I love technology

I can watch Netflix movies streaming on my Mac! The advent of this is a happy day. Children of the future will have so many new ways of experiencing media and innovative ways of its distribution. However, it is important to educate them on the differences between them and what you are gaining as well as losing by your choice of the form in which you consume it.

Just this past weekend my girlfriend and I went to see "Australia." We had made the choice to see it at the Provo Town Center theater because it is the only place where we could see an actual 35 mm print of the film. Since every other theater is digital, we figured that eventually we would be able to see a digital high definition copy of the film in our own home in the next year. The film experience is something that we can only experience in the theater so we opted for that.

There are also times where we decide to wait to see a film in the dollar theater because we don't think that it necessarily merits the $8.75 and the most sophisticated viewing experience. There's also some to catch on DVD and some that look like good ones to miss. No matter what it is that we are viewing, the way we view it makes a difference. It can be likened to going to a concert where everybody loves the band or where everybody does not. Seeing a film with an audience can affect your feelings towards it. When they laugh, you laugh and when they cry, you cry. That is something that can't be experienced with an iPod and earbuds. There is a season for all forms of viewing media.

Stress

I have been under a lot of stress lately with school and all. This a video for the French electronic duo, Justice. The song is entitled "Stress" and has stirred up a lot of controversy.
Justice - Stress from Freedom Record on Vimeo.

While watching this the first thing I noticed was the cross on the backs of all the children. The icon seems to be misappropriated because there is a stark contrast between a good Christian life,which is generally accepted as the meaning of the cross, and the horrific acts of unmotivated violence being committed. Today's youth can so easily get involved in a group that engages in this type of behavior, whether it's under the guise of religion or not. I think this video is a great social commentary on the current state of the world. We would probably have no problem believing the acts of the children if they were dressed in, say, turbines and robes. That is because media has painted a picture in the heads of the people that it is only Eastern religions that become overzealous to the point of danger. We often forget and overlook that the Ku Klux Klan is a very Christian, not Christlike, organization. This video shows us that we are all humans and that some do terrible things, whether black or white, Christian or Muslim, male or female and that we cannot take everything at face value. The fact that the group is French made me think of Francois Truffaut's "The 400 Blows," which chronicles the misadventures of a French youth who falls into delinquent behavior, and how tame the rebellion of the child was in comparison with Justice's "Stress." The world continues to change and with advancements in technology and media, we have a heightened danger in society.

holiday

It's Thanksgiving. And there's no school.

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Sleepytime

Watch more Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! videos on AOL Video

Late at night, I watch movies and things not for enjoyment but because I know that I'll fall asleep. In a sense, I use media instead of sleeping pills

or chamomile tea to help me relax and unwind and whatnot. I know that that was not the intended purpose of "Xanadu" but it's just so

easy to sleep to it.

I'd like to make a list of numerous forms of media and the different ways we use it that are not the original intent. Here's a short list.

1. Newspapers for wrapping paper.

2. 8-bit video game samples for music.

3. Blogs and Facebook substituting human interaction.

4. Phones that send letters.

The list could go on and on. I'm sure that kids can inform us of other new innovative things.

I really do like "Xanadu."

Twilight

Cedric Diggery back from the dead!!!!!! Years after murder by Voldemort, Diggery, 17, returns as vampire.

I saw "Twilight" today.  It was entertaining, but I didn't think it was a good film.  Truth be told, I would have never seen it if my girlfriend hadn't made me go.  I think that the film definitely appeals to a certain audience and, as Media Literacy says, should not be a substitute for reading the book.  

I think the film suffered a bit because I feel that they sacrificed story for style in its making.  Watching it made me feel like I was watching the music video to the Paramore song which appears on the soundtrack, which also clues me in that I am definitely not the target audience of the film.  Looking back on the experience, it's almost as though we were watching an exploitative science fiction B-movie from the 60's or 70's targeted at young women, as the film is the screen version of a book containing the bizarre sexual fantasies of a woman with a vampire.  Weird, I know.  But I think that a lesson can be learned about the appeal of media that is structured like other media, such as a film made in the style of a music video, in order to win over an audience.  

Empire

I watched “The Empire Strikes Back” today. It’s such a good film and by far my favorite of the Star Wars saga.  Star Wars films are such great examples of translation of media.  I remember that in 1997 I had a “The Empire Strikes Back” calendar.  It’s really neat that 17 years after the release of the film there were calendars still being made featuring the characters and events depicted in this film.  In addition to the calendar, video games have featured elements of the film, most notably the Battle of Hoth which is shown at the beginning. 

 Scenes from this film have been used to advertise products such as Energizer batteries and Pepsi and have produced some of the most memorable lines in film history (i.e. “No Luke, I am your father.”).  

In recent memory, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Harry Potter series have enjoyed some of the same treatment.  The difference is that these stories originated as books then were turned into films, merchandising, etc.  Students could make a list of all the forms that these stories take and learn how media translation is a huge part of their world.  

So Divine

In our Divine Comedy headliner, Nickelcade Royale, many of the jokes in the sketch are the titles of Bond films worked into the dialogue. For example:

Mary: I don’t want you to kill anybody, I just want you to observe.

Scott: I see, a View to a Kill.

A View to a Kill is the title of a Bond film featuring Timothy Dalton as James Bond. That’s funny to me. However, nobody laughed. It is because they are not as literate in the Bond franchise to find the humor in it.  Chances are some of them have even been 80’s dancing and have heard Duran Duran’s wonderful song of the same title which served as the theme song of the film.  Sometimes we are experiencing media that connected specifically to another piece of media and we are unaware of it.

When I was a child I loved the television show “Dinosaurs.”  I remember particularly an episode where Earl sold his soul to the devil for a ceramic mug in the shape of the head of a popular television character.  He had the traditional angel and devil struggle to sway him for the right or wrong until he finally made his decision.  I absolutely loved this episode. 

When I was 22 I read “Dr. Faustus.”  While I read it I kept on feeling that it seemed very familiar.  Then it dawned on me that it was just like that episode of “Dinosaurs.”  A comedy series in the mid-90’s adapted a classic play to create an episode that was understandable for a child.  There was even an episode of “Animaniacs” which paid homage to “32 Short Films About Glenn Gould.”  I think that students could learn to appreciate classical literature and other forms of art if they were presented with media that was targeted towards them then shown where that media was adapted from.