Hey guys attached is my Mash-up Video. I ran into some challenges- mostly my usual Mom vs. technology variety. As you can see it is not done or even cohesive- but it is my first attempt! I want to have the end flash families of different varieties- And have some inspirational bang music ending... not sure what- suggestions welcome. I also know the beginning freedom message is probably too long. I like the idea of the beginning- but when I came home I'm not sure if it should have flashed through other images... Like possibly, having the Martin Luther King version music continue but flash to the orphaned African American kid images, Or the Joan Baez version show girl in orphanages... Let me know what you think!!! http://reginamcmenaminlloyd.weebly.com/story-board.html
Attached is a copy of my Storyboard which is an argument on same sex adoption- my argument. Please let me know what you think
Check Out my proposal here: http://reginamcmenaminlloyd.weebly.com/proposal.html
How did the proposal part of the assignment help me?The proposal helped me to clarify for myself the kinds of materials I will be using. It helped me to keep my purpose in mind weighing out each position of the argument and thinking about how I will juxtapose images to create a message that lines up with my intent. For me, It was more like a brainstorming activity, but it defined my work within an educated approach. I was able to see that the message I wanted was not just Equality vs. Inequality. Additionally, it made clear the research challenges I am going to face.
I am still in the process of choosing videos and audio. I want to look beyond my fallback of Indigo Girls (although let's face it there will probably be Indigo Girls playing in some of it) I'm hoping to get inspiration in a few minutes at my daughter's concert.... although my son's a few weeks ago did sing "Rainbow Connection." Have a great class everyone and good luck with your proposals! . Twitterive Skype Today, we had a great discussion on Skype about the Twitterive Project. This sounded like a great opportunity for my third blog. We discussed Mamet’s, “On Directing Film,” Professor Kopp explained “Mamet was about creating a narrative mind dump.” “The most interesting thing is what happens next in the story” wrote Mamet. We discussed how the “juxtaposition of uninflected images” tells the story. Professor Kopp used an example of the movie “SUPER 8” in which we open to a sign that says a certain amount of days since an accident at a factory- which then changes to 1 and the second screen pans to an image of a boy sitting on a swing looking down. One of our classmates explained the assumption the audience is being lead to make– “A parent must have been hurt or killed in the accident.” We can infer then that the job of the writer is to create a message of ideas that relate to each other. Maybe it is the writer in me but I can’t help thinking of movies that start with the main character writing like “The Outsiders” and “Almost Famous” to let you know the genre is memoir. In both of those movies they set the scene, immediately after. “The Outsiders” by showing a rural town and the ever present train tracks. The train tracks define the lives of the kids segmented in poverty. “Almost Famous” collages rock memorabilia letting the audience know you are about to watch a story where Rock and Roll plays the second (or arguably first) leading actor. Dr. Kopp tells us something like; it is the nature of humans to create a message & connection between two seemingly unrelated sequential events. We are invariably going to make our own connections. The audience is being driven to thought by the imagery of two ideas and creating a dialogue about those ideas. I am stuck think of the Clear Pepsi campaign of the 90’s ( I know I am dating myself here- See video for understanding) but commercials do this all the time. They tell us we will be happy if we just buy, drink, medicate with, or eat their product. The hidden communication in most advertising is “We have the stuff to make your life blissful.” If in fact Clear Pepsi was everything we expected from the video you would probably still be able to buy it. So how do you step behind the tweet to find the controlling value of your message/ messages? You could fit them through some of our models that we have used in other areas. I however am probably not going to look at mine that way. My attempt is in grouping a common thread among them. For me, many of my tweets when analyzed came into a few categories, Conversations about art/ writing/ technology, moments of not “enoughness”, and things that annoy me. I think for me the first conversation of art, writing and technology are the easiest spin into something of quality, which I would like to have a conversation about. Dr. Kopp warned “stick to creative things.” One of the students mentioned having walked more for work then she’d have liked, meaning she was always moving but getting nowhere. Another stated two interesting tweets one watching walking dead the other writing a children’s book. An interesting commentary could be made between what we consume and produce, or between the vast differences in genre. A bit about each draft- Draft 1- Generates how the project will go
My Example I have created two commentaries one factual the other fiction
All written text Draft 2- An explosion of different media that relate to create a message - Engage with the technologies listed to create a message - You can embed tweets in this if you think it is instrumental but you don’t have to - You have the creative freedom to organize your ideas within your own personal aesthetic with room for aesthetic emotion. Check out the twitterive links. Use the various Media applications. Draft 3- Refining 1 & 2 into a precision crafted message of ideas working together will include both written text, graphics, video, screen shots—it is multimodal. We are done working on Twitterive in class on 2/27 but won’t need it done until March 6th.
Fundamentally, I am a grudging technology user. I will tell anyone who listens about my love of books, how the feel of pages turning, the aroma of the vanilla pages and the ability for the book to sit well loved on the shelf. With a book you must hold it and determine whether to get rid of it, an electronic book is as simple as select all delete. That being said, seeking to further educate myself was brought back because of Electronic Media. In 2009, Smithsonian Magazine published an article I wrote about my hometown on their website. One of my sisters teased me that if I wanted to reach my hometown I probably should have sent it to our local paper, that no one in our blue collar town was perusing the Smithsonian Magazine website. But something funny happened; I sent this link to just a few friends. Before I knew it people I never knew were inspired by my writing. They were telling me not to waste my talent; they were asking me to tell their stories. But the article itself stood out for me even then with a few bad grammar moments. I knew I needed the education to get to the quality of writing I wanted to tell in my stories, and so I found the Rowan Writing Program. However, further proof of the fleeting authorship of electronic technology can be found in this article. I would for years go in and look at the comments, reading the people who responded to my work. About a year ago it moved off to a microsite and today when I tried the link it was gone. I have been erased by Smithsonian. My Authorship no longer valid, those comments no longer resonated. So, while I find it fleeting there are some really practical uses to technology. If you view my Prezi you will see the ways in which I use technology to better my writing. http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/content/my-kind-of-town/your-town/index.html As writers we are given the opportunity to create our message, the message that speaks of all the things we deem important. However, the trick is, Professor Kopp knew in choosing Maxims we would chose the things that spoke to the controlling value or values we live by. Assuming that you chose maxims that really spoke to you, you can find a common thread between them. Having had Professor Kopp for Writer’s Mind, and having read his approach to education I expected his usual Rhetorical wizardry to show up. The question is “what is your controlling value?” I challenge you to look at your maxims and there will be some that really speak to you. Those are the ones that define your controlling value. It took me careful observation to realize my controlling value. Most of my maxims speak to my need to communicate. Keeping communications open is a strong value for me, I am going to reply if you email, I can’t just not reply. One of my favorite maxims is : A scholar’s ink lasts longer then a martyr’s blood. The challenge in that is not in finding the controlling value- Communication. Rather it is the challenge of seeing it from another’s prospective, the altering controlling value. These can be difficult, so what I do is instead of thinking of the opposite, I think of someone who has expressed altering views with me. I thought of my sister, my sister is a chatty Kathy but she and I disagree on communication. She says just the word poetry makes her blood boil, she physically gets angry at the idea of someone over- expressing their inner most thoughts. For my sister, on the surface communication is OK but deeper thoughts should stay as deeper thoughts, private and shared only with intimate friends. I could come back with an “actions speak louder than words statement”, but at the root of it I feel like it is more than that. I could even say, “Bleed for your ideals.” My sister, if asked might say “words will never out live action,” “Don’t flower words, get elbow deep in the work” and the thing about Controlling values- neither of us are wrong. For me, in understanding myself, I was able to understand others. I could understand that communicating my own children's success, to me was about my need to communicate and that I felt they deserved acknowledgement. Whereas my mother, wouldn't do the same thing because she would feel that was boastful of her accomplishments as my mother. Additionally, my characters in fictitious works are no longer good guy/ bad guy, but complex characters with conflicting emotions. When we go about your work this semester, I hope that we challenge ourselves to come up with the hard answers. After all my other favorite Maxim is: Education is one of the few things a person is willing to pay for and not get. William Lowe Bryan We can all change ourselves, if we peek behind the curtain and seek our own wisdom. Don't forget to check out my Prezi "The Key to Understanding Controlling Values" for a fun review of the process. |
Regina's BlogRegina writes fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction (and the occasional boring essay). Archives
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