Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Video Blogs
I guess you can say I made some video blogs. Well, if it makes you feel any better I am currently looking at the Torre pendente di Pisa and I am eating some left over pizza. It's been one awesome semester abroad, Ciao.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Post 10
For this post, I am looking at the tropos of the final video of a past CAAH 201/Study Abroad student: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf2bX8IrhqA&list=UU-_3kWO3O0AtNrrmSWwPSDg&index=9.
The student decided to use strictly pictures and personal photographs for her video with a voiceover. While this provides plenty of visuals, the same viewing effect of the pictures and the continuing voice over can make the presentation a little less exciting. But, good credit to the information in the video is instantly known because the student shares her knowledge and background with veterinary sciences. This can create more focus to the information because the information comes from a first-hand knowledgeable source.
The video was dry in terms of visual appeal--no videos, music or creative backgrounds/fonts--so it was harder to truly appreciate the video. It seems like visual appeal--colors, juxtaposition and so forth--is a big component to tropos considerations. Also, the information was presented in more of a monotone manner--the speaker did not necessarily sound thrilled about the subject though she discussed her passion for veterinary sciences at the beginning of the video. There were also some awkward transitions between what the speaker was discussing and utilizing an appropriate photo while it was being discussed. There were a few delays in displaying the proper photo and sometimes some early appearances.
Overall, the video is very factual and provides some good knowledge comparing the student's home culture and their host culture, but the design should be better laid out to keep the attention of anyone who watches the video. Some sort of video--of the city, of a veterinarian in the UK, etc.--would have been useful throughout the video. But, it's harder to evaluate the tropos, to find true purpose because it seems the student discussed the information and then matched up pictures as needed. So, the tropos needs some improvement but that's all.
The student decided to use strictly pictures and personal photographs for her video with a voiceover. While this provides plenty of visuals, the same viewing effect of the pictures and the continuing voice over can make the presentation a little less exciting. But, good credit to the information in the video is instantly known because the student shares her knowledge and background with veterinary sciences. This can create more focus to the information because the information comes from a first-hand knowledgeable source.
The video was dry in terms of visual appeal--no videos, music or creative backgrounds/fonts--so it was harder to truly appreciate the video. It seems like visual appeal--colors, juxtaposition and so forth--is a big component to tropos considerations. Also, the information was presented in more of a monotone manner--the speaker did not necessarily sound thrilled about the subject though she discussed her passion for veterinary sciences at the beginning of the video. There were also some awkward transitions between what the speaker was discussing and utilizing an appropriate photo while it was being discussed. There were a few delays in displaying the proper photo and sometimes some early appearances.
Overall, the video is very factual and provides some good knowledge comparing the student's home culture and their host culture, but the design should be better laid out to keep the attention of anyone who watches the video. Some sort of video--of the city, of a veterinarian in the UK, etc.--would have been useful throughout the video. But, it's harder to evaluate the tropos, to find true purpose because it seems the student discussed the information and then matched up pictures as needed. So, the tropos needs some improvement but that's all.
Post 12 Rhetorical Analyses of 2 Media Artifacts
http://www.behance.net/gallery/Le-Coq-Sportif-Spring-Collection-Ad-Campaign/600555
This is a Le Coq Sportif advertisement showing some of their new gear. The advertisement shows two people coming out of eggs meaning that they are "breaking out of their shell" and trying new ideas to attract customers. Le Coq Sportif is using this ad to also tell possible customers that they need to try something new and why not try Le Coq. Another message that Le Coq Sportif is trying to send is that everyone is different and different is good so why not be yourself and create and image that only you can be.
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| http://files.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_512/5125005/file/boursin-cheese-the-mouse-small-60009.jpg |
Post 11
After living in the Paris for the past four months I have noticed that a lot of Parisians freak out about most things. The day after North Korea started to go loco they had a massive rally by my school. People flocked down to La Defense to protest against something so small and that would probably have nothing to do with them. What makes Paris even better is that they can protest whenever they want and every protest is massive. Since Paris is so involved in social events and they like to let everyone know how they feel I have decided to make my interview lean more towards what my host culture thinks is the best way to deal with a social issue. I walked around La Defense one day and asked people how they felt about recent events such as the bombings in Boston and how they think it will change their everyday life. Security is already extremely crazy in Paris because of the conflict in Mali that started when we first came over to France. Also, now that gay marriage is legal I will have to ask people how they feel about that issue. I really want to get involved with the same sex marriage law because there has been a lot of protesting during the voting of this bill. I will probably only use these interviews for my final project about public issues since it will be on the most interesting topics.
Post 9 Final Project Ideas
For my final project about public issues I am going to create a video which includes and interview regarding social events in Europe and how people reacted to them. I will be interviewing random people and will ask them how they feel about certain public issues that have happened recently. This may be difficult given many people don't like speaking about such topics in public but I will do my best to get an answer. Gay marriage just became legal in France so that may be one question that I ask. This is because there has been massive riots against gay marriage since I have been living in Paris and it would be very interesting to see how others feel about an unpopular idea becoming a law.
For my video relating to my personal engagement in my host culture I will show you what I do on a normal day. Starting with my walk to school and the views and people that I see everyday. I will not bore you buy showing the life of the metro even though I have spent days riding it back in forth throughout the city. I will however show you what it is like to live in Paris for four months by giving you insight on the delicious food and drinks that are popular here. My video will include all that I believe is necessary to show you how I have engaged my host culture.
For my video regarding how careers related to my major are practiced in my host culture I will show you how everyone goes about their day here in the Business District of Paris. Since I live in the business hub I will easily be able to show you how my major is practiced here. Accounting is a very dry major so this video may not be the most exciting one you have ever seen, and if it is... well you may just be an accountant.
For my video relating to my personal engagement in my host culture I will show you what I do on a normal day. Starting with my walk to school and the views and people that I see everyday. I will not bore you buy showing the life of the metro even though I have spent days riding it back in forth throughout the city. I will however show you what it is like to live in Paris for four months by giving you insight on the delicious food and drinks that are popular here. My video will include all that I believe is necessary to show you how I have engaged my host culture.
For my video regarding how careers related to my major are practiced in my host culture I will show you how everyone goes about their day here in the Business District of Paris. Since I live in the business hub I will easily be able to show you how my major is practiced here. Accounting is a very dry major so this video may not be the most exciting one you have ever seen, and if it is... well you may just be an accountant.
Post 8 (Yep, talking about the pictures again)
This post is reflecting on Post 7 (Pictures) and why I took each picture.
I took this picture for many reasons. First off, I have never seen mountains like this before in my life. Since I grew up in Cincinnati I never saw mountains unless I went on vacation and we drove through the Appalachian Mountains and those are not nearly as amazing as the mountains in Innsbruck, Austria. The mountains are the main reason why Innsbruck is the town it is today given the Winter Olympics took place in Innsbruck twice in the last fifty years. When I was walking from the train station to my hotel I came to this view. With mountains surrounding the city every picture I took had the mountains towering in the background. As I stood on the bridge to take this picture a line formed behind me so I knew this had to be a good shot of the town. With the houses on the right and the majority of the mountains on the left I feel like I balanced out this shot well and it will go down as one of my favorites.
This photo was also taken in Innsbruck, Austria. Once again you can see the mountains in the background and the colored houses in the middle. I took this picture, honestly, because I thought it looked cool. All of the houses were painted a different color and this picture captures the majority of the colors. I also made it so most of the colors that would pop out would be in the middle. This picture isn't one of my favorites but I do like the way it turned out.
This is a photo of Manneken-Pis. This small statue is a big deal in Brussels and to me that is funny because how small this statue really is. Periodically, the statue is dressed up but I went to Brussels twice and it wasn't. I made sure I didn't zoom in on this photo because I wanted to show the size of the statue in comparison to objects around it.
McDonald's In Paris
For this post I will be comparing McDonald's in France with McDonald's in America. Yummy!!
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| French McDonald's Website The French McDonald's website is very different than the McDonald's website that we see in America. The French use a very simple layout which makes it easier for their target market to understand. The logo in that is used on this website is different than the one you see in America. Although they still use the Golden Arches the background is green and not the normal red. This is because the French are trying to appeal to their customers emotionally. All of Europe is in a "Green Movement" and by creating a logo with the green background lets McDonald's customers know that the McDonald's corporation is also trying to go green. |
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| EasyOrder- McDonald's France All of the McDonald's in France have these EasyOrder Machines. This specific one is an example from the McDonald's on the Champs-Élysées. EasyOrder machines only except payment by card and you skip to the front of the lines that clog up every McDonald's. |
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| United States McDonald's Website The McDonald's website in America looks very different than the one in France. The logo is still the same red and gold. Compared to the French site the American site is very confusing and instead of just showing pictures of food on the front page there are links to take you to other aspects of the site. For example, the picture in the middle on the bottom shows an average man that McDonald's tells you "picks the apples for happy meals." By doing this it makes the customers feel closer to the people who make the ingredients for meals at McDonald's and it makes the food seem more legit and healthier to customers.
I went to the McDonald's on the Champs-Élysées (which is the most profitable McDonald's in the world) late one night. The lines where crazy and took up half of the restaurant and the EasyOrder machines even had lines. In La Defense, there is a mall that has three McDonald's in it and are all connected by elevators and escalators. If you go to a McDonald's in Europe you are guaranteed to see an item on the menu that you have never seen before. In Paris you can by a normal Big Mac but then get potato wedges instead of fries and you can even replace your Coke with a nice beer. Just going into the McDonald's in France was a cultural experience that I will never forget.
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