1. My three goals were improving at approaching interviewees, writing shorter news pieces, and meeting other journalists who can offer critiques. I feel that I was able to accomplish all of these goals. I've become a lot more comfortable asking for interviews, in fact, I've come to really enjoy it. I really wanted to ask Ron Wyden a few more questions but he was looking for softballs, I still had a lot of fun trying to interview him. While there is certainly room for improvement, it's hard to believe I had never written a news piece before this class because I feel my writing has improved so much.
2. I honestly don't have a favorite. I think my lede from the Inauguration Protest article was awesome, I also really like my piece about the Unity Celebration. I guess I'd have to pick all of them because I covered several different types of stories and had to wear several hats.
3. I had to cut out most of the poetic and descriptive language I use when writing news, I had an extremely hard time doing so, initially. I feel like I've got immensely better and just getting the facts on paper but still allow a narrative to form so it's not too dry and then boring. When I started writing articles, I was always narrowing from 1500+ words and now it's more like 1000, which is a huge improvement.
4. I felt I learned a lot from the material on Moodle, but like anything else, I had to learn hands-on. I think one can read a lot about reporting, and it's helpful, but until you get out there, it's hard to understand how it works. I think it would be helpful for students who, like me, need hands-on education to go as a class to cover an event and shadow an experienced reporter.
5. I really liked "The Corpse Had a Familiar Face." I learned broader picture lessons about how to conduct myself, and a few specifics while reading all the incredible stories she was weaving into her narrative. I think it's a good book to have young reporters read, especially those who don't realize most reporters are a little hardcore because most reporting is a little hardcore. Obviously, not all of us will be reporting in a place like Miami in that time period, but it really drove home that most reporters will see things they never wanted to and be in positions they never wanted to.
Friday, March 17, 2017
Thursday, March 16, 2017
JN201 Media Blog Project 2
I chose to binge-watch Mr. Robot on Amazon Prime on Wednesday night from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. I watched it at home on my laptop. I would classify the show as a hybrid of psychological thriller and drama. In the first few episodes, nothing becomes particularly hectic but there's an intentional element of confusion as the main character Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), suffers from delusions, leaving the audience to wonder what is and is not actually happening. There is certainly quite a bit of drama, with everything from drug addiction to romance.
The first episode opens with Elliot sitting in a coffee shop when a man walks in and sits down. Elliot sits at his table and begins to tell him personal things about the man. The man's reaction, Ron, shows that he doesn't know Elliot. Elliot eventually explains that he hacked Ron's internet traffic and caught him circulating child pornography. Ron tries to bribe Elliot, Elliot refuses. Then the cops show up and Elliot walks off into the night. After Elliot is identified as a "vigilante hacker," it is revealed that he is a cyber-security engineer at his day job.
The first episode opens with Elliot sitting in a coffee shop when a man walks in and sits down. Elliot sits at his table and begins to tell him personal things about the man. The man's reaction, Ron, shows that he doesn't know Elliot. Elliot eventually explains that he hacked Ron's internet traffic and caught him circulating child pornography. Ron tries to bribe Elliot, Elliot refuses. Then the cops show up and Elliot walks off into the night. After Elliot is identified as a "vigilante hacker," it is revealed that he is a cyber-security engineer at his day job.
Elliot begins to express, through internal dialogue, a deep disdain for society, particularly capitalism, corporations, and government corruption. Elliot is summoned to defend what he calls "Evil Corp" from a hack. Elliot discovers an enigmatic message from the hacking file that is clearly directed to him. He leaves the virus in the server as requested by the message and then is contacted by a man that has been following him, it turns out he's the leader from the group that hacked Evil Corp, the F Society. The man, identified as Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) takes Elliot to the F Society headquarters on Coney Island where he first meets Darlene (Carly Chaikin), a hacker in the F Society, who promptly calls him a “dickhead.”
Elliot begins to collude with the F Society, which the writers were certainly inspired by Anonymous when creating, and he frames the CTO from Evil Corp for the hack. In the midst of the meeting where he gives false information to implicate the executive from Evil Corp, he also offends his longtime friend Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) whom we works with (and appears to be in love with) when trying to stick up for her.
In the second episode, a young executive has Elliot escorted to the Evil Corp office to offer him a job because Evil Corp is going to cancel their account with Allsafe, where Elliot works, causing them to go out of business. There is a strong theme of 'sell your soul to the devil' in that scene. Elliot rejects the offer. Elliot later finds out that the F Society has released a video demanding debt be forgiven for all, not the plan Elliot had believed to be happening but that evening, Darlene from the F Society is waiting for him in his apartment.
Mr. Robot asks Elliot to blow up a gas pipeline to destroy Evil Corp's data and wipe away all records of debt for millions of people. Elliot is conflicted because he is concerned he will hurt people who live or work around the gas pipeline but wants to help remove that debt and contribute to the decline of capitalism, which he calls "the invisible hand." Elliot is told by the Mr. Robot that if he doesn't immediately agree to blowing up the pipeline, that he's out of the group, also insulting Elliot's father who used to work at Evil Corp and got leukemia from radiation at his job. Elliot tells him "fuck you," and leaves.
Elliot's drug problem gets worse and his dealer/friend/partner Shayla Nico (Frankie Shaw) is being abused by her supplier. Elliot has a tense sit-down with the supplier, Fernando Vera (Elliot Villar). Elliot has all the information to get Fernando arrested for various crimes but he'd have to sacrifice his drug supply to do so. Elliot eventually decides to get him arrested.
After getting him arrested, Elliot tries to contact the F Society to pitch a plan that would achieve the same goals without risking anyone's health. In the meeting with Mr. Robot, he pushes him off a railing at the pier and that is how episode two ends.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/2016/05/09/mr-robot-review-brilliant-conspiracy-drama/
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/arts/television/review-in-mr-robot-even-the-paranoid-may-have-enemies.html
The show was created by writer/director Sam Esmail. Esmail was relatively unknown before Mr. Robot, his only prominent credit before it was for Comet. Rami Malek, the star, had a lot of smaller roles before landing his role as Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot but was less than a household name. Malek is slated to play Freddie Mercury in an upcoming movie about Queen.
Received very well by critics, Michael Hogan of Telegraph described it as a "brilliant conspiracy drama." Allesandra Stanley of The New York Times picked up on the more political messages of the show, describing it as, "a cyber-age thriller infused with a dark, almost nihilistic pessimism about the Internet, capitalism and income inequality."
The show has an overall dark tone and use of imagery but the threads of subversive political ideals are too strong to ignore. Many of the scenes are in poorly lit places, certainly a combination of shooting on location and on sets. The lighting and often dilapidated scenery creates almost a neo-noir dystopian feel but at times is balanced with harsh artificial lighting, tying in the bright techno-capitalist world we live in.
The hacker group, F Society, is very clearly based on Anonymous, including masks, philosophy, and anonymous communique with altered voices making demands of powerful people/groups. Elliot and his cohorts often reference immense personal debt and income inequality, clearly marketing to a younger generation who feels powerless in the face of an extremely corrupt political and economic system. Elliot is a relateable character who struggles with a drug addiction and feels despondent with the world around him. While very few of us would go as far as committing federal crimes in an effort to further our beliefs, the idea that the way things operate are entirely inexcusable is a common feeling among the more informed citizenry.
While there are certainly other shows that touch on similar topics, Mr. Robot is distinguished by a sharp tone, contrary to of capitalism and current power structures. There's no Fantastic Mr. Fox-style toying with themes of class war and oppression, it's direct and poignant. In another layer that achieves further depth, there is a depiction of the classic rift between radicals and extremists. Elliot is a radical and believes in radical change, but he distances himself from the extremism of Mr. Robot by refusing to kill anyone to achieve his goals. Elliot does, however, frame Terry Colby with trepidation, after Colby removes Moss from the meeting.
I think this show is very appealing to those who research a lot about politics, or even just sci-fi/thriller fans. Politics aside, the story and the evolution of the plot-line, along with the occasional cliffhanger are captivating enough to draw in those with little or no political beliefs. A sleeper group that would be interested in this show are the techno-skeptical, even though Elliot is using technology to challenge the power structure he opposes, he also routinely violates the privacy of those around him and exposes how others violate people's privacy.
I did not notice any overt stereotyping in the first two episodes of Mr. Robot. One could make an argument that the depiction of Shayla's drug supplier as a violent gang member is stereotypical, but obviously some drug dealers are violent people. I would say that the character Shayla defies some stereotypes of drug dealers, being a young female who is obviously not violent. Angela Moss is another character that challenges stereotypes, being a strong female character and also a female with a leadership role in a STEM field. The show also makes relatively overt depictions of sexism in a critical light, including when Terry Colby makes Angela leave the meeting after Elliot answers a question for her, which may have been another nod to sexism. Alderson's character also challenges stereotypes by being a highly-intelligent cybersecurity engineer with a full-time job who uses hard drugs. The show also has several LGBTQ+ characters without making their sexuality or gender identity a large focus of their character development. I did not see any product placement in the show, which makes sense given the message of the show.
Mr. Robot is a well-written show that has ample entertainment value and a lot of relevant social commentary. With the constant references to abuse of power, income inequality, and surveillance, it certainly reflects "real life." I like how politically charged the show is and openly critical of consumerism and capitalism the dialogue is.
I've never watched this show before deciding to do my project on it. I do have friends who watch this show, several had recommended it to me and I had read several reviews on it. I have never reviewed Mr. Robot. Most of the main actors in Mr. Robot use social media, specifically Twitter, and often have images from the show in their posts and profile photos. The actors and production team keep a very consistent web presence.
I can't say I learned very much from watching the show although it does provide some information regarding how hacking groups operate, capitalism, etc. I was thoroughly surprised by the commentary in the show being so explicit. Writers often use metaphors to disguise their political commentary but Mr. Robot integrates the commentary into the plot.
Monday, March 13, 2017
JN 201 Week 8 Blog Replacement
Barton Fink:
I chose Barton Fink because I saw it once a while ago and liked it but wanted to watch it again. It's currently on Netflix and I watched in on my computer.
A review I read was written by Peter Travers for Rolling Stone. I was surprised by how much the review focused on the box that Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) gave Barton Fink (John Turturro.) While I felt the box was important, I saw it as more of a subplot rather than the focus of the story. The synopsis starts: "Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), a good-natured slob of a traveling salesman, has entrusted the mystery parcel to Barton Fink (John Turturro), a creatively blocked screenwriter who lives next door to him in a shabby Los Angeles hotel, circa 1942." By seeing how much Travers seemed drawn to the package, it definitely made me consider looking at the story in a way that focused more on the package. Travers also referred to the film as "partly hilarious, partly horrific" and I couldn't agree more.
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/barton-fink-19910821
The second review I read was by Roger Ebert. Ebert brought up the Coen brothers tendency to powerful men behind desks making judgement calls. " All of these men are vulgar, smoke cigars, and view their supplicants with contempt." Ebert pointed out other examples the Coen brothers have utilized similar imagery and it made me think of Mr. Lebowski in The Big Lebowski, which came out several years after Barton Fink and the Roger Ebert review. Ebert seemed to focus a good deal on the dynamic of Fink dealing with Jack Lipnick (Lerner) across his desk, which again, made me think more about this perspective. Ebert also picked up on the Coen brothers tendency to write leftist characters, as I did with Barton Fink.
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/barton-fink-1991
The final review I read was written by Vincent Canby at The New York Times. Canby refrained from analyzing the depth of Barton Fink that other critics did. Canby focused more on the story at a surface level but acknowledged the prominence of proletarian playwrights in the early 1940's and the loose relation of Barton Fink and Clifford Odets and mentions Fink's commitment to the "Common Man." I felt like the review was very much so a brief newspaper review and potentially why the depth of analysis differed between the three reviews.
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE1DA1F3EF932A1575BC0A967958260
Ethan and Joel Coen won the Cannes Palme d'Or, Joel Coen won the Cannes Best Director Award, John Turturro won the Cannes Best Actor Award, Judy Davis won the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actress of the Year, Roger Deakins won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography, Turturro also won the David di Donatello award for Best Foreign Actor from the Italian Academy of Films. Barton Fink was also nominated for three Academy Awards but failed to win any.
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen- I've seen several Coen films and there were certainly familiar themes but I felt the cinematography really stood out from other films of theirs.
Casting Directors: John S. Lyons and Donna Isaacson- Lyons has directing castings for many Coen films including The Big Lebowski, Fargo, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. Isaacson has directed castings is most the of Coen films that Lyons has. Considering they both have directed castings for several Coen films, it's not surprising that John Goodman and Steve Buscemi have been in several of them, along with Turturro.
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins- Deakins has been the cinematographer for many of the Coen films that Lyons and Isaacson worked on. Deakins has also worked on O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Shawshank redemption. While I notice his tendencies to zoom in to dark places to create a transition and jarring close-ups, I felt like Barton Fink was some of the best work he's done, specifically with the typewriter scenes and when he zooms into the sink.
Writers: Joel and Ethan Coen. Joel Coen brothers has written a ton of movies including Fargo, No Country for Old Men, True Grit (2010), Burn After Reading, The Ladykillers, and Spies Like Us. Ethan Coen has writing credits on many of the same films.
NYT Interview: The Coen Brothers Look Wryly at Their Films
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/movies/the-coen-brothers-look-wryly-at-their-films.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
This interview touches on many topics including their creative process, "Inside Llewyn Davis," technology, and success.
The thing that I found most interesting about Barton Fink related to the movie business was how much writers apparently had direct contact with studio heads. As far as I'm aware, rank and file writers have much less access to the people running the movie companies in current times. The film certainly relates to Hail, Caesar! being that it was written by the Coen brothers about the historic Hollywood. There's also the common theme of leftism in Hail, Caesar! with the leftist characters.
I personally enjoy the Coen brothers films a lot. I will certainly watch more of them and revisit some like Barton Fink that I haven't seen a million times like The Big Lebowski. I like the presence of leftists characters, I think it's an underrepresented part of American history that, for me, adds an interesting layer to their movies. The writing and story development is always superb. The Coen brothers also have a common theme of forceful police officers and main characters that have their simple lives disrupted and snowball into a complete chaotic mess.
I chose Barton Fink because I saw it once a while ago and liked it but wanted to watch it again. It's currently on Netflix and I watched in on my computer.
A review I read was written by Peter Travers for Rolling Stone. I was surprised by how much the review focused on the box that Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) gave Barton Fink (John Turturro.) While I felt the box was important, I saw it as more of a subplot rather than the focus of the story. The synopsis starts: "Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), a good-natured slob of a traveling salesman, has entrusted the mystery parcel to Barton Fink (John Turturro), a creatively blocked screenwriter who lives next door to him in a shabby Los Angeles hotel, circa 1942." By seeing how much Travers seemed drawn to the package, it definitely made me consider looking at the story in a way that focused more on the package. Travers also referred to the film as "partly hilarious, partly horrific" and I couldn't agree more.
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/barton-fink-19910821
The second review I read was by Roger Ebert. Ebert brought up the Coen brothers tendency to powerful men behind desks making judgement calls. " All of these men are vulgar, smoke cigars, and view their supplicants with contempt." Ebert pointed out other examples the Coen brothers have utilized similar imagery and it made me think of Mr. Lebowski in The Big Lebowski, which came out several years after Barton Fink and the Roger Ebert review. Ebert seemed to focus a good deal on the dynamic of Fink dealing with Jack Lipnick (Lerner) across his desk, which again, made me think more about this perspective. Ebert also picked up on the Coen brothers tendency to write leftist characters, as I did with Barton Fink.
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/barton-fink-1991
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE1DA1F3EF932A1575BC0A967958260
Ethan and Joel Coen won the Cannes Palme d'Or, Joel Coen won the Cannes Best Director Award, John Turturro won the Cannes Best Actor Award, Judy Davis won the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actress of the Year, Roger Deakins won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography, Turturro also won the David di Donatello award for Best Foreign Actor from the Italian Academy of Films. Barton Fink was also nominated for three Academy Awards but failed to win any.
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen- I've seen several Coen films and there were certainly familiar themes but I felt the cinematography really stood out from other films of theirs.
Casting Directors: John S. Lyons and Donna Isaacson- Lyons has directing castings for many Coen films including The Big Lebowski, Fargo, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. Isaacson has directed castings is most the of Coen films that Lyons has. Considering they both have directed castings for several Coen films, it's not surprising that John Goodman and Steve Buscemi have been in several of them, along with Turturro.
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins- Deakins has been the cinematographer for many of the Coen films that Lyons and Isaacson worked on. Deakins has also worked on O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Shawshank redemption. While I notice his tendencies to zoom in to dark places to create a transition and jarring close-ups, I felt like Barton Fink was some of the best work he's done, specifically with the typewriter scenes and when he zooms into the sink.
Writers: Joel and Ethan Coen. Joel Coen brothers has written a ton of movies including Fargo, No Country for Old Men, True Grit (2010), Burn After Reading, The Ladykillers, and Spies Like Us. Ethan Coen has writing credits on many of the same films.
NYT Interview: The Coen Brothers Look Wryly at Their Films
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/movies/the-coen-brothers-look-wryly-at-their-films.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
This interview touches on many topics including their creative process, "Inside Llewyn Davis," technology, and success.
The thing that I found most interesting about Barton Fink related to the movie business was how much writers apparently had direct contact with studio heads. As far as I'm aware, rank and file writers have much less access to the people running the movie companies in current times. The film certainly relates to Hail, Caesar! being that it was written by the Coen brothers about the historic Hollywood. There's also the common theme of leftism in Hail, Caesar! with the leftist characters.
I personally enjoy the Coen brothers films a lot. I will certainly watch more of them and revisit some like Barton Fink that I haven't seen a million times like The Big Lebowski. I like the presence of leftists characters, I think it's an underrepresented part of American history that, for me, adds an interesting layer to their movies. The writing and story development is always superb. The Coen brothers also have a common theme of forceful police officers and main characters that have their simple lives disrupted and snowball into a complete chaotic mess.
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