Youtube = celebrity
The introduction of Youtube was something we and the internet has never seen before. It allowed people to post video of anything they wanted to share as long as the material was suitable. It also paved the path for every day people to be seen all over the world making them “celebrities” in a way. All you have to do is post the video and wait for people to find in and start reposting it themselves. There are a few regulations that have to be followed but any body can do it, meaning anyone can become a “netbrity”.
There are many examples of netbrities coming from Youtube but there are two that I will be using to analysis. The first one and most resent of the two it the “Leave Britney Alone” video. The video starts with Chris Crocker telling people to “leave Britney alone” and how she has been through a lot and doesn’t deserve what is happening to her in the media. He is crying as he is saying his speech and is holding a blanket up behind him (I’m assuming he is hiding what his room looks like). The video is a little over two minutes long in total. It was almost like an over night sensation. It was the number one Youtube video for far too long if you ask me. From the video it seems he is being very serious in his defiance of Britney and how the media has treated her. It was all over the net and media after it became popular on Youtube. With out the video being posted on Youtube know one would have paid any attention to him or his video. But because Youtube has so much power in the media videos that don’t cost anything to make and has no real purpose can make celebrities over night. There are also many post in response making fun of him and saying to leave him alone.
The second video I analyzed was “The End of the World” animation. This minute and a half animation done for a college project has become a cult sensation. It is very big in the college age group which is the age that the video is targeted to. The creators taped into something that college students could attach to and what to keep watching it and telling friends about. The animation is about how we are going to blow our selves up with nuclear missiles. It is done in an overly ridicules way that makes is very amusing. Because the video is an animation it doesn’t make a celebrity per say. It did make a celebrity of the video itself. The creators names don’t appear on the Youtube video that I found making the only celebrity the video.
The last video I am going to write about is one of the bigger Youtube cult sensations, “shoes”. The character Kelly likes shoes and lets every one know it. The video is done with low to no budget and I assume is for a class project. It has become a cult sensation because it is done in a so over the top manner that you can’t help but like it and want to watch it again as well as the others the creator has made. This is mostly big with girls because of the subject matter and they can relate more to what is happening in the video.
The “celebrities” from Youtube are what they are because of the average person. The every day person gets to have a say in what the media is focusing on and that gives them a little more power. They feel that they have more of a say because they are an active participant in whom and what becomes popular on Youtube. And because Youtube gets in the mass media outlets they have a feeling of ownership. If you don’t like something or if you really like something you make and post a video on Youtube. It’s away to be heard from the comforts of your own home. I think that Youtube celebrities are funny and I don’t think of them as celebrities. They are hear and gone in the matter of minutes and some times even less.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
i heart you master chief
As I began to write this post I am actually doing research on my topic. The research I am referring to is playing Halo 3 on Xbox360. I am currently playing the game online, but writing this as there are breaks in the game play. For the most part, this research is keeping me from doing the actual writing for this assignment. This is why I chose this topic. Halo 3 and other addicting video games are being consumed by young adults, particularly males, at alarming rates. The affects of overplaying games can become a problem in some young people’s lives.
The video game industry has grown substantially over the past 5 years, and so has the number of people playing them. The Halo franchise is just 3 of millions of video games out on the market today being consumed internationally by all ages of young people. Online gaming is particularly popular, which enables players to play games and interact with anyone, anywhere in the world. (Obviously barring no internet connection) Video games are featured in two ways, hardware and software. Software is purchasing a game and installing it onto your computer. The hardware approach requires you to purchase a console such as Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo, and playing the games off that particular console. Software gaming has become exponentially larger with the cheaper rates for faster internet, which is the major draw in online games like World of Warcraft, Second Life, and the Everquest franchise. The consoles have benefited largely from online gaming, but already had large numbers in profit before the mainstream online gaming. The Halo franchise is a good example of this growth. The first Halo game had no online capabilities, only a story mode. In story mode you try to stop an alien race, played by the artificial intelligence in the game, from annihilating the human race. The Halo 2 video game featured online capabilities. What this means is, after completing the story mode of the game, you are still able to go and compete you skills against others online. As a gamer, the best competition is going to be against other players, not artificial intelligence. The proof is in the numbers. Halo 2 out sold its predecessor’s total sales…in one month! Halo 3 has evolved even more, especially the online game play. It allows you to play the story mode online with other players, as well as against them. The difference again, is in the numbers. Halo 2 held the previous single day sales record with $125 million. The 3rd installment crushed that number with $170 million, and over $300 million in just its first week in sales. (http://www.informationweek.com/news/202102318 ) The Halo franchise is the perfect example of this boom in gaming, predominantly online gaming.
The number of players has increased as online capabilities have become ever greater. Console gaming has noticed the largest spike in sales, a 43% growth from 2006 to 2007. The advent of being able to compete your Guitar Hero skills with those across the land online has made Guitar Hero one of the top selling games of the year. Games that do no feature online game play usually see the hit in their sales. The draw for young people in video games today, is online community. This is what allows gamers to play for hours and hours against others with formidable skills, not just playing various stages in a game against the artificial intelligence. Certain software games like World of Warcraft (or WOW as it is routinely called) are solely based on internet game play. The whole game is played online, which leaves you with a whole entire community of gamers to interact with. With all this time put away to gaming, who can find time for anything else right? This has become concern for many. Kids with failing grades, children with no interaction with outside environments, even failed marriages have been reported due to video games. “While such cases are rare, mental-health professionals say the fantasy worlds offered by computer and video games can become the stuff of very real addictions that destroy marriages and careers,” reports Dr. Timothy Miller. (http://www.news.com/2100-1040-881673.html) The advent of this new community, which can be reached from your home, is the cause for concern on many levels.
This new community of gamers could mean a lower quality of life for many who indulge too much into this realm of games. These people socialize less with face to face contact, and more over a microphone or a keyboard. Overindulgence can cause less time for school work, a career, or a family. I personally have had one friend who started playing WOW, and still has not come back. I was real close with him, and we hung out all the time. Once he started playing WOW, he stopped calling, stopped coming to social situations, and even stopped working. Now when I am around him, all he has to reference is that stupid game. This would be a common example of someone who has taken gaming too far, and does not know when to stop. This case can be pointed at as a problem among young game players today; they don’t know when to stop. One way to help prevent over playing games, is to start at a young age. Parents need to moderate time that their children play games, so the find time and interest in other activities. Games don’t present problems to many; well that is, those with some discipline in their lives.
As a whole, the video game boom has made it a competitor in the entertainment industry competing with music and movies. It has also led to new and exciting video games, types, and options in those games. I believe that the new wave of technology in gaming can be a very good thing, leading us to new levels of entertainment. But as with all things in life, everything needs to be in moderation. Too much drinking can lead to alcoholism, eating too much can lead to obesity, and smoking too much pot can lead to burning out. Playing too many games can lead to a lot of negative things too. Such are bad grades, loss of friends, loss of a job/career, or even a failed marriage. Overindulgence usually can have negative effects. My final assessment on the negative effects of gaming has less to do with games and more with the people who play them. Many people play these games and lead normal lives, and others do not. Some games are more addictive than others, but what it boils down to is the discipline people have to turn the game off.
Someone is Trying to Kill Me
I sleep with a kitchen knife by my bed. If I hear a noise in the night, I creep out of my bedroom in a low, crouched position, so if someone swings an ax or something, I’ll avoid it and strike first with the knife. I always check the backseat of my car for masked intruders who hope to cut my throat or choke me out with a guitar string. When I walk with my girlfriend, I make sure she’s on my left side so I can keep my right hand free to jab a key into the mugger’s eye. Am I paranoid? Um, yes. It all started with my love affair with the greatest shows on earth: Cold Case Files and Forensic Files.
Both shows retell the stories of how detectives and forensic experts worked together to solve or attempt to solve homicides through science. The topic sounds simple enough. What could be scary about science? You have some DNA, a murderer, and then you link it together—end of story. However, these shows keep viewers watching through a barrage of imagery, sound, and narration that leaves people paralyzed with fear (especially if you watch the shows alone and at night).
The imagery of Cold Case Files and Forensic Files are equally graphic. I have seen bloody feet sticking out of a bush, half of what looks to be a head that was smashed in by a rock, a dead woman’s mouth covered in maggots and other bugs (which later helped reveal the killer), a child’s bloody sock and nothing else left in a cornfield, and have even seen a man’s basement dungeon where some sick son of a bitch kidnapped and raped women for months at a time. Kids go out to play and never come back. Prostitutes turn up dead in the woods. Old people are beaten to death and robbed in their homes. Women sleep soundly only to wake up with a knife to their throat while a man with a flashlight in his mouth begins to viciously rape them.
The background music adds another thick layer of fear. Brilliantly composed, each musical score provides a menacing undercurrent while the views look at things like the Polaroid photo of a suspected serial killer or the van that was used in a kidnapping. Both shows also use what’s called a “sting”. Right as the scariest image pops up, a louder, more dissonant chord is played to cause the viewer to jump or tense up. This is done in every single horror movie. The Exorcist is filled with stings, especially when they show a close up of the demonized girl’s face. Forensic Files uses a few more stings than Cold Case Files, but Cold Case has probably the most effective way to crank up the tension of the show. During a scene transition, the viewer sees only a black screen for less than a second. Then, the white title appears. It fades in as a three-note, tense arpeggio is played. The viewer becomes conditioned to dread this sound. This is when they either find the body or discover that the killer has struck again…and this time, it’s a little closer to home (or something of that nature). Say they’re looking for the killer in St. Paul. Then that blank screen appears followed by that spooky noise. The title says “Rochester, MN”. It makes your stomach drop and anticipate the next scene. You’re thinking “oh no, now he’s in Rochester.” Very effective.
The icing on the cake is both shows narrators. Bill Curtis narrates Cold Case Files. He is the voice of authority knows the perfect spots where to pause for dramatic effect and when to lower his voice to indicate something like, “(high voice) But this time, the east side rapist broke into the wrong house…(low voice) the house of a police officer.” That’s damn good stuff.
While Bill Curtis delivers the goods, he seems to let the imagery and sound do most of the work. Peter Thomas, the narrator for Forensic Files, might be the scariest thing about that show. He is considered a legend in the voice talent community. He brings the show to a fevered pitch with his pacing. He starts out soft and slow and increases his speed and volume as the magnitude of the crime is described in greater detail. It is his voice I hear in my head as I creep through my house after hearing a noise in the basement. “Mike then went to check on the noise he heard in the basement. He thought it was just the dog, but when he found his pet’s throat slashed at the bottom of the stairs, he knew that he was in for more than he bargained for.”
Take a quick look at Forensic Files and pay special attention to what you hear.
Here is Cold Case Files. Again, pay special attention to what you hear.
The purpose of these shows is to create fear and cure that fear by the end of the show. The fear keeps people interested and the closure of solving the crime keeps people from being too scared to watch again. I’ve seen pretty much every episode of these shows and it has let my imagination run wild. Although I’d like to blame these shows for my hair trigger fight or flight response, I think what shows like these really do is bring it out more. If you’re a little bit on the jumpy side, Forensic Files and Cold Case Files will not help soothe you by any means. It will confirm your paranoia. However, I think crime shows like these do wear down my logic after a while. I know that the statistics are insanely low that I will be attacked in my home or car, or be raped in my bed by a masked stranger, but after watching enough of these shows at night, it is safe to say that I am more fearful than I would be if I never watched a single episode. But then again, I would be far less entertained.
Both shows retell the stories of how detectives and forensic experts worked together to solve or attempt to solve homicides through science. The topic sounds simple enough. What could be scary about science? You have some DNA, a murderer, and then you link it together—end of story. However, these shows keep viewers watching through a barrage of imagery, sound, and narration that leaves people paralyzed with fear (especially if you watch the shows alone and at night).
The imagery of Cold Case Files and Forensic Files are equally graphic. I have seen bloody feet sticking out of a bush, half of what looks to be a head that was smashed in by a rock, a dead woman’s mouth covered in maggots and other bugs (which later helped reveal the killer), a child’s bloody sock and nothing else left in a cornfield, and have even seen a man’s basement dungeon where some sick son of a bitch kidnapped and raped women for months at a time. Kids go out to play and never come back. Prostitutes turn up dead in the woods. Old people are beaten to death and robbed in their homes. Women sleep soundly only to wake up with a knife to their throat while a man with a flashlight in his mouth begins to viciously rape them.
The background music adds another thick layer of fear. Brilliantly composed, each musical score provides a menacing undercurrent while the views look at things like the Polaroid photo of a suspected serial killer or the van that was used in a kidnapping. Both shows also use what’s called a “sting”. Right as the scariest image pops up, a louder, more dissonant chord is played to cause the viewer to jump or tense up. This is done in every single horror movie. The Exorcist is filled with stings, especially when they show a close up of the demonized girl’s face. Forensic Files uses a few more stings than Cold Case Files, but Cold Case has probably the most effective way to crank up the tension of the show. During a scene transition, the viewer sees only a black screen for less than a second. Then, the white title appears. It fades in as a three-note, tense arpeggio is played. The viewer becomes conditioned to dread this sound. This is when they either find the body or discover that the killer has struck again…and this time, it’s a little closer to home (or something of that nature). Say they’re looking for the killer in St. Paul. Then that blank screen appears followed by that spooky noise. The title says “Rochester, MN”. It makes your stomach drop and anticipate the next scene. You’re thinking “oh no, now he’s in Rochester.” Very effective.
The icing on the cake is both shows narrators. Bill Curtis narrates Cold Case Files. He is the voice of authority knows the perfect spots where to pause for dramatic effect and when to lower his voice to indicate something like, “(high voice) But this time, the east side rapist broke into the wrong house…(low voice) the house of a police officer.” That’s damn good stuff.
While Bill Curtis delivers the goods, he seems to let the imagery and sound do most of the work. Peter Thomas, the narrator for Forensic Files, might be the scariest thing about that show. He is considered a legend in the voice talent community. He brings the show to a fevered pitch with his pacing. He starts out soft and slow and increases his speed and volume as the magnitude of the crime is described in greater detail. It is his voice I hear in my head as I creep through my house after hearing a noise in the basement. “Mike then went to check on the noise he heard in the basement. He thought it was just the dog, but when he found his pet’s throat slashed at the bottom of the stairs, he knew that he was in for more than he bargained for.”
Take a quick look at Forensic Files and pay special attention to what you hear.
Here is Cold Case Files. Again, pay special attention to what you hear.
The purpose of these shows is to create fear and cure that fear by the end of the show. The fear keeps people interested and the closure of solving the crime keeps people from being too scared to watch again. I’ve seen pretty much every episode of these shows and it has let my imagination run wild. Although I’d like to blame these shows for my hair trigger fight or flight response, I think what shows like these really do is bring it out more. If you’re a little bit on the jumpy side, Forensic Files and Cold Case Files will not help soothe you by any means. It will confirm your paranoia. However, I think crime shows like these do wear down my logic after a while. I know that the statistics are insanely low that I will be attacked in my home or car, or be raped in my bed by a masked stranger, but after watching enough of these shows at night, it is safe to say that I am more fearful than I would be if I never watched a single episode. But then again, I would be far less entertained.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The Real World
This is the true story... of seven strangers... picked to live in a house... and have their lives taped... to find out what happens when people stop being polite... and start getting real...The Real World. This is how every episode of MTV’s “The Real World” begins, and it hasn’t changed at all since the first episode in 1992 set in New York. Also known as the original reality TV show, the real world is apparently nothing more than seven normal everyday people chosen to live together and have every aspect of their lives on TV for the whole world to see. Every season they find seven new people and a new city to do it in. The footage shot during the housemates’ time together is edited into 22-minute episodes. Each season consists of seven people, aged 18 – 25, usually selected from thousands of applicants from across the country, with the group chosen typically representing different races, genders, sexual orientations, levels of sexual experiences, and religious and political beliefs. The first episode of a season will show all the new characters meeting up for the first time and settling in to their new, and always spectacular house. The first night everyone generally gets drunk to celebrate this new and exciting chapter in their life. LET THE DRAMA BEGIN! The rest of the season will be filled with the highlights of these strangers’ interpersonal relationships with one another. In the third or fourth episode of a season, the seven people will all be given the same job (after-school daycare program, a radio station, public access television station, etc.), so they can work together too. At the end of each week, each housemate was required to sit down and be interviewed about the past week’s events. Unlike the normal day-to-day filming, these interviews, which are referred to as “confessionals”, involve the subject looking directly into the camera while providing opinions and reflective accounts of the week’s activities that are used in the final edited episodes. Finally the season will come to an end with people crying and saying goodbye as though they had lived together for their whole lives.
Recurring themes in the show include prejudice, politics, religion, romance, sexuality, and life threatening illnesses. These themes are sure to be played out based on the seven people they choose. You may think these people are all just picked almost at random, but nothing could be further from the truth. Out of thousands of applicants each year, they pick the same seven characters every time.
The “virginal” roommate- Wide-eyed and pure, this character is nauseatingly nice and proudly naive. Often possessing strong Christian values, he/she has a tendency to get emotional and/or preachy. Ex. Julie (New Orleans), a devout Mormon who says no to sex, drugs and caffeine. Julie (New York), Elka (Boston), and Jon (Los Angeles)
The “All American Male” roommate- With freshly-pressed khakis and a toothy white grin, this character looks like he stepped straight out of a J. Crew catalog. Usually quite boring and often named "Mike," he becomes less generic when he drinks. Ex. Mike (London), Mike (Miami), Colin (Hawaii), Sean (Boston), and Jamie (New Orleans)
The “Gay” roommate- Almost always a gay man, doesn’t always reveal their gay until a few episodes in. ex. Danny (New Orleans), Ruthie and Justin (Hawaii), Dan (Miami), Genesis (Boston), Pedro (San Francisco), Stephen (Seattle) (at least according to Irene, anyway)
The “Instagator” roommate- This character derives pleasure from others people's pain. Two-faced and bored, he/she pits the roommates against each other by spreading vicious rumors. A favorite tactic? Entrusting the most insecure member of the cast. Ex. Justin (Hawaii), Montana (Boston), Beth (Los Angeles), Puck (San Francisco) (If he fits anywhere, it would be here.)
The “Pretentious Poet” roommate- A practitioner of experimental music and/or spoken word, this character carries around a well-worn journal and spends a lot of time alone to "think." Ex., Kaia (Hawaii), Jason (Boston), Kevin (New York), Mohammed (San Francisco)
The "Ethnic" Roommate- Though there's almost always more than one non-white character per season, this one is intent on making his/her heritage a constant issue. Heated fights about racism ensue. Ex. Melissa (New Orleans), Kameelah (Boston), Kevin (New York), David (Los Angeles)
The “Drama Queen” roommate- This is the girl everyone loves to hate. Demanding, attention-starved and deliciously bitchy, she makes a paper cut seem like a life-threatening disease. Ex. Amaya (Hawaii), Flora (Miami), Irene (Seattle), and most of all Brooke (Denver), click here to see her freak out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bljVA45GgQ
The “Playa” roommate- This character often goes clubbing without his roommates for fear that they'll cramp his style. The result? Hoochies parade in and out of his bedroom at all hours of the night. The virginal roommate is disgusted. Ex. Syrus (Boston), Teck (Hawaii), David (New Orleans), Eric (New York), and Alex (Denver)
So what does this all mean? If you ask most people about the show, they will be quick to tell you how UN-Real it actually is. How so? Well when most adults are upset with the show because all the characters do is party, drink, fight, argue, talk about feelings and opinions, gossip, and repeat. Parents say this isn’t how the actual world works. Keep in mind this is a TV SHOW! Its real purpose is to get high ratings and keep people watching. That means all of the boring crap that people don’t care to watch gets edited out. All you see is drama because that’s exactly what viewers want to see. Also keep in mind the age of characters (18-25) on the show, this is also MTV’s main demographic age group of the people they try to reach. The house is typically elaborate in its décor, and usually includes a pool table, a Jacuzzi, and a fish tank, which serves as a metaphor for the show, in that the roommates, who are being taped at all times in their home, are seen metaphorically as fish in a fishbowl. MTV is smart in that they know the perfect formula for great reality TV. This combination of different characters in the house+new and exciting big city+ hot tub (for hook-ups and nudity)+nice stuff that characters aren’t used to and that you would never want to break (but for some reason always does)+huge rooms with several huge beds (more hook-ups)+alcohol+cameras everywhere= exactly what MTV’s audience wants…Drama on many levels. This is why The Real World is known as the original reality show, because now there’s a ton of reality shows with almost the same format. So why do we keep watching if we know this isn’t at all how the actual world works? Why keep watching if we know they edit all of this gathered footage in whatever way/ order the producers want, most of the time construing certain situations in a way that it didn’t actually happen? Enough with the viewers, how about the characters? Why would someone go on this show when they know that for the next few months they will have literally no privacy? My answer, fame, plain and simple. What happens to these people after the show? Well if they’re not famous enough after The Real World, they can then participate in “The real World/Road Rules challenge” where MTV’s two biggest reality shows meet for more reality. This gives people from the Real World/Road Rules several chances to come back and be on MTV again and again and again. Characters like Choral who have been on 1 season of real world can be 6 seasons of Real World/Road rules challenges. Like I said, the only real reason I can think of why people volunteer for this, is to get another 15 minutes of fame and possibly (but extremely unlikely) get some sort of career out of it.
So is the Real World good or bad? In my case, I would say it’s a good thing because I watch it for nothing more than entertainment. But what about others, younger people, older people? Will younger audiences look up to this image and think that’s what they should live by? Will older audiences just continue to think “teenagers” or “What are things coming to these days”? What do you think?
Recurring themes in the show include prejudice, politics, religion, romance, sexuality, and life threatening illnesses. These themes are sure to be played out based on the seven people they choose. You may think these people are all just picked almost at random, but nothing could be further from the truth. Out of thousands of applicants each year, they pick the same seven characters every time.
The “virginal” roommate- Wide-eyed and pure, this character is nauseatingly nice and proudly naive. Often possessing strong Christian values, he/she has a tendency to get emotional and/or preachy. Ex. Julie (New Orleans), a devout Mormon who says no to sex, drugs and caffeine. Julie (New York), Elka (Boston), and Jon (Los Angeles)
The “All American Male” roommate- With freshly-pressed khakis and a toothy white grin, this character looks like he stepped straight out of a J. Crew catalog. Usually quite boring and often named "Mike," he becomes less generic when he drinks. Ex. Mike (London), Mike (Miami), Colin (Hawaii), Sean (Boston), and Jamie (New Orleans)
The “Gay” roommate- Almost always a gay man, doesn’t always reveal their gay until a few episodes in. ex. Danny (New Orleans), Ruthie and Justin (Hawaii), Dan (Miami), Genesis (Boston), Pedro (San Francisco), Stephen (Seattle) (at least according to Irene, anyway)
The “Instagator” roommate- This character derives pleasure from others people's pain. Two-faced and bored, he/she pits the roommates against each other by spreading vicious rumors. A favorite tactic? Entrusting the most insecure member of the cast. Ex. Justin (Hawaii), Montana (Boston), Beth (Los Angeles), Puck (San Francisco) (If he fits anywhere, it would be here.)
The “Pretentious Poet” roommate- A practitioner of experimental music and/or spoken word, this character carries around a well-worn journal and spends a lot of time alone to "think." Ex., Kaia (Hawaii), Jason (Boston), Kevin (New York), Mohammed (San Francisco)
The "Ethnic" Roommate- Though there's almost always more than one non-white character per season, this one is intent on making his/her heritage a constant issue. Heated fights about racism ensue. Ex. Melissa (New Orleans), Kameelah (Boston), Kevin (New York), David (Los Angeles)
The “Drama Queen” roommate- This is the girl everyone loves to hate. Demanding, attention-starved and deliciously bitchy, she makes a paper cut seem like a life-threatening disease. Ex. Amaya (Hawaii), Flora (Miami), Irene (Seattle), and most of all Brooke (Denver), click here to see her freak out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bljVA45GgQ
The “Playa” roommate- This character often goes clubbing without his roommates for fear that they'll cramp his style. The result? Hoochies parade in and out of his bedroom at all hours of the night. The virginal roommate is disgusted. Ex. Syrus (Boston), Teck (Hawaii), David (New Orleans), Eric (New York), and Alex (Denver)
So what does this all mean? If you ask most people about the show, they will be quick to tell you how UN-Real it actually is. How so? Well when most adults are upset with the show because all the characters do is party, drink, fight, argue, talk about feelings and opinions, gossip, and repeat. Parents say this isn’t how the actual world works. Keep in mind this is a TV SHOW! Its real purpose is to get high ratings and keep people watching. That means all of the boring crap that people don’t care to watch gets edited out. All you see is drama because that’s exactly what viewers want to see. Also keep in mind the age of characters (18-25) on the show, this is also MTV’s main demographic age group of the people they try to reach. The house is typically elaborate in its décor, and usually includes a pool table, a Jacuzzi, and a fish tank, which serves as a metaphor for the show, in that the roommates, who are being taped at all times in their home, are seen metaphorically as fish in a fishbowl. MTV is smart in that they know the perfect formula for great reality TV. This combination of different characters in the house+new and exciting big city+ hot tub (for hook-ups and nudity)+nice stuff that characters aren’t used to and that you would never want to break (but for some reason always does)+huge rooms with several huge beds (more hook-ups)+alcohol+cameras everywhere= exactly what MTV’s audience wants…Drama on many levels. This is why The Real World is known as the original reality show, because now there’s a ton of reality shows with almost the same format. So why do we keep watching if we know this isn’t at all how the actual world works? Why keep watching if we know they edit all of this gathered footage in whatever way/ order the producers want, most of the time construing certain situations in a way that it didn’t actually happen? Enough with the viewers, how about the characters? Why would someone go on this show when they know that for the next few months they will have literally no privacy? My answer, fame, plain and simple. What happens to these people after the show? Well if they’re not famous enough after The Real World, they can then participate in “The real World/Road Rules challenge” where MTV’s two biggest reality shows meet for more reality. This gives people from the Real World/Road Rules several chances to come back and be on MTV again and again and again. Characters like Choral who have been on 1 season of real world can be 6 seasons of Real World/Road rules challenges. Like I said, the only real reason I can think of why people volunteer for this, is to get another 15 minutes of fame and possibly (but extremely unlikely) get some sort of career out of it.
So is the Real World good or bad? In my case, I would say it’s a good thing because I watch it for nothing more than entertainment. But what about others, younger people, older people? Will younger audiences look up to this image and think that’s what they should live by? Will older audiences just continue to think “teenagers” or “What are things coming to these days”? What do you think?
Monday, February 25, 2008
Big In Japan
What do American celebrities do when they need a quick couple million dollars? Well they go to Japan and make a commercial of course! For some decades now, American celebrities have been able to fly to Japan pump out a few commercials, maybe some print ads, earn a ridiculously large paycheck and go home where no one is the wiser. Generally the celebrities have gone to lengths to keep these commercials from hitting American homes since they are usually weird and embarrassing. Unfortunately for the celebrities, with the advent of the internet and video sharing websites it’s just as easy to view these commercials anywhere as it is in Japan.
A set of commercials that have recently proven to be quite successful with the Japanese public were produced with Tommy Lee Jones as the star. I first became aware of these commercials by a conversation with my friend. It went something like this:
Friend: “Do you like Tommy Lee Jones?”
Me: “I suppose, but I haven’t seen him do much recently, why?”
Friend: “Oh, he made commercials here, I really like them, he pretends to be Japanese I bet it was difficult for him.”
Me: “….Well he is an actor and that is his job – to pretend to be someone else.”
I honestly didn’t think about that again until I returned home to American. Then one day as I was surfing YouTube what should come up but Tommy Lee Jones’ set of Japanese commercials? I was surprised to find there were so many in the series, I found about 11 or 12 online, and they all follow the same basic plot. In the commercials Tommy Lee Jones is living like an average Japanese person, usually performing some mundane job like mover or airport inspector, and sometimes bizarre things happen – for example Tommy’s face may turn into a demon face. However the really odd part is Tommy is an alien, who took the form of Tommy Lee Jones and is surveying the earth.
It’s not until the very end of the commercial that you even learn what is being marketed. Which it turns out is canned coffee in a multi-colored can from coffee company Suntory Boss Coffee. Now I saw Boss coffee everywhere, you can’t walk 2 blocks without running into a Boss brand vending machine in Japan, so it really is a common product that everyone has been exposed to already. I’ll discuss this more at the end of this entry.
Since there are so many commercials, and they all have the same basic theme, I will discuss just a couple here specifically. First we’ll take a look at Tommy’s first commercial where he is eating at a restaurant.
A rough translation of what is happening in this particular commercial is the setting is a Gyudon (Stewed beef over rice in a bowl) fast food restaurant. This type of fast food joint is very common in Japan and open 24 hours a day. It’s popular with the salary men and laborers, but families also eat there, because it is very inexpensive (cheaper then McDonalds) and very filling. Anyhow, the two men sitting and chatting at the counter are saying that there are aliens on earth, and they are probably disguised as Tommy Lee Jones. But for some reason they don’t notice the alien Tommy sitting just a few seats over from them. As he is leaving, Tommy makes an inner monologue about how the beings on this planet are stupid, but the sunsets are very beautiful. He then holds up the can of Boss coffee and takes a loud gulp. Then we hear the name of the product and brand. “Boss Coffee, Rainbow Mountain”
Next is commercial number 7, in which alien Tommy is working in a Host Club. Host clubs are an entirely Japanese invention. What happens at a Host Club is a woman, or group of women, go to the club and pick out a host from the pictures displayed in the front. The chosen host then sits with the woman, complements her – treats her like a princess, and tries to get her to buy as much overpriced alcohol as possible. The host has to drink a lot to encourage her to drink more, and may have to vomit a few times during the evening so he can continue to drink. Host clubs are not sexual, but the average cost for a night at the club costs about 2000$. Perhaps you wonder why a Japanese woman would shell out 2000$ to get complimented by an over-the-top host type, but the simple answer is Japanese men are terrible at treating their girlfriend in an affectionate manner.
Well this girl in the commercial has chosen alien Tommy as her host, and is rather disappointed. She looks on at the number one host and exclaims how cool he is, then she turns back to Tommy and calls him un-cool and begins to complain about him. He breaks her spoon with his alien mind powers. At the end Tommy exits the Host Club and has had a host makeover, complete with fake carrot tan and huge teased hairdo. After he compliments earth’s tanning salons he takes the gulp of coffee and we hear the voice over again. “Boss Coffee, Rainbow Mountain.”
While I cannot say for sure if these series of commercials, aired over the course of a year, have increased the sales of Boss coffee Rainbow Mountain blend, but the commercials themselves have been quite popular. The simple plot of Tommy living and doing “typical” Japanese activities is apparently very appealing the Japanese public. Watching a foreigner trying to do Japanese tasks is always a source of entertainment for the Japanese, and what could be better then watching a celebrity do the tasks in the comfort of your own home. And what could be more foreign then an alien disguised as Tommy Lee Jones? As the commercials have become more and more popular, more and more billboards and large scale print advertisements have been produced. You can easily see Tommy’s gigantic visage staring down at you as you are walking Tokyo’s streets.
Not all American celebrities’ Japanese commercials have been as popular as Tommy Lee Jones’ but it’s always going to be a hit in Japan if it features a foreign star. So why not surf onto a video sharing site and search for your favorite celebrity with “Japanese commercial” and see what turns up?
A set of commercials that have recently proven to be quite successful with the Japanese public were produced with Tommy Lee Jones as the star. I first became aware of these commercials by a conversation with my friend. It went something like this:
Friend: “Do you like Tommy Lee Jones?”
Me: “I suppose, but I haven’t seen him do much recently, why?”
Friend: “Oh, he made commercials here, I really like them, he pretends to be Japanese I bet it was difficult for him.”
Me: “….Well he is an actor and that is his job – to pretend to be someone else.”
I honestly didn’t think about that again until I returned home to American. Then one day as I was surfing YouTube what should come up but Tommy Lee Jones’ set of Japanese commercials? I was surprised to find there were so many in the series, I found about 11 or 12 online, and they all follow the same basic plot. In the commercials Tommy Lee Jones is living like an average Japanese person, usually performing some mundane job like mover or airport inspector, and sometimes bizarre things happen – for example Tommy’s face may turn into a demon face. However the really odd part is Tommy is an alien, who took the form of Tommy Lee Jones and is surveying the earth.
It’s not until the very end of the commercial that you even learn what is being marketed. Which it turns out is canned coffee in a multi-colored can from coffee company Suntory Boss Coffee. Now I saw Boss coffee everywhere, you can’t walk 2 blocks without running into a Boss brand vending machine in Japan, so it really is a common product that everyone has been exposed to already. I’ll discuss this more at the end of this entry.
Since there are so many commercials, and they all have the same basic theme, I will discuss just a couple here specifically. First we’ll take a look at Tommy’s first commercial where he is eating at a restaurant.
A rough translation of what is happening in this particular commercial is the setting is a Gyudon (Stewed beef over rice in a bowl) fast food restaurant. This type of fast food joint is very common in Japan and open 24 hours a day. It’s popular with the salary men and laborers, but families also eat there, because it is very inexpensive (cheaper then McDonalds) and very filling. Anyhow, the two men sitting and chatting at the counter are saying that there are aliens on earth, and they are probably disguised as Tommy Lee Jones. But for some reason they don’t notice the alien Tommy sitting just a few seats over from them. As he is leaving, Tommy makes an inner monologue about how the beings on this planet are stupid, but the sunsets are very beautiful. He then holds up the can of Boss coffee and takes a loud gulp. Then we hear the name of the product and brand. “Boss Coffee, Rainbow Mountain”
Next is commercial number 7, in which alien Tommy is working in a Host Club. Host clubs are an entirely Japanese invention. What happens at a Host Club is a woman, or group of women, go to the club and pick out a host from the pictures displayed in the front. The chosen host then sits with the woman, complements her – treats her like a princess, and tries to get her to buy as much overpriced alcohol as possible. The host has to drink a lot to encourage her to drink more, and may have to vomit a few times during the evening so he can continue to drink. Host clubs are not sexual, but the average cost for a night at the club costs about 2000$. Perhaps you wonder why a Japanese woman would shell out 2000$ to get complimented by an over-the-top host type, but the simple answer is Japanese men are terrible at treating their girlfriend in an affectionate manner.
Well this girl in the commercial has chosen alien Tommy as her host, and is rather disappointed. She looks on at the number one host and exclaims how cool he is, then she turns back to Tommy and calls him un-cool and begins to complain about him. He breaks her spoon with his alien mind powers. At the end Tommy exits the Host Club and has had a host makeover, complete with fake carrot tan and huge teased hairdo. After he compliments earth’s tanning salons he takes the gulp of coffee and we hear the voice over again. “Boss Coffee, Rainbow Mountain.”
While I cannot say for sure if these series of commercials, aired over the course of a year, have increased the sales of Boss coffee Rainbow Mountain blend, but the commercials themselves have been quite popular. The simple plot of Tommy living and doing “typical” Japanese activities is apparently very appealing the Japanese public. Watching a foreigner trying to do Japanese tasks is always a source of entertainment for the Japanese, and what could be better then watching a celebrity do the tasks in the comfort of your own home. And what could be more foreign then an alien disguised as Tommy Lee Jones? As the commercials have become more and more popular, more and more billboards and large scale print advertisements have been produced. You can easily see Tommy’s gigantic visage staring down at you as you are walking Tokyo’s streets.
Not all American celebrities’ Japanese commercials have been as popular as Tommy Lee Jones’ but it’s always going to be a hit in Japan if it features a foreign star. So why not surf onto a video sharing site and search for your favorite celebrity with “Japanese commercial” and see what turns up?
Friday, February 22, 2008
Televised Shopping
Like many women, I like to shop. So with the arrival or cable television and all the new varieties of programs came televised shopping. My shopping channel of choice is QVC, which stands for Quality Value Convenience. Any time of the day or night I can turn on the TV and get my shopping fix satisfied. QVC has been on the air for over 20 years. They broadcast live 24 hours a day, 364 days a year. They do go off the air on Christmas Eve and start up again on December 26th. They sell everything form clothes, cosmetics, household goods and especially jewelry. Jewelry has always been viewed as an impulse item and there is no better way to sell it than with a five-minute airing to get impulsive shoppers to pick up the phone. They also sell products to attract male shoppers too. QVC sells a lot of electronics, sports memorabilia and tools. QVC is located in West Chester, Pennsylvania where they broadcast from a huge building. They use many different sets based upon what they are selling. For example, the set used for selling fashions looks like a studio where the host stand in the middle with the product and the models can walk back and forth across the set giving the viewer a good look of the clothes from many angles. They also have a kitchen set where they demonstrate cookware just like a cooking show on Food Network. In addition they have a living room, bedroom and a set that looks like an exclusive jewelry store where you are given a one-on-one showing of jewelry.
The format of QVC programming is set up as hour-long programs (or in some cases several hours) dedicated to a particular theme like gold jewelry or cooking ideas. They have program hosts who describe the items for sale and given demonstrations on how it works. During jewelry and fashion programs they have professional models model the items. This gives the viewers a better idea of the item looks like and how it might look on them. The hosts are very knowledgeable about the products they sell but they also have product experts as guests. Jewelry and clothing designers make frequent visits as well as company reps for electronic and other items. They are available to answer caller’s questions live on the air. QVC has had many sports figures as guests too.
When you finally decide to place your first order with QVC the process is very easy. The operator will take down your personal information and payment method and in seven to ten day, you will have your package. They typically do not sell merchandise that is not in inventory. Occasionally something sells out, then they will take advance orders but they tell you that before you place your order. They take almost every major credit card including their own Q Card. They also accept personal checks but they do not ship the item until the check has cleared the bank. Plus on some items they offer an Easy Pay plan. With Easy Pay, your purchase is divided into equal installments and charged to your credit card each month. There are no financing fees associated with this plan. If you are lucky the operator will ask you if you want to speak to the host on the air. These are legitimate calls and not staged. I have spoken on the air several time and they have never prompted me on what to say. Many times I have heard callers say they are shut-ins who can not get out and shop. They depend on QVC not only as a shopping source but also as a source on connection with the outside world.
QVC comes across as a company with a high level on integrity. They do not sell or give away customer names so you won’t be burdened with telemarketers or unwanted junk mail. They also promote buying responsibly. The hosts do not pressure the viewers into buying. There is no time limit where the price goes up if not purchased within a certain timeframe. As long as you have the item number you can order the product anytime. If you do not have the item number, a customer service rep can help you find it. You can also order anytime by using their website QVC.com. http://www.qvc.com/
QVC has a lot of buying power. They claim they could be in 80 million homes between cable and satellite TV subscribers. This allows them the opportunity to get exclusive products or products first being introduced into the market.
Of course there are disadvantages of televised shopping too. First there are the shipping charges. Most items are shipped UPS or USPS and you pay the shipping and handling charges. If you do not like what you bought from QVC you have 30 days to return it for any reason but you get stuck paying the shipping on the return unless the product is defective. Then QVC will reimburse you the shipping charges. Second, viewers need to exercise self-control when shopping on QVC. It is too easy to pick up the phone and order. Soon you could max-out your credit card.
Another point to keep in mind is QVC is really competing against high-end department stores. Many on the types of products available on QVC can be purchased at discount stores for less money. QVC raves about their Quality Assurance Department, so you would like to think your are purchasing a higher quality product from QVC than you would purchase from a discount retailer.
I have shopped on QVC for many years and have found them to be a very reputable company. They offer a valuable service to people who can not get around or who just do not like crowded malls. One only needs to exercise financial discipline and QVC can be an enjoyable shopping experience.
The format of QVC programming is set up as hour-long programs (or in some cases several hours) dedicated to a particular theme like gold jewelry or cooking ideas. They have program hosts who describe the items for sale and given demonstrations on how it works. During jewelry and fashion programs they have professional models model the items. This gives the viewers a better idea of the item looks like and how it might look on them. The hosts are very knowledgeable about the products they sell but they also have product experts as guests. Jewelry and clothing designers make frequent visits as well as company reps for electronic and other items. They are available to answer caller’s questions live on the air. QVC has had many sports figures as guests too.
When you finally decide to place your first order with QVC the process is very easy. The operator will take down your personal information and payment method and in seven to ten day, you will have your package. They typically do not sell merchandise that is not in inventory. Occasionally something sells out, then they will take advance orders but they tell you that before you place your order. They take almost every major credit card including their own Q Card. They also accept personal checks but they do not ship the item until the check has cleared the bank. Plus on some items they offer an Easy Pay plan. With Easy Pay, your purchase is divided into equal installments and charged to your credit card each month. There are no financing fees associated with this plan. If you are lucky the operator will ask you if you want to speak to the host on the air. These are legitimate calls and not staged. I have spoken on the air several time and they have never prompted me on what to say. Many times I have heard callers say they are shut-ins who can not get out and shop. They depend on QVC not only as a shopping source but also as a source on connection with the outside world.
QVC comes across as a company with a high level on integrity. They do not sell or give away customer names so you won’t be burdened with telemarketers or unwanted junk mail. They also promote buying responsibly. The hosts do not pressure the viewers into buying. There is no time limit where the price goes up if not purchased within a certain timeframe. As long as you have the item number you can order the product anytime. If you do not have the item number, a customer service rep can help you find it. You can also order anytime by using their website QVC.com. http://www.qvc.com/
QVC has a lot of buying power. They claim they could be in 80 million homes between cable and satellite TV subscribers. This allows them the opportunity to get exclusive products or products first being introduced into the market.
Of course there are disadvantages of televised shopping too. First there are the shipping charges. Most items are shipped UPS or USPS and you pay the shipping and handling charges. If you do not like what you bought from QVC you have 30 days to return it for any reason but you get stuck paying the shipping on the return unless the product is defective. Then QVC will reimburse you the shipping charges. Second, viewers need to exercise self-control when shopping on QVC. It is too easy to pick up the phone and order. Soon you could max-out your credit card.
Another point to keep in mind is QVC is really competing against high-end department stores. Many on the types of products available on QVC can be purchased at discount stores for less money. QVC raves about their Quality Assurance Department, so you would like to think your are purchasing a higher quality product from QVC than you would purchase from a discount retailer.
I have shopped on QVC for many years and have found them to be a very reputable company. They offer a valuable service to people who can not get around or who just do not like crowded malls. One only needs to exercise financial discipline and QVC can be an enjoyable shopping experience.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
South Park
The adult animated series South Park is about 4 elementary students, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny, and the insane adventures that they get into in their hometown of South Park, Colorado. Trey Parker and Matt Stone created the show from an animated short made in their film class at the University of Colorado in 1992. They struck a deal with Comedy Central in 1997 for a show, and the first episode of South Park was aired on August 13, 1997. Since the start of the series, there have been 167 episodes aired in eleven seasons and a full-length feature film, and a deal has already been made to make new episodes up until 2011. However, South Park’s notoriety comes form its ability to push the envelope for what can be said on television. Creators Matt and Trey will find any topic they can think of to make fun of such as: vulgarity, political issues, censorship, the environment, etc. Almost every controversial topic in our modern world is fair game for South Park to poke fun at. It succeeds at these topics, though, where most shows won’t even think about touching them.
Its success might be connected with its ability to comment on current issues in the world. Where South Park has an advantage over shows like “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” is that a single episode can be made in a very speedy fashion, which enables the writers to incorporate modern issues affecting the world at the time. In fact, an episode of South Park usually takes 6 days, sometimes three or four, where instead a single episode of The Simpsons takes a whopping 6 to 8 months to create. A really good example of the show’s to keep up on current events would be in the episode “It’s Christmas in Canada”. In the episode the boys travel to Canada to get Kyle’s brother back, but in order to accomplish their mission they must first speak with the Canadian Prime Minister. In a bizarre twist they discover that the Prime Minister is actually Saddam Hussein hiding in a spider hole. The importance of this is because three days before this episode aired the U.S. Military just caught Saddam Hussein hiding in the aforementioned spider hole.
Besides its strength in commenting on current events around the world, South Park attracts many viewers with its outrageous position that it takes on many very controversial issues. In a recent episode, the state of Colorado decides whether or not to approve gay marriage based on the outcome of an egg that is set in the care of Stan and Kyle. In another episode concerning the rain forest, a character’s views change from being pro-rain forest to anti-rain forest. At the end of the episode, there are even statements about the rain forest that say how bad of a place it is, and the different varieties of cancer one can get there. Viewers are attracted to the show because of its disregard for what society considers not politically correct. Many people like things that tread the line or sometimes totally cross it. South Park is probably the only show on television that is willing to take a serious issue like immigration and then point out points from each side to make fun of. Since most episodes don’t really take one particular side, there is an opportunity for someone watching the show to laugh at an issue that they actually might take really seriously.
A question that someone might ask could be, why does current events matter for an animated show? Look at television shows like The Daily Show or even Saturday Night Live. Both these shows rely on satire, political or social, to create humorous views on current events. A show that develops ideas for episodes around current events will have a better chance of connecting with viewers personal views, and whether they agree with it or not, they may find it funny enough to start watching more of that television program. Also, it gives viewers, usually younger kids, a way to be aware of social problems in today’s society, and the viewpoints that each side might take on a certain topic. It should be noted, though, that a person watching this show should not take it literally. What makes events in pop-culture important? That is the thing. They are not important at all. The genius of South Park is that it makes fun of these celebrities who take themselves way too seriously. The creators want to show people that celebrities are just people, who have no real expertise in many political and social issues, and they really shouldn’t be taken seriously,
South Park has become a legendary cartoon show since its inception almost 11 years ago. Trey and Matt have created many other projects like Team America: World Police or BASEketball, but nothing can really compare to the success that South Park has had. With its advantage over many cartoon shows to poke fun at current issues, and its audacity to make fun of such things like religion and racism, South Park will continue to create many more classic and ridiculous programming.
Its success might be connected with its ability to comment on current issues in the world. Where South Park has an advantage over shows like “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” is that a single episode can be made in a very speedy fashion, which enables the writers to incorporate modern issues affecting the world at the time. In fact, an episode of South Park usually takes 6 days, sometimes three or four, where instead a single episode of The Simpsons takes a whopping 6 to 8 months to create. A really good example of the show’s to keep up on current events would be in the episode “It’s Christmas in Canada”. In the episode the boys travel to Canada to get Kyle’s brother back, but in order to accomplish their mission they must first speak with the Canadian Prime Minister. In a bizarre twist they discover that the Prime Minister is actually Saddam Hussein hiding in a spider hole. The importance of this is because three days before this episode aired the U.S. Military just caught Saddam Hussein hiding in the aforementioned spider hole.
Besides its strength in commenting on current events around the world, South Park attracts many viewers with its outrageous position that it takes on many very controversial issues. In a recent episode, the state of Colorado decides whether or not to approve gay marriage based on the outcome of an egg that is set in the care of Stan and Kyle. In another episode concerning the rain forest, a character’s views change from being pro-rain forest to anti-rain forest. At the end of the episode, there are even statements about the rain forest that say how bad of a place it is, and the different varieties of cancer one can get there. Viewers are attracted to the show because of its disregard for what society considers not politically correct. Many people like things that tread the line or sometimes totally cross it. South Park is probably the only show on television that is willing to take a serious issue like immigration and then point out points from each side to make fun of. Since most episodes don’t really take one particular side, there is an opportunity for someone watching the show to laugh at an issue that they actually might take really seriously.
A question that someone might ask could be, why does current events matter for an animated show? Look at television shows like The Daily Show or even Saturday Night Live. Both these shows rely on satire, political or social, to create humorous views on current events. A show that develops ideas for episodes around current events will have a better chance of connecting with viewers personal views, and whether they agree with it or not, they may find it funny enough to start watching more of that television program. Also, it gives viewers, usually younger kids, a way to be aware of social problems in today’s society, and the viewpoints that each side might take on a certain topic. It should be noted, though, that a person watching this show should not take it literally. What makes events in pop-culture important? That is the thing. They are not important at all. The genius of South Park is that it makes fun of these celebrities who take themselves way too seriously. The creators want to show people that celebrities are just people, who have no real expertise in many political and social issues, and they really shouldn’t be taken seriously,
South Park has become a legendary cartoon show since its inception almost 11 years ago. Trey and Matt have created many other projects like Team America: World Police or BASEketball, but nothing can really compare to the success that South Park has had. With its advantage over many cartoon shows to poke fun at current issues, and its audacity to make fun of such things like religion and racism, South Park will continue to create many more classic and ridiculous programming.
What's on TV tonight?
I don’t think I am the only person in the world who would say that media is almost a natural part of our world. We drive in our cars, and we have to listen to something; whether it is talk radio, or the latest over-played tunes that constantly irritate us because they are played every 25 minutes. If were lucky, we have an Ipod connector, or some sort of device that allows us to escape the world of radio. At school we see movies in at least half of our classes; we watch youtube videos, and movies online. We do these things because we enjoy the freedom to do so. Unfortunately, when we go home to browse through our 631 channels of streaming television, we seem to not get what we want; if it’s not some schmooze from an unknown company telling us how to invest our money, its Rachel Ray telling us that making Mac & cheese can be exciting. If you think that’s bad, how about reality television? What is this American obsession with Bullshit media? I will admit I did like Howie Mandel, only when he was playing a cartoon kid with a giant head though. I liked Jeff Foxworthy, when he seemed two grades smarter than a fifth grader, or how about the so-called “Real World” on MTV. I still cant figure this one out; get a group of horny and very depressed 20 year old kids, lock them in a house with each other and give them as much booze and anger as they can handle. I would agree that booze is key, I don’t however see the importance of watching a group of very neglected people cry and punch each other because someone said something about their mother, or how they don’t like their tone of voice. Are you kidding me? Media today is a crock, its an illusion of reality that we want to believe is true.
Media may be entertaining, but it is largely fictional, and hardly real. Take a look at the show “The Bachelor”. What is the whole point of the show? Get a dude who pretends to be rich, set him up with a bi-polar half Canadian half Russian chick, and send them on their way? What? Or how about everyone’s favorite shows: “Flavor of Love”, “I love
Media today would like us to believe that we can live the lavish life of a broke-ass movie star, and live a second life hosting game shows because we failed at our first careers. But the fact is media doesn’t want us to think like this, hell no, because if they did then reality TV would be called “Who Wants to be on Welfare”, “
Fan Campaigns
Firefly is a television series directed by Joss Whedon that aired on the Fox network in 2002. It is a science fiction series set in the year 2517 after humans have spread across the universe and the United States and China emerge as the only superpowers from an intergalactic civil war. They merge to form the Alliance that makes up the government. This merger also fused the two cultures. The show picks up with the captain and his second, who were both on the losing side of the civil war, and the hodgepodge of the crew on their ship, Serenity. The group consists of a reverend, a young female mechanic, a companion, a comedic pilot, a mercenary, a doctor, and the doctor’s younger sister who is being chased by the Alliance. For one reason or another, they all need to stay under the Alliance’s radar. The show focuses on their smuggling jobs done on the outskirts of the Alliance’s control and the many odd situations that result. The setting gives it a distinct western feel unique to the science fiction genre that also helps reinforce the characters’ search of freedom. The show also focuses on the control of the Alliance and how they interfere with their jobs.
After airing only 11 episodes, Firefly was canceled. However, the show gained a tremendous fan base. DVD sales were also strong and increased after the Sci-Fi channel started re-airing it. The fans started a massive campaign to bring the show back, using websites, contacting producers, and showing support at conventions. While the show never re-syndicated, the popularity led Whedon and Universal Studios to create a film based on the series. Serenity, named after the ship, was released in 2005, and focuses on the confrontation between the inhabitants of Serenity and the Alliance. http://www.serenitymovie.com/
Why should anyone care? Well, this shows that fans have some power over what is produced. A space western would not have been picked up if the fans weren’t demanding it. Film producers work for the money. Serenity would have been a huge risk if Firefly wasn’t so popular, but demand compelled them to create it. This isn't the first or last that has been affected by fan campaigns. In the 1950's Cagney and Lacey and Gunsmoke, one of the longest running shows in American history, were both revived by popular demand. More recently, the CBS show Jericho was brought back by a fan campaign. Fox's Family Guy was renegotiated back by producers after reruns on Adult Swim had high ratings. So when fans get together they can sway the decisions that producers make. They have some affect on what is usually a disconnected organization.
After airing only 11 episodes, Firefly was canceled. However, the show gained a tremendous fan base. DVD sales were also strong and increased after the Sci-Fi channel started re-airing it. The fans started a massive campaign to bring the show back, using websites, contacting producers, and showing support at conventions. While the show never re-syndicated, the popularity led Whedon and Universal Studios to create a film based on the series. Serenity, named after the ship, was released in 2005, and focuses on the confrontation between the inhabitants of Serenity and the Alliance. http://www.serenitymovie.com/
Why should anyone care? Well, this shows that fans have some power over what is produced. A space western would not have been picked up if the fans weren’t demanding it. Film producers work for the money. Serenity would have been a huge risk if Firefly wasn’t so popular, but demand compelled them to create it. This isn't the first or last that has been affected by fan campaigns. In the 1950's Cagney and Lacey and Gunsmoke, one of the longest running shows in American history, were both revived by popular demand. More recently, the CBS show Jericho was brought back by a fan campaign. Fox's Family Guy was renegotiated back by producers after reruns on Adult Swim had high ratings. So when fans get together they can sway the decisions that producers make. They have some affect on what is usually a disconnected organization.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Mythbusters
You all heard of urban legends, and myths like if you fill a football with helium then it will fly higher when you kick it then a football filled with air, or like if you shoot a gun strait in the air, the bullet will come down and kill someone. Alot of people wonder if these "myths" are true or not, but instead of going out there and finding out for themselves, there is a special group of people who find out the truth for you, they are known as the Mythbusters! the Mythbusters consists of five members, two of which are the hosts, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, both having backgrounds in special effects and multiple other perfessions including math, science, chemistry, and the list goes on. In the show, the Mythbusters research and test out myths. The tests determine whether or not the myth is truth or fiction, alot of the time the myths come up as either plausable or busted, showing that the myth was mearly a made up story, or was true to some extent but was exaguarated at some point in time. Another occurance is when the myth comes up confirmed, meaning that what ever the myth stated is true or the tests conclude enough evidence to be true. I personally think this is a great show, it is interesting what they test out and i have also noticed that more often than not the myths are usually busted, meaning that alot of the things you hear and believe are not true. I find that the show tends to tests myths only to an extent, like if you watch the show, you get your own ideas on how they should test a certain myth, and in your head it makes sence, however they test the myth and determine the out come in a way you wouldn't have tested. The cool thing is, you can write them and give your two bits and they may come back to that myth and test it in your way. Any way the point of the show is to prove truth or fiction in every day folklore and beliefs, i think they do a great job testing out the myths, they are accurate, concise, scientific and are extreamly thorough. I give this show an A, being that it makes you think and also is interesting.
Machinima
Machinima, most people would ask, "What is it?" and then when told those people may respond, "What's in it for the people doing it?" the next question is, "Why are people watching it?" Well, all of those have rather simple, but some what long, answers.
For the first question, what is it, it is videos and movies made using a video game for the stage. the characters and special effects. Although, sometimes people will put in special effects so they can do more than the game allows. Infact many people have watched machinima without even knowing it. An example of this is the popular Red vs. Blue at www.redvsblue.com. In this series, the group Rooster Teeth takes the game Halo and Halo 2 and have created a total of one hundred red vs blue episodes and five sub-episodes. Many people have seen atleast part of this series without even realizing that what they are watching is infact machinima. I personally didn't find out that it was machinima until about three years after I watched it.
Another example of a place people have seen machinima but don't know it is the South Park episode "Make Love not Warcraft", season ten episode eight In this episode the kids of South Park play the game World of Warcraft. A hacker in the game is running around killing every World of Warcraft character he comes accross. Now heres the episode spoiler if you do not want to read this skip to the next paragraph. The boys; Stan, Kyle, Eric and Kenny, take it upon themselves to stop the hacker and spend a long amount of time training there World of Warcraft characters to be strong enough to defeat the hacker. After training their characters high enough to take on the hacker they go to fight him, unfortunatly they are not quite strong enough to defeat him. A few of the Blizzard emplyees, Blizzard is the company that makes the game World of Warcraft, brought an item to the boys to help them defeat the hacker. This item is called the sword of one thousand truths and thanks this item the boys defeat the hacker and bring peace back to the world of warcraft.
Now onto the second question, What's in it for the people doing it, which there are a few different answers. One reason is that the people doing this make money. Another reason people do this is for just straight up fun and you do something amazing in a video game and something is compelling you to show everyone in the world what you did and post it on youtube or any other online video stream. For the third and final reason, that I will talk about, is for contests.
For the first reason I gave, making money, people make money off of this by selling merchandise of their machinima series. Usually this only happens with popular machinima series such as red vs blue. Another way they make money is by becoming popular enough to the point where people hire them to make commercials or advertisements. Red vs. blue has done this with a series of commercials for Madden Football 2007. A third way these groups make money is with subscriptions and donations. People want to see these videos so they will pay the creator so that the creator can make it. Also with red vs. blue, if someone subscribes then they have access to the videos a week before non-subscribers and they get the high resolution version rather than the low resolution that non-subscribers get. Another group that is making money is Myndflame, website is www.myndflame.com. They sell merchandise, have been hired for advertisements and have subscribers as well, so this isn't strictly a red vs. blue thing.
For the second reason, its fun, many, many people that make machinima are doing it for this reason. I myself have made machinima videos, did I get any money? No I did it for kicks and giggles, because it was fun to do. This is the same for many people that make machinima, they had a recording program rolling and they just started messing around. Something that comes from making machinima for kicks and giggles is for fame. People will put their videos up to say "Hey! Look at what I did, I am awsome." This is mostly what anyone will find when looking for machinima. On the website www.warcraftmovies.com, there are about five PvP (player versus player) to any other kind of machinima posted on this site. In this people essentially say, "Hey look, my warcraft character rocks face. Just look at him tear through that rogue." Another way people get their fame is by doing insane stuff like this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuqk-fHxDaw&feature=related which essentially someone spent days making it and filmed it in action (yes a normal person made that in a video game. They don't make any money for saying, "Look at what I did isn't it cool?", although someone might see what they did and think, "We should hire them."
Onto my third and final reason, contests. There are many contests in the machinima world. The most recent one is the blackbird contest. People entered machinima they made, all they had to do was put the blackbird computer somewhere in it and talk about their opinion of it. The winner got a free blackbird computer. For those interested videos can be seen on youtube, just search blackbird machinima. Another yearly machinima contest is hosted at blizzcon, the convention blizzard holds sometime in june or july.
Now then, lets talk about why people watch it. Many people watch it for the same reason people watch random stuff on youtube. It is entertaining, it's as simple as that. Most of the time someone will watch machinima related to a game they play. And typically if it is a popular video, other people who play that game will talk about it as well. In world of warcraft, the jokes from myndflame are known through all the servers. For many people it is as entertaining or more than television. When your watching reruns all the time tv shows can get rather old. But with all the people out there making machinima, there is bound to be something you find entertaining.
So what is it? Why do people do it? And why are people watching it? Well it uses video games to make videos, sometimes even full length movies. And people do it so for money, fun and contests. People watch it because it is entertaining, sometimes more so than television. So next time your playing a video game, start recording. Next time your watching a rerun, turn it off and hop on the internet.
For the first question, what is it, it is videos and movies made using a video game for the stage. the characters and special effects. Although, sometimes people will put in special effects so they can do more than the game allows. Infact many people have watched machinima without even knowing it. An example of this is the popular Red vs. Blue at www.redvsblue.com. In this series, the group Rooster Teeth takes the game Halo and Halo 2 and have created a total of one hundred red vs blue episodes and five sub-episodes. Many people have seen atleast part of this series without even realizing that what they are watching is infact machinima. I personally didn't find out that it was machinima until about three years after I watched it.
Another example of a place people have seen machinima but don't know it is the South Park episode "Make Love not Warcraft", season ten episode eight In this episode the kids of South Park play the game World of Warcraft. A hacker in the game is running around killing every World of Warcraft character he comes accross. Now heres the episode spoiler if you do not want to read this skip to the next paragraph. The boys; Stan, Kyle, Eric and Kenny, take it upon themselves to stop the hacker and spend a long amount of time training there World of Warcraft characters to be strong enough to defeat the hacker. After training their characters high enough to take on the hacker they go to fight him, unfortunatly they are not quite strong enough to defeat him. A few of the Blizzard emplyees, Blizzard is the company that makes the game World of Warcraft, brought an item to the boys to help them defeat the hacker. This item is called the sword of one thousand truths and thanks this item the boys defeat the hacker and bring peace back to the world of warcraft.
Now onto the second question, What's in it for the people doing it, which there are a few different answers. One reason is that the people doing this make money. Another reason people do this is for just straight up fun and you do something amazing in a video game and something is compelling you to show everyone in the world what you did and post it on youtube or any other online video stream. For the third and final reason, that I will talk about, is for contests.
For the first reason I gave, making money, people make money off of this by selling merchandise of their machinima series. Usually this only happens with popular machinima series such as red vs blue. Another way they make money is by becoming popular enough to the point where people hire them to make commercials or advertisements. Red vs. blue has done this with a series of commercials for Madden Football 2007. A third way these groups make money is with subscriptions and donations. People want to see these videos so they will pay the creator so that the creator can make it. Also with red vs. blue, if someone subscribes then they have access to the videos a week before non-subscribers and they get the high resolution version rather than the low resolution that non-subscribers get. Another group that is making money is Myndflame, website is www.myndflame.com. They sell merchandise, have been hired for advertisements and have subscribers as well, so this isn't strictly a red vs. blue thing.
For the second reason, its fun, many, many people that make machinima are doing it for this reason. I myself have made machinima videos, did I get any money? No I did it for kicks and giggles, because it was fun to do. This is the same for many people that make machinima, they had a recording program rolling and they just started messing around. Something that comes from making machinima for kicks and giggles is for fame. People will put their videos up to say "Hey! Look at what I did, I am awsome." This is mostly what anyone will find when looking for machinima. On the website www.warcraftmovies.com, there are about five PvP (player versus player) to any other kind of machinima posted on this site. In this people essentially say, "Hey look, my warcraft character rocks face. Just look at him tear through that rogue." Another way people get their fame is by doing insane stuff like this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuqk-fHxDaw&feature=related which essentially someone spent days making it and filmed it in action (yes a normal person made that in a video game. They don't make any money for saying, "Look at what I did isn't it cool?", although someone might see what they did and think, "We should hire them."
Onto my third and final reason, contests. There are many contests in the machinima world. The most recent one is the blackbird contest. People entered machinima they made, all they had to do was put the blackbird computer somewhere in it and talk about their opinion of it. The winner got a free blackbird computer. For those interested videos can be seen on youtube, just search blackbird machinima. Another yearly machinima contest is hosted at blizzcon, the convention blizzard holds sometime in june or july.
Now then, lets talk about why people watch it. Many people watch it for the same reason people watch random stuff on youtube. It is entertaining, it's as simple as that. Most of the time someone will watch machinima related to a game they play. And typically if it is a popular video, other people who play that game will talk about it as well. In world of warcraft, the jokes from myndflame are known through all the servers. For many people it is as entertaining or more than television. When your watching reruns all the time tv shows can get rather old. But with all the people out there making machinima, there is bound to be something you find entertaining.
So what is it? Why do people do it? And why are people watching it? Well it uses video games to make videos, sometimes even full length movies. And people do it so for money, fun and contests. People watch it because it is entertaining, sometimes more so than television. So next time your playing a video game, start recording. Next time your watching a rerun, turn it off and hop on the internet.
Reality TV
Reality TV is the concept of capturing actual events with real people and emotions on camera. It has become increasingly popular and even has its own television station now. When you go to work people will ask, "Did you watch American Idol last night?" or "Can you believe what happened on Survivor?” The shows that I believe that really set off the reality buzz would be Survivor and the show we discussed in class, Cops. The people want to see real event open and don't want scripts, but is that what they are getting? I don't like reality shows very much, reason being is it almost seems more fake than most scripted shows. I feel that when people either know that they are being watched or see a camera that they start to act different, but you can't blame the people in the shows. People that are on these shows are usually melodramatic or have some personal problem that they are trying to overcome, but I don't see how going in front of a camera and being shown in front of millions of televisions would help resolve that issue. Also; there is a trend that is developing that takes away from the entire reality and that is the fact that the so called "everyday person" that you see in reality shows starts to pop up in other reality shows because of the ratings that were boosted because of the characteristics of that particular person. Sometimes I feel that Reality TV is scripted and have been told that it is by many (although I couldn’t call them reliable) sources. The appeal that I see in these shows would that it actually boosts your confidence if the people in these shows react in a way that seems unfitting to the situation and you think you would react in a more acceptable matter. There is a type of reality show that sets itself apart from others though, and that would be the shows that catch people on home videos and real life stunts. These appeal to me much more, but are also much more uncommon. Overall I dislike most if not all Reality shows. I would much rather go camping than watch people camping on Survivor. Reality TV no matter how "Real" is still just TV.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Dexter: Fit for primetime television?
Airing its first episode in October of 2006, Showtime introduced one of its new hit shows: Dexter. The series is based on Jeff Lindsay’s novel “Darkly Dreaming Dexter,” and brings a new, original story-line to a world of unoriginality. Set in the sunny state of Florida, the show is centered around the main character Dexter Morgan. Dexter is a serial killer whose day job is working for the Miami Metro Police Department. Being a blood pattern analyst, he is educated on how to get away with these murderous crimes. With the show, comes a great deal of horrifying images. Dexter was an orphan, adopted by Miami police officer Harry Morgan. Growing up, Dexter was hiding a dark secret. He had a passion for killing things and when they turned to thoughts of killing human beings, his father decided against seeking him professional help. Instead, he showed him how he can use his passion for killing in a more constructive way. Dexter is not your normal serial killer. He only kills those who “deserve it.” Among his victims are mob assassins and serial killers who were let free. In the first episode of season one, we are greeted with a kidnapping. Dexter jumps a Catholic choir master as he enters his car, giving him a shot which makes him pass out. When he awakes, he is found in a room with plastic wrap all over the walls. Dexter talks to the victim revealing that the choir master has murdered several children. He then dismembers his body putting the body into garbage bags, which he later drops into the ocean. Having a great understanding for murderous crimes, Dexter knows just how to get away with the crime. The show is basically a new form of CSI, but with an original twist. Recently, an edited version of the show began airing on CBS. Due to the writers strike, CBS went out on a whim and adopted the show to its primetime line-up. Unlike CSI, this show includes more language, nudity, and disturbing images than any other show on primetime television. Even with shows like Desperate Housewives and other such shows that include a great deal of sexual content, I question if the normal audience is ready for such a show.
So what? There are movies and television programs that include disturbing images and foul language all over the place. Certain people may say that Dexter should not be shown on stations like CBS because of the mass amount of edited content needed. With a show like Dexter, it may be the explicit content that makes the show what it is. On CBS, much of the language, and images will more than likely be edited, throwing the programs whole picture off. In my personal opinion, I think that if you want to watch Dexter, buy the season on DVD. I have not personally watched an episode on CBS but I can imagine how much editing is actually needed. When you think of this show, think of an edited version of Saw being played on national television. No matter what, the movie would be nothing without its disturbing images of torturous death. Dexter being played on national television makes me wonder if future seasons will be toned down because of the audience the show is directed towards.
So what? There are movies and television programs that include disturbing images and foul language all over the place. Certain people may say that Dexter should not be shown on stations like CBS because of the mass amount of edited content needed. With a show like Dexter, it may be the explicit content that makes the show what it is. On CBS, much of the language, and images will more than likely be edited, throwing the programs whole picture off. In my personal opinion, I think that if you want to watch Dexter, buy the season on DVD. I have not personally watched an episode on CBS but I can imagine how much editing is actually needed. When you think of this show, think of an edited version of Saw being played on national television. No matter what, the movie would be nothing without its disturbing images of torturous death. Dexter being played on national television makes me wonder if future seasons will be toned down because of the audience the show is directed towards.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Informative vs Exciting
We’ve all seen those “informative” shows before. Those shows on gardening, home remodeling, personal finances, and cooking where a few stammering hosts drone on with an informative but wholly unimaginative script. No wonder people switch over to entertainment gossip to hear about the newest celebrity prison sentence for DUI and Brangelina’s next overseas escapade. I myself have a high “bore tolerance” level, but have to admit sometimes, “Man this IS boring, even for me!” Can an informative show appeal to a broader audience beyond the “geeks” and still retain a semblance of fact presentation?? Recently though, I think I’ve found a prime example of this. I believe that it is possible to balance the “mass appeal” with the “facts revealed” in a television series; but to see this, I’m going to discuss a show that is unknown to most American audiences.
Welcome to British television and the BBC automotive show known as “Top Gear”. Now before you write-off the BBC as a place where only Mr. Bean and low budget Victorian dramas exist; let me tell you a little about the popularity of Top Gear. Since the 2002 season, Top Gear has risen to become one of the most popular television shows in not only the
Let’s look at some examples from the show, first is the overall show format. The three hosts casually sit surrounded by a live studio audience and engage in seemingly unscripted and spontaneous banter with each-other and with people in audience. Each one of the hosts has a distinct character (or should I say caricature): Jeremy is the brash devil-may-care, loud talker; Richard is the charming and enthusiastic youth; and James is the stereotypical, stilted, and eccentric “Traditional Englishmen”. The interplay of their characters coupled with the intercutting of various segments of the show creates a humorous and informative experience for the audience.
Another area of audience appeal is the crazy stunts. In a 1998 episode, one of the presenters announces that since “seeing a motorcycle jump buses” is an old stunt; they will see how many motorcycles a bus can jump.
This is followed by a clip of a metro bus lumbering off a ramp to crash onto a line of motorcycles, crushing more motorcycles than it clears. Not all of the stunts are just demonstrations of this sort of inside out humor. They’ve engaged in stunts that are actually quite impressive and creative, such as driving to the North Pole in a pickup, or crossing the
A number of stunts (or challenges) are based on real world issues important to the average European. One of these experiments dealt with the question, “Is driving a car across
Another element of the show which appeals to the sentiments of informative credibility and entertainment appeal are the reviews. In nearly every episode the hosts test drive a car, or a few cars, giving their opinions. Yet this is done in a tongue in cheek manner that will keep the audience laughing. Some people complain that recent reviews only feature obscenely expensive cars, such as the Pagani Zonda or Bugati Veyron, instead of the more affordable “normal” cars. Yet I, and many others, would argue that this tendency toward “extreme cars” is actually more of a draw to audiences because it allows people to vicariously experience their “dream car”.
Top Gear is a show that has successfully capitalized on its success through cross-media marketing synergy. Top Gear has a website, and self titled magazine which both contain opinion pieces, articles, and helpful information on various issues of car ownership. Top Gear has its own promotional merchandise, music CDs, and is even featured in “Gran Turismo 5” for Playstation.
In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons for the success of Top Gear is how the presenters express opinions and sentiments that many people hold. Jeremy Clarkson in particular fires a steady stream of jabs at various celebrities, cultural mores, and government policies. He is often quite rude and offensive to many people, yet he seems to be able to get away with what most other celebrities couldn’t. Jeremy and the other hosts present an attitude of, “Here’s what the rules are, but since they are ridiculous and overbearing, we’re going to break them.” These little “micro rebellions” include: ethnic jokes about Germans and Americans, starting a car in the studio (against regulations), challenging the social dogma of Global Warming, and (gasp) smoking a pipe on stage!
The continual quips and escapades demonstrate a larger philosophy which could be stated in this question, “Are we becoming a society that is so obsessed with safety from danger and offense that we’ve lost touch with the essential human desire for adventure?” I think this is the key, the thinly veiled “rebellion” against a society that bans anything perceived as unsafe or offensive might be just a marketing ploy of the producers or it may be the actual belief of the Top Gear presenters. Either way, it seems to ring true for an enormous segment of the viewers.
Top Gear is a show that presents a decent level factual information in a very entertaining way to the “driving public”. In a sense, it has quick hitting drama like “The Amazing Race”, the casual chit-chat style like “The View”, the crazy experimentalism like “Mythbusters”, and the social/political satire of “Saturday Night Live” in a show that is supposed to only be about cars. In only a few years, the BBC has had a C grade car show grow into an A grade adventure program that is only increasing in popularity.
Digital TV conversion
On February 17, 2009 all TV stations will be terminating all Analog Broadcasting across the nation. For some of us this will be a big deal but for others it won’t. If you currently have an HD TV set or watch all your TV on cable or from a Dish then you won’t be affect. This will only affect those that use an older TV set still relaying on the free Analog transmitted NTSC.
So why should we make the transition from an all analog to an all-digital TV signal? Why can’t we do both? Why should everyone be forced to move all digital? The answer is that digital is that much better. The video and audio quality far succeeds that of the old Analog system but that isn’t the main reason. The fact is that both systems have been in existence for a while, some as early as 1996. But the old Analog systems takes up a lot of bandwidth which is making it harder and harder to add wireless systems, and broadcast communications for emergency departments. When you look at all the wireless systems out there you see that more and more are popping up all over. From cell phone towers not only providing cell service but also full wireless internet service, and features like V-cast allowing you to watch TV from your phone. To TV, radio, and many government and Wi-fi services. You also have business sending their network across microwaves and satellite systems. You then need to add to that all the remote TV station feeds such as microwave trucks, and satellite trucks all so you can see the news. It is no wonder why the Government wants those airwaves to work off to be able to update their own systems for emergency uses. There is only so much air waves to work with the current technology and if we don’t move forward there is going to be a lot of problems.
What about the Broadcast industry, do they want to go all digital? Well, the broadcast industry as a whole is moving so fast that smaller broadcast companies can’t keep up. Manufacturers are at a standstill because they have no idea what everyone is looking for. Working in the broadcast industry you see a lot of confusion. For example, there are a countless number of different recording formats for digital. For instance at my job we were looking at purchasing a new video deck as a master deck for one of our studios. We began looking at all the different decks out there and began talking to venders. Half of the decks we looked at buying were either discontinued, going to be discontinued, brand new or were supporting a video format we didn’t want to use. Currently we are not HD but we are fully digital, and because we only produce in house stuff we don’t need to go HD, so we took a chance on a Standard definition hard drive recorder, and we absolutely love it. We also were looking at a an archive deck, now we would love to archive using a digital tape format but tape is expensive and all the manufactures are saying they will eventually be discontinuing their products supporting tape. Naturally we want to archive on DVD then because it is Cheep and lasts a long time. We began looking for a DVD deck that would record DVDs live. We found one, purchased it, and then found out they discontinued all support and production of the product, well, we got a bad one, so we forced the company to take it back and then searched for a new DVD deck. We ended up buying a very expensive deck mostly used for the medical field, The format was supporting DVD+R rather than DVD-R like we would have prefered but the fact was, It was the only professional deck out there. The only one! We couldn’t believe it. Luckily they have been working Ok for us but it was a frustrating process.
I say all that because the industry is looking for a direction. Currently they are making products for a wide range of needs but as soon as a manufacturer sees a product no longer having very much demand they drop all support because it is costing them too much money. With all broadcast companies being forced to give up all analogs support this will hopefully help manufactures focus on the products needed, driving down costs for broadcasters like me.
Also in the industry Technology is still being developed at a fast paste. They now have 2 cameras that can produce quality better than HD. In fact one camera can produce quality better than Film! It is only going to be about 5 years until the entire industry will start moving in this direction with full broadcast support.
In conclusion this digital switch is very much needed not only to free up the airwaves in order to add new technology for not only consumers but also for emergency services as well but it is also needed to give the broadcast industry some focus. To help manufactures focus on supporting fewer products rather than a wide variety. And last but not least it is need to keep technology moving forward. Now I don’t think this is going to fix the broadcast industry but I do think it is going to help. I think as soon as consumers go all HD if they haven’t already they are going to fall in love with this new product and it will be a win-win for everyone.
So why should we make the transition from an all analog to an all-digital TV signal? Why can’t we do both? Why should everyone be forced to move all digital? The answer is that digital is that much better. The video and audio quality far succeeds that of the old Analog system but that isn’t the main reason. The fact is that both systems have been in existence for a while, some as early as 1996. But the old Analog systems takes up a lot of bandwidth which is making it harder and harder to add wireless systems, and broadcast communications for emergency departments. When you look at all the wireless systems out there you see that more and more are popping up all over. From cell phone towers not only providing cell service but also full wireless internet service, and features like V-cast allowing you to watch TV from your phone. To TV, radio, and many government and Wi-fi services. You also have business sending their network across microwaves and satellite systems. You then need to add to that all the remote TV station feeds such as microwave trucks, and satellite trucks all so you can see the news. It is no wonder why the Government wants those airwaves to work off to be able to update their own systems for emergency uses. There is only so much air waves to work with the current technology and if we don’t move forward there is going to be a lot of problems.
What about the Broadcast industry, do they want to go all digital? Well, the broadcast industry as a whole is moving so fast that smaller broadcast companies can’t keep up. Manufacturers are at a standstill because they have no idea what everyone is looking for. Working in the broadcast industry you see a lot of confusion. For example, there are a countless number of different recording formats for digital. For instance at my job we were looking at purchasing a new video deck as a master deck for one of our studios. We began looking at all the different decks out there and began talking to venders. Half of the decks we looked at buying were either discontinued, going to be discontinued, brand new or were supporting a video format we didn’t want to use. Currently we are not HD but we are fully digital, and because we only produce in house stuff we don’t need to go HD, so we took a chance on a Standard definition hard drive recorder, and we absolutely love it. We also were looking at a an archive deck, now we would love to archive using a digital tape format but tape is expensive and all the manufactures are saying they will eventually be discontinuing their products supporting tape. Naturally we want to archive on DVD then because it is Cheep and lasts a long time. We began looking for a DVD deck that would record DVDs live. We found one, purchased it, and then found out they discontinued all support and production of the product, well, we got a bad one, so we forced the company to take it back and then searched for a new DVD deck. We ended up buying a very expensive deck mostly used for the medical field, The format was supporting DVD+R rather than DVD-R like we would have prefered but the fact was, It was the only professional deck out there. The only one! We couldn’t believe it. Luckily they have been working Ok for us but it was a frustrating process.
I say all that because the industry is looking for a direction. Currently they are making products for a wide range of needs but as soon as a manufacturer sees a product no longer having very much demand they drop all support because it is costing them too much money. With all broadcast companies being forced to give up all analogs support this will hopefully help manufactures focus on the products needed, driving down costs for broadcasters like me.
Also in the industry Technology is still being developed at a fast paste. They now have 2 cameras that can produce quality better than HD. In fact one camera can produce quality better than Film! It is only going to be about 5 years until the entire industry will start moving in this direction with full broadcast support.
In conclusion this digital switch is very much needed not only to free up the airwaves in order to add new technology for not only consumers but also for emergency services as well but it is also needed to give the broadcast industry some focus. To help manufactures focus on supporting fewer products rather than a wide variety. And last but not least it is need to keep technology moving forward. Now I don’t think this is going to fix the broadcast industry but I do think it is going to help. I think as soon as consumers go all HD if they haven’t already they are going to fall in love with this new product and it will be a win-win for everyone.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Victoria's Secret
Have you ever heard of Victoria’s Secret? I’m sure you have, everyone has. There are television commercials of these models just wearing their bra and panty playing in their bed or just walking around. Most of the time they don’t even talk in the commercials, there is just some music playing and then it ends with someone in a sexy British accent saying the store’s name or something like, “Now at Victoria’s Secret.” This store is located in every mall and it bares the pink capital letters “VICTORIA’S SECRET” on top. Often, there are mannequins in front of the store wearing lingerie or they may have a big supersized poster of their super beautiful models. The store is mainly white with some pink colors. There are two sections of the store: the lingerie and clothing section, and the lotion and beauty supply section. In the clothing section, it contains white drawers full of underwear organized into different sizes. All the bras and fancy lingerie are put on racks or laid on tables. This store attracts women of all ages because they sell bras, panties, lingerie, perfume, lotion, makeup, loungewear, and etc. When you make a purchase, your items come packed in a cute pinked striped gift bag with some pink tissue paper. On the weekends, you can find this store swamped with teenage girls and women between the ages of 18 to 35 years of age. Now what makes this store so successful?
The reason Victoria’s Secret is so successful is because of their models. All of their models are super models. To be exact, Adriana Lima, a Brazilian model, one of the highest paid models in the world, models for Victoria’s Secret. Gisele Bundchen, a American model, still one of the most famous super models also modeled for them. Tyra Banks, the world’s first well-known black model, also modeled for them. These models are everywhere on their website, in their stores, on their purses, and sometimes even on their gift bags. Another reason why Victoria’s Secret is so successful is because of the way they represent themselves. The vibe the store gives off comes to us as sexy, secretive, fun, sweet, innocent, playful, and young. Their catalogs contain pages of the models pillow fighting, putting on makeup, lying in the sun, running on the beach, etc. Almost all of their perfumes have the word “sexy” in it. Most perfumes are named after the creator, not an adjective. Not only that, but when you have made a purchase and get that cute little gift bag stuffed with tissue paper, it makes a big difference.
With all of these effects, the store creates a welcoming and fun atmosphere capturing teen’s and women’s interest. The gift bag you receive at the checkout makes you feel like you’ve just bought yourself a present. You must admit getting a white plastic bag that says “thank you” to put your items in is not very pleasing. Also, their technique of having the word “sexy” on every label makes people buy the items even more; it makes women think and feel sexier when they have sprayed something on that says “sexy.” Now, how can a commercial with no words, only music, appeal to the audience? Don’t commercials usually have someone talking? Isn’t that the whole point of a commercial? In this case, the commercials that Victoria’s Secret makes are not about listening or hearing, but about looking. Their idea is to have you focus at the pretty models and want to be everything like them. They want you to do your makeup like them, dress like them, wear shoes like them, etc. That is why the only thing they actually say on the commercials are the words “Victoria’s Secret,” so you will know where to go to buy their products. This is very smart marketing. They know that sex appeal sells so it is what they are using to lure consumers in to buy their products.
I actually don’t think that Victoria’s Secret is a bad store for teens to shop at. They do not come off as slutty; I think they do want to be good role models for teens. I have read in a few magazines and they quoted Adriana Lima’s words about wanting to wait and get married before she has intercourse with anyone. Any teen who has Adriana Lima as her idol, will probably follow to that. From my perspective, I believe the store sets a good example to anyone who may like their line of products. Their models are successful and independent women who help out orphanages. They are not super skinny and they do not do drugs and alcohol like others do. Victoria’s Secret sets a good example about eating healthy and being fit along with loving your body, which is a major issue that teens deal with everyday. I, myself, like to shop there for their perfumes and makeup. I don’t buy their bras because it costs about $50 for one. They are pretty pricey, but they’re advertising pretty smartly and people are still buying their products. I see teens wearing the Victoria’s Secret brand “Pink” all the time. It is just cute and comfortable loungewear for teens to wear. Even though the quality is really not that good (I bought a shirt from there and it ripped after one wash), teens are crazy about fashion and style, so they will buy it no matter what price. I used to wonder why most of their commercials didn’t have any talking in it. I later came up with the idea that maybe in some commercials, the girls don’t talk because they can’t speak English properly or maybe they have a manly voice. The girls who model for Victoria’s Secret are super beautiful, however, some of them seem to have manly voices. There have only been two models who spoke in their commercials. One of them was Heidi Klum, she sang a song for the Christmas commercial. I don’t think I will really ever find out why some commercials involved talking and the others didn’t, but that will be fine with me. Overall, Victoria’s Secret is a fun and easy brand to fall quick in love with!
The reason Victoria’s Secret is so successful is because of their models. All of their models are super models. To be exact, Adriana Lima, a Brazilian model, one of the highest paid models in the world, models for Victoria’s Secret. Gisele Bundchen, a American model, still one of the most famous super models also modeled for them. Tyra Banks, the world’s first well-known black model, also modeled for them. These models are everywhere on their website, in their stores, on their purses, and sometimes even on their gift bags. Another reason why Victoria’s Secret is so successful is because of the way they represent themselves. The vibe the store gives off comes to us as sexy, secretive, fun, sweet, innocent, playful, and young. Their catalogs contain pages of the models pillow fighting, putting on makeup, lying in the sun, running on the beach, etc. Almost all of their perfumes have the word “sexy” in it. Most perfumes are named after the creator, not an adjective. Not only that, but when you have made a purchase and get that cute little gift bag stuffed with tissue paper, it makes a big difference.
With all of these effects, the store creates a welcoming and fun atmosphere capturing teen’s and women’s interest. The gift bag you receive at the checkout makes you feel like you’ve just bought yourself a present. You must admit getting a white plastic bag that says “thank you” to put your items in is not very pleasing. Also, their technique of having the word “sexy” on every label makes people buy the items even more; it makes women think and feel sexier when they have sprayed something on that says “sexy.” Now, how can a commercial with no words, only music, appeal to the audience? Don’t commercials usually have someone talking? Isn’t that the whole point of a commercial? In this case, the commercials that Victoria’s Secret makes are not about listening or hearing, but about looking. Their idea is to have you focus at the pretty models and want to be everything like them. They want you to do your makeup like them, dress like them, wear shoes like them, etc. That is why the only thing they actually say on the commercials are the words “Victoria’s Secret,” so you will know where to go to buy their products. This is very smart marketing. They know that sex appeal sells so it is what they are using to lure consumers in to buy their products.
I actually don’t think that Victoria’s Secret is a bad store for teens to shop at. They do not come off as slutty; I think they do want to be good role models for teens. I have read in a few magazines and they quoted Adriana Lima’s words about wanting to wait and get married before she has intercourse with anyone. Any teen who has Adriana Lima as her idol, will probably follow to that. From my perspective, I believe the store sets a good example to anyone who may like their line of products. Their models are successful and independent women who help out orphanages. They are not super skinny and they do not do drugs and alcohol like others do. Victoria’s Secret sets a good example about eating healthy and being fit along with loving your body, which is a major issue that teens deal with everyday. I, myself, like to shop there for their perfumes and makeup. I don’t buy their bras because it costs about $50 for one. They are pretty pricey, but they’re advertising pretty smartly and people are still buying their products. I see teens wearing the Victoria’s Secret brand “Pink” all the time. It is just cute and comfortable loungewear for teens to wear. Even though the quality is really not that good (I bought a shirt from there and it ripped after one wash), teens are crazy about fashion and style, so they will buy it no matter what price. I used to wonder why most of their commercials didn’t have any talking in it. I later came up with the idea that maybe in some commercials, the girls don’t talk because they can’t speak English properly or maybe they have a manly voice. The girls who model for Victoria’s Secret are super beautiful, however, some of them seem to have manly voices. There have only been two models who spoke in their commercials. One of them was Heidi Klum, she sang a song for the Christmas commercial. I don’t think I will really ever find out why some commercials involved talking and the others didn’t, but that will be fine with me. Overall, Victoria’s Secret is a fun and easy brand to fall quick in love with!
Comments are now on
To comment on a post, simply click on the Comments link at the bottom of a post. Unfortunately, I can't turn it on for the existing posts.
Testing for Comments
Hi Everybody -
Thanks for the high quality of postings so far! I'm really enthusiastic about this blog, and it's due to your hard work so far.
Unfortunately, the comment function hasn't worked for the first three postings. I'm hoping I just fixed that problem for future posts, so this is a test.
aaron
Thanks for the high quality of postings so far! I'm really enthusiastic about this blog, and it's due to your hard work so far.
Unfortunately, the comment function hasn't worked for the first three postings. I'm hoping I just fixed that problem for future posts, so this is a test.
aaron
Guitar Hero
The Guitar Hero franchise could be considered the biggest surprise for video game success. Once releseased in the U.S. on November 8, 2005 by the publishing studio RedOctane the game was instantly met by rave reviews. http://ps2.ign.com said “Great soundtrack, great peripheral, and best rhythm game ever made. Another video game review site www.1up.com rated it a 10 out 10 stating “are scale only goes up to 10 other wise it would have got a higher review.” Guitar Hero became a surprise success, being critically acclaimed and has won many awards. The success of this first game has launched Guitar hero into a billion dollar franchise, spawning the sequels Guitar Hero 2, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80’s, and finally Guitar hero 3: Legends of rock.
It all began with a game released call GuitarFreaks. A game that had not much exposure in the U.S., and hadn’t been transferred from an arcade game to a console game yet. The publishers RedOctane, at the time best known for Dance Dance Revolution, was looking to branch out to different genres. With a balance of about 1 million dollars RedOctane approached Harmonix Studios with the idea of taking their dance pad controller and making it into a functioning guitar. Kay, lead programmer for the game, said “no one had any notions about it being a massive success; we all just thought it would be fun to do."
When developing the game they concentrated on 3 major focuses for game play. The first was the note matching aspect. Using Software algorithms, they identified key notes for each difficulty. So even on easy you still feel like you’re playing the song. The second development for the game is “star power”. This gave a lot more depth for the game and replay value. The final development for the game was the whammy bar and tilting the guitar. These added to the realism of the game making it feel even more like a real guitar. The controller they developed for the game was approxmitaly a ¾ scale reproduction of Gibson SG electric guitar.
Actual Guitar
http://www.abcsounds.co.uk/gibson-electric-guitars/gibson-sg-standard.htm
Game Controller http://www.videogamecritic.net/images/ps2/guitar_hero_controller.jpg
Game play in Guitar Hero works a lot like other rhythm games. Players must hit corresponding notes with their controller at the right time to receive points and complete songs. Players have the choice of either using the Gibson SG controller or the standard ps2 controller. A rock meter follows players progress through out the song and judges if you “rock” or are a failure. Players have the choice to play with friends of solo career. Solo career gives players a chance to unlock more songs, guitars, and characters.
So that’s how it all started, a 1 million dollar investment turns into a billion dollar franchise. Guitar Hero 1 sold approximately 1.5 million copies. Once Guitar Hero 2 was released to the world there was no surprise to see it fly off store shelves. This time around, instead of just being released for Ps2, it was also released for X Box 360, PS3, and Wii. Minor adjustments were added to the game but not really needed, because the main focus of Guitar Hero 2 was just get more new songs for players to play. Instantly it was a major success and doubled the sales of its predecessor and sold 3.1 million copies. The most recent Guitar hero Game which Activision has called its largest release in history sold over 100 million USD in the first week in the United States alone.
So what is it that makes this game such a success? People are naturally drawn to this game because lets face it who doesn’t dream of being a rock star? Now you can become a rock star in little to no time right in your own house. To pick up a real guitar and rock out one of your favorite rock songs could take years to learn and most people don’t have the patients. Guitar Hero has given the chance for every one now to play many of their favorite songs taking little time to master. By identifying the key notes as they did it really does make you feel as if you were really playing the song.
Is the video game company that created this game the only one benefiting? Not by a long shot. I have noticed from personal experience after playing the game I enjoy listing to rock a lot more. When ever I here a song that has a sweet guitar in it, I’m always playing away on my air guitar now (and I’m definitely not the only one doing this). When ever listing to 93.X or any other rock station, it seems like an hour won’t go by with out you hearing something about, or a song, from any of the Guitar Hero games. This is promoting back and forth between game and radio. The game makes people want to listen to rock more, while people that already listen here about this game all the time.
Was all this planned out from the begging or mere coincidence do to the success of the game? I’m not sure if this could have been a master plan from the begging but it didn’t take long for the one the biggest companies in music to get involved with this game. After RedOctane sold the rights for the game to Activision for 100 million, Activision turned around in September, 2006 and sold it to MTV for 175 million. For all you that don’t know MTV is just a lil sibling to its massive mother empire Viacom. This is not the first deal to go down with Guitar hero and MTV. They have previously had agreements involving air time with MTV promoting the game.
What to expect from the Franchise of Guitar Hero? I think it’s safe to say this franchise might just be getting started. After MTV got its hands on the franchise the have already released an extension of the game called Rock Band. This now gives you the chance to sing, play guitar/bass, and drum, the full rock experience. Also after seeing how many more songs were on this game its clear to see MTV using its pull to get all the songs they want and not just the covers(cover bands playing a popular song) any more but the original soundtrack recordings from the actual bands. Is Viacom taking this avenue to sell a game which helps recording studios, radio stations, rock bands, businesses where game is sold, and anything else that involves rock music, because these are all things that Viacom owns? It seems like a common sense move to make money off a successful game and also get huge free advertisement.
It all began with a game released call GuitarFreaks. A game that had not much exposure in the U.S., and hadn’t been transferred from an arcade game to a console game yet. The publishers RedOctane, at the time best known for Dance Dance Revolution, was looking to branch out to different genres. With a balance of about 1 million dollars RedOctane approached Harmonix Studios with the idea of taking their dance pad controller and making it into a functioning guitar. Kay, lead programmer for the game, said “no one had any notions about it being a massive success; we all just thought it would be fun to do."
When developing the game they concentrated on 3 major focuses for game play. The first was the note matching aspect. Using Software algorithms, they identified key notes for each difficulty. So even on easy you still feel like you’re playing the song. The second development for the game is “star power”. This gave a lot more depth for the game and replay value. The final development for the game was the whammy bar and tilting the guitar. These added to the realism of the game making it feel even more like a real guitar. The controller they developed for the game was approxmitaly a ¾ scale reproduction of Gibson SG electric guitar.
Actual Guitar
http://www.abcsounds.co.uk/gibson-electric-guitars/gibson-sg-standard.htm
Game Controller http://www.videogamecritic.net/images/ps2/guitar_hero_controller.jpg
Game play in Guitar Hero works a lot like other rhythm games. Players must hit corresponding notes with their controller at the right time to receive points and complete songs. Players have the choice of either using the Gibson SG controller or the standard ps2 controller. A rock meter follows players progress through out the song and judges if you “rock” or are a failure. Players have the choice to play with friends of solo career. Solo career gives players a chance to unlock more songs, guitars, and characters.
So that’s how it all started, a 1 million dollar investment turns into a billion dollar franchise. Guitar Hero 1 sold approximately 1.5 million copies. Once Guitar Hero 2 was released to the world there was no surprise to see it fly off store shelves. This time around, instead of just being released for Ps2, it was also released for X Box 360, PS3, and Wii. Minor adjustments were added to the game but not really needed, because the main focus of Guitar Hero 2 was just get more new songs for players to play. Instantly it was a major success and doubled the sales of its predecessor and sold 3.1 million copies. The most recent Guitar hero Game which Activision has called its largest release in history sold over 100 million USD in the first week in the United States alone.
So what is it that makes this game such a success? People are naturally drawn to this game because lets face it who doesn’t dream of being a rock star? Now you can become a rock star in little to no time right in your own house. To pick up a real guitar and rock out one of your favorite rock songs could take years to learn and most people don’t have the patients. Guitar Hero has given the chance for every one now to play many of their favorite songs taking little time to master. By identifying the key notes as they did it really does make you feel as if you were really playing the song.
Is the video game company that created this game the only one benefiting? Not by a long shot. I have noticed from personal experience after playing the game I enjoy listing to rock a lot more. When ever I here a song that has a sweet guitar in it, I’m always playing away on my air guitar now (and I’m definitely not the only one doing this). When ever listing to 93.X or any other rock station, it seems like an hour won’t go by with out you hearing something about, or a song, from any of the Guitar Hero games. This is promoting back and forth between game and radio. The game makes people want to listen to rock more, while people that already listen here about this game all the time.
Was all this planned out from the begging or mere coincidence do to the success of the game? I’m not sure if this could have been a master plan from the begging but it didn’t take long for the one the biggest companies in music to get involved with this game. After RedOctane sold the rights for the game to Activision for 100 million, Activision turned around in September, 2006 and sold it to MTV for 175 million. For all you that don’t know MTV is just a lil sibling to its massive mother empire Viacom. This is not the first deal to go down with Guitar hero and MTV. They have previously had agreements involving air time with MTV promoting the game.
What to expect from the Franchise of Guitar Hero? I think it’s safe to say this franchise might just be getting started. After MTV got its hands on the franchise the have already released an extension of the game called Rock Band. This now gives you the chance to sing, play guitar/bass, and drum, the full rock experience. Also after seeing how many more songs were on this game its clear to see MTV using its pull to get all the songs they want and not just the covers(cover bands playing a popular song) any more but the original soundtrack recordings from the actual bands. Is Viacom taking this avenue to sell a game which helps recording studios, radio stations, rock bands, businesses where game is sold, and anything else that involves rock music, because these are all things that Viacom owns? It seems like a common sense move to make money off a successful game and also get huge free advertisement.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
American Idol
American Idol has been a national phenomenon for the last six years. It draws millions of viewers each week, and each year the turn out for the show gets larger and larger. The show is about the average American making it big in the music industry--basically, some judges pick out X number of people that America then gets to vote on. The winner becomes America's next 'American Idol.'
It begins each season with the insane auditions of hundreds of thousands of hopefuls. Auditions are held in five to eight cities across the nation, where everyone stands in line outside, sometimes days in advance. At sign up, each person is given a number to wear for the rest of their audition. As the time nears for those numbers to sing, groups of people are ushered into a waiting room, and as called, enter one at a time into the audition room. It is large and barren, and at the front sit Simon Cowell, a BMG producer; Randy Jackson, also a producer as well as a former bassist for the band Journey; and Paula Abdul, former L.A. Lakers girl and 80's pop star. The person auditioning is allowed a few minutes to sing any song of their choice, to which many people add dance routines, or even come in with costumes or pets. Most auditions are stopped part-way through by Simon, at which point each judge will give feedback. Randy and Paula are known for their cop-outs in this arena, generally giving comments such as, "I just wasn't feelin' it, dawg," or "The important thing is you came in here and gave it your best shot." Simon is known for being brutal in his remarks, telling people he didn't like, "That was absolutely awful." After this, each judge decides individually whether or not they would like to see the contestant move on to the next round--Hollywood. If at least two of the three judges, or two of four judges when a guest judge is present, say yes, the contestant moves on. Approximately twenty people from each city are sent on to round two.
Once in Hollywood, contestants stay in a hotel together. The week begins with gropuing off into threes, and choosing one of about a dozen songs to sing together. They must harmonize and each has a solo. All are judged for their performances individually, and some are sent home right then. This continues until all the groups have gone, at which point the reamaining contestants are split up into three rooms. One room is sent home. The contestants then have one more chance to prove themselves. The decisions are made by the judges in a loft room, making contestants take a long, anxious elevator ride to the top. Only twenty four stay--twelve women, and twelve men.
This remaining twenty four constitutes the finalists of the show. The early part of the eleven weeks of finals are held at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. One set of twelve begins the week on Tuesday, singing only a snippet of a song to fit the show into the time slot. However, after each contestant sings this time around, the judges give feedback like usual, then Ryan Seacrest, the host, steps in to give a number to call at the end of the show to vote for that contestant. The following night the next set of twelve sings in the same fashion. Thursday night the results show airs, in which all twenty four contestants are present. Ryan begins the show by recapping the contestants performances earlier that week, and reveals whether the contestant is safe--meaning they have received a majority number of votes--or if they are in the bottom three. Two groups of bottom threes are made, one of males and one of females. After drawing it out until the last possible minute, Ryan announces who is out from each group, after which a montage of the contestants' journeys through American Idol shows. Eliminations continue this way until six men and six women remain, at which point they perform on the same night. Most of the time, each week is given a theme for the contestants to go by, generally something like the music of Stevie Wonder or Top 40 in the 1960’s. A guest coach comes in to help them choose and rehearse their songs. Beginning in the top five, contestants sing two song each night. Once there are only thee contestants left, each sings three songs that week. At this point, there is no bottom three--instead, Ryan just drags out the show for as long as possible, many times quarreling with Simon Cowell over a contestants performance. In recent years, there have been new additions to the show, such as last years Feed the Children drive, in which viewers were asked to donate to starving children in Africa, and much of the air time is taken up by this.
The finale is held at the Kodak theatre, and draws a huge crowd every year--at least 3400. Shows on this week are generally two hour specials, with guest appearances and performances. The remaining two contestants sing three songs each, and are given multiple numbers for viewers to call at the end of the show, which Ryan repeats incessantly. The winner receives a record deal with 19 Entertainment, cash, and more recently, cars.
One of the most interesting things I have noticed after watching this show for several years is that it seems to be all about advertising, and I don't even mean the commercials, such as the Ford commercials done by the top contestants after it has been narrowed down to the final six. The show itself, through drawing in the audience with the emotional roller coaster of the Idol journey, makes for huge record sales. Of course, one might view this as simply giving the audience what they want, seeing as they did vote for the contestant they would like to see win, but how does the audience know their votes are really even being counted? Instead, the show is about hooking the audience on the winner, so as soon as they release their album, sales skyrocket, and every single released goes top forty. This makes venue for not only the record company, but everyone involved in the making of American Idol, Ford motor company, and Coke, who advertise on every commercial break. This isn't a bad tactic, nor does it make the show bad (though thee is far too much advertising still going on within the show) and as long as the public feels they are still getting what they want, they will continue to consume.
It begins each season with the insane auditions of hundreds of thousands of hopefuls. Auditions are held in five to eight cities across the nation, where everyone stands in line outside, sometimes days in advance. At sign up, each person is given a number to wear for the rest of their audition. As the time nears for those numbers to sing, groups of people are ushered into a waiting room, and as called, enter one at a time into the audition room. It is large and barren, and at the front sit Simon Cowell, a BMG producer; Randy Jackson, also a producer as well as a former bassist for the band Journey; and Paula Abdul, former L.A. Lakers girl and 80's pop star. The person auditioning is allowed a few minutes to sing any song of their choice, to which many people add dance routines, or even come in with costumes or pets. Most auditions are stopped part-way through by Simon, at which point each judge will give feedback. Randy and Paula are known for their cop-outs in this arena, generally giving comments such as, "I just wasn't feelin' it, dawg," or "The important thing is you came in here and gave it your best shot." Simon is known for being brutal in his remarks, telling people he didn't like, "That was absolutely awful." After this, each judge decides individually whether or not they would like to see the contestant move on to the next round--Hollywood. If at least two of the three judges, or two of four judges when a guest judge is present, say yes, the contestant moves on. Approximately twenty people from each city are sent on to round two.
Once in Hollywood, contestants stay in a hotel together. The week begins with gropuing off into threes, and choosing one of about a dozen songs to sing together. They must harmonize and each has a solo. All are judged for their performances individually, and some are sent home right then. This continues until all the groups have gone, at which point the reamaining contestants are split up into three rooms. One room is sent home. The contestants then have one more chance to prove themselves. The decisions are made by the judges in a loft room, making contestants take a long, anxious elevator ride to the top. Only twenty four stay--twelve women, and twelve men.
This remaining twenty four constitutes the finalists of the show. The early part of the eleven weeks of finals are held at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. One set of twelve begins the week on Tuesday, singing only a snippet of a song to fit the show into the time slot. However, after each contestant sings this time around, the judges give feedback like usual, then Ryan Seacrest, the host, steps in to give a number to call at the end of the show to vote for that contestant. The following night the next set of twelve sings in the same fashion. Thursday night the results show airs, in which all twenty four contestants are present. Ryan begins the show by recapping the contestants performances earlier that week, and reveals whether the contestant is safe--meaning they have received a majority number of votes--or if they are in the bottom three. Two groups of bottom threes are made, one of males and one of females. After drawing it out until the last possible minute, Ryan announces who is out from each group, after which a montage of the contestants' journeys through American Idol shows. Eliminations continue this way until six men and six women remain, at which point they perform on the same night. Most of the time, each week is given a theme for the contestants to go by, generally something like the music of Stevie Wonder or Top 40 in the 1960’s. A guest coach comes in to help them choose and rehearse their songs. Beginning in the top five, contestants sing two song each night. Once there are only thee contestants left, each sings three songs that week. At this point, there is no bottom three--instead, Ryan just drags out the show for as long as possible, many times quarreling with Simon Cowell over a contestants performance. In recent years, there have been new additions to the show, such as last years Feed the Children drive, in which viewers were asked to donate to starving children in Africa, and much of the air time is taken up by this.
The finale is held at the Kodak theatre, and draws a huge crowd every year--at least 3400. Shows on this week are generally two hour specials, with guest appearances and performances. The remaining two contestants sing three songs each, and are given multiple numbers for viewers to call at the end of the show, which Ryan repeats incessantly. The winner receives a record deal with 19 Entertainment, cash, and more recently, cars.
One of the most interesting things I have noticed after watching this show for several years is that it seems to be all about advertising, and I don't even mean the commercials, such as the Ford commercials done by the top contestants after it has been narrowed down to the final six. The show itself, through drawing in the audience with the emotional roller coaster of the Idol journey, makes for huge record sales. Of course, one might view this as simply giving the audience what they want, seeing as they did vote for the contestant they would like to see win, but how does the audience know their votes are really even being counted? Instead, the show is about hooking the audience on the winner, so as soon as they release their album, sales skyrocket, and every single released goes top forty. This makes venue for not only the record company, but everyone involved in the making of American Idol, Ford motor company, and Coke, who advertise on every commercial break. This isn't a bad tactic, nor does it make the show bad (though thee is far too much advertising still going on within the show) and as long as the public feels they are still getting what they want, they will continue to consume.
Minnesota Public Radio: 89.3 the Current
Quality music for a diverse audience
I listen to The Current on a regular basis. When I am in my car, I find myself listening to the radio more than CD’s because of how diverse the music library is. When I am listening to a CD I am often thinking of what song or news I am missing on the current. To rid myself of the possible disappointment I choose to listen always to the current. Before 2005 I would have been shocked at my decision to listen to the radio instead of a Modest Mouse album or Radiohead album; however this was before the inception of 89.3. I was annoyed to the point of disgust at the main stream radio stations that my friends obsessed over. I didn’t like the repetitiveness and quite frankly the songs that played on those stations.
The Current is public radio, funded and sponsored by the surrounding communities unlike advertised sponsored stations. There are three short member drives in order to keep the radio on the air. They entice the listeners to donate by offering gifts and explaining why the current needs to stay on the air. That alone would be enough enticement for me to donate some money to fund my favorite radio station. Why not, it has a hilarious morning show, unlike the mainstream counterparts, it has a huge music library playing songs that mainstream radio wants to play but can’t because they have guidelines. Also, the station provides news, witty d.js such as Mary Lucia and shines a light on local artists and local live music.
After thinking about this and trying to understand why The Current is so different then most radio stations I have came to a conclusion. I think that the people in charge of directing the Current have the right intentions and the other stations, mainly those owned by clear channel have the wrong intentions. Most of the mainstream stations have a strict playlist that they have to adhere to which smashes any trace of originality or innovation. Also, most Clear Channel Communication stations are in the industry to generate as much money as possible so therefore they are not afraid to jeopardize quality. C.C.C stations are hyper commercialized, and regimented to the point where the listeners find it convenient that they can travel across the country and still listen to their favorite classic rock delivered by the same sounding D.J. Really the money hungry executives totally got rid of the real reason for a Disc Jockey because most of the time they don’t even switch out disc, it is being done from a far off location by someone who could be paid from a record company. Conversely public radio acts more in line with what radio used to be like, democratic, enjoyed by a varied audience, and authentic. So if the root of the problem with quality versus mainstream music stations is determined by intentions and intentions are governed by money and profit, what does this mean for the future of radio? I feel that the Current is a radio station that needs to stay on the air and continue to gain more listeners and a broader fan base. It needs to become a role model displaying quality music, journalism and authenticity. Without 89.3 the current, the corporate giant C.C.C would gain more momentum for what it is striving to become, the dominating force in radio.
Jordan Langer
Quality music for a diverse audience
I listen to The Current on a regular basis. When I am in my car, I find myself listening to the radio more than CD’s because of how diverse the music library is. When I am listening to a CD I am often thinking of what song or news I am missing on the current. To rid myself of the possible disappointment I choose to listen always to the current. Before 2005 I would have been shocked at my decision to listen to the radio instead of a Modest Mouse album or Radiohead album; however this was before the inception of 89.3. I was annoyed to the point of disgust at the main stream radio stations that my friends obsessed over. I didn’t like the repetitiveness and quite frankly the songs that played on those stations.
The Current is public radio, funded and sponsored by the surrounding communities unlike advertised sponsored stations. There are three short member drives in order to keep the radio on the air. They entice the listeners to donate by offering gifts and explaining why the current needs to stay on the air. That alone would be enough enticement for me to donate some money to fund my favorite radio station. Why not, it has a hilarious morning show, unlike the mainstream counterparts, it has a huge music library playing songs that mainstream radio wants to play but can’t because they have guidelines. Also, the station provides news, witty d.js such as Mary Lucia and shines a light on local artists and local live music.
After thinking about this and trying to understand why The Current is so different then most radio stations I have came to a conclusion. I think that the people in charge of directing the Current have the right intentions and the other stations, mainly those owned by clear channel have the wrong intentions. Most of the mainstream stations have a strict playlist that they have to adhere to which smashes any trace of originality or innovation. Also, most Clear Channel Communication stations are in the industry to generate as much money as possible so therefore they are not afraid to jeopardize quality. C.C.C stations are hyper commercialized, and regimented to the point where the listeners find it convenient that they can travel across the country and still listen to their favorite classic rock delivered by the same sounding D.J. Really the money hungry executives totally got rid of the real reason for a Disc Jockey because most of the time they don’t even switch out disc, it is being done from a far off location by someone who could be paid from a record company. Conversely public radio acts more in line with what radio used to be like, democratic, enjoyed by a varied audience, and authentic. So if the root of the problem with quality versus mainstream music stations is determined by intentions and intentions are governed by money and profit, what does this mean for the future of radio? I feel that the Current is a radio station that needs to stay on the air and continue to gain more listeners and a broader fan base. It needs to become a role model displaying quality music, journalism and authenticity. Without 89.3 the current, the corporate giant C.C.C would gain more momentum for what it is striving to become, the dominating force in radio.
Jordan Langer
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