Concerned Citizen

By Jessica Marquis and Kirstin Anderson



 

We did our Concerned Citizen documentary on Diena Simmons. She is the station manager of KBYU, Channel 11, at BYU Broadcasting. KBYU is Utah’s local PBS channel, and is part of the bigger organization, BYU Broadcasting, which is nationwide, as well as international.

We originally planned to interview and follow BYU Broadcasting Managing Director, Derek Marquis. When we showed up to do the interview, he suggested that we interview Diena. He explained that she works more on the community level than the global level, and that she is really passionate about her work. We were glad he made this suggestion, because Diena turned out to be a great interviewee.

Diena is in charge of what goes on the air for Utah’s PBS station. She is very passionate about providing wholesome content. In the interview she mentions that no matter what, people are going to use media, so she wants to provide something that is worthwhile.  Toward the end of the documentary, she mentioned that she has had opportunities to work in the commercial media world. But when it came down to it, she felt more proud to be doing this work at KBYU. Other employees at BYUtv have had similar opportunities to work in the commercial media industry, but choose to work at BYUtv. Even though the salary is often lower, many of them feel better about the work they are doing there.

We happened to be at BYU Broadcasting to interview Diena on the day before a big event she was running, and she invited us to come back the next day and shoot some b-roll. This is one of many events that she is in charge of. We discovered that they have a lot more going on than people realize. She said in the interview that not all of the work they do is on the air. This event, among others, aids the community on a physical level. Diena feels it is important to provide service wherever she can, in fun and interesting ways that will get people to want to participate.

We could tell that Diena is a genuinely caring person. While editing, we talked about how comforting it is to know that there are people like Diena who care enough to try to improve the community. There must be more people like her in our community who work hard in different ways to better their environment, and that is such a great thing. We hope this documentary can inform people about how dedicated people are to creating better environments, and how anyone can help out even if it is a small contribution.

On the technical side, we got to our interview and didn’t have a 9-volt battery to power our lav mic kit, so we just had to use the camera audio. If we could go back and redo it, we definitely would have gotten a battery so our audio could have been better. However, in the end, we are really happy with how the documentary turned out.

Protest Poster

“...But the spirit told me, that we should get married!”  I love BYU so much, and I really enjoy living in Provo.  But for the last four years, I have despised one thing about this culture; the idea that a week after meeting someone is the time to get engaged.  I fear our community thinks the faster you get married proves you have a better relationship.  Reflecting the last four years of my life, I realize this engagement problem is the one I continue to run into, and the problem that seems, not only to bother me most, but hurt me most. 

My research for this project was somewhat different than any traditional style.  I searched around the Provo/Orem area looking for things that urged on, not just marriage, but weddings in particular.  I noticed the large number of engagement ring adds, couples workshops, bridal stores, and also the marriage and family classes offered at BYU.  These places are all over the community and all over BYU.  My research also consisted of thinking back to all of the experiences I have had, as well as asking many others how they felt about the issue.  I found that I am not the only person feeling this way; however, I am still shocked that, although people claim to this feeling, engagements after a week are still popping up all over the place. 

My understanding of this issue has grown because I am realizing what the motivations are.  After my research, it seems clear that people do not see beyond the initial marriage and their first few years as a newlywed couple.  People I have asked have big plans for the future, but when it comes to logistics, nothing is worked out.  I hope to bring awareness that can inform and change people's lives; I know too many people my age, here at BYU, who have been divorced. 

My goal was to make my poster look like adds I see everywhere, but tweak it so my audience takes a second to really understand the meaning.  My poster reminds me a lot of ring adds from Jared’s, Kay’s and all of those stores. To express my point of view, I chose the very popular song, “Call Me Maybe,” to show that getting engaged so quickly is a trending thing in our society.  Furthermore, the lyrics suggest the ridiculousness of the proposal; the subjects do not understand because they cannot see beyond the excitement.  I also wanted the whole image to be clouded by red to represent how clouded peoples’ mindsets can be when they care only about the wedding.  The red shows they are so lost in the romance that they lose sight of reality.  I wanted the man proposing to be in casual clothes and casually handing over the box to call strong attention to this “chill” attitude people have about getting married.  Marriage is a big deal, but our culture seems to strip that commitment and turn it into something purely fun rather than serious.

After posting this on my social network, I received interesting feedback.  Some people from home in California agreed with me wholeheartedly.  However I wanted to focus on those living here who experience this.  For the most part, people really agreed with my poster.  They even liked the humorous aspect and felt it complimented my idea.  I do think though that I received so much positive criticism because those who disagree with me would not say it, even if they ponder the image.

Webspinna Final Links

http://blog.widp.de/medien/click-the-squares-am-laboratory

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/fabric-of-cosmos.html

http://margaretnoble.net/blog/not-the-olympics/

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8pQG4y/naturesoundsfor.me/Anza/

http://margaretnoble.net/blog/autumn-leaves/

http://margaretnoble.net/blog/salt_pepper/

http://margaretnoble.net/blog/chopped-and-stretched/

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2oj4wJ/:11ZIwwGlr:LcJhWhdS/balldroppings.com/js?1/

The Websipinna was a completely unique experience, unlike anything I have ever participated in before.  Preparing for my performance was particularly interesting.  At first, I was confused where to begin.  I did not know websites that had specific sound effects, and I certainly did not know how I was going to mix everything (that is if I could find anything).  I began with my interests.  Finally something popped into my mind.  Many years ago my dad got me into listening to books on tape.  My favorite was by an astro-physicist, Brian Greene.  I decided the approach I wanted to take was to tell part of my life story through sound.  I searched the internet for a clip of this book because physics, math, time, and space have occupied my thoughts my entire life.  From there, I decided to find other sounds that expressed who I am, like the nature sounds I fall asleep to every night, and the montage of athletic noises to show the sports I have played my entire life.

In mixing my sounds, I wanted to begin with Brian Greene and introduce the audience to the workings of my brain.  I wanted this to last throughout the whole piece to show my curiosity that is always under the surface, even if it does not seem to be the most dominant thing at the time.  Then I used the magic squares website to slowly introduce an addition of new thoughts, dreams, and ideas that “pop” into my mind.  The noises of the athletes were added in half way through the performance because after part of my life had progressed and I was in high school, sports became so important to me and dominated much of what I did.  This narrator feel extended through my entire performance to give a representation of my life through sound.

The actual performance was interesting because I was surprised how much it matched up with my life just as the sounds did.  When I first got up, the sound from the previous person died out before I had a chance to begin.  I thought this was interesting because it left a gap between me and the person before.  This parallels my life because I was born quite a while after my siblings.  My brothers are close in age but significantly older than me.  Similarly, the person after me had troubles and the noise quit.  I also have younger sisters that are close in age, but born eight years after me.  In a way, this can represent how distanced in years I am with my siblings.  We are all extremely close and similar, just like the class performed the same sort of thing, but there is a separation of time between me and everyone else.  Another thing that I noticed performing is that no matter how well I thought I had things planned, it turned out differently than expected.  This is hugely representational of my life.  I am what you would call a “type A” person and love things to be in perfect order.  However, as the years go on, I realize that things change and you cannot control everything, no matter how well you plan.

Finally, I had a great time listening to everyone else’s Webspinnas, socializing and of course eating food.  I felt like the whole night really brought us together and we were able to express ourselves in different ways.  The thing I loved most was that we were able to come and share our lives with each other from farther back than we knew each other.