I’m Scared.

Machines are becoming too intuitive or intelligent.

In 2001, A Space Odyssey this fear exists, the fear of something we depend on betraying us due to it’s intelligence. Hal is unclouded by emotions and human reasoning to get the job done. So dedicated that he is able to make the decision that results in the killing off a crew member and to fake the human emotions.

“Stop Dave, I’m Afraid.”

When we watch a video game demo in class concerning androids similar words are uttered. It seems this phrase has been pinnacle for discussing if this is an act of unfeeling intelligence where they are aware that reminding us humans of morality is a chance to enact sympathy from them.


Can also be viewed  here 

“Kara” from the demo watched in class, is an android who experiences thoughts and emotions. This mimics an important theme grappled with in neo-noir film Blade Runner what does it mean to be human? Where androids are programmed  in a way were even they are convinced they are humans, how do they’re synthetic emotions differ from ours? This idea is further played out in movies like ‘Her’ that rather than relying on a sci-fi world to express this message. It is grounded in the now through the use of smart phones. It raises the question if  Hal had been presented as an android coded as sweet innocent girl in “2001” could we have witnessed a different turn of events.

It’s obvious that this idea will continue to exist in popular culture as the idea of what it means to be human is in no way close to being solved. The question we have to ask ourselves however is how this representation will be changed as years go on. Will we come to fear machines again or continue to rely on them, questioning if we can form long lasting bonds with them?


Can also be viewed here 

Remixing Art

Pixiv is a Japanese online community for artists to share their works. It involves a free membership to be able to post and explore the range of works. It is protected under these terms, which state that work can not be reposted.  Even though this is stated there is still on blogging website Tumblr, that involves taking these images uploaded on Pixiv and editing them. Here is an example.

When Glitch Art was explained in today’s lecture as a form of “show[ing] how destruction can change into the creation of something original.” [1] There is no debate where that with the use of cropping, colour saturation and minimal animations these edits implore are turning the original art into something new. The new work however is not something that necessary needs to be presented with the original and many think this is not an acceptable form of remixing. To explore this further Menkman as an example compels us to believe the glitch was something usually associated with rejection, and only when mixed with original art was it able to be “understood as a new representation or new language.” This could be said of Tumblr edits as when contrasting them with the original art form a new story can be told; for instance the art above has been edited to create a more somber and emotive effect. However these edits are usually made to create a desired aesthetic to match their blogs, resulting in many other users feeling like this is a shallow reason for the use of remixing and that the art should be left untouched.

It’s hard to say if this is an appropriate form of remixing or not because while it does produce a new way of understanding a image it’s done in a way that breaks certain laws and for an affect some may consider childish or shallow. Is this something that should be done with permission in order for it to be acceptable or is there still no real reason for it to occur.

Here is some further reading into Tumblr users who find this remixing problematic.
[x ] [ x ]  [ x ]

[1]  Menkman, in 2011, Video Vortex Reader 2, p. 341

 

Institutions

 

A mindmap done in todays lectuorial, discussing Facebooks characteristics as an institution.

Some of the main points that came out of this brainstorm were privacy and ubiquity. I thought the idea of Facebook being so omnipresent also helped create a sense of exclusivity. When logged off Facebook it can feel like you’ve cut connections from the entire world because of how quickly information is received and then buried. For you not to have an account means you’re out on a bigger picture is often used by the simple technique “like us on Facebook to see more.” It highlights the idea that Facebook is where it’s all happening and for  you to not have an account you’re missing out on all the exclusive offers or deals only avaliable to those who are. If you’re not experiencing Facebook, you’re not experiencing
Our research on institutions has mostly been related to how film festivals use there programs to market towards audience. So I think it was helpful to look at how Facebook’s ideals and qualities have also been used.

Fandom

“fan cultures are a problem for legitimate culture because they muddy it, demanding attention to there culture. “

Taken from todays lecture, when shown I couldn’t help but think about the fandom that forms around children tv show: My Little Pony. 

Cartoons are often a mixed audience of the children the show is intended for and the adults who are also avid viewers. However the a lot of the adult male fandom of My Little Pony, wanted a distinction from the rest of the shows audience and coined the term. “Bronys” 

Bronys not only needed to establish that they were in fact a male audience (evidence by the name it’s self a mixture of Bro and Pony but their insistent to call older female fans, Pegasisters.) enjoying a “girls” cartoon, but also they’re “real fans of the show.”Although it’s been suggested that theres nothing wrong with adults enjoying media originally targeted at children, the idea of Bronys are less about enjoying a show, but the act of a like minded audience trying to reassure themselves that it’s okay to like a show target towards little girls and when that failed they tried to make the show theres. 

The fact that most conventions panels start with, if there are any little ones in the audience can we please allow them to the front. This example shows that rather than being welcomed little girls are pushed out of a space that had every intention of belonging to them. 

Narrative and Non Narrative

It’s very often asked if experimental films have form or narrative? At first glance it’s easy to dismiss an film without words, characters or a clear conclusion. However I believe that it’s through pattern, and repetition that form and narrative can be conveyed in films that are more abstract. For example in the film we watched today ‘We Have Decided Not To Die’  I think still has a narrative that runs through it, even if it wasn’t it’s intention. The act of framing the the film into three separate rituals gives us the impression of three acts, or in this case there are three different stories being told. Even the title seems to give the three protags causality they have all chosen not to die so it’s a way you can make sense of whats happening to each of the figures in the story, it also seems like the characters go from one state to another mimicking that of a journey.  In class we came up with our own reasons as to what made this film narrative and non-narrative.

Narrative
-the film is broken up into parts to follow (each ritual)
-the characters seem to go from one state to another
-the title explains the will behind the three protags
-each part has an emotion low follow be an emotion high

Non Narrative
-visions of weird stuff happened, no representation, nothing is said
-whole piece is in a state of chaos
-lack of conclusion
-characters are props, no motivation

Although I agree with a lot thats said here, but I still believe that just because there seems like there’s nothing literal going on a narrative can still be conveyed in ways that’s abstract, because there are many different ways of story-telling. Even though it’s not clear it still shows the journey of three different people who are choosing not to die.You can view the film here.

We Have Decided Not To Die from Sion Roberts on Vimeo.

Textual Analyses


Source

In class we did a textual analyses exercise with this advertisement:

Denotation (literal meaning) : people going about their day at a local train station

Connotation (cultural or 2nd order meaning) : urban jungle, (lion is in the certain of the photo, the photo has a very urban look about it), adventure (train station with no name and lion), pride (also a symbol of the lion), skin heads (working class)  real experience (the photo is shot to be candid rather than posed it feels more truthful) phantoms (something scary and exciting)

Codes: Isn’t a place to go for luxury but rather adventure, This is a place to go for the working class man as an escape, people looking for a thrill rather than to sit poolside.

I was also able to come up with a lot of these analyses, because this image was shown in contrast to another advertisement which showed a father and son playing by the pool. It was from comparing the two images I was able to draw a lot of the adventure vs luxury, get away from the urban grind vs the urban lifestyle comparisons. 

Breaking Down a Sound Scape

In this weeks lecture I was introduced to the concept of sound having two crucial codes. Perspective and social distance.
Perspective ‘hierarchies the elements of what is represented’ into the three categories:
figure – the focus of interest
ground – the setting or context
field – the background/ambient space

While social distance ‘creates relations of different degrees of formality between what is represented and the listener.  For example relations of intimacy/informality and formality.

What really interested me this week was how we as a class were able to breakdown a photograph through ‘perspective hierarchies.’  Even though we couldn’t hear what was going on in the picture we were able to imagine what the figure, ground and field sounds of the scene would be.
Not only did this make me aware of the codes around sound, but made me think of how important sound is in media production as we are so easily able to imagine it and the fact that we are around it all the time.
For example; what does silence do for a film where we as a society are more comfortable with a constant white noise and field sound.

Pros and Cons of Group Work

My Good vs Bad Experiences when Working in a Team: 

Bad: Members drop you without warning
Bad: Members let their egos get in the way of work
Bad: You don’t feel comfortable about expressing your opinion
Bad: Members don’t compromise

Good: New idea, and different ways of thinking are introduced to you
Good: The feeling of overwhelming accomplishment
when you work together to achieve a goal
Good: Support from other members