Farewell and Thanks Writing 105M!

I first heard about this class from a girl that I work with on the Gaucho Communicator, which is an online newsletter for the UCSB Communication department. While I was listening to her talk about this class, like how much she learned and how much fun it was, I decided that I needed to take this class. So I checked on Gold and saw that Writing 105M was available this quarter and signed up. I am so glad that I took this class.

I came into this class not knowing much about multimedia or what multimedia writing meant exactly. But that was okay, because with guidance from my peers and Professor Dean, I was able to gain the necessary knowledge and skill to produce my own multimedia works. This class has given me skills in programs I never worked with before like Audacity and Photoshop. More importantly, this class has given me the confidence to go with my own gut and intuition, to trust my own ideas and creations. The projects have allowed me to express myself and my new found skills in ways I thought I never could. I had a lot of fun learning and experimenting with different mediums, which is something I usually don't do.

I am a little sad that the class is over, but I am excited about my new skills and cannot wait to use them in the future! Thanks again Writing 105M! It's been great! :)

Prezi Reflection

Screen cast reflection of my Prezi presentation!

Writing Resources

                                                              50 Free Resources

I was googling writing resources when I came across the website linked above. It was the first link that was listed and I was interested in what resources they were. Plus they were "free" and everyone knows that free stuff is always better.

The website lists seven different categories of various ways to improve writing skills. For example, the first category is "Grammar, Punctuation, & Co" and there is a list of multiple resources that one could use to learn more about grammar. They also have a tools section where they list various websites that can be used to help improve one's writing skills like Onelook reverse dictionary, in which you can find that word that eludes you by describing what that word that you're trying to find is. I think that this resource will be particularly useful as I can use it to find words that I don’t even know existed and use them in my writing. The webpage lists various other categories and lists of references that one can use.

I think this relates to Writing 105M because although it is important to learn about technology and various other tools that we can use in multimedia writing, the most important thing is writing itself. After all, we are in a writing class. Whether it be on Prezi, Audacity, or any other medium, writing is essential to the project and lays the foundation for the project. With a good foundation and great writing skills, one can better create projects.

Looking back at Photoshop

Hi everyone! Here is my screencast about my photoshop project! I had a lot of fun working with Photoshop and I liked how my pictures turned out! I hope you like it and I can't wait to see yours! :)

My day without the Internet

Sorry for the late post, but I was on my no Internet diet yesterday. From 2 pm Friday to 2 pm Saturday, I was determined not to go on the Internet or social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. I thought it was going to be hard to be honest. My daily routine has included Facebook status updates, looking at pictures my friends and family have posted on Instagram, and viral videos on YouTube. I spend a lot of my time on the Internet and I didn't know how much of my day was spent on the Internet until I had to stop. What was I going to do to fill the hours that had just opened up for me? Could I make it? I was determined to see this little experiment through, so although I did get urges to check Facebook or the Internet, I resisted. I survived!

So how did I spend my "free" time? Well, I read for my English class. I think this was one of the very few moments when I was grateful for homework. I had something to fill the hours. I also spent a couple of hours watching TV and continued reading until I was tired and went to bed. 

Going a day without the Internet was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. Maybe it's because I spent my time doing other things that took my mind away from the Internet. My day was quiet. There were no Facebook status updates, emails, silly cat videos, or pictures of food. It was just me and the book. There was nothing to distract me from reading my book or getting some homework done. It was a peaceful time without the Internet. But one thing that I missed the most was not being able to text or talk to my mother. I am very close to her and I usually text or call her to talk to her about my day. From all the distractions that the Internet has to offer, it does have its positive points too, like connecting people. I guess that's what I miss most from my no-Internet diet. I miss being able to talk to people that I am not physically there with. I realize that before the Internet people still were able to connect to each other, but the Internet has made it easier. 

This little experiment has taught me to stay away from the Internet and its distractions. It's important to live life outside the computer and not online. But it has also showed me that having Internet is a positive thing because it can connect people from anywhere in the world in just a few clicks. And for this reason, I don't think living an Internet-free world would ever be possible again. 

"B" On the Lookout

 Here is my "letter" picture:

This is the rough draft of the "letter" picture, and I do like the way it turned out. I like how the colors are bright and vibrant, bringing a sense of cheer and happiness to the photo. I also like how it has complementary colors, blue and orange, that also makes it visually appealing (I still don't understand how the blue/orange combo works, but it is!). The "vignette" effect, the darkening of the corners of the photo I like because it seems to draw your eye toward the center of the photo and the "b." I like this picture. It did take me awhile to get to this picture though.

This is the first first draft of the "b" photo. I had little experience with Photoshop and had no idea where to start (and I need to continue playing around with Photoshop) so I looked at YouTube tutorials on how to get certain effects. I believe this is called the "Lomo" effect and as you can see, I used elements of this effect on the final first draft of the "b" photo. While I like this picture, I like the first one more because the colors are more vibrant and bright, and the "b" is more clearly visible. In this picture, there is a lot going on and the eye can be drawn to all different sorts of things like the building or road. So I decided while this picture is okay, I had to make the "b" the focus of my picture.

This is the second "b" picture I cam up with. Now I like this one better than the second, because the "b" is closer and more defined. Again, I am using the "vignette" effect to get those darkened corners. I also played with the Marquee and Cut tool to get rid of the cars and the man that were in the photo so I got a nice clean photo of just the road and traffic signals. But I think I went a little too crazy with cutting things out because as you can see, the light post is striped of its bulbs and this gave it a weird look. It just seems strange to have a pole there right in the middle of the road. What is that pole for? The colors while I do like the almost vintage feel to them, they were still a bit dull and boring. 

What I learned from the process of creating this "letter" photo is how to think visually and how to manipulate the picture so that what I want to be the focus IS the focus. Like the second picture, it was just too far away and too busy for anyone to focus on and see the "b" so I need to crop everything else out and come closer to the traffic signals and bring out the "b" shape. But I also had to be careful, because if I had been too focused on making the "b" the focus, I can create something like the third picture, where although the "b" is visible, the overall picture looks strange and wrong. So figuring out what works visually and what doesn't takes time and a little work. Thankfully, we also had the readings like McCloud to help us figure out how to create better visuals.



Okay so the title was supposed to be "Words and Pictures" in the font Windings 2, but I guess it didn't transfer from Word to Blogger too well. I'm sorry.

My selection for this week's blog post is this scene from McCloud:

In the scene, he talks about how words and pictures could be used together and what effects come from the combination. I chose this scene because I think it is a perfect example of the power of multimedia and conveying messages. I never realized before how words and pictures could be used as complements and enhance a singular message. I never really stopped to think about it before, although I probably have seen many examples of how words and pictures were combined just so in order to make me think or feel a certain way. My example is this Lego advertisement: 

The ad is simple. A small red Lego block and a slightly larger black Lego block with the sentence, "Imagine a Children's story" next to the Lego logo. The picture of the Lego blocks are slightly larger than the words, so it places focus first on the toy. Then we see the sentence and that's when we start thinking about the toy and what the two blocks are supposed to represent. From McCloud's reading I would label this word/picture combo as "Interdependent" as I believe the picture and words need each other to send the message. Otherwise, it just seems like a couple of Lego blocks or some vague sentence. But together, it makes me think of how playing with Legos is using your imagination and how fun that it can be. The ad simply but effectively illustrates Lego's message that their toy inspires and fuels imaginations of those who play with them. Through this simple ad, I could totally imagine "Little Red Riding Hood." In fact, I no longer see the Lego blocks, but a little girl and a big scary bad wolf. I am reminded of my younger cousins and how much fun they have while playing with Legos.

 Nor did I realize the many different ways that words and pictures could be combined and used to elicit a different feeling. For me, it was very surprising to see the many different ways that you could use words to describe a drawn scene or vice versa. I guess it also depends on what you want to focus on. I have also realized that thinking visually is not always about what looks pretty or the most attractive, but how do these different elements relate to one another and what message are they trying to send? Knowing how word/picture combos work now, I can better fashion an image that uses both to convey the message that I wanted to convey. I will keep these word/picture combos in mind in this upcoming Photoshop project.

The Sounds of...Podcasts?

Images found on Google


Before taking on this project, I've always thought that podcasting was a pretty simple thing to do. You just sit down in front of a mic, choose a topic to discuss, and just talk. But now, I realize that podcasting isn't THAT easy. You do have to have a topic to talk about but you also need some research and direction that you want your podcast to take.That's where the planning comes from, why we have a script, so we know (generally) the direction that the podcast is headed and you're not too rambly or off topic.

But therein lies a challenge when it comes to podcasting. I have a feeling that having a script, while helpful in keeping focus and direction, can be hard because a script (at least for me) will make it hard to sound natural and NOT like I'm reading off a piece of paper. I will probably have to relax and do some vocal exercises before I record my podcast and will be something that I have to keep in mind.

A reward for me in working with Audacity and sound, is that it's teaching me a new way of creating art. Art isn't always visual, but can come in many different forms. With this podcast project, I'm learning how to create something that will be aurally appealing, like using sound effects and music and my voice. I will have to find a way to fit them together and make my podcast entertaining and a form of art. It's just a new way of expressing myself that I never thought about before.

The obvious thing that connects audio to text is that they are both dealing with words. Whether you're listening to a podcast or reading a book, words are the ones that are being used to communicate a message. One way that audio differs from text, is that with audio, you can hear exactly how the author is intending the message to be. For example, when reading a book, sometimes it's hard to decipher whether or not someone is trying to be sarcastic. But when you're listening to someone, you can definitely hear the sarcasm in their voice. You also get to hear emotions, how someone is feeling through their voice. Another difference, is that audio is a little more personal than text. Sure when you're reading you can get a sense of the author and his or her voice or the character's voice, but it's mainly your voice (the one inside your head) that is doing the talking. But with audio, you can actually HEAR the person's voice. It is not the Voice inside your head that is describing things to you, but the Person him/herself.I believe that with audio, you are better connected to the Speaker and get a better sense of who they are. Audio just gives a better sense of connection to the Speaker than text does. In podcasting, text and audio are important. Text is one way that a podcast host can write down his/her ideas and topics to be discussed, but audio, while adhering to the text, goes to the next level and brings life to the text. Audio is an attention grabber and with it you can be sure that the message is being received, loud and clear.  

The Draft that No One Sees

It was really reassuring for me to read “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott. See, I’ve had this dream of being a writer one day and the image that I have of being a writer is someone who sits down at a typewriter and writes and writes and writes for hours on end, until eventually they end up with a finished and perfect manuscript. And because of this image, this stereotype, I suppose I’ve at times considered myself to be a bit of a failure. If I can’t write a perfect manuscript on the first try, could I really call myself a writer? Some of that feeling could also come from the perfectionist inside of me. Everything has to be perfect and it all has to happen on the first try.

            But after reading “Shitty First Drafts” and learning that most (if not all) writers have trouble writing some times and that the perfect draft doesn’t exist, I feel relieved. I am not the only one with this problem and being stuck or having trouble writing is a very common problem. What I’ve learned from “Shitty First Drafts” is to relax and have confidence in yourself and your abilities. The most important thing is NOT being perfect the first time round, but GETTING THINGS WRITTEN. Let those ideas just come in whatever way, shape, or form even if it’s not “perfect.” Getting things down on paper is good because it can help flush away problems and find amazing ideas that wouldn’t have come up if I am too busy worrying about finding that “perfection.” So as long as I keep on writing and writing, I can never fail.

Lastly, I really like responding to readings by writing a blog entry because it is more fun and easier to write. I don’t have to worry about being professional or sounding too academic, I can just be myself and let my own voice shine through. Writing blog entries is also more relaxing and less stressful than academic writing because I can simply let my thoughts flow out of me, like a stream of consciousness, which is very cathartic.

To end on a happy note, here is a video that I’ve found that has authors giving some inspirational advice. :)

About Me

·  Hi! My name is Whitney Trang. It's nice to meet you! :)

           I am a senior, double majoring in English and Communication. I was born and raised in Southern California, and have one younger brother who attends UCR. Some of my hobbies include watching TV, reading fantasy and mystery novels, and creative writing. As an aspiring author, my new year's resolution (which has been the same for the past couple of years now) is to finish the first draft of a story that I am writing and (hopefully) publish it one day.

Taking a class on digital media sounded like fun and it will give me a different way of learning how to write, be creative, and express myself. I do not have too much experience with digital media, although I did take a "contemporary arts" class in high school where I learned how to use iMovie and we got to create, edit, and show our projects to the rest of our peers. I guess at this point I am more of a consumer of digital media and with this class, I can be a producer of digital media too.