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The final product

For our Project 3, we took our Project 2 and remediated it. In my case, I took my article and put it in an instructional video format. I tried to make it reminiscent of a Vihart or Minute Physics video. 

Making of Project 3 

 

(AKA I don't own a camera or a tripod and that came back to haunt me)

Project 3 started with a setback. I had decided on making a video, á la Vihart and Minute Physics. It was going to be a simple operation, capable of being filmed by me and only me in my room alone because I wasn’t about to be filming in public. Then I walked into Instructional Support Services and asked to check out the video equipment. Because ISS is funded by LSA, you can only check out their equipment if it’s to be used in an LSA course. This is an LSA course. However, because I’m not an LSA student, they couldn’t find me in their database. I got no equipment. I also had a crisis of faith. Compared to other rational human beings, I’m the kind of person who takes things like “signs” too seriously (as evidenced by my obsession with astrology). I oversleep and miss my class? Probably wasn’t meant to go. Maybe I would’ve been cold-called during class or hit by a truck on my way there. Starbucks closes when I really really want a Frappuccino? Probably wasn’t meant to be. Can’t get a camera and a tripod from ISS? Maybe I shouldn’t be doing a video.

 

Thankfully, the video was the best idea I had going for me. So I wrote a blog post about the experience and convinced one of my friends to lie to ISS for me. We walked into ISS together the next day and she checked out the equipment for her “anthropology class” as I stood behind her and leaded her with phrases like “oh, you’ll probably be filming this Saturday,” “oh don’t forget that you wanted a tripod, remember?” and, “oh, you should ask how the equipment works because I know you get confused.”

             

Then I took the equipment and filmed the video on Friday night in an empty room. The lights outside my study nook shut off automatically at 10pm and it felt very spooky. There was also a weird glare throughout the video, because I was using a whiteboard table. My drawings were also the worst. The actual worst. So, when I lost most of the files, I wasn’t too heartbroken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

At this point, the little part of me that was yelling “this is a sign from the universe! Video is not the way to go!” was gaining a little more ground. But, I’m also a very stubborn person. In economics, you learn about the idea of “sunk costs.” Basically, time and effort spent in the past shouldn’t factor into present and future decisions. I understand this well enough to get the answer right on a test, but I couldn’t ignore the effort I had put into getting this video project off the ground. I also was picturing the face of the ISS worker who wouldn’t let me check out the video equipment in the first place. I really wanted to spite that smug bastard.

             

Then the clouds parted. My blog post I had written about the ISS setback had a comment on it from Aaron Valdez. I don’t know what his job title is. I don’t know how or why he read my blog post. But he did. And I took it as a sign.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went back to ISS and they gave me the equipment with very little struggle. It was kind of anticlimactic. They didn’t look me up in the system to check that Writing 220 was a class that existed. I got a much nicer set of equipment than I had gotten through my friend. I filmed the video in my room, during the day and didn’t deal with the weird glare.

 

Overall, the making of this project was a little test of endurance and stubbornness.

 

 

 

 

 

"Chinese Zodiac." Chinese Zodiac. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

  • Although most of the information from the Chinese zodiac that I used in this article came from random information that I've gained over the years, from Chinese restaurants, my parents, and random Google searches, I wanted to make sure that I wasn't lying about anything. So, I used this source in order to validate everything that I said. 


Lane, Corrine. "Free Astrology Lessons." Astrolibrary. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.

  • I didn't know a lot about how horoscopes and astrology actually worked. Though I read my horoscope religiously and am obsessed with my natal chart, I never really wanted to learn about the mechanics of how the information was pulled together. This website is a very, very thorough collection of lessons on how horoscopes are put together and interpreted. 


Quinlan-McGrath, Mary. “The Foundation Horoscope(s) for St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, 1506: Choosing a time, Changing the Storia.”                     History of Science Society December 2001 Vol.92, No. 4: 716-741. PDF.

  • This was one of the main sources in my original essay that I wrote my freshman year of college. Looking back, I wonder how I wasn't more mystified by horoscopes, natal astrology, and rectifications while I first read it. At the time, I think I was just annoyed by the amount of reading notes that my professor required. However, the way that Mary Quinlan-McGrath pulls together the story of Pope Julius II and the controversy surrounding him, his actions, and his natal charts, is fascinating.


“Natal Chart Report.” Café Astrology. CafeAstrology.com, 2016. Web. 17 February 2016.

  • This is my natal chart report. I have it saved as a PDF on my computer. I read it when I'm stressed because it reminds me of my potential and makes me feel like there is a reason for being. 


Vidal, Nacho. "Natal Charts." Las Cartas De La Vida. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

  • I used this source to figure out how Chinese zodiac natal charts were pulled together. In addition, I also used their online calcuator to generate my Chinese Zodiac natal chart report. It wasn't as eloquent as the western zodiac natal chart, so I do not have it saved as a PDF on my computer.


"Free Four Pillars of Destiny Chinese Astrology Chart." Feng Shui Institute. Feng Shui Institute. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

  • Chinese Zodiac natal chart report part 2. This calculator looked a little more professional, but the graphics weren't nearly as fun. 

 

Annotated Bibliography:

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