Through the Eyes of Taylor

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

This is my last Tumblr post for my Visual Comm class! I can honestly say that this is the best college class I have ever taken. Dr. Nolan kept me engaged and interested every single class. Normally I get bored with the same old lectures every class. But this one was different! I was excited to see what pictures and videos Dr. Nolan would show us each day and I was excited to learn how to analyze them. I feel like the most important thing I learned this semester was how to keep an audience interested in something, whether that be an advertisement, movie, or just a photo. Visual journalism is very important because every picture/clip has a story behind it, and it's our job to figure out what that story is. A picture can be interpreted anywhere around the world; you don't have to just speak one language to understand it. And I think that that's just awesome!

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

This week in Visual Comm we talked about editing the visual story. After talking about how editors go in and fix a film, putting different pieces and parts together to make a whole, I immediately thought of this video on YouTube. The background commentary is from a preview of the movie Mean Girls, but the visual images are all parts of Disney movies and different characters. The way that this is put together is pretty hilarious! The editor was able to go in and match the commentary to the movement of the characters and find clips that matched what she was trying to portray. She also uses the technique of straight-cut to go from shot to shot throughout the video.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

Last week we had another guest speaker named Jonathan Malat, a television news photographer for KARE 11 in Minnesota. Jonathan talked about how everything that a photographer shoots has meaning behind it, or else its really not needed in the shot. There's always more to a story, and for a journalist to find it, we must dig deeper and embrace humanity. One thing that Jonathan likes to do is interview a person while they're doing something, that way it is not as boring during an interview as when they are just standing there. Here is a video of Jonathan explaining the important gear that journalists should always have with them and why audio and video is important.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

Today in class we had a guest speaker, Scott Rensberger, who is an award winning journalist, photographer, and editor. He works as a free lancer and has done stories in more than 32 countries around the world. He showed us some of the stories that he has done, and I must say that they were incredible. Not only is he a great storyteller on camera, but he is off camera as well. I was amazed at some of the work he has done. Scott said that if you can find a great story, then that's 90% of the work that you have to do. The other 10% comes from asking your sources double-punch questions. By doing this you are sure to get great answers. My favorite story that he showed in class was the 50 States 50 Jobs which you can watch here. Above is another one of his stories that I found on YouTube that I thought was really neat as well.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

Today in Visual Comm we were talking about the movement and rhythm in visual structure. I chose this fight scene from the movie Inception to show you the type of rhythm and movement that this movie uses to enhance its visual structure. As the fighting gets closer, the music gets more dramatic. The volume of the background music and the everyday noises as well goes up. The pace of the sounds also gets quicker the closer the action gets. The lower notes of the music selection makes a deepening and scared feeling in the viewer. The movement is also very different in this scene from many other movies. You see the characters slowly moving around in the car as it flips over, and you also see them move inside of the building. They appear to be going all over the walls in all kinds of directions. In actuality, the set was built to move and really did flip the cast around!

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

The 1st Amendment says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Since we had to do a project in Visual Comm over the 1st Amendment, I decided to show you a picture of my final product. My project really speaks to the "freedom of speech" concept of the Amendment. We should not be afraid to say what we want because we think that we will get in trouble for it. The Constitution gives us that freedom, and we should express it how we want.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

In Visual Comm we were talking about visual structure in movies and pictures. Contrast is differences between things in the shot that create excitement for the viewer. More contrast equals greater visual intensity. In this scene from Charlie's Angels, we can see a lot of contrast. The scene starts at a very slow pace inside of the airplane and then quickly escalates after the characters jump out. This slow to fast pace is a visual contrast. Another contrast seen is the colors. A lot of warm colors like reds and oranges are used inside the plane, while outside the plane cooler colors like black and blue are used.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

This photograph taken by Eric Gay of two survivors from Hurricane Katrina is one of the many important ones that came out of the catastrophic event. This photo really shows the importance of photojournalism, especially during events like these. Though there were many photos taken of the wreckage, this photo shows how people of all ages were effected. The little girl walking is only 5 while the woman being pushed in the wheelchair is 105. They are currently being evacuated from a convention center in New Orleans. This picture shows how when natural disasters happen people come together and form a bond and hope to get them through.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

Although I had to go to a funeral during our class period, I found out that the class watched a documentary entitled War Photographer about James Nachtwey and how he took pictures of sometimes horrific scenes of the war. I did further research on him and found his website, in which I found this picture. This picture from Sudan in 1993 just completely takes me by shock. I have seen pictures similar to this, but I can't imagine Nachtwey being there and actually witnessing it. Then starving man looks like an animal, desperately crawling on the ground. Nachtwey, along with other photographers had to take pictures of very hard time which sometimes could not be helped.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

Today in Visual Comm we talked about different cartooning techniques used on both flat surfaces and in film. When we got into animated films, I immediately thought about a stop-motion film that I had seen when I was younger, Chicken Run. Each character, prop, and everything you see in the movie in made out of clay, and for every second of the movie, a picture is taken. The characters are moved into new positions between each shot, and then the pictures are played together very fast so that they appear to be moving and talking. I cannot even imagine how much work had to go into a film to be made like this, but now that I am older I can appreciate it a lot more.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

Today in Visual Comm we talked about political cartoons. Political cartoons are meant to be humorous but at the same time give us an important and serious message about politicians. The example I have chosen above shows the "American style" of desserts at the dinner table. The wealthy white man gets almost the whole pie, the middle class white mom and kids get one slice, while the poor African American family just gets some crumbs from the pie, although they have the most people to feed. The cartoon is also talking about the tax cuts that the wealthy are getting. The whip cream represents the tax cuts, which is being offered to the wealthy man to put on his pie. The wealthy man can only concentrate on his huge piece while the others just look on. This is a very effective cartoon in getting the message across.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

Today in Visual Comm we talked about graphic design. Though there are tons of ads out there that use great graphic designs to portray their message, I chose this one from Coca-Cola showing their diet coke with lime product. This ad uses the four visual cues of contrast, balance, rhythm, and unity in it. For contrast, the white background of the ad makes the product pop into view. The product is big and up front. For balance, there is a can on both sides of the page itself. The front can is cut on the right side to make the page appear lighter in weight. The front can also controls the rhythm. Our eyes are first attracted to the cuts of the can which appear to be in lime shapes, almost giving the viewer a taste of the product. Lastly the elements of the design are all unified together because they create a mood of thirst and coolness for the audience.

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

It's the last day of spring break and I'm feeling sad! I wish that the break could be longer. I couldn't really do anything super fun because I went to a funeral two of the days and worked pretty much the rest. Now today I've got to finish up all my spring break homework! But on a brighter note, as spring break comes to an end that means school will soon be coming to an end too for summer vacation! And then I get to start summer school! Yay! The joys of wanting to finish college as soon as possible!

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

It's SPRING BREAK! You know what that means?! Work for me! I’ve been working at a gently used clothing shop called Plato's Closet for almost 2 and a half years now. I love it! We have so many great items for so cheap! Plus my family owns the store that I work at, so I have to be a little bias toward it! Basically we take gently used teen and young adult clothes, purses, shoes, and accessories (girls and guys) that have been sold in the malls in the past year and a half, with no stains, fading, or holes. I am currently one of the buyers for the store and a key holder. Since I love fashion, it is a perfect place for me to work! Here is a commercial to tell you a little bit more about Plato's Closet. You can check out our personal store website here or our Facebook page here!

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

Since we didn't have class yesterday for Visual Comm, I thought that for today's post I would talk about one of my favorite movies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Dr. Nolan is always talking about his favorite movies in class and classics that you must add to your "To-Watch" list if you haven't already seen it. But I think that this movie is a must for everyone to see. It's hilarious, fun, exciting, and everyone can connect to the characters in some way or another. Plus, Matthew Broderick and Mia Sara were the hottest couple ever back then!

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

Today in class we talked about the opening title sequences to movies, and the very first one that I thought of was the opening sequence to Napoleon Dynamite. Not only does this title sequence introduce us to the actors, director, and more, but it also in a way sets up what the story is going to be like. The title sequence is fun, random, colorful, and quirky, and this pretty much describes the character of Napoleon Dynamite as well. The way that this film designed its opening sequence stuck in my mind because it was so different than other movies I have seen. It used real life props for the words instead of just computerized texts. It also used things that we would later see in the movie, such as the chap stick, tater tots, and Napoleon's fantasy drawings. To see the full opening title sequence of Napoleon Dynamite, click here!

[eyesoftaylor-blog]

When analyzing an image, there are six different steps or perspectives that a person takes in order to find the total meaning behind that image. In order to analyze this image above taken by Paula Bronstein for National Geographic, I will follow the six steps that we learned in class this week. 1. Personal: My gut reaction to this image is sadness and despair 2. Historical: The image looks like it was taken recently because it is a digital image 3. Technical: The image is clear and has good quality, lots of color used 4. Ethical: Veil of Ignorance; the viewer "puts the shoe on the other foot;" imagines what it would be like to be a child going through something terrible like this; no matter who you are, it would be a tragedy for everyone, and therefore everyone is equal 5. Cultural: May be in a poor society; houses not well made; people don't own a lot of possessions 6. Critical: This image shows the hard times that many people, including children, will be facing after a devastating natural disaster that could not be prevented. They lost their homes and everything that was in them. The caption to the photo on the National Geographic website reads: "Twelve-year-old Fathma Nusrat stands amid debris near her home in Galle, Sri Lanka, following the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. She lost her three brothers to the killer wave."