Digital Media Worries

Social Political Worry is easly related to Wikileaks as one can ask the question is WikiLeaks doing a good thing or a bad thing? By letting out this information is it good for letting the people know their government can't be trusted with some types of info or bad because he makes the people not trust their leaders?

Social Interpersonal Worry is related to the questions that people are raising about if social networking on the internet, phones, or other non face to face situations is good or bad for today's youth.

Psychological Emotion Worry is related again to social networking sites on the internet that allow you to post personal info on them. This personal info can be used agaisnt you and in many cases you won't even know that someone other than a friend has your personal info untill they have spent all your money via the internet.

Psychological Cognitive Worry is linked to the question of whether the internet is hurting youths brains and stunting their ability to think and process information. Studies are currently being done and one has shown that multi tasking really does not work it actually hinders.

Behavioral Practical Worry is asking the question is the internet stunting more than our minds? Is it also sunting youths growth and education? When was the last time you went to the library for research insead of the internet? How many people today are simply sitting on their couch all day working on the internet and never move from that spot.

WikiLeaks Media Video

The Video Composition I created is a collage of media reports talking about how the media has been/ is effecting how WikiLeaks is seen by the viewers eye. One thing I enjoyed about the video collage more than the photo and audio collage is that I was finally able to combine the images with the sounds. Some of the Unique gifts of video is that you get to combine images with audio to create one full emotional adventure.

Adapting to Digital Changes

This week we were asked to listen to, watch, and read several different links asking the question what is new/digital media. The first was an audio file captured by DigiBob. DigiBob talked about what new/digital media is and how it is growing everyday. He talked about when computers and pictures first came together forming the first analogue to digital conversion, something that we all take forgranted everyday of our lives. The next piece was two short texts by Lev Manovich, "What is New Media?" and "Principles of New Media." In these two articles Lev Manovich explained his take on new media. He talks about how anything you can find on a comp is related to new media and then explains the five main principles of media. Next was to read a one-page web piece on sampling rates and digital audio. I personally enjoyed this piece because of how it relates to my field of study, sound design, but at the same time found it all very familiar to what I have been learning in classes. We were then instructed to watch a short scene from an early Charlie Chaplin film where he is trying to keep up with a factory assembly line. Next was a short video on Youtube called "Did you Know?" Continuing on with a documentary on "Girl Talk." Then my favorite out of the four videos, a music video on Youtube called "Take Me Out" by Atomic Tom Live On NYC Subway. It was the intriguing as you watched the band Atomic Tom preform their song "Take me out" on a NYC subway using nothing more than their iphones! The film also was shot on an iphone. This was way cool and opened up my mind to all the things that this new digital age is bringing to the table and makes me think what will it be like in 20 years? This reminded me of the music video for Matt & Kim "Daylight." In this music video you see Matt and Kim playing in all kinds of crammed spaces like the closet, taxi, my personal favorite the fridge. Imagine if they were playing on iphones instead of on instruments. In the Charlie Chaplin film he is trying to keep up with the machine still we are keeping up with machines but now it's more keeping up with the computers and technology than machines.

In the end as we look at new/digital media there is no knowing where it will be in 20 years let alone in 5 years. I am personally very excited and ready to adapt to the changes that come out of this new technology.

Wikileaks Audio Remix

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WikiLeaks Audio Remix

When Working on this audio remix relating back to journalism and the media's influence on WikiLeaks I choose a base song with a good beat to represent the heartbeat of the people listening to the media. It starts out with the words "I am the Computer" representing how the WikiLeaks information was gathered, these words continue through out the piece showing how information is still being withheld then leaked out thanks to WikiLeaks. It then goes into different news out lets and how they introduced WikiLeaks to their listeners. It then starts describing some of the things that WikiLeaks leaked. As the beat starts to change, or as the public eye became aware of what WikiLeaks is, the statement "are focusing on the messenger rather than the actual message" is heard because the people wanted someone to blame for the information and the government didn't want the people blaming them so they tried to shift the focus and blamed Julian Assange. It then continues describing WikiLeaks through audio bits taken from some news sources some with added reverb and digital editing representing how WikiLeaks is similar to and echo and the information originally hidden from the people will continue to effect the American people including the government.

Boundary Dissolution

I have personally had a few boundary dissolution in my life. One that comes to mind at first is the boundry between my work, school, and personal life. I tend to have a different yet similar attitude and relationship with those around me depending on where I am and what I'm doing. From what I gathered from the links a boundary dissolution is when one takes something and changes it for good or bad.

In Steve Dixon's book "Digital Performance" he talks about how technology has slowly also taken over the art fields such as theatre, dance, and performing arts. I personally agree with this seeing as how I personally am a theatre technician and use technology to enhance the experience for not only the audience but also the performer. With some of the "new" technology in the sound world we are able to map speakers across rooms and make sounds literally "move"through a space. This can bring the audience literally into the middle of the sound scape and into the world of the play, the musical, the dance, or the concert. Another dissolution that I have used more than once in a show is the appearance of "flying" or "floating" through the air. This dissolution works great on kids who easily believe. Adults have a harder time believing someone is actually flying on their own but if one uses the correct technology, gear and has the right training anything is possible.

Everyday we are exposed to more and more of these Boundary Dissolution's and everyday we adapt and survive.

WIkileaks Collage

The collage that I created symbolizes how wikileaks is always there watching over everyone shoulders and is ready to report any suspicious activity. Julian Assange is in top layer because he is the founder of wikileaks and is "Always Watching..." over the "information that wants to be free." Julian Assange in a way is playing the Social Media Monopoly game as he hacks his way through the government and other sources finding top secret information and sharing it.

Creating

As a member of the art school community one must learn how to learn. In other words one can not create without learning from those that came before them. A set designer can not design a set if one has never seen one before and studied how one is designed or built. Similarly a costume designer can not design costumes from the mid 1600's with out researching what people in that time period wore. This concept applies to very aspect of ones life especially ones student life.

William Macomber taught at the University of Santa Barbra. He was a strong believer in having fun while you learn. One thing that interested me was he suggested to improve ones writing kills one could get into a long distance relationship, or to improve ones speaking skills to fall into a close distance relationship.

I have realized that one reason that I enjoy going to work more than going to school is cause at work I am learning about similar things but in a fun way and it is hands on. Where at school I am sitting behind a desk listening to someone talk about what I could be doing at work. I think that if I try to apply the fun times I have at work to the schooling I am going through now it will go a lot smoother and I will retain the knowledge that I need for my job.

WikiLeaks in the Media Text

WIkiLeaks has been all over the media for the time it come out till even now. Some reporters have noticed a cirtian trend in the top news reports which is that more attention to the creator Julian Assange rather than the actual papers and documents that he has released.

Why is it that more are paying attention to him rather than the documents? Could it be that the government itself is using him to try and hide the papers and documents away again? Julian Assange simply walked out of an interview once he realized that the entire interview was focused on him rather than the documents that he made public.

The Work that Assange made public has effected the US in many different ways. One way is that it has made some trust our governemtn less and some more. It has exposed our "secret ways" to other countries and to our own country, even though most I would think already knew that the government wasn't telling us everything (watch 24 it will fill ya in on government secrets to protect the public and mass chaos) But in the end who's decision it is to make whether what WikiLeaks is/has exposed is a good or bad thing and why must we find some one specific to blame for it why can't we simply just blame our own government as a whole.

In the end I feel that one of the main reasons that we have to find someone to blame other than a general governemtn is becuase the media is constantly feeding the public with information. When there is a raffic accident they announce specifically who's fault it was so the public is used to having a single person to point a finger at rather than a group. So in the end it is journalism and the medias fault for Julian Assange having the finger pointed at him over WikiLeaks.

The Origional Tron and Wikileaks

When one watches the original movie Tron one can easily relate it to the current concept of WikiLeaks. In Tron Kevin Flynn is hacking into ENCON's mainframe so that he can expose what is really going on in the company. Similarly so is WikiLeaks. Julian Assange is taking the role of Flynn and exposing the company, or government for what it really is.

Where I am right now as far as my understanding of the WikiLeaks phenomenon is kind of confusing. I understand that the government has been hiding things from us but, doesn't every government, especially in a time of war? I am glad that some things have been exposed but at the same time by them being exposed is it making that big of a difference in decisions that are continuously being made?

I feel that there is a better way to have exposed this information then illegally hacking into the governemtnt and proving that it is not secure. I think that WikiLeaks is telling us that digital media has a greater impact on all of us then we would like to admit it does. It also is informing us that one can do anything through the internet if they have the right knowledge and tools. We are not as safe as we think we are...

Gathering

Gathering is the next step to our challenge cycle that I'm going to talk about. Simply put to gather is to do research on the topic that you are framing. I feel like I have been doing research for a long time now and my internet gathering process has changed over the years. However I am old fashioned sometimes and still love going to the library and searching through the millions of books.

My current internet gathering technique is when I decide on a topic to research, whether it be for school, work, or just for fun I go to Wikipedia then Google. I first go to Wikipedia to gain more knowledge on a subject with the mind set that it may not all be correct but it can help me gain more understanding about the subject I'm reasearching. Another thing that I like about going to Wikiedia first is that it normally gives me ideas of what I can type into google other than just the key words. I then go to Google and type in the general key words on the subject I read the parts of the website that pop up under each website. I will then pick the ones that sound relivant and open them in new tabs. Then in Google I enter other words or phrases that I think will be useful from what I learned about the subject on Wikipedia. I choose the websites that sound useful and open them in more tabs. I then go through and read through the web sites and take notes/ mental thoughts on them. After reading through part of a website if it doesn't seam usefull or about what I am researching I simply close it. After going through all the sites i opened in tabs, if I need more info than I will either do more on Google or go to other websites that I was linked to through the previous websites.

From reading through the Internet Tutorials ( http://www.internettutorials.net/engines.asp )I learned that there are a lot more search engines out there then I thought there were. From the Berkeley Library I learned that there are 5 steps to follow when doing research. First, Analyse your topic and decide where to begin. Second, Pick the right starting place using a table they provied on their website ( http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Strategies.html ). Third, learn as you go and vary your approach with what you learn. Fourth, Don't bog down in any strategy that doesn't work. Finally fifth, return to previous strategies to get better informed. The Berkeley Library also talks about learning to recognize how reliable a resource is. It also talks about making sense of the info you find. The Next website that I looked at the OWL Perdue site about how to cite website and other digital resources. Personally I am lazy and simply go to easybib.com for all my citing needs.

Through all of the info that I gathered about gathering I have learned a lot and will adjust my gathering skills and technique to fit each assignment and topic differently.

Framing

How is DMA framed? What is it to Frame?

Framing is an important part of the challenge cycle. However, you can not complete the cycle with out the other four parts. The other four parts are talking, gathering, crafting, and reflecting (we will go other these other ones in detail later). Simply said, to Frame is to ask a question or emphasize on a particular area or object. I feel that everyone uses framing on a daily basis without knowing it. As one is sitting in class or in a meeting or simply talking to people on the street. We hear what the other is saying but only grasp the important points of the conversation to expound on.

In DMA so far we have used this technique with all of the videos we have watched. Each video we watch builds on top of the other. Two videos that we have watched so far that really built on one another well were the Ecological Design: Inventing the Future Video and Digital Nation Video. Ecological Design: Inventing the Future Video talks about what technology has done to the environment that we live in. It also talks about different peoples designs that they have created to help the environment and for prosperity/the future. The Digital Nation Video emphased how much technology has invaded our lives and corupted our brains and the enviroment around us. Young Children instead of going out side to play the simply turn on the T.V. or play a video game. Studies have been done showing that technology and multitasking are actuly hindering. It is not only hindering our brains but also hurting the enviroment around us as noted in Ecological Design: Inventing the Future Video.