Freudian Media and the End of Individual Thought

Sigmund Freud may have died many years ago, but his theories live on. And they are incredibly apparent in today's media. You can really see the theories he developed show up in advertising, where they plan on human's preconscious in order to sell products.

According to allpsyche.com:

Freud believed that the majority of what we experience in our lives, the underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a conscious level.  He believed that most of what drives us is buried in our unconscious.

 Targeting these experiences is exactly what advertisers do in order to sell their product.

id
Contains the basic drives, fueled by the pleasure principle.

Contains everything that is inherited, that is present at birth, is laid down in the constitution -- above all, therefore, the instincts, which originate from the somatic organisation, and which find a first psychical expression here (in the id) in forms unknown to us

Here is the some examples of id in the media:

• Kid's cartoons
  
• Music videos
  
• Pornography
• Most types of music have an id component

Ego
The balance of id drives and the controlling super-ego that helps from your conscious.

The Ego comprises that organised part of the personality structure that includes defensive, perceptual, intellectual-cognitive, and executive functions. Conscious awareness resides in the ego, although not all of the operations of the ego are conscious. The ego separates what is real. It helps us to organise our thoughts and make sense of them and the world around us.

Here is the some examples of id in the media:

• Evening News
• Most serials, such as House, Heroes, 24, Battlestar Galactica, and more.
• Food, HGTV, History & Discovery channels
• CNN, CSPAN, and other cable news channels
• Documentary programming
  

Superego 
The "police force" of feeling, keeping you grounded

The Super-ego can be thought of as a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt. For example: having extra-marital affairs.

• Many Reality TV shows have examples of the superego
• Police television shows like Cops or Law and Order
• Criminal investigation television shows, such as CSI or Bones
• Religious television
  

So, after looking into all the specifics of the Freudian theory of consciousness, just how does this relate to media? I believe this short commercial gives you a good look at how it exploits facets of Freudian thought in order to sell merchandise

Tylenol - "Feel Better" PM 30

First, it shows clear id messages. You can see the pain and discomfort on people's faces, while they're in an unconscious (or near unconscious) state. They roll and twist and are unable to feel joy. However, after they take Tylenol, they appear much happier and content. Their faces brighten up and they seem to be satisified.

Furthermore, the sexual relations that Freud sees are very appear in the advertisement, using the bodies laid down in ways that exposes them more and more, seeming to draw people in not just for the id, but using their sexual drive. The ad is definitely trying to signify that it can satisfy your pleasure drive seen in your id.

There are many other examples of this, and Freudian thought lives strongly on today.

Matt Richards

COMM 403

Copyright this!

As media evolves, it has grown into new mediums. From newspapers to radio to TV to the internet, we've seen the mediums of media continually evolve. As we deal with the internet, we've entered a brand new age of digital media. And, as such, we've also entered into an era of digital copyright.

Just who owns what? Well, the age-old assumption is that whoever created it, owns it. But on the internet, we've reached an age where ideas and media are created, edited, and evolve so quickly, that this may not truly apply. The dawn of Open Source software, a rich digital environment, and a beautiful level of collaboration has led to a people who have become less respectful for traditional copyright laws. Open source initiatives, like Creative Commons, have truly opened up our doors to these ideas.

There has always been a gray area within copyright law, but the wave of digital consumers have further created this gray area. There is no longer cut cases of copyright infringement when it comes down to the world wide web.

Furthermore, even in cases of clear copyright violations, tracking them down  is increasingly difficult due to the popularity of piracy. Even if they are clearly stealing movies, TV shows, video games, or other types of media - hunting down the consumers and prosecuting them is not always the best approach. After all, you're essentially targeting your own customers. Instead, people have turned to DRM, or Digital Rights Management, to hold onto their copyrights in the digital age.

What has led people to clearly violate copyright laws so frequently online? Many people steal media indiscriminately online, many without even knowing the consequences or that they're breaking the law. Some believe that copyright laws don't apply to them. Some simply enjoy the sport of pirating software, music, and more. But the environment that created such a mass frenzy of file sharing was created around the belief that media on the software should be free. This is a grand idea, and hopefully one that will be realized. But right now the new media enthusiasts and big media companies do battle in cyberspace over copyright law, and trying to find a compromise seems like a far fetched idea.

Creations like Hulu try to appease big media companies while still appealing to the mass majority of internet users and their belief that everyone on the internet should be free. They still make money, while not having a cost. Unfortunately, even ventures such as Hulu are turning into paid ventures, and many people may revert to piracy.

Matt Richards
COMM 203

Narrative Analysis on Non-Fiction

I chose the Diary of Anne Frank for my non-fictional selection of a narrative analysis.

The Diary of Anne Frank has a deep narrative structure, filled to the rim with the thoughts, concerns, and analysis of a young, changing girl. The fact that it's a diary makes it more true to life, her actual thoughts and feelings are put directly down on paper. This removes the "storyteller" aspect of it, as a lot of biographies try to tell a story in a third-person format. The first person aspect is unique and useful.

However, since this is a personal diary, it must be remembered that any narrative, thematic, or plot analysis may not hold true. While some parts of the diary show signs of being for public view, the majority of the diary entries were private, personal entries of a young, troubled teenaged girl.

The Three Acts

1. Act 1
   This is where Anne Frank lives with her family and attends a Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam. She lives her with family, conflicts a little with her sister and her mom, but generally enjoys life and has a lot of friends. Her life is more concerned with the social aspects of growing up as a young girl, and isn't concerned about the state of Jews all around her.
2. Act 2
   Anne Frank and her family move into a small secret annex above Otto Frank’s office where they had stockpiled food and supplies. Friends of the family supply them with food, supplies, and more - as well as their own personal stockpiles. They live with another family, the van Daans, and an acquaintance, Mr. Dussel. However, the reflections of the diary truly revolve around Anne Frank. They are personal recollections of her feelings, thoughts, and twisting emotions. From here, Anne Frank falls into depression, and feels incredibly lonely. Her thoughts turn to love, lose, and she has difficult understanding her feelings and her body. She is unable to communication or really relate with her mom and sister, and feels incredibly desolate.
   
3. Act 3
   She begins to finally feel grown up, likely because she has taken medication for her depression. Anne is able to finally relate and communicate with her mom and sister, bringing a bit of peace into their hellish lives. She has matured incredibly, her thoughts becoming more profound, deep, and intriguing. She discusses issues such as humanity, relates news of heard on the radio, and her writing essentially matures. This may be caused by hearing a radio station that is retelling stories from other people's journals, and she feels that her journal will be read one day. One seemingly normal day, the diary comes to a sudden and abrupt end, silencing her voice forever.

The fact that is it a diary means this is less of a narrative and more of a compilation of feelings, thoughts, and petty writings means that most of the story, and how the character of Anne evolves, is done through looking at her writing. You see it become more hopeful, then more depressing. Sometime it discusses petty topics of a teenage girl, and sometimes it discusses deeper issues of the human condition.

6 Step of Narrative Development

1. Preparation
   Anne Frank and her family have escaped from Germany to the Netherlands, calling it their new home, but the impending Nazi invasion looms over their head. They prepare to move into hiding, fearing their very lives in the public. Finally, on one night, they leave their home and escape into a hidden annex. 
2. Complication
   The entire life within a hidden annex is difficult. Anne struggles to find herself while her family is constantly fighting. Her life is filled with strife and uncertainty, and her own emotions seem to weigh against her.
3. Transference
   She befriends the teenage boy, Peter, of the other family. They discuss many things, including love, life, and sex. He helps her answer her many questions, and in many ways is her only friend. He helps Anne on her journey of self-discovery, and she begins to feel better about herself because she has a friend to confide in.
   
4. Struggle
   There are many struggles, from the fear of the Nazis discovering them, to illness, to lack of food, to rationed electricity, to constant fighting and debate. Despite all these very real and very serious matters, the true struggle that Anne Frank has revolves around Peter. Her father, Mr. Frank, refuses for them to spend time together. In the end, they finally are able to spend a small amount of time together, but their relationship dwindles.
   
5. Return
   As life begins to return to normal, there has been a couple of burglaries disturbing their residence. Finally, they try to stop them by shouting "Police!" This scares the robbers off, but a few days afterwords, Anne's journal ends. We find out later that they were betrayed and turned into the Nazis.
6. Recognition
   Though the journal is over, the soul survivor of the Frank family, Otto Frank, decides to publish it after the war. The journal becomes globally known and recognized as one of the few detailed encounters of the Holocaust by a young girl. Because it is so real and grounded, it's popularity has grown exponentially. 

It is hard to have a defined, structured analysis of a narrative when the Diary of Anne Frank was so disjointed, being structured as a diary. However, you do begin to see some narrative structures poking through, though as a conclusion you can see that real life does not follow a structured narrative guideline.

Thanks for reading,

Matt Richards
COMM403

World Wide Censorship on the Web

As the world moves into a digital age, we've found our laws lagging behind us. In a digital world of Facebook, MySpace, Napster, and Google, just how much are being censored? And is more censorship needed?

The first idea that many people seem to latch to is the US Constitution - that it's laws should extend to the internet. And in some ways, the ideals of Freedom of Speech are exhibited on the Internet. But how can a single country's law be applied to the entire internet? Is that even possible? Personally, I feel that a dated piece of paper is not nearly comphrensive, detailed, or modern enough to deal with the challenges of the new age of media, text, and speech that happens on the internet. We need something far different and modern.

Right now, the Internet stands as a beacon of hope for many people, young and old. They are allowed to express themselves however they wish, and there are very few laws or restrictions preventing people from sharing their minds. And this freedom has created a unique "blog-o-sphere" that has begun consuming the world. This freedom of thought has created a bright new age, where everyone from around the world has the opportunity to experience the life and troubles from people living thousands of miles away from them. This unique creation of the Internet should not be put down or censored in every way - we should encourage this flux of thought.

As the Internet begins to evolve, it has already begun to establish its own culture. It has its own norms, it's "right and wrongs" that don't necessarily apply elsewhere. Because of its fast and speedy evolution, you must wonder - should the laws catch up and apply to the Internet?

In my mind, I think you must allow the freedom of information on the Internet to flourish and grow. Already, this is happening, but government and corporations are creeping up and beginning to impose laws and limits on this flow of free information. One important debate in the United States is Network Neutrality.

As citizens of the Internet, we need to stand up and stop this. We cannot allow the Internet to be controlled by corporation or government. The internet is a place where everyone have a voice, all equally important, and it is everyone's right. This is simply too important to have taken away from us, and we need to fight against censorship.

Sadly, this may be a losing battle. For example, China has implemented firewalls on their country, creating a very comprehensive level of censorship.

The apparatus of the PRC's Internet repression is considered more extensive and more advanced than in any other country in the world. The regime not only blocks website content but also monitors the internet access of individuals. Amnesty International notes that China “has the largest recorded number of imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents in the world.”

We cannot let the Internet be censored. The Internet, while a brand new phenomena, has too many people with too many messages to have it shut up or put down.

Long live the internet and your right to speak your mind!

Matt Richards
COMM 203

Keyword: Community

Community is one of the greatest phenomena that has developed with humanity. It allows people to connect with each other and to create a mutual environments, shared feelings, and unified goals and structure. It allows people to unify and feel wanted within the community. These are all good things.

There is a total of nine definitions on Dictionary.com!

1.	a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.

2.	a locality inhabited by such a group.

3.	a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists (usually prec. by the): the business community; the community of scholars.

4.	a group of associated nations sharing common interests or a common heritage: the community of Western Europe.

5.	Ecclesiastical. a group of men or women leading a common life according to a rule.

6.	Ecology. an assemblage of interacting populations occupying a given area.

7.	joint possession, enjoyment, liability, etc.: community of property.

8.	similar character; agreement; identity: community of interests.

9.	the community, the public; society: the needs of the community.

Yikes!

Well, the community that interests me the most isn't really defined, at least in detail, above. It's a new type of community, and it's one that has seemed out of mass communications: it's the internet community. Whether its their own particular humor, style, or fads, the community of the internet is massive and growing. And it's incredibly diverse, and interesting!

There is a community on the internet for any type of interest, any type of group. If you like cooking, there's hundreds of communities for that. If you love watching Firefly, there's dozens of communities for that. If you attended a community college in rural West Virginia, guess what? There may be a few online communities for that.

But, is there a community for people who cannot help but express their undying love of chewing ice? Well, there's a community for that, too.

Thanks to the World Wide Web, you can literally find a community for any type of activity, interest, hobby, music, movie, book, area, restaurant, brand of toothpaste... it doesn't matter! These new communities are always looking for new members, and it's a great time to explore the web and find these interesting spots.

So... Thanks, Internet.

Signed,
People who love communities.

Matt Richards
COMM 203

Cyberpunks of Today

Cyberpunk, as a broad overview, is a sub-genre of science fiction that features dystopic worlds and high-end technology meshed together. Often, these stories have a deep political meaning to them, and often portray governments and corporations as being all-controlling, evil devices.

How does this relate to today's world, however? There is little dystopia, and today's technology doesn't seem far-fetched as it does in a cyberpunk's world. However, we've still developed a reliance on our technologies, from cellphones to Twitter to the entire Internet... we've become a society who clings to and develops technology faster than ever before.

Cyberpunks, in a modern context, are an underground movement that challenge the way things are run. They use the vast information and the freedom of speech on the internet to spread their ideas and philosophies, quickly spreading beyond the land. They form into small, active communities from around the globe, sharing their ideas and stories of the culture, exploring this great freedom through the Internet.

The antithesis of cyberpunks is pop culture. Essentially, anything that is mainstream, or popular, is against the very thing that cyberpunks stand for. They go their own way, public opinion has no effect on their tastes or desires.

The belief of cyberpunks is that reality and the Internet will slowly mesh and become one. This may seem like a distant and far-off fantasy... or is it? Today's world is quickly become more and more reliant on the use of technology and the Internet, and more and more we cannot live without the luxuries that it gives us. Whether we're aware of it or not, technology is taking over our lives, and the cyberpunks are aware of this than most others.

Whether technology and the connected mindset of the Internet are a threat or not is yet to be known, however more people greet this generation of technology with an open arms. Who could really live without their Facebook, cellphone, and favorite YouTube videos?

Favorite Genre Film: District 9

District 9 really blew my mind. It brought this unique perspective, great visual effects, and overall was a fantastic film. I am a huge fan of this movie. It's my favorite film so far of 2009, and one of the best science fiction films of all time.

While I could write a short blog about how this movie blew my mind, I'll do you one better. I wrote an entire movie review! So do yourself a favor, and check out this film! But also... check out my review of District 9!

Image from District 9 are copyright by their respective owners.

Matt Richards
COMM 403

Favorite Genre: Science Fiction

My favorite genre is science fiction. This relates to film, TV, books, and generally any sort of story. Science Fiction goes somewhat hand in hand with fantasy, as many science fiction films use some "magical" or "fantasy" elements, such as Star Wars.


I have a lot of great sci fi films that I love. From "The Matrix" to "Blade Runner" to "District 9" to "Star Wars" to "Star Trek". One of my favorite things is that science fiction really push the limit in terms of visual effects. The Fountain is a great example of this cinematic flair, as seen in the trailer. Even smaller, independent films use the science fiction setting, such as Moon (watch the trailer).

TV has seen a great science fiction series that has just came to an end. I of course speak of Battlestar Galactica. From great, epic battles to interesting, deep characters and a complex, philosophical plot. They're able to use a lot of metaphor, a lot of signification, and a lot of deep ideas. TV has seen a lot of long lasting sci fi series, from Stargate to Star Trek, grace it's presence for a long time.


My favorite television series, however, remains to be Firefly, a short-lived adventure that contained huge potential. With rowdy characters and a unique style, it offered up something really fun. Sadly, like many adventurous series on Fox, it was canceled before it's time. However, the movie spin-off, Serenity, was a huge hit, despite not making enough sales for a second movie.

My favorite Science Fiction book is "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. The book has space ships, inter-galactic warfare, and a warring species that the call the "bugs." It has complex political, social, and psychological elements. It shows how people can use games for good and evil, and the extent that people go to survive. The hero is a child, but his struggles feel very relevant and it's a great piece of literature. Some even call it one of the "great modern reads".

From the visual flare to the unique plots to the epic space battle scenes, I love some good science fiction.

Images from District 9 and Serenity, copyright is held by their respective owners.

Matt Richards
COMM 403

Intelligent Thinking

Often people seek to become intelligent. What few fail to recognize is that intelligence is, in fact, a curse. Intelligence brings hurt, pain, and sadness. Intelligence is a curse upon mankind's very existence.

Or is it? Intelligence can make you a happier, more fulfilled person. You can seek out the very mysteries that plague mankind's existence, and maybe even solve these problems. You take life by the horns and you make your own way. An intelligent person fears the unsolvable, and solves the solvable. But an intelligent man or woman embraces problem solving.

But how is a person intelligent? Is there one universal indicator that makes a person smart or less-than-smart? For many years, we've relied on the traditional IQ test. However, as we've gained more insight to the human mind, we've uncovered that there are many different meters to gauge someone's intelligence. And there are many different ways that makes a person intelligent; and their IQ score has very to little relevance in today's world.

Let's look into Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences. It gauges that multitude of ways you can learn, and just how you prefer to learn. It establishes the categories of which a person can learn and gain intelligence, and it also scores you based on your answers from this test (self-scoring xls file, you need MS Excel).

Here are my findings:

• Linguistic: 30
• Logical-Mathematical: 33
• Musical: 25
• Bodily-Kinesthetic: 25
• Spatial-Visual: 29
• Interpersonal: 29
• Intrapersonal: 34

As you can see, my intelligence lies mostly with Intrapersonal techniques. This means I'm acutely aware of my feelings and have a strong sense of self. Tie this in with a strong Logical-Mathematical intelligence, means I'm a very deep and logical thinker who sorts things out on my own.

All in all, no one person can be judged by a specific set of qualifications. If Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences tells us anything, it's that we need to be open to the fact that everyone is intelligent in their own way. And they learn in their own ways, too. And everyone needs to be aware of this, before they go labeling anyone as "smart" or "dumb."

Matt Richards
COMM 203

The New "Geek" Look

There's a new type of a geek in town. He's the successful businessman, he was the geek in highschool (and partially still is), and now he's the new generation of casual, internet-savvy males who are just making it out of college. And their casual clothing style is really coming forth and becoming more mainstream.

Everyone dresses casually, but the new generation of businessmen is bringing it to a whole different level. Take, for example, Kevin Rose, the co-founder of Digg.com, Revision3, Pownce, and many other Web 2.0 start-ups (pictured left). In his typical attire, there are many signifiers: a loose fitting pair of jeans, a baggy hoodie, and casual, urban sneakers. Nothing about his appearance represents his estimated net worth of $60,000,000 by BusinessWeek.

Kevin is not only worth an incredible about of money, but he keeps good company. This picture, seen with Bill Gates, shows Kevin wearing similar attire: a loose, button-up t-shirt, his every-day looking jeans, and his shaggy, bedhead look. He is indeed taking the "business casual" level of apparel to a whole new level.

It's not that Kevin does not have nicer clothing. Seen here, he is wearing both a pleasant suit on top of a nice button up shirt. But unbuttoned top, the crooked angle of the collar, and the unbuttoned all are signifiers of his casual business attire. He's relaxed posture and unkempt hair also give him a more friendly, casual appearance, over a business and professional look.

There is other icons of this generation of internet-savvy culture. For example, one of Kevin's co-workers, Alex Albrecht, wears his clothing in a similar way.

Alex has a wild, untamed hairstyle to go along with his light button-shirt shirt. Again, there's the unbuttoned top, and the undershirt is clearly visible and contrasts. And even though this clothing (and the beer!) signify that they are not at a business meeting, but are relaxing casually, this is actually at a conference! Clearly, this new world of young professionals is turning the traditional aspects of business attire up on its head.

Another key element of the internet-savvy geek generation is the glasses! Alex's thick, bold glasses are a key signifier for this "new geek" look.

This new fashion that is developing has a bold statement to it. It's saying it's less important about how you present yourself, but more important about what you've accomplished. Business is being done more and more over the internet, and there is a losing important in wearing a suit and tie, even in business situations you'll see these new web entrepreneurs wearing casual clothing.

There is a downside that it may make you seem less professional, and more like a typical "college student slacker." After all, appearance is important in making an impression. However, the statement that this style makes is that it's less about what other people think, and more about wearing clothing you're comfortable in. After all, it's your ideas, experience, and accomplishments that count.

Keep an eye out for this new generation of young, web professionals with the following signifiers:

• They tend to like hoodies, though even those are generally kept out of business meetings
• If they are wearing a business jacket, look for it to be completely unbuttoned with a stylish button-up underneath
• Whenever they wear a button-up shirt, look for the top button or two to be unbuttoned. They'll have a undershirt underneath, usually a contrasting color.
• Loose fitting pants are a must! Jeans are by far the most common, but keep an eye out for cargo or khaki pants as well. Shorts are less common.
• A wild hairstyle! Crazier, gelled hair is a possibility, but the most common is longer, shaggy, and somewhat messy "bedhead".
• Distinct glasses, generally with a think rim, a defining color, and usually a squared feeling.

The following photo shows Rachel Maddow (MSNBC) with Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose.

All three of them are wearing the same fashion attire, and they're clearly in a professional setting (a television set). This style of presenting yourself is slowly becoming more accepted, and less looked down upon for its lack of traditional "professionalism"!

What is Semiotics? Why is the sky blue? And just what is a tomato?

To ask what Semiotics is, one must first question reality. What is? What isn't? What makes a tomato a tomato? How do you know what anything is?

And... just why is the sky blue?

Well, to answer the last question first: the sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light.

What does this have to do with Semiotics? Nothing. Whoops.

So, then what is reality? Is it anything more than a collection of thoughts, ideas, and concepts? Or is it a collection of physical objects, that we strive to provide meaning for? Just how do we apply meaning to this physical word that surrounds us? Because as we apply a layer of meaning to everything, we see the birth of spoken word, civilization, written word, communication, and ultimately: semiotics.

So just what is Semiotics?

Semiotics is the study of signs, signifiers, and their signified concept. A signifier is a form that can take shape in a word, a symbol, an image, a noise, anything. It's the text. The signified concept is the ultimate end: it's the concept that the signifier represents. Together, the signifier and signified co-exist to create a sign. And we use signs every day.

So, what makes a tomato a tomato?

Well, let's consider the word itself: tomato. The word is, in itself, a signifier. It's signified concept is a lone tomato, sitting by itself, a pristine red fruit. In most cases, a signifier will have multiple (if not many) signified concepts. Other signified concepts could be a farm, it could be a supermarket, or it could be a BLT. But, in general, the direct relation between an actual "tomato" and the word "tomato" is what make up the sign.

There is other ways it could be the same signified concept, but have a different signifier: A drawing of a tomato; the sound of a tomato being squished; or even just the letter "T" when you order a "BLT". These are all different signifiers for the same concept.

In the end, semiotics is a theory about how we apply meaning, language, and signs to everything in our life. It's how we communicate. We use symbols and signs everywhere, all the time. Every word we speak signifies something. It's hard to avoid seeing Semiotics come to life around you once you've learned just what the theory is.

For a more in depth look into semiotics, I highly recommend reading Semiotics for Beginners by Daniel Chandler.

But, for the real reason you've read this blog: just what the heck is a tomato? Is it a fruit or a vegetable? Well, you should ask an expert, because I certainly don't know!

Matt Richards
COMM-403

Graphic Novel: An Artistic Vision of Battlefield 2

View "The Dawn of Battle," a Battlefield 2 graphic novel on my website.

This is an artistic vision of the popular Battlefield 2 modification, Project Reality. I went in and recorded all the action, in a single-player battle against bots. I then went in with the Battle Recorder, and took a ton of screenshots from a variety of angles.

The next step was utilizing Adobe Photoshop to construct a unique theme to the images. I went in, constructed an HDR profile of each image, then applied various lighting and coloring techniques to try to tie everything together.

Then I applied the images to the graphic novel pages, using a variety of overlays and lighting styles to blend everything together. The goal was to sharpen certain elements - like facial features and the weaponry, whilst blurring out the background. I then applied various artistic filters and blended them into the images.

The final step was adding text. I had constructed the plot before hand, so I knew exactly what was happening throughout the graphic novel. Then, I applied an action that darkened the edges and added a slight film grain throughout the page.

Whilst not the perfect graphic novel (in fact, it's "to be continued"), I felt it had a very unique, interesting visual style. Especially since the base material was, in fact, a video game. It's fun to read, even more fun to look at, despite the rather bland plot.

Exploring New Media and Web Careers

My goal in searching for a career is to apply experience I've already accumulated with my Mass Communication degree from Shepherd University. I feel that these two overlap very well.

Before coming to college, I've had quite an extensive amount of experience in the video game and web design industries. Here is the short list:

• Created well over a dozen separate websites over a six year period (and ran them as Webmaster). Most are related to the video game industry.
• Designed over forty websites over six years
• Developed a variety of movies (mostly game related)
• Written over thirty video game reviews (nearly all of them I have received the game from the publisher for)
• Operated a blog for three years with over one hundred blog posts.
  
• Professional web designed for three years, and co-own a small business that specializes in photography and design services.
• Created two maps for Counter-Strike Source, learning the in-and-outs of the complex "Hammer Editor" (that all Valve / Source games use as an SDK).
• Played video games professionally, having competed in dozens of online tournaments, as well as a few respectable LAN events, and earned my name as a top team leader.

Okay, so not exactly a short list. But I entirely plan to use all this past experience as the base to my career.

There is three main careers I am pursuing:

Community Manager
A community manager would be my ideal job. I've worked with gaming communities extensively, and would love to work on video games communities in the future. Community managers can be in charge of promotion, viral marketing, web design decisions, videos, screen shots, wallpapers, art, and more. They're also in charge of the core maintenance of the community - assigning moderators, keeping the site up to date, and generally communication with the game's fans and followers through the web, print, and more.

I've met a few different community managers, and they have a wide variety of skills and I feel I align well with the job they perform. They know enough about game design to know what is happening, but not be consumed by game or art design. The focus on the community interaction.

This would pull from nearly all of my skills (if in the game's industry), as well as use my Mass Communication degree very well. It's all about communication between a product and its consumers in the most efficient ways possible, and the focus of the job is all around New Media.

Games Journalist
Having already been an amateur games journalist, I really enjoyed doing this. Most video games are described on varying levels of "fun." As a games journalist, it requires you to break down many different levels of describing just what is the "fun" of that game, or the lack there of.

It is an exciting, challenging, but not very well-paying career path. But it's more about remaining within the games industry in a way that I already have extensive experience in, as well as in a way that I enjoy.

Web Designer
This is the most likely career path. I've designed and developed countless websites, and managed many projects. I current am a co-owner of a small business, FPSPhoto, were I currently web design. It's not a well paying job yet, but it's only part-time work while I finish my degree. I'm well versed in Web 2.0 design and development, and am learning PHP and Javascript. I've already proficient in Adobe Photoshop, CSS, and XHTML.

Matt Richards
COMM 203