Course reflection

This course overall I think has been the most fun so far in my collegiate career, which may not be saying much considering I am a freshman, but I do think that I will take what I learned from this class and go on to use it to my advantage in other classes. Not to mention the type of work I want to get into everything is going digital now. As an English major I have to recognize early that everything is not black and white on paper anymore, and a lot of the publishing business is becoming more technical and going online now a days. I think at the beginning of this course I was completely lost as to what digital composition was, and now that the course is over I feel I am maybe even more confused. But confused in a good way, because now I am not sitting here thinking what is digital composition, I am sitting here thinking, in what way could this be considered digital composition, because if there is anything I learned in this class it is the fact that this genre of composition is so vast and really at this point in time has no specifications to it. Digital composition really is just such a general topic that it is hard to really describe it, or specified what exactly it is. I did find the course to be fun though. My favorite project had to be the video. I had not noticed until I actually did the music video, that when listening to music I tend to put scenarios in my head that sync up with the music. So that was an interesting experience to actually perform. It was mostly frustrating that not everything I wanted was easily obtainable. I also enjoyed doing this final project, even though it turned out to be the hardest for me, and most frustrating. I think it just all goes back to me not being entirely sure what digital composition is, which like I said, is not a bad thing, but just made things harder. It is difficult sometimes when things are broader than if they were more specific, but I have no doubt in my mind that in five years or maybe even less more of an emphasis will be put on digital composition, and the learning of it all. I know the manifesto tried its hand at explaining it, but I think the problem is there needs to be a dummies guide for people to really get the know of it. The manifesto just seemed way too highbrow, and I am not going to lie I only skimmed the first few pages and gave up on the whole thing. The wording and the way it was set up was just too confusing, which could argue, maybe that was the point, but really if we want people to really start understanding digital composition, and I think this really goes for anything, we have to simplify it, at least at first and to a certain point. I think the reason digital composition is so hard to teach or learn is because there so far is no restrictions on it. It just is what it is and that can be entirely overwhelming. I feel as though there should be a genre and then subclasses and so on and so forth. And I think perhaps if there were more manifestos or something out there then it would be easier on everyone. I cannot tell count how many times I went to Google digital composition and was led to so many dead ends, because there is like nothing practically, or at least nothing popular enough I guess, out there on the internet explaining what it is. Which I find slightly ironic that the internet, is a, if not the most vast source of digital compositions and yet it has such little information on what digital composition really is. I do not think I have ever taken a class where I was literally given so much freedom. I mean not just even talking about the creative freedom, but the prompts even were pretty much do what you want as long as you keep to these few restrictions, and that was a nice fresh look at how school could be. I mean looking back at Ken Robinson speech. I really enjoyed his speech because he touched on issues in schools that are just true. Everything in school systems are just like a factory, and they are trying to produce all the same things, and it is scary to think that my degree might not even be worth much when I graduate, and that finding jobs are just going to become harder and harder. The hierarchy is to blame for this, the one Robinson spoke of, how we put more of an emphasis on math and language and science, and this can connect to digital media, because advancements in technology is rising all the time. It seems every year they are creating something even better than the one a year before. Apple is constantly throwing something new out on the market but you really do not see them putting an emphasis on technology in school either. I think maybe that was what I was trying to explain in my final project, but I did not know how to portray that without my project being entirely too long. I am sure it could have been done, but I was unable to really find a way to do it, and that is another plus to digital composition, the fact that you can really explain a concept in such little time, but even with such little time it can still get explained so much easier and in so much more detail than if just words were to be used. At the same time it can be the opposite, and digital composition can be a tool used to help transition into a more detailed explanation. I really just rambled along for this. Like I originally said, digital composition is really just so vast and broad that there is so much to talk about and you can find yourself getting lost in thought and getting caught up in thought as you try to discuss it. So that’s what I have to say about digital composition and the course.

final project reflection

The final project was a bit hard for me, mainly because I could not decide which prompt I wanted to do. I chose to do the third one because firstly it seemed the easiest to be truthful. I’m used to writing papers, so and answer and response type project seemed like a cake walk to me. I chose Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity” because that was my most favorite assignment to watch. I enjoyed his speech a lot, and really felt as though what he was saying was important and mind opening. So I decided to use vuvox as my medium, mainly because it looked like fun and had never used it before. I figured I could get my point across in a pretty fun manner. My choice of song had a lot to do with the fact that I love that song, but I feel it goes with the topic a bit. Ken Robinson’s speech speaks mainly about hierarchy within school systems, and hierarchy within the arts itself, and Mr. Big Stuff seemed like a good fit. The main problem I had with the final project was really connecting the speech to digital media, because the main topic is about creativity. So I tried to connect technology to being congruous with creativity. And I have to admit once I started getting towards the end of the collage on vuvox I did start to get lost as to how to end the project and half assed it towards the very end. But this project really did take me quite a while to put together, and I kind of am proud of it.

Final Project

Watching other videos

I really enjoyed watching everyone's videos. I found I liked the experience a lot more than the audio essays. I found that the videos I watched the concept was able to get through easily. On a few of them I had to refer back to their blog post to really get a sense of what they were trying to portray through their video, but all in all I got a pretty good sense of what they were trying to say.
Some of the videos were private so I wasn't able to go and watch them and experience them, but I found the ones I did enjoy a lot were the ones where there were no pictures, ones where everything kept moving and kept my attention. I felt whenever a picture was inserted into one of the movies except for one of the concept in 60 where it seemed appropriate, it kinda bogged down the video. I liked the steady motion that was kept through most people's videos.
Pretty much it looks like everyone did a really good job, and seemed to have about the same amount of trouble as I did as to finding footage and learning the ropes of movie maker or imovie. I found I really enjoyed this project.

rereading the manifesto

I found that the first time I read the manifesto I found it confusing. I think the main reasons for this is because I didn’t really understand what a manifesto was and didn’t fully comprehend what it was trying to say to me. But going back and reading it a second time I understood it a little bit better.  Mainly because we have been talking about digital composition for some time now, and I now understand that a manifesto is a type of document that is supposed to explain a concept to you. So the manifesto was I found to be more interesting the second time around, and it actually helps when trying to understand what digital composition is or is not. Although I did find the manifesto to still be a little confusing.

When it comes to the final project I think I want to look more at the Robinson’s speech, Do Schools Kill Creativity? Out of all the documents we were made to read and watch and listen to this was the one that really stuck with me the most. And I think I’m going to go with the third project idea. I feel more comfortable with this idea because it seems the most conventional, but seems like it would be easy to make it not so conventional. In the usual case this idea would call for an essay or written response, and my idea is to sort of display my written response in another form, probably using vuvox or prezi. I think through the use of pictures, sound and video it would not only make it more easier but add more to the project by in fact making it a digital composition.

Video Concept

I ended up doing a music video of the song "My Body" by Young the Giant. I chose to do this song because it just makes me feel good. It's a song that if it pops onto my MP3 player I will put it on repeat. The song has a great beat, and isn't really too overpowering. It's a song you can get pumped to, or just sit around and get chill to.

                                                                          

The concept I was thinking about doing was portraying teens and young adults partying and doing things that can sort of seem impossible to people when they get to a certain age. I was going to mash footage of that with footage of teens from the 1950s. I wanted that mix of black and white, and proper and contrast it with color and wild.

But upon the class discussion I ended up taking the ideas that were presented into account and decided to change my concept just a little bit. And I decided to keep the footage from the 1950s and some from the 60s and I mashed it with footage of older folks. The footage of the older folks I tried to mimic what the 1950s footage was doing, and I tried for some humor. I definitely just think old people are funny.

So my new concept would be that, as we get older we are still fighting that war with our body. The same war we were fighting when we were younger, and I guess my video also portrays that the war is a lot harder to fight when older, but not impossible.

I have a beating heart at the beginning first because the intro's beat made me think of a heartbeat, but it sort of correlates into the video to show that even though you're fighting this personal losing war, you're still winning the battle.

Video Reflection

I found that towards the beginning making the video was incredibly stressful. I had to download this aneesoft software thingy so I could download youtube videos, THEN I had to download a converter. Well I didn’t have to download the converter, but it was so much easier to have one that was downloaded so that it just went straight to my documents instead of making me go through my email five hundred times.

I found that finding the footage I needed and then going through them to edit and only choose like the two seconds from each I needed took forever! I made the video all in one sitting and it took me over 8 hours. I found that the 1950’s footage actually wasn’t the hardest, the hardest was finding footage of older people. I ended up borrowing footage from “The Bucket List”, from cell phone and snicker commercials that I remembered from past super bowl commercial airings, and the music video “Sunshine” by Modestep that was shared in class.

I think that I was able, to a certain level, portray my video. In the end I just hope the viewer thinks it is interesting. I think I was able to find just the right footage, but you can definitely tell that towards the end of the video I was definitely just putting some filler in there. When I got to the end of the song I seriously just stopped everything, hit save and uploaded the video.

One part I am really proud of though is the car scenes. I have a edited scene of the car race from “Rebel Without a Cause” starring James Dean, and edited it with this foreign commercial of this old couple driving. I think the two scenes just really mash up really well. I am also proud of the beating heart. I borrowed that off of youtube, but I am responsible for it changing color at the beginning, and I think that that adds a little more edge to it.

Overall I think if I had more time, meaning not other school work I had to get done, and I had more of an arsenal of footage, or actually knew what to look for then I would have been able to portray my concept a bit easier. But I just hope if the concept isn’t understood, viewers at least get some enjoyment from it.

my video concept

So I’ve decided to do the music video. The song I have chosen to do is “My Body” by Young the Giant. I chose this song because I feel it has a good beat, and really can be taken in so many ways, it’s not so literal so I would have more wiggle room with my video, and my interpretation of it.

So when I listen this song I usually play it when I’m in my room getting ready to go out with my friends and go party. It’s a nice song that makes me feel good and gets me pumped. So that go me thinking about the words, and he is talking about being a kid, and the chorus says “my body tells me no, but I want more”. And that line being repeated totally makes me think of when you go out at night, and you’re drinking and you’re partying and you’re walking all over town, party after party and at first you feel invincible but by the end of the night it’s like you’re losing a fight with your body and the liquor.

So my idea is to sort of show that and make the audience feel that way about it. I want to show video from like the fifties, black and white footage, of kids getting ready and going out, and mash them with modern footage of kids now a days going out to parties and raving. I think it would be a great idea to mash footage of the two generations together because they are both so different. One is all black and white and our footage is color, so you get that Wizard of Oz feel. And it shows how partying is universal between generations, but you also see how vastly different young adult society has changed over the decades.

So what I guess I plan on accomplishing with this video is to really just portray the fun teens have and how much we just feel so invincible at our age.

Berthoff and Whitehead

I find that Berthoff and Whitehead’s “The Way We Live Now” are very similar in their way of thinking. Berthoff talks about concepts and how words and language can categorize objects and sort of group them together in ways, but by changing your wording or by adding or subtracting a word can then exclude an object from that category or may add to the category, or may even call for a whole other category to be created. Whitehead talks about New York, and he speaks about how one person’s New York, is not necessarily someone else’s New York. Someone may have lived in a part of the city where there was a pizza shop, or ice cream shop and they may still picture that ice cream shop and be nostalgic over it, although it may be replaced with a small travel agency, and that agency is then part of someone else’s New York, one who may never have known about that old Mom and Pop ice cream shop or pizza shop.

I found both of these excerpts to be very interesting because they both suggest that really ideas are all up to the individual. One person may remembers where they grew up, and another person who may have grown up next door to you or moved in ten years later will probably remember a different place than you. Well, not exactly a different place, but remember differently than the other person. I find this concept to be very interesting. It reminds me of a discussion I had with my friend. We had gone to the same high school, but she grew up in a more rural area than me, and I grew up in what’s known as “The Village”. Just recently we were talking about her younger sister, and she was complaining about the friends she was hanging out with, and my friend went on to expound on the fact that they were all from “The Village”. She ended up seeing “The Village” through a negative connotation, which I really didn’t understand too much, but then again I seemed to view the area where she grew up as a bunch of country bumpkins. Which I guess could be taken in a negative way.

The idea that you can categorize these places any way you want, but that someone can categorize as something completely different is sort of mind blowing for me. Because I’m sure, just reading Whitehead’s excerpt that he has a sort of fondness for New York, where I have heard other, more negative comments towards the city. The two ideas together are just extremely interesting to think about.

taking a walk

So I discovered while living on campus and having no car, it is quite impossible to get anywhere without walking. I mean, I tried the bus once, but after an hour long bus ride, there and back, in the rain, I don't think I'll be running out to buy myself a bus pass any time soon. So I didn't really no where to walk, because frankly I walk all day, I didn't know where to go. I walk to work all the time which is across campus, and I do this at night. I suppose I could talk about all the underage drunken college students I run into while I walk to and from work all the time.
But I wanted to walk somewhere different. So I walked to Burnett woods. It wasn't really a far walk. It was across campus the other way, so I was used to the distance, but it was somewhere I hadn't gone before.
I walked the whole way with my mp3 player, and that just made the walk all the more better, because it was like  my music was synching up to how calm and pretty the day was. I took a lot of pictures and I noticed that I took a lot of pictures of nature. The walked really helped me notice nature. I was in love with the sky and took a picture of the sun behind the clouds as many times as I possibly could. And I took pictures of trees and pretty things. I felt like a flower child.
But that was really my walking experience. I went to the park. I went down the slide instead of using the steps. I sat and played on the swings for the longest time, then I went back to my dorm to finish the piling mound of homework.
It was the good day, and I managed to swing by the public library and get myself a library card and some books. So all in all, I'd say that was a good walk.

Listening to the audio narratives

My experience listening to some of the other’s audios was very interesting. I found them to be more refreshing than the ones that I listened to on the websites. I feel they were far superior to the one that I had made, but that could just be me being self-conscience about my project.

I felt there were a few audios where the background noise definitely overpowered the speaker. It was difficult to listen without having to turn the volume down, and when I did this it was difficult to hear the speaker. I also really liked when they posted their words with the audio. Only because I find that when I only listen to something I tend to not follow along well, and lose interest. So having those words there to follow along really helped. It was easier for me to not lose my place and not get mixed up in their narrative.

There were definitely some funny ones that I heard, and some sincere. I didn’t hear anybody who I felt was trying to be somebody else, or trying to pitch something. Nobody really went off topic, or digressed any. I found the one about polygamy really accomplished the humorous tone it was going for. I definitely found myself giggling to myself. I also found I liked the audio about music and driving, because that audio narrative is one that can relate to a lot of people, and she seemed completely sincere about her topic. Not to mention her choice of words really flowed well.

Over all I found the experience of listening to the audios to be more interesting than I originally thought it would be. The project really helped open my mind to more options outside of just writing with pen and paper or just typing on a word document. I really look forward to the movie project, although I feel that one will be a lot more difficult to accomplish than this one.