The idea behind this partnership is to create a trustworthy, respectful and comfortable atmosphere, where both sides support and listen to each other. I went to an all girls private school in Maryland, and if there had been more of an effort to work with us instead of automatically having authority over us, I think a lot more girls would have felt comfortable asking questions and engaging with the adults in the school community instead of feeling intimidated and uncomfortable around them. I think having a mutual respect when it comes to health education is extremely important, because then adolescents will feel validated and mature, and there will be a level playing field where everything can be discussed adult to adult.

If a community from the Time For School film were being discussed, such as Neeraj’s community in India, I would certainly chose another element as being more important, that being “integrated livelihoods and employability training.” This component seeks to “address young people’s lives through multiple contexts” because it “may have greater impact on health behavior than programs that focus narrowly on reproductive health” (12). In a community where women are not encouraged to go to school, even though Neeraj wants to, she could perhaps benefit from a health education program that is included in a multi-sectoral program aimed at helping her address her future employability and livelihood. For example, one of the programs discussed here is the Better Life Options project, in India, which “focused on youth development through literacy programs, vocational training, family life and health education” and the findings suggest that “young women who participated in the project were more likely to have better reproductive health outcomes as well as other positive indicators” (12). If Neeraj and other girls like her can see the benefit of becoming literate, then they can in the context of that program, learn about reproductive health and family planning. By incorporating health education into a program that is already benefiting her in another facet is a great way to ensure her livelihood and health simultaneously.

There are many organizations seeking to improve health education and family planning throughout the world, and I came across one I found very interesting located in California. The Family Health Alliance (familyhealthalliance.org) is a female-led non-profit that focuses on maternal and infant mortality, low contraceptive use, and advancing women’s reproductive health and rights in resource-poor environments. They believe that by providing reproductive health, a number of other goals can be accomplished, such as preventing death, ending poverty, and fostering development. The organization provides clinical and theoretical family planning and reproductive health training and education to local female and male health providers. The trained professionals then travel to areas that are in need of their help, such as their first ever destination, Kabul. When the FHA was founded in January 2005, professionals traveled to Kabul to help implement a training program for female midwives and doctors, which focused on intrauterine device (IUD) insertion methods as a long term form of birth control. Since then, the organization has continued work in Afghanistan, and also worked in Iran and Sierra Leone. By providing inputs of trained health professionals to these areas, there is a hope that the output will be a program in which women and men in the area can continue on practicing what they have learned and become the health professionals and educators for the community themselves. I feel models based off the adage “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” are the most successful in securing future education and lifestyle.

Although the organization works with men as well, I think it really initially stuck out to me because at its core it is an organization founded and led by women, in order to aid other women throughout the world. It is so crucial that there is informed health education, especially directed towards women, that I think it is really amazing to have educated female health professionals from the United States travel to areas of the world where there simply isn’t the knowledge, in order to educate them and secure for them reproductive health education. I do believe that if an emphasis is placed on advancing women’s reproductive health and rights in resource-poor environments, countless advancements and achievements will be seen in other areas of the country’s development, that it can only help the culture as a whole. I do not really see any weaknesses with this program, except maybe a lack of funding. They are very grassroots, and I think they sort of rely on donations for funding.

Here’s the link to my photobucket account:

 http://s356.photobucket.com/albums/oo4/reneebest/A%20Walk%20In%20My%20Garden/?albumview=slideshow

The link to post the video didn’t work, so just copy and paste the url below:

http://www.veryfunnyads.com/ads/25974.html

Basically, the only way to describe the music video for The Avalanches’ 2001 song “Frontier Psychiatrist” is… completely ridiculous, hilarious and bizarre. The song itself is a conglomeration of 37 various spoken word recordings throughout time and the video depicts direct representations of everything each clip is saying. For example, one line states: “He was white as a sheet! And he also made false teeth.” For the first part of the lyric, the video shows and old lady wearing a sheet with eye holes pretending to be a ghost. For the second part of the lyric, the camera zooms in on dentures in a jar. The video continues this way with each lyric amusingly being “acted out.” I would say that every artistic choice that’s made is deliberate in some way. Each image follows suit with each lyric and never ceases to be funny and entertaining.

Despite being one of Alfred Hitchcock’s earlier films, “Rope” is far from drab, conventional, or ordinary. Made in 1948, it shocked and feared viewers as it told the story of two young men who decide to strangle their friend with a rope “as an intellectual challenge to commit the perfect murder” (imdb.com) and place his body in a chest in the middle of their living room. Later that evening, they host a dinner party and invite friends and relatives without thinking that their old school teacher would unmask their crime. This suspenseful and hair-raising thriller also contains many wonderful and deliberate artistic choices that make it stand out as one of the most unforgettable and innovative movies of its time. First, the film was the first of Hitchcock’s movies to be shot in color, an interesting choice given that his later movie “Psycho” was in black and white. Second, the film is noted for taking place in real time. It is 80 minutes long and the action is meant to occur as it appears minute by minute. Third, the film was shot in ten takes, ranging from four to ten minutes each. The camera would not stop during each take and the camera moves were planned in advance to allow for very little editing to take place. The overall purpose of this was to keep the chest constantly in shot and to appear as if the whole movie was filmed in one continuous shot. At the end of the shot, the camera would zoom into a dark object to totally blacken the lens or a character would walk in front of the lens to block it. Both of these methods allowed Hitchcock to effectively mask the cuts and the scene occurring after would just begin with a static shot. Finally, most of the props and even some set walls were on casters so that they could be easily moved around the set in order for the camera to move as well. This revolutionary and unordinary style of filming proved to be extremely effective in the telling of the story. By keeping the murder chest in frame consistently, it emphasizes the fact that it’s the focus of the story. Also, by the entire movie taking place in one room, the suspense is heightened and more artistic choices can be made in reference to the angle of the camera and the type of shot.

For a movie poster review before 1980, I chose to review the poster for “Psycho,” one of my favorite movies of all time. I’m a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan, and I find his movies to be extremely artistic in how they’re shot and edited, as well as just plain entertaining and suspenseful. The poster for “Psycho” is no exception to this artistic expression. The poster uses only primary colors (red, yellow and blue) and black and white. The restricted color palette is effective in conveying a fluid yet eye-catching look. The word “Psycho” is broken in half unevenly and the various characters are contained in jagged black boxes. This rough and serrated approach helps convey the idea that the movie is going to be a horror movie as opposed to a romance or comedy. The poster is also asymmetrical which only adds to the feeling of uneasiness it’s hoping to display. Finally, the female character is larger than the male character on the poster, which is trying to show that she’s the main focus of the film despite the fact that she ends up dying in the first 10 minutes. Overall, the designer of the poster has made specific and deliberate design choices in how to convey the film to the public because the colors, fonts, shapes and lines all contribute effectively to the meaning of the film.

For my movie poster review, I chose to examine the poster for WANTED. There were a lot of deliberate choices made in terms of color, hue, shape, and lighting. The poster itself is very minimal, with only Angelina Jolie’s profile, her left arm, and her left hand holding a gun. Each of those pieces is placed in a triangular shape with the gun resting on her head. The empty space that remains really makes the triangle (her body) stand out. Another element that really helps the poster stand out is monochromatic color choice. There are only blacks, greys and whites used in the poster. The subtle change in hue occurs in order to highlight her facial features, the gun, and parts of the tattoos on her arm. The lighting also helps to highlight as it shines brightly around her arm and face to outline her body. The other thing I noticed was the lack of a title. Without any words on the poster, except for the website in a small font at the bottom, the viewer’s attention is really drawn in to the image. There’s no loud writing to distract the viewer and the eye is drawn directly to her face and the tattoos that face out on her arm. Overall, I feel the poster is very affective in getting the point across that the movie is dramatic and intense.

I chose to review the title sequence from North by Northwest because even though not a lot happens, it has a lot of interesting design elements that make it exciting and different. It begins with a green grid with blue lines. The words then appear on top of the grid with intense music accompanying each credit. As the credits continue, the grid then reveals itself as the outside of a skyscraper and each square is a window of the building. The cars and people on the street can be seen in the reflection of the building as well. Later on in the credits, the sequence transitions to people walking on a crowded city street. The chaos of the street fits well with the music that is used in the sequence as well. Overall, the idea to focus on design here makes the opening credits very effective. It doesn’t give anything away about the plot or the storyline, but it’s upbeat and mysterious, like the movie itself. The fact the building reveals itself to be something it didn’t appear to be originally is kind of like the premise of the whole movie– people pretending or appearing to be something they are not.

Woolen Workers and Spools

For the photographer review, I chose to look at the work of Margaret Bourke-White. Bourke-White gained recognition as an industrial photographer and photojournalist in Cleveland, Ohio. She decided to explore photography at Cornell University as an escape after her divorce from her husband. When she arrived in Lake Erie City in 1927, she is quoted as saying, ”I stood on the deck to watch the city come into view. As the skyline took form in the morning mist, I felt I was coming to my promised land…columns of machinery gaining height as we drew toward the pier, derricks swinging like living creatures. Deep inside I knew these were my subjects.”

Bourke-White was extremely influential in a career dominated by men. In 1929, she became associate editor of Fortune magazine and shortly thereafter became the first female photojournalist for LIFE magazine. She is most famous for her haunting images of dust bowl victims from the mid 1930s as well as images of the Great Depression, which can be seen in her book “You Have Seen Their Faces.” 

Margaret Bourke-White’s work can also be seen at the Brooklyn Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. 

Thumbnails of her work can be found online here:

http://arts-sciences.cua.edu/hsct102/bourke%20pages/mbwthumb1.html

I personally find Margaret Bourke-White’s work very striking. Her black and white images use tone and contrast to stress certain aspects of the objects she photographs. She also uses a lot of foreground and background (example: http://arts-sciences.cua.edu/hsct102/bourke%20pages/mbw08.html) to demonstrate what should be of the most importance in the image. Bourke-White also uses light in her favor to illuminate parts of an image to make it more thought-provoking and intriguing (http://arts-sciences.cua.edu/hsct102/bourke%20pages/mbw07.html). In this example, she also uses an exciting angle to force the viewer to look for the gargoyle rather than have it shot straight on to make the gargoyle apparent. Because Bourke-White mainly shoots industrial images, her use of differing angles, contrast, tone, light and saturation make them more interesting, exciting, riveting and attractive as well as provide the objects and landmarks with a new perspective for the viewer.

For the photo review, I chose to look at the Ansel Adams photo, “Mount Williamson- the Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California 1945.” The photo is a picture of Mount Williamson and the clearIng as well as the rocks in the foreground and the sky in the background of the mountain. This black and white photo is very striking. The lack of color allows the viewer to focus more on the contrast and texture apparent in the photo. The photo depicts a scene from nature that is surprisingly very artsy because of the extreme angle. It looks like Adams was lying on the ground looking up at the mountain from a very low angle. The rays of sunlight shining through the clouds and across the mountain add line to the image. There is the horizontal horizon line but the rays also add diagonal line to the image. I think the picture works very well. I really love how the rocks take up the majority of the image as opposed to the mountain itself. I also noticed how the rays of lights from the clouds can be seen on the rocks below, which is a nice touch. There’s nothing I would change about the image because it’s so classic yet still interesting.