My Portfolio Reflection

The following is a video of my end of the semester portfolio reflection. Enjoy!

Final Group Project!!!

The final version of our group’s project can be found HERE

(If link does not work, copy and paste this into your web browser:)

http://students.english.ilstu.edu/cmpalla/eng239/music.html

Final Peer Review Assignment

Dear editors of Kairos and the authors of “Is Myspace Urspace?”

I am writing you this letter after reviewing your online piece “Is Myspace Urspace” in hopes to give you feedback that will ultimately provide both constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement on the piece. My goal is to give you feedback from someone who is not directly involved in your project, however who has had similar experiences working with the multi-modal composition process. I will be using the Kuhn + 2 components to serve as general categories for suggestions to your work.

1. Creativity

I feel as though the theme for the project was the most creative aspect in and of itself. Teachers are always looking for new ways to close the student/teacher social “gap” between themselves and their students, and also to more easily interact outside of conventional teaching methods. This piece attempts to solve both, and in a manner that is very relevant and accessible today. Using an actual Myspace page to teach teachers how to construct and use their own page for the purpose of the classroom is a very creative idea. I also enjoyed how you used the functions of Myspace (such as video, photos, and blogposts) as the main tool for explaining how the functions are used. For example you uploaded a video on your Myspace page that actually shows how to upload a video on Myspace.

Apart from your project’s theme, I feel as though the rest of the project was more educational and conventional rather than creative. One aspect I didn’t feel was done creatively was the video portion. This, however, may not be a bad thing due to the context of the project. This project’s main audience is teachers seeking to use social networking sites and integrating them into the classroom. Therefore I feel having a conventinal, straightforward video is the best choice when trying to inform a professor.

2. Conceptual Core

The conceptual core of this piece was very well done. The topic of teachers needing to “update” their methods of classroom interaction is something that comes up more and more often as technology continues to evolve. Social networking has grown immensely more popular with students, and suggesting that teachers find new and creative ways to incorporate these sites into their curriculum is a great idea. Also, using the site itself to help teachers become accustomed to its uses seems to be a very effective method to convey your message.

3. Research/Credibility

In terms of research and credibility, the students did an excellent job showing their legitimacy in two ways. The overall professionalism shown in both the video and the Myspace page are enough to convince the viewer that they have done extensive work and research on the subject. Secondly, the group provides various scholarly research materials through links on the Myspace blogposts if the reader chooses to do further investigation outside of the project itself.  After reviewing this piece there was no doubt left in my mind that the group was well versed with their topic.

4. Form/ Content

Overall I was very pleased with both the presentation of the piece and the content it possessed, for both the main page and video aspects. The video is both visually pleasing and content-heavy. Although the video was no more than 10 minutes long (I presume, because there was no timer on the video) it was able to both convey their theme AND show how to use various tools on Myspace- both in a pleasing, effective manner. The video used screen captures with directional audio to literally show the viewer through the various Myspace processes. The web page was filled with content that reiterated what the video had shown us and also displayed new content accessible through links and more videos.

5. Audience

I feel this piece was effective in both clearly targeting their desired audience and keeping the content relevant for the targeted audiences’ use. Within the first few minutes of the video it is clear which audience the group is attempting to reach, and the content of the video stay consistently relevant to that audience throughout. The same is done on the web page by providing scholarly materials for further research and information.

6. Timeliness

In regards to timeless the subject matter in this piece was very appropriate. Forming new ways for teachers and students to interact in the classroom is always an ongoing issue, and using social networking sites as a medium for educating combines the issue with new technologies. These social networking sites have grown immensely in popularity over recent years (especially with students), so I feel educating teachers of their possible uses is an excellent and timely idea.

Revision Ideas – Thank you peers!

Although our group is happy with our results of the project thus far, we are well aware there is still much to be done, and this revision process really helped to organize and prioritize those changes. Although we were already aware of many of the revisions we would need, (mostly because they hadn’t been completed yet) these peer reviews really brought some important components to our attention.

Although most of the song editing process has been completed, there are still a few kinks to be worked out. One thing that was noticed by the reviewers is that the audio in our piece significantly rises, apparently to painful levels, at one point in our video. This should not be too difficult to change.

One very important component of our piece that has yet to be completed are the lyrics portion. Due to other conflicts and illnesses, it has been difficult to try and record any singing thusfar. Once the lyrics portion is completed, many other aspects of the project will improve as well. We will be including a written portion on why we chose the lyrics specifically, and also another written portion describing our entire creation process. These portions are currently in progress.

It Kuhn criteria our project seems to be lacking the most from our peer reviewers seems to be credibility. The main reason for this being we have not completed our lyrics section, or creation process sections.

People seemed to be fairly pleased with our video, however I believe it will turn out much better because this too has yet to be completed. Right now the video seems a bit repetitive, but we have many more clips to add that will solve this problem.

Overall I was very pleased with the comments we received back, and was not too discouraged with criticism simply because this was still a very rough draft, that I feel will be much more effective when completed.

Project Proposals (First Draft/ Edited Draft / Final Group Copy)

FINAL GROUP PROPOSAL

(Group Contact Information Displayed In Final Draft)

We would like to propose a webtext involving the evolution of audio-digital technologies, and how it impacts the way musicians compose a song.

Before the creation of virtual music editor programs such as Garage Band, Acid, or Digital Performer, recording and mixing your own music was only accessible through use of a recording studio or expensive recording equipment. These methods are not only impractical for most musicians, but quite pricey as well. But with newly developed forms of audio-digital technology, these programs have become increasingly more accessible and easy to use.

The foundation of our project will be creating an original song using the program Garageband. Like any multimodal piece, musicians create music to serve a purpose. Whether it be to tell a story, influence its listeners, or simply make people want to dance, all the aspects of a song must merge together to more effectively influence the audience.  Our song will be written to serve two purposes. Although it will sound like love song at face value, the lyrics will all relate to multimodal terms that we have learned in class. Essentially the song will be about what can be done to influence someone to love you, and also what can be done to a multimodal piece to make it more effective.

Our piece will consist of two parts, a “music video” portion (which will include shots of our song creation processes) and a meta-narrative. Once we have developed a purpose for our song, and documented our construction of it through Garage Band and video clips, we will compile the pieces into a “music video.” This video will display various images of our song creation/recording process, but will be edited specifically to fit the flow of the song. We will then move on to the meta-narrative portion, which will compare and contrast the song creation process with the video creation process.  More specifically, it will illustrate why we have made any changes to our song and explain our motivations for changing lyrics, pitches, notes etc. This meta narrative will essentially be our “Behind the Scenes” or “Making of” portion.  With this portion we will explain the composition of digital music through multimodal composition and thereby draw a comparison between the two.

SECOND PROPOSAL DRAFT

Sean Gahart

CFP

Dr. Cheryl E. Ball

Section:

cball@ilstu.edu/ Stevenson 421g/ 438-3152

I would like to propose a webtext involving the evolution of audio-digital technologies, and how it has drastically improved the ways musicians both create, and perform their music.

Before the creation of virtual music editor programs such as Garage Band, Acid, or Digital Performer, recording and mixing music was only possibly through use of a recording studio or expensive audio equipment. These methods are not only scarcely accessible, but quite expensive as well, and therefore usually only available to the more talented/experienced artists. But with newly developed forms of audio-digital technology, musicians of any level of skill or musical involvement are able to record, mix, and create their own musical pieces with relative ease and little cost. The technology has become so advanced, in fact, that some programs have eliminated the need for any instruments at all, and they can be added in and customized by the simple click of a button.

This technology is important not only because it has made the creation of music more accessible, but it has also provided an outlet for musicians to explore their creativity in ways only a recording studio could provide. No longer do musicians have to stay within the “physical” confines of music with instruments and voice. New dimensions can be added to song such as harmonies, sound effects, overtones, pitch configurations, tone modifications-the possibilities are no longer limited to what you physically own or are physically able to play.

To show how accessible and effective this software is, I plan to make an original piece of music using some very simple software, and documenting it through video. The program I would be using is called Garage Band, which comes standard in macbooks today. The video would be in an almost “montage” format, and will include screenshots of me playing my instruments, mixing them on the computer, and finally compiling the finished piece. I will also add new dimensions to the piece, which can only be done with a music-editing program. I believe this is the most effective way to show how easy this technology has made it to produce music, which is something I believe many would consider difficult to do.

This will be a topoi submission, as it directly relates to technology.

FIRST PROPOSAL DRAFT

Sean Gahart

CFP

Dr. Cheryl E. Ball

Section:

cball@ilstu.edu/ Stevenson 421g/ 438-3152

I would like to propose a webtext involving the evolution of technologies, and how it has directly affected the ways musicians both create, and perform their music.

Before the creation of virtual music editor programs such as Garage Band, Acid, or Digital Performer, recording and mixing music was only possibly through use of a recording studio or expensive audio equipment. These methods were not only scarcely accessible, but quite expensive as well, and therefore usually only available to the more talented/experienced artists. But with these new forms of technology musicians of any level of skill or musical involvement are able to record, mix, and create their own musical pieces with relative ease and little cost. The technology has become so advanced, in fact, that some programs have eliminated the need for any instruments at all, and they can be added in by the simple click of a button.

To show how effective and advanced this software is, I plan to make an original piece of music using some very simple software, and documenting it through video. The program I would be using is called Garage Band, which comes standard in macbooks today. The video would be in an almost “montage” format, and will include screenshots of me playing my instruments, mixing them on the computer, and finally compiling the finished piece. I believe this is the most effective way to show how easy this technology has made it to produce music, which many would consider difficult to do.

I believe this would be a topoi submission, as it directly relates to technology. However because I would be using my own piece of music, it may better represent inventio.

Possible CFP Topics…

I’ll admit I’m having a very difficult time coming up with anything that I’m particularly excited about working on…but here’s what I’ve come up with so far.

One idea that I’m playing around with a bit is a video on the creation and evolution of Google. As we all know technology is rapidly changing and growing, and Google is a prime example of how new technologies are being created and distributed. Google has accomplished an incredible amount in its relatively short life span, and are often the frontrunners when it comes to new technologies. My idea would be to have some sort video, incorporating both still and live images, (maybe even a few interview clips or something) that just goes through the entire evolution of Google. I find it quite amazing how rapidly they have expanded throughout the course of their life, and I’m sure there are a ton of very interesting facts regarding this.

I’ve had some other ideas involving interests or hobbies of mine, such as music, but I am not too sure if they work for this type of project. One of my passions is music, and one thing that technology has drastically done for the music industry over the past few years is providing the internet as an easily-accessible way for musicians to put there music out there. Websites such as Purevolume or even Myspace are two great examples of free websites that allow artists to not only record, but advertise their music to an infinite audience. Many bands today have been discovered simply from posting their work on these websites, like Fallout Boy, BoyslikeGirls, Soulja Boy, and many others. Now, even top musicians are using these sites to further propel their careers. I would create another video, again using both live and still images, including screenshots from many of these sites.

Exploring Digital Media

1. Divided Soul- WoW Machinima

Before this particular video, I had never seen a “machinima” before, nor did I know what one was. That being said, I thought this was pretty awesome. This form of media would be effective for a couple reasons. First, the World of Warcraft is an unbelievably popular game, and by having a video derived directly from the gameplay will easily grab the attention of people who are familiar with the game. Watching this video has made me become a bit more interest in this “machinima”. Is it a program? How do you get the video game characters to do what you want them to do? Lots of questions, but it seems like it can be a very effective digital media tool. 

 

2. The Machine is Us/ing Us

The second link I chose from the list was this example of screen-capture video. Personally, I found this to be the most effective from of digital media that I explored. The method itself, screen-capture, is just very aesthetically pleasing to me. It allows the creator to be creative beyond the boundaries of print. The whole word-changing, screen switching, link-clicking thing, is just plain cool. 

 

3. 2010: Entertainment and Communication on Vimeo

Not gonna lie, I wasn’t really sure what to search for when I needed a third example, so I found this one on fellow classmate Brian Kelley’s blog. So, thank you Brian. This video basically described how both communication and entertainment are not only changing, but intertwining as well. Overall I feel this video was very well done, using both pleasing images and appropriate music. Although the video didn’t necessarily share any “new” information with me, I think its still worth checking out.