Project #3: TOP TEN REVELATIONS Final Examination – Rev It Up

Overview: Using our THREE books, our in-class films, our student (music video and car commercial) YouTube presentations, our guest speakers, and our class conversations, create a “Top 10 Key Insights About Cars, Culture and Media" final examination that explains, with examples, the ten most important revelations you have had about CARS, CULTURE AND MEDIA this semester.

To PASS this final examination, you must:

1. Provide direct quotations [parenthetically cited, like so--> (Kunstler, 76)] from our THREE books, as well as references to our student presentations for EACH of your 10 revelations. 

2. Embed a video OR photo to illustrate EACH of your 10 revelations. Use our course blog and your research to assist you in making your reflections.

3. Provide at least a 4-5 sentence paragraphs for each of your TEN revelations, and be sure that you have no grammar, spelling or mechanical errors.

Synthesize, and show us what you have learned!

Project #2: FINAL “Cars” PSA Project - In Teams

Our goal: To write and produce a Public Service Announcement on any CARS, CULTURE, AND MEDIA topic of your choice, related to our course texts, conversations and films. This assignment is due by Thursday, November 14 for presentation to the class.

Challenge: In small groups of 3-5 students, you will be scripting, storyboarding and filming your 1 minute video, intended to educate/entertain your audience with a focus on your selected CARS theme.

By Thursday, October 24 - sign up your group at this course blog thread by posting your group members below, the name of your production team, and your initial idea. Be prepared to share these in class. NOTE-->Make sure at least one person in your group has access to a video camera of some sort, and/or editing experience (or knows someone who does!)

Your PSAs will be assessed for:

1. LENGTH --> 1 minute in length. (Give or take 5 seconds).

2. CONTENT-->Educational/Entertainment content.

3. PERSUASION-->Effective use of our persuasive techniques.

4. PRODUCTION-->Effective use of props, visuals, sound, lighting, movement and text.

You will submit your final video to our course blog via a YouTube embedded link and provide a summary of your experience in a personal blog reflection on the process and your learning (which I will post soon). 

Project #1: YouTube “Car Video” Power Tools/Media Matrix Analysis

Due here at our course blog by Tuesday, September 24. No exceptions.

Using the 5 Media Matrix power tool sets, select, analyze and do a “deep dive” blog on a short (1-3 minute) car, culture and media video – an advert, a music video, or a PSA. Be sure that CAR(S) are the dominant focus of or a central character in your video, please.

Example: Volkswagen Passat "Star Wars" Commercial.

THESIS:

This commercial's main argument?  You can fulfill your children’s dreams if you own the new Volkswagen Passat.

TRIUNE BRAIN:

The storyline in this commercial catches the attention of the rational brain as it challenges the brain to rationalize the message of this commercial; can you actually provide something magical for your child if you have this car? The music affects the emotional brain through the ability to connect to the child’s struggle. Finally the reptilian brain is also affected through the music, which instills a feeling of excitement. It is the music from Star Wars, a movie with many action scenes that express the fight part of the reptilian brain.

3 SHIFTS/TRENDS:

The way that I am able to view this video, as a stream on youtube, is an example of an aesthetic shift. We are moving from a society of discrete technology to convergence in that the computer as one device that allows us to do many things all at once rather than just one function. Because of the aesthetic shift, I am able to watch this video on my phone, television and my computer. Another shift that is represented by the streaming of this video is a cultural one. Because I have used youtube in the past and it is connected to my other web browser, there are ads for other products along the sideline when I am watching this commercial. The privacy of the Internet does not exist. We are all under surveillance. The medium of this commercial also represents an epistemological shift.  Youtube is entirely a site for videos, very few words are written down; rather it is primarily videos and images, just as the commercial is using images rather than words.

5 "FACTS":

Some of the socially constructed pieces of data the car commercial claims are that if you buy the new Passat you will be a better father. Another is that you will fulfill the dreams of your child. It also seems that the car commercial is saying that if you buy the Passat, it will bring your family together. Families with nice houses, a dog and fancy appliances are more likely to own a Passat. Passats are also the type of car one owns while living in suburbia.

3 PRINCIPLES:

Some of the principles of this commercial are the value message; if you are a good father, you fill find a way to make your child’s dreams come true. In this case, he is able to do that with his car. However the untold story here is about what kind of person this man is, and how he actually treats his family. The production technique is another aspect of the commercial that is not explained. The way in which the commercial is being filmed is greatly dramatized with the music playing from the Star Wars movie through the whole thing. It is interesting to think about why the reasons they chose that song i.e. to create nostalgia for adults, to grab the attention of children etc. Another technique used was the individual meaning. The commercial is obviously meant to target a certain audience and trigger different individuals through their commercial.

5 PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES:

This commercial greatly appeals to the average suburban dweller or “plain folk.” It connects with suburban living and those that subside there. This commercial also provides a feeling of strength to the child as well as the father. The child is able to do what he or she has been trying to do throughout the day and the father has the power to provide that for him or her. In this commercial they don’t outright use the bandwagon technique, however they show an average, well-off family owning this car in a way that could easily make another feel that they are missing out on something everyone else is enjoying. It is also implied through this commercial that “maybe” if you own this car, you will be able to be a hero for your child. In this sense they are also using a bit of bribery. They are bribing the consumer with fancy gadgets and the ability to do the impossible!

3 SEPRITE THEMES:

           

This car commercial illustrates the notion that "Carjacked" author Catherine Lutz has about the car dependence of our culture being wrapped up in much more than just the layout of our country. It is deeper than just our economy and fuel addiction. We are attached to cars because they bring us together and we have a need for that connection, such is illustrated in this commercial. The father would not have been able to do that for his child if he hadn’t had this type of car with those particular features.

This commercial also connects to a few of author Cotton Seiler's ideas in "Republic of Drivers". He says that mobility is a symbol of individual will and choice. In the commercial, the child is trying to use his will to move objects; however his father's will and choice provided by the car intern enforces the will of the child in the end.

Seiler also says that what we deem as freedom on the road is actually quite controlled. This relates to the car commercial in that the child’s freedom and will to control the power of the car is actually controlled by his father which represents the “system” for the controlled manner of the oxymoron of the “open road” for drivers everywhere.

Week #11: Blogging GEOGRAPHY OF NOWHERE, Chapters 11-13

This post is due by Tuesday, November 5 @ midnight. No credit given for late posts. 

Read the assigned chapters above, and then:

1. Provide 3 SPECIFIC observations about Cars, Culture and Media you learned from EACH chapter of our book, using 2-3 sentences combining the book and your own IYOW analysis. (Yes, the Introduction counts.)

2. Finally, ask ONE specific question you have of Cars, Culture and Media after completing our reading.