A day in the life of a MEDIA MASTERMIND!

Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy.

....Except, I'm not an African American record producer, rapper, actor, and men's fashion designer. In fact, I'm none of those things, so you can scratch that statement all together. I was just quoting the hit song "TikTok" by Ke$ha. I'd be surprised if you've never heard of it, I remember in the summer of '09 you couldn't turn the RADIO without hearing the songs catchy beat. That's probably because a good chunk of the radio is made of "Top 40 radio--also called contemporary hit radio" (media & culture pg 113), meaning you'll hear the same chart topping songs about a trillion times over until they get stuck in your head for days at a time. There was once a time "Tiktok" entered my limbic brain and stayed there for what seemed like a month (Click the video below and I'm sure you'll be able to see how crazy I was going with that song stuck in my head!).



In reality, I wake up in the morning feeling like Andrea Drag, the media mastermind and Champlain college student. What makes me a media mastermind you ask? From the moment I wake up ALREADY I'm using the MCM-120 power tools. Convergence. Boo-YAH. I used converenge by waking up to the buzzing of my CELL PHONE. That's right, ladies and gents, my cell phone is not only a phone, but an alarm clock! (it has other cool features like games, email, texting etc that also make it convergence savvy too). In case you're not sure what convergence is, the Media and Culture book does a good job of explaining, stating that media convergence is "the technological merging of content in different mass media" (pg 9), so my cell phone is a fabulous example.



<---I usually sleep like this girl, with my cell phone tucked under my pillow so my alarm with definetly wake me up! (photo from Google Images)




As the media mastermind that I am, I usually don't leave the dorm without my cell phone and IPOD. On my way to class, I pop my ear buds in and rock out to "Love Today" my Mika, which I downloaded on itunes for 99 cents. Of that 99 cents, 57 cents goes to the "full record company share", according to the graph on page 99 of the Media and Culture book. Interesting, eh? As always, the song puts me in a peppy, optimistic mood even on those gray over-cast days Burlington has been having recently. (emotional transfer at its finest!) I usually like to sing along whenever, I listen and you can too by click on the lyric video below!



I arrive at my Concepts of Self class pumped up and ready to "love today", and my good mood only increases when my teacher puts the psychological thriller MOVIE "Memento" in to watch and analyze. "Hollywood has become America's storyteller" (Media & Culture pg 213) and this movie certainly tells a story! Memento is about a man with short term memory loss (meaning he can't create new memories), which becomes especially inconvenient considering he is trying to track down the man who raped and killed his wife. This movie had me in flow state from beginning to end--My neocortex was in overdrive trying to understand the complicated plot, my limbic mind wanted me to tear up whenever the main character had memories of his wife and my reptilian brain was pumping during all the intense action scenes.



To the left is a promotional poster for the movie Momento. Highly recommended!--->
(photo from Google Images)





After class, I head to mail room and my day just gets better and better! My new issue of the fabulous fashion MAGAZINE "Seventeen" has arrived! Score! In the Media and Culture book, it's said that "Every magazine has it's own architecture. National Geographic is a Greek Revival Temple. TV guide is a fruit stand. The New Yorker is a men's hat store. The Atlantic is a church." (pg 300). That being said, I like to think that Seventeen is a clothing store with super helpful and friendly shop assistants of all shapes and sizes who know all sorts of beauty secrets and have exciting stories to share. After grabbing a bite to eat, I head back to my dorm and flip idly through the magazine. I have some time to kill before my next class, so as a media mastermind, I of course find something productive and media related to do...







<---Seventeen magazine is always so colorful and fun-looking! (photo from Google Images)






...and that something is watch my favorite television show The Office! Yes!!! I pop a DVD into my laptop (I own all the seasons on DVD) and laugh out loud to the funny antics the characters get into during another day at "the office". The show is unique because it "broke new ground by revamping the show's look and structure, shooting the program documentary style" (Media and Culture, page 144) which to me gives the show and characters a more realistic and relatable feel.




Above is a picture of the cast of The Office (photo from Google Images)

After I watch a couple episodes, I head off to my rhetoric class, where my teacher has us read a story from our "Rhetorical Reader" BOOK, which I bought in the beginning of the school year at the Champlain college bookstore. A statistic in the Media and Culture book states that "the average college student spends between $921 and $988 on texts books and supplies" (page 324) which kind of sucks for me financially wise. The song "Money Money Money" by Abba (which I heard last year while watching Mamma Mia), starts echoing in my head. Click the video below to hear what I'm hearing in my limbic brain right now.



After class, I eat some dinner with friends and head back to the dorm. I should be working on homework, but the INTERNET is so distracting! Youtube in particular is where I spend a lot of time watching cool and funny videos. "Youtube is one of the most popular Web sites, with more than twenty-five million hits a day." (Media and Culture pg 45). On the website, viewers are able to create an account and "subscribe" to different video channels, which sends them updates on when cool new videos are uploaded. My favorite subscription would have to be ViralVideoFilmSchool, in which the hilarious Brett vlogs about other videos on YouTube, giving funny commentary. Below is one of his video, all about the viral video trend "cats"



Another website that takes up a majority of my time would, of course, have to be Facebook, the social networking phenomenon. Its the easiest and most fun way to keep in touch with my friends from home as well as socialize with my friends here at Champlain. Its rare that someone doesn't own a facebook, even my friend Jackie who is technologically impaired got one at the end of last summer to keep in touch with everyone. I bet 99 % of Champlain students have a facebook, after all facebook "By 2008 had sixty million users" (media and culture pg 53), showing how popular the site truly is. It's definitely got that bandwagon appeal of "everyone has one" since anyone who's anyone usually does.





Many facebook users have recently changed their profile pictures to a nostalgic cartoons from their childhood to raise awareness for the fight against child abuse. Mine is a picture of Xmen evolution ----->
(photo from Google Images)






The rest of my day consists of socializing with friends in both face-to-face communication, texting and social media websites such as facebook. I watch some TV, perhaps a pop in a movie, skype some friends from back home. As I do homework, I "google" things, search wikipedia, get distracted by stumbleupon.com. After a long day as a media mastermind, I curl up in bed, read a chapter of a pleasure reading book and nod off to sleep with my cell phone under my pillow, the alarm set to wake me in the morning for another day as a MEDIA MASTERMIND.


Visual representation of my media mastermind-ness brought to you by Google Images!

Come to Champlain!!

Remember that radio spot I posted a couple weeks ago, inticing you to Come to Champlain? Here it is again, new and improved and now with VISUALS!



A. When it came to the short video ad, I feel as though I made a ton of contributions. We all worked together, coming up with creative and humerus scenes but a majority of the editing was done by yours truly. I converted all the video files to wmv format (which took forever, might I add...I wish flip cameras recorded in that format!) and edited most of the clips together. I sometimes had to work with clips that were cut off but with a little audio tweaking I was able to fix it for the most part. I also made the bloopers video.


B. I believe I deserve an A based on all the contributions I listed above. My group worked really hard on completing this project and we all deserve good grades, but I certainly think I did A quality work.

C. There were two major issues with the video making process. The first was finding a time when all the group members could get together and work on the project. We actually only had one meeting in which we were all together and were able to film the last scene and a couple of the "come to Champlain" scenes, the other scenes were filmed with not all group members present due to conflicting schedules. Another issue was the cutting off of some video scenes that made certain parts hard to work with, and also time was an issue since we had so many scenes and only a minute to fit it all in. For the most part it came out alright I just wish the finished product was a little better quality.

D. I really liked getting to know the other people in my group and we all worked together very well! I also liked showing the ad to my parents, my mom was very amused with our attempts at humor.

MEDIA MEDITATION #4: Happy Halloween!!!

It's that time of year again!!! You know, that time in October when it's socially acceptable, nay, encouraged to let little children accept candy from strangers! At night! Looking extra cute in adorable costumes!

Does no one else find that weird?

Haha I kid, I kid. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because it's an excuse to get all dressed up with your friends and eat tons of junk food without guilt.







Here is a picture of my friend Courtney and I celebrating with style ---------->






Of course, around this time of year the TV has been abducted by candy companies who are advertising their candy as the best, hoping consumers everywhere buy their delicious brand to give out to the neighborhood kids. Living in a college dorm, I didn't have to worry about that, but seeing those commercials on the television certainly made me crave some candy!

For example, here's a good one from the peanut butter chocolate candy Reese's



Short, simple and scarifying! I certainly wouldn't want to give away my Reese's stash! The advertisers sure know what they are doing, using rhetorical questions AND fear (coughcoughhumorcoughcough) on their audience. They also add in a bit of flattery, telling us to have a perfect Halloween. How sweet! (and I mean that in every sense!)

In fact, they did such a good job that I can no longer focus on this blog and absolutely must eat a Reese's. Powerful advertising indeed.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

MEDIA MEDITATION #3: Ok go is a MUST go!

This month's limbically appealing event was the OK GO concert at Higher ground, in Burlington Vermont. It was like music to my ears---literally!

OK GO really pulled out all the stops in their performance, the moment they stepped out on stage the lights turned bright and a confetti cannon shot out over the band and the audience. At first my reptilian brain told me to flight, heart racing and head spinning from all the commotion, but the blaring sound of their hit song "Here it goes again" hit my ears and I began to rock out!

I didn't know many songs from the band when I decided to go to the concert...in fact I only had three of their songs on my ipod! However, I knew their concert was going to be exciting and entertaining...after all they are known for their crazy music videos such as the colorful stop animation "End Love" and the intricate "this too shall pass".

I certainly wasn't disappointed!

They had laser guitars, light blinking jackets and did I mention the confetti cannon?! It was basically raining colors!!!



They even showed their new music video for white knuckles...in 3D! They gave out 3D goggles to all the audience members and everything! Below is the music without 3D effects...still pretty funky right?



Perhaps it was the small venue, but I definitely didn't feel just like a small member in a crowd at their show. It really felt like they were going for a personal shift, interacting with the audience, using humor and joking about how they love Vermont because the audience was filled with hippies and at several times the lead singer came into the audience to dance and sing, and even played an acoustic set in the middle of the crowd!! It was great.

At the end of the concert, the band even took a photo of the crowd and uploaded it to facebook, so they could remember their fans! I immediately went online and tagged myself of course. I wanted to end the blog with that uploaded picture, a circle around where I was standing, but the pesky dorm internet won't let me on facebook for some reason so I can't.

Well...this is awkward.

Instead, I'll distract the anyone reading this blog with another amazing OK GO music video



Wasn't that awesome? I'm sure the flow in that music video made you forget all about a silly picture!! What silly picture you ask? Exactly.

(all photos courtesy of Google Images)

Seventeen magazine!

THESIS: Seventeen magazine: Dressing girls of every shape, size and style with tips on hair, make-up, fashion, love and drama!

FIVE FACTS:

-Ke$ha wants to start a blue lipstick trend
-82 percent of seventeen readers have peeked at porn.
-you can shop on your iphone or itouch with seventeen app (free download on itunes)
-Working at the company Google, you create your own hours
-Angus T Jones from Two and a half men makes 250,000 a year


TRIUNE BRAIN: The limbic brain is a big part of the seventeen magazine. It tunes into the female readers emotions by having articles about "body peace" for those with self esteem issues (which according to this magazine every teen female has them!), intense articles about escaping an attack, and even has stories of being cheated on by guys. Also, the limbic mind processes images and there are a lot of those featured in this magazine!

The reptillian brain is also used effectively, there are recepies for eating, a sex ed portion and pictures of hunky guys for mating, an article about girl fights for fighting, and an article about escaping an attack for flighting!

8 TRENDS: Personal shift-stories are featured about "real girls" and there is also a feedback section

Economic Shift- the "googlezon" is featured, showing how great it is to work there!


Epistomological Shift-word to image, instead of just articles there are bright images dominating the page.

7 PRINCIPLES: Reality constuction-Everyone may have perfect skin, hair and is fashionable however a model in the magazine confesses it to be just fantasy and photoshop and stylist, even the natural look!

Value message-everyone is beautiful...now here are some tips to make you look prettier!

29 PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES: Hyperbole-"425 fashion tricks!" there is not actually a page with 425 fashion tricks, it is just the number of tricks featured throughout the magazine


Humor-"tramarama" embaressing stories from seventeen readers that are terriblely embaressing but funny!

(all photos courtesy of Google Images)

MIDTERM REFLECTION: Looking back on Media and Society

1. I've learned a lot about all aspects of the media--television, internet, movies, newspapers, etc--both old and new. Not only have I learned fun facts that will help me win trivia (ex. Disney owns 80% of ESPN!) But I've also learned the roles certain media platforms play in our society and other societies and how the media is changing which will help me in the future secure a job because I understand how the media works and affects audiences everywhere.

2.


As a reader I learned to search for important key points more efficiently.


As a writer, I learned that you must keep your audience in mind (such as with personal blogs) because sometimes you just need to have fun instead of being completely formal and professional


As a thinker, I've learned to take prior knowledge into account and use that to fuel an argument rather than just use what I'm given/told.

3. One thing I would have done differently in the first semester: I would have studied the power tools more carefully in the first couple weeks because some of my few first note card quiz grades were pitiful.

4. One thing I would have liked to be done differently is less emphasis on midnight deadlines. I work best late at night and sometimes find it challenging to get things posted before 12am. So I would move the due dates to "posted before class starts."

5. Powertools have been very informative and useful so far. I actually used the 29 persuasive techniques as examples in my rhetoric class to explain how certain opinionated authors were trying to sell the reader on their point of view.

The Course Blog is an easy, eco-friendly way to submit homework, since students don't have to use paper it hurts less tress and eliminates the problem of forgetting work in the dorm.

The Personal Blog is one of my favorite parts of class because i like creative writing. It feels relevant because I am allowed to choose my own media platform to blog about, keeping me interested and able to use the powertools, keeping them fresh in my mind.

The In-class Quizzes are useful because the repetitive use of powertools on random displays of media keep me alert to media aspects and able to point out how the powertools were used effectively

The Films we've watched in class certainly keep me engaged and interested. Reel bad Arabs reflected media's effect on us as a society, particularly how it can contribute to strengthen stereotypes about a culture.

The Book Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication is a useful tool since it goes in depth about different media platforms from the beginning up until current day, incorporating ideas like technological shift and convergence.

Camp Champ Radio Spot: Come to Champlain!!

Check out this radio ad for champlain college! Because I said so!

For those of you who like to read along, here is the script:

Come to Champlain!

Do you want a spectacular education? And a pony?Well, you can find out which one of the two you can get by coming to Champlain!

Come to Champlain!

Champlain has a pretty campus and pretty people come here. Come here to be amongst people almost as pretty as you!

Come to Champlain!

Here are just a few successful stories of people who came to Champlain!“I graduated from Champlain and instantly received a million dollars! You can too!”

Come to Champlain!

“At Champlain I met a celebrity! Celebrities go here!”Come to Champlain! Did you know Champlain grads are 13% more likely to survive a nuclear Holocaust?

Come to Champlain if you want to live!

President Warlord Finney demands you come to Champlain! He fights bears and catamounts!

Come to Champlain!

College doesn’t cost that much! Only ten thousand easy payments of $9.99! Sign up today and we’ll throw in a free Snuggie!

Come to Champlain!

Come to Champlain!

Come to Champlain!

Have we mentioned come to Champlain?!

Audeamus!

Come to Champlain! Or the pony gets it!

The radio doesn't lie, Champlain College (pictured above) IS pretty. Which means everything else said in the ad must be true!

I've never been more convinced that Champlain College is the place for me.

MEDIA MEDITATION #2: This Blog is an "Easy A"

"A is for Awesome." -Olive Penderghast from the movie "Easy A"

"Easy A" earns an A in my book for a hilarious teen comedy! Surprisingly quirky and clever, the movie is a loose 2010 adaption of the famous literary novel "The Scarlet Letter". And when I say loose, I mean loose in every sense (wink wink).

Essentially, the story is about this young girl (Olive) who lets loser boys around school tell people she had sex with them, in exchange for gift cards. She does this a) because she feels sorry for the losers and wants them to stop being picked on and b) because she went from a nobody to a talked-about-somebody after she lied and told her friend she lost her virginity. I suppose she was going for the idea that 'Bad publicity is better than no publicity at all'. At least she was a somebody now.

Now, the Scarlet Letter (which I remember reading in high school) is about a young maiden who committed adultery and was forced to shamefully wear a red A on her chest to symbolize her impureness. Olive, who loves the attention her bad reputation is getting her, ends up sewing a red A on all the scandalous lingerie-like tops she bought to over-emphasis her promiscuity. You can just imagine Joan Jett's Bad Reputation playing in your head, can't you? (rock out your limbic minds by clicking on the link!

"So, what's with your new look? It's very whore couture."

--Olive's friend Brandon from Easy A, commenting on Olive's new taste in clothes.

If that explanation of the movie wasn't enough for y'all, check out the "Easy A" trailer below.

The format of the movie is interesting. As you can see from the trailer, Olive is vlogging about her story via webcam in a movie! Oh convergence, you sneaky tactic you. It certainly was a clever way to narrate the story.

In the movie, cultural shift is certainly represented for privacy to surveillance is a define issue. Within seconds of Olive telling a lie, the rumor spread like wildfire in a sequence of texting teens. I suppose high school wouldn't be the same in my memory without high tech ways to spread rumors and information! There was actually a very funny part in the movie where a teacher complains about facebook status updates, stating:

"I don't know what your generation's fascination is with documenting your every thought... but I can assure you, they're not all diamonds. "Roman is having an OK day, and bought a Coke Zero at the gas station. Raise the roof." Who gives a rat's ass? "

--Mr. Griffith, "Easy A"

haha, hilarious! Now, I don't want to give too much of the movie's plot away in this blog post, so I'll just say this: Some things went down, some lessons were learned and in the end I left the movie satisfied. There was a little romance, a random song and dance sequence (in which the limbic brain appreciates), and a lot of humor. In my mind, that is the makings of a great movie, in terms of brainless entertainment. Time just seemed to fly by when I was fully engaged in the movie from the moment I sat down, popcorn in hand---and I have Flow to thank for that!

MEDIA MEDITATION #1: Dancing with GLEE for the Britney Spears episode!

"It's Britney...bitch"

---Brittany S. Peirce one-liner from the hit show Glee referencing the famous opening line to the song "gimme more" by Britney Spears

Picture to the right: Cameo of the Glee's Britney Spears episode featuring the pop diva herself--->

Glee has always been a fun, quirky, pop cultural phenomenon of a television show where the fictional students of McKinley High deal with their issues by breaking out into random song and dance. As if high school wasn't hard enough!

Of course, the students who perform the show-stopping tunes are part of their school's glee club, so the singing and dancing makes sense...some of the time. It's a very limbically pleasing experience none-the-less!

However, not all of the students in high school appreciate the random spurts of show tunes and contemporary songs from their classmates...in fact glee club is on the bottom of the latter when it comes to social coolness. More than once, a slushie has been thrown in a "gleek's" (glee geeks) face, a gleek has been pushed into a locker or something nasty has happened to one of the glee club's members as a result of bullying.

However, when dental anesthesia induced fantasies of the gleeks begin to feature pop diva Britney Spears, the confidence levels of the gleeks begin to rise, despite how uncool they are in the eyes of their peers. Each character finds their own individual meaning in a pop sequence. One character Brittany, a soft-spoken blonde, finds her inner diva by dancing and belting out "Slave 4 u".

Brittany: I would just like to say that from now on I demand to have every solo in glee club. When I had my teeth cleaned I had the most amazing Britney Spears fantasy. I sang and dance better than her. Now I realize what a powerful woman that I am.

Racheal, a talented control freak, learns to let loose by reenacting Britney's "Hit me baby one more time". However, the most inspiring would definitely have to be when Artie, a crippled boy who wants to join the football team, sing's the 90s hit "Stronger"

Who'd have thought Britney Spears lyrics would be able to pull at your heartstrings? Can you say emotional transfer?

The Glee Britney Spears episode would definitely have to be one of my favorites from the series so far. It was certainly an upbeat show, reflecting songs and dances I remember growing up with being a 90s child. I especially loved how between each scene it was edited so they played a short musical beat from "hit me baby one more time", a brittney spears classic.

It was good to see in the end of the episode when the gleeks performed at the school pep rally that they were actually receiving a positive response from their peers, even though it got a little ridiculous, turning into a "sex riot" (their dances were so sexy and reptilianly stimulating that the crowd was starting to go wild haha). I think the reason their performance was received so well was because the songs were so contemporary and the audience members were teens who could relate and remember the Brittney songs like I could. Pop music is a defining part of our generation so it was fun to see that represented in this episode of Glee. As it is stated by Kurt, a member of McKinley High's glee club:

"This club regularly pays tribute to pop culture and Britney Spears IS pop culture."

ABCD BLOG

Hi! I'm Andrea!

1. I am from South Windsor Connecticut, though for the first 9 years of my life I lived in East Hartford Connecticut.

2. I traveled to France for a graduation present and it was so interesting to see how another culture lives. I'm not sure if that qualifies for a media experience so I'd just like to add that traveling was a very new and enjoyable experience for me. I hadn't been on a plane in years and it was very interesting to see the working technology up in the sky, seeing as every seat got their own personal television where they could watch a bunch of new television shows, movies or listen to any mainstream music.

The Picture to the far left is me in front of the eiffel tower in France. It was a fabulous time! ---->

3. One thing I like about 21st century media culture is our instant connection to the people in our lives and the connection we have to the endlessly knowledgeable internet. If we have a question about something we can always just "cha-cha" it or "Google" it. One thing I don't like is how addicting the internet and television is. I've spent countless beautiful days in front of the dim glow of my laptop or television screen.

4. I honestly have no idea what I want to do with my life, career wise. I suppose that's what college is for, right? Right now, I'm exploring my options in the communications major. I could see myself as a professional writer, PR or digital film making major as well. I really liked working on my high school's literary arts magazine and yearbook when I was a high school student and could see myself working at a magazine of some type.

Whenever I think of working at a magazine, I think of the lighthearted chick flick "13 going on 30" One of my favorite scenes from the movie is the montage sequence of a magazine photoshoot where the main character Jenna is reconnecting with a childhood sweetheart.

It could happen...right?