Weekly+Labs

Week 2

Mass media is any medium used to transmit information to a wide audience. The most common forms of mass media that are known to people are television, radio, newspapers, books and magazines. Video games are different because they allow users to live in an world outside there own. They catch on because they are well marketed and unlike traditional mass media is not simultaneously transmitted to every user.

Week 4

I agree when McLuhan states that comics are an extension of photographic media. He touches on the fact any comic strip provides very little information on any space, object or time, limiting interpretation by viewers. This is a "cold" media -- one that forces viewers to view in the blanks. This is the opposite of a "hot" media -- one that allows viewers to be passive and just sit back and absorb information with minimal activity. Comics are an extension of photography because I would sooner consider comics as an extension of film. Comics and film both share dimensions that photography simply does not have - they both involve action over time, a series of scenes and dialogue between characters.

Week 5 The field of mass media advertising has been growing at immense rates. From billboards and magazine ads, it soon began taking over radio and television. While doing the comic book analysis, I was surprised that advertisers even found a way to put in ads into comics. When Internet was created, advertisers quickly adopted it as yet another medium of mass advertising. Along with Internet, social networking sites and virtual words quickly became popular among Internet users. So why not infuse them with ads?

On the Internet, however, the viewer has greater ability to select what he or she can do or does. There are tools available which block advertisements, and generally a user are not compelled in any way to have to watch as many advertisements, if any at all, when surfing a web page or any other activity on the Net. Mass media means of advertising are not nearly as useful in an environment such as Second Life, therefore, since users' passivity is not guaranteed, and their viewership cannot be so easily compelled by merely being present (such as on TV - you're going to probably have to watch one ad eventually). Since the average user would most likely wish to avoid being swamped by ads and the like, mass media advertising on a medium such as Second Life appears almost impossible, or at the very least not at all cost-effective.

This is not to say that certain types of advertising cannot be in some way succesful in Second Life. But these advertising methods require a certain amount of personalisation, a degree of intimacy between advertsier and consumer, which cannot truly be achieved with mere mass advertising, with its more generic and one-size-fits-all nature (meant to cast as wide a net as possible). Thus, overall, it is clear that using broad, relatively unfocused and generic marketing campaigns in a medium where the user is not just going to sit back and watch is never going to work. Getting right down to the person, however, and allowing him or her to experience an ad which addressed their more specific concerns - that is the way of the world in Second Life.

Week 6 __Using__ **__at least__** __three concepts from the supplement on Web Comics from McCloud, explain how the comic you choose makes use of the technique.__



Penny Arcade is in the form of a traditional strip comic layout. It has 2-4 sequential panels that are organized horizontally. It uses linkable buttons such as "next" and "back" for easy navigations. It also has a scrolling feature that allows users to easily navigate around the page. Furthermore, the strip comic is formatted to fit into the space of the browser to make it universally viewable

When looking at the tone of Penny-Arcade, artist Mike Krahulik chooses to use mostly solid colours to represent his characters. The characters can be easily distinguished, not only by their usual attire, but their distinct colour scheme. He uses simple vectoring in the design of his characters. However, if he chooses to emphasize a character's emotions he adds more lines and shading to the figure.

While Scott McCloud claims that the resolution online is lower than the one found in its print counterpart. While technology has advanced in terms of vectors and different file types, this problem still persistent today. Penny Arcade is no exception. By closely looking at its art, areas can be noted as pixelated even before zooming in.

Group: Ann, Melissa , Jaren, John

Week 7



The picture in a bus bus stop is meant to attract your attention. I believe the sign instead of a commercial sigh should do the trick.

__Week 8 Response:__ Fair FAQ's Assessment of Newspaper Article

London Free Press – “Gun-toting Teletubby robs Woman on London Street” []

1) //Who are the sources?//

The sources were the actual woman in her 20’s that was robbed, as well as the policeman who pursued the robber after he received the call about the robbery.

2) //Is there a lack is diversity?//

The race of the victim is most like reflective of the population of London – Caucasian. The race of the criminal was not mentioned, leading me to believe that it was a white man. The gender of the victim is female, and the accused is male. The writer of the article is a male.

3) //From whose point of view is the news reported?//

The point of view is from the woman who was robbed, but it made sure to state that she wasn’t hurt at all, just shocked and stunned. Therefore, not giving into the “brutish, sexualized, male robber” stereotype.

4) //Are there double standards?//

I could not perceive the use of a double standard. Maybe had the race of the robber been anything but white, there would have been more coverage.

5) //Do stereotypes skew coverage?//

There was no use of any stereotypes in this article. However, I do believe that stereotype do skew coverage in some media stories.

6) //What are the unchallenged assumptions?//

The unchallenged assumption that I made was that because the robber’s race/ethnicity was no identified, it is believed that he is white. If he was middle-eastern or black, I believe that that fact would have been brought up.

7) //Is the language loaded?//

This is a very simplistic article. Short and concise – just the way readers like it. There was no “fluffy” or exaggerated language.

8) //Is there a lack of context?//

No

9) //Do the headlines and the stories match?//

It was the headline of this article that caught my attention – it sounded funny. Yes, the story did match the title – it was about a man dressed as a Teletubby, holding a gun, and robbing a woman.

10) //Are stories on important issues featured prominently?//

The most important and emotional stories came first in the index, but this one was a little higher on the list then it should’ve been in my opinion. The first article found was about a 8-person massacre that occurred, and then I found this one a little further down.

I consider this article objective. There was no indication of a bias.