Monthly Archives: October 2018

Capstone Project Proposal – Student Loan Debt

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For my capstone project I would like to focus on the issue of student loan debt in America. Student debt is a massive number that keeps rising in America and the shift in the price of college tuition has grown tremendously in the last 30 years. This topic is relevant to me and many people in school or who want to go to school. Also this personally affects many people I know.

For my first piece of media I want to create an infographic that nicely presents the facts about student debt. Facts like the total student debt in America, the average debt per student, the cost of tuition, things that contribute to student debt, etc.

For my second media I would like to create an animation. Since in my infographic I’m already presenting the facts about student debt, I want to use my animation to talk about ways to minimize student debt with scholarships, FAFSA, and other programs. Along with talking about the programs, I would include how to apply to the programs and emphasize the importance of signing up before the deadlines. These projects relate together because they are on the same line of subject matter. They both address that student debt is a problem. The infographic presents facts in an easy nice to read way. Instead of using the animation to present the same facts again, I would use it to present different facts which would be instead to help student debt, instead of only telling you about student debt.

Capstone Project Proposal – Urban Gardening

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For my capstone project, I plan to focus on how urban gardening can help create a healthier planet. With the increasing ramifications of global climate issues and our countries current wasteful habits, it is critical for Americans to look at ways to live more of a sustainable lifestyle. Urban gardening is an excellent way to reduce one’s impact on the environment.

Learning how to grow organic foods, compost, and raise urban livestock at home or as part of a community garden can provide a self-sufficient food supply as well as bringing greater biodiversity back into our local environments. There are many ways to sustainably and affordably do this. Some of which are using rain barrels to collect water, using worm bins for composting food and paper scraps, collecting seeds from organic plants, reusing newspapers to make pots to grow seedlings, and using items from your kitchen to help with pest management.

I will be creating a video remix with animated elements throughout to showcase areas on the following:
1) Why? Environmental and health issues examples.
2) What are the benefits? For you: fresh produce, reduced waste, beautiful yard. For the environment: reduced carbon footprint, biodiversity, helping bees.
3) How to in tight spaces? Community gardens are a great way for renters or those with no yard to have the opportunity to grow their food. Container and vertical gardens are an excellent way for renters and those with small spaces to maximize their growing area.
4) Tips and ideas for affordable and sustainable practices. Like, recycle items to make useful gardening items. How to composting to create soil, fertilizer and reduce waste. Ways to collect seeds for next seasons crops. Plus, ways to help save on water.

Since many people have a hard time knowing when to plant what, I’m going to create an infographic that shows the different growing times of fruit and vegetables in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Capstone Project Proposal – The History of Photography

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For my Capstone Project, I would like to focus on the history of photography. I will detail not only detail some of the history of photography, but also showcase some important moments in photography and video. For this project, I plan to create an Infographic and a remixed video.

My infographic will show a timeline of sorts that shows the history of photography, and most importantly, the evolution of the camera. I will show imagery of the first camera moving up through selected models until we reach the smartphone, which is now most often used to take photos.

My remixed video will focus on video and important moments in photography throughout history, showing when photo and video have united people. I will include videos such as the moon landing and other highly-viewed videos to show how important these forms of media are to the world. The remixed video will be accompanied by supporting text and music that changes with the imagery. More research must be done to fully decide what information will be included in both forms of media.

The video and infographic will be tied together by color profiles and shared theme, but the remix will focus on video more than still imagery. The decision to use both an infographic and a video remix will show two different representations of the topic, one a more formal presentation of facts and the other a visual representation of the ideas to sum up the issue, appealing to different types of viewers. In my website design, the infographic will be presented before the video so as to state the facts that will be presented in the video. The design of the website will support the themes and colors used in both forms of media.

Capstone Project Proposal – The Consequences of Bulk-Buying

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For my Capstone Project, I intend to make an animation and video remix discussing the issue of bulk-buying. My focus is to demonstrate how bulk-buying, the purchase of goods in bulk, contributes to food waste and obesity in the United States, and how suburban sprawl makes it worse. My inspiration for the topic of bulk-buying and its consequences comes from first-hand experience with products purchased at Costco, of which my parents are members. I have seen some of the products they buy expire due to their lack of usage, usually when the family is busy with other things to the point where the products are forgotten.

The first media object is going to be an animation. The animation tells a story of a woman named Lorraine who would drive to a hypermarket not unlike Costco, buy large amounts of food items, and store some of the food in the kitchen fridge and others in the pantry. Over time, some of the food would start to rot or grow mold. Lorraine would be given a choice: either throw away all the food that has gone bad (and waste lots of money), or finish it all up before it goes bad (and gain lots of weight). After looking at a list of foods not to buy at such stores, Lorraine ultimately would decide to shop only at her local market, buying half the amount of food and traveling half the distance. As a result, less food would be wasted, and she and her family would slowly slim down.

The second media object is going to be a video remix. It will be composed of a shot of the exterior of a typical Costco store, footage of the interior of a few Costco stores, shots of the exteriors of stores such as Fred Meyer and Walgreens that sell smaller portions of the same product, and footage of the interiors of stores of each respective chain. The goal in making this video is to demonstrate the difference in portion sizes between bulk stores such as Costco and mainstream stores such as Fred Meyer and Walgreens, and have the viewer think about which size they’d rather buy for the sake of their waistlines and refrigerators.

The HTML website will include the videos as well as their respective summaries and a few articles listing different products to not buy from Costco.

Capstone Project Proposal – Video Game Loot Boxes & Gambling

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For my Capstone Project, I would like to look at loot boxes in video games, and whether or not they constitute gambling. This has been a hotly debated issue in the video game community for some time now- the main concern is if children are being exposed to gambling in games, and if there should be a warning on the age rating of games with loot box systems.

I plan to make an infographic discussing the brain’s reactions to gambling and comparing/contrasting the reactions to loot boxes (I believe there are a few recent studies.) For my second media object, I plan to do an animation that can maybe serve as a sort of PSA and also explain what loot boxes are, as I feel a lot of parents likely don’t know. This would tie in with the infographic as both will be explaining loot boxes and gambling, and the effects those things have on our brains. The animation will go further in depth about the monetization video games have begun to employ post-initial purchase. I might swap these concepts around though and do the animation on the brain effects, and the infographic on the post-game purchase monetization model. I might also explore what actions have been taken around the world concerning regulating loot boxes globally.

Personally, I don’t have an issue with loot box systems in general, but I believe that it’s important for parents to know what their kids are doing in games, and for there to be a labeling of games with loot box systems for potential players who are sensitive to gambling problems.

Capstone Project Proposal – Keep Our Rhinos Horny!

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The rhinoceros is one of the most endangered animals in the world today. The black market trade of rhino horn has skyrocketed over the last decade. As a result, illegal poaching of rhinos is at an all time high. Rhinos are being poached in staggering and catastrophic numbers every year. With a long gestation period, single calf statistic, and a 3-5 year waiting period between calves, boosting rhino population numbers is a slow process. Poachers are decimating rhino population numbers faster than they can recover. Without serious and dramatic intervention, it is likely that the rhinoceros will disappear from the earth in less than 30 years. There are several organizations that are dedicated to combating this issue. Anti-poaching teams, private game reserves, public education, and breeding organizations are some of the endeavors that are currently underway. The collective effort of organizations, like Save the Rhino and The Rhino Protection Trust, have helped to safeguard the future of these magnificent animals, but they still have a long way to go. My Capstone Project will be focused on facts about the 5 species of rhinoceros, rhino horn myths and facts, poaching practices, and the efforts put in place to help stop the killing of rhinos. Using an infographic and a video compilation in combination with other (possibly graphic) images, text and related links, my hope is to shock, educate, and inform people about the current state of the rhinoceros and what can be done to help save them.