Life at Moose (Prerna Speaks)
Hello there, apparently this blog has about 11 reads. And I’m sure that I’ve looked at it a couple of times…so this is quite unacceptable. So, now, instead of reading the synopsis of the film over and over you will get to read my rants while simultaneously learning about Moose lifestyle. i am one of three interns here, and aside from being slightly awkward, I’m a pretty decent human being. Although I can’t say I am charitable and saintly, rest assured I do not go out of my way to hurt anyone. That counts…
My name is Prerna by the way. If you say it out loud, you will probably pronounce it wrong, but it’s ok, because I’ll know you’re talking to me anyways.
A usual work day at Moose begins around 11am for me. I come in on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I don’t much mind boss, because the environment is congenial. Which brings up an interesting point, congenial and genial are synonyms. Onwards…
A usual work day at Moose begins around 11am for me. Right now I’m in the process of gathering archival footage for the beginning of the film. This is surprisingly more difficult and expensive than one might think. Here is a hint why. Eldred v Ashcroft. A Supreme Court case in 2003 that extended copyright law, both prospectively and retroactively, meaning it affects films from the past and ones currently being made. This is terrible for the public domain realm because it reduces the material available for use.. Just really quickly, public domain is basically what the public has access to with no strings attached. An example would be the film “Eyes on the Prize”–an award winning documentary about the civil rights movement. The movie is a compilation of clips and footage shot by a variety of people, but to use this footage you need to obtain the rights from the person who shot the film etc.. But the copyrights the makers of Eyes bought have since expired and thus, the film cannot be reproduced anymore etc.. This is awful since the movie is culturally significant and an excellent educational tool and it is now much harder to get and screen the film.
We would want to use public domain footage because it’s free…it’s for the public. This pool is shrinking, evaporating, disappearing rapidly because of extended copyright law. So, I turned to a variety of agencies owning the rights to films, in hopes of buying clips from them. Indeed this is a pricey venture. When footage sells for 20-50 dollars per second, it’s not hard to imagine that you’ll be set back at least $1000.
Anyhoo, despite these hurdles, there is an important lesson to be had. Public domain is important, and when the Supreme Court is limiting it, it’s having a huge effect on schools, culture, and people…it may not be apparent immediately to us, unless you are a filmmaker or doing some sort of project, but imagine never meeting Kunta Kinte in fifth grade. These things are important!!! And imagine how the films you watch and books you read and have access to are affected…Consider your first amendment rights and how that space is getting more and more encroached upon.
Although internet media has a hand in combatting this as it can be a lawless rampant playground…and this is soley my opinion…getting around it in this way can’t be effective for long…and it’s nice to have your rights solidly intact. here are some articles to read if you feel inclined to do so:
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,66410,00.html
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,48726-0.html
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57237,00.html
…yeah i’m a fan of wired. this is it for now…albeit a little incoherent, it’s no threnody of bloghood. I’ll get better at this soon!
Intern ..3,
Prerna