Media Meditation #4: I *am* a Manager!

My favorite sport all time is definitely football (soccer in the US). It is unfortunate that there aren't any football matches near Vermont.

But not to worry! Football Manager 2011 is arriving soon, on November 5th. Although I am rather new to the series, having only played Football Manager 2010 before, no other video game I have experienced has had me hooked so badly.

Cover of Football Manager 2011

(Courtesy of Sports Interactive)

Football Manager is a game where you take on the role of the Head Manager of a football team, rather than playing on the field. The game contains many features (some of which will be understandable to only football fans), but most importantly, the game enjoys a very good reputation as a football management simulator. Mainly, this is because there are an enormous amount of features that managers must manage, making the game complex and very dynamic.

Here's a video of the Football Manager 2011 announcement:

Secondly, and perhaps one of its most amazing and jaw-dropping feature, is the wonderful database. To illustrate, Everton FC, a Premier League (the highest football league in England, and one of the best in the world) club, and one with an extremely long and prestigious history, signed a deal with the developers of Football Manager, Sports Interactive, to use the Football Manager 2009 database to scout potential players for the club.

David Moyes, the Head Coach for Everton

(Image courtesy of SkySports)

Now, consider the enormous amount of information in the game, covering staff, scouts and players from 117 different leagues around the world. This information was gathered through voluntary researchers and Sports Interactive's own research network. All around the world, these scouts have provided data regarding the abilities of countless players. Without knowing it, Football Manager have achieved an amazing phenomenon where users are not only willing to participate, but eagerly provide personal knowledge (or observations).

To illustrate even further, Football Manager 2011 now comes with a new feature - uploading of match highlights to Youtube or Twitter. The game will be automatically tweet updates regarding the progress of your team as they advance in leagues, competitions or win important matches etc.

For Youtube, match highlights can be uploaded straight from the game itself, streamlining a previously tedious and fairly annoying process and allowing others to share in the joy (or tears) of winning/losing a match. This is an excellent display of the trend towards media convergence, and one in which many video games overlook easily.

Here's an example of Newcastle United (my favorite team) thrashing Sunderland (haha, losers):

The Football Manager 2011 demo is out, and it is free to download, of course. I encourage you to try this game out if you are a football fan!

Media Meditation #3: Colors galore with Flying daggers

One of the best directors (and possibly my favorite in the country) in China is Zhang YiMou. Recently, under the enchanting effects of a large HD projector, my friends and I watched House of Flying Daggers, a film directed by Zhang YiMou in 2004.

Picture of Zhang YiMou at the Hawaii International Film Festival in 2005

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Before I talk about the film itself, Zhang YiMou's achievement should be noted. Some of his most famous works include Hero (with Jet Li in it, and also another excellent film)

Promotional poster for the movie Hero

(Image courtesy of wikipedia)

... and Not One Less (in which he won the Golden Lion award) and he was also the director of the Opening and Closing Ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. So needless to say, anything produced by this man would be quite interesting.

Now, a little information on the movie I watched. House of Flying Daggers is an action film that takes place during the late Tang Dynasty. Rebel groups, especially the House of Flying Daggers, have formed against the government. Two local officers of the government decide to uproot the House by devising a plan, sending in one of the officers as an undercover along with a known agent of the House. But, of course, as most movies go, plans are thrown out the window and plot twists are introduced. For me to explain or even lightly touch upon the rest of the story would do the film no justice.

One of the features I must talk about regarding the film though, is the director's excellent use of various production technique. For one, the soundtrack of this movie has been met with critical acclaim, and after watching the movie, I must say that the music goes extremely well with the flow of the plot. Scenes are not only accompanied, but are enhanced through the music - a feature that few films are able to achieve in my opinion.

In addition, not only is the plot quality itself, but the delivery of the plot is amazing. Suspense is created through intentional pacing, with cinematically appealing slow-motion at crucial moments. It is a shame that I cannot offer any examples, but spoiling the movie would be even worse.

The best production technique employed, however, is the use of color by Zhang YiMou. If you have seen Hero, then the technique will be familiar. Zhang YiMou employs a masking color theme for important scenes.

A scene in the movie, depicting the director's vivid use of color.

(Image courtesy of filmexperience.blogspot.com)

The colors in the scenes vary in intensity, but the spectrum of colors is spectacular, especially in the last scene where snow is used in the background.

Anyhow, not only did I think this movie was well made and of quality, but what is so unique about the film is its delivery of the story. I implore each of you to just kick back and, literally, enjoy the vivid cinematography of this film. If you liked it, try watching Zhang YiMou's earlier film, Hero, which employs a similar technique.

The Wall Street Journal: An elementary analysis

Thesis:

The Wall Street Journal covers primarily US and International business and financial news and issues. Its aim, according to then WSJ Publisher Louis Gordon Crovitz, is to “earn and keep the trust of the world’s most demanding readers by delivering the most essential news and analysis”.

Five Facts*:

1. The Wall Street Journal is the largest national daily newspaper in the US.

2. Journalists for the Wall Street Journal have been awarded 33 Pulitzer Prizes.

3. The Wall Street Journal has over 2,000 journalists reporting in 58 countries.

4. WSJ.com, the Journal’s website, is the largest paid subscription news site on the Internet.

5. The Wall Street Journal is part of the Dow Jones Company, which is owned by News Corp.

*Fact sources from Dow Jones.

Triune Brain:

The Wall Street Journal is Neocortex intensive, with a large amount of technical vocabulary, financial terms, numbers and data. In addition to advertisements, there are also images and pictures, giving the Journal a dose of limbic experience, most of them serve only to accompany text or highlight an involved party.

8 Trends:

As most newspapers and journals do in order to form convergent media, the Wall Street Journal has a digital version of its journal. Not only is the digital version an exhibition of the Journal’s efforts to offer a convergent media, with updates of information and real time reporting, but so is the paper itself, in its own way. The Wall Street Journal publishes stock prices – evidence of how even the physical paper itself adapts to becoming convergent media.

In addition, the WSJ.com front page also has a Market Data widget, once again showing how directed the Journal is towards financial readers.

Another trend exhibited by the journal is its introduction of subjective, or more opinionated and personal journalism in the form of blogs. Both in the newspaper itself and especially on the digital version, WSJ publishes blog articles with varying topics, such as health and wellbeing, or politics, injecting a more subjective perspective into the journal.

7 Principles:

The Wall Street Journal is owned by Dow Jones, which is a subsidiary company of News Corp. Although the Journal emphasizes its impartial reporting of the news, it also has a rather conservative editorial.

While the news may be impartial as they say, the value message displayed through their editorial paints a less liberal picture as their news reporting does.

Rupert Murdoch

As a newspaper heavily involved with numbers and financial data, the journal helps readers by employing certain production techniques such as employing graphs, charts or tables to display information in a more efficient and understandable fashion.

29 Persuasive Techniques:

First and foremost, the Journal utilizes Scientific Evidence to back their articles, displaying an array of graphs, tables or diagrams in order for readers to better grasp the situation.

In addition, the WSJ uses testimonials, by inviting writers with a respectable background in their field to author articles or blogs, presenting their viewpoints and opinions.

Another persuasive technique employed by the journal is the use of plain folks. The journal publishes letters to the editors frequently, showcasing the opinions of other Wall Street Journal readers.

Mid-Semester Reflection

1. After studying 21st century media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned? Please be specific.

Aside from the information and knowledge gained through textbooks, powertools and quizzes, perhaps the most important thing that I have learned in the importance of a critical mind, and how it relates to society - especially one similar to the US (a democratic and capitalistic society). I believe the lack of critical minds is the crippling

factor of this nation.

2. What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as a critical reader, a writer, and a thinker in this class so far?

I generally believe that I am a rather critical thinker, owning to my upbringing, education and the society I have lived in. Perhaps the most important thing I have learned in this case is how to critically analyze new forms of media. Previous forms of media such as text/books/movies are rather one, or two, dimensional. New media, on th

e other hand, has a lot more dimensions.

3. What's one thing you would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

- I would read "What the Internet is doing to our Brains" before the class.

- Install TweetDeck before class

- Try some Yak Meat

A Yak!

4. What's one thing you like me to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

Allow for more flexible responses and observations. Although the power tools are useful, we should also be careful in overusing it. THe best tool is in fact the brain itself. Responses, therefore, should not be restricted to simply what is found int he packet.

5. Please comment on the usefulness of the power tools, our course blog, your personal blog, our in-class quizzes, our films and our books as learning tools.

Power tools - Interesting list of analytical tools and very useful in guiding us through different forms of media. BUt it is, admittedly, limited in scope, as mentioned in Qs. 4.

Course Blog - A good way to make students read. However, I am unsure as to the efficacy of the chapter blogs in terms of students actually absorbing knowledge.

Personal Blog - Excellent way to force students to get in touch with new media. It is surprising (very surprising) that a lot of students have no HTML experience or simple blog writing experience. Perhaps a cultural difference, but shocking to say the very least.

In-class quizzes - Don't like them, but as an old chinese saying goes: "Bitter medicine is good medicine". It certainly helps students synthesize the power tools.

Films - Good selections, especially "Reel Bad Arabs", what an eye opener!

Books - The textbook is surprisingly fun to read. Stick with it.

Camp Champ Radio Spot: The Deadly UVM Syndrome

Script:

Announcer: Are you suffering from long lectures, boring classes and professors that don’t know your name?
You must be suffering from Unscholarly Violent Mental Syndrome, or UVM Syndrome, a cruel and inhumane condition. Listen to what this UVM inflicted student has to say:

UVM Student: It sucks.

Announcer: That’s right! It sucks! Your solution? Come to Champlain College! Champlain offers a chance to study abroad, a wide variety of courses and zero exposure to UVM syndrome. Just listen to what this Champlain student has to say.

Champlain Student: It’s awesome! Before and after every class we witness the beautiful view over Lake Champlain. The campus is small and personal, just like all our classes, and there are so many different activities! Go red team dodgeball! GO BEAVERS!!

UVM Student: How can I feel real again?

Announcer: Come to champlain. It’s Champlain, or suffer from UVM syndrome for the rest of your life. It’s a no brainer.