Recently, my friend showed me a video on Youtube. The video is called "The Website Is Down" and is about a web technician who is dealing with a sales person he works with. All the viewer sees is what is on the web technician computer screen. The web technition shows what can be done with the internet if you know enough about it. He simultaneously plays Halo online, talks to people using Skype, changes received email content and uses another persons computer from is desktop. The reason why I like this video is because it is funny and also because it is a film based entirely on the internet. It was made available on the internet and is based on what can be done with it. I think it is very clever because the audience does not need much knowledge about the internet to enjoy it and people who do know a lot about the internet will also enjoy it.
I thought it was real at first but it is a film that was scripted. This is a film that only exists because of the internet. The internet is having a huge impact on how people make films. People no longer have to normal film making conventions. Since the arrival of the internet, people have accepted more different types of video than what is seen in cinemas or on TV. Audiences can accept the content of the video because they understand what is happening. I think it is more visually interesting that a lot of films because the audience must watch the screen at all times to keep up with the plot and also to get the jokes. With a lot of films one can look away and not miss anything but with this, it is all about what you see.
I like this video because I think it is a good example of what we talk about with regards digital media. Its a good example of the product of the digital age. It was distributed on the internet, the view is only of what is seen on a computer, its about the internet and for people who use the internet.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Goal of My Project
One thing which I have not talked about much but which is very importaant is the goal of my project. What is the point of my reality TV series?. What I always had in mind but never really mentioned was that I would like to show teenagers that school today is not as difficult as it was for their parents when they were going to school. Sinse I changed from just having teenagers to including adults, the goal has also changed. Along with opening teenagers' eyes to the difficulties of school years ago, the series will also show adults that teenagers have to deal with a lot of issues they never had to deal with when they were in school (computer skills etc.).
The series also needs to have something to work towords. What will be the conclusion? Each group will have to attend classes and also undertake tasks. The group who do the best in the final exams and winn the most tasks will be the winner. If the teenagers win, they will each recieve a top of the range personal computer worth 2000 euro. If the adults win, they will win a holiday worth 2000 euro each to a destination of their choice.
The series also needs to have something to work towords. What will be the conclusion? Each group will have to attend classes and also undertake tasks. The group who do the best in the final exams and winn the most tasks will be the winner. If the teenagers win, they will each recieve a top of the range personal computer worth 2000 euro. If the adults win, they will win a holiday worth 2000 euro each to a destination of their choice.
Film and Copyright n the Digital Age
There is no doubt that film making has undergone a massive change because of the Digital Age. With technological advances, the audience demands more from a film than they used to. Before, people would go to the cinema and be happy to just watch a film. Today however, the audience demands and also expects more from a film than just a singular cinematic experience. Graham Roberts argues in his chapter of Web Studies that the extra features element of DVD's may be the model for future film content. People today buy a DVD as much for the extra features as for the film itself. People want to get as much out of a film as they possibly can and the extra features part of a DVD allows this. The internet also provides extra content on films. A lot of new films being released have a web site with interviews with the actors and director along with previews of the film. Technological advances are the reason for these extra demands from films. Why should the audience settle for just the movie when extra content can be provided?. Take The Blair Witch Project as an example. Without all the content about it on the internet prior to its release, it would not have been the huge success that it was.
Technological advances has also changed the distribution of films. Pretty much and film you can think of is now available on DVD. The internet is now also playing a huge part in distribution. The problem film companies are having is that their films are widely available on the internet free of charge. There is huge work going on to change this and in the future films will be available on a "video on demand" basis. Whaterver the future holds for the film industry, there is one thing I am sure of: the industry has had to adapt to changes before and will once again be able to adapt because it is more than capable of keeping up with technological changes.
Technological advances has also changed the distribution of films. Pretty much and film you can think of is now available on DVD. The internet is now also playing a huge part in distribution. The problem film companies are having is that their films are widely available on the internet free of charge. There is huge work going on to change this and in the future films will be available on a "video on demand" basis. Whaterver the future holds for the film industry, there is one thing I am sure of: the industry has had to adapt to changes before and will once again be able to adapt because it is more than capable of keeping up with technological changes.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Why I chose the Format I chose
The main reason why I chose TV as my format is because it is the format which is most familiar to me. Another reason why I chose TV is because it is a digital medium which has a lot of potential to be used in conjunction with other digital media formats. For example, a lot of TV stations today have websites with additional information about their programmes. The BBC has a web site called bbc.com/iplayer, on this site one can watch the programmes that were shown on the BBC channels over the past 7 days. This is a trend which is catching on with other channels as well. On a lot of programmes where voing is involved, voting can be done on line.
I think there is great potential in merging TV with the internet.
I would have liked to have done a film script but I thought that it was not very interesting. I think there is more of a potential with TV with regards digital writing.
I think there is great potential in merging TV with the internet.
I would have liked to have done a film script but I thought that it was not very interesting. I think there is more of a potential with TV with regards digital writing.
Blog an Anything
I decided to write my blog on my project idea because I feel like I need to. I have decided to change some of it because I get the feeling it isn't digital enough. I was looking back in time while I should have been looking forward. I'm still going to keep the teenagers going to a school in the past but they will not be from disadvantaged areas. I said before that there would be 40 teenagers but I decided to cut it back to 15. To bring the numbers up to 30 people, the other 15 people will be adults with no experience with computers and they will have to learn computer skills like teenagers today do. The adults could be the parents of the children in the old school or they may not, I have not decided yet. The only technology the teenagers will be allowed use is a web cam to keep diaries. These will then be put on the internet where they can be viewed in their entirety. The same applies to the adults. The adults will be allowed access to some parts of the internet. If they try to communicate with the outside world, they will be made type pages and pages of HTML.
In addition to the school work, both groups will be made to do tasks. The tasks will be chosen by the viewers by going to the web site and and voting. Full profiles of each individual will also be available on the web site.
The idea of the series is to show teenagers the difficulties their parents had going to school and to show parents how difficult school is today for their children. I added the parents learning computer skills, the web cam and the web site to make the whole project more digital orientated.
In addition to the school work, both groups will be made to do tasks. The tasks will be chosen by the viewers by going to the web site and and voting. Full profiles of each individual will also be available on the web site.
The idea of the series is to show teenagers the difficulties their parents had going to school and to show parents how difficult school is today for their children. I added the parents learning computer skills, the web cam and the web site to make the whole project more digital orientated.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Film Theory and Criticism
Last night for the first time I watched "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Like almost all DVDs now, there is an extras feature on the DVD and one of those features was a documentary on the making of the film.
The documentary was called "Don't Crash: the documentary of
the making of
the movie of
the book of
the radio series of
The Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy".
I did not know much about the history of The Hitchhiker's Guide but while watching the documentary, one thing was very obvious; every one involved in the film was a big fan of the book and wanted to try their best to be as true to the books as possible. The author Douglas Adams died before he could see his work turned into a film so no one could tell what he would have wanted his story to look and sound like on the big screen. The producer and director of the film put a great deal of effort to make the film very similar to the book. For example, for the narrator, they choose Stephen Fry because he has a factual, non threatening voice. This is what the tought the voice would sound like from the book.
Dudley Andrew in his chapter on Adaptation in Film Theory and Criticism says that there are three modes of relation between a film and the text it come from. These are borrowing, intersection and fidelity of transformation. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes under fidelity of transformation in my opinion. Andrew says that fidelity of transformation is a "film trying to measure up to a literary work, or of an audience expecting to make such a comparison".
I believe this is true with Hitchiker's Guide. The making of documentary showed how artists spent years drawing in sketch books to come up with all the dfferent aliens in the film. They wanted the film to live up the the popularity of the book so they literally put in years of work in the pre production phase.
There is a film called Zeitgeist which was put on the internet to be watched free of charge. The film deals with conspiracy theories. Near the end of the film the narrator tells us that film and TV were only created to draw the publics attention away from what was really happening in the world. A scary tought. I do not believe this. In fact, I love film and TV. I could watch TV for hours, even the really bad TV. Because of this, I found Anne Friedbergs chapter The End of Cinema: Multimedia and the Technological Change very interesting. The chapter tells us how TV and the internet has changed cinema and the way we watch what is on the screen in front of us. Today, because of technological advances, film and TV are always just one click away. The way we watch film has changed. We can still go to the cinema but we can also rent or buy the film on DVD and we can also watch the film on the internet.
I would not say that TV and the internet are bringing about the end of cinema. The cinema industry is a resilient one and can adapt to the changes that happen. An example that comes to mind is the film Cloverfield. Th film incorporates the style of filming which is mainly seen on the internet. Usually a shaky hand held camera is used to film an event. In Cloverfield, it looks like all the footage was caught with a hand held camera. This gives the audience a sense that what they are watching actually happened. Because people are used to seeing this type of video on the internet, they can watch a full film in this style. I do not think TV and the internet is bringing about the end of the cinema. The cinema industry is too resilient.
The documentary was called "Don't Crash: the documentary of
the making of
the movie of
the book of
the radio series of
The Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy".
I did not know much about the history of The Hitchhiker's Guide but while watching the documentary, one thing was very obvious; every one involved in the film was a big fan of the book and wanted to try their best to be as true to the books as possible. The author Douglas Adams died before he could see his work turned into a film so no one could tell what he would have wanted his story to look and sound like on the big screen. The producer and director of the film put a great deal of effort to make the film very similar to the book. For example, for the narrator, they choose Stephen Fry because he has a factual, non threatening voice. This is what the tought the voice would sound like from the book.
Dudley Andrew in his chapter on Adaptation in Film Theory and Criticism says that there are three modes of relation between a film and the text it come from. These are borrowing, intersection and fidelity of transformation. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes under fidelity of transformation in my opinion. Andrew says that fidelity of transformation is a "film trying to measure up to a literary work, or of an audience expecting to make such a comparison".
I believe this is true with Hitchiker's Guide. The making of documentary showed how artists spent years drawing in sketch books to come up with all the dfferent aliens in the film. They wanted the film to live up the the popularity of the book so they literally put in years of work in the pre production phase.
There is a film called Zeitgeist which was put on the internet to be watched free of charge. The film deals with conspiracy theories. Near the end of the film the narrator tells us that film and TV were only created to draw the publics attention away from what was really happening in the world. A scary tought. I do not believe this. In fact, I love film and TV. I could watch TV for hours, even the really bad TV. Because of this, I found Anne Friedbergs chapter The End of Cinema: Multimedia and the Technological Change very interesting. The chapter tells us how TV and the internet has changed cinema and the way we watch what is on the screen in front of us. Today, because of technological advances, film and TV are always just one click away. The way we watch film has changed. We can still go to the cinema but we can also rent or buy the film on DVD and we can also watch the film on the internet.
I would not say that TV and the internet are bringing about the end of cinema. The cinema industry is a resilient one and can adapt to the changes that happen. An example that comes to mind is the film Cloverfield. Th film incorporates the style of filming which is mainly seen on the internet. Usually a shaky hand held camera is used to film an event. In Cloverfield, it looks like all the footage was caught with a hand held camera. This gives the audience a sense that what they are watching actually happened. Because people are used to seeing this type of video on the internet, they can watch a full film in this style. I do not think TV and the internet is bringing about the end of the cinema. The cinema industry is too resilient.
Something that exists in two forms
The first thing that came to mind which exists in two forms is Resident Evil. It began its life as a video game and was then mutated into a movie trilogy. The first game came out in 1996 on the Sony Playstation and was met with praise for its style and originality. Because of its success, two other games were commissioned, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. In 2005, Resident Evil 4 was released and is considered to be the best game in the series and also one of the best games ever released on the Playstation 2.
In 2002, the first Resident Evil film was released. The film had mixed reviews. Some praised it for its similarity to the game but others criticized it for being too much of a standard horror film and not having any meaningful dialogue. Despite the mixed reviews, it was a commercial success and two other films were made: Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Resident Evil: Extension.
I have played the games and saw the films and in my opinion, the games are better, especially Resident Evil 4. The reason I think they are better is simple, one interacts much more with the games than with the films. For me its all about the scare factor, I love horror films and I want them to scare me. The Resident Evil movies did not scare me because they adhere too much to the standard Hollywood horror formula. Sure one might jump when a zombie suddenly appears on screen but we are so used to that trick that it is almost expected in a horror film at this stage. Resident Evil 4 (the game) scared me much more than the films for a couple of reasons. The main reason is that it is a game, you are control of the main character so your decisions affect what happens. With the films, you know that the main character is not going to die, but with the game, you can, and do die (a lot). There is more of a sense of danger to the game because of this. Also, in the films when Alice, the main character gets hurt, it does not really affect the audience. With the game however, when you get cut with a chainsaw, you know because the controller vibrates. This is a representation of the characters pain, and you do not get this with the films.
Usually with third person shooter games one is able to move the camera around the character to see the surroundings. In Resident Evil 4 and the other games, this can be done but only to a certain extent. When you are walking up to an important place or building, you loose control of the camera and it moves to a very low angle looking up at the building. It makes your character feel small and the building feel big and intimidating. It is this sudden loss of control that I think is scary. You get these angles in the films but you don't feel the lack of control because you never had any control to begin with.
I saw all the films in the cinema because I enjoy seeing films on the big screen. Because I was in a room with a lot of other people, I did not feel scared because I was not alone. With the games however, I play them in a room by myself with the lights off. All my attention is on the game so when I get shocked, its amplified because I am alone and the controller is vibrating wildly.
The difference between the films and the games is the interaction the individual has with them. With the films, there is very little interaction. You sit there with everyone else and absorb what you see. With the games, you sit there and become immersed in the game. You are in control of the character and it is up to you to reach the end of the game. With the films, you always know that the character is going to succeed.
In 2002, the first Resident Evil film was released. The film had mixed reviews. Some praised it for its similarity to the game but others criticized it for being too much of a standard horror film and not having any meaningful dialogue. Despite the mixed reviews, it was a commercial success and two other films were made: Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Resident Evil: Extension.
I have played the games and saw the films and in my opinion, the games are better, especially Resident Evil 4. The reason I think they are better is simple, one interacts much more with the games than with the films. For me its all about the scare factor, I love horror films and I want them to scare me. The Resident Evil movies did not scare me because they adhere too much to the standard Hollywood horror formula. Sure one might jump when a zombie suddenly appears on screen but we are so used to that trick that it is almost expected in a horror film at this stage. Resident Evil 4 (the game) scared me much more than the films for a couple of reasons. The main reason is that it is a game, you are control of the main character so your decisions affect what happens. With the films, you know that the main character is not going to die, but with the game, you can, and do die (a lot). There is more of a sense of danger to the game because of this. Also, in the films when Alice, the main character gets hurt, it does not really affect the audience. With the game however, when you get cut with a chainsaw, you know because the controller vibrates. This is a representation of the characters pain, and you do not get this with the films.
Usually with third person shooter games one is able to move the camera around the character to see the surroundings. In Resident Evil 4 and the other games, this can be done but only to a certain extent. When you are walking up to an important place or building, you loose control of the camera and it moves to a very low angle looking up at the building. It makes your character feel small and the building feel big and intimidating. It is this sudden loss of control that I think is scary. You get these angles in the films but you don't feel the lack of control because you never had any control to begin with.
I saw all the films in the cinema because I enjoy seeing films on the big screen. Because I was in a room with a lot of other people, I did not feel scared because I was not alone. With the games however, I play them in a room by myself with the lights off. All my attention is on the game so when I get shocked, its amplified because I am alone and the controller is vibrating wildly.
The difference between the films and the games is the interaction the individual has with them. With the films, there is very little interaction. You sit there with everyone else and absorb what you see. With the games, you sit there and become immersed in the game. You are in control of the character and it is up to you to reach the end of the game. With the films, you always know that the character is going to succeed.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Writing Machines 2
I always undrstood what Electronic Literature and writing were. But I could never understand how e-literature would give a different experience than if the literature was being read from a print book. It dawned on me however while reading the third chapter of Writing machines. The problem I was having with understanding e-literature was that I thought e-literature was providing aditional information for the reader so that the reader would not have to imagine it. I was missing the point completely. Instead of providing additional information for the reader as I thought, e-literature is providing a whole new, in debht way of ingesting a story.
It hit me while reading about Shelly Jackson's Patchwork Girl, an electronic rewriting of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Frankenstein is a book enjoyed reading so I was interested to know what more an electronic rewriting could offer. I understood when I saw the picture of the monster and its brain in sections. Clicking on each section of the brain would take you to the stories of the women who made up the body of the monster. This provides a lot more information than the book and is there at the press of a button. It gives the reader a more in debth experience than a print text can. i print text could tell the stories of those women but it would make a very large book. The advantage with e-literature is that the information is there for you if you choose to click on it.
It hit me while reading about Shelly Jackson's Patchwork Girl, an electronic rewriting of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Frankenstein is a book enjoyed reading so I was interested to know what more an electronic rewriting could offer. I understood when I saw the picture of the monster and its brain in sections. Clicking on each section of the brain would take you to the stories of the women who made up the body of the monster. This provides a lot more information than the book and is there at the press of a button. It gives the reader a more in debth experience than a print text can. i print text could tell the stories of those women but it would make a very large book. The advantage with e-literature is that the information is there for you if you choose to click on it.
Things Similar to my Project Idea
The only Irish TV show I could find that shows any similarity to mine is "Joy in the Hood". In this series, Des Bishop went to impoverished areas around Ireland setting up comedy workshops. Most of the people who took part were inner city teenagers. This is where the show is similar to mine, it used people with the same background as the people I would like to use. I remember watching the show and thought it was interesting to watch these people because they are not the kind of people one would typically see on Irish TV.
I found a show made in the UK which is very similar to mine. The show is called "That ll Teach 'em" and was first shown in 2003. 30 teenagers were put in a 1950's style boarding school and were thought in the same way as they would back then. Basically, it's very like my idea. The main aim of the show was to find out if the students would perform as well in the exams of that time as they do in todays exams.
The aim of my show is different. I want to find out if the style of teaching back then is more or less effective on these teenagers than todays teaching styles.
I found a show made in the UK which is very similar to mine. The show is called "That ll Teach 'em" and was first shown in 2003. 30 teenagers were put in a 1950's style boarding school and were thought in the same way as they would back then. Basically, it's very like my idea. The main aim of the show was to find out if the students would perform as well in the exams of that time as they do in todays exams.
The aim of my show is different. I want to find out if the style of teaching back then is more or less effective on these teenagers than todays teaching styles.
Monday, September 29, 2008
project idea 2
I have established that I would like to do an Irish TV series for my project. I also know that I would like it to be on at 9.30pm on Mondays. The only thing I don't know is what I want the series to be on.
I have always had an interest in the Irish language, I have been able to speak it from a young age. When I tell people this they usually say that they have no Irish and they would love to learn it again. There is also a push on TV to bring back the language. Recently, Des Bishop made a series where he went to Conamara to learn Irish and then had to do a full stand up show in Irish. A lot of people watched this series and it was very successful.
I like the idea of people learning Irish in my series but the comedy thing has been done now with Des Bishop. There used be a show on an English channel a while ago where they put a bunch of teenagers in a school set in the 1940's. They had to wear the cloths from that time, got punished like thy did back then and had to eat the food available back then. I really enjoyed this show because a lot of time, the teenagers were getting in trouble and trying to run away.
I would like my show to be like this but through Irish. The teachers would all talk in Irish and they would have to make teenagers speak in Irish as well. It would not work if the teenagers could speak Irish already, they would have to be new to it. A lot of teenagers can speak Irish but there is one group who cannot. If the teenagers came from inner city areas in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, I think it would make for interesting TV.
I have always had an interest in the Irish language, I have been able to speak it from a young age. When I tell people this they usually say that they have no Irish and they would love to learn it again. There is also a push on TV to bring back the language. Recently, Des Bishop made a series where he went to Conamara to learn Irish and then had to do a full stand up show in Irish. A lot of people watched this series and it was very successful.
I like the idea of people learning Irish in my series but the comedy thing has been done now with Des Bishop. There used be a show on an English channel a while ago where they put a bunch of teenagers in a school set in the 1940's. They had to wear the cloths from that time, got punished like thy did back then and had to eat the food available back then. I really enjoyed this show because a lot of time, the teenagers were getting in trouble and trying to run away.
I would like my show to be like this but through Irish. The teachers would all talk in Irish and they would have to make teenagers speak in Irish as well. It would not work if the teenagers could speak Irish already, they would have to be new to it. A lot of teenagers can speak Irish but there is one group who cannot. If the teenagers came from inner city areas in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, I think it would make for interesting TV.
project idea
Expanding on my idea of a TV series, there are a couple of different options I can choose. I could do a drama series, a quiz series, a sports series or basically any other format on TV now.
There are a few home grown series on RTÉ at the moment, "Oileán" is a series which looks at the many islands off Ireland's coast. Another series is "Who Do You Think You Are?", this series involves celebrities finding out who their ancestors are. It's on at 9.30pm on Mondays which is the best time slot to have your show aired because people are usually in on Monday nights and 9.30pm is a popular time to watch TV. I would like my series to be aired at this time because it would get a big audience.
The problem with this slot is that there will be a different range of people watching it from teenagers to older people. Therefore, it must be a series that will appeal to a broad audience. The series will be competing with what is on the other three TV channels. At the moment, CSI Miami is on RTÉ 2, Survivor is on TG4 and The Apprentice is on TV3. There are two American shows which is good for me because people don't always want to watch American shows. The main show I would be competing with is The Apprentice which is a new Irish series. I think a lot of people would watch this but I think there are a lot of people who would not watch it aswell. My series would have to appeal to the people who would not watch The Apprentice.
There are a few home grown series on RTÉ at the moment, "Oileán" is a series which looks at the many islands off Ireland's coast. Another series is "Who Do You Think You Are?", this series involves celebrities finding out who their ancestors are. It's on at 9.30pm on Mondays which is the best time slot to have your show aired because people are usually in on Monday nights and 9.30pm is a popular time to watch TV. I would like my series to be aired at this time because it would get a big audience.
The problem with this slot is that there will be a different range of people watching it from teenagers to older people. Therefore, it must be a series that will appeal to a broad audience. The series will be competing with what is on the other three TV channels. At the moment, CSI Miami is on RTÉ 2, Survivor is on TG4 and The Apprentice is on TV3. There are two American shows which is good for me because people don't always want to watch American shows. The main show I would be competing with is The Apprentice which is a new Irish series. I think a lot of people would watch this but I think there are a lot of people who would not watch it aswell. My series would have to appeal to the people who would not watch The Apprentice.
Monday, September 22, 2008
William Blake; Songs of Innocence and of Experience
I had never read anything by William Blake so this was all new to me. I had to do some background reading on him because I didn't know anything about him. I found out he was also an artist and incorporated a lot of art into his poems, which was very toughtful of him.
Songs of Innocence was written in 1789 and Experience was added on in 1794. Innosence is about the transition from childhood to adulthood. Experience is a contrast to this and deals with how adulthood destroys childhood innocence. This works because the poet has actually grown older and is not just imagening it. I am not a fan of poetry but I do like to idea of of the poet looking back on his life with changed eyes.
I found some of the poems to be pretty abstract which didn't really suit me. Some individual poems are in direct contrast with others. An example of this is "The Lamb" in Innocence and "The Tyger" in Experience. The Lamb represents a meek virtue while The Tyger exhibits opposing darker forces. This is a running theme through the whole collection of poems.
I tried to find a reason to like the collection of poems but I couldn't. Nothing in it reached out and grabbed me and I'm not sure what I should learn from the poems.
Songs of Innocence was written in 1789 and Experience was added on in 1794. Innosence is about the transition from childhood to adulthood. Experience is a contrast to this and deals with how adulthood destroys childhood innocence. This works because the poet has actually grown older and is not just imagening it. I am not a fan of poetry but I do like to idea of of the poet looking back on his life with changed eyes.
I found some of the poems to be pretty abstract which didn't really suit me. Some individual poems are in direct contrast with others. An example of this is "The Lamb" in Innocence and "The Tyger" in Experience. The Lamb represents a meek virtue while The Tyger exhibits opposing darker forces. This is a running theme through the whole collection of poems.
I tried to find a reason to like the collection of poems but I couldn't. Nothing in it reached out and grabbed me and I'm not sure what I should learn from the poems.
Idea For Project
I'm not really sure what I want to do for my project yet. I do know that I would like to do something to do with film because I have experience in producing and directing. I don't tink I am capable of writing a film script or anything like that. But I could come up with a new Irish TV series for RTE or TG4.
A documentary series on something topical at the moment.
A documentary series on something topical at the moment.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Writing Machines
As an English graduate, I have been programmed to critically access literature. It never accored to me to study the "Materiality" of the text I was studying. After reading "Writing Machines" by Anne Burdick, I realise that the materiality of a text is also important. We are at a time where there is such a huge body of work availabe on the World Wide Web, the web is changing how people read and also how people write.
The first chapter shows how it does not matter what environment one grows up in, interaction with a computer is inevitable. This interaction with something that is not physically a book changes how one views and percieves the text. With links, the readers opportunities to explore text is greatly widened. This can be done with books, but not as easily.
I found the chapter on "Material Metaphors" particularly interesting. The Reading Eye Dog completely changes how people ingest and comprehend text. Because of the physicality of the dog, the meaning of the text can be interpreted differently than if it was being read normally by a person. One could read a book a bout a dog who was transformed into a robot. That same person could then have the same book read to them by the Reading Eye Dog. I am sure the same person would interpret the same book differently because of the physicality of the Reading Eye Dog. This provides a whole new level to the same book.
We are at a period in time where physicality of text is changing. I think people should not be skeptical of this, people should not anticapate the end of the novel as we know it. We should be excited that a medium that has been around for a very long time is assimilating with human kinds technological advances.
The first chapter shows how it does not matter what environment one grows up in, interaction with a computer is inevitable. This interaction with something that is not physically a book changes how one views and percieves the text. With links, the readers opportunities to explore text is greatly widened. This can be done with books, but not as easily.
I found the chapter on "Material Metaphors" particularly interesting. The Reading Eye Dog completely changes how people ingest and comprehend text. Because of the physicality of the dog, the meaning of the text can be interpreted differently than if it was being read normally by a person. One could read a book a bout a dog who was transformed into a robot. That same person could then have the same book read to them by the Reading Eye Dog. I am sure the same person would interpret the same book differently because of the physicality of the Reading Eye Dog. This provides a whole new level to the same book.
We are at a period in time where physicality of text is changing. I think people should not be skeptical of this, people should not anticapate the end of the novel as we know it. We should be excited that a medium that has been around for a very long time is assimilating with human kinds technological advances.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Framework Questions
1. What would you like to learn about "Writing in the Digital Age"?
I would like to learn about how online writing differs from standard print writing. Are there different techniques involved?, is different terminology?
2. What do you already know about "Writing in the Digital Age"?
Not a whole lot.
3. What are your strengths/abilities/past experiences with the digital media industry?
I have some experience in making documentaries. I have a good knowledge of Final Cut Pro along with directing and producing documentaries.
4. What are your strengths/abilities/past experiences with creative writing?
I don't have much experience with creative writing but I think I have an active imagination and I have a good grasp of the English language.
5. Where would you like this module to take you? what would you like to achieve through this course as a whole? Consider both personal and professional goals when answering.
I would like this module to make me more creative, with writing and with ideas in general. Through this course, I would like to learn skills and techniques which will help me find a job in the industry I would like to work in. I hope it will also make me appreciate what is involved when creating digital media.
6.What is your favorite song? Piece of writing? Piece of visual art? Taste? Smell? Texture? How would you communicate it to someone who couldn't experience that particular sense?
Favorite song is Before the Hangman's Noose by DevilDriver. Favorite book is Abarat by Clive Barker. Favorite film is Old Boy. Favorite taste is a B.L.T. Favorite smell is freshly cut grass. I would be lying if I said I had a favorite texture.
I would like to learn about how online writing differs from standard print writing. Are there different techniques involved?, is different terminology?
2. What do you already know about "Writing in the Digital Age"?
Not a whole lot.
3. What are your strengths/abilities/past experiences with the digital media industry?
I have some experience in making documentaries. I have a good knowledge of Final Cut Pro along with directing and producing documentaries.
4. What are your strengths/abilities/past experiences with creative writing?
I don't have much experience with creative writing but I think I have an active imagination and I have a good grasp of the English language.
5. Where would you like this module to take you? what would you like to achieve through this course as a whole? Consider both personal and professional goals when answering.
I would like this module to make me more creative, with writing and with ideas in general. Through this course, I would like to learn skills and techniques which will help me find a job in the industry I would like to work in. I hope it will also make me appreciate what is involved when creating digital media.
6.What is your favorite song? Piece of writing? Piece of visual art? Taste? Smell? Texture? How would you communicate it to someone who couldn't experience that particular sense?
Favorite song is Before the Hangman's Noose by DevilDriver. Favorite book is Abarat by Clive Barker. Favorite film is Old Boy. Favorite taste is a B.L.T. Favorite smell is freshly cut grass. I would be lying if I said I had a favorite texture.
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