AET Week 4 Jumpstart

We are coming to an end of the AET course, in this post I have to write about character on a television program that shows leadership skills. One character that comes to mind is Danny Tanner from “Full House”. If you grew up in the 80’s/90’s you would remember this show. Danny Tanner is a newscaster for a local channel in San Francisco, CA. At home he challenges the role of being a single father to 3 young girls and a great friend/roommate to 2 grown men and a woman. As you would guess it, a house full of this many people would cause chaos. Danny personality servers as the voice of reason when it comes to his household, I also feel that his leadership style is participative/democratic. He always includes his family and friends in the decision-making. He may not always like what they are saying, but he is willing to listen and compromise.

AET Week 4 RISE Self Evaluation

AET Week 4 Peer Review

In Week 4 Reflection: RISE Peer Review assignment, I am giving feedback to a fellow classmate’s Week 3 Project.  His name is Kinser “KB” Brown and his ad for a Youtube series called “Marty Society”. First thing I would like to say is that I love the new ad and the message that is sent thru the illustration. The message is pure. It is showing a man screaming. It looks as if he has broken free from the handcuff and the ball in chain. I love how you added these features in your ad to show that you are trying to help people break from spiritual and physical bondage through your show.

This assignment wants me to ask you “what were you trying to communicate by”… certain parts of your ad. Personally I see the message that you are trying to establish in your ad. You are trying to express “freedom” without spelling it out. I also enjoyed how you made the objects and the script transparent. One this I would suggest is that you make the handcuffs, the script, and the ball and chain a little darker. The brown brick background makes it kind of hard for the red letters to pop out and the grey concrete makes it kind of hard to notice the brown handcuff and the ball and chain. Those are the only things I would say for you to go back and maybe revamp in your ad. Other than that I actually love the design and your message. I also went to Youtube to check out the movement, and it is very positive.  Over the past few months that we have been in classes together, I have noticed that you are very passionate about the “Christian Hip Hop Movement”, and it shows through all your work… in and out of class!

I hope you enjoyed my RISE: Peer Review and I want to wish you and yours a happy holiday and a prosperous new year! See you in 2014!

Best,

Lauren Benzo

AET Week 3 Exploration

For this assignment, I chose to use the poster from the movie “Belly”.  The color palette has a variety of violets, browns, blacks, and grays. After looking at the color wheel, the movie poste color palettes, and the examples that were provided in the activities Assets, I would say this this has a split complementary scheme.

This color scheme helps create a cool yet dark mood for watching this movie. When looking at the poster, the cool colors of the violets and blues along with the neutral colors of the browns, blacks, grays, and white really gives you an eye-popping feeling. These are the same colors that are used as the color profile in the movie. I love the design of the poster because it is a blank white canvas, but the colors of the faces, hands, and ties, and words draws you in.

AET Week 2 Exploration

ATE Week 1 Exploration

In the Week 1 Exploration, I had to examine the three levels of design within real-world media (Visceral Design, Behavioral Design, and Reflective Design). Here is my focus on these examples of print advertising.

Visceral Design:  http://www.welovead.com/en/works/details/4ddEilqA

You see a dog. When you think of driving in the car with your dog, you think safety. When you look deep into the picture, you see a Mercedes-Benz driving a safe distance behind a semi-truck on a bridge over beautiful blue water. Distronic Plus Technology is a driving system that helps drivers automatically drive safe distance from other cars and will even help avoid accidents. This campaign is drawing potential buyers with this image that is saying, “Do you love safe luxury? Buy me!”

Behavioral Design: http://www.welovead.com/en/works/details/b13Ejsxv

I love this image of the horses running down the highway during a cold, snowy, icey, winter day. Yet, through the dark clouds, you see sunlight guiding the horses to safety. This image is showing off an innovative feature that Mercedes-Benz provide to the customers.  It is horsepower with a 4Matic, four-wheel drive with ETS. Imagine driving 50 miles per hour down a icy slop and your traction is perfection. Any consumer of any type of vehicle would want this special feature on their car.

Reflective Design: http://www.welovead.com/en/works/details/75ewnurzf

I wanted to use this image because when you think of semi trucks, you think of pollution. When I look at this picture, I think off the smell of fresh air pure serenity.  The ad company wanted you to feel that Mercedes-Benz trucks are environmental friendly. This will be appealing to some people that dislike semi-trucks.  

November 2013 Course Director Award- New Media Tools

I am very proud to say that I have been rewarded the "November 2013 Course Director Award" for the New Media Tools course. This is actually the 2nd course award I have received this semester. I would love to thank my instructor Emily Wray for this award. One thing I try to do is make sure that my passion is expressed through my work and I deeply appreciate the fact that she believes in me and my work.  

WK4: RISE Self Evaluation

We are now at the end of our New Media Tools course. Here is my WK4 RISE Self Evaluation. I am sad because I really enjoyed this class. Good luck to all my fellow classmates and thank you to our instructor Emily for making this a great month!

Best, 

Lauren Benzo 

WK4: Peer Review

I am providing my RISE Peer Review on Mr. Kinser Brown’s WK3 Project: Storyboard. I would like to start off by saying that I really enjoyed the presentation that you provided. When it begun, I love the cover art to your “comic book” and the 1^st image of a man that was in a tug of war with his mind and heart. That is an image I can definitely relate to, because before I started attending Full Sail for Media Communications, I was in a tug of war with my mind and heart.

I also love how you described the reason why you wanted to go from sports training to working with Christian Hip Hop and why sports was no longer your main focus. I want to give a big shout out to your wife for recommending Full Sail as the school that you should attend. I remember in May of this year, I was thinking of where I should go and my sister spoke highly of this school, and I am very grateful that she told me to come here.

Another thing that stood out to me is that you spoke of your passion for media communications. That is a great plus, because it shows that your passion will be presented through your work. From DJ’ing and even starting your own online podcast is big! It shows that you took something that you felt great about and made your own brand with it.

A couple things that I would consider is have a little more enthusiasm in your voice over. Don’t get me wrong. I did enjoy it, but if you had a little more feeling in your speech, it would have sound more inviting. Another thing I would say is that you could have extended your story by going a little more in detail on certain situations. Other than that, I really enjoyed your project. Not to mention, Drake’s “Pound Cake” as your background music was a plus to me.  All in all, this was a great work of art and I enjoyed watching and giving a little input on your work. Good luck with everything you will achieve in life. You deserve it.

Blessings,

Benzo 

60 Min Challenge

Thank you to my excellent instructor Emily for making my day! During our session she told me I had to create a commercial and tell a story about a brand. I am a hip hop purest and I made a commercial about saving 5 Pointz in New York City. I took everything I knew from this class and I can't believe I made a this in 60 mins! I want to thank Emily for all the help this month and good luck to all my fellow classmates!!!   

WK4 Jump Start

After hours of watching the "Up and Running With Photoshop 6" videos, I would say that all the techniques are very useful. I am fairly new to this program, but I am excited to see what all I can do in the future with all the things I have learned.

WK3 Project: Digital Story

*While producing this video for my "Digital Story", the program I used to create the video was IMovie. All Pictures: provided Flickr and personal property. I provided the voice over audio. I used "Moving Talent ALT Mix" as background music, provided by Westar Music. Video editing and direction was also done by myself.*

WK3 Exploration: Voice Over

WK2: Storyboard

Wk2: Storyboard from laurenbenzo

For this presentation, I used images I found on Flickr and also from my personal property. When utilizing the presentation, I used powerpoint. Then I uploaded my presentation to Slideshare. I hope everyone enjoys my presentation.  

WK2 Exploration: Visual Communication

For this week in New Media Tools, we have began exploring where to find and share images needed for visual content development. During this particular activity, I had to locate four different images representing three abstract concepts (Media, Social, and Strategy). After I organized these 12 images, I used an app called "popplet" to create image clusters surrounding the concept they represent. I then posted the 3 clusters to my photobucket account. One screenshot I choose to speak about in my blog this week would be the media cluster. Media is the main means of mass communication. The world would be lost if there wasn't any type of media. From television, to newspapers, even music. We always have to remember, there are messages in certain songs. I also chose to use a picture of the ABC Studios in Times Square. You may be shopping on 43rd and 7th, wondering what is going on in the news. Just look up in the sky and you will know. Media is all around us, it is just up to you as a person to notice and reflect on it. 

Industry Blogs That Keep the Life and Times of L. Benzo Informed

I wanted to give everyone an in depth look at blogs that I follow on a daily basis. I am a big "hip hop head", so I follow Allhiphop.com and Complex.com because I want to stay in tuned with all the new music, news, and trends that involve the culture of hip hop. I also follow blogs such as ABCNews.com, CNN.com, The Los Angeles Time, The New York Times, and BBC.com. I follow these blogs because with me being a journalist, I have to make sure that I am up to date with everything that is going on in the world today. Last but not least, I follow TED's youtube channel. I do this because I love the informative presentations that are provided. I know these will be very helpful during my time here at Full Sail University and all in the work force after I graduate.