CLASS 12 - Television

DISCUSSION: We discussed viewing habits and  favorite shows. We talked about characters who reinforce stereotypes and those who defy them. We viewed clips including this one from Family Guy about the Freakin' FCC:


HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 10, complete workbook.

BLOG Week 6: Television

Find and describe an online video (from YouTube or another video site) that explains or explores topics that are mentioned in the textbook. Videos should be under 10 minutes in length and should not be one that a classmate has already posted. For each video, give a link to the video and include:

· The length of the video
· A description of the video in your own words
· The name of the corresponding chapter in our textbook
· A course related quiz question to go along with the video
· An answer to the quiz question

An example (sorry it's a bit dated):



Length: 4:22

Description: Stats and facts concerning Social Media's accelerated assimilation into mainstream culture.
Chapter 2: Media Impact, Chapter 10: Internet, other chapters.
Quiz Question: In comparison to Facebook, which reached 100 Million users in a matter of months, how many years did it take for Radio to reach 50 million users?
Answer: 38 years.

Class 11 - Recordings & Radio

DISCUSSION: Students wrote as many music genres as they could think of, and we discussed which genres developed from sources that the musicians could have heard only through recordings (most of them). We discussed the wide influence of African roots on many American styles of music, including rock'n'roll. We looked at Wikipedia's list of music styles.

POWERPOINT: The history of formats, the growth of the recorded music industry. We watched the trailer for "Recording: The History of Recorded Music", Internet music collaborations, backmasking of Beatles songs and Internet music collaborations.


SHOW AND TELL: Edison's cylinder, shellack records, vinyl 45s and LPs, 8-track tape, and album of recordings of "Louis Louis" and a page from a book about the song and the FBI's investigation into its lyrics.

QUIZZES - Students will complete the quizzes for Chapter 7 - Recordings and Chapter 8 - Radio online. Click on the link. At the end of the quiz, e-mail the results to yourself and to me. If you do not see a confirmation pop-up, copy-and-paste your entire quiz and e-mail it to me. These quizzes are due Sunday Oct. 31 at midnight. Scary!

Class 10 - Movies

DISCUSSION: We discussed genres of movies, foreign and independent movies, duties of director and producer, and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and its rating system.

SHOW AND TELL: We discussed the concept of "persistence of vision" by passing around a deck of cards and viewing Eadweard Muybridge's horse photos. We also looked at 8mm and 16mm film.

POWER POINT: We looked at clips from "Birth of a Nation" "The Jazz Singer," and "pre-Code" movies, the three movies worst ever made (from the DVD 50 Worst Movies ever made), movie cliches and product placement.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapters 7 - Recordings and 8 - Radio and complete workbook pages. The first question in "Recordings" is to list every genre of music you can think of. We will use the lists in class Tuesday.

BLOG: Choose one. Please note that the assignments have several steps. To get full points, complete all steps.

Week 5: Movies or Recordings

Write 1-2 sentences about your favorite movie of 2009-10 and why you liked it. Write 1-2 more sentences about your all-time favorite movie and why you like it. In which format(s) did you first see these movies? Add links to both in rottentomatoes.com or IMDB.com  Bonus: find and embed (not just link) a trailer for one of the movies.      

OR

Write 1-2 sentences about your favorite sound recording of 2009-10 and why you liked it. Write 1-2 more sentences about your favorite oldie and why you like it. In which format(s) did you first hear these recordings? Add links to Amazon.com, YouTube.com or other sites where others can listen to your recordings (or samples). Bonus: find and embed (not just link) a performance of one of your recordings.

View other students' blogs and comment on them!

Class 8 - Magazines

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY:  We briefly viewed a history of photography from the website of National Geographic, the first magazine to publish color photos and later the first magazine to go all-color. National Geographic won many awards for this stunning cover photo of an Afghan girl from 1985. The story of her life until 2002, when a photographer tracked her down, can be found here. Warning: She has had a tough life.

ACTIVITY: Students completed the Magazine Content Analysis on p. 13 of the workbook. The analysis helped students determine the target audience of the magazines.

REMINDER:  The Internet Search Project is due tonight at midnight at TurnItIn.com. Our class ID number is 3452419, password: hello. If you have already used TurnItIn, you just need to add the class. If you are new to TurnItIn, create a new account.
 
BLOG 4 -Magazine Proposal
Write a proposal for a new magazine (either a print magazine or an online magazine), as if you were going to submit it to a publisher. Your proposal should include: 

· Name of magazine 
· Concept – how is your magazine different from existing magazines? 
· Readers – demographics and psychographics (may include age group, gender, ethnicity, income level, interests, self-image, self-identification, etc.) 
· Other magazines serving this demographic (your competition) – your investors will want to know how your magazine is different or better? 
· Five advertisers who you think would like to reach your readers 
· Five articles you might include in your premier (first) issue 
· Describe the cover of your premier issue (photo, graphics, color, words, etc.) 
· Bonus points: Draw (or create electronically) your proposed cover and bring it to class. Post it in your blog if possible.  You don't need to be artistic -- you can draw stick figures.

I will give prizes for the best magazine proposal (most original and feasible) and for the most artistic. 

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 6 (Movies) and complete workbook assignments.

Class 7 - Magazines

DISCUSSION: We discussed the three stages of media development, which apply to magazines and to other media we are studying:

• Elite stage -- Only the most wealthy, most educated have access
• Popular stage -- Most people have access, but choices are limited
• Specialized stage -- Everyone has access, but choices are fragmented

SHOW AND TELL: We looked at older copies of Life, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, etc. and examples of different types of magazines: Trade, public relations, consumer; and academic and professional journals.

MAGAZINE COVERS: We viewed online the best magazine covers of '09, and Time magazine covers. We didn't get a chance to view the  Top 40 covers of 1965-2005, which includes some classics you might be familiar with.

The magazine quiz will be on Thursday.

Due Thursday at midnight:  The Internet Search Project. Turn it in at TurnItIn.com. Our class ID number is 3452419, password: hello. If you have already used TurnItIn, you just need to add the class. If you are new to TurnItIn, create a new account.

BLOG 4 - Magazine Proposal -
Write a proposal for a new magazine (either a print magazine or an online magazine), as if you were going to submit it to a publisher. Your proposal should include:

· Name of magazine
· Concept – how is your magazine different from existing magazines?
· Readers – demographics and psychographics (may include age group, gender, ethnicity, income level, interests, self-image, self-identification, etc.)
· Other magazines serving this demographic (your competition) – your investors will want to know how your magazine is different or better?
· Five advertisers who you think would like to reach your readers
· Five articles you might include in your premier (first) issue
· Describe the cover of your premier issue (photo, graphics, color, words, etc.)
· Bonus points: Draw (or create electronically) your proposed cover and bring it to class. Post it in your blog if possible.  You don't need to be artistic -- you can draw stick figures.

I will give prizes for the best magazine proposal (most original and feasible) and for the most artistic.


HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 6 (Movies) and complete workbook assignments.

CLASS 6 - Newspapers

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  The Internet Search Project is due Thursday Oct. 14 by midnight at TurnItIn.com. Our class ID number is 3452419, password: hello. If you have already used TurnItIn, you just need to add the class. If you are new to TurnItIn, create a new account.

POWERPOINT: We looked at the history of newspapers, highlighting the development of:

- freedom of the press and the First Amendment in the United States
- The inverted pyramid style during the U.S. Civil War
- Yellow journalism during and before the Spanish-American war (resulting from a newspaper war between newspaper barons Pulitzer and Hearst)
- Tabloid newspapers such as the New York Post


DVD: We viewed a clip from The Paper, a 1994 movie about an ethical issue at a tabloid newspaper. Many journalists say that the newsroom scenes are the most realistic they've seen in movies.


HOMEWORK:  Read Chapter 5 (Magazines), complete workbook activities.

BLOG: 

Name three books you have read that had the most influence on you. In 1-2 sentences, describe why each one was influential. (Write in more detail than saying, «It was good» or «it made me laugh.» Say why it was good or made you laugh and how it stayed with you after you read it.) Add friendly links to the books on Amazon.com or another online bookseller, or authors’ websites.   

Adding friendly links:  Type in the words (e.g. title of a book), then select the words and click on the blue "Link" button  at the top of the posting box. Copy and paste the link into the "Edit Link" dialog box. 

Adding images to your blog:  Save the image to your computer. Click on the picture button at the top of the posting box. Browse to find the image you want, then edit the position and size.

Class 5 - Books

ANNOUNCEMENT: Internet Search Project is due Oct. 14. The assignment consists of 20 questions based on mass media Web sites, and it will take several hours to complete. We will discuss it in class Thursday.

DISCUSSION: Groups came up with lists of the six most influential books of all time. The lists included: The Bible, the Koran, Greek myths, Shakespeare and the I-Ching. More recent books included: Goosebumps, Harry Potter. Dr. Seuss and The Purpose-Driven Life. We compared the lists to Boston Public Library's list of most influential books of the last 100 years and Wikipedia's list of the 100 most influential books ever.

POWERPOINT: We examined the history of printing, the printing press and moveable type. We discussed banned and challenged book, electronic book readers such as the Sony Reader and Amazon's Kindle and copyright issues.

SHOW AND TELL: We looked at books including an illuminated manuscript, the Koran, Uncle Tom's Cabin, old textbooks, and Where's Waldo -- banned because of a topless woman in Waldo's beach scene.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 4 (Newspapers) and complete Workbook exercises.

BLOG 3 - BOOKS
Name three books you have read that had the most influence on you. In 1-2 sentences, describe why each one was influential. (Write in more detail than saying, «It was good» or «it made me laugh.» Say why it was good or made you laugh and how it stayed with you after you read it.) Add links to the books on Amazon.com or another online bookseller, or authors’ Websites.
This week, comment on at least one other student's blog (see list on the right).