crowjonah » Video

Math Education

crowjonah — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:33:28 +0000

So it's been a while coming, but here, finally, is the PSA that I mentioned a few times over the past months. It was a great experience working with so many people and coordinating the whole project, and the product turned out quite well, if a little cheesy, which I think might be a necessary thing for something that's on TV. Have a look:

Les Jeunes Mariés

crowjonah — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:56:00 +0000

In a pretty nifty experimental course that I am taking, six other students and I are producing a Public Service Announcement for the Rhode Island Department of Education. The goal is to put an emphasis on and encourage the process of math education on the levels of students of all ages, parents, and teachers, the logic being that Rhode Island's awful scores are no one group's fault, and in order to make things better we'll all have to make an effort.

It's been interesting trying to figure out how to go about this concept without being totally sold on its validity as an end goal and the effectiveness of the PSA form. It's also been tricky coming up with interesting ways of communicating our message without being corny or cliché, but still trying to reach a wide audience, which is not something any of us are all that accustomed to doing. We spent the last week shooting and just started editing some of our footage today.

We were in a pre-K classroom on a silent play day, which was shockingly effective in that it truly was a peaceful atmosphere, even though that isn't what you might expect of kids at this age. Some were playing with blocks, others connecting the dots or counting pebbles, but two kids sitting on a little love seat caught my eye. They weren't up to anything that related to math in a way that would be useful for our piece, but I couldn't help but capture the moment. I think it will speak for itself, so here's the still:

Juggle

crowjonah — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:19:18 +0000

I was going to wait until Sam Handler got around to recording the new original soundtrack for this piece I shot starring Gabe Stein, but he's a lil' bit flakey sometimes and is also sans recording equipment so I can't really blame him. I'll throw that up once he follows through at which point you can all pretend it's brand new. Meanwhile you can consume with your eyes and ears this version with a soundtrack I created before getting the single roll of film back from the lab and glimpsing the footage for the first time.

Being sick is the pits, especially considering my constant state of fatigue and general disposition of lethargy. It makes for good zoning out and listening to atmospheric, epic post-rock comme Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the similarly deistic God Is An Astronaut, Red Sparowes, Foxhole, the questionably metally named This Will Destroy You, and the Franz Kafka referencing Gregor Samsa. And yes, while I'd like to conceitedly keep this site me-centric, you may consider those recommendations.

Identity Control

crowjonah — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:01:37 +0000

As a student filmmaker it is my lot to partially manifest overblown ideas in amateurish attempts at what mostly amounts to an aesthetic aspiration. Which is not to say that I am not happy with my largest and most recent project thus far. I am very much in debt to the image quality of fancy cameras that do not belong to me, friends who managed to spare the time to engage in that awkward relationship between not-quite-actor and not-quite-director, and peers/heros like Gabe Stein who gave me honest and meticulous second-by-second critiques on rough cuts. Without further adieu I present to you as the (psuedo)inaugural post of this genuinely new year, Identity Control: (oh, and fullscreen it; it's HD.)

Identity Control from Crow Jonah Norlander on Vimeo.