Sound matters: Notes toward the analysis and design of sound in multimodal webtexts (McKee)

1. What does the author mean by describing silence as a 'present absence?' Would you agree or disagree that silence is a presence and not an absence?

2. Do you hear that? [Pause] Sound is all around you. Take a moment to pause and type out all the different sounds that you hear. Describe them as acutely as possible.

3. Why do you think we listen to music that captures our mood? Can you describe or give an example of what Aaron Copland means when he says there are three planes on which we listen to music? (sensuous, expressive and sheerly musical)

Photo Essay

My Project

Starting this photo essay required me to think on my feet. Literally, I spent a day walking around campus trying to come up with inspiration. My Muse finally revealed the everyday usage of traffic signs as conveyors of a semantic meaning. There was nothing deep about signs, parking meters or traffic signals. Out of the ordinary, I decided to create the extraordinary.

My original idea was to juxtapose an image of a sign with someone violating that regulation. However, it was hard to find a lot of unique regulatory signs and even harder to capture images of people actually violating them. I branched off the idea of everyday traffic laws and how normal it is for people to violate them. Then I explored the arena of human rights, and the photo essay had a more global meaning, but I kept the target audience directed at the individual and how each person impacts the world.

As I took photos of ways that people "violate" the law or the intended meaning of traffic or regulatory signs, I thought about how to tie in human rights. Instead of tying everything together, I decided to make the slideshow a "stream of consciousness" piece in which one image triggers a thought about another related but different image. I opened my gage to a variety of images that could eventually connected the photos in this order: speed limit sign, stop sign, no parking zone, a car violating the no parking zone, an expired parking meter with a car still parked there, traffic signal blinking with the "Don't Walk" sign, a kid crossing when the sign forbids that action, stolen shopping carts in front of a fraternity, a "NO DUMPING" sign, waste in a landfill, homeless people eating garbage, poverty in Africa, contrasting poverty with decadent bars of chocolate, slaves laboring on cocoa farms, slave with marks of floggings, a child soldier with a gun, a girl cowering in the shadow of fear, a ghost image taken of my friends and me, my senior graduation at church, college bible study, first front-page article, silly jumping picture where I stand out and finally a series of photos taken with a 2-year-old.

The beginning and ending are the most confusing because there seems to be no relationship. The first photo deviated far from the last photo in the slideshow. This was to show the movement of my thoughts that traveled from one image to the next. All the photos were indirectly interlinked. In the end, the message behind the whole piece was that I somehow impact the college community and the world. Who I am in the bare essence is similar to that of a child who doesn't know any better. I have stripped myself of any title, ranking or name by showing first my accomplishment of graduation and making a front page byline and showing the groups I associate myself with and then reverting to images of childhood pleasures - making silly faces at the camera and seeing the world with playful eyes as I once did as a child. These last three photos were taken multiple times in one setting to show that change happens every minute of our lives. It is important to value every moment. Moments are fleeting and never linger at the doorstep longer than the instantaneous zero (physics). Thus, people should tackle everyday experiences with full speed. Hence the first image of two men increasing the speed limit. Just as one realizes a frame of his or her life has passed, several more moments have fleeted while one was caught up in that one thought alone.


The difficulties with the photo essay were mostly mental. I didn't want to stretch myself to thin by going out to get all the photos because most were impossible to find. For instance, I wouldn't be able to take a picture of a slave, but I did want to put all my heart into this project. So I had to settle for using both photos I took myself and images on Google. I had trouble deciding which photo should lead and which photo would finish and leave a lasting impression. I experimented with the different settings to make the photos appear a certain style using photo editing techniques on Picasa. I ran into some trouble uploading and creating a slideshow on Flikr, so I made an account on Photobucket instead.

My major breakthroughs were the ways that I used lighting and blurred backgrounds to focus on certain aspects of a photo. That immediately caught my attention as I viewed the finished product. I was proud of the way I used color and different angles, too. What ended up happening was that I thought of the "stream of consciousness" manner of displaying the images while I was in the process of SEEING the slideshow.

As emphasized in the readings, I knew the importance of perspective and how my interpretation of this photo essay could be vastly different than the way my classmate may understand it. Since we focused on using just images as symbols, I had to eliminate the text that often could be used as a task force to help viewers see the literal and translate the underlying meaning of the object. For the most part, the readings taught me the importance of viewing the context that surrounds the objects and symbols. In photographs, it requires a stretch of imagination because one is viewing a two-dimensional surface without the actual sensory stimulus that a natural surrounding offers. That provides all the more reasons to realize that the author is making every effort to grasp the audience members and communicate with them through the image.

Overall, my theme is the interconnectedness between the individual and the world. Also, I tie in the idea that laws and rights govern the universe, yet people have little time to care or don't reason to act responsibly. I want to emphasize the ignorance of society and the apathy that hinges from simple cases such as violating traffic laws. Potentially, that carefree attitude leads to an even more defined apathy toward issues that demand our sympathy and support: the violation of human rights. Of course, this violation of human rights lies on the opposite end of the spectrum as stealing or crossing the street when forbidden. Yet, we respond to human life similarly to the way we react to regulatory signs. We simply deny that they exist in our minds, and our actions plainly prove that we aren't struck by them at all.

Response to Nick's Q

Q:. Notably, the debate over which is the "real" Virgin on the Rocks painting is mentioned. If you were told that a work of art you'd always admired and thought was real was actually a copy, what would that change for you?

A: At first, I would be dismayed. My disappointment that the art was a copy would be followed by my justification that people should admire art for art's sake (Peter Ruskin). The awe of viewing a work of art created by a well-known artist is not as important as developing my own interpretation and extracting imaginative meaning from the work of art itself. I think that people hype up the importance of viewing the original version of a painting. Some things are better left unsaid. The only difference between a copy and original is what one comes to conclude in his or her mind. That is, one may automatically think that a copy is less valuable than the original. But if the viewer didn't know whether the painting was authentic to begin with, there would be no preconceived notion that this artwork is not of the best quality. The quality of a painting is relative to past comparisons that one has mentally imprinted in his or her head.

Ways of Seeing (Berger) & The Vocabulary of Comics (McCloud)

1. John Berger mentioned that in any medium the images presented to the audience are arranged. Does that alter the objectivity of images? Can viewers still see with their own perspective or possess the freedom to interpret a work of art independent of the artist's intended meaning of the piece?

2. What do you make of this statement: "Reproductions distort. Only a few facsimiles don't." This was Berger's comment about the importance of viewing original paintings in order to stand awe-struck and capture authentic experiences.

3. What do you think about the idea of extended identity? Scott McCloud mentioned in "The Vocabulary of Comics" that we see ourselves as direct parts of objects and objects as parts of ourselves. For instance, when a driver bumps our car we say, "He hit me." We don't say, "That driver's car hit my car." This is because we associate ourselves as congruent to the vehicle we maneuver. What other examples can you think of where we directly associate ourselves with an object?

Response to Megan's Q

Q: In the article Wysoki talks about how important the visual presentation of the page is in terms of how the reader is informed by it. How do you think the reader is then affected by the hypermediated characteristics of a webpage that is fluid and changing?

A: The beauty of multimedia is that regardless of whether the viewer looks at a page or a screen, the author of each medium utilizes specific strategies to facilitate the visual presentation. When a viewer looks at a page in a magazine, there are definitely going to be photos & graphics of various sizes & shapes. Not to mention the text on that page will serve its own purpose of either drawing attention or becoming a neutral backdrop to the viewer's visual experience. Viewers observing a Web page would easily become drawn to the "flashy" images (just as the reader of a magazine would look first to the biggest or most vibrant colors on a page). What is different about a Web page is that one has the luxury of clicking around & opening different links. This gives the viewers an interactive & hands-on experiences that is not afforded via the printed text.

The Multiple Media of Texts (Wysocki)

1. How can two different media, newspaper & online news, for example, serve the same purpose of presenting factual information but do so in a different manner? What visual representations work/do not work on a Web site/screen? What visual representations work/do not work for print/pages?

2. Think of a Web Site you visit often. Go to that Web site & describe what catches your attention first, second & third? Can you explain why?

3. Do you agree or disagree that elements such as color, shape, photographs, charts & graphs, animations, video & sound, drawings & paintings, etc. are used to target a specific audience? Can you give an example of how a children's book may differ in appearance from an adult's book?

Stencil Graffti Project

Step 1: Cut out stencil design with an X-acto knife

Step 2: Place stencil over poster & spray paint thoroughly & let sit & dry before reapplying coat

Step 3: Remove stencil & observe graffiti

Step 4: Have fun messing around with negative prints

Step 5: Place stencil graffiti over a t-shirt & use fabric paint

Step 6: Advertise finished product

Description of Module: The image in the foreground is a journalist wearing a paper hat folded out of a newspaper. He/she is dressed in a cape to conceal his/her identity as a journalist. The reporter appears mysterious because he/she is looking over at a conflict in the background where men are killing each other. There is no doubt that this is a newsworthy story, but the journalist must deal with the fact that it is happening beyond the borders that he/she is NOT legally allowed to cross. The slogan: 'Define Justice.' is more of a challenging statement to foreign governments that U.S. reporters will stop short of death to cover a story worth informing the public. Not only is the journey to cross the border an audacious one, but the statement also challenges journalists with the question, "How can you just stand there & watch it happen?"

Space to Incorporate Graffiti: I chose two different places where I want the graffiti to be displayed.

1. On a poster that human rights activists can use to raise awareness about the two reporters Laura Ling & Euna Lee who are serving time in North Korea's labor camp for crossing the borders to cover a story about women trafficking.

2. This graffiti would appear on t-shirts that would be sold at department stores as part of a promotion or deal. Buy one of these shirts & get a discount on store items. The t-shirt would help scholars in the younger generations become active supporters of justice at school & around the community.

Audience: I hope that the graffiti speaks to not only foreign governments but to American protestors & students entering the field of reporting & international law. I'm promoting the Journalists without Borders, which is an emerging movement that has been hampered in the past because journalists are held as American hostages indefinitely. These countries don't have the most positive relationship with the U.S., and that is what keeps foreign governments weary about allowing U.S. reporters to snoop around & make their own hasty judgments about the corrputions that occur in many foreign countries. Even though the cost of reporting the news in the darkest places of the world could result in being captured, starved & punished until the brink of death, there is also the humanistic approach that people in foreign nations who are denied their human rights deserve to have their stories told.

Place/Environment of Graffiti: As mentioned before, my graffiti would appear on protest signs on the streets in neighborhoods & in front of the White House. The graffiti would convey the irony of journalists sacrificing their lives to the idea that foreign governments are trying to limit the journalists' access to the very people that help convey these heartbreaking stories. Also, t-shirts can be worn in any places - coffee shops, band concerts & even on public transportation. So the reason for using t-shirts as a way to speak out about giving journalists more privileges is to help give the public the right to know, the benefit of the doubt lingers too much in the media.

Ignorance is NOT bliss.

Response to HK's Q

Q: "Only language tries to tell us what we see. Language does not simply, or even actually, identify things. Rather, language itself raises the question of definition." What does the author mean by that language does not "identify" things? Do you agree/disagree?

A: I agree with the author's idea that language raises the question of definition rather than identifies the object itself. In the reading, it mentioned that we read stop signs and react to the command by responding to the landscape. We don't merely read the word 'STOP' and think internally that this is the command so this is what we must do. Instead, we know there is meaning beyond the word because we've taken drivers education. We've been on the road before in situations where a 'STOP' sign signified that more than one car may be approaching an intersection & that it is best to survey our surroundings. Language in itself is literal, but it becomes more meaningful with context. And we face language in the landscape every day. We don't question road construction signs or the penalty that comes with hitting a worker. We know that beyond the words that are written on the sign, there are such things called ethics & the importance of driving safely to avoid deaths or injuries in a narrow or confined space where workers walk around.

Graffiti & Analysis

Skull Stencil on Quad

I found this skull stencil spray painted on a slab of concrete located near the back entrance of the Illini Union. The symbol of the skull suggests danger or a fair warning much as the skull in chemistry is used to identify a substance as toxic or poisonous. However, this graffiti may just be one of the fraternities making its organization known through an open forum such as the Quad. Every day I pass by the Phi Beta Kappa "Skull & Bones" fraternity house on Fourth St., and I see that same skull. Doing a little research I found out that the number '322' bears historic significance. This fraternity started at Yale University in 1832-1833 and was an all male group until 1992. Surprisingly, no where did I see this number incorporated in the graffiti. I would venture to guess that this skull graffiti appears on the Quad because the symbol itself serves as an emblem of a prestigious group (business & political or even a gang). There's a sense of elitism and marking ones territory that comes with spray painting a skull onto a concrete slab where graffiti is strictly prohibited. This space on the concrete slab is meant for people to put up flyers-- not to stencil or doodle. Since the concrete slab is a public space, the skull was surely meant to be an eye-catching work of art.

Language in the Landscape (Drucker)

1. James Elkins said, ".... the world is full of fascinating things that can be seen at leisure, when you are by yourself and there is nothing to distract you."

What everyday phenomena or thing stumps you when you see it time & time again? What do you want to discover or learn about it?

2. What do you think James Elkins meant when he said, "Once you start seeing [meaningless, ordinary things], the world-which can look so dull, so empty of interest-will gather before your eyes and become thick with meaning?"

3. In "Language in the Landscape" when Joanna Drucker said that language represents an invisible conversation, what did you think about that statement? How can dialogue exist through inanimate symbols on a sign?

Response to Dan's Q

Q: Does virtual reality allow for a full extent of free will, will it, does it allow more?

A: By definition in the readings, virtual reality allows the viewer or user to manipulate his/her POV and undergo an immersion with the actual technology. I would agree that once said person is engaged in a virtual reality tutorial, such as a video game, that person does exercise some free will in a limited forum. True, you dictate how you experience the simulation (i.e. you choose to view the virtual world upside down), but you do not control the setting or alter the program itself. Although virtual reality tries to emulate physical control, it lacks the ability to utilize all of the five senses, namely smell, taste & touch. Also, in the case where the user must react to instinct such as fight or flight tactics, he/she realizes right away that there is no actual need to fear or fight whatever obstacle stands in his/her way. The sympathetic and parasympathetic aspects of the nervous system are not fully stimulated. In order for virtual reality to enable full-extent of free will, it must be as intimate with the senses as possible & cause natural reactions to the situations presented.

Introduction; Immediacy, Hypermediacy & Remediation (Bolter & Grusin)

Discussion Questions:

1. How does making the interface presence known when surfing the Web give users an authentic experience? Does the interface detract from the aim to make the World Wide Web transparent & erase the idea that a computer is more than a mathematical web & information- filing center?

2. How can we categorize & describe immediacy v. hypermediacy using a Venn Diagram?

3. Marshall McLuhan thought of 'content' in any medium as always a representation of an older medium. For instance, print is the content of the telegraph. Do you agree or disagree? & What are your thoughts on repurposing (taking a property from one medium & reusing it in another)?

Play Day :)

Welcome to my home page! My name is Crystal Kang. I will be a sophomore at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). As a freshman I wrote for the Daily Illini. I plan to pursue a career in law & journalism.

As part of my INFORMATICS 303 class exercise, I’m honing my contemporary media skills by putting up links on my Web site. There's not much to it. You just copy & paste a URL, change it to a more reader-friendly word or phrase & BAM. You've hyperlinked a Web site!

I’m pleased to introduce to you some of my most frequently visited Web sites. For those of you who are a fan of The Office, I highly recommend you go here. You’ll find full-length episodes from season 5. Interested in music? Mellow music with a bit of punk rock is my style. Have you heard of a band called Yellowcard? A lot of their music resembles mellow bands like Postal Service, Dashboard Confessional & Secondhand Serenade. Like I said, I’m a journalist, so I frequently read up news articles on the Society of Professional Journalists. A big topic on the news that concerns me is the detainment of two U.S. reporters in North Korea. Click here for more detail. During my free time I am usually on this Web site: omgpop