Project Report, Week Seven

The quarter is moving along quickly. We only have a few weeks left to deliver our finished projects for St. Joseph's and City Farm. I have to admit that I am a little anxious. Last Thursday I agreed to take the video camera, so I could get more City Farm b-roll. Piush sent out a request to find other team members eager to use the equipment. For some reason, there seemed to be a hiccup between my willingness to shoot on Saturday and another's expectation for the week. There was a flurry of messages going back and forth on Friday (We're going...We're not going). At the end of the day, Michael, Piush, Terry and I met on Saturday. I appreciated Michael meeting us to deliver the tripod and provide us with useful suggestions on shots and how to approach the City Farm folks. We shot about an hour worth of footage which will hopefully be useful.

Our group has great ideas and has come up with some good mock-ups for signage and social media, but the video team seems to be sitting in limbo. I was concerned about waiting an entire week to come up with a final story board and then do the shooting, editing, etc. I'm glad we got some additional footage in the can. This week's class must be more productive. Duties should be assigned out to team members. I have the tendency to absorb too many responsibilities. I realized this last Friday, once the Basecamp messages began to roll in. I was trying to re-write the script, update the storyboard, develop a shot list, and create a talent release form. Plus, I want to contribute heavily in the editing process. Once I realized I was trying to take on all of these components, I thought, "Wait a minute. Let some of the other folks take on some of these tasks." So that is what I have decided to do. I will attend class tonight with the hopes that duties will be assigned to each team member.

I am also concerned about my contribution to the St. Joseph's graphic manual team. I hope Amelia and/or Joe can assign me a responsibility that I will be able to deliver. I'm afraid my responsibilities with both teams are going to be due at the same time, which may make it difficult for me to deliver. Hopefully, this week will give me the chance to forecast what I need to get done through the end of the quarter.

I am also a little anxious about the paper request that Michael has asked us to do. I hope I will have enough time to complete my contributions to both projects and deliver a paper not to mention finish my portfolio in my other class.

My contributions for this week include:

• Shooting video at City Farm on Saturday from 11-1p
• Develop a shot list
• Create a talent release form
  
  
  

Project Report, Week Six

The projects are taking shape! City Farm had a productive week. Saturday we met at the Farm and shot a lot of video footage. Each member of the video team took turns shooting. This was fun for me. I graduated with a television production degree over 13 years ago. While I was in that program, I did several video production projects. After I graduated, I did studio camera work, and I dabbled in editing. But, my television career never moved into a video producer role. For the past 7 years my career focused on marketing and sales, so it's been refreshing to work in video production again.

I did have some concerns about how I would coordinate between both groups. I want experience working on the St. Joseph's graphics manual in addition to my contribution to the City Farm video group. Luckily, I ran into Michael earlier this week. I explained my situation. He gave me some useful suggestions, and he informed the project team leaders of my concerns. They agreed to break up the projects so I could participate in both groups. I really appreciated his help.

I'm glad we switched over to BaseCamp. It is so much easier to communicate and keep track of both projects’ progress. Just this morning I saw a post from Michael about a FCP computer that will be in our class tonight, yea! I was a little concerned about how we were going to coordinate editing. I have agreed to be the City Farm edit lead, so I have been trying to figure out how we would get access to an edit program. Not to mention, learn the software. I have some experience editing with Avid and Premiere, but I have not work with Final Cut. Our team definitely needs some training assistance, so hopefully having this computer in our classroom will give us the opportunity to learn from the edit experts in the class.

Finally, my last challenge is balancing school and being a full-time mommy. I took the winter quarter off to have our second child, a boy born on 1/21. I didn't want to delay my studies, but I thought it was necessary for me to take the winter off. It's a BIG adjustment having a second baby. Our first is 2.8 years, so in many ways, she is still a baby herself. Going back to school this spring has been interesting, to say the least. For example, right now I’m typing my blog post with my left hand only. My toddler girl wants to sit in my lap so she can watch Sesame Street with me. :) I'm not complaining. I'm so happy to have my babies (Lydia and Emerson) and to be in school. It's fulfilling for me to be back in school after years of professional work experience. I just have to figure out how to balance school work w/ mommying. It'll all work out in the end, and fingers crossed I'll have some good work to put in my portfolio.

Project Report, Week Five

I have mainly been working with the City Farm group. Although, I do have a part in the St. Joseph's graphic standards manual. I have not received any information about that portion of the project as of yet. Hopefully, after the team irons out the logo and color concept, the graphics manual will begin to take shape.

With regards to the City Farm group, at first I was concerned about the lack of direction the clients provided us, but I then realized this lack of direction could give our group the opportunity to be more creative with the project. Because the clients are not so committed to giving us specific assignments, we have been able to maneuver the jobs we want to work on.

I was quite disappointed last week when we learned that the client was not interested in the video component of our project, so I was very happy to learn that Andy had developed a new video concept idea. I think it's a great idea for us to create a training video for new volunteers. This will give Andy a resource to easily inform new volunteers and it gives us the chance to create a professional video project that we can showcase in our personal portfolios.

My only worry with the project is the need for more information from the client. I would really like to begin to work on a script/ storyboard for the video, but I don't think we have enough information to put something together yet. Hopefully tonight’s class meeting will illuminate these questions so we can begin to create the videos and other components.

Multimodality: A Visual Response

Reading Response to Gunther Kress Multimodality A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication

Kress’ book details the theory of multimodality as it relates to twenty-first century communication. He begins by discussing multimodality as the use of several semiotic modes to create a semiotic product. Modes are the result of culturally and socially created resources that are used to represent and communicate. They can be visual, aural, and/or verbal communications.

Kress continues explaining multimodality by defining and illustrating metaphors, which are words or phrases that generally assign one thing to designate another, which then creates an implied comparison. He illustrates the metaphor of multimedia. Multimedia signifies present day communication. The name encompasses a variety of modes such as print, sound, photography, graphics, etc., but he claims the term multimedia is confusing. It merges radio, newspaper, and television with writing, speech and image, which he believes only confuses old practices with new and it hampers a clear understandable analysis of the term.

Further into the reading, Kress provides a useful example of multimodality by illustrating and describing a simple example which shows how one item can be signified in many different ways. An image of four different packets of salt and pepper are presented in the book. Kress describes these differences as signs that represent what the sign-maker is interested in. In the first example color is used to distinguish the condiments. In the second example the visual on the packets represent salt and pepper shakers. The third example brands the packets with the airline’s logo. The final example includes the word “spicy” at the bottom of the packet. Although each of these sachets of salt and pepper contain the same items, the sign-maker of each packet defines their interests by presenting a variety of different meanings. One highlights health, while another focuses on culinary traditions, another points out social practices, and finally another emphasizes lifestyle and pleasures. The signs define their own social meaning through the process of communication.

After reading this I thought about how multimodality relates to text and image. From what I have gathered from the reading, text and image are the core component to understanding multimodality. Text, image, sound, etc. can work together to define a sign or they can work separately to create a different sign. The example of how a child explains his visit to a museum through text is totally different from his explanation through image. The child’s written description of the visit is explained chronologically while his drawing highlights his favorite parts of his visit to the museum.

As Kress highlights, it is interesting to think about how one simple word, phrase, symbol or image can completely redefine a sign. This book provides useful insights and details helpful analysis of how multimodality relates to modern day communication. The book provides a suitable foundation for understanding multimodality. A better understanding of multimodality will help new media academics and professionals better communicate their ideas, products, work, etc.

Proposed NBC Comcast Merger under Intense Review

Comcast has proposed to purchase 51% of NBC from General Electric, which would give Comcast the controlling stake in NBC.

Public interest groups are already raising red flags at this possible merger. Comcast owns the majority of cable systems throughout the US, so many are concerned that NBC will receive special privilege from Comcast over its competitors. Interest groups like the Free Press and The Center for Digtal Democracy hope the Obama administration will closely scrutinize this merger, and that he will continue to live up to his campaign promise to work towards a more diverse media.

Another big concern with the merger is the impact of the Internet video market. Currently, NBC owns a 30% stake in Hulu, a website that allows users to watch TV or film clips online. According to the group Media Access Project, a public interest law firm, Comcast is threatened by websites like Hulu, which may possibly lead to the limitation of free television episodes.

I spent over 8 years with NBC, so I will be very interested to see how this merger develops.

Here is a link to the full NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/media/09comcast.html

I also found a couple of additional realted articles:
http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSTRE5A801F20091109?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=11624

Spamming/Scamming

I found this section of the lecture particularly interesting, because my husband was recently scammed/spammed.

Yesterday, I noticed three strange charges on our banking account. As it turns out, these were charges from two different companies who specialize in selling cyber dollars. This scammer found my husband's debt card number, expiration date, and code on the back of his card. We are not sure what site his information was stolen from. He uses Paypal and various other sites to buy products, so who knows where they obtained his information.

We spoke with both companies about the scam, and they both agreed to reverse the charges. One of the companies told us that they receive about 100 orders a day and 2 of those orders are scams. It is really scary to realize how quickly these unethical "black hat" scammers can steel people's private information. In the future, we will definitely be more diligent to protect our online privacy.

I found a couple of good articles on the subject.

Cyber security: Beyond black and white

New scam with a taste of old con