I am coming up with a new soundscript for the movie “Thank You for Smoking”. In this new soundscript, the voice-over narrator will be a young adolescent teenager. I believe the change of the voice and identity of the narrator will add more humor to the film and also strengthen the movie’s argument that public relations greatly affect society’s view of the tobacco industry. There will be bias of course, especially because of the demographic of the new narrator. However, this movie reveals things that are not common knowledge for most people, and so in a way the movie serves as a documentary of sorts. I believe the voice of a younger person surprises the ear initially; people simply aren’t used to hearing facts from children that often, so I think this new narrator will be a useful tool in changing the mood of the film.

The research question that helps introduce my claim is this: to what extent do the scenes in the video montage change the viewer’s previous bias towards the tobacco industry, or do they even affect them at all?

So compared to the previous narrator, which was the protagonist, I propose that this new narrator should be an adolescent teenager interested in the dealings of the tobacco industry. In this manner, we avoid any superfluous commentary from Naylor which suggests arrogance or bravado. Instead the curious teenager will be speak in a way that he is trying to uncover secrets of the tobacco industry. I feel that this will help make light of an issue such as politics or public relations to continue the comedic effect of the film.

As Kozloff analyzes the audio into categories such as keynote sounds, background sounds, and signal sounds, I will attempt to include these terms in explaining my new soundscript.

Finally, I just hope that I can actually enjoy my new soundscript as much as I enjoy the voice-over narration that is already in place. That may be a lofty goal, but it seems attainable.

There were several questions that arose while I was reading Alcoff’s text. The first being, who is her target audience? How does she think she can create a practical solution for the matter at hand? Or even further does she think there’s a serious problem, to a global extent? One thing that was unclear to me regarding Alcoff’s text was her usage of the word epistemology. I looked up several definitions of the term, and they all basically centered around relating to knowledge or the environment surrounding the obtainment of knowledge. However, do speakers always intend to educate or enlighten? She speaks in contemporary terms, and most of the speeches I have heard, have been around to motivate. We are in an age of the internet, where knowledge is at our fingertips and where most people are not that surprised at any new news. Well that’s just me blabbing, let’s move on to the real meat.

Alcoff seems to be saying that there is an inevitable movement towards universal skepticism of the speaker. That makes total sense, because well, even in this class, we must first question the background of our authors’, and what woud motivate his or her argument. In addition, she claims that privileged people speaking for less privileged people usually makes the matter worse. While I put that in the most general manner possible, I also noticed that she offers several conditions. The most important one being this:

“We must ask further questions about its effects, questions which amount to the following: will it enable the empowerment of oppressed peoples? ”

Pertaining to service, to supply someone, or to fix or repair something. Does the speaking help the oppressed people or not? When I speak on behalf or for my service at the Boys and Girls Club, what will be my motivation? Am I trying to help out, or just performing it out of duty? Is the former more righteous than the latter?

I cannot answer these questions fully at this point because I have only gone and done 6 hours, but at this point, after reading Alcoff, I can say this. I will take two points from Alcoff: one pertains to her mentioning her Panamanian and American dual nationality and the other point where she says there is responsibility behind speaking for others.

Response paper 1.2

Ivan Illich gives a speech to the Conference on InterAmerican Student Projects, in Cuernavaca, Mexico. He opposes the movement of “missionary” and charity type American organizations who build houses in certain poor areas of Mexico. In the latter part of his speech when he is addressing the flaws of the InterAmerican Student Project system, he says, “Your reports about your work in Mexico, which you so kindly sent me, exude self-complacency. Your reports on past summers prove that you are not even capable of understanding that your dogooding in a Mexican village is even less relevant than it would be in a U.S. ghetto.” Illich interprets their reports as being defined as how only one perspective is being used. The “self-complacency” suggests that the reactions of a few Mexicans are masking the actual reality of the situation, and therefore creating a false sentiment of success. In turn, this word “dogooding” becomes the basis for cross-cultural learning: fulfilling moral goals at the expense of an Mexican dissent.

The “voice” of the voice-over narrator would be that of an eloquent, thoughtful African-American male. He would not directly represent someone who’s living with the underground residents, but someone who sides with the residents and wants to make their issues public. There will be an interview between our strong “voice” and the cameraman or interviewer, and the dialogue will show that they are in a courtroom, and the narration will be a type of testimony. He will use legal terms, but also employ rhetorical devices to show his passion for defending the residents. His stance is not keeping them there, but to allow the residents to stay there until government-funded housing is created.

First Video Clip:

• Orchestra music as the keynote
• Signal sound was the narrator

• Soundmark was the guitar pop song

We inferred that it was a movie trailer. The video clip sounded like a family movie.

Second Video Clip:

• Keynote sound was high pitch, followed by a low bass note
•  Signal sound was the alien, outer-space sounding line
• Soundmark was the dissonance that makes it kind of scary or like a horror film

We inferred that it was some kind of horror, sci-fi film because of its gradual pickup of speed and musical dissonance.