New Record!

This week I had an extremely entertaining encounter with MacMan. As I kid, I loved to play the old PacMan on the gameboy and when I rediscovered this game I was absolutely thrilled. My brother-in-law has an iPhone and as I was shuffling through his applications and photos I found this game. I really did yell outloud with joy and asked him how to play. I figured it out while he was explaining it to me and I lost track of time as I was playing.

The game is pretty simple: eat the little white dots and don't let the mosters get you. As you progress through the levels, other specialty items start popping up and you need to collect them to move forward. It took some time to get into a grove and I would yell "Oh no! I died!" When I ran out of lives. I can honestly say this game filled me with child-like joy as I gobbled up the little pebbles.

As I thought about this game later I didn't exactly know what to make of it. I had a lot of memories attached to this game; one inparticular of sitting in the doctor's office with my brothers waiting for my mom to finish up a pregnancy check up. Her doctor understood that kids get bored waiting for mom so he had about 4 or 5 gameboys for the kids to play while they waited. I guess this was just a purely nastalgic media encounter. It made me realize (even more) that so many things can trigger memories or have significant personal meaning.

I this lesson of personal meaning can be incorporated into the classroom in a variety of ways. One way could be showing the class photos of ordinary everyday objects like a cooking spoon, a blanket, a bed, a potted flower, a swing set, etc. With each object the teacher could ask the class what meaning or memories they associate with the object. After some discussion the teacher could explain that the concept of different personal meaning can apply to understanding media. Because everyone experiences life differently we each interpret themes and elements based on our personal experiences. The teacher could then show a clip of a film that has multiple meanings and ask the class the meanings they derived from it. I think this would be a fun activity because there would be a variety of meanings rooted in the students different exeriences.

$10 Dinner

http://www.kfc.com/promos/commercial.asp

The buzz around the state, the nation, and the world is the economic crisis that has cast it's shadow over the stock market. Things seem to be going fine in my small world consisting of BYU campus and my homey apartment but I am still informed and it seems everyone is trying to make sure the American public stays calm. I especially noticed how commercials are letting customers know that certain business are aware of the hurting economy but they are going to make sure that people feel comfortable spending money.

The example that I thought about this week was KFC's most recent commercial. This commercial shows a mother and her two kids taking the "KFC $10 Challenge." They have to be able to buy the ingredients to make a seven-piece meal for under $10. It shows the family in a grocery store shopping for the different ingredients. They meet up a the end with what each memeber has gathered and the mom adds everything up on her calulator to discover that they have gone over their $10 limit. They abandon their cart of groceries and head over to KFC. The announcer the announcer says that a seven-piece meal can't be cooked at home for under $10. He continutes to add that only KFC has the "secret recipie." He urges viewers at the end of the commerical to try the challenge.

As I watched this commercial I thought it was extremely intune with what the American public is thinking right now. The commercial takes the point of view of the viewer by acknowledging that most families are trying to cut costs by eating in. The selling point is that it is cheaper to eat out than try and buy ingredients for the same meal. This ad is essentially telling customers that it is more than ok to eat out without overspending.

I thought this ad could be quite effective in getting people to eat at KFC. I think this could be a great lession in a classroom. I think the main focus could be advertising using current events. I think it would be fun to have the class make a list of current events that have happened within the last six months. With this list, I would have students divide up into groups of about five or so and pick an event to advertise with. Before the groups split up we would have a lesson about how advertisements relate to their audiences. This shows that the company or busines that is advertising cares about what their customers care about. Each group would act out a commercial trying to sell a product using the current event. They would beable to create cosutmes and props out of custruction paper and ribbons (or other craft things the teacher can round up). I think the hands-on will help students learn better.

I'm A PC

With all the competition between Mac and PC it's pretty interesting how many new features each computer has. I love the Apple commercials with Mac and PC but I recently saw a PC commercial that was a type of response to Apple's commercials. The opening of the commercial had a guy dressed up like PC his brown jacket, glasses, thinning hair, and slumped posture. I think they wanted people to think this was an Apple commercial. I thought it at first until the PC character opens his mouth and says, "I'm a PC and I'm not alone." The commercial goes through a montage of PC users from African schools to European fashion designers. It shows people from different walks of life saying "I am PC."

I thought it was creatively done but I wondered why they chose to execute their idea the way they did. I think they wanted to directly respond to Apple first of all, by alluding to their commercials in the beginning. They took the idea that Apple had about their computers being personal companions and easy to use and said, "Hey! We do that too!" They wanted the public to know that PC/Windows can work well for the office and media. They wanted to break away from the idea that they are only good for documents and data. I have seen some pretty awesome graphic media technology developed by Windows. I enjoyed seeing the different PC users from different backgrounds. They had people who used PCs in offices and people who used PCs to create and show video. They covered a wide range of uses which helped explain and show their audiences how PCs can be just as effective.

This could be a challenging lesson to take into a classroom. I think I would want to talk to the students about company battles through commercials. I would definitely have to do some outside research but I would try and find all kinds of ads for various products and their rival company's response ads. I would use Apple and Windows as and example. I would show a couple Apple commercials and then show Windows' response commercials. I would talk to the students about how each commercial is portraying the rival's product and why they thought the companies chose to advertise that way. We would analyze the commercials as a class and discuss the effective and ineffective aspects of each. After the discussion I would ask the class which ad is more persuasive and effective in selling the product. I would then split the class into groups and have half the groups create an advertisement (paper, video, radio) on one product and have the other groups create an ad on the rival's product (or each group could pick a unique product to advertise). I think this could be a fun lesson that could have creative and interesting outcomes.

Live vs. Broadcast

I attended a party during the week and I was captivated by the media! My husband had a work party this week and the company he works for is huge! There were so many people they held it in the McKay Center at UVU. They played their own version of The Price is Right, Deal or No Deal, and Family Feud. It was pretty exciting watching the employees answer questions about their company.

Because there were so many people they set up four screens that had the games "broadcast". The cameras got closer shots from all angles. Even though I was right there in the same room, I kept watching the screens. I was close enough to the stage that I could see what was going on but my eyes were drawn to the screens. I kept thinking it was because the cameras had a closer more detailed shot but I think it may be because I'm so used to watching things on screens that I'm automatically drawn to them.

I think this could turn into a fun classroom lesson. The teacher could have an aid or another student give a short presentation to the class while being filmed. The camera could be feeding live into one or two televisions on either side of the presenter. After the presentation the teacher could ask (after observing) how many people kept looking at the screen instead of directly at the presenter. The teacher could then open up a discussion by asking WHY. This would give the students the opportunity to think about what just happened. The teacher can use this discussion to explain how media and screens are such a huge influence in our lives.

Breakfast Anyone?

I recently had an encounter with a humorous Jimmy Dean commercial. It made me laugh and also got the point across. Jimmy Dean is most known for their breakfast meats (sausage and bacon) and just recently their breakfast bowls and sandwiches. The commercial I saw put a person/personality with the sun and the moon. There was a problem that was solved with Jimmy Dean croissant sandwiches. It was pretty good (check it out for yourself).

As I thought about the commercial later I wondered how it was significant and why Jimmy Dean chose to present their product the way they did. They took a simple idea of Day and Night and created characters out of them. The characters are wearing obvious costumes but also their skin colors match day and night. They also played with words. the sun sees the moon and asks him why he isn't "full" as in complete. Moon says he's not feeling it and Sun gives him a Jimmy Dean breakfast croissant. At the end of the commercial Moon is "full" as in filled with food. Sun saves the night with a breakfast croissant.

This commercial showed a lot of creativity. It took simple everyday ideas things and created a simple story: Moon needs help getting "full" so Sun finds the solution in a breakfast croissant. I think this could be a fun lesson in a class room. The teacher could show this commercial to the class and simply ask what they liked (or didn't like) and why. It appealed to me not only because it was extremely creative but because it was straight forward and simple. I loved the idea of the sun and moon working in an office together. I think talking to students about basic elements like story plot, character development/creation, and execution can be extremely effective in showing how to appeal to an audience.

Photos with Meaning

I decided to pick a couple images from my photo essay to post this week. I love fall. I'm not sure why but I love being outdoors and watching the leaves change colors. The colors of fall are definitely appealing and one of my favorite thing about the season. As I was putting together my photo essay I kept remembering my family's fall picnic. I told my husband that I wanted to continue the tradition and he thought it was a good idea.

My initial experience with these photos was positive. It got me thinking of all the photographic possibilities fall has to offer. As I thought of pictures I jumped to frames and color and how they would look on the walls in bedrooms and the living room in my home. I rekindled my love for photography. I enjoy taking pictures and framing my work for people to see. The pictures above gave me a sense of peace and rest. Fall is a time of change and nature is getting ready to settle down for the winter. I wanted people to experience the beautiful colors and imagine the cool air brushing past their nose and ears.

As this process and excitement went on I thought of what this meant. How could I analyze the situation and media? How could I not! Media is a huge part of my life and has been ever since I can remember. I reflected on why I like to take pictures and it's importance in describing me. I particularly like photography because I could focus on specific element of my subjects. I could show off certain parts that were visually appealing and I could hide others.

I loved the way I felt after taking the perfect picture. I wanted others to feel this feeling so I would share the photo. Sometimes I wouldn't get the reaction I wanted. I realized this was because the feeling became part of the moment and state of mind. If people have clear minds and unbiased thoughts then they can get quite a bit out of photographs (or any media for that matter).

I think this would be an interesting topic for the classroom. This could turn into a fun activity with critical discussion at the end. The teacher could divide the class into groups and give each group a camera. The students would go around the school building and the school yard taking pictures. The teacher could preface the activity by telling the students to take pictures of thinks that are emotionally appealing or give no preface at all. Each would have interesting and unique results.

When the students returned the teacher could show the photographs on a projector and ask the photographer why they took the picture and how it made them feel. I think encouraging the students to think about why and give concrete answers can get the imaginative juices flowing. An optional homework assignment could be to have everyone bring back a photograph they took ready to explain to the class why they took it and what emotions, if any, they were trying to portray.

Eleven 01

Post-breakfast kitchen

Towers return to the dust
Cool, crisp, fall morning

Opposition In All Things

This week I had a media encounter with the film Momma's Boy. At first I was a little reluctant to watch it because I didn't like Napoleon Dynamite all that much. Unfortunately, my first impressions of the film were right. Honestly, I didn't like it. There wasn't much character development and the dialogue seemed way to scripted. I understand what they were trying to accomplish and how they wanted to portray the characters but it was so over the top that it came across as terribly dry.

The movie is about a kid (well, he's 28) who lives with his mom because he feels it is his mission to take care of her since his dad died when he was a small boy. He drops out of college because he is homesick and he spends every weekend playing games with his mom and planning dinners for two. He seems to be dating his own mother to protect her from getting her heart broken. What he doesn't realize is that he is breaking her heart by not letting go.

I tried to analyze this film and found myself hitting some roadblocks. What I mainly kept asking myself was why I didn't like the film. I commented to my husband that it was a dumb movie and I realized it was because everything seemed so fake. I haven't ever seen people talk or interact that way in real life. I think audiences can suspend believability to a certain extent. Dialogue is definitely an element that is hard to fudge. I think I didn't like this film because the dialogue was too un-real. John Heder's character stumbled over words and not just simple words, large vocabulary words. If he was going to use big literary terms he needed to be able to speak clearly. I'm noticing that audiences are less forgiving when it comes to anything sound related. I definitely think the dialogue was a huge contibutor to this negative experience.

I think everyone can learn from bad examples. In a classroom students could be asked about movies or media they didn't like. As a list is compiled, have the students explain and engage in discussion about why they didn't like it. Looking at this media from a different perspective can definitely be benificial. As the students engage in discussion the teacher could ask the students what they think the author of the text was trying to accomplish and how they could have accomplished it better. This kind of discussion can get creative juices flowing and encourage openmindedness.

Politics as Usual

This week I was able to watch the debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. It was informative and professional. It was a bit of an anticipated event for the nation because Palin had not done so well in television interviews and Biden was a well-known and experienced politician. I wasn't able to watch it live but I watched it online. It was interesting how I felt the tension between the candidates even though I was watching alone, online.

The debate went well and each candidate was extremely professional. Neither one attacked the other and they made sure to point out the ideas they respect about each other. They talked about issues currently worrying the American public. They talked about the war, economy, housing, and families. There were glimpses into each candidate's background as they spoke lovingly about their families. Over all, everything went smoothly and was well handled.

As I thought more about the debate itself and how it would affect me individually I started to see my opinions forming. As each candidate addressed issues about war, economy, and housing I asked myself what I wanted as a voter. I listened carefully to get more information on topics I was unfamiliar with. This debate wasn't just about seeing where the candidates stand but also figuring out where I stood. I was able to internalize the issues and figure out how I wanted life for my family to be as American citizens.

I think this can be a powerful teaching tool in the classroom. I think kids might get bored with watching a 90 minute debate but they could watch clips and analyze what the points are and how they are brought across. I think a class could engage in discussion about the positives and negatives of a sertain stance on certain issues. They could then go from there and decide which stance has more positive benifits. I think activities and discussions that engage students with political information can help them see the importance of being politically active. Students wouldn't have to make people agree with them or even vocalize their opinion. They just need to know the importance of voting. I think with each election it is more important for younger generations to be politically informed and vote.