Introduction:

My video, The Web of Feminism, initially started out discussing the complex idea of
feminism. It started out where I would focus on the different extremes of feminism and different
perspectives. In my proposal, I didnt have that much direction to go on and I didnt know where
to begin with clips and audio. It was in my annotated bibliography that I was able to figure out
the direction of focusing on the extremes of feminism and gender identity in society. It includes
the articles that I used to write my research summary along with the initial clips that I wanted to
include in the early drafts of the video. As I collected the clips that I would potentially use, I
gained a better understanding of what I wanted to address in my video.
Analysis of Medium:
Once I had some video clips saved on my computer, I started to work on actually
composing my video. Something that I mentioned in my proposal was that I had no experience
working in iMovie, but since I had it already on my computer, I decided to use it. It wasnt as
complicated as I was expecting it to be. Uploading the clips in and adding them to the video was
straightforward. Moving the clips around to different parts of the video seemed simple enough.
Splitting the clips to get them to the length that I wanted was easy to figure out once I
understood how to do it. Detaching the audio from the clips that I uploaded also wasnt that hard
to figure out. In general, using the medium in the process of actually composing the video with
iMovie wasnt an issue for me when starting out. The issue that I faced was being too literal with
the clips.
The process of digital video was a little harder than traditional writing, though I feel like
it the two were similar. I struggled with the idea of not being too literal in the clips that I chose
and how I decided to cut and edit them together. That was one of my major concerns when I first

wrote my proposal; I wrote that I was worried about being too literal in the composition of the
mashup. But throughout each of my drafts, as I attempted to be abstract, I still feel like I was still
too literal even in the final draft of the project. The way that it would be the same as traditional
writing is that with this there was the idea of showing, not telling. In traditional writing, with
fiction or nonfiction for example, the reader needs to be able to draw connections that the author
is saying instead of having the author spell everything out for the reader. That is also the case
with this project and something that I was struggling with when composing my video. When
piecing the video clips together, there were connections that the viewer needed to figure out. The
clips didnt have to be directly connected to the topic to connect with what was being addressed.
In relation to the core values of the Writing Arts major, this project could apply to the
first core value, which states, Writing Arts students will demonstrate understanding of a variety
of genre conventions and exhibit rhetorical adaptability in applying those conventions. The
major focus of this particular project was to put clips together in order to create a different
overall meaning, which was the way that I demonstrated this core value. Some of the
conventions included knowing how to split a clip or detaching audio from a clip and then being
able to change the context of the clips to create a new meaning. In the process of learning the
conventions of composing the video mash up on iMovie, I was able to adapt and attempt to
create new meanings of the clips in my video.
Analysis of Message:
Whencomposingthevideomashup,myinitialmessagewasfeminismandgenderroles
andidentity.TherhetoricalmovesthatImadeduringthecompositionincludedtakingaudio
fromanotherclipandlayeringitontheclipthatisplayingintheactualvideo.Thefirstten
secondsorsoshowsthisrhetoricalmovebyhavingawomantalkinginthebackgroundofthe

TaylorSwiftmusicvideoforBadBlood.ThereasonwhyIdidthisparticulareditwasbecause
Ifeltlikeittiedinthesemioticirony.AsmentionedbySeanHall,ironyisaboutopposites
(60).Inthesenseofthisclip,thewomanwastalkingabouthowwomenshouldactinsocietys
perspective,whichwasthecompleteoppositeofwhatwasbeingshowninthemusicvideoclip.
Thelayeringofthisparticularpartofthevideowaseffectiveincreatingmeaning,thoughit
mighthavebeentooliteral,becauseofthefactthatitshowedtheoppositesofwhatwasbeing
shownversuswhatwasbeingsaid.
Another theory of semiotics that was being demonstrated in my video mashup was
metonym,whichistheideathatonethingiscloselyassociatedwithordirectlyrelatedto
anotherandcanbesubstitutedtocreatemeaning(Hall56).Inthecaseofthevideo,theBarbie
sceneataroundoneminuteintothevideoindicatesfemininitywhereastheBatmansceneat
aroundtwominutesintothevideoindicatesthemasculinity.Isucceededinthisbecausethe
meaningsofBarbieandBatmaninrelationtogenderareclear.
RepresentationwasanothermajorsemioticthatIincludedinTheWebofFeminism.The
reasonforthisisbecauseinonepartofthevideo,IincludedaclipofHermionefrom Harry
PotterfreezingNeville.ThisisoneoftheclipsthatIaddedintothefinaldraftofthevideoand
inthatscene,Ifeellikeitrepresentspowerinthesenseoffemalepower,whichispartofthe
feministidea.Butnotonlythat,butthefirsttimethatIusedtheHarryPotterscene,Ijuxtaposed
itwithanotherclipofawomanblowingbubblesrightaftertorepresentthedifferenceinhow
womenshouldact.ThesecondtimethatIusedthe HarryPotter clip,Ijuxtaposeditwitha
womanbehindapodiumwiththewordPushyonitthatincludedaudiooftheaudiencebooing
ather.Inthesamelight,itwassupposedtoshowthedifferenceinhowwomenshouldact.Ifeel

likeitwassuccessful,thoughthemessagemightnotbeasapparenttotheviewerthantomeas
thecomposerofthevideo.
Symbolismwasalsousedinthecompositionofthevideo.AninstancewhereIuseda
symboliswhenIincludedthebloomingroseinthesecondandfinaldraftofthevideo.While
this clipcouldhavemanymeanings andsymbolizemanythings,inthevideo,Ifeellikeit
symbolizedfemininityandhowwomenshouldbeseen,whichisdaintyandsweet,intheeyesof
society.TheothersymbolthatIincludedwasthetiger,whichwouldbeasymbolforhowmen
aresupposedtobeseeninsociety,whichistoughandstrong.WhileIfeellikethesesymbols
workinthevideoasawhole,ImnotsureifIwastooliteralwiththesurroundingclips.Thisis
oneoftheinstanceswhereIstruggledwiththeconceptofbeingtooliteralbecausewhileIhave
thesesymbolsthroughoutthevideo,IalsohaveaudiofromotherclipsstatingwhatIwastrying
toconveywiththesymbols.
DepictionisanothersemioticthatIattemptedtoincludeintheprocessofcreatingthe
videomashup.Inthefinaldraftofthevideo,IincludedaclipofawomanfromaMr.Clean
commercialcleaninganddetachedtheaudiofromit.Ontopofthatclip,Ilayeredaudioofa
woman saying that women are the weaker sex. The reason why this would be considered
depictionbecauseSeanHallwrites,inordertoknow whatisbeingdepictedwemayneedto
know how itisbeingdepicted(66).Inthecaseofwhatisbeingdepictedinthesceneofthe
womancleaning,thewomanisonherkneesandthatcouldindicatethatsheisinferiorandwith
theaudiolayeringtheclip,itreinforcesthenotionthatsheisinferior.Ithinkthisiseffectivein
thevideo,thoughsimilarlytothesymbol,Ithinkitalsomaybeliteral.

In relation to the Writing Arts core values, I feel like this project would also demonstrate
the second core value, which states Writing Arts students will understand theories of writing
and reading and be able to apply them to their own writing. This is being demonstrated because
I was able to incorporate and apply the theories of semiotics to the video mash up that I
composed. Some of the theories I was able to apply to my video were irony, representation and
symbols. In using these semiotics, I was able to create meaning in my video mashup, which was
the overall idea of feminism and gender roles.

Work Cited
Hall, Sean. This Means This, This Means That: A User's Guide to Semiotics. London: L. King
Pub., 2007. Print.