Week 3: Posting #1

Element #1: 

For the first example, “Making Salt”, the video’s purpose is to explain to viewers the process for harvesting salt.  The point of view is from that of young people, most likely students, who went through this process and documented it with pictures used for the videos.  The voice is that of the students, who take turns narrating the video and explaining how salt is made.

For the second example, “Fish Tank”, the purpose appears to be to educate viewers about an aquaculture project built at a school.  The video does not provide very much information about the setting or location, but the point of view can be seen as someone who was directly involved with and very knowledgeable of the project.  The voice is that of an adult man. 

Element #2: In the first video, the title itself seems to be the dramatic question :”Are we making Guam ugly?”  As I watched the video, I felt the question was answered through the series of photos of litter and trash everywhere.  The narrators implore the audience to do their part to clean up using scrolling text.

The second story is a little trickier.  It seems the dramatic question is the statement “There once was a lady who went fishing…she caught too many fish”.  The question is answered at the end when the lady is taught to dig a hole that fills with salt water to preserve her fish.  The story describes this legend and also explains that culture in Hawaii is to only take what you need for yourself and your “ohana” (thanks to off brand soda, I know that “Ohana” means family in Hawaiian.  I hope someone else out there knows what I am talking about!). 

Element #3: The first video, “Depression”, focuses on the emotional paradigm of teen depression.  This is something that probably hits home with many teens.  The second video focuses on loss as an emotional paradigm.  The lady being interviewed begins by saying that she did not care much about her culture when she was young, and the passing of her grandparents means that she has lost her chance at learning from her elders.  This had me hooked, even though the story was short.  The final video touches on the emotional paradigm of fear.  The video was created in response to an abduction, and it implores the viewer: What is a stranger?  The video continues by showing happy, smiling, average people and labeling them as strangers.  The viewers learn that their fear of strangers may be based upon scary looking people (such as the drawing of a stranger shown at the beginning) when really, a stranger can be anyone and look like anyone!

Element #4: The voice can serve to ignite genuine interest and empathy in the viewer or listener.  By adding our own voices to our work, we make it more personal and human.  However, it is important for voice to sound and flow naturally.  Adding voice to a story also allows for viewers to follow along with any included text, so the story reaches more people.

Element #5: Music can have an important impact on emotional content of a story.  Music aids in clarifying the mood of the story or helps the viewer make sense of imagery.  Mood can influence the emotions beyond the actual content of the story.  For example, scenes of movies that are emotional in nature usually contain instrumental "sad" music to clarify the mood and create more of a desired emotion.

Element #6: Both videos seemed to follow the suggestions about length and time of clips.  The videos showed a few pictures accompanied by more narration.  An example in the second video, "A Room for Maria", is when the illustration of Maria in the tree appears.  The author explains that Maria climbed into the tree and fell asleep.  However, there are no picture of Maria climbing in.  Just of her on the tree.  In this way, both of the videos link together a series of illustrations that may not necessarily make sense to someone who did not hear the accompanying narration.

Element #7: Narrators can use their voice to pace the story by speaking slowly and pausing to allow time for contemplation and thought.  Likewise, the narrator can speed the story along with his or her pacing.  The first video example has students narrating a video about earthquake awareness and preparedness.  The students pace quickly with few breaks, making the pace of the video seem rushed.  Long pauses may feel awkward when narrating a story, but some are necessary to allow the listener/viewer time to catch up.