Comments on: M’kay, looks like Vimeo’s back. Please scroll down for trailer joy. http://nonfictionmedia.com/blog/2008/07/20/mkay-looks-like-vimeos-back-please-scroll-down-for-trailer-joy/ nonfiction media's documentary production diary :: Nepal Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:56:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Karre http://nonfictionmedia.com/blog/2008/07/20/mkay-looks-like-vimeos-back-please-scroll-down-for-trailer-joy/comment-page-1/#comment-167 Karre Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:02:35 +0000 http://nonfictionmedia.com/blog/?p=314#comment-167 Hi Scott and Amy, i just thought i would add since seeing these comments that i agree with comment on confusion about the names that eleanor made.... (I thought at first it was just me and my nursing hormone befuddled brain.) And also about the "Education is the answer" comment Jennie made. It seems like "the Education is the answer" part sort of minimizes the rich complexity your trailer unearthed.... also i am putting the comment i enclosed previously in an email here for other people to agree or disagree with as they see fit: The girl with the red bucket made me think of these lines from a poem by transtromer: And the feeling of we're-right-here that you have to keep, like carrying a pail filled to the brim without spilling a drop. in other words, i liked the red bucket. for me i think it highlighted the amount of work there is for these children in achieving even simple tasks (like washing your face?) however i think partly due to the tone of the music (but also due to the beauty of your images), i felt impressed by the seemingly effortless ability of these children to find joy in their work so the image of the girl drumming and then slamming her hand against the door as her frustration mounted really helped to balance that perspective....ie i was like "oh yeah, that's right, work is hard and finding joy in work can be pretty difficult too" i thought the opening girl was amazing in her self-awareness and wisdom (ie "i have the fear. if i get angry the work i am doing won't get done"). in a way that line shifts the perspective of the trailer to what work really is: there is work work (such as winnowing wheat and carrying a pail filled with water) but there is also this other emotional work that is much more important and has to be done so that the other work (of school, and wheat) can be carried out. This is why the drumming against the door image was so important. This is the work all humans struggle with and this is what really complicates the lives of these children. I think it must be difficult to strike the right balance when showing us this emotional work since it is equally important to portray the joy of these childern but i think you have done a beautiful job. I didn't think the multiple story threads was confusing and the statistics did not bother me either but maybe fewer statistics or just the most important ones for brevity. and finally i felt so so SO proud to live in the same building as you and scott!!! Hi Scott and Amy,

i just thought i would add since seeing these comments that i agree with comment on confusion about the names that eleanor made…. (I thought at first it was just me and my nursing hormone befuddled brain.) And also about the “Education is the answer” comment Jennie made. It seems like “the Education is the answer” part sort of minimizes the rich complexity your trailer unearthed….

also i am putting the comment i enclosed previously in an email here for other people to agree or disagree with as they see fit:

The girl with the red bucket made me think of these lines from a poem by transtromer:

And the feeling of we’re-right-here that you have to keep, like
carrying a pail filled to the brim without spilling a drop.

in other words, i liked the red bucket. for me i think it highlighted the amount of work there is for these children in achieving even simple tasks (like washing your face?) however i think partly due to the tone of the music (but also due to the beauty of your images), i felt impressed by the seemingly effortless ability of these children to find joy in their work so the image of the girl drumming and then slamming her hand against the door as her frustration mounted really helped to balance that perspective….ie i was like “oh yeah, that’s right, work is hard and finding joy in work can be pretty difficult too”

i thought the opening girl was amazing in her self-awareness and wisdom (ie “i have the fear. if i get angry the work i am doing won’t get done”). in a way that line shifts the perspective of the trailer to what work really is: there is work work (such as winnowing wheat and carrying a pail filled with water) but there is also this other emotional work that is much more important and has to be done so that the other work (of school, and wheat) can be carried out. This is why the drumming against the door image was so important. This is the work all humans struggle with and this is what really complicates the lives of these children. I think it must be difficult to strike the right balance when showing us this emotional work since it is equally important to portray the joy of these childern but i think you have done a beautiful job.

I didn’t think the multiple story threads was confusing and the statistics did not bother me either but maybe fewer statistics or just the most important ones for brevity.

and finally i felt so so SO proud to live in the same building as you and scott!!!

]]> By: Jennie http://nonfictionmedia.com/blog/2008/07/20/mkay-looks-like-vimeos-back-please-scroll-down-for-trailer-joy/comment-page-1/#comment-166 Jennie Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:52:07 +0000 http://nonfictionmedia.com/blog/?p=314#comment-166 Watched the trailer again with my fam this weekend, and they thought it was as beautiful and impressive as I did. I agree though with what Eleanor said about establishing that it's the stories of 3 girls- my dad not having the background I had said, "what's that?" when the word Karuna came on the screen. The only other thing I am thinking about is the "education is the answer" at the end- even though obviously education is hugely important and is what you're focusing on, it feels a little too simple or straightforward or sure or something to call it THE answer to such a complicated set of problems...but what do I know, maybe it is...I wonder if it might be more powerful to just end with "stories from the struggle for girls' education"? But I don't know, that might just be my personal reaction...I cannot wait to see more!!!! You two are amazing. Oh, and my dad also commented about how he loved the music. Me too. Watched the trailer again with my fam this weekend, and they thought it was as beautiful and impressive as I did. I agree though with what Eleanor said about establishing that it’s the stories of 3 girls- my dad not having the background I had said, “what’s that?” when the word Karuna came on the screen. The only other thing I am thinking about is the “education is the answer” at the end- even though obviously education is hugely important and is what you’re focusing on, it feels a little too simple or straightforward or sure or something to call it THE answer to such a complicated set of problems…but what do I know, maybe it is…I wonder if it might be more powerful to just end with “stories from the struggle for girls’ education”? But I don’t know, that might just be my personal reaction…I cannot wait to see more!!!! You two are amazing. Oh, and my dad also commented about how he loved the music. Me too.

]]> By: eleanor http://nonfictionmedia.com/blog/2008/07/20/mkay-looks-like-vimeos-back-please-scroll-down-for-trailer-joy/comment-page-1/#comment-164 eleanor Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:17:26 +0000 http://nonfictionmedia.com/blog/?p=314#comment-164 HI lovies. I just watched the trailer for the first time and I think the images and sounds are gorgeous and strange and disturbing and hopeful. I also wonder if you should establish that you are exploring the lives of three different Nepali girls (hence the title). I knew you had interviewed a girl named Karuna, but had I come to the video completely fresh, I think it would have taken me a while to get that karuna is one girl, and the other two are different girls. (Simply because Karuna isn't a name that I recognize as a name at first, like "Karen" or something.) But then again, I am slow. It's so mindboggling to think that you were there, taking these videos. Amazing. So beautiful. I want more. I want longer. I really want longer. There were some images that just blipped by and I missed getting to stare at them. If the point of a trailer is to whet the appetite, then I think you have succeeded magnificently. I am totally pulled in. HI lovies. I just watched the trailer for the first time and I think the images and sounds are gorgeous and strange and disturbing and hopeful. I also wonder if you should establish that you are exploring the lives of three different Nepali girls (hence the title). I knew you had interviewed a girl named Karuna, but had I come to the video completely fresh, I think it would have taken me a while to get that karuna is one girl, and the other two are different girls. (Simply because Karuna isn’t a name that I recognize as a name at first, like “Karen” or something.)

But then again, I am slow.

It’s so mindboggling to think that you were there, taking these videos. Amazing. So beautiful. I want more. I want longer. I really want longer. There were some images that just blipped by and I missed getting to stare at them.

If the point of a trailer is to whet the appetite, then I think you have succeeded magnificently. I am totally pulled in.

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