Messages

ildu:   the argument certainly isn't new but look at how many critics argue that mass entertainment is heading for an all-time low.   Johnson argues that so far -  mass entertainment has been becoming more and more intelligent with each passing decade.   And what's incredible is not the claim that he's making but the rhetoric and the basis in science he uses to prove his point.   

One passage that I found extremely insightful was the evolution of mainstream TV.  In the seventies, Johnson argues, TV execs pushed for shows that were the Least Objectionable to the most people.   Shows like Laverne and Shirley, the Brady Bunch, and Mork and Mindy were big hits with mass audiences.  These shows were extremely simple and never pushed the limits as far as morality or indecency or gore.....

Today's popular shows COMPETE with the most complexity, violence, etc.  They have to push the envelope with more and more to gain their market.    And Johnson argues that these shows do not attempt Least Objectionable content but rather Most Repeatable content (Sopranos, 24 etc.).   Viewers have to cling to the TV to catch what just happened in 24, or go online to read fansites, or rewind on their Tivo,   or ultimately buy the DVD and search through the bonus features.

Without going into much detail (for fear of garbling Johnson's argument) I think this makes TONS of sense for any sign of moral decay or "dumbing down" of television.  It s not the case that TV execs avoided complex, violent, scandalous shows in the seventies because our moral standards were higher back then.     Its that mass audiences could not keep up with those stories because of a lack in technology and therefore:  a certain kind of intelligence.    Audiences could not rewind or read those websites etc.   Today's mass audiences yearn for layered stories that utilize multi-threading narratives due to the technolgy that has grown alongside us.  His best example of this was Seinfeld and its tendency to refer back to previous scenes or episodes.


DG: you're my kind of guy.  Thanks for pointing out that even the crap is better.  That's a really important point in the book.   Oh!   I love Johnson's scenario of "imagine a world where video games had been invented before books."  Johnson writes his own critique of books and their disadvantages to video games for kids' spatial intelligence etc.

Great stuff!

"Everything Bad" is a non-fiction book which I only heard about because of a TV interview  (possibly Colbert Report)  When I saw it in the bookstore I compulsively picked it up even though I rarely buy new books.   

Well so I finished the book and I have to hand it to this guy, he makes a convincing argument.  All the crap you hear from Andy Rooney types, and your parents when they see you playing video games...

this guy argues the opposite -  that most of the stuff we like to do (watch TV, play video games, movies, surf the internet)  does not "make us dumber" but rather has very positive effects on our intelligence.  That every few years the TV narratives become more complex (from Hill Street Blues to the Sopranos & 24), and that young people more than ever are learning how to use new software and interfaces, and other seldom mentioned skills.

He uses the example of how most parents laugh at the fact that little Johnny is the only one in the family who knows how to program the VCR.    He says theres a very good reason why!   Well anyways, you're going to have to read the book.  There's great ties into neuroscience in there, as well as the economic market Blah Blah Blah.   He points out that the most successful games (World of Warcraft, Sims, etc ) actually are not all that "fun" when you examine people working 60 hours to collect minerals just to make their armor etc.  (even games like GTA have very tedious goals that reward the player)  People play video games due to built in reward systems in the human brain.  Fascinating stuff!

And what a great gift to give to your most receptive parent!  Especially if you're a kid like me who had to deal with parents bitching for every five minutes I tried to escape to the computer or Playstation.  The old "its rotting your brains" lecture.   

Now let's wait for everyone to read the book so we can begin debating.  Talk about adventure games being a prime example!   I learned to think in such wonderful ways thanks to Monkey Island and its puzzles and inventory logic!

Does anybody use Adobe Encore to make DVD menus, or just DVDs in general?

Im spending part of the day learning how to use it, and its not as complicated as an editing program I don't think... but does anybody have any sweet sweet tips or features?

Im designing the layout of the main menu in Photoshop.  Hopefully I can make transitions between other menus in premiere.   Man, its kind of exciting.

is the red supposed to resemble the Nike swoosh?

Well in the first bit of Laugh Track Day, which I call Mass Harrassment,  Zach tells Kevin "I'm paralyzed from the waist down" as an excuse not to have sex with him.   This isn't true as Zach's condition is actually cerebral palsey.

It's not so much a continuity flaw as it is a character's inconsistency, but you did a fine job of catching that.



LGM-  your recipe is noted!   Try flour sometime because it absorbs the dye and makes it patchy.   I like my blood real dark.   

Corn syrup,water, red dye  (adams extract to be exact), &  flour.


Never tried peanut butter for thickening.  Seems a little more expensive.   But this time it was the first time I mixed it all in a blender..  So I went very thick with the flour.

Scorposer:

Thanks for the comments on Laugh Track Day.  I'll tell zach you enjoy his humor.

Domino:
You should totally tell him what you think!  He's quenched his taste for blood.     And  thanks, altho my performance in this one was very minimal as I was too worried about camera work and technical whatnot.

[lgm]:
I'm jealous too.   P.S.  Peaches n' Regalia rocks.

Evil:
That News segment took the most work of anything.  I did most of the photoshops and all of the animating... and hearing that damn song 800 times while editing is exhausting as hell.  My character is a rip on Quentin Tarantino's name if anyone caught that.

Raggit:
Thanks I think.  We'll keep up the randomness

we also did a purposefully bad rendition of Thriller, but I don't think it's been uploaded.   We were playing off the fact that everyone and their grandma has performed Thriller at some point in time.   

Here's the latest from my gang of video jokesters, "That's Awesome!"

Happy Halloween, and feel free to leave comments here or on youtube.com   Everyone enjoys reading what you think, especially the guy who plays Brawny Man.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MSU_1pRIlUs




P.S.   Thanks for visiting last time timosity.   I didn't realize anyone had posted until the guys were all sitting around and someone said, "oh hey, did you see that a guy from Australia commented on our movie!?"   Haha.

yep.  He has CP and he's pretty open about talking about it.  Zach's fun, if you look on www.thatsawesometv.com there are some clips like him interviewing Dennis Quaid.   I'm watching your trailer now.   Send me an email so we don't get all chatty in the clip thread! moorefield@gmail.com

And in keeping with the clip thread:

Chopsticks: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjpGN1cufLQ

George Michael and Maeby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIa7k6D-V5Y

Campus Fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FNu_AkrGAw

thanks for the comment, timosity!  Anybody else watch?   Sign up for youtube and tell us what you think.   Right now mtvu is interested but we're trying to get a grassroots thing started on the internet.  Grassroots?  greenroots?  ah, I dunno.


here's another one Billy Joel fans!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=B85y4NbzTG4

I'm pretty frustrated.   For five years I've lived in Austin Texas but now it appears I may have to move back home to Tennessee.   I keep toying with the idea, almost dangerously, i keep considering telling my dad who would instantly pay for any such move back home.

Friday my college television show released its second show of its third season.  We've had mild success and I'm convinced that if we keep on and publicize ourselves we could get sponsored or paid to do what we do.   But my living expenses are coming up short, I have to make a decision soon.

been editing, acting, shooting, putting things up on youtube.   Saturday we filmed a scene with three girls swooning over the brawny man.  One girl was pretty hot, but add to that - she was a natural actress!   Without sounding sexist, I was blown away after we had met so many girls who couldn't hold a scene together.  I just hope she stays.

I have a TV show!   This is our latest episode: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45oDfZJ7kis

If you enjoy it, please rate it AND post a comment!   All feedback helps


-jesse

carcinogens   


My biology teacher showedus this chart about smoking and medical awareness of its cause of cancer.   Over the years, the male smokers numbers have decreased while more and more women are smoking every year.

That accounts for something, all those carcinogens over thirty years can certainly cause more and more cancer if people are not deterred by the risks.


Other kinds of cancer, well the answer is probably not so obvious.

Uwe Boll exclusively buys the rights to video games because the rights are cheap, and the game comes with an already established fanbase.

If you haven't seen Blood Rayne, do it.   Craptacular.


Trailer for Uwe Boll's next masterpiece:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuRdVBik3xU&search=dungeon%20siege

You guys and the argument that Colbert was SOOOO contraversial are forgetting this particular pattern:


2005 White House Correspondents Dinner:


Laura Bush makes contraversial jokes about herself and her husband, about her being a desperate housewife and about her husband jacking off a horse.


2004 White House Correspondents Dinner:

George W. Bush roasts himself for not being able to find WMDs... in his oval office, using a slideshow.


2000 White House Correspondents Dinner:

Just for fun!!!!!

Bill Clinton's self-depracating short film including Kevin Spacey.



These dinners are ALL about roasting the president.  Yes, Colbert kept a straight face and burned his ass...... but the only reason why is that G.W.  had ALOT to be burned about.  Everything recently has been negative.

Audience reaction -

I doubt very much that the audience had many microphones, so that we could feel confident in judging their actual reaction.

It could be that those moments where you do hear them laugh, microphones had been set up or that they simply were laughing loud enough to be heard from the ones onstage.

SNL and other comedy shows set up strategic mics in the audience, if they aren't simply using a laugh track.

The biggest part of this Colbert thing is that this dinner thing is a tradition, right?

the president would rather not deal with the press, unless they had intentions to boost his image.  He spends the majority of the time ignoring them and giving them ambiguous replies.

Critics like Colbert have always been around, theyve simply not been as funny .. or at least got this kind of air play.

jet

traps a pretty cool dude.  A few of us bought his album way back when.  He included  almost every song lemon demon had done up to that point. 

he's always had popular flash animation, starting with animutations but the fact that its music he himself is producig is way more impressive.  Expect great things for Neil.

darth,

last I heard, the distinction of Bush's approval ratings was that he has the lowest of any re-elected president during the first year of his second term.

And its going to be a long ass haul during the next three quarters.  Basically to get his ratings up, he must save a baby from a burning skyscraper during a hurricane.