Selling with Dialog

Dialog moves the story forward. It helps us to show instead of tell the audience. Dialog can help make a short story seem to contain boatloads of information. By having the characters make implications about the universe the live in,, the audience is exposed to more information in less lines by making them do the thinking them selves. We have to realize that we are writing for the audience, so why not at least make them help once and a while.
We discussed a few of the flaws commonly found in dialog; “monologging”, sounding too real or fake, contractions, and using names too often. Prof Jenkins strongly, and repeatedly advised us to read our work aloud before turning it in. After reading a few of my pieces aloud, I saw that these problems were the same as the ones I was having with my writing.

Abstract/ Concrete

Abstract words are words that tell. We were given the example “love. Concrete words show. Words like fluffy, tiny, and happy could be considered concrete. The benefit of concrete words is that they contain dual coding. By showing instead of telling, it is more memorable.

We were also shown the ladder of abstraction, and were shown the example beginning with “asset”. From asset we went to investment, to security, to equity, to stock, to common stock. We went from something vague, to something very specific. These specific terms make stories flow better, make them seem more believable, and use dual-coding to spark emotion in the audiences’ mind.

Language

In some of the books I have read, language is discussed as this strong yet holey thing that we use to interpret and share our experiences with others. In class we discussed how it can be used to draw emotion from past experiences of our audience. By using strong adjectives, we can make the audience feel nostalgic by simply mentioning a certain product. Once we start the chain, the audiences mind wanders and they end up feeling the emotion they have tied to that product.

Soft Language

We watched a couple clips of George Carlin’s stand up today in class. It was hilarious, kind of sad to see though. He was so damn funny and used language so well. I will always remember him as Rufus in the Bill and Ted movies. So good. So good.

The clips were focused on his terms of “soft” and “hard” language. Things begin as hard language. He used “shell-shocked” as an example. Shell-shocked began to frighten people though. It had many negative connotations because of how awful people would be when they came back suffering from it. After many years of transformation it is now known as post traumatic stress disorder. He mocked the addition of so many syllables and how it now attempted to lose the audiences attention by being so long. He mentioned the use of “pass-away” over “die”, and the use of “automobile accident” as apposed to what it really is, a wreck.

At the end of class we were asked if it is possible to advertise without lying. It is a weird thing to think about. I often notice that car commercials don’t actually say anything about the car. They only show it driving on mountains and show some character using it to their full advantage. I think it is possible to advertise without lying, but that doesn’t mean they have to tell the truth.

Brands

We were told to make a list of brands that we use in a day. I realized that I don’t have a very consistent brand in my life. I use colgate tooth paste, because it was on sale. I have Levi jeans and sketcher shoes. The jeans a from a good will, and the shoes were 50% off making them affordable. Sketcher was the first brand the I could immediately draw an ad to. I remember silly animated commercials would come on saying “It’s the S.” Seeing that slogan written down reminds me of the slogar for a place I used to get my hair cut at. Fantastic Sam’s has ads in their waiting area that have “It’s gotta be the hair,” written all over them. Maybe I am drawn to ads that have a strongly confirmative message about the success of their product. Maybe I appreciate confidence, but that doesn’t sound like me.

I noticed that my music equipment is the only portion of my possessions that has a repeated brand. I have many effect pedals from Boss, and my last purchase was a Fender as well as the purchase before that. I don’t look for brand in guitars. I often spend way to much time at a Guitar Center playing around with all of their guitars before making a decision. I will then check forums online to see other people’s opinions, see how they last over time, and see if there are any upgrade suggestions made by others online.
I do seem to have an attachment to Boss brand pedals. They are generally affordable and I do like how they are all the same dimensions. What’s strange is that I know there are better pedals out there right now, but I can’t remember if I did much research before buying them. I know I played with them at a store before buying but I can’t remember if I did the whole online investigation process.
I kept recalling the scene about product placement in Wayne’s World. In one shot, Garth is wearing nothing but Reebok clothing I believe, and he says something about people accepting corporate sponsorships being very sad. I am glad I don’t buy only one brand for everything. I think the only way that would be possible is if you bought all Best Choice of Great Value things.

3/19

We were discussing an ad campaign made up by the class about corn. We were discussing the views of three different age groups; College folk, Family folk, and retired folk. The collegians we decided, from experience, were lazy, young, busy, had a lot of energy, and were curious and tempted to rebel. The family folk were thinking about budgets, appreciate together time, and are thinking about more than one person at a time. The retired people are concerned about their health. They have money likely saved up from the past and are looking for something to tell them they will live to see another day. (Last part is a little grim). I laughed to myself when thinking about the needs of college aged people and applying them to an ad for corn. I pictured a slurpable tube of creamed corn that came in a bright yellow box with 6 tubes in it. They need something portable, check. The ad would have a kid studying and slurping on the tube, another running and slurping the tube, and have another shot of a whole group of people slurping the tubes. I figure the whole slurping part would remind them of their childhood, bring a whole nostalgia thing to the product.

Attention

We focused mainly on the Attention part of A.I.D.A. today. Every day we are subjected to thousands of advertisements. Each one trying to grab our attention more than all the others. Trying to get everyone to buy it’s product, even though more than likely it serves no function at all. The billboards along streets are like all seeing eyes, piercing down at the petty mortals below trying to use their powers to control our brains. Okay, maybe they aren’t that bad. However, walking below them I always feel a little weary. I can hear the wood snapping in my head and then picture my body disappearing to a loud thud and dust shooting out in all directions. I have that same fear of trains. On I-70, just W of the Noland Road exit, there is a railroad bridge that crosses above the highway. I drive under it two times a week. I go out to my parents for dinner each Sunday. Returning home, there is usually a train crossing this bridge as a approach it. I can always imagine it tipping over as I go underneath and smashing my car.
I guess if an advertiser really wanted to get my attention fully and quickly, all they would have to do is put a train whistle in their ad. Not only would they have my attention immediately, they would have started a crazy chain thought reaction in my head. And knowing me I would likely end up tracing my thoughts back to the ad. I drink a lot of Coke around Christmas time.