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Venice, Italy

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Final Comm Reflection

I've learned a lot about Communications as a whole and the various subtypes that make up communications. I came into this seminar knowing basically nothing, and now I have a better grasp about what Communications is and its fundamental role in almost every aspect of life. My goal was to learn more specifically about TV/Film in communications and I came away after two weeks with that goal fulfilled. I'm certain that this course will help me figure out what I want to study in college, as well as what career paths I want to pursue.

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Transit PR Team

The Boston Transit PR team responded with numerous effective strategies and solutions that addressed every issue that needed to be addressed. They came up with several ways to increase revenue for the Boston Transit (fare increases, increased ad space) that would help prevent the issue of Transit breakdowns in the future, as well as make the Transit more comfortable. This approach would essentially rebrand and recreate the Transit, so that people could once again put their trust back into the system. They attempted to change the general public’s view and opinion of the Boston Transit through an apology speech and slogans promoting the Transit, therefore dealing with the issue head-on. They identified the prevalent issues, researched effectively, developed incredibly comprehensive strategies that would have put my trust back into the Transit had I personally lost all faith in the system.

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Removal of Confederate Merchandise in stores

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/23/retailers-ban-confederate-flags_n_7648614.html

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102782023

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/06/23/south-carolina-lawmakers-to-discuss-confederate-flag-as-debate-stretches-to-miss-va/?postshare=1861435079036936

The Huffington Post recently released an article listing 6 large companies who immediately stopped selling Confederate flags and other merchandise in response to the Charleston shooting and to the ongoing heated debate concerning the racist implications behind the Confederate flag. The article focused primarily on company response, while CNBC and other source articles discussed the shooter’s motives, racism in South Carolina, the removal of the Confederate flag from government institutions, police intervention, and protests. The Huffington post article was more objective in its writing style while its aggregated sources were more editorial.

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This image is fan art from the most recent installment in the Mad Max franchise; Mad Max: Fury Road. I by no means belong to the fandom of George Miller's Mad Max series, but when I watched his newest movie I couldn't stop thinking about its spectacular visuals and mind-bending stunts. This fan art is an expansion of and reaction from the role of music as seen in the war cars/trucks throughout the movie. The feeling of insanity, adrenaline, and violence is portrayed just as it was throughout the film. Nothing is transformed from the original movie in this fan art, only merely expanded upon. There is also a refocus of characters in this painting. Neither Max nor Furiosa (two key characters in the movie) are represented. Rather, the bald headed lunatics that Max fights throughout the movie are solely represented.

[hruskbu-blog]

Modern family review

The key element of a successful and engaging TV show, for me at least, is consistent fast-paced storytelling, in which I feel an entire spectrum of emotions; happiness, sadness, fear, suspense etc... This episode of Modern Family achieved incredible and successful fast-paced storytelling through its use of panning/zooming, multiple subplots, and use of several things going on at once. The panning and zooming used created an incredible amount of suspense when needed. This choice of filmmaking style made the episode more dynamic. If the episode had been a single static image of the computer screen, I would have become immediately less interested in the story taking place because of the lack of visual stimulation in the form of movement. The three main subplots of the episode were about the haircut, desire for popcorn, and Andy's hat. These different stories, however simple, created another layer of complexity to the episode that further increased my interest. They acted as interjecting points in the main story, so the audience did not become disinterested or bored in the the main story. They similarly acted as emotional breaks and comic relief from the anxiety created by the main story. A third component that made the episode engaging was the use of multiple things going on at once, such as Claire's multitasking when video chatting (she read several articles, browsed Facebook, shopped, and surfed the web). This further prevented the audience from becoming bored, and like the subplots, acted as comic relief, furthered the story visually, and enabled a wider array of emotional reactions from the episode.

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[busummerchallengecomm]

“Announcing Wednesday, First of This Seminar”

We’re talking advertising today, and apart from some historical context and some background information on the way that advertisers actually work today, we’re going to be doing some exploring of some ad campaigns, both past and present. Bring whatever technology you need to explore sites like AdAge and Vintage Ad Browser.

We’ll round out class with a discussion of advertising ethics alongside the present and future of advertising. These posts will be our guide. 

Meet John Green, New York Times Bestselling author several times over and avid YouTuber. This is his pitch to advertisers from YouTube’s 10th anniversary event, held this winter in New York City. Listen to how he conceptualizes the potential of YouTube for advertisers, with keywords like “communities” and “engagement.” How does this connect with the motives and business models of advertising that we discussed in class today? What are the challenges that advertisers face in targeting youth demographics with this kind of YouTube advertising? Respond to the video in less than 300 words. Remember to tag the post like this one.

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Advertisers face the challenge of YouTubers with large fan bases. These youtube stars don't and will not rely on advertising to maintain their video output because they have a 'fandom' that fully supports them financially. As Green said, Youtubers may hold events, which in turn strengthen their fan base and give them money. Advertisers may therefore turn to Youtubers who are unable to support themselves independently because of a lack of a strong fan base. In order for advertisers to reach these communities, advertisers may need to fully integrate and become part of the YouTubers content. An example being YouTubers who try on/review beauty products that are sponsored/paid for by companies. An alternative solution would be to target videos intended as a means to escape reality or as a "distraction". The audience of such videos are more prone and willing to accept and engage in advertisements because they further let them disengage from reality (ex; deadliest catch on cable). This would thus separate YouTube content into two main parts; videos that have large fan-bases and are independent from advertisements and videos that are dependent on advertisements and which are intended to disassociate the viewer from reality.

[busummerchallengecomm]

Cookie Monster, from Sesame Street, an American children’s TV show

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This gif is communicating that something good, or worthy of pursuit, is better when in larger scale or mass (like the giant cookie). This ideology is reinforced by the positive feedback the cookie monster is getting from the crowd (clapping and a pat on the back). The quick pan and zoom is typically used for comedy scenes in movies (ex; shaun of the dead, hot fuzz, Monty Python), so this supports the ideology that large scale is good by giving off the central feeling and vibe of happiness (which typically is associated with comedy). Vibrant colors also play into the general atmospheric feeling of happiness.

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BU communications seminar

I am taking the mass communications seminar at BU this summer mostly due to my passion and interest in film and television. I am usually carrying around a camera, whether it be for school sports or performances, or even scripted shorts/short documentary pieces and corporate videos. I am so profoundly interested in Photography, videography, and filmmaking because of their ability to capture any stories that I find interesting and intriguing. I enjoy seeing how movies translate across different cultures and time periods and understanding the incredible process of creating visual stories. I took a class in psychology and mental illness last year and we focused largely on the effects of movies and tv shows on society, whether it be positive or negative, so this further sparked my interests in the powerful medium of movies and tv shows. I want to further explore the industry of movies and tv shows, how movies and tv shows convey and communicate such powerful messages, and how movies and tv shows effect society as a whole. I will be a senior next year and as i've explored many possible majors to study in college Communications, above everything else, has sparked my interest and excited me. As a whole, the entire concept, definition, and curriculum of mass communications still remains quite unclear to me, so the BU summer challenge program seems like an incredible way to better grasp and understand what goes into studying communications. I also hope to talk to those who know the process and industry behind making visual stories and who can possibly provide some valuable insight into what studying film and television within a communications major would be like. I'm incredibly interested in looking at Boston University's film and television program specifically and seeing the facilities and supports that BU has to offer.