Spring Break
The wonders of new media communications
Scott Dennis
Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: Forum
After years of research, investigations and analysis, I have come to a conclusion. I now know for certain the identity of the best major on campus. It is not English, for that requires too much reading and writing. Nor is it fine arts, for that demands an understanding of abstract concepts like negative space and the nature of text.
It is not engineering, with all its icky math, and neither is it history, with its dates and study of dead people.
No, the best major on campus asks only for a sincere devotion to all things awesome. This fabled area of study is of course none other than new media communications.
What other major can grant you access to a video game lab? Yes, I said video game lab. This alone would be enough to win NMC the title of best major, but it also has a motion capture facility that makes this major even more amazing. It's like they have both traditional flavor jelly beans and "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans" - truly an overdose of tastiness.
The aim of NMC, according to its website, is to "prepare students to manage change in media." With a focus on the "storytelling capacity of media," this program is perfect for all the aspiring YouTube directors at Oregon State. I do wish, however, for a traditional animation course to be added, since the art department has not seen fit to do so yet.
Another one of the program's goals is to analyze the media, such as movies, video games, television and newspapers, in our society. Perhaps it has made time to analyze why Warner Brothers is calling its new set of movie posters "action banners."
"What's an action banner?" you ask? Well, imagine a movie poster. Now, call it an "action banner." There you go. You figured it out.
NMC students probably have to study a number of media oddities - when they're not having "Halo" parties in the video game lab, of course. But understanding contemporary media trends and such requires knowledge of the history of media in our society in order to put everything in context and perhaps explain why things are they way they are today.
It is not engineering, with all its icky math, and neither is it history, with its dates and study of dead people.
No, the best major on campus asks only for a sincere devotion to all things awesome. This fabled area of study is of course none other than new media communications.
What other major can grant you access to a video game lab? Yes, I said video game lab. This alone would be enough to win NMC the title of best major, but it also has a motion capture facility that makes this major even more amazing. It's like they have both traditional flavor jelly beans and "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans" - truly an overdose of tastiness.
The aim of NMC, according to its website, is to "prepare students to manage change in media." With a focus on the "storytelling capacity of media," this program is perfect for all the aspiring YouTube directors at Oregon State. I do wish, however, for a traditional animation course to be added, since the art department has not seen fit to do so yet.
Another one of the program's goals is to analyze the media, such as movies, video games, television and newspapers, in our society. Perhaps it has made time to analyze why Warner Brothers is calling its new set of movie posters "action banners."
"What's an action banner?" you ask? Well, imagine a movie poster. Now, call it an "action banner." There you go. You figured it out.
NMC students probably have to study a number of media oddities - when they're not having "Halo" parties in the video game lab, of course. But understanding contemporary media trends and such requires knowledge of the history of media in our society in order to put everything in context and perhaps explain why things are they way they are today.
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