Fireside Chat

        My performance for the fireside chat was inspired by a Clint Eastwood movie i watched last semester. The movie was titled Invictious. When I heard the poem while watching the movie, it instantly became one of my favorite poems of all time.
     
    For my art medium, I chose to represent this poem by memorizing it, and then reciting it while showing an animation of images that relate to each stanza of the poem.

Here is the link as a reference
http://prezi.com/gcmsc-ja7glg/untitled-prezi/

"Out of the night that covers me black as the pit from pole to pole" - I chose an image of the night sky because it shows the vastness of the universe.

"I thank whatever Gods may be for my unconquerable soul" - I showed an image of the night sky except this image had a man looking up at the heavens as if he is thanking God.

"In the clutch of circumstance i never winced nor cried aloud" -  I chose this image because often no matter how hard we paddle against the current of life, our circumstances pull us into horrific circumstances. Its up to us to choose how we react to these circumstances.

"Under the bludgoings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed" - I chose a picture of a man sinking in waves because there are times in life where by chance waves of trials come upon us and we must to everything we can to keep our heads unbowed below the waters.

"Beyond this vale of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade" - I chose a picture of sand dunes because life will never give us rest or shade until we die and part the veil.

"And yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid" - I chose a picture of this hiker because he has hiked a long ways and yet he is still looking up at his goal to reach the top of the mountain.

"It matters not how strait the gait, how charged with punishments the scroll." - .Even though bad decisions put us in desolate territory, we still have the power to pave our own path and get out of the territory.

"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul" - A picture of a statue being set free seemed to  visually exemplify this stanza the most because once we realize that we can choose our fate and how we feel, it liberates our souls

I was really moved by James McBrides story and how he came to the realization that he did not need to define his identity with his race.

My experience Darren helped me see the realization of the truthfulness of the poem Invictious. This is a story that I will always remember because Darren taught me that we are the master of our  fate and we are the captain of our souls.

Concerned Citizen

Service: Nicholas Whipple from Joshua Chappell on Vimeo.



The concerned citizen we chose to document was a BYU student named Nicholas Whipple. Nicholas is a mechanical engineering major who in his spare time is a participant of a volunteer group that constructs prosthetic legs on campus. This special organization meets together every week to learn how to make these artificial legs so that they can eventually travel to different places around the world and teach doctors how to build them for their patients who are in need. We selected this particular individual because Nicholas is a concerned citizen who really shows an interest in helping others. He doesn’t get pay for what he does and doesn’t think so much about how this experience will benefit him so much, but rather how it will make a difference in the world. Nicholas also told us how he would much prefer spending his time doing something meaningful and selfless as opposed to just watching television or playing video games all day. 
For the project, we decided to film the subject and process using hand held camera work in order to capture the realism and emotion of this concerned citizen’s story. We wanted the audience to feel as if they were a part of the documentary and be able to really relate to Nicholas. One of the things we tried to avoid was simply filming the process of making an artificial leg from beginning to end because we did not what that to be the main focus. We wanted the film to be more about Nicholas, who he was, and why he was involved in this program. It seemed as though getting to know him personally was much more important than seeing how prosthetics are made. We did interview Nicholas but we decided to only include his responses in the background. This felt much less distracting cutting back and forth from him in the workshop and him being interviewed. Also, his comments as voiceovers made it look more like this is not only what he was saying but also what he was thinking. In the end, we also included some Youtube clips of the group traveling to Ecuador last year, the people they helped, and how it changed those people’s lives. We watched to really show how this group is making such a huge difference in the world and how it has blessed others. 
Our documentary relates to this past week’s reading as it refers to creating something special, sharing it with our fellow men, and inviting others to join in doing it as well. Nicholas mentioned how being a part of this program has helped him so much and persuades the audience that if they do the things he does, they will feel the same way. 
This film also relates to other forms of media as we now more frequently view individuals from all over the world post snippets on the Internet about their personal lives. We especially see this with the “I’m a Mormon” campaigns as they describe who they are and some of the things they do in their spare time. This kind of new popular form of media is helping society become more comfortable and out spoken about who they are and that causes the viewers to create some sort of connection with these people and feel as though they are more involved with what they’re watching.