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14.1

Family Guy Star Wars Parody Clip (Starts at 0:18): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JhRINBtR4s

Family Guy created a series of Star Wars parodies, putting the shows main characters in the place of the Star Wars characters. This parody combines the Family Guy humor with the Star Wars story, making it very appealing to people who like Family Guy and Star Wars. For example, Stewie has always been a character that wants to rule the world, so naturally the Family Guy producers made him Darth Vader, as Darth Vader's role was similar in Star Wars. They also made Peter Griffin from Family guy Han Solo, and Peters enemy in family guy (The chicken) was made Boba Fett, Han Solos enemy (shown at 0:58 seconds). Another example of the Family Guy humor is shown at 1:55, as it takes a Star Wars scene that was serious and added the Family Guy touch to it. These examples show that Family Guy took the time to not only make a parody of Star Wars but write it like they would a normal Family Guy episode. This highlights the power of Star Wars in that the writers of Family Guy decided that Star Wars was important enough to them to write a parody that wasn't only a few seconds, but rather a few episodes.

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10.2) This is a comic book cover for Marvel comics Captain America series. This cover is designed to fulfill the function of putting Captain America in his own “Big premiere issue”. This is supposed to attract an audience that likes action, is patriotic, and wants to see Captain America in his own series. In this selected animation, Captain America is running into action with his teammates. The characters framed are part of the Avengers group, including Iron Man, Thor, and the Black Panther. This makes it interesting, as the audience likes to see the superheroes working as a team. This is trying to communicate that Captain America will still be fighting with his allies, but there will be more attention on Captain America himself as opposed to the others. One semiotics i noticed was the iconic patterns and colors of Captain Americas uniform. His uniform resembles the colors and the flag of the United States of America. One index that is included is how all the characters are jumping at the viewer. This semiotic index creates a cause/effect that these characters are logically jumping at something, and that something is most likely going to be action-oriented, as they are dressed as superheroes.

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10.3) This infographic image is a good example of misleading and overdecorative information. Identified as an illustration, there is not a lot of factual data presented. The labels of each network only use letters, and one who does not know all networks would not know that network A is AT&T, network T is T-Mobile, Network V is Verizon, and network S is Sprint. The colors on each network also do not give a good idea where the networks are actually located, as it seems as though some parts of the states are just shaded in instead of marked to the finest detail. It is not even labeled what these markings mean, as an assumption is created instead (such as the assumption that this is data coverage, not something else like amount of customers in each area). This information conveys that network A is the best, purely through a decorative form instead of a factual form.

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Walking Dead

2) Gestalt Elements: Similarity: The words on the screen in the different scenes have the same color and font theme, and the music had a suspenseful theme.

4) Cognitive: The Walking Dead opening scene has a theme that is mysterious, abandoned, and conflicted. The abandoned cars in the beginning show that civilization is not civil anymore. The signature items such as Ricks badge, Glenn’s watch, and Daryl’s arrows create a sense of knowing, as these items are associated with people in the show. It would not make sense to keep these items in the opening scene if these characters stories were finished. These things also act as signifiers for the film, as people who are familiar with the film know what these items represent, which also ties into memory. Showing the walkers eyes creates the perceived expectation that there are undead in the film and they will show up eventually. This happens more often than not in the film, so it works well. Lastly, projection is shown in the clip through the music and the walker. It creates a mood that is suspenseful and thrilling, which is later shown in clips where Rick and others fight the walkers or other people.

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BQ 6.4: Social Documentarian: This is an image from 9/11. Step 3 (Pg. 132) is applied through the black and white in the image. It is also applied through a natural light source and the angle that the picture was taken at. It was taken at an angle that shows the emotions of the people in it. Step 4 (Pg. 133) is applied through the proximity. All of these people are close to each other, covered in debris, and showing mostly the same emotional expressions. Continuation is also shown through the assumption that these people are walking in the same direction to the same destination.

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BQ 6.1: Picture #1 - Barack Obama, Picture #2 - Bill Gates

i.) Both of these portraits are fascinating and effective in that they both communicate a sense of pride and success through the means of the facial expressions as well as the photo backgrounds. One photo is in black and white, while the other is in color.

ii.) I think that picture #1 of Barack Obama is a better portrait. This is because the photo isn't just of Obama himself. The background of the photo uses the technique of photographic manipulation through the placement of the flags as well as the location (The Oval Office).Cultural Perspective is also used in this photo in that it is a photo of the former President of the United States.

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BQ 5.2: The Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg Address Speech is a widely known speech that was dedicated to the Soldiers National Cemetery, and it was about how the Civil War was testing whether the United States’ foundations of liberty and equality were strong enough to survive. This speech also includes Aristotle’s three components of persuasion. Pathos is the most important component in my opinion, mainly because this speech was using patriotism/emotions to persuade the listeners to take action and continue the war for all fallen soldiers. Ethos is the second most important component, because the President of the United States is a very important person as perceived by the people of the United States. Lincolns words were not to be taken lightly because of this. Finally, Logos is the least important of the three components. A lot of speeches are logical, but it can be hard to get the attention of the viewers. Pathos and Ethos both use forms of persuasion that are attention grabbing, whereas Logos uses basic logic that would not create as big of an impression on the listeners.

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BQ 4.2:

The Matrix: Neo vs Morpheus

The Matrix is action/science fiction genre, and the series started in 1999. I found the editing in this scene to be excellent, simply because the elements of the scene all came together in a smooth manner. The length of the shots during the actual fighting between Morpheus and Neo are short, and having a high amount of shock cuts and short cuts helps make the fight between them seem faster and more action-packed. During some parts of the fight, the camera pans around them to give a good view of these two characters, showing some of the techniques they are using (such as Morpheus shaking his hands to distract Neo then kicking him, catching him off guard). The use of rythmic patterns is good, as when they are talking to each other the length of each shot is greater and there are not as many short cuts. Then, right when they start fighting again, the shots speed up in length and quantity, with some occasional long shots. The graphic patterns were also good, as the fight was set in a Dojo and the Kung Fu moves preformed by both Morpheus and Neo matched the graphic theme of the setting. These elements of editing built on the enjoyment of the scene in that they helped create a fight that had good flow.

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BQ 3.2: Selectivity: This image uses a combination of expectation and habituation to create an illusion that my not have been seen upon first glance. Initially, when I first looked at the image, I thought the cat was going up the set of stairs, because my mind out of habit (according to Habituation, Pg. 66) protected itself from over stimulation. The more I looked at the photo, the more I realized that cat could be going up or down the stairs. Because the picture is black and white and taken at a certain angle, it is hard to tell which way the cat was actually going when the picture was taken.

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BQ 3.1: This image works iconically and symbolically. Iconically, this image resembles the United States of America and the preamble to the United States constitution. Symbolically, this image represents the United States of America and freedom. This represents the culture code of the people of the United States, mainly freedom and a government created by the people for the people. The flag in the background also signifies the United States of America.

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I find this image to be compelling because this form of propaganda created a fictional person to represent the U.S. Army. This fictitious person got a name, Uncle Sam, and he is now in today day and age considered a patriotic icon to the people of the US.