Film Theory - Auteur

According to film critics the auteur film theory defines a director who has complete creative control over the film he is directing and that the film is realizing his personal creative vision, that a director can use the commercial apparatus of film-making in the same way that a writer uses a pen or a painter uses paint and a paintbrush. It is a medium for the personal artistic expression of the directorThe word auteur comes from the French word for 'author', suggesting that the director is the author of the film.

It was drawn from the idea in a French magazine, Cahiers du cinema, founded by Andre Bazin.

Many found the auteur theory to be disagreeably, insisting that filmwork was a collaborative effort and that if the role of auteur were to diminish or even make redundant the role of the script writer or cinematographer, then that collaborative effort was also no longer there. Alfred Hitchcock discussed the auteur theory.

Alfred Hitchcock is often considered an auteur director because of his pioneer role in film and creative visions he realized, described in the video as 'the last word' in the direction of the films he makes.

Hitchcock’s story telling techniques were famous for their intelligent plots, smart dialogue, and the themes of mystery and murder. He has been credited with revolutionizing the thriller genre. The reason for his success, however, was not the genre that he was working in, but rather the skill which he exhibited in the film-making. One of Hitchcock’s best-known screen moments is the terrifying shower scene in Psycho. This shot features 70 distinct shots in less than 1 minute. This combined sequence of shots makes it difficult to establish the mise en scene from a montage of shots. He also pioneered a shot known as the Dolly Zoom / Vertigo Shot, also known as the Hitchcock Zoom, that works by pulling the camera back whilst zooming in, changing the size of the background of the characters in the shot whilst our perspective of the characters remain the same size. This shot is from a French film called La Haine.

Amnesia; the Dark Descent Film Trailer

For the context of practice practical piece of work I decided to take a video game I have an interest in, Amnesia, the Dark Descent, and make a film trailer out of it. I would contextualize what I found in my essay regarding the importance of typography and how the right typography is needed to properly associate what is read with the reasons it is read for. I also made note of the importance of sound, and gathered many, many sound clips, music files, and experimented with a lot of them before finally creating this version, without music. I believe this minimalistic approach to horror films more accurately reflects the psychological horror factor in Amnesia and is a better representation of a horror film teaser trailer.

Here is the first version, which shows standardized font which doesn't have the same impact, and music, which whilst I felt worked quite well, seemed to stutter and thought it was better off without it, as it did not create the right atmosphere I was looking for.

Social Communication and Media

The way in which we communicate and talk is always shifting and ever changing. We now have access to on demand information wherever we are from devices such as our phones or even our mp3 players, which have evolved themselves to become adaptable for social communication. We are able to automatically download podcasts broadcast from anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds and keep up to date with whatever subject we follow. We are able to put sources of information on a list so that when new information is published, it is sent directly to us via email, or text, and it can update our social networking websites with notifications and alerts. Technology has evolved so much that we can use the same device to set alarms in the morning, remind us to do something at a certain time via calendar, listen to music or watch videos and music, text and share these videos with music with anyone we like via the internet, download more videos and music and even enjoy video game entertainment on multiple platforms and consoles. We can get such information on demand to such an extent that it is now the demand of the consumer to have it more quickly and more easily, and marketers must cater to this or risk being outdone by their competitors.

This is an advanced shift between the technology available to us 20 years ago and it primarily falls to the inception of the internet, which vastly expanded our social output capabilities greatly, and it is said we are now part of the most exciting time in communications history that has ever been known. Businesses, individual people, non-profit groups such as charities, fan clubs and suppliers and retailers alike, everyone in the modern world is familiar with the internet and almost everyone we know has a Facebook account, or at the very least will know what it is; and just as popular are websites such as Google.

These websites are so renowned and so much a part of our vocabulary and every day lives that they are a part of our culture and society, more and more businesses are using Facebook and branching out to near limitless audiences, and investing more and more heavily in their own websites as they come to value the importance of a well organized website. The internet has even given birth to some of the greatest ideas of our time; Facebook and Google to name but two, but online business retailers such as eBay, Amazon and YouTube have all become extremely useful ways for businesses to advertise, generate revenue and get connected with their audiences.

Consumers are becoming more aware and active, they will no longer sit passively by and accept what they are told; people are now free to access their own information and become an active part of deciding how they live their lives, rather than having producers and marketers dictate what they should wear and what they should buy, what to think and what to like. These active audiences engage and interact with the media. News broadcasters acknowledge this and give readers and watchers alike the chance to cast their votes and their opinions in online polls, and can do the same thing for their favourite TV shows.

Most notably the internet gave birth to online gameplay some years after it's conception and the market value of the online gaming industry no doubt extends into billions of dollars. The modern world almost revolves around this new technology and the sudden collapse of this one asset to our lives would break an entire social system.

Some Lecture Notes

Some of my lecture notes accompanied by various doodles. I make my information in bullet points and unless the information is factual and straightfoward, I leave it at that and do not elaborate so I can work on a later self interpretation at a later date, rather than detail down opinions and details which I do not share an opinion of and risk missing out on more important information revealed during the seminar or lecture where I might otherwise be taking notes.

The History of Advertising

Advertising has evolved since the 1950's with the changes affecting the various demographics and psychographics affecting all ages, genders and ethnic groups and minorities. The story used to be the same in every household, the man would go out to work, the mother would look after the kids and the house, and little boys and girls would grow up to do exactly what their parents did. In modern times this would be seen as stereotypical and it is because these stereotypes emerges from the reality of the 1950's home life setting, but they would be frowned on today because of advances in equality between men and women.

Adverts used direct mode of address to target exactly who they wanted, and whereas adverts today are often more subtle and ambiguous than they were in the 1950's, they still target specific genders. Adverts back in the 50's did this explicitly. Domestic products were aimed at women who took care of the house; cleaning products, food and other products of domestic nature were all targeted at the mother.

It was generally accepted that women would grow up to look after the house and children after getting married, and the methods used to advertise to them back then would not be accepted today. When reflecting back on these adverts, they are somewhat sexist, as they target women through the male gaze and female role - how a woman should behave and what her husband should think of her.

Adverts worked almost solely by persuasion, persuading men and women into purchasing their products. In modern times, adverts could be based on social pressure, the desire to get a product in order to be accepted by their peers or by improving their social standing by purchasing it. People are targeted saying that good things would happen to them if they did get it. These things did not happen in the adverts of the 1950's

High Culture vs Low Culture

High Culture is produced on a mass scale with industrial techniques and is markted to profit to a mass of public consumers, rather than for the sake of art or expression. This definition details two criteria; the motives behind the production and the target audience. But using motive as something to define something else with is a problem in itself. In modern times, as unfortunate as it is, few things are ever produced unless there is a profit to be made from it, and if they are to be produced in the first place they are to be reproduced on a mass scale. High culture music of classical composers are made only to ensure that the cost of a successful production is outweighed by the profits, and if it is not the show is cancelled. Production of CDs will stop if demand is too low.

Shakespeare and Mozart did not produce their work for free, so is it arguable to say that they are mass media? Speculation is not enough to make an feasible decision. The fact that profit is generated does not prove that profit is the driving force being production. Many examples of that which is considered to be high culture today have existed for hundreds of years. Often, the reason these things have lasted so long is that their producers and consumers have had the wealth and influence required to preserve the. This is the reason that the works of people such as Tchaikovsky have survived to this day where the many efforts of the poor from the same era, such as folk music, are long forgotten. As these forms of entertainment have survived, so has their reputation for being high culture.

One would, however, not have to look far to find exceptions for this otherwise straightforward rule. But even if there were none, it is only a reason for the survival of certain forms of art and culture; it does not have to draw a line between high culture and popular media. Finding the origins of the categories would be useful n this endeavour. High culture has been described as a deliberately created, aggressive movement of the social elite. Widespread understanding of culture amongst the social elite became as hierarchical as it did legitimate, as it was distinct from the ideologies of commercialism.

In more modern times, Andy Warhol is a more modern idol of high culture. He rocked the art world by suggesting that celebrities are products as much as anything else, yet the manner in which they were produced placed his work under the name of mass media.

Italian Cinema

Primary attributes of Italian cinema include the consideration of three things:

Audiences, Historical / Social Context, Economics

Prima Visione, Second Visione, Terza Visione. The idea was the audience could go to the cinema ever night, and the film industry needed to keep up with the demand for new films. Terza Visione was like a television audience. They would eat and drink and even talk and discuss things during the film, as it was recognized as a social space.

They featured exploitational / gross out movies, and were in many ways similar to the American drive-in cinema.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Clint Eastwood

Sound, music, score are important factors of Italian Cinema. The soundtrack for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly includes arguably one of the most well known movie themes of all time - so well known that it is frequently mimicked in pop culture and in modern times to this date when anything remotely western happens in many forms of media, and there are doubtless many who have heard the song without having heard of the film.

Eye line and Cutting, difference in scale, use of camera to tell story, fragmentation of the body and catholic references are other attributes of Italian cinema. The eye line is an invisible but distinguishable location where the eye is on camera that best capture's the character's facial expression. Camera told the story by reacting to the scene and the narrative. Fragmentation of the body broke the body into pieces that would be displayed in specific areas of the camera and rarely in other places.

Another recognizable origination from Italian cinema was the imagery of a black gloved killer, so we could see the criminal's hands but never his face or head, and would allow us to get a perspective in the film that we never had before.

Typography

Typography is more important than ever and even the subltle differences in how a font is used, it's colorization  and the size can affect it's connotations and the way it is interpreted by an audience. Font facilitates the distinguishment of subject matter and appropriate demographic targetting. For one example, portraying the Incredible Hulk requires something, large, bold and prominent, as are the character's primary characteristics and most noteworthy attributes being size and boldness. The colour used, green, also anchors meaning to itself when paired with an image of the character.

Scratched imperfect lettering jumps and lurches to the screeching score, while rough-cut, up-close footage transforms ordinary tools of reproduction— developing trays, scissors, paper, tape—into ominous devices of torture and mutilation. The profane words scribbled on the film are mixed with bits of bible prophesy and other nihilistic scrawlings. These flashes of criminal obsession— drawn from John Doe's notebooks—create an overall sense of precision and distress.

"Type is like actors to me. It takes on characteristics of its own. When I was younger, I used to pick a word from the dictionary and then try to design it so that I could make the word do what it meant…" "We made a hand-drawn alphabet and then we shot the credits…we did all kinds of experimental things with the camera when we were shooting," "In one credit there's probably twelve different pieces of a graphic." - Kyle Cooper.

The way type is described almost as alternative actors I find to be somewhat accurate but not entirely plausible. There are some instances where type are not used in opening title sequences at all, for example, Clint Eastwood has not included them in any of his films since the early 1980's. I respect Clint Eastwood as a filmmaker, director and actor and all round just a general person who knows films better than most people ever will, and go by the philosophy that they are only suitable for certain films that revolve around narrative and plot, or in films where there is a deeper meaning to be understood by the audience aside from what the see in front of them.

A LARGE, CAPITOL FONT EXRESSES AUTHORITY, POWER, LOUDNESS AND STRENGTH. THIS TYPOGRAPHY IS OFTEN UTILIZED IN WARNING SIGNS, AS ASIDE FROM THESE THINGS, IT CATCHES ATTENTION MUCH MORE EASILY AND APPARENTLY IS EASIER TO READ.

Smaller fonts are quieter, relaxed, and less ornamented and decorated so that they are easy to read. A noteworthy example is the Facebook logo, with is a minor case white coloured 'F' in a blue background.

Typography is so important to some people that they go to great lengths expressing their opinions and distates regarding a font because of it's related associations. Using a font with negatively viewed associations will damage whatever the font is being used to represent.

French New Wave Cinema

In September 1997, Agnes Varda introduced a brand new 35mm print of her first feature film, La Pointe Courte, made in 1954, to an admiring audience at Yale University. She had seen no other films before it perhaps aside from Citizen Kane, or at least this is what she claimed. It achieved an almost cult status in film history as the first nouvelle vague.

Varde was described as a pioneer of the new wave of cinema, especially so because she was the only female director. The production of La Pinte Court by her own tiny company completely outside the film industry and on a much smaller budget than a typical french film since it came from inheritances and loans from friends and family. She had no professional training and didn't get an 'official French Film Industry Membership Card' until later on. She had a lot of control over scriptwriting and location, a mix of actors of various levels of experience was unheard of in 1950's France. 


The materiality of La Point Courte is present straight from the opening title sequence, one particularly noteworthy example being a close up shot of grain of wood, revealed upon zooming outwards to be a section of a tree trunk. This was followed by a long tracking shot that leads the audience into the nearby village, which are closely followed up by straightforward and lateral tracking shots of trees, the straights of the neighborhood and the fishing houses and various shacks. Varda's direction allows the audience to truly immerse themselves in this location through the seemingly random shots of improvised live in act, the interior of a house where a woman feeds her children, one of many themes that run consistently throughout the entirety of the film. Varda's documentation of people's lives, including but not limited to their eating of meals, gossip and chatter, arguments and quarreling, courting, working are subtly weaved into context with narrative devices. Varda emloys the use of these camera angles and many others that were new amongst the times of the new wave of French cinema, including those seen in theatrical interpretations of stories where a character speaks directly to the camera, establishing a direct mode of a address and perhaps breaking the fourth wall.

Archetype Movie

I found the official website for the Archetype movie based or made from the short I found.

"Your memories are just a glitch."

http://www.archetype-movie.com/

The website has little information right now aside from the film teaser, the short, a synopsis, other videos, and a galleries page.

The galleries page features some nice concept art that matches well with what I saw in the short teaser and it is a good indicator as to what we can expect from the film. I found myself comparing it to the Matrix at one point with the use of a chair to enter some sort of second reality, although this is hardly the focus of the film as it is in the Matrix (as far as I can tell with Archetype, at least, as there arn't a lot of details about it yet). I'll be keeping an eye on this website.

It is worth noting how movies are advertised today and the internet is a great way of getting your title known, especially if it catches on virally.

Comet

Watching this made me feel like a child again and rightfully so, this wonderful 2D animation recaptures the brilliance and imagination of a typical childhood dream. I found the lighting in the opening minute to be really good. Watching this animation was both interesting and amazing. It wasn't a narrative that needed much explanation or reason behind it as it is supposed to be like a dream. It made a change from the rather action packed, dramatic, explosive and compelling story-driven animations and films I have seen lately and it felt good to watch something that didn't have too much meaning behind it besides what it is; capturing the essence of a childhood dream.

As people grow older people are less inclined to imagine and I think this illustration highlights this best. The world wouldn't be very mature if we all still acted like children, but it would hardly be a bad place, either.

The animation was made on request by the music composer, to be made as a music video. This explains the lack of sound effects in the animation and I feel it is worth mentioning that the music is very fitting.

Archetype - Aaron Sims + The Chase - Philippe Gamer

Archetype is a short film utilizing CGI animation. It is very realistic and the storyline appears to be that of a robot that malfunctions and believes it has a family like a human. This obviously triggers some questions as the robot was brought in for questioning after it produced a large EMP explosion that it shouldn't be capable of doing. Directed and written by Aaron Sims and produced by White Rock productions, I learned that from this short film a feature length version is being set for production and I anticipate it's arrival. The description from the snotr link is as follows:

RL7 is a two-meter tall comba robot that goes on  the run after malfunctioning with vivid memories of once being human. As its creators and the military close in, the RL7 battles its way to uncovering the shocking truth behind its mysterious visions and past.

http://www.snotr.com/video/8986/Archetype_by_Aaron_Sims

http://www.snotr.com/video/8979/The_Chase

I also found this animated video of a police chase, chasing four female presumed protagonists. The effects and cinematography are all praiseworthy, especially the part where they drive around the circle road and the police cars end up falling and dropping. The camera angles are very off set and give the impression of imbalance. I would not have done the same myself but now that I have seen what such angles can do to your interpretation of a scene I will be keeping my eye out for similar angles in other animations and films I come across. Of course, the funniest thing about this particular animation is the ending, and it carries a nice message that I intend to live by: you don't stop having fun because you grow old, you grow old because you stop having fun.

Voice Acting - Regina King

Regina King stars as the voice of two main characters in The Boondocks, an Adult Swim animated series based on Aaron McGrudger's comic strip. I have had an interest in voice acting for a while and I want to give it a try. Among my favourites are Phil LaMarr, who did Vamp in Metal Gear Solid but most importantly for me, played Samurai Jack. Mako, who did Aku in Samurai Jack and also Iroh in The Last Airbender, and David Hayter, who acted as Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series.

This is a behind the scenes look at how the voice acting was directed and produced for The Boondocks by Regina King and even includes some animatics and examples of particularly good voice work in various episodes. She also describes some of the processes behind voice acting which are often just as much about being mentally confident and in the zone as it is about being physically confident and willing.

I'd like to give voice acting a go myself some time and there have been plenty of opportunities in the past where I could have done it, but as mentioned it is likely just a confidence issue I hope to overcome. I think if I wait a few years I'd be a little more suited for it.

Additionally there is another video with John Witherspoon.

Unlimited Detail

Euclideon, a technology company based in Australia, are developing a game engine they refer to as being Unlimited Detail, because it contains detail equivalent to almost over hundreds of thousand times more than that found in any current game engines. This video is from when the engine was in early development and no doubt they have progressed further over then and now, but I still find it a very good video to watch as the progression of video games to me has always been natural for my generation. However, this seemed a large step in the right direction.

From what I can see in the comment they utilize 'voxels' over polygons, but do it in such a way that the presenter refers to them as 'atoms'. The video is pretty incredible and demonstrates the extent of the detail with this game engine where even the grains of dirt on the ground are individually visible. It is also programmed to import models and things crated in 3DS Max and Maya, so it's pretty easy for artists to work with it in a business as usual manner.

It is all still in development but I am eager to see the finished article utilized in a game.

Video Game Music

Here are three video game tracks, two of which are from games I have played (Neverwinter Nights and Fighting Force). Music in video games is very often important to the mood, atmosphere and general feel of the game. In an RPG such as Neverwinter Nights, my idol of video game music composer, Jeremy Soule, produced the soundtrack.  He has also done work in Oblivion and the Baldur's Gate, which happen to be very influential on my gaming life. One of the most memorable things about these games was the music in the memorable zones, and arguably it as the music that made them memorable because they helped set such a good atmosphere.

Atmosphere would not be as important in an indie game like Super Meat Boy. Whilst I have never played it, it hardly seems like the game Neverwinter Nights is. Fighting Force was a beat 'em up game and all the levels have repetitive music, though I think this is crucial for this genre. The music should be ambient and in the background, not prominent and over distracting, as it is non-diagetic (the characters cannot hear it, it is not a part of the scene).

Wacom Inkling

I came across this as a link from my brother and found it very interesting. It appears to be a tablet that scans pen and pencil drawings on paper, or records them, and is able to reproduce them digitally. Rather than scramble my brain figuring out exactly how this works, I could see the practicality of it. You could do your drawings anywhere and re-upload them anywhere, meaning I could even do my drawing work outside if it was sunny. I also happen to be able to draw better on paper than I can with a pen tablet on a computer, so if I were able to scan drawings like this directly into a computer it may be of great help to me. Whilst obviously there are more benefits to it than this, these are the immediate ones I can think of.

I can't think of many drawbacks, only one being you need to use the same pen. At first I thought you could use any pen but it hardly changed my opinion when I realized that was the case. That also gave me some insight into how it works. I'm considering getting one myself, but I rarely ever buy things unless I'm in dire need of them, except with food perhaps. Still, I was unaware at one point this technology and product even existed, and it is good to know what potential and capable products are on the market today.

Blizzcon 2011 Art Panel

This hour long coverage of the 2011 Blizzcon Art Panel discusses the sort of processes the art team went through whilst developing the current content in popular MMO game World of Warcraft's latest unreleased expansion. I watched the whole thing and towards the end there are some very interesting things to note; including the software they use to build the game environments, which seem to be very well advanced and a good glimpse into what every game maker may be using in a few years time. These appear to be self developed ways of creating a game.

It allows the game designers to be in game as they see their environments which means they do not have to flick back and forth between designing and viewing what they have made, and some of the tools they have developed cut down on the time required to expertly add textures and skins to an environment. It was eye opening for me and with my own recent experiences in learning how to work with textures, made it all the more interesting.

Graffiti and Street Art

Graffiti as a fairly modern medium of communicating, is well documented and under frequent use by advertisers and marketers, most often used for connoting urban lifestyle or city-scape products, as graffiti is typically associated with urban decay and rebellious youth that instead of being portrayed as a negative force is being embraced as positive energy. The art of graffiti however has been around since ancient times, defacing monuments and architecture with messages, most famously with this ancient Italian caricature of a politician.

Graffiti artists are now a part of popular culture:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Robbo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ces53


Perhaps most famously
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy


On April 2 2011 King Robbo sustained a life threatening head injury 5 days prior to his exhibition at the Signal Gallery. It is believed the injury happened as a result of an accidental fall. His recovery has been slow and as of October 2011 he remained in an coma. On November 2011 the Camden Robbo mural was painted over with a black and white depiction of the original with the additions of a crown and a can of spray paint with a hazard sumbol of a flame above it. It was done by Banksy as a tribute to him and as an effort to end the feud in a sense of 'lighting a candle' for Robbo who was still in comatose condition.

Postmodern Film and Game

Postmodernist film upsets the conventions of narrative and characterization.


I believe the conception of postmodern films is the important time where narrative and characterization are displaced, and other ideaologies are prioritized.


The work of the playwright  Bertolt Brecht is very important to the early development of postmodern film, as he had attempted to ‘break the 4^th wall’ in his attempt to empower the audience, by doing things such as having characters refer to the audience.


Fredereico Fellini's film 8^½  (1963) is also an important work, mixing realist conventions with those of science fiction, all the time playing with notions of what it is to make a film and how film conventions shape our views of reality.


Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino) is another film, featuring many narrative shifts and breaks.

"In addition to the postmodern features of film as an industry and medium, how might individual films themselves be postmodern? Intertextuality, self-referentiality, parody, pastiche, and a recourse to various past forms, genres, and styles are the most commonly identified characteristics of postmodern cinema. These features may be found in a film's form, story, technical vocabulary, casting, mise-en-scène , or some combination of these."

The Saddest Music in the World (2003) is a fable set in 1933 Winnipeg: a brewing magnate with beer-filled glass legs announces an international contest to perform the world's most sorrowful song. Part imaginary (film) history, part madcap musical melodrama, The Saddest Music in the World is an offbeat film that is unmistakably postmodern. 

Modernism in Film

Modernism as Future Visioning.

Rather than attempting to represent a) the world, b) thoughts, c) feelings, d) relationships (or anything else) the modernist writer and artist attempt to draw attention to the way representation organises our often very different experiences of the world.

Moderism revolved around being new, experimenting with fresh and original ideas that revolved around abstract representations, not necessarily symbolisms - subtle and explicit messages left with both single, multiple and open interpretations, made to challenge the ideologies of art as the era knew it. By redefining art as modernist, old ideas were left aside and artists were left to their own devices as to what to produce, unrestricted and unrestrained by the trends set hundreds of years before. Noting the dates, as modernist art gradually fades to simply become modern, some examples of modernist art include:

László Moholy-Nagy

Painting 1921

Light space modulator 1929

Props for the H.G. Wells Alexander Korda film, "Things to Come". 1936 

I am familiar with H.G. Wells, as most others are, for his work of 'War of the Worlds'.

A newspaper article obituary dedicated to H.G wells after his death in the St. Petersburg Times, 13 August 1943.


Other case study examples of moderisms within films is The Day the Earth Stood Still (Harry Bates)

Modernism was described as the 'liberation of the unconcious' a concept that even Alfred Hitchcock sought to use. He used Salvador Dali as the set designer for 'Spellbound'.

By examining the subconcious, Salvador Dali is considered modernist. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past are thrown aside, forgotten and are not left to inspire the new in any way, shape or form, all in the spirit of radical freedom and experimentation. They experimented with the senses and new ways of seeing, with newer ideas regarding the nature of materials and the functions and purpose of art. Abstraction was a tendancy much modernist art leaned towards, and very much a characteristic that seperated it from other forms of artwork. 

Modernism as Abstraction: Len Lye Colour Box (1935) Mary Ellen Bute (Colour Rhapsody 1948) Disney's Fantasia


Oskar Fischinger, who was a year older than Walt Disney, devoted his major energies throughout his life to abstract animation. In the early Twenties, Fischinger, working on his own, struggled with radical experiments in non-objective imagery — from sliced wax to multiple-projector light shows. Even before sound film became available, he sychronized it with sound and music as he found the audience would grasp the message within the animation better. 


Charlie Chaplin and Dziga Vertov were also prominent in portraying modernism in technology within film.

Transmedia

Transmedia storytelling is storytelling across multiple forms of media with each element making distinctive contributions to an understanding of the story world.


My own interpretation of this is that transmedia contextualizes storytelling in all elements whilst each element withholds it's own medium and contributes to the development of the story world, as the way in which stories are told progressively changes over time; not because of how they have to be told but how they -can- be told.

What is it that makes each media specific? Marshall McLuhan - The Medium is the Message.

Media specifity comes from each form of media and the medium through which it was told being specific in various ways, and that the way we tell it affects the message being told. It is unsuitable for some messages to be passed through some mediums.

Transmedia production is as old as the human race. Stories are the content of our lives.

Stories are the oldest form of entertainment among civilization and the myths and legends of Ancient Greece tend to be the most obvious example of these, although every culture and civilization has it's own myths and legends to tell, as well as other messages.

Oral tradition, to song, to painted image, to sculpture, to written text, to photograph , to film to games. e.g The Odyssey,

Greek myths and legends.

I believe this reinforces what I mentioned regarding transmedia contextulizing storytelling and affecting how it can be told, as stories such as The Odyssey have had novel and film interpretations.

Media Specifity / Transmedia, Cubism / Abstract art, Graffiti and Street art.

This identifies a difference in how messages are spread through a medium, as graffiti and street art and other transmedia mediums are modern, though cubism and abstract art are also recurring and increasingly popular way of displaying and showcasing messages with both subtle and explicit meanings.

Rift MMO Report

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/721308/rift-one-year-anniversary-special-the-mmo-report/

Rift was a game I beta tested in it's development and it is although it isn't the rarest occurrence that  an MMO that is actually worth playing makes it this far, Rift I personally found to be promising and in many ways I preferred it over other games in the market, primarily World of Warcraft. I'm still playing the latter for several reasons but I still very much like Rift and would definitely play it again. This report by G4TV's MMO report, a weekly programme that updates gamers with the latest from developers, studios and games on the MMO Market, and this special episode looks at Rift's one year journey to where it is now.

This year and the next will be very special for MMO releases as they require a huge investment and huge amount of time, and need to be successful to be profitable. It will be interesting to see where all these games are in a few more years time.