Flip the Lens
Being Human Projects
You Are a Filmmaker
You don’t have to be a professional. No need for super high-tech equipment, fancy sets, or complex editing. We believe this is something that any one of us could do. The only goal is to keep it authentic and real.
We are looking for personal accounts that are thoughtful, authentic and from the heart. Your piece could be funny or poignant, shocking or anything in between…but it needs to be honest, insightful, empathetic and respectful.
A PLATFORM FOR AUTHENTIC CONVERSATIONS ABOUT BEING HUMAN
Flip the Lens invites you to participate in our “Being Human” interview series. Conduct one of our three-question video interviews with the person of your choice! Our three interview themes are Belonging, Creativity, and Culture. As a filmmaker you can share your message with the world! Be a digital ambassador for humanity!
We welcome your video submission to Flip the Lens! We are sure the experience of conducting an interview will be meaningful and eye-opening!
Who Should You Interview?
Anyone who you think would have a thoughtful, insightful, interesting perspective! It could be someone you know, or a stranger.
You could interview one of your parents or one of your children; your college roommate; a professional or artisan you admire; your yoga or piano instructor; a member of your community; a local in your next travel destination. Maybe your book club would like to pair off and interview each other!
The Belonging Project
The feeling of belonging is deeply inscribed in human nature. We all belong to something, yet it is a unique experience for each one of us.
Flip the Lens’ Belonging Project looks at everyday situations, circumstances, interactions, and emotions that affect our sense of belonging. We ask people to share an experience that defines what belonging means to them.
Create a piece of documentary art that explores someone’s powerful experience of belonging in their life. We are willing to bet it will be a profound experience that gives you a strong sense of connection…and of being part of something bigger than yourself.
Here are the three interview questions to ask your subject:
- How do you define belonging? Describe as you would to someone from another planet, who doesn’t know anything about the concept
- Can you describe a time when you felt like you belonged? Explain the circumstances, who was involved, what happened, how you felt.
- Can you describe a time when you felt like you really didn’t belong?
The Culture Project
We are surrounded by culture, arent we? Culture manages to mesmerize us every time we try to dig deeper and understand it better. By almost any definition, “culture” is a way of life.
By presenting how people use their culture for richer lives, then we can help people find ways to navigate their own or other cultures in the most meaningful way.
Participate in The Culture Project and make a video documentary about ways culture is working in someone’s life with our three question interview!
- How do you define culture?
- Please describe a specific cultural practice that you believe is very meaningful and why?
- Why does culture matter?
The Creativity Project
Creativity thrives in every field, among every individual. Yet often creativity goes unnoticed. It is our belief that people’s creativity needs to be brought into the spotlight.
We offer a platform for identifying, appreciating and showcasing the umpteen ways people think creatively. Is there someone you know who has used imagination, ingenuity and originality to solve a problem? Or pioneered a new vision? Or created a unique piece of art?
What are you waiting for? Participate in The Creativity Project. Pick up your filming devices and capture someone’s unique responses to our three questions about creativity!
- How do you define creativity?
- Can you describe an instance when your own creativity made a huge difference in your life and why?
- Do you think creativity is universal?
A Day in the Life
A core part of understanding the human experience is understanding how different people live their lives and seeing how they contribute to humanity with their everyday actions
Day in the Life videos display this, and allow you to follow a subject and see first hand what they do everyday that makes an impact.
Asking Questions + Starting Conversations = Making Connections
In journalism, interviews are one of the most important methods used to collect information, and present views.
From podcasts like Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy to Jake Shane’s Therapuss and photo blogs like Humans of New York, people are tuning into watch and listen to each other’s lives.
Who doesn’t have a secret wish to ask a family member or a stranger a personal question about how they thought and felt?
Flip the Lens is all about starting conversations about dimensions of our human condition. By recording and sharing those, we believe we will see ourselves in each other, and connect in a profound way with all kinds of people.
Join us!