Saturday, June 16, 2012

Digital Media Rhetorical Analysis


                The idea behind this production was to reveal the vulnerability of humans and our lack of control. We do a good job of hiding our insecurities and as a culture, society, and as an individual. The purpose of this production was to show our strengths by showing tall buildings and talking about are power over the elements, slowly building up the drive of humanity to control the world, make the audience feel comfortable. Then take that away by showing that nature is in control, showing clips of nature effecting humanity, and persistent erosion. If the video would have gone right out and attacked humans’ strengths then it would me more likely to engage the fight or flight mechanism and make the video less effective.
                As the film is done mainly in Houghton, the audience is a local one, however I think the message applies to a wide range of people. Most of the footage is done of the campus buildings to help build a since of localness. By doing that it will make the piece seem more credible, which is very necessary to get the audience to sit and watch the whole video to fully explain my thoughts. I did include some shots of the bridge and the war memorial because those are also objects that people see every day but don’t really spend too much time thinking about their meaning.  The message that I recorded could have been given just as audio and let the imagination run wild with ideas, but with added visual content it helps keep us all on the same page and keep the viewer focused and interested.
                Contextually this is a very complicated idea and can go many places. The idea of using a video as opposed to text (in a website format) or audio alone was discussed but the fluidity of a video and its multi-sensory output was picked over the other two. Narrating the audio also helps the reader follow along. Instead of having to stumble through texts with people’s different reading speeds, by reading it to the audience I can go at a quicker pace and increases the quality of the video. Text can come off as tacky and can make it seem like a poor production.  It adds a sense of realism to actually hear a sincere sounding speaker pull in the listener.
                Overall during the testing the video turned out effective. I did intend for the end of the video to be uplifting but it was hard to do without completely changing the music around.  It did come across with its intended serous tone and showed great potential to effect an audience after a little bit of editing to slow it down so the reader can keep up with the idea. After this video is posted on a video site such as YouTube, its quick 2 minute message will have great usability and can keep the short attention span viewers intent on the message.  

-Comrade Chris

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