CSI:
Music is lively much like the people appearing in the first scene are
The Wallflowers! :)
Casino scene seems very,very realistic with noise level, crowd, lighting
Women compared to food
The tempo of the music really keeps up with the action of the opening act
Music stops, murder discovered
Slow, creepy music starts when "party stops" and detectives arrive
All pictures change quickly as images flash different words, characters, and colors
View from the car
Sound of traffic
People taking pictures on the side of the road
View of eyeball (up close)
Sound of wharped voice
Surveillance tape
Image of land (open) as we return from commercials
Like "victory" music at the end
After watching an episode of CSI: Las Vegas in class on Thursday, I have a new-found appreciation for the visual effects of such shows. It's amazing what kind of impact that light, sound, and takes after and before commercials can have on a viewer. It makes me realize that a lot of people do not understand what goes into making the visual appearance of a show what it is, especially a show like CSI. The visual aspects of each scene have such a large effect on the way that the viewer interprets what is going on, and what might happen next.
I noted several things as I watched this particular episode that I thought contributed to the overal visual effect of the show. The music throughout the entire episode almost always matched the action that was going on. For instance, when the episode begins the characters are in a club. The music is real happening and lively, much like the activity in the scene. Then, when the scene shifts to the characters in the crime lab, the music gets more melodramatic and low. This change in music helped me to put into perspective what was happening and follow the action more closely. The tempo of the music conveyed a sense of movement, too.
I've always noticed the lighting in CSI. Like we talked about on Thursday, one of the main colors that seems to help viewers identify with CSI is the neon green that is used. In other cases, the lighting in the club is real dark, whereas when the scene shifts to the crime lab, the colors are more fluorescent and bright. In some scenes the light even appears to glow, putting more emphasis on what it is that's glowing. At other times, the sun was shining when the characters were outdoors, or like when the scene from commercials started with a shot of the desert.
The way that the camera moved during each scene also caught my attention. I don't know much about camera movement, but from what I could tell, instead of moving the camera slowly from one person to another, the camera person shot one person's head and then switched completely to another person's head as the people were conversing. It was real quick movement, but it intensified the moment. Another example of camera movement was when the female investigator was sitting at the table, reading over something, and the scene opened with a news report on the television and then faded backwards into the woman sitting at her table. I thought that was neat because the camera never focuses on the television in the background, but merely zooms in on it, but then it focuses on the woman. Weird choice, but it was certainly effective. This idea goes along with the way that the camera zoomed in to the eyeball at one point.
Everything else that I noticed was relatively minor, but I noted each in the list above.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
What IS the big deal with television?
I've thought about this question a lot since we talked about it on Tuesday in class; What is the big deal with television? Some people seem to think that television is merely a form of entertainment, a tube that sits on the floor and releases a ton of invaluable information that make you laugh. I tend to disagree with this feeling, probably because I was raised during a time when the televsion was steering away from merely providing entertainment and towards incorporating education, reality, and even religion. Most of what I watch on television now is constructed in such a fashion that it is form of educational messaging. The history and discovery channels are two of my favorite channels, which we discussed in class. Reality televsion can be annoying at times, depending on what you're watching (I Love New York versus The Real World versus The Bachelor), but I tend to learn a lot from reality television, too. Plus, reality television actually gives people that are not necessarily actors from Hollywood a chance to debut their lives and talent in the form of a "show".
Television is also used for communication in the form of advertisements and commercials. Without these commericials, the television shows that air in between the commericials would not be a success. Sure, there is Ti-Vo and other mechanisms of blocking out the commericals, but the idea that people hate commericals and love the shows is two-fold. Some people might actualy enjoy watching the commericals, particurly ones like the commericals shown during the Super Bowl; they are funny, appealing, and often solicit a product or idea so that the viewer goes out and buys it or takes part in it. That seems pretty effective to me. I am not a Ti-Vo user, and sometimes I record shows to watch them later on, but I don't do this to avoid commercials, necessarily. I do this because it's convenient for me. I don't like all commercials, but I think the invention of commercials was absolutely genius of someone to think of. Without them, television really wouldn't be what it is today. I mean, imagine this: What would the USA channel, or even the TBS channel, be without the constant, repetitive commericals that come on between EVERY SINGLE SHOW soliciting what will be aired next, or what show will be on that night? It's so annoying but it's very effective. Even the small pop-up messages that spring up on the screen as you're watching your favorite episode of Friends is obnoxious, but you've to admit, it's effective advertising.
Television is also used for communication in the form of advertisements and commercials. Without these commericials, the television shows that air in between the commericials would not be a success. Sure, there is Ti-Vo and other mechanisms of blocking out the commericals, but the idea that people hate commericals and love the shows is two-fold. Some people might actualy enjoy watching the commericals, particurly ones like the commericals shown during the Super Bowl; they are funny, appealing, and often solicit a product or idea so that the viewer goes out and buys it or takes part in it. That seems pretty effective to me. I am not a Ti-Vo user, and sometimes I record shows to watch them later on, but I don't do this to avoid commercials, necessarily. I do this because it's convenient for me. I don't like all commercials, but I think the invention of commercials was absolutely genius of someone to think of. Without them, television really wouldn't be what it is today. I mean, imagine this: What would the USA channel, or even the TBS channel, be without the constant, repetitive commericals that come on between EVERY SINGLE SHOW soliciting what will be aired next, or what show will be on that night? It's so annoying but it's very effective. Even the small pop-up messages that spring up on the screen as you're watching your favorite episode of Friends is obnoxious, but you've to admit, it's effective advertising.
Progress Report, November 1
Public Relations Event:
Book Fundraiser for library at Providence Christian Academy
Overview:
Sharon and I did not have a chance to meet with each other this week due to our hectic schedules, so we did an email interview. We usually talk over email anyway, so it worked out perfectly and flowed smoothly for each of our schedules. Things are still moving along progressively, though, and with the tweaking of some scheduling plans and artistic designs, our project will be in full swing by Monday, October 29. Book collection has begun. We do have one “bump in the road”, though.
Work Completed:
We have each completed sketches for our t-shirt design so we have to pick one of these and submit it to the t-shirt company. We are still trying to design on an event name, which we hope we can ask the class about today. The flyer is still waiting on the event name, but a classified has been placed in The Tiger for our fundraiser so that students and faculty might make donations. That classified continues to run for the second week in a row.
Next Steps:
Our next step involves making an important decision. While I was working at The Tiger office last night, I learned that the Delta Zeta sorority sisters are doing a children’s book drive in honor and remembrance of their fallen sorority sister, Emily Yelton, who passed away in the beach house fire at Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. on Sunday. I think this might interfere with our project. If I had to guess, I’d say that most of the book donations are going to be made to Emily Yelton’s sorority; it makes more sense to do that, I agree. I am worried that we will not have a successful collection, so I’m now wondering what we should do. Should we change what we’re collecting, who we’re collecting it for, etc? This is something we need to talk to Professor H. about, and perhaps even our classmates.
Conclusion:
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but our main task is to decide what to do about the other book drive that has now come about. Even if we have to come up with another public relations event, I think it’s still possible to conduct and carry out a project with almost a full month left of classes. I will continue to worry, but hope that Professor H. has some suggestions.
Book Fundraiser for library at Providence Christian Academy
Overview:
Sharon and I did not have a chance to meet with each other this week due to our hectic schedules, so we did an email interview. We usually talk over email anyway, so it worked out perfectly and flowed smoothly for each of our schedules. Things are still moving along progressively, though, and with the tweaking of some scheduling plans and artistic designs, our project will be in full swing by Monday, October 29. Book collection has begun. We do have one “bump in the road”, though.
Work Completed:
We have each completed sketches for our t-shirt design so we have to pick one of these and submit it to the t-shirt company. We are still trying to design on an event name, which we hope we can ask the class about today. The flyer is still waiting on the event name, but a classified has been placed in The Tiger for our fundraiser so that students and faculty might make donations. That classified continues to run for the second week in a row.
Next Steps:
Our next step involves making an important decision. While I was working at The Tiger office last night, I learned that the Delta Zeta sorority sisters are doing a children’s book drive in honor and remembrance of their fallen sorority sister, Emily Yelton, who passed away in the beach house fire at Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. on Sunday. I think this might interfere with our project. If I had to guess, I’d say that most of the book donations are going to be made to Emily Yelton’s sorority; it makes more sense to do that, I agree. I am worried that we will not have a successful collection, so I’m now wondering what we should do. Should we change what we’re collecting, who we’re collecting it for, etc? This is something we need to talk to Professor H. about, and perhaps even our classmates.
Conclusion:
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but our main task is to decide what to do about the other book drive that has now come about. Even if we have to come up with another public relations event, I think it’s still possible to conduct and carry out a project with almost a full month left of classes. I will continue to worry, but hope that Professor H. has some suggestions.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Class Notes, October 30; TeLeViSiOn: What's the big deal?
What is so interesting about this medium of communication?
- Advertisements
- The way that we view things
- Becoming more interactive through things like reality television (American Idol), the news (polls), educational shows for children (Sesame Street), educational shows for adults (History Channel)
- Digital television helps to keep up with changing times (versus internet)
- Have ability to be flexible with On Demand, Recording, Ti-Vo (multi-model)
- Literacy (different types?)
1. Media
- Can use television for classrooms and teachers
Advertisements:
-Driving force behind television
-People want viewers to watch their show, so they pull in as much advertisement as they think is necessary to appeal to their viewers
-Seek to pull viewers into what is being advertised and get them to go out and obtain/use that product
-Has had a lot of years to develop
-Attention span of children
- How often do ad's premier? (Often become more frequent towards the end of a show)
-Cliffhanger's: commerical comes right before the pivotal part of the show and then when the show returns from the commerical break, all that's left is essentially the show credits
- Object: Don't lose viewers during the commercial breaks (unique characters?)
- Doesn't impose restrictions on shows; doesn't require the scale of time that a movie wants
-Lends itself to more casual entertainment, casual= viewer doesn't have to invest a whole lot of time
-Idea of rising action>conflict>downfall
-Sitcom: made for those situations where you just come home, sit down, and just veg out with something to laugh about
- Advertisements
- The way that we view things
- Becoming more interactive through things like reality television (American Idol), the news (polls), educational shows for children (Sesame Street), educational shows for adults (History Channel)
- Digital television helps to keep up with changing times (versus internet)
- Have ability to be flexible with On Demand, Recording, Ti-Vo (multi-model)
- Literacy (different types?)
1. Media
- Can use television for classrooms and teachers
Advertisements:
-Driving force behind television
-People want viewers to watch their show, so they pull in as much advertisement as they think is necessary to appeal to their viewers
-Seek to pull viewers into what is being advertised and get them to go out and obtain/use that product
-Has had a lot of years to develop
-Attention span of children
- How often do ad's premier? (Often become more frequent towards the end of a show)
-Cliffhanger's: commerical comes right before the pivotal part of the show and then when the show returns from the commerical break, all that's left is essentially the show credits
- Object: Don't lose viewers during the commercial breaks (unique characters?)
- Doesn't impose restrictions on shows; doesn't require the scale of time that a movie wants
-Lends itself to more casual entertainment, casual= viewer doesn't have to invest a whole lot of time
-Idea of rising action>conflict>downfall
-Sitcom: made for those situations where you just come home, sit down, and just veg out with something to laugh about
Pursuit : "Founding brothers: Kane, Corleone, and the American Dream"
As I was reading through Steve Erickson's article, I kept imagining several different actors who have played similar roles to those of Kane and Corleone, and even Welles and Coppola. I have not seen the Godfather movies in their entirety, but I know just enough about them to comprehend what Erickson's article is saying. The theme of this article, the pursuit of the American Dream ending in tragedy reminds me two films in particular. The first is a 1990 film called American Dream starring Jesse Jackson as himself and Ray Rogers as himself. Although the film was only 98 minutes long, the impact that it has on its viewers, particularly those who were alive during the Strike, was phenomenal. The Strike had a huge effect on the population, especially those that worked in the farming industry, and the outcome of the suffering that people went through was unimaginable. The film was able to put aside all "Hollywoodish" fluff and really, accurately portray the struggles that people endured- man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs society- in what was almost like live footage of the time of strife, itself.
In another film, the 2002 production of American Dreams is a more modern, "Hollywoodish" version directed by Daniel Attias and Bill D'Elia. The subject of the film is a family who deals with the American Dream during a time when this Dream was at its peak. The Pryor's deal with the push towards a cultural upheaval, and the film outlines their joys and pains in American throughout the 1960's and 1970's. Each family member is fighting their own battle: the parents, played by Gail O'Grady and Tom Verica, are learning to improve their relationship and jobs as parents, the two youngest children are dealing with normal more simple things that children pursue, the oldest brother JJ, played by Will Estes, is learning how to be different from his father, and the "middle child", Meg Pryor, played by actress Brittany Snow, dreams of being a dancer on "American Bandstand." The film suddenly becomes about her, amongst all of the other family members' problems. She deals with a boyfriend, a friend of a different race, and personal issues internally. The Pryor family copes with racism, feminism, adolescence, rock and roll, amongst their general family issues in an time when the Vietnam War is erupting.
Erickson's article made me think of each of these films and how a movie can personify social change, nostalgia, generation gaps, racial discriminations, physical struggle, strength of a family, and even peace. I had to watch American Dream in a class a few years ago, and although I have only seen parts of American Dreams, I know enough about it to recognize Meg Pryor as being a character like Al Pacino's was. I have always appreciated movies and short films for what they are and not what they are presented to be. I know that the talent of the actors should go without being overlooked, but the real reason that I watch most of the films that I do is not because of who is in them, necessarily, but rather to learn about what the film is based on. Sure, Al Pacino is a fascinating, highly renowned actor, but the Godfather movies are highly recognized for the content and basis of the films, not just the man who got the lead part. It is through short films and movies like the ones mentioned above that the general public, that did not live during the Strike, the Great Depression, or any other war era, learns what it was really like for the people who endured some of the greatest struggles in America's history. I think putting such great value on these movies places an even greater value on America's history, as a whole. Sure, books are available for people to read and learn about history mile markers throughout American history, but the fact of the matter is that some people aren't going to take the time to read these books, so why not put the words of the book into motion pictures. In doing so, these motion pictures can reflect the most positive and negative aspects of a particular culture through picture, sound, action, and drama.
In another film, the 2002 production of American Dreams is a more modern, "Hollywoodish" version directed by Daniel Attias and Bill D'Elia. The subject of the film is a family who deals with the American Dream during a time when this Dream was at its peak. The Pryor's deal with the push towards a cultural upheaval, and the film outlines their joys and pains in American throughout the 1960's and 1970's. Each family member is fighting their own battle: the parents, played by Gail O'Grady and Tom Verica, are learning to improve their relationship and jobs as parents, the two youngest children are dealing with normal more simple things that children pursue, the oldest brother JJ, played by Will Estes, is learning how to be different from his father, and the "middle child", Meg Pryor, played by actress Brittany Snow, dreams of being a dancer on "American Bandstand." The film suddenly becomes about her, amongst all of the other family members' problems. She deals with a boyfriend, a friend of a different race, and personal issues internally. The Pryor family copes with racism, feminism, adolescence, rock and roll, amongst their general family issues in an time when the Vietnam War is erupting.
Erickson's article made me think of each of these films and how a movie can personify social change, nostalgia, generation gaps, racial discriminations, physical struggle, strength of a family, and even peace. I had to watch American Dream in a class a few years ago, and although I have only seen parts of American Dreams, I know enough about it to recognize Meg Pryor as being a character like Al Pacino's was. I have always appreciated movies and short films for what they are and not what they are presented to be. I know that the talent of the actors should go without being overlooked, but the real reason that I watch most of the films that I do is not because of who is in them, necessarily, but rather to learn about what the film is based on. Sure, Al Pacino is a fascinating, highly renowned actor, but the Godfather movies are highly recognized for the content and basis of the films, not just the man who got the lead part. It is through short films and movies like the ones mentioned above that the general public, that did not live during the Strike, the Great Depression, or any other war era, learns what it was really like for the people who endured some of the greatest struggles in America's history. I think putting such great value on these movies places an even greater value on America's history, as a whole. Sure, books are available for people to read and learn about history mile markers throughout American history, but the fact of the matter is that some people aren't going to take the time to read these books, so why not put the words of the book into motion pictures. In doing so, these motion pictures can reflect the most positive and negative aspects of a particular culture through picture, sound, action, and drama.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
