Conceptualization

After reading the Shaking The Money Tree text and discussing my project in class I am beginning to formulate a clearer understanding of how my project will unfold. I will be creating a proto-type entity during the course of this class with the hope to be able to recreate a similar entity during my anthropological field research. The ultimate goal for this is to offer a media project and internet presence as a reciprocal gift for allowing my presence and research within the community I will be staying. This experiment will be within a much more controlled environment with access to resources and time compared to the time I will be spending in Guatemala. As I decipher and decode the technological jargon thrown around in our classroom I am picking up useful ideas of how to market and implant my project on the Internet. Shaking the Money Tree also provided me with insight on how to successfully reach target audiences, appeal to the appropriate markets, and contact potential funding sources. I intend to continue filming and accumulating footage for my proto-type advertisement, weather permitting.

I am excited to be able to complete every step of this process because my prior work involved co-creators who had designated tasks. The diversification of labor during those projects left me specializing in only one component of film making- cinematography. To be able to produce a final project from start to finish on my own is a skill I have wanted since I began tinkering with visual media. This class is going to not only allow me the opportunity to accomplish this, I will be able to take the finished product and breathe life into it on the Internet. This skill set will prove useful to me not only for my summer field research, but for the future of my career which I envision having a visual media component.

Project Idea

As an anthropology graduate student taking this course I will be attempting to incorporate my future research into the curriculum for this course. My ultimate goal is to be able to produce some form of video from start to finish while doing my field research in Guatemala. Last winter I had the pleasure of visiting the Q'eqchi' Maya village Plan Grande Quehueche which is situated behind the port city of Livingston, Guatemala. The community has come together to establish a sustainable tourism business which involves explanatory guided hikes through the local areas (jungles, coast, caves, etc). The tour ends in their village where visitors are welcome to stay in the several cabanas they have constructed, have dinner, and partake in a traditional Maya ceremony involving marimba music and dancing. The experience and services provided is amazing and deserves recognition and promotion. There seems to be a lack in promotion for their service, so this is where I may be able to contribute.

This Media Arts class is designed to create a media project with an Internet presence. I feel that this is a perfect opportunity for me to experience the needed steps to create a promotional Internet presence for the community business in Plan Grande Quehueche. I feel the most appropriate way to execute this goal is to utilize the resources I will have available during my stay in Guatemala. I have an Olympus Stylus Tough handheld camera which also shoots video. I have decided to use this as my camera due to its inconspicuous nature and also because it is shock resistance and waterproof. I will also be using basic editing software which I will have available to me on a small portable laptop. I am debating on using Windows MovieMaker or iMovie for my iPad, but bringing the iPad to Guatemala may not be an option.

Since this class will be preparing me for my experience abroad I am documenting a local nature preserve (Saluda Shoals) and activities available there. I will create a mock promotional video using the tools I will have available while in Guatemala (Olympus camera, laptop editing software, etc). I have already filmed a kayak trip and will be taking photos and videos throughout the park to be able to create this promotional video by the Spring Break deadline. This exercise will hopefully enable me to complete a similar film while conducting my field research.

Week 1- Who is Mike Young?

That's a very good question, thanks for asking. My name is Mike Young and I spent most of my youth in Southern California. My own identity perplexed me as I grew up. My father is American of mixed European descent and my mother came to the US from El Salvador at age 17. I was born in Ensenada, Mexico, spent two and a half years in Puerto Rico when I was five years old, was blond with fair skin until I was about three years old, and English was the main language spoken at home. As difficult as that mental map is to follow it was equally difficult to identify with as a young child. So, this lead to my questioning of identity as a concept growing up.

Understanding and appreciating diversity are what guided me in the direction of Anthropology and Human Resource Management. These were the disciplines I double majored in while at California State University Long Beach. After spending time abroad in Latin America doing volunteer work with my wife I sought out schools that matched my interests and University of South Carolina was a great match. I want to be able to continually make contributions towards positive social change and feel that focusing on Cultural Anthropology with an environmental focus will have the greatest lasting impact. Technology and media arts are vital tools to empowering and connecting people around the world and I would like to sharpen my skills through this class to best put these skills to use. I also understand how important visual components to documentation are to creating histories and drawing in diverse audiences.