Henry Jenkins

Since I had never heard of Henry Jenkins before class on Tuesday I decided that I would investigate a little about him and the work he does. While I was investigating I found and interesting blog of Henry Jenkins at http://henryjenkins.org/. The blog idea was titled "How has the web reshaped amateur film production, publicity, and distribution?" Basically what the point of the blog was is the connection between the Internet and the world of film production. Henry Jenkins explains that production uses the Internet to get things done like the purchasing costumes and other parts of the set, but there is a new use for the Internet that is helping the production team. Jenkins explains that the web is now used to create a virtual crew team for the film. In the blog Jenkins gives the example, "For instance, the 2005 fan film, Star Wars: Revelations, was an ambitious, 40-minute effort covered by all the major news channels and downloaded over a million times in its first 48 hours on the web. Part of the appeal was its eye-popping special effects, which were created by a volunteer team of CGI enthusiasts around the world that used the web to recruit artists, exchange files and compile the finished effect shots." After reading this and realizing what influence the web has for production I was amazed and the way the two work hand and hand. When I picture a production I just think of light, cameras, directors, and actors. I never really considered the use of computers, let alone the idea that the web could create a virtual work crew.

My little black....box

After class today and the discussion about I began to wonder what it would be like if we really did have a "black box" that had all forms and possible media right in our hands. As I thought about this my main thought was how would this black box change society and would it help or hurt the world of media. Personally, I think that by creating this ultimate form of media it would change society greatly. Now, when I envision this new black box I think of something similar to the iphone because now-a-days it is not cool to make anything bigger than that. So, after this black box is created I believe it will have a negative effect on society. I think that by having all this media at our hands it will disconnect ourselves from the world, but yet be completely connected at the same time. You would stay completely connected to the world by having the access to television, newspapers and magazines. I think that when this black box is created many people will forget the telephone calls and face-to-face conversation and begin only email and text messaging. By the creation of this new product we will forget all the groups we are apart of and it will just become another distraction in our everyday lives.

Conglomerates

After the debate on Thursday I have been thinking a lot about the different affects of media conglomerates on society. Going into the debate I thought there is no way that the side arguing that media conglomerates has a positive effect on society would make a valid point, but they did. Although it kind of got off the track of media conglomerate and steered more toward media text in general I think that they can both be argued very closely. The argument made by the affirmative group about the enhancement of tree-market communication was very good. I agree that through media conglomerates and the works they provide society with that it helps to keep us all connected and communicating. The point that was brought up a few times in the debate was whether or not these conglomerates actually guide the way we think or if it is our free will to choose what we think about. Personally, I think that we do not have a choice of what we think about when we are guided by a media text or conglomerate. The media world has a system of creating products and advertisement that will catch our eye and make us want or at least to consider whatever is being displayed. One example I can think of in my head is the new "Snuggie" blanket and the commercials that they play on television. The product is nothing more than a blanket with sleeves, but by the flashy and upbeat commercial they provide us with multiple scenarios that would make the "Snuggie" blanket a helpful need in our lives. Going all the way through the creation of this commercial it leads back to the media conglomerate who owns this company guides the way of effective attention grabbing. After the debate in class I have changed my view from the idea that media conglomerates or only bad for society to the fact that they are both good and bad for the society.

Media: Good or Bad?

During the activity in class on Tuesday we discuss the affects of mass media to our society. As we discussed these different affects we also talked about whether these affects are good or bad. Personally, I think that most media would be found in the positive AND negative categories. I think that media has a huge affect on us and our lives. People tend to live there life through magazines,movies,music videos, and television shows. If you take a minute and look around society seems to be just like the days of high school. Most of us will observe the environment around us to see the what groups we want to become a part of and then change to fit in, much like what we picture in the "stereotypical highschool". Media often will tell us what to wear or how to live our lives. As we are exposed to these different types of media it often will put a picture in our minds of what our life would be like if we could have the things we wanted or looked the way we wanted. In a way this imagination that media gives us can be good or bad. I believe that it could be considered bad because many times these are a false fantasy and give us false hopes. It also pushes us to look perfect and live perfect lives. On the other hand, I think that this can be a good thing because these images could also a form of motivation for people to start a new lifestyle.

Lights, Camera, Action

In class on Tuesday we discussed the five levels of production most common for media. The idea that I found most interesting was the explanation of producers. Before class, if I were ever asked with media in mind what would I consider a producer? I probably would have told you it was a middle age man,with a ponytail, barre hat, and he sits in a crossed legged chair with a mega phone shouting orders. Now, after class on Tuesday I have realized that my vision of a producer is wrong. We described producers as almost anyone and everyone. After class I continued to think about how these five levels of production and especially producers. I realized that when I would think about any form of media I would often forget many parts that contribute to the production of the movie. I agree with the definition of a producer being almost anyone that has anything to do with the making of the media. I am sure that each different form of media text take a different amount of people to help produce the text, but each contribution and part of work is important to the production and therefore it is a great thing that my vision of a producer was wrong because the more people there is to help the better quality of the media text.

Favorite Text & Genre

One of my favorite media text is the book Mind Gym. This book is a collection of inspirational stories from may different famous athletes. The text also includes quotes from athletes and coaches. On the front cover of the book is says, "An Athlete's Guide To Inner Excellence". The first genre that I would consider placing this book under is sports. I would consider this book to be in the sports genre because it is all about different sport stories. Another reason I would put this book in the sports genre is because it provides information and techniques in order to improve your performance in athletics. Sports is not the only genre that I would consider putting this book on the bookshelf for, but I would also consider the genre nonfiction. Nonfiction books are considered books that provide true facts and information about differet subjects. As I said before this book is compiled with real stories from real people that provide information about how there are huge mental aspects when playing sports and it also includes how to fix it. As I think about it more and more I know that I could go through the book and pick out many more genres that it could satisfy, but I think that the two most important genres are sports and nonfiction.