Employment

This entire semester I have been taking Communications 203 with Dr. Kevin Williams. Within this class I have acquired quite a few new skills that I never thought I would have.

Now, I am far more capable of using a Mac, which has become a skill worth knowing. It has helped me immensely. Working with different types of computing systems (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc etc) I believe is going to help me in whatever field I choose to go in for a few reasons:

1. Converting files between different formats can be difficult and some don't know how to do it. Working between these three operating formats has helped me in doing that.
2. A knowledge of all systems means less training and therefore less time needed to get me running where I need to be when I start at a new job.
3. Not only do I have a knowledge of the system, but in the Comm 203 course I took this semester, there is an even better knowledge of the programs running on the different systems. I have a knowledge of producing, editing, and have a final cut of film ready. I can also make a comic strip (which will come in handy if I become a Child Psychologist. I mean, who doesn't love a good comic book to express your emotions through?)
4. This class has given me a huge jump on online networking for scheduling, sharable documents, and mind mapping (which is way more useful than earlier thought).

Those are a few things that this class has helped me with. There are so much more. I have become a far better writer, planner, and even negotiator because the acceptance level is no less than astounding.

I never thought that I could learn how to edit video, let alone produce one that I could be proud of.

How does this translate to employment in the field of my major: Psychology?

With graphic novel skills I hope that the people I aim to counsel will be able to not only use words, but pictures to describe how or why they are feeling the ways that they do, or to just be able to describe what they feel they cannot say.

With video production I have always wanted to just give a client a camera so I can see a day, week, month or even more through their eyes. If that information was given, could there be an end to the ways that treatment could be given? There it is, a stretch of time in someone else's life that can be used to help them.

Again, these are skills I will be able to use when I become employed and they will further my dream to help people in different and more exciting way.

Violent Video Games

When it comes to violent video games there are a lot of arguments on both sides and both think that they are right. Some say "Violent video games are dangerous and will make people violent" and others say just the opposite "Violent video games are just fine, it is up to the parents and the child to decide which behaviors are okay!".

Well, I am  going to argue that both of these views are wrong. If people look into basic psychology, they will find that there is an argument of Nature versus Nurture. This argument states that either a person is born with all of their qualities, or that they are learned through their environment. However, if one combines the two, the argument sounds more solid, right? Logically, yes, and it seems to be that way throughout history.

The games aren't too blame, over saturation of the media with violence may give kids ideas, but they aren't the ones teaching the morals, and the games aren't the ones telling people that they have played enough.

If a child is in a home that is violent, their self worth is affected, so they may turn to violence to help release those feelings. Video games are a safer way to do that. Granted, there are alternatives to the use of violence, but there is still that primal drive that makes some people feel violent, and the only way to soothe that particular beast is... with violence.

So yes, there is a drive, and I also feel that there is environment to blame as well. If parents are more actively involved they can recognize the signs that their child needs to be 'cut off' from violence for a bit.
Parents need to be more decisive when buying their children violent video games, especially if they are prone to violence in the first place. This is becoming increasingly difficult for parents to do because if they have a child that is hyper active and they are able to get them to be quiet with a video game, no harm no foul. There is also the Dopamine Effect argument where people get hooked on the "high" they receive when they play such games. Again, monitoring is the best way to make sure this doesn't happen. If someone has been playing a game for four hours, that isn't as bad as four days, but it may need to be looked at in the long run.

No one is to blame but the people making the decision. A person knows when they are feeling violent and can help to stop themselves. Also, if there is no structure as to what "okay violence" is versus "not okay violence" then how will a child know when  and where is too much?

Simply put: there needs to be a sound structure as to what is okay and what isn't when violence is involved. Don't blame a video game if a child doesn't know right from wrong and knows there are consequences behind it if they do wrong.

Movie Magic: What I Want to Learn

When it comes to making movies, there is a lot I want to know.

First, why is the 1-2-8-7 sword fighting choreography so often used? If you don't know what that is, here is a clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFVX-JKdYVo (between the seconds of 45-48 is where you can see it best), or I could simply say that a 1-2--8-7 is basically the circle around and over that swordsmen make with cutting over the right shoulder, bringing it back over the left and cutting down and then going down from the left knee to cut up and switching to the right knee and cutting up. Anyway, it tends to be seen in a lot more than just the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and I would like to know why it is so often used when there is far better choreography out there.

The next thing I would like to know is how do you get one effect to happen within a condensed place. (example: Hellboy where Liz is on fire but not the whole scene). Within the movie I'm creating, that would be pretty nice to have for a small area, but again, not the whole scene.

When it comes to other ideas, what can you do to make your storyline better?

There is one last thing I would like to know, and that is what makes one movie more memorable than another. I've always wondered, what made Bruce Almighty more exciting to people than say Evan Almighty, or Sin City over the Watchmen? I understand with the Watchmen the Graphic Novel was never as big as Frank Miller's Sin City, but the plot for me is the same: Good versus Evil. Sort of like comparing any super hero movie to any other super hero movie. What makes them different?
It is something that has bothered me for a long time.

I suppose when it comes right down to it I just want to know why one thing is better than the next. What makes a film so special that people are willing to spend 20 bucks at a Regal to see it, when most will refuse to spend 10 dollars on the book that the movie is based on?