Evaluation

RTF 305 was my first experience with making my own blog; however, it has inspired me to make another one for my Christmas wishlist.  Blogs are a great way communicate your thoughts, or in my case what I would like my extended family to but for me.  I think making a blog for class was a beneficial practice because it was a unique and creative medium to do a weekly writing assignment, user and grader friendly, and more environmentally conscious.  I did not encounter very many difficulties, except I found myself spending more time on the layout design or my music player, than on the actual assignments.  It took me a few days to get used to the system, but I think most people would be able to operate Blogger without complications.  I enjoyed the posts where we provided our own examples from TV or movies along with concepts learned in class, over discussing only theories of media, like blog posts six and eight.  I entered UT undeclared in UGS and RTF 305 is my favorite class this semester.  It has made me interested in a RTF major and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in any aspect of the media.  I think the blogging experience could have been improved if we were assigned to add more multimedia to our pages.  Blogger has many features that I would have liked to learn to use and I think could have been valuable and interesting to take fuller advantage of the system. 

Yes, you can use my blog in a paper or report. 

Globalization of Media

          Since the Golden Age of Hollywood, the United States has dominated the film industry; however, recently the international community has broken into the mainstream through globalization.  Nations, cultures, and people have become increasingly interconnected, especially with the acceleration of technology.  As the ability to create media becomes easier and more inexpensive, production has moved out of the U.S. and into countries across the globe. 

                                                     Disney International

Even though a large part of the media has become globalized, cultural imperialism still exists.  The United States remains the empire of films, television, and music.  Today only a few major media conglomerates dominate most outlets, and have also branched out occupying some international media companies.  The Disney Company is one of the largest conglomerates in the world, and has spread its claim across the world.  Being a cultural imperial power, Disney has created Disneylands in the U.S., Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, with plans to continue expansion.  By building amusements parks in many different countries, it continues to promote their movies, TV programs, and merchandise, and further instills the “brand” of Disney to consumers.  As time goes on, media will continue to become more globalized and companies will be forced to grow internationally or perish. 

The Power of Light Blue

          Who wouldn’t want to be on a yacht in the Mediterranean with a beautiful man or woman?  Dolce & Gabbana’s new commercial for their Light Blue fragrance offers just that.  The ad features a toned and tan couple kissing for almost the entire 30 seconds, while floating in a boat in the ocean.  The backdrop is absolutely picture perfect, but the main appeal of the commercial is without question sex.

                                                                                                                        Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue

The advertisement is rather shocking, but grabs the audience’s attention.  The attractive couple exudes sexual appeal, and anyone watching the Dolce & Gabbana commercial wants to be the man or woman, or be with them.  The fragrance is not mentioned or shown at all, except for the last 5 seconds when an Italian-accented man says “Dolce & Gabbana, Light Blue.”  The advertisement is also very aesthetically pleasing with soothing colors from the beautiful blue oceans and the white cliffs and boat.  Throughout the spot, there is a slow, Italian song playing adding to the romantic and dreamlike boat trip.  The commercial is a break from the often overwhelming and loud advertisements, and is very powerful in its simplicity and sensuality.   

Catch the Plot If You Can

          Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Catch Me If You Can directed by Steven Spielberg documents the life of Frank Abagnale Jr. as a teenage con artist.  By forging checks as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer, Abagnale collects millions of dollars until he is finally caught by Detective Carl Hanratty, played by Tom Hanks.  Catch Me If You Can is a critically acclaimed blockbuster of 2002 that follows the Hollywood 3-act structure. 

                                                                                                                                  Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can does not conform to a traditional linear plot, rather jumping back and forth between parts of Frank Abagnale’s life, but can be broken up into 3 acts.  The first 28 minutes shows his turbulent childhood with loss of their family’s money and his parent’s divorce, as well as his incarceration years later.  The first plot point is Abagnale at seventeen running away from home, without knowing where he will live or make money.  The next 73 minutes explains Abagnale’s journey posing as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer, with the stakes raising at every venture.  He creates counterfeit checks for thousands of dollars and fake degrees to further his “career.”  After every new job, Hanratty gets a little closer to Abagnale, until the second plot point when Abagnale must leave the country to barely escape the detective at his own engagement party.  The next 39 minutes lead up to the climax when Dectective Hanratty finally tracks down Abagnale in France and must arrest him.  The remaining 28 minutes shows the resolution of Abagnale’s fraud scheme with a twelve-year jail sentence and his release requiring him to assist Hanratty busting other swindlers.  Catch Me If You Can obeys Hollywood’s 3-act structure following Frank Abagnale’s rise and fall as a “successful” bank fraud, and ultimately concluding with a happy ending of Abagnale starting a family, becoming an affluent businessman, and remaining friends with Carl Hanratty. 

How I Know It's a Sitcom

          Sitcoms are one of the earliest forms of television programming, and continue to be the most popular today.  They are defined typically as funny, half-hour programs, with limited amounts of character or plot growth.  Sitcoms tend to have simpler story lines and the characters often find themselves stuck in ridiculous predicaments, but always are resolved by the end of the episode.  While the characters do not have problems that carry over into more than one episode, there is often one larger theme around them.    

                                                                                                                             How I Met Your Mother

          One of my favorite aspects of sitcoms is being able to watch an episode from any season and being able to follow the plot line and not have missed any information from previous episodes.  One of my regular TV shows is “How I Met Your Mother,” a classic example of 30-minute sitcom.   It follows the dating life of Ted Mosby and his four friends in New York City.  While there is some minor character development with Lily and Marshall’s marriage and all of their relationship and career changes, for the most part they are static characters.  The main theme is Ted’s desire to get married and have a family, and the show begins every episode with Ted narrating the plot to his future children.  

Shots of The Dark Knight

          The Dark Night directed by Christopher Nolan, stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Heath Ledger as the Joker along with Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes.  The movie was critically acclaimed and awarded two Oscars, but also has a very defined film language similar to many films.  

                                                                                                                                        The Dark Knight

When first being introduced to Bruce Wayne outside of Batman, the audience follows his butler Alfred to Wayne’s underground lab and the first shot of Wayne is a long shot.  It is very zoomed out and all we can see is Wayne working at his desk surrounded by the “Batmobile” and other machines and firearms.  This orientation shot emphasizes how lonely Wayne and Batman are, and how isolated from the rest of world, spending the whole night alone in his secret workshop.  As Alfred approaches they begin discussing the Joker’s actions and Harvey Dent as new district attorney.  The medium shot reveals information about Alfred and Wayne’s relationship and more about Dent and the current turmoil facing Gotham.  Alfred then asks Wayne about his relationship between Dent and Wayne’s best friend Rachel, whom he has feelings for.  The camera zooms in on Wayne’s face as he pretends to not care about who Rachel dates.  Wayne’s emotions are the focus of the shot and how he wishes Rachel and him could be together.  The Dark Knight utilizes many different shot angles and progression to show the characters’ personalities and their relationships, and breaking them down as an audience tells us the director’s true vision.  

The Golden Age of Hollywood

Hollywood’s “Golden Age” from the 1920s to the 1940s is one of the most infamous periods of all time.  Studios were able to create a desirable and aesthetic product while using industrial and assemble-line techniques.  Through vertical integration, Hollywood studios like MGM, Paramount, 20^th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and RKO, also known as the “Big Five,” were able to control every step of the process of making movies from production, distribution, and exhibition.  Studios had all writers, directors, and actors under contract and shot all scenes on their studio sets, making production faster and cheaper.  Studios also owned their own movie theaters where their movie could be screened, often for an entire year. 

                                                      Casablanca, Meet Me in St. Louis, Citizen Kane & Gone With the Wind

From vertical integration, Hollywood studios turned into money machines and limited the types of genres they created, often to one.  Warner Bros. became known for detective and gangster pictures and with Humphrey Bogart under contract, made Bogart synonymous with crime-thriller movies.  MGM also narrowed their genres to musicals with actors like Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.  Actors in staples would often make up to four movies a year and paid a yearly income, compared to today where actors make millions of dollars for one few every few years. 

             While for the most part house-style studios have disappeared, some aspects still remain today.  Many actors are often type cast into characters or genres of movies.  Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are slap stick comedians, and Sylvester Stalone and Jason Statham are action heroes, and are often linked to the same studio or director.  Hollywood’s Classical Era may be over, but heads of studios continue to reinvent the industry hoping to make the same impact as the “Golden Age.” 

Traditional vs. Modern Family

          While television programming as evolved greatly over the last 50 years, the traditional family-based TV situation comedy still remains relevant.  “All in the Family” of the 1970s and “Modern Family” of today reflect many attitudes and feelings of their times.  Both TV shows share the basic foundation of a family, with a patriarchal bringing them all together.  Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker in “All in the Family” and Ed O’Neil as Jay Pritchett in Modern Family” share similar views of traditional family values and hesitant of change.  Both characters have experiences of friends and family opening up as gay individuals, and neither is completely comfortable with the situation, but do their best. 

                                                                                               "All in the Family" and "Modern Family" Cast

“All in the Family” fails to go in depth into the topic, as homosexuality was still taboo for the 1970s; Archie Bunker is very crude and offensive in his beliefs, even after learning his friend is gay, while the rest of his family is accepting.  “Modern Family” on the other hand, depicts a gay couple who adopt a child and face many obstacles even in 2010.  Jay Pritchett is father to Mitchell and continues to come to terms with his son’s sexuality, but loves him nonetheless.  “Modern Family” portrays a more realistic representation of a gay couple and opens the door for more discussion, while maintaining the comedy.  “All in the Family” and “Modern Family” are excellent reflection of their time periods and hopefully future TV shows will continue to explore complex situations, and adding in laughs.    

Advertising and the Radio

Advertising and institutional factors were the leading causes of the development and shaping of the radio industry in the 1920s and into today.  In the beginning, radio was proposed as a way to inform listeners of current events, and then as a music box with only a few channels.  Advertising led radio to popular entertainment of news, performances, and music on hundreds of national and local stations.  Radio stations charged advertisers airtime to promote their products, producers sponsoring programs and running ads during programs.    

                                                                                                                     Radios Over the Years

This led to competition for the best channel and laid the foundation for all future broadcast, and even today’s radio stations maintain this process.  The number of stations and producers wanting to advertise grew greatly, as did the number of listeners.  Radio led to a more united nation, keeping up with news, pop culture, and the best products.  Compared to the original intent of radio for spreading news mixed with music, radio developed into an economic endeavor and linked manufacturers directly with homes of consumers.  

Social Learning in "The Jersey Shore"

The question of media reflecting society or society reflecting the media has been up for debate since the media revolution; but with economy of Seaside Heights, New Jersey up three million dollars, tourists are conforming to the social learning theory by fist-pumping and doing the GTL (gym-tan-laundry) just like the cast of MTV’s “Jersey Shore.”  The social learning theory describes the media’s effects of consumers imitating behavior observed in magazines, TV, films, and other media outlets.  Similar to uses and gratifications, the social learning theory furthers the idea of desire for gratification by expectation.  By absorbing media behavior, the audience will inevitably alter their own behavior.  Consumers and audiences affected positively will want to repeat the media enjoyed or take it a step further by directly imitating the actions of actors, celebrities, or media figures.

  

                                                                                                                                                  "The Jersey Shore" at the MTV Movie Awards

“The Jersey Shore” often features members of the house like “Snooki” or “The Situation” highly intoxicated and engaging in promiscuous behavior.  These college-aged, Italian, reality stars make thousands of dollars per episode and are setting poor examples for the youth of America.  By watching the “Jersey Shore” audiences are bombarded with society’s views of negative actions rewarded with media attention and money.  People are subject to the social learning theory and are acting in similar ways to the irresponsible “guidos” and guidettes.”  Thousands of people are flocking to Seaside Heights in hopes of getting a taste of the “The Jersey Shore,” and even more are mimicking their behavior, even some children.

Hegemony in James Cameron's Avatar

          While the movie industry continues to be determined by box office success, movie giants like James Cameron contribute their own convictions and ideologies into movies like Avatar.  It has become common for corporations and influential individuals to use the media as a platform for their beliefs, called hegemony.  Conglomerates generate a consensus around a particular partisanship and thus the material produced reflects the interest of shareholders and advertisers.  Hegemony leads to an exceptionally biased outlook on politics, business, and entertainment, and almost solely controlled by the wealthy minority (Straubhaar 43). 

                                                                                                                         Avatar by James Cameron

          Writer, director, and producer, James Cameron, controlled every aspect of the mega-blockbuster, Avatar.  Inspiring a revolution of 3-D films and grossing over two billion dollars worldwide, Cameron also revealed his passion for the environment and the necessity for its protection.  In Avatar Parker Selfridge employs Jake Sully to infiltrate the native people, Na’vi, on the planet of Pandora, which intends to exploit the land for rich minerals.  By transforming into an avatar, Sully bonds and forms an alliance with these tall, blue peoples and is forced to choose between saving the utopian land and assisting the avaricious corporation.   

          The epic movie’s central theme revolves around the idea of interconnectedness of nature and the consequences of attempting to exploit it.  The thread of Avatar comes straight from James Cameron’s personal environmental activism and who is most recently quoted saying, “The BP mess is a classic example of how our energy policies, or lack thereof, are going to hurt us.”  His opinions of offshore drilling regulations are directly coincided with Avatar.  Cameron expresses his position on need for harsher regulation against greedy companies and cut back of demolition of natural reservoirs.  While not all corporations or individuals have such admirable motives, Cameron incorporates hegemony into Avatar in order to educate the populous on need for environmental protection and responsibility. 

Along the press chain for the movie, James Cameron continuously recalled the connection between Avatar and the environment, especially featured in Hardball with Chris Matthews.

Why RTF 305?

I am Madison Bailey from Los Angeles, California and I am taking RTF 305.  When most members of the student body of UT find out I am from L.A., the top two question I receive are: "What are you doing here?" and "What celebrities have you seen?".  As welcoming as that may seem, I came to the 40 Acres for the exceptional education and opportunities provided by the university, and the pride the students and faculty take in wearing the burnt orange as uniform. 

  

                                                                                                                                             Madison Bailey

 Hollywood miles from my house, it was merely impossible to escape the draw of the entertainment industry.  While I enter UT undeclared, it was out of the question not to at least take one Radio-Television-Film course.  With Introduction to Media Studies I hope to increase my knowledge of the production side of the business and hopefully be able to watch my favorite TV shows and movies in a whole new way. 

I am also a frequent visitor to an array of blogs ranging from food to staplers to movie stars at Starbucks, but my favorite blog is Hippies Are Dead.  Check it out!