AHA! Blog Post 5

In Wag the Dog, there was one part that stuck with me.  Someone mentioned how we don't remember what happened in wars, or even who it was between, but we remember the images that are associated with the wars.  I thought this was a perfect example to explain how powerful visuals are.  They stick with us.  For some reason, our brains can forget words, names, or events, but images are so incredibly memorable.  

http://thooghun.hubpages.com/hub/Touching-War-Photography

http://www.itsallabouttheflag.us/famous.htm

http://brainz.org/10-war-photographs-changed-world-forever/

 

 http://brainz.org/10-war-photographs-changed-world-forever/

Visual Symbols in My Life pt. 2

I am surprised by how little I noticed before this class.  I never read into the advertisement or pictures that were presented to me.  I never understood how font can cause an emotional response.  I never understood the technique behind visuals. In my last post I pointed out some visuals that I see often such as visuals on clothing.  The difference between now and then, is that I understand so much more about how multiple companies, movie producers, advertisers, etc.  that use symbols. I found interesting that people who develop movies use technique to present each scene.  I never thought about the fact that the camera angle can have a hidden meaning.  All of the movies we watched were great examples of using visuals to cause a response that was more than what meets the eye.Overall, I think I am just more aware of how using visuals can be effective.  I also understand they can do bad, such as degrading women.  As a future teacher,  I think it's important to know what visuals can do.  I never thought learning could be done through visuals, but it defiantly can and it happens without knowing.  I now will include reading visuals in my classroom as a way of learning and a way of showing my students what visuals can do.  You can learn through pictures and movies and really any source of visuals and I think this is important to be aware of.

 http://womenandcrime.wikispaces.com/Advertising+Images

Women are shown as less than men, weak, and stupid in a lot of advertisements.  Being aware of the misinterpretation of advertisement can help you get rid of your stereotypes and thoughts about a certain group of people.

 http://8330bhsdirector.blogspot.com/2010/04/camera-angles_15.html

This camera angle can make the characters look strong and intimidating and the person they are looking at weak and scared.  Camera angle is important in making and emotion response from the audience and giving the characters qualities. 

 

 http://www.serviceanimal.org/?image6

I thought the movie "Wag the Dog"  gave a great example of how we are so influenced by what we see.  They made up a whole story about a war that was never happening.  They created visuals that made the appearance of having a war, and it worked.  The country was completely convinced despite the fact that it was all made up. 

Great Movie Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQlzz6jGCfI

Above is a link to my favorite movie scenes from The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith.  It's a scene where he's talking to his son about how you should not let others tell you you can't do something.  He tells his son he's not going to be a good basketball player, and the little boy throws the ball away and looks crushed.  He goes on to tell me that he shouldn't let him tell him what he can and can't do.  I like the scene because I like sappy emotional scenes in movies, and I also like that the scene is very simple, yet it's very powerful. 

 

 http://careerilove.com/career-changing-movies/

Killing Us Softly

• Does the beauty ideal still tyrannize women?

Yes.  Women still want to look the way they think they should.  Women still get breast implants, and plastic surgery.  The most famous people on television are “beautiful.”  They have a certain image.  Girls like Kim Kardashian are idolized by girls because she’s very skinny and pretty.  She is just one of many girls who people look at in the media simply because of how she looks.  The race of the person, however, does not seem to be as relevant as before.  We are seeing a lot of different races in modeling, which is a positive step forward. 

• Does advertising still objectify women's bodies?

Yes.  Even though this video is not recent, the point of the video still remains relevant.  There are still attitudes that women and girls have to look flawless.  Computers still alter faces and bodies to look how the advertiser wants them to look.  I do think that this may not be as apparent.  I think we see different body types and races in our ads. 

• Are the twin themes of liberation and weight control still linked?

Yes.  I see advertising for weight loss all the time where the women and even the men have bodies that almost no one could achieve with a normal diet and exercise.  They portray it as if it’s very simple to achieve these bodies and that we can do it easily with their product. 

• Is sexuality still presented as a women's main concern?

I believe that sexuality and beauty are intertwined in the media.  If you are beautiful, you are a sexual being.  This is still presented this way in many ads we see.  Women look unnatural and are still put in seductive positions when modeling for advertisement. 

• Are young girls still sexualized?

Yes. I can think of a lot of movies where a guy of any shape size or color, had a crush on a very good looking girl.  Movies like Transformers,  Superbad,  and many others have only average looking guys fall for very good looking girls (or that’s how it’s portrayed)  It gives the message that guys can look average and girls always have to look good.  

http://www.amazon.com/Superbad-Two-Disc-Unrated-Extended-Edition/dp/B000WZEZHC

• Are grown women infantilized?

Yes.  Women seem to look young in almost all advertising.  Women have surgeries to look as young as possible.  We see young women more than anything in advertising.  A lot of the time, the girls we see in magazines such as People, are young girls. 

• Are images of male violence against women still used to sell products?

I do not see violence as a main theme in advertising, but men and women still have some qualities that were in older advertising.  Men are portrayed as strong, and women as weaker.  Although, I think this has gotten better and better over the years.  Women are no longer expected to stay home and be house wives while men go out and work.  There is defiantly a more balanced role in relationships though. However, we do see some violent ads once in awhile still such as in Dolce and Gabbana ads such as the one below.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/fashion/designers-pull-rape-ad/2007/03/07/1173166745075.html

• Do any of the problems listed above also apply to men?

I think it’s rare that these problems apply to men, although I do not think it never happens.  When I think of men in advertising, I think of strong men, athletic men, and powerful men.  Abercrombie models still have the masculine features I’ve saw since I was little, along with other brands that use this to see to only a certain group of people.  

Visuals in Politics (AHA! Blog Post 4)

The movie Wag the Dog made me think about all of the visuals that political figures use to get votes.  Since the election just ended, these images are still fresh in my mind.  One huge thing they use is their signs.  They are posted in yards, on campus, and on cars.  This visually lets you know how many people there are that support this candidate.  I think this can give people the impression they should vote for that candidate because of the support seen in the community.  I ran across a website that gave me a list of visuals that are used in politics.  Some things that I never thought about was their facial expression, what they’re wearing, images with troops, images with babies, and facial expression. This can also be turned around and shown as negative.  A candidate shown with a bad facial expression or caught in a situation where they appear to be doing something that the viewers may not like, such as smoking, can cause bad credibility. 

 

 

" The “Optics” of Political Communication." The National Communication Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.natcom.org/CommCurrentsArticle.aspx?id=2281>.  

Wag the Dog

1. What do you feel is the message the director is trying to express in this movie?  Support your answer with examples.

I think that the message the director is trying to express is the inaccuracy about what we see during elections and in politics in general.  I think that the director wants to show how images on TV can often be altered and untrue but we as viewers often get tricked into believing what we see. For example, the video of the girl running across the bridge was completely untrue and the war was also completely untrue but they got the viewers to believe it. Also, another message is that “the president is a product.”  The president is rarely in the film, yet they are doing so many things to make the president appear a certain way, and get votes. 

 

 http://culturevisuelle.org/introtovc/archives/589

2. If applicable , discuss if you think this movie has accurate depictions of minorities or if they are situational? Why or why not?

There aren’t many minorities in this movie.  It’s mostly white men, with the exception of the one woman that was one of the main characters.  I think that, unfortunately, only white men dominated the political scene at this time, so this may be why there was a lack of minorities. 

3. Explain if you think the director’s ethnic/cultural/professional background played a role in directing this film?

The culture that we live in often appears as very gullible when it comes to things we see on TV.  This may have been an influence on the directors need to make a film like this.  Also, any deep interest in politics may have influenced him to look deeper into what spin-doctors do. 

4. What groups (people of color, nationality, culture, class,gender etc.) may be offended or misinterpret this movie and why?

Women and mostly any minority in our country may be offended because of the continued lack of acceptance in politics.  White men dominated this movie.  As I said earlier, this is probably only because it was a reflection of reality at the time.  

 http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/2011/01/how-dare-you-question-our-credit.html

5. What the movie added to your visual literacy?

This movie really made me think about the images I see on TV and online and the information that is fed to the public daily.  I knew before the movie that you have to be careful about what is truthful, but I never really thought about the “credible” news stories and political figured making up as many lies as they could.  I now know to be aware that this could happen.  Also, I understand the impact images can have on an individual.

6. What kind of artistic and/or visual means did the director use in the movie to focus our attention?

There weren’t a lot of bright scenes in this movie.  It was often rainy looking when they were outside.  This may be to show the audience the negative of what they are doing.  The camera was at eye level a lot and would go back and forth between showing people and their expressions.  I think this was really to get inside of the characters head and show how they were feeling or thinking.  It made it appear there was no remorse about what they were doing, but rather only worry when things weren’t going as planned.  

 

 http://allyouneedismovies.tumblr.com/post/4793275161/wag-the-dog-1997

American History X

1. What do you feel is the message the director is trying to express in this movie?  Support your answer with examples.

I think that this movie is about growing, and learning, and finding out what you believe.  I also believe it’s a way to show the issues and the brutal truth about racism in our country.  For example, the scene when the main characters murder the black men, or when he supports what happened to Rodney King.  As the main character experiences life and begins to understand more than when he was younger, he changes, and by the end of the movie, is a good guy. 

2. If applicable , discuss if you think this movie has accurate depictions of minorities or if they are situational? Why or why not?

I think that anything in this movie could or has happened, however, I think there was some stereotyping done in this movie.  I don’t think though, that it’s always bad to show stereotypes because those situations do happen such as when the black guys robbed the Derek.  I think these issues are important ones to discuss and I thought this movie really layed it out there as far as leaving nothing behind.  I thought it was honest and worth watching. 

3. Explain if you think the director’s ethnic/cultural/professional background played a role in directing this film?

His background may or may not have played a role, but in some form, he had to have understood the deep impact of racism, even if he had not experienced it himself.

4. What groups (people of color, nationality, culture, class,gender etc.) may be offended or misinterpret this movie and why?

Anyone who is not white may view this movie and think its glorifying white supremacy.  I think however that if you watch the movie all the way through, you can see that it is not, but in fact glorifying equality between races.

However, I think that minorities in this movie such as blacks and Hispanics may have been shown as a stereotype and some points.  Some examples are that blacks carry guns, Hispanics sell drugs, and white cops get murdered by blacks. 

5. What the movie added to your visual literacy?

I think all of the dramatic scenes in this movie really made me think about the racism that exists, and how we view race in our country.  It also gave a personal story about someone who changed, which gives hope to the issue.  I thought the movie was visual intriguing.  It was dramatic; it showed action and fights and didn’t seem to leave anything behind. I thought the black and white scenes made it more intense and suspenseful. 

6. What kind of artistic and/or visual means did the director use in the movie to focus our attention?

There are black and white scenes in this movie that seem to be important scenes.  I think this allowed the viewer to get a sense that something was important in that scene such as a turning point, a change in view from the character, or a serious conflict.  I think it could be perceived two different ways.  I think there could be a hidden meaning such as the different between blacks and whites, or I think it could be seen as an absence of color, as if to say everyone is equal. 

http://anarchism.dyndns.org/movies/movies.php?p=info&id=494&title=American+History+X&year=1998&genre=

 When they are talking about Rodney King with the Jewish teacher, the camera was focused on Derek when he was talking, and then it turned to the whole table listening to him.  I thought this said that it was him against everyone else.  In other words, almost everyone (with the exception of his brother) was more progressive with civil rights and he was stuck in his ways.  

I also think that they shot a lot of the scenes at eye level.  Think may have been to show the equality and struggle of everyone.  I also think it gave it a dramatic feel because you could see what the character was feeling. 

http://splendidandlovely.blogspot.com/2012/03/american-history-x-1998-review.html

http://radumoviephoto.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/american-history-x-the-dark-side-of-american-history/