Critical Reflection of my Learning Progres

There are not many classes that really make me feel that I can take something from them with me. This class was one of those classes.

I was really happy about the repetition of basic terms and definitions in the beginning of the semester and I also loved the introduction of new, unfamiliar concepts during the course of the class. This made me very solid on the old and – hopefully – quite firm on the new ideas. I like a course that makes me read certain theoretical works that I can then apply to my everyday life and my everyday experience with – in case of this topic – the media. Reading the scientific texts made me learn the notions that I could then, when writing the assignments, let my brain chew on while I was applying the theory to practice.

The assignments also made me think a lot about my approach to the topics in question. Especially the advertisement mock and the shot analysis of a scene from one of my favourite movies and the establishment of our own plots helped me trace the background behind those media phenomena. I will certainly keep thinking about the results of my finished assignments.

During the course of this class I have frequently been reminded of the constructiveness of cultural manifests that we, due to constantly being around them, or due to them, happening unnoticed for the “layman”, have forgotten about. For example, finding out for myself, how films work with certain techniques of cutting in order to achieve a certain effect on the audience (that might even be noticed unconsciously in some cases) made me reflect on my awareness of such things and made me, as a result, more aware of my own reactions and emotions while watching a movie.

So I really hope that I can maintain my attitude of “Oh, seems like a good book, let’s see if I can apply the basic stages of a traditional plot on it”, or, “This advertisement seems to be worth mocking, because me mocking it would show everybody the truth which this company is desperately trying to conceal the whole time! Ha!”

And you know what? I guess, I will.

Glossary

agenda setting: media’s influence on what issues and topics people think and talk about in daily discourse

arbitrariness: the relationship between a signifier and a signified is arbitrary, which means that there is no logical relation whatsoever between them

gate-keeping: journalists are gate-keepers because they decide what they write about and therefore, what the public will then have on their agenda (see above)

mass media: mass media contain contents that, mostly through a technical device, are brought to a disperse (=wide spread and variant) audience

media convergence: combination of distinct forms of media

metaphor: a concept from one area is equalized with a concept from a (completely) different area

mise en scène: basically everything that is in front of the camera when filming a movie (props, lighting, …)

Modernism: literary period from about 1910 to 1945, doubt in language’s potential to express everything that is supposed to be expressed, experimentalism, generic term to other movements such as Imagism, Futurism, Expressionism,…

myth (Roland Barthes): myth = “one of the most significant ways in which human beings deal with the complexities of experience”; =stories, histories, legends that seem to make complex events very simple (Giles, Judy and Tim Middleton. Studying Culture. A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2011. p. 113-14)

semiotics: semiotics is the science of signs

semiotic potential: a sign’s potential to represent certain concepts

Advertisement Mock

 http://www.motherjones.com/files/BushmasterAd-Maxim_0.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSMnS57YYEJAyDo1UCJafA2tD912r3Z66e-aV_9HQ6Xt6IiK9dQ9A

Assignment 4

Assignment 4

Champell page 180

Questions 1, 2, 4, 5

 

 

Question 1) Who was your first favourite group or singer? How old were you at the time? What was important to you about this music?

 

When I was around ten or eleven years old my best friend started to introduce me to music by burning me CDs with songs by his favourite artists on a regular basis. I then listened to those, thereby consuming mostly mainstream music that went up and down the popular radio stations at that time. Doing so I never really fell for a certain artist, although having a lot of posters of singers such as Pink, Christina Aguilera or what have you in my room, I never considered myself to be a real fan of those people.

My first real love for a band then developed when I was around 15, which was also the time when I met my first boyfriend. He, being a big fan of the Swedish band Mando Diao (and curiously enough looking like one of the band’s two singers), introduced me to their music and set the basis for me buying my first ever record. Ode to Ochrasy, their third album is still one of my favourite records of all time, simply because the songs on it carry so many memories. But not only the songs on this album, also the ones on the others…, yes, I bought them all, one after the other. Listening to Mando Diao songs now triggers a string of thoughts about my girlfriends and me (being a pack of girls with an obsession for Sweden and Swedish people)  singing their songs, whilst eating salmon and pretending to be on tour with the band. Mando Diao, at that time, was everywhere. My friend Lena, who is a good painter, made a life-sized painting of Gustaf (one singer) and gave it to Sara for her birthday and I, after having been lent a Mando Diao shirt by my then boyfriend, held a presentation on the band, more enthused about a topic than ever before. For my 16^th birthday I then got a picture which I’d really like to share with the world:

 

 

 

Like I said, we were obsessed. When Lena and I finally got to see Mando Diao live at a festival in 2009, the legend of Mando Diao was perfect. Even when they have now lost the Indie image that initially made me like them, and became commercially successful with their record Give Me Fire, I will still always like them, and will always enjoy listening to their music. Actually, I wrote a kind of a review to their latest album on a blog that friends of mine and I have. Although it is in German, it really nicely describes why I love this band so much. (Here’s the link in case you’re interested: http://kopfregie.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/mando-diao-haben-ein-neues-album-infruset-heist-es-und-es-ist-auf-schwedisch-ein-neues-album-auf-schwedisch-schwedisch/ )

 

Question 2) If you ran a non-commercial campus radio station, what kind of music would you play and why?

I guess I would certainly play music aloof from mainstream. My idols in music style would certainly be the Austrian alternative radio station FM4 and the private online radio station byteFM. This means that I would play a mix of various musical genres, not focusing on one particular type of music. By doing so I would take care that I created a balanced blend between known artists in the scene and musicians who are yet unknown, in order to keep my station free of repetition. I would like it to be a tool for finding new fresh music, but at the same time, it should initialize and present familiar sounds (but, as I said, not played too frequently). The important thing is that – by playing music from literally all genres – I would like to help listeners through their days. The music I play should be relaxing and uplifting at the same time, as well as a bit demanding, making listening to my station an adventure every single day.

 

Question 4) Is it healthy for or detrimental to the music business that so much of the recording industry is controlled by four large international companies? Explain.

Speaking from human experience, oligarchy has never been considered to be a positive thing and therefore, it cannot be a good thing for the music business either. First of all, also independent artists have to act upon a record label’s capitalist idea of how easy-to-sell-music has to sound. This, to a larger or a smaller extent, might block the creative process of many artists outside mainstream. The dominance of those giants also makes it hard to nearly impossible for smaller companies to compete with this well-established market.  Furthermore, those four big companies are in charge of constituting a price for music and are therefore also responsible for the amount of money artists are paid. Pessimists might argue that, as a result, the music industry has been boiling with/in the same water ever since and will most possibly continue to do so, acting upon the same principles in order to increase profits.

Question 5) Do you think the Internet as a technology helps or hurts musical artists? Why do so many contemporary musical performers differ in their opinions about the Internet?

I think the Internet does very much both, help and hurt musical artists at the same time. In my opinion, it really differs from artist to artist, concerning the fan base they have already established.  I guess that loyal fans will always go and buy their idol’s record either in stores or via iTunes, instead of simply downloading it from the Internet illegally and for free. In terms of musicians who are not already known inside a scene, it might be different as they have not yet a community of fans to call their own. Portals such as Youtube might harm unknown artists’ record sales as they enable users to listen to whole albums online for free.

On the other hand, there is no larger thing than the Internet in terms of publicity—especially for artists who are still “nameless”, social media presents a great base for sharing unknown musicians via the Internet. Also Spotify is a good means for artists in order to get a start in the business. Additionally, Spotify also pays artists for hits they get on the platform.

Furthermore, in recent times, the revolutionary notion of crowdfunding as lately practiced by one of my favourite artists, Amanda Palmer (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amandapalmer/amanda-palmer-the-new-record-art-book-and-tour), of course, has its base on the Internet. This way of funding one’s art work is based on donations and financial support that fans/internet users are willing to pay in order for a certain work to be produced. Amanda herself calls this method the “future of music”, which will make artists able to act independently from any labels whatsoever.

 

Assignment 3

Plot Planning and Shot Analysis

1)      Plot Planning

Introduction:

• Amy (about 25) moves away from her home town (a small village in the UK) in order to study Design in London, she finds herself in the new big city without any people she knows, let alone friends
• On the first day at Uni, she meets Ian (also about 25), a sinister looking guy. They immediately take onto each other and Ian invites Amy to a bar that night
•  First Amy doesn’t actually want to go, but then she changes her mind and makes her way to the bar. She is neatly dressed, as she already has a bit of a crush on Ian.
• When she enters the place, she sees Ian on “stage” playing the guitar with a young beautiful woman. They smile at each other while singing and Amy is immediately intimidated. Before she can leave, Ian notices her, nods at the young woman, puts away his guitar and walks towards Amy while the woman continues to play and sing.
• Ian introduces the guitar-playing girl as his girlfriend, Amy blushes, Ian smiles and kisses her on the cheek. “Let’s get a drink, you look as if you needed a drink”, he says, ushers her to the bar and orders a bottle of wine.
• While Amy sips on her glass, Ian finishes about  two bottles almost entirely on his own, telling Amy the weirdest things. Ian’s girlfriend (still playing the guitar) continuously glances over to them and smiles.
• After a long talk, a strange looking guy (about 30) comes up to Ian, he’s clearly drunk and in a rage. Without a word he hits Ian in the face. Ian’s nose is bleeding. “Where’s my money, Ian?”, the guy whispers. Ian looks puzzled, with his hand over his nose he says, “Could we talk about this another time, Chris”, and looking at Amy, “I’ve got company”. Chris, “I’ve got no time to talk, man, I need my money now!” He pulls Ian up, so that he’s now standing. Ian, begging, “Come on, Chris, please!”. Chris drags Ian out of the bar, Amy follows them intuitional. Outside, Chris pushes Ian against the wall, “I’ve had enough of your junkie shit, Ian! Give me the money!”, he pulls out a knife and holds it against Ian’s throat. Amy shrieks. Chris is so focused on Ian that he doesn’t notice, he also doesn’t notice, Ian throwing Amy a small gun. Ian look at Amy, his eyes say “Shoot”, Amy shoots, hits Chris in his foot. Chris screams, runs towards Amy, the arm with the knife stretched out, Amy shoots again, Chris falls down.
• Amy doesn’t move, Ian stares at her, says “Shit” and then “Run!”. Amy drops the gun and runs after Ian, he runs around the block, gets into his car and throws Amy the keys, “Do you know how to drive? You have to drive, I’m too drunk.”

Departure:

• Amy hits the gas, still numb, but after a few minutes she starts to cry. Chris, “Okay.. shit, shit, shit, man…Chris is Claire’s brother, man [he means his girlfriend]…okay…okay wait, we’re gonna go and see my grandma in Edinburgh”
• Amy cries for about an hour, then she looks at Ian and says, “Tell me about yourself”.  Ian is now also a bit calmer and starts to talk, soon telling about how he got into drugs and about how he could not pay Chris for the last couple of deals. Because Chris was Claire’s brother, he had been patient, but during the last weeks, it had gotten harder for him to control himself.

The donor sequence:

• They talk the whole night through, Amy still driving. Ian’s phone rings hundreds of times, it’s always Claire, but he doesn’t pick up, because he’s afraid of what she’ll say, then he turns it  off.
• Amy has enough money with her to buy food, drinks and gas, but they decide to sleep in the car. On the next morning, Ian can’t wait any longer, turn his phone on again and calls his girlfriend. Amy is still asleep. It turns out that Chris is fine. Amy did not even hit him at all, Chris was just, drunk as he was at the time, shocked by the loud sounds of the gun and finally passed out. He was not even touched by a bullet. Claire had run out the bar, found Chris and the gun lying on the floor, thought the worst, but soon saw that nothing had happened.

The hero’s return:

• Ian wakes Amy up and tells her the news. She is so relieved that she kisses him.  First, he kisses her back, but then softly pushes her away, looks her in the eyes and quietly says that he loves Claire. Amy looks at Ian with a face that indicates that she knew about his feelings and didn’t expect anything else. She looks down at her shoes, he then puts his hands on her shoulders. Amy slowly looks up again, there are tears in her eyes and a sadness that makes Ian look away at first. He then endures keeping eye contact, takes her hands very softly and claps them together as to cheer her up. He’s now smiling. “So you’re always falling in love with the first guy you meet in a new town, huh?”, he jokes. Amy tries to hold back a grin, but can’t. Then she immediately frowns again. Ian, “I’m really sorry I’m that handsome.” Amy looks at him, calls him an idiot and softly punches him into the chest. “Okay, okay…right… take my body. But do not hit my beautiful, beautiful face”, Ian laments playfully, stretching out his arms.  Amy smiles, but turns away from Ian as to signal embarrassment. She sniffles one more time, Ian walks up to her and moans, “My beauty also makes me sad sometimes, you know.” She finally cracks up and they both burst into laughter. Amy realises that her kiss has been a little too impulsive, and that she might has fallen for Ian too fast. She still likes him very much, but seeing how Ian loves Claire, doesn’t make her want to interfere with their relationship. She apologizes a bit tormented, and asks if they could still be friends. They shake hands, laugh and finally hug each other. Then they head homewards.
• Having come home in the evening of the same day, Amy, Ian, Claire, and Chris are to meet up at the bar, as Ian and Claire have arranged.
• Before Ian and Amy walk into the bar, Amy says, she’s a bit sick. Ian, “Oh man, we nearly killed the guy, I’m gonna piss myself.” Then he says, “No, it’s gonna be cool. He’s gonna be cool and all. We’re gonna laugh about it in a week, or even now.” Amy whispers, “But what if he called the cops?” ”Nah, I wouldn’t worry about that, he’s not the kind of guy who calls the filth. After all he punched me first, remember?”
• They finally enter the bar, their knees literally shaking.  Ian sees Claire and Chris sitting at their regular table at the back and squinches up his face. Claire,  immediately jumps up when she sees Ian and hugs him. “Man, why did you just run away like that? You can’t just run away like that and turn your phone off”, she says. Ian apologizes, already looking over Claire’s shoulder to Chris. He tenderly pushes Claire away and approaches Chris. “I’m so sorry, man. We’re so sorry. I didn’t want that to happen”, Ian nearly sobs. Chris rubs his face and then lets his right hand run through his hair. He clears his throat, gets up, softly punches Ian in the chest. Ian stumbles back, but then realises that Chris is about to hug him. Chris, “Sorry, Ian. I was just so drunk. You know how that makes me lose my temper…” Amy interrupts him, “No, I am sorry! I could have killed you, Chris!” Claire, “But you didn’t. And even if you did, it would all have been an accident.”  Amy, “But the gun and everything…Oh my God, I nearly shot you.” Chris, now smiling, “You can consider it our initial ceremony!” Amy, “How can you even joke about that?” Ian, “Because nothing happened, Amy. It’s as simple as that. Nothing happened. We’re all fine here, aren’t we? So let’s just forget about it. Chris, you’ll get your money as soon as possible.”
• Amy sits down, she has the feeling that her legs cannot support her any longer. Ian, Claire and Chris look at each other, Chris nods, now no longer pale, and they also sit down. Chris gets to sit next to Amy.  Amy, after taking her hands away from her face, says to Chris, “By the way, I’m Amy.”

2)      Shot Analysis

I’m Not There 0:51:56-0:55:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXATMhdKqT8

(Whenever not stated otherwise, the camera angle is an eye level shot)

 

close-up magazines

movement: tilt-up

long-shot: Quinn and woman with hat; reason: establishment of a new situation; orientation

CUT

long shot: Oldman on the phone

CUT

longshot banjo-guy

CUT

longshot Quinn and woman with hat

CUT

banjo-guy

pan left… –> impression of movement

long shot/medium shot: Quinn

pan right … –> impression of movement

CUT

close up: magazine with Coco on it

CUT:

low angle/ medium long shot: Quinn and woman with hat and banjo-guy à magazine’s perspective?

CUT

close-up: magazine

CUT

medium longshot: woman with hat + banjo-guy

(…)

Medium long shot: woman with hat and banjo-guy; Quinn walking past

pan right

CUT

Medium close-up: Quinn

Dolly back…–> impression that the air has to part in front of Quinn as his head is supposedly very heavy judging by the look on his face

(…)

0:54:15 close-up breakfast

tilt up… –> show new person; suspicion

medium close-up waiter

(…)

0:54:33 medium close-up waiter + zoom out

(…)

0:54:49 pan left…–> impression of movement

(…)

0:55:03: low-angle medium-shotàfocus on the knife, knife as main object à suspense

(…)

0:55:07: hand camera forth (perspective woman with hat)

Assignment 2

Assignment 2

Questions from Campbell et al.

 Question 2, p. 377

First of all, the printing press had a tremendous impact on the establishment of a consistent spelling. This was a great step towards the unification of languages. Furthermore, the printing press allowed an easy production of writing on a large scale, which resulted in an increase of distribution, making written language available to a wider range of people. As opposed to medieval times when manuscripts had been the dominant written medium to only a small elite (clergy and aristocracy), books (more expensive) and more importantly first newspapers were now spreading. Therefore, reading and writing became relevant, setting a basis for a general education for everybody.

Question 11, p.378

Such stores have experienced a boost as they are, in our modern busy times a very convenient way to purchase books. Because they assemble a great variety of many different books, customers find everything they might wish for at one particular place. This saves time otherwise spent on looking for individual books in individual stores. The comfort of the above described service might create a feeling of safety which the customer might then associate with a larger store. Additionally, the prices you pay at a chain store are most likely lower than books in independent book stores, which makes them more attractive for potential customers.

Question 17, p.378

In their beginnings, books were highly prone to be censored, before they gradually became a medium for everybody to express their opinions and views, making them important contributors of the establishment of free speech and free press. Books have also helped their readers in the process of forming an opinion, and the availability of education by means of books helped the emerging of a responsible/ “enlightened” public, which then, step by step, lead to the development of democracy.

Question 3, p. 378

If I were to open an independent book store, I would probably combine my business with the opening of a small café inside my shop. Therefore, in a comfortable atmosphere, I would allure customers, and even those who did not visit my shop for books in the first place might take a glance at the ones I sold whilst having a cup of coffee. Together with the café I would try to create a feeling of safety and trust, by getting to know my customers and their tastes in literature in order to be able to advise them in the best way possible. I would also try to bring new publications to my store as soon as possible to appear up-to-date.

At last, I would organize many lectures of known (if possible) and unknown authors, and all other sorts of cultural events like concerts to attract more book lovers.

 

Question 5, p. 378

 

Writing is the oldest existing medium as a means to convey a message, and therefore, the book market is strongly established in our culture, which makes it very difficult for the new media to displace it. Secondly, literature as an art form has a fixed place in modern culture, reaching back to its very beginnings, this being a fact that will not make the new inventions and innovations of the last century compete with literature as the basis that helped to form human perception and awareness. Furthermore, the different theoretical approaches to books and literature in general once more prove the status of the written word in our society and culture. Hence, literature (books), continuing its tradition as mirrors of society will not stop to be produced.

Finally, speaking in terms of mobility, books have a crucial advantage, namely that they can be taken anywhere, as opposed to TV sets.

Assignment 1

Assignment 1

Questions Media,

James O’Driscoll Britain for Learners of English

 

1)      As the first broadcasting company in the world, the BBC has since maintained its reputation of being impartial and objective. Therefore, it is independent from political parties and has ever since been identified with the values of “democracy and free speech”. Furthermore, it does not make money from advertisements, but resorts to the so called “licence fee” which everybody who owns a TV set has to pay.

 

2)      Stories that reveal the private life of public figures are seen as “human interest stories” which have always attracted readers, and are therefore used to make more profit.  Also, the public is seen to have “the right to know” about certain things, which the press, using the right of free speech, tells them about.

In Austria, there is also no law for privacy in the press. In fact, there seems to be a silent agreement between journalists and public figures about what not to write about. Furthermore though, it seems as if figures of public interest who fall from grace because they did not cooperate sufficiently, might be exposed.