#we changed the ID format slightly so feel free to give us feedback

[disabledunitypunk]

[Image ID: a post by wolfmoonjournal with a picture of a page reading: (title)"Two Beers and a Puppy": A Helpful Test for Determining How You Feel About Someone (body)"Two Beers and a Puppy" is a test that I devel oped while working on an Esquire story on the American "son of a bitch. The test is: In order to find out how you actually feel about someone, ask yourself, "Would I have two beers with this person!" And: "Would I allow this person to look after my puppy over a weekend?" Some people are no and no. These people are to be avoided at all costs. Some people are yes and no. These peo- ple are to be cautiously trusted. Some people are no and ye. These people are no fun but they make the world a better place-for puppies, especially. And some people are yes and yes. These people are wonderful people and your fe and work are better for having them in your life. Seek them out. Collaborate with them. Enjoy their company wolfmoonjournal then comments This has been going around my work and friend group on other platforms, and I thought it deserved a place here too. archdemoning then reblogs with tags saying #fit's a good limitus test. take out the specifics of drinking or not drinking alcohol vs owning a dog or not #it's basically 1) would you spend an evening laughing and enjoying conversation with someone and walking away like that was good: #and 2) do you trust this person has a basic level of willingness and ability to care for others and repay your trusting in them? Wit's just getting you to tap into the unconscious micro-tells our brains collect about other people #which are by far the most accurate assessment tools we have to judge peoples' characters on the fly and in general (via purplehawke) thegreenmeridian then says Shoutout to that time someone posted this on one of my servers and multiple people were going "this is exclusionary to people who don't drink/are allergic to dogs, also it is ableist to expect me to understand the concept of an analogy" Like yes ok I would definitely have neither 2 beers with you nor leave a puppy with any of you /end ID]

...

Okay, but were they saying "it's ableist to expect me to understand the concept of an analogy" or were they rightfully upset that when they took it literally you made fun of them, shit on them, or got overly angry at them for MISSING a metaphor, which some people in fact DO struggle to catch and understand? If you had just said "hey, I get what you mean, but what I meant was [good explanation that was provided in the tags], if you reframe it that way does that help? It was meant as a metaphor" would they have been chill?

Because if they'd still be bitey about it, yeah, I wouldn't share a beverage, food, OR time with them OR trust them with a task involving caring for others. But I'm SO USED TO people twisting the words of disabled people and taking them out of context to make it look like we're saying something completely ridiculous and shut down discussions of our actual struggles and oppression than I'm willing to bet I wouldn't even consider giving you the time of day after seeing which one it was. -_-

Also literally, EXPECTING everyone to get metaphors without being told they are not literally, especially when phrased in a way that a literal read makes sense, and then making fun of them or getting mad at them for making a single damn MISTAKE based on the way their brain naturally interprets things??? Yeah, that's fucking ableism.

You ever listened to a neurodivergent person talk about the trauma they went through as kids? This is one of the main. fucking. things!! We had to be explicitly TAUGHT to recognize and understand metaphors, and some of us still struggle with it! Hell, neurotypical kids had to be taught too, their brains are just naturally more able to "get it" in some cases.

Don't @ me about this because I struggled as a kid but in fact I do get, use (even overuse), and love metaphors nowadays! But I spent YEARS dealing with adults going "why don't you get it. it's obvious. you should know this already," when I DIDN'T AND COULDN'T AND THAT WAS THEIR FAILURE, NOT MINE.

Perpetuating that treatment with traumatized adults because they made a mistake, or yes, even are truly incapable of understanding metaphor, is ableism, asshat.

"Is it ableism to expect an adult to [be able to] do/understand-"

Let me stop you right there. If you're asking if it's ableism to expect someone to do something - mentally or physically, as even something like understanding is a neurological process - then yes! It's fucking ableism! Because there's virtually nothing that's impossible for a disabled person to be unABLE to do, and especially one of the neurodivergent DISABILITY symptoms that's so common as to be a stereotype.

(No, it's not a false stereotype. It's less common than the stereotype suggests, mind you, but I'm not going to throw my siblings with that symptom under the bus because of it.)

Next time maybe just take the time to EXPLAIN to someone instead of basically saying "lol these id*ots think it's ableist to judge them for not being able to immediately understand this actually fairly complex concept that requires significant critical thought without help just because I falsely think I'm really good at the same concept (which, even if they were good at reading comprehension would be just as bad, but it adds some irony due to their hypocrisy)".

Anyway tl;dr I wouldn't share a cup of piss or entrust a pet rock to the person saying that, given that they are in fact a massive ableist and are likely even worse than we have full context for given the prevalence of the ableism bad faith misinterpretations and manipulative reframing of them as a form of ableism itself used to shut down discussions of ableism overall.

Oh, and bonus, aside from the whole "this isn't a clear metaphor and I'm reinterpreting your words in the worst faith possible and making fun of you for not understanding something...

Some people are incapable of the puppy one, even at a metaphorical level, because they are too disabled to take care of even the simplest living creature. Hell, "trust to do a task" can be something you can't do with severely disabled people. AND some people are often unable to give you their time, especially in person nowadays but sometimes even over safely distanced video calls and such. They should be ACTIVELY AVOIDED because they're not able to spend time with you?

I get that this wasn't the point the original was making, because it didn't consider the nuances of the disabled experience. People rarely do. This is about abled people. And yes, you can make an argument about "people I want to spend time with even if they can't always" vs "people I don't" or "people I need to rely on for tasks" vs "people I don't", but perhaps you should check and make SURE you're not in fact being biased by ableism into not wanting to hang out with good caring friends because they can't often do so, or relying on them for tasks they've told you they can't do but you're putting on them anyway.

Nearly every disabled person with more than minimal support needs has experienced the "friend exodus" when they become disabled/chronically ill. A video call becomes an "inconvenience" when it's really just that the abled person has a preference to hang out in person despite doing so quite literally being less convenient (and often, they are not safe for an immunocompromised person to be around).

Many of the same people have also experienced the "oh of course you can do it/you used to be able to so you need to now/you're the only one who can do it so you need to magically overcome your disability and do so/well do you just not do [chore] in your own home (what do you think home help aides are for?!?)/well you did it the other day (yes, with serious health consequences, and/or as someone whose abilities fluctuate from day to day".

Like I'm not sorry that I'm not sorry. Abled people shut up forever. Disabled people with low support needs and relative privilege? Stay in your lane and STOP with the assimilationist "well I'm disabled and I can do this/don't need this/don't think I'm perpetrating lateral ableism against disabled people with higher support needs". If you've been guilty of this (as I myself have been in the past!) just fucking apologize and do better! Don't DOUBLE DOWN because you refuse to face up to your own guilt and remorse!

Yes, all that is a reading of what the author said that wasn't intended and isn't present in the text. Knowing that is reading comprehension, and how's that for critical thought? Expanding on how a passage exhibits indirect bias influenced by disabled erasure and influences and shapes the attitudes of people who ARE ableist because of THEIR pre-existing biases... y'know, I get the urge to make fun, because I'm also pissed the fuck off, but actually I'll not give into the urge to do so because that would be hypocritical and ableist.

Instead I will say if you would like me to expand on that, or explain it better, or honestly use simpler language because I know I use high level words all the time, I am genuinely ALWAYS happy to talk about it with you and help people understand.

My frustration is with the people who do understand but wilfully refuse to genuinely engage with it and listen and have a real dialogue, and instead get defensive and double down on their ableism - and the second part is the part I have an issue with. I can't actually tell if someone is being ableist because they genuinely don't understand - in which case they need to ask questions or simply not speak over us as if they are an expert - or because they are pretending not to (which is a behavior I recognize from my past self, hence naming it at all).

It's not really about the understanding. It's about how you respond to it. Naming both is important because to be better, people need to respond to them differently. They need to recognize whether they are getting defensive over a genuine struggle to understand what someone means or over a denying a recognition of their own complicity in ableism. Each has a slightly different solution, but both boil down to not asserting that the person complaining about ableism is wrong and either asking questions or doing some damn introspection to make sure you root out your OWN ableist biases and are a better ally (as an abled person) or not hindering disabled liberation by being an assimilationist (as a disabled person).

Anyway look out for an essay eventually on the specific phenomenon of this manipulation of disabled people's conversations on ableism to shut them down. We will have it up as soon as the hyperfocus strikes.

[ba-hons-film-blog]

Film Narrative 2 - Fiction Project Critical Reflection:

Initial Idea, Story and Script:

The initial idea came from Euan, who had the broad idea of a door-to-door salesman trying to sell something. We then expanded the idea to have it follow a desperate, morally dubious salesman, who grows increasingly desperate in his efforts to sell his products to a vulnerable old woman. We liked the dubious morality of the idea, and the inner conflict this would give the (unnamed) Salesman. We also thought the two characters, who both had clear but conflicting objectives (the Salesman needs to secure a deal to provide for his family) and the elderly woman, Mrs Beale (who simply wants some company, and isn't interested in the Salesman’s pitch) would help to give the film some good narrative thrust, as Mrs Beale casually dismisses the Salesman’s pitches, and the Salesman then has to try a new, more dubious tactic to secure his sale.

I feel my main contributions were towards coming up with various story beats and character developments for the idea, and making some dialogue revisions to Euan’s second draft of the script. This is due to my interest in storytelling, and script writing. I personally feel like I made a good deal of suggestions for the plot which made it into the final script and feel my dialogue suggestions, while somewhat hurried and not overly polished, helped to expand certain beats where I felt the script rushed past a moment that could be used to create more tension or character. Overall, I feel happy with the final draft of the script, although I feel it was left slightly late, and would have liked to have had time to submit/review a few more drafts done by either Euan, myself or another member of the group, so as to fine tune each and every aspect of the script.

Pre Production Documents:

(For all pre production documents, go to this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15hR7u8XKGlIGuBE3ye0p2FvMvKXCiAJS)

While I did have some ideas for the films style (suggesting ideas like the tv show White Gold) and some ideas for certain shots which I shared with the group(like the opening shot were we see the Salesman who the neighbouring door slammed in his face), I feel I was more engaged with the story and script side of the project than I was with the production side. While that is more what I am interested in, I feel in the next project, I want to get more stuck into the pre production aspects, even if just for some variety and experience. I did do the logline and script synopsis, but that wasn't too far removed from my work with regards to the story and the script.

I think the group did a great job with their production documents, creating a clear sense of the film's style and cinematography. The only issue was sometimes a lack of communication between each person meant certain documents did not 100 percent lineup with each other (like the shot list and the storyboards feature differing shots) but overall, the documents weren’t too inconsistent with each other.

Editing:

I think the picture edit went well. This was my third time using avid (I had previously used it to edit a different scene from “Lethe” and a film of my own) so my this point I had more of an understanding of how to use the software. I tried to create a slow paced edit that generally stayed on the character of Eve as much as possible, as the story is told from her point of view. I feel I could have done a better job with regards to keeping the group up to date as my edit developed and getting their feedback, but I did get some good advice about my second edit from Zoe and group 4 in one tutorial that I took into consideration when working on my third edit.

I also attempted a sound edit using a free trial of Avid Ultimate, which was a good learning experience although ultimately I didn't feel too happy with my finished product. While I managed to raise the levels of the appropriate sounds, and avoided any jarring audio rises or any unnatural silences, I don't think I chose the best background sounds (I used the corridor and general hospital sounds for the whole video, as opposed to just using them at the end. This made the scene feel a bit too busy and overwhelming, and hearing some ambient room noise and beeping sounds throughout instead likely would have been a better choice). Ultimately, I felt the scene worked better before I added these sound effects. My edit didn't manage to export in time as well. We ultimately went with Rosie’s edit, although I still hope to rework mine at a later date.

Crit Feedback:

The logline and synopsis were praised for being intriguing (with regards to the logline), effectively summing up the events of the film (with regards to the synopsis) and overall being well written and well formatted. One shortcoming (or something that group 4 was complimented for having that we didn't have) was not making reference to the movie's style and genre. Additionally, while not necessary, a document describing the key characteristics of the main characters would have been a nice addition.

The rest of the pre production documents were well received. The storyboards by Cal were well drawn and gave a clear idea what the films cinematography would look like (although could have done with some text beneath each image), the costume/prop/set documents by Rosie gave a clear idea of the films style (as did the moodboard, although we were told some comments on each of the images would have helped) and the shotlist by Robbie was well formatted, and clear and concise with regards to what each shot would feature (despite some confusion over some of the abbreviations and the fact the storyboards and the shotlist did not completely line up).

Script Feedback:

(to follow. Apparently, Euan has not received this from Paul, which I will ask about and add once we have gotten the feedback)

Edit Feedback:

Here is the feedback Kieran gave me for my edit, along with my thoughts about it and how I would go about it differently in the future:

“Good professional practice with leader.”

“Atmospheric start, but the out of focus POV shot lasts too long.” - The reason this lasts for so long is to allow the character of Abe to slowly come into focus, to show how Eve is slowly waking up. However, I could definitely start the clip a few more seconds in and maybe cut of a second at the end, or just have a few seconds of a blurry Abe without a change in focus, although that might not be as effective.

“At 01:00:31:00 the scratching of the head doesn’t communicate tension and feels awkward.” - While I initially choose this part of the clip because I thought it would be interesting to have Kane doing something other than silently brooding, thinking about it again, I would agree with this, and would solve it by choosing a different part of the clip where Kane is simply standing still and looking ahead.

“It’s a good 40 seconds before anything really happens, which is too slow.” - I would agree with this - perhaps 20 seconds of build up could have been a good balance?

“Good reveal of the space at 01:00:47:04, using him turning around.” - Previously, this shot had been criticized for being too brief and seeming a bit random compared to the closer up shots used elsewhere. Despite this, I had kept it, as I felt it properly established the geography of the room and showed all the characters in relation to each other, so it was nice to hear Kieran liked this.

“The look at 01:00:59:00 is too short, allow the look to settle for a few frames before cutting to what someone is looking at to make it less jarring.” - I would agree with this. I'm not sure why I cut this so early, maybe the actor only looked over for a second and I worked with what I had, but I imagine more likely than not this was just an oversight.

“This whole section up to 01:02:13:00 is very good, but missing a reaction from him to her asking for the bed pan.” - I think I stayed on the shot of Eve instead of cutting to Kane purely because I liked his line delivery in that shot, but I could have either looked for a shot of Kane with line delivery of a similar quality or cut to Kane reacting to Eve’s line and then cut back to Eve and had Kane’s line.

“The watch pickup ECU is a little quick, as you haven’t established the watch previous to this and it is a key object.” - I would agree with this, and feel it could be solved by either having the watch appear earlier and only having it appear briefly here, or only having it appear here and holding on it longer to make up for that.

“Generally the pace is a little slow at the start and end, and this scene can’t sustain longer than 3 minutes.” - With a runtime of 3 minutes 23 seconds, and Kieran stating the scene couldn't sustain a runtime of over 3 minutes, this was understandably deemed too long. While I was going for a slower pace as opposed to a fast one, it may have been possible to have found a middle ground between the two. With the opening, I have already said that it could be whittled down to about 20 seconds. The ending might have been a bit more difficult to cut down, as it isn't just Eve lying in bed but going across the room and doing various things, but I still think I could have cut it down a bit. This could have been done by minimising the time Eve is simply crossing the room and looking through the bag, and giving a good amount of time to the more important beats, like the watch, the photo ID and the other bed.

Overall Reflection:

I think some more communication could have been a bit better, and we would have benefitted from a few more meetings, just to update each other, make sure we were on the same page and make sure there were no major differences in our work. I personally would have liked to have spent even more time fine turning the script, and getting in a few more drafts, but I am still quite happy with the submitted work. Despite this, I think everyone did a good job at their respective jobs and turned in work of high quality, and I look forward to working on the independent project with this feedback in mind.