Robert Fisk - Journalists are Witnesses to History

Robert Fisk

Robert Fisk is a Middle East correspondent since 1976.

After beginning journalism in 1972 covering the Political turmoil in Northern Ireland. Fisk moved and has lived in Beirut, Lebanon since 1976.

Seeing first hand and reporting the Lebanese Civil War, Iranian Revolution, Iran-Iraq War, Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, Arab Spring, and lastly the Syrian Civil War.

Since 1989 he has been a correspondent for The Independent. 

Fisk has written many books, and documentaries such as "From Beirut to Bosnia," and one of the few westerners that interviewed Osama Bin Laden.

Fisk is renowned for his passionate writings and putting himself in danger, getting places no one else can, calling out the U.S and Israel on their foreign policy.

Robert Fisk is fond of history, something his father was too, and having lived in the Middle East uses his knowledge to give best explanations he can of whats been happening.

Giving insight into ISIS, Middle Eastern Perspectives on the West, and the long complicated  history behind it.

How "Avengers: Endgame" Became the Greatest MCU Film

Out of all the films created in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Endgame confidently takes the cake for best in the series. This movie comes across as a celebration of all these distinct characters we've come to know over the past decade.

Photo Courtesy of Marvel Entertainment

In the first Avengers film, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers immediately began a rocky relationship who were both raised in two vastly different times and have repeatedly underestimated each other. In this film, Robert Downey Jr. has continually done his top performance as his character retained this anxiety of "what will happen if I lose" that he's had since the battle of New York in the first Avengers. Tony Stark is believably ridiculous in a balanced way. There has not been a moment with this character that felt cheap.

This is a film that unapologetically character-driven as the plot can get really messy. In between the inconsistencies, the film is not in any rush and it has these little moments between characters conversing. Marvel has never focused on their characters so heavily ever before until they made this film.

The significant time jump between the last movie and Endgame made the ending of Infinity War feel earned as the whole universe had to go through the loss of half the population being wiped out from existence and living with that.

Over the course of the film, Marvel completely blew expectations through moments such as when the Avengers found out that they couldn't use the time stone to reverse the actions of Thanos. The Avengers now had to live with their failure and the universe would pay for it. In an unexpected turn, Captain America is now considered "worthy" of wielding an iconic weapon in the series. In the end, Tony Stark ends with the famous line used back in the first Iron Man film, "I... Am... Iron Man."

Photo Couresy of Matthias Zoppelt

This movie is the final chapter for Marvel's greatest heroes and gave them their one final hoorah as this movie paves the way for newer heroes to take their place. Of all the movies created under Marvel, this one is unparalleled compared to the near two dozen made in the last decade.

The Atlas of Beauty

Mihaela Noroc is a world-famous 33-year old photojournalist from Bucharest, Romania who has spent the last six years travelling the world for her photo project, “The Atlas of Beauty.” Noroc, whose profile will come up on a google search, has been featured on The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Oprah, Forbes, and BBC. Noroc’s mission is to photograph women around the world to create one unified message. That message is that despite having different cultures, all women share something special that Noroc captures in stunning portraits. Noroc’s leading principle that heads up her project is that there is beauty everywhere, no matter the difference in language or tradition.

Taken in Myanmar's biggest buddhist temple in Yangon.
 Photo Credit Mihaela Noroc.
https://theatlasofbeauty.com 

Noroc centers her project around portraits that not only portray women, but include meaningful elements that vary throughout her portfolio. Many times her subjects are shown doing tasks specific to their culture, or in front of a background in an area that is significant to her subject’s life. 

Noroc’s portfolio can be viewed on her website here: https://theatlasof

beauty.com

Noroc’s portraits detail women who are pursuing their passions and dreams, women who are enduring through hardships, and women whose strength tells a story both in Noroc’s interviews with them and on their faces.

There is not only beauty in Noroc’s portraits, and that’s what makes them so dynamic. 

Noroc portraits pain and scars, as well. Noroc’s mission gives voice to pain and those whose voice has been smothered by mundane duties and political turmoil.

Noroc has been to Turkey, Afghanistan, Muldova, Peru, Myanmar, Latvia, Ethiopia, the Amazon rainforest, Cuba, China, Japan, Colombia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Ecuador, Nepal, India, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Cairo, Tajikstan, South Africa, Greece, and the list just goes on and on. Noroc said she has visited to date over 50 countries. Even more impressive is her way of seeking out those who aren’t used to a spotlight and would normally never stand in front of a camera.

A Woman named Yuka changed paths after enrolling in a Geisha school in Kyoto. After realizing her love of freedom, Yuka combined her learned skills with the art of coffee making. Photo taken by Mihaela Noroc. https://theatlasofbeauty.com

Noroc’s work is especially important because it doesn’t follow the traditional cookie-cutter “beautiful women” type of photography. It captures beauty in non-traditional standards, non-american standards. It captures beauty across the age and race spectrum. Her work is key in a time when women around the world are fighting to prove themselves independent, with capabilities far above just being appealing to the eye. Noroc accomplishes her mission in that every woman she photographs, no matter their direction in life, has a passion they are following. In her first photo-essay book, Noroc has photographed a total of 500 unique women with a story in their eyes and on the page.

Taken on the banks of the Hooghly river in Kolkata, India of a
woman named Sandra, who was taking part in a Hindu Ceremony.
Photo taken by Mihaela Noroc. https://theatlasofbeauty.com

Noroc’s “Atlas of Beauty” became very popular worldwide. Since starting her project in 2013, it has spread across social media, becoming the third most viral Tumblr blog in 2015. Later, in 2016, Noroc went live to discuss the Atlas with Oprah, as well as on CNN. Her portraits can be found all over facebook and instagram. She is continuing her project, publishing new portraits multiple times a month. You can find her most recent portraits on her facebook page:

https://www.facebook.

com/pg/

MihaelaNorocPhoto/

posts

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Something we can learn from Noroc is how her spontaneity pays off. Her most beautiful portraits are the ones that aren’t set up after talking with her subjects. Her best photos that tell the most vivid stories are the ones taken during the day-to-day lives of her subjects, often with other people in the background. Noroc’s pictures tell us that the most communicative photos aren’t the ones that are set up, the ones that she waited to take until other people were out of the frame, or the ones that showed her subject’s best angle. Noroc shows a very important theme in her photos that all of us should aspire to: truth.

Bomberas (Firewomen) in Mexico City. Photo taken by Mihaela Noroc. See more stunning work at https://theatlasofbeauty.com

Talk Radio Lives!

90.7 FM KBOO

(KBOO/Facebook)

Tucked away in south east Portland is KBOO. A station made by the community for the community. Dedicated to giving listeners locally rooted opinions, news, and music for almost 50 years.
KBOO has a verity of talk radio hosts and DJ's. As an aspiring filmmaker my personal favorite radio show is Film at 11 with Doug Holms. I'm also quite partial to their interviews and lecture videos.
 Some of the most uniquely pleasing audio I've heard has come from local musicians, poets, and opinions featured on KBOO. 

Tuning into KBOO is always a nostalgic experience for me.

 It takes me back to the good old days, before podcast, of talk radio. When I was in grade school my neighborhood community center took us on a field trip to KBOO. I had never heard of the station, and young me could have cared less if it wasn't something on the top 40 radio stations. All it took was a simple station tour looking around at the sound booths, the newsrooms, the fun offices, and the records archives.  I was sold. That field trip shaped my vision of being a story teller. Giving these local people a voice was like turning them into a celebrity in my adolescent mind! Now, the only difference between little me and current me is current me is that current me is on the path to making that desire a reality.

KBOO currently has openings for volunteers to do for live remote broadcast tech help, creating podcast, and audio producers.
May 6th I'll be at volunteer orientation and I finally feel like I'm going somewhere with my dreams.

Here is a segment called Kitchen Table Conversations that my good friend Kevin Tilka had the chance to read and discuss his poetry.

The New York Times - Times Documentaries

By: Samantha Nordmeyer 

The New York Times is a publication that we have all heard of. In paid subscriptions alone, the newspaper has an audience of 3.5 million people.  
Not only do they post online daily, they have printed articles as well, and as I recently found out, a section for video articles. 

Within this section of their web page are categories of videos. Such as documentaries, health, immigration, and extreme weather. 
My new found favorite is the documentary section. 

I recently watched one called Chinese Cameras Come With Chinese Tactics  (https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000006007030/china-ecuador-surveillance.html) Within the video many different visual strategies are used. The video is mixed with one on one interviews, footage that utilizes graphics on the screen, along with video of a video. The many different angles and approaches work to keep the audience interested but doesn't overload them so much that they check out.  

There is an even amount of narration as there is natural sound. Along with these noises, there are also sound effects that fit with the visual in the video. For instance, there are moments when you can hear cars passing by, or the whir of technology which really adds to the credibility of the short film. 
There are many different interviews used within the 12 minutes to add depth and multiple interpretations. Along with plenty of straight facts from the narrator to fill in some of the blanks. 

Realistically, we as a class could easily learn from the strategical aspects of this video but also from the journalistic strategies as well. 

The narrator doesn't ask too many questions, he gives his subjects enough time to finish their thought and seemingly respects everyone's input. The conversation itself of "is the government watching me?" is a touchy subject and Jonah M. Kessel, Melissa Chan, Paul Mozur, and John Woo handle the controversy with respect and knowledge. 
While narrating, there is pauses accompanied with dramatic music, there are rhetorical questions answered with simple facial expressions. This video proves that sometimes saying less is more, saying less can have a heavier emotional impact on your audience. 

There are captions that tell you exactly who it is giving you information and why they are credible with the specific concept. 
Many experts are interviewed on many different parts of the overall problem which adds to said credibility. 
The camera man uses the rule of thirds with most of their one on one interviews with what I can guess as the hope to make the speaker the most important part of the frame. 

Although the concept is large and broad, the video does an excellent job at explaining what it needs in a way that a large audience could understand. 
Many technical strategies are used to add to the drama of the issue. Such as slowly fading out from the subjects speaking and into the narrators. The video is not at all choppy and I believe that plays a large roll in it.  

Even though it is only twelve minutes long, the documentary highlights so many small parts of the overall issue.
There is history, facts, opinions, emotional speakers and logical thinkers. The many different view points are organized well and in a way that makes the video flow. 
It is an amazing video that gives as much information as you could possibly understand in a small amount of time, not only touching on the issue of government privacy but backing it up and tearing it down as well. 

WTF Podcast

By David Hurst




Marc Maron has been a stand up comedian since the 1980's, granting him appearances on many talk shows including Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien. But it wasn't until September of 2009 when he started the podcast that would arguable change up the digital media industry. WTF podcast is most known for emotionally turbulent interviews with iconic figures. Actors, comedians, directors, authors, and even politicians. In fact he even had President Obama as a guest. Other notable guests include, Paul Thomas Anderson, Jane Fonda, Joe Rogan, Dane Cook, Dan Harmon, Christina Hendrix, Aubrey Plaza, and more. With millions of downloads each month, WTF podcast is definitely one of the most popular and most influential podcasts of the last ten years. Maron is still interviewing guests and uploading to the podcast every week, and is also currently on Netflix's hit tv show, Glow playing Sam Sylvia which has earned him critics Choice and SAG award nomination.

The Farmer and The Fisherman

Dowd in a boat full of oysters he farmed (https://www.blueearth.org/project/the-farmer-and-the-fisherman/)

The Farmer and The Fisherman by Lauren Owens Lambert focuses on people fishing in the Gulf of Maine in Canada.

The pictures have a 4:3 aspect ratio.

There are multiple action shots of people fishing.

Most of the shots have either natural light or are shot indoors.

There are no black bars.

The closing shot is an impressive low angle shot that is also an establishing shot.

There are a couple of closing shots one of which looks like it is posed.

One of the establishing shots featured shows a person sitting in a boat filled with oysters. The picture has plenty of head room. There is not much talk space in the picture. The person looks to be around the left third of the image. There is plenty of wall space as the photo is in a wide-open area. I think that the image is visually interesting.

There is visual variety in the photos and there is good sequencing. There are close-up shots, medium shots, and even a wide shot.