Unit 3

Project Update 5

Is anyone else finding it difficult to keep their project short and to the point?
An issue within my own writing is I tend to stray to the longer end of the argument, preferring to round out my argument and cover all my bases. I’m finding this more difficult solely through image. While advertising relies on image to do the heavy lifting of the message we want to communicate, we have body copy to finish it off and drive our point home. While this is not always needed, for the most part it is there to some degree or another.
The problem here is I am working without body copy. In essence I have to make a point without words (which is the entire point of the project of course). This means I have to construct my images carefully, and since a picture says a thousand words, I have to be careful what words those are.
My point is, images can say so much we don’t intend for it to. And as a result, I have become extremely self-conscious of what I feel my images are saying the closer I come to the deadline.
Yet I am proud to say I have been making progress.

Interesting Article

I found this article that covers some of the larger issues on composing the photo essay. While it does talk of many of the points we covered in class, it also lays out a sort of general path we could follow to better narrate our story or construct our issue (depending on your approach).
But it also covers how to construct our images using multiple methods of photo composition. We can use artwork, pictures (both wide and normal angles), and how we layer and juxtapose them.

The Lead Photo: Similar to the first two sentences of a newspaper article, your lead photo should effectively draw in your audience. This is usually the most difficult photo to choose and should follow the theme of your essay. It could be an emotional portrait or an action shot, but ultimately it should provoke the curiosity of the viewer.

The Scene: Your second photo should set the stage and describe the scene of your story. An overarching photo taken with a wide angle lens is often effective.

The Portraits: Your photo essay should include at least one portrait. Capturing an emotional expression or telling action shot can effectively humanize your story. These photos often evoke strong emotions and empathy in the viewer (whether it is a positive and enthusiastic emotion, or a sympathetic and concerned emotion.)

The Detail Photos: Detail photos focus in on one element, be it a building, a face, or a relevant object. These photos are your best opportunity to capture specific objects. The captions of these photos should be informative and educational.

The Close-up Photos: Similarly, close-up photos provide an opportunity to focus in on specific objects. These photos are tightly cropped, simple shots that present a specific element of your story. Again, this is an excellent opportunity to present information in the caption.

The Signature Photo: The signature photo summarizes the situation and captures the key elements of your story in a telling moment.

The Clincher Photo: The final photo, the clincher, should evoke the emotion you want the viewer to walk away with, be it a feeling of hope, inspiration, or sadness. Decide on this mood before you select this photo.

Courtesy of: www.collectivelens.com/blog/creating-photo-essay

A Friendly Example

Here’s an example of something similar to what we are doing. While this uses music and more text than us, the point is clearly made. Notice too how the author not only addresses the issue of pollution, but also focuses on the side effects of it (utilizing the three appeals).
Although I felt the photo essay fizzles out somewhat at the end, I did like the use of juxtaposition near the beginning (a quick succession of images followed by a slower series). Even though this essay uses text, it does allow for many of the images to do the heavy lifting (like the baby when he says “This”).
Although clearly not the best, it gives some ideas on how to move forward in our own projects.

Project Update 4

My idea for my project consists of building collage of children who are increasing in age while playing video games. While the people look towards the viewer, the backgrounds have been replaced with images of extreme video game violence (which I have posed for the most part).
Thus, while the gamers are appearing to have fun, it is revealed they are witnessing extreme violence from games unintended for their age group. As a result, the oldest image of an age appropriate gamer is appearing to enjoy the game too much and has clearly become desensitized from the experience.
The opening slide will consist of the M Rating logo, but the “Mature” at the top has been replaced with a satirical “Mommy Bought It” instead.
It is my hope as well to take a picture of a woman contemplating purchasing a game, but I have yet to take the photo due to lack of volunteers.
But I’m curious as to what you guys think.

Just an Idea

We’ve talked in class about finding the balance on site design between having a site too deep (too many tiers) and too shallow (never passing tier 2). Yet I want to propose a question for the sake of being Devil’s advocate: Is it sometimes better to have a shallow site rather than organize information on a tier system?
My answer of course is “It depends.”
I’m not trying to make claims, but only point out possibilities. That said, for a low content site, it might be possible to maintain a shallow navigation system for the sake of presenting information. While our own sites are set up to present an argument and support it, other sites are more of a resource. This means they are there simply for having information as a resource, and sometimes not much information at that.
In this case I would say to keep a navigable system in place, with the homepage as a hub. This makes the navigation bar more of a filing system of the pages, instead of taking you to a section and then finding the file within that section.
But this is only a proposed idea for the sake of simplicity, and I don’t feel it applies all that often, but it does apply.

Finished

Go to my site.

So I’m finally done. I have to say, even though I have made many sites before, I’ve never done any this complex (mainly due to actually setting it up right and not having to jury rig together something the “works”). In the end though, I’ve still maintained a level of simplicity among the site, which I think works to its advantage.
My overall reform idea is simple, which I believe will make it implementable, but overall effective in setting up lines of communication among the campus and its students/administration.
So enjoy, and have fun. Now time to take a break. 