Photography

I have been interested in photography for a fair amount of time and think that this is a perfect opportunity to explore that avenue.

The three texts I am considering to use include:

-My uncle: Made is living off taking pictures

-A series of three books I bought a year ago

-Sources from the internet

-Maybe set a meeting with a photography professor at WSU or someone majoring in that field

I am using some more informative texts (like the books and the web), but then I'm combining them with more personal texts (like my uncle and a professor or student). I want to compare and contrast these two things to see what real photographers find most important and the passion that might drive them, which I cannot gather from just informative texts. I think there has to be a level of similarities and differences.

Proximity Response

1)      I grouped the information in two separate manners. First I grouped the title and what the novel was about together by using proximaty. This shows the little subscript is related to the title, thus giving readers an idea what they might be reading about. I also grouped “The Seagull” and “James Peach” together, because I wanted to show that there is a connection between the title and the author, obviously. I did this by using the same font style so viewers know the two are related.

2)      I Think the most important piece of information on this cover is “The Seagull.” I made the title stand out the most, because (personally) I prefer when the title has more emphasis than the author or subtitle. I made the title look the most important by using a bold and large font. Also, I put it at the top of the page, and with the subtitle right under the main title this chunking matter I think draws the eye further to the title. This layout just has a basic top to bottom layout, but the size and style of the font does matter to how quickly your eye travels down the page. For example: I first see “The Seagull” then “James Peach” THEN “A Novel About Flight."

3)      Some limitation I have had in lay outs is simply that I have too little or too much information I want to put onto a “cover” (as an example). A problem I think with traditional is that is sometimes can look to bare, but on the other hand a problem with a non-traditional format is that it might look to cluttered. It’s all a balancing act and depends on what you want to convey. I can’t come up with any ideas myself, but Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk is an example of a nontraditional layout. The cover is just of an upside down yellow bird. No title. No author. That more basic and traditional layout is put on the back cover. It’s an interesting style and it seems like the only way to understand the symbol is to read the book, which is the whole point of the cover.

Alignment Response

1)      I wish that the three slides would go back to the very beginning so I could see the alignment of the text instead of just trying to remember it. But what I do remember that it was interesting, because to me it seemed almost like the word murmuring was trying to mimic the way in which a tear or dew drop might fall, almost drizzle off something like a cheek. And the way insects was then reflected just reminded me of glassy eyes; however, I think I might be trying to read too far into the third slide and trying to make connections between the first and third that might result in a loop. Regardless, this unusual alignment catches the viewers’ attention, even if the sound didn’t.

2)      (Yep I tried making connections too fast, and looked at all three then answered questions) The alignment of these three words mixes with the use of contrast as well. Because “air” is somewhat more noticeable because the light font contrasts with the darker background, but my attention to air might also have to do with the double line stretching across the top part of the screen and to the right. This first causes your eyes to travel directly to “air” then back down the line to earth (like you would a normal text), then across the crescent and down to “water.” I’m not sure about how this alignment is supposed to work or its significance. I’m actually slightly confused by the last part to this response question. I would like someone to explain to me first how they think this alignment works well, cause the only think is the lines and the moon are in a wrong alignment. I guess it does give weight to the appropriate horizontal axis but that’s all I understand, but I really don’t seem much of an alignment.

3)      I think this alignment of words is different than the previous two scenes, because it was trying to tie into the picture more I think. Like those shapes I thought were kind of haphazard made a lot more sense in the third slide.  I think the main use of alignment in this case was to focus upon the words and by shifting them into a tear it made the piece more meaningful and efficient. The voice behind it is sober, which further adds to this alignment. What I find interesting, and I might be wrong, but I don’t think alignment has to be stationary. I think the whelming up and flowing effect worked quite well for the poetry segment. 

4)      Honestly, the poem is really hard to hear. I can’t make out most of it, but to me it sounds like action was not being taken despite human tears being shed. It is really hard to make an analysis on what I can’t hear, but the alignment just seems to relate to the human strife this man feels, because it does follow the curvature of the eye similarly to the path a tear would start and end. The main point is a reflective but sober, sad or even grieving emotion.

5)      I think this lack of alignment is just done to show that these are similar components but very different. This method of organization forces viewers to find their own way to follow the scattered alignment. I’m not really sure if my thinking on this piece is right at all!

Organization Response

1)      5 of the 15

a.       The first picture I chose was the gray scale picture with the word “MODERN” written on the side of an old building. I picked this one first because our culture is so concentrated in being modern that the term here shows how ironic it is, because what we consider modern today might not be tomorrow

b.      Next, I picked the enormous pile of crushed cars. I wanted this one to come next to show where some of the things we value end up and the surplus of objects we have and ultimately won’t need or want, because American culture is so bent on getting the next best thing. I wanted to show where that “next best thing” might end up when something better, but maybe unnecessary comes along.

c.       1+1=2 is my midway picture, because I wanted to show that if we continue with the ideology of the two previous pictures then we might only end up with two remaining options (which are my final two pictures)

d.      The bar code on the bottom of a person’s foot reminds me of how in a “modern” society everyone is a number, whether it be a social security number or a school ID number that’s how we are distinguished in the massive system. I wanted to use this picture, because I feel like we need to be careful with these ideas, because we might lose the humanity which makes us for a market which we are trained to obey, which leads to my last picture.

e.      I wanted to end with the girl painting a vibrant mural with the concentration of dream. This is my last picture because I want it to leave myself thinking positively, and that things can change. That we are not just part of the modern system and faceless in the masses, but we are individual with unique dreams.

2)      Another argument I could have made was maybe show the progression of life, but perhaps in an almost backwards way. The grave scene à the wedding cake topper à the righteous fist with the dirty American flag background à the cheering crowd à then the chalkboard with elementary math. I think putting them in chronological or backwards order might completely represent two different objectives. Tons of ways in which we could order these pictures and come out with a distinct reason behind each.

3)      Adding other element could make my argument stronger; however, I really think that sometimes simplicity is the best and most effective way to share something. Especially, with impactful photos likes these. I would not add music or text, because I would want viewers to pay attention to the pictures’ details and in the order I deliberately but them in.  I want to make them think about why, and maybe if they don’t come up with the same ideology I did, at least they had to think about it.

Contrast Response

1)      First, the sound of The JUMP greatly contrasts with the background behind the water-scaled gray layer; however, that contrast goes throughout the entirety of the short film. The sound alone has a contrast, because in the background there is a light undertone, which seems to match the cartoon background more effectively, but the overall tone is the computerized tense tone. This more distinguishable tone matches more of the idea that this is a semi-serious proposition for students to take, that buildup of sound which relates to the idea of waiting before you’re about to jump head first into something. (Personally, as far as the computerized voices go, that contrast did not really work for me. It made me feel more fearful rather than amped to “JUMP”.) However, if there was no contrast then no one would take this film seriously, if everything matched well including having a more appropriate voice over, even if using the same words, no one would really take this advertisement seriously.

2)      This pure black background and white text is all the contrast that is needed here. It is used to draw the viewers’ attention onto some important information that people wishing to apply to The JUMP need to know. The music loses its tense tone and thus some of its volume and the female voice become more distinct and associated with important information, which is a contrast to the prior time. The words are the most emphasized, because sense this is a video people will be paying more attention to the screen than the words (at least that’s how it appealed to me).

3)      To go along with this video I think I would take the character “Dan” with “a bag full of Benjamin’s” as a main focus on the flyer, but in order to contrast and stay with the same them of the video. The background would involve something associated with digital; the first thing that comes to mind would be a water-scaled, black-and-white “Matrix” theme background. I think this would contrast, because it takes an old cartoon character and places him in the digital world, and the idea of the Matrix seems to be limitless. A lot of this piece has to do with sound and I’m not sure how that could be transposed onto the flyer. I know some of the words and information I would want on the flyer, like: The JUMP’s “Call for Papers,” the details about the information needed to be included in the submission, and maybe what this opportunity to arise to. However, I’m not sure how I would try and add contrast with the text to make it match the video, because the font they have would not seem to contrast enough (but maybe too much contrast would cause it to become ineffective).

Emphasis Response

1)      In this text, my eyes go directly to the note pad opened on the cluttered table. He emphasizes this element because it is completely blank and void of clutter. While the video loaded, my eyes roamed the surrounding area and found scads of things, a lot of which I relate to (a laptop, a WSU Bookie bag, a cell phone, iPod connector, headphones, a missing iPod (which I currently am), dishwashing gloves and more). By having the rest of the space cluttered it gives emphasis to the blank notebook page, because it is void of anything; this arouses the audience’s curiosity. I think this title page is somewhat effective for me, but in other ways not. It is a great way to catch an audience’s attention, but now that I don’t get to see the rest it bothers me because I would like to see if the creator strategically placed each of these “cluttering items” in this title page and that they have their own relevance once the project continues. I guess mainly this is productive, but mainly because of the deliberate crossing out of “Digital Right Management” and replacement of “Digital Robbing MANICACS!” This is another use of emphasis, because of the large crossing out and the huge, capitalized “MANICAS!” Gives me idea about what the project is going to be about, while catching my interest.

2)      This barely two second pause places a lot of emphasis on text, because after that jumping and disjointed camera motion this complete freeze forces the viewer to pay attention to her final product. Prior to this freeze frame, I was noticing how all the other things around the notepad were moving and her writing, but this still frame is perfect to emphasize what the rest of the project is going to be about.

3)      This sound bit helps to emphasize certain moments in the clips, because it mainly seems to match the jumpiness of the film. It is not some flowing sound piece, which would completely confuse the viewers after paying attention to the disjointedness of the filming. The sound kind of matches the speed at which the woman writes. This sound clip places a particular emotional emphasis on the meaning of the word “robbing.” That is what I mainly associate with the sounds. It has ties with digital and maybe even crazy, “manic” behavior, but I think associating it with robbing was the overall goal in using this sound piece.