EQUALITY
Kasey Snider The Role of Graphic Design in Social Awareness 2013 Spring Quarter
"Every single American - gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender - every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society." -Barack obama
LAST PAGE PHOTO: Photograph. Los Angeles Times. Web. 2 Apr. 2013. <http://framework.latimes.com/2012/10/24/pictures-in-the-news-533/#/0>.
intro During the past few days in Ohio the amendment to establish equal marriage rights has come into the forefront. The amendment would repeal and replace Section 11, Article XV of the Constitution to: Allow two consenting adults freedom to enter into a marriage regardless of gender; Give religious institutions freedom to determine whom to marry; Give religious institutions protection to refuse to perform a marriage (FreedomOhio.com). Currently the amendment is in the hands of the Supreme Court and the justices will make a ruling late this June (Hallett and Vardon). Meanwhile, supporters of the amendment also have to get 385, 245 Ohio voters’ signatures by July 3rd in order to qualify the amendment for the November ballot (Hallett and Vardon & Provance). I personally believe in ALL people having the same equal rights. I would like to support Ohio in getting this amendment on the November 5, 2013 ballot. In addition I would like to support to have the amendment successfully pass by creating awareness among Ohio voters.
Hallett, Joe, and Joe Vardon. “Capitol Insider: Ohio Gay-marriage Proposal Squeezed.” The Columbus Dispatch. 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. “Freedom to Marry Ohio.” Freedom to Marry Ohio. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. Provance, Jim. “Gay Marriage Backers Step up Petition Effort.” RSS. 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.
research Methodo In 2004 there was a ban put on gay marriage. The amendment defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. The 2004 poll was passed with 62 percent support from Ohioans. Now in 2013 according to the Saperstein Poll for The Dispatch, 54 percent of Ohioans are in support of reversing the 2004 amendment. The amendment, in favor, would allow two consenting adults to legally get married regardless of their gender. (Rowland). The amendment would also allow religious institutions to choose whom to marry and protect them if they decide not to perform the marriage (FreedomOhio. com). The last two parts of the amendment about the institutions having the freedom to choose whom to marry is key to opponents coming around. Head of the company that conducted the poll stated Martin Saperstein, “they ameliorate the concerns that some people may have, like is this going to be forced on me, or forced on my church,” (Rowland). Voting opinions on gay marriage have changed dramatically from 2004, as younger people are turning voting age says Saperstein (Rowland). But it is still an uphill battle as opponents remain strong and the Supreme Court holds the final fate of the amendment making it to the ballot. Although there is and always will
Fox, Zoe. “Marriage Equality Campaign Causes 120% Increase in Facebook Pic Swaps.” Mashable. 30 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. “Freedom to Marry Ohio.” Freedom to Marry Ohio. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. Martel, Frances. “Watch President Obama’s Speech At The Human Rights Campaign Dinner.” Mediaite. 01 Oct. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. President Obama Speaks at Human Rights Campaign Dinner. Perf. Barack Obama. YouTube. BarackObama.com, 06 Oct. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. Rowland, Darrel. “Poll: Ohio Marriage Views Shift.” The Columbus Dispatch. 24 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. Von Drehle, David. “How Gay Marriage Won.” Time Swampland. 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.
o l o gy be opponents, the tremendous overturn of support is a big deal (Von Drehle). The amendments were argued in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 26th 2013 and Wednesday, March 27th 2013. Facebook had a 120% increase of profile images changed. The overwhelming support for the Human Rights Campaign had people in support switch their profile pictures to show a red equal sign (Fox). Even large brands showed their support such as, Absolut, Martha Stewart Living, Bud Light, Smirnoff, and Huffington Post, see examples on the following page (Fox). Celebrities and government officials including the President of the United States are backing this issue. Obama made a speech at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in 2009 saying he would get rid of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and he did just that. In his speech in 2011 he said he did not indorse the Defense of Marriage Act. He also stated a very powerful message, “Every single American – gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender – every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society.” (Martel).
c a m pa i g n s
Fox, Zoe. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Marriage Equality Campaign Causes 120% Increase in Facebook Pic Swaps.â&#x20AC;? Mashable. 30 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. Starting from the top and reading right to left: Martha Stewart Living, Hufftington Post, Smirnoff, Bud Light and Absolut.
audience The scope of my audience is the US but mostly centering around Ohioans. The Ohio group leading the petition to get the amendment on the ballot is Freedom to Marry Ohio. Ian James of Freedom to Marry Ohio states “We will have the number of signatures necessary to qualify,” he goes on to say “We have literally gone, pre-Portman, from getting 20 people coming on to volunteer per day to getting 35 per day and then over the weekend to 45plus. The momentum is building with the Supreme Court, Portman, Hillary, polling. There’s a surge in energy. It’s literally like Obama 2007.” (Provance).
GEO scope Geographically I am centering on Ohio. In order to gain support to get the petition to 385, 245 signatures, awareness and education need to be brought to the attention of Ohioans. The more people get involved and are educated on the issue the more support can be utilized.
Provance, Jim. “Gay Marriage Backers Step up Petition Effort.” RSS. 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.
s t r at e gy I would like to promote awareness of this issue by making a commercial supporting the Human Rights Campaign. The commercial would be a video production proving statistics and information about helping the cause to have equality among all people. I would like to show video clips from other supporters such as Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. Also I would like to show imagery of the human rights campaign movement and its supporters. At the ending of the commercial I will invite people to join in the fight by signing the petition for Ohio to have gay marriage amendment on the ballot.
o bj ect i v es I chose to use video as my medium because it can be viewed quickly and across multiple outlets. Videos can be viewed as a commercial on tv, as a viral video online, used in social media campaigns and spread among its viewers by sharing online. The more people reached, the more people are aware of the issue and the more people will sign the petition and hopefully vote in November.
S T O Ry b o a r d 1 Audio throughout the entire video: “Same Love” - by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert Runtime: Approximately 30-40 sec.
love MOTION: Word Fades In AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
AUDIO: Clip from Pink’s HRC Speech
AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
AUDIO: Clip from Obama’s HRC Speech
fight for love not against it. AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
sign the petition for marriage equality MOTION: Words Fade In AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
freedomohio.com/petition
MOTION: Link Fades In AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
MOTION: Words Fade In AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
production The commercial will be between 30-40 seconds long. Each slide time will depend upon whether or not text is present. I am using Final Cut to produce and edit the video as well as the motion graphics. The word “Love” will fade in as the music “Same Love” - by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert starts. The clips where speech audio is played the music will be softened and the speech text will slide in over the image. Images will be displayed on the other clips showing couples in love as the music plays. The last few clips will be text urging supporters as well as non supporters to help the cause by signing the petition.
I n s p i r i n g L i n ks National Level Human Rights Campaign Commercial: Dawn of a New Day for Marriage Equality (TV Version) http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wdnxMFs8tTk&feature=player_ embedded
Kristen Bell for Marriage Equality http://youtu.be/AN2jt7rFrUc
Speeches Advocating for Marriage Equality: Obama’s Speech at the HRC Dinner http://youtu.be/ZB-4ZHmt82Y
LGBT Inclusion at the Inauguration: http://youtu.be/PwnHJfYiSbY
Hillary Clinton’s Speech http://youtu.be/6RP9pbKMJ7c Pink’s Speech at the HRC Dinner (Acceptance Speech for Ally for Equality
The Human Rights Campaign’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ hrcmedia?feature=watch
President Obama Speaks for Gay Civil Rights: http://youtu.be/7F_BODrAwSE Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard Explain Why They Won’t Get Married: http://youtu.be/if3A_sbwwLo
Development Developing the commercial was a new challenge for me as I have only used iMovie to edit and produce video with video content and stills. Thankfully Final Cut Pro is now more user friendly and easier to pick up. This is the first time I have tried to add audio content from multiple sources to stills. I wanted the commercial to appear as professional as possible given my resources. I used stock imagery for the majority of the commercial. I think the images are not too stock photo like and provide a good context for the commercial. I did have trouble finding high-resolution images of Pink and Obama at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner. But the images I have seem to work well with the pull focus quotes I layered over top. The quotes are from their individual speeches for the HRC Dinner. Pink was accepting the Ally for Equality Award and provided me with inspiration for the entire commercialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basis. I decided not to play Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speech in the final editing and to just show the text over his image rather than audio and text. The frames where just text is shown, I tried to create a dramatic effect that goes with the beat of the song. The word LOVE blurs in and out of focus as the music plays. And the final wording used for a call to action also blurs in and out of focus. I used a different motion to the final call to action, which is the url to sign the petition for marriage equality in Ohio. The type of the url is displayed as if it were being typed out in a browser and disappears gradually as the music fades out.
After Feedback After receiving feedback from my peers I made a few needed changes. Laurel and Rhett had mentioned that they did not like that the quotes were a different font than the ending text. The ending text was thought to be the most effective for the video. Thus I changed the typography of the pull focus quotes to match the ending text of Helvetica. I kept the beginning word of LOVE the same font, as it seemed to work for the beginning dramatic effect. Rhett mentioned the frame audio from 30-32 seconds has a bit of a “skip”. This is because of the switch from the melody to the rap at the ending. I edited this portion to a more smooth transition.
Media Used Music: Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, and Mary Lambert. “Same Love.” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. 2013. MP3.
Photograph. TPMMuckraker. 16 Oct. 2009. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://talkingpointsmemo.com/images/ cnpphotos020978-Obama.jpg>.
Audio Clip: Pink. “Pink’s Ally for Equality Acceptance Speech at the HRC Dinner.” Speech. YouTube. 11 Oct. 2010. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://youtu.be/FziFP3CN6tg>.
Stills: Photograph. iStock Photo. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.istockphoto.com/>.
Speech Presenter Stills: Photograph. Pink Fans. 6 Feb. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://img.photobucket. com/albums/v122/wiss-x/pinkbette.jpg>.
S T O Ry b o a r d 2 Audio throughout the entire video: “Same Love” - by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert Runtime: Approximately 55 sec.
love
“It boggles my mind that we’re spending time, energy & money trying to ban love.”
MOTION: Word Fades In AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
MOTION: Pull Focus AUDIO: Clip from Pink’s HRC Speech
AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
“Every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society.” MOTION: Pull Focus
Sign the petition for marriage equality.
MOTION: Words Fade In AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
Fight for love not against it.
AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
freedomohio.com/petition
MOTION: Link is Typed Out AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
MOTION: Words Fade In AUDIO: Music - “Same Love”
"If you're willing to reach up and close that gap between what America should be, i want you to know that i will be right there with you ." -Barack obama