FINAL Blog!

In our on-campus TV show, Focus on U, we have certain people for specific positions. Some people make our “Packages”, which are pre-videotaped roll-ins on our show. Well, my friend and I were assigned a specific event to film and report on. Our specific assignment requirements were to keep the time to exactly one minute, have good shot sequences, and have B-Roll and Voice Over.

We were supposed to film and report about a Duct Tape Event on campus. This event sounded pretty interesting: students needed to make an article of clothing with only duct tape, and of course make it for a good grade. Well needless to say, my friend and I had different stances on how to shoot it. I wanted to film it in twenty four frames per second, while my friend wanted to film in 30 frames per second. So, I was strongly against the thirty frames per second, because that style is too smooth for what Focus is going for; twenty four frames per second is more film oriented, and what is usually used for the show.

Anywho, my friend and I debated on what style we should go for. Anger and tempers flared. We finally went and talked with our director, where he said that twenty four frames per second was the way they wanted the package to be filmed in. It did not really need to go that far to the point of anger; we should have just gone to our director for the specifics on the package in the first place. However, we were both fixed and distracted by what we thought was the right way to film the event. It caused unnecessary tempers that could have been easily avoided. This would have alleviated the situation all together over something that was not that important.

Have you ever had a misunderstanding go so far to the point that you’ve lost a friend? Do you regret it ever happening?

Blog #8

There are numerous differences and similarities when it comes to ‘perceived self’ and ‘presenting self.’ Perceived self is what an individual believes to be who they are, how they act, and what they are good or bad at. Presenting self, on the other hand, is what other people actually see when communicating with the individual, showing what the individual really is like as a person. For example, imagine two people sitting on a bench, having a conversation. Person A’s perceived self could believe that he or she is being nice while talking to Person B, whereas Person B could interpret a gesture or how Person A says something wrong. This would then present Person A in a negative light to Person B, while the entire time Person A believes they are being polite.


In public, I present myself in a manner of maturity to my friends, family, authority figures, and others. I have a level of respect and honesty that people, in turn, respect me for it. I am the type of person that will try to make a person feel comfortable and open up to talk about anything they want or need to talk about. I love to listen to people, as well as give advice if it is wanted or needed. I am also very grateful and humble; I do not like to get all the credit, and the world DOES NOT revolve around me.

This is quite similar to me seeing myself in general. However, there are some things I would say that are different. One is that I do not think I am as confident as I could be. I AM working on it, but I know at this moment, I still need to work on my confidence. Another would be my overall fluency of words. As of right now, I use simple and easy words (most of the time), and because I am going into the Broadcasting/Film/TV business, I need to work on a better “plethora” of words and my adequacy/word choice.

Blog #7

Physical characteristics are a big influential factor in the lives of people. Have you ever seen a girl walk by with a short skirt and a tank top on, showing some excessive skin, and thought to yourself: “Damn! She’s pretty slutty!”? How about when a group of African American males are hanging out and “inspecting” females walking by? Did you ever think that they were “Playas?” I thought so.

These are stereotypes. I’ve been one to be extremely stereotypical throughout my life. Whether it’s about a certain race, religion, or gender, there’s always a certain thought about that certain group and you assess it to the whole group.

I can remember back in my High School days of playing basketball for my school team, the Siren Dragons. We weren’t a great team, but that’s another story in itself. I remember when we were playing a local rival team during the season. They had an African American on their team. So while I was in warm-ups I kept thinking, “god, this guy is gonna score 30 on us!” That’s right folks, I stereotyped. I stereotyped hardcore.

Not only did I assume he was extremely athletic, I also assumed some other things. I thought he would be a “gangster”, I thought he was going to be a jerk; I thought I would get beaten up by him if I said the wrong thing on the court.

Boy was I wrong.

Not only was he not that athletic as I presumed, he was one of the nicest opponents I had ever faced on the court. I remember during the game he helped a kid up that got knocked down. I felt terrible after this. I went up to him after the game and talked with him. We’re still friends to this day. This is just ONE story of stereotyping.

The media is a huge influence in people’s life today. Through sexual advertising, thematic TV shows, and extreme, elicit dialogue; the media is a force that manipulates the minds of people nowadays. They will continue to do this if people aren’t ready to realize what they are susceptible to.

If people are not aware of their perceptions, they could assume the wrong idea and create a conflict that could have been easily avoided. With that in mind, have you ever been in a situation where you or someone else assumed the wrong idea, creating a conflict within a group of people?

Blog #6

In an average lifetime, a person will hear countless speeches. Whether it is a teacher giving students a lecture, parents scolding their kids after they have done something wrong, an actor accepting an Oscar, or a boss informing his employees of something new coming up soon, people listen to numerous speeches containing different topics. Within these different speeches, the speaker may use different appeals in order to affect the audience they are presenting it to more efficiently. Some of these appeals include emotional, logical, and needs-based. After listening to a speech, a person could probably guess pretty well which appeal the speaker used to get the right reaction from the audience.
A speaker that used the most credible emotional appeal that I remember would have to be my Pastor, Dave, back at my church in Siren. In his sermons, he would use descriptive words and many details which would paint a clear picture in my head. Along with these details, Dave would incorporate a lot of emotion into what he was saying, allowing the audience to really connect with what he was saying. Solely through his emotion alone, he could sway the members of the church service each morning to feel what he was portraying through his words.
A speaker that used the most sound logical appeal would be my High School science teacher, Mr. Morris. Regardless of the project, assignment, or test question a student asked about, he could always rationalize and answer it. Obviously, teachers will always have a more logical appeal to their lectures and speeches. Not all teachers present it very well, though. That was definitely not the case for Mr. Morris. He always seemed to have the right answer for any question the students posed, and answered it in a way that could be easily understood.
A speaker that used the most convincing needs-based appeal would be the guest speaker that came to my class back in fifth grade to talk to us about the DARE program. DARE was a program based on informing kids about drugs and ways to avoid peer pressure. The speaker talked to the students with the upmost care, making sure we were listening and understood what was being said. He incorporated emotion to stress the importance of what was being said as well.
The elements that I can take from these speakers and incorporate into my own speeches would be to incorporate emotion in order connect with the audience and stress importance on certain parts of the topic, and to also make sure what I am saying is logical and credible. After hearing many speeches in your lifetime, what do you feel is the most important aspect(s) you have taken away from those speakers to incorporate into your own speeches?