Visual Rewrite-soulpond

0:00-0:01

Starting off in the very first part of the ad it is not animated, it is real with clear quality. Shown throughout the entire video screen is a darkish brown wood table. The table has a rustic look to it and is not perfect. To add to the rustic look the wood has imperfections such as scratches and spots that are not strictly one shade of brown there are darker and lighter parts. On top of the table that covers the whole screen is a green book that is textbook size. The cover looks like it is colored over with green, lime and red. Drawn on the center of the book is a three eyed leaf with other sticks popping out and on top in big letters that make a semi circle around the leaf is “Am I A Tree?” On top are small letters that state, “Discover the forest” and at the bottom of the book it states, “By Shabazz Larkin.” The main focus of this first part is the “Am I A Tree?” Since it is in big letters and the author is starting the ad off with a rhetorical question.

0:01-0:03

The scene showed a young African American boy around the age 8-10 looking at a tree with his hands on his hips and leg spread shoulder width apart. The boy is standing like superman when he is looking at the people. The young boy is wearing a blue sweatshirt and gray pants, jean material. The tree that the boy is admiring is a very old tree. The tree has a wide stump with four parts. All of the branches look to have thick moss covering them. The tree stands out because around the entire tree is grass and around the grass is a forest leaving the old tree on an island by itself. The main focus is the old tree and it is a spectacular view that a in person viewer would love to see more trees like it.

0:03-0:06

At this time it is a close up of the scene explained throughout the time 0:01-0:03. This scene shows the exact back of the boy and his upper body. Staring and admiring the same old tree.

0:06-0:07

The ad transfers to an African American family with the young boy and a sister around the same age of 8-10 and a mother and father. The father is around 50 and the mother is around 45. The entire family is on a nature walk in the forest staring at the bottom of a tree. The family is surprised and amused staring at the tree. Similar to the cover of the book at the beginning of the ad The tree has a face drawing on it. The face has sticks as ears, leaves as earrings, 4 eyes, a big nose, fatter lips and a sharp chin. This part explains how it is a beautiful and interesting tree and the family is astonished during their nature walk.

0:07-0:09

Throughout the scene there are two faces, one big and bold in the center, the same as the one on the cover outlined in white. The second head is to the left of the big head and it is the same as the scene 0:06-0:07. The entire tree has its root way outlined in white and the second head is blended in behind the white lines.

0:09-0:10

The scene shows a picture of the young boy’s face with the forest in the background. The boy’s face is the main focus because it is clear and the forest around it is blurred. The boy has a relaxed, surprised face and he seems amused.

0:10-0:12

During the part of the ad, there is a moving portion just showing nature. In the forest it shows the amazing trees along with the sun shining perfectly through the forest.

0:12-0:14

The ad is moving slowly showing part of the young boy’s arm and zoomed into the young sister with white drawn branches around her. The young girl had her head back and arms up looking up through the trees into the sky and the sun. The young girl is enjoying and loving nature as she is standing on a mossy rock.

0:14-0:16

The next scene is a side shot that takes place on a wooden logged bridge that has a slight U-shape of a creek flowing through the forest. There is another face that has similar features as the rest with a big nose, multiple eyes and branches coming out of the face. The family is walking across with the kids in front and the parents walking behind them.

0:16-0:17

A front shot of the last scene is shown of the family walking across the bridge. The two kids are looking at each other and looking around smiling and are happy. While the parents are also walking and looking at each other smiling. The whole family looks very happy and are enjoying their time exploring nature.

0:17-0:18

After the bridge a back show is shown of the family on the walking path. The family is looking around is a good way sighting great sights,

0:18-0:23

The family comes up to a great wide and tall tree with three drawn faces. The family circles the tree holding hands and feeling the tree as a heart is drawn mid scene. This scene shows the families true love for nature and the trees all smiling and laughing, having the best day of their lives.

0:23-0:24

After hugging the tree, the ad is focused on the young boy and his dad talking with the forest and the mother and daughter are up, father all blurred out. The boy is talking to his father and seems to be saying positive words as they are both smiling and laughing.

0:24-0:31

As the boy is talking to his father, they hold hands and continue walking. Everything is then blurred and the ad shows a sign stating “Make The Forest Part of Your Story” The final scene shows how the family walked to enjoy nature and view how beautiful trees are.

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6 Responses to Visual Rewrite-soulpond

  1. Hey Professor can you give me some insight. I was wondering in every scene if I need to relate it to the meaning of the ad.

    • davidbdale says:

      I’d say in general, that’s the best policy, SoulPond. While you’re making your Visual observations, you can analyze why the creators made their choices, how the visual details contribute to the overall mood, meaning, or message.

      And HOW WELL they accomplish that job.

      Also, if you really want to shine, after you’ve completed your NO SOUND analysis, listen to the soundtrack and add a “Post-Audio” section to share your analysis of how well, or how poorly, the audio track enhanced the persuasiveness of the message. Remember, these little videos are sophisticated Persuasive Arguments. What did this one persuade you to do or think?

  2. davidbdale says:

    I’ve looked at only the few three seconds of the video, SP, after reading your description of that section, and I was VERY surprised to see that the book cover magically opens to reveal a watercolor illustration of a boy standing with his back to the viewer gazing up at a watercolor tree, and that the illustration then fades out as live video of a boy identically posed and gazing at a live tree fades in to take its place.

    I don’t know why you thought it would be OK to omit mentioning that transition, but it seems pretty significant.

    I was also surprised to see that the illustration on the cover of the book is drawn to resemble the way a child or a very unskilled artist might draw a human face, and that the face has three eyes. (You called the drawing a three-eyed leaf, I think.) I was able to understand your comments about the sticks better once I saw the drawing. What look like bare branches are apparently growing from the head, begging the question of whether the drawing is of a 100% person or someone who is “becoming a tree.”

  3. davidbdale says:

    By the way, you’ve chosen an ad for which there is a corresponding 1-minute version. If you have trouble analyzing the 30-second version, you might want to start by examining the long one. I would be happy for you to do a slightly different type of Visual Rhetoric assignment for this video, SP.

    You could compare the Long and the Short Version and declare whether there’s enough content in the short version for it to be persuasive. (It sometimes happens that the short version is SO condensed it no longer makes a lot of sense and depends on viewers’ familiarity with the long version.)

    Provide links to both versions if you choose to rework your assignment that way.

  4. davidbdale says:

    Provisionally graded. Always eligible for Revisions and a Regrade.

  5. Thank you for the feedback professor it was very helpful I will get on those changes and make my descriptions better.

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