Blog Post # 4: Pan's Labyrinth Mise-en-Scene Analysis

In this scene from Pan's Labyrinth, the most dominant element of Mis-en-Scene that contributes to the meaning of the scene in my opinion is the use of costumes and make-up. The pale, child eating "monster" is the central focus of the horror in the room the young girl walks into. This nightmarish figure has no eyes and it's pale skin sags over a deformed skeleton. Only when the girl eats from the table it is sitting at does the monster place eye-balls in it's hands and they morph into it's skin so he can see by lifting his palms. When the monster comes to life, the heart-racing thrill you get from watching a good horror film sets in. Throughout the scene the setting made me feel as if I were in a nightmare. Dungeon walls and almost alien looking sculptures,  all that seemed to be ancient, and it seemed as if the scene took place in an underground tavern. These elements of setting were only enforced by the use of lighting. The room is dimly lit by a large fire place behind the pale monster as well as large, circular, and dim ceiling lights around the edge of the circular room. This dim lighting added to the scary feel of the room and added to the feeling of being in a cave, or tavern. The use of natural light from the fire, and the ceiling lights, which made the room look like it was lit by lamps, added to the hellish mood of the scene. Another use of Mis-en-Scene that was prominent was the sound, both diegetic(foreground), and non-diegetic(background). Throughout, you can just barely hear the sound of a deep openness you hear when you are in a cave. It almost sound like a draft, but perhaps it is better described as the sound of the nothingness. This contrasts with the sharp sound of the fairies that the girl lets out of the box which is a sharp fluttering sound, making the thrill of the scene more intense. Lastly, the movement of the figures in this scene sets it apart as a being quite disturbing. When the pale monster initially sitting with his hands frozen to the table wakes, it moves as if it was made of half dried concrete, adding to the un-human like feeling. Then as he wakes more, his awkward walk can only be described as demonic.

"The Rear Guard" Poem Analysis

Blog Post # 3: Amusing Ourselves to Death

Today we no longer have to send a pigeon with a not attached to its leg to communicate with someone. Fluent communication with almost everyone you know is at just about everyone's fingertips. How does this easy access affect our culture? There's the argument that we are becoming more distant from each other, but I believe that we're already adapting to the unsociable affects that social media has on us. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are the major social networks being used at my high school. I seems as if mostly these networks are a catalyst for more face to face communication. I an article form The Arkansas Traveler, the author quotes Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and cultural analyst from a TED talk where she outlines the potential trouble with social media. "Trouble certainly in how we relate to each other, but also in how we relate to ourselves and our capacity for self-reflection. We're getting used to a new way of being alone together". Sherry's view of social media is certainly valid, that is as a culture we are more able to lose our sense of self while reading our "friends" Facebook page. We can fee empty with our number of Facebook friends reaching an all time high. In the same article, a high school student who has stopped using social media explains "We went on a road trip and none of us had social media. We had three hours of talking to each other, and it was really good. WE were forced to sit and have conversation with one another". This genuine conversation people are finding difficult to have is a side effect of social media. I have seen and experienced this distance that social media puts between people, but it isn't incurable, and it is up to you to change it. Use social media to connect with people you already talk to face to face, not the other way around. If you find yourself texting someone all the time, try something different, take chances. 

The the best definition of media literacy I found is:

 Within North America, media literacy is seen to consist of a series of communication competencies, including the ability to ACCESS, ANALYZE,EVALUATE, and COMMUNICATE information in a variety of forms, including print and non-print messages. Media literacy empowers people to be both critical thinkers and creative producers of an increasingly wide range of messages using image, language, and sound. It is the skillful application of literacy skills to media and technology messages

According to the NAMLE (National Association for Media Literacy Education) I would consider myself to be media literate. I use the media everyday to communicate, think critically, or study. How well I Access, Analyze, evaluate and communicate is probably a 5 out of 10 with 10 being the best. I guess I use the media less than most in my high school, I don't post a tweet every day or even every  week, I only check Facebook about every one to two times a week. I don't like to be controlled by my i phone mostly. 

After reading "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman, I feel that he is mostly right about the effect technology will have (does have) on us. I don't believe that this idea that we will have so much information that nothing will seem interesting will be the ultimate downfall of humanity, but if we aren't careful, the next generation could have to deal with more of this distance from one another than we are. In my personal opinion, I believe that technology is only going to make our lives better. To have a supply of knowledge like the internet will fuel the learners of the generations to come. The use of social networks will become more and more integrated into our lives, and we won't feel as uncomfortable with them. 

sources:

http://namle.net/publications/media-literacy-definitions/

http://www.uatrav.com/2013/03/05/communication-breakdown-the-effects-of-social-media-and-texting-on-relationships/

Blog Post # 2: Design

When deciding on a design for my blog I wanted to convey to the reader who I am. The background of my blog is the forest because I grew up next to a twenty acre woods where I would go on adventures as a little kid. I have always loved looking up at the ceiling of the woods and being cooled from the heat and humidity of southern Ohio. This blog will convey who I am to others, and the feeling of being in the woods, next to a healthy running stream is a rooted experience in my life. And green is my favorite color so it is only fitting that the picture is a deep forest green and my blog post titles are the same. I chose the font I did for simplicity. I don't want something that is unusual to read because whenever I read something online that looks like it's trying to impress, usually I'm not. Keep it simple stupid, that is my motto. I chose white for the body font color because it just seems as if it goes with the background. The light that peaks through the trees in the background is white, and making the font color black would be too hard to read. Reading the information provided by my teacher on blog design, I learned that green is the color of nature, tranquility, and calmness. These attributes are great for my blog because I want it to invite people to look at my blog out of curiosity.

Blog Post # 1: Who Are You?

I'm Jacob Noxsel and this is my blog. You might want to know some things about me before I continue. I am the youngest child out of three brothers, Matthew and Peter. I share this trait with my dad and his dad who where also the third sons. I've been living in Mason, Ohio for my whole life, as I pointed out in the about me section, I have lived in the same house for eighteen years. I don't regret living in Mason because it's the quintessential suburb, but I'm grateful to be in a place that has more community than larger cities. My father grew up in the rolling hills of south central Ohio, in Wheelersberg. From his stories and the trips we used to take on Thanksgiving, I gathered it was a place of strong community, and where values like family, hard work and God all were deep rooted. The basement of my great Aunt B's house was full of canned vegetables that she and her family would use year after year. Papaw, my dad's dad, worked in the Coke plant to make iron. My mother has lived in Cincinnati for her whole life and grew up with four sisters and two brothers. She has been in a place like Mason for her whole life, and I feel like I have a little bit of my mother and father in me.
 How my Mom and Dad impact who I am is only a part of me. I am so grateful to be the youngest of three brothers. At times it was hard since I am four years from Pete, and seven years from Matt, but we have always been close. Pete and I went on a three week road trip out west a couple summers ago, and we have grown closer since. All of us have a love for the outdoors, and when I go down to see them in Georgia, we go on day trips, hiking through the beautiful North Georgia Mountains. I am blessed to have a family that is adventurous. We always find someplace to take our fishing/ski boat in the summer or spring every year. My favorite trip to this day is when we went to Canada, near Sturgeon Bay.
Playing sports throughout grade school and high school, I started hanging out with a group of friends. Some joined later on, but from the start of fifth grade pee- wee football, I have been close friends to 8 guys. When my brothers went off to college, the bond with my friends grew, and through the hot August football practices and chillin at Szym's house just about every friday, I considered these guys to be my brothers. So there's a little taste of who I am, but certainly isn't the full story.