Prezi Projec

My audio file was too large to upload to Prezi.com.. so I rearranged it and got a little inventive with screencast-o-matic to present it. Watch the video first, and if you would like to go back and check out some of the youtube links then you can access those slides using the link below. I have one of the tracks from the podcast in the background playing, but no podcast.

http://prezi.com/fuvymmizl8k_/copy-of-means-of-survival/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Reflective Piece

In writing the script for the prezi, I had a lot of trouble visually representing it. It especially became troublesome because I had already spent so much time on the visuals in parts. Piecing them together was quite annoying. Going back again, I’m going to solidify my script 100% before I do the visual stuff. On the other hand, because of the way my mind works (visually), mapping the project out was something I absolutely needed to do before writing. It was a catch 22, and the middle ground between the two was not easy. I also think from now on I will use a blank prezi instead of a template. The only things I kept from the original one was the tape and one notebook paper. Everything else I deleted and customized the fonts and colors of everything after changing the color theme to Midnight. I didn’t like the color scheme in the template I used so I either changed the colors or got rid of it.

            The overall look of it is trying to accomplish a contemporary ‘student’ feel which would cater to people with similar problems. Though you may think this is more geared toward creative endeavors, it’s actually addressed to everyone – science majors included. This is about focus, not necessarily creative process. I tried to address the root issues that could be detracting from a person’s ability to focus on studying, reading, writing, yoga, a conversation with their mother, anything. Some people are affected visually – which is why I did the stop motion screen cast and tried to make everything cohesive. Also the sight of clutter is connected to the emotional affect clutter can have on an individual. Emotional distraction as I referred to it: depression during finals week is not what I mean. During finals we tend to “excuse” certain unhealthy habits. But what if you’re going 100MPH 24/7? Then your body will really start to suffer and you can become addicted to various substances and sugars to maintain animation, as I call it, animated corpse.

            I learned a lot about the connection to image and words during this project. Especially in the process. I was used to photoshop key shortcuts and track pad gestures that had to be re-learned in Prezi. I also struggled with PNG files that had a lot of clear space around them until I realized I could just crop them. I have layers and layers of frames in one, like the “Controlled” Environment slide, where I had to actually go in and delete the stuff in the first box, create new frames to focus on different things and then add the rest back in the last frame. Timing was really important and it took many run-throughs of my script read out to figure out the visual flow, and how best to represent the words. I would go back and add more visual components, but have them all my original drawings and photos. The part about NET is annoying because those aren’t my images. The only one that is is the NET hands and the brain, to represent that it helps to bring out the subconscious (the majority of our brain) for us to deal with.

            I should have done my entire project on applied kinesiology and Neuro-emotional-testing, because I know a lot about it, and am extremely interested in Chinese medicinal practices, which is part of a heritage I’m passionate about. It’s a hybrid of many different types applied sciences and practices, which I think is really cool. I made one of my ways of getting organized that focal point, because I figured it would offer something new to start thinking about. I also focused a lot on music because it is the single most important tool in doing almost anything. Whatever I’m feeling or doing has a song. And if there’s no music available I’ll sing. I hope that it at least started a thought process about the many forces at play that contribute to an overall sense of control in an ideal study environment or situation.

            Making it your own was the main theme I wanted you to take from this. I wanted it to be more of a food for thought piece, to raise awareness of different methods I, and others use to improve productivity. I did so not just through ideas, but through the lettering and pictures I created in photoshop. The letters are constructed of the photoshoot I did in my room which is part of the video in the “controlled” environment frame, just heavily edited. The pictures were done in several shoots, and I’m really happy with how they turned out. I tried to create consistency through the pictures, having a boy and a girl, a video, and the layout similar. I spent the majority of my time probably on manipulating fonts!

            The research I did was mostly for psych related articles. I recently attended a research colloquium that taught me that google scholar can lead you to the bottom feeder articles that aren’t as reliable. I used the Davidson access to JSTOR and found exactly what I was looking for. It’s always exciting to find that perfect evidence. One thing I would add for future research is that it takes a while (and sometimes should be done on google to start) to find the proper terminology which is widely used in tags, and may not be how you would normally phrase your search. Those key words you pick up through finding sharper connotative meanings through the net, will lead you more relevant articles!

            From this assignment I really learned that before I can do anything visually I needed to have the audio done first. That was a nightmare. I changed so much of my presentation throughout the writing and recording process and am still considering going back and changing it again. I depended to much on an audio script and wanted my presentation to be more like a movie than a powerpoint. I felt the need to visually entertain. There are points where my words don’t match up with the text, but that is to try and elevator pitch those ideas to you while I explain the depth.

            I would say that for the next class, definitely pass on the research information I have in here. That helped me a ton! Also, I would tell students that before they even get the visual representation together, they should treat it like a podcast that will be shown visually as an aid, but not a necessary one. Or, for screen-casting, to record a written piece after rehearsing the motions on the computer, in audacity. Then, play that in headphones and record the screencast silently. I think I should have done this, and I might end up doing it, but taking the sound out of the screen-cast video and importing it to imovie, then adding the podcast over it. These are things I hope will help to think about.

Being able to manipulate my own images to create a look was so fun and fulfilling. I definitely plan on doing many many more of these with my original artwork completely. Down to every shape and every letter.

***On a final note, I struggled with technical difficulties during this project. I couldn’t upload the audio file for some reason, so I ended up changing it into more of a movie and playing the audio on my computer. The recording is low quality and that makes me sad, but hopefully I’ll figure out how to get a better video of it. The audio file wont be emailed or uploaded anywhere… I must be saving it wrong. I’ll figure it out!

Media for the soul

G r e e t i n g s. I come to you as a 21 year old English student with a music and visual addiction.

I like the point fast, I want it clear and I want style. I find when reading, take poetry par example, I don't quite enjoy the poem until I start to get some of the references and pick out the greater meaning of it. That's why your high school teachers made you read poems three times (which I'm sure you did, of course). With things too over my head, I become frustrated and put such authors in with Milton, lost, blind, and bitter. (Harsh, I know, but really? making a quicky one-line reference to Philomela after a packed line of muses, flower goddesses and allusions, then moving on to the next flower? Philomela has a GNARLY story, as we North County San Diegans say, that is not to be touched on lightly. So this story of Philomela encapsulated in one line - are we supposed to delve into the story like good little golden retrievers, do our homework then return to the poem? And suppose Milton just uses the story to do the work for him. "Those suckers are going to do the work while I'll just sit here in my bower, highness of intellect." Show off.) That was a long aside. The point I may or may not be transparent in relating to you is that as a contemporary young person interested in communication, arts, culture and language I, despite having the consciousness of some distant longer attention span, still fall into the category of "I want it NOW."

You want Art with a capital A? HERE. TAKE IT. JUST TAKE IT.

http://www.booooooom.com/

OH AND THIS. TAKE IT.

http://www.fecalface.com/SF/index.php/tag/collage

Ha! Now I've got you right where I want you. Once you take a look at these sites, you'll start to find art you might like to know more about. Well that's where google search comes in, and then you're looking at an artist's page, and you might look at artists they follow, or gain inspiration from. I spent a good chunk of my free time freshman year drowning myself in the SF art scene. Oh how things (don't) change.

And duh, I'm sure you already know this one:

http://pitchfork.com/

But here's one you may not know about. They're pretty quick, they get it done. They're informative and relevant to the Isla Vista, college community. If you like to be up on good music, they cater to all audiences, but are a little heavy on live-electronic. That said, in no way should "genre" of music limit you in discovery. Listen to it before you judge it, that's how I started to trust their music taste. I was an Elliott Smith girl before I listened to How to Dress Well. It's all done by SB kids, a small group of them. They're having a zine release down town March 6th. I'll have some art published in it as well! Their designers are really talented, and there's a gem in there called "Bruce Springsteen is an American Hero, God Dammit". This is not just a plug, but it's a site I actually use. They'll compile top 100 songs of 2013 and set up a playlist. Or, you can read about a local Sun Daes or Eastern Bakery show in IV.

Oh yeah, and they post free music.
http://speakvolumesmedia.com/

This stuff is short and sweet, gets to the point, fluffs it up a bit so the necessary plumage is flaunted, then tucks itself back away and you can move on with your life yielding the spoils of a very long music search.

Mutlimedia writing, people think, is mostly journalistic. But it's not. I would die to work here:

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/

and

http://www.popshotpopshot.com/

oh and woah... they updated their site. Jerks. Yale... who are they again?

http://yalelitmag.com/


If you're bored and have abundant time, (ha!) I would love to hear your ideas for this satirical piece I'm writing for fun. I need ideas for the latter part, where you'll see some of the beginnings.

Here's a bit of fun I had last night, thinking about Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal"
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/modest.html

Dear Student & Family,

As a matter of upmost importance concerning the wellbeing of all University of California Santa Barbara students, it is with great necessity and fastidious nature I take on this disconcerting topic.

Hipsters.

Hipsters, both agent and affliction have spread (our sources suspect) originating from the Pacific North West, with almost identical traces found in the Portland area, and from SoCal: the LA and North County San Diego region, to our previously unaffected campus. Judging by the severity of this onset of symptoms, there is little time to waste. A growing number of twenty-something’s have not only taken on characteristics identical to the well known outbreak centers as previously stated, but it has been observed that recent victims have begun to hybridize, cross and regenerate new forms of the condition. While mirroring the open-relationship, unwashed, cigarette huffing , freeloading habits most commonly witnessed in Portland, there are no signs that the live-electronic storm brewing in the LA region will subside before completely engulfing the Isla Vista area. Yet, this particular breed stretching from Isla Vista to down town Santa Barbara, unlike Portlandians, the afflicted are significantly less resistant to cold; accounting for the significant migration from the Northern region of San Diego, and are weakened further, for they do not possess waterproof clothing or footwear. Regrettably, these students are increasingly caught in the clutches of adverse distraction, as many have been known to, in accordance with weather conditions, neglect their studies to examine what one called, referring to rain drops, “the silver snakes” running down the window, or, become otherwise removed from normative social behavioral patterns, such as the dissociative tendency to reside in the home on a sunny day, explore the beach in the fog, or gravitate toward a damp cigarette in the rain rather than a dry one. They, in addiction[1], appear to either have lost or deteriorated connections in the brain that associate self-preservation with health, and choose to, despite claiming a higher education, smoke tobacco related products.

Parents and sources have complained of the bottomless bank account syndrome: a semi-advanced stage of the condition. Due to the brevity of this message, I will only relay a small fragment of the extent of this stage. Despite openly acknowledging a sparsely equipped checking account, these unfortunates have been known to engage in the practice of one or more of the following: shopping for specialty food items at the Food Co-op, buying festival tickets which include accommodations and fare, paying admission for several music events sometimes per week, (and bartering what profit that otherwise might have been made through journalistic endeavors at these events for free admission), the weekly or by-weekly purchase of cigarettes from SOS, a bag full of thrift store items or a trade of old for new-old clothing with negative net cost, or finally a day’s pay spent on a weekend ski trip.

If your child, friend, or loved one is suffering from any if these symptoms it is best to seek help. The only way to change the early onset is by large numbers of people, otherwise, the young hipster’s ego may become too large to control by sheer numbers. When the ego has been enlarged, the semi-incurable mindset shift allows any hipster to transcend the majority, and therefore empowers the experienced hipster to further enable others to engage in the angsty pleasures of counter culture.

Because of our unfortunate location here in Santa Barbara, we, now fallen victim to the crossfire, are unable to hold the forces at the gate any longer. I call on you, members of our luminous Greek-affiliated groups, brothers and drunk-ass-bitches, your parents, and friends to help put a stop to this atrocity.  This, a horrid affliction threatening the very existence of well-to-do sons and daughters, must be put to a short drop and a sudden stop, beginning with the newest cases, which still might be reversed. The lost causes are those who brought this controversy here with them, or have experienced high involvement in literary, artistic, or musical activity, and they must simply be driven out. There is no hope for them here.

Continues to the Solution, Cures, and extermination procedures.

Ideas:

Bros band together: hold jam sessions on the beach, offer poison wine

Clothing

Pide-piper – draw hipsters out of town in crowds with ice cream trucks filled with marijuana, beer and whiskey playing [1 of fifty million artists I could say]

Bait and switch – concert tickets, Coachella tickets

Laugh at them – they don’t like it

Laugh at them especially when they are doing something intellectually stimulating or intellectually showboating

Tell them they haven’t seen the world

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[1] Pun. Couldn’t not.