Understanding Comics Reading Response

        - In a comic, does each frame represent a single moment in time? Why or why not? What about in video?

In some cases, each frame represents a single moment in time. However, in other circumstances, a single frame, or panel, can have several moments occurring in the same scene, thus at different times. Frames that include a single moment are obvious when seen because only one action is taking place. A frame that has multiple actions going on is harder to notice because the viewer sees it as a single moment. For example, numerous people could be responding to one action that causes the whole frame to exist. Like in the reading, a family is responding to Henry taking a flash picture all at once; but in reality, they each are talking in turn one after another, creating several moments that are happening within a single frame. This occurs in video as well. A single frame can capture a single moment, or action, in time. Yet, it can also capture several actions and moments that happen throughout the sole frame.

        - How does adding words change the length/time of a comic panel? What is the impact of sound on duration when you are watching a video? Give an example from something you have watched and listened to in the last 24 hours.

Adding words changes the length and time of a comic panel because it makes the viewer take longer to read. The impact of sound on duration when watching a video has no influence because it usually goes along with the flow of the video. However, in cases like suspenseful movies, sound can be drawn out to make the moment seem much longer, taking forever to complete. I recently listened to a song by M83 that had the same rhythm and tune repeating itself, which made it seem longer than it really was. I felt anxious, waiting for the song’s tune to change, and when the song was finally over, it felt like a long time had passed even though it was a 2 minute song.

        - In comics, time and space are “one and the same.” How so? Contrast these strategies with how artists represent space and time in film and video. How do artists represent space in moving image? How do we know the space is larger? How does an artist elicit claustrophobia on film or video? Provide 2 examples from film or video of how large or small spaces are communicated to the audience.

In comics, time and space are “one and the same” because the moment, or action, captured in a frame is presently happening in that certain space. It is always happening until the viewer continues to read on to the next frame. In film and video, time and space are also being shown and conveyed as happening in the present at the same time. Artists represent space in a moving image by deciding what they want to show, moving the camera to exclude certain things and including others. We sometimes do not know if the space is larger, depending on if the artist wants us to know. However, we can judge the size of the space by different angles of the environment the artist shows. An artist can elicit claustrophobia by zooming in on an actor’s face or angling the camera from the ground, upward, making a tight environment. One example is the video we watched about the woman dreaming about a key, a phone, and chasing after a reaper-like person. In the scene where she is climbing the stairs and it is shaking and twisting, the video communicates a space that is long and big. The staircase is tall, and seems like it never ends because the camera is placed at the top of the stairs. Another example is in the video of the three women talking about nuclear disasters. The women are moving around each other, overlapping, and are always seen in the background in a frame that focuses on one of the women. This creates a sense that the space is small and barely has enough room for all of them.

        - In film and video, duration can be represented in real time. That being said, how do artists compress or expand time in film or video? Generally commercial films and videos last 1-2 hours, yet many of the stories span years and years. Give two examples of compression and expansion of time in film or video.

Artists compress or expand time in film by adding clips which move from one time point to end at another, like day and night. One example is of a scene from the Twilight series when Bella is waiting for Edward to return. She is sitting in her room by her window while the camera is swirling around her. The audience sees time being expanded through the environment outside the window, changing from season to season. Another example is the opening scene of the second High School Musical when they are waiting for the clock to end the school year. The film compresses time by crosscutting clips of the clock moving each minute with anxious faces of the students. The clips of the clock make time seem a lot slower than it really was.

Launching The Imagination Ch.14

- What are the advantages and challenges of representing a story with one image as opposed to multiple images?

When representing a story with one image, the viewer often must have previous background knowledge of the subject to understand everything that is happening in the image. With sequential art, the artist can explain as he/she goes along.

- What is causality?

Causality is a chain of events which leads to a conclusion in a story. One event leads to another and so on.

- Define narrative compression and give an example of a television or online commercial that uses narrative compression.

Narrative compression is a strategy used in making commercials or if a time constraint is necessary. A commercial is maybe 15 seconds long, which is why it is important to effectively communicate a point by being extremely decisive about the sequence and information that you show to the viewer. Any type of trailer for a movie does this. 

- What are the six strategies that advertisers use in advertisements to sell us stuff? Provide example/s of commercials that you have recently viewed that illustrate each of these strategies.

Rational- A commercial for ITT technical school explains how easy and straightforward enrollment is.

Emotional- An E-Harmony commercial shows interviews and clips of successful couples to convey garunteed happiness. 

Serious-An ASCPA commercial for abused animals. 

Humorous- Most commercials during the Superbowl.

Realistic- A commercial for a specific pharmaceutical, it only relates to the people that potentially would need it. 

Exaggerated- Gieco Commercials that use a lizard for entertainment to cover up the boringness of insurance. 

Project 2 Brainstorming

For project 2, I really have no clue what I want to do. I feel like I haven't had that much time to think about it to fully understand the project. I do have a vague idea about one proposal; I was thinking of placing the camera in a fixed position, capturing the 6"x6" environment and video my feet walking across the floor in different shoes that correspond with the time of day. Like, at night when I go to bed, I'd where slippers and when it's the time I take a shower, I'd be barefoot. My feet will go in order across the screen and look fluid like there are multiple people in the video. I am not sure how well this idea is, but it is just a start. I may want to do something that involves more different and dynamic camera angles but I'm not sure what the idea behind it would be.

Reading Responses

Reading #1

        - What are the advantages and challenges of representing a story with one image as opposed to multiple images?

Using Multiple images gives you the opportunity to add context to the viewer, making it easier to read based on the images alone. Using one image allows for a more complex or simple application of the desired narrative, however this means the readability of the narrative also become more complex or simple.
        - What is causality?

This reminds me of the concept of “cause and effect.” The narrative is progressed through the first scene causing the next and causing the scene after that.
        - Define narrative compression and give an example of a television or online commercial that uses narrative compression.

The telling of a narrative with in a time constraint, so themes and idea have to be communicated quickly and clearly.

Campbell's soup commercial
        - What are the six strategies advertisers use in advertisements to sell us stuff? Provide example/s of commercials that you have recently viewed that illustrate each of these strategies.

1. Rational- Direct display of message or product (Oxyclean commercials)
2. Emotional- Relying on an emotional response to imagery rather than product (Publix Thanksgiving Day commercials with salt and pepper shakers.)
3. Serious- Deals with extreme reactions to death, violence, etc.. (Drug free commercial about not picking up grandma because you were getting high)
4. Humorous- Letting the viewer react positively to a product by humor (Geiko gecko commercials)
5. Realistic- Viewer relates to product because narrative is based in reality, nondramatic (Bosley hair commercials)
6. Exaggerated- Narrative has to break norms of reality and use unrealistic imagery (Nasonex commercial, the world is seen as blurry)
           - Describe and give examples (not from the book) of three non-narrative approaches.

A commercial for a lawyer would be an example of a non-narrative. Also commercials for television stations and radio stations use a non-narrative method of conveying a message.

Reading #2

        - Berger writes very lyrically about the place where he is staying and working. Please document each instance of motion that occurs in his description. How does the description of the motion contribute to our imagination of this space?

Swallow flew in, flew out. Friends who pass. Gasp at first, peer closer. These descriptions of movement help the viewer form clear images of whats being described. An energy is being expressed through words.
        - At the end of the essay, Berger writes about how the structure of 24 fps allows us to “catch sight of another visible order.” Describe two events or scenes from the videos/films screened in class where the medium caused the ordinarily invisible to become visible.

Though it was only a still the video of the dead horse lying in a patch of flowers is a good example of the invisible becoming visible. In that case a horse not moving becomes dead. Another example I believe can be found in the video of the man pushing the ice block through Afghanistan(?) I think it made the vision of melting ice all the more apparent as we wait to see when it will completely melt.

Homework 9/29/2014

Reflection On Critique

By hearing others comment on my work, it let me realize how the small mistakes I made could be used to create a different meaning to the work. I was happy to see that many enjoyed the movement and shapes i created through the piece. also i was happy to see that many agreed with the theme i was trying to reach. However, I was able to see the different things i should fix to make this project better. For Instance, I have to lighten up the pictures since they cam out underexposed. also, i need to straighten some of the pictures out, create a better transition for some areas and Photoshop some pictures that contained some unintentional spots. Lastly, i will try to play around with different cutting or even taking the title away to create a better Connection between all the slides.

Launching Imagination
 What are the advantages and challenges of representing a story with one image as opposed to multiple images?
- Although representing a story with one image can create a beautiful complex image that has a lot of attention and interesting aspects to it. Creating a story in one image can cut away a lot of easy to understand details in the story. there is also a lot more explaining for the story to do. 
What is causality?
- Causalty is the chain of events cause through a scene or a video. These chains can be shown as a puzzel in which the viewer will start to put together the different parts and then understand it all when all the scenes have been completed.
 Define narrative compression and give an example of a television or online commercial that uses narrative compression.
-  narrative compression is a tool used for short films. This tool is made to create the feeling and message of  a normal length video in about a minute. For instance, in a Budweiser ad they created a story in which the owner and the dog are shown taking care of each other. the owner than goes out and takes its time to come back. the viewer is expecting the owner never to come back, however, he does. when the viewer is shown the poor dog waiting for its owner, they are presented with the bad affects of driving under the influence (since the owner clearly went out to drink the night before.) However, when the owner comes back in the morning, the viewers are happy and understand that his choice was the best and what we all should do. As seen in the less than a minute story, the viewer was able to have full roll-a-coster of emotions, with such a short story.
What are the six strategies advertisers use in advertisements to sell us stuff? Provide example/s of commercials that you have recently viewed that illustrate each of these strategies.
- The Six Strategies used by advertisers are Rational, Emotional, Serious, Humorous, Realistic and exaggerated.
A Rational ad is a very straight to the point ad, that shows exactly what the product is and what its functions are. For instance, for a crayola product, they showed how these markers that are water based are great for drawing on specific paper and do not work anywhere else. therfore, it shows its function of keeping the mess away.
An Emotional ad uses a story in which the viewer can relate or would connect to show off a product taht is not so unique. For instance, the ad in which Budweiser uses the story of a dog and its owner to relate with the audience. The ad shows how the owner leaves for a night out and does not come back until the next morning. The audience starts feeling sad for the dog that is waiting for his owner. Therefore, when the owner comes back and they get the message of do not drink and drive, they remember Budweiser as a good company for beer.
A Serious approach, is an approach used when the company or group is trying to send an important message to the viewers. For instance, Tobacco Free Florida has those ads in which they show a lady taking off skin when she buys cigarets or a lady with cancer. They show these sad but serious message to get people to not smoke.
 a Humorous Approach is when an ad company uses a funny story or something that makes the viewer laugh and remember their product. For instance, Fa-breeze has these ads in which they show the smells hidden in ones home. like a lady with a dog in her car and then they turn the car into a dog looking car. then they show how to bring it back to a normal car by spraying fa-breeze. these funny and unique scenario, lets people remember this product.
Realistic approach is an aproach in which the ad uses a character, music or popular object to create a connection with the audience. For instance, Dish Broadband is trying to reach a younger audience by not only using the idea of the Football channels they can see but also using the voice of the popular actress, Rebel Wilson to create a connection with them too.
Exageration Approach is when the ad uses a unseen scene for to create a memorable message.


Describe and give examples (not from the book) of three non-narrative approaches.
- there are three non-narrative approaches which are a categorical, abstract and rhetorical aproach. a categorical approach is the "exploration of a single concept, action or emotion" is the work.A rhetorical approach uses a lot of  sequential images to present an argument. lastly an abstract aproach is where the ad uses shapes and colors to represent a message.


Opening the Gate
Berger writes very lyrically about the place where he is staying and working. Please document each instance of motion that occurs in his description. How does the description of the motion contribute to our imagination of this space?
- Berger writes about the room, its color and the objects in it. for instance, he talks about the screws left from the room's past owner and the color of the roof. These descriptions help me understand the movements that follow into the room. for instance, the bird flying in. i was able to see the space of the room, understand its big roof and the feeling it must give out. Therefore, I understood how the bird was able to move thought it so easily.
  At the end of the essay, Berger writes about how the structure of 24 fps allows us to “catch sight of another visible order.” Describe two events or scenes from the videos/films screened in class where the medium caused the ordinarily invisible to become visible.
-  In the class we looked to a couple of videos that allowed us to "catch sight of another visible order." for instance, we looked at the video of the actors getting high pressure water thrown at them. Since this video was in slow motion, we were able to catch the reaction of the people trying to take cover or help each other from the water. We were able to see these people getting into a group and creating a barrier against the water. something we would have not caught it, if the video was going any faster. In addition, we looked at the video were the kids in a Middle Eastern Country played with the Movies. In this Video we were exposed to the idea of these videos as something cheap and useless other than for entertaining purposes. We were able to see how people did not see the value these movies had and how they were mistreated.

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Berger article response (Brianna Palmer)

1. document each instance of motion. How does this contribute to our imagination of the space?

Swallow flying in, circling the room, and flying back out the window. taking photos out of files, friends leaning in closer to look at the photos, seasonally moving lights, flames, a running man with knife, flicking frames, a dog running.

I think that most of the motions in this article serve to illustrate the vastness of the space he is attempting to describe. Even the bird flying in illustrates the nomadic desire to explore unknown spaces. For nomads and animals it is for survival, for children it is for the pleasure of discovery and mystery. Almost training.

2. Describe two scenes from the videos/films screened in class where the medium caused the ordinarily invisible to become visible.

I think that any slow change over a long period of time--like growing hair, or a child getting taller--is essentially invisible. Everyone has experienced this. You don't notice that there's been any change at all until whatever is in question is quite different than it was originally. Without a photo or video showing it, it's very hard to notice. The melting ice video that we watched in class is a good example of that. To the artist, the change must have felt painstakingly slow until the very end, when the change was very noticeable.
I think that also the changing attitudes of people can be invisible. Feelings are not visible, but we perceive them as social animals. In film, the changing lighting, the choice of how scenes are cut together, and the actors all make emotions clearer than they are in reality. In a primitive example, the short film of the neighbors fighting over the flower shows very clearly a change in attitude when their faces are painted to show how they have become barbaric. This is usually invisible to people. This scene showed that shift in almost a literal way.

9-24 Homework - Leanne Sheth

Critique Reflection
I reflected on the mid process critique, and from that was able to completely change my concept to make it successful. For this critique, I made the changes suggested to me, and in turn, I feel I received an overwhelmingly positive response. The class is incredibly supportive and insightful of not just my own work, but others as well. They appreciated the time that went into making my animation, and provided their thoughtful interpretation of my concept. I also think their criticisms of my project were fair and constructive, they gave me suggestions as to how to fix my problems (lighting) that I will actually follow through with.

response to crit

I think the reception of the work was positive. I was concerned that I wasn't paying enough attention to the fact that it was a video not a collection of drawings. I will have to go back into Photoshop and manipulate the position of the bull a bit to cut back the shakiness. I would still like to add the matador portion of the video, I think without it the piece seemed somewhat anticlimactic.

link to Project 1 and response to critique

http://vimeo.com/106876631


I feel that my critique went well. I changed my concept once I started shooting, and still everyone seemed to understand the gist of my video. I do think I need to add more shots before Art Bash, including more closeups and maybe more layers. Thanks to everyone for your feedback. :)

Ashley Long - Homework (9/26)

Project One Reflection

       Project One's critique went really well, I believe, and, despite my minor set back, I was really pleased with everyone's response to my piece. The concept seemed to be grasped in a way I didn't expect it to be; rather than anyone calling out the message I had in mind, it appeared that everyone subconsciously connected with the piece. I was glad that everyone also had such a strong reaction to it. I know I need to develop a style more appropriate for the message, and to work on certain angles and transitional movements. Other than that, though, I think my piece came along a lot better than I was expecting, and I really appreciated everyone's feedback. 

Launching the Imagination

       Using single images rather than a series of images creates a more complicated, although still rewarding, means of story telling. Like the image shown in the reading, it is possible to convey the story by brilliantly displaying the climax in a way that will provide information on the entire story as a whole. However, one image has to rely on the audience knowing at least some informative backstory for the image itself, or some, if not most, of the meaning can be lost. This is not the same with a series of images as the story teller can provide bits of information one picture at a time. 

       Causality in story telling is the chain of events in a story, beginning with the first event which affects the second, which then affects the third, and so on. The meaning conveyed between these events is up to both the story teller and the audience. 

       Narrative compression is a story constructed with a short time frame in mind in order to quickly and effectively capture a specific audience's attention using either a hard-sell or soft-sell approach. An example of a hard-sell approach is almost any commercial from a car dealership, including Keith Pierson Toyota which uses details and "facts" about their vehicles as well as customer testimonials to drive possible consumers into wanting their products. An example of a soft-sell approach would be the Coca Cola commercials that shows a family of polar bears enjoying their product. Of course polar bears would never actually drink Coca Cola, but the symbol of family and fluffy baby animals are meant to push a happy, cuddly feeling to be associated with drinking Coke during the holidays.

       Commercials use these common six strategies in order to promote and hopefully sell their products; A rational approach (such as the Billy Mays commercials in which he describes and demonstrates the purposes of a product), an emotional approach (such as the Sarah Mclachlan commercials which show animals locked in cages that have been beaten or abandoned, in order to pull at the audience's heart strings), a serious approach (such as the NoMore commercials with the many famous celebrities calling its audience to take action against injustices such as domestic violence and sexual harassment), a humorous approach (such as the M&M commercials in which the M&M characters go through fictitious and humorous scenarios), a realistic approach, or an exaggerated approach (such as any Old Spice commercial which suggests that men that wear this specific brand of cologne or soap will have women clinging to him the moment he puts it on, although I believe this would be an example of a humorous approach as well). 

       There are also pieces of story telling art, commercial and otherwise, which are non-narrative in nature. These can be told using a categorical approach, a rhetorical approach, or an approach which is purely abstract. A categorical approach explores a single idea through a series of images, such as a car commercial which shows nothing but different views and aspects of the car - the wheels, the interior, the polished color, etc. A rhetorical approach is similar, but uses these multiple images to present an argument, like the series of images in which celebrities are smoking cigarettes. The argument was that these celebrities, as well as anyone else that smokes, are advertising a dangerous product on their own without intentionally doing so. And, finally, there is the purely abstract approach that can be interpreted in many non-distinct ways due to subtle changes in color, shape, and/or texture. One such commercial would be one of the older sprite commercials in which there were "subliminal messages" telling the audience to drink sprite in a variety of odd ways.

Berger

       "The ceiling of the bedroom is painted a faded sky blue…", "…rusty hooks screwed into the beams", "…the farmer hung his smoked sausages and hams", "This is the room in which I am writing", "…the fruit now turning raven blue…", "…a swallow flew in, circled the room, saw its error and flew out…to alight on the telephone wire".

       This description of Berger's writing room creates a very lively and interesting space, despite the fact that he himself is most likely inactive in the room itself. It creates a history and sort of story to his work space that makes it more than simply a workspace - but also an escape perfect for a creative mind-space.

       One can consider Berger's final paragraph to be talking about the invisible in our daily lives, the things we don't see regularly such as Muybridge's multiple images revealing the movements of different body structures that went largely unnoticed as they were undocumented previously and/or happening to fast. He could also be referring to the life of an image itself, such as what is revealed when several painted or taken pictures are placed together and then made to move, creating a life that would have remained motionless without a camera or a steady hand and the appropriate tools to put it in motion, such as the many early animation devices we were shown in class or the sand animation that won an award. 

Project 1 final critique feedback reflection (Brianna Palmer)

What I have learned about this project is I needed to put more time into fully realizing my concept, perhaps making mind webs or more free-associations, and after picking a viable topic, thinking more about and doing more exercises based around what that topic means to me, how I can make it into something that speaks my personal view. My work is strongest when it is a self-reflection. I thought about that for this project, but the reception was clearly very mixed. Many of the suggestions I received were ideas that I feel would not have helped the project in the direction I wanted it to go, with the exception of increasing the marks of abuse on the boxes and fruits, and increasing the size of the visible cast in each shot. There was so much projection of peoples own ideas about the topic that it was clearly not personal enough. It was also obviously too playful, as some of the suggestions I received would have just made it less serious. I feel that many of the suggestions I was given could turn into different projects, because I could not make the changes without completely re-filming and changing the concept considerably.
More than anything, this project was a learning experience, as I feel it was a complete conceptual failure. It was supposed to speak of the personal struggle of eating healthy. How boxed, processed junk foods seem to hold a power over us, being both better tasting (in some cases) and far more convenient than healthy foods. Many of us who say they will eat healthier will buy healthier foods, intending to eat it later, but unfailingly we will grab what is more convenient until the healthy food is forgotten. But this project was not a product of a fully thought over idea. I think I may have needed more storyboards, because my idea was fairly complex.

Launching the Imagination & Opening the Gate

- What are the advantages and challenges of representing a story with one image as opposed to multiple images?

Some challenges of representing a story with one image can be that the artist has to rely on the viewers to understand the event being shown; they must have some kind of previous knowledge in order to understand what the artist is showing. Using multiple images takes little explanation because viewers can see the movement of events between each image. Some advantages of working with a single image include being able to express action and emotion within a single frame. This takes skills in composition, gesture, and technique.

- What is causality?

A Causality is the chain of events that happen in a story; one event starts the next, continuing the progress of the story. If the cause-and-effect relationships are unclear and hard to follow, viewers cannot focus and lose interest. However, if the chain of events are easy to understand through the use of clear actions and emotions, then the audience’s attention is held.

- Define narrative compression and give an example of a television or online commercial that uses narrative compression.

Narrative compression is when duration, framing, editing, and narration is challenged in 15 seconds to emotionally and intellectually express a certain product or way or thinking. An example of an online commercial I have seen that uses narrative compression is a Dove commercial. The commercial involves numerous young girls, as well as a young boy, who describe what the phrase “running like a girl” means. All of them physically run like how a girl is stereotyped to run like. The girls are asked why they would answer the question through the use of this stereotype and not run like they normally would. The little boy is asked if his sister ran like that and he answered no. Then the commercial goes on to film the girls running like they normally would, full of power. This commercial successfully achieved capturing viewers’ attention through emotional and intellectual reasoning.

- What are the six strategies advertisers use in advertisements to sell us stuff? Provide example/s of commercials that you have recently viewed that illustrate each of these strategies.

The six strategies include rational, emotional, serious, humorous, realistic, and exaggerated ads. A rational commercial that I’ve watched was about a hearing aid. The commercial gave straightforward information about the product and what it can do. An emotional commercial that I’ve seen is about how women always apologize for everything, even if it isn’t their fault. This captured my attention emotionally because this commercial is being shown on TV, where everybody will see it and maybe change their opinions of women. A serious commercial I have watched was about a man who stole from his family and was addicted to drugs, but overcame his problems through the help of UF’s addiction facilities. A humorous commercial I’ve watched includes the actor Gary Busey awkwardly introducing the Amazon Fire TV.  A realistic commercial I’ve seen was about the new iPhone 6, which caught my attention because I’d like to have one. An exaggerated commercial I’ve seen is about Mayhem from the Allstate commercial series. Because it’s so exaggerated and funny, it has a lasting effect on me and I remember them.

- Describe and give examples (not from the book) of three non-narrative approaches.

Three non-narrative approaches include categorical, rhetorical, and abstract. A categorical approach is based off of one concept, action, or emotion. A rhetorical approach is when sequential images are used to present an argument. An abstract approach is just like the rhetorical approach, only through the use of changing color, shapes, texture, and movement. An example of a categorical approach is when a commercial is all about a new phone’s features, leaving it to the viewers to decide if they want to buy it or not. An example of a rhetorical approach is when a commercial has a series of images that are from the effects of drug use. It argues with evidence what the drug does to the body and what will become of it if drug use is not stopped. An example of an abstract approach that I have seen is an ad in a magazine that has mice eating rat poison. The mice symbolize humans using drugs that poison themselves.

- Berger writes very lyrically about the place where he is staying and working. Please document each instance of motion that occurs in his description. How does the description of the motion contribute to our imagination of this space?

Berger writes about the instance of motion several times including when describing the faded blue of the ceiling, the screwed hooks that the farmer used to hang meat on, the plums turning raven blue, the hills forming the first steps of the mountain, and a swallow flying into the room and then out. The description makes me aware of the layout of the room and where everything is occupying space. The faded blue of the ceiling makes me think of the roof as being tall, which is confirmed because the hooks on the ceiling held meat. The bird flying in and out makes me believe the room in on a second story, where it looks out over the country landscape. It has the view of numerous trees in the foreground, where plums grow.

- At the end of the essay, Berger writes about how the structure of 24 fps allows us to “catch sight of another visible order.” Describe two events or scenes from the videos/films screened in class where the medium caused the ordinarily invisible to become visible.

The film about the ice melting helped cause the ordinarily invisible to become visible because it showed a time consuming process that most humans don’t have the patience to watch. The invisible process of time causing ice to melt was videotaped in a timelapse that allowed viewers to see a huge chunk of ice melting across the city and how long it took. Another event that expresses this concept is the animation about the two beetle’s affairs. This type of animation, stop-motion, made viewers realize that the artist had to move each beetle’s body to create the movement he wanted for it to flow into a smooth film. Through the use of choppy animation, the body movement allows viewers to see his technique and correlate with their own body movement.

Launching the Imagination/Opening the Gate Response

        - What are the advantages and challenges of representing a story with one image as opposed to multiple images?

Advantages of telling a story with one image is that if it is skillfully organized, it can create an extremely powerful impression due to the the viewer processing the whole concept at once. It requires less space and less attention from the viewer, so it is easier to spread the image across a wider audience. Challenges to representing a story with one image is that it can be confusing to someone who doesn't already know the story, it can be visually overwhelming, and the concept of time in a story can be lost.

        - What is causality? 

The chain of events in a story where the first event causes the second which causes the third, ect.

        - Define narrative compression and give an example of a television or online commercial that uses narrative compression.

Narrative compression is a process, usually used for commercial purposes, of condensing a story that commands attention and influence. An example is a skittles commercial where three teenagers are sitting on a rainbow eating skittles. One of the kids say "Hey what if this rainbow doesn't actually exist?", falls down from the sky, and the "taste the rainbow" slogan comes up. The commercial tells a short, funny, impressionable story, is very colorful, and captures the viewers attention all in a couple of seconds. It is a soft-sell, emotional, humorous approach to narrative compression.

        - What are the six strategies advertisers use in advertisements to sell us stuff? Provide example/s of commercials that you have recently viewed that illustrate each of these strategies.

I don't watch television or listen to the radio so this will be hard for me…(I had to look up on youtube for the skittles commercial in the last question) 1. Rational-The bounty paper towels commercial shows a comparison between their more absorbent paper towel and a generic brand paper towel. 2. Emotional- Kay commercials show a narrative of a husband who loves his wife and buys her a diamond necklace. Her joy and love appeals to someone who wants to express love to their partner. 3. Serious- Neglected dog commercials try to convince people to adopt a dog are sad, showing the abuse of dogs and talking about how if no one adopts them, they get euthanized. 4. Humorous- An ad for bacon-based dog food is funny because of the voice used to personify the dog. 5. Realistic- Clariton Clear commercials use actors who testify that the pill has helped their allergies. 6. Exaggeration- Axe deodorant commercials s
how that if you wear their deodorant, girls will fawn over you.

- Describe and give examples (not from the book) of three non-narrative approaches.

The non-narrative approach to sequential art doesn't use storyline or causality. A metaphorical approach would present a sequence of objects, pictures, or words in relation to one another, acting as a metaphor for a story or message. An evidence-based approach would tell a story by presenting the aftermath or evidence of an action, such as the action-based art of Jackson Pollock. An experience-based approach would physically put the viewer in an environment, where their experience of the environment creates the story. For example, a ride at Disney World that is based on a movie or an installation piece that is made with the intention to express a story through the design of the space.

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  - Berger writes very lyrically about the place where he is staying and working. Please document each instance of motion that occurs in his description. How does the description of the motion contribute to our imagination of this space?

The fruit turning raven blue and a swallow circling the room and flying out the window past the plum trees to alight on the telephone wire are instances of motion. The motion creates a movie, full of life, in my imagination of the space, rather than static, lifeless image.

        - At the end of the essay, Berger writes about how the structure of 24 fps allows us to “catch sight of another visible order.” Describe two events or scenes from the videos/films screened in class where the medium caused the ordinarily invisible to become visible.

Eadweard Muybridge's stop motions of the locomotion of animals allows the viewer to see how animal bodies move through space. Bill Viola's slow-motion movies of water pouring over human bodies allows the viewer to see the beauty of slow crashing water. The slow speed also allows the contemplation of how the people were helping each other genuinely and instinctually throughout the tragic event which, in real-time, would have lasted a couple of minutes.

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Critique Reflection

The critique was interesting to me because I felt that the camera angles (moving around the dead body) was a negative decision, but everyone seemed to like that aspect of the filming. Also, I am happy that people felt like the change from nighttime to daytime was a positive thing, because I was not happy about that at first. I agree with slowing down the fire section. I will also delete the scenes with the feet in them. I enjoyed seeing everybody's work and now have an idea about the styles of my peers.

Reading Responses

Launching the Imagination, Ch. 14

- What are the advantages and challenges of representing a story with one image as opposed to multiple images?






When telling a story with one image, the pinnacle moment is often used, creating a very climactic, interesting image. Quite a few elements from the story are to be included to convey the meaning and the action occurring, as well as giving hints to the narrative going on. The issue being that oftentimes, the audience needs to have preexisting knowledge of the story being told, since only one specific scene is all that's depicted.  
  
- What is causality?




Events occurring as a direct result of a different event, resulting in a sequence. This in turn forms a narrative, by having viewers connect all of the sequences to determine the actions going on.  
     
- Define narrative compression and give an example of a television or online commercial that uses narrative compression.


Narrative compression is used in commercials, as their short length requires the content to get immediately to the point by grabbing the viewer's attention, leaving an impression, and influencing their decisions. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as appealing to people's emotions, rationality, or through being serious or humorous. What is being advertised or talked about is pivotal to the tone of the message. I remember seeing an advertisement for Johnson brand boats, with a song detailing all of the people you can spend time with on your new boat. It was a soft-sell approach, and appealed to viewers' love of their family and friends and a good vacation that is guaranteed by Johnson's boats.     

 - What are the six strategies advertisers use in advertisements to sell us stuff? Provide example/s of commercials that you have recently viewed that illustrate each of these strategies.

 Rational: A 30 minute long infomercial on the Magic Bullet, complete with really corny characters and constant demonstration of the product using obviously unrealistic circumstances and assuming the viewers are morons.
Emotional: The ASPCA commercial with images of suffering animals and Sarah McLachlan's depressing song playing over them all.
Serious: A Smokey the Bear anti-wildfire commercial that shows you all the things you can make with a few matchsticks, to a simple, tinkling tune. Then it asks how much you can destroy with just one.
Humorous: A commercial for a dating site (the name escapes me), where a woman's picturesque bedroom scene with an attractive man is ruined by all the potential mishaps, ending with her being swung around, knocking into everything.
Realistic: Ads for anti-depressants typically try to connect with the feelings of those being affected, and then offer the positive effects to their life their drug will provide. Often with happy family imagery included.
Exaggerated: All of the Old Spice commercials, typically. Use stereotypes of masculinity and rapid-fire, absurd imagery to exaggerate the capabilities of their product.

- Describe and give examples (not from the book) of three non-narrative approaches.

 Rhetorical, scenes are shown as a persuasive argument: the progressive pictures of a smoker's lung as it deteriorates and fills with tar; used often in anti-smoking campaigns
Categorical, exploration of a single concept, action, or emotion: Muybridge's photo sequences of animal and human movement focus on the singular action of the subject
Abstract, abstract in its materials, setting, and tone: The video art piece we witnessed in class where the group of people were doused in water, and shown in slow motion

Berger

- Berger writes very lyrically about the place where he is staying and working. Please document each   instance of motion that occurs in his description. How does the description of the motion contribute to our imagination of this space?



The ceiling is painted sky blue, rusty hooks are screwed into beams, plum trees' fruits are turning raven blue, hills form into mountains, and a swallow flies into the room. This creates a sort of mystical, old timey space with a very relaxing and at-ease atmosphere. A sort of haven for the author. 
    
 - At the end of the essay, Berger writes about how the structure of 24 fps allows us to “catch sight of another visible order.” Describe two events or scenes from the videos/films screened in class where the medium caused the ordinarily invisible to become visible.

The phonograph/3D printed model zoetrope allowed us to see the visual illusion of the running horse figure, using the two pieces of technology, and the strobe light that made each of the passing models visible. And to use the video of all of the people being sprayed with a water hose again, it showed each of the individual actions and expressions of each of the people in the group, and how they are all similar to one another through this fact.

Critique Reflection

I was somewhat surprised that people enjoyed my animation as much as they did. I enjoyed hearing all of the compliments, and I agree with all of the suggestions and pointers that people gave me. Now that I think about it, I think I would have had a much better presentation of everything if I just drew it all out traditionally. It perhaps would have been cleaner and more professional looking. Something to try a bit later, I suppose, as a personal project. I'm not exactly that happy with the final outcome. Like I said, I think it would have looked a bit better if the art and scenes were consistent. Even if I had more time, the way I animated everything sort of limited the quality I could possibly have. I don't think this is something I would submit for Art Bash. I hope the next project is something I'm a bit more proud of. But I'm happy the class seemed to enjoy it and the concept.

Project One Reflection

I believe my critique went very well; I got great feedback and suggestions from my peers after they watched the animation. I was told my plot was clear and easy to follow. I liked how one person commented about my fairy's physical form not being the cliché, Disney-like type. It had its own personalty and style that wasn't stereotypically girly. My animation also was liked for its smooth frames. I need to go back and rework some details in the animation. I want to take out one Ken Burns, like my peers suggested, and clean up a couple of frames that were messy. I also need to make the scene with the fairy and house have more depth. I am really excited for Art Bash. I can't wait to be able to share my animation with the community. I'm happy to have been able to create an animation that was received well.