A) Specifically, I helped with the directing and scouting of the locations for the final product of the video. I collaborated with the team and we all decided that we wanted the “sped up” look, so we took my Flip video camera and circled the campus. I decided where exactly we should go on campus and in what order so that we could get the most coverage of the campus in one long video. I also assisted in some of the early script writing, and then the reading of the script as well.
B) I feel like I deserve around a B+ for my work. I think I helped the group a lot, I tried to do the best I could with locations and direction. Though I was of no technical help at all, I did assist with the camera work and the script. I was always trying to ask what needed to be done and what our next step was, just so I was sure that we would not fall behind.
C) The hardest part was finding out how to put it all together and then onto Youtube. I have absolutely no technology skills, so I knew from the very beginning that this was going to be the hardest part for me. I have no idea how to put a video together, let alone put it on Youtube, so I think that this was definitely the groups biggest challenge overrall.
D) I felt accomplished that I completed the assignment. It sounded like a near impossible task for me, for I know how horrible I am with technology. Simply the fact that I helped produce a video that was effective and is now on Youtube for all the world to see impresses me, so I feel almost proud of my group and of myself for what we have accomplished.
Technology runs rampant in everyone’s lives these days; cell phones, computers, and MP3 players are all the rage. Each day, I use lots of different technology to help me accomplish tasks such as homework, or to keep me from going insane with boredom. I have been influenced by companies like Apple and Dell, and so have many other teenagers and adults alike. “Many viewers and social critics disapprove of how media, particularly TV and cable, seem to hurtle from one event to another,” but people in our modern society thrive off of such media and love to hear the latest gossip from their various technologies (Media & Society, 5). During my day, I know I experience loads of media, whether it is simply from reading a magazine or going to a concert.
Every day, I use all different types of technology. In order to wake up in the morning, I use my cell phone as my alarm clock, and I set it to the most annoying ringtone possible. After hitting the snooze button a few times, I then check the time and the weather on my phone to prepare for the day. I get out of my bed, unplug my phone charger, and then go straight to my laptop to listen to music as I get dressed. My iTunes automatically opens with my one thousand-plus songs, and by 2008, iTunes had “sold more than four billion songs and had become the No. 1 music retailer in the United States” (Media & Society, 79). I click on my mellow music to start my day; I allow the wonderful sound of The Decemberists to flood my room.
Colin Meloy from The Decemberists Singing "June Hymn"
I then go to class, bringing my laptop with me to Rhetoric so I can pull up a paper or two if need be. As I take out my new Dell laptop from my bag, I also bring up my latest Word document which contains my new work-in-progress for the class. Hardly anyone in the class even has a real piece of paper; everyone has their laptop screens up as we delve into our papers to reread what we have written at 2 AM the night before. Because “the book industry has met and survived many social and cultural challenges,” we still utilize a textbook for the class for short story readings (Media & Society, 315). I forgot my book that day- lucky for me the internet is ready and available, and I Google the story straight away so I can keep up with the class.
Image courtesy of blog.searchenginewatch.com
After class, I immediately go back to my room to relax and grab a magazine to read. I run through my collection of Cosmopolitan and Seventeen magazines before deciding on my favorite- Paste magazine. To learn about all new independent films and upcoming music artists, I always consult Paste, for the writers really know that the reader reads magazines to “learn something about [the] community, [the] nation, [the] world, and [them]selves” (Media & Society, 283). I pick up an old issue and find a CD inside; I realize that it is actually a DVD containing fun short films from new directors. I absolutely love a good short film, so I take ten minutes out of my day to watch the short film Spider written by Nash Edgerton and David Michod. I think it is a wonderful short film with a bit of a comical-yet-gruesome twist, and I am immediately engaged as I begin watching.
Spider, a short film written by Nash Edgerton and David Michod.
After watching my short film, I decide to find some friends and see what they would like to do for the rest of the day; because it is raining outside, the answer is quite simple. Everyone decides that they would like to watch a movie, and I agree that it is a wonderful idea for such weather. After heating up the hot chocolate and sitting with many blankets, we put in The Lion King, a Disney classic that everyone loved when they were kids and still loves today. Though it may seem silly, this movie really brings back thoughts of “coming of age, family relations, growing old, and coping with death,” and these are qualities that many movies have in order to “distract us from our daily struggles” (Media & Society, 213). Even as the weather goes from rainy to clear, we are all stuck in our nostalgic past, watching the movies we used to watch as children.
Image courtesy of celebritywonder.com
While watching the movie, I go onto my laptop and realize that I should really check my email in case I have any assignments due that my teacher has sent me recently. Of course, whenever I go on the internet, I also have to check Facebook, and so I do. I realize that I use the internet for a number of things- I use it for social and work purposes. I find it useful throughout all parts of my day, for it is used for both “information and entertainment” for most everyone I know, and this goes for all ages as well (Media & Society, 45). I know the internet is definitely here to stay, the only question is: can it possible become any greater?
Image courtesy of verbotomy.com
Our movie comes to an end, and I decide that music is appropriate for the moment once again. I flip up my laptop and decide to listen to one of my favorite radio stations from Philadelphia. I have listened to Radio 104.5 for years, and I love the fun, alternative music that the station produces. From the station’s website, I was able to stream the wonderful sounds into my dorm room; the old sounds of Oasis came from my small, inexpensive speakers. I have always liked this radio station because it is one of the few radio stations that do not have the Top 40 format, which contains the “most popular hits in a given week as measured by record sales” (Media & Society, 126). This station actually gives its listeners music that is popular yet unconventional and more rock and alternative-based, and all of my friends back home love it too.
Image courtesy of arcusepito.com
After I listen to some great radio, my friend Jake asks me if I would like to go to a friend’s house in South Burlington and listen to some live folk music. I love folk shows, so of course I say I would love to go, and together we venture out to see some talented artists. My favorite from the night was a man named Jeremy Quentin, and he plays in band named Small Houses. He was fantastic, and I couldn’t wait to go home and look up his music on the internet in the form of MP3’s, which can be “uploaded or downloaded in a fraction of the time it took to exchange noncompressed music” (Media & Society, 77). Though I love owning CD’s, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some more of his music.
Jeremy Quentin from Small Houses plays "Country Flowers"
As I come back from the concert. I immediately run into my dorm room and get onto my computer. I log onto Facebook to post a status about how awesome the concert was before hopping on the internet and downloading a few songs. With the music on my computer, I now have the ability to put the “music on my hard drive and use my “computer as [a] stereo system” (Media and Society, 77). I then hook my Ipod up to my computer so that I can transfer the files from my computer into my MP3 device. After a couple of minutes, I grab my Ipod, climb into bed, and plug my earphones in so that I can listen to my new music without disturbing my roommate. Image courtesy of ipresents.co.uk Overall, I realize that I use a ton of different types of technology and media each day. I utilize the internet to check my email and also connect with friends. I also use my laptop to listen to music on the daily, and I can watch videos of my favorite artists. Because I love reading and writing, I really try to read every day as well, for I still love the feeling of a good book or magazine in my hands. And of course, I also love movies; even the ones from my childhood are still really enjoyable to my eighteen-year-old mind. The media has really changed society forever, and we have to make sure that we are consumers who “learn from the past, care about the present, and map mass media’s future” (Media & Society, 521). Image courtesy of frenchlessonsonline.wordpress.com
