Artists Statement for Media 160

                                     Artists Statement for Media 160
                                             by Hasnah Farraj
 I am a person who enjoys a variety of different types of media in various genres. When I am feeling upset, I generally will look at videos or photos that have a comedic content to allow myself to be put into a better mood. It usually depends on how I am feeling that will dictate what I want to look at or what type of media I want to create. My first passion is writing but I want to learn how to improve and become more comfortable working with a camera. In terms of working with film, I hope to create film that is either comedic, tragic, dramatic, or any other genre, including a documentary. I believe that it is important to push oneself and to try to experiment in making media that is from different genres.
    Overall, I have a number of curiosities. One of my interests are what it is that people find funny and I am also curious on how to make videos that have a comic appeal. In my experience I have learned that because individuals have different values, and cultural backgrounds, what one person believes is funny, another could find insulting. Each person is a unique individual and I find it intriguing to know what it is that sets them apart in what it is that they find funny and why that might be.
     I have studied a lot of different types of media, and one type that is interesting to me, is how equality is portrayed in the media in regards to class, gender, socio economics, religion and racial background. I have also studied how a perspective influences how the media will be portrayed and received. While media makers of film and television try to be as un-bias as possible, I believe that everyone has a bias. I have also studied how film can make the viewer develop an interpretation that is different from another person, and make the audience question what a movie means. As well as how a film can be very informative and cause people to make a better change for their society, one example of how I saw this accomplished, was through the usage of documentaries.
    I have also studied how the media through the medium of a fictional T.V., a show, can portray real problems that arise everyday, such as low income, inadequate health care, and the economy.
    I truly admire Vince Gilligan, for creating a series that gained a large audience, i.e. Breaking Bad. I hope that when making and working with film and media in the future, I can make others interested in the work that I produce.