Overall, my project is discussing the Over the Rhine development and how improvements have helped the city. I do so while also mentioning the negative side effects of this gentrification. My projects, through the visual, audio and video I try to develop the idea that progress for an area in the urban parts of Cincinnati. Through the implementation of these projects I would hope to progress the development in the downtown area.
Class Presentation
Rough Draft Blog Post
As you can see, I have not attached any video for this post. We are supposed to have 90 seconds of our video for today’s class but I don’t have anything yet. I have to go to Cincinnati to get the majority of the footage for the video I am making and have not been able to do that yet. It will be done this weekend.
For my video, I plan on having multiple clips of Cincinnati that show how run down areas are. These will be very desaturated to help this mood. Then move into a history section where an explanation is given on the history of the Over the Rhine area of town. Maybe I should replace this with a section of a famous speech that is moving. There will also be some great and moving music in the background playing. Then I will show the new section of town where people are having fun and enjoying the nice weather and pretty city. It will end with a logo of my development company as well as a creative hashtag for engagement.
Commonplace #2
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/economy/article24719305.html
The first of the sites I found today is a news post. It is from a website called McClatchyDC. They act as a new paper company would, although I am not sure if they actually print any of their news. The title of this article is “Highest income-inequality tract in America is gentrifying”. This article makes a point of examining the highest cities in the country with the most income inequalities. Cincinnati appears to be at the top of this list. The graphic included with this lists these top cities but the headline of the article points out that the article will be about Cincinnati and the Over the Rhine area, as it states in the lead of the story. It is a fairly long article that utilizes lots of quotes to make its point. It uses statistics throughout to paint the picture of what it is like in Over the Rhine. It describes the number of shootings and robberies that happened in the area as well as the how the city originally used to be well to do and heavy German populated. Many of the people that were interviewed by the writer said they were worried about those who lived there finding new places to live as they lost their homes to development. It also provided information based on the company 3CDC and how it is a private company, not run by the city of Cincinnati. One person had trouble filing a lawsuit against the company because they were a private company. The flip side of the argument is that there are many people who are also happy for the area and how it has become a statement again. With Washington park and Cincinnati Music Hall in very close proximity, the area can now boost and provide for many citizens that will cause an economic impact in the city.
This website is a travel website that does reviews for things to do in a city, such as Cincinnati. I see this as a different medium that the article previous because it is not similar to a newspaper article at all. The website Roadtrippers designed a guide for Cincinnati. They point out points of interest in many cities across the nation and you can drop pins on a map to plan your trip or say where you’ve been. This article is titled “Explore Cincinnati’s boozy side with this OTR bar crawl.” Using fun graphics and location points, this review takes the reader on a bar road trip that travels through Cinci bars, most of which are located in Over the Rhine! There is a waypoint and the name of the company followed by a description of the bar. This includes the best food and drink option as well as what special amenities the place has such as games or scenery. To find this website, I simply typed in Over the Rhine nightlife into Google and this was on of the top results. It speaks to the tune of the area if companies are writing up stories about where to travel and drink in such a specific area such as Over the Rhine. I see this as in important step in the analysis of how successful the Over the Rhine project has succeeded in developing a memorable and stable community. If this much attention is drawn to this part of the city, it could be a great encouragement for the city of Cincinnati to also put money into other areas to make them great as well. The more popular the area gets, the more articles are written about the area and the better the area will do. It is great to see companies investing in areas such as Over the Rhine.
Last Reading Refelction
I think of the of the most interesting point to me that I found interesting in this article was how in the past, rhetoric has been seen in a positive light but also in a negative light as well. The comment from the text mentioned the writings of John Locke. In my interpretation, he claimed that people saying things out loud would be considered rhetoric. This then can be implied in multiple different ways, distorting the original viewpoint of the rhetoric. While this may seem nice and innocent, it can have dire consequences.
My example for the first concept: Unchangeable, is when one extracts sap from a maple tree, it will be considered syrup because culture and rhetoric tells us that is what it is. Even if the intention of putting the syrup on pancakes changes to people using it for fuel, it will still be a syrup.
Example for concept 2: Changeable but still not created, is if a hard drive holds 500 GB of storage then you back up your computer and it takes up 50 GB of room, you have 450 GB left. This event changed, but it was not created by rhetoric.
Concept 3: Changed by rhetoric. Pieces of art in a museum are very open to interpretation per individual, but many pieces are accompanied by artist’s notes that give a background or explanation of why things are the way they are. This is an example of how rhetoric can change the meaning of a piece entirely.
The “one deep standards” to improve communication, according to the text, is to “listen to the other side, and then listen even harder to one’s own responses.” I would agree with this statement. Whenever you are communication, one should consider the context and audience that is receiving the information. Especially when crossing cultural lines does one need to pay attention to the differences between cultures. I think this applies to our projects because we are advocating for a cause. We must be careful that we are prepared to also do what we are saying when making such a project.
Multimodal Proposal
For my focal topic I would like to focus my video on the aspects of urban development in Cincinnati. From there I would like to pull more focus to how being downtown promotes business and commerce for the city. I plan on traveling to the city to do a lot of shooting and photo taking. I plan on starting with the run down side of town. It would be nice to start out with this because it would show the poverty that has taken over areas of the city. From there I plan on shooting video of the new exciting developments in the city. Specifically speaking, the Over the Rhine area including Washington Park, Cincinnati Music Hall, and nightlife. I would like to include the history of this area. This is probably where pictures and voiceover would come in. I would love to get another interview to talk about the area, but am not sure I know anyone qualified. I think that because I am taking these video clips that it won’t be seen as cliché “stock” footage. I have good style.
The research that I need to do for this project pertains mostly to the history section that I am trying to convey. I will need photos and information to make this happen. I plan on mostly using the internet as I believe that there will be enough there for me to convey the information through his medium.
Yeah, so I haven’t picked a video for my rhetorical analysis yet, but need to.
The concerns that I have for this project are just making it “convincing” and to make the viewer to get up and do something. I think that I will really struggle with that aspect.
Thoughts for Multimodal Project
So for my multimodal video project, I am going to continue with the topic of the Over the Rhine area and how it has been developed into a cool place to be. The trouble that I have with the video is making a point or a statement for the viewers to do something. When I make videos, they’re usually just event shooting where I don’t have to make a point because the point is already made for me, through the event. I am thinking that the point maybe that there is a reason to go downtown and the history of the downtown area should be kept. If downtown development is lost then so are all the memories that have been made over the past 200 years. I would have to go down to Cincinnati and shoot video of different areas of the city. The good, the bad and the ugly. From here I would have to dig up history of the city to provide the viewers with information and this could also include historical photos. I really hope I don’t have to do the voiceover for the video haha.
I though this video was good:
Audio Essay Rough Draft
Link to SoundCloud: Wow that’s an awful picture of me.
SO this is a VERY rough draft of my NPR-like audio essay. It’s covering my topic which is development of the Downtown Cincinnati area. This essay will go through some of the basics about the project and interview (currently also voiced by me) someone who lived in the area. It also discusses some of the problems about the development which I would like to flesh out more as I have actual interview information.
Digital Commonplace Post 1
http://www.wlwt.com/news/chunk-of-building-collapses-in-overtherhine/38606538
This news article is relatively short in native content. There was a building that collapsed in Over the Rhine. Many of these apartment buildings are centuries old and have not been checked for structure in a long time. I don’t believe that anybody was hurt in this accident and the event did not really impact the community. In fact, this article really has no tie to my focal topic other than that it has to do with Over the Rhine.
What is interesting to me in this page are the comments below the article. These are user generated comments that were posed natively by that person so they are not censored. These comments hold a great deal of content, going back and forth between thinking the Over the Rhine project is a good idea or a bad idea. One person commented, “Just another reason to stay away from the OTR, as if gunshots and robberies weren’t enough.” This person was obviously not a fan of the renovation that happened in the part of town. Another peson commented and said, “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but the revitalization has driven the crime statistics down. Crime flourishes in places where poverty and despair is a way of life. When the growth of a city includes addressing it’s problem areas, everybody benefits. OTR is getting better day by day.” This person a fan of the progress made in the area. There are 18 comments on this post and they really do go back and forth on if the Over the Rhine project is worthwhile as an investment from the city. This is personal insight that I can use to provide my projects with primary research to strengthen the argumets I am making when I design my projects around the focal topic. I think this comment is worth a note, “Johnny you are 100 percent right on it. I live in Mt. Healthy and because of the drug dealing and foot and vehicle traffic in my area that have increased in my area my property values have dropped 50 percent since the revitalization started in OTR. Right now I can’t even give my place away. The same has happened to NCH, College Hill and Springfield Twsp.” This peson obviously has a very hands on approach to his argument due to that he lives in Cincinnati and has this knowledge about the housing market. He maybe exaggerating a little, but even so makes a convincing argument. This information is important because it gives an unfiltered look into how real people are thinking of the progress to the city is effecting overall life in and around Cincinnati.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kjLqac2c0k
This is a short one minute and four second video of some of the apartments that have been renovated in Over the Rhine as a part of the 3cdc restoration project of this area. Along with a construction company, they work to provide premiere apartments for those who can afford them. The video, not very well made shows lots of before and after shots of different apartments in the area with a music overlaid for fill. While I think the purpose of this video missed the mark it is still of value to me as it is nice to see what is being made from these two corporations in over the Rhine. It is a visual example of progress which sparks excitement for many. This sort of also gives me examples of what to do (or not to do) for the final multimodal visual project. I plan on doing a video that shows the change of the city and how great it has become due to my made up foundation. Maybe there will be a place for a counter argument in that piece as well but that is down the road. For my audio essay, this video allows me to see the proof of change in the area. It really isn’t a great example of information for this project and I really do hope that there are more out there for me to view. This will allow me to get a better feel for the area even though I have never lived anywhere near Cincinnati. When you view a video on YouTube, it always suggests other videos for you to watch as well as “related”. This can be a great resource to see what else is out there in the digital video medium for my topic. It is sort of like using the links at the bottom of a Wikipedia page as resources. I cannot wait to find more exciting videos to view. I tried looking for audio essays about the area but could not find any. More digging in that area maybe required.
Audio Essay Outline Rough Draft
IAN MARKER, HOST:
(INTRO SOUNDBITE)
The sounds of the city.
(SOUNDBITE OF CITY NOISE FROM CINCINNATI, DOWNTOWN.)
MARKER: Familiar to some, foreign others. But which city is this? How do we distinguish cities from others we see? What drives us to visit the city? What is your favorite city? These are the sounds from Downtown Cincinnati. A city which has, never been small, and very important to American culture. From _____________ to ________________ such a city has seen the times and is still viable today, and popular to a younger generation.
SHAW: (Interview question: Do you see young people hanging out in Cincinnati more and more?)
MARKER: (Reflection of interview comment) But what do you think is driving these young people into the city? Any new developments among the city?
SHAW: (Says something about new developments, like OTR)
(SOUNDBITE OF PEOPLE IN BARS, NOISE, GLASS CLANKING, ETC)
MARKER: Well that sounds like a great time! I want to move there now! With all that nightlife, community and foundation to a younger, professional crowd why haven’t these grown?
SHAW: (Comments about how these portions of the city were previously very run down and burdened with poverty. Then, with the city’s help of money given through organizations like CUDA, this OTR area was developed. They plan on developing more districts of the city in the near future.
MARKER: Well that sounds great!
SHAW: It does sound great! And looks great too! But this has caused some issues in the city. Thousands were displaced out of their home in order to build these new areas (Expansion here)…
MARKER: While new and exciting districts downtown stimulate economic growth through shops, restaurants and bars, living accommodations also bring in money to help fun the future of the downtown area but, like anything, there is a risk involved. There is someone always hurt when someone succeeds. We then need to weigh what is more important for the future of the city. Renovation or stagnate living?
Ian Marker's IMS 224 Blog 