SE+Wk+13

After reading the peer reviews and the professor's comments, I'm going to have to add text to my story. I knew I had to, but I didn't really know how to begin or how to articulate my ideas. I knew the story wouldn't really make sense if the images stood alone. The reviews reiterated that. The story needs text. The text will clear anything up, hopefully, and further advance the story I'm trying to tell. The text will also help pull in the audience. The good thing is I've been coming up with a lot of ideas for text, so I should be able to jump that hurdle pretty easily. I'm also going to delve into the course readings some more, so I'll be able to tie everything together for my presentation. I know I'm going to focus on Ramage's defamiliarization and discounting, Malcom's views on snapshots opposed to professional photographers, and Sontag's view on familiar images being the most relatable. I will also be discussing how I want to appeal to the audience's pathos by using relatable images (college classrooms), and stark photos. I might see if there are any more of the readings I can apply to my story. I also want the text to kind of speak to the audience, as if the audience is getting into the character's head, or the character in the story is talking to the audience. I have ideas for how I want to approach that. I might also take some photos out. I'm also going to make the path a bit more interesting than how I originally had it. I might do some things to the color of the text, too. Once the story is done, I'm going to look at the presentation notes to see if I've thought about and included everything I need to.

5/2: Recently added some photos to my Prezi to make certain aspects clearer; the time span in which this story is taking place. Probably going to take a few more photos to expand on the drinking motif. I also started relating my story to heterotopian sites. When you look at the photos and read the text, you're kind of transported into the character's head for a moment. The text is supposed to represent his inner-thoughts. Thus, the audience knows what he's thinking and knows his motives. The audience is listening in on an an external conversation that he is having with himself. I really wanted the text to kinda be stream-of conscious esque.

April 25 Presentations

Justin Taylor - I liked the images he used in his Prezi. I thought they were very powerful, especially the photos of the Nazi atrocities. I liked how he showed what causes destruction and then followed up with the effects of it. There were some confusing parts regarding the text. For example, the" rarely" and "sometimes" parts. I know those were answers to a question he posed earlier in the Prezi. Perhaps he could reiterate the question later, and answer it. It would make it clearer.

Nicole Wang - I liked how it opened up with the poem that the project is based on. She used images to illustrate the poem first. The question she is trying to answer is not asked/answered until later. Her answers to the questions are visualized strongly. She had to explain the meaning behind the poem a little bit during her presentation. Maybe she could visualize the poem and its meaning more.

Brandon Tarby - I liked the images he used, and how the path went kind of backwards near the end of the Prezi. He also had a good use of text, and bible quotes. Maybe he could explain how the character got the bible. The specific bible passages were strong and appropriate, the story just needs a better explanation on how he got it. Did he get it from the drifter/homeless guy? Did he just find it?

Amanda Charles - She discussed very real and unhealthy habits of college students, using very strong and relatabe images. The project and what it argued was well-done. But perhaps she could discuss more about how college students become readymades. She used an image to depict corporations as the cause of these stereotypes. Maybe she could develop that part more by adding images or coming up with additional causes.

Rachel Ward - I liked the color scheme she used in her Prezi, and the path. The images also seemed to fit into the video game theme she was working with. It seemed like she really thought about the course readings, specifically Sontag. It would have been interesting if she explained why certain words were in different colors, was there any meaning behind it.

Jason Frey - I liked how he discussed his use of the course readings in the Prezi. I also liked how he argued for his product by using statistics and having celebrities endorse it. He used a lot of strong images, and had a good use of text. It reminded me of a lot of weight loss ads I've seen.

Jessica Allebach I thought her story was very well-done. It seemed like she really took advantage of all tools in Prezi. I liked how she told her ethos behind the Prezi, but still made the images and the message relatable to the audience. I'm really not sure what she could change or do differently. Some of the transitions were a bit jarring for me, but that was about it.