How much life could you find in one cubic foot? That’s a hunk of ecosystem small enough to fit in your lap. To answer the question, photographer David Liittschwager took a green metal frame, a 12-inch cube, to disparate environments—land and water, tropical and temperate. At each locale he set down the cube and started watching, counting, and photographing with the help of his assistant and many biologists.

From: One Cubic Foot — Photo Gallery — National Geographic Magazine.

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P.S. I think Kelly is the real star of Joe’s film.

P.P.S. And yes, the title does refer to the Beatles’ song.  For any further questions about the film, however, I defer to the director, editor, and scriptwriter: Joe Thompson.

What was interesting to me was that the post never even touched my main points, instead centering around a particular sentence I said during my critique.  I had stated that: “I could make a movie like Obsession by taking clips of people in the West, especially idealogues on TV, saying horrible things about Muslims.  I could even include things said by some people at this college.”  Unfortunately, this was misquoted as “I could make a movie of people at the college saying horrible things about Muslims.”

My first reaction was frustration that the person had completely missed the point of my argument.  Of course my suggestion to make a movie like that was ridiculous.  In the same way, Obsession cannot be taken as a serious analysis because of its montage style.

On the other hand, the experience of being critiqued has been good for me.  All you can do when speaking is present your ideas clearly and concisely.  Some people will misunderstand you and there’s nothing you can do about it.  That doesn’t mean you’re right or wrong, but it should make you carefully consider your arguments.

Having someone take issue with my comment has made me go back and reexamine what I said.  Of course I’m disappointed that he or she missed my main points and focused on one rhetorical sentence, but considering his or her argument has forced me to clarify my reasoning behind that sentence.  I still stand by what I said, and now I have a clearer idea of why.

It’s also taught me to accept the criticism academically and not allow it to affect me personally.  Public life is impossible if you can’t separate your value as a person from your ideas and arguments.  In this case, the post on the forum wall did actually seem to attack my character as “critical and prideful.” Whether or not the author meant to do that, I know that my arguments were an academic critique of the film.  Learning to separate my critique from my person is good preparation for the future.