Drawing + Camera = Action!

Today we had a lovely day. We all took some tasks and divide the work. Shamila did a great group portrait and we took some pictures on the webcam. It's been quite a ride sharing all this time together!

Lady Gaga's sends personal video message to ESA

This week, Lady Gaga sent a personal video message in response to a student at Etobicoke School of the Arts that was aimed at anti-bullying, acceptance, and supporting those who stand up! Wouldn't it be great if she saw all of our videos that we've made as part of Queer Connections? I wonder what her response would be!!! Check out Lady Gaga's video & the accompanying news article!!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/video/video-lady-gagas-message-to-toronto-school/article2249983/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/11/25/lady-gaga-bullying-school.html

Anti-Bullying Bill put forward by McGuinty

This story released yesterday on CBC news, is about Premier McGuinty's stance on bullying, school climate and Gay-Straight-Alliances in Ontario schools, as well as mentions of youth making videos and artistic social media based responses to dealing with the loss of another member of the LGBTQ community:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/11/30/toronto-mcguinty-bullying.html

SuperQueeros

Introducing SuperQueeros in Katy Perry's "Firework," which she has formally dedicated to LGBTQ youth. In East Queer Connections 6th video, (posted below), we witness an LGBTQ youth battling depression. A SuperQueero appears, and supports the young person on their journey to finding their own inner resources, and becoming a SuperQueero themself, fighting depression from within, and being true to who they are, even in the midst of challenges and obstacles.

What was it like making our last video?

A) Hilarious!
B) Fun, Funny, Fun.
C) A good experience, made me laugh.
D) Humerous, lots of fun.

East Queer Connections most recent video making experience (Video Below) was one of our most fun, free, and creative sessions. Our video was inspired by the work in the previous videos from the North & West QC groups. We wanted to question one another about LGBTQ human rights, and whether things have really changed for LGBTQ community, but do it in a fun way--- using puppets that we made to represent ourselves and/or other people.

We wanted to know whether "It Gets Better." How does it get better? Who can we turn to? Are our rights being upheld? Are there still human rights issues that have not been addressed here in Canada? What about rights for Trans identified folks? What about the bullying, fear, and depression that so many LGBTQ youth are facing in their schools, in their homes, with peers, and in society? Why is the media focused on gay teen suicides, but fail to provide us with the necessary positive role models and equal representation in mainstream media?



We continue the conversation in our next video, as we plan to address LGBTQ depression, with the LGBTQ Super-Queer-o-Superhero Squad 'COMING OUT' to the rescue!!!

Stay tuned....

What do you think about the videos we watched today?

Raisa
The videos that we watched today was somewhat informative, not well organized.

Jarrel
My prospective on the videos that I watched today were, they each had information that could have been put together more effectively.

Aintony
i think the video was well done and very thoughtfully put together it was informative and it was made by the cute boy from Scarbrough <3

Shamila
it was amazing, crazy and artistic, well put together, and awesome.

TaKe Out
We (Queer North) took a leap in our sessions. This week we wanted to try different ways to play with our roles, appearance, and the way we make videos. We made an stop-motion animation piece to keep with the spirit of experimentation. Hope you enjoy as much as we did. Check it out!



This week we responded to videos of coming out stories. They had very Intimate stories that were shared by the other groups. We were inspired to continue the conversation by asking the questions: what happens after one comes out? Where would you take your self next? This video is part exploration and part celebration of the various queer narratives and its different roles and dynamics. Be fierce!

Thoughts and Things...

A few quick thoughts and things, as East Queer Connections officially joins the blog~

We have really enjoyed watching the videos from the other groups, and we have had some really interesting conversations together while planning our responses. We wanted to add to the conversation by posting some links of interest that we referenced or that we feel are important to the issues we've encountered in the videos:

1.On LGBT rights around the world:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory

2. On the idea of sexual orientation/gender identity being 'chosen' vs 'born this way':

3. On homophobia, bullying, teen suicide, and It Gets Better...

Screening Date Announcement

The screening date has been confirmed for Dec. 14th at the AGO.

All three groups will come together to watch our videos.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion and reception.

Please feel free to invite family and friends to the screening!

Here are the details:

Jackman Hall Theatre
Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas St. West
Dec 14th, 2011
5pm-8pm (Time still to be confirmed)

Video No. 3 North Queer Group: Inside Out

Inside Out is an autobiographical video in response to previous videos from the other community groups dealing with identity crisis. We thought it was important to emphasize who were are and the place we are at in our lives by looking at our coming out experiences. How much we've learnt from those emotionally charge experiences? We found useful to look at threes and they way they grow and evolve. The three is a symbolic element that represents growth, roots, early connections and family. Later on the three develops branches which can be seen as friends that you can hold on to and get support. However sometimes when you think the branches are strong, they might brake. Three leaves are seasonal like all the connections from people that come and go in your life for intense and short periods of time.
The coming out experience never ends but what changes is the people around you. Therefore it's important to know where are you standing and what your roots are.

Random much?

This video is about different types of stereotypes including blondes and ravers, stereotypes can have discriminatory effects. The way you dance, the way you dress and the way you talk can all lead to people stereotyping you. Our video also holds an aspect of "randomness" because we did not get the gist of the videos and this is what we came up with when we saw them.

ENJOY !!! :)

Beyoncé!

In our first sessions we, the North Queer group, were working on camera concepts. Shots, angles and movements are based upon the distance of to the camera with the subjects. We all brought samples of videos we find interesting. We choose to deconstruct Beyoncé's Run The World because of its versatility and concept. Plus we love her!

Camera shots:
-General shot
-Medium shot
-Close up

Camera angles:
-Birth view
-Worm view

Camera movements:
-Panning
-Tracking
-Zooming

Try to count them all, its a lot of fun!

Videos Now Posted on Blog!

Queer Connections is now underway and groups are in the process of making their third videos this week! As we continue to exchange videos between groups I am hoping that both individual participants and each of the three groups might be willing to take some time and write about their experiences of queer connections here on the blog. Maybe you can all share some photos of your group and introduce yourselves to the other groups.


This week along with posting your video response I am asking each group to post a blog about the thought process behind the video that you are creating! Why did you respond in the way that you did? What did the videos make you think? Did you agree or disagree with the videos? Why?


Each group facilitator has a log in that can post on the blog!!

Griffin Centre - I noticed you spent some time working on your youtube channel! It looks awesome! You should post some of the videos you favourited on the blog to share with the other groups!

I have also posted your videos and responses here on the blog. (check out the links at the top of the page) We have the three threads that are going to keep building with a new video each week!

Looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Loving the videos so far!
Pam

Now Accepting Applications

Queer connections is a youth video project based in three locations across the City of Toronto. Guided by professional queer video artists, youth will learn the ins and outs of video making. Using state of the art high definition gear, youth will have the opportunity to produce 7 short videos from concept development to post-production - all in a queer positive, collaborative and supportive environment. Building on themes surrounding identity and sexuality, youth will use their videos as pieces in an artistic dialogue between the three groups. Queer Connections is looking for 5 LGBTTI2QQ youth between the ages of 14-21 in each of its three locations. The videos will be screened at the AGO in December upon completion of the project. 

For more information or to request an application form please email: pam@charlesstreetvideo.com 

or go to our website: www.queerconnection.blogspot.com

Applications are due: Sept. 26th, 2011

Each group meets twice a week for 10 weeks, starting the week of Oct. 1st.

Etobicoke: Mon & Thurs 4-6pm

North York: Mon & Wed 5:30-7:30pm

Scarborough: Tues & Thurs 4-6pm