Globalization and Apples

Globalization can be defined as a multi-national integration of cultures and economies. Through trade, transportation, and communication the world has sought to make itself "smaller", so to speak. This effect can be attributed to innovations in technologies. Moreover, when companies cross national borders and sell their products, they can instill their customs and values on foreign lands.

Along with globalization comes the concept of "hybridity". When corporations establish business overseas in a different country, they will inevitably bring over traits and ideals from their native country. What hybridity argues is that these customs that foreign companies bring over do not homogenize native culture, but instead make it more eclectic. In other words, the foreign company would only add culture rather than take away culture. This produces a new mixture of culture.

This is evident in Apple's influence over other countries. With the products they sell (iPods, laptops, computers, etc...) we see a growing number of foreigners adapting to the western culture while still maintaining their original values and standards. What Apple does in foreign countries is create a hodge-podge of customs and thoughts among foreign nations, and in some cases brings back influence to its native land.

The iPod and YOU!

Apple's iPod advertisements are notorious for exploiting teen pop culture and using obscure music to make themselves seem "relatable".  However, recent iPod commercials have deviated from the standard hipster silhouette dancer to a first-person view approach. First person in the sense that now the ad simulates the viewers hand gripping the product and interacting with it. This no longer makes the recepient a spectator, but instead a participant. Advertisements have shown an increasing shift to this method. What better way to sell a product than make the viewer believe he's already gotten a taste of it?



These types of commercial use a technique that makes viewers feel like partakers in the whole ad experience. This really plays into the minds of consumers that can visualize themselves with the product. This is a very effective way to get someone to buy something. Not to mention, by giving you a small taste of the product, advertisers make way for even greater requests. Viewers are more likely to accept large requests once they've had exposure to small ones. "Would you please try this product? Now that you've tried it, why not buy it?"

Advertisers carefully design these types of ads in order to captivate both young and older audiences by eliminating the face of the central figure from the advertisement. Because you can't see his or her face, the age of the main character is unknown and therefore doesn't make people feel too old or young to buy the product. By allowing the viewer to "hold the iPod", advertisers in a way also use the classic "foot-in-the-door" technique. "You may not have the product yet, but here's a taste". We see the main character (aka "You") hold the iPod and cycle through its many neat applications and music. This technique is very common among salesmen and has proved to be successful over the decades.

3 Act Structure in Monster's Inc.

The three-act structure or the Classical Hollywood structure is characterized by three events that set up the stage for the film, identify the main story, and finally resolve the issue of the film. Act one usually sets the location, scenery, characters, or central problem. Act two is where our characters either engage in an adventure in hopes of resolving that problem. The first two acts end with a turning point: either there is a plot twist or the stakes are raised higher (it usually tends to be sequential). And lastly, the third act resolves everything. The climax of the story tends to happen in act 3 as well.

A good example of a movie that closely follows this formula is Monsters Inc. In act 1 of the movie, the main characters, Mike and Sulley, are introduced. Their stage is set in Monsters Incorporated and the style is generally light hearted. However, act 1 leaves off with an unexpected twist, the first turning point: the discovery of a child in the factory, Boo.

Act 2 then proceeds to take the story to another level. Mike and Sulley are now trying to find out how they're going to get the child back into the human world at the cost of placing their jobs, and well being, in jeopardy. The adventure ensues. However, Randal, the story's main antagonist, is trying to disrupt their plans. Act 2 ultimately ends when Boo is kidnapped by Randal and the corporate head of Monsters Inc. while Sulley and Mike have been banished into the human world. The stakes are now higher since Boo's well-being is at risk.

Finally, Act 3 three begins once Mike and Sulley squirm their way back into the monster world in an attempt to save Boo. Sulley and Boo ultimately defeat Randal but that is not the climax. The climax happens when Mike creates a decoy while Boo and Sulley attempt to escape. Mr. Waternoose then chases them to the "Scaring Floor" where he reveals his evil plan to the fictional world's authorities and is then arrested for his deeds. The story begins to resolve after this part and Boo is sent back to the human world in a heart breaking episode.

But Pixar works its' charm and give the audience closure by reuniting both Sulley and Boo.

Sitcoms and all that jive...

Most sitcoms tend to be episodic in nature. Various shows, ranging from animated to real-life, will attempt to wrap up everything within the alloted time of the show and rarely borrow references from previous episodes. Many of the characters in these types of sitcoms will stay static in personality as opposed to dynamic. This is important to the formula of the show because people like to either identify with certain characters or the characters have become too iconic to risk changing.

"The Simpsons" is a prime example of what an episodic series is. None of the characters age...EVER. The majority of the time they forget the morals they've learned in the previous episodes. It seems as if someone has set a "reset" button in their brains. Also, very rarely is a problem not solved by the end of the episode. Most things are wrapped up by the end of the show and any conflict with the characters or plot is resolved. Not to mention, the characters in the show do not change in nature. For example, Homer Simpson has been, and always will be, an overweight, unintelligent, inarticulate, irresponsible father figure because he is the comical relief in the show. On the other hand, characters like Lisa Simpson are the voice of reason and they need to remain so to help establish a sort of balance in the show. It would be unimaginable, and quite bland, if every single character represented the "comedian" or the "philosopher". These kinds of shows need variety.

Amelie calls the shots!

In the film "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain" there are two particular scenes which convey the feeling of helplessness, solitude, and reverence. This is done by the clever use of the long shot, middle shot, and close up. One of the scenes takes place during a church, and the other one takes place in a theater. Both of these scenes are very powerful as they lay down the character development of Amelie and (possibly) her mother.

In the first scene, Amelie is shown alongside Amandine, her mother, praying for a "baby brother". This particular shot is as middle shot and wonderfully illustrates the moroseness of the situation. There are a bunch of candles lit up around them, but yet the room is still somehow dark. The fact that the mother and daughter are dressed in dark clothes, emphasizes how miserable things going to get (this is clever because this scene is actually foreshadowing something bad that's going to happen very soon). The fact that it's a middle shot, allows us see the environment around them, while still being able to recognize who's in it.

Shortly after the foreboding scene, we see an almost "ant-like" figure that continues getting larger and larger as the camera zooms in. It turns out that the "ant" is actually Amelie's mother. We see this through the eyes of a suicidal woman plummeting down the highest point of the church. The woman falls on top of Amandine and instantly kills her. The use of long shot, and more specifically a high angle shot, really reduces the power of Amelie's mother.

Lastly, the scene where Amelie is in a theater depicts her keen interests. She goes on discussing how she likes to notice certain details of movies no one else does and how "she hates it when American drivers don't look at the road while driving". Because these interests are so unique and not very many people can relate to them, the director gives us a close up shot that's at eye-level with her. This allows us to identify with her, and in a way see things the way she does. This is also a very beautiful shot.



Sorry but I tried look everywhere for the church scene but I couldn't find it.

Type Casting

The early Hollywood era, also known as "The Golden Age", was known for employing actors that would rarely, or never, break free from their established fictional persona. In other words, John Wayne would always be John Wayne: a hard-boiled cowboy who was typically associated with gun duels and horseback riding. As a result people would not go watch a "western" movie, but instead a "Wayne" movie.

This directly affected how movies would be categorized. Since stars served as a symbol of audience preferences, Hollywood did not resort to genres as a means of classification. Rather, they used the actors to indicate the nature of the film. This can be good or bad depending on which way you look at it. Good in the sense that actors essentially became icons but bad in the sense that they became type casted. "Sorry Mr. Wayne, I guess you can't be in The Breakfast Club."

A great of example of of this, is the long list of movies that John Wayne has been in and how he has deviated little from this western vaquero model. In nearly all of his "Top 20 Movies" Mr. Wayne is associated with a pistol, a horse, and a mean attitude to go with it. There's no doubt there will be bloodshed, let alone epic stand-offs. Everything from In Harm's Way to The Searchers, has some sort of violence associated with it.

Sarnoff's Music Box (The Power of Industry)

What started off as an invention nurtured by government institutions, the radio soon evolved as one of the prime sources of entertainment during the early to mid 1900's. Thanks to big businesses like RCA and adroit corporation leaders like David Sarnoff, radio was able to be seen in a new light. These amazing little "music boxes", as Sarnoff once referred to them, would mark the start of a culturally unifying force in the daily lives of politicians, entrepreneurs, and common citizens.

Radio evolved with the help of the navy and soon transfered its power to broadcasting companies. What certain companies did was allow installation of various broadcasting networks which hosted paid programming, advertising, news and live music performances. But before any of this was possible, (what was known as) "the amateurs", a select few who could assemble and operate radios, dominated the air-waves. It wasn't until radio regulation acts were passed, that broadcasting became more structured. But the most important factor in public access to the radio was the mass production of radio parts. This was possible thanks to the radio industry and Mr. David Sarnoff.

Sarnoff had a vision: that individual home owners should have access to personal radios of their own. No longer would the air-waves be manipulated by the technologically savvy or the elite. Sarnoff's prediction of revenue after selling these "music boxes" was dramatically exceeded. This was not only a marketing success but a powerful force in the formation of the radio industry. People now enjoyed music, news, politics, ads and dramas in their very own homes. As a result the radio shaped the values and expectations of many Americans. None of this would have been possible without the aid of the radio industry itself.

Below is a link to an interesting article about "The Music Box" and a photo of David Sarnoff



http://earlyradiohistory.us/1916rmb.htm

DO YOU SMELL WHAT THE MEDIA'S COOKIN'? (Cultivation Theory)

A grandiloquent spectacle of opposing forces each representing their own subjective virtues - an event so spectacular, so grandiose, so Jansenistic in nature that it can only be described by one acronym: WWE. Ah yes, the epitome of all that is dramatization. These creatures, these heathens that engage in such vehement roleplay, lurk out from the deepest and darkest psyches that are known to control the entertainment industry today. Who or what do they represent? The paragon of "manhood". How did such an image become so prominent, and almost absolute, in the hearts and minds of so many individuals? Well, to understand that, we must first understand cultivation theory.

Cultivation Theory suggests that after enough visual imprinting, usually through the media's behalf, an image or ideology can become somewhat of a reality to the public. In other words, people start developing these perceptions of what certain groups might represent or do. For example, news reports may attribute terrorist activities to a certain ethnic group or popular television shows may set certain social or physical standards for individuals. People start to believe that that's the way the world does or should work (irrelevant to the fact of whether it does or doesn't). They become delusional in a sense.

In the popular film Tough Guise, Jackson Katz goes on to say that boys are brought up in an environment that forces them to behave a certain way: a way that is acceptable to "society". But what comprises this so-called "society". Individuals spoon-fed these erroneous values and standards of what it takes to be a "man". Characteristics such as aggression, dominance, bigotry or intolerance paired along with a tall stature or muscular body is what (according to media framers) defines you as a prominent male.

DO YOU SMELLLLL WHAT THE MEDIA'S COOKIN'? A perfect example of a "tough guise" is none other than Disney's Dwane Johns-I-I mean, WWE's "The Rock".... in his former years (*ahem*). This fictional character is the manifestation of testosterone. Young lads look up to him as almost a mentor. Impressionable minds can't help but be influenced by his "strength" (pun intended) of character and muscular physique. As a result, individuals such as these consistently propagate and breed new "Rocks" that influence other infant Rocks. It's a never ending cycle.




--------
POST ASSIGNMENT: I actually like the Rock. I was merely taking a piss at him since he's such an easy example. Don't be offended Mr. Johnson seeing as how you can easily break me in two; like an egg for an omelet. Then I'd be the one who'd you SMELL COOKIN'! Ahahaha!

What the frame is going on here!?

     One prominent issue that plagues many socially, economically, and politically concerned individuals is how information is presented to the public. Because of our innate tendencies to characterize certain phenomena or people based on our schemata, we often overlook our errors in judgement towards print, audio or video. To put it simply, we're quicker to judge than we are to analyze. This can be cumbersome to our enlightenment. However, if we are persuaded to look at information in a more constructive light, our preconceptions can be shaped so that we gather insight towards certain groups of people and their circumstances. That's why it's so important to understand of the concept of framing.

     Framing is understood to be the manipulation of information to achieve influence over the recipient's perception over a certain topic, issue, or ideal. In other words, it's "the Man's" way of telling you how to think about a certain subject. And most of the time it proves to be successful. Although framing in the media is not solely at the whim of the government or big corporations, most of the time it is. As a result, we see many of the same values and preconceptions fed to the public over and over again.

     However, it is refreshing to see when directors attempt to represent social groups in a new viewpoint. This does, I believe, help us to become aware our judgments and fallacies that go along with them.

     One of my favorite directors, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, directed "Amores Perros" - a movie about Mexican people depicting their social and economic status and, at times, the corruption of law enforcement. This movie attempts to transcend through most social castes and does its utmost to expose the barbarism that pervades the human and animal world; at times they're even intertwined. Iñárritu persuades the viewer to see how Mexican people and their problems are more complex than one would think and why sometimes they have to step outside their moral boundaries to reach their needs. It does well in deconstructing typical Mexican stereotypes even though this film may not represent every single Hispanic demographic. That being said, I believe the characters were presented very effectively and gives a small slant to what Latino culture can be like.



Being of Mexican descent and growing up around people who have been in similar situations like the characters presented in the movie, I felt this was a very powerful example of ethnic representation. However, I don't expect every Latino or Chicano to relate to the characters shown in this film. Rather, I used this example as to how framing can give a more insightful picture towards the conditions of certain Latino groups.

My strange but wonderful aspirations: why I chose RTF 305

Why am I taking thing class? Well, let me start off by saying that recently I had an epiphany about what I wanted to do with my life. The machinations of my mind are very odd and the fact that I had passion for so many different areas only made it more complicated. You see, I've had a passion for music composition, writing, telling stories, animating shorts and being very involved with every aspect of any project.

I was deeply fascinated with the artistic mediums through which people expressed their emotions.

My mind is much like this collage: inconsistent but colorful.

While some people may look at having various interests/talents as an asset, it was more of a detriment for me. I couldn't quite decide what path I would  pursue for the rest of my life. Was it music? Was it writing? Was it animating or story telling? I felt that whatever field I chose, it would be at the expense of the others. Until one fateful night when I realized what I wanted to do.

I decided that I wanted to be a film director so that way I could influence each creative area of any project as much as I possibly could. However, in order to fully appreciate or understand each field (or most fields) of expertise, I would have develop those skills. For example, if I wished to set a mood for a film through the music, I would have become a film scorer myself. Of course I can't simultaneously perfect every talent. So instead I work within reasonable boundaries while still maintaining my passion.

I chose this class not only because it will count towards my intended major, but because I hope to shrink the world and make as many cultural ideas and emotions as accessible as possible.
------------------------
NOTE: The collage posted on this blog was pieced together by me and uploaded through "http://tinypic.com" but all copyrights go to their respective owners.