Fireside Chat

The fireside chat was by far the most moving and the most incredible of anything we have done so far. I can honestly say that some of the pieces truly touched me and spoke to me. I think I loved the entire process more than any of the other assignments as well. I think part of it was the performing, there’s a sort of terrifying thrill of performing that I find exciting and invigorating. But even that being said, there was so much more to the meaning of this assignment than the performance. For me, it was mostly in creation.

I decided that since the whole point of this class is to stretch ourselves, explore new mediums/inspirations, and to even put ourselves out there, that I would perform a rap. It combined my natural skill of rhythmic rhyming with a form and culture I have little to no experience in. I was going for a sound and style like Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”, which though I haven’t heard since high school, it still stuck with me and reminds me that not all rap is crap. I knew that my lyrics would need a song to start with, so I rummaged through my spotify and found one of my particular favorite instrumentals-- “Palladio” by Escala. I find it so powerful, moving, and exactly the kind of style that I was hoping to emulate. However, I will confess I was really scared, because I was worried that such a heavy form would create misunderstandings about me and my classmates. I didn’t want everyone to think that I was this heavy, angsty guy, but I decided to go through with it anyway. I’m so glad I did.

The subject matter: Why did I pick standing up for/defending yourself? No, I haven’t really had a problem with it in my life, at least not in that way. I did it because it was the first thing that came to my mind because it is something I believe in, and I thought I could put it across in a unique way, especially with this form, because of the same ideologies I have in my decision to join the Army. So, I created a narrative. I picked a story of a young man that formed in my head and put it to rhyme in the rhythm of the song. I was pretty proud of the lyrics when it was finished, but I wanted to check how I sounded...such a bad idea. I listened to myself and almost swore then and there that I would completely change my piece (this was the night before). However, I decided to go for it for the same reasons I came up with the idea: I wanted to stretch myself and put myself out there.

So, I went all out. I dressed to fit the occasion, especially choosing clothes with a military theme or feel, because that relates directly to the subject of my belief: Defending and standing up for oneself and what you care about/believe in. I was so scared, my hands were shaking really bad, but as the music came on and the words came out, though I stumbled a few times, I actually really enjoyed it.

Concerned Citizen

http://soundcloud.com/dancermlee/concerned-citizen-tma-112

Artists’ Statement

We decided to focus on someone who is a part of the armed sources. A song which inspired us to pursue someone in this field is the song “Citizen Soldier” by 3 Doors Down, even though its talking about the National Guard, it applies to all men and women in the service. They are all citizens and everything they do helps provide us with a better tomorrow. We decided to film Lieutenant Colonel Boberg, who is the Professor of Military Science over the Cougar Battalion (includes BYU, UVU, SUU, and Dixie) because he is concerned over the development of the next generation of leaders and firmly believes that what is learned in the ROTC makes better people as wells as better soldiers and officers. In the reading there was a quote that said “The antidote to despair is to remember the world to come.” LTC Boberg is always talking about the future of his cadets in the ROTC program. He strives to build better people by training them today. What better way to gain hope than to help provide the hope for everyone else?

When editing the interview which we had with LTC Boberg we focused on what the ROTC strives for as a whole, what LTC Boberg personally strives for in regards to the ROTC, and how the ROTC affects the community, and how the members of the ROTC affect the community. Also, originally we were going to have the piece be a film but upon examining the interview we decided that it was best to focus solely on LTC Boberg’s words. We have included about 15% of the interview and because of what we decided to focus on from the interview it was impractical to include the footage we had captured from his personal training session and from practice at the range with some cadets as cut-aways during the interview. Therefore, we decided to focus solely on his words and have the piece be audio only. 

Overall, piece seeks to demonstrate and celebrate the role which LTC Boberg has in teaching future leaders of armed services as well as future leaders and contributors of our community and how they give priceless service to this country and community.