Pbarr27's Blog

Video Remix Ideas

pbarr27 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:37:49 +0000

I decided to focus on the controversies surrounding Guantanamo Bay for the video remix project. There are lots of controversies surrounding Guantanamo Bay and it would be difficult to cover all of them in one video remix so more specifically, I want to zero in on the health care issue because I have heard on the news that prisoners at Guantanamo who are considered the worlds “biggest threats to America” receive top of the line health care while some American citizens are not covered at all. This is a disturbing piece of information for me to hear because, in my opinion, the United States government should be more concerned with domestic issues such as providing health care for legal citizens that cannot cover themselves rather than spending billions of dollars to capture terrorists in other countries. I am not suggesting that we ignore threats overseas but our domestic issues should be first priority.

I have not thought of a specific audience to focus on for the video because this issue affects a very wide range of people from American citizens to government officials to foreigners. Most of all I just want to bring the issue into perspective for people who happen to watch the video so I guess you could say that is my target audience: people who are not aware of issues at Guantanamo Bay. I have heard of debates on the news talking about the Obama administration shutting down the prison so the topic also has several connections to problems within the United States.

Nike Rhetoric

pbarr27 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:16:23 +0000

All companies competing in today’s global economy from huge corporations to small businesses use tactical forms of advertisement that are designed to target a particular group of consumers. In order to have a successful business, companies must convince these targeted consumers that their product is the best product on the market through various types of media such as television commercials and magazines. Having a clear message, appealing to the audience, and establishing credibility for the company is a big part of effective advertising and the more effective the advertisement is, the more likely it is for consumers to be aware of the product and purchase the item.
The Nike brand is a well-established and well-respected sporting company that continually reaches a wide range of audience members through advertising. Nike makes an extremely wide variety of products ranging from football to golf and everything in between. Catchy slogans like “Just Do It” and even the universally recognizable swoosh logo enhance marketability of their products. Since not all of their products are designed for a specific consumer base, Nike advertisements must clearly display the targeted audience and use visual rhetoric to convince the consumer that their product is the best. A Nike soccer commercial that was released a couple of years ago during the 2006 World Cup (Take It To The Next Level, directed by Guy Ritchie) uses very effective advertising tactics and visual rhetoric to make the message of the commercial more effective. The purpose of the video is to provide exposure for Nike soccer products and show that Nike products are superior to all others. This video was released during the 2006 World Cup to provide a context for the video because the entire world tunes in to watch the World Cup Games so there was a very large fan base. The video has over 1 million watches on YouTube, which shows its popularity among the targeted audience.
The whistle blows. You have been fouled. All you can hear is yourself breathing with the steady pounding of your heartbeat. You look up to see the referee issue a yellow card to the opponent and you know this is your time to shine. Your teammate helps you to your feet and gives you the soccer ball. You place it and take a perfect strike, right over the wall. Gooooooaaall! Everyone in the crowd starts cheering and upbeat music begins to play. This particular Nike soccer commercial, titled “Take It To The Next Level,” takes place in a first-person perspective of a soccer player the entire time and makes the viewer feel like they are the main character of the commercial. This perspective is a very clever way to pull in the targeted audience – being soccer players of any level, more specifically adolescent males that are serious about advancing in the game of soccer – because people who enjoy soccer are more than likely to pay attention to a commercial that shows the viewer as a soccer star. Women who are serious about advancing in the game are somewhat excluded in this advertisement because all of the teams shown are strictly men’s teams and the only time women appear is to reinforce the sex appeal aspect that helps to sell the product.
In the beginning, visual aids such as regular uniforms and a small stadium in the background gives the impression that you are playing on a lower-level team, but as the commercial progresses you move your way up to become a world-class super star. Starting the commercial with a lower-level team is a very logical approach to draw the attention of viewers because there are no world-class soccer players that go straight from the recreational league to playing professional soccer. This way a wide range of people can identify with the main character and the subject of the advertisement. Also, Nike has to convince the audience that their product is the main reason for excelling so showing all of the hard work it takes to make it to “the next level” is critical for the overall impression of the advertisement. It would not have been as effective if the commercial began at a higher level.
Credibility, which ties in with the rhetorical appeal ethos, is established within the first 30 seconds (0:19) by showing a glimpse of Arsen Wenger – the manager of Arsenal, a very distinguished and successful club soccer team from England – after you make the first free kick. This one glimpse of Arsen Wegner only lasts for two seconds until he looks away, as if to give the impression he did not want to be seen recruiting, is enough to establish credibility because he is a very well recognized face in the world of soccer. You can infer that you will be signed to Arsenal in the near future because you just made a free kick to win the game and Arsen Wegner was watching. And sure enough, the next scene shows you walking into an Arsenal players’ locker room to receive your jersey. Most people interested in this commercial are also interested in playing for a very prestigious team, such as Arsenal, so it appeals to the values of the audience. Credibility continues to be established throughout the advertisement by including well known players from around the world – William Gallas (0:30), Wayne Rooney (0:34), Carlos Tevez (0:38), Christano Ronaldo (0:46, 2:45), Cesc Fabregas (1:15), Ronaldinho (2:18), among many others – that are already signed to the Nike label.
Sex appeal is a very effective form of advertisement that is used heavily right after you score your first goal for Arsenal, in the time frame 1:15-1:33, to show the implied message that Nike products will bring you success and, according to the advertisement, hot women. In this time frame it shows you getting out of a limousine with a stunning woman and on to the red carpet with cameras flashing. While walking down the red carpet, you are asked to give an autograph for another beautiful woman standing on the side and you sign her chest, not the normal place for an autograph. Next is swimming in a pool with a super sexy blonde girl. By using sex appeal, Nike is appealing to the values of the targeted audience and conveying the message that if they buy Nike products, hot women will soon cling to you like a magnet. The message of sex appeal, along with various forms visual rhetoric, have been used by Nike to consistently appeal to a large fan base and sell their products.

video remix: remixamerica.org

pbarr27 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:47:34 +0000

According to the online Webster’s dictionary the verb remix means: a variant of an original recording (as of a song) made by rearranging or adding to the original. I would assume that most everybody has heard remixed songs but this definition can also be applied to several other forms of media, such as videos. After viewing several videos from remixamerica.org I have come to find that a remixed video is basically when a piece of film is edited with parts of other films and music to convey a different message or theme to the audience while still using the parts of the original. Remixed videos can be very effective if the creator adds music that reinforces the visual theme and adds slogans that appeal to the targeted audience. The two famous political remixed videos were very interesting and I thought the one targeting John McCain was particularly effective. The remixed part of the video used humor to show the disapproval of the issues McCain was originally addressing. At the end of the film the line “10,000 years” is repeated several times when McCain is talking about how long we may need to stay in Iraq under his plan and simultaneously shows people looking around with dumbfounded looks on their faces. Then the slogan “McCain 08. Like Hope. But Different” are displayed and all of these remix tactics are used to show a different perspective to the original McCain speeches.

rhetorical analysis rough draft

pbarr27 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:09:03 +0000

Nike Rhetoric
All companies that compete in today’s global economy from huge corporations to small businesses use tactical forms of advertisement that are specifically designed to reach their desired audiences. In order to have a successful business the company must convince consumers that their product is the best product on the market through media such as commercials and magazines. The Nike brand is a well-established and well-respected company that continually reaches a wide range of audience members through advertising. The purpose of visual rhetoric is to convince visually and I will be analyzing the visual rhetoric of a Nike soccer commercial (Take It To The Next Level, directed by Guy Ritchie) and how the rhetorical components make the message of the commercial effective/ineffective.
The entire commercial takes place in a first-person perspective of a soccer player and makes the viewer feel like they are the main character of the commercial. Visual aids such as a small stadium in the background gives the impression that you are playing on a lower-level team in the beginning of the commercial, but as it progresses you move your way up to become a world-class super star. The rhetorical appeal logos, or logical appeals, is immediately established within the first 30 seconds because consumers interested in buying Nike soccer products are more than likely interested in playing soccer so therefore giving a first-person perspective is a very wise visual rhetoric component. Credibility, which ties in with the rhetorical appeal ethos is also established within the first 30 seconds by showing a glimpse of Arsen Wenger, the manager of Arsenal, a very distinguished and successful club soccer team from England. Sex appeal is used throughout the commercial because it is a very effective form of advertisement that appeals to the audience.

rhetorical analysis video possibilities

pbarr27 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:01:02 +0000

Jason Carney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_11G9W-fGSs

positive aspects: addresses topics most middle-class Americans think and worry about on a day-to-day basis. Edgy word selection speaks to the audience.

negative aspects: words used to state his point may offend some viewers. Fast pace of speech may lose some people (may need to hear the poem twice to totally follow).

Twin Poets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6igkrhepYI&feature=PlayList&p=4832EE0109D8CEE2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=23

positive aspects: two people speaking gives reinforcement to the message and provides an interesting rhyming delivery to emphasize points.

negative aspects: none

Amir Sulaiman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WczGIhmaJ_M

positive aspects: addresses current universal topics which appeal to a wide range of audience members. Word choice and intense delivery encompasses anger.

negative aspects: none

More Than a Garden

pbarr27 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:19:10 +0000

More Than a Garden

Finding places and groups of people that bring comfort to an individual is, and always has been, a universal human behavior. Several factors influence this behavior such as cultural background, personality type, physical abilities, personal goals, and material resources to name a few. Obviously, the same place can bring comfort to a wide range of people, but the feeling of comfort and acceptance is collective. Along with the place shaping the individual, the individual also shapes how that place is constructed over time, how the place is defined as a social process, and how the place works as a cultural and/or social location. I have found the Formal Gardens here at Miami University to be a very comforting place when I need a quiet place to relax or when I am beginning to feel overwhelmed with the pressures of life.

I haven’t talked to many people on campus who know about the Formal Gardens and perhaps it is this unknown identity that draws me. Since Oxford is my hometown, I have had exposure to places both on and off campus that many students might not know about through four years of college. I can understand how a place such as the Formal Gardens could be unobserved because it is tucked away in a slightly secluded corner of campus and most people attending Miami are in a completely new environment. However, someone could just as easily stumble across this enchanting place while walking with a friend or playing catch in the park.

To get to the gardens by car you would drive north on Patterson Avenue toward High Street and go straight through the stoplight, passing the Farmer School of Business on your right. When you see the sign for the Miami Inn on your left and Dogwood Pond on your right, you have reached your destination. Just through the tree line surrounding the pond is a place that Miami students, both past and present, should know about.

The scent of lilac mixed with roses, tulips, lavender, and fresh afternoon air floods your nostrils as you approach the Formal Gardens. Leaves on the trees slowly sway from side to side as a cool breeze blows through the air, lifting an even heavier scent of wildflowers and goodness. The lush green grass has recently been mowed by a worker on the Miami Grounds Crew, a critical part of the “Miami Machine” that almost no students have, or will ever, interact with. The strenuous maintenance of Miami’s campus is a task commonly overlooked by many people, even though it is essential to sustaining the learning environment. Students would not have the same level of ambition to go to class if they had to walk through knee-high grass and around piles of garbage everyday. But thanks to the wonderful men and women who make a living doing these jobs, we all have a well-kept setting to pursue a higher education. The Grounds Crew defines the Formal Gardens as a social process because students’ parents pay the institution thousands of dollars for tuition and other expenses. This money is then used to oil the “Miami Machine” by paying the salaries of all employees, such as the Grounds Crew.

Maintenance at the Formal Gardens is taken to the next level and the attention to detail is exceptional. A brick pathway leads you between perfectly manicured bushes and a complete color spectrum of flowers. Every patch of grass is precisely edged and the sound of birds chirping and crickets cricketing all around blends to make a peaceful harmony. Not many people go to the gardens on a daily basis but the population that can be found here consists mostly of older people, such as graduate students and some professors. This is most likely a result of the secluded location because the older population has been around Oxford longer than the undergraduate population so therefore they know about Miami’s hidden treasures.

The location next to the Farmer School of Business is kind of ironic because thousands and thousands of students have class in the FSB everyday but the Formal Gardens remains somewhat of a mystery, sitting only a block away. Just about every person I have observed here has some kind of work they are doing and this behavior demonstrates that studious and quiet activities, such as reading, is encouraged at the gardens. Every now and then an artist can be spotted diligently constructing their interpretation of the natural environment. I talked to a guy sitting on the grass under a tree named Karl (with a K) while I was walking around the gardens. He had a sketchbook with him and I learned that he is a first year graduate student studying graphic design. While talking to him I found the garden attracts both of us for many of the same reasons. Mainly, we both use it as an escape sanctuary, somewhere we can go and let our worries drift away.

This place is very calming and I particularly enjoy going there in the evening because the lighting is relaxing and the scenery is nice. Sometimes you can see the sunset through the trees, causing beams of light to shine down and illuminate the plants all around you. I usually go here when I have a reading assignment to complete and sit on this one bench that is underneath a willow tree, right next to the duck pond. Just last week when I was there I saw a fox stalking a group of ducks, but the ducks saw him at the last minute and flew away. I have found this place to be a great escape from all the hustle and bustle that is always happening in the dorm. At this place I can just focus on the task at hand and if I get a little stressed about something I have to do I can just put it down and take a walk through the gardens. I wouldn’t consider myself a tree hugger or anything, this place just helps me relax.

Rhetoric

pbarr27 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:37:31 +0000

The article titled “What Is Rhetoric?” addresses the fact that rhetoric shapes almost all uses of language and is not merely used to trick an audience. Being persuasive in an argument is a big part of clearly stating your messase, however, after reading the article and viewing the presidential campaign ads on YouTube it became clear to me that basically all persuasion is a form of trickery because you want the audience to believe your side of the argument.

The different types of rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, logos, and stylistic appeal influence one another and operate collectively in speaking/writing. The ethos, or ethical appeal was most obvious in the Bill Clinton campaign ad. Lots of sources of credibility were listed which makes the viewer believe that Bill must be very well qualified for the position. The JFK ad also uses a source of credibility, the current President at that time, Eisenhower, to support his persuasive argument against Nixon.

Pathos, or pathetic appeal, was the main form of persuasion in both the Ronald Regan ad and the Bush ads. These ads were demonstrating that the candidates are connected with everyday American people and they share values such as integrity, patriotism, doing what is best for the country, etc. Both are supposed to touch the emotions of the audience.

Logos, or logical appeal, of the campaign ads was clearly protrayed in Bill Clinton’s ad as being the support of his opinions by highly respected others. Other ads also showed many uses of logos by speaking with soldiers, showing the president hard at work, connecting with the people, etc.

All ads use stylistic appeal to target people who will be voting in the election through familiar and symbolic images, dramatic music, etc.

My place

pbarr27 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:15:57 +0000

My Place

The place at Miami I have found myself to be the most comfortable is the Formal Gardens, located behind the Farmer School of Business. This place is very peaceful and I particularly enjoy going there in the evening because the lighting is very relaxing and the scenery is nice. Sometimes you can see the sunset through the trees causing beams of light to shine down and illuminate the lush green grass around you. I usually go here when I have a reading assignment to complete and sit on this one bench that is underneath a willow tree, right next to the duck pond. The duck pond has a fountain in it, and the sound of water flowing mixed with the birds and crickets singing nature’s soundtrack is very tranquil. Just last week when I was there I saw a fox stalking a group of ducks, but the ducks saw him and flew away. I have found this place to be a great escape from all the hustle and bustle that is always happening in the dorm. At my place I can just focus on the task at hand and if I get a little stressed about something I have to do I can just put it down and take a walk through the gardens. But sometimes I go there just to chill out, listen to my iPod and let all of my worries drift away. I wouldn’t consider myself a tree hugger or anything, this place just helps me relax.

ethnography, shitty first draft

pbarr27 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:34:16 +0000

Finding locations and groups of people that bring comfort to an individual is, and always has been, a universal human behavior. There are countless factors that influence this behavior, such as, cultural background, personality type, age, physical abilities, personal goals, material resources, along with many others. Obviously, the same place can bring comfort to a wide range of people, but the feeling of comfort and acceptance is collective. However, we also face a wide rage of circumstances in which we feel uncomfortable on a day-to-day basis. When faced with these situations we are forced to adapt and become accustomed to the environment around us. In this paper I will deeply explore a place, and the culture associated with this place, on Miami’s campus I have found that makes me feel comfortable.

The scent of lilac mixed with roses, tulips, lavender, and fresh afternoon air flood your nostrils as you approach the garden. The lush green grass has recently been mowed and the leaves on the trees slowly sway as a cool breeze blows through the air. Birds are chirping and crickets are cricketing all around, combining to make a peaceful harmony. This place is very relaxing and I particularly enjoy going there in the evening because the lighting is really calm and the scenery is nice. Sometimes you can see the sunset through the trees causing beams of light to shine down. I usually go here when I have a reading assignment to complete and sit on this one bench that is underneath a willow tree, right next to the duck pond. Just last week when I was there I saw a fox stalking a group of ducks, but the ducks saw him at the last minute and flew away. I have found this place to be a great escape from all the hustle and bustle that is always happening in the dorm. At my place I can just focus on the task at hand and if I get a little stressed about something I have to do I can just put it down and take a walk through the gardens. But sometimes I go there just to chill out, listen to my iPod and let all of my worries drift away. I wouldn’t consider myself a tree hugger or anything, this place just helps me relax. The place I have just described is the Formal Gardens, which is located behind the Farmer School of Business. Sorry for the shitty first draft.

List of Place

pbarr27 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:44:57 +0000

Artifacts:

* fountain in pond
* pond
* trees
* grass
* flowers
* squirrls
* ducks
* insects
* bench under willow tree
* willow tree

Events:

* fountain is always running
* wedding receptions
* informal gatherings
* animals find food here
* birds flying around
* studying/reading

People to interview:

* maintenance people
* Bill Zehler (manager)
* any other employees