Entry 4

Blog Entry 4 Convergence Culture: This chapter was a great example of convergence culture in the film industry. When I watched the Matrix I was one of the people who did not cross other medias and play the video game or read the comics. Nevertheless I still enjoyed watching the Matrix and while I will admit at times I was confused because things seamed left out or did not add up, these moments were rare enough that they did not ruin the experience for me. I agree with the EA’s Young that the more layers you put on something the narrower the audience will be, yet despite this the Matrix was still a box office hit. The reason the Matrix was so successful was because the Wachowski brothers were able to take elements from the best human stories; the Odyssey, Lord of the Ring, and Star Wars and mold them into a new fantasy tale with heroes, evil, and a clearly stated mission, in a world that mirrored our own and therefore urged the audience to ask questions about humanity. New Media Language: People who have grown up with personal computers probably would describe computers as a tool rather then a companion. Yet, computers clearly have characteristics that mirror human behavior, and even though your computer may not speak to you like the computer in Star Trek, whenever we look at the screen the computer is communicating a message through visual imagery. Since subconsciously we want our computers to respond to use like a person would we should not be surprised that we try to create this illusion in virtual reality, whether we are talking about a dialog box, web page loading, or the cinema quality of a virtual world or virtual reality quicktime simulation. New Media Reader: There as a lot packed into this essay, yet the ideas were interesting to look at. I liked how the author was able to take multiple disciplines and work them together into his argument. For instance he used feminism theory to talk about the trend in Hollywood films to edit in ways that makes the camera move in voyeuristic ways. He also talked about a zoo and how that was an artificial recreation of something that was real and how the new creation shifted meaning because it was different from the original. R&D: http://www.mortaragency.com/agency/index.shtml What hit me right away when I went to this site was that it had my attention. The images on the site clearly communicate a message and the retro feel of the site reminds me of the “golden age” of media, yet the site still feels modern. I also like the navigation and the information the site provides. http://www.risdall.com/indexR.asp?Rpage=people.html This site I felt was too much image based. Although the pages loaded fast on my computer I would be worried about them loading quickly on a slower connection. Also the pages did not seam consistent and I feel that people could get confused. http://www.leoburnett.com/ I loved the opening animation of the pencil, though again I am not sure how this would load on a slower connection. This site is very visually based and that is appropriate for a media company. The music is subtle yet effective. I also like that there is a loading bar to indicate that the page is doing something and keeps you occupied while the page is appearing. Finally I like the navigation at the bottom and the pop up contextual menus. http://medialets.com/ This site is simple and well organized. Up at the top there are links to the important stuff like “What We Do” and “Who We Are” You can also easily access the companies blog media relations and get in contact. The text on the site is big and easy to read and the homepage loaded without any lag. hootsuite.com This is a twitter application for the iPhone and apparently now for Android too. The name is catchy and easy to remember. The app is also used by big media companies and it helps them brand their companies through twitter, but it can also be used by consumers. What I like about the site is that everything on the homepage is right there without you needing to scroll down. I also like how in the middle of the page there is sort of like a carousal of pages that scrolls from right to left. This looks great visually and also is an innovative way of making a site more interactive and saving space. http://www.ninetimes.com/ This is a Santa Rosa Media company that specializes in creating high impact illustrations and animations for the web, trade-shows, print, and other media. What I like about the site is that they have a slogan on the homepage with a cool animation of a cow jumping off a diving board. Immediately they have my attention and I want to explore their site more in depth.