Looking @ Past Readings >>> Forward to Essay

Walter Ong discusses the "garbage in, garbage out" complaint about computers in "Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought." The same can definitely be said for short films. There is plenty of garbage out there...the dude that farts onto a flame seeing if it will explode, people doing stuff to their friends after they pass out at a party, etc... chances are, those people did not set out to make something meaningful. While we may enjoy those crappy videos, we understand that they are purely entertainment. In other words, we WANT the garbage. However, we just might not want it all the time. For the times we don't want it, there is good, deep stuff out there, too.
There is a an excerpt from Baron's "From Pencils to Pixels" that really sums up how I feel about this video technology: "as old technologies become more automatic and visible, we find ourselves more concerned with fighting or embracing what's new. Ten years ago, math teachers worried that if students were allowed to use calculators, they wouldn't learn their arithmetic tables. Regardless of the value that parents and teachers still place on knowing math facts, calculators are now indispensable in math class." I think the same definitely goes for low budget videos. There are definitely people, like Alexandra Juhasz, who feel these low budget videos are dumbing down out culture, but you can already see that they are becoming more of a staple in the education system today. How often does a teacher show a YouTube video in class? Most do at least once throughout a semester. I'm not saying that These videos should be used ALL THE TIME by teachers, but I think they can definitely help make things a little more interesting in the classroom.
There is a relationship between comics and short movies as well. When shooting a short movie, it is done in pieces, kind of like a comic is done in panels. Each piece is a little story, but as a whole, they accomplish something much bigger. If pieces were removed, the whole would be completely different.

Low Bridge Videos: Good or bad?

The actual process of making a simple video is pretty fun. Its nice to get to do a project and have very little limitations put on it. Its also nice to be able to work with other people on a fun project rather than the typical, horribly boring collaborative assignment. There are definitely a few connections between the making of a video and the writing process. Although the actual mechanics are different (you don't normally need a video camera to create a piece of writing) the processes are almost the same. First, you start out with a basic idea. After you decide what you will write about or make a video on, you do some brainstorming. Whether you rite it down or just do it mentally, it always happens. Then you create the work. Next you edit. In writing this is proofreading and revising; in film making its actually editing. Then, you share your work and await its review.
I can see why Anderson would advocate the use of low budget media. I think it definitely does help students to be more create and break way from the "repressive and undemocratic" ways of the education system that is in place. When we sat in our groups today, we were all trying to figure out what we were going to do for our videos. I have never seen so many people actually engaged in what we were doing. Everyone seemed to be excited to have a little freedom. I do also agree with Juahsz, however. There is definitely more crap on YouTube than useful, informational works. I think it is a great idea to use it for a fun project, but not much more than that. It is definitely a medium that should be viewed as entertainment, not education.

Peer Review Recap Part 3

There really weren't any similarities between my posts. The first I was just talking about Google Docs and the second I was discussing the Wetpaint Wiki. It seems that my opinion hasn't changed about Google Docs. I still really like it. It is so much better than the Wiki. The only thing that makes the Wiki better is that the Wiki allows you it view more people's papers, which gives you more examples to examine. I like that Google Docs lets allows you to put in a direct comment to someone. It is much better than having to put a thread in at the end. It seems that Brittany Reed and I feel the same way about peer review: our views really haven't changed that much. We also agree on the fact that people tend to sugarcoat things while doing reviews of their peers' papers. This can cause for people to do things wrong and never really be told, which makes the process of peer review useless. Susan McCraken and I seem to disagree: she likes the Wiki better than Google Docs. She thought that Google Docs was more complicated, which i completely disagree with. Setting up the Wiki was a nightmare! Google Docs is so easy to put together and edit. One thing her and I did agree on was that when you don't get much of a draft done, it is hard to really get much out of peer review. I have had drafts ready for both peer review sessions before this, but this time around I really didn't have much ready because I had two other huge assignments that were actually do on this day. To be honest, I probably won't even out what I submitted into my paper.
As a whole, I think peer review is extremely helpful. It makes it easier for you to see mistakes that you may have made. When someone else reads your work, they always see things that you as I writer do not see. It is also really good to have other examples of work to look at. The best things people can do to get the most out of peer review are to bring a good draft with them, be completely honest about the work that they review, and to not take the criticism of others to heart. We are all just trying to do the best we can!

Reading Comics w/ McCloud Part 2

I looked at Jeff Gerding's pick, "Slim" which can be found at http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF157-Slim.jpg. This comic is actually pretty funny. It might be short, but it manages to make you laugh in under five panels, which I think is pretty impressive. I agree with Jeff's observations. It is obvious that the artist has a very deep knowledge and understanding of comics. The way that it is drawn definitely gives an accurate portrayal of the old mobster comics. Jeff hit the nail on the head when he said that the style of art could be called iconic. He said, "there's enough detail that the images are able to clearly convey what the artist wanted them to: anyone who is even remotely familiar with the detective comics of the 1930s will recognize this as a pretty faithful parody."

The comic is a good example of of scene-to-scene transitions. It moves from setting to setting, not moment to moment. It is also easy for the reader to gain closure. It is clear that Slim has eaten the box of hamburgers in order to mask his identity, which allows him to get away with whatever he has done. Ambiguity is definitely lacking, as Jeff pointed out. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out what has transpired in the "gutter," or the empty white space between the panels.

The color scheme that is used in this comic stays pretty true to what McCloud was talking about in chapter 8 of Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. The color of Slim's clothing is what the reader associates with him, which is what allows the reader to understand that the fat mobster is Slim at the end. If the artist would have changed the color of Slim's clothing, the reader would probably have ended up confused. McCloud wrote, "while comics colors were less than expressionistic, they were fixed with a new iconic power. Because costume colors remained exactly the same, panel after panel, they came to symbolize characters in the mind of the reader." (188)

Understanding Comics 1

I chose a comic entitled "Copper" which can be found at http://www.boltcity.com/copper/copper_038_clockwork.htm. The comic follows a working man and his dog on an average day of work. The companions stumble on a clock that isn't working, so they decide to fix it. After doing so, they realize that they will have to come back to rewind the clock very so often. The dog points out that they will have to work more overtime than usual and he is not happy about it. The owner doesn't seem to mind though.

The first concept that i saw that reminded of me of McCloud was the concept of what happens in the "gutter" of comics. We see that the man is attempting to move some screws around on the clock. The next frame shows noises being made: "kchunk! tok tok tok!". Even though it doesn't show exactly how the guy fixed the clock, we can assume that he did something to make it work.

Another McCloud concept is the layout of the comic: it is action to action. Each frame represents the action that occurs next: first they stumble upon the clock, they ponder what is wrong with it, the reach in to their tool boxes, etc.

Section 2: Blog 1: Picturing Texts

I chose one of my favorite websites to navigate, http://www.puma.com. I can spend hours shopping on it, even if I really do not intend to buy anything. The way the site is set up illustrates one of the many concepts addressed in "Picturing Texts" beautifully: classification. The main page is divided in to four major categories: Shop, Sport, Sport Fashion, and Sport Lifestyle. This makes it easier to understand what you can expect to find on the site. Without these categories, you could spend tons of time searching for the women’s shoe line or a man’s sweatshirt. The categories allow you to move right to the section that you want to look through.
Obviously, I go to the women’s section. This category is divided even further into sub categories: footwear and apparel. This makes it easier for girls like me who might need a sweatshirt, but can’t bear to look at the shoes without making a purchase. The categorization of these things allows me to bypass the shoes that I love so much without being tempted to buy. If the categories that "Picturing Texts" mentions weren’t incorporated into this site, I would end up with empty pockets.

Post 9:Peer Review Recap 2

Both peer review processes were good, but for different reasons. The last one was a little bit more private. I don't like having my work put out there when it isn't finished. This was especially true of this assignment. The version of my paper on the Wiki is nothing like their version that I will actually be turning in.
People did seem to take time and actually read through the papers though. The feedback that I got was good. It always helps to have someone proofread your writing for you, which is essentially what happened. It was also nice to be able to view a plethora of other essays. It made it easier to decide how I wanted to attack the writing of my paper. The Wetpaint Wiki was kind of annoying at first, but once I understood how to use it, I actually liked it. I think its a good thing to do in a college setting, but for lower grades it might not be appropriate. (Kids can be cruel! No one needs to be embarrassed about their work.)