The Holmes Family Summary

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Assignment 2 The focus of the story was the Holmes' family's survival through a large bushfire that swept through Dunalley, Tasmania on January 4, 2013. This was the worst fire disaster since 1967. This particular piece of multimedia uses animated photo slideshows, videos, and info graphics. Audio is integrated on the slides and features tracks such as the sound of a fire or the gentle waves of a lake as they lap upon the shore, as well as audio clips from radio transmissions or police recordings. The written pieces (short paragraphs imposed over vivid photographs of the countryside), gives the reader any technical information they could need. The author listed relevant weather information, like wind speeds or temperatures, and population…show more content…
First, the authors are very effective in describing the events that transpired around the January 4 fires. Extensive detail is given to describe the conditions of Dunalley before, during, and after the fires. The Holmes family was the primary focus of the article, but the magnitude of the disaster was made clear; it did not only affect the Holmes family, and the chaos was well documented. Additionally, the authors are very effective in making the audience feel empathy for the victims of the fires. The extent of the Holmes' suffering was made clear through calculated photography and the in depth description given on several video segments, given about their experiences. When one of the Holmes children is talking to the camera about being afraid that she would only see "burning corpses" when she searched for her horses, the audience is given a disturbing mental image that would not generally be suitable for a person so young. This connects the audience with the family by understanding the impact of the event on all of the…show more content…
The front page is a collection of images in video. First, we see the iconic picture of the Holmes family at the paddock, hiding from the fire. The family members appear to be labouring—half submerged in dirty water—squinting toward the camera. It is evident from this cover photo that the family is currently experiencing a crisis. After a short while, the picture fades to two videos. In the first, little is visible but smoke and blurry outlines. A red and blue flashing light is evident, clearly from emergency response vehicles. The second video is of fire and smoke towering above a nearby tree line. It is important to note that there are power lines in the vicinity. The fire is obviously near a populated area. The amount of smoke pouring out completely blocks the sky, giving evidence of a raging fire that is quite clearly out of control. The audio that accompanies the images is the whirring of a helicopter, and the faint sound of an emergency response radio. At one point, a voice clearly says "Get everyone out of here." The three images, combined with the audio, all contain evidence that a catastrophe has occurred, and are extremely effective in grabbing an audience's attention. The nature of the presentation is immediately evident, and the tone is set for the remainder. The weakness of this presentation is in fact one of its strengths, depending on perspective.
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