Modern Family

Last night I found myself sitting in front of my tv watching the popular, very talked about, Modern Family. I've watched it a few times before, but until last night had not found how it was so appealing and satisfying to watch. After our discussion on Tuesday it actually made me connect this type of narrative/drama to what we were speaking about.

The series seems to be somewhat realistic, in the fact that the scenes don't seem to be overly planned out, or unrealistic in the drama that is happening. The family is displayed as very interconnected, the relationships they have and maintain seem to be something any viewer can connect with. The structure of the series keeps people involved in the lives of the characters. learning the personalities of the different characters adds to the experience of the show itself, understanding the roles different people play and how they interact with the rest of the family.

I also think this show is important because it visually broadens the definition of family for us in the US, allowing us to see the many different that have developed over the years. Shows like this provide entertainment to a vast array of viewers, but I think this is largely possible because they can relate to the different family structures as well as situations.

I know I'm going to catch up on the season so far and start watching!

Luder's Article

"Digitalization and personal use of media technologies have destabilized the traditional dichotomization between mass communication and interpersonal communication,and therefore between mass media and personal media (e.g.mobile phones, email,instant messenger,blogs and photo-sharing services)" (683).
This from Luders article really correlates to what we discussed last week. It erased the line between corporation and individual. This was because now people could interact in a new form of media - this eliminated a new boundary. I think that the above quote can be further developed by including video share on one website creates a new type of connection. 

"Tools for personal communication have seen a remarkable development with the digitalization of media technologies.As media for personal communication,these tools may be labelled ‘personal media’ "(684).
Personal media is something that created a much more interactive way communicating. Narratives were no longer producer ->viewer oriented, but could work in either way. This to me is possibly the biggest step for media creations, because more and more people became interested. 

"Technological development is situated within a social and political context" (685). Only certain boundaries are appropriate to cross, or logical. I like this quote because it obviously keeps some realisticness in how involved people can get. For instance, an individual person cannot produce a full length film - BUT one can create a short, self edited, and short film for laughs on youtube.

"Prior to the digitalization of personal media,people generally knew with whom they were communicating" (686).
I can relate to this and that is why I really think it is relevant. If we post something on youtube you're never really sure who is watching it, purely because there are so many people involved in the success of the website.

Sharing media is revolutionary because it changes story telling in a way that may have never before seen possible. I know that because people are doing the same as me I find it even more enjoyable to see how many hits a blogpost or even new video gets. It is all about the interaction and ability to network.

Youtube and Web episodes

The phenomenon the youtube has become is incredible. I do think that one of the most attractive thing about the site is the ability to share media, but also watch it. Users are able to upload personal files and see what people think. The interaction the website allows provides people with more than just entertainment.

I know that this is what we spoke about in class. I also find it interesting that people use the website for advertisements. I am a competitive horseback rider, many professionals post short clips of horses with contact information in hopes that someone will pursue for a purchase. This is striking to me, because with the expansion of the internet there is not only web episodes but also personal motivating clips put up for business purposes.

It takes the public away from the traditional corporate content and allows viewers to create their own. There is a lot of remixing (as you said in class) and I think this is also an extremely popular thing. People can put their spin off on something previously produced to make it more interesting to themselves and hopefully other people.

I think the biggest attraction of things like youtube is that people can really be interactive and included in the production process. Even if what they are watching is not their own, they have posted something for other people to watch - which may be satisfying. The idea behind a lot of this is changing something, or making fun of something else. Web episodes tend to do this also, which is very amusing to people. It is also a nice break from prime tv. It is a way to watch something entertaining without taking a large chunk out of your day. I think that web episodes may be something that becomes more popular than hour long episodes as people becoming increasingly busy.