Extra Credit Blog

RTF 305 Extra Credit Blog

·         Before I began this course I had never used any type of blog or blogging website before in any class or personal time.

·         Some positive aspects of using the blogs in this course was that while doing the blog assignment I was able to further understand what the topic was. Or if there was a term that I didn’t fully understand I was able to apply it to a situation and use it in my blog to further understand the topic. Give it a real life example.

·         I did not come across any technical difficulties when doing my blogs. I found the site very user friendly and easy to figure out. Although I did at times as difficulty with some of the topics that were assigned. For example somewhere very minuscule and therefore difficult to really get a detailed fully idea written into the blog. It took a lot of creativity to put some of these together and information from several sources.

·         I overcame some of my difficulties by reviewing several sources not just the ones that were assigned to our class such as the text book, orange packet, and power points. I also tried to be creative in my blogs and think outside the box to answer the blog assignments.

·         I found the most interesting blogs to be the ones where we were able to add some of our own personality to it and what we liked. Such as when we got to pick a sitcom to show a definition. Or when we were able to pick our own movie and use it to show examples of long shot etc.

·         I would suggest further use of the blogs in not only this course but all courses in general. It was a great tool that really did help me understand and study for this course.

·         I would suggest to further improve the blogging experience make more of the assignments were people can talk about what they like and show examples of that in whatever they are assigned to talk about for example like when we were able to pick a movie we liked and tell how it had long shot medium and close up. Because let’s face it people like to talk about themselves and I think that more people to do the blogs and put more interest in them if they got to talk about something they liked. For example themselves.

·         Yes, you may use this in anything you would like.

Taylor Winberry

Assignment Ten - Globlization

Globalization

Globalization is a process of increasing interconnectedness among nations, cultures, and people supported and accelerated by technological developments.

Cultural Imperialism – comes across different nations, media industries, and audiences encountering people from different cultures and nations. Although, cultural imperialism doesn’t consider diversity of transitional national media and doesn’t consider production or reception. Cultural Imperialism connects back to globalization by its wide spread ability to effect and change people nations and technological developments.

IPods are a great example of Globalization; they have spread not only all over our nation but to others as well. They have changed technology of music as we know it and continue to change and improve. There are all different types of different people who use iPods and many different cultures.  

Assignment Nine - Ads

I feel like the Old Spice ad is very powerful today in both the men’s and woman’s world. In this ad the man starts off talking about men using women’s soap and how uncool that is. He then proceeds to show men all the wonderful opportunities that they would have to make their woman happy if they just used “Old Spice”. One good thing leads right to the next. Thanks to “Old Spice” first the man is a bathroom, then on a fancy boat, then he has tickets to the wonderful thing his woman wanted, then he had diamonds, and last but not least he was riding off on horseback.

This is a very powerful ad because it affects both men and women. The men see that if they use “Old Spice” they will get the love and adoration and money that the man in the ad had. For women it shows what they could have if only their man just wore “Old Spice”.

Sex is a big advertising appeal that many ad’s choice to use when they put their product on the market, “Old Spice” is no exception. Sex appeal is when an ad uses sex to sale a product. Sex is something that most people in particular men are attracted to and they want to be just like that. And have all of the benefits that go or appear to go along with the sex appeal.

This ad shows the sex appeal perfectly making it show that guys could be pleasing women and getting all the benefits that come along with it. The sex appeal is what sales this product. The commercial starts off in a bathroom and goes from there, trying to make “Old Spice” to be something that will make you sexy and therefore you should buy and use it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

Assignment Seven - Narratives

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is a movie that fits well with Professor Ramirez-Berg’s lecture on Narratives. The movie is one of Hollywood’s 3 Act Structure with an introduction, complication, resolution. The three act structure is good for quest and triumphant stories with a happy ending.

                The first act would be the plot point one, lasting about 34 minutes it introduces the characters and the situation.  In “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” the introduction shows Harry’s godfather Serious had escaped from Azkaban and was on the loose and assumed he was trying to kill Harry. Then we see Harry leave his house and head for the Leaky Cauldron and on the way we first stop Serious. Harry eventually meets up with his friends and is on his way to school were they meeting the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Professor Lupin.  Plot Point number one sets up the tone of the movie and introduces all of the main contributors of the film, and ends the first act.

                Act two or Plot Point two is the bulk of the movie it runs about 30-60 minutes long and explains the entire story. In act two you develop your characters, and explain relationships. They start to find out about what they will have to face, and begin to prepare. The Harry Potter movies are an Alternative Narrative where they often repeat the same action over and over. In “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” we see Harry find out that Serious is his godfather and he was the one who sold Harry’s parents Lilly and James to He Who Must Note Be Named. Serious then goes after the man who really sold Harry’s parents out. Act two is also known as the complication, or plot point two. Here is where the problem is explained and seen in action, and escalates stakes.

                Act three, the climax normally lasts about 30 minutes it shows the problem at its peak and the solution that comes up to fix it. Act three is where we see the resolution. Here the complication is implied and brought to an end. In Harry Potter the real culprit is discovered and Serious the innocent man escaped out Buckbeak another innocent creature. Act three wraps up all of the loose ends and brings an end to the 3 act Narrative.

Assignment Seven - TV Sitcoms

I want to focus on two of the aspects of the TV sitcom that I think are very important to the viewer’s relationship with the writers and the show, Campfire and Nation-Tribe.

                Campfire

·         The place where we have typically told our stories to one another

·         Something ancient and human

o   (Colin Tain TV sitcom lecture)

Campfire functions within the sitcom genre because it gives TV shows their roots, they provide a place for families and friends to gather around and spend time together. Gives people a sense of community and belongingness. There has always been throughout history something special that brings people together by telling stories, they bring people together and rally community within these people who share stories and hear them together.

                Nation-Tribe

·         TV contains national ritualistic features

·         Re-watching at certain times

·         Annual or weekly

·         Local

o   (Colin Tain TV sitcom lecture)

Nation-Tribe functions with sitcom genres because they give a time, place, and location to tell these stories and bring out emotion in the viewers. Nation-Tribe gives people a routine for different types of shows to be played at different times. For example dramas are played during the year, while lighter shows are generally played during the summer. Certain sitcoms are played on certain days of the week and annually, it makes the viewer’s feel like they are have a part in the drama or show by being there for each and every part of the story. The TV contains national ritualistic features to help the viewer’s connect with their community, learn and understand the way that the nation works.

“That 70’s Show” was a TV that came out about the 70’s and the everyday life of teenagers in America. In a part of the show the characters would all sit in the basement and tell each other stories which brought them close to each other displaying the campfire aspects of TV sitcoms. Nation-Tribe was also shown throughout this show. In each show they repeated some of the same aspects every time. The show was in a local setting in a small town in Wisconsin bringing out the small town life that many teenagers go through. The show played annually throughout the year on the same days and time each week, bringing a sense of community to the viewers.  

Assignment Six - Camera Shots

Close Up. A close up shot is a camera shot that is designed to bring you close into the character. It shows you important details, what you need to know about the situation, and shows you the emotion the character feels.

These scenes in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the Department of Mysteries, Harry and his fellow DA members have just been captured by the Death Eaters. Then Serious Harry’s God father shows up followed along by the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. They put up a noble fight, and then Bellatrix kills Serious. Lupin holds Harry Potter after Serious falls through the veil. The director choose to do a close up on each of the Order members as the entered the room to show what they were feeling and show the determination in their faces. Then later after Serious died the director did a close up on Harry’s face to show the terminal he was going through.  

This next shot is called a Long Shot the purpose of the long shot is an orientation shot that helps you to learn about the space and look at new things. This mostly used to indicate a sad shot.

This scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is where the Dementors swarm Harry and Serious and Harry saves them.   This shows a long shot because it shows how powerless they are in this situation.

General to Specific shot is where the camera starts out from a distance and looks all around the room showing us the new place.

In this scene Snape walks into the Defense against the Dark Arts class when Lupin was sick during the full moon to teach the class. The camera shot here shows Snape walking into the room for the first time and we get to see the room in its entirety and all the changes he made to the room

Assignment Five - Studio System

Studio System of Production

•         contract talent

•         star system

•         ‘house style’ geared to star-genre formulas

Describe some specific aspect how the studio system worked, which seems particularly important to you (1 point)

•         factory-based, mass-production system

•         The studio system worked on a factory-based/mass production way. I think this is very important because it showed how the technology makes the movies and how they are produced. Factory-Based System uses a term called “Fordist” which means that everything is assembled on site. The directors, editors, writers, and actors are all on the same contract on the same site.

Discuss how that affected the kinds of films the studio made (1 point)

This effected what kinds of films are made because of the Big-Eight producer-distributors they shared one another’s films and theaters and loaned out their top talent to one another making it so that the same actors did the same types of movies over and over.

•         Big-Eight producer-distributors

–        shared one another’s films (and theaters)

–        loaned our their top talent to one another

Use one specific example in some depth to support your points (1 point)

MGM Star Judy Garland

Was discovered as a child actress in the Andy Hardy series. GMG used her to promote other MGM stars. She had a set of traits that were repeated and used over and over again for every movie. She was associated with Genres. Audience had expectations that were easily understood and were provided by shorthand markers. Had simplified forms of storytelling. Played for different producers in the Musical, Western, Horror, Comedy, and Crime genres.

Assignment Four - All in the Family

“All in the Family” can be compared with a modern day TV show called “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”. These two shows have many similarities. For instants they are both family based shows that teach lessons of what was happening in the society. Both dealt with pressing issues that were important to the time it was produced.  All in the Family just like Secret Life deals with a characters sexuality. This has always been an issue in our society. Both shows are based on a family that tries to reenact an average American family of that day and age.

“All in the Family”, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” is different in some of the topics they cover. Where “All in the Family” focused more on the day to day troubles “Secret Life” focused more on one problem for a long period of time, one being teenage pregnancy, which is a much bigger problem now than it was in the time of “All in the Family”. “All in the Family” was more of a comedy that drove home a lesson, where “Secret Life” is a drama that tries to drive a point home.

“All in the Family” dealt with issues that effective more than one person emotionally and physically. It taught morals and values to young children watching the show. Family based shows today such as “Secret Life” show the results and ugly truth of the products of your actions and those effects on the people around you.

Assignment Three - Technology Changes

Technology changes though out history have shaped and molded the radio form the start into how we know radio today, from the automation of radio to satellites, to FM and everything in between. Changes in technology have been the most important driving factor in the evolution on radio, and the shape it now takes in the world today. 

Technology has always in a driving force in our history. We see it over and over, a great example of how a technology changes the world we talked about in class is Gutenberg’s printing press, the printing press lead to a wider spread of communication and much more. The radio has been shaped and changed much the same way, becoming a force that changes our society. Radio was invented by private investors who operated it with a single person on each end. It helped save many lives when the Titanic sank. During the war the radio was given to the Navy where technology improvements were forced upon the radio technology, after the war the technology enabled radio to be wireless radio and not from an operator. The FM crave came around where technology now permitted up to 20 stations in many cities. Technology of the TV had taken over many of radio’s show so they now needed a new idea. With that came the AM stations or “Talk Radio” and two channel stereos.

The force of the radio effected the evolution of the US radio system greatly and many times. One great example we talked about in class was the era of DJ’s. TV had come in and taken over many of the radio shows that people were used to putting on so the concept of DJ’s came around when people wanted to focus more on the music. The satellite technology made it easy for DJ’s to broadcast and even buy a DJ from somewhere else and have their shows broadcasted to the local area. The force worked generally in the shaping and changing of radio, introducing shock jock, Talk Radio, morning shows, music, and much more.

Assignment Two - Cultivation Theory

                                                                   Cultivation Theory

The concept of Cultivation theory helps me to understand the impacts of the images that are shown in the media, (form TV to Movies, to Magazines, etc.) have on our everyday life by showing the biased perceptions that are placed on people, places, and events. For example people of color are depicted on movies and TV as the gangsters, thieves, and all around bad guys in many different forms.

In the movies blacks and Hispanics have been shown as the “hoodlums” they rob banks, steal money, break into cars, and even kill. This is a theme that is shown in movies all around the world, even in “City of God”. Our entire lives we have watched non-whites on TV and movies be the bad guys, and over time that’s how we came to see all people of black and Hispanic descent. This is because of the Cultivation Theory is a social theory which examines the long term result of the media on humans. Studies have shown that what people see on the TV they take on in real life. People mimic the actions and thoughts shown that they see every day.

For example in the YouTube video below a group of students made a video to explain Cultivation theory, in which they showed a boy who had watched several hours of “Most Wanted Criminals”  and then showed his thoughts and reactions to the real world after.

This also relates back to "Tough Guise" because we feel that males need be big and bad to be men. Most Blacks and Hispiancs would agree with the movie and say that a real man is tough, a bad ass, gets stuff done. This shows another reason why people of color are precieved as the bad guys.

 

Assignment One-Framing

Framing in the media and the biased effect it has on certain groups of people, the example from Hurricane Katrina helps me to understand this concept. Framing is the media presents a certain type of person and how they as the media tell the public to think of them, basically defined as the media saying how to think about an issue or a person. Framing in the media leads to unfair and bias thoughts about a person or group of people which could be negative or positive. They use this concept in an attempt to get the public to believe a certain view about a person issue or group of people. Professor Straubhaar touched on an example that I think shows the positive and negative effect that results from framing in the media very well. I would like to expand on that topic and show how this concept works.

On Monday morning of August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit a Category 3 storm as it ran all over South East Louisiana destroying everything unfortunate enough to be in its raging path. The media used this event as a playground for their own needs using a concept called framing to show the world how they perceived different groups of people and making them into the kind of people they wanted to show. In Jed Morey’s Blog in titled “White Men Can’t Jump…or Loot” Jed shows two pictures with small captain one of a white woman and man, and the other of a young black man both who are wading through chest deep water and appear to be carrying food. In the caption under the white woman and man read “ Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area of New Orleans, Louisiana.” Jed highlighted words like FINDING. Where the second picture looks almost identical to the only difference being a young black man instead of a white man and woman, this caption read, “A young man walks through chest flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday August 30, 2005. Again Jed highlighted words like LOOTING. http://jedmorey.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/white-men-cant-jump-or-loot/ here is the link to Jed’s Blog.

What was the difference between the two? Simply how the media wanted each race to appear to the public, the white man and woman were said to have “found” the food implying that they were helping their families and making the best of this horrible tragedy. Painting a positive biased for the two. Where the media painted a negative biased on the young black man simply because he was black saying that he “looted” the store. The media used the concept of framing to make us as the public believe that the white were the victim and the blacks were taking advantage of a horrible situation. When in reality this was not entirely true, it was just put on the blacks. This example clearly states the concept of framing and helps us to understand the concept.

Here is video that touches on framing the narrator took images and tries to get the public to view it a certain way by the words he uses. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIVmjP8nmzY

 

My first RTF 305 blog post!

I am taking RTF 305 because I want to be an RTF major. My dream profession is to host a TV show, and or produce a Radio show. RTF 305 is the first step in one of the many steps to acheive my goal. I wanted to take this class so I am may have a better chance in my application to apply to the School of Communications at the University of Texas and hopefully be in the Radio Television and Film program. I love to entertain and bring joy to people in small groups or as a whole. I am also taking this class because I love videos like the one I have posted where people take their passion for something and share it with the world. RTF 305 will help me do just that. I would love to make short video's just like this one to bring joy to myself, friends, family, and others. I expect to learn alot from my RTF 305 class. I except that I will learn how to you these medias, and understand why the media is the way that we see it today. How it got there and where the media is going. Not only that I except to learn and have a basic knowledge about Radio how it works, who works it, and how is has grown. TV the money, who produces it, how it all works. Finally Film, which is my personal favorite and one of my biggest passions. I want to and expect to learn everything about film. From producing to editing, special effects, and anything else you can think to teach me. Films I think are the best way to reach out to people and to really understand what it is that people want from the media. I also expect to learn about the mass media, smaller groups of media, and the technology behind all of these new inventions such as ipods, Ti-Vo, electronic books like the Kendal and so on. Lastly I expect to learn tons of new things and enjoy every last minute of the process. And leave this class smarter and with more knowledge than what I came in with. 

My favorite blog is the Leaky Cauldron a Harry Potter blog!

Harry Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Noise