10 imprints Electronic Media Writing has had on my media brain

This has been a great semester and I have learned may things about social media and electronic media writing!!! Here are ten things that I have learned along with a picture or video for each.

1. Using Twitter for connections, not gossip.

I've learned and realized in this class how to use twitter for more than another medium to talk to my friends and update them on what I'm doing. Ive made a few connection and am being followed by companies such as Discovery channel, American Sailing Association, Champlain things, and a few local non profits that I would enjoy to internship with. Using twitter in this class to create conversations using the hash tag is something I've really embraced in this class. Ive also used it for other projects and its worked really well! This class also motivated me to get a twitter application for my blackberry. Using twitter as more of an education conversation tool and for communications and less of a facebook status update is something that I really enjoy. Its been great to see the #CampChamp twitter community grow.

2. Blogging to stay connected, no more useless rants.

I've used blogs since high school but this semester I've branched out and created my own blog. I've learned how to embrace the use of pictures, words, and videos and apply it to my blog. The

use of blogging has changed in my mind since starting this class. I used to think blogs were annoying and a place where people just ranted about their lives. I've grown to appreciate blogs a lot more. This summer I will be living at a sleep away camp where I cant be in constant communication with my friends and family, so a blog makes the most sense for everyone to hear my stories! I have connected word press to my blackberry and can upload blogs, videos, audio recordings, and pictures! I like that I cant spend my time off during the day telling stories about working at the summer camp in Maine and my road trip through Colorado, Yellowstone, and the Bad Lands! Because of this class, I've learned how to be a better blogger.

3. Writing to create a set, new point of view.

My next revelation from this class has to do with writing. I learned in our book that writers have to think about the studio their movie, T.V. show, or commercial will be filmed it. They have to make sure that they plan for how the size and abilities of the studio will effect the quality of the shot and if they put the scene in a too extreme place for the studio, it will effect the quality of the film. I've always viewed things from a director, producer, editor stand point never a writers. For example in the picture I've posted they have created the outside lighting. If they didn't have the ability to do this, the writers might have to re thing the scene. This photo was found on PhotographersDirect but is no longer posted.

4. Making writing easier through technology, can everyone do it?

I know that I'm not a strong writer and I will never try to hide it. My skills fall in the editing and filming area. We learned about the different types of script writing and in the book I learned that there actually is software that can help you with it and make it easier to format. The programs allow you to draw several starboard frames and even give you an analysis of the screenplay that your writing, is so unreal. (Hilliard 66) I'm not sure how much this will actually make a script better but Its very interesting to think about. Will it soon be so easy even a baby can do it? I found the picture by searching and I thought it was very appropriate. I wish at Champlain we had the chance to actually use some of this software, maybe I would find out I'm not as bad of a writer as I thought, maybe even anyone can do it? What is going to be considered skill? Will a computer let anyone have the "skill" to write a script. It's a very interesting world writers are about to come across in the next few years.

5. Writing for news stations, always changing.

I've always thought about working for a news station. I like how you never know what type of a day you're in for. On page 136 Hilliard suggested that one of the most difficult jobs for a radio or T.V. righter might be having to select details and present them in a small length of time.

This video is a new story from CNN. The Iceland volcano eruption has created a need for a lot of stories. The smoke is stranding so many people that new stories are constantly coming out of it. This one (ironically about social media) is well done but its also done presented in two and a half minutes when I'm sure they had to cut a lot of things out. Its a really well done report and could easily fit in a short T.V. slot.

6.What is real news, fair news, fake news?

On page 157 Hilliard talks about fair news. He explains how news, in a perfect world would be fair, objective, and the facts would be facts, there would be less if no opinion. In the US there are currently 24 different news channels. Also non news channels such as MTV spend a good amount of time teach day reporting on "news". Of course most of these reports and channels spend all their time on gossip or people giving their opinions on the news. John Stewart on his show, The Daily Show even is able to poke fun at "news channels" such as-

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Fox News Panics
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

7. Writing to grab attention.

The next thing that was really emphasized in this course and the course book was catching the audiences attention. With a world that has so many pictures, writing, and other distracting things, the most important thing to do is capture the audience attention. Maybe the only thing that is more important is the ability to hold their attention. The audience is very easily distracted, and it is their opinion that either makes or breaks an ad, message, or what ever it is that you are trying to convey. For writers in the entertainment and media field it is their job to find a way that acts best to hold the target audience's attention. This picture is from the World Wildlife Funds' campaign to spread awareness of what is happening to animals and our environment. It is very effective because its a simple everyday picture turned shocking with the line "Don't buy exotic animal souvenirs". If the writers are not able to hold their audiences' attention, they need to find a new way fast, or find a new job because there is no point in trying to entertain or inform using the technique.

8. The change of electronic writing for fads.

Demographics control almost everything in the world of media. If there isnt someone or some group that writers, producers, or companies are trying to appeal to, there would be no point to produce products. There is a target audience for everything, T.V., shows, books, movies, songs, and sometimes (lately a lot of the time) a combination of these things. I find it interesting that one slight change can throw an entire T.V. channel or publishing company into a new direction and they will then create their own target audience. Recently there has been a lot more tv shows, movies, and books about vampires because of the Twilight craze. Just walking by book stores you can see entire sections dedicated to Vampire books. It opens up a new theme to writers to rapid fire produce new stories. The same thing happened after Harry Potter got popular, you could easily walk into a book store and pick up 10 books on different stories about witches and wizards. Of course none of these books were as good as Harry Potter and Twilight will never be more popular. Fan pictures such as the one I posted found on fanpop.com shows the fight between the two fads. But, these companies will keep trying and they will be able to convince pre-teens that these trends are what you need to know and love to be popular in their schools. Websites, tshirts, movies, books, its all a large part of companies wanting to become wealthy. But it does provide a lot of jobs for people who are screen writers, bloggers, and authors.

9. Simplifying vocabulary for understanding or hindering learning?

The only type of media that I could see myself working in other than documentary work and making movie trailers would be television. I love shows that make the audience think, stay engaged, and learn something new. Whether its a prime time political action show or a morning little kids show, I believe you can always learn something from a good show. In our course book there were five important things to remember when writing for television. Out of the five there is one that really stands out. It is the advice that writers must make sure you do not use too many big words. This is advice because some may be nervous that it might be a distraction from the main idea of the show! I feel like my entire time that I've been in school every teacher (not just English teachers) have told me that I need to use bigger, better, and more descriptive words to enhance my writing. Its annoying to think that producers and writers think that Americans can handle a more intelligent show. Also for shows where the target audience is children, should the use words that help them expand their vocabulary! I understand that if characters on shows spit out uncommon words left and right we might not be able to follow the show as well but at least let a few characters sound a bit more educational and love the wonderful world of a more broad vocabulary and embrace writing like the girl in my picture which I found on a blog.

10. No real need to trick the audience be honest and simple.

The last thing that I learned in this class really kept my hopes high was a little bit about commercials. In chapter four our book talked about good taste in commercials. It keeps my hopes up because it talked about how not every advertiser is trying to trick the audience into buying their products through sneaky ways.This picture from Dove is an example of a recently launched a campaign about how every woman and girl is beautiful and they dont need to be pushed around by the images they see in the media. Everyone has the right to be in a commercial because they are beautiful in their own way. These companies, producers, and writers use tasteful and educated techniques. They've learned that they do not need trick their target audience. The more honest and simple commercial is, the more effective it is. It is not hard for every writing company to use healthy respectable advertising, they might actually make more money by using it.

Thanks for yet another great semester Dr W!!!

~Laura

Sustain Champlain!!!

For my electronic media writing class myself and three other classmates and to make a 90 video of how to help sustain champlain... here is our video!

Another part of this assignment was to answer some questions and here they are-

1. What was the most difficult moment in making this video?

For me personally the most difficult thing was the team. I loved working with them all and getting to be friends but there wasnt really a drive or motivation that we all shared to get this project up off the ground. I know that I'm not a strong writer and I'm not good at creating concepts so I rely on other people to get the concept and then my strengths come in and I can branch out with new ideas and then my creative side comes out. It was hard to work with a group when I said "does any one have an ideas" we all sat in silence and I actually had to come up with the idea to do a simple day in the life of a Champlain student. We didnt even have a full concept until the day we started filming.

2. Other than finishing it, what was the most rewarding moment in making this video?

The most rewarding part was when it all came together. For myself I can pin point the exact moment. It was our fifth shot where Steph was riding the bike. I felt at that moment we had a good concept and we really were pushing the limit of cheesy old school "how to" movies. Also as a group we were no longer stressed and actually enjoying the project, it was great.

3. Discuss 3 specific lessons you learned about film production and/or "group process" in making this video.

The most important lesson that I learned while making this video has to go with group work. I really enjoy when I have a group that has a bunch of people I'm working with and no one has an idea, you have to really poke around and try to find something that works, and if no one speaks up and says they like it or not, you have to just run with it and make it work.

I learned you have to be prepared and have time to re-do anything multiple times. The first voice over didnt come out the way we wanted to later that night we had to find another person to do it. I learned to always have to plans because something might go wrong.

The third thing that I learned was its never a bad idea to finish early. My group finished a head of time and we were able to watch the movie in class. Then we go back and make the suggested changes and we'll get a better grade, it always pays to be early.

4. Discuss 3 specific things you learned about Champlain College and/or the "Sustain Champlain" project that you did not know before completing this project.

I learned that 8 out of 10 water bottles get thrown in the land fill in America! This shocked me so much and I'll never forget it and it inspired me to make sure I always recycle and reuse water bottles.

I realized that it might be easier to print out papers but its still a better idea to email documents and read it on screen.

Another thing that I learned about Champlain College is how much time and effort they put into making being green easy for their students. If you go through your day to day routine you realized your helping keep our community sustained with out even trying!

I really enjoyed this project because I love filming and editing. Also, being environmentally friendly is something that I take pride in and my dream job is to be a producer and editor for the Discovery Channel so this was a perfect project!

MEDIA MEDITATION#5 on Sailing

This will be a very interesting media meditation and I'm not exactly sure how it will work out. This summer I'm a sailing instructor and Camp Kippewa For Girls in Monmouth ME. Its a 2 month sleep away camp and when I went there for 7 years, it was the best thing ever. I'm excited to go back and teach sailing, but I haven't sailed since my sophomore year of high school, and mostly since my years at camp. Because of this I've started to use different media tools to review.

My first step in refreshing my memory was to set up google alerts for "Teaching Sailing", Sleep Away Camps", "Sailing", "Monmouth ME", and "Camp Kippewa". I would get bi-daily emails about these topics. The most useful ones were "Teaching Sailing" and "Sleep Away Camps". Of course I would get a lot of media clutter for websites like "Meet sailing singles" but I did get a good amount of useful information and tips on how to teach new sailers the basics. For myself the most useful thing was youtube videos such as this one.

It appealed to my limbic brain because I was able to see the images of sailing as apposed to the awful diagrams online. The voice of instructors telling me what should be done was a lot easier than reading page after page.

There was one blog that I really enjoy to follow is the American Sailing Association's blog http://asa.com/social_media. I think its great that they have a section of their webpage just for social media where they highlight their blog,youtube, facebook, and twitter! I also follow them on twitter@_ASA_. The ASA has been around for a long time and I'm sure they have had to make a lot of technological shifts, most recently twitter and their entire social media site. Everything is very well laid out and the pacing, lack of clutter, ownership, and value messages all come through very well. I would love to have a job where I could go around to companies and organizations revamping a section of their page and maybe even starting their social media. I dont learn the basic stuff on this section like how to teach kids to sail like I wanted to this summer. But i feel connected with the sailing community and really enjoy reading about all the things they have to say!

I've learned quiet a bit and also found great places online to order myself a new life jacket, rash guards, sunglasses, and everything else someone might need to be an awesome sailing instructor!

MEDIA MEDITATION#4 on Blackberry!

Lets start with a commercial so you can see what I got!

I absolutely LOVE my BlackBerry Tour from Verizon! I use to not see the unique advantages of them but now I really do! I used to think everyone following the trend and joining the bandwaggon of smart phones were wasting their money. I used multiple features every day so I figured the easiest way to explain the advantages is to give you a day in the life of my BlackBerry.

As I sleep my phone is turned off so I don't get phone calls and my phone has a great feature that if there is an alarm set it will turn its self on when the alarm needs to go off! What a great personal shift for myself, no more annoying alarm clock beeping and the wrong time or if the power goes off making me miss class! Now I wake up every day to a peaceful ringtone helping me start off right making my limbic brain very happy.

One of my most used applications is the best technology shift! Its Pandora radio on my phone! I choose my pre created station and I get great music! I'll listen to it when I walk to class, get ready in the morning, in the car, or when I'm doing my reading homework and don't want to have my computer open.

My old cell phone use to have good photos/videos but nothing to this quality! The pictures and recorded sound for movies both comes out so much more clear and beautiful making this phone have a great aesthetic shift! The second best thing about the pictures is I can email my mom right away. I can take a picture of something I want, email the picture to my mom, and she can find it online for a better price.

My individual meaning for this phone is connivence and an easier way to stay connected with my friends and family. My mom and dad know that when they send me an email that it shows up on my cell right away, and i have the tools to reply to the email right away. Especially if its an important email.

The commercials for this phone and other smart phones now have a much stronger emotional transfer for me because I can relate to everything they talk about. At first I was nervous about the reality construction because how could someone get so much out of a phone but now i get it.

One great connivence of this phone is blogging. I wish I could say that I did this blog from my phone but I cant. However, I have a personal blog which the host site has an application for phones! I can blog from ANYWHERE! My most recent post I was walking down to church st and decided my blog need an update! When I go on a road trip with my father this summer I can keep friends and family in the loop with a blog full of stories, links, photos and videos!

My friend and I were lost on the way back to Burlington VT from my aunts house in Southern New York and we used my cellphones GPS! These types of smart phones with all this technology is expected to normally sell to rich business people or celebrities when the reality is plain folks who are always on the run because of school or work need every day things!

(Blogger is currently having trouble uploading pictures to blogs, sorry for lack of pictures)

Electronic Media Writing Mid-term.

The best thing about this class is the use of technology. For todays blog I'll be posting my responses to the the second half of my spring 2010 mid term.

1. After studying media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned? Please be specific.

I've learned how similar different forms of media are and also how extremely different the production and writing style can be.

2. What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as 1. a critical reader, 2. a writer, and 3. a critical thinker in this class so far?

1. I'm dyslexic so I'm not a good reader but this is the most interesting class I have and I'm able to read more and retain more information than usual because I'm so intrigued by this topic.

2. I'm starting to realize how much I like writing and blogging. I now have my own blog on Word Press.

3. I've learned to be confident in my thinking and that I can have good ideas and strong opinons on media topics.

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

I would spend more time reading the book as well as read it more carefully. Also, I would talk more and volunteer more in this class.

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

I would have liked to know more about the final video product. I'm excited for it but it would be cool if we knew more about what was coming and who our groups would be. Also to introduce and use twitter sooner.

5. Please comment on the usefulness of the course blog, your personal blog, our films, and our book as learning tools.

I love using blogs in this class. It makes me feel always connected with the class. I also like that I can go back and correct my work after submitting it, and that I can always look back onto it. Blogs really help to keep the class organized. I really like the writing and format of the text book that we use, it makes it easier to blog about and remember. The videos are great and always will help me because I'm so much more of a video person. Also, not being a morning person I can pay attention to videos better at 930 rather than reading or listening.

Thanks so much for a great first half of the class Rob! This class never fails to disappoint.

MEDIA MEDITATION#3 on Tweet-A-Thon

Today I'll be writing about a different type of media. Not a news paper, or a book, or a movie, and not even really T.V. but a form of online media that is becoming a popular trend- Twitter. I have been involved in twitter for over a year now and LOVE IT! I try to update my followers with my tweets daily and talk about a lot of different things so I have a wide range of followers.

I'm also an active member of a mentoring program called DREAM and follow themon twitter. We decided to try to get our group of kids and mentors who work very hard on to The Ellen Degeneres Show (who also has a twitter). And since the day she found out about it shes been hooked on it...

We started to plot how we should go about doing this. Ellen got on the cover of O-magazine by hounding Oprah with tweets and talking about it constantly on her show. She also holds tweet contests and her show even created a hash tag #getonellen so they could find some people they want to bring onto the show.

Me and my friend decided this is how we would get on her show. We taught everyone in DREAM how to use twitter and had two weeks of constantly tweeting to Ellen! By the end of it she was following us! But it was more than just that, we used a lot of different techniques to make it work.

One of the first persuasive techniques we used was flattery. We sent Ellen tweets such as, "@TheEllenShow The DREAMkids could learn so much from a role-model like yourself. @DREAMprogram should #getonellen to change their lives"

Then we used so many other things such as rhetorical questions, nostalgia, and bandwagoning saying if George Bush can support DREAM we know Ellen can.

Those were just a few things used every now and then. A lot of the stuff we used was humor (2, 4, 6, 8 Who's the show thats making us wait...@TheEllenShow! DREAM loves you...can we #getonellen to inspire our mentees to DREAMbig), scientific evidence (@TheEllenShowDREAM is the only youth organization in VT that specializes in serving this rural lowincome family housing pop. #getonellen!!!), and plain folks by having over 20 mentors from Champlain College, and then office staff and friends/families tweet to Ellen! Of course I think the most important persuasive technique we used wasrepetition. One of the best things about twitter is you can "re-tweet" what other people are saying so the same message can be said many many times! We had everyone come up with their own and then re-tweet what other people were saying! There are some of my tweets that got re-tweeted over 20times!

One of our major strengths I believe was production techniques. First we created a site on tumblr- dreamonellen.tumblr.com so we could link tweets to that incase the DREAM website crashed. Also on here we had a lot of information on our specific point of tweeting. We also used a lot of pictures, videos from youtube, and statistics to draw her in even more. Before our first tweet-a-thon, we sent Ellen's show a box filled with DREAM stuff such as a t-shirt, letters and pictures from kids, flyers, a stick from DREAM's summer camp, stickers, and much more. We made sure not to only show Ellen our individual meaning though personal tweets and pictures, but also DREAM'svalue message and why DREAM as a mentoring program is so important and strong. Combining all these things made for a very easy and big emotional transfer. I loved really getting personal with who I hoped to be tweeting to, Ellen, and we really spent a lot of time asking her to let us tell our story on her show.

We never would have been able to do this with out technological shift! Between youtube, twitter, uploading pictures and videos, and so much more stuff, we were able to pull off a good event (even if Ellen hasnt gotten back to us yet). The ability for college student to be able to reach out to a celebrity and hope she receives our message is quickly becoming easier and easier.

We just started doing this but clearly got her attention because she is now following us. I'll keep my blog followers updated if she ever contacts us and brings us on her show! That will really be a great media experience then!

Mash Method- Teachers Fired!

Today in Rob Williams Class we worked on news reports. Here is one that I found interesting on cnn.com and chose to script-

HLN OPENING LOGO
Important news sounds

OPENING LOGO W/ FLYING WORDS
Jumbled voices collage

YOUR VIEWS' OPENING LOGO
Rock guitar riff

FADE MEDIUM SHOT: REPORTER-CHUCK ROBERTS
Guitar fades to silent
Roberts: Every teacher at ONE impoverished Rhode Island high school is fired. Gone. School board...

CLOSE UP: PROTESTS' SIGNS ZOOM OUT: CROWD
... voted this last night. The superintendent said something had to be done...

WALKING: PROTESTERS (CENTRAL FALLS, RHODE ISLAND FEBRUARY 23)
... because test scores and graduation rates are so pathetic.

ESTABLISHING: HIGH SCHOOL'S SIGN
The superintendent offered another option for teachers to provide extra tutoring.

WIDE: SCHOOL BUS
But they refused because it didn't come with extra pay.

CLOSE UP: TOP OF SCHOOL BUILDING (CENTRAL FALLS, RHODE ISLAND FEBRUARY 23)
The turn...

WIDE: PROTESTERS
...around plan...

CLOSE UP: PROTEST SIGN
...includes finding a new principal. Some teachers...

PAN RIGHT: CROWD
could be hired back. But is firing all of them, all mass, too drastic? Or a pretty good...
CLOSE UP: PROTESTS' SIGNS ZOOM OUT: CROWD
...resolution? We'd love to know what you think. And Michell Carey is...

SPLIT SCREEN: LEFT- ROBERTS RIGHT- MICHELLE CAREY
...providing comments. Manny of them arrived moments after we posted this on our facebook page.
Carey: Because it is that drastic of a move, Chuck. I mean we thought we had one topic picked in the morning meeting, we sortof talked about this and we switched gears right away...

FULL SCREEN WIDE: CAREY

Carey: ...because it grabs your attention. You're like "they did WHAT?" Ya, they fired every teacher.

For this practice assignment we only had to script the first minute of the news report and that is where it cuts off.

Observation on news story

My first observation is choosing what to say. The story could have been long and detailed with a lot of accounts of what happened from teachers, parents, and the school board. I would have liked to hear some of what people thought who got fired but it was such a short story they couldn't. I feel that they covered both sides of the story and other details well for such a short amount of time.

My second observation is how this was a fairly objective story. Most stories dealing with an issue like this might have opinions and be one sided. The report its self was not bias and showed points from both views meaning that its true news. However, after the one minute mark after I was done scripting they opened it up to opinions. This part of the report made it a lot less news worthy and was disappointing, I just want the facts!

My last observation is about the media its presented in. Having the visuals of the school building and teachers protesting and people watching the protesters brings a lot more emotion than just reading a story. But then again, once I've typed out all of his script its a few short sentences put together. Reading this script has a lot less power than hearing it spoken. If they wanted to post a written report of what happened they wouldnt be able to use this script, they would have to write an entire new story. I find it really interesting that not only is writing for the news different than TV, but depending on how the news is presented it has to be written differently.

MASH METHOD on the Snuggie!

In class today we got the opportunity to practice the Mash Method script writing on a thirty second commercial. I chose a Weezer Snuggie commercial here it is--


Here is the script for this commercial-

MEDIUM SHOT: WOMAN ON THE COUCH, COLOR TINT BLUE.
Voice over: You wanna keep warm when your feeling chilled.

JUMP TO WIDE SHOT: WOMAN ON TOUCH STRUGGLING TO COVER UP AND ANSWER THE PHONE, COLOR TINT BLUE.
Voice over: Blankets are okay but they can slip and slide. And when you need to reach for something your hands are trapped inside. Now there's the...

QUICK FADE: MAN ON COUCH, COVERED IN SNUGGIE, PUTTING IT ON, SHOW NAME "WEEZER" NORMAL COLOR.
Cheesy happy music.
Voice over: Weezer Snuggie! The blanket that has sleeves.
Captions with VO: "The blanket with sleeves!" with logo
Voice over: The Weezer Snuggie keeps you totally warm...
Captions with VO: "Keeps you warm..." with logo

JUMP CUT: MAN2 AND WOMAN2 IN KITCHEN HOLDING CUPS WHILE WEARING SNUGGIE. NORMAL COLOR.
Cheesy happy music cont.
Voice over: And gives you freedom to use your hands
Captions with VO: "Use your hands!" with logo

JUMP MEDIUM SHOT: TWO WEEZER MEN ON COUCH, PAN RIGHT TWO OTHER WEEZER MEN ON COUCH ALL USING CELL PHONES WHILE WEARING SNUGGIE- POPUP OF PRICE. PHONE NUMBER/LOGO ON BOTTOM. NORMAL COLOR.
Cheesy happy music cont. short fan fair with popup price.
Voice over: Call now and you'll get the ultra soft Weezer Snuggie for only 29.99.

CUT CLOSE UP: ON WEEZER CD. PHONE NUMBER/LOGO ON BOTTOM. NORMAL COLOR.
Cheesy happy music cont.
Voice over: And an added bonus, you'll also receive Raditude the brand new CD from Weezer...

CUT TO: WEEZER SNUGGIE PRICE/CONTACT INFORMATION, WEEZER SMILING IN CORNER. NORMAL COLOR.
Cheesy happy music cont.
Voice over: Both for only 29.99. Call now!

MEDIA MEDITATION#2 on Olympics 2010

First and foremost I would like to send my condolences to Nodar Kumaritashvili's family nd friends. The morning of the opening ceremony this 21 year old luger was taking a practice run nearing the end of the course when crashed and was thrown off the track. If you wish to read an article from CNN and view the video of this young man's crash feel free to click here. May Nodar Kumaritashvili rest in peace, he may not have competed in the Olympics but he still is a true Olympian in my eyes

WINTER OLYMPICS 2010

Every time I see these colors lined up next to each other I get chills. These are the colors and order of the rings in the Olympic flag. To me this flag is even more of a symbol of the world than the United Nations flag. Athletes from eve

ry country have a chance to represent their own country and compete in many many sports.

Tonight marks the night of the start of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics!!! (of course a few events have had their first rounds of competition)

I could easily blog every day about each event of the Olympics however, I would look at the opening ceremony and over all Olympics. The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in China blew so many people away and still to this day captivates my attention when I watch it on DVD. This year wasn't as amazing, mostly because Winter Olympics is a lot smaller, but it was very incredible.

(the mascots of the 2010 Olympics)

I'll be blogging as the ceremony takes place describing the 7 basic principles, what my brain is reacting to, persuading techniques, and the eight shifts.

It all started with a video of a snowboarder is riding down a mountain counting all the years and locations of past winter Olympics using the persuasive technique of nostalgia. This is a big technological shift. In some recent years they've used video but to have this video and then have that snowboarder come down a ramp as if he just came of the mountain is very cool, great timing, and something I'm sure we'll see a lot more at Olympics to come. The visual image of beautiful Canadian mountains made my lymbic brain go crazy. I felt a rush of emotions and wishes to be able to ski down that mountain and the music behind it was so motivating and held my attention. The boarder once in the arena jumped in the air and did a flip making my reptilian brain freak out hoping he doesn't fall and make me hold my breath!

Of course with all the new technology shifts there will be new amazing and ways to celebrate the opening of the Olympics and this year, technology failure was something that will always be remembered. Here is a video of the mess up for this year's Olympics--

One thing that I really like about the Olympics is there is little ownership. I've noticed a lot water bottles and other things that would have names on them covered up. Of course its impossible not to look up at the TV and notice the ownership that NBC has over the Olympics in the US. It makes me wonder what stations its on in other countries... Any answers for me? And of course every year the US Olympic team is sponsored. This year we're owned by polo.

The great thing about the Olympics is they announce everything in the host country's native language in English. This year it is in French and English. Making my Lymbic brain react to a language I use to know and making my neocortex work.

As technology keeps advancing we'll so a lot more technological shifts and new was to view the Olympics so even if your not there, it will feel like you are.

For viewers and athletes a like, the Olympics always has individual meaning. I'll never know what it feels like to win a medal, or even compete for one. Yet being able to watch people from all over the world compete is something very rare and I believe it to be a cultural shift because there is no other time the world comes together like this. Every two years at Summer and Winter Olympics is an amazing experience and something I'll always look forward to.

I'm so excited for these Olympics games but summer is the season I really enjoy more sports from. Since a child I have loved the Olympics and I'm sure that I will continue to love them for as long as I live.

Thanks for reading!!!
~Laura





(Myself and best friend Summer Olympics 2000)

MEDIA MEDITATION#1 on The Reality of Survivor!

Its Thirsty Thursday for most college students but for me, I'm thirsty for some blood!

Tonight is the season premier of Survivor's all starts episode- Heros vs Humans. They are bringing back all the best and "worst" tempered of past episodes! I cant help but find myself excited for Russell, Rupert, and Jerri who I'm sure all the drama of the season will be surrounded by. Then I'm really excited for my favorites Coach, Boston Rob and Randy all on the same island! I'm sure that because half of the people on this island are being called

"villains" they will actually live up to their villainous titles! They are basically getting paid and loved just because they have crazy bad attitudes and trick people just to get themselves more air time.

This season I'm cheering for Parvati Shallow!

(mostly because my best friend Becky is betting on her at work) she was on Survivor: Cook Islands that I remember watching in high school with my Sophomore year dorm parents! Then in 2008 she won the $1,000,000 from Survivor Micronesia! Now back in 2010 for this season and she is part of the Villains tribe! I have faith in this 27 year old! She might not win (I hope she does) but I have faith that she will go far.

Incase you don't watch this show or have an understanding of what it is about, check out these videos!

The first one of the trailers for this season for old Survivor fans you might recognize some faces and be forced to turn on your t.v. every Thursday night

The second one is from season one! its the introduction from the first episode that ended up starting an entire new genre of television!

But what is it about not just Survivor but reality shows in general that week by week new show by new show drag so many people all over the world in each night to watch?

How is it that a show that has 20 season STILL wins its Thursday time slot at 8p.m.? This reality show captivates the attention of people from ate 16-49 and has an active fan base.

Survivor basically was the gate way for Hollywood to start creating shows using real people that were just as engaging, cinematic, and dramatic as most scripted TV shows. They have most everything that scripted shows have such as, developed characters, rising action/conflict/climax, heros and villains, establishing shots, and even foreshadow producers/editors throw in.

Not all reality shows have the same design. Some are to find your true love, live in a house with a different group of people, or follow clues all over the world. However they all go under the name of "reality T.V." that constantly draws criticism.

How is it that reality TV captivates so many people attention, and makes them become obsessed with it?

I would say that it all starts in our brain. On Survivor they do their best to make the reptilian brain react. They show people starving, wanting shelter, and getting hurt. If it wasnt for the show forcing you to watch the human body being pushed to extremes and making the viewers at home gasp and hold their breath, the shows wouldn't be nearly as successful. The limbic brain feels emotion, and the fact that this is a "reality show" with "real" people, brings a new level of emotional attachment to what audiences are seeing on TV. Lastly, they appeal to the neocortext. The challenges they have on Survivor make viewers want to get on the show and imagine what they would do for challenges and for surviving on the show.

Heres a clip that really takes advantage of the brain.

The dramatic music played draws the limbic brain and then when they start to make him feel better, its every things okay hospital music. Because you know this is a real human and you see his friends' reactions, your reptilian brain and neocortext react. You want to rush in and help him, or fear he might really be hurt. Once you over come that, you start thinking about what might have happened.

One of the biggest shifts for Survivor over the years is the Technological shift. Now if someone wants to watch an episode but not watch it live when its on T.V, they can watch it online. Also, to keep the audience's attention during the week, they have a technological shift where viewers can watch "secret scenes" online. They are basically just extended interviews they didn't have time for in their weekly show.

The most obvious of the seven basic principles that relates to Survivor is the reality construction. No one other than the "players" and crew on Survivor know what is reality, what is instigated situations, what is edited to make things appeal a certain way, and what is completely made up. That also leads to production techniques. The way that things are shot make them look so much more dramatic then they may be. Also, the way that this show and other reality shows are edited make things appear very different than they might be when the show is filming. Lastly, the most important principle that producers want is emotional transfer. If they cant get the audience always engaged with some of their emotion whether it is laughing, crying, or being scared then they are not doing their job.

The most obvious persuasive technique used my reality shows is plain folks. They take "average" people and put them in extreme situations. However, most of the time they aren't plain folks.

Most of the people on reality shows are beautiful people.

Survivor doesnt always follow this, but because most of the time the people are in bathing suits, they most defiantly try to have a good handful of beautiful people on their exotic beaches. Two of the girls from one of the season ended up being on the cover of Play Boy when they were done proving that Survivor uses beautiful

people and not so much of plain folks. And of course after the show, several of these "plain folks" who were brought onto the show become famous celebrities. If you know the basic theme and order to Survivor, you can jump into any season and understand the order of things because of repetition. They have certain things in each season such as tribal counsel, immunity challenges that the audiences knows as standard things and its what the shows format is, with out it, everyone watching would be confused.

These are just a few things that show what Survivor and reality shows can do.

Now matter how many people make fun of me for loving the show Survivor or give me grief about it, I'm going to keep watching it. Its a good thing to watch when I want to rest my mind on a Thursday night instead of going out with my friends and drinking on Thirsty Thursday.

Fabulous February

Each month I will be blogging about three media experience that I have during that month... I hope to do one TV event, one new movie, and one other media experience.

This month they all happen to fall on the same weekend!!!

1. TV show of the month: Survivor Heros vs Villains Season 20 Premier- Thursday February 11

2. 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony- Friday February 12

3. Movie of the month: Valentines Day- Viewing it on Sunday February 14

I hope that you enjoy them, it should be good!