We think fast food is equivalent to pornography, nutritionally speaking.

- Steve Elbert

Take Our Jobs

In an effort to show Americans how grueling farmwork really is, the United Farm Workers of America is teaming up with Stephen Colbert in a “Take Our Jobs” campaign. Unemployed Americans – and any anti-immigration activists – can sign up to work in the fields simply by visiting http://www.takeourjobs.org and submitting contact information.

Those who have done the job have some words of advice for applicants: First, dress appropriately.
During summer, when the harvest of fruits and vegetables is in full swing in California’s Central Valley, temperatures hover in the triple digits. Heat exhaustion is one of the reasons farm labor consistently makes the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ top ten list of the nation’s most dangerous jobs.
Second, expect long days. Growers have a small window to pick fruit before it is overripe.
And don’t count on a big paycheck. Farm workers are excluded from federal overtime provisions, and small farms don’t even have to pay the minimum wage. Fifteen states don’t require farm labor to be covered by workers compensation laws. Via Yahoo

But will these new workers be sprayed with pesticides or be beaten or chained inside box trucks? Probably not. That would be UnAmerican.

The Cost of Food

It is finished.

The Cost of Food from Bianca Fortis on Vimeo.

I can add this to my check-list

Regardless of how this film turns out, I can definitely say I’ve learned a lot in this class.

One thing I’ve learned is to always check the inputs on my camera.

On Saturday the CIW’s mobile museum was in Orlando. I was busy during the day, but I had just enough time to make it downtown and shoot before they started packing up. I thought the shoot went well – I got more info. about the CIW and I interviewed a farmworker. I went into the edit bay the same night to review what I’d gotten.

And realized I had no sound.

I’d been in such a rush to get downtown that I’d forgotten headphones, and I didn’t check the inputs. I was devastated. I’ve had some bad luck, and it seems like it’s always my best shoots that go wrong. I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something.

Anyway, when I realized what’d happened with the audio, I sat there in self-pity for a bit, and then checked the CIW schedule. They were in St. Pete on Tuesday so I decided to skip everything I had to do and make the trip. The ride was supposed to take two hours, but I got lost twice on the way there. Fortunately, my friend from high school drove up so I wasn’t alone.

I re-shot everything and, although it wasn’t perfect, I think it went OK. I’ve decided to focus part of the film on U.S. vs. Navarrete, one of the cases of modern-day slavery. For me, slavery is one of the most compelling issues farmworkers face so I think it’s an effective way to reach my audience.

Now I’ve just got to figure out what to do next. I have different things I want to include, and a lot of suggestions from members in my class, but I need to figure out how to string everything together. There are so many different issues that come into play, and it’s hard to fit everything I want in a 10 minute film.

The miracles of agriculture

My professor suggested that I make an activist film, rather than a film about activists. I like her idea, but in a way I feel like I’m starting all over again. I can get videos, photos, etc. like she suggested but I don’t know how to use that to tell a story. I’ve got some thinking to do.

I just finished my second cut. I ended up scrapping most of what I had used for my first cut. I found this 1960s video from the Dept. of Agriculture on the Prelinger archives. I used pieces of it to book-end my film, to sort of be tongue-in-cheek. I’m not sure how effective it is, so I’m looking forward to screening the film in class to see what the others think.

I found out that the date of the modern day slavery museum has been changed. I’ve been communicating with someone from the CIW to see if I can go. Ugh…I hope it works out.

Schedule of events

The second Harvest of Hope Fest took place this past weekend. I had considered going earlier in the semester, but it ended up not panning out for a few reasons. One was that I had production for the paper, which always comes first. I actually went to HOH last year and didn’t have too great a time. I didn’t like the bands and I’m really just not the outdoorsy camping type. Plus, there’s already being a documentary made about HOH. There’s enough going on within the movement for me to find something else to film.
The thing is, I woke up Monday morning from a nightmare in which I was really angry with myself for not going because, apparently, it was exactly what I needed for my film. Hopefully that doesn’t turn out to be true.

Speaking of other things to film, here’s the schedule I have for the semester:

March 19: action in support of the DREAM Act Orlando
March 21: Immigration March in DC
March 22: Modern Day Slavery Museum Orlando
March 27: Women’s issues group in Seville
March 31: radio Show at Rollins College
April 3: Bike Delivery Hastings/Spuds/Palatka
April 9: CMC Concert (fundraiser) Gainesville
April 16-18: CIW March from Tampa to Lakeland
May 7: RJ Reynolds Shareholders meeting in NC (FLOC ACTION)

The ones in bold are those that I hope to attend. I wish I could go to the DREAM Act action this week, but that’s the day we’re having our SPJ conference, which I’ve been helping organize since last August. And I would love to go to D.C. on Sunday but, again, I have production. Oh, and the May 7 action in North Carolina – that’d be great, but that’s the day I graduate.

Farmwork: Then and Now

Where do I begin?

A lot has happened since I last updated. For one, I created my first cut of my documentary. It was only about two minutes long, but I tried to create the basic structure of the film in that couple of minutes. It was very simple and not all that great, but I think I found the focus of my film while editing. Instead of looking at one character or at the issue of farmwork as a whole, I’m going to focus on the role of students in the contemporary farmworker movement. In doing so, I’ll use YAYA to demonstrate the great strides that are being made thanks to the dedication and compassion of youths.

My second cut is due Thursday and I’m having a hard time. There’s still a lot I have left to shoot, which leaves me little to use for my cut. However, I did find some footage on youtube from a demonstration against Publix last year. I’m planning to end my film with footage that I shoot from a similar demonstration, the three-day Farmworker Awareness Rally that’s happening in Lakeland this year. The problem is that the rally isn’t until April. So I’m going to try to download the footage I found and use it as filler for now. Then I’ll use voice over from my interview, which will hopefully be a powerful ending.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the beginning of the film as well. The beginning is always the hardest part. It’s my lead, it’s my hook – all my life in my writing classes they’ve told me how important the beginning is, and I know that’s just as true in film. My professor suggested I use clips from old news stories or films about farmworker issues. I’ve been thinking about using a small piece of Harvest of Shame, since that was the first time this problem came into the mainstream. It could almost be like a follow up – “This is what started it, and this is where we are now, 50 years later.”

A few people also suggested that I get footage from a supermarket and essentially make the issue relevant to the audience by using food. The problem, of course, is how difficult corporations are when it comes to filming inside their stores.

A have a few more ideas floating around my head, but I don’t want to write about them just yet.

I really need to write here more often. Doing this just helped me clear things up even more in my head. This is why I love to write.

I’m ready for my close-up? I guess?

I found out last week that my documentary and I have been chosen to be featured in an episode of UCF TV’s Gallery. I was pretty excited about it, but then I remembered why I like to stay behind the camera and not in front of it.
Every time I sit down for an interview or I’m asked a question on camera I get really nervous and stumble over my words. I’ve never been one for public speaking.
I suppose it’ll get easier though. After all, I feel like if I can get used to being in front of a camera, I can probably do anything.

This is supposed to be the part I’m good at

I finally have an interview scheduled with my main character, Lariza. I’m excited because I think her answers will provide a lot of insight as to what direction my film will move in. I really don’t want to mess this up, so I’m going to spend the week preparing. I don’t want to forget any questions and I’m praying that I won’t have any technical difficulties.

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