Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Reflection essay
The biggest struggle I had working
on this project was getting accustomed to a new program so quickly. I dove
straight into sony vegas pro 12 with no ones help but myself and YouTube. I
went into editing not knowing a single thing about the program and I think I
overcame this obstacle fairly well. I learned a lot about the editing process
and the frustration that comes along with it. I had a lot of technical
difficulties as well trying to get the video to export. My favorite part of the
documentary is probably the Go pro, it was really fun filming it and I liked
how it looked in the film itself, it was tough to edit right because of the
bouncy nature of a camera on a dog but it turned out fairly well.
Group work can be quite tough
sometimes with everyone’s conflicting schedules and some people have
fulltime/unpredictable jobs that we have to get around and it can make working
together quite difficult. I think as a whole we got around it pretty well;
there could have been some better communication at some points but you do what
you can. I think I pulled my weight in that I spent hours upon hours trying to
get the editing right. If there was anything more I could do to the documentary
it would be to get more film and more interviews. When it came down to it the
interviews that we did have were either too choppy to use or too low energy,
which I had to end up sticking too for the most part.
This class is designed to target
critical thinking skills and I think it touched on it a bit. Especially when it
came to my roll in the project. Editing which takes an eye for detail and a lot
of critical thinking, what goes where and how should it all come together. The
mode at which we learned was a lot more efficient than the suggested four
essays because we got hands on learning as opposed to hands off research which
we would learn and forget about as the days passed. I think the style of
teaching made the class have an aspect of enjoyment and in my honest opinion is
the best way to design a class. If a class can be fun than you can get
something out of it because you are interested and more apt to learning. One thing I would change about the class is
maybe more than one major project because the first half of the semester I
really felt like I hadn’t gotten anything accomplished. It wasn’t until the
last few weeks hit that I realized that we had a huge project coming and it was
coming fast. Overall it has been one of my favorite English classes in my years
of schooling, I felt like Owen cared on an individual level and did his very
best to connect with students.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Born Into Coal blog
Born into Coal is a documentary about the daughter of a coal miner and the "Coal Queen Pageant". The documentary starts with a scene from the pageant where they briefly mention coal. The next shot is on the character that the documentary is following Arianna Bailey, It shows B-roll of her with her talking as narration. I thought this was an effective way to start the documentary because it established the scene and introduce the main focus of the documentary really smoothly. The next scene is to show family values and it does this by introducing the mother and father through an interview and showing relevant B-roll in the process. It then cuts to a different family and it uses the audio of an interview from the mother and father of a different family and B-rol. The other family is meant to show the more "Coal" aspect weather than directly following Arianna Bailey. The middle of the documentary does a good job of showing the dangers of coal and the horrors but it doesn't really seem to follow Arianna Bailey as it seemed like it was going to at the beginning; more so just the families. Then at the end it connects it back to the pageant and to me it didnt seem very fluid.
It was moderately effective in showing the dangers of coal but when he said that he was like a doctor it kind of lost ethos for me. The father on camera was really poor and you could tell he was uncomfortable.
It was moderately effective in showing the dangers of coal but when he said that he was like a doctor it kind of lost ethos for me. The father on camera was really poor and you could tell he was uncomfortable.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Group Contract for wildcat service dogs
Interviews
· Sam
o
Depending
on scheduling, Different people will be doing Interviews
o
Scheduling
Interviews is separate from the scheduling section
Filming
· Morgan
o
Zach
has go pro
o
Sam,
Cole, Kaycie (Must attend for some filming )
Script
writing
· Kaycie
o
Everyone
is expected to contribute when doing story boarding
o
Must
be approved before final
Sound
recording
· Morgan
o
Goes
along with Filming for the most part
Film
editing
· Zach
o
Everyone
will watch and approve sections
Sound
editing
· Zach
o
Everyone
will watch and approve sections
Storyboarding
· Everyone
o
Everyone
must attend initial storyboarding
o
Everyone
must see and approve final storyboard
Scheduling
· Cole
o
In
charge of coordinating with Sam
o
Keeping
in contact with Organization as well as the trainers
o
Notifying
group of events as they come
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Visual Rhetoric of Newegg vs. Amazon
Both amazon and Newegg have somewhat similar audiences in that they are fairly similar in there purpose; there audience is essentially everyone, Newegg is geared a little more towards techy people. Newegg is essentially amazon except it specializes in electronics and only electronics; it has a much larger variety in the specific sections associated with electronics than amazon is and this is really clear upon the first few seconds of looking at the home pages. This isn't to say that Newegg only sells electronics, they also sell everything.
When you first get on to amazon you scroll down the page and you see deals and discounts off to the side and as you scroll down the page there are small catalogs of various genres of items, there is no limit to what you can buy on amazon and the front page does a good job of showing this
as you can see there a very diverse selection and even though they don't sample every genre my brain sort of fills in the cracks, well if they sell phone accessories and bags then they probably sell pretty much everything else, is what coms to my mind.
When you first look at Newegg however your eyes are bombarded with electronics, there are a few advertisements on the front page for other things but the main purpose of the site is clearly electronics. this is because the majority of the items listed as "Hot" are all electronics or accessories for other electronics. they have one advertisement for a neckless which seems to be a feeble attempt to show that they sell other things but you can clearly tell there targeted audience.
When you first get on to amazon you scroll down the page and you see deals and discounts off to the side and as you scroll down the page there are small catalogs of various genres of items, there is no limit to what you can buy on amazon and the front page does a good job of showing this
as you can see there a very diverse selection and even though they don't sample every genre my brain sort of fills in the cracks, well if they sell phone accessories and bags then they probably sell pretty much everything else, is what coms to my mind.
When you first look at Newegg however your eyes are bombarded with electronics, there are a few advertisements on the front page for other things but the main purpose of the site is clearly electronics. this is because the majority of the items listed as "Hot" are all electronics or accessories for other electronics. they have one advertisement for a neckless which seems to be a feeble attempt to show that they sell other things but you can clearly tell there targeted audience.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Visual Rhetoric
Both articles, No Seconds and The Last Meal Project, were conceptually the same except they went about the issue in different ways. No seconds gave more personal information along with a higher quality picture of the food; In some cases lack of food. Where as The Last Meal Project gave less personal bios but a picture of there face in the background.
I felt like No Seconds had more power too it than the Last Meal Project even though you got to see the prisoners face in the article, I never felt sympathetic seeing a prisoners face. No Seconds had little personal bios that showed mistreatment from the prison and people who were denied such a basic right as the last meal and that had more of an affect on me personally. Visual rhetoric has much more power when complimented with text.
The Last Meal Project also seemed to be a lot less high quality because the pictures of the prisoners in the background were very low quality and the pictures of there food were side by side instead of on an actual plate, and they didn't seem to compliment the pictures on the back.
The Last Meal Project is undoubtedly more informative. they had little bits and pieces of facts about the death penalty throughout the slide show and No Seconds had a few facts spread throughout but nowhere near as much as the Last Meal Project.
Overall, Id say that No Seconds was more powerful because it used really bright colors and humanized the prisoners a lot better than the sketchy mug shots presented behind there food.
I felt like No Seconds had more power too it than the Last Meal Project even though you got to see the prisoners face in the article, I never felt sympathetic seeing a prisoners face. No Seconds had little personal bios that showed mistreatment from the prison and people who were denied such a basic right as the last meal and that had more of an affect on me personally. Visual rhetoric has much more power when complimented with text.
The Last Meal Project also seemed to be a lot less high quality because the pictures of the prisoners in the background were very low quality and the pictures of there food were side by side instead of on an actual plate, and they didn't seem to compliment the pictures on the back.
The Last Meal Project is undoubtedly more informative. they had little bits and pieces of facts about the death penalty throughout the slide show and No Seconds had a few facts spread throughout but nowhere near as much as the Last Meal Project.
Overall, Id say that No Seconds was more powerful because it used really bright colors and humanized the prisoners a lot better than the sketchy mug shots presented behind there food.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
my Shark Tank proposal review
There were lots of areas in my speech that you could tell were less prepared than they could have been and there were some awkward pauses where I was looking at the ground thinking of what came next in the speech. This could easily be fixed by preparing a little better; I didn't exactly have much time to prepare because there was a lot of stuff on my plate at the time and I could have done a lot better. This also plays into the fact that it was far too short of a presentation not even making the bare minimum of 3 minutes.
A big issue I noticed is my speech wasn't very linear, I didnt know exactly where I was going with it the whole time and I just spoke what came to mind and I believe I left out some things that I would have liked to say and that probably would have gotten me over that three minute marker.
Some nervous ticks that I noticed, however not as bad as I expected, was that I kept saying uh. It wasn't like I was saying it after very sentence but it could definitely use some work. There was also me looking down at the ground, this is something I definitely need to work on for next time and I think that will come with better preparation, not having to think as much. My volume could have been a little more pronounced, it sounded like I had spit in my mouth or something.
I think that I did well with my hands; I usually have really awkward arms or just put them in my pockets but I did a lot better in that respect. I also think I did well with my body, I moved around a bit and I didn't have a rocking motion or anything. My speed of voice was impeccable for me, I usually talk at 100 mph but I brought it down a lot for the proposal
Overall I think I did pretty well in the amount of time I had to prepare for it, I had like a solid hour or so to prepare and I was fairly distracted so an hour is being incredibly generous.
A big issue I noticed is my speech wasn't very linear, I didnt know exactly where I was going with it the whole time and I just spoke what came to mind and I believe I left out some things that I would have liked to say and that probably would have gotten me over that three minute marker.
Some nervous ticks that I noticed, however not as bad as I expected, was that I kept saying uh. It wasn't like I was saying it after very sentence but it could definitely use some work. There was also me looking down at the ground, this is something I definitely need to work on for next time and I think that will come with better preparation, not having to think as much. My volume could have been a little more pronounced, it sounded like I had spit in my mouth or something.
I think that I did well with my hands; I usually have really awkward arms or just put them in my pockets but I did a lot better in that respect. I also think I did well with my body, I moved around a bit and I didn't have a rocking motion or anything. My speed of voice was impeccable for me, I usually talk at 100 mph but I brought it down a lot for the proposal
Overall I think I did pretty well in the amount of time I had to prepare for it, I had like a solid hour or so to prepare and I was fairly distracted so an hour is being incredibly generous.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Annoying Questions
Every time I tell someone that I am a life guard I get the question, have you saved anyone? every single time someone asks what I do, I get this question and its so annoying. I never know how to respond because even had I saved someone its not like its a bragging right, Its like yeah I do my job sometimes, and I feel like had I actually had to save someone I wouldn't go around saying "yeah, I saved someone, Im the shit". I think I'm a little to modest for that.
When people ask me if I'm into any sports and I tell them that I used to be a swimmer, I always get the question, "why did you quit?" because I wanted too, maybe its something personal and you don't need to know my life. Even if it wasn't personal I probably don't care to talk about it because its over and I'm sick of answering the question. I usually just respond with cause because I hate that question.
I can't really think of any other persistent questions so flips side to this, Questions I hate asking people
Whats you're name?
Its awkward and I don't like it, I usually just creep on a paper they've done to get there name or ask someone else.
where are you from?
this one I never understand why people ask, I frankly don't care where someone is from, only that there here in front of me now.
How are you?
Its always good, everyone is always good, unless its a special situation, then its justified.
When people ask me if I'm into any sports and I tell them that I used to be a swimmer, I always get the question, "why did you quit?" because I wanted too, maybe its something personal and you don't need to know my life. Even if it wasn't personal I probably don't care to talk about it because its over and I'm sick of answering the question. I usually just respond with cause because I hate that question.
I can't really think of any other persistent questions so flips side to this, Questions I hate asking people
Whats you're name?
Its awkward and I don't like it, I usually just creep on a paper they've done to get there name or ask someone else.
where are you from?
this one I never understand why people ask, I frankly don't care where someone is from, only that there here in front of me now.
How are you?
Its always good, everyone is always good, unless its a special situation, then its justified.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Response to Joe Kowan: How I beat stage fright
http://www.ted.com/talks/joe_kowan_how_i_beat_stage_fright.html
This speech was really interesting to me and popped out to me because the credibility that inherently came with the topic. His topic was that he had incredibly terrible stage fright and he found this way to get over it; his credibility stemmed from his confidence when speaking as well as his conclusion of singing this song he wrote that emphasized the points of getting over stage fright. The method he spoke of involved admitting your fear to it and learning to make it work for you rather than against you; in a sense, don't let your body control your mind.
He really stood out among the rest because you could tell he was being honest, he looked like he would be awkward person in front of a crowd and he used that trait to give the speech a comical aspect. It also helped that his awkwardness and lack there off contributed to the main idea of the speech, which was how he overcame stage fright.
There was one part that didn't really feel right is when he asked someone on the side of the stage for water, it felt awkward and strange; especially seeing him drink it, it was uncomfortable and took away from the main idea.
What I liked most however occurred directly after and that was his "Stage Fright" song, he alludes to this song the whole speech and said its how he got over his stage fright and he finishes off his speech by singing it. This was the main reason that I chose this speech is because he does an amazing job of tying everything together and it contributes to the ethos as well; this song that he talks about isn't just some made up story, it is actually how he got over his stage fright.
This speech was really interesting to me and popped out to me because the credibility that inherently came with the topic. His topic was that he had incredibly terrible stage fright and he found this way to get over it; his credibility stemmed from his confidence when speaking as well as his conclusion of singing this song he wrote that emphasized the points of getting over stage fright. The method he spoke of involved admitting your fear to it and learning to make it work for you rather than against you; in a sense, don't let your body control your mind.
He really stood out among the rest because you could tell he was being honest, he looked like he would be awkward person in front of a crowd and he used that trait to give the speech a comical aspect. It also helped that his awkwardness and lack there off contributed to the main idea of the speech, which was how he overcame stage fright.
There was one part that didn't really feel right is when he asked someone on the side of the stage for water, it felt awkward and strange; especially seeing him drink it, it was uncomfortable and took away from the main idea.
What I liked most however occurred directly after and that was his "Stage Fright" song, he alludes to this song the whole speech and said its how he got over his stage fright and he finishes off his speech by singing it. This was the main reason that I chose this speech is because he does an amazing job of tying everything together and it contributes to the ethos as well; this song that he talks about isn't just some made up story, it is actually how he got over his stage fright.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Response to: Rembert Explains America: Detroit vs. Everybody
Remberts' article sent me a sort of mixed message. He leads of his article by kind of misleading the reader into thinking that Detroit is really this awful place but then changes the readers mind by revealing his misconceptions and biases. This leaves me thinking, Detroit can probably be saved, it has lots of potential to be a great city, however he ends on a bad note and shares his experience of finding this horrific area that read "this is a whore house, no fags allowed" and then he just cuts off. Though he does end saying he wants to come back and help. To me it seemed like it didn't necessarily fit in properly. I think his conclusion should have been a little bit larger so the ending wouldn't be so abrupt.
This being said he does use very good examples of the key features of the city and ties in the emptiness of the park to the lack of faith in the town. He does a good job of relating his experiences with Detroit to his overall view and shows the growth of his attitude towards the city. This I feel was the most powerful aspect to the article, showing that he grew from his prejudice and that we should also take a second glance at something before we label it and store it in the back of our brains.
Rembert touches on how you shouldn't prejudge but he also shows through Detroit that some parts of prejudice may be wrong, however some of them can be right. Even though Detroit isn't this horrible wasteland that people think it is, there are dangerous and despicable parts too it.
This article reminded me of a previous article that I have read about detroit and that is Rebecca Solnits' Detroit Arcadia http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/detroit-arcadia/. Solnit describes the ruined areas of Detroit not to necessarily be a bad thing, but a thing of the past and she goes very in-depth into the history of the city.
This being said he does use very good examples of the key features of the city and ties in the emptiness of the park to the lack of faith in the town. He does a good job of relating his experiences with Detroit to his overall view and shows the growth of his attitude towards the city. This I feel was the most powerful aspect to the article, showing that he grew from his prejudice and that we should also take a second glance at something before we label it and store it in the back of our brains.
Rembert touches on how you shouldn't prejudge but he also shows through Detroit that some parts of prejudice may be wrong, however some of them can be right. Even though Detroit isn't this horrible wasteland that people think it is, there are dangerous and despicable parts too it.
This article reminded me of a previous article that I have read about detroit and that is Rebecca Solnits' Detroit Arcadia http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/detroit-arcadia/. Solnit describes the ruined areas of Detroit not to necessarily be a bad thing, but a thing of the past and she goes very in-depth into the history of the city.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
In response too Morris' "Bodies of the Year"
Morris's arguments explain how people use and
overuse there body in todays social media. Throughout the article he criticizes
the importance of the body both the physically appealing nature of a beautiful
body as well as the less attractive side of the spectrum. The body is an
incredibly important part of society today and has always been, all be it never
in the same fashion. I whole heartedly believe this to be true because no
person can be explained without using there body; no one is going to be
describing someone and say "Oh, she's the one with the mediocre ideas and
talks about as much as an average person". its not going to happen because
a persons body matters.A body tells a story; how you take care of your self,
what kind of person you are, and the way you share or don't share your body can
describe you as well.
When I was reading this and noting all of the examples of how bodies
were used throughout the current year, I thought of one other example however
potentially a little out of date, Fat Amy. Fat Amy is a refreshing change of
pace in that she isn't the stereotypical "Hot" actress and doesn't
rely mainly on how she looks to get her role. She provides a genuinely funny
attribute to a movie using her body as a sort of catalyst.
Towards the end he touches on how "Her" moved him because it used only a voice as an actor and the fact that they didn't overuse someones body as he seems to insinuate throughout his article, however I don't think it is 100% percent clear of this "overuse". In the movie they show the main actor having phone sex with some random women and they put a face to it, then later in the movie the OS and the main actor have "phone sex" and although it doesn't show this over use of the body, using something like sex forces your mind to wander, even if a body wasn't physically there the fact that they used sex is a use of the body.
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