Extra Credit Blog

Though many of the blog prompts were interesting and useful in understanding concepts, some were more interesting than others. Blog prompts where we needed to find examples of things we learned in class in movies and television shows we were familiar with were the most interesting to complete.

The 8^th blog assignment over professor Ramirez Burg’s lecture on the three act and five act structures of film was interesting to do because it forced me to think of all the movies I knew and realize that what we were learning in class was extremely relevant. When we were asked to find examples, I found myself finding more and more examples as I thought more. Most movies follow the five or three act structure that Prof. Ramirez Berg talked about. Even the timeline was he mapped out for us for acts 1, 2 and 3 were very accurate in the examples I found such as the movie Mean Girls.

The other blog assignment where we found examples of long shots, medium shots and close shots in movies we were familiar with was also interesting. The connotations we were taught that went along with the shots were very accurate with the shots I could think of from some of my favorite movies. Again, this assignment showed the relevance of what we were learning in lectures to real life and the movies we watch often.

When blog assignments were based on finding examples in the media, they were much more interesting to complete. Relating what we learned in class to what we see in the media on a daily basis helped make the class more enjoyable. 

Globalization and Cultural Imperialism

Globalization is the way that the world becomes connected and intertwined much through the development of technology. Through globalization, many different cultures are shared around the world. Many nations are becoming “Americanized” through cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism refers to the fact that those who have the power are able to share their culture with a much broader audience. This remains true with globalization because those who are in power, such as those who own television networks and own the technology to broadcast what they want, can impart their culture on others. Though this may not result in cultures changing completely, the exposure to other cultures through American television can influence how some think of our culture as a whole. 

Advertising

One of the advertising appeals which is used is that of attention.Many advertisers will try through their advertisements to interact with the consumers in order to make them feel like they have a closeness with the company and product. The appeal to the consumer's attention makes the ad feel personalized and this is appealing to many consumers.  

Of course all advertisements aim to grab consumer’s attention, but some, like the new Old Spice Ad, talk directly to consumers in order to grab their attention and draw them into a relationship with the company and product. This particular ad shows a man in his bathroom talking directly to the woman who is watching. He asks the viewer to “look at me, now look at your man. Now back at me”. Though someone most likely does not follow his commands, the feeling they get through the attention the actor is giving draws them close.

Three Act Structure

The three-act structure is the way a movie can be divided up into sections. Hollywood uses this format which consists of the first, second and third acts.

The first act typically sets up the movie, introduces characters and gives the basic information. The next act introduces the plot of the movie or what will be trying to be fixed by the end of the movie. This is where all of the problems ensue and the complications occur. Act three begins with the climax of the movie, or where the conflict in resolved in a dramatic way usually. Act three is short and almost at the very end in the Hollywood style three act structure.

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The movie Mean Girls follows this style and structure well. The movie starts off with a girl, Cady, who moves to the United States to start high school after living her entire life home schooled in Africa. She attends school and makes friends with two conflicting groups of students, the “plastics”, or popular girls, and “the burnouts” which are the weird kids. Act two starts off when her friend Janice convinces Cady to pretend to be friends with “the plastics” and secretly sabotage their existence. Many ploys to secretly throw off the group take place and none get wise until the very end. The leader of “the plastics” gets wise and comes back with revenge, framing the rest of “the plastics” and Cady for writing a mean book of rumors of all the girls at the school. There is a school wide fight and the climax of the movie happens towards the very end when Cady fesses up to writing the book, when she really hadn’t. She restores order to the school and the group of girls disband, making new friends and no longer tormenting the school.

This structure has proven to make a good story and Hollywood continues to use this same formula.