Visual Rhetoric

The ultimate symbol that reminds Americans of freedom is fireworks. Mitt Romney uses this symbol in the opening of his political video, and it draws in the viewers to listen and watch the video. Fireworks seem to have an influence on me because it hints at rising from the ashes, and symbolizes all of the aftermath of war. Keeping with the theme of flames and rising from the ashes Romney then uses the lighting of the torches at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as the chanting of U.S.A. is highlighted in the background music. As soon as the pictures of the Olympics ends the visual aspect of freedom and the meaning of an American disappears. Soon the screen is filled with family pictures and home videos. By doing this Americans seemed to be put on a back burner, and his family life was overly emphasized. Many of the pictures used in the video were in color, which affected my view by having all the pictures blended together. To me it would seem with more strategy some of the more important pictures were in black and white in order for them to stand out. Not much text was utilized in this video; the only text I noticed was the names of the speakers. If there was any more text, I did not notice it, which could only mean it, was not emphasized enough. The argument being made in this political video is that Mitt Romney is a family man that has good American values. As this message is being stated to the audience victorious music starts to play. His wife, along with a few other officials and Olympian athletes, relay this message throughout the video. The purpose for this argument is to show Americans that Romney is a trustworthy man with family values. This video did not have much ethos or logos it rather focused on family and not anything that affects Americans. In my opinion, this video was not aesthetically pleasing and did not provide good evidence that would lead to him making a good President.

 

Although President Obama already has four years experience as the President, I believe his video portrayed all things that I believe motivate America. For example, the pictures of Hurricane Katrina, 9-11, the death of Osama Bin Ladden, landing on the moon and pictures of the 9-11 memorial. Although not all of these pictures are hopefully they show how strong the American spirit is and how we can prevail out of any situation. The pictures of Americans living their life also grab my attention because it captures the Americans in their true spirit. This video had an equal balance between personal life and business. I believe that this video captures Obama's family life by using family pictures, pictures of him and his wife in the White House, images of his wedding ring, and a picture with Obama and his mom. He also highlighted his political career by using the images of the Americans prevailing as stated above. Obama had a few photos in different colors in his video. However, the one that captured my attention was the final picture of the video. This one has Obama walking outside the White House and it is in black and white. The images reinforce that Obama has had many struggles to overcome in his presidency, although at the end of the day he has made headway in the past four years. I once again in this video did not notice any text rather than the names of the speakers. The argument being made is that Obama has made many accomplishments in his presidency and that he has many plans for the future, he also makes the argument that he truly cares about the Americans safety. The argument was woven throughout the video. Obama's speech was filled with many logos that help boost Obama's credibility. Although, Obama has more experience, I believe that his video was more organized and really said what Americans wanted to hear.