Questions
A family on the Rivendale Commune
Northern California, early 1970s.
The kids would now be in their mid to late 30s.
- Parents: What were your parents doing before they dropped out? From whence did they come? What was the catalyst? Rich or poor families? Educated?
- Hippiedom: What is your version of hippie kid-dom? When? (rough years). Who'd you live with? (mom, dad, step?) Where? (Part of world, urban, rural, commune?). When did things get back to "normal"?
- Health: What about health food? Did you eat strange food? Were you an inside or outside kid? How did this effect you then and now?
- Education: Was your education different? Do you wish it was different? College?
- Living: What's up with survival in the real world? How do you make money now? Past jobs? What do you think about money? TV? Media? Games? Toys? Clothes? Cars?
- Freedom: Is freedom really nothing left to lose? What is your relationship to authority?
- Good: What was the best part of your childhood? Any cool stories?
- Bad: What was the worst part? Any not-so-cool stories?
- Structure: What about structure, discipline and stability when you were a kid? What about raising your own kids? Have any? Want any?
- Social: Any comments on your socialization, communication, sensitivity, and people skills?
- Sex: What about free love? Were you around it? Did it effect your parents? Does this effect your relationships and sexuality now?
- Drugs: Were you around drugs? Does this effect you as an adult? How do you think they affected your parents and the hippie movement?
- Rock: Did you rock? Did you roll? Did you go to concerts, parties, festivals? What do you think of music now?
- Politics: What about politics? Did you go to protests? Are you political now? Conservative? Liberal?
- Religion: Were your parents involved in any religious activities? Are you religious?
- Rebel: Did you rebel against your parents, or society? If so, how? What do you think your parents were rebelling against? Or dropping out of?
- Drop-in: Your parents dropped out, but you just dropped in! Have you had to work out any issues that you think are from growing up in a rather rare environment? Do you think that these issues might have been different had you been raised by the same family, but in a more normal way?
- Misunderstandings: Hippie is now an icon and even a Halloween costume in drug stores. Do
you think society has any misunderstandings about hippies? Did your parents have any misunderstandings about your childhood? Do/did you have any misunderstandings (Compassion?) about what what your parents were going through?
- Hippies: Are you, or have your ever been, a hippie? Are your parents now? Where their different kinds of hippies? Are there any hippies now? Did the hippies change the world?
- More: Any other comments?.
Help!
- Webcams are preferred, with no interviewer present. 320pixel settings. 640 is better.
- 20 separate video files, or "takes". 1 per question. 1 to about 5 minutes each.
- 2 photos. One from your life now, and one from when you were a hippie kid. Emailed.
- Print out these questions.
- Put the camera close to your wonderful face! In a quiet room, with light on your face.
- Click "Record." Begin by stating question, i.e. "Ok, number 1, parents, um, yadda, yadda..." Let the camera roll, even if you stop and think while recording, just let it roll. If you want to pass on a question, record something like, "question 03, no comment."
- Look at the question again before you stop to see if you missed a point.
- Stop recording after each question so that you have 20 separate videos.
- Mail videos to Caleb, who will be eternally grateful! Or if you're into geeky adventures, use "Upperblip" to drag and drop all the videos at once to the blip account. Just ask me for the account info.
Webcam set-up.
Close up, well lit with lamp (or use window).
Good light on face
Close to mic for good sound.
20 resulting files ready for upload.