and who I am in all of this?

A background character? An illustrator? A wife and mother? A daughter of my own watery homeland. A reader, watcher, listener. Someone with endless questions and a willingness to wait?
This process has been unlike any other (and yes, I have been pregnant and given birth during the productions).  I have been making little illustrated books since I was a child, three of which have been published and recognised in various ways, thousands of which were collaborations with the stories of others and encouraged self reflection and celebration. This has been my most distant work (or so it seems at 9:22 which might as well be 3:00 a.m. as I wake and sleep to nurse, change diapers, shake off nightmares, and feel the world getting bigger and smaller with the in breaths and out breaths of my husband and child). So very much is not in these pages, so very much has come about because of what these pages would hold.  Let there be background music and let it bring joy. Stories do not end, we just run out of pages,

or perhaps the stories themselves leave the pages altogether, to live in our posture, our hands and our mouths. The story of who I am is also woven into the work we have done together.

Titles?

So we need a cover and title...Hmm. Youme thinks it needs to be basic in an elemental kind of way and not too complicated. Something that just states whatever it wants to say, I suppose. I see her point. It's a good point. I agree. But we still need ideas.

Shall we make a title in connection to the documentary Nuoc? Shall we work with water? Reflections? Not sure.  I had a concept with mirrors but now I don't think it'll work well. Perhaps it will be better if we look at the overall picture and perhaps some inspiration will come up to tie everything up?

Update

Hello!

We apologize for the lack of recent posts. Life has gotten super busy for everyone. Youme and Hai are mostly done with their pictures. Khanh is still working painfully. We've shared our pictures and have general texts and storyline down. Hai and Youme have a title page for their story, which is lovely. We've got another printer under consideration.

Next scheduled meeting was moved to this coming Friday. Previously, instead of meeting, we emailed updates. Youme has gone out of town with Song. So Hai and Khanh will have a Comic Meeting this Thursday (before the meeting with the Mentor).

That's about it so far. So there isn't much to update on, per say...


Take care,
Khanh

Falling Petals

We are holding +2 reservations for the first two interested for http://erasingthedistance.blogspot.com/2010/08/falling-petals.html Friday, March 4th!

Credit Update

Prof. G emailed and said credits should read for the grant:

"This project is supported by a student grant from the UIC Asian American
and Native American Pacific Islander Students' Educational Engagement
Initiative, which is fully funded by the U.S. Department of Education."

Much thanks,
-KT

Meeting Updates

So I had typed meeting recaps for the last three meetings we had, but my laptop effectively crashed (to spite me, of course) and I've lost it.

The 3 meetings are:
Friday 2/4-Mentor Meeting (MM) with Prof. G.
Friday 2/4-Comic Meeting (CM) with Khanh, Youme, and Hai (right after the MM)
Thursday 2/10-CM with Khanh and Youme

Prof. G. sent notes she had for the MM so I'll simply repost that here:
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MM Recap:

Hi everyone,

Thanks for a good meeting and for sharing the scrapbook and the sketches.
They are fabulous! Youme--thanks for the cookies as well (the ginger with
rosemary was my favorite!). Also, I will make sure to give Prof. S the copy
you gave her of Mali Under the Sky! She will be excited.

Just to touch base on what we discussed and also what Prof. S and I can
follow up on:

1) IRB: re: documentary and also campus policy on drawing/sketching
various sites on campus (we know that photography and filming is
prohibited on some campus sites but we don't know if this applies to
drawings).

2) What is the appropriate "credit" line on the film to properly
acknowledge the grant funding?

3) Policy on selling the novella AFTER the expo event

4) Date and format of the expo which we will bring up with ASAM faculty as
we plan the event--you suggested having different pre-scheduled time slots
for viewing the film. You prefer having at least 25 minutes to view the
film (current running time is 30 min). You will all be available to
introduce the film prior to viewing it as well as answer questions from
the viewers. We also talked about the possibility of having booths where
the film can be shown simultaneously while  other poster presentations are
displayed.

5) Grant disbursement --given that Hai is ineligible to receive his
portion of the grant funding per UIC's "Off Term Policy," I have told you
all that this does not change the amount you will receive as a team (i.e.,
you will still get the $1000). What this would mean is that the funds will
be disbursed between Khanh and Bing at $500 each.  However, I encourage
you all to  think of ways to spend the money equitably among the three of
you.

Ok, we will be in touch with you on answers to these questions.

Have a great weekend,

Prof G

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CM 2/4 Recap:
So Khanh and Hai went back to the Nguyen's place to work on the comic after the meeting (with the brownies bootie courtesy of Prof. G).
We discussed storyline and transition. Made a rough book according to what the comic would look like. Made little notes on each blank page to remember what we wanted to put there. Some pages had sketches and text already. Also discussed last page with 3 airplanes and a phoenix (for rebirth) contrail image possibility. Trying to figure out how that would work.
Didn't really draw. Talked specs and decided on a smaller size: 7" by 10".
Talked about printers some more.
Meeting decided for next Thursday.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CM 2/10 Recap:
Note: Finally finished the paperwork for the grant and turned it in before going to Youme's.
Only Youme was at home when Khanh came over to work on the comic. We tried to sketch. But admittedly I (i.e. Khanh) was restless and tried that failure attempt to update the blog on the comic's progress and write out the text for the comic first (which will make drawing the pictures easier). Youme drew some and she had a lot of drawings done already.
Added in prologue (may be printed in blue coloring?) to the comic and reorganized some things. Discussed possibility of have separate title pages for the two stories (have to wait for Hai's return to discuss further). Discussed possible titles:

• Water Dreams (good tie-in to Nuoc, but it doesn't fit the mood of the comic well)
• Contrails (lots of word play and meaning here)
• Con as in "conflict" of identity, narration, perspective, prejudice, etc. 
• but also con as in "convene", a sense of togetherness 
• Trails can be respelled as "trials" as in the trials of being Asian American and trying to define self through that lens or even the attempt to reject that lens
• Trails as in "trails", a path or tracks left by Hai and Khanh in their life and how they're retracing those trails now to add to the Asian American dialogue.
• Group will think of other possibilities

Discussed printers. High possibility of going with Comet Press on Halsted and Van Buren. Youme called them and they said they'll send specs and pricing info to us. (Thanks Youme). I've noted down the address and will be making a visit to them next week to see if they have printing samples to look at and maybe take home to share with everyone.
...that's about it...hopefully. We may not meet next week, depending on midterm constrictions. But midterms may be over by Wednesday night and leaving Thursday open as usual. Will touch back with Youme on that.
Meanwhile, we plan to have many more drawings and all the text finished by next Thursday (meeting or not).
Specs will definitely be 7" by 10".




Good day all,
KT

Update on legal issues.

After worrying about all the faces that were shown in the film as well as issues of copyright, etc., I finally did some research and have found some promising information.

Specifically, we had a plethora of photographs displaying not only young Khanh and young Hai but also their parents, their siblings, their foster parents, and their foster siblings. We've obtained the signatures of Youme, Hai, Khanh, and her family, but had no luck with any of the subjects peopling Hai's scrapbook photographs shown in the documentary. Fearful of being sued (for what little money I have), I read up on this issue and found that we are safe from using these photographs still.

The law that pertains to this issue is the "right of publicity," which isn't a federal but a state law. In Illinois, according to rightofpublicity.com, section 1075/10 states that "the right to control and to choose whether and how to use an individual’s identity for commercial purposes is recognized as each individual’s right of publicity."

The key phrase here is "commercial purposes." Section 5 of the act defines "commercial purposes as "the public use or holding out of an individual’s identity (i) on or in connection with the offering for sale or sale of a product, merchandise, goods, or services; (ii) for purposes of advertising or promoting products, merchandise, goods, or services; or (iii) for the purpose of fundraising.
"Identity" means any attribute of an individual that serves to identify that individual to an ordinary, reasonable viewer or listener, including but not limited to (i) name, (ii) signature, (iii) photograph, (iv) image, (v) likeness, or (vi) voice."

Now, because Nuoc is not involved in selling, offering, or endorsing any products or services, the film is far from having a commercial purpose.

To further distance Nuoc from anything that Act 1075 covers, I will list what the act DOES NOT cover:

"(1) use of an individual’s identity in an attempt to portray, describe, or impersonate that individual in a live performance, a single and original work of fine art, play, book, article, musical work, film, radio, television, or other audio, visual, or audio-visual work, provided that the performance, work, play, book, article, or film does not constitute in and of itself a commercial advertisement for a product, merchandise, goods, or services;
(2) use of an individual’s identity for non-commercial purposes, including any news, public affairs, or sports broadcast or account, or any political campaign;"

This reading of the actual Illinois common law for rights of publicity defines Nuoc as exempt from any individual attempting to sue us for commercially exploiting their image. Not mentioning any of their names also helps our cause, as the story is really about Hai and Khanh. The full law can be found here: http://rightofpublicity.com/statutes/illinios

Also, a press release by Center for Social Media, an organization that helps in particular documentary filmmakers, states that "For most documentary projects, filmmakers don’t have to be concerned about the
so-called “right of publicity” that exists under some state laws. The cases (and
sometimes the statutes themselves) make it clear that the right bars only the
commercial exploitation of celebrities’ “persona,” and First Amendment-
protected expressive uses are specifically exempted."

Their website is: http://centerforsocialmedia.org/ and the press release can be downloaded here: http://centerforsocialmedia.org/sites/default/files/free_use_1.pdf

I'm still doing some research regarding that Vietnamese song that is used at the beginning of the documentary and will update you guys more.

Enjoy the weekend!

Met with Prof. S

Had meeting with Prof. S at 4:30 last Friday. Sorry, I wasn't able to update until now. Starting recap.

(DISCLAIMER: as the group representative, I took a few liberties to explain things as to how I see them, because it's quite strange to do otherwise isn't it? So if Youme, Hai, or Bing, feel the need to clarify, correct, or completely negate what I said, please do so. It's much better that we have everything straightened out instead of messy and inaccurate. But I hope I did a decent job in answer Prof. S's inquiries).

Forming of the Group:
Prof. S wanted to know how we all met. Told her we met in Prof. J's ASAM 328 (is that the right course number) Asian American Literature class. Prof. J assigned a major project for the semester and Bing, Hai, and Youme joined forces to do a documentary. A while later, Youme and Hai invited me and we had our group of four to create the documentary on the discourse of Vietnamese-Americans. We worked well together and so we've managed to keep in touch and are now further extending that first collaboration into a comic novella, which will be Hai's and Khanh's response to Bing's documentary "Nuco" (which is being touched up by Bing right now). Prof. S complimented us own our good synergy. :) Thank you.

Blog:
Prof. S wanted to know the blog's main function. From my understanding, I said we created so that we can post information and discussions on the Vietnamese-American narrative, especially in relation to Nuoc. (We're not that strict on the theme, however. As long as the posts have some educational purpose, we're not adverse to them). So far, the blog is use by the collaborators to share info and (recently) to update each other on the project. It has no specific structure or organization...and frankly, we use an informal writing style for the posts. There is no prose here. This is where we will put our progress/meeting notes too so that we have an informal archive of comic-making process. Our mentors (and any other visitors) can comment on the posts. Prof S. was considering using it as an affective way to send us information/comments on related topics.

Printer:
Prof. wanted to know how we were carrying that out. I said that we are still looking, but we have two possibilities with Youme's printer being the better of the two. But we still want to find a more professional printer. Also, we limited ourselves to about 20 pages because printing more pages will be more expensive and perhaps beyond the grant allowance.

Comic Origin:
Prof. S wondered why we decided to do a comic. In making the documentary, Hai and I were Bing's subjects to film. Bing created the characters Hai and Khanh in the documentary. So Nuoc is Bing's baby. :) After ASAM 328 concluded last Spring semester, we all convened and discussed how we could further the project--we all seemed set on continuing somehow. Bing wanted to finalize the documentary and make it acceptable for public viewing, and Hai and I wanted to continue the narrative in a different direction. We wanted to turn the tables around on poor unsuspecting Bing. I haven't drawn in a long time and got caught up with the idea of creating a comic. Youme is a writer and illustrator so she's a great resource already. At sometime, Hai, decided that the comic would be a good medium to elaborate on, response to, and reveal perspectives that Nuoc did not. We're all quite excited. So when we saw the grant at the end of last year, Youme and Hai jumped on it, seeing the ASAM Grant as an opportunity to bring into affect what we all discussed, and led us in the process of applying for it. We were given the grant. And hence this project launched.

Comic Style:
We discussed the specific style to use for the comic. I said that I suggested we draw noir for the present day so that we're depicted as we are, but use a more cartoon-ish style for when our comic characters tell their story. Youme, so far, is willing to accommodate me and we'll see if this actually works or not. None of us really have much experience with noir though, so we're not sure of how feasible it is. (Thank you, Youme, for being so good-tempered and humoring me). Of course, if noir proves too difficult, then we'll just use another style. Prof. S wanted to know what noir looked like so I showed her a recent book I just bought. Basically, noir is much darker style using a great amount of black against white to depict a heavy, somber mood, and stories revolving around sin and crime. Batman's Gotham City is a great example of noir (and if anyone has seen the film "Sin City", it's very noir-ish).
Prof. S mentioned the film "Persepolis" (2007) which was a comic made into a movie. She said that the film has a similar style. We should definitely watch it sometime. Maybe it'll help us in our project. Also, looking at the Vietnamese anthology "Water Mark" may be interesting (this came in when we discussed the title "Nuoc" and why it was chosen).
We discussed the comic layout of storyline and such, which was in the phone conversation notes. So I won't reiterate here. I assured her that we have images in mind already and that we just need to work on text to make the images into a storyline.
Prof. S questioned if we had considered any other ways to draw the comic. So I told her an idea I had, but didn't tell anyone yet. She seemed delighted about it. Still, I don't think this idea will apply well to our novella though. But I'll write it here: Because Hai has a story and I have a story, we could do it so that one story reads from "front to back" and the other story reads from "back to front". Hence, depending on which direction you decide to read, you get a different story. It's a very intricate but disjoint interlacing of the two narratives. The Prof. mentioned once seeing a book like that but she couldn't remember the title.

Comic Content:
Prof. S found the meta levels of reflection, interpretation, representation, and dialogue of the project interesting. Hai and Khanh become characters in Nuoc created by Bing. And then to bring that representation into dialogue, we create representations of ourselves in the comic--which is another set of characters. Not only that, but those comic characters will reflect on their history and bring another level of representation through the memory/reflection device. She likes the complexity of our comic.

Mentor help:
Prof. S assured us that she and Prof. G will do their best to help us. So we can come to them with any questions, requests, etc. They can help attain books and other resources (even people who we may interview or seek advice from) we may need for the project; though they're not experts in comic illustration but both are well versed and interested in the disciplines of ethnography, narratives, Asian Americans, etc.

To-Do before Friday Meeting:
Mentors will:

• look into payment issues; how to allocate funds to Hai and Youme
• IRB questions: will Bing be able to safely show his documentary without violating ethical issues
• will he be able to do it as a student and grantee?
• or as a student (and ignoring the grantee status) will he be able to show the doc?
• look into issue of drawing UIC in the comic 
• she advises us to draw the comic as we would prefer it and make changes later if it turns out we can't use UIC imagery

EXTRA:

There is a VAI-1 (Vietnamese Interacting as One Conference) at Urbana from March 18-20. We can do a presentation and lead a discussion about Nuoc and Hai's and Khanh's narratives. Also, Bing is part of the Asian American narrative as well. Are we interested in participating? (The comic won't be ready though so we'll be focusing on Nuoc). It's a good venue for Nuoc. She promised to get us in touch with the organizers (an email was sent). I said we'll consider it. Seems interesting.

We need a concrete schedule before Friday's meeting. Hai, Youme, and I are meeting this Thursday and will establish the comic schedule then, and, hopefully, have time to draw and work on the comic.

Prof. S is interested in seeing Youme's work.

Ending Commentary:

I hope I covered at least all the major points to be covered. Prof. S is learning about children's books (she wants to write children's books). It's a great coincidence that our project is about creating illustrated narratives. This is all exciting. We can explore illustrating together. Let's have a productive semester!   

-KT

Title

Has anyone considered a title for the comic?

• ScrapBook Memory
• A Comic Reflection
• Nuoc II
• Nuoc Reflections

I know....these all seem lame and they are. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's suggestions and what we finally decide upon. We need something with more pizazz and creativity don't we?

-KT

Met with Prof. M

Just had a quick meeting yesterday with Prof. M since I couldn't make it to the official gathering. There's not much to add. The expo date is still not set, but Prof. M is trying to set it as late as possible to give all grantees time (which we are very grateful for). Met two other grantees with interesting and exciting projects too--the ASAM Grant projects are very diverse and varied in topics, subject, form, participants, etc. Feels like we're part of something much bigger and grander doesn't it? :) Back on track... The expo will possibly be held somewhere in SCE (which I think is convenient and nice). (Hopefully, SCE would have resolved its heating and plumbings by that time--yikes. We're having some difficulties and our Engineers are hard at work. Please have patience with us).

Also checked in with the Social Science Research office yesterday. Waiting for their promised email to tell me I can go pick up papers and bring them to the Student Employment Office to finalize everything. Hopefully, that will be soon.

That's all for now...from my part anyways. Meeting with Prof. S in less than an hour. I wonder what I should tell her...originally, I was going to show her what we discussed on the phone, but she's read that blog entry already. :) Her efficiency is making my role as a messenger useless...oh dear. Maybe I should just work frantically on the storyline further? Or make a schedule? We have one--in our heads--but nothing concrete yet since we all need to convene again to set things down....ick.

I wanted to note some concerns I have for the comic so far:

• Transition of pictures/pages/stories-->How are we going to splice and glue so that we have a seamless product? We've got 3 running dialogues and perspectives for a mere 20 pages. Thinking about the limitation of space is kind of intimidating...
• Message clarity-->I have to say that the effect of this comic is still unpredictable for me. Drawing is not the same as writing. Drawing allows much more for audience interpretation...How will the audience react to the comic/story/messages/themes/commentary? Any thoughts, Youme, Hai, Bing?
• Plurity of Stylistic choices-->which only 20 pages about, will the incorporation of noir and cartoon work effectively? Also, we have two "artists" (although I feel like an impostor before Youme's greatness), we're sure to have noticeably different styles even if they're the same overarching style...

Some concerns to think about. I'm not necessarily looking for answers because I think, if we keep them in mind as we work, the issues will be resolved.

Ramble finished.


-KT

Tele-Meeting between Hai, Youme, and Khanh

Khanh here. Just got off the phone with Hai and Youme. Discussion time ran1:47:25. I had an ear-set jammed into my right ear--but it kept falling. Hai and Youme had me on the speaker so they could hear me together while cute Song gurgled her demands for a fresh diaper and attention. We discussed the Grant Project. Youme has some notes and I have some notes.

START REPORT:

Recap of Project Distribution:

• Bing is working long hours to blur faces in the documentary Nuoc we made last Spring semester. 
• Hai, Youme, and I (we're the Comic Trio) are creating a comic novella in response to the documentary. 

Tasks:

• We need to check with the IRB (Independent Review Board) to see that consent forms and all else concerning the documentary (especially) and the research, reference to real people and places, etc. are ethical. 
• We have two possible printers, but we need to research more because it would be best if our comic is printed as professionally/perfect (Youme has proper terminology for this. Sorry that I'm inefficient in the lingo) and as cheap as possible. 
• Create projected timeline to present to the Mentors.
• The Comic Trio needs to check up with Bing and Mentors for feedback on what has been decided for the comic and its current direction.
• Set up a face-to-face meeting with Mentors within the next week or two.
• Get paperwork done for University employment.
• Start sketching

Check with Mentors:

• Legal issues similar to IRB issues raised above (but more focused on the work-in-progress comic)
• Time Sheets?

Future:

• Trio will meet Thursdays at some time between 2:30-3:00 p.m. to develop comic
• -Set up meetings with Mentors

Comic Novella Details:
Incorporate the noir style (for the present in which subjects are depicted in the university environment) with a more cartoon-ish style (e.g. subjects drawn as video characters) (for when subjects are reflecting & analyzing as they tell their story).
Hai&Youme half (I'm not going into great details because those two will be able to give more accurate details)-

• 1st page-addresses question of perspective, prejudice, and expectations from 1st-impressions? (1st person narrative). Figure surrounded by speech bubbles with a text box
• 2nd & 3rd pages-creation of scrapbook photos
• 4-Wonder about other adopted children. Ask questions. Image of child's silhouette
• 5-Address assimilation to American culture of adoptee & international child (language issues)  
• 6 & 7-Non-camera photos. Idea of "my home is in the past"
• 8 & 9-Hai riding phoenix (instead of plane). Past and present integrated. May include Khanh.
• 10-Bio and pic of collaborators. Project info and details. Contact. Etc.

Khanh half (not as concrete as Hai&Youme's. Thanks for brainstorming help, guys. I needed it).

• 1-Large image of university with close-up box of classroom depicting ASAM class with all 4 collaborators in it
• 2-Page of text in epistolary format posing ideas of memory/immigration/ethnicity/prejudice/identity/etc.--not fully established yet
• 3-three box images in collage: Bing at laptop, Hai boarding bus (with Youme?), & Khanh working/riding train

---READER SEES BREAK-OFF TO INDIVIDUAL STORIES---

• 4-Khanh working (more detailed and fuller image with text, etc...text box in 1st person as Khanh speaking and introducing self--similar to Hai's 1st page)
• 5-Khanh shooting billiards with friends after work
• 6 & 7-two page spread of series of smaller images arranged in ladder form showing individual scenes of family life and the segmented and separate lives that each family member leads
• 8-Khanh jogging with dog
• 9 & 10-Conversation between Bing & Khanh

Commentary: Right now, what we have above seems very disjointed, but we will change and integrate the two halves so that the comic story flows smoother. 
Hai's story takes the format of a scrapbook and reflects on the past as he addresses present issues.
Khanh's story depicts a day of ordinary life as present-day reflections.
Bing's story is that of a spectator who remains outside of the box (or does he?:), observing, commenting, and (at times) discussing.


Comic Story projected outline:
Hai opens the conversation with his 1st page. His solitary reflection is followed by a dialogue between Bing and Khanh (depicted as an online-chat?). 
Bing-->What he sees and desires as material for the documentary.
Khanh-->What is left out in the process.


Drawing the comic in pencil first. Doing black-and-white. Colored cover. (Funds are limited after all and we need at least 100 printed copies Youme suggested).


Want to include Nuoc in the comic. There are already discussed changes to the outline shown above. And Hai's story may be in the middle of the novella instead of the beginning so don't take the order of the pages as any kind of ordered sketchboard for the comic itself. 


In the end, the Documentary "Nuoc" creates the constructions that are Khanh and Hai. They become characters as depicted by Bing, the artist who films and puts the documentary together. They are his creations and separate entities from the original subjects: the people Khanh and Hai. The comic de-constructs Bing's creation--i.e. de-constructs the constructions. The subjects are presented in a wider perspective of personality, history, and thought. They are multi-faceted in the fact that they pose questions that only lead to more questions and perhaps hold no answers. The comic causes readers to look at themselves even as they are given judgments and asked not to judge. Together, the documentary and the comic are a duality that provokes thought and debate on the topic of identity, the discourse of what is Asian-American (specifically Vietnamese Americans), presents the theme of what it is to be an international adoptee and how it is to be an immigrant in America, and many other things.

END REPORT

I probably left out a lot of things. And I added a few small ideas as I typed (couldn't help myself), but that was the gist of the conversation. We went over the committee meeting in which I was absent, also. Will touch up with the Prof. on that later this week. 

Please feel free to correct and add anything, Youme and Hai. 

Project Plans (Khanh's Ramble)

Initially, I wanted to reword and correct all the silly mistakes I made before posting this. But, truthfully, I've got quite a bit of math texts to pile through so forgive me, but I'm taking the lazy route of copying and pasting. Corrections:
-by "tomorrow", I meant "Tuesday"
-that "like" at the end of the second message shouldn't be there at all.
Honestly, my thoughts were flying a mile a minute and I was trying to type as fast as possible as not to leave out anything. I think I still missed somethings but I can't remember them at the moment. AH! I remember:

NOTE:
-Especially include question about using actually UIC architecture and scenes in book to ask mentors. How legal is it?
-Email mentors about meeting once Monday (and possibly Tuesday) meeting(s) are over.

Okay, here's the original messages:

I forgot to cc again. Sorry! I've pasted my recent message beneath this new one. Forwarding too much annoys me. Ah...One more point I want to discuss before I forget.

I initially wanted to do more research, but seeing how busy the semester is getting for everyone with babies, classes, work, etc., I don't think that's a feasible plan after all. Maybe minimal research, but I think we can create a narrative fiction for the book with the material we already have. It'll be a fictional memoir based on real life? What does everyone think? I don't know who we'll further interview besides ourselves. (At one point in time, I think it'll be nice take the POV of the 1st generation Vietnamese American immigrant-but that's an entirely new project for the Vietnamese-American discourse...Note for future). 

Ah, and I want to discuss with Bing since you are our expert on photography and filming. (I stink at any technical skill). I'll be needing a lot of photos to base the comic panels off of (esp. poses and campus background scenery for the noir style). I don't know what Hai and Youme will need. But will you be willing to take photos for me? I won't be using them all just like how you don't use all your shots for the documentary, but it'll be a great help. 

Also, I think I'll create surveys for everyone to fill out so we can all get a sense of characterization for the comic. That being said, umm...(thinking, processing)...ah, storyboard. We'll need to discuss a cohesive storyboard for the comic now that we're all getting tangible ideas on what to do. Also, we'll need to decide on the overall comic style, of course. We can't go wily-nilly and have a mess of different things. I'm sure Youme and I can come up with a drawing technique that we can both do. (I have a feeling we'll be drawing together often, Youme--hence the weekly visits). 

I purchased 3 comic drawing books from amazon lately just in case we need reference. I'm pretty excited since I now have a reason to purchase them. (Always wanted 'em). 

I think that's about it. 

Sorry if this became a ramble. Hopefully, I got my points across.

So SCE or Youme's and Hai's tomorrow? What's the ultimate decision? I'm fine with either. I guess the deciding factor comes from Hai's and Youme's side...and then back to Mr. Bing. Just let me know. I'll be at SCE already since I work until 4 p.m. but jumping on the bus is an easy thing to get to the apartment on Oakley also. 

Yours truly,

Khanh

P.S. I'll be up all night studying so email anytime and I'll like read it. :)

-----------------------------------------Pasted Email-----------------------------------------------

Hello!

Ah, sorry. (I'm on an entire cup of dark coffee and lots of condensed milk to mollify the bitterness here--I don't drink coffee at all--so forgive me if this email may not be in the usual voice I use). I meant for a private meeting with the Mentors. Prof. Su wants to meet with us, set up a schedule and deadlines for the project, etc. 

As for what I want from the mentors...I want to ask their opinion to see if our ideas seem viable and if they have any suggestions. Also, we have legal issues to ask about. I just really want to run ideas through them. I'm not sure about Bing, Hai, or you, but I'm actually quite an independent worker and require minimum tutelage. But from the Documentary project, I have the feeling that everyone is on the same page independence-wise. 

I would love to go over regularly and consult with you often about the comic, if not anything but to work on it further. I have three pages laid-out out of the ten as well (but that's only the intro)...but I think if we push it, we can go beyond the total of 20 page limit. I'm using the next two weeks to work lots and ignore sleep to catch up and get ahead in studies so I can leisurely spend time on the project (so I think I may have more time to draw). As for the storyboard for my pages, I still want to talk it over with everyone. 

I have thought it over and I wanted to do a noir-style for drawing the present us and then a more cartoonish style for the past. So that the panels in the present show individuality and personal narrative while the past panels adopt a more anecdotic/folklore sort of feeling--like how Bing did that misty effect (I can't remember the proper terminology. Sorry) for the filming of the photos. And I also wanted to integrate interchanging pages of comic panels versus an entire page of epistolary writing--I'm wondering if we can create a Bing character to do the narrator voice for that or make a generic entity who remains anonymous until the very end...but that probably won't work with such a sort work...hmm.... I did a few pages of brainstorming I'll show Tuesday (my sister found my notebook for me. :) She's quite dependable when I fall into my scatter-brained periods). What does everyone think?

And I think it best to meet at your place. I feel that you, Youme, are an integral part of this project and we cannot do without your gentle presence. So if it's not a bother, may we impose on your hospitality for the hectic two months to come, including this Tuesday? I shall come with tributes. :)

Caffeine is making me losing focus. Will update more later. Shall we put our correspondence up in the blog? Seems like it'll be a good way to document all our planning and such...hmm....?

Take care everyone!!! Keep warm. Even my husky doesn't want to go out in this cold--I think it's because he slips on the ice too much though and not because it's actually too cold for him... o.O

Sincerely,

Khanh

Ethnic Make-up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1zpX4R33CA&feature=player_embedded

Bing found an interesting youtube rap (almost spelled rape...entirely different isn't it?).

Phase II The Documentary as Graphic Novella?

Bing, Hai, Khanh and Song discuss the Spring 2011 UIC ASAM grant

UIC has awarded the project a grant to develop ideas which the documentary has brought forth. Khanh and Hai are interested in using illustration to convey ideas to supplement the film. Bing will be blurring the faces of those who wish to remain un-faced and all of us will be pitching in to produce a releasable film and a print version. If anyone knows of free legal advice for media, please let us know.
As always, we look forward to your comments!