I really can't think of a better example of the new path of TV than the comedy central show tosh.0. Basically, the show format is thus: Comedian Daniel Tosh goes through various viral videos of the week in a humorous fashion. It plays to the very edge of cable content, every week some of the stuff that he says in jokes and such surprise me for his
ability to just go up to the edge and barely go over, but not so far that taste is completely gone.
Its a very interesting format. It depends completely on viral and web 2.0 content. He encourages fans to tweet to him over the show, and he responds over the breaks. Its a total integration format that I have never seen before. Often, he will respond to the tweets live on the show as well, (at least if you're east coast) so the show never really gets boring. As someone who has grown up more or less with this content it is a show that feels really comfortable. Everyone in my floor gathers in my room to watch tosh.0, and its a whole community feeling because many of us have seen the videos before.
I think this is the future of tv to a point. I expect that shows set up this way will only increase in number, especially with the huge success that tosh.0 has been. It is very relevant to our generation, and very entertaining as well. The quick changes in content are well timed to the shorter attention spans that our generation has. It's a very interesting and entertaining show.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Midterm Evaluation!
1. After studying media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned?
I've learned alot about scripting. In the past I had never realized how many formats there were. I thought there was just one type used. It makes sense now that various media formats have various requirements in a script. I think some of the other basic principals would be new to me if I had not taken your course last sem.
2. What is the most important think you have learned about yourself as a: 1. Critical reader; 2. a writer, and 3. a critical thinker in this class so far?
1.Sometimes I read too fast and don't go in depth critically as I should.
2. I don't feel I have really learned anything about myself as a writer. We haven't really done any original writing so far.
3. As a critical thinker sometimes I need to stretch a bit more.
3.What's one thing YOU would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take it again.
Give a bit more attention to the text. I feel I have neglected it a bit compared to MM&S and am consequently getting less out of the course.
4. Whats one thing you would like ME to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?
Maybe do a bit more with the toolsets. They were introduced, and then we didn't use them again for a while, and if then the midterm was on it. It wasn't so much a problem for me because of my experience with them last semester, but if the midterm is to solely be on the tool sets we should use them a bit more.
5. Please comment on the usefulness of the course blog, your personal blog, our films, and our book(s) as learning tools.
All the blogs have been very useful. They are one of my favorite parts about your classes. Being able to see what everybody says about the reading is interesting and helps me understand. The films have been good exercises and the book is all wheat and no chaff; that is, it's all useful info in my opinion.
I've learned alot about scripting. In the past I had never realized how many formats there were. I thought there was just one type used. It makes sense now that various media formats have various requirements in a script. I think some of the other basic principals would be new to me if I had not taken your course last sem.
2. What is the most important think you have learned about yourself as a: 1. Critical reader; 2. a writer, and 3. a critical thinker in this class so far?
1.Sometimes I read too fast and don't go in depth critically as I should.
2. I don't feel I have really learned anything about myself as a writer. We haven't really done any original writing so far.
3. As a critical thinker sometimes I need to stretch a bit more.
3.What's one thing YOU would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take it again.
Give a bit more attention to the text. I feel I have neglected it a bit compared to MM&S and am consequently getting less out of the course.
4. Whats one thing you would like ME to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?
Maybe do a bit more with the toolsets. They were introduced, and then we didn't use them again for a while, and if then the midterm was on it. It wasn't so much a problem for me because of my experience with them last semester, but if the midterm is to solely be on the tool sets we should use them a bit more.
5. Please comment on the usefulness of the course blog, your personal blog, our films, and our book(s) as learning tools.
All the blogs have been very useful. They are one of my favorite parts about your classes. Being able to see what everybody says about the reading is interesting and helps me understand. The films have been good exercises and the book is all wheat and no chaff; that is, it's all useful info in my opinion.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Obama's State of the Union Address (No Longer MediaMed)
For my final meditation this month I have chosen to do the 2010 State of the Union address.
Watching this was a interesting for me in a few ways. First off, I don't think I have ever actually watched a State of the Union address. Bad of me I know, but it just has never happened. Watching over YouTube was another interesting thing for me. I didn't know that these were available officially on YouTube. Everything is unofficially available there, but I did not know that the White House puts the actual addresses up there themselves. I suppose it is inevitable. Its gonna end up there eventually no matter what, so they might as well do it themselves. This brings up an interesting thing to consider when writing.
With YouTube and other video sharing sites as pervasive as they are in US and Global society, writers must also consider this. In the case of the State of the Union for instance. Before, it would broadcast, and all the pundits and talking heads would have a go at it, and then it would be done. Now it is there, and it will stay up until the servers die or something of that nature. People will be able to see it and scrutinize it for that entire time. Bad lines or even bad delivery of lines can haunt someone for far longer than they would have in the past. Take Howard Dean for instance and his infamous yell. That one misstep, and honestly, it was not even a true misstep, it was just funny, will be there forever. He became a laughing stock to some degree because it was there and stayed there. Things just don't fade out of the spotlight as anymore. They will always lurk on the edges, just waiting for someone to rediscover them.
When creating the speech for the State of the Union, Obama and his speechwriters must have considered this. There is no way they would not. If there is one thing that Obama has done more than any of the candidates he ran against, it is utilize new media to further his agenda. Things like YouTube are can cause problems, but they can help as well. If he were to give a speech that was very well receive and done, then it can quickly spread all over the place. Once something like that goes viral there really is no stopping it artificially. The only thing to do is to let it die.
Watching this was a interesting for me in a few ways. First off, I don't think I have ever actually watched a State of the Union address. Bad of me I know, but it just has never happened. Watching over YouTube was another interesting thing for me. I didn't know that these were available officially on YouTube. Everything is unofficially available there, but I did not know that the White House puts the actual addresses up there themselves. I suppose it is inevitable. Its gonna end up there eventually no matter what, so they might as well do it themselves. This brings up an interesting thing to consider when writing.
With YouTube and other video sharing sites as pervasive as they are in US and Global society, writers must also consider this. In the case of the State of the Union for instance. Before, it would broadcast, and all the pundits and talking heads would have a go at it, and then it would be done. Now it is there, and it will stay up until the servers die or something of that nature. People will be able to see it and scrutinize it for that entire time. Bad lines or even bad delivery of lines can haunt someone for far longer than they would have in the past. Take Howard Dean for instance and his infamous yell. That one misstep, and honestly, it was not even a true misstep, it was just funny, will be there forever. He became a laughing stock to some degree because it was there and stayed there. Things just don't fade out of the spotlight as anymore. They will always lurk on the edges, just waiting for someone to rediscover them.
When creating the speech for the State of the Union, Obama and his speechwriters must have considered this. There is no way they would not. If there is one thing that Obama has done more than any of the candidates he ran against, it is utilize new media to further his agenda. Things like YouTube are can cause problems, but they can help as well. If he were to give a speech that was very well receive and done, then it can quickly spread all over the place. Once something like that goes viral there really is no stopping it artificially. The only thing to do is to let it die.
Media Meditation 2 Twitter
Ah, Twitter. Nothing to me seems to exemplify the new world of the web than Twitter. I originally mocked it. I felt no need to know what my friends are up to 24/7. After all, I reasoned, nothing that they wouldn't say in person to me was important enough for me to know about. I didn't care about the TV show they had just watched. I offered cared little for their highly elucidated 140 character post about the last episode of Lost (which I never got into either). Now however, I recognize the value of it. Not even for my friends really, for Facebook provides an easier way to keep track there. No, I value it for something else entirely. Twitter lets me keep up with people like musicians in a way that facebook statuses don't.
With twitter, it is easy to be connected all the time. This is what it is designed for. The character limit also keeps posts brief and interesting (usually). In this way, it is much better than Facebook. If I simply want to keep tags on an organization, it is much better, and it doesn't clog up my Facebook with pointless status updates that I don't really care about. If I just want to hear important news, I can follow on twitter. Then I don't get notifications anytime anything happens as I would on Facebook. Thats the beauty. Twitter is only two way if you want it to be. If you want to create a twitter account simply to broadcast your bands tour dates and other information you can. You don't need any contact with the people that are following you. In this way, there is none of the intimacy that other social networks bring. No need to share your whole life with someone just because you think that their updates are funny.
It's fair to say that I've been converted. I also find the character limit interesting. It forces people to share only things that are actually important, rather than the quite pointless drivel that barrages my Facebook everyday. In today's media world, it is certainly a useful ability to write only the important anyway. If I have alot to say, I can link to my blog. Having a twitter trains me to get rid of the ballast in my posts.
With twitter, it is easy to be connected all the time. This is what it is designed for. The character limit also keeps posts brief and interesting (usually). In this way, it is much better than Facebook. If I simply want to keep tags on an organization, it is much better, and it doesn't clog up my Facebook with pointless status updates that I don't really care about. If I just want to hear important news, I can follow on twitter. Then I don't get notifications anytime anything happens as I would on Facebook. Thats the beauty. Twitter is only two way if you want it to be. If you want to create a twitter account simply to broadcast your bands tour dates and other information you can. You don't need any contact with the people that are following you. In this way, there is none of the intimacy that other social networks bring. No need to share your whole life with someone just because you think that their updates are funny.
It's fair to say that I've been converted. I also find the character limit interesting. It forces people to share only things that are actually important, rather than the quite pointless drivel that barrages my Facebook everyday. In today's media world, it is certainly a useful ability to write only the important anyway. If I have alot to say, I can link to my blog. Having a twitter trains me to get rid of the ballast in my posts.
Media Meditation 1 Curb Your Enthusiasm
When I did my last batch of media meditations, I talked about a show that is of my personal favorites, Curb Your Enthusiasm. In that post I talked about how the show was an example of how television is adapting to the web 2.0 world by moving away from traditional sitcoms. As we are doing reading this semester I wondered about how the scripting goes for the program now.
When people watch a traditional television show, they are aware somewhere in their mind that it is a show. However, is that awareness there when they watch something that is somewhere between a traditional show and a documentary? While Curb doesn't go quite as far as "The Office" for instance, it is certainly not a traditional sitcom. This brings up the challenge of making something scripted appear unscripted. It would be interesting to get a peek at a script to see how this is done. I have seen interviews, and I know that alot of the content is actually adlibbed and unscripted. Larry is a writer for his show that he acts in. He knows that he is going to adlib. Does he put space reserved for that in there?
I think that Curb is too far along to change, but in the future, how will shows adapt to the 10min YouTube clip? Will they adjust their scripting so that is is easily hosted in small bits? Or will they not change at all, and simply move their distribution to channels such as Hulu? Television is at a crossroads. Not only do they have to adjust their distribution and financing scheme, but it seems that the collective attention span is shrinking. Where do they go now?
When people watch a traditional television show, they are aware somewhere in their mind that it is a show. However, is that awareness there when they watch something that is somewhere between a traditional show and a documentary? While Curb doesn't go quite as far as "The Office" for instance, it is certainly not a traditional sitcom. This brings up the challenge of making something scripted appear unscripted. It would be interesting to get a peek at a script to see how this is done. I have seen interviews, and I know that alot of the content is actually adlibbed and unscripted. Larry is a writer for his show that he acts in. He knows that he is going to adlib. Does he put space reserved for that in there?
I think that Curb is too far along to change, but in the future, how will shows adapt to the 10min YouTube clip? Will they adjust their scripting so that is is easily hosted in small bits? Or will they not change at all, and simply move their distribution to channels such as Hulu? Television is at a crossroads. Not only do they have to adjust their distribution and financing scheme, but it seems that the collective attention span is shrinking. Where do they go now?
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