MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "John Wesley Harding" by Bob Dylan on the "John Wesley Harding" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: John Wesley Harding
By Bob Dylan
From the album John Wesley Harding

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on December 29, 2017 at 12:15PM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Blowin' In the Wind" by Bob Dylan on the "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Blowin’ In the Wind
By Bob Dylan
From the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on December 22, 2017 at 10:43PM

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Listen on Spotify

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Masters of War - Live at Brandeis University" by Bob Dylan on the "Bob Dylan In Concert: Brandeis University 1963" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Masters of War - Live at Brandeis University
By Bob Dylan
From the album Bob Dylan In Concert: Brandeis University 1963

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on December 15, 2017 at 10:18AM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" by Bob Dylan on the "The Times They Are A-Changin'" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
By Bob Dylan
From the album The Times They Are A-Changin’

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on December 1, 2017 at 07:46PM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Ballad of Hollis Brown - Live" by Bob Dylan on the "Bob Dylan Live At Carnegie Hall 1963" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Ballad of Hollis Brown - Live
By Bob Dylan
From the album Bob Dylan Live At Carnegie Hall 1963

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on December 1, 2017 at 04:41PM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Song to Woody" by Bob Dylan on the "Bob Dylan" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Song to Woody
By Bob Dylan
From the album Bob Dylan

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on November 24, 2017 at 01:02PM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

My musical interests on Tumblr

SocietyMassCom: How to Design a Game (W13-P4) Fa17

Let's design a game.  No, not a full-blown game.  Think a basic plan.  A draft.  An outline.
Are there certain types of games that you like to play?  Perhaps you have an idea for a game like the types of games you play?

How do you design a good game? What are the components of good game design?  Let's see what we need to know and then we'll design a game.




Game design: "the implementation of a story or gameplay idea into a playable form" (Crash Course).
It includes the "art, programming and writing that goes into a game."

Early in the game design process there may be sketches and pencil and paper versions of the game.  Think of this as the early drafts.

Basic building blocks of game design:

• Space: "the sound, the lighting, the color, and the physical space" of the game.  The environment in which the game is played.
• Components: "the objects that exist in the space and are used to play the game."
• Mechanics: "involve what the player can actually do in the game, so think verbs."  The activities that the player can do within the game.
• Goals: what the players are trying to achieve.
• Rules: "help players understand how to play the game."  They define the game. 

Missing component:
Story: the characters and plot of the game.

So, now let's develop a draft of what is called a game design document.

In the game design document, give your game a title and this describe the each of the building blocks of the game.  It might be helpful to start with goals.  You might also find some sketches helpful.


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SocietyMassCom: Video Games & Violence (W13-P3) Fa17

Screen capture from an Assassin's Creed game.

What do we learn from video games?
What do children learn from video games?   Aggression?  Violence?


To help us think about that, let's first look at some the latest research on the topic.

"Actually, violent video games don’t create violent children, study says"


If interested, you can read the original research article that the news article is based on ("Video Gaming and Children’s Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study").

The news article (in Salon) does not provide context.  There is no mention of past research or other current research on violence and video games.  Let's take care of that.





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SocietyMassCom: What is a Game? (W13-P2) Fa17

Let's start with this Crash Course video.  We'll have some questions after.




What games do you play?

What is a game?

Game: "a construct that organizes play through a series of rules, for the purpose of achieving a set of goals, overcoming obstacles, and/or attaining an objective" (Crash Course).

Crawford's categories... playthings... playthings with a goal... challenge ... challenge with second party involved ... conflict ... participants do interact or interfere ---> Game

Why play games?  Why do you play games?



What's gamification?

gamification:"the use of game-like mechanics, such as earning points, badges or rewards for doing certain actions, in non-game settings" (Pavlik & McIntosh).

Serious games?  Examples?

serious games:"Games created to be fun and educational, using game dynamics to instruct players on topics" (Pavlik & McIntosh).



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SocietyMassCom: Interactivity and IF (W13-P1) Fa17

Ever read any of the books from the Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) series?

How were these books different compared to "regular" books?

Were they interactive?  How so?

interactivity: "For digital-media purposes, it consists of three main elements: (1) a dialog that occurs between a human and a computer program, (2) a dialog that occurs simultaneously or nearly so, and (3) the audience has some measure of control over what media content it sees and in what order." (Pavlik & McIntosh).

This definition work for a CYOA book?  Why, why not?




Ever play any interactive fiction?

interactive fiction: "often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment" (Wikipedia).

One of the first IF games was Colossal Cave Adventure.

Before the fancy graphics of video games, text-based games like Colossal Cave Adventure, were the first forms of interactive fiction.

Let's play.



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ComTheory: Social Learning Theory and Video Games (W13-P2) [VID]

Screen capture from an Assassin's Creed game.

What do we learn from video games?
What do children learn from video games?   Aggression?  Violence?


What theory would you use to answer those and related questions?  How would you set up the research to test the theory?

To help us think about that, let's first look at some the latest research on the topic.

"Actually, violent video games don’t create violent children, study says"


If interested, you can read the original research article that the news article is based on ("Video Gaming and Children’s Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study").

The news article (in Salon) does not provide context.  There is no mention of past research or other current research on violence and video games.  Let's take care of that.




Now let's return to the initial questions.

What do we learn from video games? Aggression?  Violence?
What theory would you use to answer those and related questions?  How would you set up the research to test the theory?

What is the relationship between research and theory?

Would GAM be helpful?   The General Aggression Model described in Baran & Davis.

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ComTheory: Social Learning Theory and Entertainment Education (W13-P1) [VID]

Entertainment education is part of a larger concept called development communication.

With this type of development we are working with the development of nations.

Development: "purposive changes undertaken in a society to achieve what may be regarded generally as a different ('improved') state of social and economic affairs"(Hernández-Ramos & Schramm, 1989).

Development projects typically focus on certain areas/issue of a society (e.g. agriculture, health, nutrition, family planning, women's empowerment, etc.)

Development communication: the use of communication technology and principles to aid in the development of a society.

The idea of presenting a development message within a fictional program is the type of development communication that is called entertainment education.  The World Bank is a multinational organization that uses entertainment education in their work.  See the video below for examples and background information.




Below is another example of entertainment education.  Tim Reid, noted Norfolk State University alumnus and actor/director/producer, and NSU students (Maryna Kariuk and Shimira Cole) were involved in the making of "Hear My Son".  How exactly is this an example of entertainment education?


Hear My Son from Legacy Media Institute on Vimeo.


One of the key originators of the entertainment education concept is Miguel Sabido.  He used entertainment education strategies in television, specifically soap operas in Mexico and other countries.

Sabido developed a theory for the construction of successful entertainment education projects.  It was perhaps more a meta-theory in that it brought together a variety of theories from a variety of fields into one meta-theory.

One theory that Sabido drew upon was that of Bandura's social learning theory. Two key concepts in social learning theory are imitation and identification.

imitation: "The direct reproduction of observed behavior" (Baran & Davis, p. 170).

identification: "A special form of imitation that springs from wanting to be and trying to be like an observed model relative to some broader characteristics or qualities" (Baran & Davis, p. 170).

Do you see how Bandura's concepts of imitation and identification fit in the videos above?

If you were to develop a development communication project that was entertainment education how would you used social learning theory?





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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan on the "The Times They Are A-Changin'" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: The Times They Are A-Changin’
By Bob Dylan
From the album The Times They Are A-Changin’

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on November 8, 2017 at 10:28PM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

My musical interests on Tumblr

SocietyMassCom: Marconi, de Forest, Armstrong & Sarnoff (W12-P2) Fa17

Filmmaker, Ken Burns, told the story of radio in his documentary "Empire of the Air."  

In the documentary, Burns highlights the story of inventor Lee de Forest, for example. 

Here is a short YouTube video on de Forest's audion.

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SocietyMassCom: Granville Woods (W12-P1) Fa17

Several inventor played important roles in the development of audio technologies.  Let's talk about them.
Let's start with Granville Woods.

But first a little musical interlude...
Pay special attention to about 2:49-2:53 of video.

Now, let's return to giving Granville Woods our special attention.

In 1913...

B.J. Nolan, Tennessee patent lawyer said:

“I never knew a Negro to even suggest a new idea. Much less try to patent one. And I have dealt with them all my life. P.S. I have asked other lawyers around me for data of Negro inventions. And they take it as a joke.”

Com Technologist: Granville Woods

• 1884: Inventor of improved telephone transmitter
• 1885: Inventor of telegraphony
• 1887: Inventor of induction telegraph

35+ other patents

Why not mentioned in history books along side Edison, Bell, etc.?


Granville Woods: His story

• Sometimes called the “Black Edison”
• Born in 1856 in Australia or Ohio
• Went to work at young age
• Mainly self-educated / read anything he could find on electricity.
• Worked as fireman and then engineer on railroad.

Telephone invented in 1870s by Bell

Early 1880s, Telephone Transmitter
Woods: “My invention relates to a method of and apparatus for the transmission of articulate speech and other sounds through the medium of electricity.”

1885: Inventor of telegraphony
A combination telephone and telegraph.
What need does this meet?


1887 induction telegraph
Woods: “for the purpose of averting accidents by keeping each train informed of the whereabouts of the one immediately ahead of following it, in communicating with the stations from moving trains…”

Granville Woods: His story

• Tried to market his inventions himself.
• Sold/Gave up rights to many of his patents to corporations like: American Bell Telephone Company, General Electric and Westinghouse.
• Died 1910 in virtual poverty.

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "John Henry" by Paul Robeson, Lawrence Brown on the "Songs of Struggle (& More)" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: John Henry
By Paul Robeson, Lawrence Brown
From the album Songs of Struggle (& More)

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on November 6, 2017 at 08:08PM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

My musical interests on Tumblr

SocietyMassCom: Writing a Screenplay - Campbell & Character Types (W11-P4) Fa17

Previously, we've covered how to write a story based on the three-act structure (e.g., Syd Field's approach). Now let's take a look at a different way of writing a story. Joseph Campbell first identified what he called the Hero's Journey, common story structure found around the world. He found this common story structure in a vast number of old myths from around the world.  Novelists and film directors started using Campell's work when they were writing their own stories.  The most famous example of a film which was shaped by Campbell's work is George Lucas' Star Wars. After the success of Star Wars, many script writers began using the Campbell's ideas. Today there are a number of books on how to use Cambell's ideas in script writing.

However, let's skip the books and get some insight from the videos below.

Campbell is most famous for his "hero's journey" which is his version of a dramatic act structure in film or other types of stories.

However, for our purposes here, let's set aside Campell's plot structure and just focus on what Campbell says about the types of characters often found in good films. 





Spotted any of these character types in your favorite films?




If you are curious about what Campbell says about dramatic plot structure, you could check the follow video about  at the hero's journey itself.



You spot the Hero's Journey in any of your favorite films?

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SocietyMassCom: Writing a Screenplay - Plot Structure (W11-P3) Fa17

We covered compose video or how to compose a short, but what about how to compose a screenplay or script?

How do you write a story for a Hollywood film?


When it comes to Hollywood films, one of the key experts on how to tell a story and how to construct a plot is Syd Field.

Syd Field defines a screenplay as “a story told with pictures, in dialogue and description, and placed within the context of dramatic structure."

Field promotes his version of a the three act dramatic structure as shown below.

According to Field, there should be three acts in a screenplay and there should be a plot point between Act 1 and Act 2 and another plot point between Act 2 and Act 3.

Setup (Act I): Let the audience know who the main character is and what the story is about. Identify the need of the main character.
Confrontation (Act II): The main character needs something and there will be people/things that stop him/her.
Resolution (Act III): How does the story end? What happens to the main character? Need met or not?
Plot Point: “an incident, or event, that hooks into the story and spins it around into another direction” (Field).


What the following trailer of Die Hard and look for the acts.  Do you spot Plot Point 1 at the end of Act I? What happens at the Christmas party?


Now, think about your favorite films.  Do you see this same structure?

Developing a full or even partial screenplay is beyond the scope of things here, but it is now possible given the what we've covered, to develop a film treatment.

A film or screenplay treatment: A one page synopsis of a film yet to be produced.  It is typically written before the full script.

Could you write a treatment for the next big film written by you?


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SocietyMassCom: Composition in Video (W11-P2) Fa17

We've previously talked about photo composition,.  

This time will not look at it in still photography, but moving photography.

The "rules" of composition that you learn for still photography can also be used in your video work.

Note that when shooting video on your smart phone or tablet, the rules of composition still apply. And now that you are adding more time and movement to the shooting of a subject, you can do some interesting things with the still photography rules of composition.

Note the four rules of composition that can be used in video work which are discussed below.





After you learned about composition in still photography (rule of thirds, framing, etc.), did you start to spot those same rules being used in your favorite TV show or movie?  If not, look for it the next time you are watching TV or a movie.

Take, for example, the Tarantino film, Kill Bill.


Just focus on the rule of thirds.  How often do you see the rule of thirds?  How is it used?




Now, you try it.  Go to YouTube (or another video source) and look for clips of a favorite movie.  See how many rules of composition you see being used.  Besides the rule of thirds, what else do you see?  Framing?


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SocietyMassCom: Photo Composition (W11-P1) Fa17

"You don't take a photo, you make a photo."   Every thought of photography this way?

Put another way: You compose a photograph.  You don't just take it.

Composition is the arrangement of the objects in the photograph or any other work of art.  

As a photographer you have some control of this arrangement in your photograph.  You can move objects around.  You can move yourself around to shoot your photograph from a different perspective.  You take some control over your environment and not just take a photo of what you are given.

In general there are rules of composition that are used in art in general and photography specifically.

One of the best online sources for an introduction to the rules (or guidelines) of photo composition can be found at Photoinf.com.  The site covers six rules of composition discussed there.  For our purposes here, we'll just focus on three of them, simplicity, rule of thirds and framing.

Now, how would you apply these rules in your photograph.  Go try it.  Now go take some photos -- I mean go make some photos.

Of course, there is more to composition than the above, but the above are the basics.



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ComTheory: Cognitive Dissonance and Filter Bubbles (W11-P2) [VID]

Listen to the following.



Do you like that music?  Did it make you feel uncomfortable?
Do you like feeling uncomfortable?
What did you do about it?   Turn it off?

Part of the problem with the music above is that there is dissonance in the music.

So far, from the musical reference above, we observe that dissonance is bad and we try to avoid it.

O.K. let's go from the musical use of the word dissonance to a psychological use of the word.

Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory




Cognitive dissonance theory is based on two key ideas:

• cognitive consistency: "The idea that people consciously and unconsciously work to preserve their existing views" (Baran & Davis).
• cognitive dissonance: "Information that is inconsistent with an person's already-held attitudes creates psychological discomfort, or dissonance" (Baran & Davis).

The questions now arises, when we are faced with dissonance, what do we do? 
We use selective processes to eliminate or reduce the dissonance.

selective processes: "Exposure (attention), retention, and perception; psychological processes designed to reduce dissonance" (Baran & Davis).

The three selective processes

1. selective exposure: "The idea that people tend to expose themselves to messages that are consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs" (Baran & Davis).
2. selective retention: "The idea that people tend to remember best and longest those messages that are most meaningful to them" (Baran & Davis).
3. selective perception: "The idea that people will alter the meaning of messages so they become consistent with preexisting attitudes and beliefs" (Baran & Davis).

How does cognitive dissonance theory relate to the current societal problem of filter bubbles?

filter bubble: "a state of intellectual isolation that can result from personalized searches when a website algorithm selectively guesses what information a user would like to see based on information about the user, such as location, past click-behavior and search history" (Wikipeida).



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ComTheory: Mass Com -- What is it Good For? The Functions of Mass Communication (W11-P1) [VID]

In his book Mass Communication: A Sociological Perspective, Charles Wright drew upon Harold Lasswell's work and identified what can now be called the classic functions of the media.

According to Wright, the functions of the media are entertainment, surveillance, correlations and cultural transmission.

Four Functions Defined

1. Entertainment: “amusement or diversion provided especially by performers” (Merriam-Webster).
2. 2. Surveillance: “Primarily the journalism function of mass communication, which provides information about the processes, issues, events, and other developments in society” (Pavlik & McIntosh, p. 8)
3. Correlation: “The ways in which media interpret events and issues and ascribe meanings that help individuals understand their roles within the larger society and culture” (Pavlik & McIntosh, p. 8)
1. Who correlates for us? For example... a pundit: "a person who gives opinions in an authoritative manner usually through the mass media" (Merriam-Webster). CNN example image. ESPN example.
4. Cultural transmission: “The transference of the dominant culture, as well as its subcultures, from one generation to the next or to immigrants, which helps people learn how to fit into society” (Pavlik & McIntosh, p. 8).

What functions do you spot in Logic music video?

Besides the Logic video example above, what other examples can you offer?

Would add any more functions to Wright's list?  Anything major functions missing?  

What about dysfunctions?  Any dysfunctions?



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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Joe Hill" by Paul Robeson, Lawrence Brown on the "Songs of Struggle (& More)" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Joe Hill
By Paul Robeson, Lawrence Brown
From the album Songs of Struggle (& More)

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on October 22, 2017 at 12:25PM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

My musical interests on Tumblr

SocietyMassCom: How Write a Photo Caption (W9-P4) Fa17

Photographers, especially photojournalist, may compose captions for their photographs.  Let's learn how to write a news photo caption.

Source

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words.

If that is true for news photographs, then the caption (the verbal description) for the photograph, is like the lead to the thousand word story.

In a news article, the first few sentences of the story is the lead. The lead tells the reader the who, what, when, where, why and how of the story. Packed into the lead is quick overview of the whole news story.*


So, as Kobre' points out in his book, Photojournalism: The Professionals' Approach, a caption should tell the reader/viewer the who, what, when, where, why and how of the photograph.  The caption serves the same purpose as a lead in a written news story. [If your interest is specifically in photojournalism, I'd strongly recommend Kobre's book.]

The 5 W's and the H of a news story (or in this case, a news photograph):

• Who - who is the news event about, who is in the photo?
• What - what happened in the news event, what is happening in the photo?
• When - when did the news event happen, when was the photo taken?
• Where - where did the news event happen, where was the photo taken?
• Why (1) - why did the news event happen, what happened that lead to the photograph, what happened before?
• Why (2) - what is the significance of the news event, why is it important to us, what is going to happen after this event?
• How - how did the event happen?

So, a lead in a written news story should answer the who, what, when, where and how of the new event and sometimes it'll address the why and how.

Now, if a caption of a news photograph is like the lead of a news story, then what does a caption include.

The Associated Press recommends a caption should contain two concise sentences. The first sentence of the caption should include the who, what, when and where.  The second sentence should provide the background information on the how and the why, especially the significance of the news event.

Tip: Start the first sentence with the most important thing to your audience.  If who is important, then start with who.  For example, if a celebrity is the who, then you'll probably want to start your sentence with that person's name. If the where is important, then start your first sentence with where.  For example, if a disease is breaking out is a certain area, then the location or where, is probably more important.

Check out AP's Top Photos of the Week page for current examples of news photographs and their captions. Hover the mouse over the photos to see the captions.  Do the AP photographers and photo editors practice what the AP style guidelines recommend?

Can you write a caption for a new photo?  Find some photos you know something about, perhaps from the AP link above or this link, and see if you can write a caption for the photo.  Practice. practice, practice.

* We're especially talking about hard news stories here.

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SocietyMassCom: How to Write a News Story (W9-P3) Fa17

Let’s say you are working for the Associated Press.  You’ve been assigned your beat.  And, now have to write some news.  You have to help fill that news hole.

How to write that story?  What are the parts of a typical hard news story? What are the basic building blocks of a news story?

Building Blocks of Print News Story (Hard News Story)

1. Headline (required)
1. What is the story about?  The topic?
2. Usually written by editor. 
3. Secondary headlines
2. Byline 
1. Author's name
3. Lead (required)
1. Entices reader  
2. Contain the 5 W’s & H    
3. AKA Summary Lead  
4. Backup for the Lead (required)
1. Lead should be supported with facts, quotes, etc. that substantiate the lead.
2. Lead Quote (optional, but helps)
1. The first quote that backs up the lead.  
2. Helps to use strongest quote available.
5. Impact (almost always, in some form)
1. How does this affect readers?
2. Sometimes earlier in story.
3. Also as a separate paragraph later.
6. Background (needed in most)
1. Additional background info may be needed. 
7. Elaboration (required, if space allows)
1. Multiple sources.  Other points of view.
8. Ending (required)
1. Further elaboration.
2. Statement or quote that summarizes, but does not repeat previous info.
3. Future action.

See if you spot some of the building blocks in the following story.

You may also want to check a local paper or a national paper to see if you spot the basic building blocks in their news stories.

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