There are many technologies and mediums that shape my everyday life but I would have to say the most important one to me is My Cell Phone. One of the scariest things I believe can happen to me is if my cell phone were to break or get lost. My cell phone is my link to everyone I know. Since I am away at school, if something were to happen to my cell phone, I would have no way to verbally talk to the people who mean the most to me. I find it kind of funny that something so small can have such a big impact on my life.
My cell phone is in my life from the minute I get up, it is first used as my alarm clock. The second thing I do after I get up is check my cell phone and see if I missed a call or a text message. For the rest of the day, I am constantly checking and using it to communicate with my friends. If I don’t have my cell phone, I am lost for the rest of the day, wondering who is trying to get a hold of me. I’m not going to lie, from time to time I will stop paying attention in class and return a text message. I’m not proud of it but I have just become so attached to it. My cell phone has totally changed the way I act around people, if I’m talking to one of my friends and I get a text message I immediately start ignoring them and read the text. I know its rude and I’m not really sure when people began to think that just because your cell phone rang or you got a text message that it is socially acceptable to ignore what you were already doing, but we all have done this at some point.
As Marshall McLuhan explained, "The electric media are the telegraph, radio, films, telephone, computer and television, all of which have not only extended a single sense or function as the old mechanical media did--i.e., the wheel as an extension of the foot, clothing as an extension of the skin, the phonetic alphabet as an extension of the eye--but have enhanced and externalized our entire central nervous systems, thus transforming all aspects of our social and psychic existence." Technologies are what occupy the majority of our lives, we don’t use the same senses as we use to, we are all surrounded by our forms of electronic entertainment- nothing else matters to us as long as we have our technologies everything will be okay.
My cell phone is a part of me; it’s an extension of me. Sad but true, this appears to be the future.
Till the next time,
Sarah Young
Works Cited
Playboy, "The Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan." Playboy Magazine March 1969. 28 Sep 2008. <http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~gisle/links/mcluhan/pb.html>.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Hidden Messages
When I first read the question “Discuss a theory/concept (e.g., ideology, hegemony, media literacy) and apply it to your own everyday media practises”, I thought I have never heard a definition for these terms before. The first thing I did was look up the definition for each term to decide which term would reflect my life right now.
According to Jane Tallim, Education Specialist, media literacy is “the ability to sift through and analyse the message that inform, entertain and sell to us every day” (Tallim, 1)which in other words means being able to see the true meaning behind anything we watch or read in the media. Media literacy is defined in a three step process, according to Elizabeth Thoman, the Founder and President for Center for Media Literacy: Know how much media you consume each day and to manage your time; Learn how to analyse what you are viewing; and go beyond and seeing the other issues (Thoman, 1). These are steps that need to be learned to be media literate and to have a power over certain medias. Media literacy is meant to be applied to all of our media practices.
The importance of media literacy is to understand where information is coming from and who is benefiting from it. When we buy a movie, we know the company who produced it, but the question is who else is behind this picture? I recall a lesson from my Internet and Survey Research class, where our teacher showed us this website that was promoting a certain product but in reality believed in the opposite. The purpose is to understand the differences between credible and non- credible web sites. This helps explain media literacy and the importance in knowing the whole picture. You never really know the truth until you go looking for it. Chandler states in his excerpt, “Everyday references to communication are based on a transmissions model in which a sender transmits a message to a receiver...” (Chandler, 1). There will always be a message being transcribe to us through media and beyond that there will be those who send the message.
Media literacy plays an important part in my life, it’s explored in my classes, and it’s what I’m learning to apply to everything that mediates my life. Not only is it in my classes but it is in every advertisement, every paper, every movie that I read or see, it’s me understanding the hidden message. Going into Public Relations is especially important that I am able to analyse things I read in the newspaper and knowing how to decipher the truth away from the ‘white lies’.
Media Literacy reminds me of the book we had to read called Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud.
He explains “When we abstract an image through cartooning, we’re not so much eliminating details as we are focusing on specific details. By stripping down an image to its essential ‘meaning’ an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can’t. Film critics will sometimes describe a live action film as a ‘cartoon’ to acknowledge the stripped- down intensity of a simple story or visual style. Though the term is often used disparagingly, it can be equally well applied to many time-tested classics. Simplifying characters and images toward a purpose can be an effective tool for storytelling in any medium. Cartooning isn’t just a way of drawing, it’s a way of seeing” (McCloud, 30-31).
If you apply that to an advertisement, you take the main issues of the ad trying to find the main message. If we simplify the ideas, it will help us better understand the purpose. Media literacy helps understand the true meanings of media.
Till the next time,
Sarah Young
Works Cited
Chandler, Daniel. "Semiotics for Beginners." 1994. 30 Sept 2008. <http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/>.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. 1st. New York, USA: HarperPerennial, 1994.
Tallim, Jane. “Media Awareness Network.”2008. 06 Oct 2008. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/what_is_media_literacy.cfm
Thoman, Elizabeth. “Media Awareness Network.”2008. 06 Oct 2008.
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/what_is_media_literacy.cfm
According to Jane Tallim, Education Specialist, media literacy is “the ability to sift through and analyse the message that inform, entertain and sell to us every day” (Tallim, 1)which in other words means being able to see the true meaning behind anything we watch or read in the media. Media literacy is defined in a three step process, according to Elizabeth Thoman, the Founder and President for Center for Media Literacy: Know how much media you consume each day and to manage your time; Learn how to analyse what you are viewing; and go beyond and seeing the other issues (Thoman, 1). These are steps that need to be learned to be media literate and to have a power over certain medias. Media literacy is meant to be applied to all of our media practices.
The importance of media literacy is to understand where information is coming from and who is benefiting from it. When we buy a movie, we know the company who produced it, but the question is who else is behind this picture? I recall a lesson from my Internet and Survey Research class, where our teacher showed us this website that was promoting a certain product but in reality believed in the opposite. The purpose is to understand the differences between credible and non- credible web sites. This helps explain media literacy and the importance in knowing the whole picture. You never really know the truth until you go looking for it. Chandler states in his excerpt, “Everyday references to communication are based on a transmissions model in which a sender transmits a message to a receiver...” (Chandler, 1). There will always be a message being transcribe to us through media and beyond that there will be those who send the message.
Media literacy plays an important part in my life, it’s explored in my classes, and it’s what I’m learning to apply to everything that mediates my life. Not only is it in my classes but it is in every advertisement, every paper, every movie that I read or see, it’s me understanding the hidden message. Going into Public Relations is especially important that I am able to analyse things I read in the newspaper and knowing how to decipher the truth away from the ‘white lies’.
Media Literacy reminds me of the book we had to read called Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud.
He explains “When we abstract an image through cartooning, we’re not so much eliminating details as we are focusing on specific details. By stripping down an image to its essential ‘meaning’ an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can’t. Film critics will sometimes describe a live action film as a ‘cartoon’ to acknowledge the stripped- down intensity of a simple story or visual style. Though the term is often used disparagingly, it can be equally well applied to many time-tested classics. Simplifying characters and images toward a purpose can be an effective tool for storytelling in any medium. Cartooning isn’t just a way of drawing, it’s a way of seeing” (McCloud, 30-31).
If you apply that to an advertisement, you take the main issues of the ad trying to find the main message. If we simplify the ideas, it will help us better understand the purpose. Media literacy helps understand the true meanings of media.
Till the next time,
Sarah Young
Works Cited
Chandler, Daniel. "Semiotics for Beginners." 1994. 30 Sept 2008. <http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/>.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. 1st. New York, USA: HarperPerennial, 1994.
Tallim, Jane. “Media Awareness Network.”2008. 06 Oct 2008. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/what_is_media_literacy.cfm
Thoman, Elizabeth. “Media Awareness Network.”2008. 06 Oct 2008.
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/what_is_media_literacy.cfm
Sex Sells
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGVHdRfm2TI &feature=related
If you click on the following link, you will be connected to an Axe commercial, watch the video and then continue reading.
My first thoughts when I saw this commercial was that it would be a commercial for condoms, given the nature of the first scene which involved two people in bed. I quickly changed my mind when they started moving backwards and picking up clothes and putting them on. I was thinking, what could this commercial possibly about? Finally, the commercial comes to an end and the screen reads, “Because you never know when... Axe spray works 24 hours a day”. It is apparent now that the commercial is for an Axe spray, a cologne for men.
After I knew what this advertisement was about, my first impression is that it’s giving guys the illusion that if you smell like this, random girls will ‘jump’ you and drop what they are doing and have sex with you. In reality unless, you are a hooker, she will not. It is also telling you that you should always smell good because you never know who you could meet. This product tells us that this is the only way to achieve this attraction. It can also give a sense to women that you will want your man to smell like this- the purpose of the ad persuades you to do this.
This company use sex to sell their product. They know that this will appeal most to their age demographic- young teenager boys. Philip Hanes explains in The Advantages and Limitations of a Focus on Audience in Media Studies that “Different audiences use different media; both the audience that is assumed to be using the media...” (Hanes, 3). To sell a product they know you have to use what is on the consumer’s mind. Using these dreams of guys will most likely draw them into buying their product, and allowing them to stand out compared to their competition.
Ads are always there and the point is to persuade us to buy their product in a minute or less. It doesn’t matter how they do it just as long as it happens. Hanes explains about television that “The medium employs a wide range of techniques to address its intended audience...the scheduling highlights this view of the television audience; as television output is regulated so that there is minimal “adults” material, such as strong language, sex scene and violence, before the 9o’clock watershed” (Hanes, 3). Hanes has explained that television knows what to show and when to show to draw in different types of people. Most of us don’t take the time to really look at the ad and realize the tactics that they use to get us to buy their product.
Taking the time analysing an ad could save you a lot of time and money and will also allow you to be more aware of what the product really is and if in the end you really need it.
Till the next time,
Sarah Young
Works Cited
Phillip J. Hanes, “The Advantages and Limitations of a Focus on Audience in Media Studies” http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/pph9701.html.
If you click on the following link, you will be connected to an Axe commercial, watch the video and then continue reading.
My first thoughts when I saw this commercial was that it would be a commercial for condoms, given the nature of the first scene which involved two people in bed. I quickly changed my mind when they started moving backwards and picking up clothes and putting them on. I was thinking, what could this commercial possibly about? Finally, the commercial comes to an end and the screen reads, “Because you never know when... Axe spray works 24 hours a day”. It is apparent now that the commercial is for an Axe spray, a cologne for men.
After I knew what this advertisement was about, my first impression is that it’s giving guys the illusion that if you smell like this, random girls will ‘jump’ you and drop what they are doing and have sex with you. In reality unless, you are a hooker, she will not. It is also telling you that you should always smell good because you never know who you could meet. This product tells us that this is the only way to achieve this attraction. It can also give a sense to women that you will want your man to smell like this- the purpose of the ad persuades you to do this.
This company use sex to sell their product. They know that this will appeal most to their age demographic- young teenager boys. Philip Hanes explains in The Advantages and Limitations of a Focus on Audience in Media Studies that “Different audiences use different media; both the audience that is assumed to be using the media...” (Hanes, 3). To sell a product they know you have to use what is on the consumer’s mind. Using these dreams of guys will most likely draw them into buying their product, and allowing them to stand out compared to their competition.
Ads are always there and the point is to persuade us to buy their product in a minute or less. It doesn’t matter how they do it just as long as it happens. Hanes explains about television that “The medium employs a wide range of techniques to address its intended audience...the scheduling highlights this view of the television audience; as television output is regulated so that there is minimal “adults” material, such as strong language, sex scene and violence, before the 9o’clock watershed” (Hanes, 3). Hanes has explained that television knows what to show and when to show to draw in different types of people. Most of us don’t take the time to really look at the ad and realize the tactics that they use to get us to buy their product.
Taking the time analysing an ad could save you a lot of time and money and will also allow you to be more aware of what the product really is and if in the end you really need it.
Till the next time,
Sarah Young
Works Cited
Phillip J. Hanes, “The Advantages and Limitations of a Focus on Audience in Media Studies” http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/pph9701.html.
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