Extra Credit--What I think of the Blog.

This is my first time to ever use a blog, I feel that the blog was an interesting choice for this class. I think the most positive aspect of using the blogs for this class was that it was a good way to introduce the use of modern media. I think that as college student we should be exposed to the newest trends of the media word and specifically in this class.

The most difficult part of the blog was setting it up, and learning where to go to actually make a post. After the 3^rd blog post it was a lot easier to understand, because I took the time to play with the blog and investigate how it actually worked.  I thought the blog prompts from visiting professors could be more challenging, because the material was not always presented clearly, or perhaps presented to quickly. I feel that it would have been beneficial to go over the guest lectures with our TA’s before we had to write about them.

I do think the blogs were useful in the class, for the introduction of new media. I am not sure if the blogs are completely open to the world but if they are that could be a privacy concern. A few aspects of the blog that I did not like for this class was that they were due on Sunday, and that the prompts were e-mailed to us. I personally feel that they should have been due on a weekday, and that the prompts should have been posted on Blackboard.  The prompts should be posted the same day around the same time every week so that we could know when to expect them, this would greatly help organize the class.

No, please do not use my blog in a paper or report.

Globalization

Globalization is when the cultural differences become minimized from place to place. The cultural behaviors of one country can start to be less noticeable, which can be a result of technological advances, trade, or through communication.

Globalization can occur through cultural imperialism, which is the dominance of one country over another through the use of media. An example of this would be the United States film industry.  The United States is dominating in the film industry; films that are made in the United States are not only shown in the US, but around the world. On average these films do very well in the foreign markets, with profits usually doubling the profits made in the US.  Through watching US film people from different cultures will start to adapt their behavior to the behaviors seen in US films; if this takes place globalization has occurred through cultural imperialism.

Juicy Couture Advertisment

            The recent Juicy Couture print advertisements have been very powerful and have differentiated the brands image from other luxury brands.  I feel that the ads are powerful because they are able to communicate that the brand stands out from the crowd. Another important reason I feel that the Juicy ads are so powerful is that they are very noticeable. When I am reading a magazine I know when I come across a Juicy Couture ad before I see the brand name.

             The Juicy ads are very colorful, bright, wild, and eye-catching. The ads are in print, mostly in magazines that target females age 16-25, the ads usually are full body images, and have several people in the picture. The models are all dressed very differently to represent the different styles, with outlandish make-up to grab the reader’s attention.

           The appeal to this advertisement is the attention appeal. And the characteristics of that are demonstrated by this ad are ubiquity, and grabbing your attention. Ubiquity is used to catch the customer’s attention. The fact that the models are riding bikes and possibly in the park while wearing Juicy Couture clothing is very ubiquitous to viewer, and gives them the idea the brand can fit into any lifestyle. The other characteristic of grabbing you attention is that it can actually grab the viewer’s attention and hold it so that the customer can identify and understand what is being advertised. This particular advertisement grabs ones attention by using shock value, a viewer who has not seen the ad is caught off guard by advertisement and because it is so outrageous takes a second to look at and understand what is happening in the ad.

            I think this ad exemplifies the attention appeal very well. The first thing the ad does is keep the target audience in mind, teen girls who would shop for Juicy Couture items want to be noticed and have attention drawn to them; this ad shows attention by the customer wanting to view the add. I also feel that this ad does a good job of differentiating itself, by using colors and images that catch your attention, its an ad that customers will stop and actually view because it grabs their attention.  I think the pure shock one gets when they see this wild ad, draws attention and will push the customer to want to know more.

            As a female in the target audience I feel the advertisement does exactly what Juicy Couture intended it to do, grad my attention. The first time I saw this ad, I was shocked, and wanted to know who it was for and why did the models look like this. By actually grabbing my attention and making me want to know more the ad has stayed with me and did not get lost in all the clutter.  

3 Act Structure Legally Blonde

           As Professor Ramirez-Berg stated in his lecture on Monday, most of the films produced by Hollywood use the 3-Act Structure. The three act structure consists of the rising action, the climax, and the falling action. The rising action develops the story to let the viewer understand, what is happening. The climax is the peak of the movie, and is the most intense in terms of action and is most often the point where the problem for the character is identified. The falling action is the resolution to the problem, is at the very end of a movie, and informs the viewer of the moral lesson.

            Legally Blonde is an example of the 3 Act Structure. The rising action informs us that a blonde is going to go to Harvard Law School in order to show her ex boyfriend that she is intelligent. She goes to the school and finds that everyone thinks of her as a dumb blonde. When she realizes she has to prove herself to the teacher and students at Harvard, is a plot point that takes place during the rising action. The rising action in legally Blonde is about 45 minutes long.

            The Climax in this film takes place when Elle’s Professor comes on to her and she realizes that she is still being judged by her looks. This takes place around minute 80 in the movie. Elle’s first instinct is to give up, but instead she decides to fight back and prove her ability to become a lawyer.

            The falling action is the answer to Elle’s Professors’ come on. She talks to the client and gets the professor fired. She then goes to court and uses her common sense about beauty to prove that her client is innocent of murder. This wraps up the movie and shows the moral lesson, which is the good character, comes out on top. This all comes to an end in minute 96 of the film.

TV sitcom

       Colin Tain, discussed on Wednesday, some of the characteristics of TV sitcoms. One of the characteristics of a sitcom is that they are usually only a 30 minute show. Another characteristic discussed was that sitcoms are episodic, this means that each episode has a storyline, but the stories don’t necessarily build on one another. This makes it easy for the viewer to watch a sitcom, because if you miss an episode you still know what if happening. Sitcoms are usually based around the same characters, and every episode has a central point or problem, that is solved at the end of each episode.

       The characteristic can be applied to one of my favorite sitcoms, The Nanny. The Nanny was filmed in the 90’s as a 30 minute TV sitcom. The show was about a women in her 30’s that was desperate to get married and have a family, but since she has not married Mr. Right yet, she is working as the nanny for a high class family in New York, raising three children. In every episode the central point is the Miss Fine (the nanny) makes a mess of her bosses life or work, the episode is usually a storyline from the beginning of the mistake, to when the mistake has been corrected. Even though Miss Fine makes many mistakes she always keeps her job as The Nanny because of her love for the children and because of the unspoken love that her boss has for her.

Cast Away- 3 Shots

            A good example of the three types of shots that are discussed in Mondays lecture with Professor Ramirez-Berg, could be the scene in Cast Away when Chuck Noland, (Tom Hanks character) is about to be saved.

            In this scene the first shot we see is the long shot, this shot shows us Chuck, asleep, floating on the raft that he has made in the middle of the ocean. In this shot we see the open water, Chuck on his handmade raft, and we understand that chuck is all alone. This shot also helps us to connect the dots to where he is and how he got there, and that he is all alone.

            The next shot is the middle shot this is where Chuck Noland is waking up, in this shot we get a better view of the character, and a ship enters the scene. The middle scene is the information scene, the information we are receiving is that Chuck has drifted near civilization, and hopefully about to be discovered.

            The last shot of the sequence is the close up; this shot shows the face of Chuck Noland clearly. This up-close shot conveys the emotion to viewer that Chuck is feeling when he notices the ship is near. The emotion we see is the exhaustion, and determination to survive, even though Chuck is physically and mentally exhausted he does everything is his power to get the attention of someone on the ship.

Studio Systems

       Studio systems were an aspect of vertical integration in the film industry during the time of Classical Hollywood. The studio system was the use of famous actors and actresses (stars) to promote a studios film. This was done by studios having contract with these Stars. This affected the movies that studios made because the Stars usually played the same type of character in each movie; therefore most movies done within a studio were of the same genre. An example of this would be Warner Brother’s studios producing many crime and gangster movies during the time of classical Hollywood. Many of these films Warner Brothers films featured Humphrey Bogart, were he usually played a gangster.  This studio system made it easy for movies watchers to associate Stars with certain studios and the use of Stars made for easy film promotion.