Globalization

The ever expanding ideas and products from one country to another is my working definition of globalization.  It is common for Americans to not be so susceptible to change with regards to competition against other countries which leads to cultural imperialism today.  Americans want to their own products out there and feel that they live in the best country in the world so they should be spreading their ideas and products to other nations.  This leads to cultural imperialism, or the spreading of American products to countries with less means than the United States.  Although "westernizing" countries has its positives, in the end it leads to a homogenized world, slowly becoming more and more bland with other cultures giving in and harmonizing with American ideals and products.  CNN or "Cable News Network" in a U.S. company company founded in 1980 by Ted Turner.  They are a prime examples of cultural imperialism because of the different regional programs they offer in many different nations.  Once again an American company taking over an industry in other countries.

http://www.fact-index.com/m/me/media_imperialism.html

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.

The combination of Serial and Episodic programming into the sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

Sitcoms traditionally fall under three basic features, series, serial and episodic.  I will be focusing on how some traditional sitcoms fall under both a serial and an episodic programming.  Episodic programming is a style in which each show is its own separate entity, meaning that jokes and storylines from the previous episode tend to not carry over to the current one.  A serial programming style is the midpoint between episodic and series sitcom's.  If you turned on a random episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" you would be able to laugh to just as many jokes as the person who has seen every episode of the show to that point and you would be able to grasp the general plot of what was happening.

The sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (TFP) incorporates both a serial and an episodic style into its episodes.  Every episode of TFP does not progress the series as a whole all that much.  It is the occasional episodes where Will Smith's mom comes to town or he breaks up with his girlfriend Lisa that help continue the serial aspect of the show. The show is designed for every viewer, from the weekly to the occasional one.  The famous introduction song that every episode of TFP opens up with is a prime example of how this show is both serial and episodic.  It gives the viewer a premise as to how Will got to be where he is all the while telling nothing about the show as a whole on an episodic basis.  This style of programming has proved to work time and time again with TFP being a prime example.

Long, Medium and Short Camera Shots- "The Hangover"

      

       The traditional way scenes from films are shot is from long to medium to short.  This holds true in most genres and films, including The Hangover.  The example I will use is the scene where Phil, Stu and Alan go to the hospital to search for answers on where Doug could be.  The first shot is just the hospital, seen from the parking lot.  Doing the shot from so far without showing any detail is a simple way to show the viewer what the next scene will be about or where it will be located.  The very general image just reinforces to the viewer where the three characters are going.

       The next shot is of a doctor hitting a man's knee with a knee hammer to check his reflexes.  The shot is very close to the two involved in it to give a little more detail than the previous but all it show's is the action happening.  It does not show the men's faces or their facial expressions or reactions.  This shot serves the purpose of letting us know that the three of them are either in the room or are going to be dealing with the doctor.  It does not let us know what they are going to ask him or how they will (or in this case already have) approached him.  It is a set up for the close up shot.

       In the close up shot Phil, Stu and Alan's facial expressions are examined upon Phil questioning the doctor if he knew why they were in there in night before.  Their facial expressions, especially Alan's, show a look of confusion.  The shot serves the purpose of portraying to the audience what it is the characters are feeling or thinking.  With the short or close up shot, details are the major key.  This is indicated in this shot, from the look on Alan's face, to him holding the baby, to Phil using his hands while he talks.  The long and medium shots are simply build ups to the short one, but in that final shot close up, all the pieces that have been lingering from the last two shots are put together.

Market Control

       Competition is the driving force of the American economy.  The more competition a business can eliminate, the greater chance of success they will have.  This is what the Classic Hollywood System (CHS) created with its market control system.  If they could slim the competition down to just five major studios and only a few minor studios, the industry would become a lot less complex and easier to run and make a profit.

       The studios started focusing on certain genres of movies, i.e. Warner Brothers and gangster films, as well as MGM and musicals.  With all of the studios focusing on their own genres, they each had their own market; and, in a way, weren't competing with each other as much as they were competing for the approval of the American public.  This eventually led to studios signing on actors and directors and sharing them with each other for a small sum of cash, that way no other competition would be brought into the market.  The idea was that if Warner Brothers would continue to make their gangster films, MGM would continue to make their musicals, and all of the other studios focused on their own genres, then they all would be targeting a different audience base, eliminating competition.  This also allowed the studios to share their actors with each other. They knew that if in one film they lent an actor to another studio then maybe in the next film that studio would lend an actor to them.  The studios found that they could do more than simply coexist; with the help of each other, they could thrive more than ever before.

       A modern day juxtaposition of Humphrey Bogart would be Denzel Washington.  Although not every movie of Washington's is an urban gangster film like Bogart's typically were, they both have a certain character type associated with them.  In the 21st century, you will not see a movie starring Denzel Washington as a weak, feeble character. Bogart too was positively type-cast, he always played the role of the stubborn man who didn't give in to anyone or anything.  That is why Bogart was such a trademark of Warner Brothers films.  In his twenty-eight year acting career, he was in seventy-seven films, almost all being Warner Brothers.  The last five movies that Denzel Washington has starred in have all been from different producers.  The Big Five studios all had genres that they were associated with and actors that went hand in hand with those movies.  Back then, unlike today, these actors were used in movie after movie by the same production company.