My VideoAnt annotation:
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This particular blog was interesting to me because of its conversational nature, which, coincidentally, is also the reason she created her vlog in the first place - to address how good other people were at making conversational blogs! Many of the blogs I looked at were of the nature of talking AT you, not necessarily WITH you. The site was designed for lesbians to vlog about their lives, politics, ideas, music, etc., and instead of taking it down a "reporting" route, the users have created a conversation amongst themselves while also giving the casual viewer enough information to not feel like a complete outsider. This approach does make it difficult to fully understand who the intended audience is, except for the obviousness of the name of the page. While there are no video editing techniques used, I have come to really enjoy the simplicity of these vlogs - they become more personal, more accessible.

However, that being said, the videos that were included with the book for class were also very powerful. The first video, of the young mixed woman, employed some very powerful camera shots. I was particularly fascinated by the many different angles she used: opening the envelope, viewing her from behind on the bed, etc. As we have talked about in class, the variation of angles and points of view writes much of the story without needing to articulate what is being communicated. So while the simplicity of the "zero edit" is appealing to me, the power of the video diaries was certainly evident through the thought and planning that went into the overall message - - not just the one that was spoken.

My Introduction...er, sort of.