I recently watched a documentary style video about someone who became homeless. He did this because he felt comfortable where he was, especially in his faith. it wasn't quite a documentary about other homeless people in the Dayton, Ohio area, but it was about the challenges of being homeless and what homeless people face everyday. The video starts with seeing him getting to become homeless. He goes to goodwill to purchase some warmer clothes, shows the life that he is leaving for this experience, and then by the end of part 1 he is walking towards downtown Dayton. Throughout the videos it is mostly open frame shots because he is shooting by himself. He has no one helping him. It is truly a one man project. Also the camera in which he uses is a handheld camera. You get a glimpse of it right before he goes to leave. Some of the challenges in which he faced throughout this experince was he didn't have a plan. He didn't know where he was going to sleep at night and he was seeing how the homeless struggle with the places that they go. He was kicked out of college after pretending all day that he was a student. He also didn't know what he was going to do everyday. He walked a lot espically once he realized how far downtown Dayton is from where he started. he also saw the challenge in carrying all of his belongings. At the end of the video he comments how much of a humbling experince it was to become homeless and see how they must live and the struggles that they face everyday.
What qualifies this as low budget is that it was a one man project. He shot the entire video himself. He also edited it as well. Yes, he used a Mac for the whole process but the onyl money taht he spent was for clothes, food, and batteries. I would taht he spent around $100 or less. This video shows that even the ordinary person can shoot a documentary that raises awareness about a specific subject or group of people.
As I watched this documentary, I was truly moved by the images taht he captured and the comments taht were made. He did show how the homeless have to live. It makes me appreicaite everything that I have more and I know that the next time I encounter someone who is homeless I will have more compassion for them. It also makes me realize that God has blessed me in an amazing way by just providing a place for me to live. This documentary is something that every Christian should see and I hope that it changes perspectives about certain things we have and about the people taht really are homeless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seAVTpf_S0w
This website, National Coalition for the Homeless, shows some interesting statistics on the homeless people. They mention reasons as to why homeless people are homeless: addiction, mental illness, domestic violence, lack of affordable health care, lack in affordable housing, decline in public assistance, eroding work opportunities, etc. Also, it shows studies done on homeless people and statistics of homeless people. For example, how many were single adults, minors, or a part of families. Also it shows on average how long people usually stay in shelters before they movie on. Looking at statistics about people and on average how long people usually stay in shelters before they movie on. Looking at statistics about people and how they live in the country we live in should be a focus for many people. This site can allow others to realize and see many things that we should pay attention to and how we can help. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/index.html
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