Cramming more components onto integrated circuits

ftp://download.intel.com/research/silicon/moorespaper.pdf

This article helps aid my conclusion in the dissertation, interesting concepts and theories made by Gordon E. Moore, specifically about processing speeds doubling every two years and the effect this may have on technologies (the moving image industry in the case of my dissertation).

Why is Movie Theatre Revenue Attendance Declining?

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/07/declining_movie.html

Great link for my dissertation and leading onto the conclusion, a few pointers to why cinema revenue is declining through underlying factors that i have been exploring e.g. home theatres and mass distribution.

Creating your own visual landscapes

http://electroplankton.com/



The game 'Electroplankton' is inspirational towards my exam project concept, the game allows you to create strange visual landscapes via the various audio that the user triggers (by selecting various in-game plankton).

It would be interesting to create some of interactive music sampling piece that creates random visual landscapes as well.

A quick outburst - exam project

Post modern, Pseudo Modernist, NOSTALGIC animations to work with my visuals audio synchronizations idea for exam project - use animations which show tribute to classic music videos, DJ's . A shrine to music and design...

MUSIC -> VISUALS, EXAM PROJECT

Some links to various VJing, DJing, Audio-Visual Syncronisation for my exam project research:

http://www.theestateovcreation.co.uk/ - Great Brighton based moving image artist

- Mr Scruff VJ set, the opening tune you may remember from DJ Scotch Egg's visit and his remix he played to us


TO BE UPDATED

Chat with John Gihooly

Yesterday I had a chat with my tutor John Gihooly, I wanted to clear up a few things in regards to my dissertation which I have included onto this blog for easy access:

• Fredric Jameson - Postmodernismor, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/jameson.htm
• The TV series Madmen contains nostalgic references to traditional moving image, and mimics the style of cinema, heres an example:
  
  
• I need to try and avoid getting involved with small arguments e.g. Charlie Gere's Digital Culture Rant in my dissertation
• THE TITLE NEEDS TO BE CHANGED, DONT FOCUS TOO MUCH ON POST-MODERNISM
• Mention the key period from the 1920's, the transition from small film studios to hollywood studios, for example Buster Keaton.
• Comment more on final section of Leo Enticknap's 'Zoetrope To the Digital', in regards to Moores law (POWER DOUBLING)
• Focus more on mass distribution than narrative and post modernism, this is definately my main focus

STEAL THIS FILM

A link supplied by Alan Toner earlier this year in the 'Greying the Commons' lecture at Transmediale, Berlin.

This link is great research for my study into mass distribution and accessibility to information in the 'digital era', discussed in my dissertation.

Leading onto the conlcusion...DISSERTATION

In the early years of filmmaking, we can see that technology was no way near as advanced as today’s technologies. The ‘Blockbuster’ Films’, or the films which are astonishing and groundbreaking in today’s society are those where filmmakers choose the correct technology to manipulate the moving image most intelligently.
I have lifted this from my dissertation as I felt it was more appropriate for the conlcusion...

Film is like an addictive drug

This post explores an interesting perspective of film and the cinematic experience, relevant to my dissertation and studies into film and film technology.
The following quotes are lifted from Fredric Jameson's 'Signatures of the Visible', one of the contextual pieces used for my dissertation research:

"Movies are a physical experience, and are rememberd as such, stored up in bodily synapses that evade the thinking mind" (Pg 2)

"Film is an addiction that leaves its traces in the body itself" (Pg 2)

Both quotes made me think about how the experience of the cinema and watching films can be related to a druggy looking for their next fix. Craving new knowledge and trying to unravel a films secret (putting the various puzzles of a non-linear post modern film together) causes the body to trigger the Dopamine Hormone. This can be related and backed up by the Steven Johnson book 'Everything Bad is Good For You' where he quotes:

"The neuroscientist Jaak Panskepp calls the dopmaine system the brain's "seeking" circuitry, propelling us to seek out new avenues for reward in our environment. Where our brain wiring is concerned, the craving instinct triggers a desire to explore. The system says, in effect: "Can't find the reward you were promised? Perhaps if you just look a little harder you'll be in luck - it's got to be around here somewhere".

(pg 35 - Steven Johnson - Everything Bad is Good For You)

"You might reasonably object at this point that I have merely demonstrated that video games are the digital equivilent of crack cocaine. Crack also has a powerful hold over the human brain, thanks in part to its manipulations of the dopamine system. But that doesn't make it a good thing. If games have been unwittingly designed to lock into our brain's reward architecture, then what positive value are we getting out of that intoxication?"

(pg 39 - Steven Johnson - EVerything Bad is Good For You).

In a world where films are embedded in computer games and vice versa (e.g. Hitman, King Kong, Lord of the Rings to name a few) I feel inclined to say that film is almost like a gateway drug or partner drug to computer gaming, following a similar perspective to Steven Johnson's theory discussed above.
Steven Johnson discusses that we seek out new information and reward in computer gaming causing the body to trigger the dopamine hormone (as a crack addiction fix does to the body). This in my opinion is not so different to watching a film and trying to unravel its secrets and putting various puzzles together. When we are revealed interesting and surprsing answers in films, the body is rewarded and must therefore realease a simliar hormone to dopamine.

The more I think about this, the more I begin to consider how I could possibly relate the film industry (or games industry) to the drugs industry.
I am aware this is a highly controversial area to discuss, but I felt intrigued to create the following diagram in relation to this study:



This diagram portrays an area that I am willing to discuss in my dissertation, I feel it is an interesting and different perspective, one that could be explored further, potentially for the end of year examination.

ALIZE REMIX

Nice website design and interesting competition that I am currently participating in...

"Digital" has become a trendy buzzword, redolent of the computer - the icon of our age"

"Digital" has become a trendy buzzword, redolent of the computer - the icon of our age. Calling anything digital implies praise and precision , event though the meaning of the term is rarely understood"

Hans Fantel, 'Digital TV: Clear Outlines, Sharp Detail, True Colour', The New York Times, 10 MArch 1983, p.30.

The above quote is relevant to the entire BA Digital Media Course and my dissertation. Does digital really imply praise and precision?

You would assume that with new digital technologies it is easier to be precise due to certain tools available (for example selecting areas of an image is easier due the magnetic lasso tool in Photoshop).

My dissertation looks into various technological improvements over the years in cinema up to the present. It is interesting to see how new digital technologies aid the precision of cinema production, you only have to look at groundbreaking CGI Effects in films like Sin City which prove perfection and precision in cinema.

Comments please..............

“Gentlemen, you have now invented the biggest time-waster of all time. Use it well.”

Baird versus the BBC

“Gentlemen, you have now invented the biggest time-waster of all time. Use it well.” –

Isaac Shoenberg, head of the Marconi-EMI TV development team

___

My reason for litfing this quote is in relation to my dissertation studies, in particular looking at how the cinematic experience (i.e. paying for the big screen, attention to detail) is almost ruined via television and digital TV, also other mass distriubtion and accesible methods add to this cause such as the internet and sites like peekvid or even youtube.

Exam Project Ideas

Today we had a class discussion and shared our ideas for the exam project (intentions deadline 21st April, actual deadline frdiay 30th May).

I have two to three major ideas consisting of:

1) Inspired from the London 2012 logo (image right) and looking at typography, logo design and viral marketing, I feel that one route I am interesting in studying is how any publicity is good publicity.

The 2012 logo has been highly criticised and the fact the near £400,000 has been spent on it has caused even more controversy.

To be fair, when studying the other not so original logo designs (CLICK THIS LINK) I can see why the judges went with this one.

I also found these very intersting articles as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/6718243.stm - BBC ARTICLE

http://www.digitalthread.com/webdesign/promotional_design/london_2012_oly.php - DIGITAL THREAD ARTICLE

http://www.davidairey.com/london-2012-olympic-logo-disaster/ - DAVID AIREY ARTICLE

http://www.wolffolins.com/ - THE DESIGNERS OF THE LONDON 2012 LOGO

http://www.wolffolins.com/pdf/2012_case_study.pdf - WOLF OLINS DESIGN CASE STUDY ON THE 2012 LOGO

http://www.designobserver.com/archives/025852.html - THE LONDON 2012 LOGO ATE MY HAMSTER!?

Wolf Olins are the designers of the London 2012 logo, if you study there website you we see that they have worked on iconic landmarks and projects such as the Tate Modern, Sony Ericsson, Macmillan Cancer Research and more. This company have already branded London, so why not use them for the largest global event to hit London for years - the olympics of course.

My idea for the end of year project would look into various factors involved with "good" or "bad" design, what gives a logo publicity? Any publicity is good publicity, no matter how much people dislike or like a design.

Maybe my task is to create a logo / viral marketing campaign that is simple, effective but open to easy criticisim like the 2012 logo.

2) The second idea I have is based on the Sonic War Games concept seen at Transmediale 08 - Club Transmediale earlier this year in Berlin (image below).

The artist behind this concept is Xavier Van Wersch...

Here is the link to the sonic war games website as well...

The concept is basically an arena where the battle for audibility is raging. It is described on the website as:

"Musical gladiators engage in a contrapuntal combat with an arsenal of electronic weaponry. Sonic Espionage, in-filtration, atonal behaviour and hostile overdubs, its a full spectrum attack..."

Competitors within the game vote for each other whilst strange noises and samples are looped continuously between them. I found it hard to understand this concept at first but eventually saw its potential.

My idea for the end of year exhibtion would be simliar but more simple, maybe incorporating visuals into the battle as well. I would probably practice with a group of VJ's and fellow DJ's to make this work for the exhibition, making it more of a show than a competition. I would also try to ensure more rhythm and opportunity for people to dance, nod their heads or tap their toes is available. This severly lacked at the war games seen at Transmediale, there was no rhythm, rather strange loops and noises which anti-climaxed and never actually burst into a tune or beat.

My task is to create rhythm, create a visual / audio battle and to allow opportunity to bring this into future projects involving DJing and VJing.

____

So theres my two ideas, I need to decide which, what, where and how...