Extra Credit Blog

Before enrolling in RTF 305, I had never used a blog.  I believe one of the major positive aspects of using the blogs in this course was that it made me think more in depth about the topics at hand.  The main difficulty I encountered with the blogs was trying to clarify what it is the prompt was asking.  For example, when we had to compare a modern day sitcom to All in the Family, I did not know what it was that was considered modern and thought that should have been specified.  How I decided what was modern was by reading other classmates blogs, including one written about The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and deciding that I could choose any sitcom that began after that.  This blog prompt I found very interesting because I do not know much about sitcoms from the 2000's but rather ones the 80's and 90's.  I would not recommend using a blog in a future RTF 305 course.  I feel that having something due on a weekly basis is to often and instead would recommend implementing a few papers throughout the semester.  I am not too sure how the blogging experience can be changed and therefore do not have any suggestions on how to change it.

Advertising appeals in Lebron James' new Nike commercial

The new Nike commercial featuring Lebron James is powerful and pervasive in that fact that it shows Lebron as his own man.  It goes through many different scenes of James' life from what is known as "the decision", to the taking down of the "we are all witnesses" poster from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, and even to the hallways of his high school with Lebron holding his old textbooks.  The constant repetition in the advertisement is Lebron asking the viewer "what should I do?"  In his series of questions though he tends to ask several in a row that bring up multiple criticism that he took- "Should I tell you I'm a championship chaser? Did it for the money? Rings?"  This is powerful because it shows how everyone criticized him in just about every way possible.  He shows his independence by then asking the viewer "Should I be who you want me to be?"

This advertisement shows prominence and attention for Lebron James.  The general characteristics of this kind of ad are showing a person or product to be of a high social status in society and to focus all of the attention on them.  These ads seem to say that if you wear the stuff that the stars in the ads wear then you can be the same kind of person as them.  The success of these ads depends on the belief that perception is reality.  If the public who watches these ads thinks that Lebron is the great basketball player he is or even more simple the independent man who does not care what others say about him then they are more willing to buy the shoes and apparel that he wears.

The commercial exemplifies a traditional powerful and pervasive advertisement by showing Lebron in a number of different situation asking questions about what he should do but in the end he controls his own will.  In this case it shows that by buying Lebron's shoes you become your own man.  The commercial is solely focused on Lebron with no one else depicted throughout the ad except people in the background.  With all of the attention being on Lebron and him ultimately deciding his own fate it shows the viewer that no matter what the situation is you can be a cool independent individual by wearing his shoes.  Lebron has power in society today; his decisions will affect what we see on the news and to see someone is that position as being independent exemplifies to everyday citizens that they can make independent choices in their lives as well.

Here is the link to the commercial... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtejCR413c

The 3 Act Structure or Classic Hollywood

The movie Orange County directed by Jake Kasdan is a good example of the classic Hollywood 3 Act Structure.  The film consists of distinct plot points that transition the viewer from one act to another.  The beginning of the film, while focusing on establishing relationships and other typical introductions, pays most of its attention to Shaun Brumder (main character) waiting to see if he got into Stanford so he can continue his dream to become a writer.  At the end of the first "Act", he finds out that his counselor sent the wrong transcript in and that he did not get accepted into Stanford.  It poses a question for the rest of the movie to answer; what will he do for college now?

The middle of the movie or "2nd Act" consists of Shaun's girlfriend, brother and self all driving to Stanford and attempting to find a way to get him into Stanford. Along the way many obstacles get in the way from his dad, deciding not to donate a large sum of money to Stanford, to his girlfriend getting upset with him, and of course his brother burning down the admissions building. Shaun then catches a few breaks and actually gets to talk to a literature professor of the University who was his inspiration to go there and he gets his girlfriend to forgive him.  All of this leads up to him finding a way to get into Stanford, or possibly not.  The act last about 58 minutes and ends with his brother escaping the police, his girlfriend forgiving him and then driving back home.

The third Act in the classic Hollywood structure is when the climax takes place and this holds true for this movie.  With only about 3 minutes, left in the movie Shaun's family is brought back together and his dad donates the money for a new admissions building to Stanford and informs Shaun that he can now go to Stanford.  Everyone is happy for him but still a little sad that he has to leave town next year for school.  That is when the climax occurs and Shaun decides to stay in Orange County and go to a local community college, realizing that going to Stanford is not what is going to make him a great writer, but being around the people, he loves will.  This is a traditional ending of Hollywood's classic 3 Act structure.