media

It's been a while. So I think it is about time for me to write a blog. Toward the end of class yesterday we were given a blog prompt. I do not know much about the subject, but I figured I would give it a whirl. While walking back from class I started to realize how dependant I am with media. If I'm not on my computer I am talking on my cell phone while possibly at the same time watching the TV. Not to mention I am on my computer quite a bit. I thought about what it would be like to have no media in my life at all for a week. I honestly do not know if I could do it. First off because I love sports, and also many times I catch myself being on my computer for hours. I do not think this is what Marshal McLuhan wanted us to do. I do think that he wants us to be more aware on how dependant we are on technology. This hit me kind of hard, because I realized that to some point I might even treat my computer or phone like an idol. If i realize I have left without my phone, I would/have gone back to get it. Thats sad. I wish that is how I treated my God. So over the next couple of days I am going to challenge myself to realize how blessed I am to have these tools and thank God for them.

sacrifice

While sitting around this spring break I decided to go to the movies with a friend. We decided to go see Gran Turino. Am I glad that we decided to go see this movie. Clint Eastwood did an amazing job in this film. While watching the movie I have never been so emotionally involved in a film. I felt like I was there. This movie was about racism. The end is what I want to talk about though. Never before have I seen a film where a person sacrificed their life. Clint Eastwoods character was a grumpy old war veteran who hated non Americans. Over time he befriended his neighbors an Asian family. Two of the Asian kids were being tortured by a Asian gang. Clint Eastwood character realized that these two kids would not be able to live safe lifes for as long as that gang was around. So in the end he got himself killed by this gang in front of a crowd so there was witnesses of this gang murdering him. He sacrificed his life for those two kids. The gang was now gone and those kids could sleep at night knowing they are safe. The whole movie was an emotional roller coaster. Clint Eastwood also directed the movie and he did a wonderful job getting his point across. I loved everything about this movie.

Favorite Media Text

I am not a big reader, I actually most of the time hate to read, I feel I could do much more with my time. But there is one particular book series that I could read over and over again. That is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think the way Tolkien writes these books is beautiful. I first read them when i was in 8th grade. Before I read these I was never into those fairy tale/magic forms of mass media. Still to do this day, Lord of the Rings is the only media that I enjoy in this genre. I was nervous when the movies first came out because I did not want them to ruin the books. But Peter Jackson, did a wonderful job portraying Tolkien's ideas into his movies. Not only is the movie in the magic genre it also could be put into action and there is even a little bit of romance throughout the series. I am not the type of person that when I'm down, I want to escape to this magical land and pretend to be an elf or anything like that. I know that there are many fans of these books and movies that are like that. I can also say that they have not changed my life in any way,I just enjoy the plot and everything that it has to offer. Hybridity is evident in the Lord of the Rings. The way Tolkien was able to combine different genres into his books is awesome. I would recommend this series for anyone that has not seen them or read them.

Variety Magazine

So today in class, we spiced things up a little and did a fun activity where every person in the class had a certain part in Hollywood. I happened to be a famous actor and had to sign a contract with a studio for as much money as I could get. I had a lot of fun. Then after that we were challenged to see how familiar that is which the real Hollywood. My initial reaction was that it was nothing like it. Hmm was I wrong though? What we did was of course on a smaller scale of the dealing that Actors and studios really do. But what it comes down too is actors that want a gig in a movie or studios that are eyeing a particular actor meet each other and try to make a deal that would benefit both. That is exactly what I did today. Two different studios came up to me and wanted me to be a star actor. One only wanted to give me 5 million while the other was willing to give me 15 million. I found a article on variety magazines website where Samuel Jackson was in a pretty long dispute with Marvel Entertainment on how much money he should get in the movie Iron Man 2 which will be filming soon. It is a paramount picure films and they quote as to saying Jackson and his ICM reps have cleared those dealmaking hurdles, and he will take part in the sequel that director Jon Favreau shoots in the spring, with Paramount Pictures distributing in summer 2010. From what i read in the article it seemed pretty similar to what I had to do this morning in class. I had a lot of fun and im pretty interested in the end results.

Music Video

So over the past couple months, I have really enjoyed listening to a band that my friend introduced to me called A Day to Remember. This band is a hardcore/pop-punk band. Recently they did a comical cover of Since You been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, and even made a music video for the song. The music video is full of connotative and denotative meanings. The lyrics of the same make you to believe that the guy is happy to get over his girlfriend. So throughout the video you see the band ransacking his ex girlfriends house. Only at the end of the video do you realize that they are destroying an old ladies house. After watching again though you realize that while they are destroying this ladies house there are lots of signs of the house being lived in by an older lady. The way the producer had the camera positioned made it not obvious at first look. Also, when there was a very obvious sign it would quickly jumpcut to another sceen. This was the first music video that I ever really examined and it made me wonder how much I miss.

While at the movies...

While I was at the movies watching the new action movie Taken, I could not help but realize all the things we have been learning about in class. It was an action film so, the camera was constantly shaking almost like you were the character. This movie was a lot better than I thought and it brought up a lot of points that really made you think. It reminded me a lot of the style Coming of the messiah, one character came a long and saved the day. Overall it was a great movie that I think people should go spend the money to watch.

Super Bowl Commerical.....

So as I sat down to watch the super bowl, I was hoping for an upset. I was cheering for the Cardinals, but I did not have high expectations, but I was looking forward to the commercials. There was a Bud Light commercial where a business was having a staff meeting and drinking Bud Lights and they were discussing how to lower costs so they could reach budget. Some of the employees made suggestions like cutting back on marketing, office supplies, etc. One man in particular suggested in not supplying Bud Light at all staff meetings. Everyone in the room paused. The next thing you know, you are now outside seeing the man thrown out of a glass window. It was very shocking and brought a lot of laughs from everyone in the room. The frames were closed frames. All the action was always in view. It was shot at a median balance, except at the very end when the man was being thrown out the window. This shot was very zoomed out and could have even been a wide shot. The Subject position was very strong, I felt like I was in the room with the actors and part of the discussions. When the scene changed from the office building to outside the building it was a jumpcut. The main sign I got from this commercial is that getting rid of beer is a sin. Do anything except get rid of the beer. Nevertheless, it was a funny commercial that I enjoyed over and over again. I just wish I would want to watch the Superbowl again.