Well, starting this digital essay I was planning on using my commentary on how the SATs negatively affected students and overall education. After consideration, I decided to use my memoir instead. The main reason being I feel more comfortable presenting information I am knowledgeable about. As for the essay itself I made small revisions, mostly where the professor made notes. These revisions, I feel, help give all the information needed to understand the story I'm telling.
I was excited when I found out we were going to incorporate sound and image. I have always had an affinity for visuals, thus majoring in film. For the presentation I decided to make a power-point presentation to aid in my sharing. The power point consists of several pictures from some of my favorite movies. The images not only let the audience known my film preference, but also relate extremely closely to my memoir. There are sixteen images in total: the two main characters from the film Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind laying on a bed on a beach; a great debater from the movie Rocket Science; the stuttering main character from Rocket Science attempting to debate; the King unsuccessfully delivering a speech in The King’s Speech; the friends from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels drinking at a pub; a girl from Kids looking strung out; the character Tristen in Legends of the Fall after the death of his youngest brother feeling lost; three main characters from Garden State yelling into a great abyss; a tacky statue of Jesus giving a thumbs up from the movie Dogma; a picture of the main girl from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World; a young boy pretending to be good from The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys; Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump being followed while running; the main character in Shawshank Redemption just after escaping; the character Chris McCandless with watered eyes witnessing true beauty in Into The Wild; the youngest brother in Legends of the Fall blinded by mustard gas just before he is killed; and lastly Brad Pitt in A River Runs through it in the most perfect moment of his life. Each of these images individually encapsulate a specific moment I refer to in my memoir. I intend to relate the main points of my story to the brief summaries I have given for the pictures.
For me, sound, particularly music, can change thoughts and emotions. In the background I use the song "Phone Call" by Jon Brion. This song is off the soundtrack of "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind" my favorite film of all time (as mentioned in journal). I originally intended to use "The Maker" by Daniel Lanois, performed by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds; it is a song basically expressing the writer’s thoughts about how he is a stranger to the one who created him. I still feel "The Maker" is an amazing song that would do well to aid my presenting, but the absence of lyrics and voice in "Phone Call" seem to be more powerful in my opinion. For me, "Phone Call" immediately reminds me of "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind" and from there launches all kinds of feelings concerning the film and life in general; I hope it will do the same during my presentation, spark thoughts about life that is.
I feel with the aid of this song and these images, the telling of my memoir will be more significant. My absolute favorite form of writing is screenplay because it is telling a story in the simplest way possible, and it is intended for visual and audio correlation. This online essay really helped me to see the possibilities in other styles of writing.
