My favorite collegehumor point of view video is "Girl Buys Condom". It is one of my favorites because the video makes broad and exaggerated assumptions about women but then portrays it in this funny way. It is also one of my favorites because it is so similar and yet so different from the "Guy Buys Condom"video.
The intended audience is mostly college students. A difference between this video and the "Guy Buys Condom" video is that this video isn't really gender specific for the audience. The girl in this video is portrayed as clingy (toothbrush), stupid (movie), over-thinking, and easily distracted (make-up) girl. A girl watching this video might laugh and realize that they don't look or think as ridiculously as the girl in this video does. Whereas a guy that might watch this video would laugh because women are usually associated with these thoughts and actions and they might feel this is an accurate representation. The "Guy Buys Condom" is portrayed in a way that makes you feel sympathetic towards him whereas you don't have the sympathy for the girl in this video because she doesn't seem near as embarrassed. The intended purpose is make guys and girl laugh about a common embarrassing situation.
This video makes very general assumptions about the entire situation. It makes the assumption that women care a lot about how they look, by having the girl make a reference to how she looks in her shoes and then the comment about makeup. They video also makes the assumption (which I touched on above) that it is less embarrassing for a girl to buy a condom. The girl in this video does not freak out as much as the guy in the "Guy Buy Condom" video and she really isn't embarrassed until she see one of her old professors. Since the video can be perceived in two different ways and because it is so different the the "Guy Buys Condom" video is why it is one of my favorite POV videos.
This POV video is one of my
favorite’s because we’ve all been in the situation where we didn’t study for a
test, and start freaking out in the middle of it because we know we are going to
fail.
The intended audience for
this POV is mainly college students, but you could argue that other age groups,
such as high school students, could relate to it as well. The main two reasons
that we know it is more intended for college students are the facts that the
student refers to the man as a “professor,” and when he asks for help, the professor
says “this isn’t high school, I can’t help you.” Other than those two details,
high school students may be able to relate to some aspects of the video, such
as getting distracted during tests or being annoyed with that one person who
always claims that they must have failed, but always end up with an A.
This video, like most of the
POV videos, is exaggerated. No one actually sweats enough to soak through a
test, or sticks their fingers down their throat during a test to attempt to
puke. However the more exaggerated the video is, the funnier it is to watch,
which makes this POV’s one of my favorites.
This specific POV video from CollegeHumor is one of my favorites, most definitely because the amazement and confusion all of us guys feel when we know we're with a girl so far out of our league.
The intended audience for this specific video reaches out to more than just college students. This video in particular reaches out to guys. In general, though a girl may laugh, she most likely will not truly understand this video or how the guy in the video is feeling. Though not all guys can connect with the guy perfectly in this situation, it's intended purpose is to show that no matter what we show or say or do on the outside, on the inside, we're all still as terrified of girls as if we were still in 1st grade, hiding from cooties.
The writers had to make some pretty broad assumptions in this video. Not all guys are as stupid as the one portrayed, but that's part of the comical exaggeration. Even though the mechanical aspects are essentially the exact same as all other CollegeHumor POV videos, the rhetoric differs quite a lot. One final major difference that sets this specific video apart is that it comes with a twin video; "Girl Buys Condoms".
This POV video is a favorite of mine
because it's hilarious, and it's a good example of a video that is slightly
different than the others. Mechanically, it is almost identical to the
first POV we discussed, and all the others as well. But there are a few
rhetorical differences.
I think this video was made in an
attempt to expand the audience base beyond just college students. Naturally, it’s
main audience will still be that group, but by portraying a situation like not
being able to fall asleep that literally happens to everyone at some point, I
think the creators were trying to reach out to a larger audience. They use
really simple situations, such as the guy stubbing his toe in the dark and then
running away from the scary kitchen, and they are funny for the simple fact
that we’ve all done that before. Also, the fact that this video takes place in
the family home with the guy’s parents as opposed to a dorm room or crappy
apartment suggests that they are trying to reach a specifically high school
aged audience instead of just college students.
To make this effective, the creators
also had to limit their assumption of what the audience would know. If their goal
was to reach high school aged kids kids, they had to leave out references to,
say, a professor or a frat party. The situations and references in the video
are all vague and nonspecific, so that almost any person could watch this video
and understand it, although the crude humor is definitely leading it towards a
much younger (and probably mostly male) audience.
For those
of you have of you who haven’t heard about it, CollegeHumor is a website
designed to showcase the videos, pictures, and articles created by the staff, that any college student could tell
you is great for procrastination. The funny and vulgar humor may not
be ideal for your mom or your professor, but they can provide hours of mindless
entertainment for the college crowd. Great examples of these are the "Point-of-View" videos. Here’s our favorite:
The situations in each video are different stereotypical college situations, whether it's "failing a test " or " girl buying condoms" . However, many of the components in each video are identical. Here's our break down of the general elements of the POV videos, drawing examples from the Dorm Bathroom Video.
How it works mechanically:
The technologies used are a camera to film the scene in one shot, and the audio of the guy’s voice appears to have been
recorded later and then dubbed over the audio. Some of the sound effects, like when he pounds on the shower wall, also appear to have been added later. There is most likely a
professional set involving lights and other equipment, as Collegehumor is a well-known site that produces many
videos and they are high quality clips.
The authors of the video probably produced scripts for the actors (girl
talking on phone, singers), and then had to find actors and extras (passed out
drunks, random college kids). The story-boarding process probably involved
coming up with a common college experience, like using the dorm bathrooms, and
using exaggerated situations for humor. Examples of this are the guy walking
out of his room naked and the quartet singing.These things don't actually happen (at least not that we've seen), but it's this exaggeration that makes the videos funny.
How it works rhetorically and multimodally
The
intended audience for this is college students. This is obvious because it’s a
situation only college students would really relate to and find funny. The
intended purpose is entertainment. This is obvious because it comes from “Collegehumor”
and from the funny elements involved in the video. The point is to make
students laugh at the exaggerated versions of stereotypical situations.
Ethos works
to help us relate to the main character. Because it’s shot through his "point of
view" and you’re seeing it through his eyes, it’s supposed to feel like it’s
happening to you. This makes the videos relatable for college kids. Logos isn’t
used, but that’s the point. The videos aren’t supposed to be fact-based,
they’re supposed to be funny. The pathos used is the humor. The video is
supposed to make the audience laugh and instill that good feeling in them.
What is generally accepted in this genre is a video clearly shot from the main character's point of view with his thought process played out over the scene, and it is supposed to display a humorous situation. Because it's intended audience is college kids, the videos humor is probably more vulgar and graphic than what would be acceptable in a lot of other genres. It wouldn't be possible for these videos to have some form of moral or lesson at the end, because that would ruin the entertainment quality.
The
assumption made in this video is that the viewer is a college student who has
experienced dorm bathrooms before. The video is only funny if you can relate to
it and understand the exaggerations in it. They’re also assuming that this is
the stereotypical view of a dorm bathroom.
The
assumptions made about the genre is that it will be entertaining. A person will
watch these videos hoping to be entertained.
