WEEK 5 - TUTESPARK

CULTURE JAMMING

A form of political and social activism which, by means of fake adverts, hoax news stories, pastiches of company logos and product labels, computer hacking, etc., draws attention to and at the same time subverts the power of the media, governments, and large corporations to control and distort the information that they give to the public in order to promote consumerism, militarism, etc.

THE FIRST CULTURE JAM

The term culture jamming was coined by the college band Negativland back in 1994. The phrase comes from the idea of radio jamming, that public frequencies can be pirated and subverted for independant communication, or to dusrupt dominant frequencies. Even though Negativland coined the term culture jamming can be traced back a long way. One particular influential European group called the Situationists and was led by Guy Debord. Their main argument was based on the idea that in the past humans dealt with life and the consumer market directly. They argued that this spontaneous way of life was slowly deteriorating as a direct result of the new "modern" way of life. Situationalists saw everything from television to radio as a threat. But other historians point to the Dada movement or even the Orson Welle's "War of the World's" broadcast in the 30's as possible earlier examples of cultural jamming.

MOST INFLUENTIAL CULTURE JAM

The most influential culture jam is open to interpretation because what may have been influential to one person may not be to another. But in saying that one influential culture jam provided to us in the tutorial for that week was the music video made on Wall street by Rage Against the Machine and Micheal Moore. They promoted a free concert to be held in the middle of America's and possible the worlds economic heart, Wall street. This concert closed down the stock market for one of the few times in history and cost alot of people alot of money. But since this was deemed a cop-out if used I will state another. It may not necessarily be the most influential but it is one of the most famous, the Orson Welle's "War of the World's" broadcast which aired in 1938. The airing of this broadcast caused widespread panic among listener's who really thought their was an alien invasion going on outside.

Orson Welle's War of the World's Broadcast (Part 1)

MOST DAMAGING CULTURE JAM

If a culture jam is to be truly successful it must be damaging to the target and undamaging to everything else. After much searching I couldn't find a culture jam of sinificant impact to be labelled damaging. The only thing I could think of was the tutorial culture jam we were talking about and how to some that would have definitely been seen as damaging as the concert held be Rage Against the Machine shut down the stock market and cost some people alot of money.

REFERENCE LIST

• Good. (2006). A Brief History of Culture Jamming. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://www.good.is/post/a-brief-history/
• Guidomedia. (n.d). Culture Jammers. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://www.guidomedia.com/culturejammers.html
• Nome, D. (n.d). Culture Jamming. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://www.anthrobase.com/Txt/N/Nome_D_01.htm
• The Free Online Dictionary. (2010). Culture Jamming. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/culture+jamming

WEEK 5 LECTURE - CONSUMPTION & PRODUCTION

This week's lecture taught us how we are for the most part consumers of content and that we consume this content through a variety of outlets or screens. The lecture showed us how the content we previously 'consumed' was a outlet of major studio's and media companies and how it has changed to become more user based. With the onset of citizen journalism and Mojo or Mobile journalists (such as freelance reporters). It is with these new content providers that the way we recieve and view information has dramatically changed. For example in the past we would have had to wait for the latest news to appear in our newspapers or tv screens, but with the onset of these two professions (especially citizen journalism) we are seeing the people take the place of the reporter. We also see official news footage swapped with user taken video that is often uploaded to the internet, which allows users to get up-to-the-date news coverage as the event is taking place.

We are also seeing a change in the way we view movies especially over the internet. With the emergence of fan-films, mash-ups, re-genres & re-cuts, internet short film and mobile content production. These things allow the user to add their personal touch to their favourite movies.

• Such as fan-films - which are films made by fans about their favourite movies, are good site to visit for this would be:
  http://www.atom.com/channel/channel_star_wars


• Mash-ups, Re-Genres & Re-Cuts - Is where fans take two different types of media (music, movies etc) and put them together to create something new. A good site for this would be:
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/24/the-13-best-movie-mash-up_n_550190.html


• Internet Short Film - Which are exactly what they say they are short films made and put on the internet. A good site is:
  http://tropfest.ninemsn.com.au/


• Mobile Content Production - Is where media such as movies are made on a person's mobile phone. An interesting website talks about a new wave of film making using the Apple iPhone 4.
  http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/cat_movies_on_cell_phones.htm

As we look to the future of these concepts a good way to end things is how this weeks lecture finished by stating, the dramatic contemporary shift to internet-based media distribution makes video portable and more social. Devices like mobile phones and portable media players make it possible to have our media follow us wherever we’d like.

REFERENCE LIST

• Atom. (2010). Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://www.atom.com/channel/channel_star_wars
• Glaser, M. (2006). Your Guide to Citizen Journalism. Retrieved August 26, 2010, from http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/09/your-guide-to-citizen-journalism270.html
• McGlynn, K. (2010). The 13 Best Movie Mash-ups the Internet has to Offer. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/24/the-13-best-movie-mash-up_n_550190.html
• Picture Phoning. (2010).Movies on Cell Phones. Retrieved August 26, 2010, from http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/cat_movies_on_cell_phones.htm
• Tropfest. (2010). Tropfest - Online Video Channel. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://tropfest.ninemsn.com.au/

WEEK 4 LECTURE - BIG SCREEN TO SMALL

In the week 4 lecture we explored the history of the cinema from the point of view of the cinema patron. We started off in France where cinema was born on December 28, 1895 and went all the way to today, where cinema is undergoing a technoligical reimagining.

In my limited experience with the cinema, which solely is based on what type of movies are out at the moment rather than the technological or art side of things. In the same respect as the exponential growth of computers, it is hard to believe the growth in the cinema I have seen in my life time. Moving from movies shot on normal film to films shot entirely using state of the art computer generated technology. For example films such as Tron, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Toy Story all these films show the progression of computer generated technology in recent films. Whether this obsession with technology is a good or bad thing for movies is probably grounded in personal opinion.

A good example is the fact everyone was surprised when Avatar James Cameron's hugely successful 3D epic about blue aliens lost out to the Hurt Locker for Best Picture at the 2010 academy awards. The film that basically broke every box office record imaginable was supposed to be a shoo-in for the Best Film award. But if you strip away the impressive ground breaking technology (that the script apparently had to wait 15 years for) is the movie still as good as previously thought. With it's basis solely in the love the environment theme, we have seen the core story millions of times before. One could also ask if Avatar would have knocked off Titanic (another James Cameron movie) to become the highest grossing picture of all time without the special effects.

Another trend in hollywood at the moment is re-releasing old classic films with the film and sound being upgraded to digital quality. Does this new technology make these classic films any better movies, the short answer is no. As an article on the website TG Daily states, 'Technology is no substitute for a great story and script, proper characterizations, skilled direction and cinematography'.

REFERENCE LIST

• Ebert, R. (2010). Why I Hate 3D Movies. Retrieved August 26, 2010, from http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/30/why-i-hate-3-d-and-you-should-too.html
• Techsource. (2010). The Technology Behind Avatar (Movie). Retrieved August 25, 2010, from http://www.junauza.com/2010/01/technology-behind-avatar-movie.html
• Thomas, A. (2010). Avatar is Bad News for Movie Lovers. Retrieved August 25, 2010, from http://www.tgdaily.com/unbalanced/48209-avatar-is-bad-news-for-movie-lovers

WEEK 4 - TUTORIAL

1. Where and when did usable online video start?
   This was a hard question to research because it comes down to the interpretation of the word usable in relation to videos. I am taking 'usable' in this sense to mean video that can be shared, downloaded, search and viewed by any public user. According to website dembot.com there were remnants of online video scattered around the internet in the early part of this decade but there wasn't a substantial enough audience for the concept at that time. It wasn't untill 2004 that online video really launched itself, coinciding with the 2004 US Presidential elections. It started with Jib-Jab which made funny flash animations, with slow internet connections watching these would be slow, but as connections got faster so did the enjoyment of watching these videos. This particular medium had it's absolute breakthrough moment in 2005, with two events, one being the Asian tsunami and everyone filming videos of it and wanting to get online to watch them and second being the first video posted onto the online video giant of youtube.
   http://dembot.com/post/310798115/a-decade-in-history-of-online-video


2. What recent innovations are being used to lure us in the movies? What are they luring us from?
   At the moment there is a major tug of war going on between the cinemas and tv as well as the internet. In the good ol' days when you wanted to watch that latest blockbuster release you happily drove down to your local cinema and paid your hard earn money for a ticket and had two hours of entertainment. But today pay-tv and the internet are stomping all over cinemas turf, by allowing users to watch those same blokbusters at home at any time they want and at alot cheaper price. Why take all the time to drive down to the cinema to sit with people you don't know and pay extravagant prices on the ticket and food and drink. When you can just as easily turn on your computer and download the same movie and watch it in the comfort of your own home and at your own pace. But cinemas are fighting back, by introducing new and innovative experiences to bring the customer back. Such as louder surround sound, bigger screens, better viewing environments (Gold Class), Filming in HD (High Defintion) and using 3D technology.


3. Are short films still being made? Why? Who Pays for them to be made?
   Short films are still being made and are more popular than ever a perfect example of this is the Tropfest Short Film Festival it's the largest in the world and each year gets thousand of submissions for it's short film competition. As to the question of why are short films still being made, the answer is they are an excellent showcase for aspiring directors, cinematographers and commercial directors. The costs of making and producing short films is usually picked up by the maker themselves and is another reason why short film making is achieving a renaissance today because the equipment needed is cheaper than ever today.


4. What does 'viral' mean in the tv/movie arena? Give examples
   A video that spreads quickly via the Internet. It is often a short clip on a video sharing site such as YouTube that people reference in blogs, e-mails and instant messages.
   Some examples or viral videos
   - The evolution of Dance
   - Dancing Baby
   - Dick in a Box


5. Shows made exclusively for the internet provide a unique way of watching entertainment, but at the same time provide both good and bad viewing experiences. Some examples of the good experiences would be that there are no annoying advertisements popping up throughout the show, you can watch the show whenever you want, as well as being able to watch it multiple times. Some bad examples are that the production budgets are much smaller than normal shows, their also not as freely available as normal shows either (i.e having to be on the internet to watch them) also their much shorter time wise compared to normal shows. Here is an example I found of an online tv show only available on the internet called 'The Guild' about a bunch of online gamers.

WEEK 4 - TUTESPARK

1. The first film I have included is called, 'The Handless Pianist' by Ori Sinai. What I like about this short film is that there is no sound apart from the sound of the piano. I enjoy the message that no matter if where disabled or not we still enjoy simple things like music.

2. The second film I have included was a finalist in the 2010 Tropfest short film awards called 'There Had Better Be Blood'. I liked this particular film because it reminded me of my annoying older brother and how we would both just enjoy stirring the othe up to get in trouble. I also liked the storyline this movie had and how they made it fit into the time period.

3. The third film is also from the 2010 Tropfest film festival called 'Smoking Will Kill You'. I liked how it took an ordinary situation such as taking a smoke break and turning it into a clever take on the anti-smoking campaign.

WEEK 3 LECTURE

A SHORT HISTORY OF COMPUTING AND THE INTERNET

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

How far we have come technologically from predictions such as the one above from the chairman of IBM in 1943 Thomas Watson. This brings me to the subject of this week's lecture entitled 'A short History of Computing and the Internet.' A good place to start when talking about any subject is at the start, so on the subject of computers the place to start is with Charles Babbage and Lady Ada Byron.

The lecture covered the origins of the computer which had links to various adding machines, but most importantly with the 19th century Difference Engine created by Charles Babbage to calculate and print mathematical tables. Babbage who was born in 1791 and was the son of conservative English banker is credited as being the creator of the first digital computer, he also sketched out the logical structure of the modern computer. He also concieved a massive, brass, steam-powered, general-purpose mechanical computer called the Analytical Engine. Meanwhile inspired by the works of Charles Babbage, the daughter of the famous poet, Lord Byron started work on her own invention. Lady Ada Byron is noted as the first lady of computing where she is famous for conceiving of a machine which could compose and play music, produce graphics and be of everyday use. Lady Byron is also credited as concieving the first computer program.

The next most notable contributor to the history of computing is Alan Turing who while working at Bletchley Park during WW2 devised the first working computer called 'The Bombe'. This computer was used to break secret German enigma codes, which was extremely influential in the outcome of the war. Turing also concieved of the Turing test, whereby a human judge sits at a computer terminal and interacts with both a computer or a human by written communication only; if the judge cannot tell which is which then the machine has passed the test and it would be reasonable to call the computer intelligent.

During the lecture it went on to talk about the new breed of computer developers such as Xerox PARC, Apple, IBM, Microsoft and GNU/Linux. These various companies and their founders revolutionised the computer industry by bringing it out of the realm of military, government and corporate only devices to give computers an appeal and place with everyday users. These men have been on one great ride, that has made them all extremely rich individuals, but it hasn't always been easy and each of them are all integral to their respective companies. They work in a profession which grows exponentially faster than the governing laws and terminolgy created to control it. I found an interesting article featured in Time magazine which talks about that very subject.

"I see little commercial potential for the internet for at least ten years."

- Bill Gates, 1994

At the end of the lecture we talked about the influences of the internet to the history of computing. The internet started it's life off in 1969 as the US Department of Defence's Advanced Research Project Agency Network (known as ARPAnet). It was designed to provide a distributed, flexible and self-healing command network which would enable the US military to continue operating even if Soviet military missiles took out certain geographical locations on the network. Following it's creation as a network for the American military, the internet - as it became called - evolved into a network for the American academic community, starting with universities and then spreading outwards becoming something completely different.

As the internet and computers continued to evolve at exponential rates we were bombarded with new terminologies and accronyms to learn and understand. Such as MUDs (Multiple User Domains), e-mail, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), IRC (Internet Relay Chat).

REFERENCE LIST

• Brand, S. (2000). Is Technology Moving Too Fast? Retrieved August 22, 2010, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997268,00.html


• Howe, W. (2007). A Brief History of the Internet. Retrieved August 20, 2010, from http://www.walthowe.com/narnet/history.html


• Internet History (n.d). Retrieved August 20, 2010, from http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_summary.htm

WEEK 3 - TREASURE HUNT

1. According to Money Week magazine and Neatorama.com the world's largest machine is the Hadron Collider which weighs more than 38,000 tonnes an runs for 27km and cost 3.5 billion pounds to build. I found this information using ixquick.com and bing.com
   http://www.neatorama.com/2008/09/12/10-things-about-the-large-hadron-collider-you-wanted-to-know-but-were-afraid-to-ask/



2. Once again I used ixquick.com to search for the contact details of Ozzy Osbourne and found the contact details for Ozzy's manager Sharon (who is also his wife).
   http://famous-relationships.topsynergy.com/Ozzy_Osbourne/Contact.asp



3. This question is very open to interpretation but after much searching and reading of different internet sites, their are a number of inventions that can be seen as the first example of global digital communication. But after closer examination I believe really only one fits the criteria better than the others. That being Morse Code which was invented by Samuel Morse in 1835. An interesting tidbit is that the first morse code message sent from Washington to Baltimore was, "What hath God wrought?".
   http://www.omniglot.com/writing/morsecode.htm



4. This is another hard one as prices on flights to anywhere on any of the airlines fluctuates all the time. But after doing some searching using ixquick.com, I found a website called BestFlights.com.au which allows to search for the best flights on any airline to any location around the world and also let you compare the different prices on each of the airlines.

   http://www.bestflights.com.au/cheap-flights/book-flights-online/?affiliate=314



5. Hatsune Miku is the first and most popular installment in the Vocaloid2 Character Vocal series created by Crypton Future Media. Hatsune Miku name means, "first sound of from the future" - by combining Hatsu (first), Ne (sound), and Miku (future). Hatsune Miku's voice was created by sampling the voice of Japanese voice artist Saki Fujita. Her Birthday is often credited as 31 August 2007.

   http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/Miku_Hatsune



6. The department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts Australian Antarctic Division has four accessible live webcams located in Antarctica as well as other interesting facts about Antarctica.

   http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/live-antarctica?casid=27

   
   

   For all those snow lovers out there this is your lucky day, Antarctica has numerous places to stay. So if the 24/7 snow scene's your go the Antarctica Travel Guide website I found using ixquick.com is for you.
   http://www.geckogo.com/Guide/Antarctica/Explore/Lodging/



7. According to the Kent Music Charts the number one song in Australia in August 1980 was Genghis Khan's song called "Moscow"
   http://www.top40-charts.info/?title=List_of_number-one_singles_in_Australia_during_the_1980s


8. Basically the Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at extremely small sizes (approximately 1 and 100 nanometers). At this level scientists are able to harness the unique properties that particles of matter posess at this level. Nanotechnology holds promise in the quest for ever more powerful computers and communication devices. But an even more promising field for nanotechnology is the field of Medical Science with in the future nanotechnology being able to be programmed to seek out certain disease's in the human body and destroy those infected cells while leaving the good cells untouched. This would be a revolution if possible in the fight against cancer, where patients wouldn't have to undergo the rigmarole of radiation therapy that attacks both good cells and bad.
   http://www.nano.gov/html/facts/whatIsNano.html


9. After doing a search for Google street-view camera produced masses of pages relating to Google street-view that weren't very informative. I came across a website with the information I needed called 'Gizmodo'. According to Gizmodo the camera that Google uses for it's street-view feature is called an Immersive Media Camera tht is capable of taking shots in 360 degrees, hence the 360 degree view with Google street-view.
   http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/office-voyeurism/the-google-maps-street-view-camera-264972.php


10. After looking at some Klingon translators available throughout the internet, it is apparent that though Klingon is deemed an official language there are holes in vocabulary and grammar. So most of the Klingon translators provide you with limited broken translations of the week 3 treasure hunt questions.
    http://www.mrklingon.org/

WEEK 3 TUTESPARK

DIGITAL: Designating or of data, images, sounds, etc. that are stored, transmitted, manipulated, or reproduced by a process using groups of electronic bits represented as 1 or 0.

ANALOGUE: A description of a continuously variable signal or a circuit or device designed to handle such signals.

ELECTRONIC: Having or operating with components such as microchips and transistors that control and direct electric currents.

COMMUNICATION: The exchange of information between people, e.g. by means of speaking, writing, or using a common system of signs or behaviour.

THREE EXAMPLES OF NON-ELECTRONIC DIGITAL DEVICES

1. Morse Code
2. DNA
3. Smoke Signals

WEEK TWO - LECTURE

CINE-SPEAK: Learning the Language of the Cinema

MOVIE GENRE EXAMPLES:

• Comedy
• Drama
• Horror
• Romance
• Family
• Action
• Thriller

• All stories essentially the same, just characters and places changed.
• Popular genre today - Action Romance (e.g. Killers and Knight and Day)
• Popular genre's generally go on a rough 10-20 year cycle of popularity

CINE-SPEAK:

• Shot sizes - Framing and Composition derive from photography
• VLS/WS: Very Long Shot/Wide Shot
• LS: Long Shot
• MLS: Medium Long Shot
• MS: Mid Shot (Action)
• MCU: Medium Close Up
• CU: Close Up (Emotion)
• BCU: Big Close Up
• ECU: Extreme Close Up

• Reasons for using different shot types
• WHO? - The Close Up - Shows Character in detail
• WHAT? - The Mid Shot - Shows character performing an action
• WHERE? - The Long Shot - At the beginning of a scene/establishing shot
• WHEN? - Wide Shot/Close Up - Answers the time when the scene is.
• WHY? - The Big Close Up - Reveals more about a character and their actions
• HOW? - Medium Close Up/Close Up - Explains an event and answers the 'How' Q's

MORE RULES OF FILMMAKING:

• Head Room (Important rule - consistency)
• Talking Room
• Rule of Thirds
• The 180 degree Rule (Dialogue)