Sunshine Stokely

Always talking. Always moving

2007-12-04T04:37:00.000-08:00

The younger generation now has the ability to text message while eating and at the same time watch a movie while listening to music in the background. With all of the fast paced and multi-tasking the younger audience loves, internet sites have tried to “keep ahead of the times” through various means.

Sites are now becoming colorful, flashy, congested and full of bright images and now with added videos . The newer sites cannot help but grab my attention. I sometimes feel like I am in a ‘trinket and things’ store, where everything glitters and flashes. In these sites, I skim over everything and allow my eyes to wander from the video ads, to the images and finally the text.

The same way a newborn baby will react to the sparkling toy is the same way the younger audience will react to a new hip internet site. I feel like teenagers would love to interact with the clients and give their opinions on things. For example, a radio station Star 102.1 allows users to vote in songs for the nightly countdown. Interaction and audience participation is what the younger audience would love, which is especially important when it comes to news.

News should be presented in a flashy way, full of pictures and video. The news involving high school and community features need to involve sections for blogposts and comments. It would also be fun to upload your picture with your comments to make that part of the site more personable. The younger audience also are known for being complete socialites, and the sites should cater to that fact as well.

There should also be an “e-mail this story to your friend” link so that this social generation can share the newest story. Of course they will obviously text message each other about what they thought and then actually see each other in the next five minutes to talk face to face. But hey, who doesn’t do that?

Tapped in and Logged on

2007-11-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

Being connected, in a sense, describes the attachments, knowledge and relationships made outside of just your sphere of influence. There is a little boy in Australia, a hot dog stand in New York and a new feature film out in California being made. In Knoxville, Tennessee, there is no way I should know about any events outside my town. Yet, I am able to read up on the Australian boy’s current affairs of how he just won the Nobel Prize, or how during the filming of Zeesbee, the main actor stormed out of the set claiming that there weren’t enough green M&M’s in his dressing room bowl. From my desk in Knoxville, I can tap on, log in and read about anything and say hello to anyone in the world thanks to internet sites, blog postings, and social network accounts like Myspace.

I click on my Internet icon and everything is different than the last time I logged on. The internet is constantly being revamped and fixed up as a new way into the future. Tim O'Reilly talks about Web 2.O and the changes that have been taking place in the Internet, including the ever popular wikipedia and Napster sites created for the convenience and the mass appeal. Web 1.0 may have focused on the beginning sites of the Internet, but Web 2.0 “embraced the power of the web to harness collective intelligence.” In other words, seeing what sites work and growing them into a collaborative work on the Internet, like fixing up Google and Ebay as dominant functional sites for users to enjoy.

That’s the thing about the web. It’s everywhere. It’s not just when you open your laptop to check your mail. It’s the cell phone text telling you messages from the web. It’s the web link advertisements on your TV screen and the radio messages encouraging the readers to go on the company’s website.

Going on any site shows the user that any hypertext is linkable anywhere virtual and it’s not just texts. Internet users can view videos, upload pictures and sound bites virtually. The web is no longer linking information; it’s linking us to each other. We are controlling this machine , and the web now belongs to us.

Death of a man? or a God?

2007-11-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

The world shook, or maybe just the temple, on the death of Jesus Christ. This event is a historical death of either a prophet in Israel or the Son of God. Of course news cameras would be all over Calvary, interviewing Roman soldiers and the band of followers crying around the feet of the wooden cross. Many stricken Jews as well as skeptics followed the bleeding pulp of a man to the hill.

I would turn my attention on not just the death - - another man being crucified - - but on the condition of the man. Many people, like the two thieves to the right and left of him, were not nearly as limp and fragile as Jesus as he barely hung from the nails on his wrists. I would be investigating the whereabouts of Jesus’ last twenty four hours, trying to get his disciples, John or Peter to talk a little about the past events. I would show an interactive map online that showed the actual flogging that took place before the crucifixion as well as a map of where he was forced to walk with the Roman guards from his flogging to the hill.

My interactive segment of Jesus’ death would revolve around three things: the flogging beforehand, interviews from witnesses, disciples and maybe even Pontius Pilate, and the actual death itself.

The flogging segment would show how the flogging took place; an instructional video of what supposedly happened not only to Jesus but many other villians and miscreants. The video and interactive website would show that the upper and lower back and legs were flogged either by two soldiers or by one who alternated positions. As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim's back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues.

The actual death itself was also a painful process and must to be shown as a video and/or interactive "game"; where the nails go and what it looks like. Tapered iron spikes from 5 to 7 inches long were nailed through Jesus’ wrists, not his palms, and into the cross. The spike was driven between the second and third metatarsal bones of the foot, in such a way that the weight of the body could be supported on the spike. Jesus’ cause of death, like that of other victims of crucifixion, was caused by many things, including the shock of extreme blood loss, exhaustion, suffocation, and heart failure. This segment would show video clips of the death, as well as the people’s insights about the event. Discussion boards and comment posts would open on the website as well.

Whether the viewer hated the sight of Jesus or worshiped the ground he walked on, his death had to be notified and covered in the media. No one can deny the powerful and often unexplainable miracles that took place during his time on Earth. He was known throughout Israel and soon his teaching spread nationally, now referred to as Christianity.

Nick-e-lodeon

2007-11-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

Nickelodeon Magazine is a cover to cover booklet of childrens’ interests and appeals. Kids ranging from 6-14 years of age all enjoy fun entertainment, including family movies. Therefore, I would make the next story for this magazine to be about the new Shrek the Third movie coming out on DVD next month.

Headline: An ogre running a kingdom. Now that’s scary.

Summary/tease: Shrek is back, finding himself with the royal decree now that Fiona’s frog father finally “croaked.” On the search to find Artie, a school nerd and the legitimate heir to the throne, Shrek, Fiona and friends find themselves in the hands of Prince Charming and villains all trying to snatch at the crown. You can grab too, at all the free features, including a Puss in Boots door hanger, a Shrek and Fiona wallpaper and a donkey image screaming “Go Team Dynamite!”

For the multimedia, I would pitch the following:
- Shrek the Third movie trailer to play on the site
- Clips of the behind the scenes making of the movie; perhaps cast interviews
- Online poll: “Which character are you most like?”
- A character image that once clicked says quotes from the movie
- A section to download Shrek the Third wallpaper, screensavers, door hangers, etc.

Social Networking Sites

2007-11-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

I don’t have an account on Facebook, Myspace , LinkedIn or any other social network site. I prefer the old fashioned telephone call, or if someone is in the area, the “meeting for lunch.” I do have to admit that it would be great to talk to past friends from the same school, work, etc. but unfortunately I have to sign on to different accounts with passwords and various screen names. I like Myspace where I can get on, search a name I recognize and perhaps see their picture and some comments others have posted. Also Myspace opens it so that I can watch any movies that are posted or some entries that the person allowed me access to.

To get any more personal pictures, posts or greater access and I would have to make an account. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter requires an account before I can look at anything, which frustrates me. I wish in Facebook I could look at other people’s sites that are not in my University. As an outsider, I personally feel like these sites could do a little more for me. If all I want is to see a person, allow me to.

By preventing me from seeing a person I want to see, which is the whole point of getting on one of these sites, then I feel like I am unable to be a part of the online world of social networking. I would like for sites to allow me to look around without necessarily signing up for an account. I won’t poke holes in anything, and I won’t perversely comment on stranger’s sites. I just want to read up on my old buddy and see his or her picture on how they look now. Thanks to internet security, I can’t even look. I am blocked off from that world.

Fall foliage

2007-11-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

To teach and to learn

2007-11-05T17:44:00.000-08:00

A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism. ~Louis A. Berman. I would have to dedicate the above quote to Peggy Collins. This woman knew how to relate to me in a personable level and even made analogies concerning some writing issues with other interests of mine. For example, when Peggy was talking to me about adding more transitions into my work, she made an editing reference, comparing a “dissolve edit” to a “writing transition.” This teacher discussed my weaknesses as well as complimenting my strengths in writing, lighting the areas I need work on and inspiring me to become better than I am currently. Peggy made every weak area of my writing seem like a small anthill when I created it to be a mountain, and yet still encouraged me to expand on my strengths.

Peggy, as well as Staci Wolfe, pushed me into the world of the web, an area I was petrified to enter into. Now that I have looked around a little and explored the enormous possibilities with each click of the mouse, I have found one thing to be true. I have left bread crumbs to find my way back, but now, being in this new world, makes me question if I even want to turn back.

Getting lost in the web opens my eyes to the wonders of the internet and I look forward to learning more on how to navigate around this sea of wires, codes and software.

Spiderman Three: What will he do next?

2007-10-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

"Whatever comes our way, whatever battle we have raging inside us, we always have a choice. It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right." This quote said by Peter Parker encompasses the theme of the movie Spiderman Three, a DVD coming out at any available movie store October 30th. What to expect from the three-quel of the Spiderman series is new villains such as Sandman and Venom as well as the old characters, Peter Parker, MJ Watson, Harry and of course Spiderman, which puts this movie again in the action genre clocking in to be 139 minutes. Trouble arises when Spiderman begins to neglect Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and other friends, and he must choose between the enticing evil power of the suit or the good old Spiderman. CNN gives mixed reviews about Spiderman 3, saying that it pulls together body and soul but having some weaknesses with the elongation and holes in the narrative. However, many good reviews give this movie the thumbs up.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Spiderman three certainly pleased the geek squad by remaining ever true to its comic book roots while retaining that satisfying emotional core that has registered with equal numbers of female fans. Spiderman Three offers violence, love twists, suspence, black goo from the sky and of course, tons of sticky web. There is never a dull moment when there is a man dressed in a red and blue spidey outfit. Check out the trailer here.

Knoxville News Sentinel

2007-10-22T22:15:00.000-07:00

Driving past the highway, anyone can see the beige color of the tall and proud building of the Knoxville News Sentinel. However, once inside, the place from the waiting area looks a little…disappointing. I imagined the place to have TV’s on, people screaming with paper jammed into their fists, and bustles of computers. I guess that image may scare some first timers, because the man leading the tour brought us upstairs where the real fun was hiding. It was exactly as I had pictured; the masses of cubicles, the piles of papers and of course the numerous television sets blaring. Sitting in a meeting room allowed us to get a feel for what the Multimedia Director, the ME and the online producers did as a career. One online producer said that he always has hectic days, putting the news in video format, which is a keen differentiation of other news sites. There actually is a section entitled “Recent Knox news Videos” on the website for this particular reason. Another online producer talked about how she works at night, and one of her assignments among other things, is to perfect the pictures that she uses on Photoshop, adjusting the right image, cropping the perfect frame and adding color to splash the photo to interest more readers. The Knox News website is very similar to WBIR's site, which is a News TV station, which is quite impressive that a newspaper website can still carry that much weight and authority as a TV station’s site, each containing bulleted features, videos section and bold headlines. However, only Knox news has a comment/opinion section where stories can be viewed and talked about with to anyone with free administration to the site. Knoxville News Sentinel truly opened my eyes to a newspaper company, and I am proud to tell whoever is in the car with me on the highway passing the building, "I've been there."

Shoud the mdia link to their own sites from stories like Digg?

2007-09-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

When Kevin Rose launched Digg on December 5th, 2004, I don’t think he had any idea how much of an impact the site would create. Sites like Digg, del.icio.us and whois.sc come into the online system to keep the web surfers informed. The complaints about this are that users may have control over the content which causes misinformation, and may not give the appearance of a “genuine” news site. However, technology is growing in vast amounts in this generation. Hours upon hours, people log onto the web and some stay on. New media is the new trend, and with that is the potential prosperity of media companies linking to and with as many sites as possible that can generate feedback and encourage audience participation. Not only does this excite the readers who can share comments to stories, but it also lets the company know immediate audience analysis on who is reading the story and why. Also, news stories, linking to sites like Digg, are more exposed to other surfers who may not necessarily click on media company sites for news, but probably have places like Digg attached to their favorites. Scrolling down and scanning the news stories on sites like Digg inspire more clicks to the story and exposing more viewers to read. Attaching more news to more sites stimulates more minds to learn about the world tp possibly add more positive changes to it.

Do you care about the news?

2007-09-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

My major is Journalism and Electronic Media. Unfortunately, my love is the Electronic Media part. When it comes to the news, I mostly rely on word of mouth to get my information. My mom will call about the latest announcement in the Senate; my dad will update me in football, so forth. If I find a particular topic, Britney Spears mabye, than I will research that on my own, surfing the web. I have the same boredom towards news that I did in high school, always wishing that the violence wouldn’t be so R rated and feature stories on celebrities and movies would be the entire newspaper. I do like learning about upcoming events and articles that pertain to me and my world, i.e. any changes in the university. As far as my news consumption, I only intake what is fed to me by others and as horrible as it sounds, I like it that way.

Biography

2007-09-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

With an eye for the arts and an interest in films, I actually discovered my passion through a series of trail and error. In elementary school, my parents applauded my effort in painting even though my colorful smudges of a dinosaur could very well represent a table or a smurf. With no ability to create masterpieces, I moved on and thought writing was my higher calling, desiring to be a famous author up until high school when I thought novels were way too tiresome of a project. I joined up into the theatre group and actually chose colleges to help me accomplish my new dream; a world famous actress on Broadway. Seeing how I only managed to be in a tiny number of plays starring as a tree or a stagehand prompted me to look elsewhere within the creative arena. Picking up a video camera for the first time was probably what Beethoven felt looking at his first piece of sheet music. Seeing how every other attempt at becoming famous failed, I decided to make friends with this cold hard piece of equipment and started filming anything that moved. My fascination with behind the camera led to an exhilarating discovery of video editing, where cuts and edits led to works of art. I created this world where my characters said what I wanted, and I grew interested in toying with the audience’s emotions through my works. Glued to editing suites brought me from home videos to getting entrepreneur work with companies, including doing videos for my church. My interest sparked higher when I became a Producer for Channel 12, BBB Communications. I found myself thinking of movie ideas, editing or filming on my spare time. A few internships later landed my current internship at NorthSouth Productions, a post-production company. My flare for media and my heart for creativity led me to the most supreme of masterpieces, and 23 short films and music videos later, I can still point my happiness to one provider: my editing suite.