Why do we all love movies: From the past to present

As we discussed in class, movies can mix with our emotions. They make us laugh, cry, or sometimes even leave us angry. We can all agree that we all love movies, but why? We can relate to our characters and the situations that they're in. Overall, it brings so many aspects together.
There are many different companies in the film industry, but there are a select few that stand out. They're known as "The Big Eight." They are the following:

Majors                                 Minors
1. Paramount Pictures          6. United Artists
2. MGM                              7. Universal
3. Fox                                  8. Columbia
4. Warner Bros.
5. RKO

All of these companies make the films we all watch today. I'm sure you all know Paramount Pictures from the paranormal activity trilogy. Professor showed us a video in class from the movie theatre and how much it had an effect on the audience. They all screamed and cringed in fear. Watching that makes us all think about ourselves because we tend to do it also. Take a look at these videos and see if it makes you sad, upset, or amped up.

Marley and Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t7HZgqpH9E

Pursuit of Happiness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCq7eGKcs-w

Any Given Sunday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4tIrjBDkk

In all three of these videos, different emotions come to me. Most people agree that the first makes you sad, the second, sad and happy, and the third, pumped up or inspirational. All of these videos are able to show the emotions that people have.
In the 1950s, the rise of television began. Shows and films were in black and white but when the 1950s came color began. Before than, one of the only attempts was "The Wizard of Oz" which was pretty much half and half. "Singing In the Rain" was the first movie in color which was made in 1952. People weren't used to it but it became popular quickly and grew from there. If we look at the movies now, it's unbelievable to look back and see where it all began. We went from the Edison, "Sneeze" video to fighting robots that are saving the world with the "Transformers" trilogy. The special effects in these movies are amazing. Just imagine if people in the early 1900s saw Avatar in imax 3d. They thought that the arrival of the train video was off because it looked as if the train was going to come out of the screen. If they saw anything in 3d, they wouldn't know what to think. Another movie that was mentioned in the book was "2012." It was known for its great special effects and how it really made people think about how the world may end. It really had an affect on some people and their reactions after the movie showed it. They began making up rumors on what day the world was going to end and the things that were going to happen. This is an example of how films have leave an effect on the public.
In our book, it discusses the different genres of movies and television. It talks about everything from situation comedy, to game shows, to soap operas, to reality television, to sports. Many people tune in every day to watch reality television, and some just to watch their favorite sports teams. No matter what there's no denying that we all love movies and television and it drags us in all the time.

If you'd like to leave a comment talk about some of the following:

*What did you think of the videos? How'd they make you feel
*What do you like about movies? Name a few favorites and why they are your favorites?
*How often do you watch T.V. and what is it that makes you want to watch it as often as you do?

Ethics of Journalism

I'm sure most of you, now being freshmen in college, have written a research report. Doing this required finding facts with cited sources. But have you ever heard of someone just making up a bunch of things? Well there have been people in the past who have. Two who are most famous are Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair.

Both of these men worked for big companies. Glass for The New Republic and Blair for The New York Times. Both men made up stories with fake people and fake places. The editors took a while to actually realize what they were doing. When they did, both men were out of a job in the end and both companies were hurt in many ways.

The movie "Shattered Glass" was based on Stephen Glass and they go through his story. When he is caught, his editor brings him to a place where he wrote one of his stories on and it was nothing like he described. Glass went crazy and his editor had no choice but to fire him. 

Both of these men relate to the idea of ethics in the media today. Ethics are defined as a "branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions." In Blair's situation, he had no self-regulation with no responsibility for ethical conduct. Blair ended up resigning, but it was said that half of the 73 articles he wrote were fabrications and sometimes even had plagiarism.

Here are two links. The first is a scene from Shattered Glass and the second is an actually interview with Stephen Glass.
I feel like there are some who do make up some things and not all editors are able to ever find it. It's not always easy for writers to keep up their great work and use all real sources and stories. Knowing this, they probably do make a few things up even if it isn't anything major.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p6s9L1SM8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1fcF9LLjYE&feature=related


In Media Ethics there are many different theories that we covered in class, but a few stood out to me. Immanuel Kant said that something is ethical or it's not. If it's universally right for one, than it is for all. But I don't know if I actually agree with this. Some things can be looked at as both. I also thought that the justice and veil of ignorance theory made a lot of sense. You're forced to make decisions about the society. But when you make them, you are completely blind. This was believed to force people to make ethical and right decisions. In many ways I agree with this because people wouldn't have the chance to make any unethical decisions which may lead to a more civilized society.

I would like to see what everyone else thinks. What theory do you think is most compelling and why? Also, do you think that there are more like Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair in the print media today?

Thanks guys

The Dynamics of Change In Media Today

Hey guys, so after reading chapter three during this first unit, I really started to realize how much media has evolved the past 10-20 years. Media now days, can go on debates forever about whether our rapid growth in the digital world has a positive or negative effect on an individual. Personally, being an owner of an iPhone 4 and a macbook pro, I think it has it's pros and cons.
In chapter three, it talks about online books and and how google has created it's own library. This raises the question, "Are libraries going to be used as much or even at all like they were 10-20 years ago?" I feel like they need to be used, especially for students in college. This is because students need to do research through real print and not always through sources online. Not to mention that a lot of articles online aren't credible sources. This has both it's negative and positive affects.
Not only have books become popular online, but now magazines and newspapers are being used very often online. Now days, you're able to go onto courant.com and nytimes.com to read the paper there. Not only is this making it easier for people but it has a negative affect on the companies. Although Newspapers are cheap, they still lose money when people don't go in to buy them. The pro here is that people don't have to go out and spend money, but the con being the company is slowly losing some money.
Now to the iPhone. I have had an iPhone 4 for over a year now and it seizes to amaze me all the amazing things you can do with it. From using it as a remote, watching movies, and using it as a camera. The things you can do with an iPhone are unlike any other type of device. I feel as if having the iPhone has a positive affect on individuals because you can do so much with it. And, you have to buy the apps you're going to use, so companies are making money for the things they are creating. They have recently added newspapers to iPads and iPhones. With this, you can have the daily newspaper (one you choose) seen everyday when you wake up. Who would have thought 10 years ago when the blackberry was popular there would be something like the iPhone?
The macbook! I just received this for my graduation gift in the summer. I have been obsessed ever since I got it. The things this computer can do doesn't compare to anything else. It is lightening quick and has apps just as cool as ones on the iPhone. In class, we were shown a commercial of the first ever mac. Wow! It has changed so much the past 25 years. It now comes in a slim form that is easy to bring wherever you want. I recently downloaded the new OSX lion software. It has many new things to use and the programs run even fast than before.
All in all, I feel like the rapid growth in today's digital world has more than a positive effect than negative. Like I said earlier, it does have its pros and cons, but the pros seem to overpower the cons. Whether it be online books, magazines, newspapers, or apps that you can use to turn off the lights in your kitchen, our digital age has helped all of us.

If anyone is interested in commenting, maybe talk about some things such as:

Does are digital world have a negative or positive effect on individuals? Why do you think what you do?
Do you own an iPhone or apple device? If so, how do you feel about it?

Nick Aconfora

Here is a link to youtube for the iPhone 4 if anyone wants to check it out. You can browse through the other videos (it's the apple channel) and check out iPad 2.

http://www.youtube.com/apple#p/u/2/8gpUG3vxhfA