Week 4 Digital Story Critique- Rise of the Monstera deliciosa

A couple days ago while I was looking for information about "Trendy house plants", I can't help but be attracted by the split-leaf philodendron (Monstera Deliciosa). Its striking heart-shaped foliage reminds me of the snowflakes we all made in elementary school by folding the paper and cutting.

Immediately, I found myself searching more information about Monstera Deliciosa. The word “monstera” in Latin also refers to the meaning “abnormal”, and really the plant looks very unusual thanks to the leaves' shape. Monstera is an easy to grow indoor plant. It is a climbing plant that will reach—in ideal conditions—10 to 15 feet high and 8 feet across. In its native habitat, the jungles of Central America, split-leaf philodendron grows up into the rainforest canopy, climbing as high as 70 feet.

So naturally, for this week's digital story, I would like to share a time-lapse video featuring a Monstera's growth.

STORY

The video recorded the amazing process of how a Monstera leaf sprouts. From the date/time meters on the lower left corner of the screen we can tell it took 16 days for a baby sprout to transform into a fully grown leaf. The time-lapse technology made the growing process of a plant normally appearing subtle to the human eye become very pronounced and impressive. The plants in the video almost seem to be dancing with the music showing its vigorous energy.

PRESENTATION

The author did such a good job presenting I noticed the angle of photographing has changed at least twice to maximally capture the growing process. From the beginning the author shoot the sprouts from the side angle, later the camera focused the plant from top down angle.

One way I think the author could have improved is the background. The wall painting behind the plant and the TV in the corner are kinda of distracting. If the background is simpler it would be easier for the audience to focus on the beauty of the plant instead of the house decoration.

DIGITAL ELEMENTS

The author does an awesome job of combining video with music in a way that that gives the story tension. The music ends when the leaf finishes growing which gives the story a sense of accomplishment for the viewer. In the end I found myself feeing relaxed watching the video.

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I have to admit that I missed reading the instructions for this week's story critique. Now I am adding the critiques based on the appendix from Lankshear and Knobel’s Ch 4 New Literacies and Social Practices of Digital Remixing.

1.What types of “involvement” – and by the author/creator(s), participant(s), and/or audience – are apparent in this story?

The creator of this video definitely put a lot of effort of making it. It is obvious from many elements in the video, including the non-stop 24/7 recording of the process of the plant, and several angel adjustment to allow audience to appreciate its beauty. There is no other participants other than the plants itself. The audience involvement is minimal.

2.How would you characterize the “literacy dimensions” present in this story?

This story is a google example of mixing music to the image. The background music is carefully chosen. It is soothing and appropriate to the theme.

3.What are the online spaces and sites that bring this story to life? Why do these spaces and sites matter to the impact of the given story?

This story was brought to life on Youtube website. Youtube is one of biggest video platforms that gave the story potential to receive attention from many reviewers.

4.Based upon your assessment of involvement and literacy dimensions, what modifications and changes to this digital story might improve aspects of narrative, production, media usage, and/or audience engagement?

This video has been uploaded to Youtube since 2011 and so far has 8767 reviews. If I were the creator, I would change the subtitle of the video. Since not many people are familiar with Monstera Deliciosa,the plant's binomial name, so less likely they would search on the web using its binomial name. Changing the tile to its common name "split leaf philodendron"would draw more visitors.