https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XleOkGsYgO8
"Move Along" by the All American Rejects
Longest shot- at the very end when Tyson leaves the scene at a medium shot. 10 seconds, from 3:51 to 4:01. Other long shots were 5 or 6 seconds.

Born into Coal Homework

I really found this documentary interesting, coming from Kentucky and knowing how much coal plays in the lives of those in the eastern and some western parts of the state.

For the narrative style, I felt that it was almost a mix of both human interest and standard. Some of the documentary seemed to focus on Arianna while other parts seemed to focus more on the general community feeling and culture of the area.

The first shot I found interesting was towards the beginning of the documentary. We had just gotten done watching this cute pageant and everything looks like a normal American scene. Then we see Arianna close up in a pool, she's living the life of a queen. The shot then comes out and we see it's an above ground pool at some little house with a motor bike in the yard and an old, beat up deck with some beat up outdoor furniture. It really wasn't the scene I was expecting to see at all after the pageant and pool. It really got me focused on the documentary. Right before this point, you'd probably be assuming this girl is well off and has a nice house. But no sir!

I think the shot that probably connected to me the most and to the rest of the audience (assuming they aren't as familiar with this culture) was the close up shot on Arianna's dad fresh out of the coal mine, although they might've touched up on him a bit, I'm not really sure. But either way, he looks rough and real. His expression shows the hard-working nature and determined outlook to take care of his family. You get dirty with coal. It's not just some simple stroll underground picking up little rocks and putting them in a bag like its Halloween night.

I don't feel like the shots themselves would be much trouble to re-create. It's just the idea and creative thinking put behind it that really makes them so great. Throughout the documentary there were plenty of close ups of faces and reactions to get some emotions in you. I think it was made well and was effective in conveying the concern of the coal business and the issues surrounding it.

Homework for October 14th

Visual Rhetoric is "reading with pictures" or using pictures to communicate a message. I myself am a visual person/learner, so I found very quickly that I can benefit from it. 

In Henry Hargreaves photo gallery, he simply took an overhead picture of the meal each person wanted for their last meal. Simply seeing the meal made me think to myself what I would ask for if it was myself, and made myself think more about each person individually. Why they chose what they chose. What captions were on the side that gave some insight as to why. This made it very interesting for myself as I looked at each picture and saw what choices people had, making me hungry as well. Henry made sure the meal was well-lit, showcased in full detail so it was as real as it would be in person to get you thinking about how real the situation is when it's the last meal of someone's life, which is a very effective way to get people's attention. By also giving the basics as to why the person was having a last meal and a little information on each person, it really fulfilled feeling a connection to each convicted.

With the last meals project, they decided to also use a mug shot of each convict's face, another way of getting a personal feeling for each convict. around the same amount of text and description as Hargreaves' visual rhetoric had. I found Hargreaves' presentation more appealing because seeing the food so clearly and detailed made it feel more real and sensitive to me. To make it even more effective I thought they could've put more on each convict's thoughts about the food or reasoning behind the food they chose. Both presentations wanted to get you feeling about what you personally would want and make you think that these "villains" are people who like the same foods as many of us and have a connection or tie to us. 

Speech Reflection

In assessing my speech, I was glad to be able to see what I looked like up there. I was able to get out all the information and points out that I needed to give, but as Mr. Horton mentioned, it felt unorganized and not structured; random. My voice was at a good level for most of the speech, though I thought that I needed to take more breaths and use shorter sentences. I would end a sentence mumbling because I would be running out of breath. I had practiced giving the speech nine or ten times by time to present, but I agreed with Mr. Horton again in the fact that it needed to be rehearsed far more. I knew what I needed to say, but not exactly with the presentable look and organization that it needed. My movements were few, a step here and there and little hand movement. I am not one to usually talk with my hands, but I have certainly learned that it makes a person much more appealing and easier to listen to if they are, as well with a little pacing. Lastly, I agreed once again with Mr. Horton that my eye contact seemed fine, I saw that my eyes would drift from person to person at a reasonable and comfortable rate, which helped keep the audience's attention. All in all, I felt like a C was a reasonable grade for the speech I gave. I would have given the same to myself if I were the one to grade it.

Ted talks

After watching these ted talks, it has helped me learn that whatever I chose for my shark tank proposal, I must feel strongly about it if I want to do a good job. These three ted talks had people who felt very strongly about what they were talking about, and it made their speeches as interesting as they are. It has been very interesting to watch these and I think I'm going to start regularly watching ed talks. Here are three that I watched. While none of them are perfect, they all had their strong and weak points, and all gave good points.

http://www.ted.com/talks/zak_ebrahim_i_am_the_son_of_a_terrorist_here_s_how_i_chose_peace#t-12445

Hand jesters are close to him, not going outward. Making him not look confident. Speaking slow, can understand well. Keeps his voice level and calm, but still interesting. Gets the important facts and does not stray from his topic. Looks around making eye contact with the crowd. All his stories/ points directly relate to how he sees the world today and makes the decisions he makes. It puts in black and white why he is not “father like son”. Stood in the same position for the whole time, could’ve moved around some more to increase interest to the audience.

http://www.ted.com/talks/colin_grant_the_son_of_a_difficult_father

very descriptive, with good tone of voice. Little hand movement or jesters. Is very realistic and blunt. Keeps the audience paying attention through funny remarks describing something about his dad or using an interesting metaphor. Nice transition from talking about his situation to more of a generalization with his kids as well. Comes to good conclusions and explains why things happened the way they did to him. Very intriguing stories about how his dad made his choices and the reactions he got after seeing his dad.  In the end, he concludes he and his dad worked to mend their relationship and his dad accepted that he had done wrong.

http://www.ted.com/talks/isabelle_allende_how_to_live_passionately_no_matter_your_age

Takes her time getting each word out and expresses good body language. Focuses around your attitude on life. Doesn’t ramble off on tangents, comes back to main point after brief sidetrack. Uses lots of vocabulary.

Naked Celebrity Leaks, Homework for Thursday, September 4

Living in the technological era, we are all at least familiar with the culture of sexting and taking "nudes". It has become something that society has started to accept, with Snapchat especially. Privacy becomes public the minute that picture is shared or stolen.

Nude of my cat. 

Scott Mendelson's article informs us that nude pictures from several celebrities were stolen from their phones and "leaked" out into the Internet. From there, he says that the victims/ celebrities have nothing to apologize for.They did nothing immoral or legally wrong. The situation is not a scandal, but a huge sex crime in which they have been victimized. It is also not their responsibility to protect their property from theft and hacking.

The celebrities haven't done anything illegal or immoral. It was their personal property, and it was stolen. Yes, they have been victimized. But if these celebrities don't want to end up being in this situation with the media exploiting it, then they should have either never taken the picture or found a way to better protect their property. People are going to steal, or try to steal. And the only way you can really prevent that from happening is doing your best to find ways to keep it private and safe.

As much as this topic comes up in the news, it isn't too much of a surprise for myself, and probably the same for a lot of people. But it does raise some suspicion.. how easy is it for our own photos and private property to be stolen?