Study Abroad Storyboard

Scene 1: Open the film with a shot of the Education Abroad building, which has flags surrounding the building
                 ~ This is a pan shot of the whole building, which captures the flags surrounding the building. It's also a low angle shot because it's from the point of view of a student who is either interested in studying abroad and that's why he or she is there, or happened to be passing by and the building caught his or her attention. This is the first shot because it makes it clear to the audience what the documentary is going to be about; travel.

Scene 2: A straight cut into the shot of the inside of Education Abroad office, which will follow up to the location of Dr. Anthony Ogden's, the direction of Education Abroad, office. In this shot, Dr. Ogden will also be included in a way that captures him in his environment working
               ~ This shot will be a tracking shot from the point of view of a student interested in studying abroad. It is included as a way to further enlighten audience on exactly where you need to go in-order to get the best service and advice on studying abroad. Also, gives audience a sense of familiarity with the EA office and the staff working there. This shot will be sped up a little so as not to take up too much time off documentary

Scene 3: A straight cut into interview with Dr. Ogden in his office
                ~ This will be a medium shot that will include an interview with Dr. Ogden. To keep the audience's attention from drifting away, pictures will be included that will correspond with what he is saying. Due to this, there will be a variety of shots included when switching from pictures to Dr. Ogden. So, we will switch from medium shot to close shot to long shot but at the same time making sure we keep the attention on him. This scene of the interview serves as the informational aspect of the documentary

Scene 4: Transition into an interview with a student who has studied abroad and will talk about their experience studying abroad
                ~ Start with an establishing shot which lets audience know where the interview is occurring, then cut into a medium shot to capture the student's interview. Going straight into another interview with a student, with the interview of Dr. Ogden preceding, portrays the similarities between the student's views and experience studying abroad compared to those of the director of EA, which will appeal to the audience. To keep audience's attention, we will add pictures and maybe videos that the student will have provided, of his or her experience studying abroad

Scene 5: At this point, we will tackle the topic of the tremendous challenge of studying abroad; cost. This will be done by showing quick responses from students around campus answering the question of why they haven't studied abroad; "I can't afford it!"
                ~ This scene is going to be loaded with a lot of quick medium shots and close-ups of the students' responses. This scene is particularly here in-order to introduce one of the major points we're trying to make with this documentary; cost is not an issue! This scene will introduce the next scene, which is scholarships

Scene 6: Yet another interview, but this time, one with Yiyi Tang and an instructor, Albert Kalim, who have had experience studying abroad in the literal sense and also in the sense that they have been or still are in-charge of EA scholarships. This interview will be done in the financial aid office in the EA building
               ~ For this scene, it's unnecessary to do an establishing shot because the location has been established previously. Instead, cut straight into the  interviews with a medium shot. This scene will refute the answer given by majority of students in the preceding scene (that they can't afford EA), by assuring them that they can in-fact afford EA through EA scholarships

Scene 7: To wrap up the documentary, another interview will be included, with a student who wants to go study abroad and thought he or she couldn't afford it but through scholarships, he or she is now able to
               ~ This will be a close-up shot because we want to capture the excitement evident on the student's face. This scene/interview will expand/emphasize the fact that scholarships help tremendously in your study abroad experience

Scene 8: The last scene will involve shots at the airport (Bluegrass Airport)
                ~ This scene will include a low angle shot of the airport sign, which will let the audience know the location of the scene, a long shot of families hugging goodbye, a tracking shot of people boarding the plane, and a standard shot of the plane taking off. These shots will serve as a goodbye/farewell to the student traveling abroad and also a welcome to students, not only planning to study abroad, but also to those reluctant on EA

Music Video

 

This music video of the song "Defender" by Daddy Owen uses a variety of shots and angles to capture every moment  in a unique way. My favorite shot, which is also the longest shot, starts from 3:20 - 3:33. It is 13 seconds long!

Born Into Coal

Although the documentary short "Born Into Coal," was framed around the topic coal mining, the fact that it has no rising and falling action, and also that it's free form, shows that it's a human interest documentary. Watching this documentary was very intriguing because of not only how effective the scenes were due to the technique used, but also because of the content and the relevance of it. In the video, the concept of being born into coal is referenced and as an example, coal miners were documented, along with their families, in-order to expose the audience to the idea of being born into coal.

When the topic of the explosion that happened in April  5, 2010, arose, I found this particular shot to be very effective. The reason why this close-shot is effective is because it captures the pain families of coal miners endured or still endure due to the explosion, which was and still is a clear reminder of the danger loved ones put themselves in everyday and that it's not guaranteed that they're going to make it home. The background being black creates a contrast effect so that the audience focuses only on her facial expression. The tear dropping down her cheek, along with the story she's recalling, creates a sympathetic audience because it conveys the amount of hurt she carries due to the circumstances, which can be overwhelming. In this close-up, it's easy to tell that she's not locked up in a dark room bawling her eyes out because she's very collected, which means that the tear escaped subconsciously. This goes to expand the idea of the heart wrenching situation they're put in; being born into coal.

In this other close-up shot, it's shot sideways unlike the one above. This is my favorite shot of the documentary short because it uses so little to convey the tremendous unspoken words.

This shot shows Arianna and how she was and is affected by the danger of her daddy's career. In this sideways close-up shot, a soft focus is used in a way that shows you the background, but the main focus is kept on Arianna. This shot allows the audience to see the unshed tears, which shows the character's heartbreak and her feelings towards being born into coal. She says, "It's the risk I have to take I guess." Even with the audience not watching the documentary and just seeing this shot, it's evident, through her expression, that she feels like there's nothing she can do about her current situation but she still hasn't lost hope. The fact that she's not looking straight into the camera creates an even more sympathetic audience because it (the shot), portrays it's natural aspect; that this isn't a faked expression, but rather it comes from the deepest part of her heart, and that for a split second, she lets the emotions take control.

Visual Rhetoric - The Last Supper

In the No Seconds and The Last Meal Project presentations, the depiction of a prisoner's last meal before execution is done using visual rhetoric. Henry Hargreaves in No Seconds, uses images of the actual meal, including the contents of the last meal, placed on a plate/tray. On the other hand, although The Last Meal Project uses pictures of the last meal (though not as detailed as the other presentation), it also includes the pictures of the prisoners executed, which appeals more to the audience. This is because it allows the audience to put a face to the story, which in some cases results to the picture of the prisoner being permanently embedded to your mind.

The authors of these two projects had to consider how to appeal to the audience with visual rhetoric. Hargreaves uses visual rhetoric by presenting the meals in different ways, for example, in the Ronnie Threadgill and Ted Bundy presentation, the meal was large compared to the others. Also, there were a variety of food and drinks, the table cloth and the trays were bright and colorful, the napkins were well folded, with silverware laid carefully on top, and on Ronnie Gardner, the last meal even included a movie. By depicting the last meal in such a manner, it leaves the impression that although it was their last meal, they enjoyed it to the fullest. However, it doesn't cause as much sympathy on the prisoners as the Angel Diaz, who was denied a meal, meaning the depiction contained of an empty plate. This kind of depiction draws the audience's attention to the fact that he was denied a desired meal on his last days, which leaves the audience in thought. This shows that the No Seconds presentation is more compelling than The Last Meal Project one.

Although The Last Meal Project is more compelling, the No Seconds evokes more compassion, in the sense that, when you look into the prisoners' eyes after hearing their stories, especially the ones about how some prisoners requested a last meal based on past memories, it makes the audience get the impression that he or she regrets his or her wrongdoing.

In these projects, the author's goal/aim affects how he or she presents his or her images in the sense that their images are centered around their main argument. He or she will focus on the pros and cons of the argument and depict it. For example, Henry Hargreaves depicts a situation where the prisoner gets everything they desire but on the other hand, he also touches on a situation where the prisoner is denied their desire.

Besides the No Seconds and The Last Meal Project, another representation of the last meal would be to do one on the aftermath of the last meal and the prisoners' reaction to it, so the audience can see if the last meal really does make things a little bit better or easier on the prisoners.

Speech Reflection

Although I was very nervous about the Shark Tank speech, I'm very proud that I didn't let the nerves get the better of me. Overall, I think my speech was pretty good because I had strengths coming in to the presentation period. One of the strengths I had was that, I was able to present a speech that flowed well due to being able to get my thoughts together and use transitions. I was able to do this because, instead of focusing on memorizing the speech itself, I committed to mind the key points. Another one of my strengths was that, I was able to keep the audience's attention throughout my presentation, which is quite an accomplishment. Lastly, but definitely not least, I'm proud that I was able to refrain from using filler words throughout my speech, which sometimes feels natural to do in-order to get your thoughts together and/or because it's a habit.

Of course with strengths, also comes weaknesses. One of the weaknesses I had was with voice projection. When presenting, I thought I was loud enough but after watching the video, I realized that the audience could barely hear me. Another weakness was that, I spoke too fast when presenting my speech, which was due to the fact that I had misunderstood the requirements of this proposal. I prepared my speech with the knowledge that it was limited to 3 minutes tops so, I had to squish in all my info and had to even cut out some info in order to stay within range. This is something I definitely think I could improve on; looking at a rubric before presenting my final work. Yet another weakness I had was looking around (up, down, side) a lot so as to get my thoughts together. Although I stayed clear of filler words, I leaned towards my eyes wandering instead of maintain eye contact with the audience. A final weakness that I noticed while watching the video is that, although I moved around a little, I kept it within a small radius in the sense that I didn't leave the circle/bubble that surrounded me.

The Rise of the NBA Nerd

In his article, The Rise of the NBA Nerd, Wesley Morris writes about the evolution of fashion in the NBA world from the 1900s till now. He argues that the current generation has turned fashion back to what it was in the 1900s due to the kind of style NBA pros have adapted to now. He supports his argument by showing how when Kevin Durant attends press conferences, he wears a semi-formal attire, but what meets the eye, is the backpack he's always wearing. Morris pokes fun at this, writing that someone might think he's carrying actual homework in the backpack. He continues by adding more examples of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade and how although they wear suits, their colors and patterns clash, and their nerd glasses are unnecessary. Morris points out that their fashion trend compares to Carlton's, who was bullied for wearing such attire, which leads Morris to ask, "Is it really safe to look like Carlton Banks?"

So, is it? I would like to answer Morris' question by stating that, although the Carlton fashion was associated with bullying and back in the day it might have not been safe, through the rise of the NBA nerd, it is safe to dress like that. In fact, I think it's not only influential, but also beneficial. This is due to the fact that lots of individuals look up to these NBA players, especially kids. For example, my brother LOVES basketball and so he looks up to Kevin Durant, Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, and especially LeBron James. Because of this, they have a huge influence on him in the sense that he imitates almost everything they do; he buys expensive brand shoes just because one of the players advertised them and even goes the extent of buying the players' shoes and dressing like them, be it "Carlton style" or not. The  reason I think it's beneficial when these players dress in such a manner, is because it helps reduce racism; if a kid goes to school dressed like LeBron did on a press conference, he won't be picked on because every kid knows LeBron is cool and so that makes the kid cool and the bully uncool. These NBA nerds are not only making a fashion statement but they are also making a statement towards bullying.

Along with the question of pulling a Carlton and the safety of it, Morris also asks,  "The sport can change its clothes, but,..., will it ever change its attitude?" This question arises in the scenario where a reporter complimented Dwight Howard about his cardigan. Morris writes about how, "If Howard thinks compliments about his cardigan are gay, he probably shouldn't wear one."

Concerning his way of writing and the way he makes his argument, the major part is that Morris compares 1900s to today. He uses visual rhetoric to create his argument using the images he paints in our minds of Carlton and how he compares to the images of Kevin Durant and LeBron James. His argument is relevant because it focuses on the issues, especially on the NBA nerds, due to stereotypes.