Well, folks, we’ve made it to week 15. Since there are only 3 days of classes left, this may or may not be my last blog post of the semester (not sure if I’ll have one next week). It’s been really great being able to share my thoughts and reflect on what I’ve learned in class. So without further ado, let me do just that.
This week, we continued learning about rhetoric. On Wednesday, we watched this very interesting trailer that displayed the relationship between humans and nature. It showed footage of athletes, such as skiers, defying odds and achieving amazing (and dangerous) feats. As someone who appreciates film, nature, and good story-telling, the footage and cinematography held my attention.
Something that I wrote down while watching the trailer was how the relationship between humans and nature was portrayed. Not only did it show humans actually interacting with the mountains, waves, etc., but the nature itself displayed human qualities. There were shots that paralleled the actions of nature with the actions of the humans. One shot, in particular, showed a mountain that looked like the side-portrait of a human face. That particularly stood out to me because it reminded me of a place I once traveled to.
My grandparents used to live in North Carolina in the mountains, so my family used to travel there every summer to visit. A few years ago, we visited and went hiking at a place where the cliffs of the mountain resemble the face of an old man- the place is aptly named Grandfather Mountain. Here’s a photo of the incredible view that I had from the top:
While I didn't do anything as crazy as the people in the trailer did, I did walk across the Mile High Swinging Bridge. It was maybe a little nerve-racking, but the view was something else- totally worth it!
This past week showed how much can be communicated through visuals. As a person who loves photography and a student hoping to make it into the crazy world of film and television one day, the lessons will be valuable.