Homework : FEBRUARY 6, 2009
8B and 8D, Here are the questions related to the magazine assignment on constructing reality:(You can copy and paste the questions then respond on the blog or submit a hard copy to me in class)
1. What did you find most difficult about this exercise?
2. What did your group do to create a picture that is believable, but impossible?
3. What do you think was the purpose of this exercise?
4. Do you think that young children might believe your picture? Why might this concern you or a parent?
5. As a result of what you have learned in this lesson, what advice would you give to your friends and brothers and sisters when they watch television?
Independent Media Assignments
What are they Doing?
1. Turn down the volume and view the commercials aired during two half-hour programs.
2. Use the chart provided by Ms. Townshend to track what the women are doing in the commercials and what the men are doing.
The ”Essentialized Other”
1. Review the descriptions of the Essentialized Others as described in class (The Joker, The Exotic, The Dangerous, etc.).
2. Research movies, videos and other popular media for the actors/actresses/celebrities selected to play these essentialized roles.
3. Find at least 3 real people for each “Essentialized Other”.
What did you find most difficult about this exercise?
What I found the most difficult about this exercise is the fact that we have to make the ad look real but impossible. Because its really hard to blend the 2 differnt piece of ad together and so when we realize that what we is suppose to be impossible, we struggled a lot.
2. What did your group do to create a picture that is believable, but impossible?
In my group, we chosed an ad where there’s a wine glass and it’s pouring out somekind of juice. After, we glued these fish in the wine glass and made them look like they’re swimming in the juice. We thought that the colours of the fish are too bright so then I used a red marker to blend in the juice colour with the fish.
3. What do you think was the purpose of this exercise?
I think that this exercise was ment to teach us that not everything you see is the truth. And the fact that 8th graders can make the ad look real when it’s really not, professionals can definatly do it to. So we should always ask questions.
4. Do you think that young children might believe your picture? Why might this concern you or a parent?
Yes, because we put the 2 ads together so well that it blends in with the background and so for children who dont know anything, they might think its real.
5. As a result of what you have learned in this lesson, what advice would you give to your friends and brothers and sisters when they watch television?
In the lesson, I’ve learned that not everything you see it truth and that it’s always best to ask questions or eles you might be misguided towards other things
1. The most difficult task about this exercise was finding different kind of magazines and adding them together to make them blend together.
2. To make it easier for me to make the picture “believable but, not impossible” was to cut pictures that had the same theme for example, I used a Christmas theme and put 1 Christmas item with a another one.
3. I think the purpose of the exercise was to understand that when were viewing ads we should always think about what were watching or looking at because everything the media puts out is not always real.
4. I think children will believe my picture because children take in there first input about anything and don’t think anything threw about the bad stuff. Ex. When little kids see a hot wheel or etc. they want to buy the whole set but, don’t realize each item is sold separately, because they other items has already caught there attention.
5. I think what I learned is to always to think through before I fall for an add or etc. What I would advise to kids is “ Don’t listen to T.V”(only sometimes)
that was fastt ^^
1. The most difficult thing to do in this exercise for me was to create an ad that was impossible yet believable. It’s easy to make an ad that has one of the characteristics seperately, but making one that has both is a lot harder.
2. The picture that I made was actualy one that I found in a magazine. I found the picture of the two ads together and the way it looks makes it sort of casual. The picture a giant laptop that is on a bridge looking down at the farmlands. It might sound unbelievable, but it is.
3. I think the purpose of this exercise was to see if we could use our knowledge of media that we previously learned and use it to contruct an ad.
4. I don’t think that children will believe the ad I made because of the way it looks. Children will look at the ad, but they won’t believe it nor will they question it. This will make adults less concerned about ads that their children see.
5. I would tell them that if they see an ad that they have never seen before to question the ad in their head. I would tell them to use what prior knowledge of reality and see if that connects to the ad. For example, an ad that shows 500 people running down a street would be possible, but 500 people flying down a street would not be.
(that is all)
1. What I found most difficult and challenging about this excercise was having to make the look impossible and believable at the same time. Trying to make it fit in with the scenery and the picture and make it look like that is where it was meant to be. At the same time, when you use your common sense you can clearly tell that it is impossible for that to be possible.
2. Well, my partner Shankave and I found a photo of a young girl in a bathing suit on the beach holding up a red and yellow popscicle that is melting and running down her arm. Shankave and I looked at the scene and there was a lot of space around the girl to add anything that would look really believable, but make you think “impossible”. So, we found a lipstick ad that was advertised with cherries (I assume the lipstick tasted like cherries or was as red as one) and we took the cherries and made them look like they were falling from the air. Almost as if it was raining cherries, advertising the popscicle was cherrie flavoured.
3. I think the purpose of this exercise was to see how simple, yet challenging it is to create impossible yet believable images that make us develop this thought that it can be reality. That can only take creativity to make impossible things look real. Seeing the fact that we don’t always know what is real and what is not in ads, we should question.
4. I truly believe that if a child were to look at the ad we made that they would really believe it was possible to rain cherries. I think this would concern parents because if they believed everything they saw in ads or on TV, children will begin to look at entertainment as real. Like everything, on TV was what happens in real life and the fact of the matter is, that that belief is the complete opposite of what it really is. A majority of the things we see on TV were edited, re-edited, photoshopped, or changed in some way to make it look impossible but believable, just like we did in our ad exercise. For example, Peter Pan being able to fly if you “just believe” can develop a thought in a child’s mind that they can fly. But not always.
5. What I’ve learned from this lesson, is to not believe everything you see on TV. Why not question? The questions may not always be answered, but what better reason to want to question knowing that it can not be answered because of the consequences of what it could possibly expose. I would tell my little sister that if she ever sees anything unbelievable on TV (which she has done before) to ask me or our parents. My sister once asked me how they make the “Pirates of the Caribbean” look so real and scary because I always tell her its not real. So, I showed her the whole make up process and masks they use for scary movies like that.
1) The most difficult thing in this assignment was to create an ad that was acually believable.Most of the backgrounds I found were hard to add pictures to. So we had to find a background with relevant size to the picture we wanted to add to make it believable. If I added a large picture to a small background, the ad will be impossible and not believable.
2)My group chose pictures that looked like they would blend in to the background. For example, objects of the same colour or the same theme. The background was a picture of a man holding a tennis racket (a tennis player). We took a tennis ball from a magazine and glued it on to the side of the man’s head. Which made it look as though someone had hit a tennis ball towards him. Which is believable, yet impossible because the man is standing still and not playing tennis.But, since he is a tennis player, the tennis ball easily relates to the original picture.
3) I think that the purpose of this excercise was to see if we could construct reality with something that is not completely real, like the house hippo video. Yet, make veiwers of the ad think it is real.
4)I think that a young child could easily believe this picture. Mostly because the tennis ball we used in the ad blends in, unlike a random picture. But, I don’t think this ad would concern a parent because it really dosn’t have any effect to what it is advertising. It’s just a minor detail.
5)I learned to pay more attention to ads and even t.v commercials because they might be doing the same thing to their ads. Making it believable yet impossible. But, some people might not know that and they might just believe what they see. I’ll tell them to not believe in ads, but in real life itself because t.v or magazine ads only want to advertise things by making you think in a different way so you’ll buy their product.
1) I found that creating an impossible but believable ad is extremely difficult. Every single piece has to be carefully cut making it blend in. We tried and tried to make a scene like that and we did, but unfortunately it got ruined.
2) Mubarak and I wanted to make a scene which had things you wouldn’t have in a house and especially not in a living room. Even though, we added all kinds of things which were believable and not believable. We had things like clocks, bicycles and even a scorpion! We felt that the best way to make something look believable is to have the thing you’re pasting perfectly cut. This may take awhile but it is worth it in the end. Another thing we did, even before we started, was to get a vision or visions so you have an idea to shape, edit and perfect.
3) I think this was to show to us that media may look real, seem real, but only a few times out of a thousand they are real. If it was this easy for us, imagine what professionals can do? They learn their whole life to do these kinds of things. We spent 2/3 classes but they spend days! Weeks even! It’s kind of freaky realizing even menu pictures of food are not what they seem to be!
4) This ad may scare or confuse children. If they saw a monster/scorpion, they might think they have them hiding around in their own house which would alert the parent. This may be a minus to the house and that could simply ruin a possible sale. On the other hand, the child might think that the toy car in the picture looks really fun and he might become attached to the house. This could be the final judge for which house the parent should buy if it comes down to a final two, three etc.
5) I would tell them to ask yourself questions when you are watching commercials. Would this really happen? Why do they want us to see this? Does the product really live up to its name? Are they tricking us? Is editing used, do you think? When you ask questions in your head, easy or complex, you really think about an ad and when you think about an ad you really get that “I have to have it” feeling away and that means saving yourself good money.
1. What did you find most difficult about this exercise?
The most difficult experience I had with this exercise was how the picture would seem to appear real. If you look closely at my picture it would not seem real, for example a house floating above in the air. I managed to do this exercise though; my victim was my little sister. I managed to glue my picture into the magazine, and while she flipped through the magazine. My sister believed that the content, that was on the picture. Which I made was real, and apart of the magazine.
2. What did your group do to create a picture that is believable, but impossible?
I first found a picture that was dull and may seem uninteresting. The picture I chose also included a sofa which made the picture easy to rearrange. I thought of adding a cartoon character. However the cartoon character did not have a pose matching with the sofa (sitting down). I also added a fox on to my picture; it was placed on the table. The overall view of the picture appeared real but, impossible. While my sister was flipping through the magazine she thought that the picture and all the content that was in it is real. What surprised me was that she thought it was part of the magazine.
3. What do you think was the purpose of this exercise?
The purpose of the exercise was to recognize commercials. Also to look carefully at what you’re watching because commercials appear real but, sometimes may not be real. The other purpose of this exercise was to be aware of what you are watching not to believe anything you see but, to question it. (For example the house hippo)
4. Do you think that young children might believe your picture? Why might this concern you or a parent?
I would think that young children would believe my picture. I think that because my sister believes my picture. My parents would be concerned of this because my sister would want something that looks real and fun but, when you purchase the toy it seems boring. Also in a week are so will not seem fun and the value of that toy to young children like my sister would be worthless. One example of this is the commercials she watches on YTV the batman or Barbie ones. They may appear fun on the commercial but, when you purchase the toy it might not be as fun as it seems.
5. As a result of what you have learned in this lesson, what advice would you give to your friend’s brothers and sisters when they watch television?
I would give advice to my sister because she’s gullible. When my sister tells my parents to buy her something, I would tell her to look closely at the commercial. Some commercials will trick or fool the viewer. Like the Batman commercial or the Barbie commercials.
1. What did you find most difficult about this exercise?
What I found most difficult about this exercise was when you had to found an ad and make it look real but impossible. It was difficult to me because in must ad things look real but we had to make it look impossible by adding stuff you wouldn’t really see in the ad you picked.
2. What did your group do to create a picture that is believable, but impossible?
Me and my partner chose a plate of salad that had veggies in it, than we glued some tennis balls on the salad to make it look impossible. After we added a little more details to make it harder so we also glued small faces.
3. What do you think was the purpose of this exercise?
I think the purpose of this exercise was too make us understand that in every ad we see things aren’t true. Example: A man falling of a mountain in a ad we will think it’s cool and true but now we would know it’s impossible.
4. Do you think that young children might believe your picture? Why might this concern you or a parent?
Yes, I think young children might believe my ad because there not going to really look at the ad so hard to see the impossible things we added into it, and also they wouldn’t know better because there only young and most of the young children thinks everything is true.
5. As a result of what you have learned in this lesson, what advice would you give to your friends and brothers and sisters when they watch television?
I would tell them that everything you see isn’t true and not to always listen to TV because sometimes there wrong and just do things to entertain you and to keep you watching there shows.
1. What did you find most difficult about this exercise? I think the most challenging part of this exercise was putting the object on the magazine making it look realistic.
2. What did your group do to create a picture that is believable, but impossible? My partner and I, put small baseballs in a salad bowl making it look like it was part of the salad.
3. What do you think was the purpose of this exercise?I think the purpose of this exercise is to tell the viewers that not everything in media
is real.
4. Do you think that young children might believe your picture? Why might this concern you or a parent? Yes, i do think young children will believe the picture because when young children see a picture they belive it, like faries and santa claus.
5. As a result of what you have learned in this lesson, what advice would you give to your friends and brothers and sisters when they watch television? I would tell them to think about what there watching especially in reality shows, because the viwers usually belive what they see but they should also ask themselves who, what, where and why because not everything on television is real.
1. What did you find most difficult about this exercise?
2. What did your group do to create a picture that is believable, but impossible?
3. What do you think was the purpose of this exercise?
4. Do you think that young children might believe your picture? Why might this concern you or a parent?
5. As a result of what you have learned in this lesson, what advice would you give to your friends and brothers and sisters when they watch television?
1. What did you find most difficult about this exercise?
- I found it difficult to first find something impossible and secondly make it look real. I went through numbers of magazines trying to find something that was appealing and looked like it belonged in the picture but it would always end up possible.
2. What did your group do to create a picture that is believable, but impossible?
-I saw this tampax ad with a pad and over the pad was a blanket, I found it amusing and I knew I would want to do it and then I saw a moon and it fit in perfectly I also shaped a human head and glued it on the top of the tampax that was depicted as a bed I shaped it well enough so it would look realistic.
3. What do you think was the purpose of this exercise?
- I think the purpose of this exercise was to recognize that media is a very constructible thing and can be masked away at anytime. Its easy to see that anything can be sculpted to make a mirage which seems real. As teens we did this exercise expecting it to be something that gives more knowledge about media texts but we know only the minute that people are actually paid for a living to reconstruct things that we see everyday and what we believe is reality
4. Do you think that young children might believe your picture? Why might this concern you or a parent?
- It is pretty frightening to realize that kids all around the world are being fed a twisted truth and start to believe it. We can’t have people all around the world be passing down incorrect information. Also these adds stop people from thinking for themselves. Your seeing what it depicts and from what the picture is directly telling you it has to be true right? thats what tons of people end up believing everyday.
5. As a result of what you have learned in this lesson, what advice would you give to your friends and brothers and sisters when they watch television?
- Look closely and be knowledgeable that media twists the reality to make things more suitable to the viewer audience. Make sure to know with television ads,commercials etc. theres going to be many fallacies and always question don’t believe because someone tells you to believe it if you know its true.