Day 8!!!!

At the beginning of today's class, we split up into our groups to further discuss our plans for our final project. We finalized all of our ideas and figured out how to put it all together. Then, we did an especially fun activity! We watched all of the foreign advertisements that the class had sent in. We got the opportunity to compare our American commercials with the different styles of other countries. A lot of them were pretty funny while others were completely inappropriate and would never be played in America. The japanese commercials were especially funny because they usually hardly made any sense! After we watched the commercials we started to watch horror movies. This was another chance for us to see just how different horror films can be made. The Australian horror film was significantly different from the Japanses horrow film. I had always thought that there was one specific type of format for horror movies but I was definitely wrong! The class today was a lot of fun! And interesting as always!

International Commercial!!!

I found this foreign commercial very funny. I do not think it would get any viewer to actually buy the product, but it is entertaining. Often commercials don't necessarily get people to want their products, but if they at least make it memorable, then that is a start.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOMB43ImgAA

Day 7!!!

In today's Mass Communications class we started off by splitting up into our final presentation groups. In our group we discussed exactly what it was that we wanted to do and how we wanted to promote skittles as a product while respectfully honoring Treyvon Martin's death.  Then we discussed how tv shows evolved and how the introductions evolve within the same series, such as Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond. Next we watched two tv episodes. One was Frasier, and in that episode we saw how there were only three camera angles at all time and the main set is the same one used in every single episode. It was clear that each episode is fairly similar to the one before it and by the time it comes to an end the problem is solved. Unlike in Parks and Recreation, where the set is always new and the camera angles are significantly different then an average tv sitcom. I never noticed how different angles and sets can really effect a tv show!

DAY 6!!!

Today was all about comparing the different filming styles of movies. When comparing a Hollywood Disney movie to a more classic sophisticated movie it is easy to see a significant difference. In the Disney movie Enchanted, it is filmed in a very simple way. The angles are usually filmed at eye-level and are very repetitive. However, in other movies, the angles range from bird's eye view, long shot, short shot, close-ups, and even more. They really make the movie more artistic and interesting to watch. Then we went over the distinction between TV and film and how when the two came face to face, TV became the dominant source of entertainment and Hollywood had its major downfall. Shows like I Love Lucy became incredibly popular to the public. By the end of class we started working on our final presentations and split into three groups. The group that I am in is the group that covers the PR of the Skittles Company. Due to a shooting of a teenage boy who happened to have skittles in his pocket, the Skittles company's sales shot up. People chose to honor the boy's memory by buying skittles. However, many Americans believed that the Skittles Company should be donating their new found sales revenue to various charities. Our job is to solve this issue so the Skittles Company comes out looking as best as possible. I look forward to continuing to work on this project with my group.

Frozen Water Bottle!!!

 

                                     

In the photos above, pictures of a water bottle were taken in several angles such as bird's eye view and close-up. As each picture gets closer to the bottle, it because clear that it is not your average water bottle. The water that is supposed to be clear and liquid is in fact frozen. By the last picture you can see that in the full bottle, only one drop can escape.

DAY 5!

Friday's class was an extra interesting class for me. We went over PR in a lot more detail than the previous day and got the chance to look at some real life examples. I find PR extremely interesting because it is fascinating to see how companies and managers basically promote their "products". We then got into groups and looked at an example of media gone wrong with the Elmo/Katy Perry/CBS issue. When Katy Perry guest starred on Sesame Street, parents were outraged by the "provocative and innaprpriate" wardrobe that she was wearing. CBS then took note of this conflict and decided to reveal it during their newscast. People then got the idea that CBS was trying to cause issues between Sesame Street and Katy Perry. This was a PR nightmare for all 3 companies. However they all managed to brilliantly get themselves out of the crisis. So in our groups, without knowing what the actual PR teams did, we got the chance to act as a specific PR group and come up with our relief strategy through Facebook and Twitter. It was great getting to have to figure out the problem on our own. Then we did something out of the ordinary in the class and we joined up with the other Mass Communications class to take a tour of the communication building. That building is where all the media and filmography students go. There we got to take a look at the different sound boards and stages that the students perform and film on. It was nice getting to see what it would look like for us if we were to attend BU and study video/editing/sound visual arts. I really did enjoy FRiday's class!

Day 4!

Today's class started off with going through and comparing newspapers that covered the Colorado Shooting. We were able to see how different newspapers, the New York Times and the New York Post, each had a completely different style of featuring articles. In the Post, everything is a little more layed back and there is more room for the writers to portray the technique of yellow journalism. Whereas in the Times,it is much more sophisticated and their main goal is to just tell the story in a classier, less opinionated way. Then we looked back at Newspaper headings from September 12, 2001 to get a better idea of how different newspapers all over the country cover huge stories. In some, it was clear by just reading the heading, that it was going to be a story of anger and strong emotions. While others it was easy to see the story was simple, factual, and informative. Later in the class, we went over more information about PR and media. We were given a random product and with that product we had to come up with a better way to not only sell it, but advertise it as well. It was really interesting to see how my group and the others all had very different advertisement approaches. Then finally we were shown different commercials and Ads that we as a class had chosen as some of the best and most effective. I really enjoyed getting to be exposed to the many different advertisement methods!