Tuesday, May 20

Q: Is there an American culture? What is the American culture?

For Tues May 20 – last class day before Final.  
Q:  Is there an American culture?  What is the American culture?

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20090126/EDIT09/301269995:  Trying to define what constitutes the “American character” is like trying to nail jelly to a wall.

Snoopy
You have had an “aha” moment – what is it?  
Ways to approach your presentation:
  • ·         Language – speech patterns.
  • ·         Americans as listeners; Americans as interrupters
  • ·         The classroom in this culture (as opposed to in your native culture)
  • ·         Body language
  • ·         The male-female divide – its presence or absence
  • ·         Orientation to media
  • ·         Americans’ knowledge of their own place in the world, their history.
  • ·         The isolation of Hollywood.
  • ·         The American belief system, e.g., in God, in equality, in freedom of press, in freedom of expression, in self-reliance
  • ·         Self-reliance
  • ·         group think - independent thinking - tribal thinking
  • ·         do not attack people; attack ideas
  • ·         free press or "Pravda"
·         .DUE:  bring in maximum 1 page on it.  double spaced.  Prepare to present.

HERE ARE MINE:  among agonizing, irrational politics and insipid worship of heroes and tribes, there are instances of brilliance.  Here are 4:
  1. does it show American culture?
  2. this one is one shot - and it was done after the media proclaimed this city (my home town) dead.  The city roared back with this, getting everyone from the Mayor to the Police to the Fire department involved.  That was three years ago - it now has over 5 million hits
  3. and how about this for shooting and raw talent
  4. the bus in Berkeley, the taxi cab line in NYC

Glossary for final multiple choice

1.       Actual malice in Libel law, a reckless disregard for the truth such as when a reporter knows that a fact is wrong but reports it anyway
2.       ARPAnet – the original packet switching on which the interenet is based.
3.       Big Five/Little Three  Fox Paramount  MGM  RKO  WBros                     Universal UA Columbia.   
4.       Cinema Verite – truth, unvarnished, hand held, no “Aristotelian” story
5.       Codex – the first book!
6.       Commercial speech any print or broadcast expression for which a fee is charged to the organization or individual buying time or space
7.       Common Carrier – a communication or transportation business such as a phone company or a taxi service that is required by law to offer services on a first come first serve basis to whomever can pay the rate.  Such companies do not get involved in content.  THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW, AS IT RELATES TO "NET NEUTRALITY"
8.       Communications Act of 1934 – established the FCC and the federal regulatory structure for US broadcasting
9.       Content Analysis – systematic analysis of content
10.   CPB Corp for Public Broadcasting – private non-profit organization created by Congress in 1967 to funnel funds to public television and radio
11.   Cultivation effect – the phenomenon that leaves us, after immersion in tv, thinking that one is “in” the TV show
12.   Data Mining – using personal data for commercial or political purposed other than what the personal owner intended
13.   Deficit financing – receiving less for a series than the show cost – on the assumption that it will recoup losses later
digital divide – the fact that the rich and the poor have different access to the digital universe
14.   Dime novels – identified as pulp fiction.  Cheap.  1860s.
15.   Drive time  6-10 and 4-7
16.   Economies of scale – economic process of reducing cost by producing more (reduce cost/unit)
17.   Evergreen subscriptions – auto renew on your credit card
18.   Evergreen - same
19.   Fairness Doctrine  - 1949-1987:  present both sides (right and left)
20.   FCC (Fed Communications Commission) – regulates radio, TV, wire, satellite and cable
21.   Fiber optics cable – carry light
22.   FM frequency modulation – encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave
23.   Fourth estate – A force whose influence is not officially recognized. Typically “Mass Media”
24.   Gag orders – suppression.  A legal order on a 3rd party.  May be ordered by employer or other institution.
25.   Herd journalism  (Pack journalism) homogeneity – depends on a single source.  Groupthink.
26.   Hollywood Ten – held in contempt of Congress.  Blacklisted
27.   HTML – hypertext markup language
28.   ISP (Internet Service Provider) – provide service to access the web.
29.   Libel – published false statement that is damaging to a reputation (SEE Slander, below)
30.   Lobbying – attempts to influence decisions.  The word came from this activity taking place in the lobby of The Willard Hotel, in Washington, DC
31.   Longitudinal studies – repeated observations over time
32.   Media convergence – communication technologies, computer networks, media content
33.   Muckrakers – reporters willing to crawl around in muck
34.   Must-carry rules – required by FCC that cable carriers assign channels to local news
35.   Narrowcasting – aimed at a target audience
36.   Newshole or News hole – the place left over after all the ads were placed in a newspaper – for last minute news
37.   O & Os (TV stations) – stations owned and operated by networks
38.   Opt-in or Opt-out policies – on personal data gathering.  Opt in means you are warned.  Opt out means they can gather and use your information.  controversial Web site policies about personal data gathering—involving permission (by you) or lack of permission (by you).
38.   Off network syndication – in TV, the process whereby older programs no longer fun prime time are available for re-runs
39.   Paramount decision - the 1948 Supreme Court decision that ended vertical integration in film:  studios had to divest their theaters.
40.   Payola – unethical promotion of music or news by DJs on the radio.  It’s a crime!
41.   Paywall – an online portal that charges consumers a fee for access.
42.   Phishing – internet scam that begins with phone email messages that appear official and request that you send in your credit card and personal information.
43.   Postmodern – postmodernism
44.   Prime Time Access Rule (PTAR) – restricts network programming that a local O&O could air during “Prime time”
45.   Prior restraint - censorship on expression before the expression actually takes place
46.   Pseudo-events – in public relations, events created for purpose of obtaining media coverage
47.   Radio Act of 1912 (US) – This addressed the problmes of amateur radio operators cramming the airwaves:  All radio stations be licensed and seagoing vessels monitor distress frequencies
48.   Radio Act of 1927 (US) – to restore order to the airwaves:  licensees did not own their channels but could license them to those who would serve the “public interest.”
49.   Rotation – in formal radio programming, the practice of playing the mose popular or bestselling songs many times through the day.
50.   Section 315 – (section of 1934 Communications Act) mandates that during elections, stations must provide equal opportunity and response time for qualified political candidates.
51.   Shield Laws – protect the confidentiality of key interview subjects and reporters’ rights not to reveal the sources of controversial information used in news stories.
52.   Slander – spoken language that defames a person’s character.  (see ‘Libel’ for written)
53.   Spiral of silence –   people who find their views on controversial issues in the minority tend to keep these views silent.
54.   Vertical Integration – controlling a mass media industry at 3 levels:  production, distribution, and exhibition.  This is outlawed for movies – but may be coming for the internet.

55.   Yellow journalism – this style of newspaper writing peaked in the 1890s:  emphasized high interest stories, sensational crime news, large headlines, and serious reports that exposed corruption in business and government.

Tuesday, May 13

Links for today

Nollywood wedding <-- this is quite a viewing.  Watch it.

Hugging today in China  <-- is this true?

THIS IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR FUTURE:  NET NEUTRALITY  Cartoon on it     Right wing on it       FCC on it (a bluff?)    Democrats on it  Repubs on how it must be defended   and a man w the big picture?   Moyers on it

Thursday, May 1

Women head scarves Middle East

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OiYDRIdIKo ß 2014 U of M study of ME women
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ORarZNeJg ß Somali culture vs. American culture.  “Our culture is based on religion”  if You don’t pray, it don’t matter if you wear one or not.  Gotta paise Allah.    I wanna wear one – I don’t want to be looked at funny because I wear it.   I want non-Muslims to understand why I wear it – not to judge me real quick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MXaatHbEQw START 1 min:  Turkey banned it in 1923.  1982 more ban.   Now, in 2013, people are protesting.  97.8% Muslim.  Banned in public sector.  Find it discrimative towards women on the basis of their religion.  Women entitled to their own freedom.  Cannot be wrn in any govt job:  atty, gov, teacher.   Kids cannot wear them in schoold.  University students:  no.  Muslim women want more freedom. 
 They want the ban lifted in the name of democracy. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6gNhtC8CZo ß kid in two diff hats.  Argues with self.  Muslim women are the most beautiful
*** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXzUuKdfnRE ß great one 10 min.   3 types.    Middle one it’s based on the fact I want to be judged on what I do, not what I look like.   It’s to make men behave better towards you – right?     What is my mission, asks the one who does not wear.  It will create barrier.   As a Muslim, you’re a missionary at heart:  you are supposed to bring Islam to them.  We need to integrate, assimilate, and move from one culture or another.  Covered one:  I don’t think you have to assimilate.  You need to represent Islam as an emvcompassing thing, not an exclusionary thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSIjfnpPCsg ß ban in France (two Muslim women argue)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbKqqai1V-c career Western women converting to Islam.  3/4 of new converts to Islam are women.


Saturday, April 12

Gender bending assignment

for the culture of men and the culture of women, bring in three (3) examples:  be specific, not general.  Have at least ONE of the THREE with a clip of where we see the "bend."   Here is a list - but also consider movies where they put a woman in man's work (e.g., "Million Dollar Baby") or a man in woman's work (e.g., "Mr. Mom").  Does the film really switch one sex into the opposite gender - or not?  In "Million Dollar Baby" we see a woman who happens to be a fighter - but she is completely dependent upon a man.  Good movie, but not a gender bender.

Here is the other post about this assignment.

Tuesday, April 8

Male culture Female culture

1.  little girls and little boys:  the Tannen experiment
2.  Boys will be Girls and Girls will be Boys  
          facing one another
           talking ABOUT one another or other things
              uniting (sameness) vs. scoring (differences) <-- BOTH create loyalty
                Joke: women in car on the way to Las Vegas and men in car on the way to Las Vegas
3. Jung Animus and Anima:  In class:  start today at 13 min in - to 18:45  5 min 45 sec.
           the sexualized, traditional depiction of m-w goes deep into collective consciousness
4. "Million Dollar Baby"  Is it a breakdown of M-F stereotypes or a depiction of M-F stereotypes? She wants love.  He can provide love.  Even though she chose a masculine profession (fighting) she was COMPLETELY dependent upon him both for training and for career guidance...to the point that she was 100% incapacitated, asking him for one final act to "protect" her and her memory of the crowds roaring with love.  TOTAL FEMININE WOMAN DEPICTION.  TOTAL MAN SAVIOR DEPICTION.
5. Walt in the police station
6.  Media:  commercials DO GIVE women power, but it is the power to buy their products.

Watch this excellent analysis to assist in the depiction next week: moments of gender bending in film.  Operationalization here is 1.  did women talk to each other and 2. if so, did they talk of something other than about men.

FROM a male culture and a female culture TO a culture without sex-gender roles???
Show liberation from categories or show attempted but failed gender bending, e.g., Maggie in "Million Dollar Baby."
Next week written assignment:  Find 3 depictions in film:  moments, not generalities.
  typed, double spaced, proofread
The write up should contain:
  1. set up (given circumstances, context)
  2. moment
  3. what it expresses about man - woman.  Does it imprison each in a category or liberate one or the other from a category.  Does it express deep and unalterable traits.  Does it "assault" the cultural dictate of the M-F distinction?
Have at least 1 of the three that you can "que up" and SHOW - the others can just be written about.

Monday, April 7

Culture of Men, Culture of Women: Traditional

YOU HAVE AN ASSIGNMENT - these are just some musings and some links that might help:

men and women's brains' wiring

assorted movies?  "Patton" (macho)  "Adam's Rib" (the battle of the sexes)  "Kramer vs. Kramer" (equalizing)  "Annie Hall" (the man who knew too much)  "American Beauty" (out of balance) "Million Dollar Baby" (give love, get love) "Breaking Bad" (man provides for family).


SOME LINKS 

Polansky on the attempt to make the sexes the same 
Geena Davis on Sexism in Hollywood
Glenn Close on her role in "Fatal Attraction"

Tuesday, April 1

April 8 - Media and Culture of Sex Roles

Each student brings in 3 items as examples of the Media's depiction of Traditional Sex Roles.   April 15 we approach Modern & Post-Modern Sex Roles - so for April 8 stick with traditional sex roles.

What is an "item"?  Your "items" may vary, but there must be three.  You will each submit one typed sheet (double spaced) with your name and the three items you bring as "offerings" to the discussion.

Locate each of the 3 "items" in time and space, e.g., China, 1990; USA, 1955; Afghanistan, 2010; New York, 1969 - and so forth.

Classify each of the 3 "items":  role expectations, education, work, sexual norms, descriptors, movie roles, movie awards, TV watching patterns, commercial bias (e.g., ads for women vs. ads for men), language ("bad" words, "good" words), stereotypical emotions - and so forth.

An "item" or an offering might be:

  1. a link to some description or depiction - which you can bring up on the internet for all to see
  2. a clip - which you can bring on a DVD or a thumb drive or with a link
  3. a "prop" - e.g., a corset, high heels, a Playboy Magazine, a hammer, a spoon
  4. a "fact" or "finding" which you document and are prepared to present, e.g., a graph of how men vs. women vote, how men vs. women are employed, something about language we use to describe, something about any pattern or "norm" for either or both sexes, e.g., women are emotional and men are rational; women multi-task and men focus.

China links

Chinese Film Director oibit


Ai Weiwei Ted Talk

Cultural Web of Life - sum total of all myths.  Ethnosphere at edge of extinction - Nat'l Geog man

Chinese Economy:  take notes while watching



http://marker.to/ANWych press censorship - and freedom


On your own  North Korea

A quote for Media and Culture

I ate civilization. It poisoned me; I was defiled~ Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Monday, March 10

POV Project

Point of View - NYFA handout

Create a scene of no more than two minutes using two actors in a single location. Write two different versions of this scene, one from each actor's point of view. Point of view, or narrative stance, is a scene often told from the perspective or point of view of a primary character, interpreted by the audience accordingly to camera, directing and editing techniques.

Thursday, March 6

Premises of AA noms

Wolf of WS:  drugs that get you high will get you low (crawl) - what goes up will come down
Amer Hust:  a bad guy can be a good guy (1st good with adoption; 2nd - "fat" and unkempt, but attractive 3rd good with Mayor)
her:  the division in two makes us want to be one.  two is one.  diversity is oneness.
Dallas BC:  protection is danger.  regulation is irregular.  good is bad.   bad is good.
Nebraska:  parents' pressure pops out the babe; the babe then gets pressure to be released at parents death
Gravity:  from Dim:  there is hope in hopelessness.
Philomena:
12 Years a Slave:

Tuesday, February 25

Point of View - clarification

Group:  tell me more about point of view for my thinking cap this week.
Is the intention that you capture VARIOUS pov's or is the intention that you (somehow) point to the ONE pov which you depict?  Just comment with thoughts about this to help me better understand your needs and find suitable movies to show and discuss.  thx.

Pro's of Media

1) Interconnectedness:

  • Allowing people to connect with others/find their circles.
  • Allowing uploads to be shared on different platforms such as FB, INSTAGRAM etc.
  • Allowing sharing of views on politics/events.
2) Online streaming and playbacks:
  • Use of Youtube, E-online etc. 
  • Itunes (ability of purchasing TV/Media)
  • Ability to watch anything at anytime. 
3) Job Creation:
  • Coders, photographers, actors, etc. 
  • Job pr product awareness. 
4) Advertisement: 
  • Product/services advertisement. 
  • Self promotion.
  • Idea promotion/advertisement.
5) Shopping:
  • Clothes, accessories, groceries, furniture.
  • Any product can be sold online. 
  • Real-estate
6) Education: 
  • Online Degrees, product comparison.
  • Research (Wikipedia, Google)
7) Entertainment: 
  • Tourism sites.
  • Where to eat out sites. 
  • Where to go out tonight sites. 
  • Gossip 

'How to Network in the Film Industry in Effective Way' Idea

Hey, everyone!
For the Social Media project, how about if we work on 'How to Network in the Film Industry in the Most Effective Way?' I know it's pretty straightforward of a project but I deeply believe it will benefit us all and not just that, I think we can work on it to its full potential in a matter of the three months that we have. What do you think?  Batsheba or Zalikha

Former Student's Blog about his experience

http://otheanthem.com/2013/11/12/the-new-york-film-academy/

It's simple and nice…

McLuhan re-dos and new-dos


Monday, February 24

creative advertiament

Tuesday - tomorrow

Bring last week's  and this week's McLuhan (bring first week's if you didn't re-submit it already)
Bring four term definitions from Wu's book "The Master Switch"
Post the + or - of media from classroom exercise last week.
Read over these posts - no new comments?  no new posts?  Did you join?  Do you have an interest in media?  Did you follow the story about the FCC?  Did you look at the new "links we like"?  Did you "vote" for Best Film?  Did you begin to "play" in this social media?

Next week:  due March 4
The Master Switch
A for Angels:  the beginnings of radio (Chapter 2)                 A  Zhuo    JJ            Zalikha
B for Beauteous:  the beginnings of the telephone (Chapter 3) B  Vasha  Nadeen     JD
C for Creatives:  the beginnings of film (Chapter 4)               C  Lucy   Dimitrius  Christy
Your Job as a Team could divide up like this:
1. one presenter of the major concepts, major names - maybe you have a handout for the class
2. one presenter of the timeline of events - oral
3. one creator of a 1-2 page highlights - maybe one person is "behind the camera" and creates the text

Net Neutrality

definition

recent threat to it:
http://www.cabletechtalk.com/public-policy/why-its-a-good-thing-that-broadband-isnt-a-common-carrier/

what is a common carrier
http://www.cabletechtalk.com/public-policy/why-its-a-good-thing-that-broadband-isnt-a-common-carrier/

By 2029 robots

will be smarter than all of us

... and efficient, too!  they certainly would have posted the + and - about media (your lists) by now!

Thursday, February 20

Tuesday, February 18

MEDIA: Shower with your smartphone

It's interesting that this was a "Kickstart" project and got funded very quickly:  shower w your phone!

Mitso's film

Assignment for ALL for next week

"The Master Switch"  Chapter One."The Disruptive Founder":  here it is on Amazon
Here are some major concepts
1.       Simultaneous discovery
1.       Sustaining and disruptive innovation
2.       Musical telegraph
2.       Discriminatory network
3.       Kronos effect
3.       Schumpeter:  who is he; for what is he famous
4.       Creative destruction
4.       A counter-factual outcome
Take two from the first four and two from the second four (or take only the first four if you only have the sample on your Kindle).  Now you have 4 concepts out of the 8.
  • typed & double space
  • define each of your four terms
  • give it context - illustrate with the example given
  • This can probably be done within one page

Monday, February 17

soooo are we allowed to blog here about our other classes or just this one?
Hello! Finally made it, I am part of the group!

Web in China - politics

China and internet freedom  Let's check this out during class.

Monday, February 10

Buffer news

3 months ago, Buffer had some problems.  Interesting http://blog.programmableweb.com/2013/10/26/hack-of-buffer-should-raise-security-concerns-for-all-api-providers/ 

tomorrow we will begin to decide what content and what method-form we want to investigate.  See you tomorrow.  Bring your McLuhan sheets if you managed to get them done.

Sunday, February 9

Hi everybody! I'm here....

My Facebook page :https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002263045214&ref=tn_tnmn
My linked in page:http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=139727548&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Have a great shooting !   zhuochen(cindy)
I was reading all the assigments and I think I am a little confused about the last topic (Project Musings). could you explain again what is that? I can't remember and there's nothing on my notes about it…sorry…can you help me?Have a great weekend!
Hi everybody!

I'm here…this is my new facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/luciana.capela.77

And my twitter name is LUCYFLANCAPE - I don't have any pictures yet, but I will soon…

Have a great shooting this weekend and Monday!

Friday, February 7

2 copies of The Medium is the Massage: in the Library

You can do it!

Assignments Due on Tuesday!


  1. at least one comment here on the blog
  2. your McLuhan pages (this is to be one page per set - you have 2 sets + an "everyone" set)
  3. Read Medium is the Massage 1-61
  4. Sign up for two social Media (SM) apps (Twitter, FB, Pinterest, Buffer, LinkedIn, etc.)
  5. Project musings page - muse on it.

Thursday, February 6

Let's make this class fun and useful

Truth
Integrity
Laughter
Utility
What more do we want?
Ease
Plenitude

Session Days and times

Fri 01-Feb 1:00-3:00 Media: #1
Tue 1-Apr 4:15-7:00  Media: #8
Tue 11-Feb 4:15-7:00  Media: #2
Tue 8-Apr 4:15-7:00  Media: #9
Tue 18-Feb 4:15-7:00  Media: #3
Tue 15-Apr 4:15-7:00  Media: #10
Tue 25-Feb 4:15-7:00  Media: #4

Tue 4-Mar 4:15-7:00  Media: #5
Thu 1-May 4:15-7:00  Media: #11
Tue 11-Mar 4:15-7:00  Media: #6
Tue 6-May 4:15-7:00  Media: #12
Tue 18-Mar 4:15-7:00  Media: #7
Tue 13-May 4:15-7:00  Media: #13

Tue 20-May 4:15-7:00  Media: #14
V A C A T I O N


Thu 22-May 4:15-7:00  Media: #15

McLuhan assignment for next week: 3 separate pages

  
Pages 8-9
A lot of text!
Lucy Capela

Pages 10-11
text & fingerprint
Lucy Capela

Pages 12-13
you and circles
Zhuo Chen

Pages 14-15
family & coat rack
Zhuo Chen

Pages 16-17
neighborhood & school pix
Zalikha Harun

Pages 18-19
your education& circuits
Zalikha Harun

Pages 20-21
your job & noses
Jiang Jiang

Pages 22-23
your government & pitchfork unhappiness
Jiang Jiang

Pages 24-25
the others & white on black quotation
Vasha Narace

Pages 26-27
all media work us over completely,  A toe?
Vasha Narace

Pages 28-33
look look!  Everyone
everyone

Pages 34-37
my hands, holding a book and an eye
Tabor

Pages 38-39
clothing (or lack)
Said Nadeen

Pages 40-41
electric circuitry
Said Nadeen

Pages 42-43
Alice in Wonderland
Dimitris Tranos

Pages 44-45
A lot of text!
Dimitris Tranos

Pages 46-47
planes
Tabor

Pages 48-49
printing    dittos
Christy Wang

Pages 50-51
more dittos
Christy Wang

Pages 52-53
The Renaissance Legacy
Jiaduo Wu

Pages 54-55
whoa!  Backwards
Jiaduo Wu

Pages 56-57
Upside down
Yucheng Zhao

Pages 58-61
A cell
Yucheng Zhao