Assignment # 6 - Vantage Point

A movie that I found interesting and like something I wouldn't mind going to see would be Vantage Point, starring Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker and Sigourney Weaver and directed by Pete Travis. Vantage Point is about secret service agents are assigned to protect the president but when there is an assassination attempt on his life people come forward with video tapes and evidence showing who the shooter is and where he is hiding out, but each person has a different story and point of view, you can read the full review and see the trailer and pictures here. This movie is rated PG-13 because of sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language. The review of the movie I found was on Fandango.com and it offered a lot more than you think it would. From the web site I found when and where the movie was playing near me, it had the movie trailer and actual clips from the movie, other movie details, fan reviews and even a critics page that gave a review of the movie from the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and the Variety, what ever that is.

Some additional information that the web site had to offer that I don't think I would have gotten from just seeing the movie would be the reviews from critics and other people who have already seen the movie. I think this is the kind of movie that you have to see more that once to really comprehend all of the aspects of what is really going on, since it might be a little confusing after seeing it for the first time, and since you are seeing it from many different peoples' points of view you can get lost easily. Its like when someone points out something that you may have missed the first time and seeing it again makes the movie all that much better, and on the site there are reader reviews that help point out these things to you. I also learned from the website that the movie opened on February 22, 2008 and runs for 1 hour and 30 minutes, and that it is currently number one in the box office pulling in a whopping 22.8 million dollars thus far.

Overall I think this website served as a tool to get out the details of the movie and its cast and to make it easy for people to find reviews and even buy tickets for whatever movie they choose. I don't think it promoted the movie as much as it did inform the audience, this movie isn't pushed hard in advertisements more than any other movie is on the site. Allowing people to give feedback on the movie and write a review to me doesn't really scream "cult following" but it does give people who are interested in seeing the movie and who want an honest opinion on weather they should waste their money or not to see it. I don't think it is possible for there to be a sequel to this story since it sounds like it wraps up pretty nicely in the end, but you never know with Hollywood, they'll throw anything out there for the all mighty dollar...hey, there was a Back to the Future 3.

Assignment #5 - Ugly Beautiful

I think that we have just about all see The Evolution of Beauty on youtube, if not you can check it out here, but it's pretty crazy to think that it takes that much work and that many people and especially that much digital enhancement to create what we think of as beauty. So why are they doing this? To sell more magazines? To create the illusion that these women actually look like that?

I think that the publication's practicing of altering photos is morally wrong and it should not be allowed. Thousands of women have subscription to these magazines and it isn't only hurting their self esteem, what about the young girls whose hands these magazines may fall into, their daughters or little sisters. Seeing these falsified images of these women and how they look can lead these young women to depression and in some severe cases an eating disorder.

Here reputable news anchor Katie Couric from Photoshop.com, is shown in a touched up photo that she didn't even know was going to be altered. The photo on the left is the original image taken and you can see on the right they have lightened her skin tone, and slimmed down her face and waist.

Sometimes editors are doing these kind of things without the model knowing it, but in most cases the person being photographed is well aware of the improvements made to this bodies and happy about the non surgical adjustment. The editor should only be able to do something like that if they have the consent of the person being photographed, it is never acceptable to change how someone looks without them knowing about it or asking for permission.

I think this particular photo was altered because when people see a skinny person they expect them to have a perfect face and body and not to have wrinkles, pimples of cellulite. This picture shows that just being thin doesn't make you beautiful or free from any flaws.

This is not an acceptable use of alteration because that picture on the left is who that girl really is, not the airbrushed cartoon on the right, allowing young girls to think that that is what she really looks is sad and damaging to their self esteem. Seeing people for who they really are can help improve the outlook our shallow society has on what beauty really is.

Assignment #4 - The Great Debate...Online vs. Print

A version of newspaper that I, and probably everyone else at UB, am familiar with would be The Spectrum. In today's paper, Wednesday, February 6, 2008, in both forms of media they discuss on the front page UB researchers find potentially dangerous side effect of popular drug. They both also have a side bar that gives you a preview to other stories and their page numbers to jump right to if they strike you as interesting. Both the paper in print and the online paper are easy to navigate, well laid out, interesting and easy to read.

Something that I found funny that was left out of the paper online was that another front page article that talks about celebrating Fat Tuesday, and handing out beads and fried dough to students. Also available online were a few extra articles that I was unable to locate in the actual paper, as well as a few extra restaurant reviews including Gramma Mora's on Hertal and The Melting Pot in the Galleria Mall.

The online material showed you some of the more important articles on the main screen while the paper ran that same article, entitled Event forces black students to sit in segregated section, on page 3. This might be because when someone is online they are usually in a rush to find something specific and if they weren't to see something like that at first they might just skim right over it, where as if someone is reading the actual paper they are usually relaxing with a cup of coffee and planning on going through the whole paper, not just looking for specific articles.

As far as the advertising went, in the online paper there wasn't any. Not one advertisement about anything, it was a nice change from visiting other online papers like the USA today where the entire perimeter is jam packed with people trying to sell you something. For the print version, the advertising was limited to campus events including Springfest, UB football games, the Distinguished Speakers Series and programs like study abroad. Over all I think that The Spectrum is a well run paper, with informative and interesting topics to read about in that boring class that you can never seem to stay awake in.