Give 'Em Belle!

Good! I GL'd it a while ago!!!

Come see my stuff when you have a chance.

williefab -- "Got Fat?"

Yes! too late for me to give a GL
congratulations!!

Wheeeeewwwwwoooooo!!!! Where is my Mike Belle?

He is an alluring fella. And Armchair is right. Whether or not he won he did make a change. That was a pretty close election.

Let's see who can sustain this quickie link

Here's another slightly related piece that might raise some eyebrows. Please take a look and let me know what you think. It's here. Thank you.

I missed my chance to vote. Congratulations in any case. Well done.

this is awesome. well done!

Belle is an inspiration!

This is beautiful. Coming from the generation of the 2000 election I know that we feel our vote is useless. This just shows that the 2000 election did it's job by discouraging young people to vote and demand a change in the towns, states, and enviorment we live in. This is another hot poker trying to wake us up! Congrats!

I believe the youth are disillusioned on how much power they possess! Rather than a select few who govern the psyche of the a populous! The X & I generations are very much a factor! Most youth are unaware of how much "one vote can make a difference!" The erosion of the constitution not being upheld in a just manner by our predecessors often discourage our vision of justice! Non the less a man such as Mike Belle is a prime example of hope faith and belief! Tho the presidential maturity is 35 years of age. I believe our maturity is that of a sooner state; but is greatly unrecognized by the elder ones of our society! ("Power"!!!)

amazing!! it's a demonstration of our power when we want to use it.

amazing!! it's a demonstration of our power when we want to use it.

Brilliant!

Wanna check out my VCAM while you're watching the countdown? Good job and good luck.

Professionally done, good story

Mike you are a great guy with a great vision!! Don't be so pushy, you don't have to prove no one anything, especially when you are doing, when you are creating and you ARE!!! All the best!!!!!!

Woo! My future college UF! Go Gators! Ilove that these students are involved in Politics at this level too.

This was a great pod.
Nice structure and solid editing.
It has lots of character and a subtle humor to it all.

And just seeing a peer run for office is inspirational.
GL!

greenlight

interesting !!

very good editing .

gooood luuuuuuuuck

greenlight ;)

inspiring and enlightening

Belle, youre the man.
-peter g

Excellent work. Very well edited. Good luck!

The youth needs to step up, so we can make a difference. Or in ten yearz we are going to be some trouble

really cool story......gl

Sorry, hit the no button on accident. I think your film is paced nicely and is an important issue for our college students to see. Good Job. I liked the editing and it looks really ready for TV.

GL. I liked it. Mr. Belle seamed to much like a used car sales man to me...but hay he believe in what he was doing and that is something I can admire!

This is a shortened version of a REALLY great documentary.

Too self-promoting. Also very cliche'.

Nice work. Felt the productions was well done, and the content was interesting. It is unfortunate that the youth vote is so elusive. I wonder what Belle's chances would have been had he been running during a national election. I know that where I went to school (U of Maine) the turnout was always much higher for Presidential elections, but you never even knew when the other elections were taking place. Anyway, I enjoyed it, GL!

If you get a chance, please check out our XM VCAM, "XM Makes Me Money". Thanks!

Nice work. I like the way you played on the larger themes and yet didn't try to draw any conclusions about them at the end, leaving it up to the viewer to decide. Good mixture of people on the street and experts, good b-roll of campus. Nice work. GL.

Mike

I've uploaded a updated version because of comments below. I cut out a shot from Belle's earlier campaign for mayor of Gainesville (Belle riding a pedicab at night with his friend on a megaphone). It was never intended to be misleading, but now there should not be any confusion between the two races.

Give 'Em Belle was never meant to be news coverage that documented every last detail of the Gainesville City Commission race in 2005. It's a non-fiction story about about student apathy, and one man's passionate attempt to change that.

Thanks for all of the wonderful comments...

It's tough at the top, hang in there Gator.

This story is really well told. I commend Belle's effort to motivate his fellow students to become involved with the process. It reminded me of similiar efforts at my own alma mater when students would run for local office. It always seemed to be a struggle to get students to register for the local elections. Some students I knew would use the reasoning that they wanted to register to vote in their "hometown" elections because they still felt they had a more vested interest there. The store owner in the piece was partially right, for a lot of people, the place where they go to school is just a stopover and they don't take any interest in local happenings. I speculate that a lot of college students think of it as just a place where they go to school and not a place where they live.

Change is not all bad. I commend the efforts of Belle to stand up and make a difference. Stand up for yourself youth of America. You have the right. Not many in the world do and it is YOU who will run the world sooner than you think.

Well told story, would love to see the full version. Thanks for a very good pod. GL

Give 'em hell Belle!!!

Cheryl :)

I didn't notice much of a change between the 8 minute cut and the 6:40 one; some of the last scene and Mike's reaction to the Alligator article was all I noticed. Was the debate footage shortened?

And having actually been present for a lot of the events in the film, I can say with all honesty that Jack Donovan was far more uninteresting and dismissive of student involvement in person than he comes off as here.

It is perhaps too strong of a charge to say that the footage in the Belle/Donovan "debate" was doctored, but I simply could not sit through this edit without wondering what Donovan had done to the filmmakers between the earlier edits and this final one that had inspired such a departure in the editorial approach.

The earlier edit was not very flattering to Belle, and one could have walked away from a viewing of it with the feelling that the makers of the film had been almost shamelessly honest with their depiction of Belle. It was an uncomfortable film to watch, but it was honest. This latest edit strikes me as a timid bowlderization of what was originally a courageous and unabashedly honest film.

Thanks for all the comments. Let me just clear up a few things, because the charge that the facts of the film are misleading or fraudulent is simply not accurate.

Give 'Em Belle! is a non-fiction account of Mike Belle's campaign for Gainesville City Commission in 2005... Yes, an earlier version of the film was 33-minutes. Part of editing for television involves cutting scenes out. This campaign went on for 4 months - can you imagine how even a 33-minute film could even begin to capture everything that
happened during that time? As a documentary filmmaker and journalist, I'm bound to reality to tell my story. And nothing that was cut from the earlier version of the film changes the reality of this campaign.

The first omission that is blatantly obvious is that yes, there was another opponent (Tony Domenech) in the race not seen in this cut. From a story perspective however, Mike was up against older, more educated, and more experienced politicians during his campaign: Jack Donovan, the winner, symbolizes this. Furthermore, I can tell you from experience that Mike felt more competitive toward Jack Donovan during the campaign - probably stemming from the fact that they both vying to be the Democrat in the race.

There was one shot of Mike from his earlier campaign for Mayor in this cut - the shot of Mike riding around a pedi-cab bicycle at night with a friend on the microphone. One of the reasons we chose Mike as a character was because of the thin line between his idealism and naivete. Nothing embodies this more than the thought of Mike trying
to convince students to vote at 2am on a Saturday night at the bars while riding a bike. That's why the shot was chosen - because it symbolizes Mike's entire story during all of his campaigns - it should not be deceptive.

No footage in the film was "doctored". Nothing was even edited out of sequential order during the debate (yes, that debate took about 1 hour, so we cut down to the interesting moment). Donovan was asked a question, he answered, and Mike responded with an attack. At this point in the campaign, Mike was frustrated and desperately trying to gain ground on the candidate that was winning - so he took a shot to get attention.
Jack said almost the exact same thing minutes after the campaign in an interview.

Finally, I don't think this film does a "slam-job" on any candidate in the race. Both Jack Donovan and Mike Belle were extremely helpful and cooperative during the production of Give 'Em Belle!, and we came to know and respect all of the candidates during the race.

I do appreciate the comments though, and thank you for the passion and interest...

Let me first say that this edit is a huge improvement technically. The soundtrack is great and the cuts are sharper, keeping the whole thing moving along quickly and making the minutes fly by. Well done.

However, this edit is extremely misleading and a VERY POOR document of the facts of the Belle campaign. It contains footage from an earlier Belle campaign for mayor that is placed as if it were footage from the city commission race. It doesn't even mention the third candidate, republican candidate Dominich, turning this edit of the film into a slam-job of Donovan. The footage of the "debate" between Donovan and Belle was doctored to make Donovan look bad, when in the original edit a more complete depiction revealed that Donovan actually showed a great deal of restraint and humility in his comments..

A technically improved edit, but misleading to perhaps a fraudulant degree as far as the facts are concerned. I know this from experience, and anyone who sees the earlier edits will know from the more complete, albeit technically inferior, depiction provided there.

Not ready for TV until the Donovan slam is removed and the facts are set straight.

good to go........

Very energetic and inspirational. I would like to see this on TV.

Hooray for Mike! Way to go! Love ya!

Interesting

Revolutionary!

That was a really great pod.
Unfortunately, I think that Mr.Belle was a republican...
Too bad.

hey hey

ah man... i thought he was going to win. such suspense at the end when yhou paused the results! this is exciting and very well documented. high production quality. nice use of title and the music is an excellent compliment. fab shots....with a very important message to deliver.

As per usual an interesting peephole into a microcosm issue. Excellent production quality, well on your way.

- Joe V

I watched the re-edit. something got lost between the first edit and this one. Maybe because it's I already know the story. The length was certainly better. But the story didn't pack as much punch. I didn't think the background got explained well. I think the story changed a little. Before, I felt that belle was trying to challenge the system. He was trying to make an impact on the way local elections view students. In this version, I see a guy who just wanted to get votes. I don't takehim as serious in this version.

I appreciate your hard work and hope also in working to bring change by grass root efforts.
GL

Great job on building up the tension. I wish I had that much ambition. Good luck Mike Belle!

Check out my pod We Are Little Brazil

Really well done- great story - great edit. Keep it up.

give them hell

super

Awesome! This doc has such a great flow. Belle is great candidate for such a challenge, as well. Younger would be better in this case. Just because I am young, and I see how much older people discriminate against that fact all day long. So I see why Mike is willing to devote his time. People need to stop being so damn apathetic, too. Great work!

Very well put together!

Well done! GL. Young people and local politics--that's where it's at. If I ever see the name Mike Belle on a ballot, I'll vote for him after watching this. :)
BTW, I'm currently in Stanley, Idaho, a town with the youngest mayor in the U.S. (Hannah Stauts was 22 when elected in 2005). Thanks for your comment on Alms Giving.

Interesting story and good job of video work.GL;)

I found this one extremely entertaining. Well done! Unlike a lot of pods I found my self waiting around to the end to see how all turned out. If he runs again, I'd love to see that. GL!

If you have a moment, please check out my pod. Only 2 minutes!

good luck with trying to get the kids of Gainsville to stop partying for a second and think about politics.

:)

Exciting to see Gainesville.

"Most kids only care about drinking."

I agree fully. Nice work man. Really great piece. Thanks a million for emailing me the invitation.

Very tight edit and story. Good timing throughout.

Good Work! your story is engaging.
good editing, got a nice paste. I like it and im not a fan of american politics stories. i think you go deeper.
GL!

you did a good work. GL for this pod and thanks for your support.
i just didnt like so much the way you use the music

gl for tenacity alone !

link

Really great story here!!! Well done. Very depressing story though. I can't imagine why so many students are bothering to earn their degrees when they won't have an opportunity to use them unless they wake up!!! I was hoping the younger generation was going to be the one to turn this mess around but it appears they have become exactly what the rich and the powerful want them to be...impotent :( GL

Dave aka Knightshot

P.S. Post a happy one next time !

great pod. totally interesting + well constructed. gl

Ok, nice rework. Yes, it's hard to kill the babies but we gotta do it. You'll be on TV soon now. Nice cuts. GL well deserved. Go Gators. (I'm reletively new on Current, I tried to give you a GL vote on the recut but it won't let me. how does that work?)

Thanks to everyone for the comments. The overwhelming response has been that the cut is too long.

The people have spoken. Behold the new and improved, 6.5 minute version of Give 'Em Belle!

I trimmed the fat and killed my babies. Could I have cut more? Sure. But considering this started as a 33-minute film, I think it's in pretty good shape at 6.5...

Very nice. It's a topic I believe more students might want to pay attention to. The town where I spent 4 years and tens of thousands of dollars passed a law forbidding anyone to vote without 4 years of established residence. It's wild to me that a town of 34,000 has the right to deny 12,000 students a say in public matters.

Well done. It could easily be trimmed down to 6.5 - 7 minutes... felt especially heavy on the front. Think about running the titles over your B roll instead of black?

Compelling though. Thank you. Hope it runs.

This guy is intense!

You've got excellent sense of getting into the topic. You've got a diverse selections of roll, and it keeps the attention of the viewer, which I personally appreciate. You've got a diverse and well defined voice of various people. You catch Belle at different moments and the story carries well. The only downfall in my humble opinion is the length. However, I believe you've captured so much depth. Perhaps you could somehow shave a few off here and there. GL from me. You've got a good eye for angles as well, which shows ART. I appreciate one who has an eye for ART. GL bro~ Danielmklopp~

great pod, well put together, nicely shot - could be cut down a bit, but on the whole i really like it!

thanks for greenlighting my "Play in a Day" pod - really glad you liked it. Can i be really cheeky and ask you to greenlight it on the UK site too?

it's here: link

i've managed to get to number 12 on the UK site, but i really really want to make it into the top 10 so that hopefully the current staff will notice the pod...!

Nice variety of shots and good story telling. GL'd

Feel free to stop by and offer a comment on my VCAM

Great topic!

I like the way the story was told. You certainly have a lot of control over your craft. My only regret is that it didn't turn out better. Hopefully it wont make younger people think running for office is a waste of time. It really depends on the circumstances.

Didn't Michael Moore run for his school board when he was 18 and win? I guess we can always fall back on that.

Good job though. It has my gimped GL for what it's worth.

jensenjw,

I like this topic man. This guy is young and ambitious and I think he is going to make a difference in this world.

A nice mix of coverage and good editing =GL.

Thanks, for your comments on my Susan Cagle pod!

Great editing and pacing. You had a nice variety of footage which kept my attention.
GL from me and thanks for your support of my pod.

I like your subject, very curious. But I agree that it may be too long here. I think that it is either too long or two short here --i.e. it could be 5 minutes or it could be an hour. But cool footage.

GL

I like this pod, but you need to cut at least 3 minutes. I know it's painfull for us to cut our own fantastic footage, but for us to reach our audiance, it has to be packaged right. That is allways, shorter is better. Your footage, interview and story are very good. Make the cuts, and your ready for TV. Looking forward to seeing more of your work. (I'm a Gator alumni-your video brought back great memories)

good job, well edited...

Whether or not I agree with Mike's political stance, I have always been a supporter of the message that students should get involved in the community. I admire him for having the courage to stand up and go against mainstream politics by reaching out to the student community within Gainesville.

Inspring, well done, well cut, interesting story

well done, nice perspective

If you aren't a Gator...you're Gator bait.

interesting subjet and good qwality footageI have GL it..If you like mine please vote in the green yes button to GL it
thank you

It's a compelling story - the length didn't phase me at all.

the bomb!

Good story telling. Has build up, interest, and it moves along and makes a point and has a beginning, middle and end. I won't green light only based on the fact that it was too long. 8 minutes is too long for a small story about some guy in a small town city commissioner race. Make it about 3 minutes shorter and then GL

Wow! That was awesome. What a great story!

Nicely done. GO GATORS !

Jensen, this was solid from top to bottom. Extremely well put together piece. The eight minutes didn't bother me at all because the main character was so interesting to watch. Loved how you used your slates and let the story move itself. If you must cut it down for current you could lose more of the door to door shots as there seems to be plenty already. Congrats, GL.

Great & solid work!
I was living a few years in Ocala and I love Gainesville and his people.

,V,,

Overall very well produced.
Tight editing and well structured.
I particularly like the pregnant pause
before you reveal Mike Belle's vote tally.
However, I believe it could use a little more trimming

GL !!

Was he sincerely running, or was he acting the part to prove a point? Can you answer this with some of the details behind the project of the videeo?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
No, he was not acting. Mike Belle actually ran for - and lost - the City Commission Race (one year earlier, he ran for mayor, and obviously lost that one too). Genevieve Croteau and I produced this film while studying documentary at the University of Florida (the final piece was actually 33 minutes, but I cut this version down for Current). I had already done a short piece on Mike Belle prior to this, so we had excellent access and he was very used to the camera lens...

This was dope. Was he sincerely running, or was he acting the part to prove a point? Can you answer this with some of the details behind the project of the video? I have your back on this one... Moving people for social change is a bitch. Good pod. GreenLight! VOTE. VOTE. VOTE. Support those who support you...