Class Discussion Notes 9/29/09

Jenkins, Chapters 4 and 5
Convergence and the Productive Audience

Questions:
What are the linits of participation?
- technological
- corporate
Role of censorship?
Role of education?
- How to get kids to participate in convergence culture

Points:
Limits-
regulation of participation
- copyright
- religion
- corporate issues
fan-fiction vs. "calling-card" filmmakers
pop culture equals mass culture pulled back into folk culture

Critiques:
Harry Potter chapter looks at only one example of fan-produced media
Focus on censorship draws attention away from questions of access

Boyle and Halleck's opinions on it:

Boyle
New age of guerrilla video

Boyle and Halleck
May be somewhat lost?
Agreement that censorship is bad
- legal system can't accomodate copyright
What does ownership really mean?
- Copyright (Who thought up what idea?) (Relation of expression of idea to idea itself)
Focus on process, not product
What is "authentic"?

Class Discussion Notes 9/22

9/22/09

Walter Benjamin

Questions

• What is art?
• What does mechanical reproducibility?

Points

• Aura – authority, ritual, cult. Function of presence, proximity. Feeling, experience of work of art.
• Mechanical reproducibility destroys aura and authority.
• “The public is an examiner but an absent-minded one.”
• Photography – cult vs. exhibition value.

Critiques

• Should have defined what he though art was.
• Doesn’t account for the individual experience of art.
• Going for the shock effect.
• No flow. Jumps around a lot.

Midterm paper

For your midterm, I'd like you to write a paper/blog post of about 1000 words addressing the following prompt. Your paper/post will be due (which is to say, uploaded to the blog) before class on October 15.

Your paper/post should take the form of a well constructed essay. Please be sure that your thesis is clear and that your examples are well chosen. Please also be sure to employ a consistent citation format -- you need to include a bibliography (even for texts assigned in class) and clear in-text citations. (See here if you're unsure of a format to use.)

Prompt:

In class each day we have listed the questions authors ask and the points or arguments they make, as well as critiques we could make of their arguments. There is considerable thematic overlap from one author to the next in the questions they ask and the arguments they make. In this assignment, I'd like you to choose at least two authors and explore how they address a similar set of questions. (See below for examples.) On what points do they agree or disagree? What motivates them to take the stance that they take? In what ways are their approaches complementary -- that is, do they give us different insight into the "social implications of an information society"?

Finally, I'd like you to consider the critiques we have made of each author. Of the authors you have chosen, can we use the arguments of one to address or overcome the critiques we made of the other? In other words, does a synthesis of their arguments give us a better understanding of our object of study (whatever it is) than either of the individual authors' theories standing alone?

Examples:

my description of the value of genre in Technology/Form and MacDonald's take on formula and the "built-in reaction"

Habermas's notion of the "public sphere" and Jenkins's description of participatory media

Horkheimer and Adorno's conception of the "culture industries" and Jenkins's description of producers' evolving relationship with consumers

Grading criteria:

I will be taking into consideration:

* the quality of your argument
* the quality and quantity of your examples
* the quality of your expression (mechanics, grammar, essay organization)
* the quality and consistency of your citations

Convergence Culture Chapter 3

Questions:
-How do we understand the Matrix?
-What is the role of synergy in transmedia storytelling?
-Who is included in consumption of transmedia storytelling?
-Where does symbolism start and end?

Points:
-All media can be included
-attract new fans
-but alienate other fans
-cynicism about marketing versus storytelling
-constantly rising bar (sets people up to be disappointed)
-Licensing gives way to co-creation

Critiques:
-Who is he leaving out?
-topids geared to his own personal interest
-what effect does being a fan have on alaysys?
-Focus on symbolism
-what is the rol of authorial intent?
-What does the title mean?

Dwight McDonald Media Critique:
-NOT FUNNY
-Low Cult
-dumbing down U.S. culture
-built in reaction
-views closely to generic conversation

Horkheimer and Adorno Media Critique:
-Love this clip
-convergence
-depicted on screen
-as delivery mechanism
-another entrance point
-or woudl he even write about it (given its wide popularit)

Convergence Culture Chapter 1-2

Questions:
-Which boundaries are breaking down?
-How are boudaries breaking down?
-How does spoiling affect production?
-How do you evaluate viewer and fan produced information?
-Why do people want to spoil?
-How do people participate in spoiling?
-Why spoil reality TV rather than the government?
-Is spoiling a goal or process?

Points:
-People spoil for a sense of power.
-Spoiling is a community for a reason.
-Spoil for pleasure/adversarial process.
-Spoiling follows a sequence.
-Power that lies in the intersection of old and new media.
-Commodification of taste.
-"Affective Economics" = emotions are being sold
-Savvy viewers
-get entertainment
-personal fulfillment
-Commodification of taste => Group gets influence or production
-Commodification (3 Parts): sappers, casuals, loyals

How would Horkheimer and Adorno respond to Jenkin's description of relationship between producers and viewers?

Media Manipulation:
-H & A: Media aren't actually creative
Views are complacent and complicate in the system
-J: Participation instead of manipulation
Participation, but also commodification
mold consumers

Lucky Ticket
-H & A: Cause complacency- only partially in win ticket
-J: viewers can participate in other ways- we can partially in other ways

Producers
-H & A: See them as all powerful
-J: Pay attention to viewers

Notes 9/10

Notes: 9/10

Habermas:
Questions
What is the history of the public sphere?
How does public opinion shape political power and policy?
What is public sphere?
What power does it have in a representative democracy?
Difference between public sphere and public opinion?

*feudal public sphere
- monarch speaking for his/her subjects

*bourgeois public sphere- (small business owners who gained financial independence)
-making government public
-made up of provate individuals coming together
-accesible to all
-gain access through education
-contemporary society (PR)

Critiques:
-takes money
-helps to be male

Microcinema:
Questions:
Role of irony in public sphere?
Role of age/perspective/culture?
Is Digital Video revolutionary?

Arguments
-role of familiarity

Critique:
-provide no answers

Tips for finding articles through ODIN

I promised yesterday in class to post some tips about finding articles through the Chester Fritz Library website.

To find articles, you'll need the bibliographic citation (which you can find here). For tomorrow's class, you'll be reading:

Habermas, Jürgen. “The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article (1964).” Trans. Sara Lennox and Frank Lennox. New German Critique 3 (1974): 49-55.

On the Chester Fritz website, you'll find the "Journal Titles" tab. Click on that and enter the title of the journal (in this case, "New German Critique"). You have the option of putting in the year and page numbers, but I usually don't because when I've done so in the past, it has occasionally told me that the library doesn't have an electronic copy even when it does.

So -- once you've entered the title, a list of available databases will come up. Click on one that includes the year you're looking for. For the Habermas reading, you'll get EBSOHost Academic Search Premier. Click on "go" and it will bring you to the database's page for the journal. (Here again you have the option of entering a year and page numbers, but I usually don't for the same reason as I mentioned above.)

If you're on a university server, the page will come right up. If you're not, you'll be prompted for your U-mail address and password, which will allow you to log in to a proxy server.

Now you can navigate through the page by clicking on the year and issue you want -- in the case of tomorrow's reading, 1974, issue 3. Those links will pull up titles for all the articles, and you can download a PDF from there.

Let me know if you have any problems, and I'll see you tomorrow!

September 8, 2009

Dwight Macdonald-

Questions:

*what is masscult?

*difference from/relation to high cult

*role of business in promoting culture

Arguments:

High Culture:

*elevating

*educating

*individual

*challenging

Masscult:

*homogeneous

*very democratic

*built in reaction

-know what's coming next

Midcult:

*watered down high culture

Critique:

*snob

*arrogance

-hollow confidence

*question of taste

*who's to criticize someone for making money

Horkheimer & Adorno-

Questions:

*what is style?

*why do we settle?

*how did we get here?

Arguments:

*art is business

*real life coming to resemble movies

*we can't react to film-films tell us how to react

*culture in monopoly capitalism

*we feel unified

*we are unaware we're settling

*we're all just objects

Critiques:

*need thesis statement

*isn't our media system responsive to our own culture?

*doesn't account for variety of human needs

*no solution

NOTES Thursday: 9/3/09

Nick Starcevic from Big Brother 8 did a small introduction of himself. He explained how he had tried earlier for Survivor but was actually approached by producer after they found his profile on MySpace. Half the cast from Big Brother 8 were recruited by the BB crew. His season focused on enemies with combating personalities. So there were ex-lovers, former best friends, etc. He however didn't have an enemy. He talked about how he dated two of his housemates and neither relationship worked out. Nick said, "I wouldn't advocate it [dating on reality TV]."

We then discussed the book Convergence Culture:

Questions raised by Jenkins
- Will different media end up converging?
- How will convergence affect relationship between producers and consumers?
- What's convergence driven by?

Points:
- Driven by consumers/producers
- BlackBox fallacy
- Collective intelligence (ie Lostipedia)
- Political participation

Critique:
- Omits mention of large companies (Disney, Fox, etc.)
- Limited value of participation
- Omits music
- Does it have a deeper meaning/implications?

We then discussed the book Globalization & Culture

Question:
- What types of globalization are we talking about?
- How has technology changed globalization?
- What is globalization? Does it exist?
- Why are people afraid of globalization?

Points:
- Multiple types of globalization
- Globalization is uneven (selective globalization), good/bad
- Race to the intelligent state
- Leaking of state power
a) International governing bodies (above)
b) Regionalization, fragmentation (below)

Critiques:
- Broad focus, failure to give specific answers
- Doesn't talk about internet
- Neglects anthropological definition
- Stylistically wordy, dense sentences

Nick then answered some more questions about his reality TV experience. He said the BB castmates were paid $750/week. "We were really aware of the cameras at first but they you just get used to it" he said. Due to the BB 8 cast having life feed via the internet he said the fan base has grown and "people act like they know me." In answer to the question about why people enjoy reality TV Nick said, "It's because it's a trainwreck. It lets you escape. You get to interact with people you'd never see or meet in your life."Nick also addressed the show's portrayal of castmates character vs. their real life personality. In his case, Nick was typed as the nice Midwestern guy. He described how "my fights weren't shown because it didn't fit the type."

We then viewed a media artifact displaying the nature of a participatory culture. Chris Brown had an interview on Larry King addressing his abuse on Rihanna. The interview aired on Wednesday night and was on YouTube the next day. Not just clips from the actual interview but spoofs mocking the interview as well. Among these spoofs was a young man [PhillyD's'] sounding off on Chris Brown and his "stupidity."

NOTES 9-1-09

Notes 9-1-09

Reading - Conway Ch. 2-6

Questions

- Who is the public?

- What constitutes the medium, technology?

- What are alternative forms of media?

- What is a sitcom?

- What os flow?

- What can/did TV accomplish

Points

- public is both commercial and broadcast

- online video presents a 2-way communication (there is a pattern to all new forms of media, the pattern of viral video and communication is akin to the beginnings of radio)

- Principle of flow --> Least objectionable programming, scheduling (all of these factors are important in understanding the theory of watching tv)

- genre --> imitation and innovation of TV (certain plots that work continually and formulas for TV, i.e. the sitcom, the Ace of Cakes, CSI's)

- There are different sub-genres of reality TV (TBS, MTV, Vh1, CBS) different people that the V is marketing to

Critique

- left out 'Lost'

- Main content reminder of 103

- Could of used more contemporary examples, Plymouth was outdated

- Newton Minnow adversary could of been presented

- Needed more in depth look at convergence of media

- more links in the online version

- favored a participatory public (unspoken)

- strategies of flow were outdated (from the 1980s)

- Missed larger critiques of the sitcom/genre --> neglected all of film and that nothing changes in the sitcom field

- false dichotomies are presented, giving the reader an either/or option, not relying on how professors overlap

- express on opinion that no one particularly wants