Life through the glasses of media

I guess you could say it was bound to happen. Since before the age of technology, media in its own sense has always affected us in some form. The only difference is that in today’s day-in-age we are strictly bound by what we see and hear around us. Numerous studies have proven that what we witness around us in the media affects us in some way. Payne fund studies, is a perfect example of this point with several case studies based on media affects. Simple broadcasts such as the “Invasion from Mars”, and infomercials like the unforgettable ‘Magic Bullet model’, all of which seem so minuet really affect us in huge ways.

The first question anyone can ask is simple, why is media even around? Well, the answer is as simple as the question it provides gratification for all of us in some way, shape or form. While media has large affects on most it does not however affect everyone; the bottom line is, some media have some effect on some people some of the time. Statistics have proven that media aims to gratify individual motivations. Furthermore, this fact proves that we as a society use the media around us to satisfy whatever need we feel needs to be fulfilled.

One of the most influential effects of media is ‘sex in media’. Pornography the most obvious of sex in media holds many prolonged effects. Many of these effects can affect an individual negatively such as the diminish of excitatory responses, and can even lead to false beliefs. Sex is everywhere today. Whether on the television, motion pictures or even on the radio it is hard to not find some influence of sex on a daily basis.  According to the Media Awareness Network pressure is continually placed specifically on women throughout media today. Surveys show that one in four television ad commercials send some form of an “attractive” message, in other words, these commercials are expressing to their viewers what is and is not attractive. Media Awareness also states that most women are portrayed as sex symbols. In ads alone women are almost pictured in bits; meaning their full bodies are never really shown rather particular body parts are. This perfectly depicts the fact that women are understood to be sex objects rather than actual individuals.

Despite the overbearing presence of sex in media today there are also other goals of moguls such as the entertainment and persuasion factors. The ‘mood management theory’ states that people choose to watch happier media in order to elevate how he or she may be feeling at the time.

Persuasion is also now a large factor in media today. The dictionary defines persuasion as an intentional act meant to change or reinforce someone’s behavior. Persuasion in media can be as simple as a particular company wanting you to buy their products to even having a particular belief in something. There are many different ways media can persuade their viewers, one of such ways is called the central route to persuasion. This form of persuasion relies on arguments. The other way many companies persuade their viewers is through the peripheral route which relies on cues.

Let the film reel run!

While film and motion pictures may not have been around for that long of a time, key ingredients have been around us for millions of years. The ingredient is not a large one, it is simply images. Images: the base of every film even in today’s day-in-age. After all, movies are just still images or photos put together to create a full length feature film.

According to inventors.about.com the first device created to show animated pictures is called the “wheel of life” or better known as the zoopraxiscope. It was created by William Lincoln and patented in 1867. Despite the fact this device made a large impact into the movement of motion pictures, it is technically nothing close to what we consider motion pictures today.

The Lumiere brothers are often credited for creating the first motion picture; however, Thomas Edison and William Dickson are also credited, mainly due to their contributions such as the vitascope, kinetograph and kinetoscope. The important contributions led to nickelodeons which were small theaters that most individuals in the lower class went to due to their affordability.

Thomas Edison began to put his mark on the motion pictures business by creating the Motion Pictures Patent Company. Edison even went as far as to create a production studio called the Black Maria due to its resemblance of a police car. The structure was built in 1892 to supply the demand of films. The Black Maria was a building like nothing ever built before. The roof was made to be able to be opened in order to admit sunlight in for proper filming as well as built on a ‘pivot’ to allow for movement to whatever direction the sun was coming from.

Some of the first motion pictures may seem minuet however these first early productions made a major contribution to the motion picture business today. For instance, “Fred Ott’s Sneeze”, which literally documented a sneeze, is one of the first still surviving productions from Edison’s Production Company. While it may seem like a silly excuse for a movie, during that time, it was a ground-breaking moment for the creation of motion pictures.

At the beginning of motion pictures most films were just snapshots put together which in the end created a feature length film, however ‘talkies’ or films with actually sound were eventually created. During the 1920’s films were made portraying the fast city life and fast society. Later in the 1930’s films were made a little more tasteful due to controversy rising on how racy films were in the 20’s. Films were made more on rules instead of being so honest with their portrayal of society. After the creation of films in the early 1900’s television was later created in the 1950’s which created a new kind of competition for films. Motion picture companies now had to deal with creating new works that television did not already offer. While they had difficulty for quite a bit of time the Digital Age brought about new kind of challenges as well as advantages for motion pictures.

There is no such thing as too much experience

I was recently able to sit in on a faculty forum with both Professor Wilson Lowery and Dan Meissner. The discussion began with how each individual started off his career, and ironically both professors have been involved with almost every aspect of the typical “journalism job”. The topic of conversation soon shifted to questions about how much knowledge they believe is needed to survive in the journalism world.  All of this got me thinking; am I diverse enough to even be successful in this business? I have come to realize that while specialization on a particular job or topic is essential, it is also very important to have experience in EVERYTHING within the journalism field. Luckily, Dr. Lowery and Dr. Meissner helped relieve stress by reassuring that all students can get a little taste of everything based on how the journalism track is set up. While Reese Phifer Hall will more than likely be my home for the next four years of my life, I also realized that all of the responsibility is upon me. It is my job to put myself out there and get involved with as much as I possibly can in order to be successful in this business. While I may be more experienced within the writing field of journalism, maybe I finally need to buy a camera and take pictures, learn more about the design world, perfect my editing skills and completely understand the laws and ethics. While I may not be able to be perfect in every field, I will at least be able to say that I have tried it all.

Is it a bird or a plane? Nope, it’s just politics.

The fall season is definitely here with the beautiful colors, crunchy leaves under your feet and, oh wait, elections.  Signs line the edges of the road boasting who has the better standing and what name you should mark on the ballot come voting day. I cannot help but to think how boring and unimaginative politics really are; however, today in class, I was pushed back in my seat and forced to quiet myself.

For me, the problem comes in with thinking journalism is the cliché job; writing in a cramped cubical for a newspaper, or sitting behind a desk in front of a camera reading the daily headlines. As close minded as it may sound, especially coming from a journalist, I have just never been a fan of politics; ever.

As we began our discussion I was surprised at how involved I actually got within the conversation. While thoroughly discussing the different major news stations I realized I actually had an opinion! The too-far-right Fox News Station and the too-far-left MSNBC and CNN News stations cause controversy across the U.S. and amazingly it is all based off of what we watch.

One of my fellow classmates said it best, “Who are we to say what each news station should say or do? If we have a problem with it we can simply change the channel.” His words made me realize the wonderful freedom of journalism. It is a great country we live in, that we are able to publish and broadcast what we believe, and if we simply do not like it, we can easily change the information being sent in and find another ‘better’ one.