After looking over the "History of the Internet" website, I found myself surprised at how much I remembered from last class. To be honest.. growing up in a world where a computer has always been so accessible, I was feeling a little spoiled for the wonderful technology we have. This has not been the most fascinating topic to me but none the less very informative and thought provoking. It was interesting to see pictures of some of the old machines and to be able to follow along a timeline. Much like the history of the television, my mind is boggled with the brilliant, ground breaking creations that were developed and continue to be developed today by people such as Steve Jobs.

T.V. history

All I can say is...I'm glad I didn't work for Sarnoff! He seemed like a pretty tough guy. Very interesting to hear how the original television models were created. To think a 14 year old came up with the first drawings of how a television set would work was pretty amazing. Also,to see all of the politics that were involved was unbelievable. I looked at the MZTV website and I love how interactive it it. It's nice to be able to view a timeline of television history and to be able to re visit it whenever possible.

Tom Igoe

I went to the lecture with Tom Igoe and was so impressed. I didn't understand some of the concepts that he discussed but it was very interesting to see some of the creations that he and his colleagues have created. I liked the way he compared physical computing with a Wii controller. That made it a bit easier to follow along. I really enjoyed hearing about Hannah Pemer Wilson and seeing some of the knitted bracelets. It will be interesting to see how her product will grow over time. My favorite was Tom Gerhart and the way he transformed material from nature and using their abilities. The firelight that he created was awesome, taking the light from a candle and having it transfer onto a wall sconce...AMAZING!!! I'm so glad I went to the lecture, it really opened my eyes to the endless possibilities that lay in technological design!

OTR- I also listened to some of the old time radio shows. I enjoy hearing the mystery stories and the use of sound effects. I used to listen to a radio show on CD called "Suspense" from the 1940s and 50s. It had guest appearances by Vincent Price and Orson Welles. It's great to listen to on road trips:)

Flipbook!

Sci/fi and the escape

Well, last class it seemed like the trend in most of the clips we were watching used drugs and alcohol as a form of escaping or creating another world. Now with all of the sci/fi and futuristic films that were shown, there might be a parallel. The main theme is still escape. The line of reality has been crossed and limits don't exists. The fourth wall is something that the audience relates to safety and separating fiction from non fiction. With films such as Videodrome, safety is gone. It is still fiction of course but I couldn't help but wonder, The first time an audience viewed the scene where Debbie Harry seduces James Woods into the Television screen, did the audience have the fear that it could happen in reality? That safety zone was no longer there... kind of freaky! I found it interesting to know that breaking the fourth wall had so much to do with the connection to video games. With the technology we have now, it certainly does make you feel as if you were in the screen actually living out the game yourself. Very similar to Total Recall. The most interesting clip to me was from Minority Report. I really enjoyed seeing that movie in theaters! Hopefully some time in the future some sort of technology can be used to prevent crimes and murders. I have to say Sci/fi is my least favorite category of movies to watch but I did enjoy seeing some of the connections from sci/fi in the 80's and how close some of our technology is today!

When the high was simply from singing...

To look back over the 20 years that went by from the time Singing in the Rain was produced to when A Clockwork Orange came out, quite a bit had changed. I remember watching Singing in the rain when I was little thinking, look at how pretty the dancing is and how beautiful the costumes were. The film seemed pretty wholesome... jump to today, when watching A Clockwork Orange, extreme violence was a main theme in the movie. I had to remind myself that the reason the teenagers in the film were beating a helpless couple was because they were hopped up on drugs. It's incredible to think, that in just 20 years, a large amount of drugs and violence had come to be acceptable on film. There were several things that had developed in society and technology since Singing in the Rain that contributed to the growth of film. Color was becoming more developed leading to clearer and more dramatic images. Film makers started taking chances on the topics of films. With movies such as War of the Worlds and futuristic sci/fi films, people were becoming more open minded about possibilities. Alfred Hitchcock also opened the door for combining horror/mystery films with the excitement of including the advancements in cinematography.
Two of the most important changes were the fact that drugs and sexual freedom were more evident in society and being incorporated into films. LSD and hellucogenics played a big part in the way images were viewed on screen and some people would purposely take drugs to enhance watching a movie. The development of the birth control pill played a major role in the fact women were becoming more comfortable having sex and being sexual considering they did not have to worry about pregnancy. Just to think... those poor women back in the 1800's getting married to have sex... I bet Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds would never have imagined the change in film nearly twenty years after the classic Singing in the Rain was made.

Evolution of Film Continued...
The process of the development of sound and talking in movies is fascinating. It was cool being able to see the first Vampire movie Nosferatu and to see some of the effects that were used with shadows and acting. I really enjoyed watching the clip from Battleship Potymkin. The camera point of view changed so much and i felt like it gave the movie a lot of depth by using the camera shots with close ups and from the point of view of the victims. Seeing the form the movie took of the montage was so fluid and made me really appreciate how much sound and music can impact what we watch.
Singing in the Rain is one of my all time favorite musicals and it was really fun to be able to watch it in class. I love Gene Kelly and his dancing skills!! Now that we are watching the development of talking pictures, I have a whole new appreciation for the movie! It was also such a treat to see clips from Casablanca! I have been wanting to see it for a long time and now I definitely will have too, it is definitely on my list for the next blockbuster night:)

Evolution of Film

To think how far we've come with technology... today's videos may not have been as exciting as Monday's class but they were extremely fascinating. Knowing that the start of multiple frame photography was in 1877 by Eadweard Muybridge and to see the transition in just a few short years to actual moving picture was amazing. Even though the short clip of Monkeyshines1 wasn't much to look at, just being able to view history that way was pretty incredible. Some of the other machines that seem like they would have compared with our ipods of today were the zoetrope and kinetophone. I never knew that color was hand painted into films...talk about time consuming!! I especially enjoyed the short of the Golden Beetle, the hand painting was beautiful as well as being able to see the different techniques that were used with transparency. It will definitely be a challenge to put our own creativity to the test with the flip books that are due in a couple weeks, especially after watching the last clip we watched in class!

Broadway!!!

Today's class was such a treat! I'm a huge broadway/musical fan and being able to see some clips of shows that I haven't seen before was a lot of fun! I've been very fortunate to be able to see about 10 Broadway shows on Broadway. My favorite show by far is Chicago...I could watch Fosse choreography for hours! As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing more exciting and inspiring than being in NYC, on Broadway, in the intimate setting of a theater that holds so much glamour and history!!!
Something that really stood out in class to me, was the fact that while opera was the springboard for musical theater, the topics and music are very different. That makes a lot of sense but I never really stopped to think about it. I also enjoyed learning about what a "speakeasy" was. It was interesting knowing that many different types of social classes would gather at a speakeasy to escape the prohibition. Even though it was illegal, I have to admit it looked like a lot of fun...I left class secretly wishing I had the voice of Julie Andrews and the ability of a broadway star!