Author Archives: haileyballard

SUMMARY The reading for today aims to define and go into detail about the idea of media interactivity. “Interactivity” is defined as new media that allows a two-way flow between the user and software. Media can be separated into two major piles: media that is interactive and media that is not. But the definition isContinue reading “Monday, 4/20 : Interactivity”

SUMMARY This chapter asks the reader to think about exactly what a medium is. We typically look at a medium as what kind of technology we are watching content through, but this chapter aims for the reader to question that idea. It argues that the medium content is viewed through can affect how the audienceContinue reading “Monday: Smith pg. 117-134”

SUMMARY In this week’s reading, the author brings up the concept of excitement surrounding live sports, and the phenomenon of losing this excitement when an event is watched later. He explains it in 5 reasons. First, he says that without live skippable commercials, the viewer loses out on some of the drama. Second, he believesContinue reading “Monday: Space, Time, & DVR Mechanics”

SUMMARY In this week’s reading, we start by learning about shots: stills, stationary images of particular moments in a film, or publicity photos intended primarily to promote a movie. It’s also simply what is recorded by a single operation of the camera. There are different types of shots: close-up, close shot, extreme close-up, long shot,Continue reading “Monday 3/23: Film, Space, and Mise-en-Scène”

SUMMARY This podcast in summary was about loops. We first hear about comedians who do a bit where they repeat the same phrase over and over again, sometimes for even up to 10 minutes straight. This is an opener for the main part of the podcast, the story of Mary Sue’s amnesia. We learn aboutContinue reading “Monday 3/2: Radiolab”

READING SUMMARY Pop culture is constantly changing, and to study it we must have a method that allows for that frequent fluctuation. The semiotic method is one way we do this. We read signs in pop culture to better understand the meaning behind things. A sign could be something visual like a stop sign, orContinue reading “Monday: Semiotics”

SUMMARY The first video touched on Gestalt Theory, and how layouts are designed using this specific theory. The first part of the theory is proximity. This idea means that things that are grouped in the same general area have the same functions. Similarity is the second part of the theory, meaning things that are groupedContinue reading “Monday, Feb.10: Videos”

READING SUMMARY Both chapters from the reading give us a bulleted list of different aspects of layouts for advertising and design. The lists are very concise. Layouts for advertisements in chapter 4, shows us 13 things not to do when making an ad: too much animation, warping photos, not hiding ambigous edges in photos, bulkyContinue reading “Monday, Jan. 3: Chapters 4-5”

READING SUMMARY For Monday’s reading, the text aims to dissect the methods of media effects and the process included in the research leading up to the matter. The reading divides the methods into 3 groups: content analysis, the survey, and the experiment itself. Content analysis is simply the collecting of data revolving around a typeContinue reading “Analyzing Content: Week 2”

READING SUMMARY The reading goes into depth on the idea that “realism” is not only a single concept, but is composed of many different ideas that make up the term. Spontaneity is a large idea focused on at the beginning of the chapter, describing the intricacies of “dramatic” and “documentary” styles of film, and howContinue reading “What is Realism, Really?”