I shot this footage in February and just recently got the chance to piece it together into something resembling a film.

The subject is my friend, David Ramsey, a writer and first-year teacher in NOLA's Recovery School District (so-called even pre-Katrina). Previously a part of one of the worst school districts in America, Abramson High School has been forced into modular buildings (trailers) post-Katrina.

I shot it all with a little Flip camcorder that was given to me as a present, which accounts for the sub-par sound and picture but not the shoddy photography, all of which is my own.

During editing, I allowed no titles and no music. The only luxury I accorded myself was Final Cut, but I've used no features that are unavailable on iMovie or other free editing software.

I was visiting Davey while my fiancee was attending an academic conference. We were in town for three days. The university re-imbursed her for lodging and transportation.

The final cost of this film was $0.00.

UPDATE: Check out Davey's fantastic recent piece in the Oxford American (written after this film was made) on Lil Wayne and his students:

oxfordamericanmag.com/content.cfm?ArticleID=390&Entry=CurrentIssue