I do not have access to Adobe Premiere so I could not attempt to do a timeline analysis. I managed to capture still images of parts of the story and use them to help me explain my analysis but my first attempt of posting it resulted in blank boxes where the images were supposed to be. So I decided to remove them.
To start, I did a random select at the vidlit.com site. I was initially brought to a video on a sports-related story. I decided to skip that as I wasn’t interested much in that topic. Another random search brought me to this video story. It attracted me to view it because perhaps I could relate well to the title, being a woman and I was curious to know what place they were talking about though I could pretty much guess from the image what it was referring to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzoBJDFvyKE&feature=player_embedded
I think this video is supposed to be like a ‘sneak preview’ of what the book is about. The book is available for sale online. From the website, there is a link to bring you straight to place an order for the book. The clip was very short. It lasted about 1.22 minutes. The different modalities in this story are speech, writing, image and sound. Flash animation was used for the images presented. Three of the images were repeatedly shown. Writing was mainly type written words. Speech was in the form of a voice-over narration. Sound came from background jazz music and sound effects such as a bell being hit and something like a clock tick-tocking were used.
1) When I saw the first image, I thought the title of the story was “A great place for every woman”. This was the text presented on top of a smaller image. In this first image, I did not get the meaning or the purpose of “5 SPOT” at the top left side.
2) This first image quickly enlarged into the second image which was actually the smaller image on the first one but it was magnified to fit the whole screen this time. The image shows people, men and women, in a bar. Although it looks more like there is only 1 man in the bar and the rest are women. I can’t be sure of that. This image was not a still one. The people in the image were animated and moving about. I think as an icon (Pierce, 1992) it just stands for a bar a social place. But as an index, I thought it highlight the vibrancy of what was happening at that place. The general or social perception of what a ‘bar’ is supposed to be like – a place to hang out, a place to drink and make merry, a place to meet other people. So the purpose could be to also link to the initial title of a ‘great place for woman’ perhaps because women get to meet others and socialize in that place. I think here the images serve to set the orientation of the story, who is involved, where it takes place (Labov, 1997).
The use of the background jazz music was for associative reasons. I think that is the usual kind of music played in a bar. This created the mood for the orientation mentioned above. The jazz music continued on and slowly became softer when image 4 came on and the voice-over narration took over.
3) Image 2 was darkened and a smaller image appeared and was superimposed on it. I relied on my prior knowledge to come to the conclusion that it was a book cover because of the text that accompanied it. I interpreted the text ‘Ex and The single girl by Lani Diane Rich’ as a title of a book and the image next to it as the book cover. As I interpreted it as being a book, I also see the information that would be presented as being someone’s personal opinions/ideas on the topic. Thus, it could be sharing subjective information. I think the introduction of the book cover, title and author seems to set a different orientation for this story. Initially I thought the orientation was about people or women in a bar. This image seems to serve as an abstract to signify the start of the story (Labov, 1997)
The next image focused on the book cover. The narration actually started here. The narrator read out the title and author of the book. I thought the narration was effective to signal or to act as a cue for some readers who wants to read along or those who are slow would be able to know that they need to pick up speed if they want to follow the pace of the story. Otherwise they could just listen to the narration. The sound of the clock tick-tocking was also used as the background. This could be because the information about to be presented in sequence: 1, 2, 3 … like counting up/down. There are also 2 other sound effects used: before the narration of numbers and after narrating the excuse. The sequence is as follows:
· Sound: ‘Ting!’ This sound is usually used to signal the start of a new round in a wrestling match.
· Narration: 1, It’s not you. It’s me.
· Sound: ‘Thed!’ This sound is usually used in a game show when you have given a wrong answer.
I think the use of those sound effects is significant. I interpreted them as signals.
4) I also noticed here that the first image of the bar is minimized and placed at the top left corner. I’m not sure what the meaning or the purpose was but this was repeated throughout the whole story.
5) The next image shows a cover of another book. I could tell this as I can see the sides of a book. I think it is also probably trying to tell us that it is a rather thick book. I interpreted this as a dictionary – very thick with meanings of lots of words also partly because of the text on the cover of the book. What was interesting was this text ‘English to English’. I take it to mean that the dictionary provides meanings of words in English into English that could be easier to understand.
6) There was an animation effect that followed the next image. The book was actually flipped open to reveal a page – the next image of text. Unfortunately, here I do not know the significance of why the text was presented in that form of ‘word art’. As the text suggests ‘Top 5’, I anticipated that I would be presented with 5 different images of text.
7) I did not expect to see just the number ‘1’ to take up a whole page of image. I was expecting ‘1’ to be accompanied with text. I think the purpose of this was to create greater impact. Perhaps the text used earlier ‘excuses’ had other social connotations to it, like it is not really a valid or acceptable reason by societal standards. Thus to use large numbers was perhaps to signify the effects they have on the writer/creator. The use of numbers also is aligned to what is being shared ‘top 5 excuses’. So I think this was a clever use of numbers to do like a counting down/counting up effect.
8) Again, the animation of a page being flipped over was used and this effect was used throughout the story as well. The next page reveals a text within inverted commas, using knowledge of language this would mean someone’s speech.
9) The next image shows the text - Definition: “it’s you.” Here we know that our interpretation of the book being a dictionary is confirmed by the word ‘definition’. The dictionary would provide readers with a definition of what the words mean. Again, the meaning of the words is shown within inverted commas, it represents someone’s speech.
The story continues to reveal the other 4 excuses. The same sequence was applied to present this information. First the ‘number’, the text within inverted commas of the ‘excuse’ and followed by the text showing the ‘definition’ within inverted commas, too. I think this effect basically gives a lasting impression on the story reader/viewer. This consistency in format of presentation will also help to reinforce the message being communicated. (If you want to know what the other top 4 excuses are, go check out the attached link J)
10) After the 5 excuses have been presented, the book was actually closed. This was presented through the animation effect of the book being closed. The closed book gradually decreased in size to show the image of the cover of the book again. I think this is important as it indicates the end of the ‘book reading’ or the story telling.
11) Remember the image of the bar at the top left side of all images shown? This quickly expands itself out and took the size of the whole page. It is then darkened and a repeat of the image shown earlier was presented again. Then as for the ending, we are presented with the image of the bar with animated people in the bar with the background music of some jazz piece being played on a saxophone.
See if you catch this. I managed to capture in slow motion the image of a book cover of another story book by another author. It will zoom past very quickly. If you were to watch the video you may not have realised that image was somehow embedded into the transition. I don’t quite understand why this was done. I thought maybe it was an error in the program or could it be a marketing stunt or something?
The story ended with the last image fading into a blank white screen. I thought this created a dramatic impact. I interpreted the blank white page as an opportunity for the reader/viewer to now form their own opinions, conclusions or make a decision if the book is worth buying or not. But the coda for the story for me would be when the last image was shown, the book cover with title and author. This image has been repeatedly shown a few times throughout the story but acting as a coda it is appropriate as it helps to signal that the story has ended and brings us, the reader/viewer back to the point at which we entered the story.
The digital story maybe quite short but I felt that it was effective in serving its purpose. There wasn’t variety in images shown but the content of information shared was funny and it is easy for anyone to relate to it and see the funny side of it. I think the purpose of this story is mainly to entertain and provide a light-hearted introduction of what the book would be like.
There wasn’t much information about the interests and purposes of the authors. I checked the credits for the production of the video. The story consisted of original artwork by Emily Alexander and the score and sound design was orginal creations by Paca Thomas. I followed a link to check the book information and to find out more about the author, Lani Diane Rich. She has written a series of romantic comedy books. So I think this story sets out to get you to buy the book by giving you a brief yet entertaining review of it.
From this exercise, I also realised that to be able to understand and review a story, contextual knowledge plays a part too. As a reader/viewer, I also tend to select stories of topics which interest me and which I could easily relate to. So I’m now wondering how and what else can we do to ensure that our story reaches its targeted audience. Ideas anyone?
I think that the image at 0.11 sec that shows the cover of the book serves as both as the Abstarct and Orientation(Labov) as this is where it becomes clear to the audience, what this digital story is about and what it involves. As a viewer, it is rather clear at this point that the story is about a book. Perhaps the printed text, ‘Ex and The single girl by Lani Diane Rich’ is a conventional way of communicating a book title, and the accompanying image of a rectangular picture also carries the layout of a typical paperback. Although there is presence of image and text here, I do not really think that synaesthesia occurred here as the meaning put forth by the two may still be the same if they are seen separately, and together, there does not seem to be creation of a new or deeper meaning.
ReplyDeleteTaking this scene as the Abstract and Orientation, I would think that the other scenes before this point serves the purpose of Evaluation(Labov) as they underscore what is interesting about the digital story to unfold. Agree?
The use of a picture of a bar in the first 11 seconds of the story and then having it at a corner for the next 40secs before bring it back as the background picture again, and that content being about breakup excuses, makes me read the image as an index for casual relationships. You think that’s possible?
About the image of another book, I did not slow it down to catch what it was before I read your blog but I did see something flash by, which was very distracting. Perhaps it’s a gimmick?
hey chiayen, I think I agree that the first part indexes casual relationship...I was trying to make a connection on topic of relationships - yes, the bar could signify the casualness of it. Thanks for that!
ReplyDeleteHi Ras & Chiayen,
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that creator has tapped into the typological (what language says) and topological (what it looks like) affordances to create a digital book review. I suppose the first frame which begins with the text “A great place for every women” is, as according to Labov’s narrative theory, an abstract which summarises the story. Reading between the lines, I gathered that the magnified image of ladies at the bar has been used to create new forms of meanings to tell viewers that it is a a remarkable place for them perhaps, to unwind or meet socialites. Personally, I feel that the iconic representation of predominantly women in the bar seeks to send a message that the target audience would be women. On hindsight, I think the same index of a bar instantaneously points to hotspots as you’ve mentioned, where men and women socialise.
From the first to the second frame, I notice some form of resemiotisation occurring when the still image transforms into moving image. I would interpret the change as symbolic of interaction, companionship and entertainment. The juxtaposition of light yet catchy music certainly sets the mood for orientation, convincing viewers to believe that a bar is a heaven for women. At the same time, the creator subtly attempts to advise ladies of the momentary effects by displaying the text ‘Ex and the single girl’ in the form of a book. In its entirety, he has made use of another semiotic mode (layout of a dictionary – thick, with definitions) to portray the dichotomy that exists in man. Simply put, “what he says might not be what he means”. I believe the rhetorical message is clearly articulated through the use of double quotes as well. Notice that towards the end, the same book is flashed again possibly, to remind viewers to revisit and read it if they are interested. In all, I like the use of simple, plain English language which makes it readable for any age group although the content is more for adults. It’s an interesting digital book review!
-su