started college in New Jersey. I don’t have any family in America, except for one aunt that my family does not know very well. I had to learn a lot of things about American society while being here.”

Do you miss your family back home?

“Of course i miss them, and think about them a lot. I talk to my parents on the phone every week. I do not feel really homesick, though mainly because I am so busy with everything at a school. Making new friends also makes me feel a sense of belonging”

Was it hard to get used to living here?

Except for the fact that english is the main language, many things were surprisingly easy to get used to. Except for the language difference, America is not that much different to when i was living in China. Being on my own in a different country was scary at first, but i got used to everything pretty quickly. It is hard however to be away from my friends from school. I was very close with them, and being in a new place, and not knowing anyone, was hard at first. But once i started meeting new people in my dorm, and joining clubs, i found people that i got along with, which makes being here a lot better”

Is there a main difference between China and America?

“Getting used to english was very hard. I still have trouble with it now. I know english pretty well, but if people speak very quickly, or use big words, then i get confused. I also notice that meals are different. The portions in America are much larger, and in china, everyone shares meals with each other.”

Do you plan on living here in America, or going back to China?

“I think it would be best to stay here in America, but i feel that it will be harder to find a job here, because of my difficulty with english. This summer i plan on returning to China and be with my family. I know that i will stay at Rutgers for at least four years.”

juanlcw-blog

Very good job on an incredibly thorough interview with your friend. You asked them many key questions that helped the understanding of differences in education between China and America. I feel that you did a great job, put a lot of thought in your writing, and was able to get detailed responses from the person you interviewed. My only suggestion would have been to add more background information, as the reader is thrown quickly into the interview with the display of its questions.

sahil515-blog

Interview

I interviewed my friend who transferred from Rutgers Newark to see how he likes the transition and how his life is going overall.

Question 1: Thanks for letting me Interview you Kieran. Could you start off by telling me a little bit about yourself and maybe why you wanted to transfer to Rutgers New Brunswick?

Answer: Well, I went to high school at JFK and I played soccer there, I realized I was good enough to play at the college level so when I got an offer from Rutgers-Newark I decided to take it. My first year at college went terribly. To start off, I tore my ACL the second practice we had, that was a major blow to me because essentially the only reason I came to Rutgers-Newark was for soccer and that was taken away from me. Not being able to play caused a severe break in the relationship between me and the head coach, we argued on a lot of things and I decided to leave the team. Not playing soccer took a lot from me because I wasn’t really enjoying the social scene and just overall wasn’t having a good time. My brother went to Rutgers New Brunswick and told me that it was a lot of fun and that he’d help me get into his frat. I knew from there that both for academics and to have a good time New Brunswick was the place for me.

Question: What would you say is your favorite part of New Brunswick so far?

Answer: Well aside from the girls, I’ve made a lot of new friends and I really enjoy the variety of things there are to do here. My injury healed up so I can play club soccer now.

Question: So what would you say the biggest difference is between Rutgers Newark and Rutgers New Brunswick?

Answer: Definitely the size, the New Brunswick campus looks at least five times bigger than the entire Newark campus so it was a little difficult to get around at first but I’m used to it now.

Question: What is your least favorite thing about Rutgers New Brunswick?

Answer: The food is definitely my least favorite thing here. I’m already sick of it and the only other food options besides the dining halls are all unhealthy so it sucks.

Question: The last question I’d like to ask is if you could do it all over again, would you still come to New Brunswick?

Answer: 100% I’d do it again because Rutgers New Brunswick is a great time and there is almost always something fun to do.

Thank you for your time

juanlcw-blog

The nature of this interview was very interesting and it is very helpful that you acquired such detailed responses from your friend. Their story is very unfortunate, but an interesting scenario to encounter wen one begins their college years. I would have suggested more questions, while the answers that were given were excellent and interesting, more content would have created a greater understanding of Rutgers Newark compared to Rutgers New Brunswick.

Interview with my Grandfather

Q1.) Can I have your name and birthday? Tony: Antonio Lourenco. October 30th, 1960. Q2.) And your profession? Tony: I own a fish market in Elizabeth. Q3.) How long have you been doing that? Tony: 26 years, 16 years after I came home from the military. Q4.) Can you tell me more about that? Tony:When I was 22 I was drafted into the Portuguese army in order to combat forces in Angola. Q5.) What was going on in Angola? Tony: The Angolan War for Independence. Angola had still technically been a colony of Portugal, and a revolution formed very suddenly when I was young. The opinions of the people were very distinguished, mostly people in the clothing industry desperately wanted the Angolans to remain under Portuguese power because they were forcing them to grow cotton, which was then sold for very cheap, Clothes were one of the cheapest essentials in Portugal at the time and they were in high demand. Q6.) Were you ever deployed? Tony: Never on a mission, but we were stationed in Angola for 3 years alternating from Portugal to the northern side of Angola. Q.7) So you grew up in Portugal? Tony: Yes. I lived there until I was 18, when I moved to America and got involved in the business with my uncle. Q.8) Do you think a lot has changed comparatively from your generation? Tony: I think so. Legislations are granting rights we never thought people would have when we were younger. It’s all for the better, but I never imagined so much effort would be invested into social justice as it is today. This generation was raised in America all their lives, they love this country, and wanna have part in defining it. Q.9) How about other countries? Tony: I’ve been to France Spain and Italy as well, the European countries are similar in structure, but you can see their culture very clearly and definitely. They still have bullfighting in Spain, which would be animal cruelty in America, but the people love their traditions too much to remove it, but they have drastically reduced the number of bullfights. Paris and Sicily are as beautiful as you could imagine, it’s just like being in a movie.

Interview Proposal

For my interview, I was planning on interviewing my grandfather. He came to mind immediately because he is one of the oldest people I know, and therefore must have a lot of life experience an seen many changes in society. I am going to ask him questions about how things have changed in America politically, socially, and legally. He also has had military experience as well, and I would like to ask him questions regarding his trips. While he has lived most of his life in America, my grandfather has also spent a great deal of time in Portugal, so he has experiences in different countries as well as Spain, France and Italy. There are a variety of questions I can ask him to learn more about different countries as well as my own. Asides from that I’ll ask general background questions to give an idea of who my grandfather. Other questions would include his birthday, profession, his hometown, etc. This is also a good way for me touch base with my grandfather again, and relearn all the stories he told me when I was much younger

Ocean Vuong Questions

1.) How do you feel growing up in Hartford influenced your work? 2.) If you can select one as your favorite, which work do you believe is your best? 3.) What has been your biggest influence in terms of inspiration?

Video Proposal

For my video assignment, I have decided to make a 3 minute video of a segment I like to call "Danger Zone". In this video, I will approach several people, some friends and some strangers, with a cap gun. When I have been noticed, I will proceed to say "Danger Zone" and shoot the cap gun at them. My app of choice will be Snapchat, as the longest length snap one can make is 10 seconds long, so a total of at least 18 "Danger Zone"s must occur for my video to be complete. This will test how one reacts to random foolishness, and some reactions may tend to be more than comical. While the purpose of my project is to cause some laughs, it can also be viewed as an investigative experiment. Granted that not too many people are easily frightened by a popgun jump scare, it can be analyzed that gun violence awareness is not advertised to it's fullest extent. The reason I chose this as my skit was because nobody is expecting this sort of horseplay, and perhaps this is not the safest course of action provided a real "Danger Zone" would occur. However, the gun is heavily designed to look as if it were a toy, so no real scare occurs to my victims. Most people that were "Danger Zoned" tended to state that they had no idea how to react. Others were quickly unimpressed by my lack of authenticity. Either way, it goes to show that surprise can lead to compromising situations, or even hostile reactions. Some people are quickly startled depending on the volume at which I yell "Danger Zone" as well. In general, I find my assignment to be effective as an investigative research on the art of surprise. Most people believe that surprise is circumstantial and there are limited variables that control how surprised one is. The emotion of surprised cannot be measured, so this studies not how surprised one can get but rather or not they react to my horseplay. Through my project, I will discover new variables that affect whether or not one becomes surprised by a "Danger Zone". As for the manner in which I record, I will hold the phone up and begin snapping, yell "Danger Zone!" at somebody and shoot the cap gun in first person view format. If they fail to react, the video will end, but if the reaction becomes prolonged, I will allow a second snap. This will give homage to two different types of videos: first person videos, and YouTube prank videos. It will be in the format of a YouTube prank, whilst in first person, therefore creating the affect that one is looking through my eyes when they watch me perform my "Danger Zone". In conclusion I feel I have designed a simple yet clever way to add a bit of surprise to a random group of citizens without being too excessive or foolish. I will learn new ways to manipulate the emotion of surprise, and hopefully, everybody will have a good time, and preferably, at least one. person will recognize this "Archer" reference.

Tangerine Review

Tangerine was a very interesting film and the fact that 3 iPhones were the only cameras that were utilized during filming is quite impressive for the quality of the film. The camera pans that are executed by the cameramen/women are pulled off with great expertise, they aren't very shaky, and they are capable of subtly, and dramatically adding much effect to the film. I was also impressed by how well they manipulated the lighting of the film because for the most part, I noticed that the brightness of scenes was excellent, and I myself have a very difficult time acquiring such lighting on my iPhone. It is clear however, that the editing was executed with much forethought. If one were to attempt to use the vocal quality from the actual scenes, the actors would not be audible when one notices how far they are from the iPhone. There's no way they could have picked up such excellent audio quality so far from the actors. So I thought it was very resourceful of the filming team to utilize the voice memos feature that is installed in iPhones in order to layer the footage with clear audio. The visual effects were also quite stunning. By far I have to say that my favorite part of the cinematic experience was the sense of humor that was exhibited by the writers of the film. I always enjoy an interesting urban comedy and I felt that the vulgarity wasn't in good taste. One of my personal favorite scenes is when the girls are fighting in front of the bus. It was very well executed and convincing and I appreciated the degree of effort that was invested into the acting. The usage of iPhones also gave the entire cinema a very "YouTube" feel where it seems as though all of the scenes are being performed while random people are watching and going about their everyday lives. This style of film is very fun to watch because it makes the reactions of the characters more genuine. This form also is an excellent fusion of a fictitious persona or personas being implemented in the real world. It allows us to create new understandings of how people act in certain environments and allows us to observe real reactions of others who normally would not be in the environment in which a director or film writer can design and create. Perhaps the most important thing this film does is put into question the level of requirement the film industry has of their equipment. Normally films spend millions upon millions of dollars in order to fund computer generated images and camera equipment. "Tangerine" serves to prove that all of those things are not truly necessary in order to make a film successful. The people with the iPhones most likely purchased them out of their own recreational purposes, so technically, besides paying the actors, the film has little to no budget. This sends a strong message about financial possibility in the film industry. One does not necessarily need to invest millions or even thousands into a film in order for the quality of said film to be considered professional. This also raises the argument whether or not one can consider this work to be professional. I would most certainly define this film as a professional film because it takes even more skill to execute such a film with lower grade equipment. On a more negative side, I did not find the actual plot of the film to be as enjoyable as the details that otherwise surrounded the film. The plot seemed a bit unclear to me and it did not emotionally move me to want to support the protagonists. Nonetheless I felt that the way that the film was produced was refreshingly original and executed with skill. It challenges many factors that cause people to be intimidated by in the film industry, like investment money and equipment quality. The cast did incredibly well considering the usage of iPhones in the entire movie. I would definitely recommend the film for somebody who wants to see a very unique, interesting take on cinematic style.

performanceofbecominghuman-blog

Isabel & Camilo

Proposal #3:

Here is Trump shaking hands with a very discouraged Obama. We chose this because it’s an accurate representation of how most people in America felt during the election.

Trump’s face also says a lot. His face says determination and preparedness, while Obama’s face is looking away and says what’s the worst that could happen?

We were thinking of making a meme from this one and adding a caption that could be relatable to everyday people and make them feel like Obama felt in this picture.

We were thinking of adding a caption that says, “That awkward moment when you realize this country is in deep shit” or something along those lines

As hectic and crazy the current state of the U.S. is in, we decided that transforming a serious photo to be more comical could ease the tension and anxiety over Trump’s actions.

Adding a black & white filter to the photo will create a more serious dynamic and tone to the photo, but by adding a funny caption will also allow the audience to forget these issues for a brief moment

juanlcw-blog

Great proposal and very clever usage of internet memes. The only suggestion that I have is to focus on attempting to make your wrk as original as possible, vecuase there is without a doubt a large portion of memes using this template.

Lidia Yuknavitch

Yuknavitch is they type of writer that does not flinch when she pens down racy topics. She's very comfortable with sharing even her most intimate thoughts, and perhaps as well her least known aspects. Lidia has an aunt who is Lithuanian and a great uncle who had made his living by being a photographer. Once of his most famous photos was of a massacre at a Lithuanian hospital commuted by Russian soldiers who had stormed the building and killed absolutely everybody in the building, including dogs and horses. He was then sent to a Siberian gulag for 18 years. On a lighter note, her husband is a filmmaker and her son is an artist. She also has a deep infatuation with hair. She has in her possession all three of her husband's hair, her hair, her family's hair, random hair, animal hair, and even the hair of famous people in a palette box. One of her fans has even sent her and entire braid in the mail after The Chronology of Water was published. Her second item of comfort happens to be rocks. She feels that they carry with them the memories of their habitats, and traces of that existence. This, and the ability to hold rocks in one's hands, makes rocks a quick grab for Lidia when she needs to calm down. So in general, Lidia Yuknavitch is somebody who has been through much hardship and struggle as well as her family, and she utilizes it to convert difficult times and problems into beautiful literature, as a voice for the misfit and the standout to inspire others to rise up in their own lives as she has done to herself.

John Baldesarri The second picture with the woman and the fingers is probably my favorite of all these that I have found. I find a lot of meaning in such a small and simple picture, and it does not require any context in order to understand. The woman has a barcode on her head, which can be inferred as a literal interpretation of the saying “a price on one’s head,” because when one scans a bar code, a price for the item scanned is presented. So it seems that the metaphor being created here is that the two hands that are pointing either ways are attempting to purchase the young woman. I feel that this is a social commentary about how people try to romance each other in today's culture. People feel as though all that matters is whether somebody is wealthy or has many things to offer. So I found it very interesting to see this picture, and to be able to interpret it in such a way. The color contrast are also quite interesting, all reasons why this picture was my favorite.

Lawrence Weiner

Jenny Holzer

Glenn Ligon

Sol Lewitt

Barbara Kruger

Adrian Piper

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Juan Lourenco