Final Project Proposal

Team McLuhan's Proposal

Response to Q

Eric S. asks:
What mediums have you seen reform or improve each other while remaining to stay popular in their present tenses?

Two mediums that instantly came to mind were video and the online publishing. Before, video was self-contained and transferred one viewing at a time. There was essentially no one way to broadcast the video over the internet because of bandwidth issues and quality (just to start the list). Along came YouTube. Though there were other software or online server options, YouTube was the first mass market video publishing website. This combination allowed the two mediums to improve one another because it added more accessibility to video and added more potential to publishing alternatives on the internet.

Take on Me - Literal Version

Ok, now this is hilarious....

If you ever have seen the music video for "Take on Me", it's pretty creepy and weird with a comic book/sketchiness to it. They took the music video, changed the lyrics to match the video and BOOM! dynomite! Hilarious...

Representing Others: Could it be this simple?

Could it be this simple?

Our world is inundated with a global crisis that contains so many components that a solution seems far away. The plight of humans around the world is shocking and politicians and world leaders are aggressively battling over what is the exact solution. As these crises endure, a shielding effect is often present around children so as not to overwhelm them. Our project set out to slightly bring back that veil to gain a child's insight into the world around them. We particularly focused on the core topics of food shortages, war, global warming, immigration and the role of a president.

Children often resonate more clearly and fully than those of their adult counterparts when sharing their insights about a topic that has become a crisis in today's world. We both quickly found that out when we decided to interview two girls for the project. They were sisters and Aaron had a friendship with the family, so the comfort level wasn't forced in any way. Delaney is nine years old and outspoken and loves the attention of being questioned. Savannah is seven years old and is the opposite as she is very thoughtful and often in repose.

These two differing personalities gave us an opportunity to pose a question and see the different responses. Delaney is very clever and would answer with such innocent simplicity that it captured the true essence of the child's perspective. As we began editing, the title was born due to our experience with the girls. "Could it be that simple?" offers the notion of a child's innocent answers to a complex problem that has been plaguing the world for years, if not for centuries. Though our wording of the question left out the specific wording that would allude to the exact issue, it still contained the baseline structure of the crisis.

Our prewriting stage was not strict as we felt that if we went into the interview with a sketch of what we wanted to touch on that we could better respond to the children's responses. Working with children is an interesting experience as they are very honest with their thoughts but also what state they are in (tired, angry, happy, etc). However, Delaney and Savannah both were true to their unique personalities with Delaney immediately answering the questions and Savannah holding onto her thoughts or agreeing with her sister.

Writing in the medium of video was an interesting experience as we tightly linked audio with imagery in this instance. With each key word or phrase that was either spoken by Delaney or us we chose a photo or image that would best suit the context. This assisted in transmitting the message of what exact issue we were addressing in alternate wording for the children. Then as she responded, we offer up imagery to translate her simple answer into an actual solution that can be implemented.

Our hope is that our project illuminates that constant hope for a better human existence that children all embody in the face of horrible conditions and multiple crises that exist in the world today. The quaint presence of children is often not taken as a voice to be heard but rather something that needs protection. However to stop and listen to a child's perspective may perhaps make you wonder if simplicity is indeed the answer.

~Aaron Geiger & Jen Hanson

My Top 10!

Ten things I've noticed that I never have before and also will never forget:

These little birds were drinking and bathing in dirty water at the construction site behind my apartment. They really stood out to me because here was a situation where the earth was being torn apart and yet they returned to do the simplest actions. I'm not sure if they realize it all.

This is my bedroom window. I always have the shades pulled down and never look out of it because my view consists of an apartment building wall. I finally pulled up the shade and snapped a photo of the window frame and it was shocking how old and grimy it looked.

My friend's garage building has an interesting composition of concrete , lacquered material and who knows what else. What I took a picture of looked to me like old brown paper slapped on concrete and then a layer of varnish over it. I tried to peel it back but it was stiff and I broke a nail in the process.

As I walked through the little garden area between the English building and Lincoln Hall, something caught the corner of my eye. I stooped down to look at the small plaque on the bottom of the lamp post. It was a memorial plaque for a sorority sister who died in 1994. I have never noticed it before and it was a solemn moment.

My friend's apartment is over in Urbana and he has a slightly woody area behind his building. I was walking behind his building and heard something meowing. This little cat blended into the bushes so well that it took me a few seconds to find him. He's not screaming in the picture, just stretching. He was so relaxed just sleeping in his little hideout.

The Armory House is about a block away from my apartment and I walked by there every morning. One morning as I walked by the benches they have set out, I noticed that one of them was chained to a tree. It stuck out as practical (probably due to past experience of people stealing them) but also extreme. The chain was rusty and cut into the tree like ropeburn.

I've had my rabbit, Mr. J for over a year and a half now and his markings seem to change every few months. As I started to take pictures of him, I noticed that he's starting to get a little brown fur on his nose. You can't really see the detail in the picture, but it amazed me that I've never seen it before.

Right by the McKinley Health Center is this really cool garden area and even a small pond, complete with fountain. As I walked home with a friend Sunday morning, he stopped and asked me if I ever saw these sculpture sticking out of the ground before. I replied no and proceed to learn that the entire setup is called a "Rain Garden" and the sculpture are intended to represent prairie fire. Very interesting.

This picture is really simple but for some reason it stood out so much to me. On the walls of the English Building, there are random spickets for water I'm assuming. It's random but I thought it was so interesting that it redefined the walls for me.

This picture is someone's office window with their plants set on the ledge. In the center is a small giraffe that ironically is twisting his neck to look back into the office, not outside. I never stop and stare at people's windows but for some reason the little giraffe made me stop and take a picture.

It's amazing how differently you look at places/things once you see something that stands out to you.