I liked the Words, Magic one the best, you saw how it started, how it ended, and I think it was a concious choice to leave the beginning raw as it were. My least favorite was the second Digital Literacy narrative by Andfull. I felt like she could have done a better job with the narration, and I understand now that it was a template, but the film strip didn't have anything to do with her topic of books for children. As for the first one by Scannell, I didn't like the beginning, the words went too quickly to read about about 4 minutes in I started to get bored at the repetition involved in the story telling. The fourth was all right, I'm glad that he recognized that the audience couldn't read his screen and so he subtitled it. By the same toke, the fifty by Wooten was ok, but it was a little sarcastic, and made it difficult to take him seriously.
Thinks that I looked for was: 1. readability/clarity of any text/graphics 2, conciseness/cohesiveness of message 3. ability to keep the audience's interest - effective use of time
For my analysis, I've decided not to look at 5 texts from different sources, but 5 different texts used by the same company. Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty started in 2004 and I will be analyzing the different texts used to relay their message and their effectiveness.
This ad gives you a choice: wrinkled, or wonderful? With the line beneath it "Will society ever accept 'old' can be beautiful? Join the discussion."
Dove is trying to provoke discussion, and challenge the norms followed by typical advertising.
This is a video for the same campaign showing the process it takes from photo shoot to billboard.
I like this last advertisment because in this first still frame the use of alignment is really important. This woman thinks she's fat, but in reality she isn't, it's her fear that's filling up the rest of the frame.
I agree with the "things people go to the site looking for" list from the readings, and I actually chuckeled because these are things that I go to often; looking for maps, faculty, etc. I don't visit a university webpage looking for alumni news, because I'm still a student, or a virtual tour, because I'm already on campus.
The purdue webpage follows the same strong photo presence as the WSU website does. The author is implied as Purdue, and the audience is not for those who are already students. The page has more information than the WSU page, filled with upcoming events, news, alumni news, branding shopping. Something the Purdue page has that WSU's does not is you can pick you experience. If you're a student, click on the student tab for relevant information. Are you a parent looking for information? There's a tab for you too. This goes for Alumni and Faculty, Staff and Retirees as well.
The context still lies in the realm of university webpages. And much like the example of a lone student facing the camera, there is a similar photo at Purdue's website, though much less brash with the addition of beautiful scenery in the background.
The design choices are similar to WSU, highlighting multiple photo stories in a slideshow though not as busy as the three photo model that WSU uses. The second photo in the slideshow is a welcome video to students that shows an image of the Purdue marching band.
The third an image has the caption "Site seeks feedback from people with disabilities who are interested in science"
And a fourth promotes the implementation of an amnesty policy, AlcoholEdu
The last photo shows the Chicago skyline. At first I wondered if I had mistaken the location of Purdue, but a quick google.com search told me that West Lafayette was indeed over 2 hours away from Chicago (almost twice the distance from Pullman to Spokane.) On closer inspection it reads that Purdue is "leading catastrophe planning for Chicago area, NW Indiana". I wondered if the image was supposed to give a more urban feel to the website, or show its more global impacts.
Overall the webpage is pretty effective at conveying information. Though not specific to the needs of a student visiting the website repeatedly. Perhaps university webpages are meant for those who know nothing about the university? Thinking back on my college search (many, many years ago), I often visited campuses in the area that had pretty websites or picturesque photos - some of which I found out were rather misleading. Universities around the country, possibly even world are in the market to sell themselves as great institutions. Even University of Phoenix has advertising, as seen all over the internet and television.
Well, spent more time than I probably needed to for an initial posting, but I'm almost satisfied!
Onto the assignment!
Is there a difference between the term "multimedia" and "multimodal"? Describe why or why not.
Dictionary.com defines Multimedia as: the combined use of several media, as sound and full-motion video in computer applications. I feel that multimodal encompasses more than just media. It's text, sounds, visuals, people, and it's more about what the choices that were made to bring forth a product, much like the choices I made in designing this blog.
3. I believe that the use of "people of Japan" helps to unify the country, that this isn't something that just happened to one portion. I also think that the text shows that the President is interested in keeping apprised of the situation, even on the weekend when other things may fall through the cracks. The statement also reassures that America as a whole is available for assistance, while still leaving that decision up to Japan in their recovery efforts.
4. The Twitter profile on the left is much more of a "serious" color pallet, navy blue with a touch of funk with the Kelly green. Compared to thing profile on the right, the left still has a photo of her face, though not all of it, leaving her somewhat mysterious. The light blue color and the twig branch in the background of the right's profile gives it a light and airy feeling. Though the profile has an avatar that shows a cartoon of a Panda, perhaps to express her love of Pandas? Or simply to be goofy.
My own profile: http://twitter.com/MsSaraJo
Is brightly colored and filled with my favorite colors in a geometric pattern. My picture shows me having a fantastic time (it really was) in Barcelona. The location may not be obvious, but I knew I was there!
5. I hear a tone much like I'd hear in yoga class with a mild drum beat and cymbals. The narrators voice is very mild too, female and much like I've heard in my stress relieving workshops or what I commonly refer to as a "yoga voice". If the music were country is would feel more upbeat but pressured to be more.
6. The eye is drawn to the center of the page with elements lining the outside of the window. This creates the idea that whatever is in the middle the most important with everything else being secondary or even tertiary. I feel that though the page would look off center, the usability of the website would be better suited to have the most common buttons (the ones located at the bottom) moved to a more centralized location.
7. President Obama's face is kept serious during his discussion of Libya. He doesn't make much eye contact as he reads his bullet points, not emphasizing much with his hands as he folds them onto the podium at 45 seconds. He makes an effort to make eye contact with each of the reporters surrounding him. He emphasizes his words by pausing slightly after what he feels is important like "rats (pause)". In this clip, the president doesn't use as many hand gestures as he usually does, and perhaps that's on purpose as he tries to communicate the seriousness of the events in Tripoli.
