NOTE: The quotes in the comic are a transcript for Carl Sagan’s “Wanderers” Video which can be found at https://vimeo.com/108650530

COMIC (view comic here via pdf.):  “The Aviatrix” written and illustrated by Ricardo Cortes

STORYBOARD (view the outline here via pdf.): English 2150 (Baruch) – Project #3 Storyboard

Ricardo Cortes

Professor Martin

ENG 2150

5/5/17

Remix Project – Reflection

The remix project brought into account multiple factors and a self-reflection about how I take in information. For one, my audience stood the same throughout my process and maybe has shifted more so to appeal young adolescents. As such, I veered my strategy to incorporate a visual to keep it fun and showcase a program with some interpretation as to what is going on. There is clearly something right in all of this, so much so that in the end they really feel something is wrong — the impact is there and it’s important to say, “why did Brian do that?”. That negativity can be imposed towards anyone and the buildup showcases just that; to show that it’s not cool for Aleksandra to feel, and it wouldn’t be cool for you to fell something like that too (especially if you know what you have in store for you is great). Everyone has potential to do something great, regardless of skin color, creed, background, religion, gender, and sex — I wanted to focus on that for Aleksandra. I know I wouldn’t be happy if people brought me down. I have been criticized and even persuaded to change ideologies and careers, but I needed to ask the most important person, myself. This is what we should all focus on, respecting others and being inclusive rather than destructive: Aleksandra’s in your physics class and she’s doing well? Tell her, make her aware that what she’s doing is great and to keep at it! Invite her to study or tutor you if you’re struggling — point being, people should be encouraged rather than isolated or questioned (if that’s their passion). I feel as though the choice to add color that pops really shows the positivity in this comic strip and the character designs are more figurative for society, so I wouldn’t change them or their role within the comic space. The most important part however is the fact that it delivers this message. It most reflects an argumentative essay since you must already have a clear focus not only on the message being said through an intellectual problem standpoint (will society ever live up their intended standards through the STEM field?), but showcase that using characters and setting. I think that’s where it draws a differential line, the comic does indeed involve some creativity to fabricate the message being employed and I think it does a great job in doing so. Different modes for conveying my intellectual problem allow for the affordance of creativity and I can deliver the message in quick strips rather than a long paper. As the audience attention shifts to kids and teens, I note the attention span they have — drawing more so on the fact that maybe the colors, characters, setting, and word choice is easy to follow with an underlying message. Society, the exhibit, and the intellectual problem are all visible for the person to see and interpret. Even the inclusion of Carl Sagan as a narrator is a great motivator and engine for many young STEM field (especially aviation and astronomy) focused kids on pursuing a better future with their passion in the field. At this point, I’d like to see how others react to the comic and to see if all the elements mentioned before are indeed noticeable for the message to pass on. The added revision by my peers demonstrated that my focus, although for kids, also should incorporate certain aspects that teens can relate to. I added the montage as it reflects life goals that may relate to teens going into adulthood and to keep these encouragement in mind for women in STEM — that they too could make it as well. The montage segment was originally going to be a series of Brian and Aleksandra studying and spending time with their professor, however this deviated greatly to incorporate her progression as an adult astronaut on Mars. Feedback from my professor which helped significantly was to focus on encouragement since I had one cell focused on what would happen if Brian discouraged her in the end. It felt awkward, out of place, and just unnecessary for the message I wanted to deliver. Now with these changes, I feel as though this is ready for public interpretation and a great way to see how women in STEM can progress, especially utilizing aviation as my focus in both the research paper and on my remix project. The decision to start at a younger age group and introduce the stigma that surrounds women in these fields, recognizing it, and abolishing it with positivity goes a long way in their development. Here’s to a future full of young aviatrixes and aviators alike.