The End

This will be my last post for my communications blog. Indeed this is an innovative way of a “homework”, its like homework as we have to do it at home naturally and it is more of like a review of what we have learnt every week. As i do not have a blog on my own, i still find it difficult to sometimes express myself in words as i am better at expressing myself with words. But it has been a good experience for me to set up this communications blog to learn how to express myself better and also learnt new stuff from my other friend’s blogs.

Lastly, good luck to all for the final exam and project. Cheers. =)

Globalisation of mass media

Just a short reflection on how the globalisation of mass media has affected me.

Without the globalisation of mass media, i will not be able to watch and enjoy the different movies that are shown in the cinemas every week. If i remember correctly, we only started having exports of movies from the U.S. about the 90s. We only have local television programmes and maybe some programmes from the other Asian countries but they are very limited. Only till the late 90s when we start having more U.S. TV shows and movies shown on television. The first few that i remember would be the “Friends” season and “Buffy the vampire slayer” season. Ever since i started watching them, i grew more attached to the shows and make it a point to watch them every week. As the media companies in U.S. have very strong domestic roots, they are able to export their products overseas to gain more popularity across the seas.

TV shows became movies and more and more movies are screening in the cinemas. I realise the majority (90%) of the movies i watch are American movies from the Century Fox productions or the Warner Brothers productions and i only watch local production like once a year if they happen to have a good movie. Growing up and watching all the different movies definitely have an influence on me like in terms of language or even their dressing,

Aside from the U.S. products, more and more Asian products are being exported in during these recent years. Like all the different Japanese, korean and Taiwan dramas. So with the globalisation of mass media, we are able to enjoy the different shows and movies from different cultures and countries and appreciate their productions even more.

The Leap Years

This year is a leap year and it gives me more of a reason to watch the local production of “The Leap Years”. Well, the movie did not leave a big impact but it is still a good show afterall, quite worth the watch though.

Synopsis of movie: Li-Ann ‘s (Wong Li Lin) birthday fall on the 29 of Feburary and on her 6th birthday (24 years old), she met the man of her dreams, Jeremy (Ananda Matthew Everingham). Since their first met, they made a promise to meet on every Feburary the 29th and this was a start of how Li Ann had to overcome all the twists and turns of fate to have the love of her life.

The movie started off with the young Li Ann going in to a chinese temple to have her love life told by a fortune teller and also how she tried to uncover her fate bit by bit by going to the fortune teller. This shows the tradition of Chinese and alos relates how much Chinese depend on fortune tellers sometimes to tell us our fate. I feel that the director is trying to convey the message that we can know our fate beforehand but it is up to us how we want to control that fate.

Subsequently , the scenes jumped from Li Ann’s present state of 48 years old to her reminiscing about her past 24 years of life since she met Jeremy. The scenes of Li Ann’s present state were always potrayed as foggy and blurry while her past states were always in clear light. In my opinion, the director is showing us that Li Ann treasures her past memories and she always remember them in crystal clear and in clear light while her present state is foggy and blurry as her husband, Jeremy, is unconscious at the hospital and she is unsure of her future.

The director also made use of music to help intensify the emotions and mood of the diferent scenes. If you take note of the lyrics of the songs sang during the differnt parts of the leap years, you will realise that the songs complement the storyline during that leap year. Foe example, the third leap year, Li Ann wanted to forget Jeremy and lied to him that she was married, the song payed was “scars” and the lyrics clearly emphasized what Li Ann was feeling and how hard it was for her to let go and the scars that was left behind.

Aside from songs, the director also used quote from famous people like Albert Einstein before the start of every leap year to let the audience have a rough idea of what would be happening in the movie. For example, during the fourth leap year, the quote was “In three words, I sum up what I have learned in life: Life goes on”. As the previous leap year was Li Ann breaking up wiith Jeremy, we could anticipate that she will move on from her life and stop waiting for Jeremy. So the different quotes act as a link to the different leap years part.

After watching the movie, i feel that the director has successfully communicated her message – true love is worth waiting for – to the audience. Well, at least i felt that way. Through the 4 leap years that Li Ann had to go through and also the last scene when she explained what the fortune teller once told her – you must be patient. Indeed, she was patient enough to wait 16 years for a love unreplaced by anyone.