Film Constructs Reality

LINCOLN 

   I believe that the film, 'Lincoln' did a very good job at constructing reality. Although it may not show all of the reality of how many people fought for the change rather than just Lincoln and the politicians making the entire change, I feel as though it really represents the reality of Lincoln as a person. The speeches he made, his sentiments towards the issues and his drive all seemed very real and genuine. The costumes were also extremely realistic to the time period, as well as the house and everything in it. Those details were very well done, even the accents of the actors fit the time period and location. For example, the scene where they host a party, everyone's attitude, their high class dress and their actions of each lining up to say hello to the President and his wife all appeared to be something that would have happened many times in the White House. The large monuments in Washington like The White House and where the congress debated were all constructed very realistically as well. Throughout the movie, I never doubted the events that took place throughout the film, even though I was unaware of the real history. All of the battle scenes had very authentic looking uniforms for the soldiers, in the large battlefields in large groups, and on horses, which all certainly took place at that time. Even the tension between the politicians while debating seemed real. So was the tension between Lincoln and his son when he did not want him to go to war, and the frustrations between Lincoln and his wife, who to me, felt like a real couple who were experiencing those family issues. 

The School of Rock

     I do not believe that the film, 'The School of Rock' did a good job of constructing reality. I feel as though such a prestigious private school would pay a lot more attention to the credibility of their substitute, and would realize Jack Black's character was not the real Mr. Schneebly. Also, I do not think that it would be possible to sound proof an entire class room so that no other classes could hear that they were playing loud rock music everyday. The students, although mostly realistically presented, would most likely confess to their parents at some point that they were not learning anything and were just playing music everyday. It would be hard to convince them all at that age to lie to their parents continuously. The parents would also surely realize that their children were never bringing home homework, and would probably be strict about their school work because of the large amount of money that they pay every year for their children to go to that school. 

   I also think that in the end, the parents would not have acted the way they did in real life.  Especially because all of the parents were presented as very uptight.When they finally all arrive at the rock concert that their children are playing at, after freaking out that Jack Black's character had 'kidnapped' their kids, they are happy in the end. All of the parents are just proud of their children for playing so well. Although it is an accomplishment, their school year was wasted and the education that the parents payed a lot of money for was never received. It also does not seem very likely that the entire group of children could walk in and out so often with instruments and leave school for the day with no one seeing them leave. 

#6 The Source

1. Every morning and night my dad has CBC Radio 2 on. He uses it mostly because he always likes music playing, as well as for the news. It is usually left on for me in the morning, or I am told to turn it on during the day. I don't purposely listen to CBC Radio 2 to be informed of what is going on in the world, and I do not really enjoy watching the news or reading the newspaper. Although I do turn on the radio sometimes myself, it is only because I do not always enjoy complete silence, and it does usually play good music. I enjoy the fact that it plays newer music as well as classical music, and that when they tell news stories, they do not always take a long time to do it.

2.
a) CBC Radio 2 is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which is owned by the government.

b) The CEO and President of CBC is Hubert T. Lacroix. Hubert has now been appointed for two, five year terms as President and CEO. He recieved a Bachelor of Civil Law, as well as a Masters in Business Administration. At CBC, Hubert oversees the management. He was also the senior advisor at the Montreal office of Stikemen Elliott, and a senior partner at McCarthy Tétrault law firm for 20 years. From 2000-2005, he was also the executive chairman of Telemedia Corporations.


c) CBC makes money by its government funding, advertising revenues, specialty revenues as well as other revenues. The government funding is close to one billion dollars. 20% of their source of funds comes from advertising.

d) Since the government give CBC so much money, they are responsible to Parliament as well as the people of Canada. They report to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and their Corporate Plan summary. For that, they have to make annual public meetings as well as annual and quarterly reports. This would affect the media they show because it cannot be extremely offensive towards the government, or going against the government because they would most likely not give so much funding money if there was a conflict that arose between CBC and Parliament. I would assume that CBC would most often take Parliament's side of world events, or support their actions because of the financial connection between the two. Although, they do want to stay true to Canadians seeing as the funding from advertising supplies CBC with a lot of money as well, it seems like the Government has the most power.

Exploring Media Ownership

http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/visualizations/8aff56ca4c9b11deae82000255111976/comments/e0b0b1b4513611de84c7000255111976

Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan, Torstar, The Woodbridge Company, Bell Canada Enterprises all own CTV Globe Media.

Pink Triangle Press, Score Media, Shavick Entertainment and Peace Point Entertainment Group all own OUT TV and HARD TV.

RNC owns many french stations like CHOT-TV (Gatineau), Planète 97,1 (Outaouais), but also along the line many other different stations like The Christian Chanel.

CBC/Radio Canada own an extremely large amount of channels, some of the main ones that lead off into smaller ones being; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation including CBC.ca and CBC newsworld. They also own CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2, CBC Television, Système Radio Canada and Espace musique, just to name a few.

Think About The Themes

   With the constant creation of war films, the American society will most likely get the idea that when there is an attack on the country, whether it be from aliens, transformers or another country, the Army of strong men with guns will protect you. In all of these films there is a male lead, and there are most often only men soldiers fighting. It is not likely that you would see a female lead saving the day in those films. In almost all of the films, the men also are very confident in themselves, which can influence the 'tough guise' because of their attitude and their large use of weapons.
   When they see how well the American soldiers protect their country in these movies, Americans will most likely believe in them and support them even more. They might do this by giving them even more money which the government in America would love, or by never questioning the governments decisions about the army's actions because they have so much faith in their ability. People may also sign up to fight because they look up to the soldiers in the movie, and want to fight like them, which the government would also like because he would be gaining more soldiers. Although, using movies as your inspiration to join the army would be bad. That is because in the movies the hero who average people signing up for the army would most likely aspire to be, does not usually ever die, because he is often the big name of the movie or the main character. They also usually show the Americans winning the war. Both of those factors create a false reality that would be bad for someone enlisting to assume, because in real life anything can happen in war.
  I also believe that with the creation of so many war films, it puts Americans in fear, because they see what their country could become if something like that were to happen. Although it is not very likely that zombies or aliens from another planet will come and attack us, it is a thought that is being pounded into everyone's head with this constant steam of movies of our country being terrorized.

Movie Ratings

Little Miss Sunshine

  The film 'Little Miss Sunshine' is about a family driving their daughter to a beauty pageant. Everyone in the family has issues; the son doesn't talk, their uncle tried to kill himself, the father's book is not selling, the mother was divorced and the grandfather snorts cocaine. Olive is the daughter who got into the beauty pageant by default, and is not up to standards with the rest of the pageant girls at the Little Miss Sunshine competition. Before they reach their destination, the grandfather overdoses and dies. He is then unable to watch Olive's dance routine that he coached her on at the pageant which turns out to be practically a striptease. It is a very funny movie, but also a very inappropriate one.

   It was rated 14A by the OFRB. I was a bit surprised, because I thought it would be rated 18A. I could also see, though, why they rated it 14A because they added content advisories such as; coarse language and substance abuse, as well as many detailed observations; coarse language, slurs, sexual references, occasional upsetting or disturbing content, substance abuse, restrained portrayals of limited violence. Even though there is no nudity, brutal killings or gory scenes, there are many parts of the movie that are extremely blunt and in your face rude. The grandfather swears continuously throughout the entire movie and does drugs very often. It also deals with the fact that their uncle tried to kill commit suicide which is an intense topic. It's a great comedy but with a lot of sexual crude humor. I watched this movie before I was 14 but I do not think many parents would allow the same thing, which is why I disagree with the rating given by the OFRB.

How we negotiate the meaning of music in film

   "I Vow to Thee, My Country" 

 This song could be used at the end of a war movie, when the soldiers have won and are returning home. The song is obviously patriot because of its name, "I Vow to Thee, My Country" and also has that patriotic feel. Since it starts off softer, that could be when they are all walking home, tired after a long war. When it starts to pick up that could be when they have arrived back to their city and are all welcomed home. It would most likely be used in an older war movie, like the war in the picture. The song fits well with the genre of an old war movie because of the classical instruments used. The orchestra sounds like something you would hear often around that time period.

  In the movie the song would represent a moment of triumph and patriotism. It gets that message across because it is a recognizable song, so people would remember the name and its connection to someone's love for their country. Also, the strings used in the song make it sound meaningful but soft at times, and the percussion helps to build up the piece. When the percussion gets louder the rest of the instruments get louder, which makes it more powerful, and triumphant sounding. 

Midterm Summative

Legally Blonde

    

 The movie "Legally Blonde" depicts the reality of many things. Mostly, it depicts blonds, by implying that you can get far if you are blond and pretty. In the movie, she one day decides to go to law school, and it shows her studying while working out like it is not hard to do. A main reason that they show for why she gets into Harvard is the group of men who watch the admissions video of Elle in a bathing suit, making it seem like it was her beauty that secured her her enrollment. She does not seem to be in school long before she receives the internship to assists on cases, which is given to her by a man that finds her beautiful. Once again, it is the fact that she is an appealing woman that is getting her far in the law business. I am certain that there are many law students and lawyers that are blond that have gotten by on solely their intelligence, and not their looks, and that some of them have even come from sororities. 

    In this scene, I believe it depicts what happens in court incorrectly. Although the lawyers on the opposing side seem appropriate in the way they act and dress, Elle does not. Lawyers are not supposed to wear bright pink dresses while defending someone but rather a professional looking suit, or bring their dog to court in their purse that serves no health or safety purposes. Her two friends would not have been able to cheer her on in the middle of her questioning either. I would not think that a real lawyer would be allowed to tell personal stories as she did to relate to the case, or be very well thought of if she was giving the judge, "a vocabulary lesson when you should be questioning your witness." It does not seem very realistic either that you would fire one of your lawyers and bring in a new one in the middle of your court session.

  Although many parts of this movie seem to be depicted incorrectly, I realize it is all for the purpose of entertainment. It can also be seen as an inspiring movie, that a girl that did not seem to have much focus on anything other than boys and beauty, could work her way up to getting into Harvard Law School, winning a case, and being valedictorian at her graduation. Even though it is not very realistic, it is a nice story.

All Film is a Construction

The process of making a Hollywood blockbuster:

- Find a story and get the rights for it by paying the author ->$
-Get a professional screenwriter to turn the book in to a movie, might take multiple screenwriters ->$
-Have the script approved by backers
-Hire; director, casting director, musical director, editor, cinematographer, assistant producers -> $
-They will all hire their own assistants and crew, filmmakers pay for them ->$
-Directors are booked months or years in advance
-Casting director makes a list of actors that would be good for the film
-Hold auditions, get top actors -> $$
-Contracts are signed
-Film can be shot in a studio: Craftsmen hired to make set -> $
-Actors need to be trained for skills or stunts
-Insurance for stunts -> $
- Food and housing for actors -> $
-Film can be shot on location: Cast and crew transported and housed -> $
-Pay town for blocking roads or closing their shops -> $
-Finished filming: Director works with editors
-Musical director creates score; gets rights to songs or gets an orchestra -> $
-Special effects, sound effects, voice-overs are added
-Film is done
-Producers now spend the money on promotion -> $
-Actors make appearances at press conferences and television talk shows all over
-Posters and trailers are made ->$
-Money made from the film is usually taken by producers to make a sequel or movie of the same genre ->$

Main Theme in Sound City

Many songs nowadays only really serve the purpose of being a good song to dance to. The songs do not teach you very good morals and do not always present a life style that everyone can relate to. The song 'Starships' by Nicki Minaj is an example of why music is not as good as it used to be. Starships are not a real thing, and the messages portrayed in her song are bad and do not have anything to do with starships if they really did exist. The theme of her song is dancing at clubs, spending all her money and drinking a large amount of alcohol. She also throws in the lyrics, "Twinkle, twinkle little star," which has no relation to the song, and "I ain't paying my rent this month, I owe that," which is not a good example to be setting.
                Another reason why music is not as good anymore is because of the focus of many music videos. In Nicki Minaj's music video for this song, a large portion of it is Nicki on a beach in a very small bathing suit, for the purpose of making her look sexy. The rest of the video is people dancing around in their bathing suits. The video does has not real meaning and does not really relate to the song, other than the 'starship' that appears at the beginning.
                Music before 1995 seemed to have more meaning and be more honest than music like 'Starships." The videos usually related to the songs and tried to show you a message, rather than show you how to sell your body by dancing and dressing a certain way. Music now a days does not seem to teach you any valuable life lessons. 

#5 "Tough Guise"

 Jess, from the television show "Gilmore Girls."

 Jess's character always liked to play the 'tough guy.' He never cared about, or tried in school, although he was extremely smart. When he first moved into the town, he was rude to everyone and always looked angry, not being grateful for how welcoming everyone was trying to be. When trying to get Rory, he toyed with her and Dean's relationship, rather than being honest.

  This is only partially consistent with the media, because in the later seasons, when Jess gets older, he is much more open and honest about his feelings. He is comfortable and confident with himself and does not have to put on a "tough guise" anymore. Although, when he first moved into the town, it very much related to the "tough guise" because of his attitude towards everyone. He got in many fights and was seen by the town as trouble. In the "Tough Guise" documentary we watched, it said that boys as supposed to act tough, be strong and not show their true feelings. That is how Jess acted in many seasons of the show, and that is why I chose him.

#4

 
    Dr. Pepper would advertise their product through the television show 90210, because it is mostly teens who would be watching this show, who would sometimes like to be like the characters from the show. Since one of the main characters is drinking the Dr. Pepper, some watchers of the show might think, if she likes drinking it then I will too. Also, since it is shown in a television show rather than a commercial, there is more time to show the product being used. Although people of all ages drink Dr. Pepper, it is a popular drink among teenagers, and this show is targeted at teens, ensuring their target audience to view the product being used and enjoyed.

    I think product placement can be a good form of advertising, because not everyone realizes that a product is slyly being sold to them, but still sees the product being used. Although, they do not to a good job of product placement in this episode. In this scene, it shows an entire cooler full of Dr. Pepper for  multiple seconds, and they also say Dr. Pepper repeatedly. Later on in the episode, they have to stop for a bathroom break because of how many drinks she's had, and Dixon holds up the can and says something along the lines of, "We wouldn't have to stop so many times if you stopped drinking all this Dr. Pepper". Advertising much too obviously that she loves the drink so much that she just can't stop drinking it. The product placement in this episode seems too forced, rather than natural and believable.

#3

 1. After watching "10 Minutes," I felt the meaning was to show that life is a gift, and your whole world can change in an instant. At the beginning, the man in Rome is very content with his life, on a lovely family vacation. The 10 minutes that pass do not have a large significance in his life. He stands there waiting for his pictures, smoking, and is happy at the end when he is given his developed photos. Although, in another place in the world, during those same ten minutes, another boy's life is changed for ever. His innocent act is not having pictures developed, but going out to get water for the family. It shows at the beginning how much he loves his father, and they are just as happy in that moment, as the man with the pictures is in the end. The two locations though, are very different. One being peaceful, happy Rome, and the other being a war zone in Sarajevo. At the end of his 10 minutes though, he returns to his home where he finds his whole family has been shot and killed. This shows that, in only a few minutes, your whole life can be changed for the worst.

 2.  A lesson I could take from this video, is to not waste your life away, and always tell the ones that mean the most to you that you love them, because you never know the last time you'll see them. You can't control the future or fate, but at least you won't feel like you missed your chance to let them know how important they are to you. It's also important to be grateful for the life you have, because there will always be many other people who live in worse conditions, and who do not have the same opportunities that we do, such as the people in Sarajevo.

 3.  This theme can be applied to my life, because I know what it's like to lose a parent and how it can change your life so much. I am also bad with taking my life for granted and wasting a lot of time doing nothing, when I should and could be more productive. I do however know how important it is to tell your family you love them, and I do it often.

#2

 The photo on the left is an edited picture of the Disney World castle, and the photo on the right is a picture I took at Disney World this past summer. The edited picture has a much more colorful castle, as well as features that the castle on the right does not have. It is surrounded by nature and other smaller castles and buildings in the background. The edited picture has perfect fire works, when sometimes the fire works on a normal day at Disney would not look like that. It also seems to be a lot bigger, which is what I find most deceiving. When you arrive at the castle, not only is it less bright and happy, but it is much smaller. You cannot go inside of it either, other than passing through the tunnel in the middle. That part makes me the most unhappy, because they could have been very imaginative with making different themed rooms inside the castle, instead of it just being something you pass by or through. There is also the fact that the castle is not so blocked off by the bushes and nature, but rather by a large group of people usually, like the rest of the park.



























 This is my favorite Victoria Secret model. The picture on the left is her without makeup, where as the picture on the right has been edited. In the picture on the right, her hair looks lighter and styled. Her eyebrows seem lighter and more full, and have probably been edited. Her neck and face both look thinner, surely edited to be that way. Her eyes also seem to have been edited a bit bigger. Her skin is also very smooth looking and the bags under her eyes are gone. The makeup also helps a lot to make her eyes look bigger, and her lips shinier. I am not surprised that she would not look the way she does in the picture on the right on a normal day. All of the Victoria Secret models always seem too perfect to be true, and clearly are. Even still, teenage girls see them most often the way they appear in the photo on the left, which would bring down their self esteem because they do not all have air brushed skin or perfectly highlighted hair and a edited thin face. Although she is pretty in both pictures, the edited photo on the right is much less realistic.

#1

I am not as media literate as I would like to be, so I am hoping this class will help me. I am easily bought by commercials, and do not always catch product placement in television shows or movies. I do not have as much knowledge of how commercials work as I think I should. Although, I’m aware of the fact that for shows online, they repeat the same commercials throughout every break because the more you see it, the more you will remember the product. I’m easily drawn in by the storyline of a commercial, sometimes before even knowing what the product is, and I would like to learn how they manage to grab your attention so easily. I feel as though that would make me more media literate. It would be important for my daily life to learn how to not be so convinced by commercials, because they are something I see every day. Being able to know how they are changing the way I think about their product would help me not to believe that I need it.