The end.

The end is in sight. Almost blinding which I must say it is beautiful. As I was counting my blogs to make sure I had enough I was looking over all the topics we have gone over this semester and the things I have chose to write about. While yes media is the topic in everything I have written about I have found a lot of similarities in most of them. I think this semester has really opened my eyes up to the realization of how much influence the media does have. We are surrounded by all these influences. When we try to escape them often times a void feeling comes about. I find this so fascinating. That our bodies almost have a dependency on these outlets that most of them were not even around 100 years ago. It is really hard to go with out the computer, cell phone, and TV. But what is more unbelievable is that we almost have to do these things. If I was to give up the computer for a few weeks this semester. My grade would significantly drop in many classes. I have several classes that are paperless. We do not use a single piece of paper all semester every thing is done through blackboard. I can't even imagine how much is going to change by the time my kids are in school.

No logo

I started thinking about the movie/book no logo. I was watching in the film how a couple times to introduce a new topic they put the no logo design in the film several times. As if no logo was a logo. I think companies that establish themselves with a logo as most of them due is really important. For example I have watched in the 3 years I have been at Utah Valley University come up with several slogans and logos attached with all the changes. We got the UVU design with the state of Utah inside the first U. We also have the wolverine going back to the mascot that many colleges rely on. We are starting a relatively new slogan that is called engaged. This is trying to get people thinking of the word engaged associate it with the school and understand what it represents. I think that having a clean simple logo is what gets remembered. Something that can relate to the product. For example how simple is Target's which is just a plain red target. Or there is Nike that has its swoosh. I have noticed the more detailed the symbol or logo is the more often it is forgotten. The book/movie was a good reminder of how influenced we are by brands. And high quality in products is often what is percieved through brand recognition.

technology

I used to find it so funny to see parents that are so incapable of using electronics. Face it we have all had the teacher that needs the student to turn on the TV, put in a DVD, use the projector etc. I know my parents were decent at using the Internet and when I say decent I mean capable of using e-mail, google, and the everyday needs. My husbands family on the other hand is technology handicapped. It was like a three hour process trying to walk him through the steps on how to set up an e-mail account. It is crazy never using online banking or search engine websites. Text messaging for them is basically like rocket science for them. Well I feel like I am beginning to relate. I find myself knowing less and less with all this new programs and inventions. When we talked in class about web 2.0 and all the applications on google it was a little over my head. I was fascinated and understood the concept but it was a little complex for me. I think with all the access we have now we need to keep up at a rapid pace because everything new is already going out of date. Technology is a wonderful tool that has helped immensly but I swear I am starting to need those books that are titled something like technology for dummies.

Women around the world.

Our presentation I felt opened up some eyes. Beauty is a word that communities and cultures define. Of course some people feel different about the cultural norms. People come in all shapes and sizes but as we look around we can see that conforming to what we perceive as beautiful is considered normal. I found an article about women around the world and where the happiest and most confident women are. I found some things about different regions and what they are commonly known for. For example the Central America has the most plastic surgery's. Whereas Asians have the fewest. I also found that Women from Africa have some of the least amount of confidence. Around the world you can find highs and lows everywhere. Hearing about Bolly Wood and some of their traditions and cultural norms. It is fascinating to see the difference in movies and what they allow and accept. To Americans it would be outrageous to find women not kissing their men but being viewed as rape victims. Also women being so mindless would be an outrage.

Children

I thought that today's presentation was interesting. The candid opinions of children and how they have changed over the years. This makes me realize how children just spit out information that they know. Nothing dramatic has changed they are still watching cartoons,Disney channel, playing with barbies,video games etc. And for the most part parents are still teaching core values to children. What has changed is the demand from adults to change how their children view what is being portrayed on the television. We have seen a change in cartoons and television shows in my opinion for the better. As well as a change in video games once again in my opinion for the worse. It seems to me like kids are being taught to be more open minded than they once were. We are accepting norms that 10 years ago did not exist. Understanding how much children absorb during there young years is why we need to be aware and cautious about what is seen in the media.

Logo

Our class discussion has got me thinking about the importance of logos. I have found it interesting, which ones work well to help sell the brand. I have noticed a lot of the time the more simple the logo the more it is remembered. I have noticed a change in clothing apparel with words and logos. I think more companies have been using their symbol to tell what the clothing brand is then to write out the company’s name. In the 90’s and early 2000’s often times you would see clothing with the name of the company written all over it. When we did the class experiment on finding how many logos we could find I kept looking at apparel and found that not a lot of what people were wearing had the name of the company. I shop a lot and know what a lot of the symbols for different designers are. But if someone does not have the knowledge about designer logos then it is not benefiting the company. I don’t think we realize how many we really see in a day until we are looking for them. My husband often makes fun of me for liking some of the brands that I buy. For example I think Juicy has a really fun cute style. They are over priced especially for their products. I have bought over $100 t-shirts that have fallen apart at the seams. I have also bought very expensive jewelry that has rusted over time. I love their style but the products are not holding up. They have convinced buyers that their products are good quality because of their expensive value. People need to decide for themselves if the price is worth the product.

Disney

So I was thinking about the different things that we discussed in class. These major corporate companies that own so much. I looked into Disney a little more and I googled what does Disney own and I got a list like this:

Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group Walt Disney Pictures Touchstone Pictures Hollywood Pictures Miramax Films Miramax Family Films Dimension Films (Disney owns the Dimension Films library for all films released before September 30, 2005) Miramax Television Disneynature Animation Walt Disney Animation Studios (formerly Walt Disney Feature Animation) Pixar Animation Studios DisneyToon Studios Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Buena Vista International Miravista Films Patagonik Film Group (joint venture between Disney and Artear Argentina) Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment (distributes under the following labels: Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Touchstone Home Entertainment, Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment, Miramax Home Entertainment, Dimension Home Video, ABC Video, Buena Vista Home Entertainment) El Capitan Theatre Disney Music Group Walt Disney Records Hollywood Records Mammoth Records Lyric Street Records Buena Vista Records Disney Music Publishing (see Buena Vista Music Group page for a list of publishers that are part of Disney Music Publishing) Disney Theatrical Productions Hyperion Theatrical Disney Live Family Entertainment Disney on Ice - produced by Feld Entertainment Disney Live - produced by Feld Entertainment
DisneyShopping.comDisney Store (locations in Japan are owned and operated by licensing agreement with Disney by The Oriental Land Company)
World of Disney StoreDisney Apparel, Accessories & FootwearDisney Interactive Studios - formerly Buena Vista GamesAvalanche SoftwarePropaganda GamesFall Line StudiosBlack Rock Studios (Previously Climax Racing)Disney Food, Health & BeautyDisney Home & InfantDisney Publishing WorldwideU.S. Children's & Family Magazines:Disney AdventuresFamilyFun MagazineWondertimeChildren's Books:Hyperion Books For ChildrenJump At the SunVolo BooksMichael di Capua BooksDisney PressDisney EditionsDisney LibriDisney Educational ProductionsGlobal Children's Magazines (hundreds of publications are included, listed below are just a few)W.I.T.C.H.TopolinoDisney Princess MagazineWinnie the Pooh MagazineFairies MagazineMickey Mouse MagazineThe Baby Einstein CompanyThe Muppets Studio, LLC (formerly Muppets Holding Company LLC)Disney StationeryDisney ToysDisney Electronics
ESPN
ABC TV
Buena Vista Pictures
Miramax Films
A&E Television Networks
Lifetime Entertainment
So needless to say Disney has a few investments. They are so much bigger than Hannah Montana and the Joe Bros AKA Jonas Brothers. I could not believe how many products are tied to Disney. It makes you wonder how much money has been made. I heard a story a long time ago about Walt Disney and how the theme parks got sarted. He had a dream that his children could have a place where they could play be entertained and mostly just be kids. I think walk did pretty good achieving that goal.