Update on Interviews - Carlos Reyes

As mentioned from the rest of the team mates last tuesday we conducted a series of interviews with Eric, eric and kevin. One was a re-do while the others were new. These interviews were all scheduled to run 30 min each with enough time to set-up the equipment and get back to class in time for the video update showcasing. However, the stories we captured were very emotional and real they were also told with such detail that it took longer to film. 

The first person we filmed was Eric, this was the first time we filmed him, he had a lot of energy and was exited to be on camera. But when he was on camera it was apparent he was a little uncomfortable and had a great story but for the most part sounded very rehearsed. He had a great story to tell on how homelessness affected him and how interfaith helped him get back on his feet and on his way to get a degree. I was moved to see that after the interview he was actually on his way to pick up some shirts that were going to be donated to him on behalf of interfaith so it can help him get a job. He mentioned this during his interview, this is when the story became real to me, made me realize that he is currently going through what he told us in the interview.

Our second interview was Eric, an individual that we have interview previously, the second time around was a lot better. He felt more comfortable, was answering the questions a little more thoroughly and definitely gave us more emotion than the first time. He is very cooperative with us, and is more than happy to have us follow him around to get some Broll next time.

After we finished our second interview we realized that we were behind schedule, and conducting our 3rd interview would definitely take overlap our class time. But we considered the fact that we had a great opportunity to interview Kevin, who has a reputation of being a great public speaker. Throughout the day we were constantly informed of Kevin's outstanding speech ability by a variety of people. So we decided to stay and got some great footage. Kevin gave us powerful insight on his struggles that led him to become homeless. He told us of his life in the military and how he is originally from the east coast but came to california to aid a friend fighting cancer. His story was very emotional, we had to take a break during his interview because he got chocked up recalling the tough times he had helping his friend fight cancer.

Listening to these past interviews really gave me a greater understanding of how the veterans got to become homeless. And generally how anyone can be homeless all of a sudden. The impact that homelessness can have on an individuals psychologically, making them feel vulnerable, and a shame. But most importantly it gave me a better understanding on how Interfaith helps these individuals get back on their feet. By making them feel at that they have a home, lifting up their self esteem, and having them not feel alone anymore but feel as they are apart of a group. 

They have helped my project because I now feel honored working with interfaith, and after these interviews I wanna to do the best job possible.

Update on Interviews - Ryhen Ann Roqu

Last Tuesday we interviewed three people. One interview was with Eric (number 2). Off camera, Eric was very energetic and excited to be on camera. However, when the actual interview started, it was difficult to get the same energy back. Even though he was more serious and more focused, the answers that came out of him seemed very rehearsed. Eric (from the last interview session) was more open and willing to answer questions. It was more compelling to hear his story this time around. It did not sound like he was nervous. He was able to tell us how he found out Interfaith through a relative and how he was able to find a place to stay right before Christmas. He told us how the programs and services offered at Interfaith has truly been helpful to his life. The last interview was from Kevin. His story was really compelling. He got emotional during his interview but he told us that we should be thankful for what we have now and not take them for granted. He was able to voice out he feelings for Interfaith without us coaching him or telling him what to say. Although the interview ran longer than expected I am glad that we stayed. It was a really great interview.

It expanded my understanding of the challenges that the veterans face. The stories they had to tell open my eyes to see that anyone has the possibility to become homeless. They felt like their whole world was shattered. Some of them had to hide the fact that they were homeless from their loved ones, some felt embarrassed to be homeless and many other sad factors. It was heartwarming to hear that having a home in Interfaith has lifted up their spirits. Waking up with a roof over your head and getting breakfast in the morning is things that we often take for granted. Hearing their side of the story has shown me how the life I am living is not definite. There can be chance Even getting accepted to a job gave them a boost in their self-esteem.

These interviews will help our project fill in the spaces that we had b-roll the previous weeks. It would interesting how to weave in these interviews to the storyboard we had laid out in the beginning. These interviews will be able to provide the direction we needed for the video we are creating. It will help us create a video that is created for the veterans, spoken for the veterans and told by the veterans. The story they told us is really compelling. The interviews gave us the substance that we needed from the veteran's interviews. It is going to be difficult to get the best of the best sound bites for this video, but I know with this team we will create something very creative and will capture our audience well.

Eric (the reshoot)

Obviously a lot of Eric (1)'s interview will need to be trimmed down, but this is the raw footage mixed with the handheld camera to show how it may feel and to give an impression of his story.

here is some of the stuff with Kevin

and also the 2nd eric

Update on Interviews - Jermaine Jackson

Less than a week ago our group was still somehow missing the bulk of our project, and essentially the most important part, the Veterans. It is difficult to set up interviews through Interfaith because we have to run the people by Christine, and Christine then has to run it by Interfaith and get approval. Or in many cases Interfaith will tell Christine that they had a person set up for us even without a chance to do pre-interviews which made the subjects often unsuccessful. So for last Tuesday we originally had two interviews set up through Interfaith. One was a reshoot with Eric, and then another person that they were going to provide to us. Fortunately we got the go ahead to steal one more person, who we were happy to finally get in contact with. Jeff and I met up at school earlier in the day around 12:00 to get all of the equipment checked out from everywhere on campus since supplies were limited. We checked all the equipment to make sure it was working, and after that went over a lot a good chunk of the footage we had shot in the previous week to put in our rough edit. The we met with Christine at round 2:00 and set up everything before we started our first interview and shot all the way until around 7:00.

Our first interview of the day was with another man named Eric. When we talked with him he was really interactive, but as soon as we got him in front of a camera he tried to hard to make it "sound good" (as he liked to say). We got him to loosen up and told him to just be himself and to be honest. With a little guidance we got him to open up about his life. He talked about a lot of his struggles after the military. Eric Even talked about the fact that he had to sleep on his Kids's floor of their mother's house and how much it hurt him as a father. He has goals to be an X-ray technician and with help from Interfaith he can finish his schooling and move onto his career to finally support his children again and be the Father he wants to be.

After we finished the first interview we packed up everything to move locations for our next Interview with Eric (from weeks prior). We found a nice spot in the back courtyard that had good outdoor conditions and gave us a nice depth of field. Unfortunately the first time we interviewed Eric we had some difficulties with audio. But we really wanted to convey his message and tell his story, so we ended up back with him again on tuesday to go over some of the points again. Our issues, however, ended up being a blessing in disguise. Because Eric was already familiar with our group and accustomed to the whole process, he was much more comfortable in front of the camera and with this second time around, he was much more open. Eric talked about what it meant to be homeless and how difficult it was to find a place to sleep at night. It really hit home when he talked about living under a bridge. Even the other homeless people sometimes didn't accept him, but he had no choice. He is now working a lot in the career center to start a new career since he was laid off due to downsizing at his last job.

After our interview with Eric (1) it was getting close to time to pack up, but some time left over. Christine said we could still meet with Kevin since he was available that evening. After hearing Kevin speak while filming b-roll earlier in the week at the Life Skills workshop, we knew we HAD to have him and couldn't miss this opportunity. Since we still had time we thought we could squeeze him in. Kevin's is really emotional, but is also uplifting since someone like him always has a positive attitude. Kevin was in the Army originally, and after he got out he had his own company. Sadly it fell through. He told us about how he used to have to sleep in his van, and other things like losing his best friend to cancer. He shed a few tears and almost made our entire group come to his emotional level as well. He also said some really great stuff about how some Veterans feel their community has forgotten about them, and how people should make sure they don't feel that way. This would be really great to use in our project to get people to WANT to help Interfaith help veterans.

Although our Interviews ran a little long, especially after the last minute Kevin interview, we definitely got what we needed and their testimonials will do great for the video project. After listening to what all of them had to say, I learned a lot about veterans and the problems they face. Veterans essentially don't need any coaching or someone to hold their hand to get them to their next personal level because they are all typically independent and strong willed. What they need, instead, is groups like interfaith to give them a "hand up" to help them out of their slump. This help covers a lot of the daily stress so they will not have to focus daily on where to sleep and where to get food. With these issues taken care of they can focus more on how to better themselves and how to better their future. All of these interviews were really emotional, and I think that by presenting their testimonials in the project it will help move the community to backing Interfaith with whatever they need.

Update On Interviews - Ryan Anderson

Last Tuesday we got some worthwhile footage. Our first interview was with with Eric, where we got more useful information then the previous interview. He seemed to be less distracted and more calm then before. Our second interview was with another veteran named Eric where we discussed the issues on how Interfaith has changed his life. He gave many ok sound bits, but again seemed to be a little rehearsed and didn't put too much emotion and thought into his answers. Our last interview was with Kevin. Kevin by far was our most interesting and well spoken veteran! Kevin really gave our group an insight on how Interfaith has changed his life for the better by sharing his life story with us. He joined the military and was stationed in Panama where he became a army ranger. After his time in the military he came back to his family and ended up helping a father figure by using his own money to help fight his cancer. Kevin ended up losing everything and Interfaith has really gave him that new hope that he desperately needed.

Listening to the veterans last Tuesday really opened my eyes to what they've been through. Hard times to even worse times to the finding of Interfaith to lift them back on their feet. Interfaith is truly a remarkable program, who truly cares about their veterans. These interviews will definitely boost our footage, especially the sound bits we got from Kevin. Again Kevin was our key man in our interviews last week. He really gave our group that footage we desperately needed.

Update on Interviews - Jeff Warlick

Tuesday we had some great interviews. We talked to Eric again, who was our first interview. This time around he seemed much more comfortable with us and really opened up. We got some new great details about his story that he hadn't previously mentioned. An example would be that during our first interview, it was very difficult to get anything specific about his time being homeless. During this interview, we learned that his x-wife made him hide the fact that he was homeless and living under a bridge in Escondido from his child. He told us that his daughter eventually found out and when they would drive by, she would joke, "Look theres Dad's house!" Just all in all he really set his pride aside and told us about himself. 

Our second interview came as a surprise. Another client, also named Eric, came by while we were setting up and asked if he could be on camera. He seemed like he had good energy and was eager so we set him down and talked to him for about an hour. Unfortunately, he acted like he was trying really hard to give us good sound bites and it just came off rehearsed. Through some coaching and a few "complete the sentence..." we were able to get some real usable footage.

Finally, we came to Kevin. I was telling Jermaine earlier that I want to send this guy a thank you card just for existing. I can't think of another time that I've been so moved or impressed by the quality of a person. He joined the military and was part of a black ops unit. He was one of the first troops in the gulf and Panama. Once he was out of the military, he has some personal success with a security company. A good friend and father figure called him and told him that he had terminal cancer and wanted to go back to California to see some people. Kevin dropped everything, including his company, to drive his friend across the country. Once there, the situation wasn't good for his friend so kevin emptied his savings to make sure that he was comfortable and taken care of. He recently passed and Kevin was left in a new area with no support network or means of getting home. Interfaith has really helped someone who was deserving. 

Kevin's interview shed a light on an aspect of this project that I have been slowly discovering. Honestly when I've previously seen the homeless, the usual assumptions would enter my mind. However, there are occasions where people genuinely do put themselves into that position because they either have no other choice or as a sacrifice. It makes me think that if I had my own production company, I would still be doing this video for free just because I appreciate so much how Interfaith helps the people who genuinely deserve it.

Progress Report #5 - Jeff Warlick

We have a busy set of weeks ahead of us. Friday we went to the housing in oceanside again to just get some needed b-roll of the facilities. Also, during our interviews, both of the veterans commented on how nice the accommodations are, so we wanted to get some shots from inside the actual units. We met up with one of the resident managers who gave us a tour and let us have virtually unlimited access to two of their floor plans. We shot a standard unit as well as a one for the disabled. The veterans were right; flat screen tv's, leather furniture, and a spacious interior made for a very nice home. Honestly, those veterans are living with a better setup than my apartment!

This morning, Jermain Carlos and I went over to the Escondido soup kitchen to cover some of interfaith's other activities. Again brought up by a comment made during an interview, we wanted to get b-roll of the facility that brought one of the veterans to the housing. We took shots of the kitchen prep and then were very discrete filming from the back of the room to get the backs of all the people in line. Christine was right about how jumpy people are once a camera shows up. We heard many comments about how we didn't belong there from the patrons. However, I feel we were very respectful and managed to get 30 mins of solid b-roll without getting any faces on camera. 

The project has been a great learning experience so far. I've edited in the past but always imported from a digital recorder like fraps or pldx. I've learned how to import from a tape and have a much better general understanding as to the operation of a camera and sound equipment. I've also learned that you sometimes really have to push and go out of your comfort zone to get the good shots. The first interviews we did, we tried to just be happy with everything because we were just happy enough having a veteran to talk to. However, after none of it being usable, I know for the future that we really need to think about how we present our questions and go to great lengths to draw out the solid shots that we need to do the story justice. Also, for instance, today in the soup kitchen, I had to ask a man (who I would normally never approach on the street) if we could follow his tray, not him, on camera. He was very nice and we got a great shot. Going out of your comfort zone for the sake of the shot really pays off.

Progress Report #5 - Jermaine Jackson

While unable to get a solid interview setup for last week, our group wanted to make sure that we stayed proactive and made sure we got something done so we didn't waste the free time we had with our availability. Christine helped Ryhen-anne and our group meet with the house manager of the apartment complex in ocean side. Here we were able to get some b-roll footage of inside some of the homes. Some were of regular residents, and the others were set up for veterans specifically with disabilities. Although there wasn't much action going on, it was able to provide a good amount of detail to portray their living environments. We also get shots of the whole complex outside, and cool images with the flag in the front. I think cause of the time of day the lighting made everything look really uplifting and positive. After we finished with the housing, we traveled a few miles down to get scenic shots from the oceanside pier since one of our plans is to represent homeless veterans as a local issue. It was really cool there because there were pelicans that we were able to get within a few inches with the camera. The sun started to come down though so near the end it was hard to shoot toward the pier, but good to shoot away from it.

Looks like we have a busy week ahead of us filled with a ton of shooting. Tomorrow a few of us our going the soup kitchen at 6am in order to get more b-roll of some of the services that Interfaith offers as a whole. We must be respectful though and shoot the people there from behind. Luckily christine will be there so we may be able to shoot some of them from the front. Then on wednesday at 9am we are off to oceanside again to get footage of people at the career center. If there is time and if there is people we will try to get quick little testimonials about their experiences. Then on thursday we are filming at the life skills workshop at 10am and possibly do the same thing. Things seem to be on track and were ready to keep rolling.

Progress Report 5 - Carlos Reyes

Last week's objective was to get some Broll for our video. We were able to shoot the inside of two apartment complex. We got some great shots of the apartments, the manager made sure he took us to the most presentable rooms that were kept the cleanest. It was a great experience to shot take artistic shoots throughout the the building. We made sure to highlight all the great benefits that interfaith offers to the community; Like nice couches, flat screen tv's, fire emergency equipment, and they are also handicap accessible. After we headed to the beach and shot some more broll.

This week we will continue shooting. We have schedule a morning shoot at 6am, so we can get some shots of interfaith handing out breakfast.

Progress Report #5 - Ryan Anderson

Last week our group got a chance to accomplish some shooting in Oceanside. I unfortunately had work, so I couldn't make the last shoot. We plan on shooting all this week, Tuesday-Thursday. First place we plan we shoot is the soap kitchen, where were hoping to get some footage of volunteers serving food and giving back to the community. This shot will give our video a sense of giving back. We will be focusing on a lot of b-roll shooting.

On the second day we will be focusing on shooting at the Oceanside office, where we will try and get some more b-roll footage with a veteran and staff member as well as a veteran on a computer. We also hope to get a few short interviews with either staff or veterans. On our third day of shooting we will focus on visiting the Life Skills Workshop. Again were going to shoot mostly b-roll of interaction with veterans and staff.

I'm excited to get some shooting done this week and anxious to get that much closer to our final copy. I've already learned so much about video that I had no clue about beforehand. I came into this class a total noob on video cameras and still learning something everyday. You learn from experience, and this is defiantly a learning experience. I have a great group of people working hard on our video and I'm very excited to see how it all turns out.

Progress Report #5 Ryhen Ann Roque

On Friday, Jeff, Jermaine, Carlos and I went to film some broll of the housing in Oceanside. We were greeted by Rob (the resident manager) to take us on a tour of the rooms at the housing. We were able to see two different layouts of the housing. The first one was like all of the rest of the housing in the complex. The other was layout out for those with disabilities. Rob was nice and we were able to gain information from him about the housing and the people living in them. Jermaine was the main cameraman for this part, he arrange the certain parts of the room to make more presentable (like turning on the table fan in one scene). Both Carlos and Jeff helped figure out what kind of shots to take and how to angle it. They are so creative. They both gave pointers to Jermaine (Jeff saying that we should film the flag from the street and Carlos saying to zoom into the sunlight near the lampshade then zoom out).

In the shoot, everyone was helping out in creating a scene that would be presentable on the video. We were all moving stuff around and putting them back. We got some broll of the flag flowing in the wind but it was difficult to get that shot. There were times when the wind was not blowing the way we wanted. We also got some broll shots of the courtyard (where we conducted an interview). I wonder which footage we are going to be using in the video. I cannot wait to see the finished project.

After Carlos, Jermaine and I went to the Oceanside Pier to get some broll shots over there. Jeff had to leave early. Both Carlos and Jermaine were cameramen for this shoot, while I was the video log person. We took some wide shots of the pier and from the pier. The shots of the pier was hard to get because the sun was facing the camera. Hopefully it will look alright. It was really windy and cold but we film lots of footage. We were able to get shots of helicopters flying by for our video. We even got to see some pelicans at the pier. They are really big.

Being a production manager is hard work: making the appointments, confirming calls, making sure there are enough people at the shoots and all that. I am learning a lot - making sure there is enough time for each session of filming and working out schedules. At first I was afraid of giving out jobs to anyone and telling them who should do what when, but now I found out that it is not so bad. As long as it works out in their schedule, they would be willing to do the job. I hope I can learn much more about filming and editing when it comes to that period in time. I glad to have worked with this team. They know so much about filming and creating creative scenes for the video that I would not know what to do if they were not there.

Jermaine Jackson - Response 4

Last week for our scheduled work day, our group was able to get quite a bit done. We had a full day of a lot of different experience. It started early with Jeff and me meeting with Christine Vaughn around 1:00 pm after getting the equipment that was reserved the week prior. After fidgeting around with everything we finally got everything all set up. What was really awesome was that we were able to get that soft background and depth of field look by applying what we learned in our workshops and reading. We placed the camera at a good distance from the subject, made sure the subject was at a good distance from the background, and then also opened up the iris. Although it looked nice, the audio may have not been so friendly. There was constant drive-bys of ice-creame trucks, school busses, and planes. I really liked the aesthetics of our first interview, although the lighting was constantly changing so I don't know how it will look in post.

I'm not sure how our second interview will turn out. We tried shooting in the veteran housing, but there was not much visually appealing for a background. This interview was with Christine who was a veteran from the middle east and is now getting assistance so she can finish school at san marcos.

What was also cool about our workday is that we got to work really close with Christine Vaughn with some of the interviewees. I think we got a lot of good content as far as testimonials go, but I hope we get someone a little more emotional to drive this project to its full potential.

Progress Report - Carlos Reyes

Last Tuesday we started conducting and recording some interviews.

It went well but we ran into a few lighting and sound problems on both of them.

1st interview set up (outdoors)

This video shows our first interview set up. We used two lights, that were no more than 3 feet away. We had to adjust them several times due to a glare from the side building that would light up our subjects head. Therefore we had to adjust our lights and more our subject around so we can get rid of the glare on our subjects head. We also had two cameras, the first one (as shown in the video clip) was set on a tripod far from the subject in order to blur the background. The outdoors setting was also very noisy, we had to pause a variety of times to let ice cream truck, helicopters, and traffic pass through.

2nd interview

The second interview was indoors. We also had to move the lighting around quite a bit for the reason that it was too dark and not enough natural light. We got better sound quality as well, since there was no noise from the outside.

Progress Report #4 Ryhen Ann Roque

Last Tuesday, we conducted our interviews. Jeff and Jermaine went out to set-up first. Then the rest of the group followed (after classes had ended) and helped out with the setting up. For the interview, Jeff was in charge of the log sheet. Carlos was in charge of sound. Ryan and Jermaine were in charge of the cameras. I was in charge of conducting the interview. When we were setting up, it was difficult to get the right angle for the camera and lighting for the first interview because it was set up outside. The sun was hitting the windows which reflected up the interviewee. It took a while before we finally knew how to set up the shot. It was also pretty cold, but we managed to get the through with it. The people from the housing were considerate when we were filming and did not make much noise. However, we could not do anything about the sounds that were made throughout the neighborhood (like the children, the cars that went by, and even an airplane flew by). The interview took much longer than expected because we had to pause in between to make sure there was no other sounds in the shot. In the second interview, everyone knew what they had to do with setting up the equipment. It was set up pretty quickly. It went by much quicker because there was not much noise coming and going. The breaking down of the equipment was really good too because everyone helped out and it went by really quickly. This first and second interview will help us get through what we need to go through for setting up, filming and breaking down for the next interviews and shots we need to take. I learned that getting a good shot for the film takes a lot of preparation.

Progress Report #4 - Ryan Anderson

Last Tuesday we got the chance to interview a couple verterans. Our first veteran didn't seem to "excited" if you will about Interfaith and wasn't really the best subject. During our first shoot we had a view problems with ourdoor noises such as airplanes, people walking by, oh ya who can forget the ice cream truck. It was hard to get the exact lighting for our first interview, just because the sun was always changing angles.

Our second interview went very well. For our second interview we shot inside, which gave us better lighting and sound. The veteran gave us a deeper look into Interfaith by sharing very personal stories about her in the miltary. I think we got some really good footage in our second interview and I'm very happy with the turnout. Everyone did their part and was a huge help to the overall production.

Progress Report #4 - Jeff Warlick

Last Tuesday we interviewed two veterans at the Interfaith housing. Jermaine and Ryan operated the cameras, Carlos did sound, Ryhen preformed the interview, and I kept a log of the questions, making notes about the answers. We first talked to Eric and got some really good clips about patriotism and his service; however his demeanor and answers were fairly lackluster when talking about Interfaith leaving me unsure if we can use much of the footage pertaining to the section on their programs. Similarly, we spoke to Kris who, although having a very interesting story and good comments, lacked a strong camera presence and speaking ability that will make finding any abundance of usable clips difficult.

This week we will be going through all of our footage as a group and making decisions about what we want to keep and use last weeks session as a lesson on what we are looking for in future interviews. If nothing else, we now have a clear idea of how to set up for a interview and a grasp of how long the entire operation takes.

Progress Report #3 - Jeff Warlick

Last week we presented some of our storyboards to the class and decided on one to take to our contact at Interfaith. We met with her on Friday and she seemed very satisfied with our three step approach: present the problem, introduce Interfaith as the solution, and discuss some of the results that have been seen. Also, we will be tacking on a segment regarding their capital campaign that can be easily edited out to add to the movies longevity. After our meeting, we went to the housing again to look over some possible places to interview and decided the main courtyard would be ideal. We also plan to film some interviews at iconic north county areas to keep the locality of this issue present. Two main sites we're looking at are the Oceanside pier and jetty. We also asked Christine to give us five veterans to interview, taking race gender and where they toured into account. Tomorrow, Jermain and I are meeting up at noon to test the equipment then head to the housing to setup. A few more members of the team are meeting us there around three to conduct our first interview.

The problem our video addresses is the difficulty soldiers face in reassimilating into society, and homelessness as a result. I think the government could take a more active role in helping them transition. A major part of a soldiers training is preparing them for war, but an equally important part is preparing them to be a citizen again.

Progress Report #3 Ryhen Ann Roque

Last week Jermaine, Jeff and I went to talk with Christine to go over the storyboard. She liked the one we showed her (Jeff's) and did not have any objections or changes that needed to be made to the storyboard. She said that she would find a couple of interviewees (from different stages if possible) for us to interview. We went around the housing and talked to a couple of the veterans there. We talked to a couple of the people there and they seemed to like and enjoy the program with Interfaith. I cannot wait to film tomorrow. In addition, we were trying to find a good location for the shoot tomorrow. We figured that the section in between the apartments would be a good start. After looking at the housing Christine took us around Oceanside to see the different locations we could hold for our interviews. It was fun looking at the different locations (and not just from a sightseeing point of view).

The problem we are addressing is that there are many homeless veterans out there we are unaware of. We think that just because they are veterans they will be able to find jobs much more easily. However, going through this project I have learned that it is not true. They have an even harder time to find jobs because they are used to a high stress environment. The skills that they used in the military are not the ones that could be used in civilian life. The transistion they make from military life to civilian life is difficult (based on what I have heard - I will learn more about this subject as we interview them and learn from them). I think other than the media/video that we are making, I think that the government should have more programs like Interfaith to help the veterans cope with the difference in environments. They should bring out programs that help in the job market, housing and how to cope with the PTSD. They should be able to help them out since these veterans are the ones who are risking their lives in the military.

Progress Report #3 - Jermaine Jackson

Last friday Ryhen-Ann, Jeff, and I met with Christine once again to go over the potential ideas and storyboard of our main idea. She seemed very satisfied with where the project was headed, and didn't have much, if any, negative comments/critiques about our story board. We also went back again to scout the housing and get a more detailed idea of where we are going to shoot. She then took us to the oceanside pier, and also the bay for potential scenic shots of where we might shoot an interview. We are scheduled to meet with her tomorrow and execute our first interview. We have all had input on the types of questions we have asked, and I reserved the equipment for Tuesday. Jeff and I are going to go in early to set up everything, and once everyone gets out of class and meets down there, we should be ready to get rolling.

For our project, the main issue at hand is deals with homeless veterans. Many people in the military come home and often find it difficult to adjust to an environment of low stress level after being constantly at a level of high stress in the military. Not to mention the burden of finding a job on one's shoulders as well. I think that the government should assume more responsibility in where veterans end up after their service in the military. I know that they now require some people to attend counseling for PTSD, it does not cover things like job placement and housing. There should be a halfway point, and if there are those types of programs available, they should make people more aware of the services available to them.

Progress Report #3 - Ryan Anderson

Unfortunately I was sick last week, so I missed presenting our approaches to Interfaith. From going over the notews from last week it looks like were using one of Jeff's ideas, which Christine liked, just didn't have much to say. This weekday on our workday we plan on meeting at the Oceanside headquarters once again and start shooting. We hope to shoot a view interviews with the veterans to gain more insight on how Interfaith connects to veterans. We asked if we could have a diversity in veterans that she chose in race, gender and service. Most of the veterans at the housing are from the Navy and Marine Corps.

Our locations ideas for shooting include:

-Oceanside Pier [can show veteran fishing, surfing, walking by... depends on what veteran can do)

-Oceanside Harbor jetty [can have veteran sit on the rocks look out into the horizon]

-Oceanside City Hall

-If possible to film, maybe at Camp PendletonMarine Corp Base.

I think these locations would be ideal for shooting great connecting interviews that reveal the veterans true stories and backgrounds.

Addition for this week we as a group have come up with many interview questions to ask the veterans for this weeks workday. I'm excited to start shooting and anxious to hear what the veterans have to say. The Problem our project is focusing on is how veterans have a hard time finding jobs after their service and have specific needs that some can't afford. Interfaith gives these veterans a second chance at life and living a healthy and clean lifestyle. I believe if one volunteers their time to a non-profit organization such as Interfaith, everyone would benefit from a positive experience. So far this project has moved me in more ways than one and not taking my lifestyle for granted. I'm very grateful for all the veterans that have fought for our country and I believe they deserve the best.