Blog Evaluation

Alright...so I haven't been the best at doing these blogs so I'd better do this evaluation haha

First of all I've never used blogs before taking this class.

One positive aspect about using these blogs I'd guess is that writing them always made me think back on the lectures or the readings, so it helped in remembering what was going on in class.

Difficulties in using the blogs? When it came to technical issues it was just a hassle having to use my computer. Not a fan of that. I didn't really have any conceptual problems though.

I always enjoyed and thought the prompts that asked to provide specific examples from media were interesting. The one where we had to describe and provide examples of different types of shots was a really fun one.

I wouldn't use blogs again in future courses though. I prefer turning hard copies of work. Paper and ink. That way there's no stupid screw ups that involve the internet.

I wouldn't know what to do to change the blogging experience and make it better. I would suggest not doing them and switching to one or two page responses typed and printed, but then again I'm not the teacher. I haven't done tests to see what works with students.

Anyway those are my thoughts on this whole blogging experience.

Episodic Sitcoms

When I think of episodic sitcoms I like to think of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

First off all, what is an episodic sitcom?
--In episodic sitcoms the story is told and finished within one episode, with many stories being told within a season. Each episode raises a question, and then answers it at the end of that same episode. They start and end pretty much of where they started in the episode. Lessons are learned but characters seem to stay about the same. These episodes are almost formulaic, almost to the point of being predictable.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the best example of an episodic sitcom I can think of. In Sunny the "gang" always has some kind of scheme that is thought of at the beginning of the episode (usually provoked by some kind of challenge one person will present to another, like in the episode "The Gang Dances Their Asses Off", or they may actually see a problem with society that they try to solve, like in the episode "The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis") and through many comedic attempts and failures (usually due to everyone screwing each other over) nothing ever ends up right in the end.

One of Charlie's many schemes

This formula is the same in almost all of the episodes. They end exactly where they started out. And with every new episode, consequences are rarely brought over from episode to episode. The best part about Sunny is the fact that the characters ALWAYS stay the same. Throughout the series they all remain ignorant but lovable assholes.

The Three Main Shots as seen in Anchorman

There are 3 types of basic shots: the long shot (LS), the medium shot (MS), and the close up (CU). These shots are used in every movie. To demonstrate what they look like and how they are used in context I picked the movie Anchorman.

The long shot is the orientation shot. It shows where we are in the world of the movie. It also connotes sadness, loneliness, and isolation.

In this long shot we see Ron Burgundy. He has been fired. He is a lost soul in this part of the movie. He almost has no reason to live. The long shot helps show this by making it seem as if Ron is lost in a huge a crowd people. He's lost in the crowd as we see and he his lost in his own life journey. The long shot also helps emphasize the sadness in Ron's life.

The medium shot is the information shot. It helps show relationship information.

In this medium shot we see the Channel 4 news team before they begin battle with the other new stations. The information presented to us is who is carrying what weapon...it also helps  show every one's confusion and helps pose the question: "Brick where'd you get a hand grenade?"

The last shot is the close up. The close up is the important detail shot. It helps convey feeling and emotion.



This close up on Champ is definitely showing his feelings and emotions. The feelings and emotion that are being conveyed are confusion, fear, and concern...as to why he woke up that morning and literally shit a squirrel.



All in the Family vs. Malcolm in the Middle



The TV show "All in the Family" was very funny. But now-a-days it's a little out-dated. One of my favorite Family Sit-coms ever is "Malcolm in the Middle." Both of these are family situational comedies but both are very different.

For instance the biggest difference I can see is between the two father's. Archie is a strongly opinionated man in, what he likes to think, is complete control over his family; as opposed to Hal, from "Malcolm in the Middle," who is meek and mild and completely submissive to his domineering wife Lois. This kind of shows off the difference in gender roles between the two decades.

Though they are similar in some ways too. In both shows they show children at odds with their parents. In "All in the Family" Gloria and her husband, Michael, are usually at odds with Archie's conservative views, and Archie's thoughts that Michael needs to be a bigger "man" and not such a liberal. In "Malcolm in the Middle" the boys Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey are always at odds with their mother and the views she has that she thinks will make them grow up to not end up like their older brother Francis.

Issues though are different in the 70's. "All in the Family" dealt with issues like gays being more than sissy men and the possibility that sissies can be straight. "Malcolm in the Middle" mainly dealt with growing up with crazy parents and growing through the awkward stages of adolescence and teenage years.



The Shaping of Radio in the 1920's

Government regulation and intervention were huge forces in the shaping of radio in the 1920's.

Now what can government regulation do to shape anything? Haha easy, they're the government. Especially in the 1920's when we had just gotten out of WWI, if the government sees anything as a crucial technology or event and if there could be any mess ups if everybody isn't on the same page with it then the government will step in to do something about it. Think about guns, definitely a crucial technology there. And there are definitely rules and regulations set in on them, without messing with the 2nd amendment of course.

So what did the government do for radio in the 1920's? Well radio was of course crucial to everything. It did provide communication over long distances and all that jazz, and when things started to look messy who else but the government stepped in to settle the issues at hand. One of these issues was a need for standardization. Marconi, the man who developed the radio transmitter, and several other early inventors were having some big disputes over the patents of the technology. The government saw this and of course saw that it needed to be settled. So they stepped in, took control, and standardized the technology so everyone could have the same form of radio (of course everyone back then was mainly the government, military, and other HUGE enterprises.)

So in the end, thanks to government regulations, everyone all got the same technology and the 1920's were set for all new developments in the radio industry.

Priming

The Star Wars Kid

Another sad victim of priming.

The concept of priming says that media images activate or stimulate related thoughts and behavior.



Priming grips many people everywhere, everyday. It's the media that controls this. What media does is place images and messages into everyday life of people, and the people begin to take those images and messages and pull them into their own lives.

The Star Wars Kid is a viral video that hit the web in 2003. It shows a high school student who filmed himself swinging a metal rod around like a light saber. Another student found it the next day, thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen in his entire life and posted it to the Internet so everyone can enjoy the comedy of priming.

You see, Star Wars helped prime vast generations of kids everywhere. By presenting a world that kids can immerse themselves into and a fantastic set of heroes for those kids to look up to and aspire to be, George Lucas insured that in every neighborhood in the Western World there was at least one kid swinging around a stick or staff pretending to be Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, or Luke Skywalker. Lord knows that my friends and I made our vary own duct-tape lightsabers and fought on the playgrounds of our local elementary school.

Priming happens with all types of media, from commercials and ads causing a barbie-like image of women becoming the social norm for what is beautiful, to movies like Rambo and Die Hard causing little boys to play war instead of cops and robbers.



See any similarities?

A System We Live In

When it comes to understanding Hegemony, Agenda Setting, and Framing there are only a couple things that need to be understood. First of all: Hegemony. It's a power system. In power systems there's always a top dog, and Hegemony is not any different. The top dogs in Hegemony rule with both force and consent. Ruling with force can easily be pictured by looking at any military dictatorship. Those who do things that those in power don't like, get killed. Consent is easily pictured by looking at a voting booth in any democratic society. The consent of the public helps everything run smoothly for the leaders. That's the main idea of Hegemony.

But Payton what does this have to do with Media?

Good question. Those who have power usually have some stake in mass media so their thoughts and views can be made.

But how can they use force with just a TV or the Internet?

Ah, well that's where Agenda Setting come's into play. Ya see in media it's not a physical form of force. It's a matter of forcing the viewers to see what those in power want them to see. When one controls the media that person or group is the one who makes the people see what they want them to see. Those in power "set the agenda" in a way.

Oh...okay...but what about the consent part?

Well that's what Framing is all about. The viewers have everything placed in front of them by those in power, now it's the time to shape what's in front of the people into something that the people can enjoy and go along with. You've shown 'em what to look at, now show 'em how to look at it. Make the people see it the way those in power want them to see it.

There ya go. Hegemony, Agenda Setting, and Framing. How the 3 go together and relate to media. Still confused? Aight well remember the movie Full Metal Jacket directed by Stanley Kubrick? Good film right? Yeah, well there's this certain scene in the movie that demonstrates all of this PERFECTLY.

No...not this scene.

In the scene Pvt. Joker, a combat correspondent, is sitting in a meeting with some higher up media men. They are all discussing what they are about to put into the news for the next day. One man suggests they add in a kill to a certain story they are talking about "because the men like to hear about a kill." Another then suggests they should make it an officer to make the men a little happier. The leader tells Pvt. Joker that they are already fighting an unpopular war and they need to make everybody feel good about what is happening so that the war can continue on with as little public resistance as possible.

All this goes perfectly with Hegemony (the army officials are the one's in charge), Agenda Setting (the Vietnam war is the main news topic), and Framing (putting a good spin on the particular war story so that the public goes along with it).