Presentation

"Television and Internet Differences by Design" by Michele White "The mass production of celebrity": 'Celetoids', reality TV and the 'demotic turn' Title: **Key Concepts of Michele White's Article: "Television and Internet Differences by Design"**
 * Introduction: Webcam video of us introducing ourselves, our articles, and the general breakdown of our presentation.
 * PPT slide #1:

GOALS OF ARTICLE: 1) Michele structures her piece around the historical and critical discourses regarding television and internet liveness. By taking into account theories from various scholars, White shows how writings about internet liveness largely overlap with the conventions of the television. 2) drive attention toward the "similarities in television and internet narratives about live transmission, the establishment of spatial and temporal connections between viewers and images, and depictions of live interfaces."


 * Key Concepts of Michele White's Article**

Title: **Concept 1: "The producers of television and internet sites suggest that their viewers can watch events happen" (White, 41).** ** IMAN ** - White says that website designers are constantly coming up with more ways to suggest to their viewers that they live, lively, and constantly updating. (41)

INTERNET EXAMPLE: [] Class question: What aspects about Yahoo!'s homepage invokes an aspect of "liveness"? - mobile features: the scrolling pictures and moving tabs - Homepage is filled with the juiciest gossip or latest news - the numerous "new" options on the left navigation - flashy advertisements

- //Mention AOL's yellow figure: "AOL's yellow figure, which is depicted running across TV screen and interrupting the programme, suggests that programmes are broadcast live and can change as individuals watch them."//

- Various indicators and "signs that tell viewers that they are seeing or experiencing things live and as they happen online establishes a connection between temporal liveness and purported aliveness of representations. - "Television and internet renderings of liveness make it appear as if representations are unmediated because images and texts seems to be presented on the screen at the same time as the viewer is watching." (White, 342).

- Watching television and surfing the internet are much more than pass-time tools or hobbies. Media viewers are actively consuming. We are instructed about what kind of experiences we should have and are "rendered and regulated by the technologies and social practices."
 * Title: Concept 2: The Direct Address and the Produced Media Viewer** **MARIA**

- The concept of direct address* explains how we become wholly consumed by these forms of media and makes the seem alive spatially and temporally.

- Various internet settings mimic the traditional television and print media conventions of "direct address" by targeting the viewers with pronouns like "you" in order to render a unique and personalized experience. EXAMPLES FOR INTERNET: - Data mining and cookies are tools that help us receive the personalized experience. Cookies help identify the user by name or alias. - Log into Facebook or Yahoo, or eBay and you are greeted "Hello, __name here__!" or "Welcome Back, __name here__!" - ebay: recommends other items based on those that you have viewed. This also gives us the impression that the internet is "alive." - An i/you relationship is developed as well as "implied face-to-face communication." The computer is given corporeal attributes in this sense. There is a feeling about the internet "watching" us and having a conversation with us...like a friend you've gone shopping with, helping recommend things. We are likely to "shop with the same helpful friend again"...or this case, shop on EBAY again.

EXAMPLES FOR THE TELEVISION: - televised forms of direct address make the viewers feel that there is a way for individuals to engage with the depicted space, indicate that the time of the depicted event occurs along with the viewer's temporal engagement, and specify that there is a live and lively engagement between the viewer and the programme host or characters.

CLASS: Do you ever catch yourself yelling at the TV? Crying with the characters, screaming at them when they disappoint you, or develop a "crush" on them? This is the power of the direct address.

- DIRECT ADDRESS is intended to produce longer engagements, a 'relationship' and sense of indebtedness to the site or TV show.

- The internet portrays an ulterior world or dimension that inviduals/users inhabit. - Users can become a wholly different being and control a body construct that represents them within the screen. - Graphical Avatars are an example of this. We use them in MMOs or MUDs like Second Life or World of Warcraft.
 * Title: Concept 3 - The Net is a Home for People** **ZOHAIB**

- SHOW CLASS: //War Craft Addiction Video: [] CLASS DISCUSSION:// -comments about the video?? What it is about these online games and dimensions that draws people in and has people so addicted? Putting 8-10 hours or more a day toward something that translates to nothing in the real world. - In the video they mention a young boy committing suicide so he could be or live like the surreal characters in the game. What do you think about this? - Do you think that Second Life may have similar results based on the video Prof. Bowen showed us? We described it as a supernatural dimension, where people can even fly, do you think that could take a mental or emotional toll on its users?

- SHOW CLASS: Jennicam video: [|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ii0gLK3meM]...

- White comments on how Reality TV and Webcams are very similar in the sense that they are both blatant commercial genres united more-so by the "merging of popular entertainment with a self-conscious claim to the discourse of the real," and less about aesthetic rules or certainties. -// SHOW CLASS: Survivor video (First Season Winner Richard Hatcher, 2000): [] // //QUESTION: What similar elements do you find in what "Jennicam" did, and this clip from Survivor?//


 * Title: Concept 4 - The Screen as Window** ** MARTIN **

__ Objective Reality vs. Constructed Reality __ __ Making Connections __ __ A Virtual Window __ __ Relating to the 2nd article __
 * CLASS QUESTION: What are some reasons why our TV or computer screens are associated with forms of transparency such as a window or a glass wall?
 * John Fiske: "…television presents itself as an unmediated picture of external reality and that this television realism is often expressed by the metaphors of transparency, including representing it as a window." (349)
 * Class Question: Why do you think TV presents itself in this way?
 * TV has more purpose than innocent entertainment. It is a powerful media of influence. Its purpose in presenting itself as an objective depiction of reality or as Fiske says, “an unmediated picture of external reality” is justifying its own credibility. Every one, to some degree or another, knows that TV is not objective in what it presents. So why are we influenced? Because it is too cognitively effortful to constantly critique everything we watch as we are watching it. Instead we become passive consumers of TV, and are subconsciously influenced in ways intended by TV producers.
 * When we become consumed by what we see on our TV or computer screens, we take what we see as reality, as if the screen becomes nonexistent or simply a window we peer through.
 * “James Friedman points to the ways in which TV 'does not simply portray a window onto a real world "out there," but frames the world, contextualizes the narrative, and argues for the integrity of the reality it depicts.” (350)
 * A straightforward way to illustrate this are the Mr. Clean commercials? They only show instances in which the product can successfully remove stains off the floor, tables, windows, etc. But we all know that there are certain stains Mr. Clean cannot remove, and TV conveniently chooses to exclude such instances.
 * Advertising is an extreme example of the way reality or information is presented in a certain framework to manipulate its audience to view the “reality” in a way consistent with achieving its goals. However, even allegedly objective programs such as the news places information in a framework before presenting it. Clips of the war on CNN are not filmed at random or without thought. (it’s selectively chosen)
 * RAISING AWARENESS OF SOCIAL EVENTS
 * “…suggest that television, internet, and webcams provide access to social events and enable entrances into places that would otherwise be unavailable.”
 * Especially helps marginalized groups (ex. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) with getting together and being aware of events for their community – because such events may not be so openly conversed about in public
 * birthday parties and other social events – Facebook
 * BRIDGING PHYSICAL DISTANCE
 * “…individuals talking together in the same space rather than typing in different locations.”
 * When chatting on a computer or texting over your phone, responses are immediate as if they were right beside us.
 * The use of webcams brings us //even// closer.
 * __Benefits & Negatives__
 * Has benefits and costs because the world of ‘cyberspace’ is so easily penetrable.
 * Good – can create communities for marginalized groups – ex. Gays, lesbians, and transsexuals.
 * Bad – makes harassment and fraud more convenient.
 * TVs
 * Reality TV programs allow us to enter the homes and lives of people.
 * House of Carters, Hogan Knows Best, & MTV cribs
 * Other top television programs such as ANTM, and The Ultimate Fighter, have also used this method.
 * Travel programs are another great example that illustrates how TVs are windows in which the outside world can be brought into the home without any sort of movement.
 * Discovery/National Geographic
 * News channels inform us of issues in other parts of the world, but at the same time we can ‘maintain a safe distance’.
 * Computer screens
 * WOW and Second Life are doorways into fictional worlds created by programmers and users.
 * Through avatars, users ‘experience’ feelings/emotions one would in the physical realm.
 * Webcams
 * Future Shop’s FAQ webcam operator. It’s more engaging and alive and that’s what appeals to us - immediacy.
 * MAYBE- EXAMPLE: “…a connection between the lived space of the spectator and operator by depicting her breaching the monitor’s glass and walking into the physical environment of the viewer.”
 * The Ring, how she crawls through the TV.
 * The TV producers are playing on this boundary between reality and what’s “on screen”. This scene is so frightening because even though we know it’s impossible for a girl to crawl out of the screen; TV content is so absorbing and at times seems so close that this penetration of screen content to the real world almost seems possible. The impossible for a brief second seems possible.
 * The reason we’re so fascinated by reality shows is because we feel like we’re being shown accurate, raw reality as opposed to the usual constructed reality we often see on TV.
 * The reality given to us is a small window into true human nature (ex. Arguments between contestants). Even though we know reality TV isn’t all that ‘real’.
 * Ex. The producers of Survivor would not actually allow any of the contestants to die.

=NEXT ARTICLE:=

2nd Article, **"The Mass Production of Celebrity: 'Celetoids', reality TV and the 'demotic turn' by Graeme Turner**
 * Show TWO LARGE portrait pictures of a well-accomplished athlete, and Willaim Hung

- Today, the people who we increasingly consider to be 'celebrities' possess an element or elements of ordinariness. And Turner works to explain why this has come to be...
 * -** Turned coined the term 'the demotic turn' to help describe the change in how the celebrity is regarded and/or 'formed' today.

- **TV 'Celebrities':

CLASS DISCUSSION: - Does anyone watch The Real World? The Hills? America's Next Top Model? Top Chef? American Idol? America's Best Dance Crew? WHAT IS IT ABOUT THESE SHOWS THAT HAVE GOT US SO INTRIGUED? - Turned talks about ordinary people being in such great demand. We have become obsessed with the "ordinary person making it big time". - Would you consider Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag legitimate "celebrities"? - If not, what do you think led them to super stardom? **


 * PPT slide #9 - **Concept 5- Title: Today the Celebrity is manufactured ALLISON **

Video: William Hung [] DISCUSSION: The exposure the media permitted him to have allowed his name and infamous dance to rise to fame. The media saw him as something to "satisfy" our appetite for frequently new and exciting things ... and once we'd had enough, he was never to be heard of again. It's as if in this manufacturing process, "the product's planned obsolescence is incorporated"...CLASS DISCUSSION: Can anyone think of any other examples of this???

- Chris Rojek the word **"celetoid**" -- an individual without any obvious talents that would lead them into the entertainment industry, and has "no specific career objectives beyond the achievement of media visibility, and an especially short life cycle as a public figure" ..he refers to these people as "lottery winner, one hit wonders, sports arena streakers, etc.- Today's culture consists of an obsession for new stories, gossip, and the media seems to be feeding into this. Someone like William Hung feeds into this kind of obesession accurately.

- by posting juicy and exciting gossip with something like 10 new updates a day, Perez Hilton made himself into a celebrity. - - There has been a rise in BLOGGER popularity (Holt Renfrew example)...Sea of Shoes: Just an avergae girl named Jane from Texas began blogging and posting photographs of herself in unique outfits portraying her unique style sense. People have gotten to know her just by reading her blog... people comment on her posts by greeting her on a first name basis. She posts endless pictures of her impressive shoe collection and people all over the world raved over he and her blog. Holt Renfrew set up window displays showcasing their own products but carefully picking items to portray various 'celeb bloggers' and their unique style. Here we can refer to the first article -- we enter this virtual dimension and have the ability to meet people and get to know them via many genres, in this example -- blogs. We "inhabit" the internet, and get to know other inhabitants via sources like MUDs, Social networking sites, and even Blogs. **
 * 'Celebrification' and The DIY Celebrity:




 * PPT slide #10- **Concept 6 - Title: The shift in the role of the media JEREMY **

- The media has the control over what is exposed to us as spectators and consumers, and thus has the ability to both create and 'dismiss' these 'celebrities.' - Today the concept of someone being plucked from a life of complete normalcy and rising to fame resembles a manufacturing process. And with this idea, the individual's fame can be taken down or stashed away whenever the media sees fit. ** - This ties in several concepts presented in the previous article: first, **television screen as window or transparent wall** ... Even though we know these shows are somehow constructed, there is still an element of reality that we are attracted to -- people who are not professional actors and are bound to say or do the unexpected. Take the Hills for instance, what is it about these show that has girls so addicted? The dramas they bring up seem more relatable to our day-to-day dramas..so it's like a window to more reality. Because of the elements of reality/everyday drama like on The Real World as well, it's almost as if there is no screen in front of us. - Turner mentions that various media forms have "developed production techniques which help to ensure that 'reality' is satisfactorily performed by the ordinary citizen even their 'ordinariness' "... I.E. The Hills again (LOL)...given that LC and Heidi have been on these 'reality' shows for more than 5 years you'd think that their acting skills would have improved a little...but the show seeks to maintain that satisfactory, more realistic acting performance so it still stays relatable and in a sense, more "realistic"
 * - "The function of the media has mutated as it has increasingly directly participated in the construction of cultural identity as one of its primary spheres of activity."

second, **DIRECT ADDRESS** : On "Reality" TV shows like the real world and big brother for example, people talk into the camera almost resembling a webcam, and we almost feel as if we are getting one-on-one time with the ppl on the show. Like they are addressing us or talking to us specifically.