Inquiry, Invention, and Research

For the inquiry three assignment, We started off writing research blogs. In the beginning I didn't fully understand what that meant. In high school, conducting research and integrating it into our paper wasn't the same. We just Googled our topic found the first article and used a quote from the article. After looking over my first couple research blogs and reading others I realized I wasn't doing my blogs properly. I would just put my topic in Google and look at the first couple pages that came up. I Now  understand how to search for research. When looking for information on my topic I searched keywords  instead of my topic such as technology and movies or file sharing and movies. Some of the results didn't relate to my topic but when i searched through out all the pages and read numerous articles I was able to find credible academic articles that would strengthen my paper. Through the process of conducting research, I have learned how to gather research from articles and apply the information to my paper. Another key tool I learned throughout this class was how to correctly and smoothly integrate a source though out my paper. Before I would just stick a quote in whenever I felt like it. Now I introduce the speaker, find a place where the quote relates to the topic on hand and and future explain why I used this quote. This has prepared for later on in academia when doing research. I now know where to look and how to find the main points in an article as well as integrating sources into my paper.

"Composition as a write of passage"

While reading the paper, "Composition as a write of passage" I really understood where the author was coming from. The paper made it very clear that every student had basically the same perspective and questions about the class, when are we going to use this later on in life? The author uses students as examples to back up what she is saying. We were able to see first hand how this class positively impacted an engineering student.
She shows us how we are able to take the lessons and tools we have learned in this first year writing class and apply to any future writing assignment we have for any class. We are understand now how to find credible research for papers how to analyze the research we find and  how to connect and speak to your intended audience. This class has given me the tools to write correctly and affectively for any future writing assignment.

Inquiry Three and Four Writers Reflection; Inquiry Four Project

Writers Reflection

When deciding a topic for my inquiry three paper, I kept in mind that this would be the most strenuous assignment we have had all class, which is why I chose a topic I enjoy. In the beginning stages of this inquiry we were assigned daily research blogs. In high school, we had to do research for papers but nothing like the research we were required to do for this class. Right off the bat Mr. Cummings told us that we needed to dig deep and really search out research by looking past the first couple pages of results, use many different research tools and actually read academic articles instead of just Google searching your topic. After my first research blog I realized I didn’t fully grasp what that meant. After reading others research blog, I understood how to conduct good research. They took the most useful information and showed how they would apply that to their paper. When searching for research on my topic I would simply just put my topic, how has the advancements in technology negatively impacted the movie industry, in the search engine and see what results popped up. Now I understand how to search for research. When looking for information on my topic I searched keywords such as technology and movies or file sharing and movies. Through the process of conducting research for this inquiry I have learned how to gather research from articles and apply the information to my paper. This has prepared for later on in academia when doing research. I now know where to look and how to find the main points in an article.

When writing the rough draft for inquiry three I had a basic layout of my paper in mind. I wanted to first show how because of the advancements in technology have affected the stories of movies. After that I wanted to shed some light on how the studios just want to make for money off of advancements such as 3D. Finally I wanted to show how new technology like file sharing has taken millions away from the industry. I realized after our Google hangout that I was so caught up in providing information that I didn’t share my own voice or give my own opinions. I didn’t add my own style to the paper.

 When revising my essay I really tried to focus on using the PIE acronym with every paragraph. For almost every paragraph I had a piece of the pie but never the whole thing. In my paragraph about how 3D movies are causing a rise in ticket prices. I had a lot of research but I never stated my point. I stated facts about this rise in tickets prices and how that has caused people to not go to the movies, which ultimately cause theaters to close but never connected back to my main thesis. Using the acronym I established that movies are getting so expensive that people cant afford to see them which hurts the movie industry. After revising my paper I knew I had found something that would be useful to me not only in this class but also in all my classes. No matter what I’m writing a paper on I will be able to use the PIE acronym to help to help construct a well-written essay.

Once I finished my paper, I began the remediation process. I wrote my paper first and then remediated my paper into a Google presentation because, for me, it was easier to have my paper written and then convert the paragraphs to PowerPoint slides.  Throughout making the presentation, I thought very carefully about how I would create the slides. What color the slides should be, what font, how big, the transitions between slides, and animation I used to present the information.

When creating the slide about 3D movies, I thought back to the videos and lectures we watched about making powerful presentation. A key ingredient all the text gave was to use all little about of words on your slides. This gives the words you do use more credibility, thought and power. So, for this slide I decided to just say, “25% increase in ticket prices” on a black background. For the 25% I enlarged the font and made the text a different color from all the other words to draw the viewer’s attention to the percentage. Another tool I gained from the videos and lectures was to engage with your viewers through the presentation, ask them questions to get them thinking about your topic. Keeping that in mind I decided to leave my viewers with a question in the beginning and the end of my presentation. First I said, advancements in technology positive or negative? You decide. I ended my presentation with asking there what decision they made.

This process has taught we think more carefully about the words I choose to use in my writing and in the web text I create. When I created the 3D slide I an entire paragraph to draw information from. I chose to only use the most important statistic that was the 25% rise in ticket prices. This is a key fact I wanted to show my viewers. This is new skill I can put in use in the but also in whatever I’m doing I will keep in mind to chose my words carefully because my words have power.

Inquiry Four:

CCM's Reflection

After reviewing the video, I knew what to be on the look out for when reading the writers reflections from the the CCM's.  The "Facebook's fro Disney Princesses" author, does an excellent job of giving specific details of why how she went about making the Facebook pages for the Princesses. She talks about the set of up the pages and what she put on the pages which gives the reader a mental image. She talks about how she used the three appeals to get her point across. The author takes you through step by step what she did in creating the Facebook pages. As well as connecting and really toning on who she is speaking too. This is a very creative and interesting way to go about presenting an argument.

"Make Sure You Know"is an example of a very poor writers reflection. The author begins talking about why he created the website. Although he does give a few details and personal experiences connected to the military, there isn't much more. Theres no real though process how he went about creating the site. Yes he does tell us some information that is on the site but not much. He could have gone more in depth about the website given us more details about the page whats the layout, and links to other pages, what colors did he use to create the page with? I see no real use of any rhetorical stances taken in this reflection expect the exert about his friend which creates an emotional to the site.

Slides Paragraph

The premise of classic movies from the past are no longer plausible, so movies we all know and love, like National Lampoon’s Vacation won’t be made because it no longer makes sense for a family to get lost on a road trip when their Smart Phone has a Global Positioning System (GPS) or their car has navigation. The Blues Brothers, a cult classic, wouldn’t be believable in this day and age. The movie centers on two brothers traveling across the country franticly trying to get their band back together for a gig. There would be no need to for the road trip. One could simply Facebook message or even text them.  Those heart wrenching lost distance relationship movies seem less painful with the use of Skype, which allows you to video chat with each other whenever you want. With these changing times, writers are going to have to figure out ways to incorporate the new technology into the stories. They can either completely embrace the fact that technology is all around us or render technology useless in their stories.

It seems like every new movie now days are being released in 3D. With that comes a rise in ticket prices.  Some theaters are raising prices up 26%. Upcharges has risen from an average of two or three dollars to three dollars and fifty cents or more in many cases. Some theaters in Los Angeles and New York are raising prices five dollars. Andrew Stewart, a journalist for Variety Magazine, said, “The rise in 3D will boost studio returns from 45% to 55% depending on how long the movie remains in the theater.”  In some areas of New York City, a single ticket to a 3D movie can cost up to nineteen dollars and fifty cents. This means that it would cost a family of four Seventy-Eight dollars to go to the movies. This doesn’t even include the cost for drinks and popcorn. The average attendance of movies has decreased by 22% over the past decade. The average American when to see a movie five times a year in 2000. In 2010, the average American goes to the movies three point nine times a year. Box office revenues have decreased 8% since 2002.

To counter this trend the theaters are doing two things. First, They are making major improvements adding stadium and roomier seating. Theaters are starting to introduce the use of physical motion hoping to create an experience that cant be easily matched at home hoping this will appeal to the moviegoers and then will be able to raise prices.  Already fifty movie theaters have equipped at least one screen with the D-Box moving seats. The seats motion ranges being thrown forwards, backwards, and side-to-side. You are able to experience a momentary free fall as a character jumps off of a cliff. The second thing theaters are doing are increasing the number of high end restaurants they have at the theater. They want to increase your dining pleasure by adding lounges, bars, and at the concession stand.

When remediating my slides into text, I tried to go more in depth about what message the slide was trying portray. I found this to be more difficult than I thought. I knew for the slide I had to try and get my main points across using the least amount of words possible.  This process has taught me to think more carefully about the words I use in my writing. Use words for a purpose, not just to fill space.

Possible introductions

Audience: Movie Executives

Purpose: To show how the movies themselves are changing as well as the industry in a negative way due to the advancements in technology. This is a more informal take on the introduction.

A commonly held belief is that advancements in technology must be a good thing for the entertainment industry; but I am here to tell you otherwise.  So many times the media gets caught touting/plugging the next big “IT”, whether it’s the new IPhone, the next generation Gaming System, or the newest way to experience movies as seen with IMAX 3D.  I am a huge fan of movies. I enjoy all types of movies; horror, comedies, dramas, comic book adaptations, and yes, even romantic movies. At first glance it may be difficult to see the negative ways these types of developments really impact the entertainment industry, especially movies.  So let me show you some of the ways movies are impacted.  Today, the amount of time movies remain at the Theater Box Office is getting shorter and shorter because studios want to release them on Premium Home on Demand quickly followed by their DVD release, causing the movie theater experience to change and affect attendance.  The premise of classic movies from the past are no longer plausible, so movies we all know and love, like National Lampoon’s Vacation won’t be made because it no longer makes sense for a family to get lost on a road trip when their Smart Phone has a Global Positioning System (GPS) or their car has navigation.  It is because of these advancements that Hollywood has run out of good ideas for movies and is left with the need to constantly “reboot” franchises such as Spiderman and Total Recall or rehash the same storylines over and over again.  In speaking with friends about the recent release of the new Spiderman movie, several stated they were hesitant to go see the movie because Universal Studios had just finished the Spiderman Trilogy only a few year back.  While the movie was still successful, it was definitely impacted by this sentiment and sense of lack of originality.   Technological advancements are negatively impacting “Hollywood” and the movie industry.

Audience: People working in the movie industry

Purpose: To show how the advancements in technology negatively impact the movie industry.

The Hurt Locker, which one the Oscar for Best Picture, only made forty-nine million dollars at the box office while being downloaded seven million times on uTorrent prior to its theatrical debut. File sharing, do you know what it is? How it works? If so, what are you going to do to prevent it from happening again?  This is just one of the many examples of how the advancements in technology have negatively impacted the movie industry. Movie studios want to shorten the amount of time a movie remains at the box office and release it on Premium Home on Demand. Doing this would result in the movie theaters loosing a lot of revenue. Also have you ever thought about the movies themselves? What makes a great movie, the story. The Blues Brothers, a cult classic, centers around two friends trying get the band back together for a gig. They travel around the country on a road trip making lasting memories but in our time we wouldn’t have to travel across the country to get into contact. We could simply just Facebook message them.  I will show you how technological advancements are negatively impacting the movie industry. 

Research Blog Inquiry Three: Eight

Prices for 3D tickets are rising fast. Some theaters are hiking the price up 26% in anticipation for the abundance of movies now being released in 3D.  Upcharge has risen from an average of $2-$3 to $3.50 or more in many cases, and even $5 in some theaters in such markets as Los Angeles and New York. This rise in 3D prices will boost studios returns from 45% to 55% depending on how long the movie remains in the theater. Greenfield surveyed 10 theaters in different major U.S. markets, finding a 8.3% hike for 3D locations and an increase of 9.9% for 3D-equipped Imax screens. The cost for adult 3D tickets will increase to an average $14.73 from $13.60, whereas 3D Imax screens will cost adults an average of $16.63, up from $15.13. The AMC Loews Liberty Theater in Boston raised their prices for 3D tickets from 38% to 66% and 40% for children. 3D ticket prices for the 10 theaters surveys, on average, will see a $1.13 increase in 3D adult tickets and a $1.50 increase for 3D-equipped Imax screens. “With the success of Disney's 3D fantasy "Alice in Wonderland" (accumulating $265.4 million as of Sunday) and 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" (whose total has topped $736 million domestically), it's unclear how moviegoers will react to the increased prices.” Said the report.

With the advancements in 3D, people wonder if there will be a time where movie are only being made in 3D. This article adds good insight into how theaters decide on their prices for ticket sales. Movies in 3D are fairly new topic coming up and will only be discussed and analyzed even more. The advancements in the movie going experience will be one thing I talk about in my paper. This is a key aspect of how the experience is enhanced.

Stewart, Andrew, and Pamela Mcclintock. "Big ticket price increase for 3D pics." Variety.com. (2010): n. page. Web. 20 Jul. 2012.

Research Blog Inquiry Three: Seven

Theater owners across the country are reacting negatively to plans by Fox, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros. to shorten the time frame movies run at the box office. They want to deliver the movies directly to the consumer through a video-on-demand service just 60 days after being released in the theaters.  The National Association of Theater Owners(NATO) believes the move toward a briefer theatrical window  will have a negative impact on the box office. According to Variety, “this could create a slippery slope that could lead to no theatrical window at all if it succeeds and will cause theaters across the country to close”. Theater owners are now reportedly threatening to cut back on the amount of theatrical trailers, which is a big marketing tool for studios. The Home Premium idea surfaced several months ago. Studios want to way to combat the move weak box office returns, flailing DVD sales, and the increasing cost of marketing.  The movie would come to Home Premium just eight to twelve weeks after its theatrical debut. For the studios this will have little affect because the movie makes 97% of its profit in the first three months. However for theater owners, even a 5% decrease could have a major effect on the owners because over three-fourths of their income comes from concessions and marketing.  A former studio executive told The Daily Beast "A 10 percent drop in ticket sales, and the attendant decline in concessions income and advertising income, will close over two-thirds of the American movie theaters,”

One of my points in my paper is how would instant streaming affect theater attendance and the movie industry itself. This article has great information about the instant streaming aspect of the movie industry. This along with Netflix and Hulu plus has impacted theater attendance all together. Family of five would rather wait and spend $30 on a movie eight weeks after it is released in the comfort of their own home then going and spending $10 a ticket and seeing it opening weekend.

Mitchell, John. "Impact on Theaters Becomes Clearer as Video on Demand PLans Move FOrward." MovieFone.com. (2011): n. page. Web. 20 Jul. 2012.