“Will people really be surprised by this? You can’t trust anyone these days, what makes you think you can trust AI?”
**I’ll be updating this throughout the week as my classmates post their public service announcements
Category Archives: Assignments
Wouldn’t Want to Hear This on the Radio!
For the PSA assignment, I decided to create an audio PSA in the style of the United States’ emergency broadcasts. I found an audio of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) that I liked on YouTube, and used a YouTube-to-mp3 tool to convert it into something I could manipulate. I had some difficulty at first finding a voice-to-text tool that I thought sounded human enough but also mechanical enough to mimic the actual EAS voice, but I settled on a site that uses Microsoft’s talk-to-text tools and allows you to download them from there. I used the “Tony” voice at 1 speed and -15 pitch. My script used similar language to an EAS broadcast, but I discussed an AI takeover rather than a weather event. I then found some soft radio hum on FreeSound, similar to what can be heard in the background of the EAS audio. I compiled everything in Audacity, and included some bumps in the radio hum audio to add to the eerie, unsafe feeling that I wanted this PSA to envoke.
Black Mirror Times – Breaking News
I created a newspaper page on the Black Mirror episode “Hated in the Nation” because it’s my favorite film I’ve watched for this class. It was nice to just change the content on the newspaper to relate to the episode. I used Canva for this assignment using a Newspaper template that they provide. My favorite part is the bottom right article preview because this character actually used the “#deathto” on the criminal who was behind this killing and it wasn’t the best idea because the criminal realized that they were looking for him and he was hesitating in the scene so I thought it would be creative.
Data PSA
This was so much fun to create! I decided to take a rule that Finn Callaway lives by (which you can check out here: https://ds106.rusulabbas.com/blog/uncategorized/tips-for-your-characters/) and turn it into a PSA poster. The image features a hand grabbing data points, with the data points in red to match the “Own It” part of the title, emphasizing what’s being owned.
While the design looks simple, I had a great time putting it together in Canva. I uploaded the hand image, and the data points are a Canva element. I added the text myself. Even though it’s straightforward, I really feel like the message comes across strong and clear.
Revisiting Goals
M. Marshall 2.23
Let’s go back to a time that was a little simpler, week one. It was much less clear as to what any courses for this semester would be about and taking seventeen credits didn’t seem like such a bad idea at the time. I have had some highs and lows in this course, getting to experiment with video editing and creating my own website has been both fun and challenging.
I gave myself a bunch of small goals, so let’s see how I’m doing.
→It is true that I have become (slightly) more digitally adept. Perhaps not significantly, but I have a way better handle on the WordPress aspect of this. I was even taught how to embed links into a screenshot so that the daily creates wouldn’t look so ugly!
Before:
After:
As ridiculously small as this seems, this was a big win for me. I value sleekness in a website and so I was very frustrated by the way it looked. Now, it’s beautiful!
→ “Ideally, by the time this is finished I will have a whole blog that looks like nothing I could have ever imagined being able to create before starting this class, maybe that I can show off to friends.” Honestly, I think I am well on my way there right now. I like to show my girlfriend the website sometimes, so I think that counts! Obviously this is still a work in progress, so I don’t feel that it’s anything to write home about just yet. But, I think it will be.
If I was going to show anyone any post, it would probably be this one:
Mostly because it’s hilarious (to me).
→”Maybe a goal would be to have the little widgets leading to a real link/page that isn’t just my main page?” Honestly, not quite there yet. I think I’d need another stop by the DKC before I could say I can do this. But, that’s okay! We are not even halfway through the semester, not everything has to be ready.
→”I can feel a reflection on this post coming at the end of the semester” Try just a few weeks from now!
→”Maybe to be able to somehow incorporate my cat, Daisy into this blog?” I checked and I’ve only mentioned her 2-3 times, the goals post being one of them. To my credit: I based my character off of her, so there is a few more posts than just that related to her. Let’s fix that with this post!
Here she is enjoying the outdoor air a little while ago. I don’t take her outside anymore because the avian flu is becoming more problematic for house cats and I am overprotective.
Something else I’m proud of, one of my favorite daily creates:
My next (short-term-ish) goal is to have some new features on the website the next time goals are being re-evaluated!
A Night in the Snow
When It’s Cold Outside Assignment for Week 6
I recorded this with my phone (with help from my mom) and put it together in CapCut, adding music. I planned out the scenes and told her how I wanted her to hold the camera. I cut the clips and reordered some so they could tell a cohesive story. Unfortunately, due to YouTube’s limitations, I had to cut this down to one minute. We were lucky we still had snow; it melted pretty quickly in Fredericksburg.
Video Essay
To create my video essay, I used iMovie on my iPad. I screen-recorded the scene I wanted to analyze, uploaded it to iMovie, and added a voiceover. You may notice that I was speaking fast—that’s because I had a lot to say but not enough time, so I apologize for that. This was a great assignment to work on, and it was my first time using iMovie and considering a movie’s editing and filming style to effectively tell a story.
Week 5 and 6
I was sick last week with the flu, so this summary covers both weeks 5 and 6. It worked out well since both weeks focused on film and videos.
Week 5 was pretty straightforward, watching videos and reading articles about filming and editing to present a story effectively.
I found the Black Mirror episode “Hated in the Nation” really interesting and creative. I thought it was well done.
Here is my video essay:
This week, I completed four Daily Creates:
We revisited the goals we wrote in the first week of class, and it was nice to look back and reflect. So much has been accomplished in just five weeks! I’ve embedded both my initial goal and my revisited goals.
I chose to complete three video assignments from the assignment bank.
Commenting!
Since I was sick during Week 5, I wasn’t able to comment then, but here are some of the posts I interacted with this week:
I voted! Did you???
Cyberpunk Movie Trailer
Character Movie Trailer Assignment for Week 6
Music by Benjamin Lazzarus on Bensound. License code: VOJ3IVQ4NZCVXVTG
Pond5 stock footage by CleverArts, Powel2097, victorfort, Frameangel, and TokyoVisionaryRoom. Adobe stock video by designprojects. Pexels videos by Yaroslav Shuraev, George Morina, Pixabay, Ricky Esquivel, Rostislav Uzunov, HumanoideVFX, Nathan J Hilton, MART PRODUCTION, Erik Mclean, IslandHopper X, Oleg Gamulinskii, Kelly, and Tom Fisk.
Special thanks to Mikhail Nilov, who made Close up of a Lighted Signage and A Woman Aiming a Weapon.
Extra special thanks to cottonbro studio, who made Two People in Black Clothing Standing in front of a Wall, A Woman Posing at the Camera, A Woman Wearing a VR Headset Sitting on the Floor, and A Human Hand Touching Prosthetic Arm.
I made this with the websites above and edited them in OpenShot. I manually clipped each shot and placed them together, sometimes changing the audio levels or frame. I tried to make a trailer that implies we are looking through a robot’s eyes and shows different levels of destruction that could occur throughout the city, particularly if people or robots began to riot. I would’ve liked more shots involving robots or androids, but beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to stock photos. I hope it encompasses the themes of both cyberpunk and tech noir.
Bane’s growth through the years
These pictures are in chronological order from when Bane (DK’s sidekick)was a puppy to all the way grown. Even though Bane can be a handful and a wild case, he is often what keeps DK same.