Blog 3 Due 9/6

Emphasis
1. Describe where your attention is visually drawn in this text. What strategies does the author use to emphasize this element? Given that this text is essentially a title page for a larger project, does this emphasis seem effective to you? Why or why not?
My attention is automatically drawn to what the woman in the video is writing. The way that the writing appears on the pad, word by word, draws my eyes to the movement. The author uses a technique called stop-motion in order to capture this effect and as a result places emphasis on the title work. The emphasis does seem effective to me. The video kept my attention on the important part of this text, the title. While I had no idea what the title meant or what this project was about, the way the author presented the emphasis made it clear to me that these words written on a notepad were extremely important.  
2. Between composing the two different pages ("Digital Rights Management/Digital Robbing Maniacs" and "Criminal") the woman disappears from the screen and the jumpy stop-motion effect ceases. Describe how this moment of stillness can be understood as "emphasis" and explain if it seems like an effective strategy? What is emphasized by stopping the movement?
This moment of stillness allows the audience to read what is written on the notepad uninterrupted. Before the woman and the camera were both in motion, which made it hard to read the text fully. When the woman steps away and the motion stops and the audience is given the chance to figure out what all the motion was about. This does seem like an effective strategy because the whole purpose of this video is to introduce the title page of this project. If the audience cannot even read the title then the authors have failed to inform their audience.
3. Consider the role sound plays in emphasis. How does the soundtrack to this clip help to (a) emphasize certain moments in the clip, and (b) place a particular emotional emphasis on the meaning of the clip?

The soundtrack in this clip has a very distinct beat. It is also has a quick tempo linking the sound to the movements in the video. The woman in the video has very jerky movements which mirror the beat of the song. The music is also rather somber. It is definitely a piece of music that does not make me want to jump up and dance. Since the soundtrack is solemn, there an emotional feeling of seriousness of the subject the authors are planning to represent. There is no sense of humor or lightheartedness with the addition of the song.

Context

1. Without looking at any additional context, what can you say about this parody? What is being "sold"? Who is the intended audience? Is this an effective ad?

It is showing how drinking alcohol specifically targeting Absolute Vodka can make a person an alcoholic and there by landing them in AA. The intended audience seems to be people who drink alcohol. I personally do not really find it effective. I don’t feel like it has that much shock value. I personally drink alcohol (I am of age) and this ad does not make me want to quit drinking. It doesn’t really grip me or truly make me stop and think. However this could have a profound effect on someone who has had problems with drinking or perhaps has a family member with a history of alcohol abuse. This parody reminds me of the anti-smoking ads where they try to scare their audience into quitting or never smoking.

2. Does knowing more context about the Absolut campaign change how you read this parody? What is being "sold"? Who is the intended audience? Is this an effective ad?
Knowing more about the context of the Absolut campaign does slightly change how I read this parody. It changes the idea of the bottle and gives it more meaning. The fact that Absolut tries to make the bottle the hero in their ads explains why the authors of the parody chose to use the outline of a bottle as their main focus. Instead of showing the bottle as a hero, the authors of the parody shift the bottle to become the villain of the ad. My answers from the above question still apply and did not really change.
3. Does knowing more context about A.A. change how you read this parody? What is being "sold"? Who is the intended audience? Is this an effective ad?
Since I already knew about AA and how they function, this does not change my perspective. I am sure my perspective was already colored due to knowing this information before hand. I still feel like the ad is trying to show the dark side of Absolut by parodying their “hero” Vodka. I feel like its purpose is purely to shed light on the true facts about consuming alcohol.
4. Does knowing more context about Adbusters change how you read this parody? What is being "sold"? Who is the intended audience? Is this an effective ad?
Now knowing the context about Adbusters my previous attitude about this parody has changed slightly. I first thought it to be like the anti-smoking ads, trying to scare people away from drinking but know I think it is just trying to shed light on the hypocrisies within the Absoult advertising. The ad is effective in this regard however; it would not be as effective if I did not know the whole context.
5. How important do you think context is to your reading of this visual text? How much did your answers to the same questions change as you received more context?
My answers did not change that dramatically as I learned more about the context of the ad. While I do feel like context extremely matters in most cases but this ad seemed to speak for its self. The image was powerful and could easily be dissected in order to figure out the true meaning. Because I did know a lot about both the subject matters in the picture, my lens was already colored so reading the information about the contact did not change my perspective.
Organization
1. Choose 5 of the 15 images to drag into the empty timeline. Make a note about each of the 5 photos to explain what each one signifies, and how one leads to another. How does your organization convey your purpose?
The first photo I chose was the one where the word modern is displayed. The second picture I picked was the girl with a ponytail, next was the milk in the supermarket, then the feet with the barcode and finally the fist. The first photo was suppose to introduce what I was trying to convey which was a sense of the modern world. The girl with the ponytail was supposed to be our current generation. The third with the milk was supposed to symbolize our current consumer lifestyle which then feeds into the feet with the barcode. The message was supposed to be a warning to what this kind of lifestyle could lead to and yet there is still a positive hope with the fist and the American flag. My organization tries to set up the message in a neat way so people can understand. I set the scene, show the audience and then introduce the message.
2. Are there different arguments that you could have made by organizing your 5 photos in different ways?
Yes, there are different arguments I could have used to explain my five photos. Other people may also have different explanations to my photos as each person has their own way of looking at the world.
3. Are there other elements you could add to make your argument stronger—for example, playing music with the slide show or adding text?
Yes there are other elements I could have added to make my argument stronger. Music would have been a very useful tool. Using more text to highlight certain points would have also added to the overall text. Being able to zoom in on the pictures could have also made a large difference. Being able to see certain details especially in photos can really affect the way a person views the content and the message.
Alignment
1. How would you describe alignment of the words "murmuring" and "insects" in the opening scene? How does the unusual alignment (reflected on screen and timed) add to your interpretation of the text?
The alignment of the two words is very different than what is normally seen. The letters do not match up until they reach the bottom. There they form into the traditional alignment. The way the letters are falling to me suggests a sort of chaos and out of control feelings. I began to notice that with this alignment, there was a hidden meaning in the text. The letters U and N are highlighted with the N being used in both words.

2. Now watch the "Earth" scene. What other elements are aligned in this scene? How does the consistent alignment of elements across screens (and also across some of the scenes) affect how you read these scenes? What elements do you end up focusing on? Would the scene seem as effective if all of the elements on the page (upside-down moon, contrails, words, background color, etc.) had no shared alignment?
The moon and the contrails are aligned in this scene as well as the text. The consistency keeps the theme alive in the scenes. The audience realizes that this is all a part of the same work and is trying to convey its main message. I found myself focusing on the falling text and the moon. The scene would not seem as affective if the element had shared no alignment because it would have lost its focus. The text falls right under the moon, bringing attention to it. If the two had not aligned people may not have paid any attention to the moon. The alignment could change the meaning and feeling that the audience receives from the scene.
3. Now watch the "Air" scene, paying attention to the lines of poetry and the audio tracks. The poem doesn't settle on the same horizontal axis as the other scenes do, and the two phrases in the audio track are aligned (synced) to appear with each line of poetry. Why do you think the alignments of the words are different between the Earth and Air scenes? What is the significance of the audio track's content in relation to that difference?
The alignments between the two scenes are different because the author wants the audience to focus on different elements. In the scene Earth, the focus was drawn to the moon which is a mirror of Earth. In air, the focus is not on earth but the sky which is why the words appear away from the earth. The audio track is explaining how people jumped from the towers and into the air. The way the text falls is a connection to the audio.
4. Now watch the "Water" scene. How does the curvature of the words, aligning with the background image of an eye, relate to what the man in the audio track is saying?
I actually really couldn’t hear what the man was saying in the background because it was extremely faint. It may have just been my computer, I am not sure. The curvature of the words and how they lined up with the eye are representing tears. It connects all back together when the tear becomes a part of the moon. These connections seem to have an overall message, one that we are all tied to this moment in history and all share in the experience.
5. Based on the alignment (or lack of alignment) between elements in a scene and across scenes, why are the three menu options ("Air," "Earth," and "Water") on the main screen of this text not aligned? What does this lack of alignment tell you about the emphasis, sequence, and purpose of this text?
The three words actually make a triangle. They are showing in which order one should precede in watching the scenes. This triangle that the three words make, connect the whole piece together. While each scene is separate (both in space and content) they are still part of the greater message and thus form a triangle.
Proximity
 1. Did you group certain categories of information together? How did you group them—typographically, by placing them closer together, or in some other way?
I did group certain categories of information together. I put the title and the subtitle together at the top of the page. I put the main title above the subtitle. I put the first picture of the seagull in the dead center of the page and beneath it I placed the author’s name. I made sure there was space between all the elements so that the audience could appreciate them separately and yet made sure they were grouped so as to make the cover visually pleasing to the eye.
2. What do you think is the most important piece of information on your cover? What choices did you make about typeface or size to convey that sense of importance? How does the layout of your book cover reflect your sense of how the information should be organized?
The two most important pieces of information for me was the author’s name and title. I made those the biggest while making the subtitle smaller. I picked certain font types that to me seemed to be flowing as to bring to mind the sense of flight as that was the book seems to be about. The way I organized the book cover was similar to what I have witnessed in the past, author name at bottom, title at the top. This suggests that the title should be read first as it is the most important element for the audience to be aware of.
3. What are some limitations you've encountered in laying out visual elements in a traditional way? What are some other ways you might want to organize the information on a book cover that might work better in a non-traditional format?
Limitations with the traditional style are that everything must be properly lined up. With this traditional way there is limited amount of space and elements that can be added to the book cover. I experimented with the book cover by moving things around. By changing the cover to fit a non-traditional format produces a much more eye catching result. Making it so that things are not neatly lined up can make a person stop and take notice of the book and thus they may decide to buy it.