Welcome Aboard

I personally never listen to the emergency instructions just because I've heard them before, but this will get many more people to listen. I think this is mostly a good idea because it will get Southwest Airlines more business. Flying is a hassle that can be stressful and when they are saying those instructions most people are thinking, "yeah yeah yeah let's just get this show on the road". This tactic can put people in a better mood and the rest of their flight may be a little more enjoyable.

"Youtube fulfills 96 dreams"

I thought this was a really interesting idea to use youtube as a way to hold auditions, especially for something like this. Playing in Carnegie Hall, like the guy says in the video, is the top for classical musicians. It's crazy how sites like youtube, Facebook, Myspace, etc. become so huge. This lets them choose people from all over the world and from an enormous range of talent. I think it will be interesting to see which 96 people get chosen and where they are from.

De/Re Construct Project

I don't know this first hand because I have only watched Fox News a couple times in my lifetime, but I think the news they deliver contains a lot of false information. I remember watching the film "Outfoxed" in class some time ago that criticises the news station and its methods. Rupert Murdoch, creator of the film, states that their news is bias and makes liberals look weak.
Hence, Faux News Channel..

JPG Magazine

"Your world in pictures."

JPG Magazine is meant for all ages but directly appeals to those photo enthusiasts that wish to share their photos and stories. The way it works is people can upload their pictures on their computer, send them to the JPG site, and pick a theme that their photo can be viewed under. Peers then vote for the photos they wish to see in the next issue of the magazine and the JPG editors make the final selections. If your photo is published in the magazine you receive a year subscription and $100.

The content of the magazine consists of people’s stories basically sharing their love for photography. There are articles on techniques, style, and people’s personal likes and dislikes. Every page has a picture as the focal point.

I myself am not a photographer but my roommate has a subscription to the magazine and I really enjoy looking at the photos. The photos are usually very unique and some have fascinating stories behind them that are fun to read.

The magazine gets most of its profits from magazine subscriptions and advertisements. If you go to the JPG Magazine site there is a long picture on the side that says “Give the gift of JPG” and has a link that says “Advertise with Us”. The advertisements are usually for photography equipment, photo printers, and other photography related items.

There are stories and pictures sent from all around the world, so there is a great variety of ideas and styles. Check it out.

"Box Office Economy"

This video from cnn.com shows that although the economy is in such a bad state more people are going to see movies in the theater. They say the reason is that going to a movie is like a two hour getaway from economic problems. I think it's interesting that even though this is the time to be saving our money we are spending it on movie media because it takes our minds off of things. Media is a source to escape reality when we need to.

Documentaries

Dark Days:


Dark Days is a documentary released in the year 2000 and made by Marc Singer. Singer became interested in the amount of homeless people who were wandering the streets of New York City and decided he wanted to help them financially by making this film. He heard of a group of homeless people who were living in an abandoned tunnel system below the city. Singer went to live with them and shot the film using these people as his crew.


"The film's crew consisted of the subjects themselves, who rigged up makeshift lighting and steadicam dollies, and learned to use a 16mm camera with black & white Kodak film." (wikipedia.com) Black and white fits perfectly with the absolute darkness these people live in. In the documentary they just go about their business and share about their past and current hardships. **During the making of the film Amtrak announced they were being evicted.


This documentary won several awards and is a great up close and personal take on the lives of these people finding shelter underground. Well made and worth seeing.






Paradise Lost (1996):


Paradise Lost is a documentary about the West Memphis 3 directed by Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger. Three 8-year old boys were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas and one month later the blame was put on three teenagers Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. The evidence of their guilt was that they listened to heavy metal, dressed in black, and practiced the Wicca religion.

The film consists of shots in the courtroom to interviews from behind bars. This, as well as Dark Days, is up close and personal. The scary part about the documentary is that it doesn't end with the answer. Did these three teens really commit the murderers or were they wrongfully accused based on insignificant evidence? This documentary is packed with emotion and leaves us unsatisfied in the end.

A sequel has been made (that I haven't seen yet) but reviews say that it still ends without a definite answer. This film is a real life mystery that will keep you following the evidence and dieing to discover the truth. Based on interviews I believe that the father of one of the children murdered is the guilty one. Watch and see what you think...

The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger is about a man named Henry DeTamble who develops a relationship with Clare Abshire who comes from a wealthy family. They meet when Henery is 28 and Claire is 20 but Claire has already known Henry because he has been time traveling to see her. This book is difficult to explain but it is really interesting and good love story.

Time Traveler's Wife is going to be made into a movie this year staring Rachel McAdams and John Livingston. Should be good!

The Kingdom

"In the aftermath of a deadly attack on American forces in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, diplomats are slow to act, but meanwhile, FBI special agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) assembles a secret team of U.S. counter-terrorism investigators to enter the city and find the criminal behind what has quickly become an international incident. The crew, however, finds their attempt to capture the perpetrators stalled by bureaucracy and their presence unwelcome. Desperate to gain the trust they need to accomplish their mission in just five days, the team enlists the aid of a Saudi Arabian police officer (Ashraf Barhoum), but as the agents infiltrate the dark and complex world of the Saudi crime scene, they find that the perpetrator's next target may be them."(Fandango.com)

I just watched this film and I definitely think it was well made. It also relates to media in the way that media is used in war. In The Kingdom threat films are made and pictures are trying to be kept from the public. It shows a little of how media effects the war, which I thought was interesting in connection to our class.

This film was rather controversial for some based on how both sides of the war were perceived. Many people were upset and offended by the representation of Saudi's and thought the film made them seem incompetent compared to the Americans. This was one reason for mixed reviews.

The Kingdom got many excellent reviews, including one from Rolling Stone magazine, as a well directed, intense action film. It also got some bad reviews saying it was "overdone" and that weapons were overused.(moviesonline.ca)Even if it was overdone I thought the movie was entertaining and an overall good film.

Final review. Worth seeing.

The Corporation

The Corporation is a critical documentary film that explores the negative effects of corporations in society. This film made me personally want to stop buying from big corporations, so in that sense I guess it accomplished it's goal. At the same time though I know I'm not going to stop buying from corporations any time soon. They have so much control over us and so much power over us it's insane. The film mentions how corporations don't have the ability to feel guilt, and I think this idea works the same with consumers. Such a large percentage of consumers buy from corporations, but even though we may be aware of the consequences we're causing we don't put the blame on ourselves when maybe we should.

This documentary puts most of the blame on the corporation itself and after going through a checklist comes to the conclusion that the corporation is equivalent to traits of a psychopath. These traits include "callous disregard for the feelings of other people, the incapacity to maintain human relationships, reckless disregard for the safety of others, deceitfulness (continual lying to deceive for profit), the incapacity to experience guilt, and the failure to conform to the social norms and respect for the law." (wikipedia.com) The main point I noticed was how this film instilled the fear factor to help the audience realize the severity of large scale corporations. The music was like that found in grim, devastating moments of movies, like in times of death. The music helps make you feel sad, shocked, and horrified throughout the film.

I also noticed that they showed a lot of old black and white clips when they were trying to make many of their points even though it's supposed to be a modern-day outlook. I think they may have done this to show that corporations have been around for a long time and if we don't do something now and if we keep putting it off nothing is ever going to change. I thought their examples of IBM's role in the Holocaust as well as the example of the man talking about 9/11 added to the film and had good impact. This really showed how important profit is to corporations because it showed them more concerned about money than people's lives.

The part about BGH also had a great impact on me. They are overproducing milk and yet they are still injecting cows with this harmful hormone so they will produce more. Cows are getting sick, extra bacteria is getting into the milk, and there is a risk of people getting sick. I don't understand why they would continue to use this product, and it made me realize corporations really do only care about one thing. Also the part about false news getting through on Fox made me upset. It made me feel like the idea is every business for itself and don't worry about how we are effecting people's lives. This is what the film was trying to prove.

I could go into more aspects of the film that I thought helped with the representation they were trying to make. The workers getting paid so little for their labor and the people who were not allowed to drink water were other good example. Even though it's true this film was rather bias I think it had to be to get that extreme effect on people that it wanted. I think it was successful and was an eye-opening documentary that did what it set out to do.

Merchants of Cool

"If you don't understand and recognize what they're thinking, what they're feeling, you're gonna lose, you're absolutely gonna lose."







I actually watched this film in high school in a sociology class, which shows the film is getting pretty dated. I think it is a relatively good representation of teenagers growing up in marketing. I think marketers do a really good job of finding what teens are looking for and they pretty much take advantage of them using various tactics. Their strategies like "cool hunting" and paying kids to promote products are definitely working in a strong way. It's kind of scary to think marketers go to this level to sell their products. Sprite was smart to connect their brand to hip hop and create that involved connection with teens by becoming "cool" themselves.

I agree with the statement that after the cool is found the cool moves on to something new. This makes it a constant battle for marketers to keep up with what's cool and separate that from what's old news. The most interesting part of the film to me was the ending when it showed that Insane Clown Posse became mainstream after all that talk about the importance of staying away from radio and following the mass. One of the band members was talking about how strongly he was against the idea, as well as the majority of their fans. This just shows how important popularity and profit are to people.

In terms of the actual documentary Merchants of Cool I think they did a good job, but they could have added more. They showed very limited perspective from actual teenagers, which is very important in the point they were trying to make. Overall though I think they had good insight into different effects marketing have on people. There will be a lot of people that can't relate to the teens they chose in the film, but I think it's impossible to relate to everyone. They can't cover it all, but they did well covering what they did. Well done.

"Media Malpractice"

In an article from cnn.com Sarah Palin states she feels attacked by mainstream media and says they destroyed her candidacy to become vice president by targeting her negatively. John Zeigler is coming out with a documentary entitled Media Malpractice that shows how bias in news and media influence effected Palin's campaign and the overall election. The video above shows clips from an interview Zeigler had with Palin. There are arguments over how the media portrayed Sarah Palin and whether or not their methods were acceptable. The news is supposed to be objective, but people are saying that much of the media showed bias and favored Obama.

Although I wouldn't have wanted Sarah Palin as vice president, I agree that the media definitely hurt her campaign. Much of the media did favor Obama and captured him in good light, and did the opposite for Palin. She was seen by the media as an unintelligent, just ridiculous woman who would not be fit in the role of vice president. This film will show just how the media did this and its influence on the 2009 presidential election.

Here is a link the the documentary website.

Consumption Log

Consumption log

10AM: I awoke to an alarm of a ring tone provided by my phone entitled Waves that has a catchy techno beat. I then got into the shower and used Pantene Pro-V shampoo and conditioner, meant to renew the moisture in my hair. I also used Caress body soap and Neutrogena face wash to complete my hygiene routine. After my shower I brushed my teeth using Colgate total toothpaste and went back to my room to get dressed. After getting dressed I went to the kitchen to have Captain Crunch cereal for breakfast and a glass of Simply Orange orange juice.

11AM: My boyfriend was now awake and playing video games (his daily routine). As I got ready for school I heard Call of Duty in the background, which I tried to cover with music playing from my ipod. I put on makeup, mostly Cover Girl brand and sprayed myself with Nollie perfume.

12 AM: I texted a couple friends about plans for the night and then left the house to head for school. I walk to school everyday and sometimes I listen to music and other times I enjoy the sounds of the outdoors. Today I walked without music. On the way to school I passed a gas station with high prices that also had a convenient store and a sign out front saying what they had to offer. They reeled me in. I stopped to buy a cup of coffee to warm me up on my journey to campus. As the cashier was checking my coffee I skimmed through the Durango Herald.

1 PM: I attended my American Literature class. The teacher had a PowerPoint presentation prepared discussing the reading from our book The Heath Anthology of American Literature by Paul Lauter. I used my Mead five star notebook to take notes from her presentation. When class was over I passed a bulletin board on my way to exit the building. The board consisted of flyers for rooms for rent, flyers of upcoming events, and a flyer for a summer job opportunity in Durango. I stopped to look at the events and then started my journey back home.

2ishPM- 4PMish: A few friends and I went to see the movie Coraline, directed by Henry Selick. The movie was pretty good, worth seeing I think.

5PM- 8PM: We went back to my friend’s apartment and did much of nothing for the next few hours. Television was playing in the background but not really being watched. I saw various commercials and previews for upcoming shows. We went on the Facebook website to look at pictures. I also went to cnn.com to check some news as well as hotmail.com to check my e-mail. CNN had a big ad on their screen of a new energy-efficient MacBook laptop. Hotmail also had a list of ads scrolling down the side of the screen for various items such as t-shirts from Snorgtees and a chance to win a trip to Rome.

8PM- BED: I returned home and watched a movie before falling asleep. This was a relatively lazy day.

This hour by hour consumption log of my day is not nearly as detailed as it could be but the reality is the amount of media I was exposed to would take forever to list. For example, when I went into that convenient store I could go through the different brands and tactics of marketing I was exposed to. The little last minute items you would want to buy placed on the check-out counter were tempting, but I resisted and stuck to just coffee. The movie theater had posters all around of films that were coming soon. Before the movie started various video trailers were shown that sparked interest. Media on top of media is all around us and seeps into our brains even if we don’t realize. This particular day was fairly lackadaisical and yet I was still exposed to a great amount of media. In sixteen hours I was exposed to text, images, sound, newspaper, film, DVDs, flyers, and more. This assignment really proved the insane amount of media we are exposed to every day.

Simulacra and Simulations

Simulacra to Simulations, by Jean Baudrillard, discusses the line between truth and abstraction. Much of the content in this article was difficult for me to fully understand, so my hope is that I will analyze it correctly. What I took from the text as the main idea is that people have mastered the art of creating false maps instead of seeing the real territory. We form abstractions of the real thing. Signs and symbols lead us to misconceptions about events, images, people, etc. and this is how we base most of our thoughts.

“All of Western faith and good faith was engaged in this wager on representation: that a sign could refer to the depth of meaning, that a sign could exchange for meaning and that something could guarantee this exchange.” This quote was taken from the section in the text regarding the Jesuits. The Jesuits based their political system on the virtual disappearance of God. This is something that could have had a possible mistaken truth and yet they created their own map of what the believed to be true and used it in guidance. We need to believe something is true so we have some sort of reality, even if it is false.

“One can live with the idea of a distorted truth.” The example of Disneyland is a good one, except when he relates it so a concentration camp which is a little ridiculous. Amusement parks are full of simulation and we love it. All forms of media are intriguing and have contributed to this idea of simulacra. It is hard for us to distinguish between simulacra and reality. Signs and symbols are the base of our society. An image is not the real item but it is close enough.

Sometimes when the territory is gone all we have left is the map that we created. Sometimes we live in a false reality and don’t even know it. I think its cool how this relates to the Matrix and how Neo and most people were living in a false reality with no knowledge of the truth. “Morpheus also refers to the real world outside of the Matrix as the "desert of the real" (wikipedia.com) Although Baudrillard mentioned the film distorted his work, I think it shows a good representation of simulacra vs. reality. Then again, I could be creating a false map from the movie.

I think this is an interesting subject. It is concept that is well alive today because we are shown so many signs in simulations of image, language, etc. so we constantly need to distinguish between simulacra and reality in our lives. There is often no way of knowing if we have made the right choice or if we let the abstractions get to us. In response to the actual article by Baudrillard, I didn't enjoy reading it and some of the examples didn't seem to fit but there were some good ideas I will admit.

Florida Road

Two journalists from the Durango Herald came to my Mass Communications class the other day to talk to the class about the paper. At the end of their talk they mentioned the reconstruction of Florida Road that will be taking place within the next year. The option of whether or not people wanted this reconstruction was listed on the voting ballot of this year elections. It seems the yeses must have won and Florida will be under construction for approximately the next five years according to the journalists. The town is putting millions of dollars into this project and remaking the entire road. For anyone who lives on Florida Road or uses the road frequently the duration of this process is going to be extremely tough and frustrating.

Here is a link to the official Durango website and its ongoing projects. It explains the landscaping, etc. It also explains their specific plans for the road and says the starting and end point of construction. For all Florida Road users this information could be helpful in the future!

Porn Interuption During 2009 Superbowl

During the Superbowl on February 1, 2009 some Comcast viewers got more than they paid for. In Tuscan Arizona an unknown number of Comcast cable customers had their Superbowl viewing interupted by 10-30 seconds of pornography which included full male nudity.

Comcast apologized to their customers who were affected by this mishap and are investigating the cause. The clip was shown just as the last of the Arizon Cardinal's touchdowns was being scored.

This article By Todd Spagler from Multichannel News mentions another mishap with Comcast broadcasting pornography in 2007 during a Disney channel show called Handy Manny.

A woman who is a Comcast subscriber said she saw the clip in standard definition but not high definition. Comcast is offering any Tuscan customer who gets the standard definition service $10 credit even if they didn't watch the Superbowl. They want all of their customers to know that they aren't taking the situation lightly and are truly sorry.

Link to more information.

"The Super bowl is a family viewing event ... We can't undo what happened, but we remain deeply sorry for the impact this situation has had on our customers." Jennifer Khoury, vice president for corporate communications

Ad Deconstruction

Tipalet Cigarettes

Message of the Ad

Background:This is a magazine ad taken from about 15 years go. The product the ad is selling is Tipalt Cigarettes, a new type of cigarette made by Muriel. There is one sentence in large, easy to read font and the rest of the text is in a smaller sized print.

Smaller print: Hit her with tangy Tipalet Cherry. Or rich, grape-y Tipalet Burgundy. Or luscious Tipalet Blueberry. It’s Wild! Tipalet. It’s now. Different. Delicious in taste and aroma. A puff in her direction and she’ll follow you, anywhere. Oh yes… you get smoking satisfaction without inhaling smoke.
Smokers of America, do yourself a flavor. Make your next cigarette a Tipalet.
New from Muriel

Target Audience: This ad is intended for male smokers over the age of eighteen, most likely an older male audience based on the age of the man in the picture. It appeals to men who are seeking women because the text implies that this product will help men look attractive.

Hook and Story: The main method the advertiser is using in this case is sex, with the language and with the image. The image is the first thing that grabs the audience’s attention, and this image is especially appealing to men due to what it symbolizes. Men that see this are most likely going to want to be the man in the picture because they want to get the girl. "Blow it in her face and she'll follow you anywhere." The story is that a man is smoking a Tipalet cigarette and he blows the intoxicating aroma into the woman's face and she is instantly hooked. The point is to get the viewer to believe that this same tactic will work for them.

With this product the consumer is supposed to get a higher status, they are supposed to seem more powerful and more attractive.

Primary Informational Message: This ad focuses on taste and self-appearance. It lacks information on the side effects of smoking.

Composition

Characters: There are two characters in this ad, one female and one male. They seem to be in their 20s or 30s.

Setting: There is no setting, only a yellow background. A possibility in reasoning could be because the advertiser wants the consumer to believe that the product will make them look attractive in any type of setting.

Copy: There is of course the first sentence, which is meant to grab the initial read of, "Blow it in her face and she'll follow you anywhere." This is supposed to be the line that sticks in the reader's mind. The product name is said four times in the ad, which is a fair amount compared to the amount of texts that is there. The ad also uses words like new, wild, different, tangy, and luscious to make the product appealing. The actual image of the cigarette is located in the center of the ad and between the man and the woman. This draws the attention to the protect right away and shows a connection between the man and the woman that is created by the Tipalet.

Visual: This image is very intimate. It is a close up shot and there is not a lot of extra space, so it really draws attention to the people. The people are locked in a gaze. The man looks confident as he blows the smoke from the cigarette into the woman's face and she looks lustful. There clothing is simple. Black and white are neutral colors and go along with the neutral background. All of these really bring us to the faces and the cigarette which are the main focus of the ad.

I think this ad can get a number of responses. I think it is appealing for its target audience and maybe many men will try this product. I think it is strange that they mix a man who is supposed to be strong, confident, and attractive to women with a thin fruity cigarette. Still, I think the ad is effective primarily because sex sells.

SNOWDOWN 2009

Next week, from January 28th- February 1st, the thirty-first winter celebration Snowdown will be held in downtown Durango with an Egyptian theme. There will be a prize for who has the best costume if you wish to dress up! You can take part in various events that will be held throughout these five days and dress to match the theme. The events range from a burp-off contest, to a Rock Band video game contest, to a cat fashion show, and many many more.

For some of the events you are required to be 21 years of age or older, but if you aren't quite there Snowdown still as many activities for all ages. Some events are free and others have a cost to enter. There are prizes including trophies, money, and bar tabs.

For more information visit this site. There are also brochures to be found around town that include all the event's locations and times. Should be a great time!