Genre 1 TEDtalk:
TEDtalks are meant to be informative on a specific topic that relates back to the author in some way. Usually, TEDtalks are presented by individuals who are considered experts in their field or those who have gone through something of significance to their presentation. I like how connected to their presentation the presenters are. I think I picked a TEDtalk presentation as my first genre because I like making presentations. Creating presentations has come rather easy for me so it seemed to be the best decision if I chose it for my first remix. However, upon hearing others were doing the same thing, I decided to change my idea slightly. I wanted my remixes to stand out from the crowd and not just fade into it. I believe that if each of my remixes were uniquely catered to my personality, I would have a larger audience leading to more people knowing my message. I want people to realize the hold they have on others. I want them to realize just how intertwined the world is. I want them to understand the struggles that others suffer through just so you could have it easier. I want them to know the dangers that greed can lead to. Apple has consistently decided for two decades that they would rather short Chinese laborers on what they deserve and instead would rather force them through harsh conditions with no way out other than taking their own lives. This is only one example among thousands in which American outsourcing has led to sweatshops, exploitation of laborers, and death. This happens all over the world in less developed countries just so American companies can increase their profit margin. This is what I wanted to show my audience when I was working on my remixes. The reason I am really interested in this topic is that I am currently striving to become an ambassador for East Asian and United States relations (possibly Canadian relations at the rate this country is going) so I would be able to fight for basic human rights half-way around the world.
Genre 2 Interview:
One of the types of YouTube videos I’ve gotten into recently are cringey “On Street” interviews created by the likes of Chris Klemens. When I think of interviews, I think of Chris Klemens’ videos. His videos are shot on the streets of LA and usually feature young college students. Often times Klemens films with a cameraman and stands next to his interview subject. Klemens utilizes interviewing college students to poke fun at his local population with funny reactions and questions. What I tried to do with my interview was mirror Chris Klemens techniques with some slight adaptations. Instead of filming with a cameraman and being next to the interview subject, I was behind the camera. Looking back on it, I wish I was able to professionally film the interview with a cameraman, but my resources were limited resulting in me doing my own camera work. I still tried to mirror Klemens work through personality and his ability make jokes about the interview. I asked each of my interview subjects the same set of questions as to not seem leading. Out of the nine questions asked, I only preference two of the questions to tell the students about what the interview is actually trying to convey. Now, I’d like to mention that I am no professional when it comes to videography nor editing. I shot the interview with a combination of my laptop camera and my phone (which is a Samsung S9 I think) and allowed my “test subjects” to pick the location they wanted to be interviewed at. However, this proved to be strange as most participants requested that we sit down even though the interview would only take 1-5 minutes. I guess as a Floridian college student myself, I should have expected that. Once the “test subjects” found out what the interview was for, some asked for me to cut out some of their answers and their “ums” because they “didn’t want to seem dumb.” One was quoted to say “wait, I’m not dumb, I’m just panicking.” This interview was created to create a sense of awareness amongst those taking part in the interview by showing them how their choice of phones can impact people in other countries like China. Most people do not know about Foxconn or even where iPhones are manufactured. Klemens’ videos use humor to tell his interview participants hard-hitting information to make them think about their own lives. I wanted to utilize this to basically shove this information into the faces of the participants and the audience. You can make a poster, a power point, an art piece, but how much is that really going to do if your potential artist does not look at it? By doing an interview, I was able to ensure that there was at least a small audience.
Genre 3 Podcast:
I was inspired by my uncle Jay to pick a podcast as my third and final genre for my remixes. My uncle plays a large part in the person I’ve become today and I wanted to incorporate something he would do into my project. Jay runs his own podcast where he invites guests onto the show and talks about different topics that are relevant to his own interests. I believe that a podcast can be used to be informational while also holding some humor from the commentary of the host. This seemed to be the best idea for my last genre. I first started with creating a podcast outline so I could write down all of my ideas on how to format the podcast and what I should talk about. I first thought of a name for the podcast, then the topics I would talk about that would best convey my topic about Apple sweatshops, and then the intro/outro music. I then recorded the test podcast where I would act like it was the real podcast so I understood the layout and make sure I knew what I was doing. The first recording consisted of a lot of mistakes and laughing as it was recorded in my dorm’s common room which lead for me being interrupted. Then I recorded the final version of the podcast and edited it with an app named “Wave app audio editor” that can be downloaded onto your computer for free. What I hope my audience takes away from the podcast is that not everything is black and white when it comes to Chinese Sweatshops. I want them to understand the impact they have on people from hallway across the world. I want them to know the kinds of conditions people who create some of their products suffer through. I want to create this awareness so students can make the conscious decision of what they want to do about it. Without the consumer speaking up, Apple would have never changed for the better and would have most likely gotten worse.
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