Monthly Archives: November 2016

Baily Anderson’s Capstone Project

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For my capstone project, I have decided to educate my audience on the issue of plastic waste build up in our oceans. Because of people’s massive consumption of plastic materials, a threat has been posed to the natural wildlife population and, in return, ourselves.  I feel this is a very relevant topic that many of us should be concerned about and I feel very passionate about how we affect the environment around us.

To illustrate my information, I would like to create an infographic combined with animation. Working previously with Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects, I have decided to use these tools to create this project. I feel these two tools work very well together and make it easy to correlate between files. By producing most of my graphics in Illustrator, I can import these files into After Effects to animate. I feel this would compliment my website satisfactorily since I feel that these are where my strengths or “superpowers” lie.

I’m still a little unsure as to how I will narrow down my subject. I could discuss how plastic materials are damaging our ecosystem, but I also feel it is important to explain how everyone can help to make it better. I have pondered the thought of having a host, such as a seal or a fish, to help narrate the subject. My intent to lighten the seriousness of the topic is to try and focus on the positive. By providing solutions to this serious topic, we can begin to hope for a brighter future for the generations yet to come.

Binge Viewing

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For my Capstone project I will be focusing my efforts on how binge viewing is changing television and entertainment. Binge viewing is a recent phenomenon that has emerged thanks to increased high speed internet access and services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and even YouTube. Binge viewing is often classified as watching at least 2 episodes of the same show back to back, but this number is normally much higher. It can sometimes be defined as watching multiple series back to back, especially when it comes to media that is much shorter than a traditional television show such as on YouTube. Since binge viewing has become the popular and even preferred option, the television industry has been in a period of massive adaptation to keep up with changing interests and demands. Everything from the type of shows being produced, to the way the shows are written, and the numbers of episodes per season, are being revamped in order to appeal to a new audience of viewers. Have you ever wondered how or why streaming services continuously create and develop shows that are instant hits?

In order to convey all of this information, I am going to create a series of infographics highlighting the changes, and growing pains, that this industry is currently experiencing. I think a small series will help highlight the different changes that are happening that do not necessarily relate to each other, as well as separate the different services and what they are specifically doing themselves. For my second choice, I am going to create a video remix that captures the different feelings we get through the act of binge viewing.

Bike Safety…Word!

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I have chosen to address bicycle safety for this semester’s capstone project. I plan to create an infograph detailing the more salient statistical information regarding bicycle fatalities and the simple but effective ways to prevent them. Using simple visual aids, I will discuss some of the key information regarding bike accidents in America through the recent years, and things we all can do to keep safer. Along with this graphic, I will create a remixed video touching on the benefits of biking as well as the most important aspects of bike safety—how they are accessible and crucial to all riders.

Bicycling has long been a popular means of transportation, recreation, and exercise; its popularity is consistently growing. Recently, Portland has joined many other cities across America, and the world, in introducing bike-share programs to reduce the number of cars on the road and to give people who enjoy biking a convenient and inexpensive way to do so. Bike share programs are great: they increase the proportion of cyclists to cars in dense, urban areas, as well as foster interest in cycling more generally. But that introduces a paradox.

The more enthusiasm people experience about cycling, the more bikes there tend to be on the road—especially in the city. That means more cyclists sharing the road with cars in heavily populated areas during all hours of the day and night, which can lead to an increase in motorist-versus-cyclist accidents.

Each year, hundreds of bikers are killed in collisions involving automobiles, mostly on urban roads. But there are steps we can take which drastically reduce the chances of a fatal crash. Simply wearing a helmet is the single most protective measure. The overwhelming majority of deaths occur when cyclists do not wear them. Many of these deaths are adults, who often feel that, because they are not children, they need not wear protective gear. Bike lighting is another important thing to consider; a majority of fatalities occur in the evening and night. And just being aware of one’s surroundings is crucial. While it may sound like common sense to warn against distracted riding, the fact that so many bikers are killed in urban areas attests to the need to be aware at all times. Cities are busy places, and bikers need to be just as vigilant as drivers, if not more so.

Bike safety is not a particularly popular area of discussion, though biking itself is on the rise. Because of this, more and more accidents are going to happen. But they are preventable accidents, so long as we are educated in bike safety.

 

How to deal with overly opinionated and difficult people?

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Recently I have been struggling with social problems. I gave up on watching the news because it was so depressing it was affecting my mental health. I know that news issues are important, but sometimes I feel I don’t know the right answer to the solutions. I can’t even talk to anyone about social issues in public because everyone has an opinion. I try and keep my opinions to myself when I have one. It’s a real struggle with social media because people force their opinions on me a lot. If I give away that I have a different opinion, I lose a possible friendship with someone who shares the opposite opinion. With such complicated issues in the news going all the time, why should I be forced to chose what I think is right and admit it publicly? I love movies, but 2 of my friends are film critics for VICE and The Sunset Gun in Hollywood. Try talking to them about what your favorite movie is. They won’t let you have your opinion until it is changed to theirs. I heard one waitress say something that stuck with me. She said, “Never talk about religion, politics, or opinions about entertainment in any bar. You’re just trying to start a fight.” Has America got so uptight that we can’t speak, move, or breathe? I like to design and make animations in school, but it’s tough to speak my mind and then have all the students (who I will be working with for the next 2 years) decide to hate me. This is going to be a challenge for me, but I am going to make an animated infographic from scratch and a video mix, or mash up about difficult people and opinionated people and how to deal with them in a sensible way so that I can learn how to deal with them in a difficult situation.

Ryanne Pitts’ Proposal

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It seems that our country is continually facing the issues and termoil between races. Among most recent events involving police brutality, our countries historical civil rights movements, and hundred of years of slavery, the feud between blacks and whites is by far the most prominent of problems. Where does all this hatred come from? We surely are not born with this perceptions and biases. They are formed by the ones who raise us, our peers, society, and the constant images and messages we are fed that fuel the rise of inequality. The recent BlackLivesMatter movement demonstrates how a group of people must stand up to the tensions and injustice in order to see change, especially in a country that is predominantly white. This movement is not to say that other lives do not matter, for America has shown which lives matter most. It is simply to make note that African American lives matter as well, and history shows that this has not been exhibited in our society. As a white woman myself, who is a mother of two bi-racial young boys, I have seen how treatment differs between the two races. I hope that my project will showcase a solution geared towards unity, compassion, and a future that embraces ethnicity, rather than it determine your position in society.

I plan to create an infographic, along with a remix that will encompass the current statistics of violence and inequalities among blacks and whites, and possible solutions. Positive imagery is very powerful, and negative ones are not always the best way to approach such a sensitive subject. However, it cannot go unnoticed.
I hope the information I present will resonate with our class.

Erin McBride’s Capstone Project

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I have chosen to use my Capstone Project to showcase the current issue of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Because this issue is ongoing, my approach to this subject will be broad. In my project, I will explain what the Dakota Access Pipeline is, for those who are unaware of the dire situation in Standing Rock. Within my two media pieces, I would like to examine all stakeholders in the project. The companies, Energy Transfer Partners and Enbridge Energy, who have been given the contract to build the pipeline and Sunoco, the future operators of the pipeline. These companies have dreadful track records with Sonoco to blame for more than 200 oil spills since 2010 and Enbridge responsible for the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill, one of the most expensive in U.S. history. I will also address the involvement of the Dakota Sioux and other 250 Native American Tribes acting as protectors for the land and the Missouri River. If I have time and space I will also mention the Army Corps of Engineers, The Red Owl Legal Collective, local land owners, the Iowa Utilities Board, and Dakota Access LLC.

While my attention has previously been captured by the atrocities committed against the indigenous people, this project will focus on factual data and I will do my best to come from a place of logic rather than emotion. In this way, I hope that my message is received as factual and without bias.

My two media objects will be an infographic and remixed video, which I will donate to the Standing Rock Sioux under the hashtag #noDAPL. My infographic will contain stakeholder information and possibly a sort of timeline to show involvement and actions taken by these stakeholders. This is related to my remixed video, as I elaborate upon who is involved, why they are involved, and what their roles are. My website will showcase these two media objects as well as links to online petitions, and contact methods for all stakeholders so that people may approach these companies, groups, and people with questions and reactions after viewing my related media.

https://twitter.com/360_4839/status/794349825026207745
https://twitter.com/360_4839/status/794352267612733440
https://twitter.com/360_4839/status/794353149070884864
https://twitter.com/360_4839/status/794359758832603136
https://twitter.com/360_4839/status/794354063341023232

Project Proposal: The Benefit of Electric Cars

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The subject for my Capstone Project will be on the benefits of the electric car. The two media objects I will complete for my project are the infographic and a remix video. The info graphic will illustrate the benefits of choosing an electric car over the traditional gas powered vehicle. I plan to compare and contrast the two ways of transportation using clear visuals and my own imagery. For the video remix I plan to create a political call to action using videos on the history and potential future of electric vehicles. I would like to highlight the attempt to end the electric car by the automotive industry. Showing in my video that innovation is being stifled I would like to paint a brighter future where we overcome greedy corporate America.

These two media objects relate to each other, the website, and my chosen subject matter in the way that they will all be centered around the politics of electric cars and the benefits of having electric cars over carbon emitting cars. Some subjects I will include involve politics, economics, the environment, and consumer satisfaction. I feel there is enough resources online that information will be readily available. The main hurdle I will have to overcome in to tie my infographic, remix, and website into a cohesive design. I want to create a video that stirs up emotion. I would also like a call to action for the infographic. My main goal is to promote electric vehicles and to reinforce the benefits to the world at large.

Job Automation

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My capstone project will discuss the implications of job automation. According to studies, nearly half of all jobs in the United States are at risk of being automated by robotic and software technologies in the next 20 years. The topic is interesting as it has inroduced a lot of controversy that used to be just science fiction. People that earn income from jobs that are at risk of automation are frightened at the thought of being unemployed by the artificial hands of a robot. I will be taking a more optimistic approach explaining why automating these jobs will be good for everybody:

  • New jobs and new fields are being created that won’t be automated any time soon
  • With less work needed by humans, wealth could be redistributed in a way to allow all people to work less without a reduction of their quality of life.
  • Prices for goods will be reduced since labor costs will no longer apply.

Capstone Project

I will create an infographic using the skills I learned in this course in Illustrator and Photoshop. The infographic will introduce the topic of job automation and its controversy then will explain why it might not be such a bad thing. This infographic will be 100% original by me. I may also include some neat jQuery effects if time allows. Either way, it will be formatted in html and css, not just one big image file.

Using the Premier and After Effects skills, I will create a remix of videos detailing research and possible effects of job automation featuring experts in economics and computer science.

https://twitter.com/jonathanwam1/status/794380465603907584

https://twitter.com/jonathanwam1/status/794381934365274112

https://twitter.com/jonathanwam1/status/794383787618508801

Taylor Jones | Capstone Project Subject

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Have you ever had food poisoning? You eat contaminated food and spend the next few days in absolute misery, throwing up and generally feeling like garbage. You most likely found yourself thinking, “I can’t wait for this to pass…” But what if it never did? What if all food made you miserably ill? That is the truth for people suffering from Gastroparesis. Gastroparesis means “paralyzed stomach.” Normally, the stomach muscles contract, moving food into your small intestine. The vagus nerve controls this movement, however, when it is damaged, it can no longer tell the stomach to contract. Food stays in the stomach much longer than it should, causing a multitude of terrible symptoms. This invisible illness can be debilitating and hard to diagnose. Gastroparesis symptoms include nausea, belching, bloating, heartburn, indigestion, regurgitation, vomiting, feeling full after only a few bites, loss of appetite, and malnutrition. These symptoms can occur for a number of reasons other than Gastroparesis, which is one reason this illness is hard to diagnose. People with Gastroparesis are often not taken seriously, with family and doctors attributing their symptoms to an eating disorder or fake cry for attention. Many people suffer for years, racking up medical bill debt while searching for answers before they ever even hear that Gastroparesis may be a possible diagnosis. Gastroparesis severity can range from mild to fatal, and there is no cure.

In order to raise awareness about Gastroparesis, my capstone project will include an Infographic with a very detailed description of Gastroparesis, and a video remix that provides a quick summary overviewing the illness and describing ways the viewer can learn more or lend a helping hand.