There is a little Asian lady that lives in my apartment building. Sometimes in the mornings or the evenings I see a car picking her up or dropping her off from work. Sometimes I see her in her housecoat, smoking. As she smiles and gives a little wave to me, I wonder where she works and the particulars of her life. There are some Sundays I see a woman my age, most likely a daughter, drop her off in the middle of the afternoon. They unload utensils and big pots and I imagine her and her family folding sheets of wonton wrappers over steamy little meatballs and wonder what this tastes like. They speak to each other in a frantic dialect I can’t even begin to understand. There are no subtitles in real life, and even if there were my senses can’t comprehend the symbols that pour out of their mouths.
My stereotypical self thinks that she may work at a laundry and remember that I need to clean my scarf. Instead, I decide it’s more crucial to give my fish a bath. They are my babies and just as someone would talk to a cat or a small dog, I speak to them in the morning as I am dressing, promising them food when I get home from my own menial job and that if they would die, I would cry for them.
When I finally decided to clean their water (this is what I call giving them their bath), I am angry with them and my tears mix with the fresh water. If I were really a mother, I feel I wouldn’t be kind but rather rough with my offspring, crying tears with them because I am frustrated to have to look out for this small being when I can’t even take care of myself. I imagine my mother-ish self as the typical Jewish mother (even though I am not Jewish nor pay credence to any other religion), seemingly overbearing but in the end just wanting a better life than this fish bowl I’ve know all of my life.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
My "sound opinion" Experience
I decided to brave the rain and the snow to attend the Sound Opinions College Tour's first stop at Columbia College and here are my notes:
1. The music industry is going through a seismic change (the guys say this happens about once every 100 years) so now is the time to reinvent positions within. While technological revolutions cause people to cry "foul," each turn tends to stick around. In the advent of recording, naysayers said the population would stop turning out for live music, but this did not turn out to be the case.
2. Because of these technological changes, there is an opportunity for the "musical middle class." Many great artists are the work by day, play by night variety e.g. Effigie's drummer is a prosecutor (citation needed) and the drummer for Wilco gives lessons to young hopefuls. While these guys have day jobs, they still bring in fans and audiences to their shows.
3. This being said, they do not rely on the "majors" to market and produce their work. Instead, they work smaller labels. While one major may rely on blockbuster artists to bring in revenue, many smaller labels can produce many "little" artists --> if each of these is equitable, it could prove to be profitable for the label.
4. Children + Ipods = Disposable Music: This may not be as bad as it sounds since more music can be heard this way. Yeah, yeah, these kids listen to Rhianna's "Umbrella" 15,000 times in a row, but they get tired of it and move on to the next biggest hit. If an artist is good enough on a little label, they could be the next biggest thing.
5. If you want your music to be heard, don't pass out those tired demo tapes but instead e-mail reviewers with a direct link to your single. It will be easily accessible and will grab his attention. For good measure, include an interesting story to accompany this song.
6. Don't expect the artist to do all the work, they're too busy making art. There will always be a need for a band manager to book, do accounting and the likes (hey, call me! i'm up for it!)
7. Speaking of art... there are always those die hard fans that will buy anything GG Allin pooped on e.g. if a member paints a picture, designs a clothing line, knits a scarf or stiches a quilt, it could equal revenue
8. And finally, give the piano man a tip. If you think his worth it, say so.
1. The music industry is going through a seismic change (the guys say this happens about once every 100 years) so now is the time to reinvent positions within. While technological revolutions cause people to cry "foul," each turn tends to stick around. In the advent of recording, naysayers said the population would stop turning out for live music, but this did not turn out to be the case.
2. Because of these technological changes, there is an opportunity for the "musical middle class." Many great artists are the work by day, play by night variety e.g. Effigie's drummer is a prosecutor (citation needed) and the drummer for Wilco gives lessons to young hopefuls. While these guys have day jobs, they still bring in fans and audiences to their shows.
3. This being said, they do not rely on the "majors" to market and produce their work. Instead, they work smaller labels. While one major may rely on blockbuster artists to bring in revenue, many smaller labels can produce many "little" artists --> if each of these is equitable, it could prove to be profitable for the label.
4. Children + Ipods = Disposable Music: This may not be as bad as it sounds since more music can be heard this way. Yeah, yeah, these kids listen to Rhianna's "Umbrella" 15,000 times in a row, but they get tired of it and move on to the next biggest hit. If an artist is good enough on a little label, they could be the next biggest thing.
5. If you want your music to be heard, don't pass out those tired demo tapes but instead e-mail reviewers with a direct link to your single. It will be easily accessible and will grab his attention. For good measure, include an interesting story to accompany this song.
6. Don't expect the artist to do all the work, they're too busy making art. There will always be a need for a band manager to book, do accounting and the likes (hey, call me! i'm up for it!)
7. Speaking of art... there are always those die hard fans that will buy anything GG Allin pooped on e.g. if a member paints a picture, designs a clothing line, knits a scarf or stiches a quilt, it could equal revenue
8. And finally, give the piano man a tip. If you think his worth it, say so.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
In Dreams
I often wake myself up in the middle of a dream because I am trying to control it too much and it feels like I am reading a book. A stranger in my dream is doing some sort of activity and I am writing her every move and beautiful prose of her thoughts. Anyone who is lauded for their writing says their trick is too keep a notebook by their bed and write down their good ideas if they have one in the middle of the night. I feel this takes too much energy. I’m trying to sleep, dammit, and if I’m going to get up to turn on the light, I may as well just go type it and give up any hope of sleeping. By the time this happens, that prose has disappeared and only incomplete, incoherent sentences remain.
When I am watching a movie about a writer, fictional or not, they are often alcoholic, suicidal, crazy or a combination of the three. I wonder if to be a famous, interesting writer I have to be the same and if I already am, then why have I not reached my star in the sky yet. Then I remember after my kind of psychosis follows apathy and laziness, the ability to write a complete sentence but no good ideas to write about.
On one particular night of self, I found myself watching what was probably my one hundred thousandth syndicated episode of the longest running television series in history. Tom Wolfe was making an animated cameo of himself, which was strange because earlier that day I had been telling my co-worker she’d enjoy his writing. When ever I watch this episode #384, I can’t help but to feel jealous of the downtrodden barkeeper’s poem, “Howling at a Concrete Moon.” I think it is better than anything I’ve ever written and his was meant to be funny.
There was I time I couldn’t sleep for weeks and in the pitiful minutes I lapsed in and out of consciousness, I would find myself with the overwhelming desire to check the floor by the door for a “dear Jane” letter to myself. If I were to write it what would it say? “I’m sorry but…” the letter would trail off because I would already know what I was thinking, feeling about this mess I’m in. The thing is, though, I don’t want to write a dear jane letter to myself. I want someone else to write it to me so I have an excuse to feel abandoned, to know the reason is it’s him, not me, who doesn’t have the desire to make this work, that my tortured writer’s soul has come between us.
When I am watching a movie about a writer, fictional or not, they are often alcoholic, suicidal, crazy or a combination of the three. I wonder if to be a famous, interesting writer I have to be the same and if I already am, then why have I not reached my star in the sky yet. Then I remember after my kind of psychosis follows apathy and laziness, the ability to write a complete sentence but no good ideas to write about.
On one particular night of self, I found myself watching what was probably my one hundred thousandth syndicated episode of the longest running television series in history. Tom Wolfe was making an animated cameo of himself, which was strange because earlier that day I had been telling my co-worker she’d enjoy his writing. When ever I watch this episode #384, I can’t help but to feel jealous of the downtrodden barkeeper’s poem, “Howling at a Concrete Moon.” I think it is better than anything I’ve ever written and his was meant to be funny.
There was I time I couldn’t sleep for weeks and in the pitiful minutes I lapsed in and out of consciousness, I would find myself with the overwhelming desire to check the floor by the door for a “dear Jane” letter to myself. If I were to write it what would it say? “I’m sorry but…” the letter would trail off because I would already know what I was thinking, feeling about this mess I’m in. The thing is, though, I don’t want to write a dear jane letter to myself. I want someone else to write it to me so I have an excuse to feel abandoned, to know the reason is it’s him, not me, who doesn’t have the desire to make this work, that my tortured writer’s soul has come between us.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
too beat for a creative title.
For my "writing new media" project, I chose to do a video with the files that my professor/advisor had given me to work with. I could have done a photo essay, but i work with photos all the time, so i thought that would not be challenging enough. I could have done a podcast story, but i have one for my portfolio already. it's actually a quite funny piece in the style of NPR about noah's ark that i did in 2002. So here is my first attempt at video (except the few flash animations i've done).
From beginning to end, this two minute movie took me about 6 hours. i hadn't used windows movie maker before nor have i used a time-line in years. My computer is lacking a sound card, so there is no sound to this, but i think the text works better than the actual song to these lyrics would. I like how it turned out (but please tell me if it's too karaoke!!!)
Making the words match up to some of the specific frames was probably the most complicated of all this project. There aren't very many effects - only the same two effects per clip and only two transitions in the entire video. The words, however, have a few different styles applied to different parts, but for the most part it is me adding a few extra words to the previous texts to try to tell a story.
When i figured out i wouldn't be able to use sound, i decided to use words and searched my brain for something i've read about walking or passers-by. I ended up using lyrics by one of my favorite bands, Ulver (it's Norwegian for "wolves" in case you were wondering). When their Perdition City album first came out in 2000, the were getting a lot of criticism for turning too experimental. Hey, i thought, i'm experimenting too! Perfect!
I've worked with text and images before and of course a picture says a thousands words, but this was a little different for me because i feel like i'm forcing the viewer to accept my interpretation of the images. It's no secret that sometimes i feel like a drone that has nothing to say and even if i wanted to say it, it'd get lost in the "torrent of sound and images that overwhelms our lives."
You can interpret this story whatever way you want.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
This does not compute...
The funny thing about technology is that it intensifies quickly. One hundred and twenty years ago the lightbulb was just emerging into commercialized use but I have to think of how many thousands of years before that there was no basis for the lightbulb joke. Now there is a new lightbulb that is better, faster, cheaper. One of my fond memories is of a computer game I played in late 1980’s. My dad had computers before then, but I think it was around that time that DOS computer games were becoming more popular. I was pretty much the same geek then that i am now and I had bet my dad that if he tried to hide the game in some random directory file that I could find it within an allotted amount of time. He owed me fifty cents.
If you asked me today to do what I did then, I’d have no clue where to even start. My point is that I’ve never lived without technology. Remembering that I used to know more about computers and how to write html makes me sympathize with old people who can’t use a remote.
In the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about the movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy. It’s been many years since I’ve actually watched the film, but I know that basic plot is that some dude in some remote land finds a classic glass coke bottle and brings it back to his tribe. The tribe uses the bottle for various purposes that seem to make their life easier. This simple glass bottle was technology for them, but in the process of trying to make use of it, this otherwise peaceful tribe encounters conflicts within their group.
In some aspects, the Coke bottle fits the Instrumental theory of technology:
Yet the Coke bottle can fit within the Substantive theory:
If you asked me today to do what I did then, I’d have no clue where to even start. My point is that I’ve never lived without technology. Remembering that I used to know more about computers and how to write html makes me sympathize with old people who can’t use a remote.
In the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about the movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy. It’s been many years since I’ve actually watched the film, but I know that basic plot is that some dude in some remote land finds a classic glass coke bottle and brings it back to his tribe. The tribe uses the bottle for various purposes that seem to make their life easier. This simple glass bottle was technology for them, but in the process of trying to make use of it, this otherwise peaceful tribe encounters conflicts within their group.
In some aspects, the Coke bottle fits the Instrumental theory of technology:
- technology is neutral, just a tool
- technology has no social agenda
- technology is indifferent to politics
- technology is rational and verifiable
- technology is efficient--it has standards and norms
- technology is transferable to other cultures
- values can be accommodated by technology but at costs to efficiency
- (http://wiki.wsu.edu/wsuwiki/Instrumental_Theory)
But there is one line in there that I am having problems with:
technology is transferable to other cultures.
I am okay with technology being an inanimate object. As far as I am aware, nobody has ever created real-life Hal. Therefore, I am okay with values being accommodated by technology, but if you throw a Coke bottle or a computer and CD-Rom out of the window of a light airplane onto some unsuspecting tribe who has never seen these things before, you’re going to end up with some ramifications. Okay, so maybe the ramifications aren’t severe and will work themselves out, but I’m just saying…
Neutrality is one of the key concepts in the instrumental theory and it points out that technology is just a tool, that this inanimate object is not scheming to destroy the world. But let’s go back to the “Gods.” What if that tool is not used how it was meant to be used? I’m sure the tribe used the bottle to carry water, but what if they used at as a club and beat someone over the head with it? The bottle is still neutral, it’s still a tool, so then we have to look to the substantive theory of technology.
This blurb goes on to say that the substantive theory pretty much blames the technology and not the user (maybe the author was reading Donald Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things”)? Hey, the bottle looked like it would do some damage, so I thought I’d give it a shot? But I regress….“According to Andrew Feenberg, a substantive theory of technology assumes that a technology's design will fundamentally change the ways in which an organization (or a culture) operates. Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan take a substantive approach to television, for example, by asserting that the design of the medium changes that way American culture operates. (See Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death,” for example.)”
Yet the Coke bottle can fit within the Substantive theory:
- technology is not neutral, it is not just a tool
- technology is autonomous--it exists beyond culture
- people are the raw materials--the standing reserve--of a technical system
- technology becomes the environment
- people can make choices about technology
- http://wiki.wsu.edu/wsuwiki/Substantive_Theory
The last two points on this list make sense to me, but only in conjunction with the instrumental theory. If the technology is very useful, then people are going to want to use it everyday and it will then become part of their environment. MS DOS? Not so useful anymore but when it was useful to amuse me, it was very much part of my environment. Same goes for writing html. When I first started to learn it, I thought, hey cool, I can design a webpage by typing in junk. Push-Button publishing came along at a good time because there was no room left in my head for .
I make choices about the technology I use. I put off getting access to the internet in my home for a year and I don’t subscribe to cable. I didn't have a need for internet before and i don't watch that much t.v. But when i decided to subscribe to the internet, the jerk at Comcast and I ended up arguing about how stupid it would be for me to pay for a bundled service when I only had use for one of the technologies. I don’t think Comcast has gotten the memo from FCC yet. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_DSL#United_States) But I regress…
As with transformations in medical and other scientific technology, the uses for media technology can be good or bad, but it is not the technology itself, it is the values within the person that commands it that make it so. To the best of my knowledge, the whole concept of modernity refers to how we can progress towards the future which entails leaving “tradition for tradition’s sake” behind. I don’t find this to mean that we have to leave intrinsic values and ethics behind too. Feenberg argues “current scientific and technical knowledge has resources for a very radical reconstruction of the technological heritage if these are appropriated in the right spirit.” I agree.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
My self-designed indulgence.
"Space is emptiness"
I feel the need to fill it........
I also am perfectly content sitting here in silence...
But wait! There's more!
I feel the need to fill it........
I also am perfectly content sitting here in silence...
But wait! There's more!
http://www.myspace.com/hannahstar
(myspace.com is pretty low on the usability hardness index, so i'll leave you to figure it out.)
Did you know:
Designing a website is so easy the government can do it?
check out http://www.usability.gov/
Did you know:
Designing a website is so easy the government can do it?
check out http://www.usability.gov/
I bought myself a book, but i've been too busy to even crack the spine
By Todd Gitlin
Is there any white space left or did we fill it all up?
Friday, October 10, 2008
I Like Jokes
It was the year 2012 and the world best renowned blogger had to go one way or the other, just like everyone else on the globe. She got to the gates and followed the directions to the place where she was going to spend the rest of her eternity. The path she was told to follow took her down echoing marble-floored halls whose walls were painted with stunning murals and crumbled wads of paper hanging from the ceiling like clouds. Colored pencils and pens in every shade of blue and black inks seemingly suspended in air swayed in the breeze she made as she drifted through the corridors.
After peeking through open doors into countless other rooms ornamented in her favorite artistic styles, she finally reached a room that would be hers. The gold-gilded plaque on the heavy mahogany door read: “hannah’s brave new (media) world.” Expecting all the comforts of her previous life in the age of information and technology, she expected more than she could possible conceive. Still, she hoped no less than her eternity to be the predictably comfortable way of life to which she was accustomed.
Instead, there was only a lone silhouette behind a cold metal desk. As she presented her person in exile papers to him she asked, “What do you call the palace beyond this door that is more then I could ever dream and do I have the keys to access all of those rooms filled with culture and ideas of my wildest imagination?”
The figure shook his head slowly and replied that the only set of keys to the palace would go with him when he left.
“This will be your desk and all the tools that you are allowed to create and communicate with are prearranged to be delivered on Tuesday of next week. Here is the list of things you are selected for you, but now I must leave,” he said as he handed her a slip of paper.
The listed items were:
1 typewriter and a ditto machine.
That is all.
After peeking through open doors into countless other rooms ornamented in her favorite artistic styles, she finally reached a room that would be hers. The gold-gilded plaque on the heavy mahogany door read: “hannah’s brave new (media) world.” Expecting all the comforts of her previous life in the age of information and technology, she expected more than she could possible conceive. Still, she hoped no less than her eternity to be the predictably comfortable way of life to which she was accustomed.
Instead, there was only a lone silhouette behind a cold metal desk. As she presented her person in exile papers to him she asked, “What do you call the palace beyond this door that is more then I could ever dream and do I have the keys to access all of those rooms filled with culture and ideas of my wildest imagination?”
The figure shook his head slowly and replied that the only set of keys to the palace would go with him when he left.
“This will be your desk and all the tools that you are allowed to create and communicate with are prearranged to be delivered on Tuesday of next week. Here is the list of things you are selected for you, but now I must leave,” he said as he handed her a slip of paper.
The listed items were:
1 typewriter and a ditto machine.
That is all.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
[ Translate This Page ]
Before I read “English Next,” I had not given much thought to the globalization of the English Language. Of course, I was aware that it is wide spread in its use around the world and its role in globalization but still am not entirely conscious of the cultural, economical and ethical issues it can bring. Hopefully, tomorrows lecture will help me understand the effects of the worldwide use of English.
In reading the section of the reading on technology and English, it seems that there was a trend in the international news media being dominated by the English language, but in the past decade has shifted toward other languages having representation in the world news media. However, while Latin America has a news channel rival to CNN and BBC broadcasts in Arabic, there are many news sources that had only once broadcast in a native language that now also have outlets in English.
“English Next” points out that English and the Internet also have a strong association, but again in the past decade the percentage of sites in English have decreased (85% in 1998 compared with 32% in 2005). It seems at first glance that the percentage of sites in each language shown may be in correlation to the percentage of the population percentage that speaks a particular language. But as the authors note, “the dominance of English on the internet has probably been overestimated. What began as an anglophone phenomenon has rapidly become a multilingual affair” (pg 45). This “multilingual affair” is especially apparent in global companies that have one site where the user can specify their preferred language in which they view the content. While the authors remarked that commerce sites, such as E-bay and Amazon, have their own national cites, I think is also fair to notice that the larger social networking sites (myspace, facebook) and media sharing sites also have their own national networks (although this is not to say that only native-language speakers stick to their own sites).
Many browsers also have the option to “translate this page” and while the translations are probably spotty at best, I would be surprised if this technology improves. As a monolingual speaker of English I would very much like if “translate this page” improves because I would probably then gather more information from global sources and then be able to grasp a better perception of how different cultures view each other. “English Next” mentions Global Voices, a site that “aggregates data from blogs to supply journalists with an alternative news feeds.”
I don’t necessarily think that global English as the “lingua franca” is a horrible thing even though the way in which it emerged as such carried social and cultural implications. Consequently, the model of English as Lingua Franca is a valuable model in which to recognize the non-native speakers’ role in using Global English while retaining national identity but has the advantage over the monolingual individual. I found it interesting that countries like Chile, Taiwan, and South Korea are planning on making English as their official second language do not look toward the UK or US as their model, but other non-English speaking countries that are now using English as a second language (pg 89).
Many places around Chicago have bilingual services in several different languages and although it probably has a lot to do with commerce, I think that is pretty cool that an ESL speaker does not have to be intimidated to adapt. I grew up in a neighborhood that was largely Spanish speaking and while I may understand more than the next dabbler of the Spanish language, if I knew more of an other language, I may be more informed of media affects as it relates to immigrant culture in the US because I would be able to communicate better with people who actually experience it. I think that as long as a we address issues of cultural identity of non-English speakers and continue to implement “user/speaker preference,” it will be very interesting to see the affects of global English in the future.
In reading the section of the reading on technology and English, it seems that there was a trend in the international news media being dominated by the English language, but in the past decade has shifted toward other languages having representation in the world news media. However, while Latin America has a news channel rival to CNN and BBC broadcasts in Arabic, there are many news sources that had only once broadcast in a native language that now also have outlets in English.
“English Next” points out that English and the Internet also have a strong association, but again in the past decade the percentage of sites in English have decreased (85% in 1998 compared with 32% in 2005). It seems at first glance that the percentage of sites in each language shown may be in correlation to the percentage of the population percentage that speaks a particular language. But as the authors note, “the dominance of English on the internet has probably been overestimated. What began as an anglophone phenomenon has rapidly become a multilingual affair” (pg 45). This “multilingual affair” is especially apparent in global companies that have one site where the user can specify their preferred language in which they view the content. While the authors remarked that commerce sites, such as E-bay and Amazon, have their own national cites, I think is also fair to notice that the larger social networking sites (myspace, facebook) and media sharing sites also have their own national networks (although this is not to say that only native-language speakers stick to their own sites).
Many browsers also have the option to “translate this page” and while the translations are probably spotty at best, I would be surprised if this technology improves. As a monolingual speaker of English I would very much like if “translate this page” improves because I would probably then gather more information from global sources and then be able to grasp a better perception of how different cultures view each other. “English Next” mentions Global Voices, a site that “aggregates data from blogs to supply journalists with an alternative news feeds.”
I don’t necessarily think that global English as the “lingua franca” is a horrible thing even though the way in which it emerged as such carried social and cultural implications. Consequently, the model of English as Lingua Franca is a valuable model in which to recognize the non-native speakers’ role in using Global English while retaining national identity but has the advantage over the monolingual individual. I found it interesting that countries like Chile, Taiwan, and South Korea are planning on making English as their official second language do not look toward the UK or US as their model, but other non-English speaking countries that are now using English as a second language (pg 89).
Many places around Chicago have bilingual services in several different languages and although it probably has a lot to do with commerce, I think that is pretty cool that an ESL speaker does not have to be intimidated to adapt. I grew up in a neighborhood that was largely Spanish speaking and while I may understand more than the next dabbler of the Spanish language, if I knew more of an other language, I may be more informed of media affects as it relates to immigrant culture in the US because I would be able to communicate better with people who actually experience it. I think that as long as a we address issues of cultural identity of non-English speakers and continue to implement “user/speaker preference,” it will be very interesting to see the affects of global English in the future.
Monday, October 6, 2008
NMS M.A. stud. looking for: SKILLZ; Or: How to get a job without using good looks and guile
I think I’m pretty well rounded in the media field, but I can use some pointers here and there. Hopefully I can pick helpful hints up if I sign up for some of the classes listed below:
HCI 470 – DIGITAL PAGE FORMATTING:
I’m guessing this class is pretty straight forward in its approach. True funny story: when I was in high school a million years ago, I used to work on the newspaper (oh my, I’ve been a media geek for a million years? Some things never change) we used to use PageMaker to layout our pages, then print quadrants and proceeded to use scissors and paste them onto the proof sheets. Pretty nifty, huh? For some strange reason, whenever I see the cover of the Macaulay Culkin movie, Pagemaster, I think of the good old days.
I like that this class employs “problem-based applications of perceptual and communication principles to the presentation of on-line and off-screen pages.” It seems to me that HCI 470 won’t be too tutorial-y because I can just go buy Digital Page Formatting for Dummies.
ENG 490 – WRITING FOR MAGAZINES:
The word “skills” caught my eye in the description of this course. I haven’t taken a writing course, again, since the good old days of high school. I probably need a reminder course. ENG 490 covers “the elements of style, humor, research, concept and imagery that characterize the literature of fact,” which frankly, sounds dang motivational because I want to improve my writing. Also, they force you to submit original work for publication and I think that would be good for me because right now I tend to shy away from rejection.
CMN 524 – PERSUASION:
Since I want to rebuff mass media and advertising, I think I’d better be aware of their means of persuasion. This course will examine “theories of persuasive communication… at interpersonal, group, and societal levels.” Of course, when I want to be the one selling my ideas, I will want to be ethical in my conniving. In CMN 524, “students also will consider the ethical considerations important in any discussion of persuasive communication.” I, for one, am sold.
MCS 530 - NEW MEDIA AND CULTURE:
One without the other!? Surely you jest! The description of this seminar uses the phrase “cultural ramifications of new media in shaping life experience and opportunity.” Theoretical culturist approaches to new media are fascinating to me and I would like to delve more into “how these new technologies impact identity formation, creative participation and concepts of public culture.” I would really like to figure out exactly what influenced me to be a New Media geek. I’m going to hedge my bets on the media itself.
CMNS 541 - CORPORATE COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE:
You know what would be really cool to examine? Corporate communications and culture IN a media corporation! In this course, I would ask questions such as: How do major networks communicate internally and/or other media outlets? What is the difference between corporation communications in relationship between a network as a whole and its local channel? What is the role of brand management within its own corporation? If I’m mad as hell, do I have to take it anymore and who is going to manage this Howard Beale-like crisis situation through effective communication?
PRAD 553 – ADVERTISING:
I think this course will help me be well rounded in the production/design sphere of New Media Studies. Of course, I like that PRAD 553 “examines the theories, principles, applications and standards of advertising in multiple contexts, both from the perspectives of the practitioner and the consumer.” It was formerly CMN 553, so I think that the course will have a good angle into the effects of advertising on the consumer through the communicator’s lens.
PRAD 555 - PUBLIC RELATIONS:
I haven’t really taken any classes in the PR and Advertising fields and I would like to establish some groundwork in this sector. PRAD 555 combined with the PRAD 553 will hopefully give me the edge I need when it comes to using key terminology in an interview and make myself sound like the hot-commodity that I know I am and for others to believe it, too.
CMNS 563 - MULTICULTURAL MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS:
Since my undergraduate degree is in Media Studies, I think this may make me a master in “representational practices and theories that are informed by multicultural perspectives.” Here I can use my “epistemological” practices of finally understanding what role media plays in my ideology. I like to say that I see the world in pixels and color correct my dreams. Everything I read, see, hear and quote influences me in someway. Yes, I take my media with a polemical stance that it is the root of all evil, but when it comes down to it, I want to be influential, too. I decided to become a master in the art of communication as it relates to our informational era because I probably just want a lifestyle like the rich and famous… which all adds up to how I am going to personify and represent myself in this new media mediated world.
HCI 470 – DIGITAL PAGE FORMATTING:
I’m guessing this class is pretty straight forward in its approach. True funny story: when I was in high school a million years ago, I used to work on the newspaper (oh my, I’ve been a media geek for a million years? Some things never change) we used to use PageMaker to layout our pages, then print quadrants and proceeded to use scissors and paste them onto the proof sheets. Pretty nifty, huh? For some strange reason, whenever I see the cover of the Macaulay Culkin movie, Pagemaster, I think of the good old days.
I like that this class employs “problem-based applications of perceptual and communication principles to the presentation of on-line and off-screen pages.” It seems to me that HCI 470 won’t be too tutorial-y because I can just go buy Digital Page Formatting for Dummies.
ENG 490 – WRITING FOR MAGAZINES:
The word “skills” caught my eye in the description of this course. I haven’t taken a writing course, again, since the good old days of high school. I probably need a reminder course. ENG 490 covers “the elements of style, humor, research, concept and imagery that characterize the literature of fact,” which frankly, sounds dang motivational because I want to improve my writing. Also, they force you to submit original work for publication and I think that would be good for me because right now I tend to shy away from rejection.
CMN 524 – PERSUASION:
Since I want to rebuff mass media and advertising, I think I’d better be aware of their means of persuasion. This course will examine “theories of persuasive communication… at interpersonal, group, and societal levels.” Of course, when I want to be the one selling my ideas, I will want to be ethical in my conniving. In CMN 524, “students also will consider the ethical considerations important in any discussion of persuasive communication.” I, for one, am sold.
MCS 530 - NEW MEDIA AND CULTURE:
One without the other!? Surely you jest! The description of this seminar uses the phrase “cultural ramifications of new media in shaping life experience and opportunity.” Theoretical culturist approaches to new media are fascinating to me and I would like to delve more into “how these new technologies impact identity formation, creative participation and concepts of public culture.” I would really like to figure out exactly what influenced me to be a New Media geek. I’m going to hedge my bets on the media itself.
CMNS 541 - CORPORATE COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE:
You know what would be really cool to examine? Corporate communications and culture IN a media corporation! In this course, I would ask questions such as: How do major networks communicate internally and/or other media outlets? What is the difference between corporation communications in relationship between a network as a whole and its local channel? What is the role of brand management within its own corporation? If I’m mad as hell, do I have to take it anymore and who is going to manage this Howard Beale-like crisis situation through effective communication?PRAD 553 – ADVERTISING:
I think this course will help me be well rounded in the production/design sphere of New Media Studies. Of course, I like that PRAD 553 “examines the theories, principles, applications and standards of advertising in multiple contexts, both from the perspectives of the practitioner and the consumer.” It was formerly CMN 553, so I think that the course will have a good angle into the effects of advertising on the consumer through the communicator’s lens.
PRAD 555 - PUBLIC RELATIONS:
I haven’t really taken any classes in the PR and Advertising fields and I would like to establish some groundwork in this sector. PRAD 555 combined with the PRAD 553 will hopefully give me the edge I need when it comes to using key terminology in an interview and make myself sound like the hot-commodity that I know I am and for others to believe it, too.
CMNS 563 - MULTICULTURAL MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS:
Since my undergraduate degree is in Media Studies, I think this may make me a master in “representational practices and theories that are informed by multicultural perspectives.” Here I can use my “epistemological” practices of finally understanding what role media plays in my ideology. I like to say that I see the world in pixels and color correct my dreams. Everything I read, see, hear and quote influences me in someway. Yes, I take my media with a polemical stance that it is the root of all evil, but when it comes down to it, I want to be influential, too. I decided to become a master in the art of communication as it relates to our informational era because I probably just want a lifestyle like the rich and famous… which all adds up to how I am going to personify and represent myself in this new media mediated world.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
I like to hear myself think except when I don’t shut up.
I pulled out my Penn State transcripts today to see what exactly it was that I spent my money on there. It turns out to be a BA from the College of Communications in Media Studies. I chose the general mass communications option as apposed to journalism, film studies or whatever else the hell the offered. My two year blur (I transferred with an AA in Multimedia Art from C.O.D) consisted of a couple of English and Rhetoric course, a handful of general ed., mass communication research classes and a shitload of studies in theoretical approaches to communications, mass and otherwise. I don’t want to talk too brave or anything, but I’m pretty familiar with the ideological theories of many media scholars. Along with my transcripts, I pulled out a few term papers on which my professor/adviser (and publish media activist) Ronald Bettig noted that while there were a “few minor glitches,” I pretty much knew what I was writing about. I did my homework and have the piece of paper that assumedly proves I have educational foundations of communication theories. Similar to the handouts on Rhetoric and Discourse last week, two years of thinking of nothing but mass communication and media theories made my head hurt. But, what else was I going to do in the Middle of Nowhere, PA. but ponder on what influences in my cultural absorption of life?
At least this week’s reading easier to absorb because of my previous studies. I remember such courses in “The Media and the Public,” “The Political Economy of Communications,” and “The Cultural Aspects of Mass Media.” (Does a BA make me an expert in media? Do I have to practice my knowledge of these theories to be a scholar? Can’t I just watch a block of commercials on the TV without analyzing the content, arrangement, and audience? Should I just have typed “advertorial rhetoric” instead of citing three rhetorical canons?)
Anyhow, I am familiar with Robert McChesney and his oppositions to the oligopoly that is the infrastructure of the current media ownership. His theoretical approach to media is that it should not be a political economy of media institutions because we live in a democracy. He believes that the media is biased because of a handful of rich, powerful people/companies own the top ten most profitable media corporations and they are ultimately a business rather than the voice of the people as democracy would have it to be.
Since I think a blog is not really an appropriate place to “insert senior thesis here,” I’m just going to rant (as seems to be my ongoing theme here). In “Culture, Society, and the Media,” the authors mention that both the traditional liberal and Marxist theories have shifted “to a more cautious assessment in which dominant meaning systems are moulded an relayed by the media (p. 15)” and then personalized by its audience into a meaningful meaning making for their particular socio- status. The rhetoric of a particular media is effective then the audience will perhaps then authenticate it to their belief system and respond accordingly. A true democratic media is “expected to reflect a multi-faceted reality, as truthfully and objectively as possible, free from any bias, especially the biases of the professionals engaged in recording and reporting…(p. 21)”
Like McChesney, Professor Bettig was very adamant about the political economy of the media being biased because of the influence of the upper class reinforcing their own political values through their ownership of the media. The pluralist approach is that the media reflects not one single explanation that can account for reality. If different cultures can coexist within one society, the media should reflect such different cultures. When only a few owners dominate media in, lets say, Chicago, (Tribune Company = Chicago Tribune = WGN; GE = NBC = Chicago Sun Times), there obviously has to be some bias.
Of course ownership is only the tip of the iceberg of the political economy of the media. They are businesses that need to be profitable so they do have to appeal to an audience. Independent filmmakers or unsigned artists are just that because they may not have wide appeal and a media company has to assess their risks of supporting an act. Since the distribution process is easier for a big company and because independents often don’t have the resources for distribution and production, they often get lost in the bombardment that is today’s New Media.
Sometimes I am confounded about the way in which so many theories on the communications of media are all interrelated and sometimes indistinguishable. I am a fan of the pluralist approach because there is no wrong or right way to view life, but that is not to say that life (our culture and society) does not play a part in our views. Also, I am a fan of polemical practices; probably because I like to be argumentative. Communication theory has to naturally begin with oral culture but electronic innovations have significantly changed human interaction in personal, public, and business behaviors. Once I wrote (and I quote myself) “great ratifications were anticipated in the use of electricity but were also expected to cause social catastrophes.” I go on to cite some works that say social breakdowns were not as horrible that predicted and that the industrial revolution included the power for societies to cross geographical and social lines through new technologies, but throughout it all, verbal interaction still to this day stages the foundations of communication.
If a thousand voices are individually recorded and then overlapped, whose can be heard? Is it
the one with the most to say, or the one with the loudest, powerful voice? I am sort of comfortable sitting on the middle of the fence, but at the same time I don’t want to be dumb or deaf to the voices that have something to say that impact me so why do I have to shift through shit to find it? It is not as if one can disregard the political economy of the media in regards to structuralist or culturalist theories, but even so, it sometimes seems too much for my puny brain to encapsulate try to figure out media as a whole. Possibly, as long as I am conscious of media as pluralistic and potential influences in my life, I can be my own authority when I choose my reality in today’s volatile society.
At least this week’s reading easier to absorb because of my previous studies. I remember such courses in “The Media and the Public,” “The Political Economy of Communications,” and “The Cultural Aspects of Mass Media.” (Does a BA make me an expert in media? Do I have to practice my knowledge of these theories to be a scholar? Can’t I just watch a block of commercials on the TV without analyzing the content, arrangement, and audience? Should I just have typed “advertorial rhetoric” instead of citing three rhetorical canons?)
Anyhow, I am familiar with Robert McChesney and his oppositions to the oligopoly that is the infrastructure of the current media ownership. His theoretical approach to media is that it should not be a political economy of media institutions because we live in a democracy. He believes that the media is biased because of a handful of rich, powerful people/companies own the top ten most profitable media corporations and they are ultimately a business rather than the voice of the people as democracy would have it to be.
Since I think a blog is not really an appropriate place to “insert senior thesis here,” I’m just going to rant (as seems to be my ongoing theme here). In “Culture, Society, and the Media,” the authors mention that both the traditional liberal and Marxist theories have shifted “to a more cautious assessment in which dominant meaning systems are moulded an relayed by the media (p. 15)” and then personalized by its audience into a meaningful meaning making for their particular socio- status. The rhetoric of a particular media is effective then the audience will perhaps then authenticate it to their belief system and respond accordingly. A true democratic media is “expected to reflect a multi-faceted reality, as truthfully and objectively as possible, free from any bias, especially the biases of the professionals engaged in recording and reporting…(p. 21)”
Like McChesney, Professor Bettig was very adamant about the political economy of the media being biased because of the influence of the upper class reinforcing their own political values through their ownership of the media. The pluralist approach is that the media reflects not one single explanation that can account for reality. If different cultures can coexist within one society, the media should reflect such different cultures. When only a few owners dominate media in, lets say, Chicago, (Tribune Company = Chicago Tribune = WGN; GE = NBC = Chicago Sun Times), there obviously has to be some bias.Of course ownership is only the tip of the iceberg of the political economy of the media. They are businesses that need to be profitable so they do have to appeal to an audience. Independent filmmakers or unsigned artists are just that because they may not have wide appeal and a media company has to assess their risks of supporting an act. Since the distribution process is easier for a big company and because independents often don’t have the resources for distribution and production, they often get lost in the bombardment that is today’s New Media.
Sometimes I am confounded about the way in which so many theories on the communications of media are all interrelated and sometimes indistinguishable. I am a fan of the pluralist approach because there is no wrong or right way to view life, but that is not to say that life (our culture and society) does not play a part in our views. Also, I am a fan of polemical practices; probably because I like to be argumentative. Communication theory has to naturally begin with oral culture but electronic innovations have significantly changed human interaction in personal, public, and business behaviors. Once I wrote (and I quote myself) “great ratifications were anticipated in the use of electricity but were also expected to cause social catastrophes.” I go on to cite some works that say social breakdowns were not as horrible that predicted and that the industrial revolution included the power for societies to cross geographical and social lines through new technologies, but throughout it all, verbal interaction still to this day stages the foundations of communication.
If a thousand voices are individually recorded and then overlapped, whose can be heard? Is it
the one with the most to say, or the one with the loudest, powerful voice? I am sort of comfortable sitting on the middle of the fence, but at the same time I don’t want to be dumb or deaf to the voices that have something to say that impact me so why do I have to shift through shit to find it? It is not as if one can disregard the political economy of the media in regards to structuralist or culturalist theories, but even so, it sometimes seems too much for my puny brain to encapsulate try to figure out media as a whole. Possibly, as long as I am conscious of media as pluralistic and potential influences in my life, I can be my own authority when I choose my reality in today’s volatile society....We fear that pop-culture
Is the only culture we're ever going to have
We want to stop reading magazines
Stop watching TV
Stop caring about hollywood
But we're addicted to the things we hate...
So what do you want
You want to be famous and rich and happy
But you're terrified you have nothing to offer this world
Nothing to say and no way to say it
But you can say it in three languages
You are more than the sum of what you consume
Desire is not an occupation
You are alternately thrilled and desperate....KMFDM, DOGMA
Monday, September 29, 2008
Making Meaning of Rhetoric and Discourse
I know this is really late, but it was my birthday and I was busy having my cake and eating it too. Plus, I was reading “Multimodal Discourse” and “What is Rhetoric” for days on end and it took me forever to discern the difference between discourse and rhetoric. I could probably spend years writing about the two and I know some scholars spend lifetimes in this branch of learning, but I’ll try to keep this discussion brief. The following thoughts are probably going to be a bit disjointed and discontinuous, but thus was my brain trying to grasps these theories.
In the quotes at the beginning of the introduction of “What is Rhetoric,” Paolo Valesio said “…rhetoric is the functional organization of discourse…In other words: rhetoric is all of language, in its realization as discourse.” I think this encapsulates the difference and similarity of the two concepts and puts it into a (somewhat) straightforward view I can understand. Rhetoric, then, is the way in which discourse of a subject can be put into an arrangement of words in attempts to persuade or influence thoughts or action an audience. Discourse is the various contexts in which a particular subject matter can be discussed.
So now that I understand the difference between the basics of the two concepts, I am struggling over the similarities and differences between the five canons of rhetoric and the four strata of discourse. Kress and Van Leeuwen talk about how a subject as to be articulated to be interpreted. This articulation, I think, is a combination of the five canons that make up rhetoric (invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery). For rhetoric to be affective, discourse first has to be articulated (or invented?) and produced (or arranged?) in such a way that the author persuades the audience to understand and accept his ideas.
Like I had mentioned, I had taken a class called “Rhetorical Criticism” during my final semester at Penn State and it was one of the hardest classes of my education. From what I remember (I’m kicking myself for getting rid of my notes… what was I thinking?!?!) we discussed why the word “rhetoric” gets a bad connotation when it is essentially just a way of discussing things. Perhaps rhetoric evokes negative views because it is a way in which the author argues his ideas in a persuasive manner and uses terminology (or jargons) specific to a particular field. However, this is just an interpretation of whatever rhetoric the author was using and if the audience was not persuaded by it, then maybe the rhetoric was not affective in the first place. Nevertheless, the discourse may have not been produced in the right mode or distributed in the most successful way. Discourse has to pay attention to stratal configurations, which is to say one can discuss the same content but has to be aware of the audience in his choice of rhetoric. I found this website about New Media and although it is informative and useful, because my level of understanding of New Media is beyond this level, its “meaning making” is not of valuable significance to me.
I think I can say with reasonable knowledge that media is perhaps a way of being rhetorical for what ever the content of the medium is (props to McLuhan and his theory of “the medium is the message”). I’ve told people before (only half-jokingly) that I am in the field of New Media Studies because in this era, I live in a torrent of media and if I am to be brainwashed by its content, then I at least want to know why. I also want to learn how to communicate effectively, to understand why certain elements of design lend themselves to particular interpretations and how different modes of communication affect and produce cultures.
There was a phrase that I highlighted in “Multimodal Discourse” that says “media add a further layer of signification.” Although this phrase is describing how different mediums can change the affect of text, it can also be looked at as a way to view remediation. As the medium or design changes, so can the interpretation and the affect of the message. Cliché or not, a picture says a thousand words, but it can also have numerous interpretations. I believe everyone has something to say and in this era there are a billion ways to say it. Perhaps media is then the epitome of multimodal discourse.
sidebar: i was reading The Onion and i came across this article that reminded me of the canon of delivery...
In the quotes at the beginning of the introduction of “What is Rhetoric,” Paolo Valesio said “…rhetoric is the functional organization of discourse…In other words: rhetoric is all of language, in its realization as discourse.” I think this encapsulates the difference and similarity of the two concepts and puts it into a (somewhat) straightforward view I can understand. Rhetoric, then, is the way in which discourse of a subject can be put into an arrangement of words in attempts to persuade or influence thoughts or action an audience. Discourse is the various contexts in which a particular subject matter can be discussed.
So now that I understand the difference between the basics of the two concepts, I am struggling over the similarities and differences between the five canons of rhetoric and the four strata of discourse. Kress and Van Leeuwen talk about how a subject as to be articulated to be interpreted. This articulation, I think, is a combination of the five canons that make up rhetoric (invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery). For rhetoric to be affective, discourse first has to be articulated (or invented?) and produced (or arranged?) in such a way that the author persuades the audience to understand and accept his ideas.
Like I had mentioned, I had taken a class called “Rhetorical Criticism” during my final semester at Penn State and it was one of the hardest classes of my education. From what I remember (I’m kicking myself for getting rid of my notes… what was I thinking?!?!) we discussed why the word “rhetoric” gets a bad connotation when it is essentially just a way of discussing things. Perhaps rhetoric evokes negative views because it is a way in which the author argues his ideas in a persuasive manner and uses terminology (or jargons) specific to a particular field. However, this is just an interpretation of whatever rhetoric the author was using and if the audience was not persuaded by it, then maybe the rhetoric was not affective in the first place. Nevertheless, the discourse may have not been produced in the right mode or distributed in the most successful way. Discourse has to pay attention to stratal configurations, which is to say one can discuss the same content but has to be aware of the audience in his choice of rhetoric. I found this website about New Media and although it is informative and useful, because my level of understanding of New Media is beyond this level, its “meaning making” is not of valuable significance to me.
I think I can say with reasonable knowledge that media is perhaps a way of being rhetorical for what ever the content of the medium is (props to McLuhan and his theory of “the medium is the message”). I’ve told people before (only half-jokingly) that I am in the field of New Media Studies because in this era, I live in a torrent of media and if I am to be brainwashed by its content, then I at least want to know why. I also want to learn how to communicate effectively, to understand why certain elements of design lend themselves to particular interpretations and how different modes of communication affect and produce cultures.
There was a phrase that I highlighted in “Multimodal Discourse” that says “media add a further layer of signification.” Although this phrase is describing how different mediums can change the affect of text, it can also be looked at as a way to view remediation. As the medium or design changes, so can the interpretation and the affect of the message. Cliché or not, a picture says a thousand words, but it can also have numerous interpretations. I believe everyone has something to say and in this era there are a billion ways to say it. Perhaps media is then the epitome of multimodal discourse.
sidebar: i was reading The Onion and i came across this article that reminded me of the canon of delivery...
ABILENE, TX—Jonathan Cranland, president of the Eisenhower High School public-speaking club, announced Tuesday that he will gesture for emphasis during Friday's public-speaking district finals. "When I read the Gettysburg Address," Cranland said, "I will lend weight to key passages with dramatic hand flourishes, impressing upon judges and audience members alike the importance of said passages." Cranland added that he is also strongly considering thumping the podium or shaking his fist. "People will see how serious I am if I shake my fist," he said. "If I simultaneously shake my fist and raise my voice, that will be an overwhelming double whammy."
Sunday, September 21, 2008
what i want to be when i grow up
Job Description:Responsible for daily art and design needs for NPR.org, the online presence of National Public Radio. Will be responsible for the design and production of news and other editorial graphics and interactive storytelling applications, including information graphics, charts, illustrations and maps. Will also occasionally create graphics for other NPR Digital Media initiatives, such as the NPR Shop and external digital marketing efforts....
2. Designs and produces story-related graphics including information graphics, annotated maps, and explanatory illustrations
3. Designs and produces interactive maps, audio slideshows, quizzes and other multimedia modules to enhance the online experience; Works closely with the editorial team to assemble and analyze information for these modules.
4. Develops illustrations to brand individual content features and to accompany individual stories....
6. Designs visuals and page layouts to work with current design systems and standards.
7. Works closely with NPR Digital Media technical team members to evaluate feasibility and maintainability of designs.
8. Employs industry-standard technologies to produce work; Is responsible for maintaining professional skill level, including knowledge of industry trends....
Assistant Host/Producer
Essential functions include, but are not limited to:...Experience/Skill Required General broadcast knowledge, and an ability to thrive in a fast paced, team oriented system. Proven story idea generation and development skills required. Knowledge of Chicago, Northwest Indiana, and regional culture helpful. Expected to be well-informed in a wide range of areas including current events, arts, culture, film, history, science and public policy. Ability to manage several projects simultaneously. Have clear and excellent writing and communication skills. Ability to thrive in a fast paced, team oriented system. Experience blogging or producing other internet content a significant plus...
• Providing continuity for a web-based and on-air mixture of user-generated content, local music and staff produced content
• Planning, producing and editing content for webcast and broadcast
• Reviewing user-generated content and edit for broadcast as needed...
SKILLS REQUIRED: Excellent organizational, planning skills. Excellent writing ability. Strong conceptual ability, sense of "story" and production aesthetics. Proven ability to "multi-task." Knowledge of TV production capabilities (cameras, lighting, editing, etc.) Journalistic integrity, good judgment, understanding of TV audience, interest and curiosity in assigned content areas, and ability to quickly absorb and comprehend information. Knowledge of and proficiency with computer programs as well as new media, and multi-platform content integration.
PRIMARY ACTIONS:
- Conduct research and make contacts for show or segment content. Identify potential segment and/or program ideas, interview subjects, guests, audience members, and/or performers.
- Stay informed of community issues and activities in content area.
- Outline content, write or edit scripts as necessary.
- Plan and supervise editing. Off-line edit as necessary.
- Research, acquire rights to, and obtain archival materials, including photographs, tape or film footage.
- Write and produce program-related or promotional material, including "teases," headlines, fillers, host or announcer copy, and promos for television and radio.
- Develop, or assist in the development of content for the web site. Contribute ideas for content on other media platforms.
I found these current job listings at each respective site. I would like to work for public broadcasting or radio because I find that the programming is more compatible to my ideas of what the airwaves should be used for. I know that the ideologies of public broadcasting are with intent to be beneficial to the public but suffer criticism for relying on the same elite and influential sources that dominate mainstream commercial news, and falls short of reflecting the diversity of the American public. However, I like the fact that the requirements for these positions encourage ongoing learning and interest in culture, society and communication principles.
A remark made by President Lyndon B. Johnson about the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 reads, “While we work every day to produce new goods and to create new wealth, we want most of all to enrich man's spirit.” If I were to work for one of these companies in the future, I would be able to ask myself “what am I doing to enrich not only my own knowledge, but the knowledge of others?” By doing so, I think that I may find fulfillment in my career path, rather than just creating a bunch of fluff that may not doing anything to “enrich man’s spirit.”Since these jobs involve critical think and a knack for creativity, they are appealing to me because I would be able to keep up with industry trends and of communication theory. I also like the idea of being able to experience a sense of accomplishment of overseeing and contributing to story ideas and design projects from inception to finish.
I've Got Skillz in a Paradoxical Box
at my current position, my name plate reads: Lead of Image Editing... Pixel Jockey... Photoshop Alchemist...
i have a pretty good job that i like for the most part. I am involved in editing photos of products for our clients, but the output is very standardized and does not lend itself to “thinking outside the box.” I have to be knowledgeable about our “deliverables” which includes, but not limited too, pixel dimensions, resolution, file formats, and data delivery. I train our image editors in simple photoshop skills required for providing a quality and quantity of images each day (a typical editor will output 100-150 images). I am part of the interviewing process for applicants for these positions and hold monthly meetings to make sure everyone is doing their work up to our criterion and instruct them about tips and trips concerning ways to edit more efficiently. I have to keep track of the photographers output also, so that they are supplying us with photos we can work with without too much “photoshopping.” I personally don’t edit “quantity” images so much as I edit “quality” images by working with layers and adjustments to provide an advertising quality image. I also review families of products to make sure that colors are consistent within a brand family. This can require me to pull images from our database to fix them. Occasionally, I will meet with management for informal meetings or explain to important/potential clients what it is that I do for my company.
Long story short, I have workforce skillz of your typical office employee.
I think these skills translate very well into the skills required by my “dream” jobs posted above. I am able to supervise people, plan and produce output, and operate compositional computer programs. My educational skills reflect my ability to generate ideas and write or design content associated to these ideas. I know that I am aware of how content can affect the audience and the social and cultural implications of media. Like I’ve stated before, I want to use my talents to construct media that enriches man spirit, and to enrich my own spirit perhaps this content will not be consumer driven or appeal to the mass market. <-- I don’t want to sound like I hate entertainment, I watch SNL and go on MySpace just as much as any other 20-something target audience member but if I’m going to be affected by media, I want to understand why.Thinking outside of the box is just one way of saying that sometimes unconventional theories work, but I want to be smart enough to see when it’s paradox can come into effect and be the first to build a “new box.”
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The content of this message is a medium
I've never "blogged" before. i've always thought that it is kind of silly. i mean, every one and their cousin's brother has a blog. i want my voice to be heard and i think that it would get lost in a sea of blogs by doing this.I write because it is an extension of my thoughts, like McLuhan says. by using a pen and notebook or my typewriter, i can produce a tangible outcome. reading something on a computer screen about people's intimacies doesn't do much for me. a picture of the Mona Lisa isn't the same as seeing it in real life (i know, i visited the Louve last year). a book or oil on canvas is reality, an on-line posting of the same words or represention of scenery is it's virtual counterpart.
McLuhan says we should ask of media and technology four things:
1. what does it extend?
2. what does it make obsolete?
3. what is retrieved?
4. what does it reverse if over extended?
Online blogging or journaling extends my private thoughts to a medium that i have not used before. If i put everything that i write today and write in the future in terms of this blog onto paper and photocopy it, it would be called a "zine." i haven't seen a "zine" in 10 years. They used to be popular (although i do not know much about them or their place in social history), but i think they are pretty much obsolete now. Even though it is easier to create on on-line blog than a zine, and even though it is more accessible, i think on-line journaling can reverse the arts and crafts of making collages or zines.
I think self-expression is somewhat lost by blogging. since everyone has one, how am i expressing my self in an orginal manner? if everyone has a blog, is it really self-expression or is does it become a collective consciousness i.e. an ampution of the "self"? can one see a blog for the individual or are there too many to see the singular subjectively?
To me, the written word does not translate on to screen. the computer is not like going to the movies... it is static. yes, one may add images to make the web page visually exciting, but the bombardment of images can be overwhelming to me if i spend more than a half an hour just "surfing." i usually go on the internet for a purpose - like when i go shopping, i know what i want, get it and get out. There is so much to see on the internet that to just "browse" can be intimidating. I could post a train of thought (medium) that i typed on my typewriter (medium), translate it for the web (medium) for all to see, but i would be afraid the content would be lost in this space with no beginning, middle or end.
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