A Day in the LIfe of a Community Designer Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56lXOHNUj8g

This is the trailer to my documentary that I made.

PSA

http://youtu.be/-q7QoTn4e3I

My PSA was made for the Make A Wish Foundation. I tried to show all of the good things that the foundation does in order to help people.

Russell Klika Prezi

http://prezi.com/ldtrhtzho4cx/russell-klika/

Photo Essay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58ATcqISS3I

I made this photo essay as a way to show the differences between Nature and Society. I have original photos and edited photos. It goes back and forth from nature to society. I have pictures from places such as New York City and Niagara Falls.

Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nf-RXG34Zg


This is a commercial I did with Kayli Zeluff and Grace Landers om shoelaces!

Magazine

Mortal Gods of Music

Our group consists of Kayli Zeluff, Imani Gunner, and Carly Swift-Horth. Our podcast is going to be about music and musicians in our school and/or in the Rochester area. We will be interviewing at least three people each, making our total count of interviewees nine. We will interview pianists, a cellist, a flautist, a guitarist, a bassist, a violist, a drummer, singers, and a rapper. We will be talking to them about who their inspiration is, how they started doing what they’re doing, and what they plan on doing fiver years down the road (will they continue to play/sing?).

Our podcast is called Mortal Gods of Music. We hope that by doing this podcast, the people we talk to can inspire others to not give up and keep pursuing music.

***since I couldn't put our actual podcast on here, I figured this would work to remind you of what we did***

Photography In Journalism

            Journalism has always been an important part of every culture. In order for people to understand what is going on in the world around them, journalism has been there. Even before photos, journalism still existed. Since people did not have cameras back in medieval times, there would be illustrations along with words. Cameras did not come around until the late nineteenth century. When that happened, journalism changed and became something so much more powerful. It was more like evidence because there was proof of the actual event. People could just write stories without photos and call it an event, when in reality, maybe it did not even happen.

            As time went on, photography was used more and more to capture important moments in time, and important events that were/are going on. It became a powerful thing and really empowered those who were in the line of photojournalism. People with power in the government and other public jobs would have to be more careful and what they do and say because one snap of them doing something they were not supposed to could lead to bad things.

            More modernly, things are more instant than they used to be. Now that there is the 24-hour news cycle, it’s hard to miss the important things that are going on around the world. Technology has helped a whole lot with journalism because it makes it easier to understand and see things and events. A picture is worth a thousand words, and that is what photography is. Photography adds so much to journalism and it has evolved so much over time. Sometimes it is crazy to think about where it all started, and where it is now. As I’ve come to understand it, photography is journalism in its own way. I think that it’s an important piece to this line of work.

Midterm Essay

            In the book Enemies of Promise, written in 1938, Cyril Connolly once famously said, “Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.” Although to some this can be seen as offensive, it’s not meant to be interpreted in that way. Cyril Connolly was speaking the truth. She blatantly stated the significant difference between journalism and literature. Many would say that journalism is literature, and in a way, that is true. However, common literature and journalism are two very different things.

            Literature is pleasurable to the eyes and mind. An author of a book strives to create something where a reader will want to continue to read their work. Writing literature is an art and writing good literature is a gift. People who are good at this art will create pieces that will be read twice. The goal of a writer is to make something so interesting and enjoyable, that people will want to read it over and over again, and not get bored of it. Of course no writer would be appealing to all ages, genders, and people in general, for everyone has different interests. Some people are better than others when it comes to certain topics, however that’s how the literary world works. It’s competitive for appealing to people’s minds. People like to be able to relate to the lives of the characters in the stories they read. If they can’t, then they may find the story uninteresting, since they have nothing in common with the main character(s).

            “Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once,” Connolly stated, is not about putting journalism down, but telling what the job of journalism is. Journalism is about being here and now and getting news on the latest stories. All around the world, journalism is a big part of culture because without it, the citizens of the towns, cities, and countries wouldn’t know what was going on around them. Journalism is not about wanting to write articles so they’re read more than once, but about relating the facts in an efficient way, which inform the readers about the world around them. As opposed to literature, journalism is about reading to learn. Journalists’ jobs are to give informative information. You only need to read it once before you know what’s going on and what the problem is. It should be short and to the point, but also filled with detail.

            When analyzing this quote by Cyril Connolly, it’s clear that she knows the difference between literature and journalism. Both are considered art, just different kinds of art. Her book Enemies of Promise was successful when it came out and even now, her book is still quoted. Journalism and literature are both, forms of art. No matter which kind of writer you are, if you’re good, you’re good, and your work will be read everywhere, maybe even more than twice.

Teens and Politics

It seems these days that a lot of young people don’t really care that much about politics, but why? Is it because it’s “boring” or because they can’t do anything about it?

            While talking to a handful of students, I asked them if they’d kept up with the election and debates. Some of them kept up with them for the most part, however, one said that she did not keep up with it much at all. I asked the student who gave that response why she did not keep up with it much. “Well, I don’t want to because it’s just kind of pointless. Me watching the debates won’t change the fact that I can’t vote,” she stated. The look on the student’s face that did keep up with the election showed his confusion. He replied, “Keeping up with the election is important. Especially with people our age. Politics is always important because that’s how we run ourselves.”

            A lot of people follow in their parents’ footsteps too. If their parents don’t necessarily follow the election, then they most likely won’t follow it either. If they grew up with Republican values, then that is about 80% likely what they will be as registered voters. If they grew up with Democratic values then they’ll 80% most likely be registered as Democrats. However, once they grow up and see the world through their own eyes and not through their parents’, they may change what they’re for and what they’re against.

            People also have to take into account that politics have changed a lot within the past 40 years. There has been a drastic change from Abraham Lincoln’s time up until Barack Obama. It’s almost as though there was a complete flip in Republican and Democrat views. Recently, the two politicians who were campaigning for presidency were complete opposites when it came to their views. However, if they were alike then there would be no need to vote.

            For some teens, it’s not even that they don’t care about politics, but it’s the fact that the two political parties do not fit what they’re looking for in government. Even though they can’t vote, they still take in to account that a majority of the minors now, will be able to vote by the time of the next election. They know that the presidency affects them, but unfortunately they can’t do anything to change that. One student, when talking about the two political parties, said, “I just can’t relate to either one. Really, it’s sad. Each party is nearly similar but neither really represent what I want in government.”

            In the end, it all comes down to just that. Who represents what you’re looking for in government? Whether it be the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, whoever fits what you’re looking for, is whom you should vote for. Even if it’s too close, which one does more for you? Teens, who don’t care, may never care, but that’s okay. Teens who don’t care now, may care in the future. It all depends on whom they are and what they’re standing for, but politics will always be an important part of life.