September 30, 2013

Three Big Changes in Music Since the 80s

1. MTV

• created the necessity for a “look” and allowed artists who cashed in on “look” to become more successful
• Madonna uses this and it uses her - perfect combo - exactly what the industry would want
• LOOKS become a serious must in the industry
• black artists were not accepted on MTV for a few years
• black artists were NOT a big part of the video music industry at first
• why? because they are black and America is racist. 

1. Napster

• this was a program that allowed P2P file transfers 
• you could share your mp3 collections over the internet with other people via this software (the first of the BT kind of things)
• first, songs had to be compressed - mp3s are compressed songs
• Napster allowed collectors to share difficult to find songs
• started with bootlegs - concert recordings, alt takes, etc
• off the board mixes - pre-release
• eventually, people realized, oh, I can get every song I want!
• collection stripping

Other programs come out and do the same thing

Music stops being a commodity and becomes a giveaway for artists

Artists make their money now through live shows, selling to movies and ads, merch, etc

Argument!

Downloading is bad - yes - artists don’t get paid

Downloading is good - exposure to tons of new bands for no investment

1. Apple

• the industry is never going to be what it was, and Apple saw that and jumped in with both feet and changed everything
• a) iPod - this was a genius invention that now owns the space - 
• took the idea of an mp3 player and locked it into a program that they controlled
• broke the record companies
• broke the model for business
• forced the bands to adapt
• now, bands give music away and sell their shows and other elements of themselves

September 27, 2013

How to Review Music

1. Pick out the instruments and look at them separately

1. guitar
2. bass
3. drums
4. vocal
5. keyboards (synths)
6. odd additions - or subtractions ie Black Keys - no bass

Special note - vocal is the sell for most bands

1. Lyrics - this is a HUGE part of the song from a listener’s perspective (for many)

• some bands really focus on brilliant lyrics - some have ridiculous lyrics
• the lyrics can work with the music to create something new and powerful
• think about what lyrics are really saying and meaning
• there are all kinds of meanings that we may not realize until we dig in 
• for your review, pick something that HAS meaning

1. the parts of a song - the music itself

• intro - verse - bridge - chorus - middle 8 (solo) - chorus - bridge - chorus - refrain
• some parts of a song are better than others - some parts are more exciting
• how do these parts help? change? make better? worse? etc
• breaking the song down

1. What else? The context

• where does this song come from? 
• influences
• what does it remind you of? 
• what does it do musically - genre?
• the artist’s experience, life, style, look, etc

1. Your experience

• your response
• your emotions
• your actions
• remember things from elsewhere? 

1. Level 4

• symbolic elements
• time, tempo, deeper musical structures
• comparison with other, similar artists and styles (contrasts)
• include a comparison with other songs by that artist
• trends and patterns across an album

BLog - in general - intro to you through media - summative

news sourcing - formative

News articles a summative 

profiling music artists (Jazz-Blues)

profiling music artists (50s-60s)

same for 70s

Music Project - a presentation about the genre of your choice - summative

prezi? keynote? blog? tumblr? something else? 

at least 2 artists from that genre

songs, styles, history, changes over time, connections (to other artists, styles, genres, time periods, etc)

reviews go here

September 26, 2013

Funk

James Brown - The One - counting the beat a particular way
black pride, black focus, black audience - it crossed over on its own
whites got into it for its own sake - there was no white translator

Other black performers get into it

Sly and the Family Stone - drug influenced - San Francisco
integrated - white and black

Stax Records - Aretha Franklin
integrated black and white band and black singers
reverse of Motown
try to sound blacker, whereas Motown tried to clean up that black sound

Soul

soul music was a religious based music
right out of the black church
intense and powerful and considered nasty -
the singers who sang about god switched over to singing about love or romance

There was a reaction to all the dark, nasty, drug-fueled weird music and it was a really strange thing.

Country - Rock - reaction to what’s going

Gram Parsons
The Flying Burrito Bros
Neil Young
The Band
CCR

THE 1970s!

this is one of the most disturbing decades of all time
why?

The music industry has become HUGE business.

Records are ENORMOUS business

How does a band compete in this growing, bursting crazy market?

Everything gets more extreme
Glam Rock - British
sexy
weird
trippy
all kinds of homoerotic stuff - gay culture bursting through
David Bowie
he announced that he was gay - PS he was married PPS he wasn’t gay

Another band went into the same area and took to the bank

Kiss cashed in on the glam scene
Alice Cooper - horror + glam
everybody got in on the act

Blame the 60s Alternative

Velvet Underground
The Doors
The Stooges

Acid Rock
- heavy rock with a glam touch and a druggy vibe

Do you think everybody like grim, dark, creepy, sexually ambiguous music?

Grandma says no. (in reality, grandma gave me Kiss Alive II)

Pop

NICE!

calculated to make money

AOR - (yacht rock)
The Eagles? Yeah
Steely Dan
The Doobie Brothers
Atlanta Rhythm Section
Air Supply

Funk - is Disco’s Dad - crazy truth - Disco is a white, black money making attempt to isolate ONE aspect of funk -
that dancing rhythm
funk had THE ONE
disco took that beat and ground it into a business model
Philly Sound - a black-owned company that figured out white people liked funk if it was reduced in complexity
disco was a weird hybrid of sounds and all boiled into one beat - became a HUGE money making success and was hated by many
Rock and Roll is Dead

Progressive Rock -
Yes, Genesis, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Rush, etc

Punk - perfect reaction - against all the ornate, soft, weak, big business crap that was being fed to everybody,
- British - Sex Pistols, The Viles, The Clash, The Slits, Bow Wow Wow, Siouxsie and the Banshees

At the end of the 70s and into 1981, it feels like ANYTHING can happen in music.

We want to focus on Pre-MTV music and bands

Choose a Genre.

Pick 2-3 artists from that genre.

Review a song by each.

Create a presentation on the genre - what is it, how do you know it, what are the elements of style, scene, place, etc.
Who is the target audience?
Find clips, pix, info to add to your presentation.
Do some thinking - what led to it?
What did it lead to?
Find the connections.
Why it worked or didn’t.
Why it lasted or not.
Your personal opinion.
Create a survey for people you know, and show them some clips, play some songs and get their reactions. (parents, brother, sister, etc)
What do we have today that compares? And how?
A profile on each performer and how he/she fits the genre would also be good.

If the artist changes over time, discuss that too.

How Do I Review Songs?

Listen to the instrumentation - what is playing? how does it work together?

riffs - guitar patterns that are repeated and the way they interact with each other and other instruments

groove - bass guitar - the bass has a pattern too - usually simple and locked into the drums

beat - how complex? how layered? catchy? intense?

vocals - this is all about the power and skill of the singer - holding notes, using vibrato, open air in the tune, staying strong, long holds, etc.

September 25, 2013

Funk

James Brown - The One - counting the beat a particular way
black pride, black focus, black audience - it crossed over on its own
whites got into it for its own sake - there was no white translator

Other black performers get into it

Sly and the Family Stone - drug influenced - San Francisco
integrated - white and black

Stax Records - Aretha Franklin
integrated black and white band and black singers
reverse of Motown
try to sound blacker, whereas Motown tried to clean up that black sound

Soul

soul music was a religious based music
right out of the black church
intense and powerful and considered nasty -
the singers who sang about god switched over to singing about love or romance

There was a reaction to all the dark, nasty, drug-fueled weird music and it was a really strange thing.

Country - Rock - reaction to what’s going

Gram Parsons
The Flying Burrito Bros
Neil Young
The Band
CCR

THE 1970s!

this is one of the most disturbing decades of all time
why?

The music industry has become HUGE business.

Records are ENORMOUS business

How does a band compete in this growing, bursting crazy market?

Everything gets more extreme
Glam Rock - British
sexy
weird
trippy
all kinds of homoerotic stuff - gay culture bursting through
David Bowie
he announced that he was gay - PS he was married PPS he wasn’t gay

Another band went into the same area and took to the bank

Kiss cashed in on the glam scene
Alice Cooper - horror + glam
everybody got in on the act

Blame the 60s Alternative

Velvet Underground
The Doors
The Stooges

Acid Rock
- heavy rock with a glam touch and a druggy vibe

Do you think everybody like grim, dark, creepy, sexually ambiguous music?

Grandma says no. (in reality, grandma gave me Kiss Alive II)

Pop

NICE!

calculated to make money

AOR - (yacht rock)
The Eagles? Yeah


Disco -

Funk -

Progressive Rock -

Reggae -

Punk -

Electronic -

September 23, 2013

thelabcoatguy@gmail.com The Time Between World War II and Those Smelly Hippies World War II this was a big war the soundtrack to this era was Big Band Swing This was the Pop music it was dance-oriented - dance music focuses on the DANCER - on YOU the bands were, in some ways, interchangeable the bandleader was the star Some artists (musicians) in the band wanted to do something else they formed small groups and played Be Bop - impossible to dance to they were one of the groups that pioneered drugs and music in modern times they were losing themselves in the music Charlie Parker Dizzy Gillespie Miles Davis Lester Davis However a group of cool people got into this music - alt music The Beats - Beatniks Educated, white, many Jewish kids, urban, cool, group that was into this crazy jazz - they were also into weed - they brought pot into their culture This became a part on an alt culture Black music -> black audiences -> white coolios and people in alt scenes -> become tastemakers -> influence straight culture -> the original black vibe gets whitened (safened) and gets into mainstream AND THEN - black folks start doing the reverse - whitening their own sound and interests for white audiences and green dollars Post War Boom while the jazz thing was spreading into white, mainstream culture, there was something unusual happening in North America the most babies ever born in history (even still) were born between 1947 and 1961 this group is called the Baby Boomers they created a new audience for ALL kinds of stuff (not just music) They were THE force in creating pop music like we know today. There’s a HOLE in the music industry. There’s all music for adults, black and white, but all adults, it seems The difference between black and white music was huge There was a new kind of music that took the swing from big band dance, and was tighter, smaller and even faster. Cool, little black bands. Louis Jordan was a huge star Rhythm and Blues on that circuit of juke joints - illegal clubs loud, fun, fast, great for dancing cheaper than a big band jokey and goofy There were radio stations designed for black audiences and as they got bigger, their area went WAY out - all over America This happened EXACTLY when those kids in the Boom were hitting early teens. This crazy, fun, goofy, silly, catchy, dance-y music is all over the black world, and just sneaking little bits into the white culture Some artists and producers are making money in the black world and they say “If only we could get a white person to do this black R&B!” We could make MILLIONS. Enter the wonderful brain of Sam Phillips Sun Records - they record black artists Sam said - hey, why don’t I let this kid Elvis Presley sing some songs? Elvis randomly sang That’s Alright Mama - a huge hit Country Music + Black folk = something new (Rockabilly) This is the first Rock and Roll (black slang for sex, as always) Elvis channels a lot of black power into his beautiful white, nice southern boy religious respectful shape. Weird thing - sells millions and EVERYBODY tries to copy Even black guys started to copy the white guy copying black guys Chuck Berry Little Richard Fats Domino BUT this pattern goes another level. White guys copy black guys copying white guys copying black guys This results in a whole new reaction. SO, some black guys start playing blacker music. They take the blues and they electrify it and make it harder and more powerful. Electric blues - Chicago Blues - America voted NO THANKS to the black music that came from this However, another country voted COOL! ENGLAND There was a crazy trend in England - SKIFFLE music - bizarre folk Those Fabulous Fifties (or not) The Swinging Sixties (or not)

September 19, 2013

Ragtime

Scott Joplin
Jellyroll Morton
dance-oriented - the point was the crazy rhythm
trend was pushed by people who played the songs from sheet music

Jazz

Louis Armstrong - the first true jazz musician
the trend of dancing and black music being the soundtrack was a growing and expanding trend
there was a famous couple who danced all over America - white - their band was black
this was a big deal
people loved the music, loved the dance and the music caught on

1920s - the Jazz Age -
radio
phonograph
a whole boom in recording black artists
HOWEVER, black men are scary
SO, what do you predict as a 20s-30s trend in listening to black music?

There was a boom in female black singers - the kind of music they sang was a bluesy, jazzy mix - sometimes called TORCH

These women were almost all big, hard-living, sad, exciting, sexual, highly costumed performers - it was a real show

What was the kind of music upon which they were drawing?

BLUES

deep in the south there is a place where the people are completely “country”
the music from down there was a really weird, haunting, creepy, dark music that was influenced by religious music and white country music -
it was called DELTA BLUES
a traveling performer heard this and said “I heard a dangerous Negro male singing a haunting melody”
he started recording these singers - they were TOO black

Son House

Robert Johnston - most interesting story

blues holler - high pitched yodel
talking guitar
whining tone, pulling strings, etc
lyrics were super dark
played hard, rhythmically

Charley Patton - he taught them all

Juke Joints - boozecans - illegal bars with homemade liquor, no rules, all black audience - hard core party spots, no electricity in the middle of nowhere

BLues singers would travel from place to place hitting these bars - too black!

The women, however, could do a version of this music.

Piano based.

These women were PACKAGING black music for mixed audiences -

Guitar was a dirtier, grubbier instrument, but PIANO sounds upper class, and rich people have them and it’s nice

This kind of music spreads and changes

Boogie Woogie - Stride -

piano jazz + blues without the girl singer
dancing again!
Fats Waller is kind of the king of this
AND he crosses over - when the white folks can dance, they spend money on the record
weird thing - white people seem to better accept a fatter black male - less sexually threatening? jollier looking? weird
HUGE

WHITE PEOPLE PICK IT UP!

Why don’t we make whole bands that play this kind of jazzy, striding, dance music!

this becomes the worldwide soundtrack to the late 30s and 1940s

HUGE bands, HUGE SOUNDS, HUGE CROWDS!

A group of black performers burst of those big bands and say, HEY! I want a small combo, and I WANT TO BE THE STAR!

I don’t want anybody to dance! Just. Listen. To. ME!

GENIUS MUSICIANS BURST OUT

Dizzy Gillespie
Charley Parker
Lester Young

This is first pop music that got an open influence from, and was associated with, drugs.

Tea meant pot.

Cool mean high. (heroin high)

Jazz/Blues Survey

2 musicians from Jazz
2 musicians from Blues

listen to at least 1 song by each
two is best
pick one from each
write a paragraph about it - negative or positive

what’s going on in the song?
what’s good, what’s bad?
what instruments?
what qualities?
how do you think the audience reacted in the time period?

September 18, 2013

Music Deliverables -

Review at least ONE song.

Make a presentation on a GENRE of music.

Review at least ONE artist.

Make THREE songs with any tool you like (hint: I would use Garageband!) (for specific things - ie a soundtrack song, a genre song (metal, EDM, etc), a “use” song

One actual test - yes - a test. A live review in class test.

The History of Modern Music

How did we get here?

There is one thing to which we can trace back that Number 1 song in September of 2013.

The Slave Trade

many years ago, New Orleans was a very unusual and culture-rich city
black (African heritage), white (European heritage), native (Creole, First Nations), Caribbean, “country” and more
port city - sailors from everywhere
head of the biggest river in America - The Mississippi
it’s a gathering place

an entire group of people was dropped into another culture - straight up
these people were African - they were not treated well - duh
they were not allowed to use their culture
Sunday in Congo Square - there was a moment of peace

in that moment of allowing their own music and culture, white people gathered and watched and were amazed

one thing they loved was the “polyrhythm” - layers of drums and percussion, among other stuff

the black African music tradition is just WAY cooler and more powerful and the white folks back in the old days couldn’t believe what they were seeing

The Cakewalk

this was a dance that the black folks did where they made fun of white people (people who were rich enough to eat cake)
they did this dance for white people to watch, and the whites didn’t seem to get that it was a joke on them
they even copied it and did it and loved it and it became huge
the music that went along with it was also very popular

There was another popular form of entertainment that came up with this that was called

Minstrel Show
a ton of weird “black” stereotypes that were performed in blackface (ie all the performers painted their faces black - even black people)
there were songs and stories and jokes and it was insane and brutally racist and white people went bug nuts for it

Ragtime
cakewalk music
a very strange kind of piano music
it caught on immediately and was a world wide hit
Scott Joplin - black guy who wrote ragtime songs
became a huge force in the industry
made a fortune - selling the sheet music to his songs
of course, more and more people are learning this odd style of music and using it and spreading it around
it was good for dancing and was very much influenced by black culture

Black performers start spreading that ragtime music.
Some adopt it and change it and make it their own.

One guy did it on the piano and became famous - Jellyroll Morton

Another did it on the trumpet and became a GIANT - Louis Armstrong

These guys are two of the first real JAZZ musicians.

Jazz was a black slang for sex.

Here’s the weird thing - white people thought black people were more sexual, more primitive, more frightening, less controlled, more dangerous and more prone to emotion - they thought their music was the same
they thought black dancing was obscene and not suitable for white folks
it was the first true ALT music -

WOW!

People become influenced and the sound spreads.
It becomes a trend in the exact same time as THREE other things

the invention of the phonograph
the invention of the radio
the Jazz Boom of the 20s where people got rich

Out of this explosion

September 16, 2013

Today you should be in the writing articles phase. 

Wednesday you should be working on the overall piece (news site or paper).

Thursday you should be really feeling the progress in the layout. 

Friday you should be checking for awesome and errors and sending me an email. 

Tabloids are trashy papers. 

The focus is on entertainment. 

Celebrities are the key to most of them. 

Tabloids are between magazines and newspapers. 

It’s a cheaper way to make a paper.

The most famous tabloid is, historically, the National Enquirer. 

The most tabloid-rich place in the world is England. 

One of the richest men in the world got his money from tabloids - Rupert Murdoch. He now owns Fox. 

Fox MAKES celebrities and then Murdoch’s other companies tear them down. 

A PERFECT ecosystem!

Tabloids build the same system. Build them up, tear them down. 

This pattern is designed to self-sustain and to generate ONE THING - AD MONEY. 

People buy these because people LOVE to see the rich and famous fall. 

There are a couple of tricks to writing one of these articles:

1. Sources Say - 

• if the reporter uses sources to say that something happened, then the reporter isn’t guilty of lying
• example - “Mexican guy kidnapped and raped by alien women” - this appeared in the Weekly World News - tell me how the reporter got around this obviously ridiculous story - the reporter just asked the Mexican guy (a liar) what happened - then, the reporter talked to a UFO expert (an idiot) and he backed it all up - THEN they sold the story to a bunch of people (morons)
• Mr. Lobb was a bodyguard for martial arts actor Steven Seagal at a Tibetan cultural festival at U of T in Toronto
• Then, I almost sold the story to the Enquirer for 5k, but then, my wife said NO! (because she has morals)
• the Enquirer didn’t and I was greedy, and slightly evil...
• the people who serve celebrities are the perfect people to sell stories about them
• hair dressers, waiters, clothes stores employees, etc...
• IF the celeb is a nasty person, the employee is more likely to want payback + money!
• the sexier and nastier the story or pic, the better the chance it will play
• you get sued for lying if you’re a reporter - the source will not
• the source MAKES the story
• this class of people who serve celebrities will OFTEN have an axe to grind - you might find that celebrities want to be left alone - if the waiter is a pain in the ass, the celeb might be rude - NOW we have a story - 

The second way that these stories work is by BUYING stories.

Money is a great motivator for some people - particularly liars

Remember, mixing in a photo and then using the headline and the photo in a trick way is smart - Brad Pitt mid-blink = Brad Pitt is high. 

September 11, 2013

News Project

To write TWO kinds of articles:

Research - other news articles
Investigation - your own experience and observation

Put it all together in some format that is like news

Try to use the elements of that format - ie news blog

Yes, I know it is hard to make a news blog

Bias - do you have it? Investigation will be more biased - it comes from you

Choosing photos

Why do news articles have photos?
a photo is worth a thousand words - takes a lot of description to equal a glance
a photo ANCHORS a news story - it takes the ideas and MAKES THEM REAL and it sticks the image of the story in your face (and brain)
a photo ENHANCES a story
brings the story to non-readers or lazy readers
photos can add layers of complexity to a story
the best photos ARE stories on their own

You should consider some photos for your own article. Make your article REAL.

What makes a good photo?

expression of subject - (IF there’s a creature as subject) -> EMOTION
lighting -> no light, no photo - a photo IS light
rule of thirds - the use of the connecting points to attract attention
leading lines - train tracks kind of
value - contrast in colour and light - ie Plus and Minus of colour and light
focus - seems obvious, but this is crucial - sometimes in an artistic way - Depth of Field
movement and motion (the sense thereof) - a dynamic sense of action
sense of story - there’s more to the photo than the obvious
before and after - you “see” what’s happened or what’s about to happen
sense of character - a strong bit of personality
texture
line and dynamic line
detail - getting in close to something almost to distraction - lots to see
geometric design

September 10, 2013

Can you trust a news site that has a primary goal to MAKE MONEY?

Maybe not.

How do news sites make money?

They sell ads.

Who buys ads?

Companies.

Who owns companies?

Corporations.

Corporations are worried about the BOTTOM LINE - the profit they make.

ANYTHING that damages that potential is a problem.

News is owned  and that means that news is BIASED at least some of the time.

TWO STORIES PER PERSON

a story based upon your MOST RESEARCHED news story - SYRIA BOMBING eg - summarize the coverage you’ve read

a real story about something you can research on your own - can be local, can be school or town based, can be you-based “Local Area Girl Wins Baseball Tourney”

Each person in your group will choose SUBJECT of news.

Regional (SW Ontario and area)
National (Canada)
International (world)
Municipal (Goderich and area)

Sports (balls and sticks and stuff)
Entertainment (media related)
Lifestyle (human interest and non-crucial stories)
Food (stuff you eat news)
Travel (going somewhere news)

5Ws - who, what, where, when, why (how)

The Inverted Pyramid online - start with the overview who, what, where, when in the first paragraph or two

Then, go into details with:

witness reports (quotation)
expert commentary (quotation) (police, doctors, generals, policy experts, etc)
specific data
background - how did X get this way?
possible consequences (ramifications)(speculating)

Sum up at the end and give a little capper - spin out to a final comment that might suggest some new information or effect from the story

September 9, 2013

For this class you will need an iPad or a laptop or some other computer. 

1. Go to your list of news sites that you will use. If you haven’t made that list just yet, search out the TEN that you are going to examine and list them. 
2. Go to each of the ten websites and see what the biggest stories are on each front page. Compare this across the different sites. 
3. Scan the story across a few of the sites and see if you can find any differences in the coverage. Jot down any that are obvious.
4. For each of your websites, do some searching and try to find out any affiliations or companies that run each site. We’re trying to decide what BIAS or slant your websites might have. What political parties, beliefs or ideologies appear to be supported by each site? 
5. What companies, products or services appear to be most commonly advertised on your new sites? For each, jot down a couple that stand out.
6. Finally, note the weirdest web news story that appears on each of your news site’s front page. Pick the story that most seems to stand out as not fitting in, or is the least newsworthy. 

If you get done all this in a hurry, you can start creating your blog using Blogger, and your first post should be an introduction to you by listing and justifying which media products and specific shows, performers and subjects you most like or dislike. Remember, this is a blog, so try to be as multimedia as possible, giving examples and samples where you can to help me see what kind of a person you appear to be, according to the things you like. 

September 6, 2013

First Ass.

You are going to track ONE news story for about a week. (including the weekend)

Choose something that has a good shelf life - (something that will last for a few days)

In order to do this correctly, you need to consider the different sources of news (that you can use AND in general).

a) TV NEWS - every network will have an up-to-date, legitimate news broadcasting structure

• news makes a lot of money for most networks 
• news is a guaranteed watch for most households (especially older people)
• news ad time sells high - a one-hour block of TV show sells 16 minutes of ads (or more) - 
• news sites drive traffic - Yahoo news homepage is the most popular site on the web
• news sites are constantly updating - a good way to have content on your site/station
• the best TV news sites - CBC, BBC, (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN) - American news doesn’t have the same rules as Canadian or British - they don’t have to tell the truth (kind of)
• American news is more likely to be BIASED - based around a belief or idea - the idea of making money - news is a business!

1. NEWSPAPER SITES - or you could actually get a newspaper (weird!)

• many newspapers just get news from other sources and repackage it
• this is crazy sounding, but it makes sense - it costs a lot of money to have some in Syria, hanging around, waiting for some bombs to go off
• there is a whole business around selling news stories that would be too expensive to get on a small paper budget
• so, most newspaper sites HAVE to be big in order to be useful
• New York Times, Globe and Mail, NOT THE DAILY MIRROR!

1. News Syndicates

• hey, who sells those news stories to other news sites?
• it’s these guys
• Reuters, Canadian Press, Associated Press, etc
• these sites are just about collecting and selling news articles, photos, editorial
• this is a huge business and it’s about having people work in the country where they live and all feeding stories in to a central location, which banks the stuff

1. Alternate News Sites (some are specialty)

• there are sites that specialize in kinds of news (celebrity, sports, etc)
• but there are also sites that specialize in a particular SLANT or BIAS on the news - left wing sites and right wing sites

Do you know what left wing and right wing means?

• left wingers are liberal, open, accepting, pushing for change, allowing more freedoms for personal decisions, often have government involved in social causes
• could have more taxes, could have socialized programs - ie you got to the hospital for free
• left wingers accept immigration more easily, gay marriage, legalization of pot, swearing in music, freedom of expression for artists, etc

• right wingers are conservative, closed, less accepting, more traditional (Values), prefer less government, more military, more big business running the show, fewer laws in finance (VERY BAD! VERY VERY BAD!)
• fewer taxes, less immigration, some are literally racist, no gay marriage! no abortion! no pot! no bad swears in this dangerous black guy music!, hey! no naked in the art!
• more likely to be religious 

• The news is USED by either side (and everything in between) to control the message that is given out
• This kind of news is called PROPAGANDA
• this is a great way to manipulate uninformed people
• it’s also a great way to form a child’s thinking without the child knowing

Search for 10 news sites, some that you agree with in terms of your views, and some that you don’t agree with.

List them, and they will be the sources you use for your news searches over the next week. 

You will have 3-5 assignments from this pool of news. Give at least one example and your reasoning for the answers.

1. Find evidence of opinion, propaganda and blatant point of view use. ie stereotype reinforcement, side choosing, or just straight up wackiness

1. Find evidence of news that you think is ridiculous or stupid, but is in a “real” news site. 

1. FInd a news subject that actually interests you that you think will be ongoing and that you can track for next week. Track it in opposing viewpoint sites. ie left and right

4. Take raw material and information to write your own news article about that subject from your OWN point of view. 

September 5, 2013

More Like Talk

We compare and contrast

Things that stand out might attract

We flock 

We know and are familiar with

How it looks

The substance of what you get from X is appealing

• ie the song is catchy
• ie the book is absorbing
• ie the movie is scary
• the CONTENT is enjoyable

Aspect - even if the singer is gorgeous, a good dancer, cool, stylish, popular and original, if they music is truly crap, then that is a barrier to liking

Conversely - good music could make a singer who lacks those above no less popular

This is probably the most important thing about any like or dislike (if you’re honest and smart and staying OBJECTIVE)

What I mean is, some people like stuff that they don’t like because of looks, style, crowd view, etc.

Lobb and Katy Perry (Firework) Song Hate/Like Admission Moment - this about separating the CONTENT from all the stuff around it and experience ONLY the content.

After admitting that, Lobb saw Katy Perry on the Graham Norton Show and she was charming and awesome. Damn, said Lobb

Teens (among other groups!) have a hard time being objective about their likes. 

The trick becomes to be able to do this separating CONTENT from FLUFF around it, on your own. 

If we are going to judge the content of something, we have to be able to consider aspects of that content objectively (without BIAS) and intelligently

Bias - is one’s own views, opinions and preconceptions that they bring - BAGGAGE

Yes! We need to figure out how to talk about, and how to discuss TRUE like. 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN WE LIKE SOMETHING FOR ITSELF

It means that you are able to think about the THING ITSELF

It means we need to build a way of looking at stuff in pieces - so that we can see where the like is and what it is

We need to think about desconstructing the media to come up with answers. 

If you can break things into pieces and examine the pieces, you will get a HIGH mark in this class, and you will also be a MUCH SMARTER human being in every way

Don’t think about what you already like and don’t like!

September 4, 2013

What does it mean to like something (media-related)?

Hey, we have to start by thinking about what we like!

Sunny Day Real Estate - Killed by An Angel

1. I like the guitars - they are cool (this just sounds sad) - powerful, and in comparison with current music, it is more dynamic and intense - it is by comparison that there is some “like” - the difference is part of the equation - ie “alternative”

Liking something means it is in comparison and contrast to other things (part of it) - so part of liking something is imagining it in a “pile” of other, similar stuff, and it stands out

Maybe stuff that POPS OUT is already in some kind of advantage - more likely to be liked or disliked - by virtue of being noticed

Maybe some part of like is based upon existing audience or transferred audience - or, as ridiculous as RECOGNITION - movies hire movie stars for this reason - consider the Q Score of media “things” - 

Question: How do we allow NEW THINGS into our stupid little heads? (this is a good question to think about)

What makes us like things that we don’t already know? 

How things look on the outside can completely influence what we like.

A weird thing - blue books seem to sell more than other colours (at least in the early 90s)

Musicians have had to play the “looks” card over and over again for years - especially after MTV came out - female pop singers suffer the most from this (and go crazy from it)

Birds of a feather - people are sheeplike in their desire to fit in - “affiliation by like” is pretty obvious - it can frightening to like things on your own - then you have to rely on your own views, your own opinions, and it takes courage in the face of popular culture

Box office results are broadcast on the news because stupid people love to “back a winner” - we will literally go see a movie if we think it’s “hot” 

It could work - we could be like other people - there ARE common elements that are good

However, some things are not like that - some “odd men out” are good men

There is a number of people who really don’t know or think about what they like - popularity is key to their meter. 

Fives and Fives and Fives and Fives and Fives

Write down the following and save this material for blogging later. 

1. FIve different forms of media
2. Five examples of each that you like
3. Five examples of reasons why you like those things
4. Five things from your table group that you AGREE with
5. Five things from your table group that you DISAGREE with

movies, music, tv shows, games, internet sites, bands, fashions, ads, books, magazines, podcasts, etc

September 3, 2013

CommTech - Gr 11

This course examines communications technology from a media perspective. Students

will develop knowledge and skills as they design and produce media projects in the

areas of live, recorded, and graphic communications. These areas may include TV, video,

and movie production; radio and audio production; print and graphic communications;

photography; digital imaging; broadcast journalism; and interactive new media. Students

will also develop an awareness of related environmental and societal issues, and will

explore college and university programs and career opportunities in the various commu-

nications technology fields.

Prerequisite: None

CommTech - Gr 12

This course enables students to develop knowledge and skills in the areas of graphic

communication, printing and publishing, audio and video production, and broadcast

journalism. Students will work both independently and as part of a production team to

design and produce media products in a project-driven environment. Practical projects

may include the making of signs, yearbooks, video and/or audio productions, newscasts,

and documentaries. Students will also develop an awareness of related environmental

and societal issues, and will explore secondary and postsecondary education and train-

ing pathways and career opportunities in the various communications technology fields.

Prerequisite: None

Achievement Chart

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Categories	Level 1 (50 - 59%)	Level 2 (60 - 69%)	Level 3 (70 - 79%)	Level 4 (80 - 100%)
Knowledge and Understanding	Specific content acquired in each grade (knowledge), and the comprehension of its meaning and significance (understanding)
Knowledge of content (e.g., facts, equipment, terminology, materials)	- demonstrates limited knowledge of content	- demonstrates some knowledge of content	- demonstrates considerable knowledge of content	- demonstrates thorough knowledge of content
Understanding of content (e.g., procedures, design concepts, processes, standards)	- demonstrates limited understanding of content	- demonstrates some understanding of content	- demonstrates considerable understanding of content	- demonstrates thorough understanding of content
Thinking	The use of critical and creative thinking skills and/or processes
Use of planning skills (e.g., identifying the problem , formulating questions, scheduling, selecting strategies and resources)	- uses planning skills with limited effectiveness	- uses planning skills with some effectiveness	- uses planning skills with considerable effectiveness	- uses planning skills with a high degree of effectiveness
Use of processing skills (e.g., analysing and interpreting information, reasoning , generating and evaluating solutions, forming conclusions)	- uses processing skills with limited effectiveness	- uses processing skills with some effectiveness	- uses processing skills with considerable effectiveness	- uses processing skills with a high degree of effectiveness
Use of critical/creative thinking processes (e.g., design process, problem solving, decision making)	- uses critical/creative thinking processes with limited effectiveness	- uses critical/creative thinking processes with some effectiveness	- uses critical/creative thinking processes with considerable effectiveness	- uses critical/creative thinking processes with a high degree of effectiveness
Communication	The conveying of meaning through various forms
Communication for different audiences and purposes in oral, visual, and written forms	- communicates for different audiences and purposes with limited effectiveness	- communicates for different audiences and purposes with some effectiveness	- communicates for different audiences and purposes with considerable effectiveness	- communicates for different audiences and purposes with a high degree of effectiveness
Use of conventions (e.g., standards/symbols, industry codes, graphics, units), vocabulary, and terminology (e.g., acronyms) of the discipline in oral, visual, and written forms	- uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with limited effectiveness	- uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with some effectiveness	- uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with considerable effectiveness	- uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with a high degree of effectiveness
Application	The use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts
Application of knowledge and skills (e.g., concepts, processes, use of equipment and technology) in familiar contexts	- applies knowledge and skills in familiar contexts with limited effectiveness	- applies knowledge and skills in familiar contexts with some effectiveness	- applies knowledge and skills in familiar contexts with considerable effectiveness	- applies knowledge and skills in familiar contexts with a high degree of effectiveness
Transfer of knowledge and skills (e.g., concepts, processes, use of tools and software) to new contexts	- transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with limited effectiveness	- transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with some effectiveness	- transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with considerable effectiveness	- transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with a high degree of effectiveness
Making connections within and between various contexts (e.g., multidisciplinary connections, social impact of technology , connections between school and future opportunities)	- makes connections within and between various contexts with limited effectiveness	- makes connections within and between various contexts with some effectiveness	- makes connections within and between various contexts with considerable effectiveness	- makes connections within and between various contexts with a high degree of effectiveness

Assessment

---

Students will be provided with numerous and varied opportunities to demonstrate the full extent of their achievement of the curriculum expectations, across all four categories of the Achievement Chart. Progress will be monitored on an on-going basis using a variety of assessment tools, including written work, formal testing, quizzes, teacher-student communication, discussion boards and chat rooms.

As required by the Ministry of Education, students will be assessed in the four areas of the achievement chart. The suggested breakdown for this course is as follows:

Assessment Category	Percentage
Knowledge and Understanding	25%
Thinking and Inquiry	25%
Communication	25%
Application	25%

Final Grade

The final grade will be determined as follows (in accordance with Ministry of Education standards):

Term Work Based on evaluations conducted throughout the course.	70%
Summative Evaluation A final evaluation in the form of assignments and an exam.	30%

*Unless otherwise indicated, all assignments will be submitted using the dropbox for that assignment.

Learning Skills

The following Learning Skills rubric can be used by online teachers when assessing Learning Skills:

Criteria	Needs Improvement	Satisfactory	Good	Excellent
Responsibility fulfills responsibilities and commitments within the e- learning environment completes and submits class work, homework and assignments according to agreed-upon timelines takes responsibility for and manages own behaviour	demonstrates limited responsible behaviour	demonstrates some responsible behaviour	demonstrates considerable responsible behaviour	demonstrates a high degree of responsible behaviour
Organization devises and follows a plan and process for completing work and tasks establishes priorities and manages time to complete tasks and achieve goals identifies, gathers, evaluates and uses information, technology and resources to complete tasks	demonstrates limited organizational skills	demonstrates some organizational skills	demonstrates considerable organizational skills	demonstrates a high degree of organizational skills
Independent Work independently monitors, assesses, and revises plans to complete tasks and meet goals uses class time appropriately to complete tasks follows instructions with minimal supervision	demonstrates limited ability to work independently	demonstrates some ability to work independently	demonstrates considerable ability to work independently	demonstrates a high degree of ability to work independently
Collaboration accepts various roles and an equitable share of work in a group responds positively to the ideas, opinions, values, and traditions of others builds healthy peer-to-peer relationships through personal and media assisted interactions works with others to resolve conflicts and build consensus to achieve group goals shares information, resources, and expertise and promotes critical thinking to solve problems and makes decisions	demonstrates limited collaborative behaviour	demonstrates some collaborative behaviour	demonstrates considerable collaborative behaviour	demonstrates a high degree of collaborative behaviour
Initiative looks for and acts on new ideas and opportunities for learning demonstrates the capacity for innovation and a willingness to take risks demonstrates curiosity and interest in learning approaches new tasks with a positive attitude recognizes and advocates appropriately for the rights of self and others	demonstrates limited initiative	demonstrates some initiative	demonstrates considerable initiative	demonstrates a high degree of initiative
Self Regulation sets own individual goals and monitors progress towards achieving them seeks clarification or assistance when needed assesses and reflects critically on own strengths, needs, and interests identifies learning opportunities, choices, and strategies to meet personal needs and achieve goals perseveres and makes an effort when responding to challenges	demonstrates limited self- regulation	demonstrates some self- regulation	demonstrates considerable self- regulation	demonstrates a high degree of self- regulation

If the teacher decides that an assignment described as formative would be better used as a summative task, appropriate rubrics will need to be created and supplied to students.

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