I read an article about it in the “Journal de Montreal” on Friday, I watched the news coverage on the 24 Haitian orphans that arrived in Canada and on the brief meeting Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Canon gave today regarding the meeting that will take place in Montreal on Monday to plan the reconstruction of Haiti. The previous was covered by CBC NN today. I also watched an online coverage of Canon briefing on CTV news.

In all three news reports there was a lot of emphasis on Canada’s involvement in aiding Haiti as well as on the Canadian casualties and victims in Haiti due to the earthquake.

However the images they show is of the devastating effects that it has had on Haiti and it’s people. Most of the pictures I saw in the newspaper are of Haitians in a devastating state. They are sad and emotional yet I find it funny that we put these pictures and don’t hear their stories. No, instead they have little headers under the pictures stating something like: This Haitian woman is screaming in pain as the Red Cross medical team tries to heal her. (that’s not exactly what it said word for word, but that was the message). Such messages make the Haitian people victims with no voices and us their rescuers.

During the CBC new report they would interrupt to play music clips of Dave Matthews and others that sang at George Clooney’s telethon fundraiser. They music was emotionally sad but inspirational with songs like “We shall overcome”. After those clips the news would switch back to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Canon discussing the reconstruction of Haiti. Again I got the impression that the Haitian people victims and that we shall be their saviors.

In regards to issues of race, I think the messages the media sends through its texts, pictures and music and the way they are put together, is somewhat racist, in that it strips the Haitian people of their voices, possibly their dignity and places the white Canadian man above them as their savior. (the pictures usually portray white males as the rescue team members)

The trailer I chose is from a movie called “The Wolfman”. It is a remake of the horror classic from the 40′s. I chose this movie, because I just love werewolfs! I don’t know why, I just love them since I’m a little kid and I think that movie will do them justice compared to what twilight did to them. Damn you twilight!!!

The action is situated in England during what appears to be the begining or the mid 20th century. The main character is returning home after a long exile, because his brother was thorn to pieces by a mysterious beast (aka a werwolf… didn’t see that one coming did you!?) The guy run around the countryside in search of the big bad wolf. Gets bitten, becomes the wolfman and this is where the fun begins! After that, we see him beeing captured and experimented on until he unleashes the beast within and butcher a whole lot a people.

4. What are the different messages, either obvious or subtle, that can be read in the media text?

There is no subtlety here, this is pure horror and drama entwined for your sole amusment. The movie promises action packed scenes, drama that will make you hold your breath untill the end and with out a doubt a cheesy love story. However, I think to wolfman is a methaphor for the beast that we, humans, all have inside. I think it represents our primal nature. It makes us realize that even with all our technology and our civilized ways, we are still animals.

Here is the link enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS02xaTIdRI

Par la suite, la question que j’ai choisit de répondre est la question 6 soit : «Who or what group is benefiting and who or what group is suffering from this media text?» Tout d’abord, les groupes qui bénéficie de cette bande annonce sont les personnes qui sont ont à cœur l’environnement et qui vivent pour la protéger. En effet, les quelques secondes que nous démontrent cette bande annonce affiche les beautés de la nature et à quel point elle peut subvenir à tout nos besoins. Elle affiche aussi à son tour une façon de visionner la vie et de l’interpréter qui est totalement différentes de la manière dont nous vivons à ce jour et qui met en valeur l’importance de l’environnement dans notre quotidien. Par la suite, les groupes que l’on peut considérer comme pouvant souffrir de ce film sont certainement les entreprises d’énergie que ce soit nucléaire, pétrolière ou électrique. En effet, la plupart de ces compagnies jouent un grand rôle dans la pollution de notre planète et dans la bande annonce, seulement qu’avec les images et les effets sonores, on peut déduire que ceux-ci sont considérer comme étant les «méchants» de ce film. On apprendra aussi plus tard que plusieurs personnes vont développer une certain sentiment d’appréhension face à ceux-ci.

This movie surely pictures a sad reality that many teenagers might be living in the slums of the United States,where most children are dependant of welfare and their families are falling apart due to poverty and other issues.

I will be dealing with question # 3:
What are the different ways media text can be understood?

This trailer does not present a lot of text.It is accompanied by an R&B song .The few words that appears on the screen are :”Life is rich,life is hard ,life is painful ,life is precious.”These few words don’t have two meanings.They represent the reality of the movie and are aimed to captivate the attention of the audience.The editors try to convey a strong and powerful message of hope,which says no matter one may be going through,you must hold on to life because it is a precious gift from God.It is a message of hope.The word “precious” is repeated twice ,as if the editors wanted to put an emphasis on this specific word.The text is really clear,the font used is appropriate for the audience (which is mostly teenagers and young adults).The audio-visual aspect of the trailer is very important and would completely change the initial meaning if it was not put together this way.

I chose this film because I thought it had great images which could mean a lot of different things. The media which is being portrayed can be meaningful in several different ways. What I mean by that is that it sends a message to those who enjoy suspense, terror, cruelty, torture, intimidation, and murder. It’s a film that I have not yet seen, but I can already outline what the film is all about by simply watching the trailor.

It begins with Brad Pitt (one of the ‘Bastards’) leading his army of 7 men, to exterminate the Germans in Nazi-occupied France. This theatrical trailor depicts media in different ways, which is one of the questions Share discusses, that can be understood as either those who enjoy movies that are behind enemy lines, and those who are interested in the history of the events that happened during World War II. Personally, by watching the trailor, I am intrigued and have an interest in historical films about the past. However, this message could also send out negative issues or topics to those who have been affected by the Second World War or those who feel as though it is a sensitive subject. It was a period in time where much cruely and terror was involved. The characters illustrate a lot of anger, distress, and hatred.

This type of media can be understood as either possitive or negative. Ultimately, which ever side one takes, that person will understand the media in a totally different context. To me, the media text represents something historical and interesting to me to learn about.

I will be dealing with question number 3.
My situation is different in comparison to most other blog submissions on this page. The funny thing is, I watched the entire film in high school before watching the trailer. Afterwards, as I watched the trailer I was amazed at how the editors were capable of showing the most salient parts of the film whilst maintaining a certain level of suspense and uncertainty about what is really going on. Like most trailers, the four minute video preview for Crash is a compilation of short attention-grabbing scenes from the film. I believe this trailer is the most appealing to me because I was convinced to see the movie for a second time. The trailer was put together in a way that creates an underlying theme of injustice or inequality. In this case, the media could be understood in different ways. The movie is about various groups and the racial tension that follows each group. Therefore the trailer allows for different people to relate to it accordingly. For example, a scene in the film deals with police harassment. While one may be able to relate to the victim in this scene, someone who works in the police force may be able to relate to the antagonist. The film is interesting because it constantly deals with this notion of role-playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqJvWsOIix4&feature=related