Reflections- Me and Movies- Tyrone Dixon

I really enjoyed creating a biographical media piece. I have not done anything like this before. The experience was a process that allowed me to explore a space that I had only shared face to face with individuals and only a few at that. It was important for me to attempt this exercise and create a media relationship with myself. A greater awareness of self was my expectation. The process was more than I expected.

The essential story behind “ Me and Movies” is about a boy who grows into a man byway of the movies on television. Not having a father and having a mother who worked two jobs, I spent many hours watching television and finding my way through life by connecting with the characters within them. A passion for how movies are made was born as I continued to research the world of films.

Specifically I chose to create this piece of media to find and understand more of the psychology in the process of creating media. Telling my story allowed for a more introspective view of my self and the world I live in. Movies were my guide in life and now I make movies for a living. This introspection is valuable in how I view the world of others. I am confident that my film displays a direct relationship to my purpose. It is important for me to discover techniques to advance my teaching career as well as create ways that I can help others understand media and to not be negatively consumed by it.

When I started creating this piece I did not consider my audience until after it was complete. I got so lost in the process of creating and opening myself up to sharing apart of me, audience consideration became a thought when I started uploading the video to you tube. I thought of how I was not sure I wanted to share this with the rest of the world. I then started to really think about who could benefit from the experience of this piece. Young African-American boys who are growing up without fathers would be a direct audience. I believe the simplicity and directness of the piece would make it easy for the audience to consume and receive the message within. You can create the life you want; there is no need to be the victim. I hope that I could grow this piece and actually make effort to share it with that audience and see how effective the piece can be.

I thought this process would be easier for me because of my experience with film making and narrative story telling. Not. This was a real challenge and took thought as well as utilizing the techniques within Dr. Ohlers book. The story core and story map allowed me to get to a specific message and aided in the development of the script. I used still images as well as moving images from you tube to help push the story forward and give it context. I liked the outcome and plan to do more of these as I use this process help teach the narrative process to my future students.

This process of creating media demonstrated to me that I could find a story in just about anything if you can break it down to its simplest and most effective terms. Conceptualizing, actualizing and redacting have become a great asset to my writing process that I will continue to use to develop media that I plan to share with others.