BACK TO CYBERPUNK

This is a good introduction to cyberpunk fiction and history. Have a look.

FUTURISTIC FASHIONS FROM THE 30s

A clip that looks at fashion designers from the 1930s predicting the look of "Eve" in the year 2,000. Notice the difference between the female and male futuristic attire.

Is the plethora of new media technology (and new technology in general) responsible for anxiety, depression and a sense of helplessness?

You are welcome to be an author on this blog contact edit.l

Stereotypes: Has technology helped or hindered our understanding of our perceptions of others?

TECHNOLOGY: I WANT TO BE A LUDDITE

Wednesday August 26th. A day from hell. I pray for a real lecture room with good acoustics, a projector that works always, a big screen! Sorry for the ridiculously uninformative class. Thank you Janam for Russell Peters....we must find the one where he talks about indians and chinese working together!

Is the plethora of new media technology (and new technology in general) responsible for anxiety, depression and a sense of helplessness?

George Bush and Shoe incident: the story that wasn't told. What else do we not see?

Stereotypes: Has technology helped or hindered our understanding of our perceptions of others?

I guess we talked about: research projects - PLEASE TXT, EMAIL, CALL on monday or tuesday to talk if you haven't already!!

JOIN if you wish: I will be meeting James Brown and Tom Ryan (in class virtually) at 11am on mondays for hour long discussions for anyone who wants to join...place to be arranged.

Wednesday August 19th

Today we discussed semiotics/linguistics as it relates to film studies exploring paradigmatic and syntagmatic structures specifically related to time-based media. Film is not a language in the same sense that French is a language in that the signifier and signified have a more direct link. The word 'chien' is made up of arbitrary signifiers just as the word 'dog' is in the English language. However a real dog in a film is no doubt, a dog. (You might doubt, I suppose, if he is convincingly disguised as a cat.) Signifier/signified are almost one in the same. We learned that in India there is no good (as in positive) word for dog. Life's a bitch.

We diverged into culturally derived codes of manners, gestures, symbols, etc. i.e. the 'thumbs up' gesture, the 'nodding' or 'shaking head' sign, the 'standing chop sticks' to name a few, and their varied meanings in differing countries.

Remember: Your journal will be retrieved for grading next week!
Read your hand out on writing about film, consider project and start researching.
Make an appointment for individual meetings on film analysis paper.

If you think of anything I missed let me know!

Cheers, L

Wednesday August 12

Today we talked about semiotics, a bit of memetics, cyberpunk fiction and film, science fiction genre, images of the future, evolution, Frankenstein, Metropolis, Anime: Lain, Gundam, Neo-Evangelion, etc.  

To do:  Read Blue Velvet film analysis (O'Shaunessy Media & Society)

      Look on resources folder for Film Form: An Introduction

      Journal: Interesting things you might want to research for a paper

Optional:  What kind of giant group project...video, campaign, internet meme, ... could we    do as a class?

 

   Design a Gang Patch (for a nice gang)

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Talks Rodney Brooks says robots will invade our lives

An interesting talk and discussion.

http://www.ted.com/talks/rodney_brooks_on_robots.html

The Sixth Sense

Pattie Maes demos the Sixth Sense | Video on TED.com

• This demo -- from Pattie Maes' lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry -- was the buzz of TED. It's a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environm...
• http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html

Star Trek Meets Monty Python

A followup to How William Shatner Saved the World and a nice example of pop culture appropriation, contextual displacement and intertextuality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVjkTEIoJc