Category Archives: Blog Post

Week 7 Weekly Summary

Starting Off

This is rare for me to say, but I was actually motivated to start the week. I started off with commenting on other people’s posts, as well as starting to think of ideas for the assignments this week. My mind started flowing with ideas for what to do, so throughout the weekend, I will start narrowing it down to the story and propaganda poster that I truly want to do. I also started on looking at other people’s creation in order to find ones that my course character, Veronica Malone, would love! I talk about it here, Vee’s Favorite Digital Projects.

Making a Scene into a News Story

For the news story, I decided to do a article about the Black Mirror episode, Hated in the Nation. I talk about it more in my blog post, Social Media Turns Deadly, but I used Canva in order to create the poster itself, and then wrote out the article basically summarizing the events of the episode, making it sound like an actual newspaper story.

Propaganda
A photo of Lady Liberty with her scales tipped by money, and a large silhouette behind her.

I knew that Veronica Malone would appreciate a poster that talks about the justice system. Specifically the corruption that comes with it. I go more in depth about it in my poster, Propaganda, but I created the design on Canva, and used an iconic symbol of justice, Lady Liberty, with her scales being tipped by money as well as the powerful people behind it. She would support it because she has worked in the justice system, and seen the corruption first-hand. She believes in standing up for the forgotten, as well as making sure that those who do not have power or money have a voice.

Daily Creates

Daily Create #1

A photo of the state of New York in districts, renaming the city of Buffalo as "Snowfalo".

For the first daily create of the week, we were asked to rename a place on a map, which sounds pretty familiar as to something that happened recently. I decided to rename the place where my parents grew up, as well as I did for practically half of my childhood, Buffalo! I renamed it to ‘Snowfalo’, which as you can tell, implies that there is snow for pretty much most of the year.

Daily Create #2

A gif of Chris Evans in the movie Knives Out.

For the second daily create, we had to make a gif from our favorite movie! My favorite movie of all time is Knives Out! I love murder mysteries, so when I saw Knives Out for the first time, I was immediately in love with it. The cast is stacked with stars like Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, and so many others. The details behind it truly makes it shocking when it is revealed who the culprit is, but yet you are mad that you didn’t see it sooner. For the scene I picked, I did a scene that I quote a lot, which is Chris Evans just saying “…yup!”. A simple, yet effective line delivery!

Daily Create #3

A photo of a chair, with a computer and keys on it outside.

For the last daily create, we were asked to take a photo of what it would look like opposite of our own perspective. I was sitting outside since it was so nice out, so I thought this picture was cool!

Overall

Overall, it was a pretty good week! I was able to manage my time wisely, and I had a lot of fun making the propaganda poster, as I could relate it to the times we live in now, as well as something my character would support. So ready for spring break (and hopefully) warmer weather!

Social Media Turns Deadly

A newspaper clipping summarizing the events of the Black Mirror episode, Hated in the Nation.

For this assignment, I wanted to do the Black Mirror episode we had to do a video essay on last week, Hated in the Nation! I found this episode to be very interesting, so I knew I wanted to do a news article as the events in the episode sound realistic to me (which is very sad). I used Canva in order to find a template, and then from there wrote an article that summarized the crimes committed throughout the episode. I found a photo of the main character, Karin, off of Google. The photo is of her in the courtroom, to show that the article happens after the events of the episode. I then created a title, which is pretty relevant to our class theme, Tech-Noir Times. Overall, it was fun to experiment with this template in order to get my message across!

Vee’s Favorite Digital Creations From the Week

When scrolling through everyone’s creations and work throughout the week, I was able to pick out a few of her favorites! Whether they are entertaining or if they convey an important message, here are a couple of Vee’s favorite digital creations.

Propaganda

I think Vee would really appreciate Flower Bed’s propaganda poster! The messaging behind it is very important, as nowadays a lot of people are stuck to their screens. Technology was made in order to make our lives easier, but has it created an addiction among some individuals that can’t be reversed? This is something Vee would acknowledge, as she prefers old-fashioned methods when it comes to her missions.

PSA

Another favorite of hers is a PSA that Rylie made! It replicates the emergency broadcasts that we hear today, but added a fun narrative of the several voice assistants such as Siri or Alexa going rogue. It goes along with our theme for the class very well. Vee would appreciate the story of the voice assistants taking over because again, she likes relying on herself instead of technology. The idea of technology taking over isn’t a stretch for her.

Newspaper

Lastly, she would love Coni’s newspaper clipping from The Terminator! The design of it, as well as how it describes the event makes it sound like it actually happened! Vee likes the Terminator movies, and would love the thought process and creativity behind the clipping itself.

Propaganda

A photo of Lady Liberty with her scales tipped by money, and a large silhouette behind her.

Vee Malone would back this poster because she’s seen firsthand how justice isn’t blind, it’s bought. She’s worked cases where the powerful walk free while the innocent get buried, and she knows the system isn’t built to protect everyone—just the ones who can afford it. This poster speaks to her core beliefs, fighting for the forgotten, exposing corruption, and making sure no one gets erased just because they don’t have money or influence. She doesn’t trust institutions to fix themselves, but she believes the truth can still make a difference. With making the poster itself, I used Canva in order to design it. I knew I wanted to include Lady Liberty, as she is a symbol of justice. I found a photo of her holding the scales, yet they are tipped due to money being on one side. Then, the large silhouette behind her is to represent the rich and powerful people who tend to tip the scales in order to serve themselves. Also, I did a “money green” background to emphasize the meaning behind the poster. Finally, the powerful message, “The System Protects The Powerful, Who Protects You?”. It is pretty self-explanatory, but it is also a call-to-action for people to take notice of what is going on in the justice system.

Week Six Weekly Summary

Starting off

I went home this weekend! So I did not get an early head start to my work, but I was able to throw a few comments onto people’s blogs, as well as start looking at possible video assignments to do. After I got back to school, I was pretty motivated after my quick break to get started.

Revisiting Goals

The first assignment of the week was to revisit the goals we made at the beginning of the semester. I go more in depth in my post, Revisiting Goals, but overall, I feel that I have achieved becoming a bit more adversed in digital media and projects. Also, I have been able to think outside the box more and use creativity in order to make my projects stand out.

Daily Creates

Daily Create #1

A teal bicycle

For the first daily create of the week, we just had to post something about bikes! Whether it be our bikes, someone else’s bike, or just anything about bikes. I chose to add a photo of my bike (although it is from google but it looks similar). Also, I saw a fun fact that there are roughly about 1 billion bikes in the world. Which is crazy to think about cause thats about an eighth of the population.

Daily Create #2

For the last daily create of the week, we had to share what our “safe haven” was. My first thought went to the beach that is about 10 minutes from my house, Sandbridge Beach. If i haven’t mentioned it before, I grew up in Virginia Beach, so I spent my whole childhood by the beach. Whenever I am bored or need something to do or need a place to think, I always go to this beach.

Video Assignments

Assignment #1

For the first assignment, I decided to make a TikTok. The prompt was to just make a TikTok featuring your pets doing anything funny and to add a famous sound or music behind it. I decided to show my dog Jolene playing with one of her favorite toys. This was fun to do, as I miss my pets, as well as I love TikTok, so it allowed me to revisit some fun memories I have of them, as well as use one of my favorite apps to document it.

Assignment #2

For the second assignment, I made a video explaining a bit of Veronica Malone’s backstory, in order to flesh out her character a bit more. I go more in depth in the video, but she starts off working in the criminal justice system, but realizes how corrupt it is after losing a loved one to it. I used ClipChamp in order to edit the video and found free photos and videos from pixabay and canva.

Assignment #3

For the last assignment, to give Veronica more personality, I had her make a Top 10 Movies video. They mostly stay in the genre of crime, thriller, action or murder mystery, but range in time period and style. I voiced over acting as her, which was a challenge as I am not much of a voice actor, so it was hard trying to make it sound natural, but I did my best. I also used ClipChamp for this, as well as found movie posters on google, and other free images on pixabay. This was my favorite assignment of the week, as it was challenging, but fun to figure out her character even more.

Overall

Overall, I found the work this week easy to manage. The daily creates kept me on my toes, and I was quick to find some good assignments that I could do, but also would challenge me. Video editing is something that I have always wanted to work on, so I am glad that I could step out of my comfort zone for this week. Ready for next week!

Revisiting Goals

“What I want to get out of this course is to expand my digital presence, as well as get more practice using different softwares to create videos, podcasts, or graphics! I also want to be able to juggle and plan accordingly with my work since I tend to procrastinate! Otherwise, I am pretty excited for the course!”

This was my original statement for what I wanted to achieve in this course! I look back and it feels so long ago (even though it was literally a month ago). Looking at it now, I feel like I have definitely expanded my creativity when it comes to these assignments. When I first saw the prompts for the daily creates or the assignments, at first I would be stumped. But now, I feel like the ideas flow to me pretty easily. If I had to pick a favorite project I have done so far, it would to be either my Bills graphic or the sound effect story. I felt like I had a lot of freedom to do whatever I wanted with those assignments and I was able to do something I was passionate about. Overall, I feel I have semi-achieved my goals so far, and I can’t wait to keep thinking outside the box and creating more digital projects.

Hated in the Nation Video Essay

I love watching video essays on several different topics. Whether it be pop culture, movies, tv shows, you name it. So making my own video essay sounded like a blast, but also sounded difficult.

The episode of Black Mirror itself, Hated in the Nation, I found to be pretty interesting. The world itself was technologically advanced, but also still looked like the world we live in now. Instead, there are more species going extinct, such as bees, more high-tech cars, as well as automated drone insects who do the pollinating. The plot itself was very long, but kept me on the edge of my seat until the final scene.

For the video essay itself, I wanted to the scene where everything comes to a turning point. They re-activate the ADI’s, thinking that will solve everything, but it fails, ultimately killing 387,000 people. The shots and vibes in the scene were consistent throughout the episode, with close-ups and cool tones and colors. And the breakout scene was calmer than I expected, just showing a couple of people’s reactions to the ADI’s becoming widespread over the city before cutting to the aftermath.

Overall, I enjoyed making this video essay, and breaking down how the filming techniques were used to reiterate the messaging behind the episode.

Week Four Weekly Summary

Starting off the Week

Again, starting the week was rough. I had been sick over the weekend, so I am still fully recovering. While recovering, I thought I would get some work done, so I started off with the Daily Create of the day, as well as commenting on others posts. I also cleaned up my site to make it more personal and easy to look at. Lastly, I started to brainstorm some radio show ideas, and came up with a couple ideas but did not pick one yet. Some of the ideas were maybe a late night talk show or a murder mystery. I will decide later in the week which one is better.

Listening

In terms of listening, we had to listen to an audio story called Moon Graffiti. As I said in my blog post, audio storytelling can be difficult because if you need to convey a message or plot, it has to be done in a specific way where the listener can understand it. Moon Graffiti did this perfectly in recreating possible dialogue that Neil and Buzz could have had when they landed on the moon, such as their first reactions. I also listened to the ds106 radio show. I went more in depth in my blog post, ds106 Radio Show, but in summary, it was very interesting. The stuff that they were playing while I joined was a fictional podcast called “Limetown”. The plot was intriguing, and I was able to catch on since it was in the middle of episode 5. It got me hooked and now I think I want to start listening to the full series. I can’t want to tune into the ds106 radio show every once in a while, as I want to see what other podcasts, songs, or other media it can get me into.

Radio Bumper

For the radio bumper, I wanted to do something lowkey. As I said in my blog post, I wanted to replicate the lofi music lives you could find on Youtube that can play in the background while you are studying and doing work. It was weird to incorporate my own voice (as I do not like hearing my own voice), but it was still fun to make it!

Assignments

The sound effect story was one of my favorite assignments from this week! It allowed me to be a bit creative, and to think about what I want the story to be. For my sound effect story, I decided to do a day at the beach gone wrong. It was fun to find to the different sound effects and to think about the usual sounds that you would hear at the beach. Overall, I enjoyed this assignment!

For the second assignment, I did the soundtrack to Veronica’s life. I saw a lot of people were doing this assignment to share their personal music tastes and favorite artists, so I thought I would do it a bit differently. I would make a playlist of her 10 favorite songs in order to characterize and visualize her a bit more. To see the playlist and see my reasonings behind it, read Soundtrack to Veronica’s Life.

Lastly, I had Dr. Oblivion make a podcast intro for my podcast, Liv Loves Movies. As mentioned in my blog post, Dr. Oblivion Podcast Intro, my podcast was created for my introduction to digital studies class, and I have been planning on continuing it (if I find the time). His intro explained it perfectly, with how I dive into the pieces of media and cinema in order to analyze it’s significance and messaging. Dr. Oblivion’s wit also added the edge that it needed to stand out.

Daily Creates

Daily Create #1

The first daily create of the week was to do visual poetry. We had to pick a body part and draw it with words. So, I listed the five fingers, pinky, ring, middle, pointer, and thumb. I thought it was fun, and almost satisfying.

Daily Create #2

A drawing of a t-rex.

For the second daily create, it was to draw a t-rex, which was easy enough. I don’t consider myself the best artist, but I am proud of this drawing as I was able to do it free-hand.

Daily Create #3

For the last daily create of the week, it was to make a poem out of anti-spam words. Spam is universally annoying, so it was fun to get a bit creative to create a rhyming, quick poem. Here it is below:

Block, delete, report as fake
Phishing links? Big mistake!
No click, no trick, no shady site…
Spam be gone, out of my sight!

Overall

This week was a bit tough for me in terms of motivation, but the assignments themselves were pretty fun in terms of using my creativity and thinking outside the box in order to complete them. As usual, I think my favorite assignment from this week would have to be the sound effect story, as I found it amusing to look through the different sound effects and find the ones that would create a narrative.

Radio Bumper

For my radio bumper, I wanted to make the background music, more lowkey. I wanted to replicate the music you would hear when listening to the lofi radio on youtube. Something that you could relax and listen to while you are studying or doing work for class. I found the background music off of a free music and image website called Pixabay.com. I then included just a simple “You’re listening to DS106 Radio”, just to let the music have the spotlight itself. I found this to be fun, as it didn’t take me very long and I was able to figure out what vibe I wanted to go for pretty quick.

Radio Show Ideas

I have had a couple of ideas over the past week about a radio show. And I have still yet to think of which one is my favorite so I will list them all out.

First, I thought a cool idea would to be a late night talk show interview with each of the characters. It would sort of be like a “Jimmy Fallon” or “Stephen Colbert” style show, with one of the characters hosting and the others appearing as guests. The interviews could be a bit comedic or chaotic, while also staying within the tropes of film noir. We could also have segments of listeners calling in, or maybe some of the characters playing quick mini-games. It would be fun to try to imagine our characters who come from a genre that is quite serious and brooding, be a bit silly.

Another idea is to do a true-crime murder mystery. We could come up with the classic “Clue” tropes, and have it where one of the characters is murdered, and the others have to work together in order to figure out who is the murderer. This could be more serious, but have some humor sprinkled in here and there.

I feel that these ideas would allow the group to step out of the box, and to think of their characters and how they would act in certain situations.