End of the Semester Once Again...

As an aspiring journalist and a student interested in becoming a producer of content, I found this course both enjoyable and helpful. Especially when it comes to video and website production, I am an amateur in every sense of the word. Though I have shot and edited some videos on my own before—and have intentions of making more in the future—I didn’t really know the basics of it, which is why I really liked getting to play around with the lights and doing some of the shooting exercises.

I thought the sequence in which the materials were presented was very organized. It makes sense to me to start the course with old technology and work your way up to today’s digital world, especially since all of these things are pretty much integrated these days. However, I did think that there was too much focus on the history of such things as photography, film, and the Internet. As a Media Studies major who has previously taken both Media 180 and Film 101, those parts of the lectures were rather repetitive and wearisome. Though I understand that not everyone in the class has taken these other courses before, I was hoping that there would be more focus on techniques and production.

At times I found the reading excessive, but I did like our primary textbook. A lot of the topics that we covered were rather basic, but I thought that some of the readings were pretty dense in comparison. I enjoyed the lectures more especially because I thought Professor Lucas was able to cover all of the basic concepts within the class period.

I certainly think that I’m leaving this class with skills that will be helpful for me in the future. It would be really difficult to move forward in my career path without knowing the basics of all of these different media. The three-point lighting system and learning how to manipulate light has actually already come in handy at my internship this semester. If finances and time weren’t a problem, I would definitely want to go out to make some documentaries and start producing content on my own.

Main Title Sequence in "The Price is Right"

What is about "The Price is Right" that is so addictive and demands me to watch it every time that I catch it on television?

Well, maybe the main title design has something to do with it. At the very top of the program, the camera swoops over the audience and it is framed with stage lights. This image is very captivating because right from the beginning, the opening sequence makes the members of the audience the stars of the show.

This image is also paired with the sounds of the audience excitedly cheering, clapping, and waving their hands in the air. The camera is also always on the move so it forces the viewer to keep their eyes moving and their attention in focused on the show as the announcer calls people to "Come on down!" There is so much energy in this opening because of all the flashing lights and the constant movement of the camera.

The main title design of "The Price is Right" is also an integral part of this opening sequence. Not only is it an iconic design that's become very recognizable, but it's also a design that hearkens back to the glory days of game shows. In addition to this, it is also in big, bold letters in a color that stands out in contrast to its background. It is also colorful and the fancy dollar sign is in itself an iconic image because it takes up a relatively large portion of the screen. It is impossible not to pass by this logo and not pay it some attention.

So I guess as long as there's a television around, there will always be a good chance that every weekday, at 11:00 in the morning, "The Price is Right" will be my show of choice.

Image and Composition in "Mississippi Masala"

In order to portray the conflicts of ethnicity, race, and personal identity in the film Mississippi Masala, director Mira Nair used a lot of contrasting images and compositional decisions that showed the internal struggle felt by the characters. The scenes set in Africa are characterized by wide shots of the Ugandan landscape with the view of the green hills from the backyard of the main character, Mina’s, childhood home. These scenes are also easily identified by the muted earth tones of the wardrobe and indoor sets. In one of the tensest scenes during this part of the film, Mina’s father, who is of Indian descent, is confronted by a good friend of his who tells him that he must leave because Indians were being targeted by Idi Amin’s regime. Nair used hard lighting in order to create a dark and ominous mood in this scene. The two principal characters of the scene are also shot in close up in order to make the moment even more tense.

Once Mina’s family immigrates to the United States, the film is characterized more by the colorful images and the camera’s focus more on the characters than on the landscapes of Mississippi. Nair also focuses on the Indian culture of Mina’s family. To set the romantic mood of the first time that Mina and her black boyfriend, Demetrius’s first kiss set in the Mississippi Bayou, Nair used soft lighting and a slow tracking shot. The two lovers are featured prominently in the center of the screen in order to focus all of the attention on them. The romantic mood is in stark contrast because it is one of the few moments that breaks the tension of the racial and ethnic issues that’s at the root of this film.