Architecture

After doing the readings, I realize that they architectural traits to build a compelling area/space do contribute substantially in making the area more appealing. The architecture of my current office actually reflects fairly well the aspects of good architecture. For this matter, my imaginative bridge will reflect the architectural traits of the my office. As we get ready to enter the waiting room/lobby of the office, there is an impression created before crossing the door. The reception faces the door while creating a warm welcoming and "we're at your service" type of atmospheres to the students/partners.

Most offices are one-person offices for advising and privacy reasons due to the content of the advising sessions. However, the way the offices are set up reflect a pattern in which all the office doors are aligned to the wall together with office windows allowing for proper light to come in the office. The intern area illustrates perfectly the cisco system (the intern area used to be cubicles). This allows more interaction, communication,  and team work between the interns and better access from supervisors and vice versa. In the middle of the intern area is an island which also allows space for great office dynamic and a team-oriented office. I believe that if we were to still have cubicles, the dynamic of the office would not have been as great.

Below are some pictures to illustrate:

Interior Design

After learning about the compelling aspects of interior design, I feel like office spaces, study spaces, residence halls, and student waiting areas could be much more appealing to the campus community and visitors, but more importantly the students who are the main stakeholders of the university.

Considering that students are the main stakeholders, it would be interesting to know where most of them spend their time: the cafeterias. In order to make the cafeterias more compelling, there are several aspects to take in consideration such as the visual  and the "customer service" aspects. The visual aspects involve the space, sequence of places (patterns, symmetry, public vs. private places, etc), color scheme, and lighting. These aspects of the design of the cafeteria are very important for the first impression as the constituents walk in. The second component to making the cafeterias more appealing is the "customer service" aspect such as the availability of electrical outlets, the coziness of the furniture, and study spaces, etc. The designer ought to know their audience in order to make it more compelling due to the fact that college students have different needs and level of satisfaction than individuals in their mid-40s.

In my 30 seconds video, I was displaying part of the office I work at. We are constantly trying to advertise our services to the international student and scholar population. Through our programming, one of the services offered reflects that community building among international and domestic populations. My project displays several still pictures/shots that represent the different constituents that the office serves. By putting all these shots together, the outcome becomes a comprehensive video. This is an analogy for when the different international constituents come together; they become a community (just like the video made of several shots).

The video is similar to a story telling in which the person behind the camera is on an adventure to seek for services/resources offered by the office. At the end, he/she finds a business card providing all the contact information needed to get in touch with the office. The zoom effect on the business card displays the importance of the content of the business card in reaching out to the office whenever the students need us.

At the end of the video, there is a note that reads “Lonely? Contact the Office for International Students and Scholars” as an encouragement for the audience to reach out to the office which can help them to build community, especially in times of loneliness. 

Television and Film

This week, I realized that there are potential and possibilities in communicating a message within 30 seconds. It requires a lot of creativity depending on what constraints or restriction the theme of the video is limited to. Other things that I learned is that it in order to be compelling to the audience, it needs to be entertaining and by entertaining. There are different components and aspects that make a short video compelling such as transforming it into a story, having focus points such as the Doritos bag, the color scheme, the props and clothes chosen, etc.

In order to translate all of that into an imaginative bridge, I almost feel that it can be used as a teaser for college students. Having a series of 30 second videos can help in advertising an event or a campaign for the office I work at. For instance, promoting safe sex among college students is something that hard to do. However, through a 30-second comical video, this will be feasible. More to come on as I complete my assignment for this module.

Film and TV

International student advisers usually struggle in keeping students engaged or behaved prior to the beginning of an important presentation. Especially in the case of the main Orientation presentation/speech, new international students are often distracted or lost in their new environment. In order to help them feel more comfortable, the implementation of a brief video reflecting current international students' college experience could be useful in keeping the new students engaged and behaved.

In order to keep the international students engaged, I would have the video feature successful current international students and have them talk about their genuine experience of how they achieved such success. As the readings stated, having an engaged audience is good but having the audience involved emotionally is even better. This way, the story telling process from new international students, under the shape of interviews, will generate ideas of how to get involved on campus, where to seek for resources, where they can find support and peers, etc. It will be a seamless learning experience for new students and simultaneously. From the current international students' perspectives, they will be reflecting on their own success and will hopefully sense a feeling of pride from achieving such great experiences. Another goal of this video is to have the audience empathize with the interviewees and that's when we'll know that the video has been a success.

In producing the video, the committee in charge has to do some research in terms of locating the successful international students, hear their stories (before they get shared), research on what effects or soundtrack can be used to make it more appealing to the international community. Obviously, they would have to find a music/soundtrack that fits the visual that is being displayed. Even the timing of the music plays an important role in the film making process. In the readings, the author talks about power of silence as in "'quiet' is an effect." This makes complete sense when someone is talking. However, there are some special moments in which quiet can indeed be powerful depending on the moment during the video.

Some other aspects to take in consideration while making the video is that it can be manipulated. Truth and reality can be distorted in order to obtain the right outcome, in this case, impressing and engaging new international students. By editing the video, much essential footage can be lost; the director and the editor may have two very different perspectives on what should be showed at the end of the editing process.

2MM1

I'm exploring how to make student advising more compelling. Students usually come to us because they need something. During my experience as an undergraduate, I used to go see my adviser/mentor all the time and not necessarily only when I needed assistance. I want students to realize that we're there, whether it is for an informal conversation or to help them succeed through the higher education system.