Artist Statement

Artist Statement

In my Digital story, "Money Fasting" I wanted my audience to actually feel my struggle of spending money on food through my detailed experiences. I figured it was a well thought out genre because it is something most people my age go through. I implemented images of food, to grab the audience's attention throughout the video. I accompanied these images with my motivating words such as, "Look at this burger" and "Isn't this delicious?". I then kept their attention by using humor which is something not many people do. I figured that by doing something original other than the 'Motivational' tone, I could keep my audience's attention throughout the whole story if I do it correctly. This can be seen in many parts of the video, for example when I tell my Wendy's story. I used descriptive words like "stared into my soul" which was exaggeration. I did this to humor the audience as well as engage them in what I was feeling. I wanted my video to flow smoothly therefore I had to connect my images to my words. An example would be when I said "can't forget these tacos" which were followed by a picture of tacos. However, I think something that helped my video shine even more would be the sound effects I implemented. I had limited resources which were an obstacle, but I did the best with what I could. For example I used a pencil writing sound when I was talking about being in school because it makes you feel like you are actually there. Overall I established Ethos, Logos, as well as Pathos in my video to persuade my audience that my challenge is valid. Ethos is evident because I provide enough experiences to conclude that I am a credible source. I established Logos by providing facts in my video on the amount of money people spend on food. Finally, Pathos was shown in the image of my wallet and how empty it was to make my audience feel bad because they have been in that position as well. What I expect my audience to get out of this was that breaking a bad habit will always be hard but rewarding. I was able to execute this by providing a humorous yet resourceful video.


You can see it here: https://www.wevideo.com/view/1023492739

Reflection

        Coming up with my 30 day challenge was probably the hardest thing I had to do all semester. When my classmates were halfway through their intro essay I was still deciding on a challenge. I kept thinking and thinking of what the hell was wrong with me that I can improve. I finally thought of the things I do everyday that are not normal, which is what led me to realize that I eat out too much. Of course my mom always tells me I do, but of course I don't listen. I tried coming up with solutions to cut that habit while challenging myself. The only logical solution was to force myself not to spend anything. Writing my essay was not too difficult because I had it all planned out. The only obstacle was procrastinating at the last day but I managed to pull it off. At first forcing myself was extremely difficult. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. After I managed to handle my urge the first two weeks, the rest of the challenge was a breeze. When making my blog I tried to let my peers know a little bit about me and how I am, considering I am quiet in class. I figured I will use my humor because everyone can connect that way. I did this by adding GIF's to my blog to make it pop out a little more. The GIF's also served a purpose because they gave my humorous words a visual. For example I use a GIF of a man crying when I explain how sad I am that I can't buy Wendy's while I'm craving it. This enables my peers to actually relate with me while having a laugh at the GIF. Making a blog about it was not difficult at all. My only struggle when making the blog was procrastination. I made two blogs on the final hours of the first check in. Even though this is not really a smart way to do this, I feel my results were satisfying to my peers and teacher. However I did learn to pace myself with my assignments. If I could take one thing from this whole experience, it would be to stop procrastinating.