Our audio is the modern English version of Sonnet 98 from Shakespeare’s collection of sonnets.

“I was away from you during the spring when splendid April in all its finery made everything feel so young that even Saturn, the god of old age and gloominess laughed and leapt along with it. But neither the songs of birds nor the sweet smell of the various flowers could make me feel like it was summer or inspire me to go flower picking. I wasn’t amazed by how white the lily was nor did I praise the deep red of the roses. They were only sweet, only pictures of delight drawn in imitation of you, the archetype of spring. It seemed like it was still winter and, with you away, I  played with these flowers as if I were playing with your reflection.”

• Concept and story:

The metaphor portrayed here is related to the emotional journey an individual goes through when a loved one leaves. Spring, a season of livelihood and colors, is merely bland from your point of view. Life without them now feels empty, lonely, and often, will cause you to feel broken. But once you learn to understand that even though they may not be physically present by your side anymore, their footprints and the memories shared (represented in the video as rose petals) will keep you company this spring and continue to stay with you as you carry on with your journey. One day, you will realize that it will be your turn to make your departure as you leave behind your petals behind for someone else.

• Creation Process and Execution:

Our creation process was quite bumpy and rough primarily because in the early stages of this project we both lacked a greater understanding of what a visual metaphor would look like as well as how to portray our theme into metaphorical means. We initially had 2 unsuccessful versions of a storyboard that did not really work well with either the project instructions or did not depict our story well. However, as we started to experiment with filming, we both were able to come up with things we liked along the way to add to our project. Towards the end of the project, Dez and I just started working off with our own interpretations of our theme. This is why our projects were drastically different despite having a similar concept and sharing the same clips. 

I will attach the story board that I used for the final version of my project.

• Collaboration:

Throughout our project we equally approached each step with our own versions of the audio/voiceover, storyboard, and filming despite sharing a common general theme. This was for the purpose of finding a better fit and to see which one fitted our own personal tastes and preferences more. We agreed on this poem Dez picked out and started planning our storyboards. As for our shots, we had a shared google folder where everything was shared including our audios.  Dez and I were working backwards, but I’m happy our cooperation was very successful which made this process significantly easier.

• Aesthetics and Results:

In order to make the concept more apparent to the audience, I worked on customizing color a lot throughout my piece. Especially in the beginning, I used color isolation to make every color less saturated excluding the red from the rose petals. This is for the purpose of accentuating the dull, mundaneness of spring to emphasize the paradox. In the end I brought back the saturation of all the other colors to follow the flow of the metaphor and story.

III.  Concept | Storyline:    

       1). We will be using the No Fear Shakespeare modern translation of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 98. Deziree will read the audio because we want the narrator to be female and speak with the proper emotion.

       2). The sonnet which is written to a lover describes the beauty of spring and the youthful excitement and pleasure that comes with it. However, the narrator has a melacnholic tone as they are unable to enjoy the beautiful spring because their lover is away.

       3). We are focusing on conveying a juxtaposition between the beauty and excitement of spring and the loneliness that the narrator feels. 

       4). The film should be very warm and comfortable. It should move slowly and have a hint of deep longing. We definitely want the aesthetics of nature in spring time to be heavily present.

1. Execution Plan: 

       1). We will be using and iPhone to record both audio and video.

       2). Tina will shoot in a place with tall grass and beautiful natural scenery. She will film during a sunny day.

       3). The potential challenges which may occur include the weather and light fitting the aesthetic that we want. Also, filming and editing footage from a distance may be difficult.

       4). We can collaborate by regularly checking in and scheduling periodic zoom calls to show and discuss the progress we make.

1.   Storyboard Draft

1. Gantt Chart*

Video Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2T-Rh838GA&ab_channel=DoveUS

1. What does Ritchin mean with the “fluidity of the digital”? Give an example of digital imaging/digital photography that exemplifies this.

The fluidity of the digital refers to the change of photography brought by the advance of editing techniques. As photo editing software becomes more popular and easier to use, people, not just professional photographers, can manipulate the photo by changing the architecture of the image. It can be easily transformed into other media such as video and virtual reality. Such as the 360-degree video which needs to be made with a special camera, but a low-quality video can be made with a group of photos. I know people who have photoshopped their report grades and manipulated their test scores to fabricate their academic success whether it’s for college admissions or other application processes. 

2. Reflect on the extent to which photography is capable of capturing reality; and compare it to other media (technology) (e.g. text, video, virtual reality, books). 

Photography can capture a part of reality, just like how our eyes catch a moment of life. It is relatively neutral compared to other media such as text that can be easily manipulated to mislead the audience. A photo can contain a lot of information and space that allows the audience to have their interpretation. It can also be controlled through a clever angle and selective information. However, as photo editing becomes more and more popular, the information delivered from the photo becomes more direct by deliberately deleting “unnecessary” information. Although the edited photo can make itself less real and convincing, it does bring a new kind of reality. Taking advantage of the latest technology, there is now a future photo that can depict what various areas might look like based on the scientific predictions of global warming. Instead of the previous documentary function, now, it has the power to visualize the future in our imagination (or a more realistic future) just like all the science fiction movies.

I am intrigued by the concept that we all live in a universe woven by our perception. We are the center of our own universe and the main characters of our own stories. All that we see and feel is limited by our understanding of the situation. Because of this, even though each one of us are merely small creatures in an infinitely large universe and galaxy, seeing the world through our own eyes make ourselves more significant than any other organism around us. I think it will interesting for my diptych project to highlight this kind of relationship between us as individuals and the rest of the world. 

For details on exactly what I plan on doing and how to execute it, I am considering using colors, angle, and size to compare and contrast the concept of an individual versus the rest of the world. For example, I am imagining a colored image of a person but through the first person perspective adn then incorporating other human beings on the side but in black and white and smaller in size, etc. Of course, since my idea is based off this concept of contrast, perspective, and comparison, I must include both the central individual and the rest of the world, whether it is nature or other human beings. I am planning on taking images of prominent objects in life such as plants, clouds, maybe even include myself since this is my project and I am the center of my own universe. I will utilize Photoshop to cut and organize these photographed images together. 

For this assignment, my partner Clarissa and I decided to illustrate the city metro system. We divided this system into a couple main components that completes the concept of this system. For example, we used a coin to describe the token of monetary value in the logogram and used that as a form of exchange for the service of transportation. The token initially was with the human until it exited the metro. Leaving the token behind to can show that the exchange was complete. Furthermore, we used specific icons of humans to depict the direction of travel and movement. When the human and standing still, it does not move, but when one of the legs or lower limbs come up, this represents motion of humans in order to move from place to place. Because humans have two legs that aid them to walk as well as two more arms, the aliens may have trouble understanding this initially since they have “four legs, three non-adjacent arms curled up at its sides..limbs had no distinct joints…it’s “torso” rise atop the rippling limbs as smoothly as a hovercraft…seven lidless eyes ringed the top of the hetapod’s body” (Chiang 5). This description shows the fluidity in the movement of the heptapods whereas humans must move each joint individually based off its biological and physical making. Additionally, one of the key concepts of transportation is for travel. We showed this step by including two distinct logos to portray distinct locations. Then used the direction of the train moving towards one “destination-logo” to denote that the metro and the human inside of the metro are both heading towards that direction. Finally, when the human arrives at the destination, it will exit the train while leaving behind the coin token. Now for comprehending the plaque as a whole, we need to acknowledge that heptapods communicate in a way similar to humans as they also verbally communicate and have the same senses as humans. For example, they also have eyes and a medium for verbal communication. In addition, in the reading, it shows how the heptapods can understand simple concepts so it can be inferred that this type of communication is feasible.

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Based on the story, heptapods could make sound that might not be reproduced by human due to the different place of articulation, “Their vocal tract is substantially different from a human vocal tract. It doesn’t sound like they’re using a larynx to make those sounds.” Therefore, their oral language might be hard to be distinguished only by ears. Heptapods have two types of language – their spoken language and written language – their written language appeared to be logographic. “Their script isn’t word-divided; a sentence is written by joining the logograms for the constituent words. They join the logograms by rotating and modifying them. ” People could clearly see the difference her: while for human, one sentence is made up of several different words, for Heptapods, one sentence is a picture/diagram. Furthermore, because Heptapods’ written language is not based on the format and sequence of words, they follow a different grammar rule. According to Chiang, “it was comprehensible so far: free word order, even to the extent that there was no preferred order for the clauses in a conditional statement, in defiance of a human language universal.”

As human, we could use facial expression and body language to better convey our idea when we communicate. For example, when we are excited, our eyes open and eyebrows will raise, and we will smile to show the excitement. People’s distinguished facial expression and body language serve as a complement to communicate our moods and feelings. However for Heptapods, It is not possible at least from human’s perspective for Heptapods to use facial expression or body language. Based on the text, “it looked like a barrel suspended at the intersection of seven limbs. It was radially symmetric, and any of its limbs could serve as an arm or a leg. ” In this situation, since Heptapods don’t have distinctive five sense organs like humans, they fail to communicate their feelings through facial expression. 

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