Blog #10: Globalization

Globalization is way in which a vasts amount of people are interconnected through media outlets. These interconnections lead to new opportunities to exchange information, goods, ideas, etc. A good example of globalization is the internet and television.With globalization and its power to reach across many continents, comes a term known as glocalization which is an idea or concept that was used successfully in one place and is then adapted to another. For example, after the success of the TV show Pop Idol in the United Kingdom  its producers decided to adapt it for American audiences and renamed it American Idol which has proved to be one of the biggest and successful show to date.

Blog #9: Advertisements

COD: Black Ops

In the Call of Duty: Black Ops advertisement, it begins with a dominant looking woman holding and firing a gun, however we then see various types of people and among those Kobe Bryant and Jimmy Kimmel who are participating in this war zone which represents the game itself. This advertisement is powerful and persuasive in that it shows how many different people play from age, to gender, and even jobs. All these different people come together for one thing: to be the soldier within.

This ad has a social and humor appeal. Social appeals include aspects such as recognition, respect, involvement, affiliation, rejection, acceptance, status and approval. Humor appeals are used to simply grab the attention of the audience in order to achieve a certain point without overpowering the commercial itself. The social appeal was used in the advertisement with how random people are coming together to play the same game even if they are on different teams; a sense of togetherness and wanting to achieve the same goal is ever present. Moreover, the use of celebrities gives it the humor aspect because of the possibility that Kobe Bryant or funny man Jimmy Kimmel (who fires a bazooka that reads "proud noob") are playing the same game as regular people. Furthermore, another humor appeal is when the concierge who's phone is ringing while he's trying to take cover  still manages to pick it up and say "concierge". These two appeals are used to persuade the audience to buy the game because they will be participating in a social environment filled with different types of people they never knew even played the game and the use of humor and celebrity only furthers this persuasion. 

Blog #8: Three Act Structure

The three act structure is one of the most commonly used in Hollywood and is more commonly used with movies that are of adventure, and happy endings. For example:

In the movie The Notebook which is set the in 1940s  Seabrook, North Carolina ,Allie and Noah, begin a summer romance  that they assume will last forever. However, the first plot point is the family differences (income wise) between the two characters, Allie has money and Noah does not. Despite that they still love each other. Within this act we have a complication which is Allie's parents tell her she must no longer see Noah because he's not good enough for her or the lifestyle she leads. This ultimately causes them to break-up and move on with their lives in different cites.

In the second act, its seven years later and Noah and Allie's life have taken different routes. She is attending college and meets a handsome and fabulously rich man whom has proposed to her, however, we know she is still very much in love with Noah. On the hand, Noah bought his dream house and rebuilt it the way he had promised Allie when they were young and in love, but he then decided to sell it which brings me to the complication in this act: Allie sees his picture in the paper with the house and all her feelings rush back and she decides to visit him.

The third act, starts off with Noah and Allie seeing each other again for the first time in seven years. After spending a couple of days together the burning question inside of Allie begins to show and the famous rain scene/climax is seen here when Allie shouts to Noah why he hadn't written her in seven years which we then find out he had been, but her mother hid them from her and there love is once again rekindled. However, (complication) Allie must choose between the love of her life or the man her parents want her to be with. She departs from Noah leaving the audience wandering if she will choose him which of course she does (resolution).

Blog #7: Sitcoms

Sitcoms generally follow the same structure. Such as they are episodic in nature which means they are quick, funny, and end where it begins as well as the problem that arose in the beginning is solved by the end of the episode. The show begins with some unrealistic hilarious circumstance in which the character gets involved in some sort of problem (however this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad situation). Throughout the show the character encounters more problems and after more laughs the show comes to an end with the character figuring out the solution as well as a valuable lesson.  However the difference between an episodic sitcom and that of a serial one is that it ends and we never hear about the situation the character experienced in the previous episode where as serial picks up where it left off. For example, in the show Glee each character faces their particular problem that in turn is related to a song throughout the episode. After a few comedic scenes here and there they find that their problems somehow intertwine and a song that is relatable to all of them is sung in the end and within this scene they realize their solution or learn a life lesson, moreover, the next episode will have a clean slate with new problems arising and different solutions found. 

Blog #6: Twilight Saga: New Moon

Break Up Scene:

The long shot used in this scene is when Edward and Bella are walking through the woods which establishes where they are and also to let the audience know something bad is about to happen due to Edward’s distance from Bella while they walk. The medium shot in this scene is shown after the line Edward delivers (“you don’t belong in my world”) which is used to amplify how different the main characters are from each other as in he looks like a “sculpture” whereas she is a regular looking girl. Lastly, the close up which is used in varying angles and shot from above after Edward has broken up with Bella signifies her loss of power/world falling apart, however, his close up shot (shot from bellow) is used to signify he has the power in conversation.

Bella running to save Edward:

The long shot is used to establish the location and vastness of the city/celebration that is going on. The medium shot shows an even closer look of the chaos of the celebration surrounding her as she’s trying to run through the crowds to get to him.  The close up shot when she is by the fountain starring at Edward who is about to expose his kind to everyone at the festival is used to intensify the panic in her expression and also her thinking she is too late as an extreme close up of the clock tower hitting noon is used in conjunction to the scene. 

Blog Post #5: Studio System

The studio system was how films were produced and distributed throughout Hollywood from the 1920s-1940s. Studio systems produce movie in their own lots with people under long-term contracts, and used vertical integration which means the studio handles all aspects of business. 

During this time star systems were created. Star systems was a way that studios used young actors (through contracts) to promote their films especially if that actor was popular among the public. This system cared more about the image/name that was being displayed rather than the acting. Soon these actors were associated with certain film genres such as Humphrey Bogart who was often in gangster films and with that in mind the studio tailored films that the audience would expect him to be in. As a result films made more money if certain stars were used for a genre they were more commonly associated with. 

"All in the Family"

After watching an episode of "All in the Family", I couldn't help but notice the depiction of family life in the late '70s with that of a family sitcom today such as "Modern Family". However both illustrate various differences, for instance "All in the Family's" dialogue would  be considered offensive today especially in the matter of homosexuality. During the "All in the Family" episode Archie uses the terms "fag" and other derogatory words to describe his daughter's friend in a nonchalant way. In "Modern Family" those terms would never been thrown around because two of the main characters are gay. Yet, both of these shows are similar in that they are based around family life and the everyday issues they face.
The issue most prominently faced in the "All in the Family" episode is of homosexuality and how it wasn't accepted in those times. Moreover, if one were to "act" gay he would be ridiculed. On the other hand, "Modern Family" just goes to show how accepting today's audience is of homosexuals because they have two characters who are gay, married to each other, raising a daughter they adopted, and how they go by their day to day routines which I doubt would be shown in "All in the Family".

Blog Post #3: Radio in the 1920s

Radio in the 1920s is what internet and television are to us today. Its everywhere and a main source of how people get their information. However, I believe the driving force behind radio's take over in the 1920s is the industries or institutions who used the radio to get their name out to the public.

When radio started gaining more and more recognition along with its technological innovations advertisers began to shift their focus into using radio as a way to advertise products. Industries helped shape radio to what it was then in a way that it brought the advertisers straight into the homes of the listeners. Advertisers frequently payed to have their commercials play during entertainment shows because they knew it would reach more people. Even though (as mentioned in the book) many people who controlled the radio stations thought too many advertisements would ultimately drive listeners away, however, "people were so enthusiastic about the new medium that they accepted the ads without much objection".

This new use of technology sky rocketed the industries way of being able to reach out to the masses. Advertisements during the twenties, in my opinion, were now shifting from putting up posters that seemed impersonal to now directly talking to possible consumers. For example WEAF was the first radio station to broadcast the first commercial and soon after advertisers immediately "responded to the opportunity, and commercial broadcasting grew quickly".

Agenda Setting

The concept of agenda setting helps me make sense of what exactly the media wants us to pay attention to, such as the popular website perezhiltion.com which is constantly spitting out "news" about everyones favorite celebrity's ups and downs.

Agenda setting is a process in which news and public figures are the ones who ultimately shape the current media. However,  how the media chooses to spend most of their time on one particular story or individual is based on the audience. So in other words the audience is one of the factors as to why many of these news pieces continue to circulate for long periods of time.

For example, Perez Hilton has made an entire career on reporting celebrity mishaps and the drama that follows it on his website perezhilton.com. His readers, however, are the ones who keep certain stories going as they frequently provide feedback on his comments section. In turn Perez continues to dig for new dirt on subjects his viewers find particularly interesting as well as bring up new topics he believes his viewers would appreciate.

Hegemony: Jersey Shore

Now a days we live in a society that is driven by multiple media outlets such television, Internet, and etc. Moreover, I have noticed that my generation is constantly connected to these outlets, but the real concern is whether we are the reason behind the concepts of the shows we watch and the websites we visit or rather are they influencing us (from our attitudes to our choice of dress)?

As in Wednesday's lecture there is a never ending debate of who is influencing who? Does media change society or is media a direct reflection of it? Technology is constantly changing and irreversible just as we are, but if we don't change as much as technology does we will get left behind. Which brings me to another point of how my generation is influenced by the latest "trends" brought on by big media companies. In terms of hegemony,(which is the way a dominant group influences various groups such as politics, economics, and media) these big media companies are the ones who choose what they feel will grab the attention of the audience who in turn believe what is being watched is some how the right or cool thing to do. These ideologies ,that are purposely altered to attract a certain age group, are seen on a day to day basis and can have a negative and positive effect on society.  On the other hand, society plays a big role in what is popular right now for we can be somewhat of a muse and promoters to big media companies' products and/or shows.

For example, Jersey Shore is THE show to watch for my generation at the moment and it has caused an immense change in the way young adults dress and act. Before the show came out I had heard the term "Guido" before, but never quite understood what it meant, however, once the first season was over I assumed that's what a "Guido" was. Now everywhere I go I see a direct influence on how people dress and the slang they use such as "GTL" and "fist pumping" (even I catch myself saying them). Hegemony is applied here in terms of how a simple show of a group of people, who love to party,  is altering how we view our lifestyles and selves. So in turn we change the way we think or act because we assume that this is the "in" thing to do at the moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaRcVT604_0

My first RTF blog post! :)

Last fall my roommate took this class and she would frequently tell about how fun 

and interesting it was so I decided to register. This however was not my deciding factor, but rather I’ve always had a passion for film and everything that goes into it. Another reason for taking this class is because I want to explore various subjects because although RTF isn’t my major maybe once I complete this course I might change my mind. What I hope to learn from this class is to find out about different aspects of film and/or media and what and who it affects.


fav blogs:
http://jefferyself.tumblr.com/
http://perezhilton.com/