Final Project! It all came together!

UPDATES for my final project

The first exciting news is that I will be interviewing Pam Williams, a Senior ECS major who has been volunteering with ReStore since it opened in October of 2008. ReStores are resale outlets that accept and process donated goods which are sold to the general public at a fraction of the retail price. The proceeds help local Habitat affiliates fund the construction of Habitat homes within their communities. I think Pam will be a great interview candidate because seeing her in action at the store could be great footage material, and having continued working for Habitat since 2008, she's got to have some stories.

This week I am also reviewing the footage I got from the Habitat build in Lucedale, MS and choosing which clips I'll use.

Additionally, I am scheduled to volunteer at the new Habitat build in Rochester on April 23rd, where I can get some more footage/audio of building and interview if needed.

Finally, I have plans to meet and chat with another student Habitat volunteer Theresa, whom I was directed to by a friend, and will have more details to come.

Inspirational video about Habitat for Humanity

Although this video does not have still photos, it was a very moving video that I think is a great model for my final project. The way the video is timed with the audio and the use of variation between action shots and interviews both kept me interested. Most importantly, this video told a heart warming story about the connections that can be made through volunteering.

 http://www.habitat.org/stories_multimedia/photo_video/

Final Project Proposal

For my final project I'm interested in researching UNH student volunteer experiences and Habitat for Humanity projects. I want to combine the experiences of student volunteers with a current build (with Habitat) in Rochester to see what this service really means to the students who participate. I have already interviewed two students, Conor McGuire and Dillon Welch, who were trip leaders for a Habitat build last week in Lucedale, Mississippi for Alternative Break Challenge.

After getting feedback from the class, I know I need to keep a sharp focus on the project's intent and make sure that it will tell a story. I think learning what students have experienced through volunteering, how they have changed, and what volunteering with Habitat for Humanity meens to them will be important to find out. 

The next steps I plan to take for the project include: 1. Calling (I have already e-mailed her) Margaret O'Brien, who is one of the persons in charge of the upcoming build in Rochester. She can let me know when the build will start or other builds in the area. 2. Ask Margaret for a list of student volunteers who have worked with Habitat in the past or who are currently still volunteering. 3. Visit the worksite to take pictures/interview. 4. Interview other students who worked with Habitat during the Alternative Break Challenge and ask them for pictures.

Heart of the MUB- Multimedia Project

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Giving her heart to campus

The person who I chose to write about is someone that I actually have had the privilege to work alongside with, and have seen the proof that she works hard for the UNH community. Her name is Mary Anne Lustgraaf and she is the Director of the MUB. The Memorial Union building is considered the heart of campus, and Lustgraaf is always saying how she takes pride in the important role that it plays in the life of students at UNH.

Lustgraaf started as the director in August of 2001. At the time she had been looking for a job and saw the open position advertised in the Chronicle of Higher Education. She had previously been a union director at another university.

As the director here at UNH, Mary Anne does everything from helping coordinate building and student activities to training sessions with student employees. She knows just about everything that’s happening in and around the MUB. As is fitting for working at the heart of campus, Lustgraaf says that her favorite part about her job is building community. This isn’t surprising. At the student employee training sessions, Lustgraaf is always encouraging students to be accepting and supportive of EVERYONE in our community, in order to make the MUB a place where others feel comfortable and happy.

 While Lustgraaf’s job has its perks, it doesn’t mean that it’s easy. Lustgraaf said the most challenging aspect of her job is “doing more with less and still moving forward.”

In addition to her duties as a director, Lustgraaf also plays an active role in UNH’s effort to stay green. Lustgraaf has worked with environmentally conscious organizations through activities such as clean up days, and also with adding new features to the MUB like the Hydration Station. Along side her busy schedule, Lustgraaf said she also enjoys gardening, officiating swimming, and travel in her free time.

Favorite Multimedia Examples (so far)

         I spent some time browsing through the plethora of multimedia projects that exist on the web, and have found a few that are my favorite so far. The first, a still photography project called "The Bottom Line" by Mona Reeder, really stuck out to me as great photojournalism. This project was one of the first still photography collections that I looked at and after continuing to browse around, I went back to it. Just one look through this collection and I was instantly moved; the pictures were powerful and related information about Texas that I was completely unaware of. One picture that stood out for me was of a woman and her just deceased sister whom she had taken the oxygen tube from because she needed it in her moment of intense grief. Without reading the caption below, I already had an idea of what was happening and I think this is an example of great reporting. The picture is telling a story on its own. Another aspect that I think is working in this collection is that all of the photos are done in black and white. For me this gave the collection a cohesive and polished look. The Bottom Line inspired me to want to practice my portraiture.
           Next is an audio clip done by Jake Warga, called "Dubai and the Desert". I have a friend who lived in Dubai for a while and it was interesting to hear this reporting after hearing her stories about the huge mall and biggest building in the world. I think Warga was effective in how he used background sounds to go along with the speaking, for example I could hear the music and call to prayers that were being played in the mall. There is also a good mix between Warga's commentary to describe what was happening with commentary from interviewees.
           The third, called "Undesired" by Walter Estrada, was the perfect example of an ethical dilemma that can bring such a powerful message when the combination of still photos, video, audio, and a bit of short text come together. I also learned a lot of information in "Undesired" about the Indian culture of female rejection that disturbed and surprised me. One technique that I thought was effective in this project was how the videographer had the interviewees be still and look at the camera as the video and audio of that person speaking was rolling, and then eventually they would sync up and you could see and hear that person talking at the same time. Overall, I was pretty amazed by Undesired.