Journalist movies

This semester, we've watched three movies about being a journalist/photojournalist: Under Fire, All the President's Men, and We Were Soldiers.

Three things I liked about Under Fire were:

• It seemed very realistic. I mean, it was easy to get lost in the movie, and not think "oh hey, look at that computer in the background..." or something to that sort.
• It provides time to question if something is right or not.
• Finally, the role of the woman reporter. While it might not seem like a lot, it was nice to see a woman reporter doing that. It seems like in movies, it's always men who are the traveling journalists, and women just stay home and play with the kids. I enjoyed seeing Claire in the movie.

Three things I didn't like about the movie were:

• The plot seemed more like a love story sometimes.
  
• The movie kind of focused more on the Americans than the other characters, although that might be part of because it was by an American.
  
• I couldn't find anything else I didn't like about this movie.
  

The second movie we watched was All the President's Men. Three things I liked about that movie were:

• The way it was filmed--overall, it was very interesting to watch.
  
• It does a good job of showing all the work that goes into being an investigative journalist.
  
• As a history major, I enjoyed it because it shows the beginning of Watergate through someone else's eyes.
  

Three things I didn't like about this movie were:

• I didn't really feel connected to the characters. The movie focused mainly on what they were doing, and didn't leave a lot of room for developing the characters and becoming attached to them as people.
  
• To a certain extent, I feel like the film glamorizes journalism. Not every news story is like this or ends up like this one. I feel like this movie would encourage people to become journalists, and expect it to be this exciting sometimes.
  
• The ending is quick, and kind of unexpected. However, it does fit, so it's a minor complaint.
  

The last movie we watched was We Were Soldiers. We didn't get very far in this movie, but I have seen it before. I liked:

• The way the movie handled the war. They showed it through the eyes of the wifes (the scenes of them delivering the telegrams always gets to me), and through the soldiers.
  
• The transformation of the photographer.
  
• This quote: "We who have seen war, will never stop seeing it. In the silence of the night, we will always hear the screams. So this is our story, for we were soldiers once, and young." (Joe Galloway)
  

It's hard to find things I didn't like about this movie, but here are three minor things:

• While I loved Galloway's reasons for becoming a war photographer, they seemed a little cliche. I'm not doubting that those were his reasons, I just think that the writers of the movie could have made them a little bit less cliche.
  
• All the blood, but I know that they needed to have it. It's more a complaint because I don't like blood that much. I know it was needed for the movie, but it's hard to think of complaints for this movie, because I loved it so much.
  
• Also, the telegrams arriving to the houses of the wifes so quickly. I personally think that the telegrams would have taken much longer to arrive.

I think the movie that was the best representation was All the President's Men. I think it was the best representation because it shows how hard a journalist must work sometimes in order to get a story. Although the other two were also very good, they were war photojournalists, and had a very different relationship with who they were shooting.

VTech Photos

SFA students went out on April 19 to make a giant "VT" on the football field. They all wore purple, and stood in the shape while Hardy and others took pictures of them. These are some of my photos from it--sorry they are out of order:

Photo story: Volunteering at the Animal Shelter

Many sororities and fraternities on the Stephen F. Austin campus require some sort of volunteering. The service sorority Gamma Kappa Omega (GKO) is no exception. Members of the sorority have a choice as to where they go and volunteer. Ashley Bostic, SFA sophomore, chose the animal shelter to volunteer at, and recruited her friends to go with her. Usually one afternoon a week, sometimes Friday, sometimes other days, Ashley and her friends would go, and take the dogs and cats out to play. Why did Ashley choose the animal shelter? "I have always loved dogs, and it seemed like more fun than volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club." Here are some of the pictures that I have taken of Ashley and others at the animal shelter here in Nacogdoches.


"I love the little puppies at the animal shelter," Josh Pace said (photo by Katie Clarke).


While not as popular as the dogs are, the cats at the animal shelter also get to come out and explore their room (photo by Katie Clarke).

The little dogs at the animal shelter don't get to go outside unless someone takes them out there, so they always love visitors (photo by Katie Clarke).

Some people love the big dogs more than the small dogs at the animal shelter (photo by Katie Clarke).
The more people that are at the animal shelter on one given day means there are more animals that are out and can explore the grounds...as well as the other animals (photo by Katie Clarke).

"Going to the animal shelter is one of my favorite parts of the week, " Chris Ciardello said. "Seeing the animals always calms me down after a stressful week of classes." (photo by Katie Clarke)After an afternoon playing with everyone, the dogs are tired, and will easily fall asleep in their boxes (photo by Katie Clarke).
"Going to the animal shelter has been one of my favorite parts of being in GKO," Bostic said. "Even if I quit GKO next year, I'll probably continue going to the animal shelter." (photo by Katie Clarke)
"All the dogs are always so happy to see us when we get there," Bostic said (photo by Katie Clarke).

The cats are sometime less willing to come out and see the people than the dogs (photo by Katie Clarke).
"There is something about going and playing in the animals that just makes you happy," Caroline Freed said (photo by Katie Clarke).
The kittens are always very active and energetic when they get a chance to come out of their cage (photo by Katie Clarke).
"It's hard to not get attached to the dogs that you play with," Laurie Freed said (photo by Katie Clarke).
The dogs love to interact with the other dogs as well as the people at the animal shelter, since they don't get to a lot (photo by Katie Clarke).
Once the dogs are taken outside, they love to explore everything, including the people around them (photo by Katie Clarke).
There is a big pen for the dogs to go run around in at the animal shelter (photo by Katie Clarke).
Everything interests the dogs, whether it is your keys, as pictured above, or your hand, as pictured below (photos by Katie Clarke).

"The dogs just love to be held, " Laurie Freed said. "Some of them will just cuddle with you while you talk to your friends." (photo by Katie Clarke)
The dogs change from week to week, but each of the animals has a special place in everyone's heart (photo by Katie Clarke).
Sometimes, after the little cats go back in their box, they want to come out and play some more (photo by Katie Clarke).