(I finished my thesis film, I graduated, I am now available for all your freelance video shooting and editing needs.)
My favorite project from this past year—brought to you by Maggie Fazeli Fard:
(I shot it—while managing not to puke over the side of the boat.)
I’ve never been a print journalist, so I haven’t known the thrill of an A1 byline. But in the past week I’ve had two videos on the New York Times homepage, and I’m pretty sure I took enough screenshots to make up for all those missed years of newspaper clippings.
Reporter Trymaine Lee and I worked together on two Harlem-based stories, one about feisty old ladies who go door-to-door in the projects, teaching their neighbors about recycling, and one about two professional clowns who renovated their apartment to allow them to practice clowning routines—when they’re not out performing around the world.
The print story that spawned “Paper, Plastic and Persistence” was front and center on the homepage for a few precious hours last Saturday, with a link to the video:
The print story for “Three-Room Circus” is currently the highlighted Real Estate story on the homepage, with a video link, but for a while Trymaine and I had 2 out of 4 of the homepage video player spots:
OK, I’m done bragging. But it was pretty cool 😉
The first video I edited at the Times is now online on the NYT site here—and also on Nicholas Kristof’s YouTube channel (and, at the moment, highlighted on the YouTube homepage as part of the Reporters’ Center!):
Also, I was an assistant editor on this piece.
Per Leslie’s request, here’s some blog CPR.
I’m in New York, interning here for the summer:
| End Times | |
On my first day I and another intern went out to shoot footage of gyro cones (the big rotating things of meat that chawarma innards are shaved off of), then I burned some DVDs. The next day I tried to call people in Utah whose houses were up for auction (and got mostly disconnected numbers), and today I had a few hours of tech training and then started to edit a Nicholas Kristof piece. It’s fun.
At Alba’s parents’ very lovely house in Girona:
(explanation: I’m here on a J-school travel grant shooting a story on Senegalese immigrants in Spain—I met up with a guy and two kids from my Peace Corps host village. My Pulaar is being stretched to new limits!)
Shot video:
* at a design/fabrication studio and at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco
* at a prison in Ione
* from a zeppelin over the South Bay
Felt like a slobbering news hyena:
* at a suspended-driver’s-license police sting in Oakland
Ran:
* after a crowd of Cal students parading through Berkeley and chanting “O-BA-MA!” and “U-S-A!” on election night
Turned:
* 27 years old
A recent story of mine, currently featured on the Oakland North homepage: City’s oddest supplies shop facing hard times too
Don’t miss the audio slide show down at the bottom. Multimedia, yeah!
I think I’m finally hitting the end of Peace Corps related anniversaries that I can legitimately use as excuses for blog posts. So here it is: Today marks two years since I returned to the U.S. after two years in Senegal.
The volunteer who replaced me is back in America (welcome home, Donna!), I haven’t even tried to call the village in almost a year… I wonder if Bandi’s still alive.
I was on a Peace Corps panel the other night. Four RPCVs talked about their environmental work. One guy showed horrific pictures of sea turtle slaughter, another had that edge in her voice that maybe only other volunteers recognize—a strained quality that comes from long periods of trying to deal constructively with rampant inefficiency, absurdity, and frustration. Or maybe I’m just projecting.
Though standing in front of an audience, giving my Peace Corps PowerPoint presentation, it was fun to feel kinda special again—and not in the J-school short bus way I’ve been feeling lately.
Which reminds me, the crazy-reporting-class website went live: Oakland North, which along with the other J200 class news sites has the entire faculty tickled pink. The students are more likely to be loudly cursing various computer programs.
I’m incredibly impressed by my classmates’ prolific, quality article output. And photos. And videos. And audio slide shows. Multimedia, baby.
Speaking of multimedia, here are the things which I have photographed but not uploaded yet:
– The August road trip to Colorado. Many hundreds of photos.
– Cory and Josh’s baby shower in Oregon at the start of October… for Gabriel Vyrle Owens, who was born Tuesday night! 🙂
– My recent move. Andrew and I moved into a house in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland—a great area, within stumbling distance of restaurants, stores, BART, and Leslie & Bryan.
– Various J-school photos and frame grabs.
And now to continue procrastination elsewhere.
One of the many hazards/perks of turning the Folsom Street Fair into a reporting assignment: preparing for an interview with two Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.