I feel like I have really opened my eyes in this class and have found a true
media literacy. One example is that I feel like I "see" a lot more things, and
evaluate them more. I like the example that we saw in class of the Sony bravia ad:

 
This ad was a fun one to look at because it made you really sit and look to
evaluate whether or not the balls were real or computer generated, as we know
that in today's world either could have been a plausible answer. I, personally,
thought they were animated, which might just show how technologically driven my
own mind was. I feel like I have opened up to seeing things differently and from
a more aware perspective now as a result of my media literacy. I also feel like
I now have more awareness of the media within my life. Because we are so
surrounded by it all the time, it is easy to forget that we are always filtering
messages. I thought the movie Idiocracy did a good, and humorous job, of showing
what our lives might be like in the future. The way that everything was simple(
yet complicated almost because it was SO dumbed down) as well as how everything
was covered in advertising was a bit scary. It made me realize how media
surrounds me everywhere. I think being more aware now is good as it helps me to
filter yet really look all around me. Finally, the very first assignment we had
was one of my favroite lessons. The idea of Ambient Media was really cool to me,
and even though I am now aware of the media that is bombarding me, I was also
stricken with the idea of media that is subconsciously seeping into my brain

This is a video of some different forms of ambient media, and the ways they
found to sneak it in front of our eyes. I really think that this is just as
important as evaluating the media we do see, as we need to be aware that there
is media that we don't necessarily actively see. By being more casual, I think
this kind of media does much more than bombarding people with it. Overall, as a now more media literate person, I can appreciate that I now have
the ability to evaluate all of the different kinds of media that I see, and I am
aware of all the kinds that surround me.

 
So this is a video about a crocheting project that is both art, math, and
awareness about the depleting coral reefs. I think the whole idea is really
cool. Not only is it bringing awareness to a worthy cause, but it also shows the
beauty of integration of life into art. Also, the repeating processes that build
coral reefs, and that were used to crochet the piece, are also found in math,
which I think is an interesting connection. In a world that is so connected, its
nice to see other things connect in beautiful ways, other than a billboard or an
advertisement.

Note to self. Do not procrastinate your work, because it's quite a bummer when
you do. My butt has become one with this computer chair. I am too good at
finding other things to do, other than my work. Overview of tonight: I have
actually had a great time diving into the world of videos, pictures, and
advertising. I never really realized how much cool stuff is out there. I also
didn't realize that 15 posts is quite a bit, and that doing them weekly would
have been a GREAT idea. Give yourself a pat on the back, Leeann, because you
made it! Now slap yourself across the face for doing this to yourself ( and
hopefully not your grade...) The End.

So this website, http://buildabeard.helloatto.com/, offers that if you take a
picture of yourself with a beard on, it will donate a dollar to Kiva( a company
that allows people to lend to entrepreneurs in third world countries). I think
the idea of this is really cool, and embraces recent media trends of going
outside the box. It seems that now a days the weirder an ad campaign can be, the
more attention it grabs. if it makes you WTF?? afterward, its most likely a
success, because it becomes a gimmick, and people will remember it and talk
about it more. I guess this idea is a play on words of Build a Bear, which is a
name a lot of people already know. This serves to show that sometimes making a
joke of yourself can go a long way, in life and in advertising.

 This is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen! I need to own one of these
things, its ingenious. I really like this also, because I think it shows some
things that we all need to have in life like flexibility, the ability to change,
but also the ability to revert back to what we were. I think that the many
different options of the chair or couch, and the flow of it is incredible. It's
portable and can be modified to fit one or many people. This chair is like life,
and like the media in a way, in its ability to always be changed and moved
around , though in its essence it always is the same thing.

Meadow from Stuart Sinclair on Vimeo.

 I really liked this video for a couple reasons. I liked the mood it put me in, i
felt like I was engaged, but peaceful with the music and the designs. I also
thought it was a great juxtaposition of all these different images. It was like
pictures, with art, with video and music, all wrapped into one. I like music can
be made into art, and vice versa. Some of the stuff made you sit back and say,
huh? but that's what I like about it. Maybe we need some more things that make
you question what you are looking at, maybe we will pay more attention then.

I really like this picture because I think it goes along with the science of
looking. At first glance, you see a design, perhaps you notice that there is a
pattern, but you don't really notice that it's school buses until you look
again. Not that they are hidden, I realized I found myself having to take a
second glance to really take in what the picture was, and what it might
represent. i think that this says something to the way we look at the world, as
well as with advertising. It's like we look, but don't really see things.
Advertisers would like us to slow down and look at their ads more, but I'd like
to slow down and look at my life a little more. Who knew there was beauty in
school buses?

This is a website I came across that allows you to chart literally every aspect
of your life. I looked on an example page, and the woman had charted what she
drank, how many pages she had read, how many movies she had watched (
approximately 46.8 is said). It was scary to me to think that all of this
person's life was laid out on a screen, all charted out. Is that all we have
come to be? Numbers, charts, graphs, all online to be spread to the masses like
our Facebook or our Twitter account? It's almost as if these things are coming
to define who we are, you can know so much about someone without even having to
meet them now. We are all so connected, yet disconnected because of these kinds
of things. Will there be a balance soon?

So this advertisement for a travel agency really struck me. Apparently the
clothes in front of the sign were changed a few times throughout the ad
campaign. I liked the idea of this because I think that advertising needs to
find new ways to reach out to people. Ads like this are cool because they extend
from a 2-D world, into our own dimension. Also, by changing the clothes, its
like the ad almost has a life too, it adjusts with the changing of time just
like the consumer does. I think it makes people feel more connected and a part
of the ad.

 So this video shows the making of a new advertisement for the Sprinter. they
chose to make the outdoor billboard to be sort of interactive in that you can "
enter" the ad by being able to see, and probably walk into the back of the van.
I think this is a neat advertising trick because people will be immediately
intrigued, but also it shows how we can truly become "immersed" within our media
and advertisement. Like it has become a part of our world, we can almost become
a part of it, too. This ad is effective, I think, because it makes the product
tangible, interactive, and real. Though I still wouldn't buy the van.