10 Things about me, Lauren

1. Last year I served as the president of Spectrum, UA's LGBTQ+ student group, and this year I'm the vice president. That teensy bit of extra time will afford me more time for internships and filming! LGBTQ+ issues are always something I think about when I'm watching TV and film. I consider analyzing media portrayals of underrepresented groups a legitimately fun (yet of course aggravating) activity.

2. I would love to spend some part of my career making music videos. I recently remembered that the old  "Making the Video" show that used to come on MTV might have something to do with the beginnings of my love of music video. I was obsessed with that show. I remember watching as a kid and thinking that Hype Williams was the luckiest person on the planet since he got to make videos for all these artists. One of my favorite episodes was this one with Justin Timberlake because I was fascinated with how they built a room made out of thousands of lights, stuck Justin in the center with a camera mounted on him, and did another shot through a plexiglass floor.

3.  I love seafood like none other.

4. My second major is French. French rap is amazing.

5. I'm pretty sure my home state of Alabama is the farthest west I have been in the US.


6.  My early television obsession was also very much influenced by Lucille Ball. She is one of my television icons. My family indulged this obsession, such that I had I Love Lucy tapes, Lucille Ball biographies, an I Love Lucy 50th anniversary watch, a Lucille Ball barbie, and an I Love Lucy board game by the time I started middle school. I adored her humor of course. As I've grown older I've come to appreciate her politically, for what it meant for her to be the first woman to own a major TV studio, and to portray an interracial relationship on TV in the 50s. Also, I like studying the history of I Love Lucy for their innovation of so many television techniques.

7. I have many music obsessions and a wide music taste. I have aspirations to be a DJ but unfortunately  none of the equipment.

8. I have a 12 year old little brother. He happens to have a mild form of autism. I think this is why I am good at being relatively patient with people. My brother's creativity is incredible. He draws 30 page comic books every single night. We bond over discussing how he composes his drawings using different types of shots. I could totally see him being a storyboard artist someday. Here's an old picture of him I did in high school. He's laughing.
                                       










9. Another obsession I have is music mashups. This gets at the music lover and editing lover in me. I make mashups of my own, but my favorite masters of the art are the ones that make really complex new music from preexisting songs, such as DJ Earworm. It's a little cheesy, but I like it.

10. I find zodiac things hilarious and sometimes creepily accurate. According to most interpretations, I'm extraordinarily in touch with my sign (cancer).