What I’ve gathered from the past few classes is that rhetoric is more than just writing and speaking. Rhetoric comes in many different forms, and multimedia is one such type of rhetoric. Learning how to effectively communicate via audiovisual means is both a relatively new and increasingly important skill.
Up until this point, my group has only prepared a script and outlined an organizational structure for our project; we have yet to determine exactly how to go about transitions. However, in thinking about how our video would look, I’m imagining a documentary-like format that includes narration, pictures, and videos. In particular, I suspect that it would be easiest for the narration to be the thread that holds the entire video together, with the visuals reflecting whatever information is spoken. Considering that our group already has a script prepared, this would also be the most logical choice.
In class we discussed the interplay between audio and visual components of film. Varying the timing of the images and the corresponding audio creates a more textured video experience by avoiding the repetitive “PowerPoint” syndrome of matching visuals and audio exactly. Hopefully, we can create a more sophisticated relationship between audio and visuals by playing one off of the other.
In terms of overall structure, our topic lends itself to two intertwining subtopics: nuclear power and nuclear energy. While the project needs to be organized and clearly state the information, it would be interesting if the structure of the video could reflect the tension between nuclear power and nuclear energy. Perhaps split screen effects could work to demonstrate this conflict.
Learning to become fluent in audiovisual media is just like learning to write or speak; developing the skill requires both time and practice. This assignment is an excellent opportunity to present research in a modern context.
