Monthly Archives: November 2012

Before our workshop on how to figure out how to work iMovie, I was kind of freaking out. None of the members in my group knew how to operate iMovie. So after going to the workshop I felt much better. Once I learned all of the aspects of it I became more interested in making the video. Personally my favorite part of it was adding sounds to the clips. I added a frog noise clip while the girl was talking and I thought it was the funniest thing. Anyways, I feel like this project is a great way for us to get more creative with our video capabilities. I mean, we are the generation of technology, so the fact that a lot of us didn’t know how to use iMovie kind of surprised me. I thought I was going to be the only one who had no idea what it was. I think for my group we will be able to incorporate various interviews, while also using images and data from the internet. Also, I think we’ll be able to appeal to the pathos of the audience by simply incorporating some sad sounding song into our video, similar to the Sarah McLaughlin video for the ASPCA. Clearly we have an interesting topic that provides a lot of good information and I think by using iMovie we will be able to get a message across very easily given the tools that are present.

So this week when my group met we brainstormed a lot of controversial topics. All of them ranging from the passage of laws allowing the recreational use of marijuana to child soldiers around the world. I feel like all of the topics we discussed were great and potential things for us to address. This assignment is definitely going to turn out to be very interesting. I think every group will approach a topic in their own way and this will make everything cool.  My only concern with this project is the incorporation of iMovie. I’ve never worked with it before, and I guess I’ll have to figure it out before I have to work with my group. Anyways, I think my group is really focused on the controversy of child soldiers. This is clearly a topic that many Americans are sensitive too. If anyone remembers the whole Kony thing that came out of nowhere, people started an uproar for a short time period, but then it kind of died out. Anyways, it is definitely something that people do not approve of here in the states, but I imagine we could also approach the view of those who use the child soldiers and see how they look at the situation. Not only is the situation controversial, but the views of those in charge is also controversial. I feel like we would definitely be able to make a video that meets the time requirements because there is so much information on this subject. I am really looking forward to what other controversies people pick and how they approach their videos. I personally liked the State Patty’s Day video a lot, and hopefully my group’s project will be just as great as that one!

So this week my sole focus has been on my speech. At first I thought “How the heck am I supposed to give an interesting talk on cell phones?!” But after racking my brain for a while I decided to give a speech that brings light to societies growing dependence on cell phones. The first way to demonstrate this that came to mind was comparing my mom’s usage of her phone, to my own. Quite frankly, I thought this captured the differences between generations. My mom was born in 1954 and is a part of the Baby Boomers. While I am part of Generation Y. I used this to show that technology fueled my generation’s dependence on phones, which then made it a widespread ideology throughout society. I mean, Generation Y got to experience firsthand this major shift, as it grew up our very own noses and we were a main reason for its growth. I then decided to focus on how most new outlets and newspapers now have apps for phones. The companies have seen that cell phones have grown in importance and therefore have altered their publication methods in order to survive. One of the companies that did not survive was the Rocky Mountain News. In 2009 it had to close its doors because of a decrease in newspaper sales.  I’d imagine that if they had converted to a mobile format they would still be in business today. My next point is that idea that politics has also morphed into a mobile sensation. You can now receive texts from politicians, emails on your phone, and they have various apps that make themselves sound better. Even Vermin Supreme has his own app that supports him. This technological shift has changed how people receive their news. Now it is accessible everywhere at any time. And this was definitely not the case about two decades ago. My last topic is the increase in texting and driving, and how this has led to greater deaths and injuries in people. Societies addiction to texting has landed itself on the road. And because of this people are not only endangering themselves, but those around them as well. Anyways, my speech at this point  is about 5 minutes ( but knowing me I’ll freak out and spit out 100 words per second, resulting in less time taken). Hopefully everything goes as planned tomorrow.