Director's Commentary on Remix

I chose to remix the song "Letters From Home" by John Michael Montgomery with its original video and still photos. Originally I wanted to simply highlight the communications the deployed military troops use to keep in contact with family back in the U.S.A. After workshopping however, I decided that I really needed to add to my argument with more, different photos and less video. I still wanted to keep my general idea of communication between troops and loved ones, but I added how important it is to communicate with the troops whether you communicate with a family member in the military or not. I also began to think of the general support this country provided for the troops when we started the war, directly after the World Trade Center was attacked- and now. On September 11th this year there was very little recognition of what happened a mere eight years ago. Whether you support the war or not is irrelevant when it comes to supporting our troops because they sacrifice more than most of us can even imagine- sometimes this includes their life. This is why I added the quote at the beginning "We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude." ~Cynthia Ozick. My uncle has been in the military for over 20 years and he is on his fourth tour to Iraq. The conditions the men and women that serve our country live in while deployed is nothing desirable. We send a care package to him as often as possible, and the number one thing he asks for is baby wipes because it is a rare occasion that he experiences the luxury of a shower. Considering the fact that most of us consider a shower every day a neccesity-we often don't give the soldiers fighting for us the gratitude they deserve. I did this remix project to remind all of us of what soldiers are doing and why they deserve our gratitude and a word of encouragment. We often get so wrapped up in our own lives enjoying our freedom we forget what an important job the soldiers are doing for us. This is why I added the pictures of the mother grocery shopping, the college kids in class and the farmer working. I contrasted them with multiple pictures of soldiers working and soldiers excitement and gratitude for the care packages and letters they received. I really wanted to show the difference in our every day lives and a day in the life of a soldier. The least we can do for these soldiers that put their life on the line daily is support them. I chose to do the entire song, even though it becomes a little repetitive because I really the song itself is a story- and when the father writes "Son, you make me proud" it showcases my call to action- because it doesn't have to be just family members supporting their soldier by writing- I could be anyone. I also added the pictures of soldiers reuniting with their families to show that they have families and loved ones just like the rest of us which makes it that much more important to drop them a line of positive encouragement supporting them so the time of seperation from their family passes as quickly as possible.