Extra Credit Evaluation Blog

The following are the answers to the questions posed in the email regarding the blog post sent to our class email list:

This is the first time that I have ever had to create and regularly use a blog. The biggest positive aspect of the blog, in my opinion, was the fact that the blog posts made me critically think about concepts that we reviewed in class. Without the blog, it is likely that I would have just memorized the lessons we learned during lecture, rather than think about their effect on my life and on our culture as a whole. In addition, by developing the concepts it helped clarify things that I was confused about during lecture. I appreciated the extra push that the blog provided to read further into tough concepts and definitions.

I enjoyed the blogs that developed ideas that are currently controversial in today's day and age. For example, I particularly enjoyed the blogs that I wrote regarding women's image in the media today because it was eye opening to see how easily the image of the "perfect" woman is engraved in my mind via advertisements and women's roles in all different media outlets. On the other hand, I found it difficult to elaborate on the blog regarding the Hollywood System, because it was hard to relate to something that hasn't existed in my life time. Although, I did learn a lot by looking into the effect of the Hollywood System and its audience an its actresses, which I appreciated. 

Although I did feel that the blog had some positive effects on my learning experience in RTF 305, I don't think that I would recommend using it again. This is because I felt that the blog assignments didn't help my understanding of the majority of the concepts we discussed in lecture. Although it enhanced my understanding of a few topics, when it came time to study for the exams I wished that I had completed assignments that clarified a broader range of topics that were on the powerpoints during lecture.

If the blogs do continued to be used in future semesters, I recommend that the sections make a point to cover topics that students did not elaborate on in their blogs. This way, the teachers will make sure that the students get to clarify all of the concepts, not just the ones used on the blog prompts.

Globalization

After lecture concluded on Wednesday, I have come up with the following working definition Globalization. Globalization is the process of increasing interconnectedness among nations, cultures, and people through developments in technology and media. Globalization increases the opportunity for people to communicate with each other no matter how far away they may be. As a result, an abundance of information is now available for massive amounts of people due to the seemingly unlimited access that technology gives to its users which creates a global audience, rather than just a local, regional or national audience.

However, one must look at the positive AND negative effects of Globalization and the "global" audience. It can be argued that increased globalization can lead to increased cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism is the idea that, due to globalization, nations are becoming more Westernized and Americanized which is decreasing the amount of local, indigenous and national culture. The idea of cultural imperialism doesn't take into consideration 3 major factors. First, cultural imperialism doesn't take into consideration the diversity of different national cultures and media outlets. Second, cultural imperialism does not address how a product is made, or how the product is used in different nations. Third, many view cultural imperialism as too totalizing across different media outlets, nations and audiences.

A great example of cultural imperialism and globalization is the fact that most news stations are owned by 3 corporations.  In class we learned that the most "global-est" news corporations were AP (US), AFP (France) and Reuters (UK & Canada). Although there are definitely perks to having few conglomerations running the majority of the news, such as increased amount of information and access to news on an international level, there are some serious negatives as well. The power of that these few corporations have can be very dangerous in terms of their ability to call attention to certain issues, rather than others. For example, if there is a scandal with one of the news agencies, they have the ability to keep the details of the scandal under wraps, do to their massive power over an abundant amount of stations. Since globalization is creating more mass audiences than ever before, the ability to keep a story from getting into the news means that a massive amount of people will not hear about the story. This type of power held by so few companies leads to what is now referred to as a media conglomerate. In other words, the rich and the powerful have final say about what is important for the entire world to learn about on the news. This example could definitely be viewed as a way in which one corporations can have a large amount of power on the world, rather than just one nation or region.

Below I have attached a link that further develops the ideas of cultural imperialism and globalization in the media today.
http://www.mediamonitors.net/osama4.html

Subaru "Baby Driver" Commercial Attempts to Connect with Parents using the "Safety" Appeal Technique

Normally, I hate commercials. Most of them are ineffective, and highly irritating. However, Subaru recently came out with an ad titled, "Baby Driver," which I found to be effective. The ad shows a conversation between a father and his daughter, a new driver, only the daughter isn't the typical age of a new driver. Rather, the daughter shown in the beginning of the commercial is about 5-years old. The father is rattling off safety precautions while the young girl is putting her seatbelt on and starting the car.  I found the ad to be effective because the conversation was very realistic, and it reminded me of the speeches I received from my dad when I first started driving. In addition, the little girl's adorable voice and appearance made me highly sensitized to the ad's message about safety. 

In class we discussed different appeals of advertising that companies use to connect with their consumers through commercials. The appeal that Subaru used in this commercial was the appeal to safety. The safety appeal approach is generally aimed at an older audience, who is concerned about not only their safety, but the safety of their loved ones as well. Safety ads are generally less flashy, and more realistic. Ads with safety appeal use realistic situations to give their potential consumers assurance that their product will keep them, their families, and friends out of harms way. 

The Subaru commercial perfectly uses the safety appeal in its commercial. The commercial plays on the heart-strings of parents everywhere, who all share the same fear of handing the keys to their car to their child for the first time knowing all of the dangers that lay ahead on the road. It is a realistic situation that doesn't discuss all the flashy and up-to-date elements of the Subaru itself, like other car ads do. Rather, Subaru and its advertising team decides to focus on the consumer rather than the product. The consumer, after viewing the commercial, is supposed to feel confident that if he/she purchases a Subaru, the people he/she cares about most in the world will be safe while operating a motor vehicle. 

Below I have attached two links. 

The first, is the link to the actual ad. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qf8OGLqE1s

The second, is an article that supports my claim that the "Baby Driver" ad uses the safety appeal in the commercial. 

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/08/new-subaru-ad-promotes-brands-safety-captures-teen’s-“first-time-out”-driving-moment.html

3-Act-Structure and "Liar, Liar"

Professor Ramirez-Berg's lecture on Monday was very informative, particularly in regards to the different structures used in film narration. Professor Ramirez-Berg explained the three different types of narrative structure: 5 Act Structure, 3 Act Structure and Alternative Structure. Today, however, I will focus on the most common narrative structure, the 3 Act Structure, which is split into an introduction, complication and resolution.

"Liar, Liar," starring Jim Carrey is one of my favorite comedies and I have seen it countless times. The comedy's first act introduces the main characters and their relationship. Jim Carrey plays Fletcher, a father who has a bad habit of lying to his ex wife and his young son whom he has joint custody of. The first plot-point,  is when the son, makes a birthday wish that his father "just for one day.... won't tell a lie." This scene escalates the stakes, because the son's wish comes true and turns Fletcher's life upside down (the complication.)

The second act, the longest act of the film, shows the effect on Fletcher's life and career that his son, Max's, wish has on him. He struggles fighting a court case in which he depended on lying in order to win. He also slowly realizes the devastating effect his continual lying has had on his son and his ex-wife, who he still deeply loves. This act clearly explains the complication that his sons' wish has imposed on him. The second plot point comes at the end of this act, when Fletcher realizes that his inability to lie is not actually a curse, it is something that he wants to continue after the 24 hour period is up. He realizes that his son and wife are the most important thing to him by not being able to lie to them for one day. This plot point propels the movie into the third act by inspiring Fletcher to track down his ex-wife and son on an airplane in order to get them back for good. 

The final act is the resolution act. In the climax of the film, Jim Carrey successfully tracks down his ex-wife and son after a wild chase down an airport runway. In the end, he confesses his realization to Max and Audrey and convinces them to give him one last chance. He expresses what he has learned from the "curse" and that he wont be lying ever again. Hence, the Happy Ending Structure that the 3 Act Structure has become synonymous with. 

I have attached a short clip of the climax below. 

http://www.hulu.com/watch/39184/liar-liar-stopping-the-plane

Mini Lessons taught via TV Episodic Sitcoms

After lecture on Wednesday, I had a greater understanding of how distinct the characteristics of popular TV sitcoms. One of the characteristics that we discussed was the idea of each episode having a "mini-resolution" at the end of each show. The mini-resolution coincides with the idea that the conflicts in sitcoms are not continual. Each show has a small conflict, usually between two main characters, that is almost always resolved in one way or another by the end of the 30 minute program. In many shows, particularly sitcoms aimed at children, the mini-resolutions provide a mini-lesson of sorts to teach its viewers. The mini-resolution gives the viewers a feeling that the episode came full circle from being to end, and allows its viewers to be able to watch episodes without necessarily seeing the one that was aired the previous week since the conflicts are rarely continual.

One of my favorite shows growing up was Full House. Each episode of Full House had a mini-resolution that offered its children viewers a valuable, but indeed cheesy, lesson about growing up. For example, recently, on a Full House re-run I watched on ABC Family, the littlest girl in Full House was attempting to learn how to ride a bike, but she fell off and got hurt during her first attempt (the conflict). In the final scene of the episode, the little girl learns from her trusty uncle that giving up isn't the answer, and that she must have confidence and courage in order to tackle the task of learning how to ride her bike. The little girl learned that the feeling of achievement once she conquers riding her bike will make her failed attempts worth it (the resolution and lesson). Each episode had similar situations and solutions for the various members of the family. The lessons varied depending on the characters' ages and interests, which made the show appealing to kids of all ages and lead to the shows undeniable success despite its cheesy writing and plot lines.

I have attached an article that vouches for the many lessons kids have learned via Full House and its use of mini-resolutions within each episode.

http://media.www.spectatornews.com/media/storage/paper218/news/2002/04/25/Spotlight/Column.Tv.Show.full.House.Teaches.Valued.Lessons-244502-page2.shtml

Forrest Gump

For years now, "Forrest Gump" has been my all time favorite movie. I have seen the film more times than I can count and I can recite the entire movie from start to finish. However, after learning about the various angles used to shoot movies and the meaning behind them, I watched "Forrest Gump" with a completely new set of eyes, so to speak. In this post, I plan to illuminate how the long shot, medium shot, and close-up shot are used to convey a certain mood and meaning throughout the film through three specific examples.

In lecture we learned that the close up shot is commonly used to express the emotions of the character being shown. The close shot of the character's face, for example, is supposed to inform the audience on whether or not the character is lonely, sad, happy, excited, etc.. When Forrest Gump first rides the school bus, none of the students want to offer him a seat. However, a young, kind and innocent girl, named Jenny, offers him a seat next to her on the bus. The close up of Jenny's face shows her kind and accepting demeanor, and her interest in Forrest. Jenny immediately looks up at Forrest and shows her concern for his need to sit in this particular close up.

The medium shot is commonly considered to be the "information shot." This shot is used to show the relationship between two or more characters in the film. The medium shot informs the audience as to the manner in which the characters in the film relate to one another whether it be on a romantic, platonic, or familial level. The medium shot of Forrest and Jenny spending time together in the tree is a perfect example of how the medium shot explains the relationship between two main characters in a film.

 

Finally, the long shot is commonly used to represent sadness, loneliness and isolation. Although there are countless long shots used in "Forrest Gump" to show how isolated Forrest was from the "normal" students growing up, I believe that the long shot is perfectly used in the scene where Forrest goes to visit Jenny's grave. The director's decision to zoom out captures just how lost Forrest is when Jenny is gone for good. 

The Star System and Classical Hollywood

After listening to the guest lecture on Monday and Wednesday of this week, it was apparent that there were many different defining characteristics of the Studio System in the Classical Hollywood era. However, the characteristic of the Studio System that intrigued me the most was the way in which different studios contracted specific actors for their projects, known as the Star System.

I learned in the lectures that in the Studio System in Classical Hollywood stars were tangible products of immaterial production. The Star System effected the way in which the films were made because after the stars were discovered and contracted by the studios, they became the studios' main tool to sell the their products. The stars that were contracted by studios were the greatest representation of what the studios were capable of as a company. As years passed, the public began to associate particular stars with certain studios. The star system effected the films because the stars essentially became the faces of the biggest and most powerful studios. In some cases, most big stars ended up having a trademark, of sorts, that they used in all of their movies. For example, Judy Garland, who appeared in countless MGM movies, was always expected to sing in her films. Humphrey Bogart, in addition, was always expected to be seen in his raincoat and fedora at some point in all of his films. In essence, if a consumer wanted to see Judy Garland sing, they would attend a film made by MGM studios, ultimately increasing the success of MGM as a whole.

After researching "The Biograph Girl" after the lecturer briefly mentioned her on Monday, I realized that she is a perfect example of how the studios treated their contracted actors and actress as tangible products of immaterial production. "The Biograph Girl" was a woman named Florence Lawrence acted in a total of over 35 movies. In all of her movies, Lawrence was never credited with her performance. Each one of her roles was performed anonymously. As a result, Florence became known as "The Biograph Girl" due to her association with Biograph Studios. Her anonymity made her increasingly more famous as the mystery of what her real name was became more intriguing to her fans. In addition, fans now wanted to see "The Biograph Girl" in more and more films, which lead to her title as the first "movie star" of the Classical Hollywood era. The idea that Florence Lawrence was an anonymous actress who was used as the face of Biograph Studios in order to sell more tickets to the studio's movies is a prime example of how Classical Hollywood studios used their contracted stars as products to increase their sales.

Below, I attached a link to one of Florence's early films, "The Awful Hats," from 1909. The beginning credit shows that the film was made by Biograph Studios, but as expected, does not show Florence's name on the slide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORwC7gNyUaY

Family Sitcoms: Then and Now

One of my favorite contemporary, family-based sitcoms, although it recently went off-air, is "Everybody Loves Raymond." After watching the 1970s hit, "All in the Family" in class last Thursday, I immediately noticed similarities and differences between the two very popular sitcoms.

One similarity I found between "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "All in the Family" is the way in which both shows use insults to get a laugh from their audience. In "Everybody Loves Raymond," the family members trade insults about each other's intelligence, cooking, way of living, and way of raising their children throughout each episode of their show. In fact, the realistic depiction of a typical sarcastic, Italian-American family is what made the show successful.  Similarly, the characters in "All in the Family" continually trade insults about each other's race, way of living and appearance. "All in the Family" became notable specifically due to the daring script writing which included crude remarks and comments between its characters.

One difference I found between both TV sit-com hits was the specific words chosen to insult the characters on the show. "Everybody Loves Raymond" used words such as "idiot," "moron," "stupid" and "ugly", just to name a few. While "All in the Family" used racial slurs such as "fag", "spic", "jap" and "gook". Even though the words that "Everybody Loves Raymond" are definitely offensive, they are hardly as controversial as the words the characters in "All in the Family" used to trade insults. In other words, "Everybody Loves Raymond" playfully pokes fun at its characters, while "All in the Family" pushed the boundaries by having a discriminatory and racist script.

In my opinion, "All in the Family" dared to represent a group of Americans who are generally left out of many contemporary sit-coms today. Today, networks are concerned with being politically correct. As a result, a lot of controversial content regarding race, in particular, has been played down in family-based sitcoms. "Everybody Loves Raymond" is a perfect example of how family-based sitcoms have significantly toned down controversial content in its show. Racism is a topic that is generally left out of prime-time family based sitcoms. However, I do feel the need to mention that many dramas, particularly dramas on networks such as FX, HBO and Showtime continue to push the envelope when it comes to racism and its role in society. To be more specific, I recently began watching the hit drama "Rescue Me," on FX. "Rescue Me" addresses racism head-on during many episodes of the show and uses similar racist terms that "All in the Family" did in the 1970s. In conclusion, I think that family-based sitcoms have either tried to avoid racism in its scripts, or to tone it down. However, racial slurs and discriminatory behavior are still represented on certain networks.

Below I have attached clips of both "All in the Family" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" and how each show represents family in their scripts.

"Everybody Loves Raymond:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RHkpi0QYTs

"All in the Family"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dKpHtc9F9M

Technological Change and its Large Impact on the Radio Industry

After discussing the various forces that impacted the diffusion of the radio industry in the 1920s in lecture on Wednesday, I have come to the conclusion that technological change had the largest impact on the rise and fall of the radio industry, beginning in the 1920s. Technological change created a large demand for the radio in homes all across the United States and remained a large part of society for several years until technology continued to improve, which ultimately lead to the fall of the industry.

Technological change has been a driving force behind countless industries in the United States for several years. One large theory behind technological change is the idea of cultural determinism or SST. Cultural determinism is the idea that technology and society effect each other in a two-way relationship. Technology is influenced by social necessities and by society at large. Meanwhile, society is influenced by new technologies and the effect that they have on society as a whole. This theory is contrary to the also popular theory of technological determinism. Technological determinism is the claim that there is a one way relationship between technology and society. Technology is viewed as the dominant factor and society is powerless to its influence and society.

In my opinion, the diffusion of the radio industry is largely based on the idea of cultural determinism, rather than technological determinism. In the 1920s, there was a large demand for society to receive information at a very high speed. In addition, there was a social demand for entertainment in homes. On one hand, the demand for a technology such as the radio created the rapid diffusion of the technology. On the other hand, as we saw in "Radio Days", the spread of the use of the radio deeply effected society. The radio provided a new way for families to come together. It effected the way that stay-at-home moms spent their days. The radio was constantly playing in the background of homes. It was not only a news source for families, but also a new source of entertainment by playing soap operas, musicals and dramas over the airwaves. Essentially, family members, particularly the women, were living vicariously through the stories they heard through the radio. Ultimately, however, technological change lead to the fall of the radio industry as the demand for new technologies, such as the TV and the internet, began to replace the prominent role that the radio played in homes across the US.

Elle Magazine Takes Photo Re-Touching Too Far

After studying the idea of Social Learning in lecture last Monday, I think that the article regarding if Elle magazine lightened Gabourey Sidibe's skin on their cover helps me further understand how the images we continually see in the mass media are not reality.

Social learning is the idea that users imitate or model attitudes and behaviors observed in the mass media on a regular basis. When media viewers see continual violence, sexual behaviors and examples of stereotypical gender roles over and over again, they begin to imitate the actions they view on various levels. For example, men are continually reminded through the media that in order to be considered "manly" they must be fearless, strong and aggressive. Children who see continual violence on television shows and in movies are more likely to be violent towards other children over time. Women are constantly bombarded by images of light skinned, skinny and tall woman who are supposed to represent what a "beautiful" woman looks like. As a result, women take all sorts of measures to fit that particular image. 


This week, Elle Magazine caused gigantic controversy when they put "Precious" actress, Gabourey Sidibe, on their cover. The issue was dedicated to the "Most Notable Women Under 25" and the magazine ran four different covers with four different influential actresses. Three out of the four women chosen for the covers were skinny, white actresses and were pictured from head to toe on the cover. Gabourey Sidibe, on the other hand, is a heavy set, dark skinned, African-American woman. Not only was she the only actress to not have a full body shot on the cover, the color of her skin was significantly lightened. People are outraged with Elle's decision to retouch the color of her skin. One must wonder, what was the reasoning behind the excessive retouching? This article immediately reminded me of the movie we watched in class, "Killing Us Softly 3." The woman in the film directly addressed the issue of race and women in the media. By putting the same type of woman on covers of magazines time after time, the media is sending a message that people who do not resemble that type of woman is not attractive. Elle Magazine made the decision to put a woman who does not fit the stereotypical image of beauty on their magazine cover, but instead of embracing her different look, they drastically changed the way she looks in order to make her resemble the typical image of beauty that they promote. This article definitely helped me further understand the concept of social learning by giving me a current example of how the media promotes one particular image as beautiful, and as a result, women try to change the way they naturally look. 

I have attached the link to the article below.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20016677-10391698.html

Hegemony and the Portrayal of Women in the Media Today

After studying hegemony in lecture and the assigned texts, I can better understand the "Evolution" commercial for Dove products by realizing that the women who are plastered on billboards, star in feature films and promote different consumer products are not a realistic image for a woman in today's world.

Hegemony is the ability for a group in power of the media to stay in power and continually promote its ideology on its viewers. However, hegemony is not a one way relationship between those in power and the audience. The audience, in fact, consents to the groups ideology due to the fact that the audience is so used to hearing and seeing the ideology of the most powerful groups that the audience now considers the groups' beliefs to be common sense. The most dominant ideology is perceived as natural over the course of time. However, Hegemony is in no way permanent. Different ideologies are continually contested and changed by the ruling groups.

We learned in lecture that media is one of the most prominent tools through which hegemony is reinforced and contested. While I watched the screening of "Killing Us Softly 3" on Thursday evening, I immediately remembered a commercial I saw on youtube.com for Dove products. In the past few years, Dove has launched a campaign promoting "real" beauty. Dove's campaign clearly contests the accepted ideology of what a beautiful woman is in today's society. The woman in "Killing Us Softly 3" gave many examples of how the small percentage of women with supermodel looks are the only ones that we see in most ads. She also provided proof of how a magazine re-touched Michelle Pfiefers' looks when she was booked to be on the cover. The ad that Dove created, titled "Evolution", is a perfect example of how the women who are on billboards and magazine covers do not look the same way in real life as they do in advertisements. In fact, they look drastically different. As a result of promoting one body type and facial structure as beautiful, women in today's world are striving to be an image of something that is not real.

I believe that the commercial, attached below, is a perfect example of a big company contesting the ideology that has been reinforced for years by the media companies with the most power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbb8D-u8ues

Why RTF @ Utexas?!?

Hey Everyone!!

My name is Brooke Mori and I just transferred to UTexas from NYU! When I was a student at NYU I majored in Music Business, which played a large role in why I transferred all the way from New York City to Austin. The NYU Music Business major was a very small program, specifically focused on the music industry as a small business within the entertainment industry. After spending two years in the program I knew that I wanted to broaden my studies to include the entire entertainment industry, rather than just the music business. When I began researching schools with entertainment programs I immediately was intrigued by the RTF program at UT. When I came to visit I fell in love with the campus feel, the sporting events and the sense of school spirit.... all things that NYU lacked, in my personal opinion. 

So, I applied to UTexas..... received word of my admission..... and made the move from 

          the Empire State                            to                           the Lonestar State

              top-10-list.org                                                               austinpanoramas.com

This semester I hope to learn about ALL aspects of the entertainment industry, the fundamentals of film and television and how all the small sectors of the entertainment industry intertwine on a daily basis.

At NYU I spent most of my time looking at music blogs and sites. This was my favorite last year.... although, I hope to find new favorites with a broader knowledge of the entertainment industry after completing RTF 305!
http://www.culturebully.com/