Posted by
Sarah:):)
, Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 7:59 PM, in
In today's lecture we talked about the history of the big screen to the small screen. As technology has developed, filmmakers are given more opportunities within their field. The introduction of narrative feature length film gave the filmmakers the chance to tell stories and exhibit their creative side, rather than just capturing moving images. Television seemed like a hinderance to filmmakers at first before they realised they could make money in this medium as well. They released movies to television as a delayed release and still collected payment for this. With the introduction of portable video cameras and the internet, amateur filmmaking prevailed. Anyone could now record and upload their own videos to the internet. There is a lot of argument as to whether this is positive or negative. On the flip side, anyone could now display artistic talent and we can find some really good films on the internet. Anyone could get their message across, regardless of their money or status. These films are accessible to the general public and some people have been discovered in this way. On the down side, anyone can post anything on the web and there is some really terrible films out there. It is said that this will inhibit the integrity of filmmaking as an art and insults the medium. Since people are digesting all these messages without censorship or filtering, their intelligence is also at stake. I personally think that no matter what the final decision, the internet is here to stay and it is at people's own discretion as to whether they view these videos.Here is a brief timeline of what we talked about in the lecture.
1906- first feature length narrative. Australian film Ned Kelly.
1927- introduction of dialogue. The Jazz Singer
1929- first all colour movie
1933- first drive in theatre
1937- Disney released Snow White. First feature length animated film
1939- TV introduced at New York trade fair
1952- introduction of 3D
1955- movies on TV
1956- first proper VTR
1963- 'percepto' vision, aromarama
1967- Sony introduces VCR and portapack
1970- IMAX debuted
1972- pay TV introduced
1985- first Blockbuster Video store opens
1986- Pixar makes first fully animated film
1995- Toy Story first feature length CGI film
1997- DVD video released.
We also took a look at Troops - an internet video sensation that parodies the popular TV show Cops and Star Wars. We also saw Guy Ritchie's short internet film advertising BMW. These internet films were innovative as we had never seen anything like them before. The internet is a popular medium that many can utilise to show their amateur videos or advertise their product to the masses. The success of youtube and many internet campaigns demonstrates this fact. This is the BMW ad with Madonna, directed by Guy Ritchie.
Posted by
Sarah:):)
, Monday, August 24, 2009 at 4:01 PM, in
So I missed this week's tutorial but my housemate assures me I can do it anyway. Apparentely this is a scavenger hunt without the help of google or wikipedia. I'm hoping we are allowed to use other search engines? Turns out yahoo.com is just as helpful.
1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin? How long did it take to grow?
Joe Jutras from North Scituate, Rhode Island, brought a 1689 pound pumpkin to the Topsfield Fair GPC weigh-off in Topsfield, Ma. on September 29, 2007. His new world record beat the previous world record by 187 pounds. Last year's world record holder was Ron Wallace with a 1502 pound pumpkin at the Rhode Island Weighoff on October 7, 2006. It is not specified how long it took to grow.
A giraffe's tongue is 18 to 20 inches (46 to 50 centimeters) long and blue-black. Some people think the color is to keep the tongue from getting sunburned.
4. How would you define the word 'glycomics'? In your own words, what does it really mean ? What does the term 'seagull manager' refer to?
The study of sugar and carbohydrates in the body. Studies how to use drugs and vaccines. Something like that, I don't really get science. I consulted urbandictionary.com first for a definition of a seagull manager. A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves. Fred never accomplishes anything. All he does is come in here every now and then, complain about deadlines, puts more work on us, then goes back to surfing the intraweb. He's such a seagull manager. Urban Dictionary 2009, USA, viewed 25 August 2009, http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=seagull+manager
5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film? Which of his films Had 'Blondie' in it?
His first film was called Transfer although it only had a running time of 7 minutes so I'm not sure if that counts as feature length. His third film was the only one long enough to be considered feature length at a running time of 65 minutes. It was called Stereo. I consulted IMDB first of all for this, as it is a good site for all movie information. Debra Harry was in a psychological thriller called Videodrome in 1983.
7. Why do phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?
"FOR MANY years, 555 was unassigned as a dialling code in the US and could thus be used to prefix fictional numbers with impunity. Due to expansion, the code has recently been assigned, but scriptwriters and others maintain the use. BT maintain a list of unissued numbers for the use of authors and scriptwriters in this Britain."
10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?
Punk band the Black Assassins.
Well this wasn't as hard as I originally thought it would be. Turns out search engines yahoo and ninemsn are very helpful and in some instances I could do directly to sites I knew would have information like http://www.imdb.com/ and http://www.urbandictionary.com/.
Posted by
Sarah:):)
, Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 4:03 AM, in
So, this week's lecture was on language of the cinema, something I know well from Film and TV in high school and last semester in Intro to Film and Screen Analysis. The lecture was interesting as it relates to what I want to do after uni. Anyway, here is some shots from the Office (best.show.ever) to demonstrate the way filmmakers utilise certain shots to convey story information (as demonstrated in the lecture). I chose the Office because I can relate to the satirical humour and I am drawn to the characters. It is shot in mockumentary style. This means there is only a single camera setup without a studio audience. The characters openly acknowledge the camera and this results in the show looking and feeling very realistic to the audience. The show is set in Scranton Pennsylvania and a lot of the exterior building shots are actually filmed in Scranton.
This mid shot answers the what: It shows Michael waiting at Pam's desk. The shot establishes Pam's work ethic and Michael's immaturity as Pam is on the phone to an important client and Michael is distracting her. Michael is played by Steve Carrell and Pam by Jenna Fischer. In the first seasons, these scenes were shot in an actual office but as time went on, they moved to a sound stage.
The close up answers the who: This shot shows Michael in detail and establishes character. This shot establishes character by monitoring Michael's characteristics and mannerisms during his monologue. These scenes give the audience an understanding of the kind of boss Michael is. These scenes were often shot in the actual town of Scranton.
The long shot answers the where: Also known as the establishing shot, this shot shows the audience where the action is taking place i.e Michael and Dwight are outside the office on a street. This location is supposed to indicate shady surroundings as the two characters are planning something they shouldn't be. Dwight is played by Rainn Wilson. Some outdoor shots are still set in Scranton but are actually filmed in Los Angeles.
The wide shot or medium shot can answer the when. This medium shot of Jim holding the clock is an indication of time. This is important in establishing the joke they are playing on Michael. It helps the audience to understand that the characters are changing the time while Michael is asleep at his desk so they can go home early. Jim is played by John Krasinski. Sorry it's blurry, I got the picture off youtube.
The Extreme Close Up answers the why: it reveals more about the characters and their personalities. This ECU shows photos of Michael, Pam and Ryan when they were a part of Michael Scott Paper Company. This shot indicates the relationship they developed during this period and the fun times they had. Ryan is played by BJ Novack, who also produces the show.
The medium close up can explain an event and answer the how: it shows Jim and Creed playing a game of chess and shows how it is playing out. This shot is important in telling the audience that these two characters are trying to stay out of the office politics by playing a game of chess. This shot was likely to be filmed in a sound stage.
Posted by
Sarah:):)
, Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 4:46 AM, in
As I was unaware that I had to post two blogs a week, one for the tute and one for the lec, this is a little bit late but here it goes. Week 2's lecture was about a history of computing and the internet. The lecture enlightened us to how computers were created. This was interesting, as they play such a huge part in society nowadays and I personally, was not really aware of its origins. I think the part of the lecture that caught my attention the most was the rate of which computer technology grows. Moore's law states that the capacity of microchips double every year. Living with someone who studies Information Technology, I am constantly plagued with new facts about computer intelligence and how robots are inevitably going to take over the world. It's an interesting concept yes, but one that never really concerned me as I didn't see much evidence to suggest this. Since the acceleration of computer technology outlined in the lecture was so fascinating, I decided to do some further research and see if there was any credibility to the theory of a robot driven future.I watched Nextworld Future Intelligence from the Discovery Channel which documents the intelligence of computers and their rate of growth. They estimate that by 2050, the computer will have the processing power of 9 billion brains and will function as humans. Here is a screenshot from the documentary.
The documentary explores how computers will reach human level intelligence in 20-30 years and how they should be treated with the same courtesy as other carbon based intelligence. Especially when they start to look more and more human, as Professor Hiroshi Ishoguro from Osaka University demonstrates with his robot twin that even mimics his mannerisms. The documentary goes on to explore many other types of technology that, to be honest, are quite frightening. It has definitely convinced me of the possibility that robots may take over the world.
Posted by
Sarah:):)
, Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 7:19 PM, in
I have to find definitions for ECU, WS and MS in relation to the language of the screen. Turns out typing ECU straight into Google isn't much of a help, with results turning up the Edith Cowan University in Western Australia (Edith Cowan University Australia, 2009, Joondalup, Western Australia,viewed 12 August 2009 <http://www.ecu.edu.au/>)
Everyone's Credit Union Australia (ECU Australia, 2009, Cairns, Queensland, viewed 12 August 2
009 )
East Carolina University (East Carolina University, 2009, Greenville, NC, viewed 12 August 2009, )
In the end I typed in language of the screen ecu, ws, ms and up came another student's blog with the answer. I should have know this being a film student but oh well. ECU
stands for extreme close up, WS stands for wide shot and MS stands for mid shot. I have learnt it is easier to type in the whole term into the search e
ngine to generate results.
Extreme Close Up: Shows the subject in extreme detail.
Wide Shot: The subject takes up the whole frame of the subject
Mid Shot: Shows some part of the subject in detail whilst giving an impression of the whole subject
Here is some video to feast your eyes on :) Sarah in thermal mode! Watch out!
And now for a brief history of computing and an internet time line:
History of Computing:
1700's- Babbage creates the Analytical Engine: a massive steam-powered mechanical computer.
1800's- Ada Byron conceived a machine that would be able to play music, produce graphics and be used for everyday purposes. She also conceived the first computer program.
1900's- Alan Turing devised the first working computer to break German enigma codes.
1950's- Computers were commercially produced by IBM.
1965- Gordom Moore propounded Moore's law.
1970's- At Xerox Parc, concepts such as the mouse, graphical interfaces and pull down menus made the personal computer accessible to the everyday individual.
1975- The first personal computer is released.
1978- Apple 2 is released
1979- Apple buys a "killer" application that sees the PC become used for business purposes. Sales went through the roof
1980's- IBM produces a computer by buying shelf products from other companies and then putting them together to manufacture a product.
1980's- Microsoft finds and buys a operating system. In four months IBM has it up and running.
1980's onwards - Microsoft produces Windows. Steve Jobs quits apple
1991- GNU/Linux is launched on the internet as a free operating system.
History of the Internet:
Source: WebMediaBrands 2009, Brief timeline of the internet, USA, viewed 26 August 2009, <http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/timeline.asp>
1958
. President Eisenhower requests funds to create ARPA. Approved as a line item in Air Force appropriations bill.
1961
. Len Kleinrock, Professor of Computer Science at UCLA, writes first paper on packet switching, "Information Flow in Large Communications Nets." Paper published in RLE Quarterly Progress Report.
1962
•J.C.R. Licklider & W. Clark write first paper on Internet Concept, "On-Line Man Computer Communications." • Len Kleinrock writes Communication Nets, which describes design for packet switching network; used for ARPAnet
1964
. Paul Baran writes, "On Distributed Communications Networks," first paper on using message blocks to send info across a decentralized networktopology(Nodes and Links)
Oct. 1965
. First Network Experiment: Directed by Larry Roberts at MIT Lincoln Lab, two computers talked to each other using packet-switching technology.
Dec. 1966
. ARPA project begins. Larry Roberts is chief scientist.
Dec. 1968
. ARPANet contract given to Bolt, Beranek & Newman (BBN) in Cambridge, Mass.
Sept. 1, 1969
. First ARPANet node installed at UCLA Network Measurement Center. Kleinrock hooked up the Interface Message Processor to a Sigma 7 Computer.
Oct. 1, 1969
. Second node installed at Stanford Research Institute; connected to a SDS 940 computer. The first ARPANet message sent: "lo." Trying to spell log-in, but the system crashed!
Nov. 1, 1969
. Third node installed at University of California, Santa Barbara. Connected to an IBM 360/75.
Dec. 1, 1969
. Fourth node installed at University of Utah. Connected to a DEC PDP-10.
March 1970
. Fifth node installed at BBN, across the country in Cambridge, Mass.
July 1970
. Alohanet, first packet radio network, operational at University of Hawaii.
March 1972
. First basic e-mail programs written by Ray Tomlinson at BBN for ARPANET: SNDMSG and READMAIL. "@" sign chosen for its "at" meaning.
March 1973
. First ARPANET international connections to University College of London (England) and NORSAR (Norway).
1974
. Intelreleases the 8080 processor. • Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn publish "A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection," which details the design of TCP.
1976
. Apple Computer founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. • Queen Elizabeth II sends out an e-mail. . Vint Cerf joins ARPA as program manager.
"Surfing the Internet" is coined by Jean Armour Polly.
1993
. Mosaic Web browser developed by Marc Andreesen at University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. . InterNICcreated. • Web grows by 341,000 percent in a year.
April 1994
.Netscape Communications founded. • Jeff Bezos writes the business plan for Amazon.com. . Java's first public demonstration.
Dec. 1994
Microsoft licenses technology from Spyglass to create Web browser for Windows 95.
. Domain name tv.com sold to CNET for $15,000. Browser wars begin. Netscape and Microsoft two biggest players.
1997
. business.com sold for $150,000.
January 1998
. Microsoft reaches a partial settlement with the Justice Department that allows personal computer makers to remove or hide its Internet software on new versions of Windows 95. . Netscape announces plans to give its browser away for free.
1998
. US Depart of Commerce outlines proposal to privatize DNS. ICANN created by Jon Postel to oversee privatization. Jon Postel dies.
1999
•AOL buys Netscape; Andreesen steps down as full-time employee. • Browsers wars declared over; Netscape and Microsoft share almost 100% of browser market. • Microsoft declared a monopoly by US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. •Shawn Fanning creates Napster, opening the possibilities of peer-to-peer file sharing and igniting a copyright war in the music industry.
2000
. Fixed wireless, high-speed Internet technology is now seen as a viable alternative to copper and fiber optic lines placed in the ground. . The Dot-Com Bubble bursts. A majority of the dot-coms ceased trading after burning through their venture capital, often without ever making a net profit.
January 10, 2000
• AOL Merges with Time-Warner. AOL shareholders take 55% stake in newly formed company.
February 2000
. A large-scale denial of service attack is launched against some major Web sites like Yahoo! and eBay, alerting Web sites to the need for tighter security measures. . 10,000,000 domain names have been registered.
September 2000
. There are 20,000,000 websites on the Internet, numbers doubling since February 2000.
July 2001
. A federal judge rules that Napster must remain offline until it can prevent copyrighted material from being shared by its users. . The Code Red worm and Sircam virus infiltrate thousands of web servers and email accounts, respectively, causing a spike in Internet bandwidth usage and security breaches.
November 2001
. The European Council adopts the first treaty addressing criminal offenses committed over the Internet. . First uncompressed real-time gigabit HDTV transmission across a wide-area IP network takes place on Internet2.
January 2002
. .name begins resolving
January 2003
. The SQL Slammer worm causes one of the largest and fastest spreading DDoS attacks ever, taking only 10 minutes to spread worldwide. . The Internet celebrates its 'unofficial' 20th birthday.
September 2003
. The RIAA sues 261 individuals for allegedly distributing copyright music files over peer-to-peer networks
December 2003
. The Research project "How much information 2003" finds that Instant messaging generates five billion messages a day (750GB), or 274 Terabytes a year and that e-mail generates about 400,000 terabytes of new information each year worldwide.
2005
. YouTube.com launches
2006
. There are an estimated 92 million Web sites online
May 2006
. A massive DDOS assault on Blue Security, an anti-spam company, is redirected by Blue Security staff to their Movable Type-hosted blog. The result is that the DDOS instead knocks out all access to over 1.8 million active blogs.
August 2006
. AOL announces that they will give for free virtually every service for which it charged a monthly fee, with income coming instead from advertising.
October 2006
. There are an estimated 92 million Web sites online (some stats say over 100 million) . Google Inc. acquires YouTube for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction.
January 2007
. Microsoft launches its various consumer versions of Microsoft Vista.
February 2007
. Apple surpasses one billion iTunes downloads.
March 2007
. 1.114 billion people use the Internet according to Internet World Stats.
April 2007
. Search engine giant Google surpasses Microsoft as "the most valuable global brand," and also is the most visited Web site.
Posted by
Sarah:):)
, Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 7:20 PM, in
Communication convergence refers to combining different technologies and services into a single device. It reduces the amount of resources we need and simplifies the way we communicate. Voice over IP gives a better understanding of this concept by talking about convergence in communications in regards to their company.
"By having a common underlying mechanism and infrastructure, many communications technologies, like Internet access, voice, video and data communication, can be combined and be provided through a single device and over the same network – the convergence of communications." (VoIP 2009)
The iPhone is a good example of convergence in communications as it can be used as a phone, a camera a calculator , text messaging , a music player, the weather plus more(Images taken from original iPhone picture. These are the edited version of the original picture.)
d stores your preferences, for example turning the lights off when you leave the house, eliminating the need for you to ever lift your finger to do anything for yourself ever again.
Have you ever looked at your umbrella and thought "If only my umbrella could save my life when I jump out of a plane. If only my umbrella werea little more...extreme?" Well wish no longer my friend, introducing the new extreme SENZ umbrella! At only $49.95 you could be the envy of your friends today! To see the SENZ umbrella in skydiving action, click here.
As one youtube user says: "Thanks to SENZ umbrellas I can now skydive on rainy days. It changed my life."More umbrella technology: The Ambient Weather Forecasting Umbrella. For the safer, faint hearted umbrella enthusiast, this umbrella could be for you. And you'll never be caught out again, with the amazing weather forecasting technology... unless you forget to bring your umbrella everywhere you go, which lets face it, is unfathomable.
Nothing screams sophistication like the WiFi finder T-shirt. You'll pull all the girls with your resourcefulness and quick thinking. Never will you be uninformed of the networks you could be using again. What more could you possibly want from a T-shirt? The answer: nothing. But if you wash it you could possibly electrocute yourself.
Here is another YouTube Video to show that I have embedded two. This is the video that has no relevance to communication convergence. Instead, cats.
This is a picture of the umbrella but it's flipped horizontally. The two edited pictures are this one and the one of the iPhone where I've taken the icons.
This picture is the umbrella with the colours inverted.
Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Morbi dapibus dolor sit amet metus suscipit iaculis. Quisque at nulla eu elit adipiscing tempor.
Contact any celebrity 2009, Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, viewed 25 August 2009, 
Urban Dictionary 2009, USA, viewed 25 August 2009, 
The documentary explores how computers will reach human level intelligence in 20-30 years and how they should be treated with the same courtesy as other carbon based intelligence. Especially when they start to look more and more human, as Professor Hiroshi Ishoguro from Osaka University demonstrates with his robot twin that even mimics his mannerisms.
The documentary goes on to explore many other types of technology that, to be honest, are quite frightening. It has definitely convinced me of the possibility that robots may take over the world.
a calculator 
, text mes
,
plus more
