Sasha Valon Rhodd

ENG 102- Dr. Elizabeth Cuddy

Project #4: Visual Analysis Reflection Essay

05/05/2017

Analysis for PSA on The Damning Correlation Amongst the N.R.A. and Hood Violence

The creative process for the construction of the two posters for this Public Service

Announcement assignment was quite tedious in terms of finding the right optics that reflected

my initial idea and the construction of my website resulted in further complications due to my

inexperience with building a website besides social media pages in years prior i.e. Tumblr and

MySpace pages.

I found myself compromising and altering my vision as the project progressed

considering I could not find certain graphics that could simultaneously emphasize the hidden

affiliation between impoverished communities and N.R.A.s policies. This issue is also attributed

to complications with the website I used to create a poster compiled of certain images because

the tools on the website offered did not navigate the way I needed to. In the end I ended up

divvying off the path of my initial plan (one that was far more complicated to do ) to create two

posters that truly exposed my P.S.A. initiative and creativity to form an aesthetically pleasing

website and impactful project.

Although the beginning phase of creating the website erupted in a great deal of stress for

me, seeing the final product was overwhelmingly rewarding. Throughout the development

process I made the decision to make the website both simplistic but aesthetically pleasing so that
the P.S.A. campaigns message would be reflected. Subtle decisions such as the choice for the

homepages background to be a aerial view of a city during a sunset were deployed to evoke

emotion because this same background is often used in serious films or documentaries to contrast

the elements of normalcy, an end to a day, and curiosity of what kind of events are partaking

below on the streets. The image of the sky is significant because its unifying and it is something

most people glance at every single day in a world that we all share. A place with even the worst

kinds of peoplethe ones who see atrocities and choose to do nothing about it. The further

someone navigates on my website, the farther they will become immersed in information that

constantly forces one to realize the parallels between the crooked policies of the N.R.A. and how

they perpetuate violence in the inner cities.

I had a much easier time with choosing backgrounds and YouTube video clippings

because this topic is something I have been interested in and have researched for years on my

own prior to being given the formal opportunity to thoroughly conduct an assignment for class.

The posters played a keen role in the development of my website in terms of serving as a guide

for direction. Organization of my thoughts as well as the project requirements were facets of

having posters to base the tone of the site off of.

As a firm believer in the power of imagery, I chose to not use words on both of my

posters. The graphics and the manner in which they were placed were strategically done to

provoke thought and curiosity upon first glance. If both images are posted around the country on

large billboards and also shown on social media, only then will the stigma no longer be silenced.

By realizing that there is a problem, as a nation we will become much closer to solving this

crippling issue. In the first poster (geared towards the general public) I chose to show half of a

stereotypical gang affiliated mans face with the other side showing a member of the N.R.A.s
face. This causes viewers to see the criminal on both sides of the spectrum even with the non-

stereotypically violent N.R.A. members face. Below these two images is a parallel to a stop

snitching sign which illuminates the hood implemented policy by which witnesses are not

allowed to reveal vital information to law enforcement because of the fear that they themselves

will become future targets of violence i.e. persecution. They believe that these misfortunes will

be brought upon them by members of their own community (thus flooding the streets with more

crime, no justice, and the fear of law enforcement).

On the opposing side is a picture of a confederate flag that resembles hate inflicted

policies that were designed to systematically oppress black people i.e. residents of the hood.

Lastly, there is an image of black gang members holding guns and on the other side is a group of

white nationalist N.R.A. members also playfully holding their guns. The second poster depicts an

hourglass with hood residents behaving like vigilantes and the sand is viewed as something that

feeds into the bottom of the hourglass by which white hands are covered in blood i.e. the

continuance of hood violence can be blamed on N.R.A. members and their policies. The

symbolic use of the hour glass serves as a testament to the fact that time is running out prior to

irrevocable damage in our nation resulting in gun culture becoming a permanent fabric ingrained

in American culture. Thus, the combination of words such as damning and sub-headers in red

ink effectively create bold and captivating notions to viewers to ultimately create an effective

public service announcement campaign.