February
2011
1
Media years ago was nothing like what it has become now it consisted more of people of people waiting around a radio set looking at the radio times waiting for their chosen show to start or maybe lining up at the nearest cinema which there weren’t many off waiting for a movie. In those days the importance of time was significant. Media consumers of the time would have to shape their lives around the media as the media played a very dominant role being dictated by the large institutions leaving the public with no choice of how they were able in receiving this media.
David Gauntlett referred to this era as ‘the sit back and be told’ culture. Being a producer in those days distributing media meant possessing expensive recording equipment and working in big media cooperation’s. Most people didn’t have these privileges therefore leaving them to consume the sources of media available or dreaming of one day producing.
Media has come a long way to what it was in the 1900’s. These days we can use small devices such as a mobile to capture an image or record a short scene, where we can use distributing sites such as youtube watched my millions of people. Uploaded videos or create youtube channels allowing the consumers to access this grass root media from simply home inabaling the amateur producers to gain wider audiences.
Gauntlet compares traditional media before as the ‘media being Gods distributing to the little people, it was like media was on a high both in terms of how and when you could get it and also in its general tone and attitude’
Media platforms available then such as print or broadcast would have there messages In one way down to us being the only available news. However since the word wide web was introduced by Tim Berners-lee in the 21st century websites such as youtube, myspace and Wikipedia allows all content to be produced by the users to other diverse users around the world. Web 2.0 plays a large part in all off, Gauntlett gives a simple example of the difference in web 1.0 and web 2.0 he describes web 1.0 as ‘people creating there own seperate gardens separated from each other, whereas web 2.0 is everyone contributing to an allotment that we all make together’
Gauntlet also speaks on the way the understanding of politics is changing through media. The representation of politics we would see in traditional media is only what would be broadcasted on the news or through newspaper. However with web 2.0 an application facilitating interactive systematic bias. We are able to use websites such as YouTube to express our own political views and outlooks to millions of consumers and other ‘prosumers’ This brings me on to my reference/example of frankenbush by mvs production displays a dark message of an individual’s views on George bush’s time of power. The stop motion shows George bush’s face stuck on a giant baby dolls face representing the producers view on the leaders maturity and amount of sense. The bush doll is then seen eating babies and releasing soldiers through his rear, sends across a strong political message of American citizens joining the army being stripped of their child hood life into those clones or puppet soldiers controlled all by this one man Web 2.0 with reference to YouTube allows users to post such political messages and interact; collaborating with each other by the option to post comments or upload similar videos or using web 2.0 to its fullest by distributing such grass root amateur productions on to other social networking sites such as face book gaining more viewers. Distributing sites such as YouTube enable users to upload, interact, exchange and remix their own or others videos creating a mass social media drawing more competition for the larger media institutions.
This then bring us on to Henry Jenkins theory of media convergence. Henry Jenkins states we are in a moment of transition. Transition meaning the old media is being over powered by a new media born. He uses the term ‘a spec tutorial culture is giving way to a participutorial culture’ meaning the sit back and be told culture who depended only on the media available are now becoming participants in making the media themselves enabling them to take control. Jenkins also talks of the public taking media without the permission of copy right owners and ‘innovating, experimenting, re-contextualising and responding’ in new ways. That is what’s known as convergence culture accessing all media platforms to put forward a message of some sort. In the era where only old media was present and in control of large media cooperation’s shaping the media that we would consume, Jenkins now shows how media has converged to be ‘shaped as much in the teenagers bedrooms as it is in the bio com board room’ He gives the example of new media now being able to develop the technology to access government produces data and distributing political messages. Such s human rights activists using torturing images taking place in prisons and the army to draw attention to the large issue of torturing and abuse that still takes place today. Mvs productions producer of Franken bush is doing something very similar here. If you continue to watch the short film you notice that when this soldiers developing in 100’s they are shown fighting or preparing for fight in the battle field. However you soon see these soldiers slowly disappearing silently with no recognition in to the sand. To me it seems mvs was showing how soldiers are being washed away with no body giving them any real recognition for their hard work risking their lives at the front. Instead these soldiers are melting into the ground making way for more clone soldiers who have been brain washed and spat out all at George Bush’s expense. After the soldier’s disappear into the soil, the stop motion cuts scene to a gas station where an all American woman with her perfect family is waiting while getting petrol in to her perfect 4 seated car. The cunning twist of the production which makes it more than just an amateur production is the way mvs uses the blood from the soldiers at the battlefield being drained out by a long pipe which is now feeding petrol to this woman’s car who has no idea of the story that petrol she’s driving on carries. Laurence lessig’s theory is on ‘free culture’
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