This video was made my Maggie Galka and myself as a public service announcement for UVM Eco-Reps!
Maggie, who is an Eco-Rep in Christie is currently working on an initiative to continue composting throughout UVM and to incorporate green habits within Greek Life houses!
photocred http://uvmbored.com/club/eco-reps/
While working on this video, I felt challenged with first coming up with a concept and then consolidating that idea into a one minute clip! Editing down and having to cut different scenes was difficult, but I think the overall message was conveyed effectively. Lighting and flow of each shot were two challenges that we also faced, as we wanted the video to transition and make sense to any uninformed viewers! This was my first time using imovie or vimeo so it was also fun to see how both programs work and hopefully I can use them in the future! The most rewarding part of the video process was showing it to friends and family and having them laugh and enjoy it!
If any of you are familiar with hydraulic fracturing, then you can easily spot the many flaws in this advertisement. This ad comes from Conoco Phillips's national campaign to re-frame natural gas fracking as a positive and clean form of energy that will provide our country with endless job opportunities.
Diagnosing the "Classroom" with our Powertool sets:
1. The Triune Brain:
This ad caters to our Neocortext, or our rational/thinking brain.
~The basic statements used throughout the ad are simple and easy to comprehend while spinning false information in a positive light.
ConocoPhillips promises jobs.
JOBS = GOOD.
ConocoPhillips states that their energy is good for the environment.
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY = GOOD.
...Conoco Phillips = GOOD.
The Lymbic Brain:
The illustrations in the background of the ad are subtle, but if watching closely, symbols, graphs, and highlighted words appear in white throughout the advertisement, stimulating our artistic side of the brain.
2. The 8 Trends and Shifts of 21st Media Culture
Economic Shift- This ad is an example of a corporation greenwashing consumers into thinking their company's way of obtaining energy is safe, clean, affordable, a matter of national security, good for the economy and environmentally friendly. Corporate money paid for this ad and shows the shift to CORPORATE consolidation.
Discursive Shift- This ad also showcases the movement away from the objective to the subjective.
~This ad is created for you to side with Conoco Phillips and think of them as a company that will help the United States divert from their dependency on foreign oil.
~It is up for you to decide your opinion after the ad.
Seems legit, right?
3. The 7 General Principles
Production Techniques: Short. Simple. To the point. This ad is a quick glance that answers questions of concern for customers. It is created "to influence the ways we think, behave, and buy."
~The well light classroom sets the stage for the bright and attractive students to discuss the many positives that come from hydraulic fracturing.
#1:the Big Lie - fracking is neither safe nor a clean source of energy...nice try
#2: Hyperbole - Clean energy via fracking...EXTREME EXAGGERATION
#3: Bribery - empty promises of jobs and a "cleaner future"
#4: Bandwagon - these young, bright college students are on board, shouldn't you???
#5: Simple Solutions - with fracking we will have energy clean energy coming out of our ears! What's not to like??
#6: Respected Individuals - the professor in the background adds some credibility to the scene
#7: Plain Folks - those that are central to the ad are "normal" college students, with a serious eye for spotting efficient energy sources
#8: Diversion - never mind the SERIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS, minor details
#9: Denial - where are all the negative impacts?
#10: Beautiful People - all individuals within the add are fairly good looking
#11: Group Dynamics - the group of students within the ad all have various personas; the hippie chick, the smart-ass kid, the practical one and the one that is easily swayed
#12: Strength: Bold Statements - JOBS, CLEAN,
#13: Card Stacking - clean solutions are severely taken out of context
#14: Race Card - there are two minorities in the add, increasing its credibility?
From a very early age, I can remember sitting at the kitchen table watching the Today show. Even if it was just background noise, the news was always on in my house. In the evenings, NBC Nightly News was the Carlos house news program of choice, even if there were a million things going on, soccer practice, homework, or dishes to clean, the news was always on.
Whenever my mom was tired and stressed from a long day her go to freak out would be "Everyone stop! I am watching the news!" Usually with a glass of wine in her hand, Elizabeth would plop her self down in our red leather chair and relax for an hour of quality time with Tom Brokaw. Every night at 6:30pm, this was her routine. Every once and a while life would get in the way and her quality time with Tom was stolen from her and her stress was projected onto my father, sisters, and I.
I think I first started watching the news because it made me feel grown up. Every time I sat with my parents in the living room, I felt older, wiser, and included in adult activities. Even if I was too young to process what was being said by Tom or Katie, (obviously we are on a first name basis) I would sit there trying to soak up anything I could. Although my first few years with Matt, Katie, and Tom may have been more of a blur, I could always tell when something important was going on because of the mood change within my parents. A "shush" or an intense focus was enough to tell me that something important was about to be said and I did not want to miss out.
Each story brought tragedy, joy, tears, or excitement to my home every morning and evening. By just sitting and hearing the stories so often I'm sure I both consciously and subconsciously picked up on various worldly knowledge. Having the DOW and NASDAQ reports read to me today still makes me scratch my head, but by having listened to them every night, I know what they are for and at precisely what time these said reports will be read. Learning what the UN Assembly was and how it shaped international politics was something that I am currently studying and probably received my base knowledge from these news programs.
The one pivotal moment for me, however, came from when I was living in Memphis Tennesse in the Summer of 2005 and was the devestating effects of hurrican Katrina. Hearing the news delivered by Brian Williams, on that first night was an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. The following days were also ones that my family and I were glued to the television watching and waitng to hear more updates. Never before had I felt the absolute need to be connected and hear what was going on in a situation that did not involve me personally.
Although Tom Brokaw can do no wrong...this is pretty funny
The news allows you to take yourself out of the equation but still feel the emotional connection to those individuals whose story is being told. To this day I still love turning on the news and getting the same statisfaction my mother did when I was a child. Being able to sit back and hear the news is one of the fine pleasures in life I look forward to every evening and one that my mother has instilled onto me.
Maybe this is where my obsession of Anchorman comes from...?
Snorah, Snores, and Snorlax are a few of my many aliases.
In real life, I am Norah Carlos.
I junior at UVM from the great state of Virginia.
First and foremost, my life is a huge joke.
Case and point, below.
Just hanging out in Central Park...in a tiger suit.
normal, right?
This photo comes from my most recent adventure as an Student Intern at Greenpeace USA.
This summer, I spent 5 weeks living in Washington, DC attempting to be a real person. The life of an actual adult was the scariest/most exciting/strangest experience to date. While at Greenpeace, I learned how to organize, canvas, phonebank, and how to articulate our environment's most pressing issues to the public along with 18 other student activists from across the country.
So where does the tiger suit come in? The campaign I worked on was against the world's three largest toy companies, Hasbro, Mattel, and Disney. All three of these companies use paper products in their packaging that comes from deforested rainforest such as the Paradise Forest in Indonesia. Not only does this mean irrefutable harm to priceless forests, but also loss of habitat to the Sumatran tiger, orangutan, and indigenous peoples.
NOT COOL ASIA PULP AND PAPER.
This summer was an amazing experience, and one that I will always remember, but it's nice to be back in the great state of Vermont. At UVM I am currently majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration and minor in Policy. After being in DC, I know that effective legislation is one of the most effective ways in order to bring about change. Although I am less than thrilled about current policies today, I hope that I will be able to in act the change, or lack there of for the future.
Although I seem to have a pretty good goal for my future, it's a long way away. Until then, I plan on making many mistakes, learning from them, and hopefully figuring out what I am going to do with myself until then.
For now, here's a real life Snorlax in its happiest state, slumber.
photocred http://uvmbored.com/club/eco-reps/
