So far I have been working on creating political cartoons in flash and the history of political cartoons. I enjoyed creating the flash pieces. As primitive as they may look with the stick figures and all, I learned a few new techniques and became much more comfortable with what I already new. As usual, Jeremy helped me put sound on certain parts of the movie so it was a little more engaging. I also enlisted Bailey’s help. She noted some points in the movie where I assumed viewers would understand what was happening. From her suggestions, I added matching bandannas to the two robbers to make it more obvious that they were a team of robbers. Before that, the viewer wasn’t sure what these characters were doing until the end. I also moved the first robber off of the cactus because, apparently, people don’t lean on cacti. Who knew?
The history of political cartooning was interesting. My goal, with the video at least, was to show how intertwined U.S. history is with the history of political cartoons but I was surprised at the extent to which that was the case. Many of the advances or changes in the cartooning culture came as a result of changes in the country.
I would have liked to add more current cartoons to the video but with copyright and timing issues it became a little bit of a problem. I like how the video shows different events and the political cartoons comment on it but it would’ve been nice to be able to show some of the more negative commentary, specifically the recent cartoon from the New York Post but by the time, I heard about it, it was a little too late to get it and put it in the video.
Things are finally coming together. Just got feedback on the Maggie’s Place video, and will hopefully be able to implement the suggestions before the end of the semester. Also finished the third element, which is a Many Eyes visualization of birth rates by state. Also, I’m helping Chris and Travis finish the Border website.
The end is near!
We–the sex goup–are pulling together the final pieces of our story packages and taking on the monster known as CSS to stylize said pages. Prepare to be humored, turned on, educated, or some combination of the three. The assignments for completion of the Zine have been divvied up and now it’s only a matter of finding the time. Personally, I intend to find the time by cutting this blog post short. Wish us luck!!
After something of a bumpy start (trouble getting ahold of sources, having to change story ideas), the Arizona Economy group is moving along pretty well.
A breakdown of what we’re all working on:
Evan–Arizona Tea Parties/Tax Issues
Chrystall–A look at self-employment
Yvonne–Planning weddings in a down economy
Travis–A look at the funding situation of a social service organization that works with senior citizens
We’ve all completed videos, and we’re working on finishing up accompanying Flash pieces and third elements. Evan has kindly stepped up to design our page (no blue!).
DEADLINE: Midnight Monday, May 4. Stand by the following week to make revisions. Let’s make this the best zine yet! With your talent, we’re well on our way!
Chris, Cody and Travis
Finish border site in MCO 598 > Border Project > Chris. Import 11 stories into Chris’ template (storypage.html) and style the pages with CSS. Make slideshows for stories that have a lot of photos; for consistency, you can use Jeremy’s template in the Flash FINAL folder. Add photos (in Border Photos folder), map mashups (I’ll give you a list), sidebars (in Sidebars REVISED folder), Flash (in Flash FINAL folder) and slideshows (some are in Border Photos; others you’ll need to make if the photos are strong enough) to the stories. If time, add links. Chris, can you take the lead?
Jeremy and Adriane
Build the zine in MCO 598 > Cronkite Zine—Jeremy. Import the stories into the template (storypage.html) and style the pages with CSS. Stand-alone stories we have: BigBrother.doc (photos in images folder), SheriffJoe.doc (photos in images folder), Stranger.doc (a few photos in images folder; waiting for better ones), Tata.doc (waiting for images), TenWays.doc (see what copyright-free photos you can dig up) and WakingUp.doc (see what copyright-free images you can find).
Christine and Rebekah
Design and build both Archives AND About Us pages for zine. Start with the template called storypage.html in MCO 598 > Cronkite Zine—Jeremy. Modify it to fit your needs. Take pix of classmates and/or ask for submissions. Add short bios. For examples, see Fall 2007 Archives and Fall 2007 About Us. If time, help Jeremy and Adriane with other zine pages.
Desi and Sony
Design, build and style Resources page for zine. Start with the template called storypage.html in MCO 598 > Cronkite Zine—Jeremy. Modify it to fit your needs. If time, help Jeremy and Adriane with other zine pages.
Chrystall
Polish Trickledown site with Nancie. Copy-edit stories. Add links and multimedia. It’s in MCO 598 > Cronkite Zine—Jeremy > trickledown.
Jill
Finish small project on asexual Marine. Find image for zine home page.
Yvonne
Finish small project for zine.
Elizabeth
Finish slideshow of your photos for border site.
Evan
Finish building economy site for zine. Later, finish slideshow of your photos for border site.
Jeff
Finish building spider site for zine.
Thanks,
Carol
Maggie’s Place piece is turned in, as is Flash piece about fetal development. Now working on a third piece: I’m thinking a visualization of abortion rates using Many Eyes bubbles. Or a sidebar with “at a glance” statistics. Thoughts?
ASAP, please post a comment letting me know what you’d like to do on the zine—your first and second choices. You may do more than one thing listed below.
1. Build the About Us (take photos of your classmates) and Archives pages; see, for example, Cronkite Zine Fall 2007 About Us and Cronkite Zine Fall 2007 Archives
2. Build zine story pages JEREMY
3. Help Jeremy build zine story pages
4. Do a small project for the zine
5. Finish The Trickle Down Effect site (copy edit, add content, etc.)
6. Build border site CHRIS
7. Help Chris build border site; make additional slide shows; can use Jeremy’s template
8. Finish building Reality of Sex
9. Finish building Economy B-Side
10. Finish building Political Cartoons
11. Finish building Spiders JEFF
12. Resources DESI??? CODY???
13. Something else???
Thanks!
Carol
A second draft of Maggie’s Place video is near completion, and it’s on to thinking about a Flash element.
Anybody out there has an idea for what they’d like to see in a Flash piece on unplanned pregnancy, let me know!
And for that matter, what about a third element? A resources page? Maybe a text piece about how Maggie’s Place came to be? Ideas anyone?
As our deadlines continue to loom ahead, the rough versions of our movie projects have all been turned in… and it’s interesting to see everyone’s personality come through in the way they edited them.
Elizabeth’s elegant style and eye for design are portrayed in her Adult Entertainment Industry project.
Cody’s broadcast background and sensational writing skills are evidenced in his piece on unwed teen pregnancy.
Adriane’s digital prowess and spunky style shine through in her compilation of first time tales.
And that’s just to name a few.
The thing that really struck me was how the different strengths and abilities of each person are unique to their own projects… but when you combine them all together they make a completely comprehensive presentation.
I think this exemplifies the old saying, “The sum of the parts is better than the whole.” Individually, they are all strong parts. But altogether, they form a Reality-based approach to the S-word.
And these are just the first drafts!
A frustration known to every reporter are the unrequited messages we leave. The first call seems positive and promising, building you up to a comfortable position of confidence that the person on the other line really will call you back and everything will continue along peachy. But truth be told, you are not a priority to them. A day passes. You call again. Leave a message. No response. Redial on day 3. Still no response. The question to the reporter then becomes, do I leave one more voice mail, or bag it?
Make the phone call.
As it were, I’m still waiting for it ring.
My personal progress on this project has been a bit like a beginner driving manual. I was overly excited to jump in the driver’s seat and rev the engine, planning out everywhere across the map I would drive to. But you can’t go everywhere at once. If I’ve learned just one thing from this experience, it’s to calm down and dig your nose in one hole at a time.
Last week I interviewed a marine who is asexual. Nice guy and had a very interesting perspective on sex and being asexual (on a spectrum, lacking an interest in sex). I’m also in contact with a repossession man and, what I really hope works out, a contact at Family Promise. Family Promise is an organization that “provides meals, a homelike setting, emotional support and a full range of social, economic, and educational services.” – http://www.familypromiseaz.org. They seem really anxious to let the situations of these people be known. I should know by tomorrow how this will pan out.
This weekend I’m interviewing couples of various ages about sex, their perception of it, the role it plays and how it’s changed through the ages.
The deadline for our stories is fast approaching!
