Visual Rhetoric-kingoflizards

Video: Hard at work Hurricane Matthew Relief

O:01: An origami money-heart unfolds to the left of the screen upon a brown background. The dollar looks old, crumpled, and heavily used. The idea that it was a heart to begin with, implies a sympathetic tone to the start of the video.

0:02: This frame is very similar to the last, although the heart begins to beat. This gives life and motion to the dollar. This further sends home the message of sympathy. Hearts are a symbol of love, and money is a symbol of capitalism, and possibly greed. These ideas come together to create a conflict in what the viewer is supposed to be feeling.

0:04: The dollar unfolds, revealing the face of George Washington, as it is clearly a one-dollar bill. Interestingly enough, the dollar is completely perfect. No marks from where the bill was folded, or crumples from before. The heart is gone now, leaving just the familiar face of a regular dollar bill.

0:06: A macro close-up shot of the dollar is shown. It is a close up to a folded edge of the dollar. The zoom-in could be the beginnings of a new fold.

0:07: The camera zooms back out, showing the dollar folding itself into a different shape. It is currently unclear what the bill will be folding into.

0:08: The back of the bill has folded up, and the sides as well. This makes the dollar into a loose-airplane shape. This could be another symbol for capitalism and worldwide commercialism. People spend hundreds of dollars to fly on planes, and this plane is literally made of dollars.

0:10: The bill continues to fold into irregular shapes, this time it is in the shape of a doctors stethoscope. A stethoscope is a symbol for the medical field. Doctors wear stethoscopes around their necks, and use it to check the heartbeat of their patient. Earlier in the video, the dollar was folded into a heart shape, and would pulsate with a heartbeat. This symbol could be another reminder of the human element in this video.

0:12: The dollar has folded itself into a rectangular prism, while something appears out of the side, also folded by the dollar. Looks like the head of a nail.

0:13: The nail protrudes further, and a hammer comes into view. The hammer is also made from origami money. These are, similarly to the airplane, symbols for what money can accomplish. The hammer and nail represent what human beings can do with a dollar. One dollar is not a lot of money, but if everybody in america gave just one dollar, many things could be achieved with that money.

0:15: The origami dollar was struck by the hammer, and fell. It has now contorted itself into the shape of a box.

0:17: The box has gained a roof, and the box is now clearly a house. This “hammers home” the point that was made with the previous origami folds. The houses represent what the hammer and nail were accomplishing. It is symbolizing to the audience that change can be achieved, and goals can be met with these dollars.

0:20: The dollar has now folded into the shape of a human hand, and is starting to outstretch its fingers, palm side up. Similar to the heart, this brings ideas of humanity into the dollar. Hands are symbolically used to show unity. When people act as one, they are often shown holding hands. When people show love to one another, this is often shown using an outstretched hand. Hands are symbols of unity for humanity, and hard work. These are the two themes that I think the video was trying to show the most.

0:25: The fingers begin to close as the screen fades to black.

The video was for help with Hurricane Matthew. People who were hit by the Hurricane were in need of help, and this video was used to inspire awareness for this cause. The things that the dollar would fold into were carefully chosen to illustrate the ideas that the video was trying to get across. Each one was specifically picked to emit feeling and life into the video.

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5 Responses to Visual Rhetoric-kingoflizards

  1. kingoflizards says:

    I tried to leave as much detail as I could, but the video was not too detailed. I can do this again with a different video if this was not enough.

    • kingoflizards says:

      I also had the words written down as well, but about halfway through it became clear that the text was the voice of the dollar. This made it dialogue and you asked us not to include dialogue

  2. davidbdale says:

    Stick with this video, King, but permit yourself the text. It may be spoken by the dollar in the audio track, but it’s also an essential part of the video since the words are SEEN on screen. Without the text, the video is just a mindless diversion of folded paper. WITH the text, it communicates human need and compassion. You missed the bed before the stethoscope, which clearly indicates the dollar can provide temporary quarters, along with medical care, reconstruction, everything else money can provide. The dollar is more flexible than any other kind of aid. Etc.

    You are obligated to restrict your analysis to what can be seen, but you’re further encouraged to draw social and emotional conclusions from what you see, since encouraging human interaction is the purpose of the visual argument.

    Good?

  3. davidbdale says:

    Provisional Grade at Blackboard

  4. davidbdale says:

    Gave me goosebumps. Significant improvement.
    Regraded.

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