Weekly Blog Post 6

The evocation of emotions and feelings from an audience does not occur solely from the producer’s utilization of pathos within a text, but also from his or her more structured and physical utilization of logos. Case in point, the music video interpretation of Garth Brooks’ “The Thunder Rolls” is very controversial and naturally induces some strong feelings regarding spousal abuse and the topic of revenge through its composition and the arrangement of certain visual elements.

The producers of this music video first limit the number of elements in this composition by not making it too complex or overwhelming, allowing the viewer to follow along and receive the message that Garth Brooks and his video production crew are trying to convey without having to try too hard to do so. The plotline is simple and follows the lyrics of the song quite accurately. More specifically, the majority of the music video consists of the three main characters – the husband, the wife, and the mistress. Again, it is easy to follow along here and the simplicity of the visual information the audience is receiving makes the image of the message much clearer. The remainder of the music video visually consists of Garth Brooks alone, or with the attention focused on him, dressed in all black, singing the song, and playing his acoustic guitar. Even down to the clothing he is wearing and the instrument he is playing, the number of elements being utilized is limited.

Furthermore, visual unity is created in the piece, bringing the different aspects of the man’s life together in order to make one main argument describing this man’s and his family’s lives. This visual unity is literally created through the drive the man takes from the cheap motel with his mistress to his grandeur of a home in his car. The story shifts and his actions are carried with him in the car; bringing the audience along with him to his – and the story’s – final destination. This drive also symbolizes all of the pain and betrayal this man is bringing home to his wife and daughter, especially after just being with his blond-haired mistress.

Another aspect of the video that is further developed through logos is the somber and even angry overall mood of the text. This aspect is brought about through repetition. The story is being visually laid out for us as the viewers to follow along with, but the constant flashes back to Garth Brooks wearing his tilted, black cowboy hat, singing in the horrible rainy weather contributes to our negative mood that is already being provoked by the other negative facets that have been created in the video.

In conclusion, the carefully thought out, structural organization of texts, such as this music video, through logos surprisingly has the capacity to bring about some strong emotions and feelings in the viewer; and Garth Brooks and his video crew successfully accomplish this intended evocation of emotion by doing so.

Weekly Blog Post 5

In the production of a music video depicting a song involving spousal abuse, or domestic violence, one must realize that it is impossible to do so without evoking some type of feeling or emotion. Throughout the entire music video, the producers incorporate strategies to try to present to the viewers the negative consequences of, and in this case the victim’s partial triumph over, domestic violence.

In the very beginning of the music video, the character of the cheating and abusive husband is seen in a motel room with what the viewers would conclude to be his mistress based on their conversation and physical interaction. The situation in general immediately presents to the audience some level of an ethos of the husband. He comes across as apathetic and inconsiderate when bluntly disregarding even his mistress after she communicates the feelings she has for him. This first impression of the husband is carried on with the viewers throughout the remainder of the song and music video, influencing their reactions to the actions of each character involved. For example, the man’s wife throws all of the family pictures off of a nearby desk and retrieves a gun after hearing of the affair. Because of the actions of the husband, the audience feels a stronger sense of sympathy and empathy for the betrayed woman. His ethos is carried on and contributes to the pathos of the situation as a whole. That is to say, the negative qualities he possesses produces feelings of anger and resentment within the audience.

Furthermore, on the topic of pathos used in the music video, certain physical aspects of the production contribute to the evocation of negative emotions toward the husband – such as anger and resentment – in the viewers. Namely, the black eye his wife is seen donning while in her home expresses to the viewers the type of man her husband is as well as it produces some level of sympathy felt toward the woman. Another physical example is the gloomy, dark, and rainy setting of the music video. This setting automatically brings out from within us sadness and feelings of ominous doom.

Overall, the creators of this video utilize successfully the different strategies – ethos and pathos – to produce within the viewers different emotions that lead to their acceptance of their argument against domestic violence through Garth Brooks’ “The Thunder Rolls.”

Weekly Blog Post 4

The Thunder Rolls (video)

Garth Brooks | MySpace Music Videos
When we were assigned this project for our next blog post, I immediately made the decision to select a music video with some level of controversy. It is not very often that we find country music videos to be “controversial” per se, but the video interpretation of Garth Brooks’ single “The Thunder Rolls” is sure to bring about some strong emotions from those viewing it. The context in which Garth Brooks’ song – or story – is expressed is within the strained relationship between a woman and her cheating, abusive husband. This context in itself is sure to impose a certain bias among the viewers regarding the characters in the video without them really having to pay attention to it at all. This context – along with his threatening their daughter – is conducive, to a certain extent, to the woman’s killing her husband at the end of the video. Murder is obviously looked down upon in society, but it suddenly becomes acceptable when the murderer committed the act when defending him- or herself against the victim. To offer a concrete example of this understanding, a West Virginia woman was convicted of killing her husband, but was then acquitted of all charges when the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals realized that she did so in self defense. The realization of the context changed the Justices’ views of the actions of the woman, thus changing her sentencing as well as the ways in which she as a person would be perceived by other people.

Another context apparent in this music video is the incorporation of darkness. The dark mood of the song in general and the literal and physical darkness of the night work together to evoke the feelings of sadness and anger within the viewers. Had the song been played with a more upbeat and bright-sounding guitar tune and the setting of the video been a beautiful and sun-shiny day, the audience typically would not have taken the story behind the song after watching it as seriously as the songwriter intended. Whether we like it or not, different colors and different sounds alter the way we feel, and it is apparent in the incorporation and intensities of each that the creators of Garth Brooks’ “The Thunder Rolls” music video used this phenomenon to their advantage.

Weekly Blog Post 3

The Link List of my fellow classmates is posted on the right side of my blog! Fully functional and in alphabetical order.

Weekly Blog Post 2

I agree with the video regarding what it had to say about text online becoming more important in our society. It is, often times, the only or primary source of communication between individuals in the business field, students and professors at a large university, or even long-distance family members and friends. This fairly new means of communication has become so prevalent in our daily lives that two college professors wrote a book on it and its link to technology, identity and culture. Any person with access to a computer with Internet capability is able to view what is publicly posted on the web, so it is important that the author of the text recognizes this vast audience and uses strategies to properly address it.

To incorporate a personal example, my Facebook profile is blocked from any and all people I have not confirmed as my “friend.” This should bring about my unrestricted speech on my profile. However, I have realized that my Facebook friends consist of people I know from many different social circles – family members, church friends, the families I babysit for, high school friends, college friends, etc. – so I must adjust what exactly it is I want to say in hopes of keeping anyone from being offended or seeing me in a negative light. (It is more challenging than it seems to stay updated with photo uploads with friends when Dad still cannot accept that boys live on my floor, too.) Pleasing more than one age group or social circle at a time – especially on the Internet – can be a bit testing, but as I have realized these past couple of months, it is not impossible.

Creativity also plays a large role in the production of a webpage or blog. The creator wants to convey to his audience his ideas in a specific manner, giving them an idea of his personality. This utilizes the ethos appeal. Ethos is the way your audience perceives you in the context of your communication, which is difficult to achieve in web-based interaction. One must choose his words very carefully and select appropriate font colors and sizes, sound effects, and other visual and auditory components to make sure that his online project does in fact represent himself and his personality when necessary. Even in doing so, the author could be misrepresenting himself, as explained in the following article: How is Online Communication Different?

Moreover, I can only see the Internet and online communication getting more and more efficient and readily accessible in the years to come. So if you have not yet jumped on the online bandwagon, you should. Maybe you will get lucky and get your online poetry collection published or increase your business clientele! The possibilities are endless…