Extra Credit Blog Evaluation

- Had you ever used a blog before attending RTF 305? IF SO, WHAT WAS ITS FOCUS?

• Yes.  An online psychology class I took at a previous college required us to give our input on various topics we covered in a blog format.
• I also published one for a while that covered different ideas and ramblings that I came across

- What were the positive aspects of using the blogs in the course?

• They help reinforce concepts discussed in lecture/readings
• They forced me to organize my thoughts on the class concepts in a more structured manner

- What difficulties did you encounter in using the blogs? (both technical and conceptual)

• The prompts were quite straightforward and the blogging platform easy to use.

- If you had difficulties in using the blog, how were you able to overcome the difficulties you encountered?

• I found it useful to remind myself with visual reminders of deadlines/ print out the prompts so I didn't miss them or forget to write them on time

- What types of blog prompts were more or less interesting or difficult? (provide an example and rationale)

• The studio system and radio industry prompts were less interesting, mostly because it seemed like a verbatim regurgitation of facts / a list of things read.
• The ones about Film structure, types of shots, and advertising were more interesting to me, because it seemed more inviting to open ended thought/discussion type writing instead of just a list of facts

- Would you recommend using a blog in future course, either in RTF 305 and other undergraduate courses at UT-Austin? (explain why..)

• I believe the blog was a useful tool, but could be revised/improved upon.

- What would you suggest to change or improve the blogging experience in the future?

• Make the blogs more involved, less about simply regurgitating information, in order to make them even more useful as a study tool. Also, I feel students would be more on time with the blogs/interested in them if they were more involved

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

Blog Post 9

Advertising pervades the life of every person living in the developed world.  With the ever intensifying spiral of intensity and density of advertising present, advertisers must seek out ways to "cut though the clutter" to make sure they are effectively getting their message across.  I recently came across a campaign put together by the firm TJDR for Nulaid eggs that I feel is an exemplary use of aesthetic appeals (in this case, to humor) in order to grab the viewers' attention.

  

I believe this set of ads is powerful because it sets itself apart.  It has an interesting combination of visual aesthetic appeal, (a sort of nouveaux art aura that many ads contain) and appeals to humor.  Such a combination is useful when the goal is to get the viewer to remember your brand.

The advertisements also bring in an appeal to curiosity - after all, it's not every day that one sees an egg guised as Kim Jong-il.  This drawing in effect of the curiosity appeal paired with the impressions left by aesthetic appeals help set the platform for an effective advertisement.

Many times in campaigns like this, viewers will take up an interest in the ads and follow the ads themselves, in this case, perhaps to see what infamous figure the egg will caricaturize next, which leads to even more impressions for the Nulaid egg company.

In overview, these two appeals work because they strike a chord within the viewer.  People are naturally curious beings, so an ad that contains a curious element will naturally strike an interest in the viewer, which has the obvious advantage of increasing the attention the add gets.

In general, advertising appeals work because they strike a harmonious chord with the viewer.

• ads with appeal to curiosity are:
• something out of the ordinary
• juxtapose seemingly unrelated objects and/or situations

Aesthetic appeals work on the same level, for the same goal.  Humans naturally find certain patterns, shapes (i.e. the golden rectangle) and colors, wether obvious, or abstract appealing.  Ads that aim for aesthetic appeal try to catch the reader's eye by through visually attractive content.  

• Aesthetic appeal ads:
• are pleasing to the senses (most notedly visual)
• appeal to taste, fashion, humor, etc
• are often used (along/paired with sex appeal) in clothing and car ads,

Blog Post #8

The Lion king is based on the three act structure:

Act I:
Act one develops the setting of the story and the origin of the problem and ensuing action.  Scar, Mufasa's brother is bitter about the fact that he has essentially been cut off from the throne with the birth of Simba.  The first act ends after the death of Mufasa with Simba's decision to run away because he believes he is responsible for the death of his father.



Act II:
As problems escalate under scar's regime, Simba is hides himself away from his past.
In act two, Rafiki discovers that simba is alive, and the act ends with Nala's decision to go find him.


Act III:
The reuniting of Simba and Nala sparks love, but also brings Simba's past fully back to his mind.  Through Nala's reasoning with him, Simba decides to let go of the guilt he's held on to and go back to fight scar and avenge his father's death.  The final climax comes very near to the end of the film (about 6-7 minutes from the end) when Simba finds out the truth about his father's death and actually fights scar to take back the kingdom, which leads to the resolution of the story where Simba becomes king and peace returns to the Pride Lands.

Blog Post #7

One of the characteristics of the TV sitcom is that patterns are repeated throughout the run of the sitcom.  This repetition of patterns may present itself in the fact that the main characters often finds themselves getting into the same situations, making the same mistakes, etc.  Often, the plot of an episode will follow a familiar shell outline, the structure of with is filled in with changes in whom the main character interacts with, or other details switched, but the overall progression of the episode follows a very familiar pattern.  This often leads to two other characteristics of the sitcom - many sitcoms end about where they begin, and there tends to be relatively little character arch.

This familiarity, though it gives to predictability, allows the viewer to know what to expect from the episode.  The interest in following the episodes is in seeing the particularities of each situation, not necessarily in following the progression of the protagonist's character.

The TV sitcom How I met your Mother presents these aspects.  Throughout Ted's lengthy recollections of the events that led up to his meeting of the mother of his children, he often gets into, or out of, or back into a relationship with one person or another.  The episodes present sequences of the stages in these relationships, and also presents a repeating side show of sorts in documenting Barney Stinson's, the self-assured womanizer, many different encounters and attempts with various women.  Throughout the progression of the sitcom, the status and/or position of the different characters may change, but overall they remain largely the same, operating in the same roles they began with.

Camera Shots - The Lion King

Although a cartoon, Disney's The Lion King still uses the same concepts of "camera shots" in the animation that are used in other films.

The Long Shot as Orientation Shot:

This long shot showing pride rock, the surrounding area, and some of its inhabitants makes use of the wide view available when using this technique to orient and familiarize the viewer with the setting.

Medium Shot as Relationship Information Shot:

The medium shot is often used to portray visually the relationship between characters in a story.  In this medium shot, a decent amount of space is still available on the screen, although not as much as in the long shot.  Even with this space, the directory chose to place Rafiki and Mufasa close to each other, to symbolize their friendship and trust for one another.  Even in this portrayal of friendship, there is still a hierarchy  of power.  Mufasa is taller and placed on the right of the shot, both of which symbolize his position.

Closeup as marker of detail, emotion, and feeling:

Because the details of objects, facial expressions, etc. are more easily viewed in close-up shots, this technique if often used to reveal details and focus on emotions and feelings of the characters in an "up close and personal" way.  In this shot, Simba and Nala look lovingly at each other, and their facial expressions, easily seen in this close up shot, allows the viewer to better pick up on the emotions they are sharing.  In the context of the story, this shot also helps aid to the feeling of closure and resolve of conflict, and pulls the viewer into the happiness of Simba, Nala, and the rest of the Pride Lands that are now free from Scar's regime.

The Studio System

One of the main aspects of the studio system that developed in the late 1920s and early thirties was vertical integration - when a large conglomerate corporation owns key businesses in different but related markets so that they have the ability to handle many different parts of production "in house" and save money.

In vertical integration, the studios would own their own production crews, distribution systems and chains of movie theaters.

Because the production crews and directors were "part of the family" of the film company, distinct styles came to be associated with the different major film corporations.

Regulation increased in response to the mergers taking place, forcing the studios to part with some of their stakes in different part of the production process, particularly movie theaters.

A new wave of mergers started in the 80s and 90s when the industry's regulatory reigns were once again loosened.  Because of this, the modern film system in some ways reflects the old, especially in terms of vertical integration.

Because of vertical integration, movie franchises from film appear on TV and vice versa, such as the creation of a Simpsons movie, Movies based on Marvel Comics, and a Lion King cartoon series airing on ABC Family (which shows yet another example of cross ownership and conglomeration because disney owns ABC)

The studio system developed an organization based on cross-ownership and conglomeration, namely in the form of vertical integration.  This played a key role in the way movies were produced, what movies were produced, and how film studios are organized today.

All in the Family and George Lopez

All in the Family and George Lopez shine a light on important issues, involving prejudice, bigotry, and other serious social events. However there are significant differences on how the two shows bring these issues to the forefront.

All in the Family uses the character Archie Bunker as a mouthpiece to represent the countries more perverse opinions and attitudes towards minorities. The audience is meant to relate to the son-in-law when he admonishes Archie. Often times, this strategy backfires because the audience relates to Archie as an "anti-hero" or "lovable bigot" (link on this at the bottom). The George Lopez show aims to showcase the same issues but has the advantage of realizing social issues from within the minority group. This allows the audience to relate to George Lopez, preventing them from seeing the oppressed class as "the other" but instead more like themselves. So even though the desire is still to use a character driven comedy to encourage the audience to change their opinion is the same in both, The George Lopez show approaches it in a fresh and effective manner.



http://www.thestar.com/article/108423