About the Artist
How did you hear about Citizens for Global Solutions Flash Contest?
We heard about it from the scholarship site www.fastweb.com
Was this your first Flash piece? How did you first learn Flash?
This was our third or fourth Flash piece that we have made together. We
learned about Flash back in around eighth grade, and have used it
periodically since then. We basically taught ourselves how to use Flash
mainly from messing around with it and from online tutorials.
How did you choose your topic –OR- Why is your topic important to you?
To us, recycling seems like the easiest way that people can help out
the environment. It's a simple task that can be done by anyone and it
requires little effort. Even if someone doesn't have the money to buy a
hybrid car or doesn't have the time to travel to poverty-stricken
places, one can still recycle a water bottle or a cardboard box. Plus,
the positive effects could be monumental if everyone were to recycle
more - landfills would shrink, environmental health would increase, and
energy would be conserved (that would otherwise be used to make new
items). It's just a simple and great way to help out.
Before the contest, did you consider yourself fairly knowledgeable
about global issues? Has this contest opened your eyes in any way?
I would say that we were both pretty knowledgeable about global issues
before we made our Flash. We both have been to countries in Asia and
Africa and have seen world problems first-hand, and we also knew quite
a bit about global concerns from school and from our own research.
Still, we learned a lot more from our research, from how global warming
is continuing to affect the world to how advancing technology is aiding
us towards a cleaner Earth.
Did you have any weird, funny, horrible, or in some other way
memorable moments during the making of your Flash piece for this
contest?
Actually, we did. Though we had been working on our Flash regularly, we
had been so busy with school, work, and other activities that before we
knew it, it was the day of the deadline and we still had a good way to
go before we would be done with our video. We got together and started
working at a fast pace, and ten hours flew by before we knew it. At
around 11:50, our hands were literally FLYING over the keyboard and
mouse as we put in the last touches and finalized everything. As I (
Furqan) opened up my email at 11:59, we hurriedly put in the last
details and published the video, only to notice that we had received an
email saying the contest had been extended – nearly seven hours ago! I
think we were in shock for quite a while after that!
Any last words/Anything else you’d like for us and the flash viewers to know?
This Flash contest is a great way for everyone to learn more about
environmental issues in a novel kind of way. Sometimes it takes more
than just a documentary or speech to get people motivated to help out.
Global Solutions is a great organization and hopefully more people will
learn of it!
