A Media filled day in the life of Sophia

(Alarm Clock courtesy of: http://www.faqs.org)

My phone alarm clock sounds around 6:49. I shower and wake up and tune the radio. I have to do this every morning because with so many electronics and not enough outlets I'm constantly unplugging the radio, which resets the tuning each time. I've listened to the radio as part of my morning routine since about 4th grade. The same two stations for almost all those years. This is where I'm bombarded with ads(mostly ones for local car dealers with lot's of repetition and a plain folk attempt).

(Radio courtesy of: http://www.crrc.org.my. Unfortunately this does not resemble the one I own.)

After my shower its downstairs to the kitchen table where I'm joined by a bowl of cereal and milk. I routinely skim the comics, Dear Abby, the horoscopes, and if my bowl of cereal last long enough the clues to the crossword puzzle. None of which I happen to know the answer to. But all of these provide a little entertainment for the limbic and necortex part of my brain. Occasionally dear abby provokes my the fight response in the reptilian part of my brain; she makes me want to punch her holier than thou attitude.

The picture above is me and the newspaper, just straight chillin.

(Courtesy of http://artofmanliness.com)

After this part of my morning is over with I might spend my day doing various things, not necessarily in the following order, but most of which involve one form of media or another.

Going to class: In none of my classes I was allowed to use my computer. We did however frequently use various textbooks, excerpts from books, and plays. Writing is one of the oldest forms of communication and documentation. Textbooks, in this day and age, are easy to mass produce and distribute. Perfect for college classes.

(Textbook Courtesy of: http://film240x.com/)

Champlain Video

(after contacting group members I was still unable to find the video to post here)

A. What specific contributions did YOU make to your team's production of your video?
For the assignments given (prior to the actual making the of the video) I spent the class time we were given explaining the assignment (to write a script using the power tools we had been taught in class) and attempting to gain ideas, or feedback on on ideas from group members. one group member was helpful in the other members showed almost no involvement or interest whatsoever. I ended up writing my script myself (admittedly rushed and without much effort due to the fact i had no idea what my team wanted.) I later, with outside help, re-wrote the script and uploaded it to our team blog with no help or guidance from any of my team members.

B. What grade do you feel YOU earned for your work and participation in your team's video?

I feel that with the actual production and editing of the video I only made a small contribution. I also feel that I initially tried to get the group together and collaborating on what I wanted to be a a genuinely good video/ script but grew increasingly frustrated with the minimal response/ feedback/ acknowledgment I was receiving. My the majority of my group seemed to not care one bit about this project, and did it just to get it done. I feel that I deserve a B for the initial effort I put into the project, and for attempting to create a video following the guidelines we were given.

C. What was the hardest aspect of making your video?

Dealing with the lack of enthusiasm and last minute attitude of my group members.

D. Other than finishing the VIDEO, what was the most rewarding aspect of making your video?

Honestly, I never even saw the finished product. The group neglected to e-mail it to me.... and i was unable to get in contact with them. I wasn't in class the day it was presented. I guess the most rewarding part was the we managed to get even a C on it. (or at least i was told we got a C...)

a spoken presentation hopefully lasting 300 seconds.

Adbusters

Thesis:
“We are a network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age. Our aim is to topple existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we live in the 21^st century.” (Taken from adbusters.org)



In other words: Adbusters wasn't created to make you mass consume, or to advertise big company products. In fact they are trying to do the exact opposite. Adbusters is a collaboration of people who want to reconstruct our economy, our ecology, our consumption, and who want us to question the media and the world around us.

(Taken from adbusters.org)

5 Facts:

1. It is based out of Vancouver Canada.

2.Adbusters is a not-for-profit, reader supported magazine.

3.Adbusters contributes to/ promotes/ encourages readers to participate in various campaigns including...

3A. Blackspot Shoes-
They run ads for them, and repeatedly speak highly of them. These shoes are made with hemp, recycled tires, and vegan leather. The shoes are produces in fair trade or unionized factories. They only sell these shoes to independent retailers. The purpose of this is to help circulate money in local economies instead of big industries.

3B. "Buy Nothing Day"
Which is exactly what it sounds like. They encourage readers and consumers to, on an organized date, spend no money. “Participate by not participating,” and “The more you consume the less you live” are just two of the things that can be read plastered over pictures in promotion of this day. This is done to encourage thought about how mind numbing it is to just buy things. This is done to ask us to take a look at our economy and the effect we have on it.

3C. "Digital Detox Week"
This campaign encourages us to unplug ourselves for an entire week. to step back from all forms of technology and immerse ourselves in the "reality" outside of technology.







4.Adbusters is a magazine that uses "culture jamming" as it's main source for fighting consumerism. Culture jamming is described as ...

" an interruption in normative consumerist experience in order to expose the underlying meaning of an advertisement, media message, or consumer artifact. By reorganizing media to lend it new meaning, culture jamming aims to expose the problems of large, influential corporations that possess control of media. It is a form of protest, so the culture jammer attempts to be as public as possible in order to stir up enough trouble to garner the issue real attention. Culture jamming is intended to be a means of allowing the people to take advantage of their right to ‘free speech’ and to call into question what the media tells them to think or believe."
(Taken from wikipedia, but adapted from Kari Pritchard, “Questioning Culture”, www.cordweekly.com, April 1, 2009")

5. Adbusters frequently receives criticism that it's style similarly resembles the media and commercial products that it attacks.




Triune Brain:

Reptillian- The articles written attempt to give us something to think about, something to want to fight back against.


Limbic- The pictures are large, and usually have in intense, meaningful purpose that relates to the articles or idea of consumerism.


Neocortex- There are many many words in this magazine. They are there for the purpose of reading.


8 Trends:

Epistemological shift (word to image)- The images shown in the magazine usually have correlation to the words printed. The articles shown in the magazine are easily found online.

Discursive shift (from objective to subjective)- Adbusters is not afraid to be subjective, by any means.


7 Principles:

Reality construction:
Adbusters presents the idea to readers that we need to change the current state of our economy and ecology. They try to convey how terrible large corporations and big businesses are. Corporations = evil. Local consumption = good. Protesting ins any way against large corporations = very good.

Production techniques- Strong images of protesters, poverty, spoof images...


Persuasive Techniques:

Symbols- they spoof on well known symbols (Mcdonalds, Camels, Nike...)
Hyperbole- They make very definite claims about controversial issues.
Bandwagon- They think everyone should be protesting. The more the merrier.
Scapegoating- blaming out problems on big companies.






The following video reminded me a little of adbusters and the way they want us to question the reality of the media.

Media Meditation 4- In which we lurk facebook.

...and now a brief intermission of your blog reading.



and back to your regularly scheduled blog...


(image courtesy of http://www.apr.org)


Facebook is creepy. We are constantly finding out too much information about people via facebook. I don't want to know about potty training your kids, or the fact that you puked 6 times today. Yes, if I'm looking for you, really looking for you I'm happy that your status has told me you'll be at the doctors at 11:00 am, and that then you have to pick up your brother at 1 pm.

Yes, arguably, Facebook is convenient for keeping up with those far away from you, or finding out a homework assignment you've forgotten to write down. Seriously though, there is sometimes just way too much information given via facebook. I understand the shift of going from private to personal, which is sort of the idea of facebook, but just how personal do we want to get?


This link is a plethora of the ridiculous that litters facebook.

Media Meditation 3- In which there is death.

"So it goes."

-Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five.

There has always been, for as long as we can remember, death. This being such a huge part of real life it has in someway had to be translated to media in someway. It had to be translated to books, and movies; to newspapers, and music. It represented differently in all forms of media.




(Video courtesy of www.youtube.com - Taken from the the movie The Royal Tenenbaums.)


In the above scene we see how suicide is dealt with in movie format. At first we see the character cutting off all of his hair, and shaving off his beard. I feel this is representative of the feeling of lightness. The pacing in this video is easy and simple to watch, again triggering the lightness. Until the end when he is found it seems in, some odd sense, calm, until the character is found-- then there seems to be nothing but panic (in the lighting, and the pacing, not just the mood and feeling) for everyone but him.



In the song Yesterday by Atmosphere it presents the idea of losing a loved one (the speakers dad) and how you can't get that person back. It is a calm realization and recognition of becoming who you are becoming and this person never getting to see that. The music is calming, non-upsetting or overwhelming for our limbic brain.

The quote presented at the beginning of this blog, "so it goes," is from the novel Slaughterhouse five. It is said after any named character in the book dies. It is the idea that death is such a part of life,

it happens:

(image courtesy of http://www.hollow-hill.com)

Mid-Semester reflection

1. After studying 21st century media for 8 weeks in this class, what have you learned?

I've learned about different parts of the brain (limbic, neocortex, reptillian, ) and how how they function and apply to the world of media and advertising around us. I've started to learn about different aspects of media and what goes into each one. I've learned a little bit about the history behind them. (tv, newspapers, music...) I've learned about basic blogging tools. I'm starting to notice things, or think about things I've never focused on before when watching movies and tv. (Thought about things relating to the powertools)

2.what is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as a critical reader, a writer, and thinker in this class so far?
Reader- If I want to "get" something out of the text in the book I have to really focus or read over it more than once, I can't be distracted or paying attention to other things.

Writer- I learned that it's hard to articulate complete thoughts or coherent thoughts in blog form. I do however enjoy the challenge of twitter. (I never used it for this class, but I have used it before.)

Thinker- As I said previously I'm starting to to pay attention to and actually think about the media around me. I am actively thinking about the purpose of the things I am watching, and I am starting to analyze the reasons behind certain commercials. I am starting to ask "why?" to the world around me.

3.What's one thing you would do differently the first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

I would have studied the power tools more often on my own time. I started to do so at the beginning of the semester, but felt like I wasn't understanding or absorbing them, so I gave up.

I also wish I wouldn't have waited until last minute to do the course blog.

4.What's one thing you would like me to do differently this first half of the semester is you were to take this course again?

I wish you had introduced the personal blogs earlier in September, so we had more time to do them/ more time to process ideas for what to write about.

5.Please comment on the usefulness of the power tools, our course blog, your personal blog, our in class quizzes, our films, and out book(s) as learning tools.

I feel that all these things (power tools, the course blog, and the personal blog, the films, and the book) are useful and translatable to the "real world." Things learned from them are applicable to life outside of this class. Even translatable to things learned in other classes.

Power Tools- It feels like every time I open a magazine or turn on the tv I'm always thinking about some part of the power tools, and analyzing the media around me. I see them being put to use everywhere.

Course Blog/ Book- I can't say that this is my favorite thing to do, but the chapters in the book create a better understanding of the media around us. The chapter on TV helps generate the understanding of where tv came from and the effects it had on surrounding media, such as radio. The chapters pertain to interesting pieces of media history. I think combining the reading of the book with blogging is good in demonstrating convergence.


Something else reminding me of convergence. A story rives tells using emoticons.



Personal Blog- I liked blogging, and the basic understanding of how to blog I've gained form it. It's nice to have at least limited ability to do so.

Quizzes- I feel these are helpful in memorizing the power tools, and memorizing the 6 grid chart.

CAMP CHAMP RADIO SPOT: lack of catchy title here.

Liza: Audeamus is our motto here at Champlain - it means "let use dare." Yes, let us, the awesome that is you and I, dare to immerse ourselves in the awesome that is Champlain College. You might just love it here. If you're here at Champlain you're either awesome or really awesome. If you don't want to take my word for it though, trust a Champlain Student yourself. Listen to what he has to say.

Andrew: How has your time here at Champlain been so far?

Kevin: Awesome.

Andrew: And why is that?

Kevin: Due to the fact that Champlain is the best school ever! Everyone who is cool comes here.

Andrew: What was your favorite memory here at Champlain?

Kevin: I studied abroad in Dublin, with amazing people and had an amazing time.

Sophia/Andrew: Here at Champlain we'll make all of your dreams come true. Here at Champlain it's awesome. Awesome stands for Amazing Wonderful Ecstatic Students Often Make Eggs. And by Eggs we mean Exceptionally Great Gifted Students.

Media Meditation 2-In which there is anonymity.

We all have secrets. Some of them are bigger than others. Some of them are not our own, but we are holding for other people. Some of them are joy inducing, and some feel like the wight of the world. We all hold some fascination for knowing others secrets, however small they may be. They hold significance to someone.

postsecret.com is a project started in 2005. Frank Warren asked anyone who was willing to share their secret by decorating a postcard and writing their secret on it and mailing it to him anonymously. He then chose 20 of the post cards he received that week to post online, to share with anyone who has access to the internet. He invited the world to let go of their secrets, to share them without feeling any sense of shame or remorse.




There are entire stories on some postcards, or just simple statements on others.



In association with the post secret project the following video was made:

media meditation1- In which things evolve

So, we all know you tube right? It's used for entertainment, procrastination, to vlog, to communicate, to share, to listen, to indulge (in both mindless videos, or missed news clips.) Youtube is also used for watching music videos, which over time have evolved along with the music.

Britney Spears released her first album in 1999 along with the hit single "...Baby One More Time." The video to go along with it included a young Britney Spears bearing her stomach, which, at the time might have been considered risque. It is a pretty simple music video, cutting from one setting to another showing Britney and her back up dancers in various outfits. The video is nothing high tech, not too name fancy camera angles, and okay choreography. At this time and for awhile after Britney was(and still is, in some cases) associated strongly with pop culture.




9 years later the single "Just Dance" was released by a new artist at the time, Lady Gaga. This was just the beginning of Gaga. This video is pretty "tame" for her. It included various scenes of a party, the during and after. For the most part a pretty typical music video for this time. Her wardrobe choice could be called interesting, but that was probably the most bizarre part of the whole viewing experience. This video contrasts though to what we had seen 9 years before. The content of the music is different, the clothes, the style of music, the limited choreography, the lighting. The video is just the same though in the sense that it is words corresponding with images. In Britney's video it is less relevant, but still words to images.




The other day I came across a music video that was ten minutes long. I then realized I was starting to see a trend in more recent music videos. They were starting to tell full blown stories. Not just stories to go along with the music, but there were breaks in the music for dialogue, or for space to show footage that enhanced the video. The first time I saw this was with the video "Creeps me out" by Ima Robot. I didn't really think anything of it then. I then saw it again with multiple other videos. (Forever the Sickest Kids- She likes(bittersweet love), and most recently LMFAO- Yes.) My favorite that I've seen by far is the following:

A brief introduction.

Hi, I'm Sophia from Montpelier, VT.

Here (to the left of the screen) is me, standing atop a cow in my current city of Burlington, VT









2)This summer I watched the movie inception.




It was an incredibly engaging not only due to the special effects, but also because of the story line. It was one of those movies, such as the matrix, that makes you question the reality around you.


3)One thing I like about media today is the convince of everything. For example being able to communicate so quickly with those around you. Sites like facebook, twitter, skype, and the availability of e-mail make it possible. One thing I dislike about this though is that it eliminates some sense of human interaction. You talk to people less in person, in "real life", because you can access them so easily through technology.

4) I'm not 100% sure what I see myself doing professionally, but i'm interested in writing.