Class Highlights

The thing that was new to me, that I have learned in JOUR 2 was the MPAA and how it controls what we see. This has affected my media literacy in that I now see how corrupt the movie system is and that it runs itself with an iron fist. My understanding of the media messages have changed in that the media is a very effective propaganda tool in terms of shaping how we as people think and perceive things in life.

Media Ethics/Media Law

George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars film franchise, is suing Andrew Ainsworth a British designer for apparently breaching copyright by making and selling replicas of Star Wars helmets. Apparently this was not the first time Ainsworth was sued by Lucas, because there was a case like this before, in which Lucas sued the designer $20 million for selling the replicas in America. However, Lucas lost a similar legal battle in UK court simply because the judge refused to believe that these replicas were an equivalent to sculptures. As of now, Lucas is attempting to push for a case to be held by the Supreme Court, hoping to win this legal battle.

Here's the full link of the article: Click Here

Propaganda in Advertising/PR

This ad is an provides examples of the techniques used in propaganda, and they are ad nauseam, repetition, intentional vagueness, and slogans. The ad nauseam is essentially an argument approach that uses endless repetition of an idea, in this case, the idea of money, which is repeated many times in this advertisement. The second technique presented is repetition, which is either a jingle or a word that is repeated over and over again and the word is "money." The third technique that this ad uses is intentional vagueness  which are generalities that are intentionally vague that the audience is forced to interpret the given ad. This technique is displayed when Samuel L. Jackson gives the audience a lesson about money and then relates it to chicken, the advertisement is so vague and so random that the audience is literally forced to interpret the meaning of this ad. Lastly, a slogan is placed at the end of the advertisement and it is Money Speaks in Many Languages, We Understand Them All.

Internet

The internet is something that has become daily part of everyone's life. People cannot get enough of it. It's easily accessible, through phones, computers, laptops, tablets, video game consoles, and even our cars! I have used the internet for shopping and gaming. The websites that I tend to go on when I want to shop for something would be Amazon, Ebay, and Newegg. As for gaming, I wouldn't say I am a heavy "gamer", but I do play games on the PC quite a lot, particularly Team Fortress 2 because it's very convenient, flexible, and significantly cheaper than console games.

When it comes to the internet, people tend to get addicted to it, and I happen to know someone who is addicted to the internet. My friend was not a "hardcore" gamer, but he was definitely addicted to a game called Defense of the Ancients. The addiction escalated to the point that he ended up getting suspended from school for putting off his studies to play the game. The suspension was a real eye opener for my friend, and it ended up helping him get a grasp on his life. He finally put off his addiction by deleting the game and found a part time job to keep him busy until he could go back to school.

Television

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dooi512Lq1M
Length: 4:50

Description: This is a segment from a panel discussing time shifting with Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chairman of the Disney Company and Bob Iger, the future CEO of Disney.
Chapter 9: Television - Video Recording
Quiz Question: Time shifting affected the public's viewing habits, with the development of...?
Answer: The creation of the VCR, which then lead to the creation of the DVR which is now most commonly used to record video without commercials.

Movies

Inception:
Review Click Here
My favorite movie of 2010 - 2011 would have to be Inception because it had a good blend between science fiction and drama and I am a huge Nolan fan. I first saw this movie in the theaters when it came out, and then again on blu-ray, and what I particularly enjoyed about this movie were the characters because in every Nolan films, Nolan tends to make his films about the character and he goes in depth and gives the audience the psychological profile of the character; what essentially drives them to do what they do in the movie. I also liked the use of dream space as a device plot, I thought it was very well done and it gave me an entirely whole new perspective of the human psyche and its limitless potential.


Here's the trailer:








Toy Story:
Review Click Here
However, my favorite movie of all time would definitely have to be Toy Story, simply because it was the movie that defined my childhood. I loved this movie because it taps into the mind of a child's imagination and what it means to be a toy. I first saw this movie on VHS, and I still own it on that format, but I have now recently watched it on blu-ray and the movie still holds up, even by today's standards.





Here's the trailer:

Magazine Proposal

Name of the Magazine: Excelsior! - The Ultimate Source of Comic Book News!

Concept: This magazine is different from existing magazines such as Wizard or any other entertainment magazines in that it provides news about comic books and any other related things that could tie into the comic book such as movies, toys, or video games. This magazine is also unique because it provides a guide of what newcomers should read to get acquainted to the comic book genre and it also allows existing readers to provide what they think are "essential" stories to the newcomers as well.

Readers: The readers are usually people who's ages ranges from 10 - 45 years of age, and it should appeal to both men and women of all ethnicity who have interest in the comic book medium. This magazine strives to appeal to readers of all income level. The main competitors is mainly Wizard magazine, and this comic tries to improve on what Wizard is doing such as making the prices lower than the magazine, provide better price guides, better articles, and provide faster updates.

The five advertisers I think would reach the readers would have to be DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Warner Brothers, Paramount Studios, and Titan Books. The first five articles that would be included in this magazine would be an article on the upcoming Thor movie, an interview with Geoff Johns, comic book guides, and an article on toys. The cover on the premier issue will feature The Thing from Fantastic Four, a photo of the new Thor movie, the title, articles, and the date on the bottom right corner. I believe that this comic would be a success mainly because comic book readers want to know what is happening in the industry and what books they should be reading to get acquainted with the medium.

Books

One of the books that has had the most influence on me was George Orwell's 1984. I thought that this book gave me a glimpse of our future and how society is slowly turning into the future that was presented in this book. Some of the elements that we have taken from this book would be the concept of new speak and surveillance.

Link to 1984

The second book that influenced me as a kid was The Giver because it taught me the meaning of diversity. In life we are always told that diversity is truly a wonderful thing, but we are not given a good reason why. One of the things that made a profound impact on me was the concept of "sameness" this book showed that "sameness" could only lead us to becoming the drones of society and that tends to make life extremely boring. I also thought that this book helped taught me the meaning of knowledge and its power.

Link to The Giver

The third book that had the most influence on me was H.G. Wells' Invisible Man. I particularly enjoyed this book because of how it teaches people the meaning of power and corruption. This book was also one of the reasons why I love science fiction so much.
Link to Invisible Man

Media Impact

Over the century, and recently the past few years media has been the scapegoat for people's problems. Mediums like books, movies, comic books, or even video games have been outed for teaching us immoral things.

One event that played a big impact on the fans of Harry Potter, was the fact that J.K. Rowling outed Dumbledore, the headmaster of the series as being gay. This event spread much controversy among many people, and a lot of them did not find it as something socially acceptable. Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America, claimed that this was not setting a good example for children.
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-490261/JK-Rowling-US-Bible-belt-outing-Dumbledore-gay.html)

Another event that shocked everyone, was the Virginia Tech Massacre, people went as far as to blame video games like Counter Strike or Grand Theft Auto as the source of all the shootings.
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18220228/ns/technology_and_science-games/)
It also begs the question: Is media really the source of all of our troubles?

Introduction

As a kid, mass media was something that I grew up with. Living in the 90's, media was all about books, newspapers, magazines, movies, recordings, radio, television and the emergence of the internet.

Like any other person, in order to connect to media, you'd have to start with reading and books were something that I grew up with. Although I never really read many books these days, if I were to say what my favorite genre were, they would be science fiction and fantasy.  When I was in elementary school the Harry Potter books were the most popular series of all time, every year or two a new novel would be released and I would always be excited to turn those pages and read them. However, as the internet emerged and technology was beginning to play a significant impact in my life, books became less interesting.

Newspapers were something that I generally do not read because articles can be found on the internet. I did however, used to read the newspapers merely out of boredom when I was in high school. Whenever something interesting popped up I would take scissors and clip some articles for keep sake. Even though I never read newspapers, I keep up on current events through the internet and news feeds for websites.

As said with newspapers, magazines are also something I never touch mainly because everything is becoming digitized, which shows that there is less of a need for physical media like books, magazines, or even newspapers.

Movies were a big part of my life and they still are today. Every week, I make it a habit to watch at least one movie mainly, either new or old, mainly because as a child I never had the chance to buy VHS or DVDs quite often, so as a result I was stuck rewatching movies I had at home.

Recordings are something I listen to all the time, I am a big fan of classical music and as well as classic rock. I love listening to music because it helps inspire me, and it also helps me get through an entire day. I would have to say that music is something that has impacted me as a kid and as an adult today because it helps shapes what my interests are and how I perceive the world.

As with recordings, radio is something I occasionally listen to on the way to school. My favorite station would either have to be 107.7 The Bone or 101.2 KDFC, and these stations contrast each other completely. The station 107.7 consists of classic rock and some current rock whereas 101.2 is all about classical music. I find that even though these stations differ greatly, I still find some enjoyment in listening to them.


Television is also another huge part of my life, and it's something I tend to enjoy watching. As with any other 90's kids, I loved watching cartoons. One particular show that had a huge impact on my life was Batman The Animated Series, because it was the first cartoon to ever portray the title character in such a dark manner, and the animation was absolutely gorgeous. I also watch a variety of other television shows, one of which I am currently watching is Community.

 Internet has played a huge role in my life because it is everywhere. The internet is something that has taken over literally every form of media. As a kid I grew up with the emergence of the internet and it was something new and it is still something that is being developed. My experience with the internet lies with reading the news, watching videos, streaming audio, and playing video games. I cannot imagine life without the internet because it is extremely convenient. I can also not imagine what people did with their free time without the internet.

As an Economics major, media is something that is important because it follows the laws of supply and demand. Economics is related to media in many ways, one example would have to be the declining demand for physical media and the high demand of digital media. Possibly in the foreseeable future, media will become digitized and that physical media will just become something you see in museums or left for archives. After De Anza I hope to transfer to UC San Diego to continue to pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Economics, and possibly even complete a PHD, if possible.