The War

The documentary "The War", which was directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, was a very indepth look at WWII and the lives it effected. It is an acount of that war from the eyes of people who were there and also from the perspective of people who lived in the U.S. during that trying time. Their personal accounts along with the realtime war footage makes this a documentary that is very important and one that needs to be seen. As far as the asthecics go this was a very standard documentary, the war footage underlaid with naration and the cuts to the interviews with the people who were involved. The interviews sometimes would be the naration for the actual war footage which made the footage seem more real. The interviews were shot from a standard veiw which never shows the interveiwer and you never hear the actual question. The narator poses the question or the topic of discussion during the war footage and then the person being interveiwed answers that question or discusses the topic. The personal stories are what really make this piece such a powerful body of work. I was very moved by what I saw and I'm sure that other people felt the same way. This piece was made to be powerful and they definitely got it right, the personal stories combined with the actual war footage made this one of the best documentaries that I have seen in a long time. I think it was only right that PBS carry this show because it didn't need to be sensationalized by Hollywood, just a story that needed to be told. A lot of times when people get a hold of personal srories so powerful they try to inhance that power instead of letting it shine on it's own. I believe the laiter was done here there was a story to be told and they told it, no sensationalizing or adding on just the story. Actual accounts from people who were really there or actually living it. That is power because you believe them, it's not some actor trying to convince you but people doing the only thing they can which is describing what they saw or how they felt there is nothing more powerful than that.

The Media follow up

As to the question of whether or not things would be better or worse it's hard to tell. On one hand the world that we live in right now with the multitude of information that is out there it's hard to who is telling the truth. It's almost as if you just have to choose a way of thinking and go with the sources that you trust and believe what they tell you. The only problem with that is other people are doing the exact same thing so who do you believe? One of the problems is that most of the major news stations, with a few exceptions, all report the same view point. The fact that in a lot of major media markets the same companies own most of the media outlets in those areas. So the information won't be that different. In that way it's not that different from the world that Epic portrayed with internet companies and news corporations combining to create these mega information outlets. The hope is that even though this is happening there will still be places where you can get unbias information. If things were to go the route that Epic gives it would essentially be a similar situation where the public would be confined by major conglomerates. If you watch the movie "V for Vendetta" the country controls all the media and uses it to their advantage, in that sense it is similar but not exactly like the world that Epic shows with the difference being it is not a single country with the hold on news but companies.

Reaction to epic

I think this was an interesting look at how the future could be. I thought that it may have exaggerated things a bit and made the conglomeration of some major Internet companies look like a certainty. While it remains to be seen if these things actually take place the fact that this could happen would seem to have both negative and positive connotations. The fact that it would be easier to get your information would be a good thing, the fact that it would only be coming from a few sources would be troubling. That being said just because there would be a conglomeration doesn't necessarily mean that information would become anymore tainted than it already is. You can't always assume that the powers that be will abuse that power even though in most cases this is what happens. Beyond that stands to reason that if this were to take place it could be the outcome of it would be up to the people at the heads of these companies.

media consumption

During the school year I used Media in many forms and fashions. I pretty much used the computer everyday, at least two or three times to check emails and read news usually on cnn.com. As for the television I would watch about two to three hours a day mostly sports or movies. the only television shows that I watch religiously are on HBO or Showtime. I dont watch local news at all and rarely do I watch news on TV unless there is some major situation that I am particularly interested in. I do enjoy the Bill Maher show which could constitute an news show. What I do the most is listen to music, mostly "underground" or music that is not mainstream. I feel that the majority of my media consumption comes from that, as a M.C. myself I prefer to listen to people who put their opinions on record instead of playing to the masses. Which is probably why I prefer different shows as well because mosts television deals with the same core issues and it seems that people are afraid to push the envelope and that is why I stay away from mainstream media.

Complete list of required blog/journaling assignments.

This is a final list of all the blog/journal entries required for completion of the competency.

It is my hope this can guide you in getting your final entries in for the competency.

Fred

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1. Media Consumption Log
2. Reaction to EPIC/The Future of Media
3. Answer the following question to the EPIC/Future of Media piece [followup from the class]:
a. Is the world of EPIC's "Googlezon" good or bad, better or worse than the current system of industrialized media that we are leaving behind?
b. Is the world of EPIC's "Googlezon" good or bad, better or worse than the current system of industrialized media that we are leaving behind?
c. What other visions of the our future 'mediascape' are you aware of that is like or unlike the one portrayed in EPIC?

4. Reaction to The Public Mind: Consuming Images [Form vs Content]
5. Read,The Meaning and Significance of Stereotypes in National Culture and blog two examples of stereotyping on your blog, with a link to the class blog.
6. The Meaning and Significance of Stereotypes in National Culture
7. Platform Mapping: List on your blog the media platforms on which you find the documentary “The Ad and the Ego”.
8. Reaction to The Ad and the Ego [Form vs Content]
9. Reaction to Class Dismissed [Form vs Content]
10. Reaction to Production Notes: Pick one or two of the examples shown in Production Notes and choose one of the theory examples listed in the links for next weeks reading.
11. Fictional characterization of the news and current affairs. Look for an example of an entertainment program (In radio or television) that addresses a current news and current affairs story that is in the media now.

Updated Blog!

Finally got my blogs up to date and posted on my blog!

Reality Themed Entertainment

Check out my post about real life issues in entertainment.