Still Image Video Project: How To Survive a 7:50

Video Project: How to Survive a 7:50

Concept:

For my final Mediated Com project, I am going to produce a still image video detailing how students can prepare themselves for a 7:50 AM class in college. Those that have experienced 7:50's know that they can be grueling. Coming into college I had never had a class that early before therefore it was definitely an adjustment. My video will give details into how incoming freshman and generally anyone who has never experienced a class at 7:50 AM can survive till the end.

Altering the Video:

If I were to create the video using a different form of media, I would alter it to the form of text. Similar to our photo story projects, I would alter the video using InDesign to create a guide including images with steps for how students can survive their 7:50's. 

Targeting a Specific Demographic:

If the video had to be targeted towards a specific demographic for age, sex, race, etc I would make sure the video included actors/models that fit those specifications. If the video was being marketed towards middle class college students, I would avoid including anything fancy or people that were younger/older so that it could better relate to that demographic. If it had to marketed to a specific region or country I would include people native to that area - maybe even have the actors speak in the native language or accent so that they could better relate to it and find some value in it. 

Elena's Story

What is this you ask?

Above is my audio project which I have worked diligently on for the past few weeks. Throughout this Project, I interviewed freshman Elena Lewis on how she started her very own fashion blog. I sat down with Lewis for about 15 minutes to get the full story and then edited it into a 2 minute podcast for your listening enjoyment!

COM Week: First Amendment Food Festival

Being a COM major and having a whole week filled with interesting events for us to attend, it was hard for me to not find one that interested me. Per a suggestion from a friend, I decided to attend the first amendment food festival. I often think as Americans we take this right for granted, sometimes forgetting that there are people who are not allowed to have conflicting opinions or be able to share those opinions throughout media. 

My Expectations:

Coming into the event, I assumed that it would just be a forum for speakers to discuss how we exercise our first amendment rights in modern culture and why it's so important to fight for our right to speak out. I also assumed that they just added the food festival part so people would show up. Boy was I wrong. 

What Actually Happened:

The event was essentially a real time simulation of what it would be like if we didn't have our first amendment rights to freedom of speech. From the moment you walk in things are a bit odd. You ask for a sandwich and they end up giving you the opposite of what you actually wanted (I later realize this is done on purpose). Stuck in a classroom in Cottrell, we were not allowed to speak out or say the wrong thing. If we did we would be escorted out of the classroom and taken to be re-trained to basically keep our mouths shut. 

Even though I knew it wasn't real, as I watched some of the students be escorted from the room because they said the wrong thing, I couldn't help but feel anxious for them. I became lost in the idea that this could actually happen. 

Why This is Important:

Of course we can talk for days on end about why freedom of speech is such an important issue, especially for those who want to work in Media and Communication, one becomes much more aware of it's importance after seeing first hand what would happen if we didn't have that right. I've often come across tumblr and Wikipedia campaigns urging users to sign petitions to stop online censorship,  and while I never signed them in the past - I surely will now. 

Working in the field of COM encapsulated careers in the field of Journalism which is where I found this simulation the most relevant. Being able to report on events without being forced into a reporting propaganda or bias is so incredibly important because it allows us to learn all the facts and create and express our own opinions.

Couch or Congdon Audio Project

Couch or Congdon?

For this assignment, I polled the students of High Point University on the issue of whether or not they liked the fact that the building currently known as Congdon is being renamed to Couch. Listen the the clip to see what they have to say! 

The Logistics:

For this assignment I used Adobe Audition to take what was formerly a 1:15 long interview into a 60 second clip. I went through the audio and cut out awkward pauses, screw-ups, and other flaws in the audio to make sure the interview flowed nicely and was concise! I also played around with the fade in and fade out functions to ensure that the audio wasn't choppy. While there were moments where my mic was louder and a bit fuzzy - I think overall it turned out great! 

Conclusion:

In all, it was really interesting getting to play around with the audio tools in Audition! I found it really cool to see how one could manipulate the audio to remove and fill in spaces to make it appear as though someone said something when really they didn't. While that might get a bit tricky ethically, it was really intriguing to see how it's all done! 

Best,

Ally Pratapas

Meme Project

Hello All! Today I'm debuting my meme as part of the class project for this week! I chose to use a picture of my good friend Taylor as part of the project because I felt that it was all to relevant and hilarious not to meme-ify! 

The Concept:

Basically, I created this meme after having way too many "hangry" conversations with my peers over the kiosks sometimes only having banana nut muffins in the morning. I mean c'mon, what's a gal gotta do to get a double chocolate chip muffin every morning?? 

The Method:

I added various layers to create the background and used the magic wand tool to take out just Taylor from the original image and insert her on top of the background. I also played around with the spot healing brush tool and the text effects to make it all come together perfectly. 

Conclusion:

So should we check our privilege? Probably, but I guess we'll just add this one to the extraordinarily long list of #HPUprobz. 

Swatch and Learn

Hello all! Sorry for the terrible pun made in the title, just trying to keep things entertaining! For this weeks assignment we are learning about creating different color tint swatches using InDesign! I was lucky enough to step outside at just the right time in order to snap a pic of the glorious sunset one night. 

The Muse:

I used this image as my inspiration for creating the swatches in today's post. Something about those orange and yellow hues just gives me the warm fuzzies. Ahh HPU at sunset, you never fail to leave me breathless. 

The Swatches: 

As previously mentioned, the orange and yellow hues of a sunset really get me going, so I absolutely could not leave those out! I also decided to create some swatches of the brown-ish hue coming from the clouds in the background. I thought they would complement the other shades nicely when making the nameplates! 

The Nameplates: 

I found this to be the most fun part of the assignment as I loved looking to see which colors would complement each other nicely! 

I chose my font based on the fact that it reminded my of the font that is generated when using a type-writer and I really liked the look of it. The secondary font I used for my headline was chosen because I felt that it gave the nameplate a more professional look when used with the type-writer font.  

I felt that the colors had very warm qualities to them which really attracted to them. Even the lighter tints still had some warm aspects to them which really attracted me to them. I know contrasting is important so I tried to pair up darker shades with lighter shades so reading the typeface would be easy on the eyes. I took more of a risk on the last one by using a light swatch as the base and an ultra light tint for the font - nevertheless I think it still turned out nicely. 

Concluding:

Overall I think the project turned out nicely, and I really enjoyed playing around with the tint swatch tools in InDesign. I can't wait to play around with them some more and use them on future projects! 

Best, 

Ally Pratapas