Documentary
Master Class with PS48Q's film program
19 Feb 2011, 12:18 AM by kaya, Elementary School
In PS 48's film studio, student worked with Master Arist Geo Wyeth to make music, film, and work on their latest project. Students from teaching artist Elliot Montague's 4th & 5th grade class act as teaching assistance in his 2nd & 3rd grade class as they film, edit, and share!



MediaLab Films Screen at Harlem Stage
13 Feb 2011, 3:32 PM by Elizabeth Rodd, Urban Arts MediaLab



The MediaLab Team Explores the Politics of Food in Park Slope, Brooklyn
29 Jan 2011, 5:02 PM by Elizabeth Rodd, Urban Arts MediaLab





MediaLab Alum Daniel Familia Screens Ghetto Talks for His College Classmates
27 Dec 2010, 4:36 PM by Elizabeth Rodd, Urban Arts MediaLab
Story by Producer Daniel Familia
In the Fall of 2010, I screened Ghetto Talks in my English class at LaGuardia Community College. The idea of screening the film was born from a class discussion about what it means to be a Latino in America and what it means to be a Latino in New York City. Big urban cities such as New York are known to be the home of many people of color; these people can be seen as “ghetto."
My English class is part of a cluster of classes that revolve around the theme of Latino and Latin American studies. When discussing what it means to be a Latino in New York City many said being poor and living in the ghetto--communities in places like The Bronx, Brooklyn, and El Barrio (The Village), which used to be home to the majority of the city's Puerto Rican communities. Due to gentrification these communities were forced to move to more disenfranchised areas far away from the city, causing them to be seen as poor or "ghetto."
Many of my classmates initially reacted in a negative manner to the film, thinking it was saying that such stereotypes are true. In the end, however, they saw the change that the word has undergone throughout history and they managed to identify with the film's message.
In my opinion, Ghetto Talks is about showing the power of language and how the word “ghetto” has an impact on everyone regardless of race, class or gender. Ghetto Talks shows how much history there is within this word. It has been used to categorize people, to name places where people were forced to live, and to describe people who are disenfranchised and placed in certain areas in urban cities.
At one point, for example, Cora Daniels, author of Ghetto Nation, describes how Paris Hilton uses the word "ghetto" in her reality television show to describe a broken-down truck. Cora points out that she is not complimenting the truck; she is saying that the truck is worthless. Her interpretation pushed my peers to think about what the word meant to them, and they all agreed that on a certain level the word “ghetto” does not have a positive meaning.
Another point that got my peers interested was when cameraman Shamrod Lockwood said that he sees the word “ghetto” as a form of pride, one that points to a sense of survival. My classmates all nodded their heads. Looking at them, I realized that their interpretation must fall somewhere in between. They acknowledged that the word could be seen from different perspectives, but it did not affect their point of view overall.
As a filmmaker, I did not intend to change my classmates' point of view, but I wanted them to see other ways of thinking, how throughout history the word has impacted different groups of people in different places--from Jews in Europe, to African-Americans in the projects, to Latinos and minorities in underserved areas like The Bronx and Brooklyn.
I believe it is my personal responsibility to reclaim the word and share my opinion with others. Screening Ghetto Talks made me feel influential and empowered. I am showing people that words have meaning, but words can only mean what we agree upon as a society. If, to a vast majority, "ghetto" is a negative word, meaning "underserved" or "failure," then this is what the word "ghetto" will come to mean for all of us.
Ghetto Talks has completed it's run on the film festival circuit, so the MediaLab crew is pleased to release our film online. Check it out here>

Focus Group Share-Out: Type Cast meets The Violence Movie
19 Dec 2010, 4:30 PM by Elizabeth Rodd, Urban Arts MediaLab
Story by Robert Matos

Viandra McCarthy, representing Kurt Hahn's The Violence Movie, and Robert Matos, representing MediaLab's Type Cast
On Saturday, December 4, the afternoon session of the Urban Arts MediaLab team received guests who were students and also filmmakers from the Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School in Brooklyn.
The Kurt Hahn students gave us a preview of a rough cut of their film The Violence Movie, which showed acts of direct and indirect violence both in and out of school. The students featured in the film performed skits and shared personal stories of their encounters with violent situations.

Kurt Hahn students lead The Violence Movie Q and A session.
After the screening we had a Q and A session with the Kurt Hahn students in which we were asked to give feedback. I recommended that they be careful about possible copyright infringements when using archival film clips and that they think about whether they want to present a radical point of view or be more objective. Other than those two comments I can see their film being very successful and popular with the public.
Then we turned the tables . . .

The MediaLab crew leads a discussion of Type Cast. Yep, that's Viandra McCarthy again... She worked on both films!
After The Violence Movie Q and A session the MediaLab crew presented our film Type Cast, which deals with the diabetes epidemic in the adolescent community. We received useful feedback from the Kurt Hahn in-school crew: they felt a strong connection with our main subjects, Josh and Tiffany, but recommended that we use our audio in a stronger way so that the audience feels like the audio is a character in the film.

Teaching Artist Vee Bravo has some thoughts about audio.
In the end, the MediaLab crew learned something from the Kurt Hahn film crew and they learned a few skills from our side, based on our experiences inside the industry.
Keep checking back over the holidays. . . . There's always news from the MediaLab crew!
- Parent Workshops at PS 48M
- Experimental Videos at MS 258 Community Action School
- Happy New Year and PS 40 has an I Teach I Learn
- PS 48Q's animation class
- Building Community through Public Art Making at MSAP
- IS 528 Holiday Share
- PS 90 Holiday Preparations
- Life Stories at Stick Fly
- PS 112 Holiday Share
- Winter Showcase at Brandeis High School































