GlobalMedia: Development Communication (cont'd): Entertainment Education (W11-P1) Sp17

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.


Interested in learning more about entertainment education, I'd recommend starting with a book edited by Arvind Singhal, Michael J. Cody, Everett M. Rogers and Miguel Sabido called
Entertainment-Education and Social Change: History, Research, and Practice (Routledge Communication Series)



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Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Development Communication (cont'd): Entertainment Education (W15-P5) Fa16

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.


Interested in learning more about entertainment education, I'd recommend starting with a book edited by Arvind Singhal, Michael J. Cody, Everett M. Rogers and Miguel Sabido called
Entertainment-Education and Social Change: History, Research, and Practice (Routledge Communication Series)



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Entertainment: How to Write a Joke (W11-P4) Fa16

“A good joke idea is raw potential and can be used in an almost unlimited number of contexts” (Sankey). Jokes can be used in stand-up comedy, commercials, cartoons, radio shows, a humor column in a newspaper/blog, TV sitcoms, etc. Jokes are the heart of comedy writing.

What is a joke?

• A funny story.
• Typically has two parts, the setup and then the punchline.
• May have an additional part, a tag, which is an additional funny line that follows the punchline.

The Setup:

• Sometimes called a premise.
• “A set-up is the information the comic gives to the crowd to establish an initial subject, context and perspective.”
• Compare this to the Setup in a 3 act film.
• Henny Youngman’s old joke
• The setup: “Women are crazy today.”

The Punchline:

• “the final information the comic gives to the crowd; it alters the meaning of already given information in a surprising fashion.”
• Compare punchlines to plot points.
• Henny Youngman’s old joke
• The punchline: “Take my wife………please”

Do you spot the setups and punchlines in the following Bud Light commercials? Spot the tags in some? Don't need to watch them all, just a few will do.  Watch responsibly.

Bud Light commercials deserve some ideological criticism?

Now, let's take a look at the joke structure in a situation comedy.  Just check out the first minute or so. How many jokes in the first minute?  Wonder how many jokes in a typical sitcom?  Could you write for a sitcom? Can you write a joke?



What do your recall about the show?  What was it about?  Who were some of the key characters?
Now, let's take a look at scene from one of the episodes and look specifically at the series of set-ups and punchlines in this comedy.

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MassMedia: Entertainment: Video Games & Narrative (W11-P2) Fa16

An ever-growing form of entertainment is the video game.  However, do note that we've moved well beyond games like Pong and Pac-Man.

How are video games like films?   Same?  Different?  
Here's another interesting questions: Are video games next in the evolution of story telling?

A key part of answering those questions is understand games and how narrative can fit within games.

First let's get a grasp of what a game is and what a video games is.



Now let's look at narrative within video games, specifically how to start your game narrative.




How strongly is narrative (story telling) a part of current popular games?





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MassMedia: Entertainment: Is Reality TV Real? (W11-P3) Fa16

Within entertainment television, one of the increasingly popular genres is reality TV.

Reality TV: "a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors.”

Unscripted?  Really?

In the video clip below, pay particular attention to the comments about writing dialogue, creating a setup and conflict.  Sound familiar?




More on the writing and creating of reality TV shows.  In the video below, pay particular attention from 1:09 to 3:15.  Note the speakers mention of archetypal roles and frankenbites.  What does he mean by a frankenbite?




The clips above suggest that during the production of a reality TV episode, "writers" sometimes write dialogue for the "actors" and do things to create conflict.

However, it is in post-production, where a lot of the creating or writing of the story happens.  In post-production, the producers and "writers" have to put together the best material to tell the best story.  The post-production process would begin with (1) the screening of 100s of hours of raw footage, (2) identifying a story that they want to tell, and (3) try to thread that story through the acts of episode.

The common parts of a story: introduction of character, explain the problem or need, face the obstacles to overcoming that problem, the character does or does not solve their problem.  This sound familiar?

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Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Entertainment: Save the Cat & Synder's Beat Sheet (W11-P1) Fa16

There are a variety of screenwriting methods available.  We've already talked about Syd Field's approach and Campbell's Hero's Journey.

Let's now look at another approach to screenwriting, Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet.
Don't follow Snyder's (or another approach) dogmatically.  See them as guidelines.




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GlobalMedia: Development Communication (cont'd): Entertainment Education (W11-P1) Sp16

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.


Interested in learning more about entertainment education, I'd recommend starting with a book edited by Arvind Singhal, Michael J. Cody, Everett M. Rogers and Miguel Sabido called
Entertainment-Education and Social Change: History, Research, and Practice (Routledge Communication Series)




Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Development Communication (cont'd): Entertainment Education (W15-P5) Sp15

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.


Interested in learning more about entertainment education, I'd recommend starting with a book edited by Arvind Singhal, Michael J. Cody, Everett M. Rogers and Miguel Sabido called
Entertainment-Education and Social Change: History, Research, and Practice (Routledge Communication Series)

Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Entertainment: How to Write a Joke (W11-P3) Fa15

“A good joke idea is raw potential and can be used in an almost unlimited number of contexts” (Sankey). Jokes can be used in stand-up comedy, commercials, cartoons, radio shows, a humor column in a newspaper/blog, TV sitcoms, etc. Jokes are the heart of comedy writing.

What is a joke?

• A funny story.
• Typically has two parts, the setup and then the punchline.
• May have an additional part, a tag, which is an additional funny line that follows the punchline.

The Setup:

• Sometimes called a premise.
• “A set-up is the information the comic gives to the crowd to establish an initial subject, context and perspective.”
• Compare this to the Setup in a 3 act film.
• Henny Youngman’s old joke
• The setup: “Women are crazy today.”

The Punchline:

• “the final information the comic gives to the crowd; it alters the meaning of already given information in a surprising fashion.”
• Compare punchlines to plot points.
• Henny Youngman’s old joke
• The punchline: “Take my wife………please”

Do you spot the setups and punchlines in the following Bud Light commercials? Spot the tags in some? Don't need to watch them all, just a few will do.  Watch responsibly.

Bud Light commercials deserve some ideological criticism?

Now, let's take a look at the joke structure in a situation comedy.  Just check out the first minute or so. How many jokes in the first minute?  Wonder how many jokes in a typical sitcom?  Could you write for a sitcom? Can you write a joke?

Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Entertainment: Is Reality TV Real? (W11-P2) Fa15

Within entertainment television, one of the increasingly popular genres is reality TV.

Reality TV: "a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors.”

Unscripted?  Really?

In the video clip below, pay particular attention to the comments about writing dialogue, creating a setup and conflict.  Sound familiar?




More on the writing and creating of reality TV shows.  In the video below, pay particular attention from 1:09 to 3:15.  Note the speakers mention of archetypal roles and frankenbites.  What does he mean by a frankenbite?




The clips above suggest that during the production of a reality TV episode, "writers" sometimes write dialogue for the "actors" and do things to create conflict.

However, it is in post-production, where a lot of the creating or writing of the story happens.  In post-production, the producers and "writers" have to put together the best material to tell the best story.  The post-production process would begin with (1) the screening of 100s of hours of raw footage, (2) identifying a story that they want to tell, and (3) try to thread that story through the acts of episode.

The common parts of a story: introduction of character, explain the problem or need, face the obstacles to overcoming that problem, the character does or does not solve their problem.  This sound familiar?

One of the videos above, suggests that it is in post-production where some creative editing can happen. Frankenbites, for example?

Could you write a reality TV series?  An interesting challenge, yes?  How would it be similar to and different from the writing of fictional TV?


Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Entertainment: Hero's Journey (W11-P1) Fa15

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.  Some 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.

Let's start with archetypal characters found in many stories.



Now with an understanding of the common archetypal characters, let's look specifically at the hero's journey itself.



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



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Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

GlobalMedia: Development Communication (cont'd): Entertainment Education (W11-P1) Sp15

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.


Interested in learning more about entertainment education, I'd recommend starting with a book edited by Arvind Singhal, Michael J. Cody, Everett M. Rogers and Miguel Sabido called
Entertainment-Education and Social Change: History, Research, and Practice (Routledge Communication Series)





Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Entertainment: How to Write a Joke (U7-P3) Fa14

“A good joke idea is raw potential and can be used in an almost unlimited number of contexts” (Sankey). Jokes can be used in stand-up comedy, commercials, cartoons, radio shows, a humor column in a newspaper/blog, TV sitcoms, etc. Jokes are the heart of comedy writing.

What is a joke?

• A funny story.
• Typically has two parts, the setup and then the punchline.
• May have an additional part, a tag, which is an additional funny line that follows the punchline.

The Setup:

• Sometimes called a premise.
• “A set-up is the information the comic gives to the crowd to establish an initial subject, context and perspective.”
• Compare this to the Setup in a 3 act film.
• Henny Youngman’s old joke
• The setup: “Women are crazy today.”

The Punchline:

• “the final information the comic gives to the crowd; it alters the meaning of already given information in a surprising fashion.”
• Compare punchlines to plot points.
• Henny Youngman’s old joke
• The punchline: “Take my wife………please”

Do you spot the setups and punchlines in the following Bud Light commercials? Spot the tags in some? Don't need to watch them all, just a few will do.  Watch responsibly.

Bud Light commercials deserve some ideological criticism?

Now, let's take a look at the joke structure in a situation comedy.  Just check out the first minute or so. How many jokes in the first minute?  Wonder how many jokes in a typical sitcom?  Could you write for a sitcom? Can you write a joke?

Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Entertainment: Is Reality TV Real? (U7-P2) Fa14

Within entertainment television, one of the increasingly popular genres is reality TV.

Reality TV: "a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors.”

Unscripted?  Really?

In the video clip below, pay particular attention to the comments about writing dialogue, creating a setup and conflict.  Sound familiar?




More on the writing and creating of reality TV shows.  In the video below, pay particular attention from 1:09 to 3:15.  Note the speakers mention of archetypal roles and frankenbites.  What does he mean by a frankenbite?




The clips above suggest that during the production of a reality TV episode, "writers" sometimes write dialogue for the "actors" and do things to create conflict.

However, it is in post-production, where a lot of the creating or writing of the story happens.  In post-production, the producers and "writers" have to put together the best material to tell the best story.  The post-production process would begin with (1) the screening of 100s of hours of raw footage, (2) identifying a story that they want to tell, and (3) try to thread that story through the acts of episode.

The common parts of a story: introduction of character, explain the problem or need, face the obstacles to overcoming that problem, the character does or does not solve their problem.  This sound familiar?

One of the videos above, suggests that it is in post-production where some creative editing can happen. Frankenbites, for example?

Could you write a reality TV series?  An interesting challenge, yes?  How would it be similar to and different from the writing of fictional TV?


Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: Entertainment: Hero's Journey (U7-P1) Fa14

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.  Some 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.

Let's start with archetypal characters found in many stories.



Now with an understanding of the common archetypal characters, let's look specifically at the hero's journey itself.



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



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

GlobalMedia: Development Communication (cont'd): Entertainment Education (U7-P1) Sp14

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.


Interested in learning more about entertainment education, I'd recommend starting with a book edited by Arvind Singhal, Michael J. Cody, Everett M. Rogers and Miguel Sabido called
Entertainment-Education and Social Change: History, Research, and Practice (Routledge Communication Series)





Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.