As previously mentioned on this website, at first I wanted to do this project as a study of the literacy in the natural world, such as different types of patterns, animal communication, and even that of our own DNA. However as we were split up into groups, that was not a feasible option. I instead decided to join the group searching for literacy in everyday objects; I had some thoughts on this that came up in one of our past assignments and I thought they would be interesting to flesh out in totality.
As our group met together and began talking, it was clear that we each had different directions we wanted to take this project, based on how we understood our individual definitions of literacy. This was especially troubling for me, because I'm not an assertive person, and yet I always have an opinion. Eventually we came to a consensus to focus on objects like symbols, places, and buildings more than anything else. Getting to that position wasn't clear cut though. On our first day out of class, we simply wandered the campus discussing what could be considered literacy, taking pictures of viable options.
This Google Doc shows our development of thought on both these pictures and what to do with this project as a whole. It serves as a good little representation of our revision process and all that it entailed. Although the end product is clean and ordered, the road to get there was actually rather messy. Ideas of kinetic text videos built on PowerPoint and sped-up videos of cartoon drawings flowed freely and eventually we scratched them both, along with the pictures and interviews, and made a video. This concept, however, did in a sense build on top of what we had done while getting the pictures. It was a sped up version of our journey with music in the background and text in the forefront. I give all the props to Michael and Caity on the great video they made because I wasn't there when the finished product was birthed. Kudos to them. 
Concerning the media form, this was, admittedly, more on the uncomfortable side for me. I don't own a camera or know how to edit video, so I was at the mercy of Michael's video expertise when we decided that's what we were going to do. It was also hard because we weren't sure what was expected, or even desired. I would much rather write a ten page research paper with strict guidelines than do any kind of vague multi-media project. It's just out of my comfort zone. Overall, I loved the change of pace compared to any other project I've done, and it gave me a chance to learn more about our campus... and I got to go through the tunnel!
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