Hey all, my name is Jemima Asante but people just call me Jem for short.  I’m a 17-year-old junior approaching my senior year, and this is my first time participating in an Urban Arts production.  I learned about Urban Arts through my school, but this year I really got involved with the organization when my teaching artist, Elliot Montague, recommended I sign up for MediaLab.  

 

My job for our documentary Type Cast is to create the titles and credits.  I have to put together the names of everybody who participated in and contributed to the making of the film.  I also have to add the educational statistics that our audience will read during the film.

 

While this has been a great experience for me I will admit that in the beginning I wasn’t too crazy about all the things that were going on.  Since it was my first time in a program with people who have been participating for years and already know each other, I often found myself feeling like I wasn’t contributing enough.  To top it off, I am an extremely shy and reserved person.  Because of this I stopped coming to the program for a week, but after I discussed it with my visual arts teacher, Monique Shubert, they got me a job I came to enjoy.  When I met up with Elliot to start creating the titles and credits I was very excited and happy about all the ideas we came up with. This experience has taught me that instead of backing away from situations I should include myself in them confidently.

 

 

Right now my crew mates and I are in post-production.  I’d say this is my favorite part because this is when we get to really put the film together and come up with refining ideas.  At the All-Crew Meeting my crewmates discussed what we could do to make the movie a learning and relatable experience for our audience.  

 

 

I hope that you guys enjoy the documentary and learn more about diabetes and how it’s affecting our neighborhoods.  I’d recommend it to anybody young or old, but I feel that young people will benefit especially.

 

I feel proud that I am contributing to spreading the message of diabetes prevention. I hope the film informs and teaches our audience to take care of their bodies and not just become a Type Cast.