Film Idea for my Native Americans in Film Class

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JerryHatake
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21 Mar 2008, 9:43 pm

Well this was the idea I came up with for a film for the class.
In a world where everyone is of different ethics, people are at disarray and racist to one other. Two people will cause the world to change their view complete around from assumptions to the truth. Both Native American and Caucasian will no longer look at each other as inferior nor will they look at Asperger’s Syndrome in the same way they used to know it as.
There are no related films to the ideas that this student has created. Only the two that similar to this student’s are two of Professor Alice Carron‘s films that are still being filmed currently.
There two websites that this found that related his topic, Wrong Planet.net, the Autism Spectrum Disorders Online Community, and Rappahannock Tribe.org, the information site on the Rappahannock Indian Tribe. The two books that were related are what happened to the Rappahannocks? by Thelma Wilkerson de Shields Bastow and Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison. Both have details of how is life with those groups. There are also experts that will helpful in research in depth about this student’s film are Dr. Randolph Scully of the George Mason University History and Art History Department, Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University, Alexander Douglas Plank creator of Wrong Planet and a film and video studies major at George Mason University, and Thelma Wilkerson de Shields Bastow author of What happened to the Rappahannocks? book.
The Power of Diversity
“The Power of Diversity” is docu-drama genre type of film with the showing time of one hour. The film styles that will be used in the filming process are the ones used in “Broken Arrow” (1956) and “Little Big Man” (1970). Another possible film style is the style of a historical documentary with realism shots styles. There will be a few Birdseye shots when at the National Mall in D.C. and inside the helmet shots for the Kumdo sparring match between Douglas and Michael. The use of three seconds shot is going to be used show the emotions of the character at points of dramatic important and realization toward human recognition.
The significant objects in “The Power of Diversity” both are physical and non-physical objects. Kumdo, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Wrong Planet are the significant objects due to many reasons. Kumdo itself is a focus in the film and its represent life and then rekindled friendship in the middle of the film. Asperger’s Syndrome being a theme in the film is well represented through trhe characters actions and thoughts. Finally, Wrong Planet itself a website but its represent there are more people out there with ASD’s then you think.
“The Power of Diversity” begins with Douglas Fredrick and Michael Adams both leaving home and moving into the dorms at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Both characters’ parents are excited and sad to see their child going off to college and into the adult world. Both characters however feel uninsured how they will cope with these new experiences that will occur.
Upon moving into Dickenson 2, Douglas and Michael first meets their RA of the floor, Michelle Carmen, who is a nice sophomore New Century College Leader Studies student and a first time Resident Advisor. They then bump into each other as they are roommates and meet each other for the first time. They started at each other blankly until Douglas said hello and his name in which Michael returns likewise. They later meet the rest of their floor mates at the first floor meeting who come from different places from across the states. This is when Douglas mentions he is a Rappahannock Indian which comes a shock to everyone because he looks likes a Caucasian.
After the floor meeting, while Douglas and Michael were back in their dorm room, two of their floor mates, Brenda Page and Amanda Sydney, knocked on their door ask if they come in. They are first to enter Douglas and Michael’s room due to they found interesting from the rest of the guys on the floor. During the moment both Douglas and Michael tell the girls that they have Asperger’s Syndrome which come a shock to both the girls and the two of them. Thus their friendship is forged by mere knowledge of Asperger’s Syndrome among the two of them.
Douglas, Amanda, Brenda and Michael all seated together when the first day of their Freshman New Century College First Year Experience. They all noticed this interesting professor by the name Jerry Holy which they were all assigned to. After the lunch break, they all went to Meeting Room B to meet the rest of their seminar. Professor Holy introduces himself and everyone does likewise. After the first class, Professor Holy asked both Douglas and Michael to stay to talk to him for a moment. In this talk, Professor Holy reveals he has Asperger’s to the boys and he said if they need to talk to someone about things they can see him. He also mentions Young Jung and GMU Kumdo Club to the boys for stress relief as well because he’ll be at practice as well as a former member. Amanda and Brenda waited for them outside the room and they left for the dorms.
The next day, the whole first year NCC cohort had to meet in the Johnson Center Cinema. Douglas, Michael, and the girls arrived early because Professor Holy asked them to be along with the rest of his seminar. They were the first one there to arrive. Professor Holy was there along with another gentleman. He introduced himself to Douglas, Michael and the girls as Alexander Plank or Alex Plank as he preferred. They were all shock to meet the creator of the Wrong Planet website. Even Amanda and Brenda knew because they have relatives with Autism and AS. Thus the connection between the six characters has been intertwined by a disability and neurodiversity. The film that was been shown to the cohort was a film made by Alex titled, In the Eyes of Autism Spectrum Disorders.
After seeing the film, Alex opens a discussion to the cohort in which a few people went to insult the people in his film which made Douglas and Michael feel very upset but they keep their cool because Amanda and Brenda were upset as well which give them some comfort. Alex also mentions that there will be Autism Spectrum Disorders Rally in Washington in January for federal recognition as capable Americans in society. The gang decides that they should go to the rally. Unknown to them though the Rappahannock Tribe is also having their rally for their federal recognition on the very same day. The rest of week one goes well for the gang.
The second week of classes for Douglas, Brenda, Amanda, and Michael is going well. On Monday, the four of them went to the first Kumdo Club practice of the fall semester. They were quite surprised how different Korean traditions were from their own including Rappahannock traditions and Jewish traditions. Young Jung and his fellow officers, Grace Lee Park, Sarah O’Conner, Jaeha Ro and Andy O’Neill, were a big impression on the gang. The girls were even shock to see Professor Holy to be there. Even a big shock was that Professor Holy was a Sabumnim (Master) for the school that the club is associated with, United States Hwa Rang Kwan Kumdo Institute. After the club practice, Professor Holy offered the gang if they like to come to U.S. Hwa Rang Kwan Chantilly for more training in which they accepted. He tells them to come by to the dojang (school) later in the week.
Wednesday of the same week, Douglas, Brenda, Amanda, and Michael go to U.S. Hwa Rang Kwan Chantilly to see Professor Holy for more training in Kumdo. They were surprised how Professor Holy knew so much about Kumdo that they decide to sign for classes at U.S. Hwa Rang Kwan. Professor Holy also gives the four them a life lesson dealing with improving your life. Upon return back to Mason, some of their floor mates were making funny Alex Plank in which Douglas and Michael yell at them to stop it and then their floor mates then start making funny of them which causes Douglas and Michael to run their room crying. Amanda and Brenda become worried and email Professor Holy about the incident.
The next day after class was done, Professor Holy asked Douglas and Michael to stay after. He told that he heard about what happened last night from Amanda and Brenda and tell them that let it go because it will only their floor mates a reason to attack them through insults. He also tells them that if they need someone to talk about things, they can go to him for advice. He also mentions to signed up on Wrong Planet and ask for advice from its member and Alex.
A few months have passed that Douglas, Brenda, Amanda and Michael have improved in many aspect of Kumdo in which they are now yellow belts and in their education. They also learned each other traditions through seeing each other’s families. They are going into Washington, D.C. for the ASD rally on the mall. Upon arriving in D.C. they encounter a fight between the Rappahannocks and ASD rally people that one of the Rappahannock Native Americans notices and recognized Douglas and yell to him to stop being with those white men because they can’t be trust and same happens to Michael. This incident leads to Douglas and Michael to argue between themselves about those racial terms and their friendship means nothing that they stop speaking to each other. Once again, the girls seek the aid of Professor Holy and now Alex Plank. The four them hatch a plan for the boys to regain each other’s trust via a sparring match between the two of them.
When Douglas arrives with Brenda at U.S. Hwa Rang Kwan Chantilly on the following Wednesday, Michael and Amanda were already there and when the boys they glared at each other then look in the opposite direction of each other. Professor Holy and Alex come out of the office in the dojang and walk up to the boys and tell them since they been angering at each other that only way to solve their problem is a Kumdo sparring match. The boys agree to the match. Michael scores the first point but Douglas scores the second. Michael then realizes that he and Douglas are the same and that their fighting is meaningless among themselves. Michael then allows Douglas to win the match. After the match, Michael and Douglas apologized to each other for their behavior and action towards one other. Alex then tells them to meet him and Jerry in the Johnson Center on Saturday.
Saturday came very quickly with a rekindled friendship for Douglas and Michael. They went to the Johnson Center and met up with Jerry and Alex. They grab a bite to eat and sat down with the boys. They explained to the boys about coping in life because Alex and Jerry explained how they coped with their college experience. They told the boys not to the same mistakes that they did. With these new founded thoughts in their minds, Douglas and Michael decided to prove that they coexist with each other and trust one other.
Douglas, Michael, Amanda, Brenda go back to the mall in D.C. to start a new rally that championed for the right of federal recognition for both Rappahannock Tribe and the Autism Spectrum Disorders people. This bold act of patriotism cause sparks in both parties to go to D.C. to tell the four them to stop this childish belief of coexist among Native Americans, Caucasians, and people with disabilities. However, Douglas, Michael, Amanda and Brenda explained to the angry crowd that if they continue to fight then no one will received federal recognition at all. This bold statement by the four of them causes the groups to realize that they were wrong along about each other based off western film portraying the different ethnic groups’ stereotypes.
The two groups agree to have a joint rally for human recognition from the federal government. Eventually, the federal government passes new bills and laws to recognize the Rappahannock Tribe and people with Autism Spectrum Disorders as human beings and equal citizens of the United States. The impossible happened because the friendship of Douglas and Michael had proving to the world that no matter what the color of your skin, ethnic background or disability; you can live in society as a capable human being. Amanda and Brenda were both proud of the boys that in the last few weeks of their freshman year, the girls admit their feelings to the boys. The boys were shocked and happy to find out about this news that they decide enjoy each other’s for the reminder of their lives.


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JerryHatake
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22 Mar 2008, 4:52 pm

Well what does everyone think about my film.


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twinklingstarlight
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24 Mar 2008, 3:50 pm

Well, I must say that is a marvelous idea. I'm really impressed by the thought that has gone into it. :)



Purplefluffychainsaw
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25 Mar 2008, 4:22 am

It's deffinatly a promising idea. ^____^ Have you made a film before? What help have you got from your school?

A quick idea: try reversing your treatment. You're starting off with what shots you'll use, but you really need to explain the plot first so people know where these things happen in it.

Also, do you know how hard it is to get birdseye views on a budget? You need an advantage point to film them, so you'll need to put that into the equation while you're looking for a location.

Good luck with this!


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JerryHatake
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02 Apr 2008, 4:09 pm

Well this a film treatment not full scale plan which is the final assignment.


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Purplefluffychainsaw
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03 Apr 2008, 2:31 am

It's still better to plan as much as possible as early as possible. I usually include filming locations in my treatment, as well as what equipment I'll need, and any major risks (if there are any).

The reason for this is that sometimes you need permission to film. For my first filming project I made a film trailer about a runaway. We weren't allowed to film on the train platform in my home town (we did anyway), or on the trains (we did anyway), or at Victoria station in London (we did a spectacular impression of being Australian tourists XD), or in half of the "iconic" locations that we wanted to include (most of which we filmed at anyway). We were able to get away with it because we had a bad camera, not a semi-pro one, but also because my director of photography is very experienced at doing things she shouldn't and getting away with it. The shots aren't half as good as they could have been had we been able to put down a tripod.

Also, last year, one of my directors wanted to film outside a church here in Oxford. We got kicked out of the location before we could finish the film because she hadn't acquired permission or paid the £50 charge.

So it's just a very good idea to check these things before you get an idea of location set in your head.


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JerryHatake
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03 Apr 2008, 7:15 am

Well thats a factor I know. My Professor has her independent film company and works with Native Americans. Some of Navajo and other tribes may not allow her filmed things but they see as an chance to explain things like what we believe about the moon vs. western ideas of the moon.


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Last edited by JerryHatake on 03 Apr 2008, 7:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

JerryHatake
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03 Apr 2008, 7:16 am

Purplefluffychainsaw wrote:
It's still better to plan as much as possible as early as possible. I usually include filming locations in my treatment, as well as what equipment I'll need, and any major risks (if there are any).

The reason for this is that sometimes you need permission to film. For my first filming project I made a film trailer about a runaway. We weren't allowed to film on the train platform in my home town (we did anyway), or on the trains (we did anyway), or at Victoria station in London (we did a spectacular impression of being Australian tourists XD), or in half of the "iconic" locations that we wanted to include (most of which we filmed at anyway). We were able to get away with it because we had a bad camera, not a semi-pro one, but also because my director of photography is very experienced at doing things she shouldn't and getting away with it. The shots aren't half as good as they could have been had we been able to put down a tripod.

Also, last year, one of my directors wanted to film outside a church here in Oxford. We got kicked out of the location before we could finish the film because she hadn't acquired permission or paid the £50 charge.

So it's just a very good idea to check these things before you get an idea of location set in your head.


I agree with you but my film is just an idea and project for the class. It doesn't mean it would be made though it would interesting if it was though.


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Purplefluffychainsaw
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04 Apr 2008, 4:04 am

You're not actually filming it? ^^; Sorry, I thought you were. I must have read something wrong.


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