Monday, November 30, 2015
I chose to watch the documentary Food Inc. This documentary was was done very well. The video was obviously professionally done. It was not only does well but it was interesting. The video was about a guy who ate Mcdonalds breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 30 days. This led immediately to some terrible health concerns. One doctor even told him he should quit early or else he might die. This documentary does not even compare to mine because how much better it was. I t did a very good job in capturing the mood in each scene. capturing the mood is something I had a very hard time with.
This class was by far my hardest class because I am not a very strong writer. In this class the blogs were easy because I didn't have to worry so much about grammar and how it sounded, i just wrote. The larger papers we had to do were a little more tough for me because I would have to revise them multiple times to get them where I wanted them to be. Overall this class made me a much stronger writer. The final project is a video. I am not comfortable with this because I have never made a video project before. I this project was less of our grade I would be fine with doing it. I am not the most tech savvy person so the video process of adobe has been long and strenuous for an average amateur video. The only complaint I have about the teaching style is to have more examples of our assignments because i was sometime unsure if I was writing the correct thing. For the most part I have enjoyed this class. I am happy that we do not have a final exam.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Carson LaFreniere
WRD 110
November 15, 2015
Jennifer Hudgens
Evolution of Dorms
The first scene opens with a blank background with the title “The Evolution of Dorm Rooms”. The song “The Way I Live” by Baby Boy Da Prince plays in the back ground as i follow a student as she walks into her dorm in Woodland Glen III. This song is light hearted and slightly cynical because in this song the artist describes his life in a cocky way. It portrays the ambiance of the scene because the girl resides in the new, two-bedroom suite style rooms. The lyrics of the song say, “This is the way I live, little boy still pushin’ big wheels. I stack my money, lay low, and chill. Don’t need to work hard, thats the way I feel, I feel like this is the way I live.” She enters her room and goes about her regular activities. After a few seconds of footage in this room, the film changes to show a male student walking into his dorm in Blanding II. The song “Holidae In” by Chingy, featuring Ludacris and Snoop Dogg is playing in the background of this scene. This audio also depicts a light hearted mood but promotes the idea that camaraderie exists within these dorms. The lyrics to this song say “Whatcha doing? Nothing chillin at the Holiday Inn. Who ya with? Me and my peeps won’t you bring four of your friends?” When the student opens the door to his dorm, his roommate and several of his hall mates are sitting in his room socializing.
The scene then cuts back to the exterior of Woodland Glen III, I will conduct an interview with several students who reside in the suite style dorms. I will ask them all a series of questions. I ask my first two subjects “What is the best aspect of living in the suite-style dorms?” The first participant responds “I like having a bathroom, shower, and sinks in my dorm so I don't have to leave the room to get ready.” The second participant adds “I like the privacy and all the extra storage space.” I ask my next participants, “Do you feel as though you have made many friends within your dorm building?” “I might see kids walking in my hall that I recognize from my classes but I haven't really made friends while I was in the actual building.” My next participant says “No, not really. I know maybe four people in my building but only because they're from my hometown.” The shot switches to a run-down courtyard outside of Blanding. Here, I interview resident of these older dorms. “How do you feel about the quality of your dorm versus the quality of the newer dorms?” The first student’s response was, “Well, obviously the new dorms are nicer but I don't mind living in the basic dorms at all. Theres always someone to hang with here”. My second participant says “ You get what you pay for. I am paying a lot less money for a less quality dorm, but its okay. I am rarely in my dorm.” The next question I asked is, “Do feel you have made many friends within your dorm building?” The first students responds, “From the first day I had no option but to make friends. This is the great thing about living in Blanding. It was very easy to make friends on my floor immediately after moving in.” The second subject answered, “I had no problem making friends. In Blanding, you're living quarters are so close with your roommates so you're forced to interact. My roommate is pretty cool and he connected me with his group of friends so I got very lucky.” To conclude this excerpt, I will flash footage of the empty courtyard surrounding the Blanding area for a few moments. Following this, I will show footage of the basketball courts that are in the middle of the Woodland dorms. This will enable the viewer to see a back to back comparison of the two areas. Then I will discuss what I concluded from the following interview. I will say, “After conducting the following interview, I came to the conclusion that while living in Blanding you are more likely to connect to your neighbors do to the close quartering. And in turn, the nicer dorms you do get the luxuries of a better bed and shower but it is much harder to make connections with neighboring friends.
In the next scene, I plan on showing the price differences of the different dorm room styles to give another comparison. I will do this by showing screen shots from http://www.uky.edu/housing/undergraduate/applying-to-housing/rates15-16 . As I show the prices, I will talk about the differences in the two person bedroom suites, the four person bedroom suites, and the traditional rooms. I will highlight the large difference between the new dorms and the old dorms throughout this discussion. As the scene fades out, the song “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. will be playing in the background. The lyrics of the song state “All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG) and a (KKKAAAA CHING) and take your money. This song depicts irony because the campus charges students such an exuberant amount of money that they are seemingly robbing the students who attend the University and, more specifically, who live in campus housing. After highlighting the cost of living on campus, I will set up a visual of comfile:///var/folders/xd/8nhw20192jd00s6ytvvdcjs00000gn/T/com.apple.iChat/Messages/Transfers/IMG_0266.JPGparison between costs of resident halls, and off campus housing in a house or apartment complex. The prices of living in the resident halls will be substantially more expensive. Next, I will report statistics about student spending on other aspects necessary for campus living. These will include items such as meal plans and dorm room decorations. While I am still giving my report on pricing, I will present information on increasing luxuries which deal with aspects of campus life and give statistics reported on State Impact. I will say, “According to Kyle Stokes, Nearly half of U.S. students factor in their on-campus dining options into their choice of where to go to college, which has turned college food services a $4.6 billion dollar industry (Stokes).” If students are so concerned about the assets they are given upon attending a school, the quality of dorm rooms are also a major factor which influence students’ college decisions. This mentality of “bigger is better” is taking away from the intent of college: quality of education over quality of dormitories. When students are placed in luxury suite style dorms, they begin to except this way of living. Some students come from a home in which their bedrooms are even smaller than the ones in which they reside in at the university. If universities are conditioning students to only be content with these types of rooms, they will never be content with anything less.
Next, I will explain a specific reason as to why students tend to spend more time in their rooms and therefore experience less community when they are placed in suite-style rooms. I will say the following passage will a montage of dorm pictures flash across the screen: “Because the two bedroom suites include a significantly larger amount of space than the traditional dorms, more space is available to be filled with elaborate furnishings, kitchen supplies, decorations, clothes, and toiletries. Students feel as though they must fill the vast majority of the space that is allotted to them. Therefore, spending is inevitably increased when a student is placed in the larger dorms. Because students invest so much time, effort, and resources into filling their luxury suites, they feel as though they should spend more time in their dorm rooms. If you buy a tie but never find an occasion to wear it, the money you spent on the tie was wasted. In a similar way, if you spend an excessive amount of money to make your dorm room aesthetically pleasing but are never around to appreciate it, it can also be considered a waste. As this mentality causes students to stay in their temprapedic beds without feeling guilty or lethargic, they are unable to make friends or engage in social activity. This factor greatly denotes from the drive toward community. According to Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, dorm rooms are becoming too nice through out the decades. The fast progression of these rooms leads to disappointment upon kids moving out because they will miss their luxury dorm (Khalfani-Cox)
The song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day will open up the next scene. The drum solo will play as a montage of pictures of construction sites play across the screen. The music will speed up and the chorus will play, “My shadow's the only one that walks beside me. My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating. Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me ,’til then I walk alone, I walk alone, I walk a… I walk this empty street, on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, where the city sleeps, and I'm the only one and I walk a…” The mood is supposed to be solemn and regretful. The scene will show the addition of the new suite style dorms to campus when the existing ones are already detrimental to the fellowship on campus. I will zoom in on the layout plans posted on the fences surrounding the construction sights. I will zoom in even further on the cost of building the dorms which are posted on the banners. As the sounds of the drums fade out, the shot will move to the empty paths that weave through the Blanding and Kirwin areas. I will include a voiceover of myself saying “Plans are in action to completely demolish and repurpose each of the Blanding and Kirwin residence halls during the summer of this year. Soon, the incoming freshman will have never seen, or have lived in, the traditional style dorm rooms which have been experienced by all other college students attending the University of Kentucky since 1865.”
The scene changes and the song “1985” by Bowling for Soup begins to play. I chose this song because in the scene I will show pictures from the past and this song is about things from the past. As the music picks up, the screen changes from black, to a picture of a dorm room in labeled “1912” across the bottom of the shot. A montage of pictures continues to flash to show the evolution of dorm rooms over the past one hundred years. The first picture is a black and white image from 1927 and shows a small room containing a bed, lamp, small bookshelf, and desk. Next is an image taken in 1930 of a small room with a bed sitting on an iron frame, a T.V. stand, a desk with a type writer, and some obscure wall decorations. The dorm image in 1945 depicts 2 young men conversing on a top and bottom bunk with no other furniture in the room. The next picture shows a dorm room from 1950 which contains two boys working diligently in a very compact space, next to a plain bunk bed. In 1960 the dorm progresses to a room with a desk, a dresser, some shelving units, a bed, and a vanity. Multiple images are taken from the 1970 decade. Each picture depicts colorful dorm rooms decorated with bold prints and vibrant wall decor. The dorms are beginning to be slightly more furnished and show signs of more school spirit. In 1980 television sets appeared in the dorm rooms, there is little change other than that. In 1987 there is also little change besides the addition of a computer. In 1996 three girls are depicted conversing in a dorm room wearing more modern clothing, still there is no change to the overall aesthetics of the dorm. In 2005 more electronics are added to the background of the image of the dorm. In 2008, even more electronics are added, the dorm appears slightly more spacious, and the residents are dressed more modernly . Finally, I will show a picture of Blanding with the caption “Blanding 1966- 2015”, followed by a picture of a dorm in the Woodland Glen residence hall with the caption “Woodland Glen 2014- present”(The Evolution of Dorm Rooms). The fluctuation between the last two dorms is extremely significant and adequately depicts the major changes that exists between the two rooms in such a short time span. As the music fades out, the footage will cut to the final scene. I will show empty and silent halls in the Woodland Glen residence building. The song “Home” by Sundy Best will play in the background of the scene. The music starts out slow to accurately represent the blankness of the Woodland Glen dorm rooms. A montage of pictures from this residence hall will proceed with pictures and video clips from the viewpoint of a person looking out of a peephole (to see no one at the other side), closed blinds, closed dorms, and empty study rooms. As the song rapidly progresses and speeds up, the setting changes to the Blanding residence hall. Doors are ajar, bathrooms and dorm rooms echo with conversation and socialization. The study rooms and common areas are filled with people communicating. The faster tempo represents the light hearted and care free mood that accompanies the sense of fellowship and community that exists in these residence halls. The song continues to play as the video comes to a close. A black screen appears and credits run down the screen. I will give credit to all of the people that I interviewed, Rachel Petric, Zach Chew, Michael Orbash, and Chris Bennet.
Work Cited
- “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. Green Day. 2004. CD
2. “Holidae Inn”. Chingy. 2003. CD
3. “Home”. Sunday Best. 2005. CD
4. Stokes, Kyle. ”In College Dorms And Dining, How Nice Is Too Nice?" StateImpact Indiana
RSS Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
5, ”The Evolution of College Dorm Rooms over the Last 110 Years (34 Pics)." Izismile.com. 17
Nov. 2015.
6. “The Way I Live.” Baby Boy Da Prince. 2007. CD
7. “Paper Planes”. M.I.A. 2007. CD
8. Khalfani-Cox, Lynnette. ”Why Students Shouldn’t Live Large on Campus." EBONY Web.
17 Nov. 2015.
9. ”2015 - 2016 Rates." Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
10. “1985”. Bowling for Soup. 2004. CD
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
As I start the story board of my documentary I am having trouble writing about the exact things that are going to happen in the video with enough length. I am thinking once the story board is written also it is going to be hard to squeeze the 2500 words into a short video. as I begin my writing process I am very thankful I chose a community that is easily accessible. My community (the dorms) is one that all college freshman can connect to in some way making my project interesting to my audience. Also, a downfall of my audience being so connected with my topic is that they might be particular while listening to what I have to say about a community. Another thing I have ran into while starting the final steps to my project is picking what sources I want to be used and how they will be used. I have to be also thinking about what is going to be shown in the video while I show these sources. But most of all, the biggest struggle I have ran into is learning how to work the I movie technology and making it look half way decent.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Hawaleshka, Danylo. "Designer Dorms." Maclean's 119.41 (2006): 28. Business Source Complete. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
This This secondary source i got from the University of Kentucky library website summarizes how much money universities are putting into new dorms. This article also explains the substantial difference between older style dorms and the new dorms. This difference is almost unfair. Putting this much money into dorms makes the old dorms look like prison cell. Also, theses nice dorms tend to be better than students first house leaving them disappointed.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Yee, Vivian. "Dorms You’ll Never See on the Campus Tour." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
I found this secondary source through the University of Kentucky Library's website. This source is a article is written by Vivian Yee in the New York times. This article is about how colleges tend to show off the newest dorm rooms during the campus tour. As they show off these unbelievable dorms behind the scenes there are old run down mid 20th century residence hall. Even though these dorm are less expensive students are going to be disappointed when they compare it to the new fancy dorms. My argument is that colleges need to tone down how nice they make the residence halls because jealousy of other students. This article proves my point. As one kid is sleeping on a comfy tempropedic bed another kid in the same campus is sleeping on a something that resembles a prison mat. By making the new dorm so nice it makes the older dorms look even worse.
I h
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Photo Essay
Photo Essay
The community I am focusing on is a dorm building. A dorm building is a place where students should meet new people with all new experiences. Sadly, this dorm community is slowly becoming more and more corrupt. This corruption among residents is cause by the dorm rooms becoming increasingly more inclusive year by year. The more pampered the student are in the dorm, the less of a chance they will leave that dorm and meet new people. Unfortunately, this trend of dorms becoming souped up to fit students demands is a slippery slope. The additive luxuries within the dorms are expected by incoming students. Dorm rooms should not be so well furnished because they are raising tuition costs, reducing student interaction, and raising expectations of the standard of dorm room living.
I took this photo of my neighbors “four person suite” dorm room. This image shows the delicacy us freshman get in coming to the University of Kentucky. This pampering we get causes us to stay in our dorms as much as possible. As an incoming freshman I got a lot of advice. The number one most said thing to me was to get out and make friends. With something like a “four person suite” why would anybody want to leave their dorm. As dorms get bigger, fancier, and more expensive students are spending more time in them and less time making connections with people that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. In the older style dorms, students had no choice but to get out of the dorm and dobe active within the community of their buildings. If they did not, they would be subjected to sitting in a tiny room with little commodities. I think living in a small, basic room is all part of the freshman college experience. These new dorms are taking away from that experience.
The image above is a picture I took of the “social room”. The “social room” is a place where student are supposed to come and hangout with other students. It is no surprise that this room made for social interaction is empty. As I pass by this room a few times a day, I rarely see people gathered in it. I think that this is caused by the dorm rooms being too nice. Why would you go to the social room and hangout if your dorm room is just as nice? On the other hand, if this nice room was in the old dorms I believe that there would be people in it much more frequently. For the old dorms, this would be one of the nicest rooms in the building cause it provides the space that people would need in order to go in it and interact.
Source 1-
An article written by Kyle Stokes talks about how colleges are putting more and more money into there dining halls and residences halls. This is because students are choosing on where they will go to college based on the food options and dorm room commodities. I think students should be choosing where they will attend school based on academics. This competitive market that colleges are in now is caused by students wanting bigger and better living conditions. As a result college tuition is becoming increasingly more expensive. One might say you can live off campus… Not true. Most colleges mandate freshman to live on campus for their first year. As a direct result, students must spend more money on campus to obtain items that would be cheaper if they could purchase it off campus.
Source 2-
This article by Lynnette Khalfani-Cox describes how newer dorms are becoming so modern to the point where they are better than what the students are accustomed to. Khalfani- Cox said, “These days, many residential units for students seem to mirror—or even top—what most American kids experience at home”(Khalfani-Cox Pg. 1). The author goes on to talk about the many advancements of the living experience as college students. These advancements cause students to be disappointed upon leaving their dorm rooms and possessing their own living accommodations off of campus. She also talks about residence halls having pools, spas, and basketball courts. (Khalfani-Cox Pg. 1). I do not think these advancements are necessarily good for the students education. These many distractions can distract students from their school work.
Work Cited:
Source 1-
Stokes, Kyle. "In College Dorms And Dining, How Nice Is Too Nice?" StateImpact Indiana RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
Source 2-
Khalfani-Cox, Lynnette. "Why Students Shouldn’t Live Large on Campus." EBONY. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
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