MODULE 3

This short film speaks to the limbic part of the brain since the music throughout it sets a pastoral, calm mood. The trees, branches, flowers and organic shapes protruding from the numbers sets a natural and tranquil air. However, I think, after analyzing the meaning of the numbers, the altering perspectives and the dead space behind the numbers, we realize that as the numbers increase and time moves onward, the images become more complex, abstract, geometric. The final number even goes as far to robotically transform into zero again. I think this speaks to the idea that nature moves through time as a constant, growing as time increases, yet abstract or critical thought (technology) attempts to manipulate time. However, can time really be altered when the natural environment is a constant reminder of passing time? This is a question not answered by the film but one whose analysis requires the "higher" thinking of the neocortex. I think that this film shows the progression of the brain from limbic to neocortical thinking through the analysis of the images.

MODULE 2

I apologize for the lateness of this post but I have been consumed by work. A quick update from my knowledge tree on what I’m involved in in my community. Last weekend I co-led a workshop on the drop-out crisis in California at the Leadership Conference in Anaheim. We focused on the push and pull factors that cause kids to drop out of school and service-learning as a solution to the crisis. We wrote a proposal for a grant to fund several small summits we will hold throughout the LA area to get kids to start clubs at their school to raise awareness of one’s culture, background, and the oppression that many kids of color feel in America that causes them to join gangs and move away from education. I’ll keep everyone updated with the new developments… Now, on to module #2.

BOOKS

To be honest, I have never been an extremely avid reader. I find that I get distracted (since my mind tends to move a mile-a-minute) from many books and, as a result, I am in the middle of probably a dozen books right now. I haven’t read a book “for fun” or a book that isn’t related to something we are covering in school since the last Harry Potter book came out. I tend to move away from fantasy, adventure, make-believe, science fiction, and/or anything that isn’t based around real-life events in society. I read books that focus on societal issues.

Currently, I am reading White Like Me by Tim Wise (my hero). Wise explains how everything in society is based around the concept of white privilege. For anyone who does not understand the concept, a prime example is the fact that white people do not have to confront their race and can remain oblivious to the impact their race has on society until, usually, a white person confronts them about it. The fact that whites do not have to confront or be aware of their race in society is because of white privilege. The reality that people of color are aware of their race in society from before elementary school is because the “norm” (the white perspective) of society has labeled them as the other. This book coincides with the race unit in school where we examine the exploitation and racism felt by people of color, the obliviousness of white folks to privilege, the stereotypes and prejudices that have become second-nature, and the means by which we (all races) can move against racism and white privilege. The idea in and of itself may be accepted but the internalized realization of one’s own privilege is something hard to come by. I deeply recommend the book to anyone who wishes to combat racism in American society.

I will also recommend The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, All About Love by bell hooks, and (for women who want to read the most inspiring book ever) Ingo Muscio's Declaration of Independence.

NEWSPAPERS/MAGAZINES

We receive the Los Angeles Times everyday and when I have some free time I often read the editorial section. For my AP Economics class we read articles on today’s (down-ward spiraling) economy and the government’s response. I get 5-7 emails a day from truthout.com, a source for a wide variety of independent media, addressing current issues and often find myself reading for hours from their website rather than starting homework. We also receive numerous magazines: Scientific American, Discover, and National Geographic, to name a few. I hardly have time to read them any more but when free time finds me I comb over the scientific breakthroughs wishing I could completely understand what they are talking about (but I’ve gotten better at it!). Oftentimes I feel lost and (almost) disrespectful if I do not keep up with current events. I feel like I’m ignoring the world and that since I have the resources to keep me informed about world events its ignorant if I don’t do so.

MUSIC

I used to go through phases in music. Now, I’m kinda okay with anything. I’ve been obsessed with Coldplay since I saw them live in ’06. I’m obsessed with Ani Difranco because … well, because she’s just amazing and truthful. I’m obsessed with the Icelandic band, Sigur Rós. Their music = catharsis. I used to like music based on melody. Now, it’s all about the lyrics. Right now I’m listening to Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band. Next is some Pink Floyd and Beck and then my sister will, most-likely, blast The Beatles through the house and we’ll scream the lyrics. In 5th grade I picked up the guitar and in 6th and 7th grade I was in a band with a bunch of guys. After the band broke up I put down the guitar for a while. Now I play as much as I can, making up my own tunes and yelling made-up (mostly nonsense) lyrics over them. Music, literally, keeps me going. I wake up and immediately pop in my iPod headphones. Whenever I’m painting or writing I have music playing in the background. I attend a lot of live performances of local bands in LA.

TV

TV and I are currently at odds with one another. There is a mutual hatred between us because I don’t frickin have time to watch TV. So, usually I spend my Friday evenings catching up on the two shows that I was unable to watch during the week and, often times, I fall asleep during the second one. Right now I really like Fringe and my mom and I are obsessed with 24. During school breaks I enjoy sitting in front of the TV all day, killing brain cells, not having to think, and watching marathons of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit or CSI: Las Vegas. I watch TV shows that deal with societal issues… I don’t really like reality TV. I think its sickening that many people get their news from corporate news stations that filter and censor everything we see. It angers me that the in the majority of reality TV shows there are sexist and racist comments made everywhere and yet they are the most popular shows on TV.

VIDEO GAMES

I don’t play video games. I don’t own video games. I’m horrible at them, they make my eyes and head hurt and I think they contribute to the drastic desensitization that has occurred in society.

COMPUTERS

I use computers ALL THE TIME!!! I’m on them constantly to do homework, read, and to waste time. In film class I'm editing music and video on Final Cut Pro. I always have iTunes open and I comb through thousands of song titles looking for the melody that will keep me awake (in the wee hours of the morning when I'm still working on homework) and keep me going.

INTERNET

I spend all my time on the internet. I’m on Youtube, Facebook, email, Feministing, and/or truthout. I don't think I could live without internet, which is truly a sad thing to say because, on one hand, I would love to live a transcendental life but, on the other, I couldn't realistically function without the constant mental satisfaction from the internet. I buy shirts, music, and books on the internet. I read articles and watch short films.

Something that I think is missing from this module is theatre, live talks and presentations. I often see important social figures speak at local colleges (UCLA). In fact, tonight, several of my friends and I are attending a performance of the Vagina Monologues at USC. After the show the playwright, feminist, and activist, Eve Ensler (my supreme hero), is speaking with Dr. Denis Mukwege from Panzi Hospital outside of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. To say the least, the play changed my life when I first saw the HBO performance in 7th grade. In recent history, we went to see the author of Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson, speak in Santa Barbara and we’ve been to several theatrical dramas (I can’t really sit through musicals) of modern, quirky plays.

1. Music
2. Books

3. Internet

4. Newspaper/Magazines

5. TV

6. Computers

7. Video games

Women's Rights PSAs

I Will Use My Voice - made in July 2008.

Our idea arose from the concept that women around the world are silent to the horrors they witness because they are oppressed in their patriarchal society. We attempted to show all ages and ethnicities to provide a single unified voice to speak up against anything and everything that affects us.

Women's Rights PSA - made at the 3rd International Youth Media Summit in Belgrade, Serbia, in August 2008.

Every attempt to silence, destroy or limit a woman places binds around her psychological and physical body. It is through educationa and working with other women and men that these binds can be released, that women can be set free.

Some pictures from Belgrade.

10 days in Belgrade, 5 days to make a film, 7 days with two hours of sleep each night, 3 nights of EXTREME jet lag, 1 camera, and endless memories.

Knowledge Tree

1. Tell us about yourself in a brief autobiography of between 20 - 25 sentences. Where are you from? What do you most like to study? What are your passions and your dreams? Tell us a bit about your personality. Are you outgoing? A leader? Quiet and shy? An observer? What do you want us to know about you?

My name is Tessa Ormenyi. I live in Woodland Hills near Los Angeles. I am a junior at Cleveland High School and a student in the Humanities Magnet (Core). As a freshman, I was introduced to human rights abuses by studying various cultures in Core and, as a sophomore, I resolved to find a voice to move against these forces of degradation. Cleveland HS is fortunate enough to have a prestigious Media Academy where I learned to use film equipment and editing programs (Final Cut Pro). Film became a medium of expression that I found to have a deeper impact on its viewers. Last summer I was one of three U.S. youth delegates to travel to Belgrade, Serbia, for the 3rd International Media Youth Media Summit where 50+ youth convened from all over the world to make seven films on seven issues (Poverty, Women’s Rights, Youth Empowerment, Violence, Racism, Health, Environment). I wrote, directed, and edited the PSA on Women’s Rights (here). Prior to the trip to Serbia a friend of mine and I created a PSA on women’s rights titled I Will Use My Voice (here). Throughout high school I have been involved in the Teen International Media Exchange club on our campus. We raise money for organizations that promote youth filmmakers in other countries. Alongside my film making interests comes my calculus, physics, biology, chemistry, and econ classes. I have been fascinated with the physical sciences since elementary school and, in July of 2008, I interned at the Department of Anthropology in the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institute in D.C. I gained hands-on experience and independence. Upon returning to school after a tumultuous summer, the 11th grade Core program has become the air I breathe. The classes are based around raising social consciousness by learning about classism, racism, and sexism in American society as well as social movements and philosophies that combat the corporate, industrialized, racist, American manhood. I have resolved to commit my life to bring awareness to issues that so many people perpetuate, with or without their knowing.

2. Explore your relationship with media in five sentences by telling us about a favorite media experience you are having – a book you are reading, a video game you are playing, a movie you just saw, a magazine you subscribe to, a newspaper you read regularly, or a musician or band whose music you really like. What is it about this media experience that makes it powerful for you?

I think I answered some of this in the previous question. I try to broaden my sense of reality in an everyday attempt to be open-minded. Media is a growing, birthing, moving, functioning and mind-boggling thing in which I live and thrive. Here’s a list that influences and inspires me to make films and/or be vocal about injustice.

Tim Wise
bell hooks
Women Left for Dead - and the Man Who’s Saving Them by Eve Ensler
V-Day
Civil Disobedience by Thoreau
Ani Difranco
Brother (Watching) by Shad
Boys Don’t Cry
Start Propaganda
PostSecret

3. In five sentences, tell us about an issue you are concerned about in your home community. Why? What, if anything, have you tried to do about something you are concerned about, or what would you like to do if you could?

For my entire education I have been part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the 2nd largest school district in the nation, which controls just under 700,000 students. Surprisingly (!), drop-out rates are extremely high in a district that is going broke ($400 million has been cut this year), has encouraged limiting programs to help youth, is religious about mundane standardized testing, and has succeeded in making its teachers, students, and parents miserable. Cleveland HS has a dropout rate of 42%. Within the past school year I have become a youth ambassador for CATALYST, a California program based around the use of service learning. Recently, we have been dealing with the dropout problem and working to develop workshops for teachers on how to implement service learning (a resource statistically proven to keep kids in school) activities with limited funding, class time and resources. On February 9th we will be presenting these workshops at the Leadership Program in Anaheim. My response is a quote from Luis Rodriguez from the book Always Running that epitomizes the source of this problem, “If you came from the Hills, you were labeled from the start. I’d walk into the counselor’s office for whatever reason and looks of disdain greeted me - one meant for a criminal, alien, to be feared … It was a jacket I could try to take off, but they kept putting it back on.”


4. In five sentences, tell us what you can contribute to the group of participants during our DOTCOM program (face-to-face) workshops?

I hope to contribute my media experience in film making and editing. One lesson I learned the hard way is that what one envisions in a film and what one can actually film are two entirely separate things. The trick is to find a middle ground where metaphors can bring a viewer to your vision. The process of creation is far more important for a group than its product. The process is the therapy that brings cultures together therefore creating a meaningful message.