~ Another Interesting Video + my Technology Stop Motion ~ Journal Entry 16

In this post I would just like to quickly show two videos, one which I found as an internet source, and the other video is a stop motion animation I had finished in technology, which sort of shows what my final PP outcome will look like.


- So Where is Home? A film about TCK identity by Adrian Bautista
                                https://vimeo.com/41264088

                   
                                                                                                      













I thought this was an interesting short film, because it showed the insight and perspective of around 6 very different people, who all would consider themselves to be placed under the label of being a TCK. The film shows the struggle of having to answer the question "so where is home?" because it is challenging, as all these people had spent great portions of their childhood abroad. This leads to them not being able to identify with one place.

-  My Technology Stop Motion

The sharable link to my technology stop motion: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U_SKVZKgnHUF9RRWRSU092dmM/view?usp=sharing

I thought that this would be important to share, because I have been using this video (which I had made previously this year for a design technology project) as a rough guideline for my PP stop motion. With it, I can see how many seconds a certain number of frames durates, and I can also look at some of the ideas I used and think about how I can manipulate it. This technology video was a documentary for the overuse of smartphones, and I decided to make it in the form of a stop motion just to be able to utilise it as a "test run" in a way, since it is a very small project compared to the PP.

~ What work will I achieve during Winter Break? ~ Journal Entry 15

At this point of time in the personal project, I should be well underway with the project outcome. The winter break is vital to spend time to finish off unfinished work, as well as being able to make big progress so that when school starts again on the 6th of January, I will be all set to continue taking frames and then to begin to edit the stop motion video, and also to finish a good portion of the report.
As I had discussed in my previous meeting with Mrs. Murphy, we had made a checklist for what was to be completed by the end of december. This checklist included:

1. The final storyboard with a timeline and annotations
2. around 50s of the stop motion animation -- this would be around 351 frames
3. write script for dialogue of the first 50s of the animation
4. begin to write the first draft of the project report 
5. Finish all interviews 

The reason why the last checkpoint was crossed out is because this is what I had aimed to finish before school ended for winter break, however I did not manage to complete these interviews due to various complications. I plan to finish them all by the first week back from school, by arranging with all my interviewees the specific dates and times. 

I do not plan to focus on point 4, the writing of the project report, for the winter break. However, I aim to finish the template of the report itself (title page, contents page, subheadings.. etc) as well as have written up my introduction. 

My main focal points are 1 and 2. To have a final storyboard for myself as well as Mrs. Murphy would make the process of taking the pictures for the stop motion much easier, as I would know exactly what I would want to do. Although I have developed several sketches of rough storyboards, it is important that the ideas are very clear also for my supervisor so she can give me some feedback and critical ideas. 

The 3rd point on the checklist is definitely also important. I already have thought about what dialogue should go with the animation I have so far, I would just need to put it all in writing on my Google Doc so that it would be all set for me to start recording the narration after the break.

~ Interesting Video ~ Journal Entry 14

Down below is a very insightful and relavant video to my topic of TCKs exploring the question of "where do you come from?" that TCKs struggle to answer. It is a TED talk which Mrs. Murphy has showed me.

(http://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2014G/None/TaiyeSelasi_2014G-480p.mp4)

     Important Points from the Transcript
>> Last year, I went on my first book tour. In 13 months, I flew to 14 countries and gave some hundred talks. Every talk in every country began with an introduction, and every introduction began, alas, with a lie: "Taiye Selasi comes from Ghana and Nigeria," or "Taiye Selasi comes from England and the States." Whenever I heard this opening sentence, no matter the country that concluded it -- England, America, Ghana, Nigeria -- I thought, "But that's not true." Yes, I was born in England and grew up in the United States. My mum, born in England, and raised in Nigeria, currently lives in Ghana. My father was born in Gold Coast, a British colony, raised in Ghana, and has lived for over 30 years in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For this reason, my introducers also called me "multinational." "But Nike is multinational," I thought, "I'm a human being." <<

>> The myth of national identity and the vocabulary of coming from confuses us into placing ourselves into mutually exclusive categories. In fact, all of us are multi -- multi-local, multi-layered. To begin our conversations with an acknowledgement of this complexity brings us closer together, I think, not further apart. So the next time that I'm introduced, I'd love to hear the truth: "Taiye Selasi is a human being, like everybody here. She isn't a citizen of the world, but a citizen of worlds. She is a local of New York, Rome and Accra." <<

Also, here is the link to my google docs for research and ideas: - 

           https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jXgRxeCfFZgaa-OY9HLGOt3oEv6zGgV9rkphz8AUbvg/edit?usp=sharing 

~ 5th Supervisor Meeting ~ Journal Entry 13

Meeting 5

Date: 8th December 2015

What we discussed: Today was an important meeting because we properly defined what the end product would look like. I showed Mrs. Murphy my stop motion animation from technology and used it as a framework for my personal project stop motion. In technology we were making a documentary and I chose to make it in the form of a stop motion animation (like the project we had done in technology in grade 9) as a sort of test-run preparation to see how the technology project turned out and translate the good qualities of the animation into my PP project. This was helpful, because then I was able to see approximately 20 seconds = 170 frames (photos). This is the stage I am at in the moment. 

Introductory scenes/frames of storyboard

Also, most importantly, we discussed the timeline and due dates I was going to set for myself. For example, before the start of christmas break I need to have the finalized, detailed storyboard + video timeline. I also am aiming to have all the interviews finished as well as have approx. 30-45 seconds of video completed. With the help of Mrs. Murphy I set checklists for every month until the exhibition - these were general checklists of course. 

Checklists & additional ideas 

                   

~ 4th Supervisor Meetings & Discussing Progress ~ Journal Entry 12

Meeting 4

Date: 4th December 2015

What we discussed:  This meeting was relatively short but very useful, because Ms. Murphy and I made a list of goals to accomplish and to set deadlines by before the start of christmas break. One of the most important and significant things on the list was a storyboard. Although I do have a storyboard of some sorts it needs to be more clarified, so the production of the video in itself will be easier to do, because I will know exactly what to do. Ms. Murphy also said its crucial to have a video storyboard so she can also have a clearer picture of what I am planning for my outcome to look like. 

Another thing which was on the list of things to complete was the interviews which I wanted to have for the beginning of the video as an introduction. 

--> So far, the interviews is a problem which I encountered, for three main reasons: 

                       - not everyone is willing to be filmed 

                       - the audio(difficult to find a time in the library which is quiet and empty and allows me to film) / lighting is not always consistent 

                       - some people do not give very thorough/detailed answers

Although the interview part is only meant to last at least around 30-45 seconds of the video, I think it is very important to show what different people have to say about my topic. Also, the interview will hopefully give a clear introduction to what the stop motion animation will be about. This is not the main part of the video itself but it is still an important component, and I am hoping to compete four by the end of the week. At the moment I have already about six interviews, but the majority I may have to do again due to audio and lighting problems. 

~ 3rd Supervisor Meeting and Interviews ~ Journal Entry 11

Meeting 3

Date: 18 November 2015

What we discussed: looking back at this last supervisor meeting, I discussed my interview questions to see if they were good questions and how I could perhaps improve them before actually interviewing people. Ms. Murphy suggested that with the questions I had already, I could do a test run with either my parents or someone else to see if I was happy with the sort of responses I was getting. So, I decided to interview my mom with the questions, since her background could be considered to be like that of a TCK. I found that some of the questions were limiting, and I wanted more to come out of it. So, I not only was able to modify my questions, I was also able to do a test run on the tripod and camera. 

Here are the interview questions before and after they were modified: - 

                            [Original Questions]

                          [Modified Questions]

~ Progress on Animation ~ Journal Entry 10

I feel like I have made a good start on my animation, and that my research is quite solid. I have begun to take many frames and at the moment I have about 100+ pictures. So up until now, I have managed to do the opening with the title "Third Culture Kids: A Stop Motion Animation" and also explored the interesting ways I could manipulate one thing to become another. This was really helpful.

This is basically all the equipment I need for my project to do a stop motion:- 

Whiteboard + whiteboard marker (with eraser, to erase between frames)

                    

set-up for taking pictures 

camera + tripod 

In the next post I will be preparing for the interviews and also talk about the 3rd PP meeting with Ms. Murphy about the interviews.

~ Further research/finalizing research + Cancelled supervisor meeting ~ Journal Entry 9

As shown from the last post, I have been currently working on my research through a google document where I have been using a range of website sources to bullet-point some important terms and ideas and things which I found interesting and relevant. In addition, I also have two book sources: the first one is "Third Culture  Kids" by David C Pollock/Ruth E Van Reken. This book basically talks about the experience of growing up among worlds   The second book is called "Unrooted Childhoods" which is a collection of memoirs written by people who have lived an expatriate life and have grown up global and insecure about where they come from. These two sources have been extremely helpful.


Also, I was scheduled to have a supervisor meeting on the lunchtime of friday the sixth, but due to me being sick I could not attend it. What I wanted to talk about in this meeting was the interview which I am planning to do: I want to interview some students who would consider themselves TCKs or even just students who have grown up amongst different cultures and have an interesting background. I would like to take a video asking them some questions (on the google docs) and this would also be a great primary source for research. So what I wanted to discuss in my meeting was whether the questions were suitable, as well as just being able to brainstorm how the animation will be done.

Hopefully we will have our third supervisor meeting on monday.

~ Research ~ Journal Entry 8

I have made a google document where I have begun to look at different sources and take some notes where I have been looking into TCKs more closely. This will also help me to develop ideas for the content of my stop motion animation.

~ Meetings with Supervisor 1 & 2 ~ Journal Entry 7

Meeting 1

Date:

What was discussed: In the first meeting, I showed Mrs. Murphy my first few blog posts, and what were my initial ideas. By this time, I already had my final idea and she thought that the stop motion was a very interesting and challenging project. Since it was only the first meeting, we didn't go into too much detail about anything, but mostly talked about some general things about the personal project itself. Overall, it went well!


Meeting 2

Date: 9th October 2015

What we discussed: In the second meeting, we went through managebac looking through and double checked my project question and chosen global context. We also wrote the criteria and goal, thus finishing the requirements needed for managebac. In addition, we also explored some interesting ideas on youtube. However, I had wanted our meeting to be on monday, because in the previous post where I posted the picture of the timeline goals, I had set the goal to finish with basic research + finalising question by wednesday the 7th. This shows I'm a little behind on what i had intended to do by that specific date, so from now on I will co-ordinate better.



In my next post I will be showing some research I have gathered from sources, on TCKs as well as stop motion animation creation.

~ Plan/Timeline for the next several weeks ~ Journal Entry 6

I have decided that it would be very helpful if I make a rough plan/timeline which I can follow for the next several weeks to keep myself on-track. The reason why I would like to do this is because it is an efficient and organized way to make sure that the personal project doesn't just get forgotten, with all the homework we are given. I would say that the project I have chosen is quite challenging, because it requires several important stages: the stage of research, because to make a video I will need as much information possible. Then the main stage which I would like to devote most of the project time we have is drawing and taking the pictures. To make a good stop motion animation, a lot of time is needed - it is very time consuming, so I want to make sure that I manage my time very well and carefully. Also because editing needs to be done: adding narration, music..etc. Also, if I want to provide further information on TCKs, for example brochures.

I will try to achieve things by the dates I have set myself, and I have also written how I will manage this. I will have my second meeting with my supervisor on this friday the 9th, although on the paper I said that I would schedule it for monday. This shows how already it is difficult for me to manage my time! On my next post I will talk about the two meetings I had, the first one because I forgot to mention it earlier.

~ Choosing Inquiry Question and Global Context ~ Journal Entry 5

> My Inquiry question (which will also be my guiding question for the purpose of my entire personal project, and the basis of it, as well as what the focus of the project is) will be: - 

How can I explore the advantages but also the Identity problems of a "TCK" (Third Culture Kid) by making an informative stop motion animation video? 

I have also posted this on Managebac, but I will consult the question with my mentor in our next meeting to see whether this is clear or whether changes need to be made, and in that case I can edit it. 

> The Global Context which my Personal Project fits into is: - 

Identities & Relationships 

This was quite easy to figure out, because although this project could fit under the global context 'personal and cultural expression', it definitely links more closely to identities and relationships. This because my question already includes the word "identity", which is a really big part within the topic of TCKs, and has to do with personal relationships. 

~ Finding Project Supervisor & Final Idea! ~ Journal Entry 4

                          -------- Supervisor -----------
On the first of september, I talked to Mrs. Murphy on tuesday and asked whether she would be my personal project supervisor, which she thankfully agreed to. The reason why I chose Mrs. Murphy as my supervisor is because, for my project, I knew that whatever I chose to do would be either closely or directly related to art, and as she is my art teacher, she has seen what I am capable of doing and was willing to help. In addition, Mrs. Murphy is very helpful and resourceful in the way she gives constructive criticism, which in the progression of my project, will be important.

Our first meeting is the next tuesday, which is the 7th of september.



                            ------- Final Idea ---------

In the previous post entry number 2, I shared a range of ideas within different categories. Making this list of ideas and brainstorming was a good thing to do, because it really pressed me to think of ideas which had the potential to become a project, and this became quite a pressuring task after the end of summer and grade 10 had begun because although I had noted down a number of interesting topics of exploration, they were all very abstract and didn't lead to a narrowed-down idea.

I was struck with inspiration after remembering a unit which I had done in my old school. We had done a project about third culture kids, because we were in an international school environment integrated with many cultures, where most of the students considered themselves to be third culture kids. The actual definition of the term 'third culture kids' essentially means a person who has spent a significant part of their developmental years outside of their parents cultures. The reason this vast topic instantly appealed to me at the thought is because I fit the definition too well, and I can definitely relate to the issues to do with nationality and identity when asked, 'where do you come from?'

And how can I make this an artistic project? Well, last year in technology class we were introduced to a form of media called 'stop motion animation'. (This will be discussed further.) In this way, I can make a video which illustrates the identity crisis which a third culture kid faces, because their background is mixed with different nationalities and cultures. The video can be a whiteboard animation, and can have humor as well as providing information. This is one thing which I could do, which I know will be a fascinating challenge. Another thing I could do is to do a series of art pieces using different art forms entitled "The life of a third culture kid".

I am confident that this idea will work very well, considering it is a difficult task, but also since it relates to me it interests me. Something which I was very worried about when brainstorming for personal project ideas was whether the idea I chose would be something I do research for, and also to thoroughly explain, this being important for the report.

~ Looking at the Grade 10's Personal Project Exhibition ~ Journal Entry 3

From looking back at when I saw the grade 10's personal project exibition when I was in grade 9, I got a better understanding of what it was. I was able to get a better idea on what I would be able to achieve in the period of time that we have to complete our projects by looking at what others had managed to produce in that time. 

Whilst some of the projects interested me, none really inspired me or gave me a sense of what topic I wanted to direct my project to. However, what it did help me to do is to see what was less successful, and why. Also, all the advice I was given from the students at the exhibition was to a) choose a topic which you are truly interested in - your passion - and that you are willing to work on, and b) not to do everything last minute because this will be very stressful what with the process journal, personal project report and everything else which needs to be finished, also keeping in mind that whilst the hugely significant personal project is going on, you also have all your other regular classes to worry about. 

What I want my outcome to achieve/to do:- 

• be inspiring for others
• something which displays my strengths and skills 
• something which has a real purpose and meaning 

~ A few of my Raw Ideas so Far ~ Journal Entry 2

So, after much thought I have come up with several ideas which could be of use and hopefully which I can develop further to come up with a final idea. Although its frustrating not being set on any of these ideas or having a solid platform for them, at this stage I am only brainstorming and this will help me for the further stages leading up to choosing my final idea for my personal project. I have made a list of things that I am good at that I would consider to choose, and the list is in order of what I find most important to me.

      1. ART

I have several ideas which branch off from art:-

• to combine art and photography..?

I have seen some really interesting ways that art is infused with photography, so this can be like the real world with fantastical artwork seeping into it, or a black-and-white photograph and art which brings life and color to it. I think this would be a really interesting project to do.

The work of Sebastian Del Grosso 
inspires me 

        <--- Fabienne Rivory uses water color instead, and result is stunning 

• help children who are hard of hearing/deaf express themselves through art....?

My cousin is a teacher at a special needs school where the children are hard of hearing. She told me that some of these children can't  express what they want to say in words: some children, as she told me, had identity issues and rough backgrounds but could not express what they were thinking in words because they were fully deaf. My idea is to create an interactive art/imagery workshop for these kids, to encourage them that imagery and art can help express things, too. 

• a series of meaningful, powerful messages in the form of artwork 

I would really like to convey something powerful to the world addressing a serious issue, such as: human trafficking, preserving our environment, girl's empowerment... I could do a series of three art pieces, which all connect to the same topic. Maybe each piece can have a quote or a short written element. 

• a story told through pictures 

This is basically similar to the last idea, except following a story, so this could even mean a picture book. Maybe I could have the book with only pictures, and at the end there is a page which sort of explains what the book was in about in few words which are striking, bold and deep. What I really want my personal project to do is to have an effect on others, and make them think.  

      2. LITERATURE/ CREATIVE WRITING

• collection of themed short stories 

Apart from art, I enjoy writing, passionately. I have never really written my own stories, but with creative writing assignments in class and being able to freely express yourself in words, I have begun to see that by doing a series of short stories, I can explore my own skills in literature, and I think this could be challenging but also immensely interesting.  

    3. DANCE

• To choreograph a dance routine and post the video on youtube 

Only last year, I started contemporary dance classes. I have really enjoyed them and learnt a lot from it. In my life, I have experienced different types of dance: including ballet, street dance and flamenco. Even though I have only started contemporary dance quite recently, I realised that I'm passionate about it. I have done some research on what others have done for their personal project, and many choreographed their own dance, such as the one below. (As an example)

If I did follow through with this idea, I could consult with my dance teacher for support, but this idea is quite unlikely to happen because I don't know how far I can go with this, although it is something which interests me. 

~ Welcome to my Blog! ~ Journal Entry 1

First of all: hi!

This is my first blog post entry on this blog, which will be a documentation of the process of my grade 10 personal project over the course of a six month period. From brainstorming to reflecting to being able to share thoughts and ideas, I will use this process journal in the form of a blog to thoroughly investigate my topic of interest, and really to use it as a tool to guide me.

In several weeks time the new school year will begin, and a lot of pressure and concern has been building up with the personal project on everyone's minds. Over the past several weeks I have taken the time to think about what exactly I want to do, what I want to direct my focus and effort on. This has been very challenging because I have a lot of interests and there are so many things I am passionate about. However, I have thought of a range of ideas for projects already, yet I still think it will take me a while to narrow it down to one idea, or to make an idea out of several of my ideas. This I will be discussing in my next blog post.

My goal for this is to be more organised, because an issue which I need to face for such a big a topic as the personal project is to ensure deadlines are met and to be organised. Hopefully in this way, I will feel motivated to post often and keep my work orderly.