Blog6: Female Computer voices

   In todays society we are used to hearing female voice come out of our cells phones, GPS's computer's ect.  Female voices are more pleasant to our ears then male voices are.  Today you can not go anywhere with hearing a female voice talking to you.  Female voices calm a person more and cause them to be more relaxed when they listen to her speak.  The cause of this relaxation feel could be linked when hearing the female voice one might be reminded of their mother.

Female voices when heard can be linked to remind us of ours mother's.  Mother's make us calm, relaxed and make us feel safe, that could be reason that more companies use female voices over men voices.  Since female voices are more appealing companies invest millions of dollars into GPS's and other program with the female voice integrated in the device.  Companies use the female voice as business tactic as well so they can sell their products in bulk, if they didn't use a female the companies would make less money.  The companies go off surveys to see if people prefer female voices over males and the answer still holds up to be true people like female voices better.

In conclusion I think that the female voice in devices will never die out of get old.  Society has grown to love female voices in their devices throughout airports, train stations ect.  I do not ever see this fascination with female voices ever fading.  Companies will still continue to produce products with female installed in them already its supply and demand and the people are demanding female voices instead their devices instead of male voices.

Comm 406 : Sign, Signifier and Signified in the campaign ads

The first campaign video that I chose was Martin O'Malley Ad. This video really brought me in because of the seriousness of this ad. I will talk about the Signs of this Ad which are the Signifier and signified.

Signifier
The signifier would be the colors of the video, the music found within the background as well as the the text.

Signified
The colors found with this video indicate seriousness and or sadness within this Ad.  Black and White evokes emotion. The music found within this ad evokes sadness and makes you want to pay attention.  Lastly the text found with this Ad.  The text although bold and smooth on the edges shows how serious the issue is about guns.  The text also indicates that there is hope and that you as a voter can help stop this if you vote.

The second Ad campaign that I picked was the Mayor Michael Nutter ad.

Signifier
The signifier was the music in the background and the mayors speech.


Signified
The signified is the soft music in the background which indicates how serious this gun control issue ready is.  Another signified would be Nutter's speech, in his speech just his hand jesters alone signify how serious this issue is and what can be done to control and take hold of this problem.

The third ad campaign that I picked was the Ron Paul ad.

Signifier
The signifier the text found within this ad, the gun fire sound going off in the background as well as the heroic music in the background too.

Signified
The signified would be the text and the animation of the texts shows that this is a serious ad and it has that heroic feel to it.  It symbolizes that if you as a voter "vote" for Ron Paul he will fight for the second amendment.  The gun fire as well as the music in the background help to add more of a heroic feel to this ad.  

Blog 5: Three act structure (Aristotle's poetics)

                                    

                    Three act Structure of the hollywood movie The Hangover.

The movie " The Hangover" is about three friends supporting there friend Doug which is getting married in a week. The friends decide to go on a road trip to Vegas for a bachelors party.  Little do they know that night of endless drinking ends up going terriblel wrong. The problems don’t really start to occur until the morning after. The characters wake up to find themselves surrounded by evidence of a night of mischeif. Coming to their senses, they soon come to realize that their best friend, Doug Billings a.k.a the groom, has gone missing. With only one day until the wedding, they have precious little time to find him. Only problem is, no one can remember exactly what happened.  The three friends end up slowly remembering what happened and they find Doug and arrive at the wedding just in time. The story ends with the four friends recovering their camrea from the backset of dougs car and looking at all of the pictures that were taking that night.  

The three acts within an narrative and it is with those three parts that proper stories are made.  These three acts can be broken down as beginning (Act One), a middle (Act Two), and an end (Act Three).   Alll of these steps are the basic backbone for proper storytelling. 

(Act One) Beginning       

This first part always contains these elements, the main character, location and mood, genre, the premise,  the incident and transation to act two.  

In this first act the three friends decide to take their friend doug to Vegas for a bachelors party.  The main chacters are astablished Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug. The mood and the location are set once they arrive in Vegas.  The genre is obsivously a comdey due to the joke throughout the beginning of the movie.  The primse of the movie is uncovered the minute they arive at Vegas along with the "incident" which is what kicks off the story.  The transation is when the three friends wake up in the morning and can not find their friend doug thus leading to act two where they set off to find them.  
                                                                                                            

(Act Two) Middle

The middle part of a movie is all about  conflict and confrontation.  Everything that could go wrong does.  It is with this conflict that gives birth to the mid point of the movie.  Which is the interduction of a character which sharpens the focus of the main character to acompish his goals. 

In this act the thre friend began their journey to find their friend Doug.  They run into minor characters along the way that either aid them eirth with their search or end up getting them in trouble. A new character is introduced in this act and he goes by the name of  Mr. chow, he ned sup sending the three friends on a wild goose chase to win back the casino money that they stole for them in return he will give Doug back, which Chow has Doug for hostage. The transation occurs when they win the money with Alans gambling talent and return the money to Mr. Chow in the dessert, only then realizing that chow kidnap the wrong Doug which leads to act three. 

(Act Three) End

In act three which is the final act, this is where the climax of the story can be found.  The constant big up created by act two is finally overcame the obsticles and resolve the problem thus taking bringing the story to a end. 

After the misunderstanding and mix up with chow, the three friends head to a playphone and call Dougs soon to be wife and tell her that they lost Doug.  The climax is when Stu finally remembers where Doug was.  They head back to their hotel and go on the roof thus the climax starts.  They finally find Doug passed out on the roof and they began to pack up and get Doug to his wedding before its to late.  Doug ends up making it to the wedding with mintues to spare and gets married that evening.  Alan ends up finding his camera undering the seat and the three guys promise to look at the pictures once and then delete them.  The movie end with seeing the four friend facial expressions as they look at the pictures.   

All hangover photos by All movie photos.com

 
                                 

Blog 4: Framing

                                                                     
                                                             Picture by David Phillips

Framing

1. First what is Framing ?

• Framing is about getting language that fits your worldview, its not only a primary language but it also carries those ideas and evokes those same ideas(A Man Of His Words, Lakoff George). To make it more simple, framing is a word to which you already have knowledge of that word based on recurring experiences.  Framing has a lot to do with your senses, because when you see or hear a word you associate it with an object or a past experience that reminds of that set word. 

Examples:

First

 The word "sell"  you could not understand the word "sell" without knowing anything about the trade of money and or goods to one another, the word "sell" can be associated with a seller, customer, goods, money, the relation between the money and the seller and also the relationship between the seller and the customer. So basically when you frame you are braking down the meaning of the word within your head and gathering a set meaning from that purticular word.

Second

The word "play" once you hear that word you assciate it with a outdoor activity, coaches, players, fans, teams, or just incient little kids playing on a playground.  You relate it to sports that you used to play yourself or still play.   Same rule applies for this as well we brake down the word within our head and like a puzzzle we piece together the meaning and the things that relate to that word which give us a set idea of that word. 

Blog 2: Semiotics Of Graffiti

                           
                                     Photo taken by Kyle Munzenrieder

Today I will use semiotics and its three levels of Denotation, Connotation and Ideology  to analyze graffiti on walls billboards ect.


Denotation

• In this picture here is Graffiti on the side or back of a building.  Graffiti is a form of self expression done through spray painting on different foundations such as trains, buildings, billboards ect.. This form of expression is done as of to get a meaning acrossed to the public.  Graffiti is a rebellious form of art. It is done with a very steady hand and takes alot of talent to throw up a piece such as the on you see here above.  A lot of graffitiest work on their piece at nite, because if they did them in day they would get caught.     

Connotation

• Graffiti artist like throwing up tags and huge pieces because its a race against the clock to try to get finished  before they get caught.  It has more of a meaning behind it because its not done on paper but rather on a government owned building or a  taxpayers property which makes it more meaningful and more rebellious.  I think that they do it because they love that rush that they get from it as well as how Graffiti goes against the norms of society and what is right and what is wrong.  Graffiti is like telling the people  "yeah that's right I did this so what!?!" Graffiti is a very powerful form anarchy and aggressive self expression.

Ideology

• Society views Graffiti as mischief, which is a criminal offence.  Society views graffiti as a eyes sore and does not really understand or get the statement that's trying to be conveyed.  Graffiti can also be asscociated with gangs thus society believes if they do not crack down on graffiti crime rate will go up.  Graffiti is also typically associated with the lower class.  Graffiti is considered in society as a major form of vandalism and anyone found doing it usually ends up in jail for defacing property.   

Blog 3: Denotation, Connotation, Myth/ Ideology

                                                  Retrieve this photo from http://www.thephoblographer.com

I chose this ad because it definitely  gets the viewers attention. This Ad is for a Nikon coolpix3100 camera. They are using sex to sell this Ad to the viewer's.  In this Ad we will look at 4 things which help make up this Ad and they are denotation, connotation, Myth/ ideolgy.

Ideology/Myth

• The ideology being that these very attractive women are using to sell this product.  I'll explain, society for many years has used women to sell their product to the public using sex.  The theme in society is the beauty will always power over brains.  You have to be "pretty" if you will, to go far in life.  Another thing is brought up in this Ad is technology buyers are always looking for the new best thing and or upgrade to come out.  Example: Iphone 3G verse the Iphone 4 difference ? the 4 looks a little different and it has a few more tweaks and tune ups but all in all it's still the same phone.  The same applies for new Nikon almost the same camera just has a little more pixels then the coolpix2100.  Myth would be that bigger is better which is clearly represented in this Ad by the women on the right compared to the women on the left.  

Denotation 

• Two attractive women wearing a shirt and underwear starring at each other competitively to battle and see who is the better women and in this case "camera".  The women on the left represents the coolpix2100 camera and she has a smaller chest and not as curvy.  The women on the right represents the coolpix3100 camera and she has a much larger chest as well as more curves.

Connotation

• The connotation would be the the women on the right a.k.a the coolpix3100 camera is far more powerful and can take more high quality and developed pictures, hence, the large chest of the women on the right seeing how she is more developed then the women on the left. In order to stay with the trend and not get left behind in the old "outdated tech" you need to purchase the new improved coolpix3100 camera a.k.a "The better women".

Ad Break Down

For my Ad I chose Lil Kim's new Vodka called Purple Three Olives Vodka.

The Surface Meaning (overall impression)

• The background is full of different shades of purples and also the color black there is what appears to be purple flowers hidden within the background as well.
• the focal point is a women with a classy purple dress and a diamond neck less.
• the vodka itself is to the side of this classy women
• The letters are white and also purple and the word purple is bigger then the words that are white.

Advertiser's Intended Meaning (The sales message)

• I think that the message that the advertiser's was trying to get acrossed is that this Vodka is very classy.  The in the ad the advertiser's use famous woman rap superstar Lil Kim to sell this product also this "purple Vodka" happens to be Lil Kim's new brand of Vodka for the public.  They are using Lil Kim's celebrity status to sell this product.  In the ad Lil Kim is dressed very classy wearing a formal purple dress where the front of the dress reveals her chest and on her neck is a elongate diamond neck less. This dress and diamond represents classy and shows that this vodka could be drank at a very formal event.  The ad is saying when you drink this vodka you will be classy and on the same level of  Lil Kim.

Cultural / Ideological Meaning

• I think the cultural meaning could be referring to the "American Dream", the USA in other countries is seen as a very wealthy nation and people for different countries travel for miles just to get that "white house and white picket fence" also Lil Kim was once a regular person just like me and you and she worked hard and created a name for herself and thus became very wealthy in the process. This Vodka makes you feel very classy whenever you drink it and if it's Lil Kim's Vodka then it must be good. Also sex is also found in this ad the gets the viewers attention, she's showing off her chest and has a very seductive look on her face and also the the beauty mark as well, which was made famous by Marilyn Monroe and associated with elegance and class.

Favorite Ad Compiegne

My favorite Ad Compiegne would have to be the Etrade  commercials. The Etrade commericals have a very interesting approach to attracting the viewers attention.  In the commercials "Talking babies" are used to lightin up the mood when it comes to investing and trading stocks, which is boring to some people, but
Etrade throws humor into the picture. 


 The famous Etrade baby commercials actually started playing as superbowl commericals and from there, branched out.  Etrade's commericals became very popular within a very short time spand due to the airing of these humoress commericals during the superbowl.  The Etrade babies have become famous and now everytime that you think of Etrade, you think of those singing and talking babies.


I think that it was a very good marketing approach and got the messege that Etrade wanted acrossed to the viewing public.  There very addicting commericals and your always waiting for the next funny Etrade commercial to come on T.V. 

       Credit goes to YouTube AdBlitz

Blog 7-realism

Realism has a large effect on music videos. A lot of times when a music video is being filmed they film live performances and incorporate them within the music video to give the audiences a feel if they were there. This creates a relation and connection between the video and the viewer. Different angles and shoots are used to make it seem like its embodied sight like he or she is actually there. The music video are shot in real time to give more of that real feel to the video. Talk shows are similar they have shots of the “audience” clapping to make it feel like it’s a live performance when it isn’t really one. The person filming and directing use various codes in order to make the view feel like he or she is actually there rather then just watching the video, if that was the case then the talk show and or music video would be flat or have no life, nature feel. Realists try to express all the senses when filming take shows and music videos it is with this track that turns the talk show or music video into a “real time event”. Music video rarely hide their techniques for production though, because if they hide them it would be less nature and more robotic to the viewer. Music videos use half and half one half is “live performances” and the other is acting without instruments to reveal a story to match up with the lyrics itself. It is with this combination that the music video is possible and makes sense to the viewer when he or she watches it.

blog 8-10

I think that music video’s had a big influence on my life. Music video’s are very trendy and stay with the “times” whats in and whats out. Music videos when I was younger, influenced me on what to wear, if the singer was wearing a cool outfit in the video I wanted it. Also it influenced me on what type of music to listen to. Music videos are very cultural as well simply because some of the music video represent different cultures and believes all over the world. Some music video are filmed in urban areas showing the aspects of urban life and the people that live there. Some are more country and shows the farming aspect behind it. All music videos that are shown today consist of the type of music and dress attire that is poplar now within today’s society . Each music video has different meanings either out in the open or hidden throughout the video. I actually learned some life lesson through music video and the lyrics contained within them.
All in all I do think that music videos had some influence on the life and also influenced me into what to wear, what to listen too and sometimes how to act.

Blog 6 viewing

For blog six I chose to do a breakdown of Chris Daughtrys music video Over You. I will talk about some of Goodwin’s modes based on visualization of the music video. The first mode that I would like to talk about would be the element of illustration found within the video. This music video as well as the lyrics tell a story about a couple who’s relationship is falling apart before their very eyes, because of the girlfriends endless drinking. The video takes you through the couples various points in the relationship before the video ends with the boyfriend dying from the girlfriends careless drinking leading to them getting in a car crash. The video ends with the girlfriend in rehab.
The next mode would have to be amplification the visuals within the video add layers to the meaning of the video. The layers are the band playing inside a abandon broken down house which symbolizes the couples relationship falling apart. The video also shows various scene of the girlfriends endless drinking and the boyfriend trying to tell her to put the bottle down or embarrassed to be seen with her in public. The next scene is with the couple fighting in the car and the car swerving off the road and crashing. The video ends up with the girlfriend in rehab which basically lets the audience know that the girlfriend is falling apart and breaking down with the lost of her boyfriend. The lyrics represent a very clear meaning of the song, sometimes its better to just move on and getting over a relationship is hard but once you do your much happier.
All in all these elements come together to create depth and meaning to this music video. The visuals unite with the lyrics of the song to create a very strong meaning and to get the point a crossed to the audience.

Blog 5 Style

Style can be defined as the way humans capture the world through their eyes and translate it differently, with each person using different technics to express it.  In chapter five the book states that style is not just about the tastes of a particular person or what style is “in” or ‘out”, but instead can simply be classified as the  relationship to the world and an aspect of embodiment like technology and ect.  Style is the mark of quality both high and low.  Style can be classified in genres such as rock, pop, jazz ect. When we explore depper into the meaning of style, it has to extra parts to it and these parts are classification and evaluation.  Classification is how we categorize style by using periods in time such as rock, jazz, disco ect. as “genres”.  Evaluation is how do people really analyzed style through fashion like what is in and out and other ways of living.  Style is ever present in our lives and different people have different styles and if their styles is different than it would benefit them in the long run within the communication profession.  Style in the communication world is what sets you part from the rest.  Your style is you and yours alone and different people have different styles and have a different way making or doing things.   So all and all styles is very important within the communication field and each individual has a different style all their own. 

Blog 4 music video

“Better Than The Rest”
Appian Way

Video by Josh May and Spenser Leatherman

A Roll. Either the band playing in the field or on the street. Car shot with band playing whatever possible, reminiscing.

B Roll.

Opening shot:  Show relationship between singer and his girlfriend. Sunset shot, with emphasis on the silhouettes of the two people.

Railroad tracks shot of the two. Possible shopping cart shot (inspired from “Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Buble)

Speed up from sunset the moon (check for template for this shot.)

Live performance of the band; various angles with live audience feel.

Pan out to the singer. Close up shot

Flashback. Close up on the eye. Bring the shot back out to the coffee shop scene.

Coffee Shop scene 2. Starts with her watching the band play.

Fight: Both sides yelling, getting mad. He leaves.  Close up shot on girlfriend’s face.

Pictures scene: Still photos inside frames. Emphasis on the box is done while she is looking. Suddenly a knock on the door of the house/apartment.  Box closes. Door is answered. They talk it out. Back to A roll, she shows up. They walk away holding hands.  

Blog 1 on MTV

Blog 1: I think when MTV came on the air it brought forth a new wave and generation of music lovers. MTV created the “music video” and totally changed the way we see and hear music forever. The creation of the music video allowed viewers to finally see the lyrics of their favorite songs come to life everyday when they turn on their T.V. In today’s society music video are kinda losing their spark as far as being shown on MTV is concerned, the only time MTV really shows music video’s is in the morning like around 7:00am. The other way we as a society view this music is through our cell phones as well as through Youtube. Cell phones have now turned into “smart phones” which have their own internet and their own apps, a lot of times one of the apps that are already installed on the smart phones is the Youtube app, which allows you to watch as many music video as you desire. Youtube is now the place to go if a person wants to see the latest music video of his or her favorite artists. In my opinion I think that music video in a sense, help us connect or relate to a certain song. Youtube also opens a lot of doors for new up and coming artists as well allowing their music to be not only seen, but also heard. I think that polarization of the music video is very prevalent in Chapter one. It sheds a lot of light on music videos and there meanings to different people. I think that this dichotomy has remained, because MTV is very quickly moving away from their roots and what made them so much success in the past and now MTV is consumed by reality shows and teen dramas. I think that MTV needs to get back to their roots and start playing a little more music videos and less reality shows.

Blog 3: Should we all make movies ?

Blog 3: Videographer

I agree with your statement completely on how everyone should be a videographer.   Videographers are more professional, they know what programs to use and what not to use to get the job done in a timely matter.  They have a very good understanding of the hardware and software is used.  This skill and knowledge will give them an edge over the “rookies” of the field and they will have a better chance of snagging the job.  They also have a very good grasp on the image and sound that they use in making their movies.  Knowing how to properly connect image with sound is very important within the communication community.  Understanding the different types of narratives and ect. Will give them a edge and also create a impressive portfolio to show the employers.  Being able to evaluate your work to others is a big deal.  A videographer needs to be able to answer people’s questions about their own movie if someone asks.  Being able to convey the message that you were trying to get a crossed to the viewers is very important  as well as describing to them how you went about doing that particular movie in detail is also important. 

Lastly, being able to create meaningful and important work is very important if you wish to pursue a career in communication.  Creating movies that have good meaning a well thought out plot and or story, professional style filming and able to describe to the viewers what they are seeing is essential for having a rewarding and successful career within the communication field.