ANGEE on Human Rights, Technology and the Artistic Process...

For Parent Night I chose to create a movie based on the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Now, the Declaration has THIRTY articles, so I didn't know if I were to make a move based on all THIRTY articles or just a few.

Now, it's still a work in progress. I'm still going to tweek it here and there, but overall it looks good.

Here's what I've done so far:

Enjoy!


Starting out, I realized that basing the movie on all THIRTY articles would be a little ambitious, so i just stuck with the first ten. Then, I had to brainstorm how to do this: animation? drawings? claymation? I didn't know just yet.

LIKE A BOLT OF LIGHTNING it hit me. I could just do images on photoshop based on each article. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP is one of my favorite things to do here at Zeum. I've been working with photoshop for about four years now, so I thought it was a great idea.

On Photoshop made an image for each article. To do this I would get an image from the internet, make it into a black and white/positive and negative image, then define a brush. Photoshop saves the brush automatically. This is a good function to know. The brushes I made then became backgrounds for the images I created.

From there I took the articles and placed the text over the colorful backgrounds. I think it came out great, just like I wanted.

Now, what to do with the images?! Make a gif. file? Movie? Hmm...Then I remembered how well I worked with Windows Movie Maker...PERFECT.

I took the images I made on Photoshop and created a movie. I started with titles introducing the articles and quick history on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, followed by the images I made, and then quick credits at the end. All of this was accompanied with the song, "Dream" by Common and Will.I.Am.

Yeah, it's still a work in progress. But MOST DEFINITELY a project that I'm proud of.

Passover Story

I have a big family - we're all over the country and all over the world. My immediate family lives in San Francisco. But my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom's side live in New York. And most of my dad's family lives in Israel.

Because my family is so large and scattered about, I have decided, that for my end of the year project, I wanted to write a short play about my ENTIRE family at the Passover Seder dinner, and kind of make up how I think they would all interact with one another.

I'm planning on performing the whole play myself. A one girl show, reading the skit aloud, acting out everyone's part. Because my family who lives in Israel doesn't speak English, I'm going to perform some of it in Hebrew.

I always wanted to gather my whole entire family together for Passover because it would be so amazing for me to see everyone at once for such a special holiday.

With this project I'm creating my wish that someday, this gathering of my family could happen, and I would really see how they would get along.

Because of the differences between some of my family members, i wrote it so that an argument arises between my cousin (who lives in NY), my Uncle (who lives in Israel), and my mom.

The argument finally ceases when my dad says "OK, let's eat and sing songs." And I bring up the Passover song that is my all time favorite - Echad, Me Yodea?" (One, who knows one?"). Suddenly everyone in my family is talking about the song and how special and meaningful it is to every one of them. The lyrics to the song are so powerful and are strong enough to bring everyone together. And the fighting stops.

Who knows three? I know three!
Three are the mothers and two are the tablets that Moshe brought, and one is Hashem...
Who knows four? I know four!
Four are the fathers and three are the mothers and two are the tablets that Moshe brought and one is Hashem...

The song continues in this fashion of counting up until the number thirteen, and it has a lot of meaning because the song is very biblical and mentions important biblical figures. The melody is also beautiful, especially when sang in Hebrew.

When my family was all singing together, I realized that the holiday of Passover and the songs are a "common denominator" in my family and it's what brings everyone together. In spite of their differences, we all share the love for the holidays, and this, in turn, brings the family together and erases any tension.

Digital Comic Strip Finished!

I finished the digital comic strip! I made it with a computer program called Comic Life Deluxe. The program was great. Really interesting to learn.

To see what I'd written before about this project, click HERE.

For the strip, almost all of the images are symbols. The scale is a symbol of the balance and unbalance conflict. Paper money represents wealth and coin represent poverty. The black box in the third image represents the illegal activities of the wealthy people. The person that's kneeling on the broken glass with a no sign means no punishment, stop it. The sick lady laying on bed represents the poor because usually poor people don't have anything to eat and they would be sick and die. The birds flying behind the scale represent peace.

The strip is done. I was shocked by how amazing it looked to me when finished. It was so cool, I never expected it would come out to be this good. I feel really happy right now. This was the first time I've made a comic strip on the computer. Although I did on paper before.

Parting Thoughts of a ZeumMaster

Being that this is my last day at Zeum, I wanted to share a couple memories at this place known as an "arts and technology museum for kids of all ages."

In my last post I wrote about the expectations of the media on young Latina girls - what the media expects of me vs. what I want to be. With this experience and new knowledge, Zeum has led to being a step closer in being what I want to be and not what was expected of me by the media.

My typical day at Zeum usually began with my late arrival (5 minutes after 10am). I would rush in, put on my shirt fast, put on my badge and storm into the Animators studio, where I'd find everyone in a meeting sitting quietly. I would try to sneak in, but then Christian always noticed and gave me the "You're late again?" look.

As they continued with the meeting, everyone would be listening attentively while I'd be trying to get my heart beat to slow back down. Then we'd check in and everyone would say how they felt and some random thing, ("I feel hungry and I like hippos"... random). My favorite mornings were when we would all cut clay and talk about movies (perry would always know all the showtunes and sing them for us). By about 10:50 we'd be ready to open the museum and we'd spread out to different rooms. (Usually animators, everyone feels that they've been in the animators room too many times).

As we walked up the 4 flights of stairs (Exaggeration according to Ari) we took our time and sometimes had detours. Once we were in our assigned destinations, we turned everything on, got all the materials ready and waited as the kids arrived.

When I'd get to my station/exhibit, I was suddenly the director, producer and technician. I was in charge (They must have really trusted me to put me in charge.... Just Kidding). As the day went on I'd dance, laugh, sing, animate and all of a sudden it would be 5pm. We'd turn everything off and march our way singing and laughing into the animators studio once again to reflect on the day.

As I leave Zeum and reflect on these typical days (although some days were not this typical!) I realize that I learned how to, make a music video, make a production, make an animation. Things I never even knew I was capable of doing. Thank You. But I also learned more to the technology part of Zeum, I learned the art of being a co-worker, filling out a time sheet, (filling out leave requests), but most of all the art of making new friendships.

Once again, Thanks Guys/Girls.

'Killin it with Dance

Anybody can dance. Anybody can perform. Whether you're amazing or horrible it feels nice to just get yourself out there. Dancing can be a way of expressing yourself or just a way to let out stress after a hard day at work or school. Having a way to escape from life and just dance is good for you. You can forget about life's. Dancing is like a vacation for your mind.

I'm making a documentary about dance. In my movie I want to show that good things can come from dancing whether or not you're good at it.

Performance is a big deal at Zeum. We have our production stage in our main gallery and our stage in the Music Video production lab so it's crucial that we help kids realize that they can perform too even if they think they're really bad at it. Everyone has a performer inside them, you just have to bring it out of them. For the kids that come here it's a big deal to be up on stage. A lot of them get nervous because they think they can't do it but with a little encouragement they get into their performances and put on good shows. After doing their thing on stage a lot of times they get excited and have a little self-esteem boost.

With my video I want to show the positive effects of dancing on people's lives and that anyone can experience these things because anyone can dance. I'm gonna interview a few big name dance teachers about what get them started in dancing and what dancing has done for them in their lives. My video will show their interview with me and then will go into a video of them actually dancing. I'll do the same thing with people who are in dance companies and then take it down to people who simply take classes and then take it down to people who do it just for fun.

I've been dancing for 4 years. I mainly do hip hop dance. I started taking dance classes just to see what it was like. I had always seen people dance and though "Wow, I wish I could do that."

After a while I was motivated by the compliments I started getting. It's the best feeling to have someone ask me "How'd you do that?" or have a teacher tell me to keep the good work cuz i was "killin' it."

Dancing has helped not only to boost my self-esteem but also to get me through some tough times. When I dance i can forget about everything going on around me and just focus on the dancing I'm doing. Nothing else matters. I can go home after dancing and feel like I accomplished what I needed to that day. I'm at my best mentally after I've danced. I can think better having let out all my stress and energy in dance. I get my endorphins flowing so I feel pumped up but I'm more at ease so I can think better. And after getting all tired out I can sleep better too. So dancing can benefit you both mentally and physically.

Digital Comic Strip in Progress

I drew this, it's part of the project that I wrote about before on the blog - the comic strip. This image describes the punishment of the wealthy people, kneeling on broken small pieces of glass in 1950's China. Many people died from the punishment and some escaped to the United States. This is how the story ended. I just wanted to put this on the blog to show the progress.

In the other comic I'm working on, I'm imagining a new ending. It's more peaceful.

I drew all the images this week. next week I'm going to scan them into the computer so that I can import them into a really cool program that lets you make digital comic strips.

I can't wait to see the whole thing finished.

How Do You Define Human Rights?

Through the years my ideas about human rights have changed. I grew up with the perception that human rights violation happened in countries distraught by war and corrupt politicians. The media has presented human rights violation as torturing prisoners and murdering entire villages and I easily accepted the idea that this had no relation to my environment. That changed when I took notice of what was going around me. I have come up with my own definition on human rights: The right to feel safe.

For Example, a ZeumMaster left her purse near the programing station in Main Gallery and later found it at the bottom of the stairs with all her belongings stolen. She lost her phone, her iPod, but more importantly she lost her sense of safety. Having your belongings stolen - Could that be categorized as a human rights violation? When we're in an environment where we feel completely comfortable, having something as unfortunate as this happen makes the experience that much worse. You have the right to feel that not only you are safe, but your processions are as well. Although some may not agree I would categorize this event as a human rights violation.

It could have happened anywhere. And I love Zeum. But I just want to say that even your safe places can be violated.

I'm doing a documentary project where I'm interviewing Zeum staff members and strangers and using their experiences and their definitions of human rights to create a video. I'm going to record them as they answer the following questions: How would you define human rights? What do you need to feel safe? Have you ever felt unsafe?

I hope to show that feeling safe is a simple right that everyone deserves. Human rights violation does not have to be as intense a physical torture, for it to make someone feel uncomfortable. Everyone has stories and I want to share them.

Creating a documentary will not only give me the opportunity to use a video camera and edit, but using real stories with real people will create a strong message.

End of the Reel: last day at zeum

This is my final blog post. My internship is coming to an end and my last day is May 16 so I decided to write a blog comparing my first day to my day yesterday and see how I have changed from this internship.

My first day at Zeum I had no idea of what I was getting into I knew no one but my mentor. I didn’t know if I would get along with any of my co-workers and I didn’t think I could handle the 7 hour days. It is very strange how things can change it 12 weeks.

My first day on the job I was very reserved and just talked to the people I knew, which by the way were my classmates and fellow interns. After my first day I had no clue if I was even going to enjoy my time here.

As I look back to yesterday and compare it to my first day I can give a big smile. I am going to miss all my co-workers, the happy kids and their families, and my mentor. Over the 12 weeks of work I have been able to develop a professional and personal relationship with everyone there. Hanging out in the office, the main floor, eating lunch with the other interns, can’t forget watching the Matthew and Perry singing and dancing. I would really like to thank all the staff for making my internship exciting and always making ready to come in.

Finally I want to talk about my project. My project to me was simple but ended up being very hard. I felt that editing a movie of teens playing games was going to be a piece of cake. First of all I just like to edit - it is a passion for me. Here, the part that got hard was that I didn’t understand any of the footage. I also didn’t understand how important it was to the teen interns and to Zeum in general.

After having 2 meetings with my mentor and director of the intern program I knew it had to be good. Still I wasn’t moved to try my hardest. In fact it was after meeting the other teen interns and seeing their reaction I put all my effort to making it good for them. This project taught me that it is important to think of others because one small thing to me can mean a whole lot to the others.

I want to thanks the ZeumMasters who made working there a good time for me.

Chili Fritos Memory: My Sister

What I'm writing here is more stories for my memory project.

This is a picture of my oldest sister, Erica and I. We are in Detroit Michigan at this time. It's very hot out there with not enough oxygen in the air.

When my sister Erica and I were little, I would come home from my elementary school across the street from my house. I would be coming from my after school program after six and I always would see the ice cream truck as I crossed the street. Because my sign is a virgo and I love to hustle positively, money would always be in my pocket.

When I stop the ice cream truck by raising my hand like I'm in class, I would always get the same thing and never try anything new, "chili fritos". If I'm having a bad day, after eating chili fritos, my day is automatically brightened. The good thing about chili fritos is that they were cheap, you could buy them from the ice cream truck for a dollar.

Sometimes before I would eat them, I would go in the house and put them on the table to go to the bathroom and wash my hands. My sister Erica would be sleep on the couch, having the TV watch her instead of she watching the TV. I would go to the bathroom come back and my chili fritos would be on the table empty. I'd wonder who ate them because there was only my sister Erica and me in the house.

After five more times of this situation happening, I started to figure out a plan to "catch" that person eating my chili fritos. It was obviously easy because I would act like I would go to the bathroom and instead, hide under the table where my chili fritos were and end up "catching" my sisters Erica not eating my chili fritos but gobbling without chewing. There went my chili fritos down to her stomach. I had a camera on me so I immediately snap-shot my sister for evidence. In the end, all we both could do is laugh.

Mama Memory

My memory project begins with two pictures of my mom.


This is a new picture of my mom, dad, and little new born baby brother. My mom's name is "mom"! My dad's name is "dad"! My new born baby brother name is Jeremiah. My mom and I are very close. I remember there was an entire month when my mom just wanted to take off of work just for me and spend time with me by going to lunch. I appreciated that so much.

I felt like an only child. As my mom and I kept going to lunch throughout the month, I was wondering why she chose me to spend time with. Did I need special treatment or something? What? But that was not the case. The case was that she felt like I was her only son, not only child and that she don't see me as much as she does the girls (my sisters) because I'm always running around or with my dad.


My mom is the best and I'm glad she gave me life (having me was hard work is what my mom told me). I also appreciate my mom giving most of her genes, very outgoing and learning how to make a good impression on new people I meet. Cheers, to mom!

I have a lot more pictures to write about. Pretty soon I'm going to start the recording so that you can hear me, Joshua, telling this story.

Imagining Peace in Comics

When I was 15 my mom told me about the land reform movement in China in the 1950's. I'm now 19. She'd lived in China during that time.

I was interested in the Children of Jerusalem exhibit, which is about the Israeli/Arab conflict and is why I wanted to do conflict resolution for my final project. It was after looking at that show that I started to remember my mom's story. So I decided to do the story that my mom told me because it was related to the Children of Jerusalem, conflict and resolution, and it was happened in the real live and it was took place where I was from, China.

Land Reform is about redistributing arable land, whether previously collectivized by the state or held by rich farmers. The farmers are forced by the government to give up their land at prices thats unfair. Landowners evicted the farmers without their consent, and that's why they were so rich. The goals of Land Reform is to take from the rich and give to the poor, reducing poverty, expanding rural development, or returning land to it's previous owners.

I was inspired by the show of the Children of Jerusalem, and I like the symbols that they used in their paintings. Birds. flags, the colors, wall. mystery, sea.

My thing is that I like comics a lot, so I wanted to make a comic strip. My favorite is Case Closed. So I'm going to draw and make a comic strip about the land reform conflict. I will be also using symbols and some text like what the Israeli and Arab children did for their paintings. First, I will draw it on white paper with pencil, then go over with pen, and color it. Cut it out and paste them on a bigger hard cardboard.

I've already sketched out the two comics. What you see here are those rough sketches. I did two pages, one is the conflict as it happened for real and the other one is how I think it could have ended more peacefully. The conflict is that during the 1950s in China, the people were equal, but the wealthy people made the scale unbalanced. So the government needed to do something about it, and it was to punish the wealthy people by forcing them to kneel on the broken small pieces of glass. Thats what the original ending was. But i want to make an alternative ending to it to make it a peaceful conflict resolution. Instead of punishing them so harshly, I want to free the people and take their money and give it to the poor. So there's no violence and everybody is equal.

I used a scale to show the unbalance of the rich with paper money and a Chinese dollar symbol on it, and poor with only coins. At the end, I will draw white birds flying over the balanced scale to represent peace.

I want to show people that violence can't solve problems. People have to work together to make a resolution. To compromise.

Zaijian Zeum

Zaijian (JI-Jee-en) is "Goodbye" in Chinese.

W.O.W. I can't even believe tomorrow is my last day at Zeum. Almost every single weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, I've been working here since October. Both days all day.

It's going to be weird for me waking up next weekend, knowing that I don't need to rush to work. Working at Zeum has been fun. There are always people who need help, and with my staff shirt on, they would come up to me and ask for help. It felt so good to help them. It was very cool when I taught the kids how to make animations, or a mask, or how to use photoshop, which had been new to me last october. Their creations always surprise me.

I've had to say no to my friends when they asked me out on weekends. or sometimes, after a tiring week of school, I've had to come to work instead of staying home and resting. I'm a busy girl. I usually felt tired when I'd think about coming to zeum at the beginning of the day, but always, after an hour or so, I'd realize I was enjoying myself. How many people can say that about work.

I never thought I'd have the communication skills, photoshop skills, and lots of art skills that I learned here. I've always been a girl who's not into drawing or art. but Zeum had inspired me. i learned that there are other ways to express myself besides drawing. Singing, making clay, photoshop.

Zeum has prepared me for the real world. Like how a working life is going to be. From 10:00am in the morning working all the way till 5:30pm toward the evening. I am glad that I have tried this. I have no regrets. I mean, I did lose lots of time during weekend from resting or hanging with my friends to working...

Everyday working here, there've been surprises and new things to learn about. It's been cool. and honestly, it's worth it.

This place, i will remember it forever.

Zaijian. 再见

Or hopefully, just "see you later".

Documentary in the Making

Hey this is Michael M.

This year I am senior in a very small high school in Oakland. Each senior is making a year long project related to their internship. Mine is Zeum and I also go to a video program after school. I get a lot of support in video making in my after school program called the factory and at Zeum. So my project is a documentary on myself and how I grew from a shy person in school to a person that loves to express himself in front the entire school.

This documentary isn't any ordinary documentary with interviews and narrative It will be told in a very dense poem I made that expands the entire four years (of high school). This means that what you see on the screen is words telling my story = a poem. There will be images in the background too. This is what makes it a documentary. It will include personal stories that I experience that I never told anyone else but myself. So it will be a personal Peace about my life so that people can relate to. Right now I just finish the first rough draft and I am so excited about it because its building up right in front of me.

Through Struggles,
Challenges,
I made me. - a line from my documentary.

Zeum staff are really helping me a lot with organizing my timeline for my project. I feel I get a lot of my creative ideas here. When I work in the music video production lab I pay close attention to the educator who is instructing the kids. I pay attention to the type of background the kids would choose and the costumes they wear. I aways wonder if those fit together if they would look right in front of a camera. I will be thinking about that in my mind. It's like a puzzle - what works, what doesn't. Even though my video is all words, this is still inspirational because I can look at the colors and think about how to use color in mine.

For example, one day a group of boys were making a music video - two of them were wearing a bird mask and one was just rapping. They had some kind of lava background and I saw that it worked well with their costumes since their mask were red and orange. It gave me ideas about what I should add in my documentary.

I hope that my movie will turn out great. To be continued...