The truth of war project:
Artist Statement:
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Artistic Film
In this film, we express war through a variety of emotions and show how dramatic events have a considerable impact on mental health. This artistic film features carefully crafted choreography and videography to portray the effects that traumatic events, such as war, have on loved ones and family members. We were inspired to make this kind of film after attending the Telluride Horror Festival in October. This film festival featured artistic short films, some of which were influenced by war. We combined our talents to create a video that showcases both creativity, and refinement. Our film features a realistic story about a young girl who faces the difficulties of having a boyfriend involved in war. We use a song that emphasizes the emotions and thoughts that two characters have. Our film starts as a positive love story between two individuals and quickly takes a negative turn which influences the overall mood.
Home
Artistic Film
In this film, we express war through a variety of emotions and show how dramatic events have a considerable impact on mental health. This artistic film features carefully crafted choreography and videography to portray the effects that traumatic events, such as war, have on loved ones and family members. We were inspired to make this kind of film after attending the Telluride Horror Festival in October. This film festival featured artistic short films, some of which were influenced by war. We combined our talents to create a video that showcases both creativity, and refinement. Our film features a realistic story about a young girl who faces the difficulties of having a boyfriend involved in war. We use a song that emphasizes the emotions and thoughts that two characters have. Our film starts as a positive love story between two individuals and quickly takes a negative turn which influences the overall mood.
Timed Essay:
Project Reflection:
For this project we discovered and analyzed the "truth of war" through books, primary source documents, documentaries, socratic seminars and by interviewing a veteran. The majority of this project was built up to interviewing out veteran but as well as going deep into analysis on The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian. But the main idea of this entire project was to discover and develop an idea on the truth of war.
In this project we interviewed a veteran by developing questions, finding a place that made them comfortable, meeting them and conducting the interview on record. I found the most exciting part of this interview was having the perspective of a man that actually enlisted in the war and found the military a good part of society. It was definitely challenging just because of the location. It ended up being in the middle of a bar with a bunch of people yelling and taking shots in the background. This made the audio clip that we took hard to listen too and just a bit distracting. I learned from Mike that some people enlist in the military for a solid place that has free room and food. Mike was talking about people that just needed a life path so they joined the military to serve their country and make a living at the same time. It was very interesting to think of the military in that way. He also talked about serving our country should be mandatory to all citizens. This was interesting because I disagreed with him on this. I don’t think the military is a way to serve our country it’s just a way to kill people, but of course I didn’t say that. We also had the pleasure of hearing about his views on women's rights. He said that men in the military would look down on women and call them derogatory terms. I had never thought about that previously so that was also interesting. Overall this interview gave me a lot of insight that I would have never had without talking to an actual veteran of the war.
This seminar was on The Things They Carried and identifying the truth within O’Brien’s stories. I think throughout this seminar I did a good job of collecting my thoughts before speaking. Sometimes I have a bad habit of blurting out information that may not have relevance to the topic at hand. Most of this is because I process the question and develop the answer in my head, then blurt it out even once the topic has already veered in another direction. During this seminar I tried to engage and listen to the conversation, as well as develop my thoughts around that. Although I think next time I need to work on the perspective of my thoughts. For example I would talk about events and memories that were completely relevant to my life such as death, whereas others in the seminar might not have had the same experiences. So a connection I had could have been completely irrelevant to others in the discussion. So far this book has taught me a lot about the truth of war and how the event that actually happened may not be the full truth. Gathering the perspective and bias of the individual telling the story helps give the story more truth. O’Brien talked a lot about this concept in chapter 18 of The Things They Carried and even admitted to making up some of the stories told in his book to make them feel more real to the reader. Overall I got a lot out of this book and seminar and I think my perspective on truth has definitely shifted.
For this essay we analyzed nine primary source documents in order to find the truth about the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. To achieve the best result we used historical thinking skills such as close reading, reading the silences, sourcing, contextualization and corroboration. I think for this project I used close reading and context the most. Every document I went through it was just second nature to look for the bias and subtle hints at hidden meanings. For example in the radio conversation with the captain of the USS Maddox, I was able to find the passive aggressive tone in his voice and use that to read the hidden message that no torpedo was actually fired. I also used context to date the documents in relation to the Maddox incident. After this project I learned that the nature of war was very set up and strategically planned out. For example, in the telegram between Henry Cabot and the US department of state, he says multiple times “it would be great if they screamed as if they had been hit from something from the other side.” Without reading these documents the attack might have seemed completely normal to the public eye but in reality was completely set up. Overall this assignment taught me a lot and definitely interested me reading the actual conversations between the people involved.
After this entire project I think I learned a lot about the history of Vietnam and also how to analyze documents to find the truth. For me it was very beneficial for me to go through the Gulf of Tonkin documents and be able to pick out little things like the tone, the silences, and even the date of occurrence, that would all piece together to uncover a hidden message or meaning. This really allowed me to be able to uncover the truth within the world at the time. It's hard to define truth and it means something different to everyone but after interviewing my veteran it was interesting to hear his positive outlook on war. For him, his truth was that the military was a way to serve and a duty as a citizen. For me, the truth of war is very different and I don't believe in it in the slightest. After learning about the Vietnam war and The Gulf of Tonkin it changed my perspective. Overall I enjoyed pieces and parts of this project and in the end it was very beneficial not just in knowledge but in logical skill as well.