Moufy comes to LSC!

For the written story, go to The Critic's website.

Final

I will be doing my final project on the Moufy concert at LSC. I'll have backstage access at the concert, so viewers will be able to see what goes on before, during and after the show. Also, I'll be doing the project independently.

Karate

The dojo might be the basement of the Eagles Club, but every Wednesday night, residents of Bethlehem, NH are being transformed from beginners to black belts.

White Mountain Martial Arts is an independent Shotokan Karate Program that puts “martial arts in its proper perspective in today’s world.”  

Sensei Leon Currier, fourth degree black belt, teaches students of all color belts.    

“We’ve been open since November of ’97,” Currier explained. “I’ve taught some before, but mainly here.”

Shotokan is the most widespread and influential style of karate. It was developed from various martial art styles by Gichin Funakoshi.

The first official dojo Funakoshi built was named Shotokan, which is how the style received its name.  This dojo was destroyed in an allied bombing.

Funakoshi is credited for the popularity of karate clubs throughout the West because of the public demonstrations he would give. 

Today there is no leading organization guiding the way Shotokan is taught, but almost all styles include Funakoshi’s influence.

Currier teaches eleven forms of Shotokan depending on the level of ability his students have. To see the different forms and their explanations, click here.

Some of Currier’s students have been studying with him for as long as 8 years. 

“Sensei Tristan Emerson, second dan, eight-ish years,” student Tristan Emerson proclaimed. “Second dan” means that Emerson is a second degree black belt.

Currier describes the style of WMMA as “heavily dependant on the three K’s of karate.” This means there is a mixure of drills, forms of self defense, and sparring.

“We call our style ‘Tae-Sho Shotokan Karate,” explained Currier. The group has incorporated some Taekwondo into their style.

Classes are $10 per month and meet every Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Projects

Next video project: For our next video project, the group will be looking at a "dojo" in Bethlehem, NH. Heather Cobb will be doing the filming, Marc Samson and Sean Yergeau will be doing the video editing, and I will be writing the story.

Final project: I will be working separately from my team for the final project. I plan on combining still photography and video to create a mixed media slideshow.

My project is going to chronicle the lives of a few different characters who live in Lyndonville and/or St. Johnsbury. I poached this idea from the New York Times series "One in 8 Million," which follows sterotypical "characters" and created a series.

I'm not sure if I plan on following the black and white grid that the Times set for themselves. Depending on who I can interview, I plan on maybe having some still shots that emphasize one aspect by making that one aspect in color. That way, if I get a woman who wears a fantastic multicolored jacket, the still shot of her will be completely black and white with the exception of her jacket.      

Behind the Scenes: LSC Film Student Makes Movie

The Cyborg in an Oatmeal filled bathtub. Photo Credit: Sierra Willenburg 

Things are getting sticky in the Northeast Kingdom—or at least in a bathtub.

Sierra Willenburg, a senior new media major at Lyndon State College, recently finished filming her original thirty minute short film entitled “The Cyborg Rises Up from the Oatmeal” for Advanced Non-linear Video Editing.

Advanced Non-linear Video Editing is a required course for New Media majors with a video concentration. Willenburg had to take the required class as an independent study because it was not offered for the Spring semester.

In order to take an independent study from the college, students must fill out an independent study contract. The contract asks for students to state the purpose of the study, objectives, and reasons for taking the course independently.

Students also must have their instructor, their advisor, the dean and the department chair sign off on the study. Though the form may sound tedious, Willenburg was not annoyed by the process.

“I think I got it all done in a day or two,” she said in an email.

 She also believes taking the course independently has not changed what she could have learned.

“I think [taking it as a class] would have been about the same,” Willenburg explained.

Willenburg co-wrote the script with friend and junior English major Peter Nute. They wrote the script while at a journalism conference in New York City.

Willenburg played the role of director and cinematographer and recruited friends and family to help with her with the project.

Left to right: Detective Sherman, played by Peter Nute, The Cyborg, played by Jaime Willenburg, and Detective White, played by Bryan Barber, take a group photo between shots. Photo Credit: Sierra Willenburg

Willenburg’s younger sister, Jaime Willenburg, is the focus of the film in her role as the cyborg. 

Cyborgs are fantasy creatures who have both artificial and biological parts.

Detective White, played by digital media major Bryan White, and Detective Sherman, played by Nute, go to an apartment building to investigate a murder.

It is in this same apartment building that the Cyborg has been living in a bath tub filled with Oatmeal.

“Every time I move my feet there are these little, little, semi-cooked grains and they are kind of going up my pant legs,” Jaime explained how sitting in a bathtub full of oatmeal felt. “It’s not slightly pleasant.”Though it was not a pleasant feeling, Jaime agreed her suffering was worth her art.

Cast and crew worked, played, and acted for about five hours two days in a row to complete the filming process.

“I think this is going to be a great movie,” Barber said excited when filming was over. “I can’t wait to see it!” 

View behind the scenes footage on CNN iReport: