Major

I really do not know what I want to do in the field of communications.  I am a duel major in political science and communication because I want to know more about computers and how communications as a whole can further my skills in any field.  If I continue in the communication department, I will probably pursue a career in television broadcasting.  My dream job would be taking Matt Lauer's position on channel 4.  I have always had a passion being in front of a camera and having new adventures all of the time.  I will need to be able to articulate sentences currectly, be knowledgable about camera's and camera angles, and knowing about lighting so that I can look my best in front of an audience.

student films

I went to the Shepherd University short film session at the theater located on German Street.  I was quite impressed with the presentations that I witnessed.   All of the films were created differently and you can tell how different students have different styles of filming and different types of thinking when it comes to stories.  Usually when a teacher gives students an assignment to make a film, those students like to create stories where they have places to film that fits their story lines.  However, some of the films were very unique.  For example, the one film that stuck in my mind was one of the ending films about two brothers and a funeral home.  It was very interesting to me that the students were able to use a real funeral home and all the aspects a funeral home has to film.  They filmed inside the funeral home and they even filmed were caskets were held.  Being able to find sources like this to film at is a very hard task for most students.  Another film that I remember is one where it is a narration of a girls love life to another girl and the guilt she felt for not being honest with the people she loved.  The narrator did a good job in telling a story in a fashion that an average person would tell.  It wasn’t a perfectly detailed story, but blanks could be filled in about what the story was all about and it was a good flow.   I was quite impressed with the films in general.  It takes a lot of time to create a short film, especially if only a few people are working on it.  Finding time to edit everything of a film, finding actors and actresses, finding places to shoot different scenes when you do not have a budget to get things that you need is a difficult task and these students did a great job implementing different techniques to make the ordinary of campus life into a realm of fiction.  The students who made the films also had a good idea about how to use different types of lighting, sounds, and special effects to keep the audience’s attention and to make the film seem as realistic as possible.  For example, in the one film the guy was driving drunk.  The film at this point showed the driver’s perspective.  The film seemed distorted coming in and out as if you were the driver in the situation.  Overall, the films were very well put together and you could tell a lot of time was put on them to make sure they were well made.  I enjoyed the time I spent there and I cannot wait until I see the next film session.

Picture Story

You know those days when things just seem to go bad, well this day was one of those days where from the moment I woke up things were shitty.  I have an average life I would say I live in a small house have a beat up car that gets me to point A to point B, I have a good group of friends who like to blaze up every now and then.  I go to parties where I try to talk to girls and maybe get a chance to go back with them, it fails every time.  I like to have as much fun as possible, but for the most part I am a chill person.  Anyways back to my fucked up day.  I woke up late and missed my first class.  I had been studying the night before for the second class of the day so it didn’t bother me that much, but I still had to rush around so I would be able to make it to my second class on time.  While I was rushing around I stubbed my toe in the door and I spilt a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on my shirt while I was driving to school.  When I got to school there was literally no place to park so I parked in a teacher’s spot.  I was a little late to class, but luckily I was allowed to still take the exam.  However, the exam for the class was different from what I was studying, I studied the wrong section, so I definitely bombed the test.  After class was through I just wanted to go home and drink a beer or two to get  my mind off of things.  When I went to the place I parked my car, it was not there.  My car got toed.  So now I had to get a ride from one of my friends to go pick up my car.  This day was awful.  I had to wait until late afternoon for my friend to be done his classes so by the time I showed up to the place to pick up my car it was too late.  So then I went home got yelled at by my mom and went to bed hoping the next day would be better.  I was wrong, dead wrong.  When I got to the place to pay my ticket and get my car back I didn’t see my car anywhere.  That’s because I didn’t recognize my car.  Apparently last night a group of kids spray painted my car a bunch of different colors and now I have a uglier car.  Isn’t my life great. 

Graphic Novel

The graphic novel project was a very fun and interesting project. I enjoyed creating a story and finding a way to make the plot come to life in picture form. Thinking of what my story was going to be about was the toughest part of the assignment.  Once I had a general idea of what I was going to write the graphic novel became quite enjoyable and easy.  I am not an artist at all so I had to rely on pictures and photographs on the internet to complete my graphic novel.  Once I found pictures related to my story line, I copied and pasted them onto Comic Life.  From there I altered the backgrounds and color scheme to make some of the comic to look more cartoonish.  I had to follow the rules of a proper story line.  I had to figure out what the main character in my piece wanted to accomplish what setbacks would occur for him to resolve his goal and finally how he accomplishes his goal.  Finding pictures online was a very easy task even when my story line was outlandish.  There is almost anything and everything online and I found the correct series of pictures to finish my story line and make it enjoyable to the audience.  Graphic novels are a different means of communication.  They are an entertaining way to allow the audience to see action and hear sound even though it is through two dimensional figures.  Graphic novels are used to entertain while reading the story line.  It gives ideas to the readers of what figures look like while leaving gaps in some places so that people can fill in the blanks when needed.  Graphic novels are fun ways to create a story and the project was fun for me.                     

My Majors

I am duel majoring in Political Science and Mass Communications.  I chose these two majors because I am very interested in politics and how forms of communication work so I can learn proper ways to channel information to various people. The classes in each are very interesting, well at least the ones I have taken.  In Mass Communications, I have learned how to make graphic novels, edit soundtracks, and properly write scripts for news stories.  I enjoy doing these because I have never done those things before and I had fun doing them.  I enjoy working on programs that computers offer and create new things.  I am interested in radio broadcasting and I hope to get a job working at a radio station this summer.  I listen to the radio daily and music is a passion of mine.  So I am really interested in learning how a radio station works and how music can be edited.  I enjoy politics also.  I have learned how to make a proper research question and how to create a good research paper.  I have also learned about voting habits, why people vote, and changes in voting history.  If I do not get a job in a communications field, I am leaving my options open to find a job as a lawyer or in public relations.  I feel like the classes are more important than the program because it’s up to the teachers to make the literature and the class enjoyable while teaching the material.  Also, there are classes that students can take in the field that aren’t required, but may be very influential to a student if he or she takes it.  I took a class that wasn’t required in political science and enjoyed it and learn a lot from the class.  I hope to learn as much as I can from these two majors and the courses I am taking so I can use the knowledge I gained outside of school and in the real world.  I honestly haven’t look up what classes I have to take or who the teachers are.  I usually find out from people who have taken the teacher I am about to take and find out what kind of teacher he or she is and if that teacher does a good job in teaching.  I hope to succeed in school so I can get a job that I enjoy and that I can settle down in for the rest of my life. 

Linkedin

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=96215138&trk=tab_pro

This is my link to my profile on linkedin

Text Messaging as a Form or Communication

I am really interested in a newer communication style that has recently come about.  This way of communication is texting.  Texting is a great way to communicate in a text format to other people without having to speak to that individual face to face or on the phone.  Many people do not like the way they formulate sentences on the phone or in person so a simple text message is easy to send and which can allow that certain individual to proofread or edit the text before it is sent.  It is easy to catch a grammatical error when you do not say it aloud.  Also, research has shown that receiving a text can make people happy because it stimulates the brain.  When a person receives a text message they are excited to see what is going to be said by which individual.  I love to text message people and I do it every single day now.  It is a lifestyle choice that I partake in and I feel that I have made more and stronger connections because of this style of communication.  Not only am I having a conversation with other individuals, but it seems like I am talking to them immensely even if throughout the day the conversations are short and limited.  The time it takes a person to write a text message, look it over, send it, have the other individual receive it and respond can take many minutes at a time.  This causes people to think that a person is talking to them for a very long time in fact they are really only taking a small proportion of time to say very little.  If a typical conversation through the phone would take maybe a few minutes, a texts conversation could take hours.  This length of time keeps people occupied and happy making the day seem like it goes by quicker.  Text messaging has its flaws yes, like how people will not have as good verbal skills, people lose sleep from staying up late to receive a message, and some people die from texting while driving.  However, I think text messaging is a great way to learn about someone without personal physical interaction and sometimes it is hard to interact with someone who you never see.  Texting in general is an interesting topic if you think about it and I think it will be used for many years to come.