Evaluation

1. Before this class, I had never used a blog before.
2. It was a convenient and easy way to do the homework, and easy to get into the habit of doing one per week. The blog also helped me understand more difficult concepts, such as hegemony, by requiring me to talk about it in the discussion sections.
3. I never really had any problems using the Blogger website.
4. See above.
5. I liked the Film Language blog about describing a scene from a movie and showing how the director conveyed emotion because it made me think about how I would have shown the emotion if I had directed the movie.
6. Yes. It is easy to get into the routine of doing it every week using topics from class. It keeps important ideas in your head longer than just the day they are talked about in class. It's also easy to look back over them if you want to study the topics you talked about.
7. I would possibly have the graders comment every once and a while on various blogs explaining what was good or bad about it so you get feedback on how you are doing sometimes.

Yes, you can use my blog in a paper or report.

Globalization

Globalization is the system of interaction among the countries of the world in order to develop the global economy.

Cultural imperialism, which is the practice of promoting a more powerful culture over a lesser known or desirable culture, can be attributed to the rise of globalization of the media.

This excerpt from The Telegraph shows how even in England, the country the US fought a revolutionary war with, a country that has had its own culture for quite some time, cultural imperialism is still effective.

         "In Britain, we are exposed to American culture so extensively and in such depth that one might be led to imagine that we have absorbed it entirely. We might, indeed, be presented as the ultimate example of the American cultural imperialism that has aggrieved so many people around the world – even, in some cases, to the extreme point of persuading a few of the most insane to engage in terrorist acts against America and Americanism."

 It is thorough the globalization of the media that the extent of America's cultural imperialism is possible.

Advertising

The advertisement I am choosing is the new Nike ad featuring Lebron James. The ad is basically a response to his fans after his choice to move from Cleveland to Miami. It shows Lebron at first by himself asking the viewer what he should do. As the commercial progresses, he keeps asking the question while trying out different ideas ranging from acting to selling shoes. The ad eventually ends with Lebron scoring a basket and the Nike slogan "Just do it." appearing on screen. It was powerful because Lebron is directly confronting fans and the media that are mad about the decision he made. It feels very personal.

In Professor Straubhaar's lecture he talked about how one appeal of advertising is achievement, prominence, or attention. A few characteristics of this type of ad are the style. Usually the ads are very stylish and hip causing viewers to talk about it. They also grab your attention, and sometimes even media attention. They also focus on repetition to get their point across.

By using one of the most high profiled basketball stars in the world and having him directly address his fan base, using a very stylistic approach, and repeating the same message of "What should I do?", this ad embodies all of the characteristics of a well done commercial. Most importantly, it got people talking about Nike.

Three act structure

The movie "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" uses the three act structure that Professor Ramirez-Berg described as being in use in Hollywood today.

The first act sets up the conflict, a floundering film-making oceanographer's best friend is eaten by a "jaguar shark" and he is out to exact his revenge. Along the way we are introduced to the main crew of the ship, and meet a possible son Steve had many years ago. Before the crew sets out on their journey, a reporter is assigned to them to write a story, thus completing the first act around 30 minutes into the movie.

The second act is about 60 minutes long and deals with the crew's search for the shark. Along the way we learn about what each crew member does and what they do in their free time. Steve, in an effort to catch up to the jaguar shark, decides to recklessly cut through unprotected waters getting the crew taken hostage by pirates. He then attempts to fight back and successfully defeats the pirates, ending act two.

With wounded pride, Steve and the crew who haven't abandoned him set out to rescue the bond company stooge and finally kill the jaguar shark. The third and final act lasts about thirty minutes. It is here that Ned, Steve's son dies, but not before they find the florescent snapper, a sign the jaguar shark is near. The crew then goes down in the mini-sub and sees the jaguar shark actually exists. Steve, after all he's been through, decides to let the shark live and ends up making, like he used to, a hit documentary, bringing the movie to a close.

Episodic Sitcoms

Most sitcoms made tend to be categorized as episodic in nature. This is mainly because sitcoms, as a whole, tend to be only thirty minutes in length, and more geared toward providing laughs rather than dramatic complicated stories. While there may be a larger big picture story that travels throughout a show, for example: Jim and Pam's plot line in The Office, the development of that story may only advance a little over the course of an entire season. This means that shows tend to deal with small problems and then end with that problem being solved. Then in the next show, an new problem occurs and is solved. Plots don't build from one show to the next.


One of my favorite sitcoms is Arrested Development. It was primarily episodic, but what made it great was how little details carried over into other shows. The plot of one show may be totally different than that of the previous week, but it included references to earlier shows in the series that you didn't even realize were jokes at the time. I think that's why the show is so critically acclaimed. It was a different spin on the episodic format, that while not being to different was refreshing in its own way.

Film Language

In The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou directed by Wes Anderson, there is a scene when Zissou is underwater in a mini-submarine. The scene begins with a longshot of the outside of the sub while it's surrounded by the dark water of the bottom of the sea.

In the shot, the sub is the only source of light. I think what Anderson was trying to convey with this shot was a feeling of loneliness, but also one of hope. So far, no one really knows whether the shark Zissou is hunting is real or not, so in that sense, he is alone. But the light that the sub gives off seems to be a sense of hope, the hope of Zissou that he isn't crazy, and the hope of his crew that he is still the same captain they followed when he was still making hit documentaries.

The next shot is a medium shot of everyone in the submarine. The focal point of the shot is Zissou and it seems to convey the crew's hopes all resting on Zissou's shoulders. The shot is very heavy, but there is also an optimism to it about what they could find.

The last shot is a loose close-up of Zissou. A close-up was used so that the audience could see the emotion on Zissou's face when he finally realizes his mission is complete and he recognizes everything he's been through in order to get to that moment. The close-up is the reason the scene is so emotional because you really see all of Zissou's emotions.

The Studio System and Actors

Back in the early days of film, studios were set-up a lot like major record labels are today. They would have star actors (musicians), and they were only in movies filmed by that particular studio.

Often times these actors were typecast into certain roles after being discovered in their breakout role. Studios then made more movies with that actor, but the movie was often in the same genre. For this reason, studios started to become known by the genres of movies they made. This only reinforced the typecast on the actors.

For example, Humphrey Bogart became a star for Warner Bros. Pictures. He was typecast as a tough guy criminal when Warner Bros. was known for its gangster movies. Then when gangster movies were ushered out Bogart became a detective. So, Warner Bros. became known for their detective movies. In this way, studios were really dependent on actors because their way of making a profit depended on the fans of the actors they employed.

All in the Family Vs. Modern Family

All in the Family and Modern Family are both sitcoms that deal with situations happening when they were made. For example, both shows dealt with the issue of homosexuality. The way that the shows present the topic really show how the issue was viewed by the public.

All in the Family seemed to have a harsher (see: ignorant) view of homosexuals, represented through Archie's comments. In Modern Family, one of the three main families in the show are a gay couple. By making the couple main characters on the show, the issue of gay marriage is present in every show.

Where the two shows differ is in how they handle the issues. All in the Family was more vocal and forward with how issues were talked about. In Modern Family, issues are hinted at, but there isn't a discussion like you would have if Archie had an opinion on an issue.

All in the Family didn't really address the relationship between husband and wife. Archie was the head of the family and that was that. In Modern Family, there is more of a focus on how the husband and wife focus on their relationship while having to deal with three kids.

Radio & Audience Demand

Audience demand is the most important factor in determining how radio developed into what it is today. It formed radio into a mass communicative entertainment tool, a means of sharing stories, music, and ideas with a wide audience.

Back in the early 1900s when radio was first forming, it was being used as a means of two-way communication to relay information. After World War I when RCA took over, radios were sold as a device that was meant to be used in the home, which formed new audiences. Once companies figured out these new markets existed, programming was developed to bring in the audiences so products could be sold. In order for these advertisements to be heard, the programming had to appeal to the audiences demands, whether it was for news, music, talk-radio, or stories.

The radio industry is driven by profits so early programming "was focused on music but also included news, comedy, variety shows, soap operas, detective dramas, sports, suspense, and action adventures." These shows were created so broadcasters could bring in a bigger audience and charge higher amounts of money for advertisements. Without the audience demand, radio would never have evolved into the model it uses today. Example.

Priming

Learning about priming theory has helped me to better understand how and why people react to events in life because I now realize that media has the possibility to impact a viewers actions.

Priming theory is described as when the activation of one thought triggers related thoughts. Basically, the theory argues that by viewing something, the viewer will "store" that event in their mind and will be more likely to use that action as a response to something happening in their own life. Priming can occur semantically, through repetition, or through association.

For example, say a research study is being conducted and there are two groups. One group is primed with politeness-related words, while the second group is primed with rude, aggressive words. According to priming theory if the two groups were to be interviewed, the group primed with the aggressive/rude words would be more likely to interrupt the interviewer than the group primed with polite words.

Recent examples in the news have been relating priming with video games and violence. Some critics say that the violence in video games causes those that play them to mimic, or commit acts of violence that they otherwise would not have. On the other side of that argument though, some say that video games are a way of releasing the violence through the game, as a sort of therapeutic practice.
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/adventure/grandtheftauto3/news_6077161.html

Framing

Learning about framing has helped me to better understand and digest how different cable news outlets present news to their viewers because I now know what to look for (e.g. keywords, tone, context) when viewing the broadcast.

What framing is essentially is how the media presents something to its viewers.  Reporters and editors are responsible for deciding what stories should be covered, but framing comes into play when deciding how to present those stories to the audience. What you can end up with is the same story covered by many different news outlets, but very different view points on the story.

For example, say a bus crashes on the highway. Now one media outlet may cover the crash through the eyes of the victims, describing what they went through and how tragic the incident was, but another outlet could bring up an issue with how the bus company hires its employees (professionalism, experience, background checks), and try to find out the reason behind the crash. That is just a simple example of how framing works.

Framing becomes dangerous when it's used to alter context/information the viewers receive, like in this example from The Daily Show. Sean Hannity's show edited video footage of a speech given by President Obama, and in the process took a quote about taxes out of context. Assuming the average viwer doesn't take the time to go and look at the entirety of Obama's speech, they now think Obama said something that he didn't say. Basically, the viewers of Hannity's program that night were given false information due to how the news outlet chose to show Obama's speech.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-september-9-2010/are-you-ready-for-some-midterms----msnbc-s-political-narrative

First Blog

I am taking RTF 305 because I am planning on majoring in film and this course is required to be taken if I want to move on in what I want to study. That and the fact that I find pretty much anything to do with media to be really interesting are the two major reasons I am taking this course. I hope to learn about how filmmakers use cinema to teach or to tell audiences stories effectively, so I can one day do the same. I just want to learn as much about film-making and storytelling as I can.