Carpe Diem △

Bye bye ELO! I'm gonna miss posting on my blog!! :(

Techniques of Persuasion

Persuasion is a way to convince you to think a certain way towards something. To persuade, it means that you will be influenced and your point of view will change. Just like in every advertisement and commercials, they persuade you because they want you to believe in their product, and they want you to buy it. Persuasion takes form in a positive and a negative way, but the objective is to change what you believe.

Ads and commercials use persuasion techniques such as: Humor, Macho, Friends, Family, Fun, Nature, Sexy, Cartoon, Celebrity and Wealth. They showcase these in their commercials to get your attention:

Humor - Funny or crazy images that make the viewer laugh.

Macho - Strong, tough, powerful – usually males. May carry weapons or be pictured in dangerous situations. Cowboys.

Friends - Groups of people enjoying each other and doing things together. Buddies, pals and friendship.

Family - Mother, father, children or a family. May also be intergenerational group.

Fun - Everyone is happy – smiling and laughing. Often images of people doing fun things and having a good time.

Nature - Outdoor settings – mountains, ocean, desert, snow, flowers, etc. May or may not have people included.

Sexy - Emphasis on physical attributes of models, usually female; may wear revealing clothing and be shown flirting through attitude or body language.

Cartoon - People or animals portrayed as drawing or animation, often humorous.

Celebrity - Someone most people recognize – athlete, musician, politician, or movie star.

Wealth - Expensive and elegant places and things. Big houses, new cars, jewelry, designer clothing, etc.

Photo Analysis

There are three things in photography that are very important and they are, lighting, angles and proximity. Each photo have different meaning, and photographers use those three things to help them present the message the photo is trying to tell the viewers.

In a Life magazine that was published in 1951, a man named Matt Ridgway was the front cover. When you first look at the image, you will almost instantly feel and know what the image is trying to tell you. I know that when I looked at it, I instantly felt the toughness and the fearlessness of the man. Judging by his posture, his attire and his expressions, I feel that Matt Ridgeway was brave and was superior that everyone looked up to him. Also, the image's angle is a little bit below the subject, making it seem like we, the viewers are below him and we must look up to him because he is a leader. Also, the props and attire made it more convincing because he is wearing a grenade and he is in his uniform, making it look like he's ready to go off to war and he was very serious and focused.

In my opinion the photographer did a great job with the image interpretation. The angle and the lighting of the image also affected the feel of the image. Therefore, the photo's message is very convincing because it convinced me that this man Matt Ridgway was a great General, and is very powerful.

Persuasion

Persuasion is a way of convincing, and making you think a certain way. It could be bad or good, but the goal is to make you believe on something the persuader believes in. Persuasion is used a lot in commercials. They want you to buy their product, hence they persuade you to think that their product is good, and they make it seem like it's the best. I chose the Old Spice commercial, because other than the fact that I find it pretty funny, this commercial also used other persuasion techniques, such as: Macho, Fun, Nature and Humor. I listed Macho, because the man in the commercial is topless, and is showing his body. Fun, because the man was smiling in pretty much the whole commercial. Nature is also listed on here because the setting is at the ocean. Lastly, I find this commercial humorous because of what the man was saying. He wasn't completely serious and the way he talked was funny, in my opinion. Overall, I think that this commercial used a lot of persuasion and is a perfect example for this topic.

Helping Others: World Vision

What comes in mind when you hear about help, or helping others? Each and every person has different beliefs and views on what help is. It could be as little as helping your friend with homework, or helping an old woman or a handicapped cross the street. It could also be something greater, like blood donation or doing charity. Helping others is possible and it exist in many different ways. For me, I think anything that involves lending a hand, especially to those in need, doesn't matter what you do, may it be a small thing, or something more, helping is helping. Anyone can help in the way that they can.

World Vision is what I chose to write about in the topic of helping others because I feel that this charity is a perfect example. World Vision had helped millions of kids and it continues to help unfortunate kids in poor countries. According to the World Vision website under core values, they said that, "We are committed to the poor", meaning they want to help as much as they can, to change the less fortunate kid's condition of life for the better. They help those who don't have parents anymore to nurture and look after them, those who aren't fortunate to get a good education, and kids who don't have immediate access to food and water. World Vision gives a chance to these children to have a better and normal life that they deserve, and World Vision also gives us the chance to help. We can help by sponsoring a child. This is a program where you can choose a child who's age 1 to 12+ and donate $40 a month for their food supply, water, and other necessities. World Vision also builds schools and health clinics using the money that they raised, or using the donation money. If you want to help but can't do so by donating money, World Vision also believes that a simple prayer is a way of helping. Another one of their core values listed on its website is "We are Christian", and it cited right underneath "From the abundance of God's love, we find our call to ministry." (World Vision, Core Values) From what I understand and what I feel, as long as it is sincere and you are willing to help, a prayer is just as great as donating money. If it comes from the heart, the God above will hear your prayers and will help the ones who are in need.

So, helping others is proven to exist in a variety of ways. Such as donating money to the poor, or even a simple prayer is a way of helping. I believe that you don't have to be rich to be able to help, as long as you are willing, and as long as it comes from your heart and it is sincere, it is still a way of helping. I hope that maybe we can all start helping, in our own little ways. We can all start today.

"Core Values." World Vision. World Vision Canada, n.d. Web. 15 Nov 2011. <http://www.worldvision.ca/About-Us/Core-Values/Pages/Core-Values.asp&xgt;.

"Child Sponsorship." World Vision. World Vision Canada, n.d. Web. 15 Nov 2011. <https://children.worldvision.ca/sponsorship/Forms/Child.aspx?service=page/Child&lang=en&type=A&mc=3335304>.

Facebook timeline

Facebook Timeline by Kisty Mea
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/10548721355/1/tumblr_lrymjsbaTE1qzpdhz

If you haven’t heard about it, let me introduce to you Facebook’s Timeline!
Facebook's timeline seems really interesting. The idea of this whole timeline about your life is such a great way to share things about yourself. Like what Kisty said, it's like your online scrapbook or diary. This concept and how this new layout is constructed looks neat and very organized. Although I'm finding this idea nice, I am not really that in favor of Facebook constantly changing its layouts. For some people, including myself, I get irritated with the changes because it gets really confusing at times and it becomes a hassle to get used to something new again. I'm looking forward to trying this new Facebook Timeline, and hopefully it's a great change. Also, maybe Facebook should try sticking with one layout a little longer, than having changes after every few months.

Photo Essay

The following photos below are pictures that all have light leaks. I chose this theme because I love light leaks, they look beautiful and I think it adds more art in the picture. Other than that, these photos have Creative Commons (CC). It means that only some rights are reserved and I can use these photos, but under certain conditions.

I have listed the photos with these CC in this order:

Attribution License