Extra Credit

Before RTF 305, I had never used a blog before.
The positive aspects of the blog included the fact that you never had to print anything, and there was never any worry or complication with handing in the assignments.
The only difficulty I had with the blogs was remembering to turn them in on time. Often I would find myself on Sunday nights sitting in my dorm room at 9:30, and I'd look at the clock and remember I needed to write my blog. Something I would change about the blogs in general is that Sunday seems like kind of a weird day to make for a deadline, because its an off day and the NFL plays the majority of their games on Sundays.
The more interesting blog prompts were ones that we had to relate to TV or film, for example the one on plot, where we had to describe it in terms of a movie we were familiar with. The ones that were less interesting and more difficult were about defining terms that we had learned in the lecture or reading, because there wasn't as much personal input and variation.
I would because of the ease of use, and it cuts down on paper and ink, which cuts down on costs.

Advertising: The Windows Phone Ad

The new ads for the Windows Phone is a powerful advertisement. It is portrayed as useful and necessary to daily life, as well as describing what is so great about it. The ad focuses on physiological needs. Ads based on the appeal of physiological needs are ads that make the viewer believe that the product is a basic necessity that will be used in life everyday.

With the opening line, "Its time for our phones to get us in, out, and back to life," the ad implies that we need to update the way our phones work, and then goes on to explain that the new Windows Phone does just that.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Three Act Structure

James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgement Day follows Hollywood's three act structure of filmmaking fairly well.

In the film, the first act introduces the main characters, such as John Connor, Sarah Connor, and the two terminators. This act lasts until about the thirty-two minute mark, where the inciting incident occurs, thus transitioning into the second act. This act develops through the separate depictions of each John, Sarah, and the terminators, establishing their identities and locations. For example, Sarah is in the insane asylum, which will become very important in the second act. The inciting incident in this film happens when the more advanced, antagonist terminator finds John Connor in the mall and attempts to kill him.

The second act contains multiple conflicts and problems, while always present is the looming threat of the terminator that is out to kill John. This act includes Sarah breaking out of the mental hospital, with the help of John and his ally, and it also consists of the destruction of Skynet. However, by the end of the second act, the terminator is still trying to kill them, and although they've successfully (or so they believe) prevented the Judgement Day from ever happening, the resolution is yet to come. The second act ends with the truck full of liquid nitrogen crashing, causing the terminator to freeze and finally concluding with Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous line, "Hasta la vista, baby," at approximately two hours and ten minutes into the movie, making the second act about 98 minutes long.

The third act contains the climax and the resolution. It is approximately twenty-two minutes long, and contains the suspenseful battle between the two terminators. The climax occurs as the two battle it out. Eventually, the resolution happens as the antagonist terminator is blown into the pit of magma that finally  destroys him. This final act also consists of the departure of Schwarzenegger's character, as he is lowered into the pit by John Connor because he "cannot self-terminate." 

Two and a Half Men

Most TV sitcoms have similar characteristics. They are usually episodic, involve little to no character growth, and contain mini-resolutions in each episode. The episodic structure contributes to the minimal character growth and the presence of the mini-resolutions because the episode, in order to be episodic, has to be nearly the same situation at the beginning as it is at the end. This means that the characters can't grow a lot, because if they did, then the episode wouldn't be the same at the beginning as it is at the end. It also means that the episodes problems have to be resolved before the episode ends, giving them their mini-resolutions.

Two and a Half Men is no exception. This sitcom is episodic, there is not much character growth during each episode, and each episode contains a mini-resolution. Like most sitcoms, Two and a Half Men is about a family of related characters, a man, Charlie, his brother, Alan, and Alan's son, Jake, who all live together. The show is episodic; it usually begins and ends with Charlie and Alan living under the same roof, even though most episodes involve Alan trying to move out. There is the occasional episode where Alan decides to live with a new girlfriend, but by the end of the episode, something has happened to cause Alan to move back in with Charlie. Most recently it was because he burned his girlfriend's house to the ground. The show is filmed in front of a live studio audience, which is an aspect of some but not all sitcoms. The mini-resolutions contained in each episode almost always have to do with a girlfriend of Charlie's or Alan's, and occasionally it takes one or two episodes to sort out, but most of the time it is resolved by the end of the episode. Keeping with its episodic structure, the show's characters do not change much, except for the change over time (for example, Jake has grown older by seven years since the show started, but his character still struggles with school and eats a lot, just like in the first episodes). The show could be used as a model for the sitcom structure, as it contains and mirrors man of the aspects of the standard sitcom. 

Iron Man 2: Shot Selection

Iron Man 2 uses a range of different cinematographic techniques, including different kinds of shots. In the opening scene, the antagonist, Ivan Vanko, is assembling a weapon similar to the one used by Iron Man. During this scene, there are close-ups, medium shots, and long shots, all of which serve a different purpose.

The scene begins with a medium shot of Ivan pulling out and flipping through plans and instructions for building his weapon. The medium shot establishes the scene and gives the viewer a perspective of the space that the director will be working with in the scene. It doesn't reveal the entire room, but it shows what part of the room will be important for the scene. It also establishes a more personal relationship with the character than would a long shot, although its not as personal as a close-up would be. The director wouldn't want the audience to feel too close to the antagonist that they will later be rooting against.

The shot then cuts to a close-up of a part of the instruction sheet, displaying the word, "Stark." This reveals that the plans Vanko is using came from Tony Stark's company, which relate the plans to the Iron Man suit.  This close-up tells the audience some key information about what Vanko is building, and when the audience sees the contraption later in the movie, it is easier to understand how Vanko knew how to build something so similar to the Iron Man suit.

The director includes a long shot also, which diminishes the relationship with Vanko and shows the full workspace that he has available to him. The long shot also represents the loneliness and isolation felt by Vanko, as his father just died and he is all alone in a small, Siberian house.

The different kinds of shots work together to show Vanko building his weapon in his isolation.

The Studio System: Vertical Integration

A huge factor of the studio system is the process of vertical integration. The studio system refers to the way in which the major movie studios of the 1920s through the 1950s produced all films through their own means, and an important aspect of making this possible is the idea behind vertical integration, which was employed by these major movie studios. Vertical integration meant that the studios controlled all aspects of production, from creation to distribution.

This particular aspect didn't have a large impact on the kinds of films the studio made, not the way the star system did, but it did have its minor impacts. The studios could make the films they truly desired to make, because they didn't have to rely on outside sources for help with the writing or shooting of the film. Everything was at the discretion of the studio heads.

For example, Fox Film Corporation in the 1920s, '30s, '40s, and '50s, owned its own production studio, where the films were thought of, written, and produced, its own distribution division, which created copies of the film, and its own theater chain, where the films were shown to audiences. By owning all of these different aspects of the filmmaking process, Fox was able to maximize its profits because they didn't have to pay any outside companies for services. Since profits were the main goal of the studio system, its clear that vertical integration was a key piece in making the studio system effective.

"All in the Family" vs. "Modern Family"

The biggest difference between the sitcom "All in the Family" from the 1970s and the contemporary sitcom "Modern Family" is the portrayal of minorities. Whereas the main protagonist in "All in the Family" is full of racism and prejudice, the main protagonists of "Modern Family" include a white family, a gay couple, and an interracial marriage, all of which are portrayed in a positive way. The biggest similarity between the two shows is that they are both a portrayal of family life in their respective era's, albeit an exaggerated one.

An issue that the 1970s show "All in the Family" had to deal with include anger directed at the Vietnam War, which could be the root for the prejudice against foreigners and non-white Americans. This is something that the contemporary show "Modern Family" doesn't have to deal with, although there is a war of a different nature going on now. However, an issue that "Modern Family" had to deal with that "All in the Family" never had to worry about was views on gay marriage, especially since "Modern Family" has it portrayed from the point of view of a gay couple that is raising a child.

Regulation and Government Intervention in the Radio Industry

Through government intervention and the privatization of the radio industry, regulation helped push the radio industry in a profit-driven direction, exemplified by AT&T's use of advertising to make money. 

During World War I, the Navy took over control of all radio stations, but when the war ended, the U.S. Government wanted the radio industry to be privately owned. However, the government didn't want American Marconi to hold a monopoly, so they forced the company to split in order to establish competition. General Electric, AT&T, and Westinghouse purchased American Marconi to create three separate radio companies. AT&T was the first to focus on using advertising to finance and make money through radio programming.

Because of the competition involved in the formation of multiple radio companies, AT&T needed a unique way to make money, and they discovered that companies would pay money to advertise their products. Other companies began to use this strategy to turn a profit, and radio steadily became more and more advertising-based. Companies started putting together "soap operas" in order to attract viewers while at the same time sell their products; the first companies to do this were selling soap, hence the name. Radio evolved to the point where the majority of profit came from advertising, all due to the government intervention and forced break-up of American Marconi. 

Cultivation Theory

Understanding cultivation theory leads to me to understand the FCC's concern with violence in television, because it can make viewers believe the world is a more violent place than it actually is and thus they will be more violent people.

The idea behind cultivation theory is that television can affect viewers' ideas of everyday life. Excessive television watching can impart values that more accurately reflect the world of television, as opposed to real life. Cultivation theory is focused more on the attitudes of the viewers than on their actions, as what we see on television is often an exaggerated interpretation of our actual world. 

Many television shows and movies include an excessive amount of violence as if it were everyday life. Crime scene shows especially, where murders are committed every week in the same city, greatly exaggerate the violence that is present in our world. People who spend a great deal of time watching these types of shows will gain ideas of violence that accurately reflect the television shows they watch, but not our actual society, such as in the comic below.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/tv_violence_ouch/

Cultivation theory is based on this idea of gruesome violence being "cool,' learned from what is seen on television.

Framing

Framing is an important media tool that can shape how the population interprets the stories reported by the media. 

Following the headlines of most major news stories are explications by the media that include opinions. These opinions can affect the way the audience interprets the story, commonly in either a positive or negative light. The media takes advantage of these explications to manipulate people's views on a certain topic, most commonly with regards to politics, by telling the audience how to feel about a certain person or situation. 

A recent instance of framing took place in a CNN news story about Barack Obama's plan to extend the tax cuts originally enacted in 2001 and 2003 by George W. Bush. In the article, support for the extension is described; according to the article, "congressional Democrats want to keep in place those tax cuts that apply to Americans earning less than $250,000 a year," but little is mentioned about opposing views to this extension of tax cuts. This specific publication of support with little regard to the opposition can easily sway the readers of the article to also feel support for the tax cuts, thus building support for President Obama. For the complete CNN article, follow the link below:

Obama's plan to extend some tax cuts may be gaining traction

RTF 305

RTF 305 is a course required for my major. It must be completed before I can get into the more specific and focused classes that revolve closer around what I actually want to do with my RTF degree, which is directing. Conveniently, this class is also part of the FIG that I decided to participate in.

Throughout the course of the semester, I hope to learn about the impact media has on our current society. I feel like the media greatly affects how we live our lives, and I would like to learn the various ways and to what extent the media changes our daily routines.

One of my favorite blogs is: http://jdeutsch1313.blogspot.com/