My final project is going to show the inequality of how young people of color get treated when it comes to weed. I want to show how black men get jailed when white people get millions of dollars. I think I will shoot on a dark background or neutral grey background to show that it is a serious topic. I was thinking to show two men in with their fists put together and the black man is in handcuffs and the white man has money in their fists. The type will say how they were both caught with weed. One was sent to jail for years and the other one is sent to the bank.

The first article on “Why Optimists Are Happier, Healthier & Wealthier!” talks about how anyone can be optimistic and why everyone should try to see things in a more optimistic viewpoint. It then shows how people can give theirselves a happier perspective. The audience are pessimistic.

The second article ” A Healthy Outlook” continues why people should have a mort positive outlook on life as it effects their health. The audience are pessimistic.

American Airlines Group

Background Summary:

1. American Airlines, Inc. (AA) also known as “American” is a major US airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is the world’s largest airline when measured by fleet size, revenue, scheduled passenger-kilometers flown, and number of destinations served. American together with its regional partners operates an extensive international and domestic network with an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries.
2. American Airlines is a founding member of Oneworld alliance, the third largest airline alliance in the world and coordinates fares, services, and scheduling with alliance partners British Airways, Iberia, and Finnair in the transatlantic market and with Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines in the transpacific market. Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name of American Eagle.
3. American operates out of ten hubs located in Dallas/Fort Worth, Charlotte, Chicago–O’Hare, Philadelphia, Miami, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Washington, DC–National, Los Angeles, New York–JFK, and New York–LaGuardia Airport. American operates its primary maintenance base at Tulsa (OK) International Airport in addition to the maintenance locations located at its hubs. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is American’s largest passenger carrying hub handling 51.1 million passengers annually with an average of 140,000 passengers daily. The company as of 2015 employs over 113,300 people. Through the airline’s parent company, American Airlines Group, it is publicly traded under NASDAQ: AAL with a market capitalization of about $25 billion as of 2017.

Evaluation of the Product:

American Airlines New and Old Logo

For my final project I am choosing to portray the article called “Psychologists Explain The Benefits Of Baking For Other People” by Julie R. Thomson. The article explain how baking and being able to give others a sweet treat makes us feel good. The act of giving and doing. small favors for others gives us a feeling of joy which makes our lives a little happier. Thomson explains that we don’t just bake to have a sweets we bake for all kinds of reasons such as self-expression. We can express who we are through our baking and create a form of communication without even intentionally trying to do so. It is also a form of mindfulness because it increases happiness and reduces stress. She also explains that if baking makes you stressed then it is definitely not for you. Overall baking is intended as a stress reliever. I love to bake which is why I chose to use this article for my final project.

My ideas: 

The audience is people who like to bake and want to know the benefits of baking. I believe the audience is also for people who may be suffering from depression or anxiety, baking is a way to ease your mind and feel good about yourself.

-For the first image idea I am choosing to use purely still life. The mood of the photo is happy and and is pretty literal. I would like to use bakeware for the photo laid out on a table or reflective surface to show the different tools used to bake. I want the lighting to be bright and even to create that happy mood. I would like to experiment with color in the background but initially I would like it to be bright and white.

-For the second image idea I would like to use a mixture of still life and models. The mood is still happy and joyful. The idea is to have the models facing each other one handing over baked goods to the other model while smiling, or possibly a close up of their hands. I would like the lighting to be bright and even as well to keep the mood consistent with both ideas, I don’t think  would try color in the background for this one. I am hoping to quickly use two people from class for this idea.

Does everyone fight when they drunk? I think the answer is probably not for everyone. From the article “Why does alcohol make some people violent?” Dyani Lewis writes about the influence of alcohol is different to everyone. It depends on the personality, brain function, and environment. For those people who are having less ability to control their mind. They would easy to drunk and then be aggressive. The author also mentions that Mostly Men are easy to aggressive than woman when drunk. They are not able to control their behavior because of alcohol stimulating their brain, especially for impulsive people. However, alcohol will affect you with slow reaction and out of control. Alcohol has different concentrations of white wine, red wine, and beer. People will get drunk easily with high alcohol content. As a result, Alcohol is one of the harms that cause violence. It is a good idea to restrict or limit the sale of alcohol in order to control violence happened.

My audience is targeting 21-40 age men. The images will include a model. I am going to ask a man in the class. If no one to do a volunteer I will bring my friend. I will shot both still life photography and people. The tone of the still life will be serious. I will bring a bottle of beer, glass, and alcohol for props. Basically, I want to express the idea of alcohol is a serious problem. I would use the black background for model shooting, and the lighting I would use the Rembrandt light with no fill. I will ask a model pretend like a drunker with anger face. Another image idea, the drink bottles are in front of the model. Creating shadows on the bottles with the spot light. 

To Eat or Not To Eat. That is the Question

In the article “The Return of American Hunger”, written by Ned Resnikoff, and published online by The Atlantic more than a year ago, the author argues that the “US Department of Agriculture” premise, which defines food security as “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life” it not as good as is sound in the actual America.

He says that by 2014, 48 million people were going hungry, and will increase with the new food stamps restriction that the government is imposing. Mr. Resnikoff lists a number of reasons and circumstances that cause the problem to increase rather than disappear. Two of the main causes of this debacle are the mentioned are the detriment of the wage grows, that he says have been “wildly unequal,” and limitations in the duration of the enrolment.

The contradictory policies of federal and local governments have impacted the access for the population to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). In the midst of the crisis, both the national and state governments have implemented policies that restrict access to so-called food stamp program. The logical thing would have been to support the program and make it reach more people.

His Name Was Ryder

Thomas Paterson, a CNN’s journalist, refers to a story of a 2 years old boy that held the hand of a voluntary worker for a program that helps families that struggle with hunger, to highpoint the problem of hungry kids in America.

The author points out that while thousands of children are hungry in America, government and state policies force restaurants to throw away food instead of donating, which means throwing away 40% of food at a cost of $ 165 billions.

What is making the difference is volunteering. They are in charge of distributing food to the most needy. The article mentions that in New York, organizations have managed to get the government to allow restaurants to donate food, and use the volunteer network to pick it up and take it to the places where it is most needed.

Hungry America Shooting Session

The shooting must include shiny objects. The main goal is to avoid the reflection.

The Return of America Hunger shooting Idea

I am planning in using a shinny ladle I will bring as a prop. A model, one of the classmates, approaches the ladle to his mouth like he/she is testing food. It will be a CU of the ladle near to the model’s mouths. The challenge for this picture has to do with the light and the camera setting. I would like to use a white background.

A shiny empty can with a shiny spoon inside.

Why does America have so many hungry kids?

The idea for this picture to have toy that lost the shiny surface next to some child shinny silverware next to an empty, clean plate.

Returning Green is a process of rebirth of the Earth (Maya). This process ensures the commitment of the human family, who are the ones responsible for what we call Global Warming (Overheating of the Earth). A lot have been said with efforts being made in resolving the problems we have created before it reaches cataclysmic, annihilating majority of the inhabitance that dwells there (Earth).

Our concerns for Global Warming, and the areas we seek to make adjustment too, that would heal the wounds of the Earth will take more than just recycling, and technological advancement like solar systems, wind mills, electrical vehicles and so forth might not possible be the right directive, because they contribute to the problem.

The most effective way to make change, is to revolutionize the way we think, prioritizing the natural above the unnatural. For instant, it is true that people are getting more health conscious and begin to concentrate on dieting, and deciding on eating more natural products, but does these natural products come from the Tree in the Dust, or does they come from the Industry?
All manufactured produce come with waste that are non-biodegradable. The purchasing of certain food and juices also come contingents of waste like plastic and Styrofoam which is one of the greater form of waste accumulated by human from an individual standpoint. Technological advancements like the wind-mill take away a lot of deforestation, and continues to destroy the greenery surface while operational. As for the solar systems, well! They are not always affordable. And for electric vehicles that is said to lessen the content of carbon monoxide the air, again! Dose not reduce the heat, instead, amplifies it.

The precept of Returning Green is to give nature a chance by starting at home, and in the community. Home owners, and the community should do more gardening. Families as well as bachelors must start cooking their own meals. Homes must use only cutleries and utensils, no disposables. Everything disposable should be natural waste from the food we prepare. For this to be achieved we must eat only fruits of all sorts, vegetables of all sorts, legumes, nuts, drink pure water, get a lot of sunlight, and fresh air, finally, lets learn to love one another. The waste from the food we eat will not go to recycle but would be used as food for cattle’s and other animal life stock. Earth herself would appreciate the compos from her produce.

Technologically, we must pause for a while, and concentrate on the mechanism, the engineering, the mechanical function, and the models of our inventions in relation to the problem we trying to solve, that they are not only achievable, but necessary, and are nature friendly. We must also eliminate certain industries and manufactures that only account for the making of money, but does not contribute to well-being. Greed and vanity is the disconnect (disease) that abate consideration, but rushes to desire. Desire sees through the eyes, and the eyes are the windows to the world, but it seldom see the world, however, it see the things that is made to continent desire, therefore, our home (Earth) become a garbage pile.

SCENES FOR RETURNING GREEN

SCENE (1) model needed (possibly Classmate)
LIGHTING (2) Defused light for the creation of soft shadows (sun light of earlier part of the morning or the later part of the day)
BACKGROUND: white
The reason for this lighting feature is, planting is done in the earlier part of the morning, or the later part of the day when sun light is fully cast but not at pic.
OBJECTS: At least two garden tools. One fork and one shovel small. Dirt and two plants, one is a sport.

SCENE (2) Model needed (class mate possibly)
LIGHTING (1) Direct light (fill) front of model.
BACKGROUND LIGHT AND COLOR (2) Blue or white with background lighting.
SUBJECTS (3) Model, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, water.
SETUP (4) Fruit bowl on table with all natural produce. Model stands with one hand before the month with a fruit, and the other hand stretch out with more fruits in an act of thanksgiving.

WHY MAKING THE SWITCH TO REUSABLE WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE BETTER by: By Hannah Ellsbury.

This article is persuading people to abandon the habit of consuming bottled water and switch to using a reusable water bottle and get water from home. this article also tells us 3 facts about bottled water. 1, the percentage of bottle turn to be recycled and use is only 23 percent. Also to produce the amount of bottle we consume every year can power up 190,000 homes. 2, financially more convince, if you get a reusable bottle and buy a filter at home could save you hundreds dollar every year. 3, better quality, the environmental department has more quality control on our home tap water than drinks company.“ bottled water manufacturers are not required to disclose as much information as municipal water utilities”.  the FDA “does not require bottled water companies to disclose to consumers where the water came from, how it has been treated or what contaminants it contains.”.

I personally started using reusable many years ago, if everyone start today is not too late. one person change could make hundreds of bottle saved every year.

My audience for this project is everyone. I have ideas for both still life and models. I think my series will be more serious and deep, make people think about it or change their mind after they see the photos. my photo will be both metaphorical and literal. I am thinking to ask Jingyi and Gabriel to be my models, they got such good acting skill. for the lighting, when I shoot on bottled water I would like to use a similar method of shooting glass. using diffuse reflection. if it the negative message I want to make it a dark background or silhouette. For a positive message will use backlit, soft edge, bright field and reflection will be beautiful. For the model shoot, I like to use a front light and Rembrandt light with fill.

idea 1: bottle garbage on the back.

idea 2: beautiful reusable bottle photo shoot.

idea 3: model drinking water with reusable bottle other hand smashing and twisting a bottle.

idea 4: making a reusable bottle as a hero, garbage on the back, with a depth of field.

Ideas may change or come up with a new idea during the shooting process.

“The Return of American Hunger’:

• According to the article “The Return of American Hunger” hunger has been increasing dramatically throughout the United States, and the most affected are the poor in different States of the country. For example: Wisconsin started requiring that some food-stamp applicants submit to a drug test, Missouri imposed a rule limiting the duration of residents’ enrollment in the program to no longer than four years (Resnikoff P1). We see how governors from different States have increased the poverty line for eligibility purposes, such as New York State and Illinois, both earlier this year started making changes, therefore, more people became eligible (from 130 percent of the poverty line to 150 percent) for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) which is the Government Program that helps people with low income with food and expenses.  It shows that the poverty has returned, literally. US Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents have been struggling for many years, and it seems like they will be doing so for a long time.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food security as “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life,” (Resnikoff P1). We all know that access to education, food, and protection are human rights. But United States being one of the most powerful countries in the world, MUST have a better Nutritional System where its citizens would take advantage and FEED their families, regardless of their income (with some restrictions or line of poverty) creating with it, a greater and happier America.
• One point that strongly grabbed my attention was the fact that “Other States—including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Oregon soon followed the law of increasing the border line of income for people to become eligible for SNAP. But not every state affected by the cuts took action. Michigan, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and New Hampshire all lost SNAP benefits, sadly.

• “Why does America Have so Much Hunger”?

• According to the USDA there’s a “lack of  access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members” which means a very “food insecure household”. Basically, this article shows statistics about the hunger and its evolution in the United States. This article it’s extremely sad, and shows that even if the kids don’t like their clothes, they always try to make it. North Dakota and South Dakota, together with Montana States and Illinois are part of the list of the States that aren’t struggling so much when it comes to hunger in America.
• One point that grabbed my attention is that: United States being the most powerful country in the world, exports more food than any other country in the world. So why do families with children have trouble getting enough food in such a prosperous nation? Ironically, there is an answer for it: Greed & Government, On the other hand: we see how much UNEATEN FOOD IS THROWN OUT of businesses, hotels, and houses across the United States, so it makes it even HARDER and poorer. That’s enough to feed 25,000,000 of Americans including U.S. Virgin Islands, and obviously the contiguous United States.
• Comparing years 2014-2015 there was a significant decrease of poverty from 9.4 to 7.8 and volunteers and privately funded nonprofits like Jesus Was Homeless help to ease the problem. Eventually, we will be waiting for any improvement in our society, so that our kids in America will be even happier, better, and ready for the future.

Ideas:

• I will bring some plates and some empty containers symbolizing poverty and necessity. Also about the lighting Technic: i  want a dark picture, with dark background, i would like to create drama with my picture and grab attention from the public, using elements to describe hunger. I will also bring some forks, spoons, and knifes to create meaningful pictures. I will try to use a dirty plate trying to project the idea of ” i want more food” “it’s not enough for me” “Im not full” to convey the idea of the article.

Big Benefits Big Pharma

Big Pharma is not concern about cynics and what they are saying. It is assumed that Big Pharma is all about chi chin $$, and the profits they can generate from these drugs even when it doesn’t help the condition of the consumer. Branding is another area of concern that makes the cost of drug very expensive.

In spite of major critics concerning the exploit of the industry, it is stipulated that Big Pharma is indeed rewarding. Based on recent studies, drugs brought to market are having a more positive effect than one may think. The increase in sustainable drugs leads to increasing life expectancy by 1.74 years on average, and 73% increase due to new drugs marketed after 1990.

Increase longevity is not characterized by social improvement or risk factors, but in pharmaceuticals innovations. As Grabowski, and economist at Duke University said, “Without a well structured system of patent protection, the research pharmaceutical industry nor the genetic industry would not grow; a circumstance that requires out-of-pocket cost, but brings new drugs to market that increases life expectancy and real wealth.

America’s Other Drug Problem

As much as health care cannot survive without the pharmaceutical industry , it appear it can’t live with it as well. These giant cooperates of money makers stand prevalent in the live of American’s. There wealth lend them favor to government policies even with mall practice, and like the other big business profiteers, the drug companies are in it for the same purpose, Chin!

The expenditure on prescription drugs during 1960 – 1900 was study, but increased drastically after 2000, and have tripled since. These statistics indicates the price of prescription drugs in the United States as being the highest in the world. In addition, the industry battle relentlessly against price control or the limitation of marking revenues on new brand name drug. Though new drug have somewhat increase life expectancy, is exaggerated to some extent in the above article. Here, the bias is more subtle, but still give credit to the industry, and express some optimism on their behalf. However, we get a glimpse of the advantage of the industry interest in profits making before considering the well being of its consumers.