tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17658948348540477852024-03-13T09:54:26.261-04:00Tampa Do-GooderA blog for the civically engaged.Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.comBlogger306125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-63422077247632921082015-08-06T23:11:00.002-04:002015-08-06T23:23:59.566-04:00Everyone's a Critic (Except me. I almost failed film theory.)
Random shot of me fangirling Elvis Mitchell, w/classmate Danielle.
Obviously film school left me no time for this blog. On this the eve of my official grad school graduation, I'm scrambling to finish lots of boring paperwork (and yet still procrastinating). Perfect time to get back to it.
Part of the paperwork I have to turn in for my thesis film (more on that later!) includes sixDawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-43806208834589744272013-10-24T00:09:00.000-04:002013-10-24T11:10:39.091-04:00Big Media, School Spirit & Anderson Cooper #kpuanderson
[View the story "2013 Wonk of the Year " on Storify]
Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-36931474332234674472013-09-11T10:59:00.000-04:002013-09-11T11:18:08.788-04:00Another September 11th
AU's 9/11 Memorial
A couple of weeks ago I visited my alma mater, Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, for the first time since the year I graduated.
I was a senior on September 11th, 2001, on my way to class when I walked through the commuter lobby and saw a burning tower on the TV's. It had been a hard morning for me already: on the drive in from my rural neighborhood, a bird Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-77695514494259446022013-08-24T13:27:00.000-04:002013-08-24T13:27:14.322-04:00#MOW2013 #marchonDC
[View the story "50 Years and Counting" on Storify]
Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-85888658694962746092013-08-20T14:45:00.000-04:002013-08-20T14:45:35.870-04:00More Interviews with Lonnie Martin
Lonnie's first coffee in Prague. Swiped from Facebook without permission.
Lonnie Martin landed in Prague yesterday as part of AU's study abroad film program at FAMU. The rest of our classmates who are spending the semester abroad with him are on their way.
Excerpt from David A. Cook's A History of Narrative Film
So it's a good time to post the rest of our Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-48176541251311800572013-07-19T22:11:00.000-04:002013-07-19T22:11:59.908-04:00The Future Was Wide Open As I gear up for my second and final year of film school, I am already fearful of not being able to find a job. In the meantime, I'm trying to stay up on this industry that's changing as quickly as the technology that makes it all possible.
I just came across a darling six-part short film series that was created by an ad agency to market laptops for Intel and Toshiba. (My Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-81552851913660857372013-07-13T17:24:00.003-04:002013-07-13T17:24:58.738-04:00Horror Movies as Social Commentary: an interview with Lonnie Martin
Women's Studies is an independently-produced horror/satire about feminist ideals gone wrong that Lonnie Martin made in 2010. It was his first feature film.
Co-produced by and starring his wife Cindy Marie Martin, Women's Studies got a decent amount of press back when the video was released.
But nothing like the amount of hits their website and YoutubeDawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-38335870397333542732013-06-05T09:45:00.000-04:002013-06-05T09:45:03.946-04:00Wombmates #dc48hfpThe weekend before our final term paper of our first year of graduate school was due, half my film school class procrastinated by signing up for the 48 Hour Film Project, a contest where you make a movie in two days or less.
Our entry was Wombmates. Though we didn't win, we were nominated for best short. It was a pleasure seeing it on AFI's big screen (twice!) and listening to the other Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-35649686354743609522013-05-30T21:50:00.000-04:002013-05-30T21:59:03.146-04:00How Do You Get Your News?
Guess which DC museum is my favorite.
A very smart but ill-informed friend told me earlier this week that he feels disconnected from the world since he doesn't have a regular news diet.
He asked where I go to keep up, and what outlets he should check out on a daily basis.
Because he works in finance, I recommended the Wall Street Journal (duh!). Even though Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-80256937525695465302013-05-12T09:56:00.000-04:002013-05-12T09:56:47.025-04:00The DeliveryThe only Mother's Day gift my mom wants from me is to beget a few little do-gooders.
That's not happening anytime soon, so I gave her this as a consolation prize. She was not amused. But I was, and this project was an amazing learning/bonding experience for me.
The Delivery from Matthew Lucas on Vimeo.
Brought to you by the producers of Ray Cyste Beer.
Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-42161059146137129932013-05-02T10:57:00.000-04:002013-05-02T10:57:39.743-04:00The Anti-Commercial Commercial
This semester is wrapping up, so I'll finally start posting some of the video work I've done thus far in film school.
For this one, the assignment was to produce a commercial. Being the conscious consumer that I am, of course I had to make a statement.
It was inspired by a Caps game I caught on TV earlier this spring. All the commercials were for Coors and cars - all white Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-58851511656775256612013-03-08T15:39:00.002-05:002013-03-08T15:39:43.542-05:00For the GirlsWhen I first got to AU, these signs used to annoy me. They're on the back of almost every door in every restroom on campus.
I took them as constant reminder to never let my guard down.
Somehow though, I've come to see them more as a sign of solidarity.
Happy International Women's Day!
Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-72977660674747944952013-03-01T15:54:00.001-05:002013-03-01T15:55:39.469-05:00Networking is Easy Kristen Edgell, a marketing assistant at National Geographic, spoke to an audience of American University students & semi-employed freelancers last week about how to get started in D.C. area media.
She moved up from North Carolina last summer after college, with a few bucks and the desire to work in TV.
TIVA's Getting Started in Your Media Career featured Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-9854661142420012192013-02-24T09:58:00.000-05:002013-02-24T09:58:13.052-05:00Film School is Hard
Film school isn't all rainbows and Tarantino movies.
I tried to do it his way. Didn't work for me.
There's a ton of reading, a ton of crappy videos to produce before you get any good, and lots to sacrifice - namely, everything that does not support the goal of getting the most out of school & into the working world in a timely manner.
Grad school, especially film Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-80435793975622434912013-02-13T06:00:00.000-05:002013-02-13T06:00:09.625-05:00Tampa
Meanwhile, almost directly across the state in Tampa, things are hopping.
First stop was a house concert in North Tampa with a couple of fabulous Canadians, John Wort Hannam and Scott Duncan.
Tampa's a great mid-sized town to start off in, but I left (twice!) because there was little room for growth.
Some ambitious people figure out how to make life work Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0Historic Ybor Tampa27.963944 -82.445713tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-13476696360042800302013-02-12T20:15:00.000-05:002013-02-12T20:15:39.123-05:00Brevard County
I spent my senior year of high school & first couple of years of community college in Brevard County, Florida.
Back then it was easy to feel like I was headed nowhere.
Where I had my first audition. Don't all journos start out wanting to be actors?
I experienced the same feeling of being stuck in Brevard earlier this month when I was there for a brief family Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-44088688553701217972012-12-12T09:17:00.000-05:002012-12-12T09:20:53.480-05:00Nothing's Black & White
What do we know about why crimes are committed?
Today my little brother, who has been in prison for 10 years, gets his freedom.
Personally I think he paid too much for his crimes, but that's a policy conversation for another day.
Because of my bias, I wanted to get another perspective - from a robbery victim's point of view.
A childhood friend, coincidentally, was the victimDawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-47640652021105796542012-12-05T14:07:00.001-05:002012-12-05T14:24:41.617-05:002012 (Prison) Reading List One week from today, after 10 long years, my brother will get another chance at being a productive member of society.
This is the third year I've blogged the list of books I've sent him, and kinda like the third child, I've forgotten to keep track of them this time around.
(Bad joke, although my brother is the third of three children...) The books Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com2Washington, DC, USA38.8951118 -77.036365838.7962463 -77.1942943 38.993977300000005 -76.8784373tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-37157031894227677592012-10-31T13:12:00.000-04:002012-10-31T13:12:47.688-04:00Homelessness in Arlington, VA[View the story "Meet Mr. Muse" on Storify]Meet Mr. MuseA man who rescued himself, with the help of his hometown. Storified by Dawn Morgan · Wed, Oct 31 2012 08:35:51Formerly incarcerated and then homeless, lifelong Arlington, Virginia resident James Muse learned culinary skills through DC Central Kitchen. He has been employed & living in his own place for the past threeDawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-34462581027701535632012-10-27T21:44:00.000-04:002012-10-27T22:33:18.754-04:00Speaking Up & Out
I am the gift. Even if it took me a while to see it.
Though I am not a fan of cable news, I was recently floored by the intensity of MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry, a fellow survivor of sexual assault, in her open letter to yet another asinine politician who thinks he has the right to tell women what to do with their bodies.
More women & men, in & out of the media, Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-66701132548680719992012-10-26T09:16:00.000-04:002012-11-30T15:03:52.721-05:00The Ethics of Doing Good
Last night after getting a primer on homelessness in the great city of Arlington, I found myself on a train with a passenger of questionable consciousness.
Another concerned passenger called 911 and we were met at the next stop by two Metro employees who tried to help her off the train.
She came to and shook her head several times, then murmured the name of her stop.
The Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-84695647327049594102012-10-19T22:15:00.000-04:002012-10-19T22:16:43.999-04:00Hey Girl, Call Me Maybe
I'm (finally) getting tired of all these CMM parodies but here's one that pays homage to one of my favorite blogs. Plus there's lots of spanking.
Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-7682699464007768062012-10-18T13:43:00.000-04:002012-11-30T15:12:51.471-05:00Do-Gooder Film School After being understimulated for much of my life, moving to Washington, DC has brought on much needed overstimulation.
Only problem now is that I don't have time to do all the exciting DC stuff that lured me up here in the first place.
Or my laundry.
I did, however, briefly meet Ralph Nader while waiting for a table on a recent Saturday night at Busboys & Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-88155258679110178772012-09-08T14:53:00.000-04:002012-09-08T14:56:08.260-04:00To Know Coursera is to Love Coursera
Earlier this year I wrote about Tampa's Free Skool, which is part of a brilliant yet mostly unorganized movement of free education going on around the United States.
Near the end of that post, I linked to a Cousera course that I had stumbled across, intending to take it. But I didn't have the time since I was working full-time & taking part-time grad classes at USF's College of Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1765894834854047785.post-20638238231565091752012-08-23T06:00:00.000-04:002012-08-23T06:00:12.703-04:00Charleston, SC
Best way to see the sights.
Colorful old houses on Rainbow Row
Between traveling to Nashville, the Florida beaches & Charleston, I feel like I could be happy living in any one of these places, as long as I got to do the kind of work I like.
Glad to be moving on towards more learning & work opportunities. Hope I like D.C.
Dawn Michelle Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02793535022716269847noreply@blogger.com0