media analysis proposal
For my media analysis I propose I analyze the following Levi's commercial from around 1997. It is called 'Elevator Fantasy' and is directed by Michael Bay:
Click below to view the commercial
Will this work? I love the narrative that this piece has. I've loved this since the first time I saw it on television!! Plus its beautiful cinematography and production design.
Meme with me...
This morning I got the design for our meme project from Dave. What we decided to do was create a news article that looked like it came from USA Today featuring the story I mentioned in my previous entry here. We ran off 200 copies of this and used a variety of methods of getting the "news" out. For me, the following was my route (Heewon spread the news too)...
1. I started out putting the news article on the bench at the Morgan Ave L train station...as I waited for the train I saw someone sit down and pick it up and read it. Then they talked about it to their 3 friends. Then I saw another person look at it and put it back on the bench when the train came. So likely many more people saw it throughout the afternoon too.
2. So then on the subway I dropped it on a seat and moved down into the car more...saw 2 people looking at it before i got off the train.
3. In school I talked to 9 people on the 10th floor just pretending like I had just picked it up and was amazed by the news. I played it very cool like I was amazed by seeing the article and shared it with others. For this reason I didn't collect signatures or other forms of evidence which would have made it evident that this was a hoax.
4. I went onto every floor on the Parsons building 3 seperate times during the day and placed it in the bathroom and the elevator waiting area (totaling about 30 each time, so 90 total...and who knows how many people actually looked at it though...probably more since it was right at the sink in the bathrooms and you couldn't miss it!)
5. In the KU elevator I saw someone I knew so I told them about it, and there were a total of 7 people in the elevator that would have overheard the conversation.
6. In the Parsons elevator the same thing, but 8 people total this time.
7. Then I got a stack of Metro newspapers and inserted the article into 50 newspapers and then we handed out during the end of rush hour at the steps going down from the Food Emporium entrance to the subway in Union Square.
I understand Heewon had some interesting discussions started between some people she told the news to. People started getting all into how an explosion could definitely have triggered the earthquakes, etc.. I wish I had been there to witness that. I'm sure it was amusing.
Thats it for the meme project notes. Below is the icon I created for my identity (the reel/countdown project we are beginning):
Click above if you wish to view it larger.
As I continue on with this project I see the logo animating with the guy peddling the pedicopter and the blades rotating as he moves upward into the clouds. Eventually the clouds clear and "rise." is revealed. Or something like that.
For the countdown assignment which is due next week I'm thinking of a few ways to execute that creatively and keeping with this look. Maybe i can do a 3D move....with the numbers showing in the rotating blades of the pedicopter from an above view looking down...and at the end of the countdown the camera moves down and reveals the guy who rises up into the clouds and does the whole intro thing...
Meme or not to meme....
This afternoon was the first day for the narrative major studio. We're working on our first group project, which involves an experiment with
memetics. I'm in a group with Dave and Heewon. For this project we are spreading the false news that the tsunami that hit several countries in December was actually triggered by the USA doing tests at the bottom of the ocean involving detonating large explosives. These large explosions the US supposedly set off then triggered the massive earthquake which ultimately caused the tsunami. We're working out the details, perhaps a memo was found or something to reveal this secret and shameful information.
I proposed riding the elevator up and down during rush hour at Parsons with one of my group partners. We'd be having a casual conversation and one would mention this news to the other, like they had just heard it on the tv or read it. I felt this was the best way to get the news out in a manner that people wouldn't realize it was fake and would start spreading it fast. However since we need to present evidence of completing this project, we've decided to create posters or flyers that will look like a polital organization is exposing this information. We'd possibly have tabs which could be torn off on the bottom (with something like an e-mail address or website address...which would be fake since we arent allowed to use the computer for this project). This way we could keep track of the number of people that tear of the tab. Unfortunately this is not the most accurate way to go about collecting this data, since the majority of the people who actually read the posters will probably not rip off the paper. But we are coming up short on ideas otherwise for the time being.
It Happened On The Way To The L.
I had to write about what happened to me on the way home from major studio today. You always hear about people getting pushed in front of subway cars on the news, but its rare to see it happen yourself. In the six years I've lived in New York I have arrived at the station a few minutes after people have been run over by trains, so yeah I have seen that carnage. But on my way home from school today I ran a few errands so I was boarding the L train at 1st Avenue. I walked to the front of the platform as I always do, and then look down the platform and see that the train is about to enter the station. Seconds later I hear a rawkus behind me as a woman is screaming so I turn back in the direction that the train is coming from and on the edge of the platform I see someone shoved onto the train track. About a second later, someone else either jumps onto the track after that person or is also shoved. All the while another woman on the platform is screaming for help since a train is approaching, but slowing down since it sees what is happening. The person who had entered the tracks second then rushes to the other side of the tracks and I don't see them again...the first person who was shoved is pulled up by several people standing on the platform. The train then proceeded in the station where we had to sit for a while since I assume they were investigating or something.
It was quite frightening watching what could have turned to death within a matter of moments, but luckily due to quick reaction by those around it was prevented. I hope everyone is ok and not too shaken up, and they nabbed whoever did the pushing. Definitely got the adrenalin going.
