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My experiences with media production stem back to an early age, when my father, my older brothers and I manifested ridiculous stories then filmed them. Over my childhood these home movies progressed, and I began to formulate basic plot conceptualization skills and my ability to create and record stereotypical humour advanced. My education however, took a more serious turn after I enrolled in media arts 11 last year at mt douglas, and this education was even further increased when I attended Gulf Islands Film and Television School on Galiano Island this past summer. I learned how to develop my budding abilities in plot formulation, pre and post production, direction, acting, and filming.

I, like many others, cannot simply pick one particular movie as my favorite, but rather enjoy an immense collection of films. But, for the sake of this question, I will answer with one of my favorite movies that I just recently watched. It is called, "The Proposition", and involves a intense psychologically thrilling plot set in Australia during the 1880s. The story involves a gang of second-generation Irish brothers, who's parents were expedited from their homeland due to criminal activities. There is three of them, the oldest brother dwelling deep in the outback as one of Australia's most elusive and dangerous criminals. The movie begins with the capture of the two younger, less dangerous, more innocent brothers. The police man in charge offers the middle brother a proposition. Retrieve his older brother, dead or alive, and the youngest one lives. Awesome movie.

While there are generally a number of things that "good" ,movies have in common, I don't believe that there is any sort of set criteria for a good movie. I am sure many hollywood producers would disagree, but good movies are not restricted to a format. Though, in generalities, a "good" movie should possess the following traits. These guidelines may be seen as slightly vague, but that is how they are meant to be. t should have a well formulated plot. By that, I mean that the plot is well thought-out, smooth flowing, and established. It must be concise, and must have clear intention. Its messages should be easy to recieve, yet not overpowering Whatever "message" the director is trying to convey to the audience should be made audible, yet subtle enough so that one has the ability to receive meaning on ones own terms. The conclusion should be slowly drawn out of the movie, yet be able to not be boring, or overextended.

Media directly influences the population on a scale much larger scale than many believe. The art of advertisement has reached a pinnacle, in terms of effectiveness, reach (demographics), and ease of use. The tools of corporate media are now able to "follow" children from a young age, via phone, computer, billboards, in school, on their TV, magazines, video games etc. Propaganda is everywhere, and it is one of the "higher ups" greatest weapon. It has been proven time and time again, from the Nazi parties propaganda minister Goebbles to teen gossip magazines preaching the holy gospel of Justin Bieber; the information we receive is the information we are given. The actions we perform are based on the information we have gathered, and if it is from a limited source, or actions must then be limited. Such is the nature of mass control via modern media.

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Embedded is one of my favourite videos from one of my favourite filmmaking groups, The Whitest Kids U' Know. The video adopts a hilariously satirical sense of humour and incorporates many modern action-movie filming techniques, such as the close-up on the protagonist with a suspended, adrenaline-fueled feel to the camera movements, notable at minute 3:20.