I have a lot of ideas and good things to say about video production and journalism relating to the good times and the struggles of college students, but I’m just not feeling it right now, and when you aren’t feeling it blogs just don’t work.

To write a blog you must be committed and this is why I have started a new blogging project. I am uploading a new photo five days a week from Iowa that I have taken of the people, places, and things I see along the way. Please take some time to check it out:

Capturing Iowa

This blog will be back and it will be good. I promise. I don’t know yet what form it will be back in whether back to this free wordpress blog or over at blogger or even my own site, but I do know that the time will come when I share all that is bottled up inside my brain waiting to be shared.

Thank you to all who follow me online. You can add me a twitter to keep and touch with me day to day.

My Twitter

Signing off for the summer,

Daniel Randolph

danran24@gmail.com

I know I made a “gentle slam” slam at his print focus, but he does amazing work for college media and I recommend everyone read his blog.

On a side note look for a whole new wave of stories this wednesday on our site.

www.lctv13.com

This new site is run on wordpress 2.3 and uses the Premium News Theme by this guy.

Check back to this blog and add LCTV to your new list of favorites as we try new and different things. It took Loras until 2008 to get a website and now we plan on pushing the limits of online journalism in the television field. I read many college media blogs who focus on print and do not give much credit to video journalists. I am hear to say we are here to silence the critics. Look for interactive features, clickable maps, photospreads, reporter blogs, breaking news, deeper stories, and user generated story ideas. All of this and more to come within the next year. We’re here to push the limits and to see what works and what doesn’t.

Enjoy the ride.

I received many comments on my film from audience members and from the directors of the festival. As a student filmmaker from little Perry, Iowa who is a Sophmore at Loras College in Dubuque, I feel very much a part of this “independent festival.” I would have never of dreamed 2 years ago that I would have the knowledge I do now to create anything I set my mind too. It’s a great feeling.

It should be lots of fun and I can’t wait for people to see it.

Since no press outlets have been able to tell a fair story because they have not been granted access to students, here are more pictures:  

Also at the meeting he (President Jim Collins) produced false statements about my program of study. He said, “We have a very good media studies program here at Loras and many of the students after seeing how the media has acted asked themselves if they should change majors.” Of course all of the press there looked over at me and I shook my head no, but what was I to do, I can not speak out against it. I believe the media is doing what they have to do. If the school reports nothing to the public about a student death the media still has to tell the story and the school is opening itself up for criticism by not being informative. They said “no students should feel in immediate danger”, but the case was meningitis, and that is a dangerous illness. 

I am calling into question the press and the school and am trying to decipher their actions. Any thoughts? 

Local Press Coverage:

Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Des Moines Register

KCRG TV 9

KWWL 7

KGAN 2 

On Monday night there was a candle light vigil held and I went to take some photos because for me its what I do best and it helps me deal with situations. As I was taking these photos my mind raced back to NIU. I was just at NIU two weeks ago and these photos looked very familiar to me, but I approached them in a very different way. This time I stayed far back and took community shots, at NIU I got close and tried to tell the stories of individuals. This is all very difficult and I will post more as we discover what works and what doesn’t. I will leave you with my reflection piece of my NIU experience and a photo from Loras and NIU:

Loras Vigil

NIU Vigil 

“We are NIU.” The image of these three simple words still plays in my mind as I write this because, in many ways, we are all NIU. Nolan Hanson, a junior at Northern, was standing out- side on a freezing Friday night handing out buttons depicting a black ribbon and NIU’s logo to anyone who passed by. As I talked with him, he said “None of us will ever forget where we were when we heard the news. These words sounded very familiar to me, and I thought back to our parents’ generation, when President Kennedy was shot. If you ask anyone where they were on that November day in 1963, they will tell you exactly when they heard the news and where they were. Our generation will forever remember where we were when we heard the news that a plane had struck the Twin Towers in New York City on that September morning. For the students of NIU, they will always remember where they were on the afternoon of Feb. 14, Valentines Day, 2008. These events are what make each of us a part of NIU in our own little way. As a college student I felt very connected to all of the NIU students because just 10 months ago, after Virginia Tech, these students felt the same way many of us feel about this shooting —this could never happen to us. As college students, we should look at this and feel connected because we are all peers. These students go to class just like us, they live in dorms just like us, and they do the very same things we do each and every day and that is why, today we are all NIU.” 

The Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival is held April 4th through the 5th  at Collins Road Theatres in Marion, Iowa. My film was selected under the Student category. It should be very interesting to see it against other students films. I hope to maybe win a gold or silver Eddy for my film.  

Since I did not go into detail in my first post about my documentary I will give a brief description here:

Another student Edward Gall and I created a documentary about a local artist in Dubuque describing his life as an artist and how he is inspired. His name is Gene Tully and he does large and small metal art. He recently received an award for his great work in the art community in Dubuque. He and his friend Tim McNamara started the Voices From the Warehouse shows in Dubuque. These shows have really changed the scope of the art community in the area. 

www.mindframetheaters.com

My documentary was digitally projected and when I started on this project I knew that I wanted this film to be a large screen film, not a television film. It looked incredible on the big screen and the crowd gave a great cheer at the end. Thank you to everyone who came out to support independent and student film last night.

For the first time in a very long time I felt like I was watching real movies. I got to see Into the Wild for the first time. The cinematography and editing were incredible, combined with a thought provoking story-line. Two thumbs up. 

Congrats on the theater Jeremy!