Reflection Essay- The biggest struggle during the project was committing to a focus and contacting people.  Since we wanted to do both service dog clubs that were on campus it was hard to pick a topic that covers both but does not have too much information for a short documentary.   Once we found a topic, it was hard for us to get into contact with people to interview.  Since we did not have a lot of time to do the interviews, by the time anyone got back to us, it was too late to interview. 

            The part of the documentary I am proud of us showing people more about the clubs themselves.  I am happy that we gave people more information about service dogs and the groups on campus that train them.  The part of the documentary I would have changed would probably be the groups.  I really did not get a chance to have the documentary be how I wanted it and it was frustrating.  We should have picked one group instead of tried to do both and had a more clear focus on what we wanted the documentary to be.

            I was responsible for the script of the documentary.  Pretty much I wrote down what was going to be narrated in between interviews.  It was hard to write a script when we did not know what exactly we wanted the documentary to tell people and we did not know how the documentary was going to be lined up.  I did the best that I could.

            We would try to meet as much as all of us could.  I tried to give the group information about wildcat service dogs like events and information.  I could have tried to get more people to interview but the girl I did interview for some reason was not even put into the documentary.  I tried to contribute to the project but what I did contribute was not even used for the final project.

            I do not really think the class helped me think critically but more just how to interview and make documentaries.  I most definitely enjoyed learning styles of communication function rather than writing essays.  I liked your teaching style.  I felt you were more approachable than most professors and tried to get everybody involved in the project.  I feel we should have started on the documentary right at the beginning of the semester because the project seemed too rushed to be able to be done well. 

Born Into Coal- I really enjoyed this documentary.  At first when I saw the girls in pageant dress, I thought this was going to be like an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras.  I am very glad this was not the same.  I never really thought as coal mining as a big occupation anymore these days, but I guess it is still a huge job that needs to be done.  I remember when the documentary was talking about the explosion that happened in 2010.  I liked that they would do close ups of the peoples face to show their emotions.  It made me think of how the scene should also make me feel.  I also like that when the people were explaining stuff, instead of just seeing them talking, we saw filler scenes that helped keep to motion of the movie going.  One scene that really stood out to me was when the camera did a close up of the dad’s black coal stained fingernails then a close up to his daughters black manicure nails.  It kind of showed how they were different but somewhat still the same.  I like how the documentary starts with the pageant, cuts to the main part the documentary wanted to bring up, the coal miner and their family, then back to the pageant to shower her win.  I think it kind of showed her journey to winning without seeing the actual pageant by showing why she wanted to win so badly.  The edits were also very clean.

Visual Rhetoric from Websites- The two websites I used most often are Facebook and Twitter.  Like most college students, its my gateway to procrastinating all of the work I need to do, but do not want to do.  They are both a form of social networking websites.  You create a profile for both websites and can post anything you want.  Facebook uses statuses and likes while twitter uses tweets and re-tweets.  The audience was made for teenagers and young adults, but recently both older and younger users have been joining the two websites.  All of the users joined to be able to stay connected and communicate with those who are not very close to where they live.  The structures for the websites are very similar.  Both have the user create a profile and have a homepage where you can see everyone you are friends with or follow post.  However, for Facebook, there are many ads on the side tabs of the website which are quite annoying.  Although twitter occasionally sends out tweet ads, they are a minor problem compared to Facebook.  The only things that really stand out visually are things that other users post, not what the company does for the website itself.  Basically, we can choose how the websites appeal visually based on what we post.  Sorry this post is quite short, I had a very hard time trying to find websites and what to say about them.

Visual Rhetoric- When I first opened the No Seconds website, the first thing that popped up was a picture of an olive on a plate.  When you pressed the arrow, more pictures of food dishes came.  Next to the pictures was information about the people who had those meals as their last meal before being executed.  The pictures of the food were a nice way to show what an inmates idea of a perfect meal for their last meal.  Some of the inmates choose their favorite meals and some did not get to choose any meal.  No Seconds was more about the pictures of the food and why Henry Hargreaves wanted to take pictures of a person’s last meal.  In the Last Meal Project, the website starts on a paragraph explaining the death penalty.  Then when you press the arrow a picture of an inmate with food and information about the inmate.  In between every few pictures is information about last meals and the death penalty.  I like the Last Meal Project website more than the No Seconds website.  It was a more powerful message showing not just food, like in No Seconds, but also the picture of the inmate in Last Meal Project.  I also liked that there was written information in between the pictures.  It was interesting to read about the last meal and death penalty rather than just see pictures of food.  I did not know that your last meal has a budget of only $40 and has to be bought locally.  When looking at the pictures, it made me wonder what I would want my last meal to be.  Hopefully I would never have to deal with that, but I would want; diet Dr. Pepper, Chicken vinaigrette salad, a dozen Ocharley’s rolls, a Big Mac, and strawberry shortcake.  Both websites used a bold, white colored background.  I did not feel I really learned anything from the No Seconds website aside from what inmates could eat for their last meal.  However I learned about the last meal establishing in jails and death penalty statistics in the Last Meal Project.

For my speech, I made sure that I was very prepared in what I wanted to say.  I made sure that I had a lot of facts and answered all of the questions to the best of my abilities.  I have had trouble talking in front of people for pretty much my whole life.  Though I am getting better at it, I still talk really fast. I could tell during my speech that my voice was kind of shaky.  I knew that I talk rather fast also, but I did not realize how fast until I saw my speech video.  I thought that I explained how I wanted to have the documentary structured but it may have caused my speech to sound like just a lot of facts about service dogs.  I feel like the more outgoing and comfortable around other people I get, the easier it will be for me to talk better and slower.  I am glad that even though I had a note card, I did not read directly from it and lose eye contact with my audience.  I usually just have it with me in case I lose my train of thought and do not just stand up there with nothing to say.  I also saw that when I try to remember what I want to say, I look up at the ceiling.  I try not to stand still too much, but I realize that I was too nervous to move from where I was standing.

One group that I am a part of on campus is a sorority.  Many people know the stereotypes.  We bought our friends, we party a lot, we are a bunch a bimbos who do not care about schoolwork.  To tell you the truth, a few years ago I would have agreed with these stereotypes.  After I chose to go to a school out of state, knowing absolutely no one, I decided to try to rush because it would be a quick way to meet new people.  I never knew just how much I would love being a part of Greek life.  The main question my friends from home asked me was “Do you party a lot?”  Even though I do go out to social functions, I do not get wasted, as many people would believe.  My sorority has a high standard of keeping our sisters a good reputation.  Another question I got was, “Don’t you feel like you just bought friends?”  I would definitely say no.  Our sorority has taught us an important life lesson by this, we do not have to like everyone in our sisterhood, but we will respect them.  The payment dues are to help keep up the house for us to live in, like rent for an apartment, and also help with our philanthropy, an organization that we help raise money for.  My sorority helps those with Arthritis.  The last question I got was, “Well does it affect your grades?”  Actually, yes, but in a good way.  Our sorority mandates that we study a certain amount every week, and keep a certain GPA throughout the semester.  In fact, those in Greek life have higher GPA’s than those who are not.  We spend most of our time either doing schoolwork, charity work, or fundraising for philanthropy.  Our two biggest fundraisers coming up are Greek Sing and Dance Blue.  The main reason people think so lowly of Greek life is because of media like movies.  However, people should actually learn about it before they assume what is on TV is a true interpretation.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

I decided to choose a TED Talk by Ken Robinson titled “How Schools Kill Creativity” because I also think that schools create creativity and individuality.  When Robinson first came on screen, his posture seemed a little awkward, but his British accent made it easy to overlook.  I liked that he started how not only with a situation for the viewers to imagine, but he also made it funny.  Whenever I have to do a speech, I feel more at ease when I make something funny in the speech.   He also used a lot of stories that were relatable and easy to understand what he is trying to have the stories say.  His tone came off as informative with some sarcasm and humor.  He did not use visuals physically, like pictures, but he told stories with enough detail that the viewer could mentally visualize what he was saying.  He also used a lot of quotes.  Though sometimes his stories seem to go off topic, they actually bring up interesting points.  He talked about things that schools did to children that took away their creativity.  Schools punish those who make mistakes, so we have become afraid to fail.  Those who “fail” the education system by not getting a degree are considered to have failed at life.  Instead, those people are just learning in the wrong environment.  A girl who was always in trouble for not paying attention or sitting still in class was thought to have a learning disability; today we would say she has ADHD.  However, when someone suggested taking her to dance school, she thrived.  This video successfully shows how our current education system is ruining future generations in more ways than one.