Reading Questions: Croteau 1

For Monday, consider the following:

• How do horizontal and vertical integration differ? Looking at the lists of holdings for the major media conglomerates (in the reading and also at the links below), which of the two types of integration is more prevalent? Why do you think this might be?

[For these questions, it may be helpful to visit the following site:http://www.cjr.org/resources/ It has current holdings for several giant conglomerates. Take a look at, at a minimum, entries for Sony, Disney, and GE.]

• Think about how the concept of "synergy" would apply to a property like "Spiderman" from Sony (use the holdings list to spur your thinking). What kinds and in what ways have media texts been produced and circulated, motivated by the concept of synergy?

• How does the need to make money shape the kinds of decisions that media companies make? What do you think about the concept of "advergames"? It is a necessary and appropriate development of our system of media production, or is it problematic? If the latter, in what ways?

[Take a look at the following site: http://mysoup.com/ It is part of the web presence for Campbell's soup. Use what you find there to answer the question above.]

Questions for Games homework

Hopefully you have had the chance to play two different games for 20 minutes each. There are numerous places on the web to find both Flash-based games playable in your browser and free downloads of current and classic PC/Mac games. You may wish to post as a comment to this entry those sites you found particularly useful in this regard.

While playing, ask yourself the following:

• How do each of Manovich's Principles of New Media enable what you can do in these games? Are there any that stand out more than others?

• How do McMahon's criteria for presence work in these games? Are there any that do not apply? Is this different between the two games you chose? If so, how does the difference affect your sense of presence with the each game?

• How is the experience of playing each game different from and similar to the experience of watching a film in the theater? Watching a film at home? Watching a television series? Watching a video clip online?

Reading Questions: McMahon

For Monday, September 24th, consider the following as you read the McMahon:

• What are the similarities between her approach to representation in video games and Manovich's approach to representation in New Media? Are the two approaches compatible with each other? Why or why not?

• How do immersion, engagement, and presence work together in the context of your experience playing video games?

• Think of the games you have played in your life: Does McMahon's conception of the gaming experience fit with your own experiences? Can you think of games that do not work well with her configuration?

The Machine is Us/ing Us

Reading Questions: Bordwell on Narrative

It seemed that folks were interested in having something to guide their reading for Wednesday, so I have included the following questions to ask yourself and jot down answers to while you read the assigned Bordwell text. Please have your answers ready for class Wednesday morning:

• What are the fundamental elements of all stories, according to Bordwell?

• What is the difference between story and plot? Why is it helpful to make this distinction?

• What is the difference between narrative and narration? Could you explain the difference using a film you have seen recently?

• Name three characteristics specific to Classical Hollywood Cinema narratives (i.e., that not all narratives necessarily have) and explain using that same film you saw recently.

Representation Circulation

For Monday, Sep 10, Watch the three videos below of Stephen Colbert. Watch them from oldest to newest post--from the bottom up. (If you are interested in learning more about him, there's plenty on the web).

As you watch, take note (in your notebook) of the following:

•Does this seem like the same person? Why or why not? How is he performing "Stephen Colbert" differently in these different venues (even though they're all night-time television news)?

•What specific visual and auditory characteristics of his public persona are being altered and which remain mostly the same in each performance?

•Would it make a difference if Colbert himself told you which version of himself he thought was the "real" one? Why or why not?

•Can you relate these three representations of "Stephen Colbert" to concepts you read about in the duGay and Mirzoeff readings? How so?

Stephen Colbert on The O'Reilly Factor

The Colbert Report: Truthiness

Stephen Colbert on the Late Show in 2005