Blog Post #11- Wise Words From an Otherewise Unwise Wiseacre

   I have used a blog before. I just find things (movie clips, songs, lyrics, etc.) that I want to share with my friends or people who enjoy the same things as me. I didn’t mind using the blogs in RTF. I did like that I could visit the blogs of my cohorts if I was struggling with what to write or having issues with how to structure my posts. I didn’t have any problems with the blogs, though there were times that I wished they were due later since Sunday nights are always big homework nights for me. I very much preferred the types of blog prompts that were actually film related. Sometimes we were asked to speak on an issue (like posts five and ten) that I was less confident in. Though these were more difficult, they did help me to better understand foreign subjects, but only through severe distaste. I would recommend using the blog in RTF in the future for the simple reason that there is a growing digital trend not only in the university, but in the work force. It only makes sense to begin to prepare students for the real world by asking them to perform assignments over the internet. I would suggest being lenient with the cutoff dates of these posts, though, since the internet CAN be a bit unreliable at times (bad weather, etc.) As a whole, I think the blogs were a success, and should be continued in the years to come.

Dogma - The Buddy Christ

Blog Post #10- Globalization (I'm Out of Witty Titles)

   In our generation, media has reached distances never before imagined by our founding fathers. With the internet, the entire world becomes one single entity. China is only a click of the mouse away, Australia can be reached in seconds, and because of this amazing connectivity, computers have become the ultimate business medium. Globalization is slowly creating an all inclusive world through the world wide web (hence the term "world wide").
   Globalization, in a sense, is the assimilation of all cultures into one SUPERCULTURE. By the reduction of differences in speech, protocol, and all elements of business and communication, it creates a standard operating procedure for doing specific things so that, no matter where you are, the protocol for conducting whatever business you're involved in is the same. When people in India answer your tech services calls and can speak more clearly than you, that's globalization at its finest.
   In this concept of globalization, a certain issue must always be taken into account: which method is best? From the answer rises a significant problem in our world today. The dominance of one culture over another, or cultural imperialism,  has been around from the beginning of time. Slavery and persecution have defined the human race, but these things aren't still occurring in our civilized world, right? Not to the extent of those days (except for a few places here and there that I'm pretending don't exist for the sake of my argument), but there is still a dominating force behind many countries, such as the United States and China.
   Take film, for instance. Hollywood has shaped the industry from the invention of the motion picture all the way up until now. Our culture has created many of the techniques used by filmmakers and cinematographers, and originally considered the methods used in other countries to be unorthodox. The worst part, in my opinion, is when a group of English speaking actors goes to another country in a film, and suddenly everyone in that country speaks English. This promotes an image that Americans believe English is the best language and all other countries should learn to be more like us. If you can't tell, this bugs the hell out of me. Anyways, back to the real issue. America has created such a specific method for movie making that the people enjoy, and because of this, we have dominated the industry, leaving little room for outside influence.

http://plus.maths.org/issue44/outerspace/iStock_www.jpg

  

Blog Post #9- A Touching Advertisement

 

    Human beings are born with five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. It is from these senses that we judge our world. The truest form of beauty does not need thought, only the involvement of the senses in their rawest of forms. This advertisement from HTC, in my opinion, is truly beautiful. It shows events, each involving the sense of touch, that display emotion. This small montage of emotional moments is paired with a very calm, soothing song, which only adds to the feelings being evoked in the audience. At the end of the ad, the narrator asks:

"Isn't it amazing how many emotions you can feel with just a sense of touch?"

This advertisement struck me as incredible. Something so simple, that everyone has, can have such an overwhelming affect on a person. Then, at the end, tying all of this beauty to a product. It's just fantastic.

    The appeal of this advertisement is its aesthetic sensations. Advertisers believe that their promotions will not be well taken if they are not attractive, and they have a point. Our culture loves art and beauty, and if influenced to believe a product is beautiful, they are more likely to buy it. With this in mind, agencies will sometimes make advertisements (like this one) where very little of it has to do with the product itself, but the public is so drawn to it by the ad's beauty that they associate the product with these aesthetically pleasing commercials.

   In this spot specifically, aesthetics are conveyed through emotion. By showing experiences many people have in a beautiful manner, they evoke the audiences' feelings that they associate with these experiences. What makes artwork magnificent is if it can evoke emotion, and therefore, this advertisement becomes a work of art. It is aesthetically pleasing enough to cause passionate sensations in its viewers, and then associates this beauty with their product. Truly touching.