Interactive Media

Well, there are a bunch of things I like to mess with on a day-to-day basis, but the two biggest are probably these: Pandora, and Super Smash Bros.

Pandora is great for a variety of reasons. You get to design the station around something you know you already like, and, with uncanny accuracy, Pandora will find similar artists and music. Should you dislike something, you can ban it from the station, and it'll never be played again. Or, should you get tired of something, you can just temporarily ban a song or artist for a month or so. One of the biggest benefits to something like Pandora, though, is that it finds out what you like, and then searches out artists who have little-to-no recognition at the everyday level, so you're constantly finding new things to interest you.

Smash, on the other hand...well, I'd try to describe it, but the video just sums it up so damn well. That's my paragraph for that.

Response to Crystal

Crystal's first question today is about the cultural impact of immediacy versus hypermediacy. I have to agree that the culture in which the context takes place is the most important part of how that is interpreted. Say that two separate cultures observe the same piece of art, created in the first culture (ie the Africans versus Westerners debate). Only by having a solid grasp of its context can you find a method to evaluate the art within its form of medium. The other culture, however, completely unaware of that art piece's context and meaning, is separated into the immediacy field, because there is no way for them to relate it back; it transcends its medium completely.

Questions Again

1. Do you really think that media must compete with other forms of media, or that they can indeed be isolated?

2. If any given medium must "economically" find its own niche, in order to become successful, then what does that mean for previous types of media? Does this even make sense, seeing as practically every type of media still abounds (not necessarily thriving) despite newer replacements?

3. The discussion of early photographers vs. artistry brings up an interesting point. Is any form of media (such as pictures) really that distinct? Wouldn't ever different use (art vs. documentation, for example) be a different form of media?

Response to Megan

Megan's final question today ponders the question of media's ability to stand alone. It would seem, to me, that whatever ends up being produced is THE media, whether it incorporates various types or not. Everything has its own little category, and making an assertion that it "requires" more types of media to be complete seems a little absurd. If that's the case, then everything is really a series of different media, because of the idea-creation-interpretation fallacy. Everything, under that thought process, is a variable form of media.

Questions

1. Do you think that everything, as produced, is inevitably a remediation? Because we're trying to create an image we see in our heads?

2. How do you think the rise of videogames, specifically the type mentioned in the reading (first-person adventure/explorations), have effected our perception of the forms of media?

3. Considering the current decline in print journalism, do you think it has fallen to a consumer-based rise in demand for such readily accessible media as video? What's your take on that difference in hypermedia?

Response to Rasheena

One of Rasheena's questions today is about collaboration within our competitive and, ultimately, capitalist world. It seems to me that, while cooperation can provide a lot of great things and valuable insight, most people are motivated to go above-and-beyond the norm because they want to excel. There are always going to be people with different talents, and people better than others, so why not collaborate through competition? It seems like the best way to insure success is to let people do what they're good at, and then put in the stuff that other people are good at.

Ede Questions

1. Do you think that a more collaborative environment would be beneficial to the college educational system? Why (not)?

2. How do you perceive the collaborative structure? Is it really as useful as all these people seem to think? How does it interact with our naturally competitive natures, and what effects do you think it would have in the non-artistic world?

3. Does the Ede piece mean to say that there is no such thing as an "author", per se? Rather, do you think, in light of that work, that there actually are authors, as opposed to communities?

20 Things

-a girl wearing a Northface jacket and furry boots
-my door mysteriously opening
-there was a man at the UGL who looked like a Red Devil mascot
-I was asked to participate in an survey for two guys from a church
-Walgreen's is advertising "theater candy"
-a man was getting a tattoo on his ass when I walked by the parlor
-a homeless man I've seen once before greeted me quite courteously
-Brinks truck stopped in the middle of Green St.
-family taking an incoming freshman's picture in front of the Illini Union Bookstore
-someone attempting to steal a shirt from Gameday Spirit
-two girls trying to lift a keg outside of Piccadilly's
-someone from my other class at Borders
-Ford GT driving through Champaign
-Jon's Pipe Shop
-Bombay grill introducing a grocery store
-Big Mouth's sign outside
-park on Springfield and 2nd is almost finished
-"anti-racism, anti-chief" sticker on a car
-train stopped on the tracks
-twenty guys on motorcycles driving through downtown

Response to Megan

Megan's second question is about whether or not sound evidence is really all that important, if the visual evidence alone can make the argument. In my opinion, it is. The point of structuring a documentary or film so that the visual cues present the same argument as the language isn't redundant, to me. Rather, it simply cements what's happening. We usually wouldn't rely on those visual cues as heavily except for when the sound is off, but when the sound is on, having such strong optical evidence sort of subconsciously affirms what's being said.

Question

1. Thinking about what Hampe says, what kind of advances in film technology do you think represent real breakthroughs? Is there anything done these days that you think is revolutionary compared to previous years?

2. Hampe also alleges that editing is at the heart of communication in a documentary. Do you find this to be the case? What's a good example for/against this?

3. How would you structure an interview to demonstrate the truth (or falsehood) of what that person interviewed is saying?

Response to Dan

Dan's first question is about the development a documentary would need to go through prior to filming and finalizing it. It seems to me that, unless you have a very specific argument to make, it would be a good idea to get an idea, and then go through and film everything surrounding it, before you tried to establish a huge over-arching theme. Take Katrina documentaries for example: it would have been very difficult to say what the film-makers argument would be beforehand, seeing as they had no idea what to expect when they started shooting. In that case, they knew sort of what they wanted to look at, but the real interest drawn into the documentaries only came after really examining the situation.

If, on the other hand, you wanted to create a very specific argument like "An Inconvenient Truth" it would make sense to have a very well-thought-out argument designed for the purpose, and utilizing specific footage to add to that. Though some of this takes place in every documentary, via editing, this is the kind of project where every assertion needs support, something you can't necessarily just hope to find while filming.

Hampe Questions

1. What do you think is the best way to capture "truth" in a documentary? Hampe says it's not a matter of just showing the truth, but making the viewer empathize with it, so how would you do that?

2. Do you agree with Hampe's assertion that stories are what matter?

3. What kind of documentary would you prefer to make? Do you think more can be achieved with a documentary than with the simple presentation of facts? Why or why not?

Audio Project

Well, here's my audio project, in all its miserable glory.

And this is a slightly louder version that will hopefully work better.

What I've Learned Link

http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/ESQ0806WIL_134?click=main_sr

Response to Crystal

One of Crystal's questions about Shipka's work is about your own experiences with a multi-modal project.

Personally, I had to do a project for a Shakespeare class freshman year, involving designing a web-page sort of thing for a production. What we ended up doing was making a Facebook page, to apply most easily to the students, since Facebook is so popular. We created pictures and wrote on them, in order to refer to the play, and then posted a couple videos of the scenes we'd performed.

Questions

1. Shipka talks about how the choice of particular words/ideas affects what is produced. How do you change your style of writing when you're putting a post on your blog?

2. The project of "Oblivious Ed" was one student's method of pursuing a "cool" project with advice from his peers. If you were going to follow their advice, and create a project based on something you love, what do you think you would try to take from the class?

3. What styles of media do you think you would choose to model your hypothetical project on? More to the point, what specific examples (particular shows, books, etc.) would you like to use as a frame of reference?

Further Reflections on Slideshow Projects

HK's Slideshow: I took this as a look at the mockery that modern society is. The images of real protests, real struggles against oppression, are contrasted with images of sarcasm and mindless pursuit of fame and fortune. It really hits on the insensitivity of the present.

Dan's Slideshow: The difference between the random and ordered versions of this slideshow was really interesting. Watching the random one first, I had sort of gained the impression that it was about watching the Main Stacks open in the morning, or possibly shut down. Afterward, watching the ordered view, it was more obviously of a person searching through the stacks for a book, but I still had this sense of it being an opening. I liked it, but I felt like some of the blurred images were pointless; at least, I didn't really gain much from them.

Crystal's Slideshow: Honestly, I was a little lost when watching this slideshow. There were a lot of possible topics covered, and I wasn't sure what the theme was (or if there was one). The only things I could think about were the "signs" we're shown in everyday life, that give us contextual clues, but that seemed to blur as the pictures progressed.

Aaron's Slideshow: At first glance, I took this for just a simple walk-along-the-beach sort of narrative, but then I realized that it was really looking at objects in the context of a beach setting. I really liked the different things that were there; it did a good job of highlighting the things you see and take for granted.

Podcast Analysis

I listened to an episode of “This American Life,” one called “The Cruelty of Children.” There are three passages going on about that subject. One that I noticed, in particular, for its use of sound was a piece of original fiction by Ira Sher called “The Man in the Well.” It tells the story of children speaking to—but never helping—a man trapped in a well. The narrator's voice stays somber throughout, as serious as the subject matter entails; moreover, he has a quality of depth and reflection in his voice and tone. Throughout the telling of the story, very little emotion is ever displayed—only the sad reflection and pauses of a person emphasizing certain events, without necessarily being caught up in them.

Interestingly, the background has a sort of relatively high-pitched tribal-sounding music. I'm not sure what the meaning of that is, but it lent an unearthly quality to the piece, and effectively brought out an eerie sense of funereal dirge that went well with the story. In fact, I think maybe my perception of the narrator as so somber and somewhat sad is that music, which only starts about a minute into the tale.

Reflecting on Slideshows

Susmita's Slideshow: I took the slideshow as a narrative of a night playing poker. The clock pictures showed time passing, and the multiple pictures of the chips detailed that this was a big tournament.

Rasheena's Slidesow: This was like an exposition about the different perspectives between an adult and a child; not only is there a size difference, obviously demonstrated by taking pictures of objects before hand and then with both herself and the kid, but also a difference in use. Rasheena drank from the glasses, the toddler played with them. Also, the black-and-white emphasis on the "adult" pictures (that is an awkward phrase) shows a sort of grown-up feel, to me.

Raquel's Slideshow: I was really intrigued by this, because I did something very similar. I take this to be a show of how the city of Champaign, especially the campus area, is constantly updating itself, importing the new at all times.

Megan's Slideshow: I liked the style here, because it seems like an attempt to escape the interior, the inside, and find the way to nature. The exit signs really emphasized a desire to get out, go outside, but I think some of the Allerton Park statues were a little distracting from that, but that's just my take.

Response to Crystal

Crystal's blog today has some interesting questions, especially the third one, about music. It seems to me that we listen to music that captures our mood because it creates an easily expressible outlet for emotions that aren't necessarily easily expressible. When we're upset, over a break-up for example, it's not always easy to think to ourselves about what emotions we're feeling or the situation we're going through; playing music that deals with that situation, however, eases that tension about releasing the emotion, because someone else has already done it.

To me, the idea of expressive music is especially summed up in classical music. The composition "Flight of the Bumblebee" is perfect in this way: there's a busy, high-speed tone to the music, that sums up an expression of industry, of acting quickly.

Questions

1. How do you think, looking at McKee's piece, that sound would have affected your slideshow and pictures? Specifically, what would you have added, in the audio sphere?

2. McKee's piece further mentions work by Van Leeuwen, on page 340, detailing the various aspects of speech (tension, roughness, breathiness, loudness, pitch, and vibrato). Which of these do you think you most utilize consciously? If you listen to someone else speak, which do you think you pay the most attention to?

3. Which plane (sensuous, expressive, and sheerly musical) do you think is the most commonly used?