Top 10 Revelations from Spring 2010 Electronic Media & Writing Course

Hello! For our final exam we were asked to blog 10 revelations from my Electronic Media & Writing class for the Spring 2010 semester. I learned a lot this semester, here are just a few main points I learned from reading the text and our in class conversations. Enjoy!

1. Format is everything.

In Writing for Television, Rado, New Media. Hilliard discusses the importance of format and capturing the attention of the audience. On page two Hilliard stresses the importance of capturing the attention of the audience asap! Unless the audience is familiar with a popular sitcom, reality show, movie trilogy then you must capture the audiences attention from the start. An example of a popular show who started off with a fun and entertaining trailer/previews and now is a successful T.V. series is Glee. Take a look...



The writers of Glee successfully grabbed the attention from millions and now has to do little to nothing to promote their show to get more viewers.

2. The Power to Persuade



The persuasive techniques we learned about during our media class was fresh and new material to me. This is something I have thought about lightly, but not to this extent. Now when I look at an advertisement on television or my magazines I analyze how it's reaching me. Maybe it's targeting me with beautiful people or maybe it's a big lie. Either way the company has come up with some way to reach me. This makes me think to the movie we watched in class, The Persuaders. In that movie we got the opportunity to analyze the movie on our Twitter accounts and see what persuasive techniques the film uses itself.

3. Facebook vs. Twitter

Where should I start on this very powerful topic. My classmates bickered about Facebook and Twitter for almost and entire class. "I hate Twitter more than anything," said a fellow classmate. If you like it or not social networking is rising and professionals are using Twitter, Facebook, etc to their advantage. On page 459 Hilliard discusses the fast paced media environment and the structure of writing on the Internet. It's very different, and there is less room for "meandering." This can be beneficial because you are forced to be short and clear which is important for the audience. Personally, I feel social networking is a great way to communicate in college classrooms, socially, and for work. I can see this popularity only rising in the future.



4. Reality vs. "Reality."



The Hills is a popular MTV reality show for six consecutive seasons. The drama of hooking up, gossiping, "cat-fights," and glamorous careers is to blame for this popular t.v. show. On page 254 you get a glimpse into writing for MTV reality shows. The book discusses the obstacle of capturing a great scene but not having a strong momentum to build up to it. So in editing the writers need to "piece together different shots" and cheat the scene to make it look like it was spontaneous. This is called "frankenbiting." It is a term used when the director suggests things to the stars of the show. When I read this I instantly thought to The Hills and wondered how much is real and how much "frankenbiting" is used on the show. The stars aren't trained actors so sometimes it seems obvious that they were told to do something, or told to re-act out the moment.



5. Advertisements Attack!


Just flip through your favorite magazine, turn on your t.v., open your homepage, or take a walk down Sunset Boulevard or Times Square. What do you see? Oh... Right... Advertisements, go figure. This class didn't introduce the bombarding issue of advertisements, but it opened my eyes in a new way by watching The Persuaders. Relating the way we see advertisements to our power tools and persuasion techniques. Advertisements influence people every day and even though it's disturbing and inflicts bad behavior we must come to accept it and push it to background noise.

6. Narrowcasting Programming.


It's not news to see that television and movies are targeted towards different groups of people. Popular television shows such as Gossip Girl and The Hills are controversial hits that are targeted towards women ages 17-25. Gossip Girl and The Hills feature: sex, drugs and partying, violence, and other subjects parents wouldn't approve of their "little prince or princesses" tuning in to. The problem is, Gossip Girl started out as a popular book series targeted towards high school girls and the show seems to be even more raunchier than the book. The characters get caught up in drugs, random hook ups, and the latest buzzed about controversy, threesomes. A show that has been called "every parents worst nightmare." On page 3 Hilliard discusses narrowcasting programming, a program designed toward specialized audiences. With narrowcasting programming parents can see who the show is aimed towards and decide if they want their child to watch it or not.

7. Relationships and Connections.


Making relationships and making great impressions is another important factor I learned about this semester. It's crucial to be kind to anyone and everyone because you never know when you may cross paths with them in future as a business women/man. On page 451 Hilliard discusses a way to get further in your career - by making connections and by the people you know. It may be frustrating to know that someone who may not be as qualified as you could get the job over you because he/she has connections, but it is a very true aspect in the business world. Making connections is something I think about everyday and I feel this is a very important aspect if you want to be successful.

8. RSS is a Powerful Tool.


RSS is a powerful and useful tool for anyone who has limited time and wants the important information to come to them. Sounds like anyone and everyone right? That's why RSS is so useful, once you subscribe to a website you start getting the big and most useful news directly in our inbox. The RSS tool is a popular tool used for a variety of different professionals. As a public relations student and aspiring professional I can see myself using a tool like RSS in my future career. Professionals, especially those in PR need tools like this because they need to get the most important information to the public and the media mainstream which is why RSS is so useful because all of the important information is highlighted and given to you.

9. Children and T.V.



As a child I watched cartoons like it was my job, hey... didn't we all? I loved shows on Nickelodeon, Disney, and so on. On page 381 Hilliard discusses different approaches, formats and writing techniques when considering writing for children. When reading this I couldn't help but think of how much violence, sex, and disturbing messages are streamed through children's movies and t.v. shows. As a kid it seemed to go right over my head, but as I watch these movies and t.v. shows as an adult I can see the twisted messages children are receiving. Honestly, if I have a child it makes me want to ban these t.v. shows and movies from their lives. I can now see why my mom didn't always approve of the kid shows I watched. Since they are "kid" shows they seem innocent to us, but now as I grow up I can see her point of view.

10. Our Brain



Our limbic, neocortex, and reptilian make up the three parts of our brain. To be completely honest, this was something I never thought much about before. I couldn't even name all three parts before! In this class we explored how he media enters and stimulates different parts of our brain. This is something I find extremely interesting and allows me to analyze new material in a new and different way.

Thank you! Have a great summer! :-)