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Background and
Context
One afternoon, as I was sitting at work and reflecting
on the most economical flight home for Christmas, I had a sudden inspiration:
I could use the ever-familiar Air Canada inflight safety video for
a document design analysis. I had felt that because the video is especially
instructional and explanatory, it met 392A's criteria of
a "document". By the end of a 5-day process of researching for sources
on the Internet, finding that Air Canada has won top awards
for two-years consecutively for a similar video, and after finding the right people to talk
to and explaining my situation, I received a videocassette through
overnight priority courier service from FedEx. Unfortunately, due
to legal reasons (the papers I had to sign), I cannot edit, copy,
or enclose this video or any stills from it (as that would mean I
would have disclosed it to another person--that's you, the reader).
I trust that you will have had prior contact with it and have a general
feel for the content. If not, just fly Air Canada in the near future
and be sure to pay attention to the inflight safety video. As a disclaimer,
I shall use "inflight" as opposed to "in-flight" for Air Canada spells the particular word in such a manner in reference to its videos.
I am unsure of how much the journal can overlap with the presentation, but I will use the presentation to "double
up with my journal" since there are no restrictions outlined in the
syllabi. I will summarise some highlights of the effectiveness of
the video's document design, and include the PowerPoint presentation
instead. 
Genre, Purpose,
and Audience
The bilingual documentation video replaces the need
for a flight attendant to perform the safety protocols and procedures
for the passengers. The video merely serves as a quick overview, functioning
as a reference guide and/or aide for the detailed safety brochures
in the seat pockets in front of each passenger. The information is
accessed visually and thus, temporally (I also noted this in my presentation
briefly, which was perhaps why it was overlooked and reflected in
the comments). As the videotape is broadcasted to the entire plane at
the same time, the passengers (whether young or old, French or English
speaking, in hospitality or business class) cannot choose to pause,
ponder, or analyze a specific section in hopes to capture a still
image. Thus, the implication is that the information is dependent
on time. One would hope to never have to access the information from
his or her memory in order to follow safety procedures, or be directed to read
the safety card again, as such an action would likely indicate an aircraft
emergency.
Layout
"[C]olor spots against a light gray or muted field
highlight and italicize data, and also help to weave an overall harmony"
(Tufte 83).
The key idea of high-saturated colours against the
monochrome (greyscale) background serves to place an emphasis between
the foreground and the background, which is also known as figure-ground contrast,
as determined by Gestalt principles. Much like a newspaper, the audio
serves to work as text by pinpointing the details and the key points
of a message. Likewise, the visual images functions as side-by-side pictures
which accompany key articles in the newspaper or magazine. I neglected
to notice the background music the first time I saw the video, but
I subconsciously recognised the familiarity, which immediately added to
the ethos of Air Canada. Because I watched it a second time (and only
twice as I do not a VCR and I just hopped over to my neighbours' to
use theirs) with attentive eyes and ears and in an analytical manner,
only then did I consciously parallel the effects of music with negative
space around a written article.
Effectiveness
and Limitations
In short, perhaps one of the reasons why the video was
shipped to me relatively quickly is because I wrote that I wanted
to use it as visual support for effective document design. I find
that this inflight safety video is by far better in comparison to
other airline demonstrations and videos that serve a similar purpose.
Why? Firstly, the video can been seen by all--vertically challenged
people do not need to peek over the seat in front of them to see the
demonstration, and it effectively captures the interest of the audience
by showing unfamiliar colours with familiar objects on the screen. Secondly,
the audio track is in a familiar language, whether in English or French,
or subtitled in a foreign language (if flying internationally). Thirdly,
Air Canada has made sure to be very thorough: there are over 10 versions
of the same video and the only difference is the emergency exit diagrams
and perhaps, the subtitles of the foreign languages, for each type
of aircraft.
However, one major drawback of the unconventional use
of such highly-saturated colours for emphasis is that the audience may
wonder if the colours and brightness of low-resolution monitors
that are installed on the aircraft are slightly off--as sometimes,
when I watch a inflight film with the provided entertainment service, I notice
that the colour of the screen varies from one monitor to another. The brief pause
to wonder about the quality of the aircraft television monitors already
detracts from the intended message of Air Canada's inflight safety video: safety.
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