Multimedia Perspective

Melanie Burford did an amazing job at capturing the economic and racial isolation of Sugar Hill and its citizens. She also captures the significance of life and love, allowing the viewer to relate to the mourning of Gloria's death. In order to allow her viewers to feel the pain, Burford would have to understand how "racial isolation" affected these people and why it was happening to them. Including images of their struggles, their tears, and their heartaches, but also their joy and celebration may affect, even change the people’s attitudes toward the poor. Knowing that everyone some day will face death, and then showing a mother, loved by many who has worked hard for her family suffer like she did is moving and should cause a change in the rich community that surrounds Sugar Hill. I think the slide show showed this in a good order, showing the police always present in the neighborhood even as the citizens try to have a good time, then continuing on to cars getting broken into, then the praying priest, then moving on to the dying mother.

Burford would need skills that connect images to sound, to music because she creates pathos in her slide show. She organizes the photos to show life up to death and life continuing after death. She also has skills with other media, such as software and Internet. Instead of using a video, Burford uses a slideshow to allow longer looks at Sugar Hill and its citizens, and that allows the timing of music and images to have full effect on emotions. Viewers can begin to relate to people in photos, no matter what race because all humans know feelings of joy, loneliness, and loss.