The Role of Media Workers

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Social media workers have been increasingly important to the success of companies and organizations. By using media platforms like Twitter or WhatsApp, working organizations can raise their businesses and sales rate.

Careers that centered around this area are community managers, social media directors, podcasters, bloggers and many more. Their duties are to help companies or any organizations they work for, and increase the sales and popularity by using social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

One of the characteristics to be a social media worker are:

Creative

Outgoing

Social (obviously)

Here are the examples of popular social media workers:

DJ Khaled

J. K. Rowling

Felix Kjelberg aka Pewdiepie

Donald Trump

Kanye West

New Media Trends Slides

New Media Trend

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Social media has always been a part of our lives. We use it for entertainment, business, academic studies, among other things and it has made an impact on our society. Now, one of those social media happens to be WhatsApp, a social media app that could be used on both smartphones and computers. But it's mostly used on smartphones.

WhatsApp is used worldwide, and it's mostly for making conversation to other users of the app. They could also send photos and videos, and in the most recent update, it seems WhatsApp could upload 'stories' just like in Instagram.

It's also used for in commercials, or advertisements to let people know how to contact them. Or finding out more information.

Future: Social Media

Meme to meet you,

I don't know what would happen to our society in the future, but from what I can observe at the present time, there is one or two possibilities that would happen.

Firstly, medias that we use today such as blogs and Facebook would eventually be abandoned and forgotten for newer and easier media platforms. For example, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram.

I often use Instagram to post photos and my artworks, and check out the latest memes, celebrity news and also world events. Although, Instagram is more of a way to post photos than looking for news. Instagram from what I can see, is more likely to be one of the top media platforms on par with Twitter in the future.

Video Art and Commercials(Advertisements)

Me: I should do all my assignments early 

                                        Me to me: Do it last minute

Meme to meet you,

Today's post would be about Video Art and Commercials, or commonly known as Advertisements. Let's start with the definition of Video Art, according to wikipedia, it is a form of art which relies on moving pictures in a visual and audio medium. 

Some of the examples on Video Art are:

Nam June Paik's TV Buddha

Marco Brambilla's Cyclorama

Commercials or advertisements on the other hand, is not exclusively on just moving pictures, it is everywhere. Photography, printing, papers, books, amongst other things.

Examples:

Product Advertisement

Food Commercial

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_art

What are: Documentaries

-Uitm kid meme

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Today's post would be about documentaries and how is it different from film. First of all, let's check out the definition about documentaries. According to Cambridge’s online English dictionary, documentaries are a film or television or radio programme that gives facts and information about a subject. They are based on facts, and generally non-fiction.

How’s it different than films?

Whereas documentaries are more towards facts, and more educational, films are more towards entertainment. Films are mostly fiction, some might be based on real events or people, but the director can put in drama or suspense with their creativity. Genres are varied, amongst it are comedy, musical, romance crime and horror.

My favourite documentaries that I love watching are about world history, conspiracy theories and aliens, and animals like penguins, cats and seals.

https://youtu.be/L9waMqzl3Ro

This link shows a documentary I would watch occasionally to fill up my time. It explores on how Adolf Hitler, an Austrian that came from a small town succeeded in conquering Germany and eventually start a war that involves other countries. It talks about his childhood, to his teen years and how he climbs up the ladders to Germany’s ranks. Further inside the documentary, they would discuss about a book Adolf Hitler wrote, entitled ‘Mein Kampf’.

References:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/documentary

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/film-studies/differentiating-documentaries-from-fiction-filmmaking-film-studies-essay.php

History: The Impact of Media

Figuring out how to finish assignments and enjoy life

Me:

-Math woman meme

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Today’s post would be talking about the impact media has on people’s live during the printing period and which period has more impact caused by the media.

Let’s revise on what is media. Media is a means of mass communication. Telephones, the internet, television, newspapers are among the examples of media and we use them in our everyday lives. For entertainment, sharing information or academic purposes, media is used everywhere in the world.

A hundred years ago before technology even existed and we live in wooden houses, when the printing press was invented there was a huge shift from time-consuming manuscript maker to a print technology that allows huge numbers of copies of handwritten work to be created quickly, giving easier access to information and setting the stage for a slow but important transformation of societal literacy.

The impact was tremendous, people won’t have to consume more of their time to write copies of a manuscript and could just simply copy the original one.

It had a great effect on education, with more and more copies were being printed, it doesn’t take long for these copies to be shared to the masses. Printed books became an educational aid available to all students and a better teaching tool than the manuscripts.

The printing press became a catalyst for social and cultural transformations. It provided a new form of communication and thus, allowing political and religious views to be spread widely. Which then goes to our next question, which period has more impact caused by the media?

From my point of view, the period with the most impact caused by media is the Industrial Revolution. The printing press was responsible for this particular period, because it helped to push forward the process of enhancing the production into more machine powered steams.

References:

https://prezi.com/26fdtevvbmar/industrial-revolution-the-printing-press/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press

Relationship: Media and Society

The floor is doing assignments and finishing them

Me:

-The floor is lava meme

Meme to meet you,

Another hard topic to discuss, let's hope I won't melt my brain. Okay, so our class was introduced about Media Theories and I wasn't surprised by the amount of theories that were shown. Before we melt my brains here, I'd like to describe the media again.

Media:

According to an online dictionary, it is a means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet) regarded collectively. The word 'Media' is used in our lives to describe any means of communication.

The Relationship between Media and Society:

Media usually are thought of as sources of news and entertainment. It is often overlooked, on how mass messages bind people into communities, even into nations. Telephones, radio, books, film, music and paper are some of the examples of media and we use these objects in our daily lives.

Media brings changes to our society in both positive and negative way. As technology continues growing in our modern world, we become more and more dependent on them. The changes in our society because of media is various. The rate of crime increase. Social and political disorder spreading. Workers strive for greater rights, safety, and security. Magazine journalists using their agencies to challenge the abuses of business and the privileged.

Since now is the era of Internet, media has already affect the worldwide. The technology we use is small and easy to carry to anywhere we go, buses, trains, libraries, etc.

 An example of media's relationship with society would be, Astro Boy, an old japanese animation that revolutionizes the animation industry in japan. Astro Boy or Mighty Atom from it's original name, was created by Osamu Tezuka.

 It is about a scientist who lost his son in an accident, and he created a robot that resembles to his dead son. However, the scientist grew mad at the robot and sells it to a circus. The scientist was never heard of again. The robot was then founded by Professor Ochanomizu, and since then, Atom faces many adversaries.

This show has inspired children and adults alike, of facing difficult situations without giving up, of friendship and family, and being different than others. 

References:

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/media

http://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/society-and-media

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_Boy_(1963_TV_series)

Documentary: Lo and Behold

Understandable.

Have a great day.

-A meme

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Lo and Behold, is a Documentary by an Oscar nominated Documentation, Werner Herzog. It talks about the past, present and future of the Internet and the impact it has towards the human interaction and modern society.

First of all, I’d like to say how interesting it is that Werner Herzog doesn't even own a cell phone, but his analysis of the Internet can be more unique, weird, and funny than anyone else's.

Werner Herzog's documentary film, takes an extraordinary outlook at the Internet and how it affects humans. We also get a look of how the Internet was born, and see plenty of stories about the world of computing, and especially hacking (both from cyber threats and from trophy-hunters like Kevin Mitnick)

The most weird sequence in the documentary involves a family who was apparently attacked over the death of their daughter. Herzog makes the family look a bit crazy, and this isn't helped by the mother's claim that the Internet is the Anti-Christ, a view that clearly demonstrates she is mentally unstable. (To be honest I think it was a fake scene)

In an exercise about the average internet consumer, our group created a character based on each group member and the internet culture together. His name is Jeffry Layton(Jeffry, a reference to "My name's Jeff'" meme and "Professor Layton" game series)and is a 19 year old. He lives in a hostel  and is a freshman in University. He likes to solve puzzles(another reference to "Professor Layton" game series), respecting wamen(a popular meme) and mystery(because we all like a bit of mystery and he likes solving puzzles)

He spends his time reading books, because it makes him immersed in the story and enjoys making memes(a joke about any image or video and edited each time. They are created and shared in the internet.)

We wrote, 'running away from responsibilities', because of a popular Internet joke - being not serious about life yet. For knowledge, Jeffery knows all the names of Pokemon, because he grew up watching Pokemon as a young 90s kid.

His goal is to become a Dank Archaeologist. (Dank means, cool or dope.) Jeffery is a Social Justice Warrior (SJW) and a liberal.

We divided the aspects of Jeffry's life that are being affected by the Internet into four sections: Safety, Information, Entertainment and Communication.

Safety:

-He is cautious about what he shares online.

-Understands the consequences of Cyber-bullying.

-Doesn't take advantage of the anonymity of the Internet.

Information:

-Finds out more about archaeology. Easy access to studies.

-Exposed to a wider perspective and a vast set of beliefs.

-Always updated to what is happening around the globe.

-Has a better understanding of individuals from different cultures.

-Broadens his vocabulary and improves his language.

Entertainment:

-Has an easy access to movies, TV shows, Documentaries... etcetera.

-Plays games online, with theme and topics that effects him as an individual.

-Shares memes.

-The media Jeffery consumes online, shapes his opinions and beliefs.

-Increases his creativity.

Communication:

-Can pay his bills with ease, and less time consuming.

-Communicates with family and friends through email, and other forms of social media.

-Contacting his lecturers is easy with the Internet.

-Socialises with other individuals with similar interests.

-Can make emergency calls in the need of help.

References:

http://www.loandbehold-film.com/synopsis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lo_and_Behold,_Reveries_of_the_Connected_World

An Inventor: Johannes Gutenberg

“Can I get uhhh… boneless pizza and two litres of coke,”

“…. The what kind of pizza? And 2 litre machine broke. We got one litre though,”

-Boneless Pizza meme

Meme to meet you,

On this week’s blog, I’ll be talking about a famous inventor named Johannes Gutenberg.

Johannes or his real name, Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, was born in circa 1395, in Mainz, Germany. He is a blacksmith, goldsmith, printer and publisher and is known for inventing the first mechanical moveable type printing press. His invention played a role for developing our society to modern times (Renaissance, Reformation etc, etc) and help spreading knowledge to the common people.

Johannes was the son of a merchant, according to some sources however, his father Friele, works as a goldsmith for a bishop in their city, Mainz. Not a lot was known of his childhood and his life, but John Lienhard (a technology historian) says, he grew up learning about goldsmithing.

Johannes invention printed the Bible, and he was hated by the church for it. Back then, the church had a lot more power in spreading knowledge, and controls any information to the people. The man didn’t care however, and continued on his life by printing more texts and books. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg

https://www.ducksters.com/biography/johannes_gutenberg.php

What is: Semiotics

I Have Never Met Someone As Beautiful… As A Melon Bread

(I like melon bread *wink* *wonk*)

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Okay guys, I’m doing another one of those migraine inducing headaches, a topic called Semiotics. See the bold words? It means this will either fry my tiny brain or yours. Most possibly mine.

So, semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and how they are used in communication. It is how ‘meaning’ is created and how it is communicated. Among the signs that I unknowingly studied are analogy, metaphors and symbolism.

Semiotics started out as an academic exploration into the meaning of words which is then called linguistics, before it moved into examining people’s behaviour (anthropology and psychology).  After that, it evolved to become a question into culture and society (sociology and philosophy), then it advanced with analysing of cultural products (films, literature, art theory).

"A sign, or representamen, is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign. That sign which it creates I call the interpretant of the first sign. The sign stands for something, its object not in all respects, but in reference to a sort of idea." Peirce called the sign a representamen, in order to bring out the fact that a sign is something that "represents" something else in order to suggest it (that is, "re-present" it) in some way.

                                                            - Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)

There are a lot fields under semiotics, some of them are:

Biosemiotics: the study of semiotic processes at all levels of biology.

Film semiotics: the study of the various codes and signs of film and how they are understood

Marketing semiotics, or commercial semiotics is an application of semiotic methods and semiotic thinking in the analysis and development of advertising and brand communications in cultural context.

Social semiotics: expands the interpretable semiotic landscape to include all cultural codes, such as in slang, fashion, and advertising

Through the study of semiotics, we become aware that these signs are normally transparent. Living in a world of increasingly visual signs, we need to learn that even the most 'realistic' signs are not what they appear to be. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics

http://www.signsalad.com/semiotics-explained/

Describe: Post Modernism

That Planet Earth Turns Slowly… But I Don’t

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In this week’s blog, I’d like to address to a difficult topic (for me) which is Post Modernism. What is that? Well, according to verifiable resources, Post- Modernism is a huge movement that developed in the mid- to late 20th century on philosophy, arts, architecture and criticism which evolved from modernism.

It is categorized by wide skeptism, subjectivism, or relativism; a general suspicion of reason; and an acute sensitivity to the role of ideology in declaring and maintaining political and economic power.

In short, it is the era after Modernism, a huge movement in Western arts and literature that started from around 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by intentional rejection of the styles of the past; emphasising on innovation and experimentation in order to create artworks that reflects modern society.

Okay… this topic really fries my tiny brain. Anyways, there are a few people who made their opinions or ideas (philosophies really), known about Post-Modernism that it became influential and famous during that era.

One of them was Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher who objects the philosophical basis of the concepts of "subjectivity" and "objectivity" (whatever that means) and said that similar grounding oppositions in logic ultimately refer to one another. 

Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher and the father of deconstruction, and practiced philosophy as a form of textual criticism. He criticized Western philosophy as privileging the concept of presence and logos, as opposed to absence and markings or writings.

Philosophies on Post-Modernism made a huge impact on arts, architecture, literature and music, among other things.

In architecture, it was a movement or style that pop up during the 60s, as a reaction against the lack of variety of modern architecture and design. The style thrives through the 80s and 90s, probably because during that timeline there were a lot of movies, dramas and theories involved in sci-fi and the future.

Post- Modernism in music is simply music developed in the era. Music that follows the trend of philosophical or appreciation of post modernism. (I’m just repeating what I said lol) It became the trend in the 60s, where psychedelic rock started to grow. Another example would be the rock band, The Beatles.

In every era, there will always be someone who would criticise a new invention or idea. The same could be said with post modernism. Criticism on post modernism was varied and different, Noam Chomsky, an American philosopher said post modernism is meaningless because it adds nothing to analytical or demonstrable knowledge.

"The idea that we live in a postmodern culture is a myth. In fact, a postmodern culture is an impossibility; it would be utterly unliveable. People are not relativistic when it comes to matters of science, engineering, and technology; rather, they are relativistic and pluralistic in matters of religion and ethics. But, of course, that's not postmodernism; that's modernism!"

                        -A quote from Christian apologist and philosopher William Lane Craig

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism

https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/modernism

Weekly Story Appreciation: Not One Less

If There Were 10 Million Fireflies, Should I Say Goodbye?

Meme to meet you,

On Friday, our Media Appreciation class watched a Chinese movie called ‘Not One Less’. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this, because of how old the quality of the movie looked like. I make myself comfortable in my seat as the movie started. There was a cold coca cola I just bought and took a long sip. Might as well get comfy, right?

It started with a man and a small girl walking down a rocky path. The girl's clothes are baggy and a bit dull. Both walked towards a rundown shack, it’s walls filled with dirt and it has big cracks on it. It turns out, the shack was actually a primary school for the children who lives in the village.

This is the part where it got me interested. The small girl walking with the man(who apparently is the mayor of this poor village) was hired to be a substitute teacher for one month. Wei Minzhi, a 13 year-old is going to be a teacher to students 3 years younger than her.

There were many challenges faced by both Wei Minzhi and her students. For Wei, she doesn’t have the ability or education to teach anything to her students. It’s not a surprise she couldn’t teach, she had just graduated from middle school. She was told by the teacher she’s going to replace to copy the texts in the book and not let any students out if they haven’t copy the texts. Which Wei did, by locking the door and stand guard outside the classroom.

In the students’ case, because Wei is not inside the classroom to enforce any rules or teach them anything, it became a free-for-all battle royale. In other words, pure chaos.

The days continued on like this until one of Wei’s student, the resident troublemaker Zhang Huike, went to the city to find a job to pay his family’s debt.

Wei Minzhi, the girl who ran to catch a jeep to keep her student, was very determined to bring the boy back to school. She enlists the help of her remaining 26 students to earn some money to go to the city.

And with the help of math (I’m amused and surprised) in real life situations and problems, they all earned some money for Wei to earn a bus ticket to the city. Which was actually not enough at all and the 13 year-old had to walk to the city after she was thrown out for sneaking into the bus.

After a few grueling days in the city, Wei managed to get into contact with the news station and told them about her reasons she came to the city. The station broadcast her in live T.V, prompting a reaction from Zhang Huike's boss to let the small boy know about his teacher.

In the end, both teacher and student were reunited. Their school were donated a whole supply of coloured chalk and other things, a donation for Zhang Huike to pay his debts and lastly, each student gets to write a character on the board with the coloured chalks.

This movie was absolutely amazing and I would definitely watched it again. It is well- balanced, and I definitely liked the humor bits scattered along the movie.

Source:

Yours truly

Comments on: Education in Rural Areas

The World May Fall Asleep, But My Eyes Will Keep On Staring At Fireflies

Meme to meet you,

In this week's agenda, I'd like to comment on a theme I picked named, 'Education in Rural Areas'. 

The education in rural areas are not as bad as it used to be. In this generation, everyone has access to the internet, or the media. Be it the smartphones, or computers, the young generation could gather knowledge by the click of their fingers in a second.

Even during my high school days, we already have smartphones, using it for entertainment, games, music and education. Our situation is not as bad as it was shown in the media. True, there are some parts of rural areas that doesn’t have internet, however, it is only for the most deep, deep of the areas who has sub par education.

Those who lived in the most deep of rural areas are slowly diminishing day by day. With cars that specialize in going to rocky terrains, such as Hilux, the Ford Ranger or Dmax 4x4, it is now easier to go to these areas.

The world is getting smaller and smaller as we developed more ways to connect to our friends and family who are living far away than us. There is no excuses that you could not have enough study or information when the internet is literally beneath your fingers and a second away!

If you don't have a phone, then use the laptop. If you don't have a laptop, go to the cyber cafe. If you don't want to go to a cyber cafe, go to the library and read a book.

Well, unless you live in the deep, deep part of the rural area.

Source:

Yours truly

A Brief Biography: Yimou Zhang

How Much Does An Eye Compare to 10 Million Fireflies?

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Yimou Zhang or, Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He was born in 2 April 1950, China. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum.

Among family and friends, he was nicknamed Lao MouZi, which loosely means ‘old schemer’ or ‘strategist’.

Zhang has won numerous awards and recognitions, with Best Foreign Film nominations for Ju Dou in 1990, Raise the Red Lantern in 1991, and Hero in 2003, Silver Lion and Golden Lion prizes at the Venice Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. 

In 1993, he was a member of the jury at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival. Zhang directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, which received considerable international acclaim.

One of Zhang's recurrent themes is the resilience of Chinese people in the face of hardship and adversity, a theme which has been explored in such films as To Live (1994) and Not One Less (1999). His films are particularly noted for their rich use of colour, as can be seen in some of his early films, like Raise the Red Lantern, and in his wuxia films like Hero and House of Flying Daggers. His highest budgeted film to date is the 2016 monster film titled The Great Wall, set in Imperial China and starring Matt Damon.

A few of his quotes motivates other aspiring directors, artists and helps them understand better how to bring the audience to enjoy watching art of motion pictures. It also describes the person Yimou Zhang is, in how he observes the situation in China having a big influence in his movie techniques.

The objective of any form of art is not political. I had no political intentions. I am not interested in politics.

The Cultural Revolution was a very special period of Chinese history, unique in the world. It was part of my youth. It happened between when I was 16 and when I was 26. During those 10 years, I witnessed so many terrible and tragic things. For many years, I have wanted to make movies about that period - to discuss the suffering and to talk about fate and human relationships in a world which people couldn't control and which was very hostile. I would like to make not just one but many movies, both autobiographical and drawing on other people's stories. I'll just have to wait.

Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0955443/bio

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Yimou

Describing: Media

Would you believe your eyes? Or ten million fireflies?

Meme to meet you,

What is media? 

Well, according to wikipedia, media is the collective communication outlets or tools that are used to store and deliver information or data. It is either associated with communication media, or the specialized mass media communication businesses such as print media and the press, photography, advertising, cinema, broadcasting (radio and television) and publishing.

Media throughout History

The beginning of human communication through designed channels, dates back to ancient cave paintings, drawn maps, and writing.

Writing tools through the ages

In the last century, a revolution in telecommunications has greatly altered communication by providing new media for long distance communication. The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast occurred in 1906 and led to common communication via analog and digital media:

Analog telecommunications include some radio systems, historical telephony systems, and historical television broadcasts.

Digital telecommunications allow for computer-mediated communication, telegraphy, and computer networks.

Modern Technology

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_(communication)