The radio show was so fun! I joined in a couple minutes late because time got away from me. But, I was able to connect the dots on what was playing when I joined. The audible ad was talking about a fictional podcast show called “Limetown”. After doing some research, as I had never heard of it before, to quote, a synopsis said “Limetown is about a journalist Lia Haddock attempts to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of over 300 people at a neuroscience research facility in Tennessee”. So far in the episode, which I am pretty sure it was episode 5, Lia was interviewing a woman named Deirdre, who went with her ex-husband, Max to be a part of an experiment. He was convinced by a man named Oscar Totem to participate in the experiment, where he would get an implant to talk to other people non-verbally. Only half the town has the implant, and the other half, the “Old School”, doesn’t, including Deirdre. This puts a strain on Deirdre’s and Max’s relationship. Max then convinces Deirdre to get the implant in secret, which the “Old School” group eventually finds out, causing a riot. This ultimately gets Oscar killed, and someone called The Man sending out messages in order to calm people down. It is then revealed that The Man is Deirdre’s uncle, Emile. The episode ends there. Overall, I was able to catch on to the story, and I found it pretty interesting. I would compare it to a Black Mirror episode, as it has the similar elements of advancements and technology and messages about our society. There was also a “film noir” shoutout, which I thought was funny since that is the theme of our class!
Author Archives: Live It Up with Liv
Soundtrack to Veronica’s Life
When I saw this assignment, I immediately knew I wanted to do it. But, I wanted to do something a bit different since I already love making playlists for a specific experience and wanted to challenge myself a bit. So, I decided to make a playlist for my course character, Veronica Malone. I go more in depth about her in my blog post, my Course Character, but basically, she is a detective, and has a hard-shell personality with a strong moral compass. When thinking about what music she would listen to, I knew she would like older pop and rock bands, such as Fleetwood Mac, No Doubt, and the Animals. She would also like classic singers such as Nancy Sinatra and Nina Simone. The genres do range a little, going from rock, alternative, pop, jazz, or blues. She likes the complex emotions that these songs address, as she can relate with the high-intensity field that she works in.
Week Three Weekly Summary
Starting off the Week
If I were to be completely honest, at the beginning of the week, I had little to no motivation. But, I saw that some of the tasks was just increasing our participation, as well as voting for our favorite creations in the class so far, so I decided to start working on that. This is one of my favorite things to do, because I like to see what my peers are doing and creating. It is also interesting to see how they interpret the assignments and the daily creates, and how they are all so different and unique. It was hard to pick my favorites for the voting form, since they were so many awesome digital creations to choose from.
Readings
I loved the readings and videos for this week. As mentioned in my blog post about visual design, it was very interesting to hear the thought process behind such iconic movie posters and tv show intros. The color, font, spacing, layout, pretty much everything plays a role in conveying a message that the viewers will engage in. Getting to hear the backstory or reasoning behind movie posters such as Star Wars, as well as the intro for Stranger Things was definitely very cool, and it makes me want to look into more about visual design and how it is used to promote media.
Photoblitz
I found the photoblitz to be fun, as the prompts were pretty random and allowed me to think outside the box a little. The prompts ranged from pretty straight-forward to interpretive, such as “your favorite color” to “what does disappointment look like”. Ideas came to my head quickly, but executing them was the more difficult part, but overall this was a fun, quick activity.
Daily Creates
Daily Create #1
Wednesday’s daily create was to create an Anti-Word-Cloud with a random book, which I chose to do Anna Karenina since I have never read it, but I want to read it!
Daily Create #2
For the second daily create, we had to pick our favorite sandwich, and determine how “woke” it would be. I chose a classic grilled cheese with ham, as it is one of my dad’s favorites to make. If I were to give it a woke rating, it would be a 2 as it is a traditional, American food.
Daily Create #3
For the last daily create for the week, the prompt was to do a photo with bad photoshop. What immediately came to my mind was to badly photoshop two celebrities. So, I decided to do Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, who were the stars of the biggest, pinkest movie of 2023, Barbie!
Assignments
For the first assignment of the week, I decided to do the destress and color assignment, as it was a great way to wind down and take a quick break from all the busy work I have throughout the week. To take a peek at what I colored, as well as my reasoning and thought process behind it, read it here at Destress and Color. For the second assignment, I did a “What’s in my bag?” for my course character, Veronica Malone. This was probably my favorite assignment, as it allowed me to be creative with what Veronica likes or dislikes, as well as what items she would want to have on her at all times. To read more on what Veronica would have in her bag, read What’s in Veronica’s Bag?. Lastly, I wanted to make a graphic for one of my favorite sports teams, the Buffalo Bills. I follow the team page on social media, so it was fun to make my own graphic that looks like it would be on their social media page. To see my beautiful graphic, click here Go Bills! Overall, I enjoyed this round of assignments!
Overall
I enjoyed the lighter workload for this week, as it was easier to manage my time and when to complete each assignment. If I had to pick one of my favorite creations, it would probably be the Bills graphic, as it was so much fun to play with colors and fonts to see what looked good. Overall, this was a good week, and I am ready for next week’s workload as well!
Photoblitz
Take a picture that reminds you of your childhood
For something that represents my childhood, I decided to do a coloring book and colored pencils. When I was a kid, I loved to color and draw, which is an activity that I still do to this day.
Your favorite color
I thought I would show my two favorite colors (since it switches every day), pink and green. Practically everything I own is in those two colors, so I decided to take a photo of my green tower and my pink scarf (which is very practical right now as it has been freezing outside recently).
Take a photo that includes objects near and far (deep depth of field)
This prompt was hard to decipher, but I thought it would be cool to show Ball Circle, and how the actual field is so close, yet the buildings surrounding it are so far.
Make a photograph with your camera at floor level
This a a photo from the floor of my dorm room, showing my roommate and I’s closet doors, as well as some of the decoration we have up in our dorm.
A photo with a square aspect ratio
For this prompt, I decided to take a 1:1 ratio photo of my perspective from up in my bed in my dorm room. My roommate and I have tried our best to make our dorm as cozy as possible, and it looks especially cozy throughout the rainy day. m
Represent 3 items
This one I had to think about a little, but then I decided to show my 3 favorite lip products that I use everyday.
What does disappointment look like?
This one doesn’t really need an explanation, but my first thought when it comes to disappointment was “being thrown away” or “trash”. Especially this one which is dirty and wet from the rain.
Visual Designs and the Work Behind It
The readings and videos we had to dive into for this week were definitely interesting. Hearing the thought process behind what goes into making a movie poster or the intro to a tv show just makes you appreciate the work itself even more.
In the Vanity Fair video, it was intriguing to hear how the use of color and spacing on a movie poster can introduce what the movie is about. For example, if a poster has all white in the background with the characters in front of it, the focus is supposed to be on the characters and what they are doing. Or, in the iconic Star Wars poster, how the blue represents space and the universe, and the lights and characters represent the narrative. Movies that are more action, thriller, or horror will probably use darker colors, while comedy and romance will use lighter colors. It was also awesome to hear the backstory of the Stranger Things intro (firstly because it is one of the only tv intros that I do not skip), and also their thought process in paying homage to classic 80’s filters and font’s.
Visual design plays a crucial role in shaping the audience’s and viewer’s perception and anticipation for movies or tv shows. A well-crafted movie poster or tv show intro uses different colors, fonts, and imagery in order to convey it’s message and to get the viewers hooked onto it. It not only enhances the marketing, but also makes it more memorable and impactful.
Some of my favorite examples of movie posters and tv show intros come from a variety of genres. I put some of my favs above. First, the infamous Stars Wars poster for Episode I. It is so simple, yet is sort of menacing with how we see little Anakin Skywalker, as well as the shadow behind him of what his future is. Next, Knives Out is one of my favorite movies of all time. What I like about the poster is how it perfectly encapsulates the plot and vibe of the movie. It is a murder mystery, and is based around a wealthy family. The almost portait-like filter on it makes it look like it is a family portrait. Lastly, the tv Yellowjackets, which is a show about a high school girls soccer team crashing in the Canadian forest on the way to Nationals. The font of the word “Yellowjackets” emphasizes their relationship as a team, while also showing the darkness that is to come behind it.
Overall, as you can tell, I truly enjoy a great movie poster or logo, as it enhances the viewer’s enjoyment and excitement for it. The readings and videos make me want to look more into the decision-making process behind visual designs for media.
Go Bills!
If I hadn’t advertised it already, I am a huge Bills fan. My whole entire family is from Buffalo, New York, so naturally this comes with being a Bills fan, as well as having bleu cheese with your wings (although I also do like ranch with my wings but do not tell them I said that). So, when I saw the sports poster assignment, I thought I would try my best to do my favorite team of all time. I wanted to recreate a graphic you could see on Instagram or social media when it is time for game day. One that captures the essence of the team, as well as the sport itself. I used the colors of the team, blue, red and white, as well as highlighting the current major players that make the team what it is, such as Josh Allen, James Cook, and Khalil Shakir. I then found symbols that are associated with football and play-making. Overall, I had a lot of fun creating a graphic for a team I truly love (although I am still grieving them losing in the playoffs but it is okay, there is always next year)!
What’s in Veronica’s Bag?
I do not have a purse or a bag that I usually carry around (other than my book bag of course), so I decided to do a “What’s in my bag” for my course character, Veronica Malone. I go more in depth about her in my post, Meet Veronica Malone, but I will still give a quick rundown. She is a part of the hard-boiled detective archetype, who was raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and has a no-nonsense, quick-witted, fiery personality.
For the bag itself, I feel like she would treat herself to a high-quality, good looking bag, so I went with this black leather bag. Then, she would have a note pad and pen in case she needs to note anything that she sees when she is out and about, or maybe just to doodle in. Next, she would have a flip phone, as she believes she doesn’t need the new, updated technology as the flip phone functions just fine for her. Then, she would have all of her makeup products, in her favorite color red of course, in case she needs to touch it up throughout her hard work days. She would also have her sunglasses, which are a stylish, tiny pair, enough to keep the sun out of her eyes. Lastly, she loves gum, specifically the cinnamon flavored gum (which is very controversial I guess), so she always makes sure to have a pack with her.
This was probably my favorite assignment so far, as I was able to build on Veronica as a character, as well as get a bit creative with what she would like/carry with her at all times. I can’t wait to build on her character even more in future assignments.