Myth and Ideology

In class, we learned the definitions and difference of the terms “Myth” and “Ideology.” We learn how these terms can be used and how they these terms steer our ideas of communication.

Myths are defined as the “stories we live by.” A myth is a story, a tale that is retold over and over again. Human beings love to tell stories. We use these stories to communicate. The myth can be split into categories of Naturalism, Liberalism, and Structuralism.

Ideology is “a constructed belief system that explains economics, political, and social reality to people and establishes collective goals of a class, group or in the case of a dominant ideology, the entire society.” They are a system of beliefs, values and ideas. Ideology is an image society gives itself in order to perpetuate itself.

The terms “myth” and “ideology” may be considered synonyms, two words that are similar but with slight differences between them. Both of these terms “indicate acts of communication (talking, writing, filming) require a background of ideas on which draw.” The term “ideology” has a political connotation behind it that the word “myth” lacks.

We use semiotics to make the ideas of myth and ideology, the “invisible side of communication,” into the visible side of communication. We use these ideas to make sense of intangible ideas and give them an image.

Working in the Studio

I have enjoyed working in the studio. There have been many positive things that I have experienced while working with the equipment.

I really like that everyone had to chance to get some experience in each position. I think that way of doing things is fair to everyone. Every person gets a little taste of a particular position. Many of those jobs I’d never attempted before and I liked that I was able to have a chance to try them.  

I also really enjoyed receiving instruction when I had an issue with getting the camera to white balance. I felt that I was really being listened to. There was time taken time to understand and explain how to fix the problem. I understand that everyone requires attention (especially when operating equipment they’ve never used before), but I really appreciated the attention paid to me. I like to have a great deal of direction so that I know what I’m doing. It made me feel that my work in the studio is taken seriously and that I am valuable to creating the production.

I am getting to know and work with my classmates. Through my classes in the past I have made great friends that I go on to work with and involve in my projects. Through our work in the studio, I’ve gotten to interact with people I’d never met before. I think that working together towards one common goal (in this case, producing a show) brings people closer.

I wouldn’t say that there is anything I consider my least favorite as I saw all of it as valuable and interesting to me, but I would say that I always have a great deal of difficulty with technical things. I’m always nervous that I’m going to press the wrong button and ruin a shot or mess up the audio or something. I think that with further instruction, I ought to be less nervous.

I think that I would like to learn more about each of these positions that we went over. I think that doing the rotation again might be a good idea because I would be interested in seeing how I handle a job that I had gotten a little, tiny bit of experience in again to observe how I do the second time around.

Overall I have enjoyed my time working in the studio acquiring new skills and making new friends.

Graphic Novel Ideas

            I’m very excited to begin brainstorming for my graphic novel. I had an idea over Christmas break for a superhero series that I found to be something I thought was interesting and deserved to be expanded upon.

            My initial idea was of giving people superpowers as a way to cope with fear (ex: someone with a fear of heights could fly, fear of water could swim, fear of animals could speak to them), but I have been having trouble making that idea come together.  

I began to think in a world where superpowers could be possible (for the right price) they would have to do some testing. If the side effects were bad and proved to make a person too dangerous, what would happen to this person? They would have to be destroyed.

One character that has been in my mind from the beginning of this idea is test subject of this project who gains immense physical strength and agility. The character “X,” out of the characters I have created for this project, is the most like a comic book character. She is a character who serves as the protagonist of my story. I wanted to take the female superhero and make her less of a sex object and more a soldier, sort of an extreme female marine. I want her to be brutal and gentle at the same time. She is a character that is driving this story forward in my mind even though the details are vague right now because I’m clinging to the images of her to keep me going.

Another character that I must work with is a boy who is afraid of animals that can now communicate with them. I think that this character has great potential. I have to keep him because I have the image of his reconciling with a dog who bit him in his childhood, triggering his fear of animals.

There are reoccurring themes in all of my stories, I’ve noticed. I love transformations, whether literal or in terms of character development. I always love taking a villain and making them heroic or vice versa. Dabbling in grey areas is always fascinating to me. I always really enjoy exploring the dynamics of relationships, the themes of love, loss and loneliness. I really also want to just take a look at how people would deal with having “superpowers” in a more realistic environment. I would like to see how these powers would effect a person in their daily life.

Overall, this project may be too big, too ambitious for me right now, so I may just write a side story about it, but I think that I’ve got something here that really interests me and I would like to see where it takes me.

                                        
                                             Here is the first doodle of "X" I made.

                                               "X" as portrayed by my friend Ryan Smith

Century of the Self

In the documentary, “Century of the Self,” we take a look at the work of Sigmund Freud and his nephew, Edward Bernays, known at the “Father of Public Relations.” The film explains how both of these men used psychoanalytical ideas to explain and predict human behavior and how Edward Bernays used it to create techniques used in advertising.

I was really fascinated by the work of Bernays. I find it rather surreal to think that, as the movie states, advertising before Bernays seemed to rely entirely on facts and advertisers believed that that alone would sell the product. Edward Bernays borrowed ideas from his uncle and discovered the power of mass consumer persuasion by appealing to unconscious desires and emotions. It was Bernays who ushered in all of these advertising techniques that we still see used today.

I particularly enjoy the story of the “Freedom torches.” One of Bernays’s clients was a cigarette company. The company wanted to figure out a way to break the taboo on women smoking so that they could sell more of their product. Bernays had the idea of having young, influential socialites smoke cigarettes in public where they they would be photographed and call the cigarettes “freedom torches.” Calling the cigarettes “freedom torches” evokes the idea of liberty and patriotism, as well as the idea of gender equality. Also, using popular, young socialites to market your product as something that is fashionable as well as patriotic is a stroke of genius. I’d say that this is akin to a celebrity endorsement.

Bernays used the idea that you bought things not only because you needed them, but because they were an “an expression of your inner self to others.” That idea of selling individuality to the masses is both ridiculous and genius. It appeals to the basic human desire to feel admired, cared for, respected, loved, etc.  This technique works based on the belief that this product will somehow make you more beautiful, powerful, sexually appealing, popular, etc. Many of the techniques he used to sell products to the masses are advertising strategies that we that are so common place now we hardly think of when or where they originated from.

Here is the source to an article that I found on how the work of Edward Bernays has affected American consumerism:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2002/mar/10/medicalscience.highereducation

The Use of Transition in "Maus"

The transition is necessary in the comic world. It allows us passage onto the next scene, the next thought, the next moment that we need in our story. It is the means by which the creator of the story allows us to move forward. In McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” we learn the six types of comic transitions:

1.     “Moment to Moment"

2.     “Action to Action”

3.     “Subject to Subject”

4.     “Scene to Scene”

5.     “Aspect to Aspect”

6.     “Non-Sequitur”

I have identified three types of these transitions in Art Spiegalman’s “Maus.” So far the three types of McCloud’s comic transitions that I will use as examples are: “Action to Action,” “Scene to Scene,” and “Moment to Moment.”

On page thirty-two, the top two panels to show the “Oi!” and the other mice’s reaction to that. I believe that this would be an example of an “Action to Action” transition, because it is showing an action and a reaction to that. 

The second transition I noticed was a “Scene to Scene” transition on page 56. At the bottom row, there are two panels. One is stretched to I think indicate the passage of time that the people were supposed to be working for.

The third transition I observed was on page fifty-seven. The third row of panels down is what I believe could be considered a “Moment to Moment” transition. The characters barely move except for the movement of the subject on the right’s head from one panel to the next. Since the event seems to happen only a moment later I believe this to qualify.

I notice that there seem to be quite a few of the three examples that I chose in the novel. I found either none or very few examples of “Non-Sequitor” or “Subject to Subject.” I think that Spiegelman’s transitions are all relatively similar and I had trouble finding different examples of McCloud's listed transitions to use.

The Persuaders: "Song" Fails To Get Off The Gound

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The film “The Persuaders” was a fascinating look at the world of advertising. In this movie we try and discover how advertisers break through the clutter of millions of other commercials in an attempt to persuade you to look at THEIR product. It’s all about proving that their product is the one that deserves your precious attention (and money.)

Throughout the course of the film, there was focus on a new airline, “Song,” and how it was trying to get off the ground (pun absolutely intended.) I was very interested in the creative (and sometimes silly) ways that the “Song” team tried to market the new airline.

I really enjoyed seeing the footage of the “Song” party. There was one scene where a “Song” commercial was being played on the back of a airline seat because the airline had equipped it’s seats with tiny video monitors on their backs. I also love that one of their main selling points was the different colors that the airlines would be.

            I thought that the silliest thing was the way that the “Song” team tried to make the phrase “That’s so Song” a cool new catchphrase, like it was going to catch on and people were going to seriously be using that to describe something. I loved the interview between with the man and woman who were talking (mostly jokingly) about how “Song” their lives were.

            I enjoy seeing any brainstorming sessions for just about anything. The way that people throw around ideas, some silly, some terrible, some brilliant. I love listening to people creating and building on ideas, or transforming them to make something altogether different. There is an edge here because ideas in these sessions can either build or break a company. They can mean someone’s career.

            What’s interesting, though, is that after seeing ALL of the effort that this team went through to make this airline take off (also totally intended), things still didn’t pan out. “Song” only stayed in business for three years. I had never heard of it before viewing this film. It just shows you that you can put so much effort into cutting through the clutter, but whether it catches on or not is anyone’s guess.

Graphic Novel Reading List Pics

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After scanning the Graphic Novel reading list on the syllabus, I have chosen three graphic novels that I would like to read: “V for Vendetta,” “Watchmen,” and “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.” I would like to read new material, look at the art and add these three novels to my list of graphic novels that I have read.

            I am a HUGE fan of the film “V for Vendetta” and would like to read it to see how much the film deviates from the source material. And if it does, will I like the novel as much, if not more, than the film? I’m also a fan of Alan Moore and I could always stand to read more of his work. I think he’s a superb writer who creates complex characters and situations.

            When I was in high school, I was lent a copy of “Watchmen,” but was unable to finish it because I had to return it to my friend before he left for college. I would like to finally finish the book because of how well written it was. I have seen the movie several times and from what I remember of the book, the movie seems to follow the novel faithfully, even down to the Again, huge Alan Moore fan. From what I read of “Watchmen,” I really enjoyed. I have heard that the end of the movie was different than how the novel ended (and has seemed to cause some controversy among fans), so I am curious about that.

            “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” is a graphic novel that I know is very popular in the Batman fandom that I have never read. Being a huge fan of Batman myself, that is a good enough reason for me to want to read it. I fell in love with “Sin City” and have wanted to read more by Frank Miller since.

            The next time that I’m in the bookstore, I’d like to pick up these three so that I can begin to read and analyze them.