I watched "Intrusion" by Jack Michel, which can be found here: http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2014/10/27/intrusion/ .
This documentary, at least at first glance, was a bit hard to watch. The opening scene feels fake, it radiates amateurish execution, and especially with the way that the film progresses throughout the first few scenes, it seems that the plot and the footage will drag on forever. The twist was the only redeeming quality in my eyes. The twist itself merits a moment of realization, however the build up to it could have been tailored to a higher order. To be better I believe the main character of the short should have done intrusive things, such as pocket valuables, not out right as it would ruin the twist, but just subtly hint at the fact that the main man doesn't actually like there.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Thursday, October 16, 2014
SHHO: What Is Going On For Real Tho
In search of further insight into the club, I went over to visit the VT chapter's Facebook page found here: https://www.facebook.com/vtshho. I am not sure who it is maintained by, however it provided some interesting information.
Looking for more knowledge and insightful content, I headed to the VT chapter's website only to run into an almost identical situation as I have found with our chapter (however we don;t have a Facebook page). The account had not posted since February of last year, which strikes me as odd. Someone posted a comment on their page asking when they would be holding a certain event and the account came out of dormancy to reply that the club was on hiatus until further notice. What. So this chapter isn't operating until further notice, have they lost all support? Is it the University's decision? To my surprise I searched for the UV branch of the club and they had posted something as recently as yesterday! It was a feature on a rapper and even beyond that they have been operating consistently for the entire fall term!
Why is there such a disparity in the involvement of each branch of the SHHO? I would like to believe that the central branch at VCU would give other clubs a model to follow and events to plan to help get the club out there and more involved. Why did I choose the SHHO to do my research on is the only question I have left.
Looking for more knowledge and insightful content, I headed to the VT chapter's website only to run into an almost identical situation as I have found with our chapter (however we don;t have a Facebook page). The account had not posted since February of last year, which strikes me as odd. Someone posted a comment on their page asking when they would be holding a certain event and the account came out of dormancy to reply that the club was on hiatus until further notice. What. So this chapter isn't operating until further notice, have they lost all support? Is it the University's decision? To my surprise I searched for the UV branch of the club and they had posted something as recently as yesterday! It was a feature on a rapper and even beyond that they have been operating consistently for the entire fall term!
Why is there such a disparity in the involvement of each branch of the SHHO? I would like to believe that the central branch at VCU would give other clubs a model to follow and events to plan to help get the club out there and more involved. Why did I choose the SHHO to do my research on is the only question I have left.
Survey: Would You Join?
Since no member of the Student Hip-Hop Organization got in contact with me in time for an interview, I decided to throw up another survey that would ask ten people whether or not they would join a hip-hop oriented club. To no surprise, I found that 6/10 people surveyed said they would join a hip-hop club, some even getting more inquisitive asking for information. I wish I could have told them more, and there in lies the problem. The University of Kentucky is home to 30,000 students. 30,000. Yet, it seems that this club has taken no measures to reach their base! Can you fathom how rich the club would be in culture if even an eighth of the hip-hop loving populace were to join? It would be unreal. This club is a gold mine waiting to be struck but it just doesn't seem to buy into its own hype. Granted, at the moment there is not much hype to be excited for based on past experiences, but it is a new club on campus having only operated for two years, this being the third if they do indeed end up operating.
Why has the Student Hip-Hop Organization gone quiet? I know that they had a booth by the student center during club fair day, or whatever name it went under, so I am inclined to believe that they have every intention of growing this year. It is just disappointing to see because come on guys, I'm trying to do a good thorough job on researching you and getting interview and I have been given next to nothing! When will the SHHO reach out to us? As Rick Ross once said "ioeno".
Survey: Have You Heard?
Doing field research I set up a survey that asks twenty people two simple questions. Do you like hip-hop/rap, and have you ever heard of the SHHO? I conducted this survey in the student center food courts and tried to get as varied an audience as I could as to not skew the data. Little to my surprise the percentage of people who liked hip-hop and who had never heard of the Student Hip-Hop Organization was quite high. Around 60% of people surveyed admitted they like hip-hop, of this sub-group, all but one person said that they had heard of the Student Hip-Hop Organization. Of the greater populous surveyed as well, only three people had ever heard of the organization. To my dismay, these results were exactly what I had predicted would be the case. The organization has done a very poor job getting itself out there to the student body this year. I say this year because based on the twitter account's activity about a year ago, the account was active, events were being planned, and people were being invited to them. I'm not sure what happened, however this decline in interaction with the student base has created a deterioration of pertinence for the club.
I want to know how the club can know that they would be a popular organization to join, given such a diverse campus that there are bound to be a myriad of people who would want to become part of it. Why has their twitter gone dormant? At this point, with barely being able to get hold of any officers in the club, and the down right lack of exposure they have, whether or no the cub has tanked. It seems highly unlikely, yet there is hardly any other way to describe what exactly has happened.
I want to know how the club can know that they would be a popular organization to join, given such a diverse campus that there are bound to be a myriad of people who would want to become part of it. Why has their twitter gone dormant? At this point, with barely being able to get hold of any officers in the club, and the down right lack of exposure they have, whether or no the cub has tanked. It seems highly unlikely, yet there is hardly any other way to describe what exactly has happened.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Problem One: SHHO and KYVL
To fulfill this weeks research requirements, I went over to the Kentucky Virtual Library in an attempt to unearth any pertinent information on the Student Hip-Hop Organization. Little to my surprise, there was nothing to be found on the club in particular, neither in the KYVL or the Kentucky Digital Library.
The problem we seem to be encountering in the way of researching SHHO from a purely spectator-esque view is that no one, not even the University of Kentucky, have ANY information on them. This fact is a silent suggestion however, that SHHO has no enthusiastic base to launch itself. I will take it easy on the group since it was started a measly 3-4 years ago, so it is safe to assume it hasn't realized its full potential or membership. The fact that neither KYVL or the KDL have a scratch of information is a sign that they just aren't a group that people yet care about. A fledgling club such as this needs strong leadership to get itself off the ground, and this area of growth seems to have been malnourished.
I would like to know how it has been so difficult for SHHO to get their foot in the campus population door, seeing as there are copious amounts of hip-hop heads among the populous; At places like Virginia Tech and Syracuse they are highly involved and active already, though both are also newer branches. This reflection on negative space highlights the problem we have had for awhile now while gathering sources; UK's SHHO needs to up their game. Perhaps it's time to find a new topic.
The problem we seem to be encountering in the way of researching SHHO from a purely spectator-esque view is that no one, not even the University of Kentucky, have ANY information on them. This fact is a silent suggestion however, that SHHO has no enthusiastic base to launch itself. I will take it easy on the group since it was started a measly 3-4 years ago, so it is safe to assume it hasn't realized its full potential or membership. The fact that neither KYVL or the KDL have a scratch of information is a sign that they just aren't a group that people yet care about. A fledgling club such as this needs strong leadership to get itself off the ground, and this area of growth seems to have been malnourished.
I would like to know how it has been so difficult for SHHO to get their foot in the campus population door, seeing as there are copious amounts of hip-hop heads among the populous; At places like Virginia Tech and Syracuse they are highly involved and active already, though both are also newer branches. This reflection on negative space highlights the problem we have had for awhile now while gathering sources; UK's SHHO needs to up their game. Perhaps it's time to find a new topic.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Hip-Hop and Dance
Moving along the outskirts of my topic, I have decided to hone in on the dance aspect of hip-hop that accompanies the lyrical powerhouse of the culture. The following information was found at the following address: http://www.hiphopunite.com/index-styles.html
Much like in the piece explaining the origins of hip-hop, this article explains how they came to manifest side by side with the blossoming on stage hip-hop scene. Traditional hip-hop dancing includes the well known trio of popping, locking, and dropping(HipHopUnite). Locking, is akin to the "robot" in how the dancer "freezes" their body during the dance in a locked position and then moving fluidly out of it or into another lock. Popping on the other hand is more similar to the "wave". This style is characterized by a general flow in the dance, like a "force of energy moving through the body" and is much more fluid dancing style as opposed to locking.
Neat article on hip-hop dancing, I wasn't aware there were so many terms used for some of the more mundane looking features of the dances. I would like to know how some of the dance moves became common place within the genre of dance, as there doesn't seem to be any major precursors to the dancing styles that developed. I am probably most interested in the beginnings of locking, as it is such a rigid dancing style I would be very intrigued to find out who the main cavalier was for the style and how they developed such a means of dancing.
Much like in the piece explaining the origins of hip-hop, this article explains how they came to manifest side by side with the blossoming on stage hip-hop scene. Traditional hip-hop dancing includes the well known trio of popping, locking, and dropping(HipHopUnite). Locking, is akin to the "robot" in how the dancer "freezes" their body during the dance in a locked position and then moving fluidly out of it or into another lock. Popping on the other hand is more similar to the "wave". This style is characterized by a general flow in the dance, like a "force of energy moving through the body" and is much more fluid dancing style as opposed to locking.
Neat article on hip-hop dancing, I wasn't aware there were so many terms used for some of the more mundane looking features of the dances. I would like to know how some of the dance moves became common place within the genre of dance, as there doesn't seem to be any major precursors to the dancing styles that developed. I am probably most interested in the beginnings of locking, as it is such a rigid dancing style I would be very intrigued to find out who the main cavalier was for the style and how they developed such a means of dancing.
The SHHO on Twitter
Reaching in the dark for more information, and with personal contact with members sparse to impossible, I have gone to the official voice of the SHHO here at UK on twitter, though I am unsure on the identity of the moderator, the account can be found here: https://twitter.com/UKSHHO
The twitter page is very sparsely updated and has been quite inactive since the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year. Diving into later posts, it is shown that the account was quite active last year. Promotions are constantly made for SHHO events, such as a partnership with Late Night Film Series, another on campus organization, in which they present many documentaries pertinent to the hip-hop scene; One of the featured movies was "The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest", whom are a pioneering group of the hip-hop scene for those unaware. Despite my previous assumptions, the account does do its best to promote local talent with many local rappers having their content retweeted or explicitly linked to. One in particular who I have actually heard of, J Cannon, gets a sizable amount of attention from the account which leads me to wonder if he were a member of the club. Lastly, producers get just as much of a shot with a highlight being placed on producer "Montreux" giving a direct link to his soundcloud account.
The twitter page was quite underwhelming based on what I would have wanted to find. This fall seems to be a terrible time to follow the SHHO as they have been grossly inactive, giving me very little material to work with. I would like to know why there is such a disconnect between how the account was last year compared to its current state, as there were many tweets and events going on around the same time. It would be cool to find out what it takes to get a promotion from the page, whether it's based on merit or pure association with the group and their amble nature.
The twitter page is very sparsely updated and has been quite inactive since the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year. Diving into later posts, it is shown that the account was quite active last year. Promotions are constantly made for SHHO events, such as a partnership with Late Night Film Series, another on campus organization, in which they present many documentaries pertinent to the hip-hop scene; One of the featured movies was "The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest", whom are a pioneering group of the hip-hop scene for those unaware. Despite my previous assumptions, the account does do its best to promote local talent with many local rappers having their content retweeted or explicitly linked to. One in particular who I have actually heard of, J Cannon, gets a sizable amount of attention from the account which leads me to wonder if he were a member of the club. Lastly, producers get just as much of a shot with a highlight being placed on producer "Montreux" giving a direct link to his soundcloud account.
The twitter page was quite underwhelming based on what I would have wanted to find. This fall seems to be a terrible time to follow the SHHO as they have been grossly inactive, giving me very little material to work with. I would like to know why there is such a disconnect between how the account was last year compared to its current state, as there were many tweets and events going on around the same time. It would be cool to find out what it takes to get a promotion from the page, whether it's based on merit or pure association with the group and their amble nature.
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