The summer before my junior year of college I took an intensive Japanese course at Clemson. For five weeks, 24 hours a day, I spoke nothing but Japanese. The task was more than grueling and there were days that I didn't think I would be able to process all the information without my head exploding. That was before we were assigned Skype partners -- students from Japanese Universities that we conversed with on an almost daily basis. I had conversations with Mari-san over the internet as easily as if she were sitting in the room next to me. She was of course, in Fukui, Japan.
It's amazing that with today's society how easy communication has become, not just on an individual basis, but on a global scale as well. I can instant message my roommate, sitting not 10 feet away from me as easily as I can instant message my boyfriend five hours and two states away, again, just as easily as I can communication with Mari-san. The expansion of technology has lead to the decrease of border prominence.
Cross cultural visualization is noticeable in more than just internet presence, too. Take for example, the recent movie Slumdog Millionaire. The movie is directed by a British director, based on a book by an Indian novelist and diplomat, and based on an American game show. The film, though many of the concepts themselves are foreign to American audiences, still appeals to a grander scale of people than simply those in India. Digital hasn't only made communication easier, but it's also opened up the world to cultural differences and instead resulted in cultural blending. I may be from the states, but I can still appreciate the concepts gleaned from other cultures. Somehow, watching them in film makes the concept seem less foreign and more our own.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Chapter 9: Science
I found the information discussed in chapter nine particularly interesting, especially because I’d never really given the subject of science photography and science as a visual art form. I suppose I’ve heard the term that science is art before, especially in terms of things like pictures that are from space and the like, but never specifically in terms of the human body and science.
I’ve always, perhaps incorrectly, thought of art as art and science and science. Sometimes art may encompass such elements from science – many famous artworks often encompass the human form (I think of the statue of David, specifically). But in my mind I had classified the focus on the human form as the subheading under the giant umbrella of art, rather than the other way around.
What I find most interesting about using drawing art from science is how it’s such an ethical art. Art, in my mind, is meant to make you think and invoke some sort of emotional response, but never before have I thought about the moral and ethical repercussions. Often the emotional response is a call to action. Images like “race has no gene”
plays on people’s guilt and prejudices. But images like those of true human dissections seem a bit more real. Images from the Visual Human Project seem a bit more graphic and real, even inescapable.
The beginning of the look at the body and science as art had a large boom during the period of renaissance art. One of the most famous was Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, which described the proportions of man based on geometic shapes and figures. This print is actually so famous and well known, that other artists have done mock prints with similar and pop culture symbols.
Recently though, the display of the body has become more of an ethical debate. The famous Body Worlds exhibition displays real bodies that have been preserved in plastic.
The Body Worlds exhibit as well as the Visual Human Project has the effect of employing the abject in people – making it possible for people to see themselves in the art and thus invoking a sense of disgust and uncomfort. Though science has the ability to use art in order to teach future generations, it has also been met with great adversity and disgust.
I’ve always, perhaps incorrectly, thought of art as art and science and science. Sometimes art may encompass such elements from science – many famous artworks often encompass the human form (I think of the statue of David, specifically). But in my mind I had classified the focus on the human form as the subheading under the giant umbrella of art, rather than the other way around.
What I find most interesting about using drawing art from science is how it’s such an ethical art. Art, in my mind, is meant to make you think and invoke some sort of emotional response, but never before have I thought about the moral and ethical repercussions. Often the emotional response is a call to action. Images like “race has no gene”
plays on people’s guilt and prejudices. But images like those of true human dissections seem a bit more real. Images from the Visual Human Project seem a bit more graphic and real, even inescapable.
The beginning of the look at the body and science as art had a large boom during the period of renaissance art. One of the most famous was Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, which described the proportions of man based on geometic shapes and figures. This print is actually so famous and well known, that other artists have done mock prints with similar and pop culture symbols.
Recently though, the display of the body has become more of an ethical debate. The famous Body Worlds exhibition displays real bodies that have been preserved in plastic.
The Body Worlds exhibit as well as the Visual Human Project has the effect of employing the abject in people – making it possible for people to see themselves in the art and thus invoking a sense of disgust and uncomfort. Though science has the ability to use art in order to teach future generations, it has also been met with great adversity and disgust.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Post Modernism and Indie
Out of chapter 8, what I found the most exciting topic was the progression of the video industry and the focus on post-modern themes. Having just finished a massive (rough) draft on the progression of video games and how they've adapted to the times, so caught my eye in the terms of film.
In 1988 Katsuhiro Otomo released his animated film, Akira. Akira, to those that know anything about the anime or japanese animantion pop culture, is one of those indie, cult films that is almost a requirement to see (think of it as akin to today's Boondock Saints). The theme of the movie is that a nuclear explosion has erupted in Tokyo, leaving the world crumbled and desolate in it's wake. From the rubble, however, comes the Neo-Tokyo in the age 2019.
Akira was an international cult success -- due not only to the underground popularity in anime, but also because of the cell animation, and the broad reach it had to adult audiences of the science fiction genre. According to the book, Akira demonstrates that "we do not live in a fully postmodern world but in a world in which postmodernity is lived in the crumbling ruins of modernity...through these films, viewers engage with simulated environments with the jaded sense that we know what is to come and that our bodies may be physically malleable and changeable through technology and medicine."
Following the Akira phase came things such as CGI animated films like Toy Story and A Bug's Life. What's interesting about these films, however, is the intertextuality within the films. Films, now, are hardly ever based on an original concept. Scenes in Shrek obviously had tones carried from the Matrix series that proceeded it, just as Aladdin had references to Julius Caesar with "et tu, Brute?" I had known about intertetuality in terms of novels and stories, but had never applied the concept to film.
In 1988 Katsuhiro Otomo released his animated film, Akira. Akira, to those that know anything about the anime or japanese animantion pop culture, is one of those indie, cult films that is almost a requirement to see (think of it as akin to today's Boondock Saints). The theme of the movie is that a nuclear explosion has erupted in Tokyo, leaving the world crumbled and desolate in it's wake. From the rubble, however, comes the Neo-Tokyo in the age 2019.
Akira was an international cult success -- due not only to the underground popularity in anime, but also because of the cell animation, and the broad reach it had to adult audiences of the science fiction genre. According to the book, Akira demonstrates that "we do not live in a fully postmodern world but in a world in which postmodernity is lived in the crumbling ruins of modernity...through these films, viewers engage with simulated environments with the jaded sense that we know what is to come and that our bodies may be physically malleable and changeable through technology and medicine."
Following the Akira phase came things such as CGI animated films like Toy Story and A Bug's Life. What's interesting about these films, however, is the intertextuality within the films. Films, now, are hardly ever based on an original concept. Scenes in Shrek obviously had tones carried from the Matrix series that proceeded it, just as Aladdin had references to Julius Caesar with "et tu, Brute?" I had known about intertetuality in terms of novels and stories, but had never applied the concept to film.
Helvetica
Though I felt like an absolute dork while doing so, I enjoyed watching the movie Helvetica. Being an English major that has a heavy sense of design (I've been working on some sort of school publication since I was a sophomore in high school) and I thought I was strange for noticing the peculiarities of fonts. I absolutely hate papyrus, as I think anyone that ever wanted a default "asian-looking" font resorts to that. Ironically, I always hated Arial for bulk-text as well; it was ironic then, to discover that Arial was just window's version of Helvetica.
I found it odd how everyone gushed about how amazing the font was; yes, I agree that Helvetica is very nice and neat, but by the same token I feel as if the font lacks any sort of emotion...at all. You cannot call it professional looking, whimsical, curly, bubbly, exciting or any sort of other defining word. It is simply...there. That's why I agree that Helvetica is good to have in places such as stop signs or trash can bins. You don't need Edwardian Script to say "Stop" or "Place trash here." Overall, however, I enjoy a bit of life and design within my fonts, and I think that a font should describe what you are selling. If you are to be whimsical, shouldn't your title (name AND font) describe that? There is such versatility to font faces, it seems a shame to focus so heavily on one. If you notice, my blog is not written in Arial/Helvetica. I feel like those fonts say nothing about me.
I found it odd how everyone gushed about how amazing the font was; yes, I agree that Helvetica is very nice and neat, but by the same token I feel as if the font lacks any sort of emotion...at all. You cannot call it professional looking, whimsical, curly, bubbly, exciting or any sort of other defining word. It is simply...there. That's why I agree that Helvetica is good to have in places such as stop signs or trash can bins. You don't need Edwardian Script to say "Stop" or "Place trash here." Overall, however, I enjoy a bit of life and design within my fonts, and I think that a font should describe what you are selling. If you are to be whimsical, shouldn't your title (name AND font) describe that? There is such versatility to font faces, it seems a shame to focus so heavily on one. If you notice, my blog is not written in Arial/Helvetica. I feel like those fonts say nothing about me.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Advertising
Few things in terms of digital media I find as interesting as advertising. You can’t manage to drive to the grocery story without being bombarded by advertisements on billboards and on the radio.
Thought it was not the largest part of the chapter, what chapter 7 made me think about the most was the branding associated with advertising. We started to discuss the same topic in one of my other classes, so perhaps that’s why this topic was at the forefront of my mind. Why is it that so many people associate themselves not with a product but with a product name? No one listens to MP3 players anymore, but instead they’re always listening to iPods. Other brands often model their own products after those things that have done well. There are even AM/FM radios that have gotten an extreme make over to look like the iPod.
What is it that makes a product so appealing to the masses and catch on in the market? The following graphic seems to prove it the best. It’s a delicate mix of what you’re good at, what your competitors are bad at, and what it is the masses are craving for – this is not a surefire way to success, but it does help to be a bit above the curve. When CDs where the new and improved way to play music media, Sony was at the top of the curve; but when music turned completely digital, it was the apple company that skyrocketed to the top. They saw the market and supplied a product that their masses wanted and competitors could not yet supply.
Lastly, this entire chapter reminded me of the 2005 commercial for Starbucks Espresso shots. The catchy jingle (a common marketing tool) made sure that I would never be able to forget their product.
Thought it was not the largest part of the chapter, what chapter 7 made me think about the most was the branding associated with advertising. We started to discuss the same topic in one of my other classes, so perhaps that’s why this topic was at the forefront of my mind. Why is it that so many people associate themselves not with a product but with a product name? No one listens to MP3 players anymore, but instead they’re always listening to iPods. Other brands often model their own products after those things that have done well. There are even AM/FM radios that have gotten an extreme make over to look like the iPod.
What is it that makes a product so appealing to the masses and catch on in the market? The following graphic seems to prove it the best. It’s a delicate mix of what you’re good at, what your competitors are bad at, and what it is the masses are craving for – this is not a surefire way to success, but it does help to be a bit above the curve. When CDs where the new and improved way to play music media, Sony was at the top of the curve; but when music turned completely digital, it was the apple company that skyrocketed to the top. They saw the market and supplied a product that their masses wanted and competitors could not yet supply.
Lastly, this entire chapter reminded me of the 2005 commercial for Starbucks Espresso shots. The catchy jingle (a common marketing tool) made sure that I would never be able to forget their product.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Workin' on the Avatar
Second Life is absolutely killing me. I understand how SL shows a progression in digital media, but I don't see how it fits with the curriculum of Visual Communication. I feel like scripting and building is so much more geared toward computer design and graphics. I'm an English major...that's not my job.
But I'll do it...cuz I'm too stubborn not to do it.
Screen Cap of Avatar:
So, here's the most I have of my house so far. I say most not because I didn't work on it, but because the sandbox I was in started to add random pieces to my "lost and found" inventory...and thus I couldn't get a full picture of it. Ugh. Second Life is starting to grate on my nerves. And my house was awesome, too. There were stairs and hanging moss...
^*$%@_*^
But I'll do it...cuz I'm too stubborn not to do it.
Screen Cap of Avatar:
So, here's the most I have of my house so far. I say most not because I didn't work on it, but because the sandbox I was in started to add random pieces to my "lost and found" inventory...and thus I couldn't get a full picture of it. Ugh. Second Life is starting to grate on my nerves. And my house was awesome, too. There were stairs and hanging moss...
^*$%@_*^
Chapter Six: Media in the Everyday Life
I found this chapter particularly interesting for a few different reasons. Being involved in both a sociology class as well as a public relations class this semester, I’m finding it interesting on how much of the course load seems to overlap.
What I found particularly intriguing is how media seems to be directed towards the “everyday masses” and yet, when we sit down to actually view “everyday,” things aren’t necessarily as we’d see them in reality. Take television for example. As viewers, we often see television as a medium of distraction. In today’s society, nearly every person (at least in the US) owns a television set. But what we watch on that television differs.
How often do we watch a television show, more aptly, a reality show? Reality shows are one of the most common and well watched forms of entertainment on tv. But though we tend to assume that the television is presenting real life, if we stop to think about it, there’s nothing real and everyday about bombshell babes trying to make friends with the geek squad or a single dad that works on a far shipping in 12 lovely ladies from all around the country in hopes of finding true love.
Media stations are trying endlessly to find forms of entertainment that brings real life into the living room. But how ironic, that what we label in the media industry as real life hardly every happens in, well, real life.
Something else that stuck with me from the chapter is just how pervasive certain images are within our society. Certain photographs, portraits, sometimes even brand names become so quickly synced with our everyday happenings. If asked, I bet there is not a certain person in this room that cannot conjure up some image of the 9-11 attacks. Many people can also imagine the famous Obama “hope” poster that prevailed during his campaign. These images have been ingrained into our memories just as much if not more than the actual information itself.
And how quickly we get these images and information as well – the chapter opened with the specific reference to checking your mail on your iPhone! When did we become a culture so driven by brand names? If you asked a student demographic, most would probably get their news not from a local broadcasting network but from The Daily Show or Colbert Report. The media has so branded our interpretation and input of information, ideas and new in the world that we associate things now not necessarily with the information we are getting, but the conduit for how we are receiving the information. We don’t listen to music anymore…we listen to iTunes.
What I found particularly intriguing is how media seems to be directed towards the “everyday masses” and yet, when we sit down to actually view “everyday,” things aren’t necessarily as we’d see them in reality. Take television for example. As viewers, we often see television as a medium of distraction. In today’s society, nearly every person (at least in the US) owns a television set. But what we watch on that television differs.
How often do we watch a television show, more aptly, a reality show? Reality shows are one of the most common and well watched forms of entertainment on tv. But though we tend to assume that the television is presenting real life, if we stop to think about it, there’s nothing real and everyday about bombshell babes trying to make friends with the geek squad or a single dad that works on a far shipping in 12 lovely ladies from all around the country in hopes of finding true love.
Media stations are trying endlessly to find forms of entertainment that brings real life into the living room. But how ironic, that what we label in the media industry as real life hardly every happens in, well, real life.
Something else that stuck with me from the chapter is just how pervasive certain images are within our society. Certain photographs, portraits, sometimes even brand names become so quickly synced with our everyday happenings. If asked, I bet there is not a certain person in this room that cannot conjure up some image of the 9-11 attacks. Many people can also imagine the famous Obama “hope” poster that prevailed during his campaign. These images have been ingrained into our memories just as much if not more than the actual information itself.
And how quickly we get these images and information as well – the chapter opened with the specific reference to checking your mail on your iPhone! When did we become a culture so driven by brand names? If you asked a student demographic, most would probably get their news not from a local broadcasting network but from The Daily Show or Colbert Report. The media has so branded our interpretation and input of information, ideas and new in the world that we associate things now not necessarily with the information we are getting, but the conduit for how we are receiving the information. We don’t listen to music anymore…we listen to iTunes.
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