Creating Creativity

1. Creative writing cannot be taught, this is something I have always believed, and it is such a relief that on page 444, Hillard agrees with me. It's not something that you can teach to someone, it's something that is natural to you, creativity. You cannot teach someone to be creative.


I have always felt this way, because i've taken numerous writing classes, art classes, attended art camps, the whole 9 years, and it someone isn't creative, then they just simply aren't creative. I think that in classes, you can show someone the path to being creative, and you can show them the fundamentals, but you cannot get someone to be creative. You can only do some much. I feel this is important, because you need to have creative people on your team in both an advertising career, and a PR career. To know your creative side is to be in touch with you imagination, and in jobs like these, that's always important.

Role Models - Not the movie.

2. Hillard talks about the importance of the characters in writing in chapter 10. When he talked about this, it made me realize that the character holds a lot more importance then I had given credit. The character is the person that we are supposed to identify with, and in a sense, keep us interested in the show. Also, they act as role models.


The media is ever changing the idea of what women should look like, and as these women are role models to young girls, this is what people believe to be true beauty. Characters are everywhere, and they all have traits. This got me to thinking about the different formats of writing, and where characters can be present. For example, in a TV show, we can see the character evolve, grow, mature, and succeed. In a play, we have a two hour period to watch that happen, so we have to get to know them fast, and we dont learn the details of their lives, just the necessary facts. In movies, it's the same way, thought it's easier in a movie to get an idea of who someone is because they have more to go off of.



I find this important, because everyone develops an emotional tie to the characters they watch every week. I know for me personally, a Grey's Anatomy fan, I often find myself trying to relate to the main character Meredith, sometimes successful, sometimes a failure. The relevance of this is, we need to make sure we are sending out positive characters because people will look up to them one way or another. If they are stereotypical, then that is just hurting society.

For example, Dora The Explorer was a real kick ass little girl, going on adventures, overcoming danger, all to get to her goal. This was a real good role model for young children. Now, Diego is the main character on the show, not Dora. Now a days, when you try to find Dora toys in stores, they no longer come with a backpack for her to take on her adventures, but make up, and a hair brush.

Well, there goes that role model...

3. Hillard says there are no real differences between writing a commercial and writing a PSA, on page 79. When I first read this, I was really surprised, but the more I think about it in the semester, the more I realize it makes perfect sense.

Commercials are from companies, with the goal in mind to get you to make a purchase, using strategies and techniques that we dont see with the naked, untrained eye. A PSA is straight, to the point, and encouraging you to do something good. However, a PSA uses the same techniques that we dont see because they still have to persuade us into acting upon their message. They are both for my benefit. I'm gaining factual knowledge, and I'm also getting a new product. As someone interested in advertising and or public relations, this is very helpful information to have.

There are even cases where known cartoon characters will work as a PSA to gain publicity for themselves, but also get the attention of the target audience to get the PSA message across. This is well known with the old GI Joe PSAs, pictured above.

"Fair and Balanced"

4. When Hillard talks about news on page 157, I had a lot to say. He states that the news should be objective and fair, with the goal of avoiding any political, social, or religious point of view. Like everyone else, I'm sure, my mind went right to FOX News. The big guy vs. the small guy. Then, of course, I thought about the crossfire interview with John Stewart. Not on FOX News, but still relevant.

I try to be fair, I get my news sources from various places, and I'll read the story in more then one place to try and get the real facts. It's interesting, however, how throughly different sources cover different stories. Since everything is owned by the big six, if it's one of their many companies that are in the news, then they dont cover it. It's all a matter of synergy, but the ones who are losing out are the public, because we are getting tainted news. I watch FOX News, because if I didn't, then I would have no justification when saying how horrible of a station it is. They ran a story once, bad mouthing President Obama because he said "under God" in one of his speeches. They criticized him for this, however, President Bush would say he spoke to God. Talk about favoritism.

PSA Say Whaa?

5. On page 195 Hillard talks about how when programs stress about information things, such as acid rain, animal cruelty, cancer, etc. this becomes production along the lines of a documentary. The reason I found this to be important is because until I read this, I never realized that I didn't know the difference between a documentary and a PSA.

A documentary aims to teach you something, to give you knowledge that you didn't previously have, where a PSA which is encouraging you to do something good. A lot of people do PSA announcements on both large and small scales. One that has always stuck out to me is the PSA that was done on Scrubs, shown in the video above. It's encouraging you not to do something, even if this one is being used as a joke. But it's a perfect example of PSA production techniques being used in a different means of media.

I love documentaries, they are my favorite fils to watch, because I always feel like I'm getting something from the movies rather then laughing at dumb humor. I have great respect for those who makes them, as in some cases--like Theo Van Gogh--you're risking your like for your message to be heard and exposing the truth. If I was to go into production, this would be the road I would want to go down.

A Song After My Own Heart

6. As I mentioned before, I have wanted to do something with sound tracking, always. So on page 310, when Hillard was talking about how the timing of the show with combination of musical selections has to be exact, it really appealed to me.

It's not an easy thing to do, you would think it's simple but it's really not. This type of work is important to me, because the song makes the moment, it sets the mood and the tone of whatever is happening. As a someone who is interested in advertising and public relations, what song goes along with an advertisement, or what music is in the background at an event. You don't tend to think about these things, but they are all very important. The photo to the left, I think, is a perfect example. It's beauty coming out of the speaker, this mix of creativity and perfection. Bringing together the bear and human--unlikely match. It's the power of music people. Better yet, it's the power of GOOD music.

I'd Like To Request A Song

7. According to Hillard, or so he says on page 309, todays deejay, producer, and or writer is the one who will determine the mold of what is considered todays popular music. People in these positions need to have a vast knowledge of music, and what is up and coming, and what is just in the past

I thought this was interesting, because this isn't how I thought things were done. I assumed that people would call in, request songs, or writers would just look at the top 100 songs. For a long time, I wanted to be a sound tracker. I wanted to be the person who put the music to moments in shows and movies. I found myself going on MySpace and trying to find new, unheard of bands that had the type of indie feel like The O.C. or Grey's Anatomy music (those are done by the same sound tracker). This is true, however, the more I think about it. To understand music is to understand what's popular with the times. You have to be the one who is creating the moment to really understand what song goes along best with. Photo by Dan Curtis.

I Went To College and All I Got Was This Lousy Diploma

8. Hillard talks on page 463 about how there is no way to substitute experience, and that majority of colleges don't really prepare their graduates for everything that they will come across in their chosen profession. This is especially important today with the high cost of tuition.

With Champlain, it's different because we are all required to take part in internships, so we get more hands on experience then straight up text book knowledge. But still, is college worth it, do we get everything that we need? If we are not getting the needed skills, we are going to find ourselves stressed and overwhelmed like my friend to the left of me. I've always thought that maybe I shouldn't be in college, maybe I should be out getting experience and working already. After all, for a PR career track, I know a lot of people who attained it without a college degree. So it was almost comforting to read this in the book, and know that I'm not the only one out there imagining all my debt and thinking to myself "is this really worth it?"

Born and Raised By Nickeloden

9. This stood out to me one page 381, Hilliard talks about imagination being the key element to preparing and writing for children. It's important to have something creative that will appeal to children, and will help stimulate their minds.

I started to think about my younger days as a child, and the TV shows I used to watch. Something like Barney seems less creative then something like Spongebob Squarepants. A big talking purple dinosaur, or as the theme song goes sponge who livesin a pineapple under the sea. Though, Spongebob Squarepants is less educational. Sure, Spongebob will show you how to catch jellyfish and make burgers, but Barney showed you how to count, read, tie your shoes, things for kids who aspire for more then being a friecook. This was important to me to realize because when you can step back and see how the little things are evolving, that's when you can really step back and see the times evolving.

The Show Must Go On

10. On page 334, Hillard says that scrips, whether they are for video or film, use a format consisting of drama and suspense to hold the audiences attention. A conflict is created and the solution achieves the objective of the presentation.

This photo represents how I feel about this drama aspect, that we dont need drama. We need something enlightening.When I read this, I started wonder if this is why we love drama so much. It's what we are exposed to daily, and it's proven to keep our attention. To me, this was a helpful thing to come to terms with because as someone who is interested in perusing a career in advertising or PR, it's important to know what truly grabs the individual. We love drama, we feed off it. It keeps us on our toes, and it will also forever keep our wallets open.

The Game is Sustain

1. What was the most difficult moment in making this video?

Finding a common time that everyone could get together and film this. We all had very conflicting schedules, or previous weekend commitments that we couldn't get out of. When we did have time to get together it was usually quick, and sometimes not all of us could be there, so we worked really well catching other group members up to speed.

2. Other than finishing it, what was the most rewarding moment in making this video?

The process of planning it. We all had a lot of ideas that we bounced around, and we worked really well building off of each other to reach the final product. We had a lot of laughs in the planning process.

3. Discuss 3 specific lessons you learned about film production and/or "group process" in making this video?

I learned that you really need good whether, and waiting around for it is mindless. In terms of production, it's very important to make sure the set is as quiet as possible, because the sound editing is very difficult to make right. In terms of working with a group, I learned that if you take the time to hear everyones ideas, and dont rush into one idea, your final product will be so much better.

4. Discuss 3 specific things you learned about Champlain College and/or the "Sustain Champlain" project that you did not know before completing this project?

I learned a lot about Champlain by doing this video. I had no idea that we had the low flow shower heads, that I could get my coffee for cheeper, or that the motion censored lighting was so common throughout the entire campus.