Ed St.Amand

Ephesians 6: 19-20 Isaiah 41: 9-10 James 1:12

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Week 8 post

I watched the remake of Epic Meal Time video, it wasn’t bad. The only “special effects” if you could even call it that, was background music, and little noise effects to bleep out cuss words. And at the beginning, it looks like they changed the real epic meal time logo with a tiger, and wrote “college” on it, it looks pretty bad, and they probably did it on Microsoft paint, which is not the most professional way to make things look good. The audio was a little quiet, but not too bad, I think they did it on an I phone, so that’s why it was not very loud and clear. I also think it was done on an I phone because the format of the video is not ideal for you tube because there is large black space around it, but hey, they made it as good as they could with an I phone.

            Thinking about the video my team will make, we have a pretty good video camera, but I doubt the audio will be perfect. Our ideas are pretty wild and far fetched, so we will need a really good special effects guy, or anyone good with a computer. There are probably some things we should not really be trying because it will be hard to do, but we are going for a home run, and a member of our team has had some experience making videos. I am sure we will experience some difficulties, but if I remember correctly, Rome was not built in a day, or easily. So were willing to go through some difficulties to make our video the best. We are using our inaginations with really no limit on this one, so hopefully it will turn out as good as we want. I am pretty confident with the resources and experience out team has to make a solid video.

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Persuasive Games?

I played the “airport security” game, and it was a little fun. If I had the choice though I would definitely pick almost any other game before I play this one again. It probably could have been more fun, the most fun part was just that it was pretty challenging, and everyone likes a good challenge. I had to look at everyone going through security, and confiscate items on their person, which were not allowed by new security information. I did not beat the game; actually I’m pretty sure you can’t beat the game, because people just keep coming through security. The highest score I got was 260 on the “arbitrary” level, which was the middle, intermediate level. I don’t think I did very well; it’s a tough game. Honestly, it did give me more respect for the security people at the airport, believe it or not. Even though they are not really on a time limit, in real life, security is more important that the time people are waiting in line. But I think the point this game is trying to prove, is that the items that security is deeming “not allowed on a plane” are getting  a little ridiculous. Like at one point in the game, if someone had a shirt or pants on I would have to take them off and confiscate them. So its just showing what could happen if the security got so out of control that they started declothing people. Nowadays the only ridiculous thing they confiscate is water or any kind of liquid, which is pretty obnoxious, but everything else, like knives, lighters, and stuff is understandable.

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week 6(ish) post

I really don’t think it is very possible to separate fact from opinion straight up, black and white. There will always be gray, that’s just the way people are. Every single person is created differently than the other, and humans are so complex the way we see things will always be different than the way someone else does. Bottom line. I think this does apply to media and writer’s bias does creep in to what they’re writing, because it’s coming from a human. What they are putting on the paper comes from their brain, it has filtered through a person who sees it in their own way, so it will creep in to whatever they’re saying. Since we have all these different voices and different opinions of how that person sees something, the only way for us to have our own firm belief is through some form of trial and error. We will constantly hear a voice of how that person sees something, and it will make sense to us. Only through testing and everyday practicality and testing will we decide if that is true to us, and worthy of our time and energy to believe in it. As far as the credible sources go, since we are writing a paper where there are two sides and we are trying to prove something, it actually helps that there is such an un-level playing field of sources. We can simply find and use sources, which appeal to or strengthen our argument. In parts of the writing where we state the other side, we can find sources that support the other side, and just show how we have more sources from the our side which outweigh the others. So were pretty much just writing to write, which is important for learning. There is black and white out there, but it looks different to every single person who sees it.

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Research Questions

How much of a police officer's salary is commission from tickets? How much does the local government make from speeding tickets a month or year? Do cops have a "quota" of speeding tickets they much give to people each month or year? Are they really protecting us?

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Research Questions

How does milk affect human growth? What are the best and worst aspects of milk to our health? How does mass produced and pasteurized milk differ nutritionally from natural milk?

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Research Questions

The problem with the American Dream:

How does the average American measure success? How many Americans are on anti-depression medication? What percentage of people medically diagnosed with depression make above 6 figures of income a year? How many American citizens are driven by obtaining material things?

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Tom Brady Uggs Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaaZ6E8daVM

Uggs used Tom Brady for this ad because he is a successful football player, who mostmen would love to be. Countless guys will call him a pansy because of his hair and what not, but they have no credibility, Tom Brady plays the toughest manliest pro sport there is. And he does it extremely well, many would argue he is the best quarterback in the game. The slamming of Brady for his hair or Ugg commercial is just showing men’s jealousy of Brady and his winning team. This commercial is effective because no matter what guys say, they would love to have Tom Brady’s looks and life, and they know that deep down through all the mocking they do of him. It would especially work for football fans because they know who he is and how successful he is in the game of football, and by some people’s standards, life as a whole. This is also effective to be playing on Monday Night Football because Brady’s team, the New England Patriots have a very large fan base and a lot of Brady worshippers, who would buy men’s uggs just because Tom Brady wore them in a commercial. He is a love/hate kind of guy, and I am just in the middle with very few with me. Although many trash him, it is a good commercial and is effective for football fans because whether or not Tom Brady is an idol, or hated by people, the way he plays is quietly respected because he is one of the best. Many want to be the best in whatever they do, and he exemplifies the best in a popular sport with many fans. This advertisement claims, “Men’s uggs are worn by winners and champions.” And the audience hears that, and regardless of what they think of Brady, they know he is a winner, and they want to be also.

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10 Observations

1)The first place your eyes lead you is the giant back of the tiger's head. 2)You then glance up to the text and picture of the product to figure out what this ad is all about. 3)You then look back to the tiger, more specifically the hands gripping the tiger's neck. 4)Then you realize the person is riding the tiger as if it is an awesome motor vehicle. 5)The eyes of the audience then glance around and scour the landscape around, and really get the feel for how fast the tiger/atv is going. 6)The landscape appears to be a desert, probably in Africa since there is a tiger. 7)There are large, formidable mountains in the distance. 8)Honda is conveying how powerful and fun their product is by comparing riding it to riding a tiger. 9)Riding a tiger fast would most likely be one of the most exciting/terrifying things a person can do, 10)so to the day dreaming, head in the clouds audience, this ad really gets them thinking and imagining what it would be like riding this beast through the wilderness in great detail, if said viewer had any interest in atvs or just some extra money lying around, they would definitely try out this product just to see what riding a tiger feels like. And I would be right there with them.

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Helmet ad

When first looking at this ad the audience immediately is drawn to the large body cast. So the writer could be using pathos to draw the audience in, making them feel bad for the victim in the ad. The audience's eyes then look down at the logo to find out it was an ad for helmets. Then you look back at the man and realize that his head where the helmet would be is perfectly in tact without a cast. Logos then kicks in when the audience thinks to themselves (after they're done laughing) "wow, that must really be a good helmet!" If the cast man ever recovers from this accident, his head is going to be alright. There is no text in the ad except for the Lazer Helmet brand, which is brilliantly simple, and leaves the rest to the audience to be able to understand what all is going on in the ad. I actually showed this to some friends and they didn't get it, haha i had to explain it. I guess they need a little help in the logos area of their brain...

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Snakebite ad

This ad really catches the eye of the audience by the beautiful bright green color of the snake, and of course its menacing strike position. Once you look at that terrifying face and fangs, your eyes are drawn to the hand with nice looking touch screen cell phone. The text on the phone is quite funny in how dumb it seems, I believe the writer is using logos persuasion because who would take out their phone to ask that question as they are about to be bitten by a snake? Then the reader begins to think, "well that phone must be really fast if that guy thinks he can get helpful information to avoid a bad situation in a millisecond. It is all quite impossible and exaggerated, but the ad is brilliant in the creativity and wittiness of it. And it really does implant the idea into the brain of the audience that, "wow that new google phone must be really fast!"

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Cat Litter Ad

This ad jumped out to me at first because I love cats, mainly my cat, he is one of my best friends, he would love this. He rarely ever goes to the bathroom inside the house so he can't really feel what this cat is feeling. Anyways, I believe the audience for this ad is your everyday "crazy cat person". I would not consider myself in this category, but i do think cats are cute. A crazy cat person would undoubtedly buy this product just because of the wittiness and the picture of the cat. The writer know this because he or she is most likely a cat person if they are working for a cat litter company. The text below is so small and almost transparent, you really have to lean in to read it, causing you to naturally put more thought into it, making it all the more funny. This is a great ad, and I'm sure it has sold much cat litter. Oh and if you don't get it, the cat has to pee really bad and cant find it's litter box because the litter is so good at masking scents, the cat cant even find it's own litter box.