Out of Sight: Beyond Watching Movies

This past weekend, I saw Disney's A Christmas Carol in theaters. But "seeing" doesn't seem like the right word for it. No, I'd say I experienced A Christmas Carol.

I saw the movie in IMAX 3D and it was AWESOME. The amount of detail in the picture was phenomenanal--I could see little white hairs on Scrooge's nose and every single pore, even eyelashes!

But the coolest thing by far was the 3D experience. It actually looked like it was snowing in the theater. There were even a few moments when I flinched because I thought something from the movie would hit me! What's more,sometimes I had to turn my head away because I felt like the characters were in my face--they felt too close!

The fact that we have technology that can create those reactions from the audience is amazing--and we know it. Yes, it is true that Disney's A Christmas Carol is not the first movie to use 3D.





In fact, 3D is a trend that we see in most computer-animated films today. I'd make the claim that 3D isn't really innovotive anymore, but rather a standard.





It seems like every CGI movie today is made with the option of 3D viewing in theaters. A whole string of movies have come out recently, all selling the idea of 3D--even during the Superbowl last year.





In my opinion, some of these movies are made simply to capitalize on the 3D craze. What that says about the movie-going experience is this: movies aren't about watching anymore. We don't necessarily care about the once-driving elements of film. That is, we'll see movies with thin plotlines simply because the graphics are fantastic. It's almost as if movies are more about visual stimulants than anything else. Like art museums, we go to look at the craft of the work, and aren't necessarily concerned with why the art was created and for what purpose.




Now, I know that does not include everyone. There are plenty of people who aren't bought so easily by 3D taglines. However, there are enough to keep fueling this fad fire, as you can see by the movie posters and trailers included in this entry.





To go back to one of my earlier entries, America is an image culture. What is aestically pleasing is popular. 3D proves just that. I think it is very interesting that movies are somewhat interactive now because we experience them rather than simply watching them. 3D has changed the face of movie viewing and whether that is for the better or the worse, you'll have to decide yourself.

Planet 51 poster: http://lodim.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/planet51-poster.jpg
Monsters vs. Aliens poster: http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/02/03/monsters-vs-aliens-poster.jpg
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs poster: http://newarklibrary.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/cloudy_with_a_chance_of_meatballs.jpg

Not So Fast

In class today, we watched Frontline’s “Growing Up Online.” This documentary sparked a lively discussion on print media verses electronic media. Many students preached their enjoyment of and appreciation for print media, particularly books, and I was one of them. I love being able to hold a story in my hand, to take a book with me wherever I go. Someone said that there is just something very special about the feel of the binding and the smell of the pages of a book that can’t be replaced. While I agree with this statement, that last word didn’t sit well with me. I don’t feel like electronic books are meant to replace print books, but rather imitate them or simply work as a different means for perception and representation of the same story. Going back to the idea of oral tradition, stories weren’t written down to replace oral tradition, but rather the goal was to preserve the stories. My point is, no matter what and how (print, oral, electronic) the words are communicated, what matters is the story.

Also, I raised the question of why texts are so important to us. While this started as a rhetorical question, the answers students gave were interesting. For the most part, people said that texts allow critical thinking and cognitive development to occur. On this note, I think that movies also do in fact invite critical thinking, as our class discussion on the documentary illustrates. I don’t think it is fair to blame an individual medium for America’s general lack of focus today, but rather those media users. We have the choice to either read Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, whether online or in print, or to use Sparknotes. The media is just there. It only becomes effective when we make decisions about how to use it.

Back to my question of why texts. If the answer is critical thinking and cognitive development opportunities, then my next question is why is critical thinking important? Perhaps the most obvious answer is critical thinking is an important skill for college and jobs. Fair enough. But then, why are college and jobs important? Money! Why is money important? Success! Why is success important? I think you see where I’m going with this: it all starts with social norms. That is, if we boil it all down, the reason texts are important to us is because of our society’s values. That’s it. If we valued computers more, as the new generation seems to, then Sparknotes would be important to us. Our desire to cling to print sources highlights the fact that our society is going through a transition. It is natural to be anxious about change. That said, it is important to keep an open mind about changes, like new media. We can like our books and stick with them. All I’m saying is that perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to judge because a hundred years from now, people may be clinging to nostalgic ideas of Facebook.

America is an Image Culture

As I write, numerous Americans are attending film screenings at cinemas. Countless others are watching television. It is not an unreasonable claim that America is an image culture. We tend to rely heavily on visual stimulants for information and entertainment. The media use movies tend to serve is diversion. Consider the Depression. Movie sales boomed. An increase in movie sales is a trend that follows difficult economic times. During economic troubles, Americans crave the promises of escape that movies offer. That is, movies are a way for us to escape from the troubles of the real world (diversion).

It is also interesting to note that many movies are based on novels. Popular novels such as Twilight and The Lovely Bones have been made into movies, as are classic novels, like Pride and Prejudice and To Kill a Mockingbird. Interestingly, three out of the five Oscar nominations for Best Picture last year were novel adaptations. Why is it that so many movies are derived from novels? I can think of a few reasons. One, it is easy. Storylines are already made out and movie producers and creators can rely on fans of the adapted novel to pay to see the movie. Also, movies are perhaps more accessible to a wider range of people. While some people may not be able to get through novels like Great Expectations, they can watch the film version and get a pretty good idea of what the book is about.

Americans also love the small screen. Most American homes own AT LEAST one television. We spend a good part of our day (for some, up to eight hours!) watching television. We watch it to relax after a hard day at school or work. We watch it because we are invested in certain shows. We watch it out of habit. Television is like another family member to most of us. What's more, some of us just might go crazy without it...


Indeed, we have art museums, we have movie theaters, we have televisions, and we even have illustrations in books. I think it is pretty safe to say, we Americans love our visuals.

Facebook: Love It or Leave It?

I found the article, “Explaining Why Young Adults Use MySpace and Facebook Through Uses and Gratification Theory” by Urista, Dong, and Day,* to be really interesting. The researchers explored social networking sites, or SNS, and why users use them. Basically, they concluded that SNS allow users to satisfy needs and wants in numerous ways. The five most popular uses of SNS that the researches learned from college-student focus groups are as follows: efficient communication, convenient communication, curiosity about others, popularity, and relationship formation and reinforcement (pg. 221).

As a user of the social networking site, Facebook, I agreed with all of these uses. Facebook is a quick and easy way to maintain old and form new relationships. I use it to keep in contact with old friends. I appreciate the informal attitude Facebook promotes when maintaining these relationships because it allows me to stay in touch, without verbal or face-to-face interaction. I can be involved with people’s lives without ever actually seeing them, which is nice for people who are friends, but not great friends. Facebook helps me avoid awkward social situations. To be sure, we are relying on Facebook more and more, for learning about others, as well as staying in contact with friends.

http://www.mildlyhotpeppers.com/comics/wp-content/uploads//2008/05/facebook.png


This article made me wonder, however, if SNS really are as great as we make them out to be. It is true that they make communication easy, but perhaps they also make communication weak. We are losing our public speaking skills, as well as proper conversation etiquette because we do not have to practice these skills anymore. We can sit and take a good deal of time to ponder what we would like to say, as opposed to the quick responses required of real, face-to-face conversations. That is, we become over-involved in the virtual world and begin to avoid the real world. I feel like we, as a Facebook nation, are losing the art of verbal communication. If this is indeed true, then many of us college students are in trouble. Employers still expect good verbal skills and we may endanger our chances of getting jobs if we rely too heavily on SNS.




http://www.fallingfifth.com/files/comics/facebook_breakup.png


Right now, Facebook and other SNS are a necessity for me as a college student. I need to network with others that share similar majors and future career goals in order to be successful. What's more, SNS allow me to manage my time more efficiently. Facebook lets me have a social life, while still managing to get homework done. That said, it is my hope that in a few years I will be able to close my Facebook account and go back to using older media to stay in touch with friends and family, like the telephone or writing letters. At least it is a dream.



*Explaining Why Young Adults Use MySpace and Facebook Through Uses and Gratification Theory, by Urista, Dong, and Day, in Human Communication 12:2 (Summer 2009), pp. 215-229. Retrieved from Communication and Media Complete, on Oct. 25, 2009.

Tracking

In Chapter 12 of Communication Theories, the authors discuss the knowledge-gap hypothesis. Basically, the knowledge-gap hypothesis states that higher socioeconomic groups tend to receive mass media messages faster than lower socioeconomic groups, and therefore there is an increasing gap in knowledge between these two groups (259). This ever-increasing gap is problematic in that the rich (in this case, those both financially and information-rich) get richer and the poor get poorer.
One suggestion of a solution comes from Frankenberger and Sukhdial (258). They propose that audience members be segmented into groups based on race and risk factor, then have messages catered to those specific groups. This method is known more broadly as tracking and we see it all the time in school systems.
From remedial classes to advanced placement classes and gifted classes to mainstream classes, students with varying abilities are segmented into specialized groups. One of the main issues with this practice is that students get stuck on certain “tracks” or ruts that they are often forced to follow throughout their schooling years. Like a real life ditch, it is a struggle to get out of a track after one has been placed. Tracking makes assumptions about kids’ abilities and provides little opportunity for diversity in the academic setting. What’s more, while tracking aims to end the widening of the achievement gap (a result of the knowledge gap), it does little to close it.


Severin, W. J., & Tankard, J. W. (2001). Communication Theories: Origins, Methods and Uses in the Mass Media (5th Edition). New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.

Image retrieved from http://www.coro.org/atf/cf/%7Bf3d20884-27f3-49f1-a026-e8ca36eb0544%7D/ACHEIVEMENT%20GAP.JPG

Why do I need a blog?

Because Suda says so!