40 Remix: “The Baker Hotel”
Miranda Waugh
Dr. Jackie Hoermann-Elliott
ENG 1013 50 Composition I
May 9, 2022
The Baker Hotel: From the Past, A Way Forward
Cover Letter
For this project I thought about which media types would best capture my profile of a place on the Baker Hotel. The more I thought about different options, the more I decided the best option would be to incorporate video with an audio interview. I wanted it to feel very much like a heavily produced news piece about the Baker Hotel that truly captured the magic of this building and what it means to the town of Mineral Wells, Texas.
I loved so much of the original interview I did with my source, but felt I wouldn’t be doing it justice to just type that out or attempt to read it out loud myself. I was fortunately able to talk my source into agreeing to a video interview over Zoom, where I could record the meeting with the video and audio sources separate from each other. I initially wished to include video of both myself and my source, but he moved his phone around so much that none of the video footage of him was usable. This challenge was what spawned my decision to heavily feature historic photos that were used to highlight what my source was speaking to.
I wanted to create a theme that felt historic, exciting, and relevant now. I chose to use predominantly black-and-off-white because that would play well with the black and white photos that were from the 1920s and ‘30s era that I would be using. I used orange as an accent color and kept that as a color choice throughout the piece. The fonts I chose were reminiscent of an old typewriter — again to call to mind nostalgic feelings.
I used Keynote to create the title slides that played after each interview question was asked. I added animations to the different slides and then screen recorded them via QuickTime Player. I then dropped that file into iMovie, where I edited that together with the video footage of m e conducting the interview that was recorded via Zoom. The audio files were saved separately through Zoom, so I added in the audio from my source to include his answers during the interview.
I had to spend many hours editing together the overall presentation with several drafts. I was able to find music that softly built up to have an exciting emotional reaction but was royalty free with a Creative Commons license.
I am very proud of how this project turned out. I feel that it feels consistent throughout and as a viewer you feel excited to visit the Baker Hotel. I chose this format because it felt fitting to honor this historical building with a media format that calls to mind history documentaries while also creating an emotional connection with the viewer.
My audience would be much broader for the video than for the initial Profile of a Place essay. Much younger people could enjoy the video, while my essay catered to a much older reader, especially one that was well educated. The video definitely has a broader appeal, even my son enjoyed watching it and learning a few things about Mineral Wells.
Overall, when I compare my original Profile of a Place essay and this remixed version the Baker Hotel, I can’t really decide which I like better. I feel they both offer something the other cannot. They each hold a very special place in my heart and fit in very different places.