Narrative Project: Empty Nest

empty Nest from Michael Telschow on Vimeo.
narrative about mature couple who have begun to deal with empty nest syndrome, especially the husband who is haunted by all the good memories.

Documentary: Fight For his Life: the Vermario Napper Story

fighting from Michael Telschow on Vimeo.

Empty Nest Poster

Script Based on the Phrase," I am so lonely since the kids went to college".

Opening shot ( A large quiet living room, somewhat cluttered with every day objects).

Medium close-up shot ( A mantle and wall with family pictures in frames. The pictures have images of Mother and Father with multiple children. The pictures are snapshots in time of various stages in the growth and age of the children).

The Camera Pans left to right, like reading the pages of a storybook, starting with the children when very young and ending with the most recent. It is a group shot with the children all looking very mature surrounding the youngest child, he is wearing a cap and gown graduating from high school.

Cut to kitchen scene, same house, there is clutter on island, a middle-aged man sits on stool. He is slowly sipping from coffee cup. There is a plate of breakfast eggs in front of him.

MCU shot ( He is bringing cup to his lips slowly, but his eyes are glazed and distant, he is starring off into the distance.

Ultra close-up ( Just his eyes, we can see faint images of children playing in the yard, as if reflecting off his eyes or glasses).

We hear a distant voice of his wife calling.

Wife: "Well, I don't think we can expect, Sharon."
Husband: ( His face seems to come to life, with a somewhat dazed look on his face, as if pulled from a daydream).
Wife: "Honey, did you hear what I said? I don't think we can expect Sharon".
Husband: " I'm sorry, why are we not expecting, Sharon, and for what"?

( Camera cuts away to the wife entering the kitchen in wide out shot ).

Wife: " I'm talking about Thanksgiving dinner, I don't think she can make the trip. What with starting graduate school, Portland flights at Thanksgiving are expensive. She doesn't have the income".
Husband: " I am sure that you both have scoured all the web prices for airfares, if you two can't find a bargain, it can't be done".

The camera cuts to close-up of the man. The camera can catch movement of wife moving about the kitchen behind. The camera goes to ultra closeup of man's full face. His looks are knitted and fur roughed, it is as if he is straining to hold something inside. Then, his face calms, as if he has finally come to a decision.

Husband:" I am so lonely since the kids went to College".

The camera catches the wife stopping in the background. ( There is a long silence, maybe five seconds, it seems like longer). MCU of wife coming from behind husband they both have watering eyes with sadness slowly creeping on to their faces).

Wife: " I love you."

Five Phrases I Heard This Week

1. Am I depressed?
2. The poison ivy is alive and well.
3. She had a good dip in the gene pool.
4. I am so lonely since the kids went to college.
5. I am so busy, with all the things I have to do, I just can't get anything done.

3 Documentary Subjects

 Documentary Subject #1: Sally Bloomfield

Sally is a long time resident of Wakarusa, IN. She has worked at the local convenience store as long as anybody can remember. She cooks the deep fried foods that the local factory workers buy for their lunches, until recently. She was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. She went through out patient surgery and must remain out of work for a month. She lives alone, on a limited income, she is optimistic. She says," Oh! I'll be alright, I just have no idea what I can do for a month of work.

 Documentary Subject # 2: Steve Cook

Steve Cook is a restaurant entrepreneur. He owns two local pizza parlors.  One is in Jimtown and the other is in Wakarusa. He says his life isn't that exciting or busy, but he somehow manages both places and prepares the foods served to appreciative customers. Cook's Pizza is downtown Wakarusa's favorite hangout, where you can get friendly conversation and even watch Steve's favorite baseball team on the big screen TV, while you chow down.  

Documentary Subject #3: Kristin Shirk

Kristin Shirk works as a librarian at the Wakarusa Public Library, she works part-time at the middle school, and her husband is also a middle school teacher. There are so many services available at the library, and she will help you in any way available to access them. Following her around while she points out each one would make for a very informative tour.

Photograph from SJRMC Oct. 8 Shoot

This is a photograph of Justin, Trey, and the nurses outside just after the Finale scene we shot in the courtyard at SJRMC on Oct. 8

Photograph Taken Last Week During SJRMC Shoot

During last weeks shoot at SJRMC we were shooting choreographed scenes at the nurses' station and the Go-Pro camera came around so we did this take with the wheel chair dolly as the nurses did their thing.

IN-CLASS VIDEO FOOTAGE

T-273 Blog Assignment

The first still photograph was custom white balanced and had a shutter speed of 1/13 and an f-stop of 4.5 and ISO 400 .

The second still photograph was custom white balanced and shot with 1/18 shutter speed, f-stop 4.5, and

 ISO 800.

    The third still photograph was shot with 1/3 shutter speed, f-stop 4.5, and ISO 400.

The fourth still photograph was shot with 1/8 shutter speed, f-stop 4.5, and ISO 800.

One Emotion Ten Photograph Shoot

I decided that my emotion of choice for this particular blog photographic shoot should be disgust considering the facts that my subjects started out cooperative, but after they put up with me trying to get the proper images the disgust came very naturally.

Brainstorming Media Project # 6

A fictional linear narrative following the main character, whose job is working as an agent for the NSA. He is trying to infiltrate a terrorist sleeper cell who unknowingly tipped off their activity while recruiting new initiates. He will go undercover into their initiate program. He will gain their trust. During this period he discovers they have a plan to release a chemical weapon at a major college campus during a whole student body convocation. Please, anybody who might be reading this I am putting a disclaimer in this text because of the sensitive nature of what I am writing, do not take this the wrong way. This is a hypothetical scenario as part of a school project for a media program class. While the student is working on this brainstorming project, he is mistakenly arrested for even writing about the sleeper cell scenario because he posted it online. The school dismisses him from attendance, expelled, and he is being held without bail or trial at a secret location. It is all a case of mistaken intention, of course his freedom of speech is being quelled and he is being punished without due process. Is this even something possible in today's fearful environment? It has happened already and it will happen again. We tend not to think of what may happen as long as it isn't something that could happen to us.

Brainstorming Media Project # 5

A non-linear, non-fiction documentary concerning the use of strong chemicals and heavy metals used in the manufacture of the clothes we wear and the preparation of foods we buy in the grocery. The growing of foods using pesticides would be investigated through interviews with experts discussing  their effects on farmers.

Why the foreign countries that supply these products to us are not held to the same standards as we are domestically. Also, why this has given rise to a grassroots movement for unprepared raw and organic homegrown foods.A Wall Street Journal article on China and the price they are paying for polluting through the manufacturing process. Also, a blog entry by an expert discussing the negative affects of dyes.

Brainstorming Media Project #4

A fictional linear narrative detailing the events in the day of a homeless man who lives under a bridge and visits people at the local homeless shelter. He likes his life the way it is and every person who comes around trying to "help" him, he resents and makes himself annoying and rough, and turns them away by doing confusing, rude things to them. One day things take a turn because he comes across a young runaway boy who he takes under his wings. He decides to teach this lost boy how to survive in the "good life" which he lives and has loved. When the boy becomes sick he is faced with the dilemma of getting him to a doctor and meeting his parents.

Media Project #3

A non-fictional, linear mini-documentary on the life and times of the man who was the founding force of today's healing televangelists. William Brahnam, a humble preacher from Jeffersonville, Indiana, inspired an entire movement amongst all denominations during the 1940-60s. He went from his small church setting to packed auditoriums all around the world overnight. The narrative would tell of his unusual birth across the Ohio River in Kentucky, giving eye witness accounts concerning a sign from heaven, a bright light that hung over his bed after he was born. This same light appearing when he was baptizing believers in the Ohio River as a young minister that was seen by hundreds of people at the time. Interviews with surviving relatives in which they relate their memories of what really happened. Researched archives of what happened in those evangelistic crusades across the globe would be brought to light and the story of the encounter with an angel sent from God to gift the preacher with healing and the word of knowledge to be a sign, so people would believe God. Backdrop of places where he preached. Interviews with present day evangelists telling of Branham's influence on their ministry today. Possibly finding individuals or their children remebering how the miracles impacted their lives. The target audience are those christians who know a little about evangelism today and are interested in why some things are done the way they are in pentecostal or charismatic groups. Also, anyone who likes the bizarre and supernatural from a secular standpoint.

Brainstorming Media Project #2

This will be a non-linear fiction. The genre is science-fiction/fantasy. The setting is a small pioneer town around the turn of the 20th century. It is a midwestern settlement where one of the inhabitants of the town has his own laboratory. He is performing experiments with electromagnetic and flux frequency based on Nicola Tesla's work of the same time period. During his experiments he opens a portal through the fabric of space-time. Flash forward to an alternative reality where life has evolved very differently. Animals that never became extinct are alive, and animals that never evolved in our reality, have in this one. Present day, same midwestern town, where these alternative reality beings have been living ever since the portal opened over a century before. They live hidden amongst the shadows living with the ancestors of the original doctor. Some of the AR beings are docile and harmless, but others are more aggressive. They set out to take over the town. the normal inhabitants and the more docile AR beings come up with a plan to overthrow their oppressors by recreating the portal experiments and traveling back to before the original time when the portal was first opened and make sure it doesn't happen.

Brainstorming a New Media Project #1

     The project is non- fiction, linear narrative. A documentary about the troubles that a crew of recreational vehicle transporters experience while trying to make a living. Slowdowns, corporate decisions, schedule conflicts that keep them from time with loved ones, interactions, good, bad, or ugly within the crew members themselves, will all be captured visually and audibly in real time through on location shooting and personal interviews while the crew go about their daily jobs. Recreational vehicles aren't the only loads this crew transports.

A Biographical Statement

I have always loved media. My first memory as a small child was laying in bed with my four older sisters around the age of three and watching a presentation of Chrysler Theatre. I grew up during the golden age of television and many of the classic reruns of the oldies I saw when they were first released. My favorites were shows like Lost in Space , Voyage Beneath the Sea,  My Favorite Martian, and Star Trek. I have always loved sci-fi and fantasy genre. I saw all the Star Wars movies when they originally appeared in the theatre for the first time. What I love about media is the ability for a story to be told that connects to its audience to not only entertain, but brings that audience away having touched their imagination and sparked something deep inside. I want to be a part of that creative process. To work on a film crew creating content, or anything where I can become a part of a team that produces work that can really make an impact on the mind's of the audience. I enjoy the reaction of the audience to whatever media being presented.