Analysis helping me with the next assignments.

The analysis talked about in class is helping me in all my visual assignments that I have to do for class. I now know what to look for in my clip. I can compare "Little Miss Sunshine" to what ever visual picture I want. I am probably going to choose some sort of movie for my next assignment.

The movie will either be really funny or really serious because those are the types of movies I like. I will probably choose either a clip from "Gladiator" or a section of a movie like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Both movies have plenty of rhetorical devices and they have lots of things to be analyzed. I will most likely use all the techniques we learned in class to help me with this assignment.

I will use the lighting, sounds, montage, and many other devices in my paper to properly analyze it. I will notice if the light is artificial or natural. This will probably depend on the scene. If the scene can be shot in natural light, they will probably will, otherwise they will use artificial light. Sounds can be distinguished simultaneously with the lighting.

Sounds are just as important as lights. Music is huge in movies. It gives the audience emotion. I good example of this is horror movies. The music supplies suspense. There are plenty of things a director can do with music to make a movie better. It all depends on their taste. Background noise is also noticed in movies. In "little miss sunshine," the audience could hear dishes in the background. This works well with the lights and other devices to make it sound like an ordinary day in an ordinary home. Montage, like sound, is another device used in movies that can be analyzed.

The montage is noticed in many movies, including "Little Miss Sunshine." They used the speeding up and slowing done of cut scenes throughout the clip we saw in class. This is just one form of montage. Some movies have many cuts, where as others have much fewer. It just depends how the director wants to use it in his movie. Cut scenes are also used to avoid cameras. If they did not cut scenes, a person could see all of the cameras in a scene, which would rune the aspect of them "being in the movie." All of these things I have learned in class (esp. all of the things about "Little Miss Sunshine") and they will all be very beneficial in my next assignment.

Me, as an analytical movie viewer and what analysis has done for me.

I am not a very good analytical movie viewer. I rarely notice things in movies. I usually get really into movies. They are my escape from the real world. If I do not want to think about the day, I usually just pop in a movie and relax. I follow the storyline and usually do not pay much attention to the analytical parts of the movie. Every once in a while, I will see that lighting is being used or that music is making a scene better, but that is about it. There are rare occasions when I do think about movies analytically though.

On these uncommon days, I will choose a movie and analysis it. I always decide to analysis the movie before I put it in. I will pay close attention to the lighting and music throughout the movie. I will notice when the music is very important in a scene and also when light is very important. I sometimes even realize how many cuts are taking place in a particular scene. I notice when there is a ton and when there are a few and I think some spots they need more cuts while others they need less. The use of props throughout the movie is also observed. There are many props throughout all movies. On these rare occasions, I think of most of these ideas throughout the movies, but this really does not happen often. I really should pay more attention to the analysis of movies because a person gains a different type of knowledge analyzing them.

A person can learn things from watching and analyzing moving visual media. One can learn how good the movie was made. They can also realize how much effort a director put into a movie. If a person is lost in the movie, they probably did a good job. If a person notices all the above analysis devices without trying, then they most likely did a bad job. A person then can also decide what could have made the movie better. They could know a spot were music should have been added or when it should have been a different song playing in a spot. They could know when different props and coloring/lighting needed to be used. All in all, movie visual media can teach a person a lot of things. If it is not just expanding one's knowledge, then it can at least make a person know when they are or are not watching a poorly put together movie.

analytical viewer of moving media.

I would say that I am not that good of an analytical viewer of moving media. When I am watching TV, or a videotape, or a DVD, I usually am trying to relax. I am not focusing on the "outside" things of that movie. TV is my worse for analytical viewing.

When I watch TV, I am not always actually "watching" TV. I usually flip it on, out it on a channel I like, then go on and do other things. It is more of a background sound. When I actually "watch" TV, I usually still do not anaylize the moving medium. I just am watching it to relax. Once in a great while, though, I will catch something like the sound increasing, or a change of lighting. Just like TV, I am also not really good at analyzing videotapes.

Videotapes are hard for me to analyize. They are fun to watch, but I am usually caught up on what is going on. I am so focus that it is like I am actually there. I do analyize moving media a little better with videotapes though. Sometimes ill catch the camera movie or cut shots taking place. Videotape is easier to anaylize then TV for me, but DVDs are the easiest.

Out of all of these media, I pay attention to moving anaylisis during DVDS the most. This is still not a great number though. I usually am still focused on the medium and got lost in their world, but sometimes, it is different. If I have seen a DVD before, sometimes ill watch it again. When I do this, I occasionally look for these kinds of anaylisis. I will watch for cut scenes, look for lighting, notice the effect with sound, and realize the different things taking place. So, by far, DVDs are the easiest for me to anaylize, but I am still not good at it. I so gain somethings from anaylizing this stuff though.

First of all, I feel as though I am smarter. It gives me a sense that I have accomplish something. It also gives me a source of power because if I notice something, I am usually thinking something along the lines of "Ha, you didn't trick me, I heard the music and know why it had such a great effect." All in all, all these media can be great sources of analysis. A person can gain a lot of information about a movie and how it is made by just watching for these analytical elements. I may have to start anaylizing different medias harder in the future,

cd covers with words

For this next blog, I choose to compare three different CD covers. These covers have all sorts of different styles that prove useful for different audiences. They also have various ways of luring people in. One of the biggest lures is the genre they our supporting.

Britney spears obviously is in the genre of pop music. That means that people who like pop music will automatically at least consider giving their attentions to it. Just like Britney Spears applies to a certain genre, so do GWAR and Foreigner. GWAR is in between hard rock and a metal genre, where as Foreigner applies to classic rock. All of these bands will attract different audiences because of their different types of genres. Genre is not the only means of persuasiveness provided though. The colors on the covers also will help decide their persuasiveness.

Certain colors attract different people. The one thing that all of these CD covers have in common is that they will not attract little children because they do not have bright colors. Britney Spears and GWAR will probably attract a teenage crowd because they have some semi-bright colors. The black that sticks out in Britney's Cd cover is not to dull, but it is not really bright. GWAR's picture has the bright red, but since they do not use a lot of it, it mainly sticks out to the teenage crowd. The dull colors in the Foreigner Cd sticks out to older people. Just as the colors provided different types of persuasion, so does the images themselves.

The images will attract various kinds of people. Brittney Spears has her beauty on the cover. This will attract girls because girls long for a sense of beauty. In a way, though, it can also attract boys. Some boys may like the way she looks, which could persuade their attention towards the cover. The GWAR cover obviously supports a different crowd. They show swords and different weapons that can result in action. This usually appeals more to guys then girls. Their use of violent images will not attract to many super young or old people. They attract the teenagers and some adults though. Journey's images are all composed of words which persuades an older crowd. Younger people usually like images over words and older people tend to like words over images. Words, like pictures, can also provide various persuasions to different people.

Every band have different forms of words that persuade different audiences. Some bands use lots of words, where as others use none. GWAR and Britney Spears use little words, which will persuade the younger crowd. They judge Cds more on pictures and artists rather than words. Foreigner's Cd, on the other hand, would probably attract an older crowd. It's images our made out of words and even some of the letters in these words have other words or symbols in them. The various text shown in this picture would persuade an older crowd. These Cd's have several various persuasive techniques and they all work and different ways.

Magazine Cover!

I choose this magazine cover because it supplied some interest to me and it also stuck out. The magazine is entitled as a "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC" magazine. This is an on going serious of magazines that talks about real world issues. Most, if not all, of the magazine's topics are about very serious matters (including wars, economic struggles, foreign troubles, etc). This picture stuck out to me because it is a picture about a previous war, which is the Gulf War.

The lady is a very key aspect in the picture. From her non-verbal expressions, the audience can tell that she looks very scared. The way her face is set and the bulging of the eyes gives the audience this impression. The audience is reinforced in this idea that she is scared through the text on the magazine.

The words on the magazine say, basically, that many Afghanistan civilians and refuges are scared. This is in smaller print which looks like it might be less important then the larger print on the left. This print talks about "Afghanistan's War--torn Frontier." This will tell the audience why the women on the cover, along with the rest of the Afghanistan civilians, are scared. It will also give the reader information on the war. The cover might suggest a sort of bias for a side in the war.

The women on the cover looked scared, and she is suppose to represent the Afghanistan civilians. If this is true, the cover might be bias towards an anti-war magazine. They might be suggesting that the efforts are futile and that the United States of America is making these people scared. It also might add that they are losing lives that were exactly necessary, or something along those lines. This kind of magazine will appeal to an older audience.

Children usually do not want to know about wars and deaths at their age. This kind of magazine usually appeals to older people who are interested in politics and wars. The colors are not bright colors and would not stick out for a kid. But this is not to say that it is not colorful. It has a variety of dull/not bright colors that might appeal to an older crowd. The last thing that should be talked about in this cover is the medium use of text.

There are not a lot of words, but there also is not just a couple. The magazine wants to give the reader a good variety of things that it is going to cover, but not all. It leaves them on the edge a little. It might catch their attention and then they would have to read it to get the details. It says just enough information to give the audience basic concepts of the magazine, without giving the entire magazine away. All in all, I thought this magazine cover was interesting and it supplied could imagery along with decent text which will attract an audience.

war/dead poeple photo

I found this image at postsecret.com and I found it interesting. At first, the observer sees the field of dead people, which they then can assume that a war or struggle of some kind has taken place. The more interesting part is the words up at the top of the image though. The person portrays the news as a source that always talks about dead people and it could "spoil" a person's day. The image has no color at all which I also find interesting. This points out that it is to a older crowd. There is no bright colors that would attract a kid. It is also towards an audience of serious viewers. This is not a comical matter. The author is trying to make a point that the news is full of death and it spoils his/her day. One would have to assume that it is real dead people that the author was talking about because if he/she used this for everything, he/she could not watch most television or movies knowing that people die in them (even though it is not in a real sense). The news may be full of "dead people" but this should not spoil his/her day. What if it is of someone important like a president's death or a death of someone she/he knows. Wouldn't he/she want to know who died then? Just because the news has a lot of death stories doesn't mean that a person should not watch it. It could have important information that could be used later on in life. All in all, I guess the picture just stuck out to me because I like to know who is dead or alive and the picture makes the news look like a super bad place when, in reality, it is not.

playskool holidays

The Playskool image that is provided offers several kinds of persuasion and can lure kids and adults with its rhetorical devices. The Playskool advertising image is very bright and colorful. The red background draws people's attention to the picture. The background also has stars on it, which is associated with the caption at the bottom. This brings out the point even further that kids wish for these toys, and they need them to be successful in the future. This goes along with the idea that kids wish upon stars, just like in fairy tales. All the children in the pictures are smiling and having fun. Their smiles will draw in little kids because they will want to have fun, just like the children on the advertisement. The children have something else in the picture with them, or are wearing something that is associated with the caption. This association shows that Playskool is trying to sell gifts to parents for their children by showing them how happy their children could be in the future. Playing with these toys can prepare children for future successes (so it seems). A person's focus goes straight to the center of the ad where the pictures are, which makes the photos most important. The caption at the bottom rhymes, which also attracts an audience. Rhymes can often be catchy and lure people in. People often get songs or different things like rhymes stuck in their head. It is a good advertising devise and it can often draw in a customer.