Seventeen Again

MEDITATION #8

I decided to do my last blog on Seventeen Magazine. I have been reading this magazine since i was 13 years old. Which makes me wonder why do they call it seventeen if a lot of the readers are under 17 who read it. This magazine it a prime example of many things. I think the first thing the utilize is beautiful people because of whoever is on the cover. Its always some one famous who everybody loves. Even if that person has been on the cover numerous time people still want to read about them. That's what usually draws the customer first into buying it. The person on the front. It also affects the limbic part of the brain because of all the images and bright colors. This draws peoples attention to it for sure.



This video above is a good example of how Seventeen uses Technological shift. They use this by showing us they not only do a photo shoot but they update their magazine website too so readers can see a behind the scenes view of what the photo shoot was really like. They definitely are keeping up with the Web 2.0 technology. I also think they use a lot of emotional transfer. Trying to get you the reader to have a feel for what the people who are writing the articles are saying. I think one great example is when Ann who is the editor and chief of the magazine says a few words. She writes a little blurb in the magazine along with i just found out having her own blog online. I think this really helps to connect with the readers on an emotional level to show she really cares.
Another thing that i thought was so interesting about Seventeen was its not just a Untied States magazine. Like the photo above is the India Seventeen. I found a blog/website about this particular one. But others like Seventeen Southern Africa have there own official Website and the thing is it doesn't look much different from the USA version. I think this is a great example of cultural shift. How they are appealing to other countries too and expending themselves.

The Magazine overall uses a lot of repetition. Words like beauty, fashion, deals , and so much more show up numerous times all over every issue of every Seventeen Magazine in every part of the world. This is also a key element in luring the reader in because if girls see these words they are more likely to pick it up and read it. Seventeen is just one example.

Caught in a Bad Romance

MEDITATION #7


This music video that just came out on November 10th shocked me. I didn't know what to make of it. I knew the artist Lady GaGa was a little crazy but this video was very over the top. I watched it again to try to ad least understand it.It definitely immediately affects the limbic part of the brain with the music but at the same time it is great affecting the neo-cortex well ad least for me because i was trying to figure out what was going and processing all that was going on.


The video is a definite cultural shift not only by showing other cultures but by a culture shock. Should our kids be watching music videos like this today?? or should we or someone else be regulating what is going on with these types of things. Also a big one would be value message what kind of message is this video trying to send out. It really depends on if you look at it negatively or positively. I really don't think its targeting any age group just trying to make a statement. The production techniques also make it even more of an appealing video but are they appropriate for everyone? I think the reality she is trying to construct is a reality from another country not something we can all relate to. I wanted to find out about this more so i looked on this write up about the "real" meaning behind her video.

The video over all uses many of the persuasive techniques. Im sure you could read into it so much more. First of all symbols, i think symbols are used numerous times in this video. whether its about global warming or human trafficking i think so many are used i cant even begin to go into detail. Repetition is used when showing the same scenes at different parts of the music video. This is so these images really stay with you and you remember this song and video. I know i did. Then even though the music video has a kind of depressing feel to it they still use beautiful people no famous persons music video would be complete without them. Overall so many things are happening throughout this weird but eye catching music video. There was even newspaper articles written about it. The video is definitely one that is questionable to all.

Coming Soon......

MEDITATION #6


Recently I had been thinking a lot about movie trailers. Wondering do they always tell you the full truth? Every time a movie trailer is shown people immediately look at it especially if its new. Wondering have they ever seen this one before. Personally i think it affects the neo- cortex part of the brain before anything else this is because when seeing a movie trailer you first think "What is this movie will it be good bad wonder whose in it" a lot of thoughts go through your head while you are processing what is happening on screen and piecing the story together since it just shows you select scenes. Sometimes there is even a narrator speaking which can affect the neo- cortex even more because you are trying to understand and process what he is saying. Movie trailers of course affect the limbic with all the images and usually music. There is a part of them that affects the reptilian also. No one knows whats coming in movie trailers so they don't know what to expect when something pops on the screen. It could be something that leaves you happy, sad, or maybe even scared.

I decided to look at 2 different movie trailers and kind of sort of compare. I think movie trailers use unique production techniques that make the viewer so much more interested in the movie. That's why sometimes there are a lot of movie let downs. The trailer just looks so good and then the movie comes out and its totally different.

AMITYVILLE HORROR

This preview is a good example of a bunch of things.First of all fear This can be very appealing to some people.The scary music and the way they put everything together also can be known as timing,Timing is another very important element to movie trailers. Having seen this movie i can tell you this trailer doesn't show a very accurate portrait of what happens. This is a good trick though. Big Lie having it seem like one thing is happening when really it isn't that at all. This also makes you want to come back see the movie and find out what actually happens. Also another thing that attracts people is scientific evidence.When movies based on true stories have scientific evidence to back them up this makes it even more appealing even if they are stretching the truth. Great example of a movie trailer that doesn't give much info but still gets people interested.

LETTERS TO JULIET

This trailer is like the exact opposite of the Amityville Horror one. This movie is predictable and they use things like Beautiful people to draw you in. Along with the location. Then there is nostalgia the love story you can relate to your own especially older people. There is also much emotional transfer. By the end of the trailer my mom said she wanted to cry. It basically shows you the whole story in the trailer but viewers still want to see it.

This just goes to show that movie trailers for every type of genre of movie have many persuasive techniques to get viewers to want to see their movie. They pick the best or the funniest scenes to show. They know how to capture the audience its kind of like an art. Like Aesthetic Shift going from discrete to convergence making the trailers all nice appealing so they can advertise the movies everywhere on all multimedia platforms. Something that is also noticed in movie trailers is when the scenes are shown in the trailer that are not actually shown in the movie. Like this blog/article i found on the subject. Movie trailers are a very interesting topic that i just touched lightly on you can always look at them so much more in depth and closely.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

MEDITATION #5
In the spirit of the holiday Ive decided to do a blog about the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade. Something that families all over the country tune into every year on Thanksgiving morning. Over the years i have watched myself it became like a tradition. The parade when first watching it affects the limbic part of your brain because of all the images on the TV. There are so many images to take in. Then you have the narration which can in turn affect the neo-cortex part of the brain because you are processing all the words being spoken.

One Big thing i think the parade utilizes is plain folk. They use this a lot because every single year they have school bands, dance teams, and cheerleaders ect. to preform at the parade in front of all the people watching and on TV. It shows that the holiday is not only about the balloons and high profile celebrities but also the regular people too who celebrate the holiday just like us. On the other hand they also use beautiful people to promote the parade. They say like certain people will at the parade or characters will be there. Like for example (Miley Cyrus and Spongebob) a video below shows both examples of the beautiful people used in today's parade and the plain folk. Smart of Macy's because both bring in even more viewers.



Some other things that sparked my mind. The airing of this parade would seem like a Discursive Shift because many networks are airing it. They all have something different to say on the subject. From NBC to CBS there are a few that air the parade. You get to hear the different opinions of all the hosts which can affect the people watching. Also one other thing is the production techniques. When they are showing the parade on TV and before they go to commercial they list all things that are coming up and this keeps more viewers tuned in. A clever production technique that most TV shows use.

Spreading the words.....

Meditation #4


I first came upon quotable cards in about 8th grade. When first seeing the colorful and creative cards it affected the limbic part of my brain because of all the different colors but immediately after it affected the neo-cortex the most because of the words printed on the card. It really made you reflect and think about what was said on the card. I really loved these cards I thought they were a great way to get inspired. I started collecting them. I would go into the book store and come out with 3 or 4 and hang them up in my room. There was something so intriguing about them. In a way these quotes were like a symbol they were famous words spoke by well known icons, artists, and political figures throughout the years. When people saw these timeless quotes they were even more interested. Another thing I think you can get from seeing or reading these quotes at a store are nostaliga because if someone sees a quote that helped them get through a tough time in their life or someone important had said to them before it brings them back to that place.


One thing i thought was really unique about the company was it was started by 2 people who just wanted to find some Christmas cards for there friends and nothing satisfied them. So they ended up making their own cards which they then tried to sell to local bookstores in NYC. Their ideas ended up picking up fast. However they are still a company of 6 employees. This idea of ownership i really liked because you can still make a good amount of money and love what you do and not be the typical run of the mill company in the commercial industry. I also think the reality this product is trying to create is totally positive because the people making them enjoying doing it and they also are getting only great feed back from the people buying the products. They offer a variety of products not only online but also in locally owned and chain stores around the country.


I think that their Production Techniques are also a big part of how they sell these quotable cards. They use fonts that are eye catching an funky and then bright colors that draw you in. Even with the quotes that are plain black and white they have a simple elegance to them. That draws me and people a like in. When I look at this also think of the Epistemological Shift because its kind of like the opposite of that. Its going back to word instead of going to image. This is what one review said about the company.

I couldn't really find any video about quotable cards because it is such a privately owned company so instead I made my own video a quick clip made with my new ipod nano showing the quotes i have in my dorm which is not even my whole collection the rest are back home. I just didn't want to post a blog without including a video =) I learned from the best!


HOME VIDEO (quotes)

Feel The Love <3

MEDITATION #3


A few days ago I watched a movie called The Family Stone. I had first seen this movie in theaters when it came out in December of 2005. I was a freshman in High School. I didnt really get the concept and what the point of the movie was. I saw it a second time a year or so later and it grew on me. Then 2 days ago being the 3rd time i saw it. I really understood it this time. Also the movie poster above made for it definitely affects the neo-cortex part of the brain because you immediately think "why is someone sticking up the middle finger?" really its a trick to get you to look at it a little closer. Then you realize it is just the ring finger. It's just one of those movies that you have to watch a couple of times to fully understand the meaning of. The movie however when first looked at seemed like one of those typical Romantic comedies that comes out at Christmas time. The holiday season in itself is like a symbol when people see something like a movie or a song that has to do with Christmas they immediately get warm fuzzies because the majority of the people in the world love Christmas time and everything that comes with it.

A Preview



The movie when looked at closer can really be seen as a very profound movie with a great meaning. I know I picked up a lot more of this the 3rd time i watched it. It basically showed no matter how crazy families are there still is love there. This is a good example of plain folks because it makes the people who are viewing it feel kind of normal. Or if your family has a similar situation it really gets down to the level of all the ordinary people watching. Yes many movies do this today show real life struggles but also some are very superficial and only touch the surface of the problems where as in this movie they really dig deeper. There is a movie review i found that explains this more in depth. A lot of emotional transfer can also been seen throughout the movie. When a one of the actors or actresses in the movie experiences something deep and meaningful or 2 of the people have a sentimental or sad moment emotion is felt by many who are watching. This happens numerous time throughout the movie really getting on an emotional level with the audience.

I think one big example of something that is also widely seen in this movie is the Epistemological Shift this applies because first of all it is a movie which is all images and less words except for the ones spoken. In a bunch of clips meshed together below it shows that the way people are feeling and showing love throughout the movie doesn't all have to be said in words or written down. A lot of it can be seen in the actors and actresses expressions too which you are able to see closely in the film. That's what really shows us the love and emotion in the movie.




One last thing is the Value Message. Once you have seen the movie it is relatively easy to see what the value message is. It is to love and respect your family no matter what. There could be cultural differences or new people brought into the family, ups and downs but what the right thing is to do is accept everything. In this case its a very positive message even though some things in the Family Stone can seem sad in the end everyone accepts and loves each other and that's the positive part.

TATTOO MY FACE ON YOU

Meditation #2

Recently my friend told me about this new song called Tik Tok by an artist named Kesha who has her name actually spelled with a money symbol. More like "Ke$ha". This was my first impression of her, the name. I wasn't sure how the song would be. When I finally listened to it, I liked it a lot. It was so catchy; the message however wasn't so catchy. It definitely affected the limbic part of my brain In the music video the first image I see is a empty bottle and a shoe which can be harmless. Later on though it turns out to be A bottle of alcohol. Seeing this is fine for me but not for younger girls like 13 or 14.Will they be thinking this is kind of behavior is okay? What kind of Value Message is this artist sending out? Looking at the whole music video the message is pretty negative ad least for the people it will be influencing the most. It also is in a way a Cultural Shift how much our society is excepting things like this now. If this video was made 40 years ago people would have a much bigger shock reaction then they would have today. Today more and more the images of pop stars are looking the same. Just watch below!!



This video is a horrible way to portray how life should be or how anybody's life is. While doing some more research I came upon another blog that went off on this video which I thought was hilarious. It also confirms for me that I'm not the only one who feels this way about outrageous songs and videos that are similarly made. The music video makes it seem that sex, drugs,lies, money,and alcohol will cure all problems and life will be good. Some things this music video uses are Big Lies.The video shows that things like running out on your parents and partying all night is okay to do when in reality really its not. Also it shows Bandwagon where everyone is doing it which it definitely does a lot.

Another video that she posted on her myspace page was one of her seeming a little off. And telling people this message....


TATTOOOOSSS!!!!

KE$HA | MySpace Video

This video just turns me off even more from liking her as a singer or music artist. What kind of person would ask someone to do something permanent to their body just to get pleasure out of it? Which then in turn makes me think is this whole thing reality or just an image that she projects to the world of media to make her look and seem like this so she can basically gain much more of an appeal factor. Of course if people heard she was doing what she said in the video then it might bring in even more fans for her,or more haters depending on which way you look at it. One thing I think this whole thing affects in the Neo-cortex part of the brain because when your presented with this "wannabe pop star" saying get a tattoo of me on you. It makes you think a little. This can also be a good example of Individual Meaning. How will others take this video message? what will their reaction be? everyone will have a different opinion on it, depending on who they are. I'm sure a mother would say "WHAT? NO WAY" while a crazy and young 22 year old might think its cool. Everyone has their own interpretation of the video. All these have a great impact on the media.

Apple Picking

Meditation #1

WHY AN APPLE??

is the question. Recently I had an experience in an Apple Store down in Pennsylvania. Let’s just say that when I left the store I was not very happy. I still however gave them my money by purchasing a new iPod nano while in the store. Logically, this does not make sense because if I was unhappy why would I be giving Apple my money. That's what the company does though. They make their products so appealing that despite poor customer service they can still get you to buy the product. Everything about Apple makes it extremely appealing. Their ads just draw you in. You could say this is affecting the limbic brain because their appealing images are just the start of what makes you interested. To the right is an image of an ad for the new iPod. It uses bright colors and makes it look like if you have an iPod you will have a great time. This also can be seen as a production technique that Apple uses to draw in customers.

Thinking about it more I wondered what made a Mac so special. What drew everyone to buy Apple products? Looking at the following commercials I found out that both companies, Apple and Windows, use some persuasive techniques. One was plain folk, which used average people who would be typical customers. Another was name calling, where the companies said negative things about each other in their individual commercials. You can say Windows did copy some of Apples ideas from the commercials, but who wouldn't? Apple has the premier computers and MP3 players. People also say that copying is a form of flattery.




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I read an article called Mac vs. PC: What You Don't Get for $699 that pertains to the subject. It definitely connected with my experience in the Apple store. The title of this article affects the Neo-cortex part of the brain because it really makes you think, "What am I not getting for that $699?" I know it made me think, especially while in the store when asking the sales representative about what makes the newest 13'Mac so much better then before. I got the answer "It’s a Mac." Like that made everything perfect, but in reality it didn't, because nothing can be prefect. No matter how highly Apple thinks of themselves, when you ponder about it; you are paying so much more for a Mac when you can get something that's basically the same for a much cheaper price. Also, PC's at times will have deals but according to the man I spoke with at the Apple store Apple will not have deals because that would entail that Apple does not value their products. There is so much more information I can go into about both Macs and PC's. One other thing I noticed was how Apple’s look also has a big affect on the business they get. They have a classy appearance to them that is clean and sharp looking. You can say this goes along with the Epistemological Shift. Things use to be based on what was said about a product, but now an image can say a thousand words. Similar to how in the store I wasn’t told any information about the computer other then that it was a “Mac,” which is more of an image then anything else.

My name is Brittany!! I'm from Hackettstown, NJ which is in the north western part of the state close to the border of PA. Click here to look at my towns website. My home away from home is Vermont. My family has a condo in Manchester and we have been going there since i was a baby. Click here for the link to Manchester's Website to find out more about it.

Here is a picture of me and my family in Whistler,BC this past winter!! We all love to travel and to ski.



My relationship with the media is very broad. I love all aspects of it and how its changing all the time. How our society is shaped around the media is a very interesting thing to me. To show you how much a love the media here is a clip of my favorite TV show.

Its hard to tell what the future will bring but i hope to get to travel a lot and work with the media or something in and around that area. Whether its owning my own business or working for a corporation. Anything that intrigues me i would love to do.

In the first four chapters of the text book i defintitly learned many things. Some stuff i didnt even know about. So far i have taken a lot away from the class.

In Chapter 1 I learned was how one of the appeals of our culture is the comfort of familiar stories we always see and hear. When we see a preview for a new movie or TV show what really pulls us in is the feeling of familiarity. Even though at times critics may bash the show for being predictable this is what attracts the audience because people have always relied on that feeling of comfort. Also when children are little they enjoy and find pleasure in this repetitiveness, but i think that statement can be true for all ages.

In Chapter 2 I learned about “appropriateness and what should be shown online.” I do think that certain things should not be shown on the internet especially if they are sexually explicit and racist but I also think that the government should not have total control over what is put on the internet. They did pass acts in ’96,’98, and ’03 which were all suppose to help and keep the internet safer especially for children so explicit things will not be shown on school computers. I think this is a very good idea especially when the kids are younger. I do however think that the internet should be a place where can people can be open and honest about things. It’s just hard when everyone around the world has access to all of it. People do think this will inhibit freedom of expression. So all people have different views of what is appropriate to go on the internet and what is not. Read more about it here!

In Chapter 3 i learned the fact that rock recordings today remain one of America’s largest economic exports, and the global impact of rock. The thing that is kind of funny about this is, when Rock became really popular in the mid 60’s in the U.S. the bands that really started it all were from England. Groups like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles became smash hits here over night. From then on they inspired groups all around the world and this really is how the global impact of Rock started.

In Chapter 4 I learned that the radio started to also be aired over the internet was neat. It wasn’t until 2002 when a copyright royalty board established by the library of congress began to assess royalty fees based on a percentage of each of the stations revenue for the right to stream copyrighted songs over the internet. Then from there it became pretty popular to listen to the radio online. I think a lot of people who sit in offices all day found it helpful to have to favorite radio station online.


MY QUESTION
Why is the media sometimes so difficult to understand???

A bit about me =)

Brittany Hollman
1.Hackettstown,NJ
2.Went on a tour of WB studios in LA
3.I like how much easier and simple it is to stay in touch with old friends near and far.
I dislike how people are relying on facebook and txting to talk to people instead of calling them up or actually talking to them face to face.
4.For my future i would love to own my own business and travel as much as i can.