Production Report B

This is the first section after my introduction. I want to focus on the source of addiction in this section. I am still rewording the script and deciding what videos and pictures to put in. 

First section

How addicts become addicts.

Video of propaganda.

The average drug addict is commonly thought of as someone that chooses to do drugs over other important things. It is hard for those that have not experienced drug addiction, or know someone that has experienced it, to fully understand the psychological process that goes on inside the mind of a drug addict. This is true for any addiction really.

Video of Culture High guy

The source of addiction does not come from any particular object or action. It depends on the kind of experiences that shaped the user, usually this happens at a young age. The brain is shaped as a person grows, not stopping until about 25 years of age. The brain is especially formative in the early years of life. Addictive behavior stems from environments that produce certain formations of the brain. The environments include, abusive parents, poverty, traumatic events, malnourishment, and other forms of stressful situations. These environments are not limited to causing addiction with only drugs. Addiction can take forms in many different ways. Someone can be addicted to a physical substance, that directly changes how the reward system in the brain works, or psychologically, activating the same reward center through behavior. Either way, the source of the addiction is not that actual substance or behavior being abused. While addiction is a problem, it is not the problem that will fix the user’s destructive behaviors.

Video of Jayden.

I definitely wanted to take advantage of the genre for this section. My main goal is to appeal to the audience's emotions. This will be easier when I show the videos I picked out. The first is an expert in addiction and the second is a personal story of a father using medical marijuana to help his son fight a serious disease. I'm hoping that these videos will back up what I'm saying because I do not think I will be able to effectively get across the importance of what I'm saying with my voice.

When I was making this I realized I am going to have to rely on the credibility of others. I have not been a drug addict or have personally done any research on this topic. I realized I need to act as an ambassador between the people directly affected by drug addiction and the war on drugs and the people that do not understand what is going on. 

Production Report

Below is a rough cut of my introduction section. I am doing a video essay about the war on drugs. I have not decided whether or not I will focus on the bad solution to the problem of the source of the problem. 

Introduction

Introduce problem, give outline of project. Pictures will be on the screen as I narrate. 

The war on drugs does not work and needs a different perspective and solution. Due to propaganda, misinformation and a misunderstanding of what kind of person an addict is and why someone becomes addicted in the first place, the drug war has been allowed to exist and cause a tremendous amount of damage. The current system in place allows corrupt politicians and government officials to profit off of the lives of people that need our sympathy, not punishment. To understand why the drug war has not worked and why it will never work, the problem of addiction has to be understood on a deeper level. 

Video: Nixon, Reagan, propaganda, Personal stories

When I was making this rough cut, I focused on the visuals, and how I would plan them out to make the most sense. I am not very good with making videos so this rough cut is very limited. First, I'm going to start off with a quick introduction in order to let the audience know what the video is about. I will provide pictures that help immerse the audience as I talk, following up with a video that shows quick excerpts of all the content in my video (like a trailer). 

Since this rough cut is very rough, it was not necessarily hard to make. It was hard to decide what to focus on and how to organize it. My topic is very general and it was hard to focus on what I wanted to talk about. I am still considering just focusing on the source of the problem, so I won't spread myself too thin. 

Content Outline

Below is an outline of my project. This is a very tentative outline and can be subject to a lot of change. I have never made a video like this before so I am expecting a lot of change as I work through it.


Opening section:

The first part of my video could be possibly some footage of prominent authority figures in drug prohibition contradicting themselves (there is a lot). I want to try to show how my audience should stay open minded because a lot the information shown in main stream media is not consistent or accurate.

Section 1: Addressing the cause of addiction

In this section, I want to clarify the cause of addiction and explain it scientifically.

1. Evidence : Many recent, credible scientific studies
2. Evidence : Showing how the system in place now was built on different assumptions

Section 2: Exposing the reasons why the drug war still exists

In this section, I want to show the reasons why the drug war is still happening and the motives that drive the people enforcing it.

1. Evidence: Prison industrial complex/ prison guard unions and lobbyists
2. Evidence: Pharmaceutical companies/ lobbyists
3. Evidence: Politicians with super pacs
4. Evidence: Profitable set up for police
5. Evidence: Misinformation
6. Evidence: Hypocritical government laws that prevent research.

Section 3: Why it matters

In this section, I will try to show why the current system needs to change.

1. Evidence: People are already suffering
2. Evidence: Others can benefit from these drugs

Closing section:

In the closing section I am going to talk about some of the potential for many illegal drugs now. This is important because there are a lot of drugs not very many people know about or

Reflection on Pre-production

This blog will discuss what went well and what went wrong with the pre-production week.


I think the biggest success for this week was the amount of content that was created. I feel like I have a good amount of information to work with and use for next week.

The biggest challenge was the amount of work that needed to be done. It took a lot of effort and I already very busy with chemistry and other classes.

I am excited for this next week because I care a lot about my public argument and I feel like I have a good schedule made. I think if I have enough time, I can put a lot of effort into this project.

Even though the other projects were related to my major, I feel like I know a lot more about this subject so I think I will be able to do better. I am certainly more motivated to put in the required effort and more.

Research Report

In this blog I will compile all of my sources for project 3. I am doing a video project on the war on drugs so my sources will be image/video based.


Source 1

This video is a Ted Talk on Youtube by Ethan Nadelmann called Ending the War on Drugs. Ethan is the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance and has a Ph.D in Political Science from Harvard. Here is a of his profile page on the Drug Policy Alliance.

The initial audience is the people attending the Ted Talk. The secondary audience is Youtube browsers and the general public. Since these policies affect every one in America, the information being presented can be useful to everyone.

Ethan spends the majority of the time making points that expose the hypocrisy of the systems put in place. Overall, he aims to simply inform the audience. He does not have a call for action but rather hopes spreading the word is enough to make change.

He never betrays the audience or purpose in this particular video.

Ethan is credible because of the fact that he has done drugs before but does not necessarily advocate the use of drugs, especially with kids. He focuses mainly on the policy and sticks to his education. Also, he makes very objective comparisons that hold a lot of truth due to the objective nature. He presents facts that only an extremely stubborn person would deny.

Source 2

This video is by Melton Friedman called End the Drug War. I found it on Youtube and the original interview occurred in 1991.

He has a Ph.D from Columbia University and won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science. Here is a link of his bibliography.

His primary audience is the interviewer. His secondary audience is the general public.

His main purpose seems to point out the moral flaws in the policies present. He claims that people should not have to be punished for their own personal sake and compares other destructive habits like overeating.

I like this source because it was filmed in 1991 but the points being made fit today's problem. This shows how nothing has changed for a very long time. There have been actual wars that have ended quicker. I also like the fact that Melton Friedman had more experience in economics, providing a slightly different perspective.

Source 3

This source is from The Point, a Youtube channel featuring Ana Kasparian in a video called Are Americans Ready to End the War on Drugs. She is now a co-host of another channel called The Young Turks and has appeared on other sources of media including the Joe Rogan Experience.

The primary audience is Youtube viewers and the general public, indicated in the title. The secondary audience could be state legislatures as she references the first two states that legalized recreational marijuana.

The main purpose of this video is to discuss the possibilities of ending the war on drugs. All of the people on the show seem like they support the legalization but remain true to the conventions of journalism and try to report both sides.

This video is somewhat recent but is still old enough to compare thoughts presented to today. I also think Ana's firm standpoint combined with her willingness to see both sides make the video more credible as well.

Source 4

This source is Russell Brand's documentary called End the War on Drugs.

Russell Brand wouldn't seem like the most credible source considering he is a comedian. However, Russell used to be a very troubled addict and has seen the worst side of drug use. Also, celebrities have more freedom to speak their mind, including the truth, since they already have a substantial amount of money. Other people in the public arena may have to censor what they say depending on the job they have.

The main audience seems to be the drug user. The entire documentary involves a lot of personal stories of drug users and their stories. The secondary audience is again the general public because of the magnitude of the drug war.

The purpose of this documentary is to show the side of the drug user that is rarely told. It shows police barging into houses where users are minding their own business. In the interviews conducted, Russell reveals the troubles these people go through, humanizing the image of the average drug user.

The main reason this source has credibility is that it is literally following the police at the hip as they raid houses and interview the criminals. Also, the documentary takes place in England but depicts the same things that occur in America.

Source 5

This video is posted on The Young Turks Youtube channel but is of Cenk Uygur on MSNBC.

Cenk had good enough journalist skills to get on MSNBC but when they tried to censor what he was trying to say, he left and made The Young Turks. He claims that the management at MSNBC did not like his views on drugs and corruption in politics. He described this in a documentary called Culture High.

The target audience is the viewers of MSNBC and the viewers of The Young Turks because it was posted there.

The purpose is to expose the fallacies of the government policies governing drugs. He focuses and subsequently blames the government for the drug war.

This video is especially credible because of the facts and statistics used and the still relative facts despite the date (2010).

Source 6

Kyle Kulinski is the host of the Youtube channel called Secular Talk. This video is called Top Nixon Aide Admits The Drug War is to Target Blacks.

This source doesn't have as much credibility as the other sources but Kyle is still relatively successful on Youtube with about 300,000 subscribers. The topic of the video is the most credible/useful information.

The primary audience is the viewers of his channel. The secondary audience is the government as he challenges them to address the shocking statements of Nixon's aide.

The purpose of this video is to address racism in the drug war and show the bad intentions of the people that initiated the drug war.

There is really only one contextual aspect that makes this piece credible, and that is the quoted admission of Nixon's aide that states the reasons why the drug war was started.

Source 7

This video is of Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders talking about legalizing marijuana.

Bernie Sanders is credible because of his extensive experience in politics and the fact that he has no super pacs telling him what to say.

The target audience has to be everyone in America because these rallies are meant to increase his favorability across the entire country.

The purpose is to address the facts about our current policies and consequences of those polices. The secondary purpose is to present these points in a way that increase hie electability.

Bernie uses a lot of statistics, which increases his credibility, especially for a politician. He also pulls in seeming unrelated areas such as the prison industrial complex.

Source 8

This video is an excerpt from the full length documentary called The Culture High. It shows a father telling his story of his young child that suffered from chronic seizures and how he benefited from medicinal marijuana.

The authors of this documentary made one other documentary called Cocaine Cowboys.

The target audience of this particular part could be parents or patients that suffer from similar problems. Another audience is anyone who thinks that marijuana cannot be a form of medicine.

The main purpose is to show the part of the drug war that affects people that could be drastically helped by certain drugs. It challenges the typical image of the drug user.

This source is particularly credible because of the undeniable benefits received by Jayden.

Source 9

This source is a Youtube video from The Young Turks, as they interview Dr. Carl Hart.

Dr. Carl Hart has a Ph.D in neuroscience and psychology from the University of Wyoming and has been featured on a multitude of media outlets like the news and documentaries. Here is a link of his webpage.

The primary audience is The Young Turks viewers and the general population.

His purpose has always been to educate people. He has done a tremendous amount of research and feels compelled to share his findings.

The Young Turks is a Youtube Channel so they do not have to listen to any corporate restraints or sponsors. Dr. Carl Hart has also worked with other famous scientists like Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Source 10

This source comes from ABC news and is the U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer talking to the Deputy Director of Drug Policy about marijuana.

The main reason this source is credible is the fact that it is raw, continuous footage of the House of Representatives.

There is not really a main purpose to this video considering it is dialogue in the House of Representatives. However, the point Blumenauer is making is that the people running the policies on drugs are not even well informed themselves.

 

Production Schedule

Below is a schedule of project 3. These schedules have helped a lot with the other projects. I have to end my schedule a couple days early because I will be busy the weekend project 3 is due.

Date	What is to be done	Location	Resources	Changes made
4/4	Compile research and fill in outline	Laptop	Laptop/ Pen and paper	Can change until next activity, then finalize
4/6	Plan out how to incorporate content into genre	Laptop	Laptop to study genre/ find software	Can be made throughout the entire process
4/10	Assemble a rough draft with a lot of content	Laptop	Laptop, research, outline	Changes made following the assmbly
4/15	Come back to rough draft and reanalyze the content	Laptop	Laptop	Decide what to keep/delete and consider reorganizing
4/17	Refine finalized set up/ make it look more appealing/ have higher quality	Laptop	Laptop/ editing software	More focused on asthetics
4/23	Finalize entire project	Laptop	Laptop/ editing software	I have the weekend to change but will be busy

Rhetorical Analysis of Project 3

In this blog post I will work through Project 3, including author, audience, purpose, genre, and setting. A thorough understanding of the rhetorical situation will help tremendously in the finished product. For Project 3 I am considering addressing the problem of the drug war in America. I am not sure if I should negatively analyze the solutions being tried today or propose another solution. Also, I don't know if I should focus on a specific drug.


Author

I have been researching and generally been interested in the drug war since my sophomore year in high school. Ever since I found out about the medicinal properties of psychedelic drugs, I became very interested in why this information is being suppressed and how these drugs could help people. This lead me down a rabbit hole as I began to peek behind the curtain of the government, main stream media, and other sources of authority and influence. In the new generation of young adults, and anyone that can effectively use the internet, people are now able to expose these powerful organizations. I believe the drug war has an expiration date, now that the internet continues to expose and educate people. There is simply no turning back now that the cat is out of the bag.


The drug war is something that can affect really anyone. There are not too many personal biases that influence my perspective on the issue. The ways in which I grew up would make me more pro drug war than anything. I am an upper middle class, white-looking male that grew up with schools teaching me that drugs are horrible. In fact, I did think drugs were just as bad for someone until my sophomore year in high school. I had no idea about the actual forces behind the drug war and the moral injustices that happen regularly. I am probably biased mostly with my political views. I don't consider myself a republican or a democratic but I would say I lean more to the left because of issues like abortion and gay rights. I believe addiction is a mental health problem, not a criminal one. For this reason I cannot help but to be somewhat of a socialist when it comes to the problem of drugs and addiction because I think we need to help these people instead of punish them. All the research on addiction indicates that addicts use addiction because of a troubled past or present. Most people do not experience traumatic childhoods or have predispositions for addictive behavior, making it extremely hard to understand the psychology behind an addicts behavior. There is enough punishment involved in the experiences these people went through and might still be going to; prison is not the right solution to help these people.


Audience


My target audience in this project will be people who have not investigated the drug war. If you have never been affected by drugs it is easy to accept the system already put in place. Also, if you don't use the internet, it would be hard to see the problems with the drug war. These people don't necessarily have to be anti-drug because this project is going to focus more on the injustices of the current system put in place rather than the effects of the actual drugs.

The dominant view of drugs is that they are bad. Most of the people today grew up being taught that drugs are the reason for an addicts problems or that the illegal drugs are only bad and the pharmaceutical drugs are only good. This is the view I had for most of my life. My strategy to fight this manipulated belief is to present as many facts as I can. There truly is a large amount of contradictions and fallacies in the government and system involved in the drug war.

Initially, the audience might assume I am just another drug user wanting to use drugs. This is probably the reason most people ignore the problem of the drug war.

Once I talk more about the actual drug user and the reasons behind their suffering, I think a lot of people will gain a new perspective on why people take drugs. There is also a tremendous amount of research that shows how certain illegal drugs like marijuana, MDMA, psilocybin, iboga, and other drugs can help people with issues like addiction, depression, and other mental health problems. My goal is to try to show people that the drug war is doing more harm than good and there is a large opportunity to increase the quality of life of millions of people around the world.

My neighbors are a good example of my target audience. They are the nicest, catholic family that care tremendously for others. Because of their upbringing, religious beliefs, and lack of internet use, they accept the actions of our government without question. I think if they watched my video for project 3 they would feel sympathetic and hopefully acknowledge the issues of the current system put in place.


Purpose


I want my audience to feel like they have a better understanding of a drug user, the injustices of the laws put in place, and the potential benefits of change. I think the more people are informed, the more people will demand change. Overall, I want to address the source of the problem and expose the solution in place.

Since the drug war has been going on for several decades now, there are a lot of perspectives and components that have been analyzed and covered. I would say the areas that need more focus are possible solutions and education. There is no doubt that drug use can be harmful to the user and others. I think that we should focus more on education of these drugs so people have more trust in these authority figures. For example, America was able to reduce the use of cigarettes drastically by educating the public. It's not that people don't belief that the public should be educated, it's the rules put in place that prohibit the ability to do research.


Genre


I am doing a video project for the topic. The video must be visually entertaining and has some sort of audio component. It should be well organized and flow well. I have never really edited a video before. The extent of my video experience is filming and submitting an unedited version. I am nervous for this project because of my unfamiliarity with the genre. I think for my topic, the most important conventions will be making it look appealing and sourcing facts as I go. With such a controversial topic, I feel like I could make an equally effective video trying to support the other side without sourcing as I go. If I do not, the audience will not take what I have to say seriously. Also, since the project is more visual, the aesthetics are very important, in order to keep the audience engaged.


When


There is a very long history that shaped what the drug war is today. The history involves different presidents, branches of government, economic situations, departments of government, scientific research, and societal changes. There are a lot of different areas that affect this huge policy America has but not all of it is crucial to proving my point. In an ideal situation, I would love to include all of it but that would probably require a Netflix series of some sort of prolonged show, not a short video.


Here are four different platforms the topic is being discussed:

Reddit

Ted Talks

Youtube/ documentary

Washington Post