Wednesday, January 24, 2007

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.

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