SKI FEVER

media meditation 2
Since i have last blogged I have ran into a number of new media experiences. I helped my friend edit a snowboard video and learned a lot about video editing and how to use final cut. I also started using Rockmelt, when t first came out i didn't like it because I actually thought the Facebook chat feature was annoying. Then i realized i could turn that off, and now its my default browser.

My most interesting media experience was a new video game i bought. Over the winter I broke my shin skiing, and recently had to go home for spring break. Having a broken leg and no car to drive, I had to get something to entertain me over the week. So I was going to buy Skate 3, a skateboarding video that i like playing with my friends at school. Then i saw a commercial for a video game that my friend told me about. Its called Bullet Storm. I was told that the idea of the game was to make an extremely violent first person shooter, that would mock

new age war and shooter games. Then they started designing it and realized that the game was actually awesome. The creators realized that people love over the top gory and violent games, so there was a profitable market for it. After seeing the commercial i had to get it.

The game has to do with the epistemological shift of the 21st century. We have been slowing moving from a shift from word to image in how people entertain themselves since the 20t century. People used to read books, even watching TV is in the past. Now you can have an avatar on a screen and control him or her with a controller. In this game you are a space mercenary in the distant future, and you have crashed on a alien planet where all hell has broken loose. It gives the gamer the opportunity to kill enemies in entertainingly violent ways. You have to play the game to fully understand.

The game also has to do with the principle of "reality" construction. The game builds a reality for the player. You get in this mind set while playing that you are on this planet killing, defending your self from aliens. A bad trade off of this is how people get sucked into these realities that game create. People can get so caught up in video games these days, that they cant distinguish it from reality.

Repetition is something the trailer for the game uses. As you see in the video below the marketing scheme behind this video is to repeat images of constant killing in ridiculous ways. You see people getting shot and exploding, people being kick and then shot. this is what captured my attention, all the different ways to kill someone instead of just shooting them.

This game was a great choice. I recently also got into playing online and it is awesome. Same as the game, killing that is fun and entertaining.

Ski magazine's Buyers Guide

For my magazine presentation I decided to chose Ski magazines 2011 buyers guide. I was given this magazine while I was in the hospital after my surgery. I always love reading buyers guides because you learn about all of the new technology that is evolving in the production of skis.

The magazine is owned by Bonnier, and is in the sub division of Bonnier Mountain group. They own such companies as skiing magazine, snow magazine, Warren Miller productions, and the Nastar race organization. They have a website for all of these companies and even a website for the Bonnier Mountain group (http://www.skinet.com/)

Ski magazines website is skinet.com/ski/. They have many different links on their website all dedicated to helping skiers. Like on the home page there is a section dedicated to the "hottest" ski topics and list sub-categories of topics you may be interested in, like family, ski resorts, fitness, where to ski, and lodging and dining. The website is centered around pleasing the avid skier. You can learn about travel destinations and even about new gear.

The magazine itself is the most useful issue the company puts out. It gives buyers a professional insight into what they should be buying for the next season. The thing that I think is most interesting about a buyers guide is how it promotes advertising. When the magazine recognizes a product as being something "you need" for the next season, that adds on to the advertising campaign of that product.

The magazine uses two persuasive techniques testimonial and beautiful people. The company actually test the products they are reviewing. They have experts go out and ride the products so that they can write about which new products are the best for 2011. This is a testimonial persuasion because people will believe the product is good if they here that the "experts" love it. Also the company uses beautiful people. But not in the sense of models selling beer. It's more just extremely happy people and families skiing on a sunny day. Most of the advertisements in the magazine always had someone skiing with a huge smile on their face.