New genre

If I were to create a new genre I would mix gameshow and science fiction. I would pitch a show that would be about science fiction but in gameshow format. Similar to like what Let's make a deal that was on a little while ago. In that show they wore costumes of different types so my gameshow would have this aspect but in more of a science fiction way. They would dress up as science fiction people. The game aspect of the show would have all science fiction questions and would be run like any regular game show out there minus that fact. It would be a more entertaining way of learning about science fiction or bring out ideas about it than just watching a show unless you are a sci fi junky like some. This would be good because there are many people who find sci fi boring or they would rather watch something else so by creating a show like this they could make the sci fi genre more popular by combining it.

Favorite media text

One of my favorite media text is probably the television show One Tree Hill. This would probably fall under the genre of soap opera. Fans would look at this from the perspective of what is really happening in the show and by whether or not they like what is happening. They may also judge it by assumptions on whats going on. Producers would look at it from what the storyline is like for that genre or by how much that certain genre brings to the plate compared to others. Critics however would look at it from how they put things together. They would also judge the genre by how it affects the society. This text achieves the delicate balance between invention and convention because of how it does the show. It reaches out to a wide age range of people. It also does a great job of pulling out some key problems that people may have in their real life so they created it well and they follow through with what they plan very well also. Through out the entire show it is the same they may have changed it a little bit to adjust things but overall it is still the same show as it was when it started.

TV shows' impact on society

In class the one day after watching "Merchants of Cool" we discussed whether or not it is tv that impacts what people do or think or if we are the ones that impact what goes on tv. As I was talking to my friend today I was tossed into thinking more about it and which is really true. We were watching One Tree Hill and there was a scene where one of the boys was cheating on his girlfriend with another girl. My friend was frustrated at the fact that this would happen and said that he needs to break up with his girlfriend if he's going to mess around with someone else. My friend then continued by saying but they make this show as to reflect society and what happens.While I completely understand his point I continued to point out that not everyone thinks the same, and that it really does happen with some people not everyone treats everyone appropriately when they date or in any situation. This is what made me think. I tried to defend what happened on the show just because I have seen it in real life whereas with my friend was frustrated that the boy was continuing to cheat showing the two different points of view we discussed in class. I let what I saw happen in real life think that since its on tv it wasn't a big deal but and to some degree it didn't matter but it really does. There are too many cases when we let tv dictate our choices and what we think is wrong and right rather than looking into what really is wrong and right. This is where it turns into the feedback cycle that we also discussed. We watch a tv show and let what happens become what we believe to some degree then they see that we like it so they continue to put it on tv and brainwash us with whatever else they can think of along those lines. So even though we watch the bad stuff causing the stations to in return put more stuff on I think it is the tv that dictates the trends not us. I believe we tend to get more ideas from the tv then they do from us for the most part. However, I in no way would let someone treat me in that manner it just shocked me that I found it ok because I have seen it before.

Semiotic domains

As I left class on Tuesday when Alyssa taught us about television genres and how there are so many just by grouping what people's interests are and then combining interests to make different genres. However, during this conversation one thing stuck out to me. She said that our domains are not formed just by what genres we like because we all like a bunch of different genres so its not just a matter of the one domain but a bunch of different ones. For example, we can say that one domain is formed for those who just like the genre of science but they are not included in the domain of those who like the genres of science and history. So we can expand and make larger domains just by liking more tv genres compared to just having a domain of just science or just history. The more I think about the idea of semiotic domains and how they are formed and how many there are it is amazing. There is basically a domain for each group of people who like something which is an outrageous number of groups. Facebook has groups on there and each one of those is a semiotic domain because they share something in common and those are always growing as people find connection to it or start to like it. There are domains forming all around us without us even knowing.

Presence of a Conspiracy

I was looking over the myths once again as I watched television and different things this weekend. I thought about them in a deeper sense and what they mean. As I thought more about the Presence of a conspiracy I thought about how the news is similar to this. I would consider it to fall under this myth because there is a group of people who know all the inside details and what everyone else wants to know but for a while they are the only ones who know. And even still after they share the news with us they tell us some facts that are false so that we believe what they want us to know or to make the story better.

Sign within signs

Today I was thinking about signs and what they mean to us and how we know what they mean or what we make them to be. I looked up street signs on google images and found a sign that had the meaning of unusual ice conditions. However, within this sign are many others. There was a picture of a car swerving which to me at least means be careful there could be ice or that there is a sharp turn ahead usually so I should watch out. There is also a picture of a temperature gauge that is like half red. This usually means to me that it is not freezing but still not really hot outside. However, beside the temperature gauge is words that say <-0 Celsius. So when you add this into the mix there is a whole different meaning. It is not just a sign that has two really random pictures on it but it tells us that we need to watch out for those conditions when it is below 0 degrees. We can also pick up the fact that it is a warning because of the color of the sign. We usually put the color red with stop or the color green with go or a street sign but this sign was yellow and to us that means it is warning of us something not what the weather is like outside. It is not a matter of what the sign says in parts but as a whole that makes it have some type of meaning to us and makes us pay closer attention. Although without the words below that say unusual ice conditions someone who is usually from Florida or a warmer climate might be confused and make it mean something else because they are not use to those weather patterns. So even though someone like me who is from Pennsylvania may understand it or get the warning behind it someone from a warmer place would be confused besides they know that it is a warning because of the yellow color. Signs mean so many different things to different people so sometimes like in this case words are required to get the point across.

Comic Strip reading

I found this reading to be very interesting and true in what it had to say. One key thing that stuck out to me was when he used the example of the face and how even when we draw a bunch of shapes and add a dot for an eye we automatically see a face. We never think about what really is there. We can look at things and make them our own just like he did when he made the drawing into faces. It is amazing how we imagine different things just because of different characteristics that they each have, like when we talked about a stop sign in class. We automatically think stop when we see an octagon even if it would not say stop because of what we know it to symbolize. There are signs everywhere and no matter what we can all view them differently or turn them into something of our own. One classic example of this would be the picture that we can view as either a wine glass or 2 people's faces looking at each other. There are images and signs like this all around us that we don't even think about but they are there.

Myths in Shrek

I recently watched the movie Shrek. As I was watching this movie I thought back to when we talked about myths within media in class. While viewing this movie I noticed that Donkey was a great portrayal of the Wisdom of the Rustic myth. I believe that Donkey portrays this myth because throughout the whole movie, especially after seeing the type he is at the beginning, you would not think that he would be the one to give some of the advice or information that he does at different points in the movie. However, I believe that this is really the key reason that this movie is part of this myth because the other parts are just what we would expect to happen. For example, we expect the fairy tale creatures to be removed from the swamp and we also expect the princess to be rescued from the castle.