Aim of Page: Discuss Film in relation to New Media - for example, latest films and New Media? ... Also other related topics that you may find relevant. TRON TO SEE 3D
As mentioned in the television section of the wiki, a growing trend that can't be ignored is how most films are being shown in 3D. Yes 2010 has seen many films coming to life through this improved technology which allows the audience to further their movie experience by being immersed by the narrative. In 1982 Disney released a film which was considered to be a great step in special effects technology, Tron. Tron was about a talented arcade game designer whose physical body was transported into the technological world of programs and viruses. In order to create this world the makers used a technique known as 'blacklit animation' where the live-action scenes of the computer realm were;
"Filmed in black-and-white on an entirely black set, printed on large format high-contrast film, then colorized with photographic and rotoscopic techniques to give them a "technological" feel. With multiple layers of high-contrast, large format positives and negatives, this process required truckloads of sheet film and a workload even greater than that of a conventional cel-animated feature. In addition, the varying quality and age of the film layers caused differing brightness levels for the backlit effects from frame to frame, explaining why glowing outlines and circuit traces tended to flicker in the original film. Due to its difficulty and cost, this process would never be repeated for another feature film." - Tron Wikipedia, 2010
Yet now we are able to take this film's idea and expand this world by using modern technology. With technology's latest advances Disney has filmed a sequel to Tron known as "Tron Legacy". Although this film's special effects may seem common it is actually much more refined and rendered more precisely as well as the use of impressive physical materials used for props or costumes (as mentioned by starring actress Olivia Wilde) which when fused with the computer generated world displays seemless transition from the virtual and reality. Not only does the film's effect appear beautiful, it is also being available in 3D as is the necessity nowadays. The world that the original creators intended to produce can finally be realised in this upcoming film the way it was meant to be.
Art, Music, and Film...Unique, Inspiration, Constantly Changing Art is unique. It is different and express’s emotion in several different ways. Depending on what piece of art you are looking at and how you perceive it, it could portray sadness, happiness, love, war, peace, indifference, and most importantly art tells a story. It can be the simplest painting, such as “Black painting” by Ad Reinhart. The painting was all black with an outline of a lighter square inside yet took Reinhart six years to paint. In Walter Benjamin’s essay “The work of art in the age of mechanical Reproduction” he states the reproduction of art through film and photography “had captured a place of its own among the artistic process”. In our culture today photography and film has progressed largely across the world. Remakes of older art can be interesting but I have to agree with Benjamin, “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.” A painting reproduced into the form of photographic art raises different questions in one’s mind. There is a greater influence from peers on how you perceive the movement and where your thoughts take you. One’s tendency to duplicate art to mechanical forms changed the way art was viewed. “The greater the decrease in the social significance of an art form, the sharper the distinction between criticism and enjoyment by the public. The conventional is uncritically enjoyed, and the truly new is criticized with aversion. With regard to the screen, the critical and the receptive attitudes of the public coincide. The decisive reason for this is that individual reactions are predetermined by the mass audience response they are about to produce and this is nowhere more pronounced than in a film. The moment these responses become manifest they control each other” (Benjamin N/A)). Having a point of view that others have impacts your decision on how you view something, subconsciously or not. This does not only happen within art it happens in everyday life, the pressure of someone else’s assumption affects one’s ideas, thoughts, criticism, and technique. This is one reason why I love the form of art because of its indifference and the meaning behind such beauty. By manipulating and redesigning you take away from the origin and the true story, idea and concept the author has behind it.
In today’s culture you can find appropriation art in every form of entertainment. I hear multiple forms of music with the same beat, or the same lines with a different beat. A perfect example of appropriation art is film. Movies derive from book series, television shows, famous people, legendary stories as well as legendary people. Film needs motion picture, audio, and a story behind it. Do not get me wrong there are plenty of films out there that have derived from a genius producer unique mind and I wish I saw that more often. Reproducing books and stories just rots the minds because unless it is a legit documentation, there are always bits and pieces that could/have been tweaked to fit what the producer wanted. It never really tells the real story.
Rumour has it pop superstar Lady Gaga is considering starring in her very own musical, feature film. Celebrity gossip website Showbiz Spy says the film "will involve X-Men and The Usual Suspects director Bryan Singer [and] is a cross between Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker flick and Beyonce’s Dreamgirls," (Showbiz Spy, 2010). Knowing Lady Gaga, the film will be jam-packed with drama, edgy costumes and catchy pop melodies.
Considering that Gaga's music videos for songs such as 'Telephone', 'Alejandro' and 'Bad Romance' are so elaborate they could be seen as mini-movies, there is no doubt that Gaga will take to acting like a fish to water.
As well as conquering the world of cinema, it seems that Lady Gaga is also releasing a book. Refinery29 reports "Just in time for fashion week, Griffin Original will be coming out with a definitive style-guide on the NYC singer entitled LADY GAGA: Critical Mass Fashion on September 14, 2010," and the book will feature "120 color photos of the outrageous pop-star's top outfits, and text by Rolling Stone columnist Lizzy Goodman," (Laliberte, 2010).
So not only has Lady Gaga dominated our radio airwaves, iPod libraries and Channel V countdowns, it seems now she will be popping up in every media outlet imaginable! It seems only logical that somebody this flamboyant, influential and arguably talented could not be contained by merely one form of media. Not only will Gaga's reign as pop princess continue, it will only get bigger and bigger!
"Literacy in the New Media Age", by Gunther Kress (available on Google books), analyses the shift from books and the written word to the screen and image as the dominant communication platform, as well as the potential inclusion of the ability to use tools such as the internet, computer programs and text messaging in the definition of literacy. In the article, the author discusses the ways in which literacy has and will in future be affected by this shift - as well as the overarching effects this evolution of literacy could have on the world. The discussion goes further than just film: the author also analyses the democratising effect this form of communication and literacy could have in terms of the spread of information and the shifts in power dynamics (Kress, G. 2003).
A large part of why new media has such a democratising effect is the fact that it becomes unidirectional - instead of simply consuming (as you would whilst reading a book), the audience is able to respond to, be involved with or even create part of what they're consuming (Kress, G. 2003).
The book discusses a lot of familiar concepts (for example, as discussed above, the idea of a "produser" and the power of information and communication) in a different context than I am used to reading about. Kress brings up a lot of research ideas that could be relevent across a number of different fields such as film, the internet, social technology, linguistics and education.
I definitely think that our definition of literacy will change as we become more and more immersed in new media. Anyone involved in education is at an immediate disadvantage if they aren't computer literate, and the majority of young people would be at a social disadvantage without a good knowledge of text messaging and social networking.This will certainly have a democratising effect, as almost everyone regardless of age, gender, race, class, etc - with the notable exception of those in remote areas or those who cannot afford computer access (although that number is dropping, considering the large amount of public access computers) - are able to access and navigate the internet and other forms of new media.
Viral marketing and cross-media campaigning for film is becoming more and more necessary, and traditional methods of advertising (print, television and radio) may become obsolete. Viral marketing is definitely not a new concept. The origins of viral marketing can be traced right back to the common Pyramid Scheme – advertising via word of mouth and endorsements of potential buyers’ friends. There are plenty of examples of how new media is inventing new avenues for viral marketing, and one of the most obvious is film.
A vastly successful viral marketing campaign – in order to draw in audiences – can be pulled off with a lot of money. A perfect example of this is the campaign launched in 2007/2008 for The Dark Knight. New media platforms were used to leaveclues for scavenger hunts, to reveal hidden messages and organize real world events such as an “I Believe In Harvey Dent” political rally (IGN, 2007). The result of he campaign was overwhelmingly positive for the film: it set both midnight opening and opening day Box Office records, as well as garnering numerous nominations and wins in a variety of different categories.
Not all films can start out with huge budgets, but viral marketing can work on a low budget as well. Iron Sky, a Finnish film about futuristic Nazis, is being funded entirely through crowd sourcing. A theatrical trailer is available online along with instructions for viewers to donate money if they want the rest of the film made (Crowd Source Capital, 2010) – a risk which looks to be paying off.
In terms of the future, I believe we’ll be seeing more and more viral marketing techniques in film advertising. Multiplatform campaigns are already the norm, and as viewers we’ve gotten a taste for inventive, immersive campaigns and may come to expect more of the same.
Film
Aim of Page: Discuss Film in relation to New Media - for example, latest films and New Media? ... Also other related topics that you may find relevant.
TRON TO SEE 3D
As mentioned in the television section of the wiki, a growing trend that can't be ignored is how most films are being shown in 3D. Yes 2010 has seen many films coming to life through this improved technology which allows the audience to further their movie experience by being immersed by the narrative. In 1982 Disney released a film which was considered to be a great step in special effects technology, Tron. Tron was about a talented arcade game designer whose physical body was transported into the technological world of programs and viruses. In order to create this world the makers used a technique known as 'blacklit animation' where the live-action scenes of the computer realm were;
"Filmed in black-and-white on an entirely black set, printed on large format high-contrast film, then colorized with photographic and rotoscopic techniques to give them a "technological" feel. With multiple layers of high-contrast, large format positives and negatives, this process required truckloads of sheet film and a workload even greater than that of a conventional cel-animated feature. In addition, the varying quality and age of the film layers caused differing brightness levels for the backlit effects from frame to frame, explaining why glowing outlines and circuit traces tended to flicker in the original film. Due to its difficulty and cost, this process would never be repeated for another feature film."
- Tron Wikipedia, 2010
Yet now we are able to take this film's idea and expand this world by using modern technology. With technology's latest advances Disney has filmed a sequel to Tron known as "Tron Legacy". Although this film's special effects may seem common it is actually much more refined and rendered more precisely as well as the use of impressive physical materials used for props or costumes (as mentioned by starring actress Olivia Wilde) which when fused with the computer generated world displays seemless transition from the virtual and reality. Not only does the film's effect appear beautiful, it is also being available in 3D as is the necessity nowadays. The world that the original creators intended to produce can finally be realised in this upcoming film the way it was meant to be.
REFERENCES
Tron Legacy, 2010. Tron Legacy. http://disney.go.com/tron/ (accessed October 18, 2010)
Wikipedia, 2010. Tron Film. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron_(film). (accessed October 18, 2010)
Youtube, 2010. Tron: Legacy interview with Olivia Wilde. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNShlgD-ByY (accessed October 18, 2010)
by Jayce Silvallana
Art, Music, and Film...Unique, Inspiration, Constantly Changing
Art is unique. It is different and express’s emotion in several different ways. Depending on what piece of art you are looking at and how you perceive it, it could portray sadness, happiness, love, war, peace, indifference, and most importantly art tells a story. It can be the simplest painting, such as “Black painting” by Ad Reinhart. The painting was all black with an outline of a lighter square inside yet took Reinhart six years to paint. In Walter Benjamin’s essay “The work of art in the age of mechanical Reproduction” he states the reproduction of art through film and photography “had captured a place of its own among the artistic process”. In our culture today photography and film has progressed largely across the world. Remakes of older art can be interesting but I have to agree with Benjamin, “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.” A painting reproduced into the form of photographic art raises different questions in one’s mind. There is a greater influence from peers on how you perceive the movement and where your thoughts take you. One’s tendency to duplicate art to mechanical forms changed the way art was viewed. “The greater the decrease in the social significance of an art form, the sharper the distinction between criticism and enjoyment by the public. The conventional is uncritically enjoyed, and the truly new is criticized with aversion. With regard to the screen, the critical and the receptive attitudes of the public coincide. The decisive reason for this is that individual reactions are predetermined by the mass audience response they are about to produce and this is nowhere more pronounced than in a film. The moment these responses become manifest they control each other” (Benjamin N/A)). Having a point of view that others have impacts your decision on how you view something, subconsciously or not. This does not only happen within art it happens in everyday life, the pressure of someone else’s assumption affects one’s ideas, thoughts, criticism, and technique. This is one reason why I love the form of art because of its indifference and the meaning behind such beauty. By manipulating and redesigning you take away from the origin and the true story, idea and concept the author has behind it.
In today’s culture you can find appropriation art in every form of entertainment. I hear multiple forms of music with the same beat, or the same lines with a different beat. A perfect example of appropriation art is film. Movies derive from book series, television shows, famous people, legendary stories as well as legendary people. Film needs motion picture, audio, and a story behind it. Do not get me wrong there are plenty of films out there that have derived from a genius producer unique mind and I wish I saw that more often. Reproducing books and stories just rots the minds because unless it is a legit documentation, there are always bits and pieces that could/have been tweaked to fit what the producer wanted. It never really tells the real story.
Benjamin, W. n.d. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm (accessed on August 22, 2010)
Reinhardt, A. n.d. http://www.thejoyofbox.co.uk/blog/C10/P10/ (accessed on August 22, 2010)
Amy Hopkinson (22/9/10)_
Lady Gaga to make film?
Rumour has it pop superstar Lady Gaga is considering starring in her very own musical, feature film. Celebrity gossip website Showbiz Spy says the film "will involve X-Men and The Usual Suspects director Bryan Singer [and] is a cross between Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker flick and Beyonce’s Dreamgirls," (Showbiz Spy, 2010). Knowing Lady Gaga, the film will be jam-packed with drama, edgy costumes and catchy pop melodies.
Considering that Gaga's music videos for songs such as 'Telephone', 'Alejandro' and 'Bad Romance' are so elaborate they could be seen as mini-movies, there is no doubt that Gaga will take to acting like a fish to water.
As well as conquering the world of cinema, it seems that Lady Gaga is also releasing a book. Refinery29 reports "Just in time for fashion week, Griffin Original will be coming out with a definitive style-guide on the NYC singer entitled LADY GAGA: Critical Mass Fashion on September 14, 2010," and the book will feature "120 color photos of the outrageous pop-star's top outfits, and text by Rolling Stone columnist Lizzy Goodman," (Laliberte, 2010).
So not only has Lady Gaga dominated our radio airwaves, iPod libraries and Channel V countdowns, it seems now she will be popping up in every media outlet imaginable! It seems only logical that somebody this flamboyant, influential and arguably talented could not be contained by merely one form of media. Not only will Gaga's reign as pop princess continue, it will only get bigger and bigger!
Showbiz Spy. 2010. Lady Gaga Planning Movie?! http://www.showbizspy.com/article/209626/lady-gaga-planning-movie.html (Accessed September 12, 2010).
Laliberte, K. 2010. Lady Gaga's Book To Come Out In September. http://www.refinery29.com/lady-gaga-gets-a-book.php (Accessed September 12, 2010).
-Sophie Kassay.
"Literacy in the New Media Age"
"Literacy in the New Media Age", by Gunther Kress (available on Google books), analyses the shift from books and the written word to the screen and image as the dominant communication platform, as well as the potential inclusion of the ability to use tools such as the internet, computer programs and text messaging in the definition of literacy. In the article, the author discusses the ways in which literacy has and will in future be affected by this shift - as well as the overarching effects this evolution of literacy could have on the world. The discussion goes further than just film: the author also analyses the democratising effect this form of communication and literacy could have in terms of the spread of information and the shifts in power dynamics (Kress, G. 2003).
A large part of why new media has such a democratising effect is the fact that it becomes unidirectional - instead of simply consuming (as you would whilst reading a book), the audience is able to respond to, be involved with or even create part of what they're consuming (Kress, G. 2003).
The book discusses a lot of familiar concepts (for example, as discussed above, the idea of a "produser" and the power of information and communication) in a different context than I am used to reading about. Kress brings up a lot of research ideas that could be relevent across a number of different fields such as film, the internet, social technology, linguistics and education.
I definitely think that our definition of literacy will change as we become more and more immersed in new media. Anyone involved in education is at an immediate disadvantage if they aren't computer literate, and the majority of young people would be at a social disadvantage without a good knowledge of text messaging and social networking.This will certainly have a democratising effect, as almost everyone regardless of age, gender, race, class, etc - with the notable exception of those in remote areas or those who cannot afford computer access (although that number is dropping, considering the large amount of public access computers) - are able to access and navigate the internet and other forms of new media.
Reference:
Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the New Media Age. http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr&id=2vaNeafOoiYC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=new+media&ots=Usq7pYx4Vc&sig=pj5dvzhqoBwrVVOiop4LV7tcxkI#v=onepage&q&f=false (Accessed 14th August 2010)
- Samantha Oldham, August 16th 2010
Film & Viral Marketing
Viral marketing and cross-media campaigning for film is becoming more and more necessary, and traditional methods of advertising (print, television and radio) may become obsolete. Viral marketing is definitely not a new concept. The origins of viral marketing can be traced right back to the common Pyramid Scheme – advertising via word of mouth and endorsements of potential buyers’ friends. There are plenty of examples of how new media is inventing new avenues for viral marketing, and one of the most obvious is film.
A vastly successful viral marketing campaign – in order to draw in audiences – can be pulled off with a lot of money. A perfect example of this is the campaign launched in 2007/2008 for The Dark Knight. New media platforms were used to leave clues for scavenger hunts, to reveal hidden messages and organize real world events such as an “I Believe In Harvey Dent” political rally (IGN, 2007). The result of he campaign was overwhelmingly positive for the film: it set both midnight opening and opening day Box Office records, as well as garnering numerous nominations and wins in a variety of different categories.
Not all films can start out with huge budgets, but viral marketing can work on a low budget as well. Iron Sky, a Finnish film about futuristic Nazis, is being funded entirely through crowd sourcing. A theatrical trailer is available online along with instructions for viewers to donate money if they want the rest of the film made (Crowd Source Capital, 2010) – a risk which looks to be paying off.
In terms of the future, I believe we’ll be seeing more and more viral marketing techniques in film advertising. Multiplatform campaigns are already the norm, and as viewers we’ve gotten a taste for inventive, immersive campaigns and may come to expect more of the same.
References:
IGN, 2007. The Joker's Halloween Treat. http://au.movies.ign.com/articles/831/831681p1.html (Accessed 23rd September 2010)
Crowd Source Capital, 2010. Rate-a-trailer: Iron Sky. http://crowdsourcecapital.blogspot.com/2010/05/rate-trailer-iron-sky.html (Accessed 23rd September 2010).
Samantha Oldham