Accidental Disappointment

Today I was expecting to show you all a clip from the film but I did something foolish and accidentally deleted the footage I intended to show you all. Yesterday afternoon I took my camera and left home to shoot part of my neighborhood. I wanted you to see the journey I take in my neighborhood and show you the obstacles I go through traveling around.

The past few weeks I was filming my travels from DePaul all the way to my home but I got tired of that and wanted you to see what I go through around my neighborhood. It was also very personal because for the first time I was actually speaking while I was filming explaing to everyone about my travels being sort of like a tour guide.

I had finally gotten to point where I was ready to talk about my experiences traveling through the city and now the footage is all gone. Now I know that I can shoot more footage. But as a director it's hard to recapture that same experience I had the first time.

I don't want to create anything that's fake. I want to capture real moments and what I had yesterday was real and genuine and wanted you all to see that first hand and that's what disappoints me the most. But you know what, it's not the end of the world, it's just a minor setback. I can always get more footage and I plan to actually do that. Hopefully this time around I'm gonna make I take all precautions just in case something like this happens again.

Justin

Update: Blog posting days!

Hey everyone! Normally I would have a blog post today, but I've decided to change that. For now on I will be posting stuff only on Friday's. With finishing up school, working on the film and putting together my film studio, I just don't have the time and energy to put out posts twice a week.

It was really difficult to make this decision but I wanna give the people who read my blog my absolute best work and posting just once a week will give me that chance. I'm also doing this to give my readers and new readers a chance to catch up on my previous posts on the blog.

I wanna thank everyone for reading my blog. I've gotten a lot of praise from you guys and that means a lot to me. I will continue to give you updates on the film and issues that coincide with the film.

Thanks,
Justin

A Major Announcement!!

I've been spending all my time this week working on my film. Not really shooting the film, but watching different documentaries and coming up with ideas on how I wanted to present the film itself. I've also spent this week coming up with a plan which coincides with my major announcement. Well today I decided that I will start up my own film studio which will also be a production company.

I've been thinking long and hard about this since I started working on my film. I feel that the Wheelchair Chronicles is just the first step in my career as a director and producer and I need to have my own film studio where I can continue my future projects. This film is not a one and done deal for me, I want this film to be a success so I can use the success of the film to open up more doors for me in the film or television industry.

Listen I know this gonna be hard work for me but I'm in a place in my life where I'm determined to make an impact in this world. Not a of African-Americans have their own film studio and it's difficult for African-Americans to make in the film and television industry in general so I have some work to do if I'm gonna make it in the film industry. You know I can do it! Plus I got a lot of people who believe I can do this and I'm not gonna let them or myself down.

I don't have a name for film studio yet but I will definitely keep you all posted.

Justin

A Breakthrough for People with Disabilities...

Well I'm currently on spring break and let me tell you, it's awesome. I don't have get up early to go to class, I can actually sleep in for a change (well, not really). The last couple of days I've been an early bird and working on my film. I've been watching different documentaries and coming up with different ideas on how I want to present my film. I'm also working on putting together my own film studio. I know it gonna be hard work but I really wanna put this studio together because I have a lot of ideas beyond just my film that I want to work on and get out to the public.

During my film work the past couple of days I saw an article on Gizmodo that absolutely amazed me and forced me to change what I was originally going to talk to about. The article talks about a new robotic device that can help paraplegics and people with disabilities. This device called Tek Robotic Mobilization Device was created by Turkish scientists and is designed not just to help people who have a hard time walking move around more independently, but it helps people be able to actually stand on their own.

Now I've been conflicted about my feelings on this device. At first I was skeptical about this device because as person that uses a wheelchair I've heard about new devices that help people who are paraplegic or disabled but never coming to fruition. As I been thinking about it a little bit more I think it's great news for people with disabilities. It gives those people including me hope that we can be more independent.

I don't know if people are going to embrace this device fully because it's seems like it's trying to make us normal people in society. People who are disabled are viewed as freaks and not apart of society so people who are paraplegic or disabled might take issue to this robotic device but I doubt it. I am so happy to hear about this device. You just don't know the joy that I feel right now, this is simply amazing.

Links:
Gizmodo: This Amazing Device Just Made Wheelchairs Obsolete for Paraplegics
Tek Robotic Mobilization Device:

Justin

My Film Inspiration

Today I wanted to talk to you all about the film that inspired me to get back into working on my film. The documentary film is called Shameless: The ART of Disability (2006) and it's a film about five artists dealing with diverse disabilities (Mental, Learning, Physical, etc.). I love this film because you get a chance to see these individuals from their point-of-view and how they handle their disability. It's humorous but it's also intimate in a sense because these individuals are letting the viewer into their lives and talking about their disability.

The film is directed by Bonnie Sherr Klein, who's a feminist filmmaker and disability rights activist. She directed and produced at least a dozen films for the National Film Board of Canada. Her time as a filmmaker was cut short when she suffered a stroke in 1987 that left her a quadriplegic and this was the first film she did since her stroke.

The people in this film are just regular people trying to find their place in this world. Even though they have a disability, it has not stopped them for being who they are as people. For example one of my favorite people in this film is a guy named David Roche who's a poet, writer, and humorist. His face is disfigured but he's a guy I can really relate to because his disfigurement hasn't stop him for achieving his goals and is one of the most enjoyable, charming person in the film.

I don't wanna give a whole lot away in this film but I want you all to check it out. This is the direction I'm strongly considering doing for my film because I feel that this a great way for people to get to know me and how I handle my own disability. I hope you enjoy this film as much as I did. It was just great for me to see another person with a disability produce and direct a film. That's just awesome!

Justin

My Filming Experience

Well as of yesterday I am on break from DePaul. Man it feels good waking up and not having to go to class, that's an awesome feeling. I want to let you guys know that I had my presentation in my math class and it went very well. I'm proud of the work that I put into it because it coincided with the film.

Today I want to talk about and go more in depth about my filming experience so far. Let me tell you all something, I've really enjoyed working on my film. I enjoy having a video camera in my hand and filming my journey. In short time filming, I never imagine that I could have this much fun working on a film, let alone my own.

Last week I filmed my trip from the DePaul Student Center to the Best Buy Store on North Ave.This was a different trip for me because the last few weeks I was filming my trip from the DePaul Student Center back to my home. But this trip in particular was fun because I got a chance to film in another part of the city that I travel in. I got a chance to film the industrial area of Chicago around Armitage and Clybourn just to get a different filming perspective.

Student Center to Best Buy

You know working on this film has given me a new sense of energy in my life. I'm doing something in my life that's is making me happy for a change and I think I have found my calling in life. I didn't think I would enjoy working on film, maybe I thought it would be a complete drag but it hasn't and I'm happy for that. I'm gonna make this film a success not just for the people who not only believe in me but in my film. I want this film to be a success because I'm apart of it and this film will be a huge step for me in my future as a producer and a filmmaker.

That's all for today but for my next post I'll talk about the documentary film that inspired me to work on my film again.

Take Care,
Justin

Wheelchair Chronicles Update!!

Hey everyone, hope you're enjoying your day. I was gonna go more in depth about my film progress today but I'm going to hold off on that until my next post next Wednesday. I got a lot of studying to do and I have final exams on Monday & Tuesday so my mind is not really focused on my blog today. I did actually do some filming this morning and I got some awesome footage but I'll talk about that and more on Wednesday.

Take Care,
Justin

Film Progress Update

Hey everyone! Sorry I'm a bit late on my post but I'm finishing up the last couple of weeks of the winter quarter at DePaul, so I've been all over the place. Today I just wanna quickly talk about my filming progress as of late. So far everything has been going pretty well, I did have one minor setback last week involving the video camera that I checked out from the DePaul cage in the CDM (Computing and Digital Media) Building. The video camera I got was way to heavy for me and I couldn't continue shooting the film, but like I said it was minor setback and I can except that. Right now I'm still trying to figure out how I want to approach my film so I've been watching some documentaries just to figure out which direction I want to go with the film. It's been tough but if watch some other films I'll soon figure out my approach for the film.

That's all I have for now but for my Friday post I'll go more in depth about my film progress and open up more about how the film is affecting me because it has really affected everything that I've done since starting this film.

Take Care,
Justin

Learning On The Fly

This post is gonna be a short one today, dealing with some issues. I was planning on continuing to shoot my film today but ran into some problems but I want to talk about my filming experience so far. One of the things that I have had to do during this film journey is learning how to actually use a video camera. Now I've had no problems with the technical aspects of using a video camera (that's not really hard), but what I'm talking about relates to my wheelchair and learning how to use a video camera while travelling in my chair.

That's been the hard part for me so far because I really want the audience to see the way that I travel through my point of view and learning how to do two things at once is hard. I've been sitting the camera in my lap while I'm riding but I don't feel that it's working out the way I want it to. The other idea that I had was to use a flexible tripod that I can wrap around my the arm of my chair and attach the camera that way and that might work. while I am learning on the fly, it's actually been fun to try and test out some new techniques for my film because I want this to be successful and I want people to get a better understanding of who I am as a person.