Natalie Robles
I continued with my interest in
documentary studies after Medellín; the whole project sparked something within
in me, something much more powerful and natural than music making. I’d been
thinking I was going to continue as a music major for the rest of my Duke
career, but when I came back, I was very curious about cultural anthropology
and documentaries. I wanted to know more about these areas, so when I went to
New York after Colombia, I decided to take an internship at a small documentary
production company called “Slowly I Turned” productions. The office was on W 19th
Street in Chelsea, and the Manhattan life was invigorating. I was in love with
New York, and I was loved the logging, transcribing, and video-watching I was
doing at my internship. So while in that environment, I decided for my final
Duke in NY English class project that I was going to make a video about musical
street performers in New York. I used my parents’ old camcorder and filmed
three acts. It was a different, quirky side of New York; an artsy, bohemian
scene. But I loved it and loved interacting with these people. I wanted others
to know about this scene too. So I edited and brought the film together,
creating my first new form of art (after Medellín). I was used to practicing
and performing a piece on my clarinet, but now I was putting together several
stories and projecting them on a screen. I was still very self-conscious about
what I was showing people, but it was a feeling I liked; a feeling of
satisfaction.
I left New
York and deciding to change my major to Cultural Anthropology. I’m now minoring
in music and am pursuing a certificate in Documentary Studies. I’m trying to
find an internship in New York this summer, and hope to interact with the film
industry more. I hope my plans for the future involve some interaction with
South America again, but I’m still open to any and all new ideas and
experiences. But Medellín definitely shaped my new interest in filming.
Cassidy Fleck
In
terms of products I created about Medellin, I focused a lot of my early writing
assignments on processing my experience. I’ve written two short stories, one
based off of my host mother and another an account of a night out with Cesar.
