Digital Composition

Class Reflection

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:44:15 -0400

I took this class in hopes that I would gain further knowledge of different types of composition (and via my advisor’s suggestion). When I first told people I was taking a class called digital composition, they, inevitably, would ask me what digital composition was, and I found it to be a surprisingly hard question to answer. It seems straightforward enough - composing digitally, right? But I would usually find it hard to put into words, and I would mumble something about creating things in different mediums like video and audio.

I feel much better equipped to answer that question after taking this class. I might of had the basic idea right in the beginning, but what I think is really important to the definition of digital composition is the fact that people start creating things in a community. Whether in collaboration with other people, known in real life or only through the internet, or just made and put on the internet where things are available for everyone, a sort of community is created, and I think that is a large factor in what makes digital composition so unique from basic textual composition.

This idea is what I decided to explore in my final project. I think it’s great that we have the option of creating something and immediately publishing it to the internet. It allows others to give us instant feedback, whether it is writing, video, music, or something else. It can also be shared quickly and to more people than it would if published traditionally. With the internet at our fingertips, it is as easy as pressing a “share” button to spread a video or a blog post.

Another thing I like about the interconnectivity of the internet, is how we are able to choose which communities we want to belong to. It is easier, through Twitter or blogging sites, to reach out and connect to people who may be future employers or collaborators than it would be to track them down and try to have a conversation with them in person.

My final project did not go exactly the way I originally intended it to, but I think I elaborated on an interesting way of looking at digital composition. Even though Prezi took a while to get the hang of, and then the site went down for a couple days (or maybe it was just terrible campus internet connections), I eventually got it done and I really liked the end product. For how aesthetically pleasing Prezi projects are, they are extremely easy to create.

I found a couple infographics and videos that really backed up my concepts, so I think I employed different types of composition effectively. That’s another good thing about digital composition: it’s interesting. It’s not predictable. You never know what you are going to be shown next, which keeps an audience more engaged. In this age of an apathetic, easily distracted audience, it is important to try new things and keep them on their toes.

I’m a book lover myself, and I can appreciate good text-based projects, but I like how many possibilities there are in the world today. Maybe my focus will be creating text, but there are other people out there making amazing videos and hilarious and/or heartwarming podcasts and beautiful music, so maybe I don’t have be great at creating something in all of these mediums, but it is important to know that they are out there and to know which mediums best suit which projects. Digital composition is kind of an art from in itself.

The things I have learned about digital composition in this class will definitely help me in my chosen career path and with outside interests as well. I’m studying Journalism, a field that is immensely influenced by digital composition and how it affects the media and public. I will have to know how to integrate video, audio, and graphics with text to interest an audience with an increasingly shorter attention span. Having these skills makes me more valuable to prospective employers, and could help me get a job. I will have to stay up to date on new forms of composition.

I have somewhat of a background with graphic design and video. I’ve always liked making videos, so I figure that will be something that continues in my life. This class helped me learn more about editing video (through trial and error, mostly) and how it’s important to have a solid concept behind your video if you want it to mean anything. I will definitely be using things I learned in this class later in life, even outside of my career plans.

I have to admit, I kind of took this class on a whim because I had some experience in the areas I thought we would be covering and it fulfilled a credit I needed. Even so, I really enjoyed the class and I learned a lot about different mediums and concepts, and I think taking this class was really valuable for my future career and in line with my interests.

Final Project: What is Digital Composition?

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:19:57 -0400

http://prezi.com/0hrlxfg2da8k/digital-composition/

Final Project Ideas

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:35:00 -0400

I think I’m going to respond to one of the texts from the course for my final project.

Maybe the Digital Humanities Manifesto?

Classmates' video projects

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:32:55 -0400

Hunter Moore - I liked that the images in the beginning were in slow motion - it seemed very fitting with the music. Also, the black and white was a good touch, easing into color at the end. Without reading the rational, the concept may have been a bit unclear, but I got the feeling of darkness/sadness in the beginning and the color in the end signifying hope. After reading the rational, things came more into shape and I noticed some other aspects that made sense. Having an ambiguous video was kind of intriguing though.

Ben Williams - I liked the choice of music for this Concept in 60 video, it seemed fitting to the topic and it allowed the video to be the main focal point so it didn’t start to become more of a music video. I think the video did a good job of portraying the extremes of poverty and wealth, but I think it could have gone a little deeper, maybe with considering how these things are often in such close proximity, but so vastly different? After reading the rational, I saw this wasn’t his first idea, so I understand that things might have been spared to get the project done, so I’d say he did a pretty good job completing his goals.

Laila Ammar - This music video made use of a lot of good clips of video, and I know from my video how hard it is to find exactly what you’re looking for. The concept was pretty clear with the images shown and the music supported the idea well, lyrically and instrumentally. Reading the rational gave me more of an insight on exactly what she was going for, but I think the video stands alone really well.

From the videos I watched, I’d say everyone did a good job of making their concepts clear through the video medium.

Reflecting on Video

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:40:45 -0400

Contrary to popular belief, via my pitch, where I had nothing planned and no solid ideas, I found out what I was doing pretty quickly after I chose my song. It’s a song that I have always felt would be great as one of those “movie songs,” if you know what I mean. I associate the song closely with images and found it easy to think up a concept once I considered the images that were instantly coming to mind.

I have worked in video a couple times, and I really enjoy working with it. I like the filming aspect, but I have perfectionist tendencies and I thought with the limited time I would just use footage I found online. I also thought I would be too limited to do the things I had in mind with my own camera.

Finding online video to work with turned out to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated, but not impossible. (A search engine for finding very specific scenes need to be created so I can search things like girl+bike+happy+sunshine and find the perfect clip. Someone get on this.) I had some pretty specific images in mind, and once I accepted that I would probably not find the exact things I was looking for, it was easier to go with the flow of trial and error. And lots of video watching.

I actually found all of my footage and put together most of my video in one sitting (again due to my perfectionist nature). It was nice to just get it all out of my system in one bout and see my idea fully form itself in front of me.

A weakness for my project would be that what comes across very clearly to me might not be as easy for my audience to understand. While workshopping, my group told me they were a little confused with the concept behind my video, so I rearranged a few things, took some stuff out, added some things, and hopefully it’s a little clearer now. I think, at the very least, my rationalization makes my point obvious.

I guess a strength of mine was finding good quality video overall. I found one really good source with a lot of good quality material that I used for a large portion of my video. For the rest, I mostly used other music videos and movie trailers I found.

I liked editing, surprisingly enough. I liked the meticulous edits and cuts and synching up of clips with music.

I had fun with this project, and I would definitely work with video again.

Embedding is working for some reason… so go here. Fake...

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:41:00 -0400

Embedding is working for some reason… so go here.

Fake Empire by The National has always had a somewhat dream-like quality to me. Whenever I listen to it I find myself thinking in images instead of focusing on the lyrics, so I thought it would work well for this project.

It’s always been a soothing song for me to listen to, and it makes me think of getting away from my troubles to some ideal place, wherever that may be.

I was trying to convey the concept of escaping. I remembered this beautifully shot short film I had watched recently and the main girl’s attitude, though for a very different reason, was basically the emotion I wanted to portray, so the clips I used from that video were very useful, and my video took the form of a girl who going through her day dreaming of escaping.

This girl is forced into uncomfortable/dull situations and imagining where she’d rather be. I tried to find a lot of happy or peaceful looking clips from various music videos and things to show where she might be dreaming of.

Decided on a song, getting ideas for the video.

Tue, 01 May 2012 15:42:44 -0400

Decided on a song, getting ideas for the video.

Video Project Pitch

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:53:00 -0400

I currently have two project ideas.

I’m considering the music video idea as more of a fallback in case I end up not getting a camera or not having enough time to film this week. Some options for music: Fake Empire-The National; The Modern Leper-Frightened Rabbit. They have a feel to them that would translate well to video, I think. I’ve got a basic idea in my head for what I would be looking for, and I’d most likely use material from the archive.org site and edit it into something of my own.

My second idea, and the one I actually want to do, would be more of the place-based video style. I’m thinking I would use my dorm room in all of it’s terrible glory. I’d have to think more about how I/people interact with/around my room, what it means to me and all that, but I’d use footage of the dorm, obviously, and I’d just need to get a camera. If I don’t use this idea now, I may still use it for my final project.

Perceptions

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:16:00 -0400

I’ve really enjoyed the texts we’ve been reading recently. Bissinger’s memorial of Central Park was especially moving to me, for whatever reason. His connection to his home and his community was obviously strong and he conveyed that love to the reader very well. I think that this text could be related to the walking essay option for our video projects. Although Bissinger doesn’t write about one particular walk, the essence of the story is based around his feelings towards Central Park and the home he grew up in.

Whitehead’s article, another ode to New York, talks about the many facades of the city based on what the viewer sees and values. I liked how he emphasized that none of the ways people saw the city were wrong, just different. We take the first impressions we make of a place or a person or a thing, and that becomes what is normal to us. We identify with what we are familiar with and what we grow up around, like Bissinger and Central Park.

This also made me think back to Berthoff’s views of how our concepts are formed. She says, “Concepts don’t just ‘have’ meanings; they are our means of making meaning.” So, our perceptions shape the way we interpret concepts… or something like that.

Some New York music to go with your New York articles?

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:10:00 -0400

Some New York music to go with your New York articles?

Gents, take a walk

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:39:00 -0400

Since I don’t have a car at school, my go to mode of transportation is walking. Usually when I’m walking I have my headphones in, listening to music or a book or something, but today I opted for the sounds of Cincinnati.

When I’m listening to music while walking, my mind usually stays around the song, but with only the sounds of the streets to focus on, it wanders more freely. With my headphones in I’m centered in myself, but without them I felt like part of the community.

I didn’t walk far today, but I saw plenty. I overheard conversations and I noticed things and people I don’t normally focus on and from there I went through a stream of consciousness style thought process, most of which is lost to me now.

It’s hard to see a city from a car window. Walking, I noticed architecture that I don’t always see while driving: little stores that hide between larger chains, fancy doors. It’s nice to see things from different vantage points. From a car we see the big picture, but from the ground, we get to see everything up close and personal. It’s a nice change of pace.

Reactions to classmates' projects

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 17:02:42 -0400

A few words about some of the projects of my fellow classmates that I listened to:

Jordan Small - I was interested in how Jordan’s satirical This I Believe would turn out from his proposal during the project pitches. He did a good job in assuring the listener that he wasn’t actually condoning polygamy, and didn’t really have five wives at home, while making it very funny and listenable as well.

Holly Stark - Holly’s project was one I helped workshop on Tuesday. I really like her story because I’ve developed a love for roller coasters over the years and have always wondered what it’s like for the workers who stand there day after day, watching people have the time of their lives.

Sarah Abellanida - I really enjoyed Sarah’s project. Her voice was very animated throughout the story and she seemed to be confident in her stance. Maybe I’m biased because I can relate - I refuse to give up my piece of crap car, even with the check engine light that never goes off and the constant threat of having the wheels fall off. The bigger picture message in her story rang true for me as well, Hakuna Matata.

Reflection on audio project

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:40:35 -0400

Overall, I’m satisfied with my This I Believe audio project. With this being my first attempt at audio production, I think everything ran pretty smoothly.

I think the only thing that would have made this project easier and the outcome a little better would have been having some more time to work on everything. I felt a bit rushed to come up with my idea then write my story, and I didn’t feel like I fully captured everything I wanted the story to be in words.

Recording with Garage Band was very easy. The program was straightforward enough and it was easy to record a little audio in. I’d like to go back sometime and mess around in Garage Band some more to see what all it can do. I have a brother who is graduating soon with a degree in audio production, so I’m sure he would know some techniques. I enjoyed the technical part of this project (the recording, editing, etc.), so I’m considering doing an audio based project for the final project in this class. We’ll see.

One problem I ran into while recording was finding a good room to use for recording. I live in a dorm – one room for four people – so I didn’t have that as a guaranteed quiet place to use for my recording, though I think I would have gotten a good sound from there. I ended up using a little empty room in the library, but my audio got a pretty echoey sound from that room. If I had more time I would’ve spent more time finding a good, audio recording friendly room to use.

I also could have used one of the library’s microphones and that probably would have given me better audio results.

Converting the audio and getting it onto my blog was pretty easy once I found the right format and size it needed to be. I used Garage Band for recording and it was all very easy to use, but once I was done I had to export it to iTunes, and then from there I used Zamzar to convert it to a .mp3 file.

I’d like to dabble more in audio sometime, even though editing my own voice was every bit as painful as I expected it to be. I don’t know why no one has ever told me I sound like a 5 year old. But nevertheless, I made it through alive.

If I could go back, I would spend more time developing my story, because all in all, the recording process was pretty straightforward and I had no trouble losing files or having to record too many times. I would have also found a less echoing room to produce a better audio result. But I think this project went pretty smoothly in the amount of time given, seeing that it was my first audio project. If I go on to do more audio I will definitely learn from these mistakes.

Audio Project - I Believe In Tuesdays at 2 a.m. My roommate...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:35:00 -0400

Audio Project - I Believe In Tuesdays at 2 a.m.

My roommate thinks I’m a vampire; she claims she never sees me sleep. I haven’t shared a room with anyone since I used to stow away on my brother’s bunk bed and when bunk beds were a thing I would voluntarily sleep in. Sometimes, lying in bed late at night, I feel like I’m the only person in the world. I can hear my roommates shuffle around in their sheets and I still don’t believe they exist. They’re not conscious like me, always conscious, always awake. But it’s often not until everyone around me is asleep that my mind feels like it finally starts working.

I’ve always functioned better on my own. I work best within the walls of my own mind. Sporadic bouts of insomnia leave me alone with a lot of time on my hands. I used to spend these hours staring at the pitch black ceiling and worrying about my ruined sleep schedule, but I’ve found ways to take advantage of these extra hours.

Nighttime is ideal for introspection. The best advice I get comes from the corners of my own mind at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday. Those hours of calm seclusion and contemplation are when I learn about myself. As the years go by, the longer I listen to my own thoughts and the more I learn about myself, the more I come to terms with my downfalls and appreciate my good qualities.

The seclusion of the wee hours of the morning is also conducive to a writing atmosphere. The distractions of the day pull me in so many different ways that my mind can never stay in one place for too long. Most of my creative ideas come to me at night when I give myself time to just think and explore my own ideas.

I believe in these random hours late at night because sometimes it takes me a whole day to wake up. During the day I’m constantly surrounded by people and my introverted nature doesn’t let my brain function this way. It’s like sleepwalking. My head becomes a vacuum, some unattainable deep abyss. At night the hole in my head fills and I am finally free to feel my beating heart.

Audio Project Pitch

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:01:00 -0400

This I Believe: I Believe in Tuesdays at 2 a.m.

Audience: Other night-owl types.

Story Summary: I find the best advice I get usually comes from myself at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday. Something about the calmness of nighttime and the seclusion. I go through sporadic bouts of insomnia, and it is often not until everyone around me is asleep that my mind feels like it finally starts working. It’s when I come up with my best ideas and when I feel most like myself. I think it would be interesting to talk about this to see if anyone else feels this way.

Goals [ideas, concepts, themes, insights you wish to convey]: Maybe the link between nighttime and seclusion and why that appeals to me. What I accomplish. Etc.

Response: I want people to be able to relate and if not, at least be interested.

Why this story?: I think it may be a sentiment shared by others. It’s something I’ve always felt but haven’t really talked about, and I am curious where I would end up if I started to write about it.

This I Believe vs. DALN

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:09:00 -0400

I’ve recently found myself drawn to listening to podcasts, so I was excited for this assignment of listening to different segments on This I Believe and DALN. I like podcasts because I like to multitask while doing mundane activities like laundry, walking to class, or (when I’m not stuck in a dorm) cooking. Naturally, it is usually considerably more convenient to listen to a podcast for entertainment in these situations as opposed to, say, reading a book. Especially when doing something like walking around in public (I speak from experience).

I like the personality available in audio formats. I like that I can hear excitement and sadness and even the insignificant background noises. When I hear someone telling their own story or sharing their own opinion it stands out from all of the things I read in my own voice and allows me to get out of my own head for a while – or at least away from my voice. It’s like listening to a friend share a story with me. It’s personal.

I read the transcripts for the audio clips that had them available, but a few didn’t so I got to just listen. When I listened to the audio without reading the transcript beforehand, I found it a little harder to pay attention and follow the entire story in just one listen. This probably has something to do with the fact that I am very much a visual learner.

I don’t, however, think it’s particularly a negative aspect of audio to have the ability to let your mind wander. You’ll miss some parts of the story here and there, of course, but you can still grasp the meaning of the piece as a whole. I think it is a good thing to be able to go off on your own personal tangents of thought spurred from someone else’s train of thought. It’s important to let our creative brains work whenever they feel inspired.

About the different programs specifically, I have to say I preferred This I Believe. I liked the DALN stories I listened to, I even liked that they were a little rambley. One I chose on my own, Annie Mendenhall, was longer than the rest and didn’t have a specific point. Josh Kuntzman’s story was shorter and had a more focused topic. I liked the insight I got onto their lives, creative processes, and literary backgrounds, but for the sake of my project (and attention span) I prefer This I Believe.

I love that This I Believe exists. I really like that it takes something as simple as Betsy Buchalter’s advice of Walking the Dog during stressful times and I can relate it to myself on some small level and to life in general in a bigger way. I also listened to Andrew Flewelling’s more serious Silence. This I Believe gives you a little glimpse into someone’s life and some aspect of their personal philosophy. Maybe it plays to my journalistic tendencies, but I like to hear people’s stories.

So, I think I can conclude from this that I’ll be doing This I Believe for my audio project, although I’ll have to spend some time thinking about what I want to talk about.

On The Importance of Digital Writing

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:54:00 -0400

I have never been in an English class that has even mentioned digital writing. I spend a lot of time on the internet and I took a Multimedia class for two years in high school, but besides that, any knowledge I have of digital writing has been self-taught, which seems very common in people my age.

The WIDE Research Center’s Why Teach Digital Writing describes how as technology changes, the writing process changes: “Writing is a kind of communicative technology.” Because this drastic change in the fundamentals of writing, the way it is taught needs to change as well, including how it is produced and distributed.

Writing is an ever-changing medium, just like audio or video, and instructors need to stop resisting the change. Digital writing needs to be taught throughout high school and college for kids to become successful adults in today’s world of networking and technological advances. To the humanistic resistance, WIDE responds with, “Yes, technology can be taught reductively as a set of isolated robotic functions, but it can also be taught humanistically, rhetorically, ethically, philosophically, etc.” I think a lot of the resistance comes with not realizing what we could be capable of if we had a better grasp on effective digital writing.

One thing that I think is especially interesting from the Information R/evolution video is how, even though it was uploaded in 2007, I can already tell how outdated it is. Just 5 years and I can see significant aesthetic and statistical changes in the platforms they used, yet the message is still relevant.

Miller’s video was more up to date technologically and gave a taste of what we we can create when we combine writing and technology. The video made me excited to think of how those ideas could be expanded if we place a stronger emphasis on the education of digital writing. It got me excited to create something.