Extra Credit

This was my first blog. It was somewhat helpful to rework the textbook definitions into my own words. I found that there were no difficulties with my blog, technical or otherwise. Sometimes I was confused as to why I received a 2 instead of a 3, but that is about it. The blogs I enjoyed most were those that I controlled the content of. Specifically, ones that let me work with my own examples. The blogs where I had to only regurgitate definitions were a bit dry. I would not recommend using a blog in the future. I know it was time consuming for both me and my TA with little to no pay off. Simply spitting out two hundred words didn't really further my learning. Studying for tests was when I learned in this class. I would, perhaps, like to do a blog for a different, more involved class. I would like it if there was more room to be creative and make my blog individualized. In the future, I would like it if the blogs involved more multimedia elements but with a particular emphasis on film studies.

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

Globalization is a term that describes the increasing interconnectedness among nations, cultures and people of the world. Globalization connects with the idea of cultural imperialism in several ways. Cultural imperialism describes how Western cultures use globalization to create consumers out of other cultures and slowly erodes the original culture. There is a significant imbalance of cultural diffusion since Western cultures (specifically American cultures) have far greater influence over the world than any other cultures. For example, little girls around the world have a favorite Disney Princess. From the Euro Disney to the one in Florida to little girls who just see them on TV, cultural imperialism has influenced little girls to become great fans of the princesses. As a result, they wish to consume as many princess related items as possible. First, they buy Cinderella on DVD. Then perhaps they buy the Cinderella costume. Then the Cinderella doll. What is lost is perhaps a local fairytale that they would have been devoted to without the presence of Cinderella.

Advertising

"The Man Your Man Could Smell Like"

Old Spice's ad campaign that centers around "the man your man could smell like" is my favorite ad campaign of 2010. The premise of the commercial is that the perfect man tells the audience that although their boyfriend cannot possess all of his amazing qualities, he can at least smell like the ultimate man. The ultimate man, of course, uses Old Spice body wash.

This is an appeal to sexuality. Or, advertising that specifically targets sexual desires in the consumer. The appeal may aim to excite the consumer sexually or may aim to make the consumer believe they need the product for a more fulfilling sex life. The character is supposed to be the ultimate boyfriend who caters to your every need. He is buff and many men would envy his physique. He is supposed to be a generic romantic partner for the audience to fantasize about. In that way, he supposed to excite (the female) audience sexually. Also, the fact that the communicates that the current body wash most men use is inferior aims to make (the male) audience feel a need for Old Spice to make them more sexually attractive to females. However, it is important to note that the advertisement is so effective in that it is very funny and original in its fast paced scenery changes.

Monster's Inc. in Three Acts

Monster's Inc. is a movie about a monster named Sully. Sully, our hero and protagonist, is introduced to us as the employee of the month at his power plant that specializes in scaring children at night and collecting their screams for energy. All is well for Sully (except for the plant's financial trouble) when the film opens, but things quickly turn when he accidently brings a child back to his world. Children are thought to be extremely dangerous by monsters. She is soon discovered and a frantic city-wide for search Boo (the child) is started. Sully and his friend Mike make the decision to try and sneak her back into her room by returning her at the plant. This decision raises the stakes since they are at great risk of being caught by law enforcement. This is about 30 minutes in.

In act two, the trio is faced with Randall, Sully's enemy at the company, trying to steal the child for his scream extraction machine. The machine will produce more energy and save the company money, but it will harm kids and can only be used after kidnapping them. After a long chase, the trio discover that the head of the company, once thought trustworthy, is really Randall's accomplice. Sully make the decision to try and return Boo despite all the obstacles and expose his boss as a kidnapper. This is the peak of the movie. They are cornered by the boss and it looks as if they are going to lose Boo-and their lives. This act ends about 10 minutes from the end of the movie.

In act three, Sully exposes his boss by recording him saying that he will kidnap children in order to save his company. The boss is apprehended and the child is returned to her room. Everything has turned out well. Even the company, with Sully as CEO, is doing well now that Sully has discovered children's laughter is a better source of energy than screams. This is a Hollywood ending, wrapping up all subplots and the main plot with a happy solution.

Sitcom - South Park

South Park is a situational comedy about four young boys growing up in Colorado. Throughout the series, they are faced with the misadventures the world presents them. Although it lacks the usual telltale signs of a sitcom (a laugh track and live actors) it contains an important element that many sitcoms have-a lesson at the end of almost every episode.

Many sitcoms use a narrative to put one or more of the regular cast of characters through a moral quandary. Whether the character(s) makes the right or wrong decision, by the end of the episode, they usually are able to summarize what they have learned in a tidy speech. However, the characters are usually pretty static and have more to learn next week. And so it is in South Park.

Nearly every week either Stan or Kyle delivers a speech on what the episode’s events have taught them. On the 200^th episode, Kyle delivered a speech about not bowing down to fear. This was inspired by the events of the episode, where the creators depicted a censored version of the prophet Muhammad. However, the speech was never played in it’s entirety because Comedy Central feared what would happen as a result. The episode aired with Kyle’s mouth moving but his words bleeped out and there is currently no way to legally view the episode online.

Shot by Shot: Goodfellas

The following shots are all from the "Billy Batts" scene from Goodfellas. It opens with an exterior long shot to show the location of the altercation. It is clearly a bar, orienting the scene.

The original scene in it's entirety

The next two are medium shots. It is a narrow hall, so the film utilizes two medium shots to show that both Billy Batts' crew and Henry Hill's crew are there at separate parts of the bar.

The following shots are close ups of Henry Hill's crew. This is used to convey the emotions of each character. Joe Pesci is enraged and out of control. We as an audience now know that he has a terrible temper. Then there is a shot of Robert DeNiro, who might be just as crazy as Pesci's character considering he is beating a man to death with a certain amount of detachment. These are both shot from below, displaying their power in the situation over the man they are beating. Ray Liotta's face conveys horror at what is happening. 

Meet Me in Old Hollywood

1944’s Meet Me in St. Louis starred a young Judy Garland in yet another musical. This was a result of her being under contract to MGM. The studio system meant that the stars were all owned and only allowed to work under the supervision of their particular studio. The result of this was an abundance of Judy Garland musicals.  To keep up interest in their stars, studios would have to use them frequently. It also meant that since they had all the tools to make a successful film over again (the same writers, directors, stars, studios), they flooded the market with similar films. For Judy Garland, those were musicals. She did nine musicals just with Mickey Rooney. There were a trademark for MGM, and so they are now synonymous with their famous star forever.

"All in the Modern Family"

Much like "All in the Family", "Modern Family" portrays a contemporary American family in a sitcom format. One difference between the two is that "Modern Family" is considerably more subtle than "All in the Family". One, "All in the Family" has a laugh track and Archie is considerably more vocal about his prejudices than any character on "Modern Family". However, they both rely on the differences between generations to create comedic situations. Both programs dealt with the issue of homophobia. But, again, "Modern Family" doesn't contain the outright homophobia that "All in the Family"'s Archie displayed. In "Modern Family", the son is gay and for the most part is accepted by his family. There are humorous moments where his father is made slightly uncomfortable when he spends time with his son's partner, but it is clear that the father's discomfort is the joke. "All in the Family" contains many jokes that are flat-out ridiculing homosexuality. While it is true that the audience is supposed to then think about why these jokes are inappropriate and Archie's attitudes should be examined, the difference still persists.

Government and Radio

I believe that government regulation had the greatest effect on shaping 1920’s radio since government regulation made radio, as an entertainment device, possible in the first place. American government regulation describes the government’s hand in influencing and changing an aspect of American life. This is usually through legal means. Not necessarily ‘legal’ as some people think of the word, but it is done through laws for the most part.

During World War I, the government took over the radio for the Navy to use. This action forced companies to have to be innovated in improving radio technology. Later, the government decided to regulate by selling radio to private hands. If it was not for this, radio could still be an only government enterprise. 

Cultivation and Crime

A few weeks ago, a horrifying story made national headlines. While walking in a park, Bethany Storro claimed that an African-American woman walked up behind her and asked her, "hey pretty girl...do you want to drink this?" Bethany then claimed the woman splashed her face with a cupful of acid, giving her severe burns. It was this week that Bethany Storro admitted that her story was a fabrication. There are many questions about the incident (namely, why would she do this), but one detail stood out to me. When she chose to make up the identity of her attacker, she said that her attacker was African American.
I believe cultivation theory played a significant role in Bethany's description of her attacker. Cultivation is the idea that media shapes our perception of the world to a certain 'reality'. For example, Americans, after watching news outlets, may perceive black people to be much more likely to commit crimes than white people. This would be a result of repetitive stories highlighting crimes perpetrated by black people while underreporting crimes perpetrated by white Americans.

(A composite sketch made from Storro's description of her attacker. From mynorthwest.com)

Bethany Storro confessed to planning the fake attack, so she certainly gave thought to who she would blame her attack on. She was concerned with making her story as believable as possible. At a certain degree, we as a society have been cultivated to perceive African-Americans as dangerous criminals. That allows a non-existant African-American woman to be the perfect scapegoat for a fake attack. Although police now claim they were suspicious of her story from the beginning, news outlets were much slower to write about inconsistencies in her story. It is just one disturbing aspect of a deeply disturbing story.

A link to the story on ABC news

"Come as You Are"

A few months ago, the following advertisement premiered in France. Despite the fact that the ad did not run in America, it became a topic of conversation among American conservative pundits and people who found the ad to be perplexing. After all, what does McDonald's have to do with sexual orientation? In this ad, McDonald’s attempts to use framing to shape the viewer’s perception of McDonald’s as a safe and inviting place.

Watch the advertisement here

The advertisement's storyline is simple enough. A young man chats on the phone in a hushed voice in a McDonald's restaurant. It is apparent that he is speaking to his (male) sweetheart. He quickly gets off the phone when his dad sits down at their table. The father remarks that it is too bad for his son that he goes to an all-boys school. If he did not, he would certainly be a lady-killer like his dad was during his high school years. Obviously, he is oblivious to the reality of his son's life. The commercial ends with the words "come as you are" written in French across the screen before the McDonald's sign appears. 

The commercial was subject to much ridicule, but the commericial itself is an attempt at framing. Framing describes the phonemenon of how media tells you how to think about their subject, whether it be a product, restaurant, person, or any number of things. For example, word choice in an article about Sarah Palin could describe her as 'fearless' and 'independent'. That media outlet employs framing to get the reader to see her in a positive light. Another media outlet could use the words 'unpredictable' and 'ignorant' to portray her in a negative light.  Here, the commercial tried to get the audience to view McDonald's in a new way. They wanted their audience to think of McDonald's as a welcoming place where they would not be judged and could be themselves. The boy's private life is of no concern the people at McDonald's. Whatever he does, he is still welcome to come and buy their food. Part of the resistance to this advertisement comes from the fact that the attempt at framing was so apparent. Since the storyline has so little to do with the product, it is clear that the commerical was not about selling food, but getting the audience to see McDonald's in new way.

The advertisement originally came to my attention through Jezebel.com. Their original post about it can be found here.

This link is an example of the debate stirred by the advertisement. In it, Ed Schultz chastises Bill O'Reilly for his comments on the commercial.

Why did you take this course?

I ended up in this class because I love movies, specifically narrative films. My obsession with movies started from when I was a little kid watching movies with my film addict older brother. My love of movies eventually got me interested in filmmaking. I started off watching DVD commentaries and the 'making of' feature. I also love director's interviews. The connection between a director's vision and the final product is something I am incredibly curious about. After getting my wisdom teeth out, I was pushed to pursue filmmaking as a serious venture. I could not sleep because I could not get a refill on my pain medication that day, so I popped in Goodfellas, a movie I had never seen before. It soon became my favorite movie and an obsession with Martin Scorsese was born. I used that inspiration for a film analysis for my entrance essay into Interlochen Arts Camp. There we learned the more technical side of filmmaking, such as working cameras and editing in Final Cut. By taking this class, I hope to learn more about less tangible, more theoretical, side of filmmaking.

One of my favorite making of's...The Making of Goodfellas.
An interview with Paul Thomas Anderson
Jonathan Ross chats up Quentin Tarantino
The incredibly creative Guillermo Del Toro discusses his movie, Pan's Labyrinth

My favorite blog:
Whether he is writing about movies or about politics, Roger Ebert's incredible writing talent makes everything he blogs worth the read.
Roger Ebert's Blog