Opposite Worlds in One from Hussein Farraj on Vimeo.
When two different worlds come together for a class project but end up locked in for god knows how long. It could be years, months, hours, and even a single minute. The unfortunate turn of events will test these two gentlemen to the breaking point. Who will crack under pressure? Come and find out for yourself!

Edited and Produced by: Hussein Farraj
Casting: Diego Almonte + Dominick
           

Moma Museum: John Akomfrah

John Akomfrah is an artist like no other, because of his experience being black in a society that only accepts white men. His statement within the movie was “I don’t find myself apart of this society or world because of the unfair treatment human beings do to each other!” (John Akomfrah).  The film Unfinished Conversations is an autobiography of his life born in Jamaica, educated in Britain, and soon establishing himself back home after witnessing the suffering this earth does to humans. John talks about being educated as a black man and how even following the same footsteps as any white man, he still wouldn’t be treated fairly. The film had three screens, each one showing different images of John’s life. To place intensity to a message that the film was projecting, one screen would go red from the left, then the right one, then all that was left would be the middle screen showing an important message. The audio would be low in settings that brought up John’s family life but extremely loud in intense movements that he leads in America or Britian. Music was contrasted from nineteen twenty vibes to sevens anthems like funk or classical. Some of the movements was about defending black people from discrimination in London, at the time during world war 2. Black people were drafted even though the country drafting them didn’t even treat them fairly. “Governments need to know that the black community is more cultured and vibrate then they would think. Adapting to any conditions in order to reach success.” (John Akomfrah). What Mr. Akomfrah is stating is that governments need to do away with segregation and discrimination in order to keep control of the black communities. John Akomfrah shows in his art work about the individual self, how every human being is selfish to their own needs but never to the bigger picture.  The filming techniques ranged from extreme close up, to medium wide shot, to even crane shots of crowds. The video of John Akomfrah was amazing but compared to his artistic work, it doesn’t even compete. One image showed a portrait of lines and another one of the alphabet. Each character of the alphabet has a sexual act underneath it. By the time one puts his/her name down that would be the sexual acts one would do. John Akomfrah had a great way of grabbing people’s attention, and that was through sex.

During the exhibit one artist by the name of Paul Chan had a work of a riot in Europe of young men going into the streets about the ideals of Isis. The work is sketched out with bright colors and shows the intense moment of young men angered about the successful recruitments of happening in their country. This painting shows it happening in the Netherlands. This relates to John Akomfrah’s work because of the unfair turn events life has for man. The style of the work is modern with paint splattered onto strong outlines of men frustrated about the situation and their government.  

Interview Assignment

Blog Assignment 2: The Soundwalk

Blog Assignment 2: "What I Hear" from Hussein Farraj on Vimeo.

During my journey through Brooklyn transit, I found myself where there is loud static noise rumbling through the carts of the train. At each stop there would be a bell and a voice announcement right after. The announcement would be "Stand clear of the closing door please!" I talked with a man with cool tattoos in-front of me towards the end but he was faded out into the loud announcements of the train and wheels of the brakes going into stop.  Then out of nowhere, the exist doors open with a homeless man asking for change. Oh New York, never change.

Codes And Modes:

          The field of virtual reality is changing the way humans are seeing and interacting with the world today. New occupations like Virtual Reality entertainment, news, and even research are shaping the ways humans are knowing information. For example, virtual reality has made some universities excel in physical explanations in any subject matter like the study of anatomy. A student is able to put on the goggles and separate and structure to their benefit. Another example that VR has done is connect artists from Iran and Israel to collaborate on ideas that they never thought could come to life. The speaker on the second day was discussing how these artists formed sculptures with tv-screens that connected on the top. With this installment  citizens from these two countries were able to see the digital landscapes without physically being there. Virtual reality has the possibility to help in political situations, maybe a case were two parties can’t stand being in the same room but could negotiate through these headsets. The speaker at the time was talking about how virtually reality producers have to also be cognoscente of audiences’ empathy levels. Empathy in virtual reality is a crucial role to the development of the experience; because producers have to be able to tell a convincing story. Studies have shown that people have certain levels of empathy in watching stories on screens. The reason why is because most individuals want to relate to a character or be sparked by some kind of emotional cause. There are three levels of empathy; high, medium, and low. When an individual has high empathy levels they want to convey all emotion they are feeling to the experience. For example, the viewer might be crying, screaming, angry, etc. Then so on with the medium and low levels of empathy.

               VR is now marketed through multiple distributers like Sony, Samsung, and Google. These companies are testing the possibilities of virtual reality in ways unimaginable. For example, Sony is working most of its efforts on vr-entertainment. Games like The Journey and The London Heist are outstanding interactions that are taking the gaming industry by storm. The individual places the headset on and is looking around the gaming environment. Instead of looking in third person, you are viewing in first person mode. The company of Samsung are testing the latest field of virtual journalism. A reporter was talking about how the people of Uganda are in need of proper food and safety. She even showed a recorded scene of an air drop filled with food being dropped into a starving village east of Uganda. You were placed in a box filled with food and watch how the air dropped effected it. Then watch how the Uganda people opened the package to gain entrance to the food.  She delivered a message that the United Nations have to be aware of Uganda ongoing government problems and its food shortage. I personally found it cool that the screen could show a viewer a live report of actual news happening right before his/her own eyes and seems as if you are really there. Technology is really an outstanding tool for good and the projects that artists, reporters, and entertainers are doing is wonderful to know that we are heading in this direction.              

      

  

Define A Space from Hussein Farraj on Vimeo.

Blog Assignment 1: Artist Statement

                Hi and welcome to my very first blog post. My name is Hussein Farraj and I am a second semester sophomore at Hunter College. I am currently pressing a double major in Computer Science and Digital Media. What I hope to do and achieve in this class is to work with programs that are related to the media world. For example, getting a grasp on Adobe tools like Premiere Pro or After Affects. I have a lot of ideas that I want to share with the world. I am interested in showing to my future audiences comedic, inspirational, and progressive content to which they would be hooked onto each post I provide to them. I am motivated to show my audience that challenges only win if you let them win. Whether the obstacles are mental or physical, nothing can stop you if you have a made of mind about it. For example, my journey as a national fencer for the United States of America is one of multiple challenges I go through in life. I take on fencing as a competitive passion of mine but once times get tough, I will show my comedic side on how I deal with things. Food with friends is one of those comedic reliefs. I hope to have a healthy work ethic into Blogging to show that I'am committed to the people. I want to inspire others to chance their dreams from watching a simple person like me doing that. I've noticed as social media become more and more immersive into our lives, the more human beings become less independent into chancing opportunities. For example, back in 2011 in my Freshmen year of high school I skipped out on the chance to join the soccer team just because I wanted to play video games instead. A couple of years later ending my senior year my friends end up winning the high school championships for our year. Thats why I am a huge person on never letting life slip right by you. 

                       -Hope this statement introduces you all to what kind of individual I am and hope inspire you all. 

From,

Hussein Farraj