Mass Media Class

For this class I would have liked to do more things like making videos. Videos are a form of mass media, and in order to make the video we had to learn all the camera angles. Making videos was fun and we learned from doing it. One thing I did not enjoy about Mass Media was all of the work we did in the book. We had to read almost a whole chapter in between each class period and take notes, which is an extreme amount of work. I liked it better when we read in class and discussed it together. I understood the material better then because I wasn't reading it just to say I read it. I also don't like blogging. I don't like how everyone can read what I say. I prefer the traditional journaling. I did find all the information we learned about how to take pictures and videos useful. I will use that in the future when I take pictures and videos. This class did open my eyes to how big of a role mass media plays on my life. I had never thought of how what a news source informs on affects what I think. For example, People writing an article on Justin Bieber could encourage people's obsession with celebrities. One thing you could have done differently is, like I mentioned before, do less from the book. I liked more of the hands-on activities.

Our Commercial

I was surprised at how much work went in to a video that was only supposed to be 45 seconds long (in our case it was 90 seconds). Planning the video is probably what took the longest. We had to think about what angle we wanted to shoot each clip because each angle means something different. Although, the hardest thing was trying to get the video to look good. We definitely lacked the right equipment to make this video, and it does show. We tried to make it look more professional, but it was difficult. However, I did enjoy making this video. It was fun.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

The last movie I watched was Paul Blart: Mall Cop, directed by Steve Carr. This action/comedy movie features Kevin James, Keir O' Donnell, and Jayma Mays, and takes place in a shopping mall. It begins by showing the life of a mall security guard, Paul Blart (Kevin James), who is kind of a social outcast, but does have a daughter he had with a Mexican who needed a green card. Blart has a crush on a vendor in the mall, Amy Anderson (Jayma Mays), but she seems way out of his league. The shopping mall gets a new security guard, Veck Simms (Keir O'Donnell) whom Blart is in charge of showing the ropes to. In a turn of events, the usually boring mall gets robbed by Veck and his associates. Veck takes hostages, including Amy, Blart's daughter, and Amy's boyfriend. The movie ends with under-appreciated Blart saving the hostages and getting the girl against all odds. Overall, I think this movie was good. The way the film was shot was creative and gave a comical view to the serious things happening in the movie. The script was well-written with little details that were hilarious. Kevin James played the part of Paul Blart perfectly. With his segway, there was no doubt in my mind that James was a socially awkward mall cop. I definitely recommend this movie to others.

Movie Theater or Home Movie?

If I had to choose between watching a movie at home or in a theater, I would choose to watch it at home. It is considerably cheaper at home, and you have so much more freedom while watching a movie at home. For example, if you wanted to wear your pajamas to a movie at your house you could. Also, in your own home you can pause the movie whenever you want. However, I do enjoy going to movie theaters every once in a while because it is a change in scenery, and you usually go to movie theaters if you want to be with friends. So, that makes movie theaters enjoyable, too.

Most Memorable Moment in Movies

One of the most memorable moments I have seen in a movie was when Rafiki held up Simba on Pride Rock. This happened in the movie Lion King. This moment is so memorable because it shows the future leader of the pride. It is also important because it is an innocent cub who has so much power on top of Pride Rock. In this shot of the movie, the camera is below Simba and Rafiki, so that makes them seem so much more important.

Carmike Cinema

I think all of the subliminal advertising in that video was smart. It gets people thinking about food, which probably makes them want to buy the food in the video. The subliminal advertising shows our consumer culture. Our culture uses every opportunity to advertise. There wasn't a need to advertise the food in that situation. They could have just shown the movie, but they didn't. They inserted the part about the food and drinks because they wanted people to buy it, which shows the consumerism.

All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses

Of the first 25 on this list, I saw only one in theaters. Although, I did see a lot of them out of theaters. I just don't go to the theaters very often. I think a lot of these movies are in the top 25 because of the popularity of them before they came out. For example, The Avengers was probably famous because a lot of the characters in that movie had movies about them before, so the people that liked the first ones wanted to see the new one. Also, I think a lot of the movies did so well because they were so different from previous movies. Avatar is an example of this. That movie was one of the first 3D movies, and its content is so different. I think the differences between the top 25 and other movies is what appeals to moviegoers, like how Avatar was offered in 3D.

Movies

The type of movies I watch most often varies, but type I watch the most is probably action movies. They are entertaining and very rarely dull. When I am feeling adventurous or when Courtney convinces me, I watch romance movies. They normally don't interest me, but I can sit through them if I'm with other people. One romance movie I recently watched was The Vow. Courtney, Parker, Quinn, and I were hanging out and Courtney really wanted to watch that movie. Since we were at her house, we all agreed to watch it. It wasn't too bad, but it wouldn't have been my first choice. It was a little corny and predictable, but Channing Tatum was in it. So, that made it a pleasure to watch.

Chapters in Mass Media Book

None of the chapters interest me so much. Although, since I'm going to choose one, chapter six looks the most interesting out of the other choices. Chapter six is called "Movies and the Impact of Images". This sounds kind of interesting because I would like to know how pictures affect people. I would like to know how to take pictures with impact. Also, I think it would be interesting to learn a little bit about the history of movies. But, since I am impatient and want to know about movies now I looked up the history of movies. Here is a link to the website that explained it to me.

Music's Influence

Music influences media mainly through the way it is produced and recorded. Without music, we wouldn't have the many music related technologies we do today, like CDs. Also, music encouraged the creation of recordings, which are an important part of media. Another way music influences media is by deciding what is popular in different forms of media. For example, when one song is popular, many media outlets play that song or make references to the song. 
Not only does music influence media, it also influences me. Music can have an effect on my mood. If I'm in a bad mood, I listen to a cheerful song, and I feel less crabby. Music can also entertain me, which is probably its main purpose.

10 Good Songs

The Song That Doesn't End by the cast of Lamb Chops. This song is just catchy. It also brings back memories from my childhood, which is always good.
The Duck Song by Unknown. Possibly forrestfire101. This song is also extremely catchy. It is also very comical, so I enjoy it.
That's So Raven Theme Song by Raven Symone. The theme song reminds me of the show, which I liked, so that makes me enjoy the song. Plus, just listen to the song. Then you'll get it.
Ain't Nobody Got Time for That (Autotune Remix) by Sweet Brown. This song just sounds so cool. And, it's from an actual newscast, so that originality makes it that much more awesome.
Notion by Kings of Leon. This song is just never played, which makes it good.
Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye. This song is also very rarely played. I just recently learned of its existence.
Out of Your Mind by Lil' Jon ft. LMFAO. I like this song because Megan Good likes it so much.
The Spins by Mac Miller. I like this song because Parker dances so well to this song.
I Knew You Were Trouble (Goat Edition) by Taylor Swift and a goat. The creativity of this song is just amazing. It is impossible to not like it.
Friday by Rebecca Black. This song is just a classic. Almost everyone has heard of this song, and I'm sure everyone loves it.

Final Four

The assignment for this journal is to decide who is going to win based on the teams in Final Four's jerseys. The team I would choose to win based purely on jerseys is Syracuse. Their jerseys are orange, which is my favorite color. Although, Michigan's yellow jerseys are pretty cool, too. This prompt really does work well for me because I know very little about the four teams, so I can be unbiased in my judgment of their jerseys. If you are interested in learning more about Syracuse, here is a website with articles about them.

Minnesota woman to pay $220,000 fine for 24 illegally downloaded songs

My first reaction to the title "Minnesota Woman to Pay $220,000 Fine for 24 Illegally Downloaded Songs" was that the punishment seems a little bit harsh. After reading the article, I realized it does talk about the Thomas-Rasset case, but it also talks about different possible solutions to the illegally downloading problem. One solution the article suggests is that Internet service providers would send reminders to people to tell them that they know the people are downloading illegally. If the people don't listen, then the service provider would have the ability to cut off the person's Internet. I don't know if that is the best solution, but it does make sense to me. If someone knew that others knew about what they were doing, they would be more likely to stop.

Trip to Washington, D.C.

During my trip to D.C., I learned quite a bit. I learned that I knew very little about how our nation works. There were many things I learned about that I didn't even knew were done. One of these things I learned is all of the security features that are in our money. It is crazy how much thought is put into the design of each bill. I also learned how secured every place is. In almost every place we went to our bags had to be checked, and we had to go through a metal detector. Although, all of that was worth it when you got to see the impressive looking buildings on the inside rather than just admiring the outside. Another thing about Washington that amazed me was the design of the city. The layout of the city was so well-thought out. Even the markings on the roads were done just right. I can't imagine all the thought it took to design D.C. Overall, I am glad I went to Washington, D.C.

Social Media or Mass Media?

The article we were assigned to read, Goodbye social media... welcome back mass-media, says that our social media sites are starting to turn into a form of mass media. People are starting to simply "retweet" or "share" things rather than coming up with their own news. I don't think this is true with me. People do retweet and share things, but they mostly come up with their own things. I still think it is social media, not mass media. Although, I can understand how that article would say that. Social media sites are getting more controlled by bigger companies. But, I still think social media sites are mainly for social media.

Article in NY Times

There is an article in the NY Times called 10 Ways to Talk to Students About Sensitive Issues in the News . It offers some helpful ways to talk about news in the classroom. One of the things it says to do is to create a safe and supportive tone in the classroom. I think this is a very important thing to do. If students feel like they will get ridiculed, they will not share their opinions in class. Discussion is an important part of class. So without it, class wouldn't be very productive. That's why creating a safe and supportive tone in the classroom is so important.

Free-Write

For this free-write I'll write about track. I am pretty sure I am going to go out for track this year. We probably would have started practice already, but we still don't have a coach (if you would like to apply contact one of these people.) I have no idea who it will be. Although, it would be helpful to know because we should be starting practice soon. I have such a love/hate relationship with track. Sometimes I enjoy track, mostly because you can just chat with people. But, mostly I complain about track. During practice I complain about how much we have to run. During meets I complain about how stressed I am about running. You wouldn't guess I like track because of how much I complain about it, but it does have its good qualities along with its bad ones.

Free-write

For my free-write I am going to blog about Boys' Class B State Basketball. It was just last weekend, and I attended it. It was the first time I had been to State Basketball since 2008. Having our LaMoure team there was pretty exciting. Even though we lost two games, we won against Dickinson Trinity who had already beat the number one ranked team in the state. When there wasn't a game going on, I was either eating, shopping, attending my basketball practices, or just chilling at the hotel. I enjoyed the break from school for State Basketball.

The Future of the Internet

The Internet is going to keep changing, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively. One thing about the Internet I look forward to changing is the speed of it. Our Mass Media book talks about how with things like the National Broadband Plan are trying to make it so 100 million U.S. homes have affordable access to download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second in the next decade. One thing about the Internet that I do not look forward to changing is the commercialization of it. It has already started being commercialized, but it is probably going to get a lot worse. Companies try to control the Internet. They also try to advertise on everything. Some even know what you do on the Internet in order to format their advertisements according to your activities. I don't agree with that.

Bias in Basketball Articles

Loboes Top Mustangs for State Berth: This article seems to favor the Loboes. There were mainly only quotes from LaMoure people. The target audience is probably LaMoure fans or players because it offers information primarily about LaMoure. There are some statistics and one quote for South Border, but that is minimal compared to how many there are for LaMoure.
Mustangs, Loboes Meet for Trip to State: This article seems to be more neutral than the first article. There is one quotation from Darren Thielges and none from South Border's coach, but the article also talks about how South Border has the advantage with their height. The article lists good and bad things about both teams.
Loboes, Lions Advance: This article favors LaMoure and Linton rather than Kidder County and E-K-M. Although, looking at the title, you should expect that. Between the Lions and the Loboes though, the article seems to favor the Loboes. There is much more writing about the LaMoure game than the Linton game. Also, the author compliments Anthony, calling him a "work horse", but the author does not say much about the Linton players.
No. 3 Trinity Upsets No. 1 Beulah for Region 7 Championship: This article seems to favor Dickinson Trinity. There are more quotes from the Trinity side than the Beulah side. Also, the article says mainly good things about Dickinson, while it says mainly bad things about Beulah, probably because it is from the Dickinson Press.
No. 1 Beulah Faces No. 3 Trinity for Region 7 Championship: This article seems to be more neutral. It talks about both teams pretty evenly. There are quotes from both Dickinson Trinity and Beulah. It says good and bad things about both teams.