Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Concerned Citizen - Tamerra Kemsley




Artists' Statement

Rae Finlinson & Nate Christofferson


For this assignment we interviewed Rae’s delightful friend Tamerra, a young woman who is nothing if not INVOLVED in the community.  In our final video we focus only on her role as chief editor of the student-run newspaper “The Student Review” here in Provo.  However, in our time interviewing her we heard about the details of a few other organizations in which she not only participates, but takes a leadership role.  After her mission she had several friends who were no longer attending church, so she organized a weekly get-together with these friends to talk about gospel principles and discuss doubts and concerns.  Eventually several of these friends returned to activity in the Church.  Tamerra also helped organize the Provo Peace Forum, which is a place for people to come into a safe, moderated environment for discussion of controversial and/or timely topics with healthy debate rather than the usual venomous flame wars that tend to erupt on the internet when touchy subjects arise.

            Our approach to the interview was simple.  Rae prepared and asked the questions and Nate ran the camera.  With just a bit of prompting, Tamerra gave us all the information needed to reveal the way she chooses to exercise her agency and why.  She is a sensitive soul, feeling for the people around her, and she has chosen to channel this trait to work with people who need a voice or who are misunderstood.  Her work with “The Student Review” is motivated by her belief in the importance of people voicing their opinions and not just complacently accepting one single point of view, namely the “Daily Universe”.  She is aware of the many alternative points of view among her peers and wants these individuals to be able to express their thoughts.  Provo has many stereotypes associated with it, not all of which are accurate or healthy, and she hopes that “The Student Review” can help people become aware of the diverse voices in town and on campus. 

            Tamerra strives to give a voice to the voiceless and reach out to the “different” people in what is largely perceived to be such a homogeneous community.  She is working to help real understanding of who we are and what is happening around us.  She wants to get ideas flowing and people thinking.

            For our part, we kept the video simple.  The whole shoot consisted of two camera setups.  One still shot for the interview, and one b-roll shot of Tamerra showing us some copies of “The Student Review”.  Her story and the way she tells it is interesting enough that in the editing we leave long sections alone with minimal cutting and just let her talk.  

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