Rocky's Revolt

I am in the process of uploading a less blurry version...I'm not a fan of video egg quite yet!!!

Although the project as a whole is shabby, I still thank you for delivering something so current and would like to see it on air.

Nice interleaving of protest footage, the speech, and interviews, and very good mix of opinions. Could probably be about 2 minutes shorter (but don't cut the guy giving Rocky the finger), and I'd at least use dissolves to smooth over the ellipses in some interviews. But a solid piece, and a GL from me.

good piece...balanced viewpoints, but could cut a couple of interviews down to sound bites and tighten up a couple of sound transitions (like coming out of his first speech).

do that and it is a definate GL...would like to see it on air

Good work! This is an important issue, and you captured an equal amount of opinions, what is the role of our community/government leaders? I think we're all questioning what all of our roles are right now as far as how/when do we stand up and when do we act like patriots? And what is a patriot? I would have liked more interviews and shorter interviews and a tighter piece all together, was a little long. But I like the idea of seeing what people are doing across the nation to stir up important dialogue about where the US is headed

Objective and interesting - i like how the interviewees are unflinching - tighten it up a bit though

I thought this was great. I was so engaged with the Mayor's speech and the interviews that it took me a while to notice the picture quality. Overall this is really good. I hope it makes it to TV. Good Luck. GL.

Nice work.

Good, strong piece.

Clearly the issue is not just the injustice of our sitting president. The issue is how and when does one show deference to those in power. And just as clearly, a capable politician can be personally gracious and intellectually critical in practically the same breath.

As a piece of filmmaking this clip has lots going for it.

The subject matter is well worth our attention. More so it's focused on the conflict between articulate dissent and the notion of how an elected official represents those who elect him, up to and including the lengths one goes to to express disapproval for a distasteful administration.

The visual approach is strong, too. You've got good, clean footage of Mayor Anderson giving the speech in question and you've got enough of it to let the viewer know how carefully considered his words are. The cutaway interviews are both authoritative and from the grassroots. The beauty of interviewing elected officials is in their ability to understand the political context and distill it into intelligent language. The interviews with seemingly "plain folks" hits their points clearly, too. Your interviews were relaxed, well selected and to the point.

The thing to keep in mind is concision. Only show as much as you need to. Yeah, the whole speech was probably brilliant and even inspiring. I love it when a public figure takes a courageous public stand, especially against a leader as sophomoric and reckless as President Bush. But, this short documentary could have been just as effective at half the length. Case in point. The cutaway, from Anderson's speech to a helicopter, was too long and, frankly needless. It implies a certain paranoia that doesn't belong here. Having said that, I do understand why you did it. You needed a cutaway to shorten the speech and you took advantage of the mayor's reaction. But if your photographer was smart, you'd have reaction shots of the crowd to go to, or even better, shots that included both crowd reactions and an over the shoulder shot of the mayor.

Two more points.

While subtitles are often dismissed as needless clutter, they do have their value, especially in explaining time, place and naming those on camera. I would have named, on screen, the interview subjects, including simple credentials.

I think showing Bush's arrival, at the end, is a needless flourish. Your topic is the mayor's speech and the many reactions to it. Keep it focused.

Good work!

J

Good stuff.

I love to see democracy at work...so many opinions all finding a place. I love the conflict and the war of the words...GL for content, but as has been said, it could be much more sophisticated. But maybe that works, given the content....mmmm....

Thanks for all the comments and great feedback. I felt the piece was a little long at over seven minutes so I tightened it up and uploaded a newer version at just over six. This was an interesting piece to edit, it is basically about freedom of expression and I felt that the more I edited out the further I was getting from that idea. Since this was a news upload I wanted to let the different voices be heard and I didn't want to cut them to where I was telling the story I wanted to hear. So the editing style was less about entertaining and more about information. I wanted to keep it raw and honest. I appreciate all the coments and greenlights, keep em' coming...(my upload is still compressed, so it is not as clear as it should be. Videoegg will not support any browsers for my mac system and I have no way to get an uncompressed version over to my PC, no firewire!!!...I liked the old way of uploading!!!)

"videoegg wouldnt support" your mac browsers? did you try firefox?-> link i used it and it worked fine, took a little while but not a problem otherwise.

jscott,
yeah, firefox was the first browser I tried and it didn't work. I only have OS X 10.2.8, I think I need at least 10.4 for videoegg to support it. If not explain to me exactly what you did and what system you have, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

That must be it, i am running os10.4. your pod's great! i'm sure you'll be on air in no time.

I agree with the oposition to the Governor's position. He slapped all of us, who support the President, particularly those of us who served and are serving. May I also point out that one thing is to have free speach, and quite another to also lie in the process of speaking by claiming that the Presidnet and our Secretary of State have lied. We should exercise our freedom of speech aslo while ourselves speaking the truth. There has been no evidence that the President and/or Ms. Condoleza Rice lied at any time. I congratulate the interviewer of the piece and the producer for doing their best to balance the piece. But if it were me, in order to do even more objective and/or "balanced" journalism of that kind, I would have also question the accuracy or truthfullness of the statement and comments by those interviewed. In addition to that, I would have attempted to have them give me their opinion about the truth value of the statements or comments of the Governor, as well as the potential hurt caused by him and his position upon our service mand and their families, and the Country at large.

So is lying about someone telling the truth about someone lying covered under our constiution. Or is having a bunch of blindly following gullible tards give one the constitutional protection to lie?
And how the hell is trying to protect our military serviceman's lives form absolutely absurd justifications for war not supporting them and sending them to thier graves under false pretences supporting them? WTF? It's like living in BIZZARRO AMERICA...

Everyone should have the right to express an honest opinion in this country including politicians.

The opinions expressed in this piece were very balanced, and the interview subjects on both sides were very eloquent.

Congrats.

you have a problem with Rocky's ethical behavior...? WOW....
that's like shooting someone and getting mad cause they got blood on your shoes

Wonderful film. You cannot fight violence with violence. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind, as Gandhi so aptly noted. I commend Rocky for calling it like it is. I noticed one commentator, in his critque of this film, stating that there has been no evidence demonstrating that Bush has lied to the people. Oh, really? Maybe if you've been living in a cave on the moon for the last decade you might convince yourself to believe that. Check out the following website for more information on the lies our president has been propagating: link

I am by no means a fan of Bush but I didn't side with the mayor in this piece. The timing of his comments was to poor. The event was a positive a somber one. I don't think such a rally is appropriate fair for the funeral of a serviceman especially. The idea is to be a good host not to the president but to the veterans association. That belittles the sacrifice the veterans made. I am very disappointed though certainly not about his views just his clearly politicized timing.

i love your work man! keep it up! GL!