holiday

It's Thanksgiving. And there's no school.

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Sleepytime

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Late at night, I watch movies and things not for enjoyment but because I know that I'll fall asleep. In a sense, I use media instead of sleeping pills

or chamomile tea to help me relax and unwind and whatnot. I know that that was not the intended purpose of "Xanadu" but it's just so

easy to sleep to it.

I'd like to make a list of numerous forms of media and the different ways we use it that are not the original intent. Here's a short list.

1. Newspapers for wrapping paper.

2. 8-bit video game samples for music.

3. Blogs and Facebook substituting human interaction.

4. Phones that send letters.

The list could go on and on. I'm sure that kids can inform us of other new innovative things.

I really do like "Xanadu."

Twilight

Cedric Diggery back from the dead!!!!!! Years after murder by Voldemort, Diggery, 17, returns as vampire.

I saw "Twilight" today.  It was entertaining, but I didn't think it was a good film.  Truth be told, I would have never seen it if my girlfriend hadn't made me go.  I think that the film definitely appeals to a certain audience and, as Media Literacy says, should not be a substitute for reading the book.  

I think the film suffered a bit because I feel that they sacrificed story for style in its making.  Watching it made me feel like I was watching the music video to the Paramore song which appears on the soundtrack, which also clues me in that I am definitely not the target audience of the film.  Looking back on the experience, it's almost as though we were watching an exploitative science fiction B-movie from the 60's or 70's targeted at young women, as the film is the screen version of a book containing the bizarre sexual fantasies of a woman with a vampire.  Weird, I know.  But I think that a lesson can be learned about the appeal of media that is structured like other media, such as a film made in the style of a music video, in order to win over an audience.  

Empire

I watched “The Empire Strikes Back” today. It’s such a good film and by far my favorite of the Star Wars saga.  Star Wars films are such great examples of translation of media.  I remember that in 1997 I had a “The Empire Strikes Back” calendar.  It’s really neat that 17 years after the release of the film there were calendars still being made featuring the characters and events depicted in this film.  In addition to the calendar, video games have featured elements of the film, most notably the Battle of Hoth which is shown at the beginning. 

 Scenes from this film have been used to advertise products such as Energizer batteries and Pepsi and have produced some of the most memorable lines in film history (i.e. “No Luke, I am your father.”).  

In recent memory, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Harry Potter series have enjoyed some of the same treatment.  The difference is that these stories originated as books then were turned into films, merchandising, etc.  Students could make a list of all the forms that these stories take and learn how media translation is a huge part of their world.  

So Divine

In our Divine Comedy headliner, Nickelcade Royale, many of the jokes in the sketch are the titles of Bond films worked into the dialogue. For example:

Mary: I don’t want you to kill anybody, I just want you to observe.

Scott: I see, a View to a Kill.

A View to a Kill is the title of a Bond film featuring Timothy Dalton as James Bond. That’s funny to me. However, nobody laughed. It is because they are not as literate in the Bond franchise to find the humor in it.  Chances are some of them have even been 80’s dancing and have heard Duran Duran’s wonderful song of the same title which served as the theme song of the film.  Sometimes we are experiencing media that connected specifically to another piece of media and we are unaware of it.

When I was a child I loved the television show “Dinosaurs.”  I remember particularly an episode where Earl sold his soul to the devil for a ceramic mug in the shape of the head of a popular television character.  He had the traditional angel and devil struggle to sway him for the right or wrong until he finally made his decision.  I absolutely loved this episode. 

When I was 22 I read “Dr. Faustus.”  While I read it I kept on feeling that it seemed very familiar.  Then it dawned on me that it was just like that episode of “Dinosaurs.”  A comedy series in the mid-90’s adapted a classic play to create an episode that was understandable for a child.  There was even an episode of “Animaniacs” which paid homage to “32 Short Films About Glenn Gould.”  I think that students could learn to appreciate classical literature and other forms of art if they were presented with media that was targeted towards them then shown where that media was adapted from.  

Funnys

Last night, we had our Divine Comedy tech show.  I made a short video about college.  Everybody hated it.  It was funny to me that there was no laughter.  

After a bit, I thought about what had happened.  Possibly the reason why it didn't go over so well was that it was very unexpected.  I wasn't really parodying anything that is overtly obvious to the audience.  I also mixed a different form of media in with a stage performance.  But I think the main thing was that the video was made to be funny to a different type of person than the traditional BYU Cougar that loves Divine Comedy.  We have a reputation for a certain type of humor that alienates some people from ever coming to a performance.  When I tried a different type of humor that could be enjoyed by that demographic we don't reach, it did not go over well with the traditional fan.  

Target audience is a very important thing to consider when analyzing media.  You wouldn't hold a Little Critter book up to the same standards as a Chuck Klosterman book.  They are for a different audience and they have different things that make them good.  It would be effective to teach this by going over different genres of film and saying what it is that makes them that particular type of film and what is good about them.  This makes students think about difference and how things should be judged accordingly.

Lateness

What if these pandas were interviewing each other?  If I was interviewed Saturday, this is how it would have gone. 

 

Rolling Stone: How was work?

Jeremy Warner: All I did was drink water and go to the bathroom all day long.

But if the interview took place on July 23 it would have gone something like this.

• Spin: How was work?
• Jeremy Warner: Crazy
• Spin: What happened?
• JW: Well it all started when this bald guy came in and was all 'Are you the manager?' and then I was like 'No.' then he was like 'Well can I talk to the manager?' and I was all 'Uhhh, yeah, go talk to her' because I had food in my hands.
• Spin: What did he want?
• JW: I walked over and asked one of the cooks if they were La Migra because they had all gotten very quiet and didn't say anything. Then the bald guy was like 'Is there a Carlos that has worked here?' and I was like 'Probably at some point in the existence of this place. That's a very common name.' Then he said 'This is very serious, we have reason to believe that he is here.' Then I said 'Who said he was here?' and he was like 'His family.'
• Spin: His family?
• JW: Yeah, his family. Like his family is a great source in an immigration case.
• Spin: Yeah, that is unlikely/
• JW: That Carlos's family must really hate him, you know? But anyways, Captain Immigration went looking through the back as if we were hiding him in a box or a closet like Elian Gonzalez.  He found nothing.  

Interviews are very common in media.  It would be a fun activity to do with students to have them each interview somebody in the classroom to learn about an activity or some other interesting thing that they have done in their life.  If I was going to be interviewed tomorrow this is probably how it would go.

Daily Universe: How was work?

Jeremy Warner: All I did was drink water and go to the bathroom all day long.

Gangsta

Tonight I played a show at Velour with the Rotten Musicians, Prince Early, and The Kid-You-Nauts.  It was a hip hopping night.  My band is not really hip hop, but we did make an attempt to translate "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed into a rap song with a little bit of Kelly Clarkson sneaking in.  I also had the chance to play the synth for The Kid-You-Nauts cover of "Forgot About Dre."  Four white boys playing a tribute to Dr. Dre was pretty amazing to me.  None of them grew up in the LBC or are straight off the streets of the CPT, but still somehow they knew this music.  Many suburban middle class white kids love gangsta rap, which is pretty neat, because it gives them a glimpse into a culture that is foreign to them.  However, their fascination can go too far when they begin to mimic the lifestyle that is portrayed through rap music because it is unnecessary for them to live life that way when they have so many opportunities that are not offered to those who grew up on the street and in poverty.  I bet that many gangsta rappers would trade their life in a heartbeat if they could start all over again with a family that loved them in a nice neighborhood with a good education system and endless opportunities.  

To become too obsessed with any form of media, be it uplifting or downtrodding, is a bad thing.  This is an example of when children need to learn and know their limits.  If the consumption of media is turning them into something that is not good, then they should not be consuming it.  This is why we have parental advisories and the rating systems,  to keep people who are not well established with who they are away from things that could prove detrimental to their development.  A mature consumer of media will have the ability to step back and observe something and see that it is what it is and then move on with their normal life.  It is up to us to teach students these things so that they can view and use media responsibly.  

Office

This morning, I was trying to enter in grades when my program of OpenOffice.org wouldn't work.  That's what happens when you get your program for free off the internet.  But then I got to think about the Office, the hit television series.  This program is wildly popular and also free on the internet.  

The availability of high definition content on the internet is further increasing.  This is an exciting time for an aspiring filmmaker.  A big challenge with making films is how you go about getting an audience and the internet makes that easier.  

The same thing with music. Sites such as myspace, facebook, purevolume and Amie St.  all offer people the latest cutting edge music.  Many artists, suc

h as Vampire Weekend and Black Kids, owe much of their success to blogs.  

hypem.com is a site that compiles blog posts, and is where I find a lot of music.  My band has even been blogged. 

It would be a fun and informative activity to give a brief history of forms of distribution and compare and contrast with today.  For example, we can talk about theatrical exhibition as opposed to watching on an iPod or recording a mixtape from the radio versus downloading a podcast.

Vampire Weekend:

Black Kids: