Ethylene Zhang , COM304
The first story I chose is titled “The Rent We Pay“. This story was added with great background music and animation, which made me want to watch his video. So after my first listen, I re-watched the full animation. I have to say, his animation with the overall story is very immersive, as if he is standing in front of you and telling you the story.
The story is set in 1980, only 5 years old Ajmal Achekzai fled Afghanistan during the outbreak of the Soviet-Afghan war. And in November 2001, Ajmal answered Afghanistan as one of the first major ground troops sent to the country after 911. This story describes Ajamal’s memories of where he came from, his future mission and his love for the Afghan people.
Ajmal was the only person in the entire unit who spoke the local Afghan language, and he became friends with many of the locals, who felt Ajmal was one of their own, making Ajmal feel that Afghanistan was one of the most honorable and hospitable peoples. For Ajmal, Afghanistan is his homeland – beautiful and poetic. But he still felt that he had failed the Afghan people, so he returned to ensure their security and the country’s progress. “I’ve realized what my part in this world is. It’s to help others,” Ajmal said.
In this story, I could very much feel the narrator’s tone, from his pauses, his accents, and even his crying. It gives the audience a deep sense of his emotions — his guilt and love for Afghanistan.After the end of his narration, there’s a long piece of background music that accompanies the video and audio with full crew credits, and I think that’s one of the things I really like about it.
The second story I chose was a Thanksgiving promotional video for storycrop. It’s a little more monotonous than the other stories that have content on storycrop. It’s just leading the viewer through what they’re thankful for on Thanksgiving. It begins with the first line, “We can find wisdom and poetry all around us. The video also features very beautiful illustrations. But the difference between this story and the previous one is that the soundtrack fits perfectly with the vocals, starting and ending almost at the same time. In addition, it also adds a lot of ambient sounds, such as some bird calls, which makes this story sound more vivid.