It’s been a long and arduous journey and not everybody made it out alive, but guess what! The Intern Class of F’11 is over and all the projects are in! I must say that these final projects have got to be the most interesting batch I’ve received by far… Make sure you take a look below. I’m absolutely blown away by all the creativity!! Please join me in giving a warm welcome to our next generation of Staff & Producers, who passed with flying colors!!

Chris Chen
Katie Chen*
Gavin Fink
Akash Kataria
Edgardo Leija*
Bryan Levinh*
Rebecca Limerick
Ruben Mora
Daniel Olson
Alex Parra*
Alexa Rocero*
Chelsea Yi
Yiyang Zou

* Graduated with Producership

And now watch their projects:

Chris Chen – (Miss)understood

Feeling bad about blowing off her blind date, a girl decides to bring him an apologetic letter only to be disappointed by the fact that he has “moved on”…or has he?

Katie Chen – Mandeville Beats

Background Track: “Episode 22″ by Di Bos. Big Thanks to Greg Rorheim and Victor Shiu!

Gavin Fink – How to get the A

A classic showdown of students vs. professor.

Akash Kataria – RAW: A Love Story

A comedy that focuses on the themes of rebirth and symbolic baptism that draws heavily from experimental film styles while simultaneously combining a fictional narrative with documentary. RAW: A Love Story documents the actual washing of my raw denim jeans in the Pacific Ocean after 11 months of wear. The short also discusses the propensity for human beings to become emotionally attached to material objects even to the point of placing them in a hierarchy above other humans.

Edgardo Leija – The One That Got Away

Bryan Levinh – The New Sun

Classified video footage sent from Opportunity, a mobile robot sent out to explore Mars. NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Project.

Rebecca Limerick – Spoke-n Word

A comedic, musical, art montage video exploring a world where biking (as a form of alternative transportation) reigns supreme! Footage captured in La Jolla & Yosemite Nat’l Park. Directed & Edited by Rebecca Limerick. Produced by Triton Television. A BIG THANKS TO BOGDAN Z!

Ruben Mora – Half Full

Shortly after meeting the girl of his dreams, a guy must see her go. However, they plan to reunite after a 3 month break only if they still feel the same way about each other.

Daniel Olson – Meatless Monday

A man tries to desperately save his relationship but fails miserably and falls into a vegetarian crisis.

Alex Parra – Becoming

Photographing movement and an ever-changing transformation, BECOMING captures the unrealized as well as the realized gestures of the human mind and body. Naturally, the only consistency found within transformation is found in the relentless phenomenon of change and growth itself. DANCERS NATALIE ROSEN

Alexa Rocero – The Guardian

A seemingly typical student at UCSD leads a double life on campus…

Chelsea Yi – Desperate Houseboy

A beautiful love story unfolds when a socially weird person’s prayer is answered.

Yiyang Zou – yaD enO

A day spent in reverse time.

CONGRATULATIONS NEW PRODUCERS & STAFF!!! We can’t wait to work with you!

-Patrick

Everybody has that ONE show that they routinely watch every week, well mine is Beavis and Butthead, but that hasn’t always been the case. When I was a little kid I used to hate watching the show with a passion because the characters terrified me, especially with their weird voices. They were so strange looking and their laugh freaked me out. But now that I’m older and the fact that I’m kind of weird, I learned to appreciate their crude humor. From their sayings like “We’re gonna score” to the act of Cornholio there is always something going on with them that distinguish them from other shows. I also appreciate the show more now because of the fact that the creator Mike Judge graduated from UCSD for his undergrad career. It gives me hope since I’m a comm. major that a student who wasn’t a science major became really successful. Because of the show I will never look at shows or music videos the same, I tend to criticize music videos a lot now. They’re really critical of shows like Teen Mom, Jersey Shore and True Life which all appears on MTV, but the thing about their critiques is that they don’t even know what they’re talking about so it makes it funny. Now I analyze every little thing on shows even if they don’t matter. Even though the characters Beavis and Butthead can be really slow at times they remind me of the way that my friends and I act. I’m pretty sure a lot of people act like them at times. Basically BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD IS THE BEST cartoon in my opinion. If you want to know what I’m talking about tune into last night’s episode

http://www.mtv.com/videos/beavis-and-butt-head-season-9-ep-8-copy-machine-holding/1675620/playlist.jhtml#series=2211&seriesId=37392&channelId=1

-Jazmin Marquez

This is a television show I recently started watching. The show focuses on this character named Walter White. Mr. White comes to find out that he has cancer and therefore has been given a death sentence. Reflecting upon his situation that he is an overly qualified chemistry teacher and that will be leaving behind little money for his wife and two children decides to do something about it. Circumstances push him towards selling Meth as he sees it for quick profit in the little time he has left. The show jump starts into a fusion of intense crime and drama. Mr. White then follows down a dark path pushing him further into edge leading two lives one as a father who has terminal cancer and the other as a Meth cook.  

Anyone that is looking for a serious drama look no further. The story is well written for the most part and is therefore one of AMC’s top television series. I like what they have done in the organization of each show. When an episode airs, they show a small glimpse of the future. This sequence is usually very short but it really keeps the viewers interest. The rest of the episode will show you how they got to that point. The acting of Mr. White really gives the show its edge. He is really able to develop the character and show that he is capable of making the choices that he makes.

The actors name is Bryan Cranston. The cool thing is that the creator of the show Vince Gilligan had already cast Bryan Cranston because of a previous work they did together years back on a single episode he did on the X-files. He has now won 3 emmy awards for outstanding lead actor.

There are plenty of good shows out there and this is one of them. In addition the first 3 seasons are streaming on Netflix!

-Raman

The linked video is a scene from one of my all time favorite movies, Big Fish. The movie itself can be outlined as a series of events that have minimal effect on each other, yet they all feature the same eccentric main character and a vignette-like structure where each sub-story blows a real-life metaphor (is that oxymoronic?) out of proportion.

What blows my mind about this clip in particular is how the scene itself is all presented to you. You accept the poetry that introduces the vignette and then it becomes literal. The scene navigates through the fantasy of frozen time and is brought back to reality by becoming logical again. Ironically enough, that is done by combining the same fantasy that forced this scene with something more in line with reality; time will “catch up” to what should be the actual time after its done messing around. The story feels so real in your head, yet it is turned into a complete fairy tale right in front of you.

This is the type of juxtaposition that makes film such a cool medium. Your images don’t have to speak for themselves, they can be supplemented by music and strong writing to make an even bigger statement about what you think and, more importantly, provide insight into how you think.

-Gylmar

Since starting as an intern in spring quarter 2011 I have learned more about photography, cinematography, and the various fields of media than i have the previous 18 years of my life (granted the first few years I wasn’t quite aware of what the thing with the lens that was pointed at me was doing). Around this time I know that most folks are looking at finals and thinking that the world is coming to an end and all problems will be solved by a pot of coffee and some Sour Patch Kids, but what I remember most about this point of the quarter last spring was not how I studied for my Math 20E class or how many cups of tea I boiled to stay awake studying, rather I remember sitting in the TTV studio editing my intern project and finally seeing everything come together. Before Triton Television I had dabbled in a few video projects but nothing quite on the scale of creating and producing an original video. As such, I will say that I was a little frightened but the wave of gratitude hitting that export button was unnerving and awesome at the same time to say the least. So my message to the interns that have finally completed their video projects for the quarter is CONGRATULATIONS! YOU’VE MADE IT! In the years to come I hope that you look back at your video with pride because it was your first stepping stone into a group of people that will undoubtedly change your life. I know that I still have a few years left in this awesome organization and I can’t wait for the crazy adventures to come. Thank you to all the veteran producers that have educated me and welcome to all the new producers and staff!

—–Darren

by Avo John Kambourian (Executive Producer, TTV)

I came across Kids (1995) through the music of Pittsburgh Rapper Mac Miller. His album K.I.D.S (Kickin’ Incredibly Dope Shit) in 2010 frequently samples audio from the film, and is said to have inspired some of Miller’s themes throughout the course the album.

Mac Miller - K.I.D.S (2010)

My first reaction after finding out about the film, was to search for it on Netlix, which led me to find that despite having its own dedicated page on Netflix’s site, the film was not available to rent or stream. After some quick google research I found out that the film Kids had a very bad reputation, due to  ’explicit sexual content’ and ‘graphic themes’. If I wasn’t obsessed with finding this film, I was now.

Despite being released theatrically with a NC-17 rating, the film actually doesn’t show much nudity, if not any. But the sexual nature of the film is itself highly provocative. Critics often regarded Kids as ‘borderline child pornography.’ After watching the film myself, these thoughts reminded me of the photographic style of the highly acclaimed Sally Mann, whose photographs of her own children in very adult contexts has led to much controversy over the years. Mann’s photographs have often been regarded by critics as trashy, while the art community finds them unique and refreshing.

Sally Mann's Photography has often been regarded by critics as 'trashy'. While the art community has often regarded her as 'unique' and 'refreshing'.

Films and photography, like all other media, are subject to various forms of interpretation. Films especially, are often critically raved or poorly reviewed, not for their artistic integrity, but for marketing ploys. If the visuals weren’t provocative enough, the dialogue in Kids, between its adolescent characters (aged 12-17), covers highly controversial topics. Ranging from drug use, to sexuality, STDs, crime, under age drinking, and more. The film depicts these situations in a highly explicit manner, which gives off a unique sense of realism in these scenarios.

The NC-17 rating would perhaps seem understandable from an MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) standpoint. But how does this rating system affect the film’s distribution? Netflix probably had its reasons for not supplying the film to its paid members. Even though it is (in my opinion) a very crucial film of 90s American Cinema, which has also been regarded by many film scholars, as the rebirth of the independent film industry in America. Therefore the film’s distribution is a highly important factor for the preservation of its historical significance. If I hadn’t heard about the film through Miller’s music, I probably would have not seen it, let alone known about it.

Kids (1995)

The plot mainly follows a 17-year old by the name of Telly, whose life’s only goal is to have sex with as many virgins as he possibly can. Telly doesn’t know it, but he has contracted the AIDS virus.

The film also follows the experience of one of the girls Telly has slept with, highlighting the drama of her finding out that she has also contracted the virus from Telly. The Director of the film, Larry Clark said that his intension with Kids was to ”make the Great American Teenage Movie, like the Great American Novel.” I believe that Clark was successful in doing so in many ways.The film itself presents it’s audience with an very unfiltered group of facts that would make modern society sick to the stomach.

A couple interesting factoids about film’s production. Kids was made on a budget of $1.5 million and generated roughly $20 million worldwide. Making it one of the biggest Independent American Film grosses in American Film history. It also features the debuts of actors Rosario Dawson and Academy-Award winner Chloë Sevigny. As well as of the late Justin Pierce, who committed suicide in 2000 at the age of 25. It was originally produced by filmmaker Gus Van Sant (director of Good Will Hunting), who left the project in mid production, due to various controversies regarding the script. The distribution rights were bought out by Harvey Weinstein of Miramax, who is said to have personally profited $2 million from the film’s worldwide distribution.

Clearly, I’d highly recommend this movie to anyone that grew up in the 90s, or anyone hoping to get a glimpse of the era and its problems. From a filmmaking standpoint, it takes a lot of guts to make a produce a film like this. To me it’s almost reminiscent of the films of Francois Truffaut (400 Blows) during the French New-Wave, but with an American modernist twist.

You will definitely cringe at various moments throughout this movie. It will leave speechless, but that’s if your heart hasn’t been shredded to a million pieces by the end of it. Check out a clip from the film bellow. But be weary of the film’s Theatrical Trailer, as it greatly misrepresents the context of the films message.