There are many changes that have occurred within my concept of media criticism throughout this course. I had taken a media criticism course prior to this (media 205) but it was more of a breakdown of genres, theories, and production itself rather than actual criticism. This course has showed me many things from critiques to production intentions, to different styles of intertextuality.
I think the biggest thing that has changed for me is my outlook on critics overall. I never looked up critics’ reviews of films, television shows, or anything in media really. The reason why was because most of the critic reviews I read prior to this class were very much the same. Most were very anal about minor details that I really didn’t care about and made movies that were actually moderately good sound like they could kill you by how terrible they were. Most of these reviews were from rotten tomatoes so I didn’t venture much further in hope of different or creative critic reviews. After I did the assignment to look up critics and read some of their reviews, I realized there were some very creative critics out there that shared a similar taste for media with me.
There is a specific crew of critics that I follow now for every film that I am interested in. Their website is www.spill.com. I love these guys because they have a very different style of sharing their reviews. Instead of writing a review of a movie, they record a review session of the film and later edit an animation that goes with the recording to add a comedic discussion story to each review. This makes the review much easier to follow by keeping the viewers interest while allowing them insight into the highs and lows of a film. The people that do these reviews seem to be much more like the average moviegoer rather than a picky critic that is expecting gold for every movie they see. The site has a rating system to allow viewers to get a final verdict of each film. If it were not for this class allowing me to do research on different critics and their styles, I would never have found these guys.
The way I look at media in general has changed a lot since this class, especially with television media. I find myself categorizing certain shows by their production styles, target audience, and even by their dialogue. I am much more analytical when watching a television show. I tend to pay more attention to the detail of the show and the overall meaning each episode is trying to convey. Intertextuality and its various forms is a lot easier to spot and understand now that I have learned about the various types that exist in the media world. In conversations, I use a lot more of intertextuality to relate anything in my life whether it is current or in the past to a show or movie.
Although there are more things to media than just film and television, these are by far the two most affected categories in my experience with the class. In film, I tend to watch movies twice now. The first time to simply immerse myself in the story and the second time to actually critique the film and break it down in technicality. I look for the true meaning of the story and how the directors, writers, and actors went about expressing this theme to their expected audience. Patterns between films by specific directors are easier to pick up on. For many films now, I am able to figure out who the director is by little things such as camera angles, actor preferences, story themes, and action sequences. From a critical standpoint, I am more capable of figuring out exactly what it is about certain films that makes me either like or dislike them. For example, when a shot is overly distracting or too drawn out: Before understanding some critical points in media (and a little psychology), I would have known I didn’t like certain parts of a film, but I would not have known exactly how to explain why I didn’t like it.
Overall, the class has taught me how to appreciate nearly all aspects of media and, perhaps most of all, media criticism. I can really pull useful information out of even the most negative critic and appreciate what he/she is trying to convey. I find myself following critics more often and hearing what they have to say as a strong reference point for my own personal use when observing the media they are critiquing. Although some can be overly harsh, and others can be a little too favorable, I can always find what they are highlighting in their reviews and understand what they mean by it when watching the specific media myself.
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