Synthesis Workshop:
People will do things
they would not normally do if encouraged and/or pressured by an authority
figure or a group. Ronald Jones, a high school history teacher, demonstrated to
his students their vulnerability to extreme obedience by subtly indoctrinating
them into something called the Third Wave. He began with simple commands such
as standing at attention in class and obeying stricter rules and eventually had
them squealing on those who didn't obey.
The experiment culminated in a rally in which Jones got students
"to salute and shout slogans on command" (208). This shows the
volurability and willingness of impressionable people to an authority figure to
cause ostrisation of not conforming students. This willingness is also seen
in Stanley Milgram’s study. Milgram
tested whether people would obey authority figures even to the point of
inflicting severe pain on another person (171). He told the participants to
“punish” the “learner” is they answered a question incorrectly, and the punisher
thought by pressing a button they would inflict electric shocks to the
“learner.” Milgram had expected that most people would not obey, however, Milgram
found that about 60 % of his subjects were fully obedient to the point of
inflicting 450 volts of electricity on another person (171-172). Similarly,
Doris Lessing describes an experiment in which a group of people convince one
other person (the subject of the experiment) that something that isn't true
really is. By exerting group pressure on
the subject, they convince him that two pieces of wood are the same length when
one can tell they aren't just by looking at them (162-163). Research has shown
that people do act differently when pressure from a group or authority is
exerted one them. When the subject is in the place of power themselves, such as
Milgram’s experiment, they took liberties and thought less of the person
receiving the punishment. In the case of Jones’s experiment, the students
conformed to his ideas because of his authority over them as a teacher.
Clearly, people are impressionable to those in power and groups for fear of
rejection and/or punishment.
Visual analysis:
Movies have changes a
lot during the years, from the mid 1900’s to the present 2000’s the technology
for movies has mainly changes, and thus their advertisements have changed as
well. When looking at the oldest of the movie posters, The Wizard of Oz (1939), one can see the quality of photography is
minimal, the colors are dull and generic, and the effects are little to none
when comparing to the other posters. These reasons are why we believe that this
is the oldest of the posters. The next poster in chronological order is Vertigo (1950), an Alfred Hitchcock
film. We think this because it has real life photography in it and the colors
are more vibrant that the Oz poster. There is not date on Vertigo or The Wizard of Oz,
and their fonts are different and look more hand written versus computer
manufactured fonts. The remaining posters, Crazy
Stupid Love, Cars 2, I will Follow, and Harry
Potter 7 part 2, are from after 2000 and have large, good-quality pictures
as the focal point of the poster. They all have dates of when they were
released in their respective years and a few have a call to action statement
that entices the reader to learn more. The font has less emphasis on the
younger posters versus the older ones, which had both text and photo working together
for the benefit of the poster.
Crazy, Stupid, Love
is a comedy of some sort because of the exaggerated facial expression of the
background actor. All of the actor on the bottom of the poster are smiling and
looking happy, another visual queue to a comedy that would make people laugh. Vertigo is more action genera because
there is a figure in the background that appears to be on top of a bridge
appearing to about to fall. There is a suspicion of suspense because Alfred
Hitchcock is known for suspenseful movies of his time. Cars 2 is a kid’s comedy and this is seen thought the animation and
the personification of cars having human qualities. Also, there is a statement
saying this movie is from the creators of Toy Story 3. I Will Follow looks to be a romantic drama because of the serious
faces of the actors and the closeness of the actors’ faces. The wizard of Oz is a comedy because of
the silly characters in a weird world. The colors, though dull, are meant to
bring happiness and playfulness to the audience. Harry Potter is a drama and suspense film because one can see the
tension between the two actors’ faces and the fact that they are holding the
same wand. The statement “It all ends 7.15” helps with the suspense as well.
The designer asks each reader to go and see this movie
through the visual media and colors. The text supports this because many of the
posters give dates that the movies premier. The eye goes toward the top of the
poster, often the title, and then to the middle picture, and finally to the
bottom text. All of these posters are effective, though we think some are dated
for our time. They all give a glimpse into the movie and entice curiosity.
Traits of a good communicator
- Background knowledge of what they are communicating about (combination)
- Adapting to the audience when explaining concepts (combination)
- Being well prepared (combination)
- Confidence (all)
- Willing to debate and open to criticism (Oral)
- Well rounded with media (Combination)
- Good listening skills (Oral)
- Organization (Combination)
- Spelling mistakes (Textual)
- Something that is relatable to the topic (Textual)
- Knowing what and what not to say (All)
- Presents of being (All)
- Placement (visual and textual)
- Knowledge and understanding of the audience (all)
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