BLOG 9 (Turning the Gaze into Your Own TV Ad)

There are many times where I feel self-conscious walking across the quad. I feel I am always the object of "the gaze' of the several students sitting and lounging around in the quad. If you are sitting in the qaud, you are most likely gazing at the people who walk by you; I tend to do this when I sit, but when I walk across the quad I feel like the object of "the gaze".

If my walking across the qaud were turned into a television advertisement, I guess it would be for clothing since I like fashion, which utilizes "the gaze" in selling certain "looks" and styles. When filmed, it would be sunny of course. I would be walking across the quad. There would be a lot of random students filling the qaud in between classes; I am on my way to print something at a computer lab before class. I am wearing a trendy outfit, and at first I walk slow to see if I can find anyone I know on the qaud. The camera zooms in slow motion onto some elements of my outfit as I am on the phone. Suddenly some people I know walk up to me very happily. They are excited college students who love being in the sun in between classes. We are all in our trendy outfits. You can't hear our covnersation, but there is catchy, electronic music playing in the background. There is text on the screen highlighting certain articles of our outfits and the price of each article of clothing. FInally we all laugh at a joke and walk off to the print lab to continue our day. The camera pans off into the sun, and the clothing brand logo appears on the screen with the music still playing. Then the advertisement is over. The whole time I am by myself as well as with friends, fellow students hold "the gaze" on us and want to be like us; the camera caputres this gaze. Not only are the clothes we wear in the commercial being sold to consumers, but the commercial also sells a lifestyle with the brand of clothing we are wearing. We give the clothes a story, with the viewer interacting with the clothing we are wearing and the environment we are in. The qaud is the field that gives the clothing I'm wearing an emotional experience with the viewer; some viewers may even end up buying the same clothes I am wearing in hopes of achieving the same lifestyle sold in the commerical through "the gaze".