Nathan's Blog

Nathan Borthwick (He, Him), a man who hails from Plymouth Minnesota, Came to NDSU to study strategic communications. He is a Third-year student who hopes to pursue a job using social media after he graduates. When asked, Nathan claims he took COMM 200 because he knew knowing the basics of media writing could open up doors to new opportunities in the future. He elaborated by saying that media writing and storytelling is an important aspect to what he wants to do with his career. Although it is not a perfect fit for what he wants to do, he stated that understanding the basics of media writing can help a person to become a better communicator.  This class is also required for his Major. Preceding the interview, I asked Nathan a few questions about himself to break the Ice. I started with what is the best way to eat a PB&J. He responded by saying “The best way to eat (a PB&J) is to take one piece of bread, put peanut butter first, then jelly, and fold it over”. I personally wou...

       When thinking about the writing process, the idea of researching, drafting, revising, and editing comes to mind. This is a process that many people deem to be the correct way to write. That being said, writing tends to be a creative process, so people tend to put a spin on the classic four steps to make this process their own. In this short journal, I will explain my writing process, and compare it to the example given above.  When I sit down to write, I like to start by thinking through the idea or topic that I am going to write about. I am a horrible note-taker, so I tend to spend the first step of my writing process doing some individual research. This might include using the internet, reading a book, or finding an article about whatever topic I am preparing to write about. Once I get a solid grasp on what I want to write, I find the best way to get started is to just get typing. Once I get a few words on the page, everything else starts to flow. If I ...

Old boy; A Korean mystery film that combines kill bill and Oedipus rex. With this film, you see many reoccurring themes, but I believe an important one is the theme of family. The movie begins with the main character Oh Dae-Su being imprisoned for public drunkenness. when he is released he immediately goes to call his daughter. This event can be seen as foreshadowing and shows the love he has for his daughter. he is then imprisoned for fifteen years. when he is released he attempts to find out the location of his daughter. This is a mirror of the first event and also shows the theme of family. as the movie progresses however, this theme begins to change its meaning. It goes from being something wholesome, and pure, to being something dark and twisted. As Oh Dae-sue seeks revenge he forgets about his family and attempts to find the truth about himself and his past. this leads him down a dark path and causes him to commit a terrible sin. He later realizes what he did which makes him para...

A sign in semiotics can be split into two parts. They can be identified as a signifier or a signified. to begin we will look at the definition of a signifier. A signifier can be defined as a word that describes the sigh. For example, if you were to see the word dog you would visualize a dog. Next, we have signified. The signified is an image that is associated with the sign. This would be when you saw a picture of a dog and thought of the word dog. In commercials, companies will use signs to help create myths about the company. This blog will explain how signs create myths in the Marilyn Monroe super bowl commercial . To begin we have the screen pan up to reveal that Marilyn Monroe is Willem Dafoe. He is shown to have an angry face and starts making rude comments to a director who is filming him in a movie. We then see ann assistant to the director come out with snickers telling him to eat it because "your not you when you're hungry". Wilhelm takes a bite only to reveal t...

Gamification is a tactic used by companies, agencies, or even Armies to help recruit, or gain interest in a product. one of the most successful attempts at gamification was done by the United States army. Over the last two decades, the united states army has implemented a series of "games" to help to recruit efforts to be more successful. this began in 1999 when the army created there "virtual army experience" making the army look more like a video game than an actual career path. In 2008, the army expanded their efforts creating for transportable virtual reality chambers that they effectively used at recruiting events to gain an edge in recruitment efforts. This is widely regarded as one of the most effective gamification efforts of all time, and to this day the army uses this not only as a tactic of recruiting but as a training method as well. Just recently the Army created a program called the Games For Training program or the GTP. This program uses the same typ...

Pokemon is a company that everyone is familiar with. wether you have seen the countless Pikachu memes that have flooded the internet, or you played the classic video games growing up, pokemon is a company that has affected each one of our lives in some way, and this is why the pokemon company is such a great example of global media content. growing up I was always intrigued by the idea of pokemon. One trainer's monster competing and battling against another to claim victory, and eventually become the champion. it was the same story over, and over again, but it never got old. As a kid, a game like this made me think and gave me, as well as other players, a sense of freedom. As a young adult, the games provided a pleasant nostalgia about the good times spent playing the games growing up, and a sense of comfort remembering that freedom. I think this is why this game, as well as countless other pokemon products , are so appealing. Another important thing to recognize about the company...

Disney; It is a company we are all familiar with, but they were not always the entertainment powerhouse that we know them as today. So this raises the question of what allowed them to grow to such a monstrous size ? this can be answered by looking at integration. To begin we can look back to 2006. this year marks the historic acquisition of Pixar studios by Disney. From that point forward Disney has been the pinnacle of box office success for well over a decade and has acquired many other companies, further increasing its entertainment dominance. A few other notable examples of horizontal integration between Disney and other companies include Disney buying marvel studios in 2009, their purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, and there most recent acquisition of 21st century fox in 2019. We can also see examples of verticle integration in Disney. Examples of this can be seen through a thing like there own Disney stores and the sale of Disney merchandise to help further there own profits. we can...