My visual argument is meant to evoke emotions of guilt, pity and anger from the audience. My project was created to convey the message that soldiers deserve more praise and less criticism for their sacrifices. To do this, I needed to prove that soldiers indeed make sacrifices and that they are still criticized for them. My visual argument resembles a story and feels like a documentary, so more manipulative techniques like color manipulation were avoided.
I kept my project relatively simple; all my images are photographs with the exception of the ribbon, which is commonplace enough that it makes the viewer imagine a true “Support Our Troops” ribbon. The reality of the photographs creates a type of intimacy with the viewer; the viewer feels like they’re being shown different places of the world and different sides of the war (the warfront and the homefront) over about a minute. Each photograph serves one of two purposes; they either connect the viewer to the sacrifices made by soldiers, or they show the viewer how ungrateful the public is in response. The soldiers’ side amplifies itself by becoming more gruesome, each time showing more horrible injuries, ultimately ending in death (note that each picture is a different event, thus giving the project the "power of numbers;" it can't be a fluke that soldiers die for this country, and anti-war protests of varying intensities and targets are rather commonplace). On the other hand, the protest argument evolves to show the change in ideas that has taken place, where movements have shifted from anti-war to anti-troop. These two sides are always at conflict. As soldiers save lives in Iraq, civilians protest against the invasion. As graves fill with soldiers’ remains, there are people who couldn’t be more content with the loss. This paired amplification creates an incredibly powerful crescendo of sorrow and outrage in the viewer; the quick alternation between the two emotions unsettles the viewer further. By the end of the video, the viewer is so angry that they seek a way to right the wrong I’ve showed. The final slide offers a movement to rally behind.
Finally, my song. I needed a song that conveyed innocence, and the need to help in changing the world that every soldier feels. “Hero of War,” by Rise Against, was a great song, as long as I kept the song from continuing into the second verse. The song starts out with a simple story of one man’s enlistment, but goes on to describe the effect of trauma on the soldiers. It describes the civilian casualties and prisoner torture that sometimes took place, and this point of argument did not belong in the project. I was lucky enough to have this song because, in addition to the simple yet powerful and relevant lyrics, it features an acoustic guitar and singer, and nothing more. This adds to the intimacy and realism that I’m trying to create in the project.
My visual argument was very focused on the claim that troops deserve our support and succeeded in conveying that message by relying on photographs and simple, yet touching, music to personally involve the reader and shift the topic from opinion to fact.
Works Cited
Works Cited
"The 3000 Understatement." Pissed on Politics. 01 Jan. 2007. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. <http://www.pissedonpolitics.com/?p=1272>.
"Dr. Martin Luther King War and Militarism The WE News Archives." The WE a Journey of Life. Web. 01 Jan. 2012. <http://thewe.cc/weplanet/news/armed_force/us/martin_luther_king.html>.
"EMT Catalog: EMS Awareness." Roberts Company EMT Catalog. Roberts Company, Inc., 2010. Web. 01 Jan. 2012. <http://www.emtcatalog.com/index.php?cPath=29>.
"File:Iraq War Protesters in Parliment Square.PNG." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 7 Jan. 2008. Web. 2 Jan. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iraq_War_Protesters_in_Parliment_Square.PNG>.
"Happy Family With Two Children Playing On Floor In Living Room.. Royalty Free Stock Photo, Pictures, Images And Stock Photography. Image 6374487." Stock Photos and Royalty Free Image Subscription from 123RF Stock Photography. 123RF. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. <http://www.123rf.com/photo_6374487_happy-family-with-two-children-playing-on-floor-in-living-room-at-home-sitting-on-floor-in-front-of-.html>.
"Happy Veteran's Day from Rainbow | Rainbow Blog." Rainbow International. Rainbow International, 11 Nov. 2010. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. <http://www.rainbowintl.com/blog/2010/11/rainbow-international-wishes-our-active-duty-military-and-veterans-a-blessed-veterans-day/>.
"July 2011." Holy Hexes from Mediamonarchy.com. 09 July 2011. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. <http://holyhexes.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html>.
"Military Tradition Is Bad for Society." Composed on HubPages. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. <http://composed.hubpages.com/hub/Military-Tradition-is-Bad-for-Society>.
Papercuts, 1000. "IOwnTheWorld.com » Blog Archive » Soldiers-flag[1]." IOwnTheWorld.com. 8 Feb. 2011. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. <http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?attachment_id=59873>.
"The Seattle Times: Conflict with Iraq." The Seattle Times | Seattle Times Newspaper. 27 Mar. 2003. Web. 01 Jan. 2012. <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/photogalleries/iraqnationworld59/2.html>.
Great job finding the SECRET VIDEO hiding behind the boring stuff! Here's Abram in a banana suit.
No comments:
Post a Comment