Looking through different lenses

To be honest, I was a little confused with this week’s post, because I am not sure if I am supposed to be summarizing the key points and giving examples for each of the different approaches, or if I am to be sticking to the two that I became an “expert” on. So, I am going to focus on my two approaches in hopes that I understood the post instructions correctly! The two approaches that I will be discussing are the psychoanalytic and the feminist approaches.

Psychoanalytic Approach: I thought that one of the best points to take away from the text regarding the psychoanalytical approach is that, “much of the focus of psychoanalytic analysis has to do with how audiences’ subconscious forces influence the subjective meaning of images” (Beach, pg. 40). The other key point from Beach that I feel is important to mention when discussing this approach is how students can apply psychoanalytic analysis to movies and films “by discussing the functions of desire and fantasy shaping their responses to film characters” (Beach, pg. 40). While I was thinking about how I would apply this in my own classroom, I started to wonder how truthful students would be, and how self-conscious they may become if they make a connection with a character whom is not universally desired. For example, if I had students get into groups to discuss their favorite characters after explaining that who they choose will often reflect their own desires to “be or become those characters,” the likelihood of getting honest answers out of the students might be difficult. Many may feel like they are exposing too much of their inner self to their peers if they reveal which characters they really liked or connected with the most.

Feminist Approach: The feminist approach seems to really go hand in hand with the psychoanalytic approach in Beach’s text, because there are many links to how people view the characters in ads, films, television shows, etc. While many think that taking a feminist approach to viewing media can be a negative thing, most people do not realize that feminism is not only for women, but to empower men as well. Just as women should not only be looked upon and judged by their looks (good or bad), men should not be made to feel like they must be muscular, and handsome to be viewed as important in society. I feel that the most important key point about taking a feminist approach to viewing media is that “gender performances are continually changing given historical and cultural forces is evident in men’s magazines that exclude the emotional side of males by emphasizing the assertive masculine side of males as reflected in magazines” (Beach, pg. 41). A good way to use this in the classroom would be to show artwork from older periods of time and compare them to clothing ads. Back then, the ideal image of a woman can be seen in Botticelli’s painting of the birth of Venus, where the women are not stick thin. Compare this to a fashion designer’s sketches, where the ideal woman who models the clothing is 6 feet tall and weights 110 pounds. You can see how hard it is to be a female or a male where all sorts of media are trying to show the public what is “in” and what isn’t.

I found both of these approaches to be very interesting and was able to connect each of them to how I would use them in the classroom. As for the psychoanalytic analysis, I thought that it was very interesting that there is “the need to move toward more acceptable, official femininity or masculinity” (Beach, pg. 40) because I remember reading somewhere that in television programs this year, there are more characters who are “out” or are openly gay or lesbian characters in these shows, and that people are still viewing and promoting these shows. Because of this, I feel that the media industry has made a lot of progress in accepting most people, instead of just portraying those who are straight, white, and successful.

Teaching Film Techniques

After completing the analysis of the commercial shoot by shoot, I found that analyzing the scene in the movie was much easier, and I was able to appreciate what all goes into a single scene in a film. There is so much more to watching a movie than just vegging out, and mindlessly watching for entertainment. While it seems like a lot more work to analyze a scene in a movie, it made the experience much more enjoyable after having viewed this film a couple of times without considering everything that went into this one specific scene. For those of you who are not familiar with this recent film, check out the trailer to get a better idea of what the movie is all about!
Film: Maid of Honor
Scene description: Tom and Hannah are meeting for dinner at a restaurant after not having seen each other for 6 weeks. Tom intends to tell Hannah that he is in love with her, but is dumbstruck when he sees that she has brought another man to the dinner. Hannah announces to Tom that she and Colin are engaged. Tom seems to be confused as to why they got engaged so quickly and is asked by Hannah to be her maid of honor in the wedding (because she expects that she would be the best man in Tom’s wedding some day). At this point he stands up and unintentionally pushes into the server, knocking him over, along with the dishes he is carrying to the other table.
Use of Camera: Circling the 3 characters at the dinner table as Hannah and Colin explain their quick engagement and the short time before the wedding. This use of the camera gives the audience the same dizzy feeling that Tom is experiencing as he’s finding out that the woman he loves is betrothed to another. Continues to circle in this manner until Tom is asked to be Hannah’s maid of honor. Then the camera does a close up of Tom.
This is use of camera technique adds to the romantic comedy’s larger purpose by helping set up the plot for what is yet to come. While we all know that Tom has recently figured out that he was in love with Hannah, we don’t know what is going to happen once he sees Hannah for the first time in six weeks. By giving the audience the same sick and dizzy feeling that Tom is experiencing when he meets Hannah’s fiancé, the camera use adds to the positioning of the audience. We all feel the same as Tom, and this makes us anxious to find out what Tom is going to do: Is he going to let Hannah get married to Colin? Or will he pursue her and try to win her away from Colin?
Lighting: romantic, soft lighting
Sound: Soft sound of the other diners at the restaurant and other restaurant noises
The sound and the lighting help give the scene the authenticity that audience is looking for in a romantic comedy such as Maid of Honor. If the lighting and sounds hadn’t been as they were, the situation would have felt unrealistic and would not have kept the audience’s attention.
Music: plucked strings, intensifies right after Hannah asks Tom to be her maid of honor when there is pause before Tom says anything.
The intensifying of the music during this scene builds some suspense, while the audience is waiting to hear Tom’s answer to Hannah’s question.

Teaching film and editing techniques will be helpful for students in my language arts classroom. The time that I see myself presenting this type of lesson the most is during a Shakespeare unit. There are so many of Shakespeare’s plays that have been adapted to film in many different ways. Take Romeo and Juliet for instance: This play has been made into two very well known films, created in very different ways. The 1968 version takes on a more traditional view of Romeo and Juliet, while the 1996 version has a modern twist to it. Teaching my students the different editing and film techniques would be beneficial because I can show my students two different ways of conveying the emotions and actions that William Shakespeare brought to the stage. Since these movies are so different, I would have my students take a specific scene in the play and compare and contrast how the two directors interpreted the scenes in terms of film techniques. Questions I could ask would include: Where were the scenes different? Where were they similar? What was surprising? Was there anything that you would change to make it easier to understand?

Shot by Shot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4O4f6FKYyc&NR=1

Sprint Commercial: Crime Deterrent

Shot 1: Establishing Shot of Golf Course Locker Room
*Establishes the locker room as the setting of the commercial
Shot 2: 2 Shot of two men talking about the advantages of his phone
*Places the men as the main characters in the commercial
Shot 3: Close up of man in green and cell phone
*Places the cell phone in the center of the commercial, and shows that it is the product Sprint is trying to sell
Shot 4: 2 Shot of men
*Includes a comedic aspect to the commercial.
Shot 5: Computer edited
*Gives the audience the advantages to having a Sprint cell phone
Shot 6: 2 Shot of the men in the locker room, green man is recovering from the “crime deterrent”
*Reminds audience of the “other” cell phone company’s main redeeming quality
Shot 7: Computer edited
*Remind audience to buy Sprint

We are media learners!

At Hopkins High School, media in the classroom is used very often to enrich and enhance the students’ education in the basic grades 9-12 English classes. There are movies showed after the text to help students understand the difficult pieces of literature, and the teachers use different computer based lessons to improve the lessons.

In today’s world, “going back to the basics” is not an option for schools today. While there are districts, school boards, and parents out there who wish that media was not incorporated as much as it is in modern day classrooms, it is nearly impossible for students to learn as much as they once did in a world that’s technology is growing so quickly. While I am aware of the reasons why people may object to using so much technology and different types of media in the classroom, there needs to be a balance of how much is used and what it is used for. In the language arts, media is an important part of our students’ education, because today there are so many different types of literature. Literature is no longer defined as just novels, plays, and poetry, but it now stretches out to incorporate blogs, wikis, music, and even video games. By including computers in the classrooms, the teacher does run the risk of not keeping his or her students completely on task, but there are ways to make sure they do complete their work. Even something as simple as arranging the room in a U shape so that the instructor has the capability to see every computer screen can detour students from slacking off and looking at Myspace or Facebook.

Students today are media learners. There are so many ways to include the media in the classroom to enhance their learning. Students are exposed to over 6 hours of media a day, and many of those hours include multitasking by using multiple types of media at the same time (i.e., Listening to music while watching TV, or watching TV while on the computer), so as educators, we should take this fact into account that since the majority of our students have this much exposure that these daily occurrences will leak into their school work. To use media to our advantage, an example of something a language arts teach could do is to have their students create their own blog and require that they post on it once a week. Since many people are concerned that with technology writing the students will loose their basic abilities to produce correct grammar, or formulate a decent five-paragraph essay, those could be components that would be graded within their posts.

What we don't know about the media

For this week, I watched the videos Battlefield Minnesota, and The News is What we Make it.

In Battlefield Minnesota, the creator spent time meeting with each of the major politicians in Minnesota, and getting out the message to vote. Shakademic reached out to the youth in Minnesota by incorporating his hip-hop style with politics. I was impressed by the fact that he was able to get the normally stiff looking politicians to loosen up and make themselves seem more approachable. I also felt that it was important that he did not just show one party, but that he included representatives from both the Republican and Democratic side. I agree with Shakademic’s argument that it is very important for today’s youth to make themselves aware about what is going on around them in the political world so that they can make educated choices when voting for the next potential president of the United States. I agree with this because during the time Shakademic was creating this video, I was a new adult, who had also just turned eighteen just in time to be able to vote in the presidential election. Being at the University of Minnesota for my undergraduate degree was influential on my voting decision because I couldn’t escape hearing about political issues from my friends and professors. Though I do not regret whom I voted for in 2004, I do regret not doing enough of my own research on the issues, and if the young viewers of Battlefield Minnesota understood what Shakademic was trying to get across to our generation, they should get the urge to educate themselves on what they are really voting for.

The News is What we Make it was a very powerful and informative piece done entirely in claymation which tackles the ides of media conglomeration, and how they can skew the news and make it what they want it to be and what they believe the public wants to hear. The main character gets interviewed for one of the local news stations on her school’s new school uniform policy. When the story airs that evening, she is outraged when she finds out that the news station has mangled her message into the complete opposite of what she said in the interview. Upon complaining to the news host, she goes to the other local station to get her real message out, but they turn her away. After a night of research, she learns that most of the media is owned by a small number of large conglomerates. She gets her message out to the locals by ambushing the news host. This film brings up a big issue that most people have never thought about before. The average TV viewer believes the majority of what they see, and don’t think that the media would do such a thing as what they did to the main character in the short video. I know that they always tell you to never believe what you see on TV, but when you think about it, most media sources in the US are biased one way or another and will try to make sure that the news stories are in their favor. I took a U.S. Electronic Media course at the U of MN in the communications department, and while it made me a little more wary of how the media in the U.S. works, I still gave the media the benefit of the doubt in that they would present me with accurate and non-biased information. This film made me open my eyes even wider, and I am more skeptical of what the media presents to me.

Testing!

Making sure that this blog-o-mine is up and running properly!