Champlain in 60 seconds

A) I came up with a lot of ideas for the video. I invented my little satirical entries in the beginning of every shot, as well as scouting out locations for us to shoot. I also suggested production ideas that Andrew took into consideration as he edited.

B) I feel that we deserve an excellent. I was actually surprised and caught off guard by our final video product. When Andrew sent the finished youtube link I actually laughed out loud.

C) The hardest aspect of the video was trying to be creative with it. It was heard to come up with ideas that would display Champlain in a way no one has before, or at least interest the viewer for a full minute.

D) The most rewarding aspect of the video production was thinking like a producer. I sat on Champlain campus and looked around, pondering different shots and angles and all the different affects that they could have on the final product. It's more interesting than it seems, I found, as the production possibilities prove themselves to be endless.

My days aren't just "medium"

Dissecting the average day and examining it in media-related chunks is fascinating. In fact, I realized that what I consider an 'average' day would amaze anyone that isn't familiar with contemporary society. I'm informed and entertained through so many different avenues that I never took the time to stop and consider each for their own unique value. The following is a record of what I consider to be an extraordinarily average day.

"It's morning edition from NPR news, I'm steve Inskeep, and..." I roll out of bed blindly and shuffle to my dresser, glancing back at my clock RADIO: 7:01 AM. I don't use the radio much for musical purposes, I have an mp3 player for that. Instead I like to use it for information gathering. Steve and his colleague Renee Montagne give me the low down on today's weather: cold with a chance of snow. Not surprising. They discuss the collapse of a 2,000 year old building in the ancient site of Pompeii as I pull a fresh shirt over my head. The news makes my inner Latin student cringe.

What will become of the remains of one of Latin culture's most important city?

(Image found here)

NPR is immensely popular, I'm only one of "three to four million listeners per day," (1.) It's a noncommercial network, so I know that it doesn't have a monetary agenda, so their reports are geared towards general national interests, making it relevant to many. Steve is conducting an interview with a candidate for an upcoming election that I sadly don't have time to hear right now. The door closes, my morning radio needs fulfilled.

The next phase of my morning involves a bowl of cereal and today's edition of The New York Times, my choice connection to world news. I feed my stomach and my brain simultaneously, contradicting a supposed "failure of many papers to attract younger readers," (1.) NEWSPAPERS allow me to glean information regarding almost every aspect of society: sports, world news, political updates, business, etc. My spoon clatters against the bowl, splashing milk all over the cover page's picture of Obama and his wife at a campaign rally earlier in the year.

The American morning.

(Image found here)

I skipped over the Obama cover story and other political news, looking for something to get my brain juice flowing. A heading, "New Spy Game: Trade Secrets Sold Overseas," grabs my attention. The article tells the tale of a Chinese scientist working in Indiana, deviously sharing his company's secrets with Chinese scientists then obtaining grants from China to help them form a rival business. I became increasingly startled as I read, thinking about how many different ways our country is being attacked right under our noses. I drain my bowl and decide to clear the idea of a Chinese world take-over from my head with a little bit of television before I head out to class.

I guess I'm a serial TELEVISION watcher. That is, I get glued to the shows that have "...story lines continue from episode to episode." I usually watch these kinds of shows marathon style, hoarding episodes on TiVo. I flip to a Tivo'd episode of Bored to Death because only news and cartoons are on air right now. I sit back and relax while time still permits, ready for some lighthearted comedy.

Two of Bored to Death's main characters, doing what they do best.

(Video found on Youtube)

Bored to Death is my favorite HBO (Home Box Office) show on air. HBO shows account for a majority of my television viewing, despite the fact that "HBO reaches less than one-third the audience of a popular basic channel." I give almost every new HBO series a shot because they're usually right up my alley.

Ahh, the morning short-bus. Jammed full of grumpy kids who're too tired to even make casual conversation. I find a seat and launch my iPod, enveloping myself in MUSIC. My iPod holds 64 gigabytes of MP3 files which, "enables digital recordings to be compressed into smaller, more manageable files," (1.) This nifty device puts hundreds of hours worth of music at my fingertips and has become essential to my wellbeing. I throw on,

by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and close my eyes.

(Video found here)

Music doesn't just make the cramped, uncomfortable ride bearable; it makes the whole experience enjoyable. I open my eyes as the song ends and the bus turns onto Maple Street, now nearly at Champlain campus. Tweezer by Phish plays next, the uplifting jam giving me the energy necessary to make it to really start my day.

On the way into the cafeteria I stop on a whim and grab an Experience Burlington, Vermont from the MAGAZINE rack in the lobby. The beautiful cover picture of a Lake Champlain caught my eye, just as it should. Most magazines employ a gripping cover page to draw in readers, however...

...some seem to miss the mark.

(Image found Here)

Experience Burlington, a bagel, and I sit down at a table, my friends still in line for their meals. Just as "many leading literary figures used magazines to gain public exposure," Experience Burlington is a magazine that aims to increase public exposure of Burlington, (1.) Upcoming events in town, skiing and boarding information, recreation and camping opportunities, shopping locations and a few other relevant Burlington happenings are invitingly displayed. Vermont Quilt Festival...not too interesting. Burlington Independence Day Fireworks Celebration? Now here's something that I wouldn't mind attending.

The first thing I do after taking my seat in Concepts of the Self is pull out my copy of David Linden's BOOK The Accidental Mind. I'm starting to realize that I only find myself reading a book these days in class or for homework.

One of the few books I'm reading right now.

(Image found Here)
Regardless, books like The Accidental Mind are crucial to my college learning experience. It did cost me a pretty penny for this and all my textbooks, though. In fact, two years ago, "the average college student spent $921 and $988," and it's even worse now, (1.) But the price is deserving because every time I've opened The Accidental Mind I've gained new understandings of how and why humans function the way they do. I'm ordered to flip open to the latest chapter, discussing how humans form their sense of self. Oh boy, another nature vs. nurture discussion, these usually last all class. I quickly re-scan the pages of the chapter to beef up my argument backing nurture as the main deciding factor of our sense of self. I hope that kid across the room tries to argue for nature again, I absorbed this chapter like a sponge.

The bus ride home after class is made painless once again by my iPod. I'm back in my room before I know it. I head to my desk, sliding my finger across the sleek print identifier that protects my laptop. It never gets old. A few clicks later and I have three tabs open in my INTERNET browser, Firefox: champlain.edu to check my email and homework updates, blogger.com for the same reason, and facebook.com for a social connection. I haven't touched Myspace.com in years because of Facebook. I'm not the only one to abandon Myspace however, Facebook at one point "grew at a rate of more than two million global users a month" (1.) Firefox is my choice tool for net navigation because I can open up multiple tabs at once and it has some great protection against the nasty spam that the internet spits at me.
Firefox. Crushing internet explorer since before you were born.

(Image found here)
After getting my homework straight, I open up a new tab for imdb.com and chat boxes with my roomates, who are deviously facebooking in class. I send them IMDB reviews to convince them to watch Miller's Crossing, a Cohen brother film, later tonight. Then I jump on stumbleupon.com, my favorite way to leisurely browse the internet, because it brings you new pages relevant to your interests.

My roommates get home and MOVIE time begins. We set up the living room of our Quarry Hill apartment for maximum viewing comfort: lights off, two bowls of popcorn, drinks and a comfortable seating arrangement. The Miller's Crossing DVD starts up and the night is made; to sit back and just experience and enjoy a cinematic story for a couple hours is essential for my relaxation. Movies are always something to fall back on for me because you can forget about a bad day or on the flip-side, improve a good day. Every movie is a unique experience, a new story to experience, I love how "movies have acted to bring people together," (1.) I've had great conversations about this movie, even with people that I didn't watch it with. It's easy to find good movies after you've watched one, too, because it usually works to just look up the director and writer and then view their other work. I watch Cohen brother movies obsessively.

The great are rewarded for film excellence.

(Image found Here)

And my day drew to a close. I sit down in bed and reflect on my day because at some point I'm going to have to blog about it. Every medium that I experience is extremely significant as a part of my life in media. They all provide specialized and personalized ways to gather information, kill time, get entertained and tons of other things. My day is so saturated in media that I really have never even considered it in this way. Media and Society gave me a new pair of eyes, though.

(1)- Quote was taken from our Media & Culture textbook.

Keeping up with the Krapdashians

(Image found on Google)

Do you keep up with the Kardashians?

I don't.

I don't think I ever will bother, either. I've seen the show for all of five minutes and I had to leave the room. Comedy, drama, reality, fashion, what is this supposed to be? Regardless of what it attempts, I can't take it seriously in any regard.

Should we care?

(Video found on Youtube)

It's can't even feign interest in these kind of shows. Arguments between beef heads and dressed up dolls really aren't my type of entertainment.

It worries me that this actually is a form of entertainment for some. For me, it calls into question the very nature of media today. The fact that this show kicks other quality programs off the air because of its huge draw is sickening.

I hope shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians don't continue to dominate television. I want shows to have depth, not fake tans.

The Wire

Greatest drama ever?
(Image found on Google)

Some watch(ed) 24.

I watch The Wire. Even though I've already seen every episode.

Created by David Simon, a former Baltimore police reporter, The Wire tells a thrilling tale based loosely on what Simon and his writing partner and former homicide detective Ed Burns experienced during their work.

Every season focuses on one aspect of Baltimore, while continuing a gripping narrative with the same cast. The first season focuses on the streets and illicit drug trade. The amount of violence and corruption is frightening but at the same time riveting, following a cast of gang members and their struggle to survive the streets.

The second season focuses on the port system and its role in the drug trade. It was interesting to see how dock workers live and the balance between corruption and unionized work ethic.

The third focuses on the government and bureaucracy. Oddly enough, while this season had significantly less bloodshed than the previous two, it was far more horrific. The level of corruption that The Wire constructs as a reality is truly frightening, as government officials work with drug dealers for extreme sums of money.

The fourth season focuses on the school systems. It portrayed the principals as hardened as the cops, having to deal with kids as wild as animals. Stabbings would occur in middle schools and a complete black hole of education sucked in the youth.

The fifth and final season focuses on the news print media. Journalists scamper to get the prime story, often bullshitting to make the front page. All these seasons are tied together perfectly, the steady cast never failing to provide thrills, and surprising, equal amount of laughs.

A crime scene investigation, using only one word. (WARNING: High levels of profanity and graphic images...aka HBO)

(Video found on Youtube)

The majority of the actors were unknown before their roles, but this only adds to their ability to seem like realistic portrayals of Baltimore's touchy subjects.

All in all, The Wire is awesome. It makes you laugh, gasp, think and sympathize. You have to watch it to understand.

Re-habitat-ilitation

Habitat World
"A Celebration of the ways that belief and service come together in the Habitat ministry"
-Habitat CEO Jonathan Reckford
(Image found on Google)

Thesis: People, regardless of color, gender or race, are interconnected through faith in God. The less fortunate who are willing to be a part of the community deserve to be helped by voluntary efforts, rebuilding homes and lives for the needy.

5 Facts: A great list of facts about the Habitat World on their website.

Triune Brain: This magazine is drenched in LIMBIC stimulation. The cover of this issue depicts two paint covered hands, clenched together, resonating a sensation of faith. IMAGES of happy families next to newly built homes conveys the success of Habitat's mission. Other images of families in tattered clothing next to run down buildings evoke an EMOTIONAL response, causing the reader to feel for them. This pulls the reader into the parts of the magazine where the NEOCORTEX comes into play, processing and analyzing the different stories given by volunteers.

A stirring Limbic representation of Habitat's work.

(Video found Here)

8 Trends: Habitat World is the magazine that is run by Habitat for Humanity, which operates largely out of their website. These two medium work in conjunction to call for PARTICIPATION in Habitat's community and their efforts in the world with a PERSONAL approach.
While the magazine is full of information that furthers your knowledge, it is dominated by powerful IMAGERY over WORDS. These images prove the age-old adage of "A picture is worth a thousand words."

7 Principles: The OWNERSHIP of Habitat is benevolent. A nonprofit Christian housing ministry that aims to eliminate impoverished homes worldwide. PAYED for and OWNED by Habitat for Humanity in order to give accounts of their mission in action.
An enormous amount of EMOTIONAL TRANSFER is present in Habitat World, brought into focus mainly by powerful imagery. They help to convey positive VALUE MESSAGES about religion, humanity's unity, and the work of nonprofit organizations.
These principles of questioning media brought me to an INDIVIDUAL MEANING of Habitat World. In reflection of the magazine's contents, I see that religion clearly plays a huge roll in society today. A belief in God and a conjoined drive to better the human world draws all walks of life together in a single effort. Atheists and Agnostics would have to disagree.
A REALITY that is CONSTRUCTED by Habitat World is that there are impoverished families who can better themselves with a leg-up.

A Habitat team taking a deserved break from their work.

(Image found Here)

Persuasive Techniques: Habitat World uses a large amount of persuasive techniques to keep the reader interested. The Imagery is absolutely loaded, containing techniques of PLAIN FOLK, SYMBOLS, WARM FUZZIES, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, and even THE RACE CARD. On top of this, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife give TESTIMONY to the good work of Habitat.

Midterm Reflections - A Rob Well Done

If you asked me to define "media" a couple months ago I probably would have said,
"Music,duh."
However, Media and Society classes have shown me the truth. Media is more than simply music, media is the culmination of storytelling mediums that we experience every day in almost every facet of life. 21st century media have progressed over decades, societal factors influencing it's development. I've also learned how different mediums impact media as a whole. For instance, the legitimized news blog is beginning to put printed newspaper out of business.

So far, I've come to realize that I don't read nearly as critically as I should. I tend to scan over text without processing it, because I don't ask myself questions as I read. I've also learned a few things about myself as a writer. My first personal blog was weak because I didn't grasp the appeals that make a blog post successful as a medium. By my second blog post I already feel like I made a huge leap in quality. My critical thinking isn't quite up to scratch, another thing I realized when reading our textbook. After I was done with a chapter, I realized I had barely analyzed anything I read...this ended once we started having quizzes.

The one thing I would do differently from the get-go of class would be drilling the power tools. It was a while before I took them seriously, a big mistake. The power tools are a huge part of understanding the media we study in class, allowing me to better pick apart and analyze media.

I would have liked Rob to perhaps more clearly explain our personal blog posts. It was unclear for a while how the posts should be constructed, especially how we are supposed to integrate the power tools into our post.

The power tools have been infinitely useful as learning tools. They've shown me necessary questions to ask when I'm experiencing media in addition to explaining the different processing centers in the brain that respond to media. The course blog is perhaps one of the best tools employed by Rob. Assignments are available in a clear presentation, in addition to our submissions being in the same place, making it easy to take care of business. It's a way for us to tap into class information without being in class. The personal blog is fun and educational, too. By trying to form relevant and interesting ideas on a new medium, I've been learning about entirely new forms of information sharing. Not to mention...I'll take blogger over Angel (AKA the devil) any day of the week. The in class quizzes keep me in line and make sure I'm keeping up with work. They also show me what information I should be gathering from the readings. The films are always great demonstrations of our power tools and how they relate to all media. Watching them helps me apply the tools and understand media more thoroughly. The book is pretty good, but a little thick. The chapters are soaked in so much information that it makes it difficult to absorb anywhere near all of it.

Media Meditation #2: Flipping Out

Flip Video cameras make people do strange things.

(Image found on Google)

Flip Video cameras.

They're pretty awesome.

Don't believe me? Ask...

Oprah.
She advocated them on her show, prompting a boom in sales for Cisco (Owner of Flip Video.)
(Image found on Google)

Plug the Flip into your computer, it opens video up in Windows Media Player ready for easy editing. Getting a Flip video onto Youtube is a 10 minute process, if even.

The simplistic design is what makes the Flip appealing to so many people. Few buttons make the Flip a tool that anyone can use, really. My friend borrowed one from his dad's car dealership and has taken some awesome footage. He also consistently puts his clothes on backwards without realizing. Here's one of many great moments captured on his Flip:


Play in HD to truly Flip out.
(Video located on Youtube)

I also fear the Flip. It is so damn easy to use that I'm afraid I'll be caught off guard by one. Who knows, in the near future people might be flipping out their Flip on the down low and causing ruckus like this ABC producer.

Look at the utter concentration as she record this candid footage.
(Image found on Google)

This article describes the charades behind this improper Flip usage.

The Flip is now my go-to for any recording needs. It's all around simplicity combined with HD video is hard to pass up. Even my man Rob Williams advocates them, using one to record class projects and put them up on Youtube.