The Dark Night, starring Heath Ledger and Christian Bale, proved one of the best movies in the last decade. Heath Ledger's performance was the single best villain I have ever witnessed on the big screen. There is nothing that would convince me otherwise.
Having attracted the attention of some of my classmates, my real goal here is to obtain more outside viewers. Over the next month, I will be posting blogs with my opinion of the world we live in. I find myself growing tired of many popular activities in our society, due to the way I have recently been viewing life in the last few years. So if you would like to come join me for a little bit of life analysis, be my guest.
There are things in this culture of ours that can influence people on a massive scale. Popular items of conversation, such as the “Dark Night” can be used as simple tools to gather attention. As I make bold statements as to the quality of the film and the actors involved, I am only trying to further outside interest and provoke a genuine reaction. Having said that, the Arts and Entertainment industry have a serious grip on society today. Although the music industry may not be as dominant as it used to be, it certainly hasn’t slowed down. The real area I wanted to focus on was the world of movies, television, and media advertising.
Having been in love with the motion picture industry for my entire life, I no longer am entranced by the majesty of this business. I now see movies as a series of necessary elements that are infused to fit the public desire. Whether it be well placed music, strategic camera fade-ins, or the use of silence to create suspense, movies have seemed to be bound to the limits made by the viewing society. Certain films not afraid to push these limits have found rare success. In those few cases, we find great movies like “No Country For Old Men”. In this film, absolutely NO music was used. All of the suspense in this movie relied simply on the cinematography, which I thought was pure genius. The lack of music only added to the utter silence, the final buildup before that climactic loud burst of the killer’s shotgun.
This same idea of “key elements” transfers easily over to advertisements. I’ve recognized some specific methods used by companies to really reach out and grab attention. My biggest example is the large corporation, British Petroleum (or BP). They are going with two entirely different advertising techniques at the same time. If you listen to the radio in the car, chances are you’ve heard a BP ad. They are going with what I call the “Disney Method”. This involves a full studio orchestra, playing colorful and playful music to accompany a lighthearted male narrator (in his fifties). This auditory technique helps the brain link back to one of the only other companies to include these elements in their work… The Disney Corporation… This, in turn may leave you feeling relaxed and attentive to the ad at hand. It’s very smart, this also leaves the idea that this company is well managed and high in standards… So is that really the truth? Beware of that gentle male voice, it may be soothing, but he’s also getting BP lodged into your head!!!! As far as the television ads are concerned, I’ll keep it short. Basically, they are going with the “iTunes/modern artsy” technique. Lots of colorful and smart visuals, accompanied by a simple, but catchy song (this song probably promoted online). Here’s a link to an ad, notice how many views BP has on Youtube… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAkiXLeyelQ
Sorry for rambling, but I wanted to explain my point as clearly as possible. I could go on and on about the use of celebrities, targeting specific groups of people, not to mention the classic armada of low budget TV advertising, but I think you get the picture now. I only ask that you try and think about this next time you encounter any form of popular media. The more of this I listen to, the more I want to work in the entertainment industry!!!
Cheers,
Mike Greenwood
4 comments:
Hey Mike, I agree with you the dark knight movie was very good, there was plenty of action and and twist. Also the picture of the joker did get my attention as i was reading through the blogs of our other classmate. I also agree with your opinon on how the entertainment industry are able to know what we want and use that to sell there products or image. Again going back to the dark knight , they know we all have a passion for action and suspense, something that is mind blowing , and that how they created the movie. Superhero movies are selling for the las few years: the fantasic four , spider man , super man, and batman. Differnt companies basicly use the same methods to advertist their product for use to buy playing on our need for the currend fad or something we are passonate about.
As I understand your post, one of your goals in this class is to attract a wide readership? As I have said in class and in some of my comments to other posts, a good writer needs to be attuned to his/her audience, so I am glad to know you are thinking about this issue. More specifically, I wonder why you have changed the spelling of “The Dark Knight” to “The Dark Night.” When the reader first sees the title, s/he will probably not expect to see the image of Heath Ledger playing the Joker. I assume this change was unintentional, but the slip is worth exploring—titles are meant to intrigue the reader and in that way you might accomplish that more with unintentional misspelling. After your first paragraph, I get a bit lost in your post. Are you using The Dark Knight to make an overall point about the film industry’s grip on a general audience? It also had an influence on you, right? Perhaps that is your point in the last sentence, that the more you see, the more you want to be involved in the entertainment industry. I like how you contrast this with a film such as No Country for Old Men—the two films are, indeed, so different. I am also interested in what you go on to do, which is close read the BP advertising and what changes in the campaign when the medium changes. You are doing some excellent work in your paying attention to certain formal details. Next time, I urge you to take this further and concentrate on one compelling example that can really drive your point (and capture your audience). Focus and specificity are keys to writing well. For example, why the cartoon format in the YouTube video you include? The use of green and a certain type of music? Who is their audience here versus the ad on the radio? By the way, we might get into a debate on Monday: I thought The Dark Knight was one of the worst films I have seen in many years.
I agree with you that the Joker stole the show in The Dark Knight,brilliant acting by Heath Ledger, sad he won't be around for future sequels.
Any how, I find your critique of the arts and entertainment industry very interesting. I also think that they have a major role on our society today as they probably will in the future to come. With movies, I'm noticing how comic movies are making a killing these days. My theory is that it's because people like you and I who grew up watching X-men and Spider man cartoons finally have a chance to see them in live action which leads me to your advertisement post and the techniques they use.
Being a Design major myself, we are taught how to make things attractive, but it goes deeper than that. There are psychological techniques that people have done research on that are applied to design, such as: colors, placements, sounds, movements. The large companies, such as BP, pays hefty amounts of money for Design teams to create advertisement campaigns for them. The Youtube video that you've provided is all done through motion graphics, which is a big trend these days, done all by computers. Advertising style changes, but I think that their technique for sub conscience, mind controlling, or whatever they do is still the same. It was interesting reading a non-design perspective from you.
DARK KNIGHT!!!! YES!!!! Ledger's got my vote. Your views on american advertising further my understanding of what our country has evolved into...
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