Comm 403 Final

In our post modern, after enlightenment, viral video society every human being on earth is a character and has a role to play in the play we call life. Gender roles and gender identity has been cookie cutter in recent history but everyday individuals who do not orient themselves to the stereotypical male or female definitions are getting more opportunity to express themselves in ways previous generations could not believe. Media has had a major role in setting our expectations for a man and a woman.  

Men are here to act and women are here to appear is a simple thought but has subtle undertones that form the core of American culture. Men are defined by what they do, what their job is, and how they earn money. Women are defined by their appearance and their ability to attract men. A man impresses a women by spending money on them and a women impress a man by looking good is a formula that has been passed on generation after generation in our society.  Luckily we are in a time of super enlightenment and items like equal pay for men and women and equal employment opportunity are being discussed like never before.  Even subjects like birth control are being discussed in ways never thought of before. 

Semiotics was something i always knew but never thought about until this semester. The meaning of signals sent through a message is the essence of culture. How people communicate with each other has changed with advances in technology.  If we lived one thousand years ago would there be birds that flew carrying messages and if there was only privileged few would have access.

A women's appearance is her most powerful weapon if you believe the marketing campaigns of cosmetic suppliers.  Many companies emphasize looking younger and feed on older women's insecurities and pressure them into competition against models that have been photo shopped and transformed into these unattainable creatures.

A popular meme captures a male gaze and two different forms of female gaze. All three picture share the same age and ethnic category and even share similar styles in clothes and hair but the three gazes are completely different. The women in red is un bothered and enjoying life, every persons remedial self image question if you believe in that. The man is obviously impressed by the women in red and his gaze reflects that.  The women in blue is disgusted that the man is impressed by the women in red and her gaze is piercing his unaware ass.

How each sex sees themselves has a lot to do with how the media has integrated stereotypical gender roles.  Men are build up and personal appearance doesn't matter if you drive this care or if you smoke these cigs or drink this beer.  Marketers play to mens ego if being the alpha male dominant leader.  Women are told how they need to change their appearance or body type to look better.

These men look happily objectified for publicity standing in their underwear in front of an audience of women. Needless to say there would be a far different reaction to a women's soccer team standing topless in front of a room of male fans.  In this picture the women holding the microphone conducting the interview is in a position of power and is not showing any skin besides the calves and ankles.  The tight underwear on the men allow the women to see the men in the usual form fitting wear only worn by females.

 Men act like warriors and showcase bravery in the face of unsurmountable odds for love and honor.  The warrior takes the hunter gatherer male figure to the next level by adding protecting and conquering to the ever growing list of adjectives that describe man throughout history. The physical workout the actors preformed to transform their bodies into greek warriors was simple and effective. Anyone can do the exercises and see for themselves the results. Here is the link to the work out.
Link

Sports covers male and female differently and its difference is showcase in this picture.  The male is in his jersey in a non sexual pose and the headline portrays him having the power.  The woman's pose is highly sexually suggestive and her bath suit is drawing attention to her sexual organs in contrast to the man using his hands to cover up his sexual organs.  The headline next to the woman suggest a more playful and recreational visit compared to the mans words that highlight his personal business and playing career.

Gender roles start as simple as boys play with cars and girls play with dolls.  Boys are stoic and girls are emotional is another gender stereotype that has been passed down from most families from generation to generation. Sons act aster fathers act in most situations and daughters emulate their mothers.  Rebels are more prevalent now then ever before due to an increasing of acceptance and the decreasing of harassment that transpired in our recent history. Individuals who do not identify with the traditional gender roles have new found voice in politics and are starting to be treated as equal instead of how society used to look at a "transgender" person.

In the movie magic mike the tables are turned and the men are strippers and the women are the money spending patrons. This picture captures the moment of the men on stage with a crowd of women cheering and objectifying them.  The mens physical appearance and charisma are their meal tickets and they use them to pay their bills,  The role of being spoiled with money gifts is rarely played by men because society taught us that men impress women by spending money on them not the other way around.

This play male fantasy of being able to look and pick out the one that he wants objectifies women by giving the man all the control and partying women in a subservient piece of property role.  The skimpy attire and sexual poses of the women indicate that their appearance is their most important quality.  There is no information about what the women likes to do with her time or what is important to her, because those things are being taught that they are not important to women.  What is important is how they look and how pleasing it is to that male.

Individuals make up society and if enough individuals change their old fashioned views on gender roles and gender equality the world would be a better place.  Some of those old fashioned views like allowing a persons vote to only count three fifths of another vote based on the color of their skin.  There are still instances like gerrymandering for example where to corruption is so calculated that anyone against the system in place has little or no chance of making a difference. Sure you can make a movie about blowing up parliament or crippling the financial records of peoples debt but all out change is hard to come by unless you can rally and prey on peoples support like the Don.

semiotics

Assignment four Comm 403

The best way to get to know someone is to find out how they spend their time and who they spend their time with is an old adage that leaves out one glaring component, what does that person notice and how do they interpret the signals they receive from their surrounding.  An easy example of this are flags, the confederate flag has been under recent discussion in southern states in a way that has been previously unheard of.  Racial lines are the easiest drawn and most preyed upon by the media and by politicians to gain support.  The simple us and them approach never applied to me, being adopted I always looked different then my surroundings. I can remember little children pointing at me and asking their parents “what’s that?” 

To be an individual or to be part of a group is a question the faces every individual and in a multitude of weighs.  no two people are alike from their genetics to their upbringing. people often have similarities but no two people are identical one hundred percent. The benefits and detriments of being alone or in a group are hard to be measured and might be used as a crutch by the individual to take ownership of their life.  Personally I find myself always longing for what i do not have at the moment.  if i am at the house i wish i was out and if i am out i wish i was at the house.

Ideas or materials because unless you are a part of the one percent you can’t have both.  what is more important to someone is often shown by how that person spends their time and money. Volunteer at a church or play in a pool league there are many way to spend your time.  With online stores like amazon there is also a worldwide range of ways to spend your money as well.  Hobbies can turn into business when you spend your money on items that be sold later for more money and a cycle develops and is easily maintained as long as all parties have a source of income.

Naturalism verse constructivism the battle between the traditional art loving free spirits and the stereotypical engineers and chemist of the world.  How do you express yourself and what makes sense to you. Do you like to dance or do you like to solve equations. Very few people are both. I strive be be both, dying and tang, up and down.  It has always been important to be athletic and have “jock” qualities and it was important that i was a thespian and spent my time putting on shows with my friends. 

Voluntarism or Social determinism. Is it more important to volunteer to help ones poor in the society or volunteer to help the wealthy for political gain.  There are only twenty four hours in a day and since time is not infinite we must prioritize what to spend our time doing.  who we choose to help says a lot about ones character and that persons value system and what they prioritize. 

Moralism or in other words every individual moral compass and why their arrow points certain ways. the opposite of material equality where your say is based upon how much you have. Morality at its core says everyone is equal over the law.  Back in US history certain individuals were only deemed three gifts of a person in voting purposes because of the color of their skin. Morality wouldn’t be on our off forefathers side is this case it appears. 

The one thing that i have not taken into consideration is how much money the individual has a great bearing on how that individual interrupts signals in the world. How someone prioritizes money as well plays a big role in their interpretations.  Last night i just spent twelve hundred dollars on various video game systems and that left me with only three thousand dollars to my name.  Most people wouldn’t consider doing such a thing but since i believe in my ability to restore and sell those video games to earn back my money I can justify it is a self serving business if I can keep a couple of my favorites and sell the rest to make back. Video games are important to me so i choose to invest my money into it a higher proportion then other people would consider.

Genre

Narratives or stories fall into categories or genres that have been established in society for as long as cultures have been telling stories. I doubt when the first story tellers thought about it the way we do now but I’m pretty sure they could tell the difference in how some stories made their audience laugh and how other stories would make their listeners cry. Today with all of the education that has taken place over the last centuries we are lucky to have terms and definitions to antiquate everything in our lives. 

Comedies have been written since the days of Aristotle and have often been used to make the common people laugh and act as a counter balance to the atrocities being committed by their previous leaders. The ancient greeks like comedy so much historians have identified three separate stages of ancient greek comedy, Old, Middle, and New. The earliest film comedies were release during the same time as world war one and I have to think that is no coincidence. All that news of the war in Europe and I imagine there was a need for a distraction and stories have always provided the audience with an escape from reality. 

When people hear the word tragedy they often think of personal losses and of Shakespeare. Blame it on the educational system but through out a child’s mental growth of their high school years most english classes had a required reading of a lot of Shakespeare so most people are aware of his work. Tragedies capitalize on the audience ability to relate easily to human suffering.  Every single human knows the feelings of suffering on at lest a minuscule level and normally on a very personal intimate relationship with memories of personal suffering. 

One genre that is uniquely American is the Western.  Made famous by iconic actors like Clint Eastwood the Western allowed the viewer to transport themselves to a time where the law of the gun was prevalent. The cowboy is a character that many men probably dreamed about but the short life expectancy probably deterred most. The Western films allowed the viewer to live vicariously through the actors and let themselves into the world the director created. 

As much as Westerns and guns were for the men the romance genre was for the women. In the male dominated cultures the women often found themselves in the role of Eve from the biblical tale of Adam and Eve. omens role were inferior to mens and the story often depicts the woman as the reason for the problem the male has to fix. The romance genre allowed women to have an equal role to their male counterparts.  A story of a man and a woman who fall in love puts the characters on an equal platform. 

The story of Harry Potter is a recent story and crosses over many genres but its core it is a action adventure narrative with a good verse evil theme. Sure there are comedic moments and even some scenes with innocent romance as the characters got older but the story was far from a comedy or romance. Good verse evil action and adventure stories go back to the mythological greek gods of Aries and Zeus. These types of stories have been popular with audiences from the dawn of time because of the easily identifiable narrative structure that leads up to the climax where the audience is satisfied. 

Characters

Characters are essential puzzle pieces in all narratives.  “Picture this, we were both buck naked” is simple story with two characters from Shaggy song “it wasn’t me.” Shaggy message is clear and the picture he paints with his words of the two characters are unmistakable. I believe humans gravitate towards characters they can comprehend easily but viewers will be captivated by characters that are false heroes or false villains because they do not know how the character will act and it gives an added must tune in to see what their favorite character does next. Writers can manipulate the audience perception of characters in multitudes of ways by dictating the dialogue. Film directors can use lighting and camera angles to affect the audiences reception to characters. 

Harry Potter, the hero, the protagonist in an epic adventure of good verse evil.The audience in introduced to Harry when he is baby when a wizard named Voldemort kills Harry’s Parents in front of him. Harry life was saved by an heroic last act by Harry’s mother. Early in the story Harry leaves his home (where he has been abused by his aunt and uncle) (they forced him to live in a closet under the staircase when they had a spare bedroom) to go to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.   

Voldemort, the villain,  he was known as Tom Riddle when he went to Hogwarts. Voldemort is the literal representation of evil whose character gives the audience no need to pause to evaluate the morality of his cause.  There is not one re deeming quality or action in this villains character.  Not once did Voldemort help any character or show any positive characteristics.

       

Ronald Weasley  - helper, Harry’s best friend and classmate. Ron’s parents take kind to Harry and help him learn the ropes of the wizard world. Later in the story Harry weds Ron’s sister Ginny which further connects the bond. Like any friendship that spans over many years their relationship has its up and downs but their bond remains strong and is even tested by Voldemort when Voldemort tried to make Ron jealous of Harry.  At that moment the audience wondered if Ron would forsake Harry and the scene proved to be one of the most climactic in the series.  

Severus Snape, The False hero, or in the case the false villain.  Professor Snape was the leader of the sldytherian house at Hogwarts. The Slytherans were the rivals to the Griffindors (Harrys house). So a natural distain for each other occurred.  The audience did not find out until the end of the story that Snape had a history with Harrys parents and that circumstance led to one of a kind type relationship. Snape is instructed by Dumbledore to do the unthinkable but they know it is the only way to defeat Lord Voldemort so the plot has a twist at the end which makes the audience re think how they thought of Snape the entire story. 

To compartmentalize is a big part of modern day culture in today's super enlightened time we are all privileged to be a part of. Most characters fall into our sub conscience compartments we have divided amongst the different types of people we have encountered through out our lives. I find myself watching the same stories over and over because overtime you can find nuances with in each of the characters and a greater appreciation of the story occurs.  

Actantal Harry Potter

Harry Potter

Two words that have fueled the imagination of endless story readers and created a rabid fan base of consumers. 1,090,730 words, 3,363 pages, 199 chapters, and 7 books with one subject (Harry Potter) and his objective.  Harry's objective is to rid the world of the wizard who killed Harry's parents in front of him when he was a baby. The six steps of narrative development all are represented throughout the story.

1) Preparation - Harry leaves his home with his abusive Aunt and Uncle to go to Hogwarts school for wizards and witches.

2) Complication - Harry gets expelled from school for use of magic outside of school

3) Transference - Harry is tested in the trial wizard tournament 

4) Struggle - Harry duels Voldemort

5) Return - Harry return to Hogwarts to defeat Voldemort

6) Recognition - Harry sends his children to school in the safe world he provided

The movie trailers did a great job go showing the subject and his helpers and teased how he was going to complete his objective and introduced characters that the view wasn't sure if they were a helper or an opponent.

Trailer for all 8 movies ------->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1KPcXRMMo4

Algirdas Julien Greimas developed the theory of a story with a subject and an object gets sent and received.

Sender ------------------------------> Object ----------------------------> Receiver
JK Rowling                                    Harry verse Voldemort               Anyone who can read
Warner Bros                                      ^                                                 Anyone who can see a movie
David Yates                                       ^
                                                          ^
                                                          ^
                                                          ^
Helper -------------------------------> Subject --------------------------> Opponent
Order of the Phoenix                       Harry Potter                               Death eaters
Wand                                                                                                   Delores Umbridge
Helwig

Platform 9 and 3/4 is a scene that encapsulates the actantal theory.  In the scene you can see the helpers (Hargrid and Mrs Weasley) and the opponents (station worker)

#360 17

Field Production

Live sporting events are the most common form of field production.  The Super Bowl is one the most complex live sporting events with a plethora of cameras at the directors disposal.  ENG or electronic news gathers is the most popular form of un planned field productions like "Timmy fell down a well" breaking news stories.  ENG is the most flexible and uses Wifi to send a signal directly to the station who can edit the video at the station.

  

#360 18 and 19

post production

Non linear editing is selecting video and audio files and having a computer play them back in a specific sequence.  The advantage to NLE is that you can work on as many editing versions as you like without being committed to one. Capture is the process which your computer reads the codec (compression/decompression system).  Editors must remember the crucial link between audio and video.

editing functions and principles

Combining, shortening, correcting and building are the most common forms of editing.  Continuity editing establishes a visual flow from shot to shot in hopes to create seamless transitions. Light color and sound of the background is important to consider when piecing together different shots during post production. Complexity editing, flashbacks and flash forward for example have become used quite often. Montage is a popular editing technique that uses a series of rhythmic cuts to progress the story.