Blog 7 Due 11/29

I do not intend on using all of the tips given in the article. The reason for this is I lack the necessary skills. The first tip they mention is having a logo on your portfolio. Unfortunately, I do not know how to create a logo. I am not a DTC major and so it makes it difficult to create some things. However, the other tips listed are very good and I will try an incorporate them into my final project. Some of the tips were rather simple such as including contact information, while others I would not have thought of myself. In tip two, they suggest adding in a tagline which I find to be a good idea. The only problem with adding in this tagline to my project is I am not sure what to write. Should the tagline be about how my portfolio is for school or should I have a little fun and pretend this portfolio could be for potential clients? I will for sure add in the services section which I find to be useful for me to narrow my expertise as well as for the viewer. The about me section is another aspect I will be sure to include as well as taking language and communication into account.

My favorite was Maru Velazquez. I thought this web page was rather unique and eye catching. I liked the idea of having the links being in the form of pieces of paper stabled to the main page. It was a clever idea and I found that this tiny element made me stop and want to look around. The whole page seems to be office/scrapbooking related. Where they listed the social media sites they are involved in, they included an old photograph that appears to be paperclipped to the box. Another nice detail that continues the theme. I also liked the idea of F. Claire Scroggins. I found her site to be very different and colorful making me want to stop and look through her site. In order for me to make these types of portfolios, I would need more experience. Most of the elements on these web pages I don’t have a clue how they accomplished them. I have no idea how Velazquez added in the paperclip to hold up the picture or how she created the post-it notes. I think I would need more experience in creating images.

My least favorite was <img/> is everything by Phil Thompson. When I first saw the site I thought it was unfinished and that something was malfunctioning with the web page. After looking at it a bit longer I discovered that this was actually how the page was meant to look. To me it seems rather plain. The author uses only yellow and black coloring and only one picture. This does not make the page pop or make me want to browse through. It does not look like a lot of time or effort went into this page but looks to have been thrown together rather quickly.

Blog 6 10/6

1. This author used a lot of different video transitions. I felt this was a good choice as it gave the video a more professional feel. It also makes me think that a lot of thought and effort was put into this video. I liked how she used interviews to tell her story. It gave the video a more rounded opinion than just herself bragging about her accomplishments. I did not like how the parents’ footage was not synced with their voices. I don’t think the Skype techniques worked very well. I also felt the video was too long for the subject matter. I felt myself tuning out about the middle of the video.

2. I enjoyed how she used the film reel animation. It gave her video a style and a bit of a spark. I also liked her transitions between book covers. I did not like how she did not redo her narrative to make sure there were limited mistakes. She stops and starts too many times and it becomes a distraction to the audience. It also feels like she did not put in a lot of effort and threw this together quickly. I also felt she should have found better pictures for the book covers. They were extremely blurry and there were times I could not decipher what I was supposed to be looking at.

3. I liked the idea that this video felt off the cuff and spontaneous. The story he told and the way he was animated in his body language was successful in keeping my attention. However, it felt almost too rough. It didn’t feel like there was a whole lot of effort behind this video. Perhaps if the author had added some video effects or some kind of text to highlight the important or significant parts of the man’s story.

4. I liked how he included scenes of his bad texting behavior. I especially liked how he included his D paper which was marked down for all the bad grammar. It gave the story a more personal touch. I felt the close ups of the phone did not work. It was too blurry and shaking to really be beneficial to the rest of the video. You couldn’t read what he was typing and so I felt there was no point to the clip. I liked the idea of the music but I felt it was the wrong tone of music. It ended up having this hard guitar rift that I felt didn’t follow the theme of the video.

5. I rather liked the simplistic style of this video. It was easy to follow and I felt the music added a bit of flavor to the narrative. Personally I usually like voiceovers to go with subtitles, but for this video it worked without a voice. He kept with the simple theme and it worked well. The main thing I didn’t like about this video was that the font he used was extremely bland. He puts a lot of personality and humor into his photos with his facial expressions and I felt that should have carried over into his font as it is a point of interest.  

I think we should be graded on keeping a theme. Since we are supposed to use video editing techniques I feel it is important to make sure these techniques are in line with our topic. For example with video 4, he uses music would is a good technique, however it did not fit the tone/theme of the subject matter. I think some effort should factor in as well. Some of these videos made me wonder if they threw this together quickly. In the second video, her voiceover needed to be redone because she has a lot of mistakes. I felt she just put the video together in a hurry without putting much thought or effort into the final product.

Blog 5 Due 10/6

Part 1

1. Haley Elder: For her project she chose to study knitting. She looked at the different methods of teachings, which ones worked which ones different and compared how each source used a different method. One of the main points she consistently makes is that information should be simple to understand. In order to be an effective text, your audience needs to be able to understand the situation. If the audience becomes lost or confused, it is a complete failure of text. I found it interesting how she used different forms of media from books to instructional videos. Another element that she stresses is emphasis. Authors must keep in mind what is their main focus in order to appeal to their audience. Emphasis can be conducted in various ways including color scheme, banners, headers, contrast and so on and so forth. From Haley's site, I learned that emphasis is key to teaching an audience. Without the emphasis the student can become easily lost and will not be able to fully grasp the material. 

2. Tai Gong: For his project, he chose to examine skateboarding. He looked at different websites teaching methods and focused on which ones helped and which ones did specifically looking at the different tactics that were used. From this site I learned that a visual component was a very important learning tool. Without some kind of video or photos, it was hard to visualize exactly what the person is supposed to do in order to successful ride a skateboard. Wording was another important component. If the wording was unclear, it could have disastrous results for the boarder. Authors need to be really careful when providing instructing material as it can be easy to misunderstand. He mostly looked at web sites or this project as his form of media. Having a concise layout was another large factor. When describing the methods for ehow.com he brings up the point that the page is missing a main title. This is a a huge error on the part of the web authors. You want your audience to know where they are and what they are looking at otherwise it appears unprofessional and confusing. 

3. Nick Gourlie: For his project, he chose to look at photography tutorials. He uses different form of media from video to charts. He makes a good point in explaining that an author needs to be aware of what kind of audience they are reaching out to in their tutorials. Some people have more experience in this field than others and it needs to be clear and upfront otherwise you can severely confuse your audience. Another issue he focused on was whether things looked aesthetically pleasing. If a media is disorganized or sloppy, people will not spend the time to study the source. It can be real distracting to an audience which is a failure on the part of the authors. As an author you do not want your audience to be distracted from the main purpose of your site, video, chart etc. As Nick explains with his first web site, sites that look good to the eye draw in an audience's attention and make them want to stay and browse. 

Part 2

My favorite web text was Ariel Popp's. I liked hers the most because it was real different and the site was laid out like her topic, comics. She uses a comic strip to explain what makes certain web based comics successful. I liked her cute, simple figures. It was rather lighthearted and fun and a please to scroll through. Not only is it different, it is also aesthetically pleasing to my eyes. It flows rather easily and is not hard to navigate. I liked how I did not have to work hard to figure out how to use the site. Overall, I found the site to be fun and enjoyable to browse. 

Blog 4 Due 9/20

For my topic I want to examine five movie posters. I want to look at the five films that revolve around the new Avengers film which comes out in May. I think it would be kind of cool to see how they differ and relate as they are all leading up to this one movie, yet each of these films stands alone. Kind of neat since it’s never been done before. So the first three would be:

1. Captain America

http://images.hollywood.com/site/cap_poster.jpg

2 .Thor

http://www.loiteringlion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/thor-movie-poster1.jpg

3. Iron man

http://i.clevver.com/fullphoto/77378/500/950/iron-man-movie-poster-1.jpg

The last two (while I know we don’t need them on this blog I felt I might as well since I know the others) would be :

4. Iron man 2 http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z25/Roby_030/iron-man-2-poster.jpg   

5. Incredible Hulk http://www.blogcdn.com/blog.moviefone.com/media/2008/04/hulk-(2).jpg

Looking at the first three texts, I find that Thor and Iron Man have the most similar elements. They both have a prominent bluish tint and both posters show the other characters in the movie besides the lead. Captain America is focused solely on Captain America. Also Thor and Iron Man have a cleaner look to them while Captain America is dirty and gritty. All three do have a similar color scheme of red and blue. These differences and similarities may have to do with what the story is about. Interestingly, Thor and Captain America is the only ones to have a tagline. Also while Thor and Iron Man have their titles on the poster, Captain America does not. It has a version of one of its titles “Avenge”, but still does not directly state it. It seems to assume that the audience will already know what the film is without a title perhaps showing which audience the film is aiming at. Imagining that I have never seen these movies before (I actually have…) the posters would suggest that Captain America focuses solely on him, the secondary characters are not as important as he is while the Thor and Iron Man posters make it seem like the supporting characters are important on their own. They can stand separately from their main counterparts. The red and blue color schemes seem to be tying the three movies together. Knowing that all three will be together in the Avengers, this little detail adds a link and a hint at what is to come.  

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.

Blog 2 Due 8/30

For the most part yes I do agree with this list. There was only one thing on the list that I kind of disagreed upon. The list states that people would want to know the phone number for campus police. I’m not sure why you would need that number unless of course you are in serious trouble in which I would suggest just call 911. Other than this one instance, the rest of the list seems pretty accurate. There have been times when I have wanted the academic calendar or parking information and cannot find it on the WSU web site. It is extremely frustrating. The information they normally put on the web site such as promotions and press releases are all aimed at new students considering applying yet they seem to forget their current students trying to function on campus. Sometimes I feel like there should be two different sites, one for current students and one for prospective students. Most of the information on the “things people go to the site looking for” list is more for current students. It seems as though universities are more concerned with prospective students than the current ones. This of course makes sense as a university is a kind of business. They need to attract new students every year/semester in order to make a profit. While may not find what they are looking for on the main page, this page can help wrangle in new students who will pay money to attend.

I researched UCLA’s web page and found it to be much better than WSU’s. UCLA’s web page does not completely line up with the comic. In fact some of the things listed in “things people go to the site looking for” are right on the home page in plain sight. These things included the academic calendar, directory, map of campus and full name of school. They are still missing a few things such as parking information and the campus address. To me it feels like the audience for this web site is divided. It has information for prospective students as well as current students. It looks like the authors tried to find some equal ground between the different audiences. The site still contains the elements on the “things on the front page of a university website” but tries to incorporate the other side of the Venn diagram. The site uses multimodal aspects in order to appear more appealing to their audiences. In the visual mode category the color blue is the first thing I noticed. It’s a medium blue so as not to be too bright and distracting. This color was probably shown for a number of reasons a few being as blue is one of the school’s colors and blue is considered to be professional. The layout of the site has the picture slide show in the middle of the screen so your attention is automatically directed there. The letters “UCLA” are the largest on the entire site, making it clear what site you have stumbled upon. For aural mode, there is no sound. The silence works well for the site because a person travels to the web site looking for written information. If there was music and sound effects, the site would have an entirely different meaning. With sound it could distract the visitors from what they are looking for and perhaps paint an unprofessional vibe. The organization and spacing between objects is done in a way where it makes the site look full of information, yet keeping it from looking cluttered. Spatial mode can also create an air of professionalism as well. I did not find any gestural mode for the site itself. The pictures that are displayed do show gestural mode showing the interaction between students making it seem like a serious place of study. The site also uses linguistic mode by using careful work choice. Their whole goal seems to make things clear and concise, labeling links with one word or short phrases.

Blog 1 Due 8/25

I do believe there is a slight difference between multimodal and multimedia. While both are very similar, dealing with various forms of communications, multimedia is focused on technology. Multimedia refers to video and sound while multimodal can be anything. It can be a picture, a piece of writing, map, video, audio and anything else we can create. Multimedia is much more limited compared to multimodal.

Response 1

In this passage the White House uses word choice and delivery. The word choice is very supportive and friendly. Phrasings such as “America will stand with Japan” and “our thoughts and prayers remain with the people of Japan” are extremely powerful. It conveys a sense of caring and concern for the Japanese public. Also using the word “friends” is particularly effective. The word has a positive connotation and is not demeaning in any way. The White House also used delivery very skillfully as it seems to be a very well thought out statement as it tries to stay politically correct. They make sure not to use words or phrases that could be misunderstood or confused like the situation with Svanberg calling citizens “small people”.

Response 2

The main differences that caught my eye were the color and the pictures. One profile is green while the other is blue with a tree on the left side. The profile pictures do not just differ because they have different faces, but instead are completely different forms. One woman chose to not show her face and as an alternative placed a cartoon panda as her icon. This may suggest that she is more of a private and perhaps cautious individual either online or/and in her personal life. It suggests that Cheryl may use her Twitter to keep in touch with people she physically knows thus displaying her face, while Kristin may follow other people she does not have intimate contact with. I do have a Twitter profile. I just got it today on account of this class. Since this is the first time I have ever used Twitter, I am still trying to figure it out. At the moment, I just have the default template because I am still learning the site.

Response 3

In the video, there is a clicking sound that reminds me of a snare drum. There are also horns, bells and an upbeat drum. All of these components work together to help the video with transitions and keep focus on the topic. If the music and sounds changed to a bluegrass or country piece, the tone would be completely transformed. The current music and sound effects make the video and the topic seem more futuristic and current. If the music was changed, the video might not be taken seriously. The audience may not understand or be distracted from the information being displayed in the video. It could do more harm than good.

Response 4

The first thing that draws my attention to the WSU web site is the pictures in the middle of the screen. They are big, bright and always changing. The second thing I notice is the Washington State University logo in the top left corner. This text is larger than any of the other texts onscreen, therefore drawing my attention. The way the site is laid out makes the site seem to be more of an advertisement t to prospective students. The pictures that draw the most attention are explaining all the good work that is going on at the university. If the pictures were swapped with the text beneath, the effect would be much different. Your eyes would suddenly be looking at just text. There is no real interest factor. With the pictures, it entices people’s interest, watching as the photos change and discuss different topics. This layout is not particularly user friendly to those who have a specific task in mind, but works well for catching people’s interest who are browsing.

Response 5

The vide I watched was the President addressing the situation in Libya. He keeps his hands on the podium, only moving them to flip a page in his speech. He is very somber as the speech is an important matter. He displays no happy expressions; this includes smiling or relaxed posture. He remains calm and serious, showing no signs of weakness or nervousness. I found his use of the gestural mode effective. If he had laughed and smiled, the seriousness of the situation would have vanished. He would have looked unprofessional. Keeping his movements to a minimum helps the audience to not become distracted and shows that he is in control of his emotions. If the President had used more of the gestural mode, it would have changed the tone of the speech. Too much use of the gestural mode can color a speech in a negative way, showing a little too much emotion about a subject when one is supposed to be calm and rational. The President maintained his composure throughout the speech choosing to use little of the gestural mode.