Thoughts on project 2

For this project I plan to use a recording of one of my friends to vocalize the words.

I want to have pictures that dissolve into each other and certain words emphasized. I'll probably get the pictures off of google pics. I'm not sure if I am going to use music or not but it is a possibility, I just don't want to overpower the ideas with too much going on. I've also thought about a few sound effects that i may add. It's something that I think I will have to start and see where it takes me with my ideas.

I haven't written the text yet but I have a few ideas where I want to go with it and basically I want my friend reading it. I'll use audacity for the sounds, hopefully my computer will be able to record the sound well enough.

New blog link

new blog

Response #3

In the Cape by J.R. Carpenter a concept that McCloud talks about; closure, is demonstrated in this work. It starts even in the first frame transition. The reader is not told or shown how they physically got to their grandmother’s house but closure explains how it happened. It could be a car, train, plane, or even bicycle; it’s up to the reader. Amplification through simplification is also used and in the first frame as well (or the last depending on which direction you read it). The grandmother’s house is not shown with a photo or extremely detailed picture, just a generic drawing. And in the sixth frame there is a very elementary drawing of a map with emphasis on the simple lines on it.

Again in Landscapes the concept of Amplification through simplification is used for the pictures. Buildings are drawn with simple geometric shapes. Lines and circles are used to make flags, trees, and even the weather. There doesn’t need to be any more details to give the reader enough information to see exactly what is trying to be shown. There is then enough time to look at the writing and the pictures inserted into work which hold the real messages. They are emphasized by the simplicity. There are no time frames in the pictures; they are very random only connected by a concept. McCloud refers to this as his fifth transition, aspect to aspect. There is no time sequence but an idea or mood or even place is set in the readers mind.

Though neither of these is in the typical comic format they both follow the ideas demonstrated by McCloud. I guess that makes these ideas even more universal and versatile.

Project 1 Final Post.

When I started thinking about this project I thought that the end result would have much more animation than what it ended up with, which was none. I knew it would be very easy to find numerous of the pictures that I wanted to use and I was very happy with what I found. I would have liked to have found uses for more of them but I chose what I thought were the most influential. I only used part of the poem I had written. For this project I think the words needed to be kept at a minimum or it would have been overwhelming, especially with the subject I chose. Animation would have also added too much. I staggered the lines to enhance some of the confusion and lost feelings that the subject would have felt. The size of the letters also served to add emotion and notation. The larger sized lines would serve to show the reader to exaggerate them as well as the title is shown across the bottom very large.

I am very interested in the feelings associated with the Vietnam War. It’s a very dramatic, tragic, and interesting time and I liked having a chance to creatively express this. I also didn’t want to only express the views from a stand point of being an American even though the poem is written from that viewpoint. That is why the main picture is of Vietnamese children being followed almost pushed by soldiers.

Overall I am happy with this project, I liked using different elements to portray a message.

Sample powerpoint for class.

Plans for my first project

For my project I plan on using a poem that I wrote last semester for English 111/Intro to Creative Writing. It is my favorite poem from the semester and is about the war in Vietnam. To me it is very visual and I want to use that aspect of it to utilize a creative way to portray it. I definitely want to bring to attention issues related to the war that I did not directly say in the poem. I either want to use pictures that show many of the intense issues surrounded the time, both from the war front and from home. Another idea I have is to make bold or capitalize certain letters to form a message within the poem that tells another story or give the reader more information. I want the finished project to capture some of the underlying problems/issues that the soldiers as well as the civilians faced. Another idea I have for this project is to use pictures that sympathize with the Vietnamese side since the poem is actually written from an American perspective. When I wrote the poem and when people have read it the ideas are very one sided and I think the other side is of as much importance even though myself and others may not understand or be able to relate to them. I think that many of us see situations like this very one sided, which is natural, and I'd like to bring to attention to the other side. I will have to find very distinct images and wordings that will stick out and make my message clear without overpowering the original message of the poem. I do not have any pictures myself so if I do go that route I will have to find some online or from a book and I am sure I will find plenty either way.
Do I have the right idea for what we are supposed to do for the project? Is there anything I am missing as far as the requirements?