Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Tathiana Piancastelli and the cast Rehearsing for the Play "Apple Of My Eye"!

Sound and Light technicians get ready for the final rehearsals.

Lightning is a very important aspect of this love story with a deeper concept. So setting the perfect light is a big part of the show.

Tathiana brings the script with her everywhere. 
The play "Apple Of My Eye" was written by Tathiana Piancastelli, a 29 years old Brazilian woman who lives in New Jersey now and has Down Syndrome. Since she was born her family worked hard to include her in everything so she had a normal life, working, studying, etc. She is very well known in Brazil and extremely talented. One day she decided that she wanted to be an actress and so she did. 
Tathiana with director Debora Barladini,who is the owner of the Nettles Artists Collective, a physical theater company based in NYC. They discuss the final details of the play.
The cast arrives early and chills while the final touches on sound and lightning are done.
Sandie Luna, who co-owner of the company along with Debora tells the cast what is going to happen that day. 
Tathiana is very close to her family. Her mom is her big supporter and fan! In this picture Tathiana is trying to call her but there is poor cellphone connection inside the theater. She wonders if she should go outside.
The cast hangs out and try to have fun while waiting. The wait was long but they get along really well so killing time wasn't difficult at all. 

Tathiana is really excited about the premiere and shows me the dress she picked for her character "Bela".
From actors to production assistant, everyone is really involved and doing their best to make "Apple Of My Eye" a huge success. Press from all over the place is interested in covering the premiere and Tathiana is extremely anxious and excited about it!
Tathiana is very focused on her work and loves to goof around with her friends during breaks. They are like a big family! In this picture she is offering free massage sessions!
 In "Apple of My Eye" Tathiana plays Bella and her character finds herself kissing two other characters in the play. Tathiana feels very comfortable kissing on stage.
And action! They are finally getting ready to start rehousing the play!
The scenes with Tathiana cause a big impact and makes us think about how we see the world and what we think of ourselves. Very powerful. 
All the actors perform in Portuguese and there is subtitle in english simultaneously! 
While waiting for her  scene, Tathiana chills out with her colleague and watch the other actors perform.

The rehearsal only finished around 11pm and Tathiana never stopped smiling and giving her best!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

New York Times x Washington Post



The use of videos online has become one of the main strategics for news organizations to inform their followers. With the digital era not everybody has the time and the habit to flip through the morning paper and read about what happened yesterday at the local newsstand . Readers are going online for information , checking what's happening in the world live. Access to information has never been easier! There are thousands of images and videos available to everyone with internet access. 

And videos have become one of the easiest and entertaining ways to spread the news and attract viewers attention. It's easier to watch a video than read a full article. Videos and print had to learn how to work together to keep business running and profitable.
By comparing two major news organizations I was able to see how they display their videos and how they reach their audience. 


The NY Times: 
Credibility plays a huge roll for the success of news organizations and that's definitely the case of the NY Times. 
Their website is still one of the most influential news websites in the world and they have a video tab right on top that has a huge archive dedicated to it. It's almost like watching TV, they have different "channels" which are actually topics that you can click on and all the videos related to it will be displayed. Easy and simple. You can read about sports, politics, travel and so on. 
They also have a YouTube channel with thousands of videos available. 
Interesting fact is that the NY Times's most watched videos include the elections of 2012. From speeches to debate, the videos have an incredible amount of views. I believe part of the success is that people trust them and having the full speeches uploaded helps people share the link on social media. 



The Washington Post:
The Washington Post also has a video section, called Post TV. Like the NY Times, the videos also have a great quality. I still think the NY times offers a simpler way to navigate the website but overall they are similar and great. 
The Washington Post also has an official Youtube account and their most popular videos are actually a mix. There is politics and sports... there are videos that seemed to be made to go viral, there is pop culture and war. In sum, a mix of everything.
They don't have the same success in numbers of views as the NY Times but it still a god number overall for and a good way to connect the website to the video channel.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Sister On The Runway

For this project, me and my classmtae Michelle went on a journey to follow designer Dan Natale and his fashion show on Sister On The Runway. You can learn more about it by checking the final presentation in this link : http://fashiontwins28.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/sisters-on-the-runway-a-photo-study/
Here are some shots I took from the day: