Taylor Klein

In today’s world immersed in digital technology, students including myself have become accustomed to multimedia environments within various social and educational institutions. Mary Hock’s Study, “Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments,” suggests that multimedia writing allows for visual and interactive means of persuasion and effective writing. Since the development of new media, digital writing environments are able to combine words with visuals to create a new form of visual rhetoric (Hocks, 2003). Therefore, with increased access to digital technologies in the 21^st century, interactive forms of digital media have enabled new forms of teaching styles and how we express our writing. Not only do we now have access to various forms of social media writing as seen on Facebook and Twitter, but we also encounter different types of expressive writing through Tumblr, YouTube, and other interactive sites. Such multimedia venues allow users to organize information through text along with other convenient and interesting features including combinations of sounds, videos, and graphics (Davidson-Shivers, Nowlin, & Lanouette, 2002). Thus, multimedia writing provides writers with many useful tools beyond the mere use of text to convey a specific message. However, there remains the question of whether or not multimedia writing is a better or worse strategy of communication as opposed to other modes, specifically text-only writing. While there are definite advantages to multimedia writing, including the ability to reach a wide audience and immediately provide information on a large scale, there are also disadvantages that can decrease the value of text alone. Multimedia writing allows readers’ attention to shift from the text to other distracting and sometimes unnecessary features including sound and graphics.  However, multimedia writing undoubtedly has its benefits in that it can also allow writers to clarify and express their ideas through more visual means.

After completing and analyzing my own multimedia writing projects throughout the course, I realized that multimedia writing is a more dynamic and creative form of writing than I have ever experienced. Because I knew I was making my “posts” public to my followers on Tumblr, I had to focus more on the aesthetics and the style of my writing as opposed to the research oftentimes involved with short response papers. I wanted my projects to appeal to my readers, so I focused on making my writing and images as concise, relevant, and as interesting as possible. I noticed that when sometimes I wanted to write more, less ended up being better to convey a more succinct and understandable message. Also, links (hyperlinks) made it easier for me to insert citations while making it easier for my readers to validate my primary sources through a simple click of their mouse. I will now focus on a few of my favorite and most challenging multimedia writing projects throughout the course and how the use of visuals, video, and text affected my writing style. 

YouTube Project: A Collective Effort for Literary Translation

My group’s literary translation of the poem, “A Supermarket in California,” by Allen Ginsberg was the most complex and challenging form of multimedia writing I experienced all quarter. It was definitely a trial to collectively write a video script by combining everyone’s unique interpretations of the poem and ultimately creating a cohesive, final video everyone would love. While the scripting took about an hour and a half, the majority of our time was dedicated to creating multimedia combinations – including the typography reflecting the text and video/still images providing the visuals for the YouTube video. This was a unique writing experience in that I was not able to showcase my own writing, but instead focused on how to convey another poet’s writing in an effective and interesting way.

*Link to “A Supermarket in California by Allen Ginsberg (With Kinetic Typography)…NOW AT ALMOST 1000 VIEWS!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT8a0_9wABQ

Text/Image Project: A Visual, Environmental Message

Ariel and my text/image project was a multimedia project through which we were able to combine factual information and photos to communicate an environmental message. During this project, I learned of the enormous impact of image over text. Some of our first drafts included text that overwhelmed the pictures of trash pervading Isla Vista beaches. We quickly realized that our message suggesting the magnitude of the problem during move-out time in June (during which students dispose of furniture and other bulk items onto the Isla Vista beaches) could be more effectively stressed through our photos over wordy text that distracted from the photos. This was definitely a reality check to myself and my tendency to overwrite – sometimes more words are not always better or more effective.

*See blog for text/image examples for “Talkin Trash: Treating Your Trash Right”

Creating My First Wikipedia Page: A Hyperlinked Experience

Creating my first Wikipedia page was a very interesting and successful multimedia writing experience. Having never written a Wikipedia page or published any of my own research-based writing before on the internet, the website was a very useful first-time outlet to showcase my own writing and research to the public. While I wrote about Edward Easton, the mayor of Goleta, I was able to use hyperlinks in in-text citations to validate my sources for my readers. So far, few people have attempted to edit my page, and I will continue to add information to maintain its validity and currency for Wikipedia users.

Link to my Wikipedia page for Edward Easton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Edward_Easton#2012_Election

My group’s video literary translation of the poem, “A Supermarket in California,” by Allen Ginsberg was overall a very challenging yet fulfilling experience. In the end, we are very pleased with our final project, for it is the result of many, MANY hours of collaborative brainstorming, filming trials, and computer editing (including typography). During the beginning stages, we originally wanted to stick with prerecorded, typical beat poetry and typography for our video. However, Lexi’s discovery of Ginsberg’s poem inspired us to challenge ourselves, create our own audio recording of the poem, as well as execute our own shooting for specific scenes. Before embarking on the filming/typography processes, our entire group carefully studied each line of the poem together and brainstormed multiple ideas for each scene. Ultimately, we agreed the supermarket scenes could be filmed as literal interpretations, whereas the more figurative parts of the poem – such as the Ginsberg’s questions and references to his deceased idols – could be illustrated through typography and still shots. After the group unanimously appointed Zach as our film’s narrator, Zach, Mandy, and I headed to Albertsons to film the grocery store scenes. We asked the store management for permission to film, but much to our dismay we were informed of the store’s policy against unauthorized filming. After calling the Trader Joe’s in Goleta, we found out that this is a common policy within all major grocery stores in California.

Thereafter, we decided to leave the Albertsons premises and head to Costco – the largest “grocery store” environment where we knew the likelihood of getting caught filming was slim to none. We took multiple takes per scene, for we did not know exactly how long our iPhone audio files would be once they were combined. I ended up combining the mp3 audio files using the program Garageband. The next day, Ariel and I shot the evening and night scenes shown at the beginning and end of the finished film. The hardest part of filming these scenes was getting the lighting right on a regular digital camera as opposed to a high definition, professional camera. Once all the filming was finished, the whole group participated in providing input during the editing stages. Zach and Mandy were able to show us a variety of effects on their editing programs, and we helped decide which ones would be most aesthetically pleasing and suitable for the solitary mood we attempted to convey. In the end, Ariel and I wrote the description and created the storyboard.

After posting and reviewing the finished video, I especially loved the typography that engages the “reading” and “literary” aspects of the poem; seeing the words along with hearing the poem provides a unique visual to viewers. We hope to attract an intellectual audience that can appreciate Ginsberg’s work, but also maintain an entertainment aspect that appeals to most viewers. The most impressive quality of our video is how we were able to integrate various styles of filmmaking – including kinetic typography, video, and stills – to create a cohesive product. The only minor detail I would want to change about our video is its clearness (video quality), otherwise I am completely satisfied with how it turned out. While we are at 215 views at the moment, we aim to maximize our video’s exposure through using the appropriate tags and making our title more specific in order to generate more exposure in people’s searches.

1)      A major problem I have noticed related to digital media is the issue of short attention span amongst “millennials,” the generations born amidst the digital age. With more and more people seeking instantaneous answers and sources of entertainment through online mediums, people are becoming less dependent on other outlets. Thus, I believe people are losing touch with more natural and creative forms of research and entertainment while they become more dependent on their social media, Wikipedia pages, and other areas of online space. In turn, people have seemingly developed an expectation for “immediacy;” most people in modern society have become accustomed to a fast-paced society without taking the extra time to sit down and look for answers in a legitimate  encyclopedia, carry out their own study projects, or discover new ways to entertain themselves beyond online means.

2)      While my professional goals are currently in the Public Relations industry, I have quickly learned that Santa Barbara is not the best place to easily excel in the profession. During my time at McFadden & McFadden Entertainment P.R., I have continually tried to think of new ways to expand the business and make its name more recognized by the wider community. Because we are so involved in working with local nonprofit organizations, local politicians, and smaller businesses, a lot of our work seems to go unnoticed by surrounding communities (and even our own community). Therefore, I think a good digital media project for us would include making creative YouTube videos or a video/picture blog that showcases some of our best and most interesting work. It would allow other companies who may be interested in our business to recognize our previous work and the potential work we have the ability to execute.

If I could make any Youtube video based on the options presented in class, I would try to make a video that is informative and witty – maybe a “how to ride your bike at UCSB properly” video. I would also be interested in making a skit about “what not to do” when you are new to UCSB as a freshman. I need to brainstorm more though…

As Instagram has developed into an increasingly popular social media outlet, hashtags have become a sharing tool through which users can share pictures with their online communities. Hsia-Ching Chang’s academic journal suggests that, “[hashtagging] embodies user participation in the process of hashtag innovation,..” (2010). People are continuously creating their own hashtags as well as joining other groups through “shared hashtags.” Therefore, Instagram provides an online space where people can display individually unique posts (normally images) while also joining other online communities through hashtags. Similar to Twitter’s recognition, Instagram’s popularity greatly stems from its concise content requirements and its simple use (Chang, 2010). One can post an Instagram after simply taking a picture and writing a caption/hashtag. Just as simply, one can read through others’ Instagrams by clicking on the application and mindlessly scrolling through the any usable interface including the Internet or a smartphone.

While I initially believed most Instagram users had an established consensus on what types of pictures belong under certain hashtags, after taking a closer look I realized that this is not always the case – people have very particular and varying perceptions of what types of pictures belong under a hashtag that says #dog, #beaches, and even #garbage.  After focusing on #garbage in particular (since I am working on taking pictures of garbage for my photo blog project), I observed about 100 of the 28, 026 photos that included #garbage in the caption. While I definitely did see many pictures of literal garbage – equivalent to trash, trashcans, and litter – I noticed that more than half of the pictures I observed were of something completely unrelated to generic garbage. People posted pictures of Nike outlets, dogs wrapped up in garbage bags, concerts, random girls, singers, and even memes making fun of bad “dubstep” music. While many of these Instagram posts use #garbage as a negative connotation, a very obvious humor appeal also trends through the posts; the humorous post that caught my eye in particular is a post of a wet dog wrapped in a garbage bag (see photo below).

Although people have many different perceptions of garbage, the #garbage online Instagram community has apparently reached a general consensus that garbage is usually not something desirable; it is either literally trash or something that people perceive as equivalent to trash, such as pictures of mediocre musical groups or of girls they consider “trashy” or unattractive.  After reflecting on these trends, I tried to make sense of how users make different choices about what, where and how they apply their hashtags.  A communication model that came to mind was The Bass Forecasting Model. The theory basically describes a phenomenon of how new products get adopted as an interaction between early adaptors and potential adaptors (Chang, 2010).  Chang goes on to describe how the method can be applied to predict the patterns of hashtag growth and development through quantitative methods. Whether the use hashtags is just a current trend or is actually mathematically predictable, I am eager to further learn about research regarding hashtags and social media activity.

“A New Perspective on Twitter Hashtag use: Diffusion of Innovation Theory” Link ~ http://mail.asis.org/asist2010/proceedings/proceedings/ASIST_AM10/submissions/295_Final_Submission.pdf