My final media revelation is a result of the script writing we did in class. Until this class, I'd never done any script writing. Though I didn't exactly enjoy the process, it was interesting. I'd never considered how detailed scripts had to be and how much work truly went into them. It must be even more of a process when the script is something original, rather than just an adaptation of something previously made. Commercial scripting was a long enough process; I can't imagine scripting an entire play or movie. However, commercial scripting is an excellent skill to add to my repertoire.
Another of my media revelations comes from chapter 4: Commercials and Announcements. I've recently become very interested in the advertising business so this chapter intrigued me. Though many people are critical of advertising, it is integral to our capitalist economy. I found the advice of Robert Levenson, creative director of DDB, that Hilliard includes in this chapter to be very pertinent. Levenson tells us that effective commercials are ones that make the product interesting rather than the commercial itself. I think this statement should be true of advertising since it's goal is to sell products.
An example of what's been considered the best ad of all time:
My eighth media revelation comes from chapter 3, in which Hilliard discusses how important it is for media writers to keep their writing simple and direct, a point which was also heavily stressed in my print journalism class. From these two classes, I've learned that in today's fast paced world, few people have the time, interest, or investment to sit down and process information that is too difficult or complicated for them to understand. Keeping your writing short, simple, and to the point is the best and most effective way to retain an audience's attention and interest.
My seventh revelation comes from one of Hilliard's statements that we discussed in class. In the final chapter of our book, Hilliard says that creativity is not something that can be learned. When we discussed this statement in class, I was surprised to hear that many people agree with this statement. Though I do believe that creativity can be an elusive trait to many, myself included, I also believe that with the right inspiration and motivation, it can be found, in some form or another, in anyone and be produced into a marketable skill.
My sixth media revelation comes from Hilliard's discussion of radio in chapter 1: Mass Media. Hilliard mentions many times that the only limits to radio are those of the listener's imagination. Until reading this, I'd always thought of radio as a very limited medium. Now, however, I realize that radio has endless amounts of creative freedom with very little restrictions, assuming that your audience is as creative and imaginative as you are. However, because there is no visual image, it is important for the radio writer to make certain that their message is not lost in translation.
My fifth revelation came about as a result of watching another of Michael Wesch's videos, A Vision of Students Today. Watching this video made me feel overwhelmed as a college student, but it also made me realize that in today's 21st century media culture, we have to adapt to the constant technological changes that are going on around us. As someone mentioned in class, we're all but forced to use Twitter, Facebook, etc. If we don't, we get left behind professionally and socially. As a student in the video tells us, we're multitaskers not because we choose to be, but because we have to be.
The fourth of my media revelations comes from the term "hypertext" which Hilliard uses in chapter 2 on page 46. Hilliard tells us that hypertext is a term used to refer to writing material for the Internet. Hilliard goes on to say that hypertext is closer to the way we think with various thoughts, ideas, and viewpoints rushing through our heads all at once. He argues that writing for the Internet gives us this ability, whereas writing for paper only allows us to write in a logical, linear fashion. Maybe it's because I have only minimal experience writing for the Internet, or because for almost every piece of writing I do, I do a pencil and paper draft first, but I find writing for the Internet just as logical and linear as any other type of writing. Though I can understand the concept of hypertext, especially after watching Michael Wesch's video Web 2.0: The Machine is Using Us, I still feel that any writing must be done in a logical order so that it makes sense to the reader, as well as to the writer.
I found my third media revelation in chapter 2: Basic Elements of Production. Hilliard says that it would be useful for students with an interest in electronic media writing to also take production courses in the field of media that they want to work in. I agree with Hilliard's suggestion because not only does it give you a better understanding of how to write for that medium, but it also gives you a broader range of marketable skills.
My second media revelation comes from chapter 7 of our textbook: Interview and Talk Programs. Hilliard mentions several times that script writers for interview and talk programs must anticipate and include an interviewee's possible answers within a script. This requires a tremendous amount of work and background research on both the interviewee and the subject of the interview. This makes the scriptwriter's job a much bigger and more involved process than I'd previously thought.
My first media revelation is that Twitter can actually be a useful and effective marketing tool. When we were first introduced to the medium in class, I thought we were just using it as a way to have a class discussion without physically attending class. Also, I thought I would hate it. However, after using and exploring the medium, and discussing it's uses in class, I've realized that understanding how to use Twitter makes us more marketable as electronic media writers. Jobs even now where people get paid specifically to Tweet. I find this fascinating, and as a result am now investing more time and interest in learning how to use Twitter.
As I mentioned in one of my earlier blog posts, I'm currently enrolled in a print journalism class at Champlain College. For our midterm and final projects, we've been assigned to write a news story that pertains to students here at Champlain, and which would be published on our school newspaper's soon to be established website. When we first learned about Google Alerts, I subscribed to one from Champlain College, simply because I couldn't think of anything else to subscribe too at the time. I soon realized, however, that a Champlain College Google Alert could potentially be very helpful in help me find topics for these two stories.
The Brain:
Google Alerts rely heavily on the neocortex. Someone using Google Alerts must having working knowledge of a computer, the internet, and, obviously, they must know how to read. However, depending on what you receive from Google Alerts, I suppose they could stimulate the reptilian and limbic brains as well.
The Eight Shifts:
One particular Google Alert I received was a compilation of sixteen videos that the American School Search offers on their website to "give a better perspective of Champlain College." For the American School Search, this represents an epistemological shift. Instead of bombarding prospective students with facts and statistics, they're able to offer a series of videos to better represent the school. Here's an example:
Google Alerts represent a personal shift by making the information search more personal, and much easier. Instead of wading through thousands of websites and being overwhelmed with information, we can simply choose to receive a daily, weekly, or monthly e-mail containing primarily pertinent information.
Google Alerts also suggest an aesthetic shift since anyone with a smart phone has the ability to check their e-mail at any time, or from any place with internet access.
I have questions regarding Google Alerts and how they relate to the economic shift; in what ways does Google benefit from people subscribing to Google alerts?
Using Google Alerts represents a discursive shift because it makes our information search more subjective.
Because any activity on the internet can be monitored, collected, and analyzed, using Google Alerts also signifies a cultural shift.
The Seven Principles:
A Google Alert subscription to Champlain College (or any topic for that matter), can relate to reality construction. Through Google Alerts, I receive both positive and negative news regarding Champlain College. As a result of Google Alerts, I can learn outside information that I might not be aware of otherwise, such as how Champlain is rated on American School Search.
Production Techniques : it was very easy to set up a Google alert, and very convenient to have the choice of receiving an e-mail monthly, weekly, or daily.
Google alerts pertain to value messages because I can choose what alerts I subscribe to and therefore monitor the value messages that I'm exposed to. This helps me avoid messages from things I don't want to hear about, and focus primarily on subjects that I'm interested in.
Because Google Alerts lets me get news from only the topics I choose, individual meanings are more pertinent and easily determined than they are with other forms of media. I'm much more likely to take meaning away from news regarding something I'm interested in over something I'm uninterested in.
Persuasive Techniques:
Google Alerts offer a form of simple solutions.
Google Alerts employ timing by giving users the option of having an e-mail delivered daily, weekly, or monthly.
Plain folks is used in the video shown above.
This same video also uses a bit of humor with the cheesy music.
The Champlain College symbol can also be found at the end of the video.
Other videos on the American School Search website employ testimonial when they show Mark Crispin Miller speaking at Champlain. This could also be used as an example of scientific evidence since Miller is considered a media expert and guru.
In recent years Twitter has proven to be one of the most interesting and popular social networking sites on the internet. Though it has gained a wide following of loyal fans, it's also a topic of criticism for people who see it as the most ridiculous service the internet has to offer. Until very recently, I was a member of the latter group. Though I'm still fairly critical, I'm beginning to reconsider Twitter's impact on our social and professional worlds. For this media meditation, I'm going to consider Twitter's impact on our lives based on two opinions. One from the article that you provided on our class blog: How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live by Steven Johnson, and the other from an article in Newsweek called Don't Tweet On Me by Daniel Lyons.
The Brain:
Twitter primarily engages the neocortical brain. It's an internet service, so the user must have at least minimal knowledge of the internet and how to use a computer. It also requires reading, processing, and organizing various tweets, a task that my single-minded brain finds pretty difficult without the help of add-ons such as TweetDeck. Understanding tweets is made even more difficult by the constant use of "Twitter language," and symbols such as #hashtags, @ reply-s, and retweets.
The Eight Trends:
Most everything these days is representative of a technological shift, Twitter included. As Steven Johnson mentions in his article, conversations and discussions that take place via Twitter leave a digital record of every comment and tweet.
Twitter is perhaps the biggest representation so far of a personal shift. Johnson's scenario of the conference he attended that hundreds of Twitter followers were also able to attend in a sense is a perfect example. Through Twitter, hundreds of people were able to offer their opinions and suggestions on education and even introduce new topics to the individuals who physically attended the conference. Johnson says that Twitter "added a second layer of discussion and brought a wider audience into what would have been a private exchange." This is a form of mass participation that the world has not experienced before.
Twitter also represents an aesthetic shift since so many people access and use it through their smart phones. Johnson says "One of the most telling facts about the Twitter platform is that the vast majority of its users interact with the service via software created by third parties. There are dozens of iPhone and BlackBerry applications... that let you manage Twitter feeds." Twitter is also a prime example of a medium that is constantly blurring the lines between news, entertainment, art, and commerce.
Because it's only a matter of time before Twitter becomes a huge base for advertising, it also represents an economic shift. With the introduction of Web 2.0, advertisers realized that traditional forms of advertising would soon need to be replaced. Popular social networking sites, such as Twitter, are the new targets of advertisers.
Twitter also represents a huge discursive shift. Twitter allows people to express their opinions to which people can reply or retweet. In this sense, Twitter is basically just one giant discussion.
Because Twitter is an internet service, all tweets get saved somewhere in a database. This fact leads us to consider a cultural shift. We can ask who, besides ourselves and our followers, has access to our tweets and Twitter accounts.
The Seven Principles:
Twitter is interesting to consider when regarding reality construction. As Johnson mentions, Twitter gives us a sense of personal connection to the celebrities that we follow. In my opinion, this constructs a false sense of reality since we obviously don't know these celebrities personally, no matter how religiously we follow their tweets. Johnson also mentions that even if we reply to a celebrity's tweet, it's unlikely that they have the time, interest, or investment to read our single comment among all the other replies or tweets that they receive from other followers.
Regarding production techniques, I'll give Twitter credit in that they make it very easy to setup and create account. I also liked how when creating a username and password, they offered suggestions and told you if your choice was available while you were typing rather than going through the whole process, clicking "next," and then getting the message that your username is already taken or your password is too short.
As with any medium, Twitter is has the potential to contain value messages. Depending on who we follow, we can be exposed to tons of information that we have an interest in, or that is pertinent to various aspects of our life. If we follow companies, then we're giving them an excellent opportunity to convey their value messages to us. On the other hand, as Twitter users, we also have the opportunity to project our value messages onto all of our followers. However, as Lyons points out, "most of what streams across Twitter is junk. One recent study concluded that 40 percent of the messages are 'pointless babble.'"
Johnson touches upon ownership in his article when he asks if the current owners will "sell to Google early or play long ball?" What impact would selling to Google have on the medium itself? In the future, we may find out.
With Twitter, we're left to determine our own individual meanings. Like with value messages, this is all dependent on who we choose to follow, and what we take away from their various tweets.
Persuasive Techniques:
Both articles make great use of hyperbole. Johnson does so right in his title: How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live. Lyons does so when he describes Twitter as "morbidly fascinating, kind of like the forbidden thrill you get watching Maury Povich's show or professional wrestling."
Lyons brings up a sense of bandwagon-ing when he says "Twitter has been around since 2006, but it really took off earlier this year after Oprah Winfrey began using it."
Johnson uses an example of a rhetorical question when he says, referring to Twitter, "Why does the world need this exactly?"
Lyons uses an excellent example of the straw man technique: "Yes, a guy on Twitter posted the first photos of that US Airways plane crash on the Hudson River in January. Yes, Twitter let the world follow the protests in Iran. And yes, Twitter users send links to useful news articles. But forget all the stuff you've heard from bloviating Web gurus about Twitter being useful, or important, or deeply revolutionary. For most users, Twitter is entertainment--a giant TV channel with millions of shows. Almost all of them are garbage."
Lyons, although he clearly states the he doesn't find it funny, uses humor at the beginning of his article when he quotes some of Dane Cook's tweets such as "The future is wide open. What a slut." I also find it quite humorous when Johnson says at the beginning of his article "It's not as if we were all sitting around four years ago scratching our heads and saying, 'If only there was a technology that would allow me to send a message to my 50 friends, alerting them in real time about my choice of breakfast cereal.'"
One could argue that both articles use testimonial. Johnson is an example of someone who has witnessed how useful Twitter can be, while Lyons is an example of a Twitter user who has not yet found a really pertinent use for it.
It seems that Johnson is using either/or thinking in his article. Though he acknowledges that Twitter could potentially be useful, he focuses almost explicitly on the "garbage" that comes from it. He seems to regard Twitter with strictly black and white thinking; it's either useful or its garbage, with no in-between. Johnson, however, seems to regard it with a more open mind.
Both articles use scientific evidence pertaining to how many followers this celebrity or that celebrity has. Lyons tells us that Ashton Kutcher has 3.5 million followers.
Lyons also does a fair amount of name calling. For example, "Twitter has become a playground for imbeciles, skeevy marketers, D-list celebrity half-wits, and pathetic attention seekers: Shaquille O'Neal, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest."
This book engages the neocortex because it's composed entirely of text that the reader must take in and process. It relates almost strictly to the neocortex because, with the exception of the front cover, there are no pictures or anything else that might stimulate the limbic or reptilian brains, although one could argue that the emotional appeals made within the stories have the potential to engage the limbic brain.
The Eight Shifts:
Books are currently under going a technological shift. Devices such as Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook are revolutionizing the world of books, offering them in digitized, easily downloadable formats. Currently, Woodstock Revisited is not available as an e-book, but when I found this book on Amazon, I noticed a box titled "Tell the Publisher!" In this box, was a link saying "I'd like to see this book on Kindle." When I clicked on it, I was brought to a window with the following message: "Thank you for requesting Woodstock Revisited: 50 Far Out, Groovy, Peace-Loving, Flashback-Inducing Stories From Those Who Were There by Susan Reynolds in Kindle Edition. Our goal is to make every title available for Kindle. We will pass your specific request on to the publisher." This proves how far the technological shift has come so far, as well as where it could be headed.
Electronic readers and e-books also represent an aesthetic shift since reading devices such as the Kindle are emerging as new media platforms for literature.
The fact that books are now being digitized also represents a political shift. Digital books are accompanied by issues regarding copyright, ownership, and publishing.
Digital books also signify an economic shift. Books offered through the Kindle are usually much cheaper than traditional print books. If the e-book trend continues to grow, then it may undermine the prices of print books, which, in turn, could cause their eventual demise.
The Seven Principles:
Reality Construction: Because this book is an anthology of stories written by people who actually attended Woodstock, it constructs a certain sense of reality about the Woodstock experience. It gives accounts of people who describe Woodstock as the time of their lives; people who left the festival early because they couldn't handle the rain, crowd, and lack of food and shelter; and volunteers who helped provide food and rations for the overwhelming crowd of attendees. From these various stories, we are able to create a picture of the Woodstock experience, and what it was really like to in that infamous crowd of 400,000. Of course, some people also took videos:
Production Techniques: As I mentioned,Woodstock Revisited is an anthology of short stories from people who attended Woodstock. Each chapter is a unique story from a different point of view. All the stories are told in the first person which makes them more personal, and makes us, as readers, feel closer to the writers and better able to relate to and envision their various experiences. At the end of each chapter is a brief "Where Are They Now?" for the authors. Also, the cover of the book is representative of the late 1960s: light blue with tie-dye lettering and the head of a guitar. The font used is nostalgic of lettering that might be used in psychedelic art, but that isn't too fancy or flowery so as to still be readable. The same font is used for the text within the book. The book also features a glossary of hippie terms that a reader may not be entirely familiar with, as well as an index and list of statistics about the festival.
Value Messages: Each story within this book contains individual value messages depending on who wrote it. Most of them, however, are similar to the counterculture's from the 1960s, preaching peace and love, and describing how Woodstock changed their lives and the world. Given that the editor of the book also attended Woodstock, these messages come through pretty clearly.
Individual Meaning Because this book is a series of individual stories, individual meanings pertain to the authors of the stories as well as to readers. The writers discuss their Woodstock experience and what it means to them, and we, as readers interpret our own meanings from their stories.
Emotional Transfer: Woodstock was a very emotional and spiritual event for many people. By reading the stories of people who experienced this event, we're able to better understand what Woodstock meant to these people and why it was such an important event. Many of the stories describe what an overwhelming, powerful, and extraordinary feeling it was to see 400,000 people all gathered to share the experience of peace, love, and music. Many of the authors say that seeing the humongous crowd at Woodstock made them feel at home.
Production Techniques: The cover of this book makes use of symbols with the tie-dye lettering and guitar head.
Rhetorical questions are littered throughout the stories. One example includes "Was the government going to spy on us, threaten us, disband us, or gas us?"
Like rhetorical questions, hyperbole claims are also used throughout many of the stories. One man refers to his Woodstock experience as an "odyssey."
An example of testimonial is used right on the front cover; Wavy Gravy says of the book: "This is the real deal. These folks were actually there and done did it! Reading this is just like being there--except you have to supply you own mud. Enjoy!" ( Also a little bit of humor.)
The entire book uses plain folks since all the stories are from average people who were witness to this incredible event.
This book makes great use of nostalgia. All the stories are the memories of people who lived through one of the most turbulent, chaotic, and yet exciting times in American history.
As I mentioned earlier, many of these stories describe an immense sense of group dynamics. Several of the writers say that witnessing the enormous crowd at Woodstock made them feel as if they were a part of something bigger than themselves, and that, together, their generation could change the world.
The four pages of statistics at the end of the book are scientific evidence.
1. I've learned that it's important for us to critically analyze and evaluate media and the way it's produced. I've also learned that with the emergence of Web 2.0 and ever changing technology, the traditional forms of media, such as newspapers, are no longer as effective as they once were. Media production has undergone, and is continuing to undergo a huge shift in order to accommodate for growing technological trends and changes.
2. As a reader, I've learned that with the right information, I'm able to analyze and evaluate media texts and experiences, and determine which media productions are truthful and reliable, and which ones are just rubbish or influenced by some sort of bias that may influence the message. Also, because we must make observations from each chapter on the course blog, I've learned to better select and organize important information. As a writer, I've discovered that, while I still don't love writing, it is a useful skill to have in any profession I pursue; the writing and scripting that we've done in class will help make me more marketable within a communications degree/profession. In this class, I've learned to think much more critically than I ever have before about media and the way it's created. Analyzing and evaluating our power tools and the way they are used/affected by media productions has helped me understand the landscape of today's media culture.
3. I would definitely not have waited until the last minute to do the first set of media meditations, especially since they were great practice for the midterm.
4. In our tool sets, the political shift under the eight shifts mentions the 1996 Telecommunication Act and the "Net Neutrality" debate. I know absolutely nothing about either of these and I think it would be useful to go over at least a brief history or overview of these in order to better understand the details of the political shift. Other than that small detail, I think this course has been great.
5. I really like all the films we've watched so far; I found them really interesting and informative. Our book does an excellent job of of describing the the process and details of media writing. I feel like I've gotten a really good grasp on the basics of scripting from the examples in the book as well as the practice that we've done in class. I like the course blog because it keeps me up to date on assignments and the all the comments give a nice overview of each chapter. I like the personal blog because it serves as a record of all the work I've done for class.
So, I know this video is kind of long, but it caught my eye since I'm 19 and still don't have my driver's license.
Scene #1: ESTABLISHING SHOT: INSIDE CAR-DRIVING INSTRUCTOR IN PASSENGER'S SEAT. Driving instructor: Up here we're going to be making a right.
Scene #2: MEDIUM SHOT: OUTSIDE FRONT WINDSHIELD OF CAR WITH YELLOW "DRIVER EDUCATION STUDENT" SIGN ON TOP-STUDENT DRIVER AND DRIVING INSTRUCTOR CAN BE SEEN THROUGH WINDSHIELD. Remember turning 16?
Scene #3: MEDIUM SHOT: INSIDE CAR-STUDENT DRIVER IN DRIVER'S SEAT. Many of us couldn't wait to get behind the wheel.
Scene #4: MEDIUM SHOT: INSIDE CAR-STUDENT'S FACE IN FRONT WINDSHIELD'S REAR VIEW MIRROR, ROAD OUTSIDE OF WINDSHIELD WITH CARS AND HOUSES. But not all teens are racing to the D.M.V anymore.
Scene #5: CLOSEUP ON "DRIVER EDUCATION STUDENT" SIGN/ROAD WITH CARS.
Scene #6: MEDIUM SHOT: TEENAGE BOY IN CLASSROOM. Interviewer: Are you getting your driver's license soon? Teenage boy (shaking his head): Not soon.
Scene #7: MEDIUM SHOT: GIRL AT DESK IN CLASSROOM. OTHER STUDENTS IN BACKGROUND. Teacher: So what happens on the first time you get that moving violation? PAN LEFT ACROSS STUDENTS TO MEDIUM SHOT OF TEACHER.
Scene #8: LONG SHOT: CLASSROOM-TEACHER, STUDENTS, SOME TYPE OF DRIVER'S SEAT SIMULATOR IN FOREGROUND. Ed Starr teaches driver's ed in Arlington, Virginia.
Scene #9: MEDIUM SHOT: OUTSIDE OF BUILDING-ED STARR BESIDE CAR WITH "DRIVER EDUCATION STUDENT DRIVER" SIGN ON TOP. Interviewer: Does it seem to you like fewer kids want to get their licenses these days? SUPERIMPOSE INTERVIEWEE SCREEN IDENTIFICATION: ED STARR, DRIVING INSTRUCTOR. Ed Starr: Um, yes. Umm, back in 2005, we had about 96 students, um, attempt to get their license. Now we get about 40 to 45 students. Interviewer: So half as many? Ed Starr (nodding): Yes.
Scene #10: ESTABLISHING SHOT: ROAD, HILLS. It's a national trend. SUPERIMPOSE STATISTICS: LICENSED DRIVERS: 16-YEAR-OLDS. 30.7% FOR 2008. SOURCE: FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION. Federal data shows only a third of eligible 16-year-olds got their licenses in 2008. That's down from almost 45% 20 years ago. SUPERIMPOSE STATISTICS: 44.7% FOR 1998. SOURCE: FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION.
Scene #11: MEDIUM SHOT: OUTSIDE BUILDING-NEWS REPORTER. Gallegus (walking forward): One big reason for the decline: the economy. SUPERIMPOSE REPORTER SCREEN IDENTIFICATION AND LOCATION: MANUEL GALLEGUS, CBS NEWS. ARLINGTON, VA. Gallegus: For many families the cost of paying for a car, insurance, and gas money for a teenage driver is just too high.
Scene #12: MEDIUM SHOT: INSIDE D.M.V-BACK OF TEENAGE BOY WITH PAPERS, TALKING TO SOMEONE IN CUBICLE. It's also a lot tougher these days to get a license.
Scene #13: MEDIUM SHOT: INSIDE D.M.V-"LICENSE RENEWAL" AND "LICENSE EXAMS" SIGNS. PAN DOWN TO PEOPLE WAITING IN LINES. Most states now require another step: an intermediate license.
Scene #14: LONG SHOT: INSIDE BUSY D.M.V-PEOPLE WAITING. With that comes all kinds of restrictions.
Scene #15: MEDIUM SHOT: DRIVING RESTRICTIONS-UNITED STATES MAP WITH STATES THAT PREVENT TEENAGE DRIVING AT NIGHT HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW. 47 states prevent teens from driving at night. SUPERIMPOSE "NIGHT DRIVING" HEADING AND STATE LABELS. 44 states limit the number of passengers, especially other teens. SUPERIMPOSE "NUMBER OF PASSENGERS" HEADING. DISSOLVE YELLOW HIGHLIGHTING. STATES THAT LIMIT NUMBER OF PASSENGERS ARE NOW HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN.
Scene #16: MEDIUM SHOT: OUTSIDE OF BUILDING-ED STARR BESIDE CAR WITH "DRIVER EDUCATION STUDENT DRIVER" SIGN ON TOP. Ed Starr: The whole process, you know, is kind of complicated for a 16-year-old student. Um, when we go over all these laws and regulations, you can see them going and saying "What is going on?"
Scene #17: MEDIUM SHOT: OUTSIDE DOORS LOOKING INTO CLASSROOM-TEACHER WALKING AROUND, STUDENTS AT DESKS. Even some who get it say they just don't want the responsibility.
Scene #18: MEDIUM SHOT: INSIDE CLASSROOM-4 STUDENTS WITH DESKS PUSHED TOGETHER WORKING IN A GROUP.
Scene #19: MEDIUM SHOT: BOY IN CLASSROOM-OTHER STUDENTS IN BACKGROUND. Interviewer: How come you're going to wait? Boy: Uhh 'cause I never tried driving before and I'm kind of scared that I might crash.
Scene #20: MEDIUM SHOT: INSIDE HOUSE-2 TEENAGE BOYS AT COMPUTER. And then there's Skype and Facebook.
Scene #21: MEDIUM SHOT: INSIDE HOUSE-BACK OF 2 BOYS AT COMPUTER. ZOOM IN ON BOYS. Who needs a car when you can hang out with your friends online?
Scene #22: MEDIUM SHOT: TEENAGE GIRL INSIDE CLASSROOM. SUPERIMPOSE INTERVIEWEE IDENTIFICATION: ERIKA PAZ, STUDENT. Erika: You don't really have to be in front of the person to have an actual conversation, or have fun.
Scene #23: MEDIUM SHOT: ROAD WITH CARS AND BUS. The downside for parents: they get to keep shuttling their kids around.
Scene #24: ESTABLISHING SHOT: HIGHWAY-CARS, BUS. But fewer teens on the road means fewer are dying.
Scene #25: MEDIUM SHOT: HIGHWAY-CARS DRIVING. In Illinois, teen driving deaths dropped by more than 50%, when its tougher laws took effect in 2008. SUPERIMPOSE SCREEN STATISTICS-ILLINOIS: TEEN DRIVING DEATHS DOWN 52%.
Scene #26: CLOSEUP: CAR TIRES DRIVING ON HIGHWAY.
Scene #27: MEDIUM SHOT: OUTSIDE-TROY GREEN, ROAD AND CARS IN BACKGROUND. SUPERIMPOSE SCREEN IDENTIFICATION: TROY GREEN, SPOKESMAN, AAA. Troy Green: So, it's not as if we want to come down hard on teen drivers, we just want to make sure they're safe while driving.
Scene #28: MEDIUM SHOT: TEENS IN DRIVER'S SEAT SIMULATOR CLASSROOM. For many 16-year-old drivers this... TEENS TAKE SHARP TURN IN DRIVER'S SEAT SIMULATORS. Screeching tires. is the only turn they'll take on the open road.
Scene #29: MEDIUM SHOT: INSIDE CLASSROOM-BACKS OF STUDENTS IN DRIVER'S SEAT SIMULATORS, SCREEN STUDENTS ARE WATCHING. Manuel Gallegus, CBS News, Arlington, Virginia.
Because I'm currently enrolled in a print journalism class (also at Champlain College), I've lately been picking up the New York Times. This is new for me because I used to absolutely loathe newspapers; I found them dry, boring, and hated the texture of the paper. Now, however I've done a complete 180. I love the newspaper, including the texture of the paper, and pick up the New York Times on an almost daily basis.
The Brain:
The New York Times engages primarily the neocortex. The limbic is engaged very minimally through the use of photos, but as with most newspapers, a reader must read and process the information in order to understand the articles. This is a job reserved for the neocortical brain.
The Eight Shifts:
News made the epistemological shift decades ago with the popularization of television. Before this semester I relied solely on television programs for all of my news information. Now, however, I enjoy taking the time to read the paper and like that I can process it on my own time rather than on a news station's schedule.
Many people believe that the physical newspaper will soon be an obsolete medium. Even now, newspapers are having a hard time finding the funding to stay in print. Readers are instead choosing to find and read articles online. This trend is representative of a huge technological shift. For more on this shift check out this video.
The availability of newspaper articles online also represents a personal shift since people can easily e-mail articles, upload them to their blogs, and share them in a way that they couldn't before. Also, on some news websites, readers can comment on stories the way viewers can on YouTube. Also, as long as someone has access to the internet, they can read news articles form dozens of different newspapers meaning that it is no longer necessary for readers to pay for a subscription.
Again, newspaper availability on the internet represents an aesthetic shift since anyone with a smartphone or other handheld device can access the internet and read articles at form anywhere, and at any time.
Newspapers are also currently undergoing an enormous economic shift. Who would pay for a newspaper subscription when all the information is available for free on the internet? I don't think newspapers can start charging for online subscriptions without angering a lot of readers, but how else will they earn an income if this trend continues? My print journalism professor says that newspapers should have charged for online services right from the start.
News in general represents a discursive shift with so many alternative sources for information now available. People who are fed up with stories that traditional newspapers offer, or people who perceive a strong bias within news stories can turn to blogs or other alternative information sources.
The Seven Principles:
Without a doubt, newspapers definitely attempt to construct a certain sense of reality for its readers. Though most articles are hard news stories based on facts and actual events, many people see news media as having a strong bias, particularly concerning political issues. In my experience with the New York Times, I haven't really encountered such a bias, though I can be pretty naive in picking up on and interpreting hidden agendas and underlying messages. To attempt to educate myself I found this great article through Google.
Value messages are particularly important to news stories, especially if a news production company is notoriously biased like Fox News is often perceived to be. Because of these biases, individuals will interpret stories and messages differently than they would a completely neutral news source. Therefore the value of a news story is dependent on how you perceive the producer/writer of that story.
Ownership greatly determines the articles an information that a newspaper puts into print. A notoriously right winged newspaper will most likely not run a story glorifying President Obama and the Democratic party.
Like value messages, people will interpret individual meanings from articles they read in the newspaper. These are determined by personal experience and knowledge, what you know of the newspaper production company, your personal opinion of the newspaper in general, as well as many other factors. Luckily for me and the rest of my print journalism class, we often discuss articles that we find interesting in the New York Times. Given, we primarily discuss the writing, but often this has an effect on how we each interpret the story.
Newspapers have enormous potential for emotional transfer. Many hard news stories involve death and destruction which is obviously an emotional subject for much of the population. We recently just read an article in the New York Times titled "Haiti's Quake Set Children Adrift In World of Chaos." The article detailed the lives of a number of children who lost parents in the earthquake; the quotes from the children that the writer put in the story were heartbreaking. My print journalism professor also mentioned that in the months following 9/11, the New York Times ran a series entitled "Portraits of Grief." Everyday they would run a full page of pictures accompanied by two to three sentence biographies of people who died on September 11th. My professor always says that, as writers, we have to make readers care and connect them to the story. It seems to be that the best way to do this is through emotional transfer.
Newspapers are useful when regarding pacing. Because newspapers are read rather than watched, individuals can process information at their own pace. This is beneficial to people who have a tough time processing the 30 frames per second pace of television.
29 Persuasive Techniques: The New York Times makes use of symbols just as any other company does. The distinguishable Gothic font of their heading is easily associated with the paper itself. Other newspapers and production agencies also make use of symbols such as the CBS eye icon.
The New York Times, as many news sources do, also use techniques such as rhetorical questions, testimonial, warm fuzzies (like in the story of Haiti's children), either/or, maybe,and scientific evidence. Examples of all of these techniques can be found throughout out various issues of the Times.
I’d never been interested in a career in advertising until very recently. I discovered this newfound interest while taking an advertising course at Champlain College. Through this class, I’ve realized that advertising is a unique and complex process that requires an enormous amount of creativity and dedication. Something that I’ve found particularly interesting advertising’s history and how it’s developed over time.
So, after learning of this media meditation assignment, I decided to do my first media meditation on a documentary we watched in my advertising class entitled Sell & Spin: A History of Advertising. I was able to find this film in segments on YouTube, so included below is the first ten minutes, just enough to give you a vague idea of what the film’s about.
The Brain: This film engages primarily the limbic and neocortical parts of the brain. The limbic is engaged through the use of images and music used throughout the film, while the neocortex gets engaged because we must listen and process what the narrator and interviewees are saying. Also, because this documentary focuses specifically on advertising and its role throughout history, it relates directly to our discussion of how many media messages were exposed to each day versus how many we consciously retain. Every advertiser knows that in order for an advertisement to be effective, it must successfully break through the “advertisement clutter” that consumers face on a daily basis.
The Eight Trends: This program represents a huge epistemological shift. I could have found much of the same information from this film in my advertising textbook, but instead the class was able to watch it watch it in the form of a documentary. As a result, we were exposed to many more visual examples of advertisements then we would be if were to only study the book.
A technological shift is also evident due to the fact that I was able to find at least segments of this program on YouTube. This means that anyone with access to the internet can watch this documentary.
The availability of this program on YouTube also represents a personal shift. YouTube lets its members not only watch videos, but also rate and comment on them. This allows people to offer their opinion on a video, and also helps potential viewers determine if a video is worth watching.
Because this program can be watched via the internet, it represents an aesthetic shift. Because many cell phones now offer internet service, people can watch this documentary on their iPhone or other handheld device at anytime and anywhere.
Also, the segments of this program available on YouTube have been posted by a single individual, not the company that made and produced the film, which I’m fairly certain (if I remember correctly) was the History Channel. The fact that this individual posted the segments instead of the History Channel raises copyright questions and, in turn, represents a political shift.
The political aspect of this program’s availability on alternative media platforms leads us to consider an economic shift. Because individuals can watch this video on YouTube, it has the potential to take viewers away from the programs television airing. I’m not exactly certain how this might affect the television company’s income since both cable and internet must be paid for, but it definitely has the potential to impact a program’s ratings and polls. The Seven Principles: Reality Construction-any media production attempts to construct a carefully thought out sense of reality for its audience. Because this film is a History Channel documentary I, as a viewer, am under the impression that the information they are showing and telling me is factual. This is mainly because I consider the History Channel to be an accurate and reliable source of information, however, someone with a less favorable view of the History Channel, or maybe just advertising in general, may think that this program is merely trying to justify advertising’s role in our consumer culture.
Like reality construction, all media experiences use production techniques to influence the ways we think and behave. Because this is a documentary, it relies primarily on interviews, testimonials, and visual images to convey its message.
Media experiences entail intended and unintended value messages for the viewer. Because I see this as a documentary that is focused on factual information, I think it’s hard to determine the values messages that the producers of the program intended for the audience, however I would say that it portrays a slightly more favorable view of advertising than it does negative.
Almost all media experiences are products of the commercial industry. This means that most of the media we’re exposed to on a daily basis has commercial motives based on ownership. The History Channel is owned by A&E, “a U.S. media company that owns several TV networks on cable and television” according to Wikipedia.
Individual Meanings-all individuals take away their own meanings from media experiences. Personally, this documentary showed me the value and importance of advertising’s role in our society, however as I mentioned earlier, people who have other preconceived notions about advertising may not take away the same message that I did.
Emotional Transfer-as our toolsets say, “Commercials and other multimedia experiences operate primarily at an emotional level and are usually designed to transfer the emotion from one symbol or lifestyle onto another.” This was especially true of the advertising examples that they used in the film. In the early days of modern advertising, advertisers had to first create a problem, and then come up with the solution. To do this they often developed issues involving social anxieties such as body odor, or halitosis. Below is an example that focused on housewives’ fear of their husbands leaving them during the Great Depression.
Persuasive Techniques: Because the focus is on advertising, this documentary discusses almost all of our 29 persuasive techniques, a few of which I've discussed below.
All of us associate certain symbols (or brands) with certain companies which help us distinguish that company's product from another. Symbols have proven to be a vital aspect of advertising throughout history.
This film mentions hyperbole when discussing the earliest forms of newspaper advertising. Daniel Pope of the University of Oregon says "Local retailers or merchants would announce the availability of their goods. They might throw in a superlative or two to encourage people to come and shop." Clearly hyperbole has worked as a form of persuasion in advertising since its earliest days.
Repetition is also mentioned by Juliann Sivulka when she says of advertisers "One thing they would do is repeat a message. This was the forerunner of early advertising slogans as we know them today. They would take a one line message and repeat it, and repeat it, and repeat it."
Also, in the third segment (at about a minute and 50 seconds in) we see an ad for Lucky Cigarettes that offers simple solutions. The ad simply says "To keep a slender figure no one can deny...Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet." This line implies that keeping a slender figure is as simple as switching cigarette brands. We also see simple solutions when the documentary focuses on an ad that says "Cleanliness brings happiness and good cheer." Listerine is also mentioned which was advertised as an easy and simple solution for halitosis.
The documentary itself uses scientific evidence when they reference the 3,000 commercial advertisements that were exposed to daily and also when Juliann Sivulka says "This ad ran in the Ladies Home Journal and it so insulted some 200 some readers that they canceled their subscriptions. Yet in the same year the sales of Odo-Ro-No went up 112%."
This film also makes great use of timing. At times, usually when the music is playing, we just see a rush of advertisements in quick succession. However, whenever an advertising campaign is being discussed in detail, they make sure to slow down so the viewer has time to examine, read, and process the ad being discussed.
This program also relies heavily on testimonials from experts on advertising and its history, featuring various professors and officials from colleges and universities around the country who clearly know what they're talking about.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Commercial Script Writing Practice-Doritos: House Rules
SCENE #1: ESTABLISHING SHOT-OUTSIDE HOUSE-KYLE WITH BOUQUET KNOCKS ON FRONT DOOR. Knocking on door. WOMAN OPENS DOOR. Woman: Hi. Man: Hi. HANDS HER BOUQUET. Woman: Aww, thank you!
SCENE #2: MEDIUM SHOT-INSIDE WOMAN'S HOUSE-KYLE, WOMAN. Woman: Have a seat. Kyle, Jaelyn. Jealyn, Kyle. Jaelyn, you play nice. I'll be right back.
SCENE #3: MEDIUM SHHOT, FOCUSED ON WOMAN'S LOWER HALF WALKING AWAY. Woman's heels on hardwood floor.
SCENE #4: MEDIUM SHOT ON KYLE. HE MAKES AN IMPRESSED FACE.
SCENE #5: MEDIUM SHOT ON WOMAN'S YOUNG SON, JAELYN, SCOWLING WITH VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER IN HAND.
SCENE #6: CLOSEUP ON JAELYN'S HAND WITH VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER. HE DROPS IT. Controller hitting floor.
SCENE #7: CLOSEUP ON BOWL OF DORITOS. Jaelyn: Scammin' on my mama?
SCENE #8: MEDIUM SHOT-KYLE SITS ON COUCH, JAELYN STANDING BESIDE HIM. Kyle: What's goin' on little man? I see you got your game skills down pack. Kyle (AS HE PICKS UP DORITO): You might have your hands full once I pick up the controller over there. JAELYN SLAPS KYLE. Hand on face impact.
SCENE #9: MEDIUM SHOT ON JAELYN POINTING TO BOWL. Jaelyn: Put it back.
SCENE #10: CLOSEUP ON SIDE SHOT OF KYLE AND JAELYN'S FACES, INCHES APART. JAELYN HAS TWO FINGERS UP. Jaelyn: Keep your hands off my mama. JAELYN PUTS ONE FINGER DOWN. Jaelyn: Keep your hands off my Doritos. JAELYN PUTS THE OTHER FINGER DOWN, THEN GETS EVEN CLOSER TO KYLE'S FACE.
SCENE #11: DORITOS LOGO-END CREDIT. Woman: Jaelyn, are you playing nice?
SCENE #2: CLOSEUP SHOT - ON LOLA'S FOOTBALL PORTRAIT. Cheesy keyboard music continues. Danica: The day he retired from football...
SCENE #3: ZOOM OUT TO DANICA WITH LOLA'S FOOTBALL PORTRAIT. Cheesy keyboard music continues. Danica: Lola started chasing his biggest dream.
SCENE #4: FULL SHOT-INSIDE LOLA'S LIVING ROOM-DANICA, LOLA, SCANTILY CLAD WOMEN. ZOOM IN TO MEDIUM SHOT. Cheesy keyboard music continues. Danica (walking): A business of his own. Lola: Mmm hmmmm. Air kiss.
SCENE #5: CLOSEUP SHOT-ON LOLA. Cheesy keyboard music continues. Danica: Lola's first step? He built his website with GoDaddy.com.
SCENE #6: MEDIUM SHOT-INSIDE LOLA'S OFFICE-LOLA, COMPUTER. Cheesy keyboard music continues. Danica (walking in):And with GoDaddy's easy to use e-commerce tools...
SCENE #7: CLOSEUP SHOT-ON LOLA'S COMPUTER SCREEN. Cheesy keyboard music continues. Danica: Lola was soon selling his own line to the world.
SCENE #8: CLOSEUP SHOT-ON LOLA. Cheesy keyboard music continues. Lola: Oooowheee!
SCENE #9: FULL SHOT-LOLA'S POOL-DANICA IN FOREGROUND, LOLA ON FLOAT IN POOL AND WOMEN IN BACKGROUND. Cheesy keyboard music continues. Danica: Lola dreams big. Lola: Uhh huh. Danica: And who's to argue?
SCENE #10: SEE MORE NOW AT GODADDY.COM END CREDIT. Chorus: Go Daddy.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
I think the thesis of Obama's State of the Union Address is that though America is currently in a poor state of affairs, our government is currently working harder than ever to improve the lives of the American people.
He supports this thesis by proposing many government acts and reforms, such as the Recovery Act, "a fee on the biggest banks," and a New Jobs Bill, throughout the entire speech.
Obama also says that he isn't just going to do what's popular, but what's best for the American people.
He also gives an entire spiel on all the tax cuts that the government has issued in order to help working class families.
Brain: The State of the Union Address relies primarily, and almost solely, on the neocortical brain. We must listen to what Obama is saying and then process it in order to understand the impact of his words.
8 Trends: Watching this speech on YouTube represents a huge epistemological shift. Instead of hearing this speech on the radio, or reading it on the internet or wherever, we are able to see the video. This means that we get to see all of Obama's facial expressions and nonverbal cues. We also get to see the audience stand up and applaud various statements that Obama makes.
Obviously this represents a technological shift as well. Some years ago, our only chance to watch this speech is when it was originally aired on television.
The fact that this speech is available on YouTube represents a personal shift since people can comment on it as well as view and respond to the comments of others.
The availability of this video can also be seen as a cultural shift; anyone with access to the internet can watch this speech.
7 Principles: This media experience definitely plays on "reality" construction. Obama is not trying to idealize the current state of our country; it seems to me that he is actually trying to convey the present reality of life in America.
Given that this is a speech with only one main "character" and one setting, I thought this video made excellent use of production techniques. For the most part, obviously, the camera is focused on Obama, but I thought it was interesting how they showed the audience every time he received a standing ovation. Also I noticed while embedding the video on my personal blog, that it was available to watch in HD.
Like many presidential speeches, Obama's State of the Union address contained many value messages about the American spirit and how important it is for us to not give up hope as a nation.
Regarding ownership, all I can say is that I noticed we were watching the video from the White House's YouTube page, so I feel fairly confident that it hasn't been edited or tampered with as I guess it could have been had we watched it through another source.
As with any speech, we're left to determine our own individual meanings regarding what our president says.
Though the video itself has little emotional transfer, Obama makes various emotional appeals when he refers to all of the Americans who have been affected by our poor economy and current state of affairs.
29 Techniques of Persuasion: Throughout his State of the Union address, Obama uses many of the 29 persuasive techniques we've studied in class.
One of the major techniques used is group dynamics. The most obvious use of this technique is at the very beginning of the speech when Obama refers to his audience as "fellow Americans." Throughout the entire speech, Obama refers to the "state of our union," "our nation," "our government," etc.
Obama also makes attempts at humor when he refers to something being "about as popular as a root canal," and also when, after receiving a standing ovation for a particular statement made says "I thought I would get some applause on that one."
Obama employs the straw man technique when he says of a certain proposal "I know Wall Street isn't too keen on this idea, but if these firms can afford to hand out big bonuses again..."
Another technique Obama uses is hyperbole. He calls this year "one of the most difficult" in history.
Obama also scapegoats the banks by blaming much of our current economic state on them, saying "the banks that caused this crisis."
Obama also makes great use of scientific evidence. He gives various numbers and statistics regarding certain issues including "1 in 10 Americans still cannot find work," and "We cut taxes for 95% of working families. . . We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college."
Plain folks is also a technique that Obama relies heavily upon in this speech. He repeatedly refers to the letters that he receives from millions of Americans that he "reads nightly." At one point, he even quotes one of these letters. He also makes references to small towns across America.
He also plays upon warm fuzzies when he mentions the letters he receives from children asking why they have to move away from their home and why their parents still don't have jobs. This also gives his speech enormous emotional appeal.
In a way, Obama also plays with simple solutions. In this address, he proposes the Recovery Act, as well as "a fee on the biggest banks." Though these proposals are, in no way, simple in their governmental workings, they sound simple when listening to them in the context of Obama's speech.
Symbols are also used since we can see the huge American flag directly behind Obama.
One can also argue the use of beautiful people since many women consider Obama very handsome.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Here's our radio commercial for Vermont99 that we performed during class:
Sunday, January 17, 2010
I'm Katie Beers. I'm a second year communications major from Bangor, Maine, which got its fifteen minutes of fame from The Way We Get By, a documentary about a group of senior citizens who greet the troops coming back from Iraq at the Bangor International Airport. Check out the trailer below.
Over break I saw Avatar in 3D which was awesome, but I also read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boynne and then watched the movie. It was interesting to see the story translated into film.
I like that all the technology of our 21st century media culture allows us to easily contact people from all over the world at any time.
But I also hate the fact that language often gets butchered in many computer mediated communication channels, and worry that humans are becoming too reliant on technology.
Clearly I'm not the only one who feels this way, since many other artists have created similar, and often humorous, cartoons that can be seen at cartoonstock.
I'm not quite sure what I want to do professionally yet, most likely something involving writing or journalism, but that's all I've figured out so far.
