Tonight, we had a group meeting where we all went over what progress we have made so far and what we need help with. We decided that we are not going to make another interview due to time constraints and lack of people to interview. I believe that this is for the best so we can make two excellent documentaries, complete survey and a great GoogleMap. We also collaborated with our GoogleMap and brainstormed various houses we knew to put on there and what pictures we had of houses to upload on to the website.

- I think that our project may evolve into more of a piece about the people behind the houses. I think that is the place where we can grab our viewers attention, because Miami is full of hilarious characters and stories.

What footage/images are you deciding not to include and why?

- We edited a great deal of the first interview because the interview was more of a continual conversation rather than a structured question and answer setting. At the moment, we removed a whole segment about the history of Landmark because we assumed that it would not be interesting for viewers since the girl was reading off information about the house from Wikipedia and was being interrupted by her roommates. We are going to make a brief voice over for the house’s history and hopefully include some interesting historical pictures.

What interview questions are you asking and are you getting the responses you want?

- Right now, we are asking general questions to initiate a casual and spontanious response. For our last interview, we asked the girls to give an introduction about the house, how they came to have the house and a history of Landmark. I think for our next interview I plan to ask if their parent’s approve of their house name or what their parents think about it, because it could potentially be an amusing subject.

So far, we have not faced any challenges or road bumps yet. I am a little worried that we will not be able to sync our schedules since the end of the year is so crazy but our timeline so far works with everyone. So far, I have done a lot of research on the internet, sent out invites on Facebook for our survey and went to the library to find books on our topic / find the Miami archivist. Also, this weekend I plan to take photographs of the side of town we have not yet investigated. Overall, I am very excited about this project! I think it is a very interesting topic and it could be something we could be really proud to show!

Witty House Name: Visual Expression, Interpretive Practice and Uneven Agency in a Midwestern College

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-169024069/witty-house-name-visual.html

- A scholarly article written in 2007, published in American Folklore, researches the signs in Oxford, students interviewed 27 of the most popular houses, 37 page article

- first house sign was Ivy League in the 1970′s, represents the “the appearance of the first house sign corresponds to massive shifts in Oxford’s residential pattern. The census of 1960 shows Oxford’s population as 7,828, the highest until that time. The census of 1970, however, shows that Oxford’s population rose drastically to 15,868, a figure surpassed in censuses since.

- the only house sign ever forced to take down was “Nothing Butt Sex”

- analyzes

http://www.miamistudent.net/2.8196/signs-of-the-times-1.1156217

The Signs of The Times – Miami Student Article

- says the early 1970′s.. The Pit was the first house sign, followed by Hut Hut and Fox Den,

- three major catagories.. location, sex and college

Books at the library:

Please sign in, a study of Oxford house signs, poitning to students’ values ta Miami University by Reginal D. Olsen

Lecture:

Shouts of Drugs, Sex and Alcohol: Hidden Signs of Fait and Race in Oxford’s House signs – Chaise La Dousa

- says oxford’s signs can be divided by location, number of residents, temporary occupation of a shelter for a fee and consumption of alcohol at parties

- over half of over 200 houses are realted to alcohol

House Sign Legal Trouble:

house sign regulation

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-135693823/miami-u-miami-u.html

Other Searches on different medias:

youtube: none

flickr: one picture

Real Estate Websites with Numbers to Call for Interviews:

Century 21 Thacker & Associates
3996 Oxford-Millville Rd., Oxford
513-524-2221
www.donnathacker.com

Coldwell Banker College Real Estate
5020 College Corner Pike, Oxford
513-523-2181
www.coldwellbankercollege.com

Jericho Lane Properties
www.geocities.com/jericholaneprop

Oxford Real Estate and Rental
19 S. Beech St., Oxford
513-523-7253
www.oxford-real-estate.com

Re/Max Alpha Real Estate
5995 Fairfield Rd., Oxford
513-523-6358
www.remax-alpha.com

Ward Rental
317 Sandra Dr., Oxford
513-523-4219

Indian Trace Apartments
indian.trace@mvcommunities.com
www.rent.com/rentals/ohio/cincinnati-and-vicinity/oxford/484223

- I think it could be really interesting if we all were given one location and were split up into different groups to focus on different aspects of the place. For example, the library could be a really cool place to analyze different elements of  how it is represents Miami. I think that would personally be very interesting because it would give the groups restraints to be creative and think about how they could think up an interesting angle to make a mini documentary on. For example, groups could talk about how it becomes a social hour and a “place to be seen”, or they could talk about random interactions with strangers at King Cafe. I don’t know if it would be interesting to people outside of Miami, but maye if we made it in a creative format it could grab people’s attention.

2) How is Miami currently represented on the internet (on blogs, on websites, on youtube, on vimeo, on googlemaps, on twitter)? What is missing from these representations? How would you like the rest of the world to view our town and our campus?

- Personally, I am not sure about how Miami is currently represented on the internet, I only look up Miami stuff for schooling purposes, like on Blackboard. I would just want to make an interesting video.. I am not sure to how we could change people’s views on our town or campus.

3) What kinds of media (video, alphabetic stories, photos, maps) are you most interested in making for this project? Why?

- I am interested in any kind of media for this project becayse I woudl love to learn how to incorporate equipment such as camera, video or map work into a rhetorical purpose.

4) How could you collaborate with peers to compose media texts for this project? Might you work together to make a video about a campus organization, to make a map of Miami, to document a day in the life at Miami, to collect “oral histories” of Miami, or to explore a key question/issue about Miami life?

- I would love to work in a group to do anything because I would like to gain the experience with working in a team for a project like this.  I was thinking about making a documentary about the hauntings at Miami.. that could really interest a greater audience! We could interview experts.. maybe even video a seance! We could try to make it a parody.. or actually make it scary.

5) What url do you think would be good for the website for “documenting Miami” project? (You can search to see what names are available at the Go Daddy site. We probably would want to be a .org address)

- Maybe something to refer to projects regarding Miami.. maybe MiamiUP? for Miami University projects? or MiamiMini.. if we are all making mini documentaries or projects!

5) What others questions,  concerns, and ideas do you have about this project?

- None!

1) What is your rhetorical purpose in crafting this documentary?

- My rhetorical purpose was to convince viewers that fashion blogs are currently better than fashion magazines.
2) Who did you imagine as your audience for this documentary and how are you adapting your work to them?

- I imagined that my audience was our class, so I did not go into great detail about what fashion blogs exactly were. I also did not expect most of our class to be extremely interested in fashion so I did not focus very specifically about the clothes or shoes in case it would lose their interest. I also made sure that I had a lot of images to break up my narrative so it would keep their attention while also demonstrating my point.
3) What images did you employ and why? How did the images complement, extend, or complicate the spoken words? If you used copyrighted images, why do you think that your use of these images should be protected by fair use?

- I mainly relied on various screen shots of the blogs that I follow, either of their main page or of their individual posts, to give the viewers an general insight of what I look at when I surf blogs. I also used different abstract images to break up my blog images and emphasize certain points to further sway the readers opinion. For example, when I talked about bloggers having freedom from editors and advertisers, I used an image that refered to freedom of speech, to possilby lead readers to believe that blogs promote freedom whereas magazine promote restriction. Also, whenever I showed imgaes refered to magazines, I would used dated looking pictures, such as a black and white images of a postman or an empty mailbox. Also, I tried to use as many colorful pictures that were pleasing to the eye as my artistic choice, such as the technicolor Vogue color or the stacked magazines.
4) Why did you time and sequence your images, sounds, and words in the way that you did?

- I employed my time and sequence of my images, sounds, and words to go along with my casual narrative. I wanted it to appear natural since I was using a personal narrative, so I sequenced my images to tightly correlate with the words. I decided not to use any background music or other noises because I thought it would be distracting for the audience and take away from my monologue.
5) What ethical concerns have you encountered in completing this documentary? How have you addressed these concerns?

- I was previously concerned that I would not be able to use blogger’s pictures, but I found out that since it is a public domain that all of the pictures are fair game. I also made sure that I would not have any ethical concerns concerning copyright because I created an indepth bibliography which included pictures and articles I used for research. There were a few pictures that I was really excited to use for my project but for some reason when I dragged the image to my desk top, it would not allow  me to copy it so I just had to find alternate options.
6) What changes would you make to this documentary if you still had more time?

- If I still had more time, I would create a longer documentary. I feel like I could go into more depth, through researching the influence of advertisers upon the magazine and blogging world, or focusing on bloggers who have created controversy within the fashion world. I could have also talked about how bloggers are being integrated into the fashion world through now invited to fashion shows, being interviewed for magazines or even becoming professional journalists. Also, if I had more time, I would have used a screen recording of myself scrolling through my blogs. That was in my original Beta draft, but it was giving me too much trouble at the last minute so I had to cut it and instead use screen shots of the blogs I visit instead. I had also heard through a friend that there was a Miami student who had a pretty popular fashion blog, so if I had more time I would have tried to interview him or show screen shots of his blog. I could have possibly closed my argument through saying that Miami is even influenced by the fashion blogging world. Also, I was possibly thinking that my narrative was a little dense for viewers to follow just by relying on my voice along, so I would possibly put key words over the pictures I used to keep the audience on the right track.

1) What is your rhetorical purpose in crafting this documentary?

- My rhetorical purpose is to sway the audience to believe that fashion blogs are better than magazines. I mainly depend on my personal narrative and opinion to sway the audience, since I myself switched over from magazines to blogs. I also used three different examples of comparing the two different forms of media to show the audience that I have concrete evidence that blogs are better and to give the appearence that I have done a great deal of research.

2) Who did you imagine as your audience for this documentary and how are you adapting your work to them?

- I created my beta draft with our class in mind as the audience. I am assuming that the viewers are familiar with fashion magazines and the concept of the fashion blog so I did not explain what the two were.
3) What kinds of feedback would you like from peers and instructor? What issues concern you?

- I am concerned that I am talking too much and not breaking my points down enough for viewers. I am thinking about totally redoing my project but I am not sure. I also would like to know if the class would like to hear more of my personal narrative – maybe I can break down my points that way. Also, I would like to know how they think I should end my project because I have not gotten that far yet.
4) What images did you employ and why? How did the images complement, extend, or complicate the words? If you used copyrighted images, why do you think that your use of these images should be protected by fair use?

- I used various images to primarily accompany my voice-over (to keep the viewer interested) and to show certain points. I used screen shots and screen recordings to give the viewer an insight look to what blogs I am looking at and who I am quoting.
5) Why did you time and sequence your images, sounds, and words in the way that you did?

- I mainly sequenced my time with my images and sounds to flow with the narrative. I would show images to accompany my topic or point to keep the viewer’s attention.
6) What ethical concerns have you encountered in completing this documentary? How have you addressed these concerns?

- I do not have any ethical concerns. I believe that the images I used from fashion blogs are up for public use if I cite them correctly.
7) What plans do you have for revising this text

- My plans are to finish the second half of the project through finding the right images and writing a conclusion. I also plan to make slides for the quotes I use and possibly scan the magazines that I quote. I am also going to rerecord certain recordings because I slip up on a few words or I accidentley cut off the end. Also, I am going to work on my timing for certain images because it doesn’t match up at certain places.

But since spring break when my mom would buy magazines for me and I didnt have to pay, I started liking magazines more again.. so maybe I can tie that into the end of the blog somehow and leave the audience hanging.