Not your average "Date Night" Media Meditation # 4

On Friday April 9 I was very eager to see the new movie "Date Night," starring the very comical Tina Fey and Steve Carell. My boyfriend and I saw the movie trailer a couple of times earlier that week so we made our way to the theatre for the early showing. To my surprise the first showing was already sold out. We were too excited to see "Date Night" to go and see a different film so we waited for the late showing and we were glad that we did. It was hilarious!

When I think of a "media experience" I immediately think to movies. When watching "Date Night" I thought to the persuasive techniques we learned about in our media class.



First, HUMOR: As you can see in the movie trailer this movie has the ability to capture laughs from the audience. For example: Phil Foster (Steve Carell) mimicking the guys who are telling them to "get up." Another persuasive technique used is PLAIN FOLKS. Steve Carell and Tina Fey play a normal couple who go out on a date in NYC. That date turns out to be a night they would never expect and always remember. It's comical to think about this next persuasive technique but NOSTALGIA is another persuasive technique that I noticed. I couldn't help but think about my past bad dates and how they could never live up to this date.

Another persuasive technique used in "Date Night" is WARM FUZZIES. Claire (Tina Fey) and Phil (Steve Carell) have cute young children in the movie.

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE are in this film, those actors include: Leighton Meester, James Franco, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Steve Carell are all attractive well known celebrities.

Other persuasive techniques used in this film include, STRENGTH - The movie is a comedy but it's also packed with action. NAME CALLING - The movie is filled with crude and humorous language throughout the film. Also, TIMING. - Just when you think the action has stopped, it gives you a minute for some comedy and then jumps right back into the action to keep the BRAIN interested.

Speaking of the brain, the movie reaches out to all three parts during the film. The REPTILIAN - We laugh and laugh during the film, also when we are at the movie theatre our brain associates a film with popcorn and candy. We also see a lot of action packed scenes which has to do with the "fighting" part of our REPTILIAN. The movie features lots of music, including "Heartbreak Warfare" - by John Mayer and of course images (scenes). The music and scenes reach our LIMBIC brain. Finally the movie reaches out to our NEOCORTEX - thinking about the movie, the plot, predicting or thinking about what will happen next and how the movie will end. Also our brain processes 24 movie frames per second.

This hilarious film also relates to our eight shifts that we learned about in our media class. Those include, PERSONAL SHIFT - the ability to watch the trailer and post comments about the film. Also the ability to post the movie trailer on my Blogger account. AESTHETIC SHIFT - We have the ability to watch the trailer on our iPhones and text our own movie reviews to websites and our friends.

"Date Night" also relates to our seven basic principles. Those include, PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES - the camera angles, the lighting during the film, editing, sound effects (gun shots, screeching from cars, etc.), colors and font styles of the movie title and actors at the beginning and the end of the movie trailer and the credits at the end of the film. And VALUE MESSAGE - this movie doesn't have a specific message but perhaps I will interpret a comical message (just like the movie) beware of stealing other peoples reservations. Ha Ha!

To conclude I would say this movie is a great date movie or just a movie to go see with your friends and family. It's filled with action and lots and lots of laughs. I very much enjoyed this film and recommend it to everyone!

If you want to see more "Date Night" then click here. You can also watch exclusive clips on this YouTube page.

Thanks for reading!