Second impressions

I am back to talk about this multimedia presentation, from www.mediastorm.org. This is such an amazing story. In my last post, I spoke about what the presentation was about, what the story behind it is. This time, I am going to critique the presentation as a multimedia presentation. While I'm here, let me say a little bit of a disclaimer. I am a 20 year old college student. The people who made this presentation are in their fourties. They are professionals, I am a student striving to be a professional at some point. They know what they are doing, I'm still figuring it out. I don't really have the authority to give any negative critiques at all, but, nonetheless, this is an assignment, and I have to fulfill it.

That having been said, here goes.

The presentation opens with a close-up of the woman, Julie, dishing up a meal to her elderly father. She sits down to eat with him, and as we watch, she introduces herself in a voice-over. A picture of her husband, Ed, fades in, and he voices over his introduction. Pictures of their family come across the screen, and at this point, the setting has been presented. The viewer feels as if they know the backdrop of the story, they have had a glimpse into who the people shown are. The pictures themselves are breathtaking.

Next, Julie voices over an introduction of her father, Herbie. He's such a cutie, I wish I knew him personally. In addition to the pictures and video of him smiling and joking around, the negative side is presented as well. Because he has dementia, he has some bad days. A close-up of Herbie, looking positively confused, is shown. A video of him rambling incoherently about eggs is next, and has the potential to break the viewer's heart.

Clips and photos of the day-to-day flash across the screen, truly intimate glimpses into this family's life. It becomes very obvious that Julie is overworked. As she practices yoga in the living room, she says, "There is not a single minute of the day that somebody doesn’t need something from me." Within seconds, a picture from the same time frame flashes on the screen; an image of her daughter hugging her as she's attempting to do yoga. Everything that the family says in the voice-overs is presented as they are speaking in either film or video. It really is wonderful.

Next, the viewer is taken through a tough time that the family went through while filming this presentation. Herbie had to watch his house be torn apart before it was sold, and really didn't take it well. He ended up falling that night, and afterwards, wasn't the same. They take him to the hospital, but the doctors don't seem to actually care. Clips of Julie crying by his bedside, Ed in a moment of frustration, and the kids upset are shown. This is really an emotional time, and the viewer can easily become emotional as well.

The presentation wraps up with the family speaking very honestly about how they feel about the situation as a whole. Julie says that she's not sure how much longer they can last. The kids say that they will take care of their parents when they are old.
Overall, it's very open and raw.

There are all different kinds of media used in the presentation. Interviews with each of the family members are used as voice-overs, other audio includes the audio from the videos that are intermixed with photos. By doing this, the video is much more interesting.

First impression

Now that the semester is up and running, homework is in full swing. Not to be left out, this class, my digital media convergence class, has some of the most. I'm expected to do about four blogs a week now.

My professor assigned us a 1-page homework assignment the other day. I didn't want to do homework and the blog, so I asked if we could just blog our homework assignment. He really took to the idea, so the next few blogs will be a review of a multimedia presentation.

This particular entry will document my initial reactions to a multimedia piece I have chosen off of the website mediastorm.org You can find the particular multimedia flash presentation here. I'd suggest watching it before reading the rest of this entry. If you don't, this blog might not make a lot of sense. It's around 11 minutes, but it's very much worth it.

This multimedia presentation is beautiful. Not surprisingly, it was done by a married couple, a filmmaker and a photojournalist. The wife is Julie Winokur, and the husband, Ed Kashi. They have two children, a 11 year old boy and an 8 year old girl.
They moved from San Francisco, CA, to New Jersey in order to care for Julie's father, Herbie.

Within seconds of watching this presentation, one key point shines through: this family is beautiful. In every sense of the word, these people seems to embody "beautiful." The woman is stunning, the man, handsome, and their kids are just gorgeous. Herbie is also beautiful, with eyes that smile and an adorable grin. More than their physical beauty, though, this family has an inner beauty that out-shines their exteriors. They gave up so much in order to care for Julie's father, but they can see past the struggles that they have at the moment, and realize that what they are doing is right. I think Ed says it best:

"I feel that this period in a way is this sort of hidden gift. You would never think it at the moment, because it’s so traumatic and stressful, and sad. But in the long run the kids are being given this lesson, this life lesson in what it means to care for someone. What it means to come through for someone else."

I know that if I had to push aside all of my plans, move across the country, and make sacrifices every day, I would have a hard time not complaining every day. The family featured in this multimedia presentation handles their situation with class and love, something I know everyone would struggle achieving.

The Winokur/Kashi family is beautiful, as is their story. Though they struggle daily, I feel that their reward will be great.

Review: "Next"

Reality television shows have consumed the entertainment business these days. Flip through the channels, and you’ll find personal makeovers, home makeovers, dating shows, wedding shows, baby shows, survival shows, singing shows, talent shows, and so much more. MTV is one of the channels that seems to have nothing but reality shows, and to be honest, the majority of them are horrendous.

In the midst of the crap, one truly horrible show stands out. MTV’s “hit” dating show, “Next,” is a real gem. The scene is set: one gorgeous, single guy (or girl) desperately needs a gorgeous, single girl (or guy!) The producers manage to find five gorgeous singles, all willing to do anything for a date. Sound fake? Don’t worry, both the people and the show itself look as fake as they sound.

The show starts off with the gorgeous single talking about themselves. For example, there was a guy on the show the other day, and he was a businessman. As he introduced himself, he said,“My name is Mark, I’m a businessman, and I’m looking for a hot woman to help take care of MY business!”This voice-over plays as he adjusts his tie, flexes his muscles, and struts his stuff.

This is just the beginning of the corniness that is “Next.”

The women come on after the guy’s introduction. Normally, they wear as little clothing as possible, and flaunt every asset they have. Their voice-overs are just as scripted and corny as the guy’s.

“Hi, I’m Nikki, I’m 21, and I’m a gymnast. I’d like to show this guy how flexible I can be!”

“Hi, I’m Candi, I’m 20, and I’m a lifeguard. I’d like to show this guy my best mouth-to-mouth procedure!”

“Hi, I’m Jenni, I’m 22, and I’m a sales clerk. I want to sell this guy MY goods!”

It gets so much worse. Check back later for the second part of this review!

Review: "Crash"

After hearing all of the hype about the movie "Crash," I decided to give it a try. Frankly, I didn't expect much. Even though the movie won 3 Oscars, and tons of other awards, I've had some strange bias towards the movie since I heard about it.

Wow, was I surprised. The cast list alone is impressive enough. Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, Ludacris, and Ryan Phillipe all make appearances in the film.

The camera angles, lighting, and focus were great. I remember thinking that the movie seemed like great photographs blended into a movie. It seemed like the film could have been stopped at any time, any frame, and you would end up with a perfect photograph. Truly a work of art.

In terms of what the movie is about, it focuses heavily on racism. It follows a few different actors: a Hispanic man with a young daughter, the white district attorney of LA and his racist wife, a wealthy African-American couple, 2 African-American friends, and some others. Each has something to learn about their views on race and equality.

This movie has a few of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen. For those who have seen the movie, the scene where the woman's car catches fire, and the scene where the little girl gets "shot." At the climax of both scenes, all voices fade out, and a beautiful foreign song plays as the events play out. It's amazing to watch.

Although the movie has a thousand pros, I did have a few complaints. There was a brief scene of nudity, which I felt was unnecessary. The same effect could have been achieved, just by covering up certain points. Also, the cursing in the movie was a bit over the top. I'm normally not a stickler, I can tune certain words out, but this was ridiculous. According to numerous websites, there are around 82-98 uses of the "f-word." To me, that's just a bit much.

In all, Crash was a beautiful movie, and would have been perfect for most ages had the cursing been toned down a bit.

First post!

I'll be blogging a few times a week about films, television shows, and music. This is for Digital Media Convergence class, but it will still have all of the elements of me, not just homework! Be sure to check up a few times a week for new posts!