The activity that stuck out to me the most this week was the activity where we did nothing. Absolutely nothing at all, turning off all our devices and going stimulus free for 10 minutes. It was very introspective, looking back on it, helping us properly see how linked we are with digital technology, and how we’ve been trained to constantly be surrounded and observing stimuli (usually digital) all the time. 

Taking away all those digital vices and ways of keeping us constantly entertained was an intriguing prospect; and one that highlights just how reliant we are on digital technologies and media — not just for entertainment, but in all aspects of life. It drove home to me just how often we’re using our phones and tech, and the fact that it was an abnormal challenge to go without any of them for a short 10 minute timespan.

The activity also relates heavily to the reading for the week; Paasonen (2020) describes current media as decreasing our collective attention spans, bombarding us with short videos and content that try and grab our attention at all costs, leading us to become accustomed to said level of stimulus and eventually depend on it, lest we fall into boredom. 

However, shutting off our devices and existing without the barrage of notifications and media was somewhat calming. It slowed the pace of life and allowed me to revel in the mundane, something that Paasonen advocates for, and might be something that I continue on the future (if I ever get ‘bored’ enough).

Susanna Paasonen (2020) Distracted Present, Golden Past? Media Theory. 4 (2), 11–32. https://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/article/view/117.

Week 2:

One of the  more significant activities in class today was discussing the topic of nostalgia, specifically delving into our own past and creating a timeline of technology: when we first encountered it and how our relationship with it had changed over the years. I reflected on the topic, and why exactly I had felt nostalgic about old forms of media from my childhood, be they old video games, or antiquated ways of watching videos and media. 

It also got me thinking about ways to try and feel like that again. Like in Johnny Harris’ The Nostalgia Theory video (2020), I had recently undergone a phase where I sought nostalgia through old objects (although nowhere near the extent that he depicted), and bought old collectables and games that I had wanted as a kid. Fulfilling the dreams of a 7-year-old me by buying a LEGO Star Wars set I had always wanted was a nice full-circle moment, but didn’t feel the same as ‘the old days’ I was chasing, and I think that comes down to the context. Back then I was a kid with no worries about the world, and that simply isn’t replicable as an adult, and I think that’s why nostalgia is so powerful. Our collective “obsession with the past” (2021:3) as described by Matthew Leggatt has led to countless nostalgia chasing, both by individuals and by media corporations at large, trying to cash in on how people felt as kids. It’s why old classics are constantly being remade and 20-year-old properties being revived, all to chase that feeling of being carefree again and to chase that nostalgia. 

Harris, Johnny, ‘THE NOSTALGIA THEORY’ 2020, Youtube, viewed 10 March 2023, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvN7GxrRtNA>.

Leggatt, M (ed.) 2021, Was it yesterday? nostalgia in contemporary film and television, State University of New York Press, Albany.

Instagram Gallery, Jan 1st

I posted it on the 1st of January, although the video was taken a few hours before. I was at my friend’s house, since he had a joint birthday/New Years party after high school had just finished. A friend and I had taken the video because we thought the idea of me sleeping in a cardboard box was funny. I was feeling really happy and excited, hanging out with all my high school friends one last big time right after school had wrapped up. I can’t fully remember the weather, and what it was like, but I remember it was fine enough that we could hop between the outside and the inside of the house. I feel pretty nostalgic about this time, a little bittersweet and melancholic about it too. It’s good to remember the great times that I had that night, but it also feels sad that I’ve lost touch of some of the people that I was friends with since then.

Real-world media. Something only truly defined by its relationship to newer, more digital forms of media:our phones, devices, or entire libraries of content that were created, hosted, and observed without ever being present in the physical world. Without digital media, real-world media would just be media.

It was also something that I had paid no attention to.

My view of real-world media was through the lens of a filmmaker: the use of CGI vs practical effects. The finest example of this being the Star Wars Special Editions — versions of the original Star Wars trilogy that had been ‘updated’ with CGI effects after their release. HelloGreedo (2015) reveals the true extent of the changes; A Youtube series by him shows the majority of the alterations made over the years. They’re essentially the same films, but their ‘digital’ vs ‘physical’ effects have small changes that can alter meaning and reading of the Star Wars saga (Allan, 2011). 

Why bring this up? Because at first, I thought this class was going to be the same. However our very first task, creating origami, changed that. When I realised that the origami I had been making was real world media, it broadened my view of real-world media referring to physical ways of creating media to the actual physical media itself. 

Reflecting on it, it also brings many questions to light. Is a film real-world media if it was edited digitally, then printed on a film reel? What about one that was filmed using 35mm then uploaded digitally? Questions like that are ones that I had no idea I’d be asking myself, all because of a simple origami session.

References:

Allan, S 2021, ‘Star Wars: 12 Ways The Special Editions Changed The Original Trilogy’, CBR, viewed 4 March 2023, <https://www.cbr.com/star-wars-special-editions-changed-original-trilogy/>.

What Media Do You Use Everyday?
– Social media (Youtube, Reddit, Instagram): Information, entertainment

– Streaming sites (Netflix, Disney+): Entertainment

– Games (Halo Infinite, ect.): Entertainemnt

– * Books (Star Wars, Star Trek): Entertainment

– Phone/Computer: Entertainment, information

– Messenger: Social, connecting with others

Choose 3 Platforms and do Research on them:

• Youtube:
  • Owned by Alphabet Inc (Tech company)
  • Based in California
  • Mission statement was ‘Broadcast yourself”, although it has been removed from their website
  • They collect data on their users to feed them content tailored to their tastes (and also to sell to advertisers)
  • Probably no philanthropic endeavors, although Alphabet may on some occasion
• Instagram:
  • Owned by Meta (Tech company)
  • Based in California
  • Goal is to help connect people together online
  • They collect data on their users and sell it to advertising companies for profit
  • No philanthropic endeavors
• Star Trek Pocket Books:
  • Owned by Simon and Scheuster
  • Based in New York City
  • Does not collect data on their users
  • Creates other novels aside from star trek ones, so has a wider user base
  • No philanthropic endeavors

Apart from your uses, do the media have any other affordances?

• Instagram and Youtube could also be used for informative and educational purposes, as well as sharing your own content and broadcasting to others, but I prefer to use it for mostly entertainment and watching.

Is there a hierarchy of your media?

• There is a hierarchy to my media, I do need a phone/device to use all of the forms of them (I could purchase star trek books physically but I don’t)