Juhi Mehta: Midterm Portfolio – #5 Audio Descriptions of Captions

Project Description:

This is a video that contains audio descriptions of captions from my original creative captions project. I have written a poem that encapsulates childhood, motherhood, growing up, and the nostalgia of it all. I have included video snippets that correlate to the poem.

Documentation:

Video Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NV06SrZUQLI0nFPGynjO3ZJSEkpE2cFq/view?usp=drive_link

I added the theme of “seasons” that we all have in our lives. Each season represents a part of growing up. Spring is newborn/toddler years. Summer is elementary school years. Fall is middle school years. Winter is high school years, until the next spring which is graduation time. I included the themes of growing up: school, friends, first love, having your mom as your best friend, etc.

Transcript:

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: White background. Text reads “The Seasons of Life.”

NARRATOR:

In the tender Spring of infancy,

A mother’s love, gentle and unwavering,

Each new breath a connection unspoken,

Guiding through the vast expanse of life.

Summer’s heat brings the innocence of youth,

Elementary days filled with discovery,

Amidst the laughter and innocence,

Her mother’s presence a constant reassurance.

Autumn descends, signaling change,

Middle school’s tumultuous journey,

Navigating the complexities of growing up,

Her mother’s guidance a steady anchor.

Then Winter arrives, high school’s domain,

Navigating the maze of adolescence,

In the midst of uncertainty and challenges,

Her mother’s love a beacon of strength.

Spring returns, senior year’s bloom,

Promises of new beginnings on the horizon,

Graduation’s approach marks a milestone,

Her mother’s pride a source of joy.

As she prepares to spread her wings,

Embarking on the journey to college,

Her mother’s love remains a steady companion,

A guiding force through the unknown.

Through the seasons of life’s ever-changing landscape,

Her love for her mom, a constant thread,

In the tapestry of memories and experiences,

Her mother’s love, an eternal presence.

Reflection questions: 

What is the theme of the work? What is it you aim to express?

My theme is the process of a daughter growing up and how her mom’s relationship with her remains her anchor throughout her life. I view each stage of the daughter’s life as a season, so her growing up is categorized into the 4 seasons and at the end it returns to spring again.

How is that theme particularly expressed through the modality of the week?

To express this theme, I used a series of clips that show a daughter aging from newborn to high school student. I used clips of being in school, the park, at a party, prom, graduation, etc. I also made sure to include a mother’s presence. As for the audio descriptions themselves, I took inspiration from my Captions Assignment, which was a graduation scene from Gilmore Girls. The overall captions of that scene were about the all-encompassing love that a mother has for her daughter and vice-versa. There was, of course, also the theme of growing up and graduating. By keeping these themes in mind, I created a poem and included it as my voiceover.

Which elements of the work are beautifully/wonderfully/perfectly expressed through the modality?

I believe the elements that are best expressed are the way the voiceover coincides with the seasons. I think it meshed very well together.

Which elements are lost or inexpressible through the modality of the week?

The comedy element from the original Captions Assignment is lost. I did not include any humor in this video. I wanted to strictly focus on the themes of growing up and mother/daughterhood.

Who does this project exclude? Who would not be able to interact with this work? Who is this modality not accessible for?

People with blindness/low vision might have trouble figuring out how each scene exactly looks. My goal was not to describe each scene, but correlate the scene with the poem. I also added sound effects that describe the atmosphere of each scene. Also, people with hearing disabilities would not be able to fully comprehend the video because there are no captions in it.

Now that you’ve identified who is excluded, what is one way you could remix this piece to include another population? (You don’t have to make this part, but think about it and write about it)

To remix this piece and make it more inclusive, I would have to create more descriptive audio descriptions that explain each scene and also include captions.

For the remixes: what is lost and what is gained in this remix? What did you have to leave behind and what could you take with you?

Although I included the themes of growing up and mother/daughterhood, I did not include any scene from Gilmore Girls. I also did not include any humor in this. I believe I lost the humor completely. However, I believe I gained an artistic way to describe the video without putting in extremely detailed, long, and robotic audio descriptions. I wanted to focus the most on the feeling that the sound would give the listener. I enjoyed this process and I am excited to take this skill with me elsewhere for future projects.