On Our Behalf blog

New section: Myth Busters

Charles A. Smith — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:59:14 +0000

Take a look at our new section that looks at common public myths. Feel free to comment on our positions and suggest additional "myths" you would like us to address. We think there is widespread misunderstanding about National Guard and Reserves service.

Shift to Ad Campaign

Charles A. Smith — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:59:42 +0000

With the assistance of a generous donor we are shifting emphasis from producing a full-length documentary to creating a series of short public service spots suitable for broadcast on public television. We will assemble these videos together with complimentary resources on a DVD for use by those who would like to join us in supporting National Guard and Reserve families. I will be updating our website to reflect this change. We will be selecting portions of our 500 gigs of interview video that will create the impact we want to have on the public. Matt and I are excited about refocusing our efforts to reach the widest audience possible with our message.

Art Exhibit: The American Soldier

Charles A. Smith — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:30:19 +0000

The best selections of our art will be featured at the K-State Beach Museum of Art from March 6 to May 22 2009 at the same time of their national exhibition titled "The American Soldier: From the Civil War to the War in Iraq." That's exciting! The artist and his or her parents could visit to see their art displayed. That would be quite an experience.

I will be extending the deadline for submission of art until December 1 to allow for more entries.

BNSF visit

Charles A. Smith — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:11:23 +0000

We had a great trip to Fort Worth to interview Burlington North and Sante Fe Railway employees. I intereviewed six employees in two groups of three. Half are women. The response of a female reservist to my question, "What would you tell someone who says your place is at home with children not in Iraq?" was mememorable for me. The young woman was not expecting the question, and her response should be heard by all of our citizens. I was also touched by the strong feelings some felt for the support their spouses received from BNSF and others in their community while they were gone. This was a great trip. We need to return to Fort Worth to do some additionall background video. See the "Important Program Links section for more information about BNSF.

Rough cut and visit to Texas

Charles A. Smith — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:04:29 +0000

I am nearing completion of the first rough cut for the documentary. Whew! What a job.

Ron and I will be visiting BNSF Railway in Fort Worth to interview some of their employess who are National Guard and Reserve and one of their executives about their workplace policies. BNSF has been committed to supporting Guard and Reserve families. For more information, check out:

http://www.bnsf.com/media/news/articles/2006/02/2006-02-14b.html
http://www.bnsf.com/careers/military/
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_200611/ai_n16839454

We have one more interview of a mom with a kindergarten child. When both interviews are done, I can complete the core structure to pass on to Ron. Lots of video to be taken as b-roll so we hope to revisit the two families who are featured.

Art from Jetmore Kansas

Charles A. Smith — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:00:51 +0000

Received a nice package of art today from Jan Schaffer, an art teacher in Jetmore Kansas. Loved looking through the entries. We will be putting some of the art on our website soon. Thanks Jan!

Hope more packages of art arrive. across the K-5 age range.

First Art submitted for Home of the Brave!

Charles A. Smith — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:58:40 +0000

I just received our first delightful art submission from a seven-year-old Wisconsin girl. Let K-5 teachers and your friends know about this project and encourage them to participate. To learn more, see the section on Children's Art at this website.

Rock Springs Celebration

Charles A. Smith — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:54:55 +0000

We have decided to put the conference off for 2009. Instead, we will have an event for National Guard and Reserve families and friends (as well as press) on December 6. You can read about this event in the Rock Springs Celebration section on this website. We need more time to plan the conference since my time is focused on creating the documentary.

Great weekend

Charles A. Smith — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:10:05 +0000

We had a very busy weekend that started on Friday with a delightful visit with Thane and Sally Baker. Thane is an Olympic Gold Medal winner of many years ago. Sally is one of our K-State alumni. Saturday morning met with Ron. On Sunday I worked with Ron on videotaping a special Sunday service program at St. Thomas More Catholic church. They honored spouses of deployed soldiers. I thought it was a beautiful ceremony. I was especially impressed with the singing of a high school senior while the roses were being handed to the wives and mothers.

I was so impressed with her singing that I began to think about using her voice and simple accompanyment in the documentary. Not sure if that would work, but I was certainly moved by the delicate power of her voice.

Editing... and neck strain

Charles A. Smith — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:49:31 +0000

We still have more video to take, but I have finally caught up looking over all the video we have so far (more than 416 gigs!). I have used a program called "MovieLogger" to select the specific portions that could be included in the final documentary. That scanning resulted in nearly 1,000 "bits" that are like little Lego blocks that can be combined in different ways to create a structure. Getting to this point is time-consuming and laborious. Now comes the interesting and challenging part (!!): putting the bits together in rough form in another program called Final Cut Pro. We have so much good stuff that my head is starting to spin. This phase is kind of scary for me because it becomes the underlying essential structure for the documentary. What bits to select? What sequence? What's the story being revealed? Is it engaging to the viewer? Wowsa!

One other thing... when I worked on editing for the Heartache in the Heartland documentary many years ago, my neck hurt so bad that I had to watch the video (on a television) flat on my back with my head flat on the floor. I had to put the tv up very high to see it. A couple of days ago, I realized that my neck was starting to hurt. Deja Vu. Not nearly as bad, but I have a LONG way to go. We must have 10x the amount of video we took for Heartache. I have to work very hard to relax my neck as I watch and concentrate. I also need to start exersizing my neck every day.