Prompt C.

Print media is full of boring facts, as exemplified by any newspaper.
Non-print Media is more interested in attracting the eye, as exemplified by my last blog.

Because humans are pathetically attracted to anything shiny, non-print media is often where people get their knowledge from.

There are times that one of the types lacks some thing important that the other doesn't. To explain this point, I'll bring my last blog back into play: in the non-print media (video), posted below, the reporter interviewed simply says that the boy asked if he needed a passport to get into Mexico (after which Captain Obvious swooped in and said "That might be a clue!).

The article, though, says something important:

The pair were apparently spotted Friday night at a Denver convenience store, and Sunday in Ogallala, in western Nebraska near the northeast tip of Colorado.

If they're just South of Colorado, chances are they're going to Mexico, and now people who live around there (wester Nebraska) know to keep an eye out.

The video didn't mention that, which was probably not wise.

"Love on the Lam"

Prompt B, yo (this might be short, but still):

Video (it's called "Love on the Lam"):
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html


Text:
http://www.pr-inside.com/police-searching-for-nebraska-teacher-and-r279330.htm



Both the video and the text give you facts, but the video seems to prefer giving the facts that will "shock" you. It just gives one blow after another: "He's 13 and she's 25." "They've run off." "We've found love letters." "OH MY GOD, THEY'RE GOING TO MEXICO."

The text presents the facts, regardless of shock value. It mentions the fact that the teacher may have given the boy a cell phone, for instance. This isn't as exciting as seeing a face and hearing awful things but it's more balanced.

With printed word news companies can give all the facts, rather than the most exciting ones or the ones that will sell advertisement slots.

Al Franken Blog thing.

Due to the fact that I realized that prompt A would work better for this assignment, I chose to use it instead of B.

Word.

--

As we discussed in class, the camera angles and mood of the first scene play an important roll. The movies opens with a man and a woman sitting on what is obviously a movie set. The set is comprised of a couch and a decoratively papered wall. As the man and woman talk about Fox News' lawsuit of Al Franken the camera shifts around and cuts suddenly to frames where the people have changed position.

The voices of the people, however, are never cut and they are often shown looking away from the camera, mouth closed, looking off into the distance.

To me, this signifies that the director is trying to make the people out to be more authoritative than they really are. When statements are presented by someone whose face is stern and resolute they seem more real. It seems as if they are being given to you emotionless -- just as facts truly are.

Directly after this scene we see Al Franken dressed as Moses and holding the ten commandments. A voice from heaven booms down onto him and God instructs him to take on the corporate giant Fox News. Franken's version of God differs slightly from the Romantic idea of a loving "Father" -- his is more like the alcoholic uncle who, upon listening to Franken's doubts, exclaims that they're all "utter bullshit!"

That whole scene is a huge juxtaposition to the previous one and serves two purposes: to lighten the mood (Franken is a comedian and therefore needs that sort of thing) and to show that he isn't afraid of anything; not even God. Of course, one could argue that the entire purpose of that scene is just to get the Conservatives angry ("...and he made fun of God, ma! I'll kill that yellow-bellied bastard!"), but I'll give Al the benefit of the doubt.

The rest of the movie is simply cuts between a comedic speech, given by Franken, and interviews with people involved in the Fox News suit. Franken is shown as being a tall man (why else would the camera be pointed up at him?) and Bill O'Reilly is portrayed as an ass (which he didn't really need help doing in the first place).