First, post a link and/or description of a remix you like.
I think this video remix of double rainbow is hilarious. One of my personal favorites. They remix this dude's double rainbow reaction, with a grown a#$ man crying about a double rainbow. They put two video's on the bottom of the screen at one point. one of a man beating a drum and the other of a clown-like dude singing it looks like. They end with them playing instruments and singing about the double rainbow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX0D4oZwCsA
Next, make 3 specific connections between today's reading and the remix. (eg: This remix illustrates Lessig's point about X. This remix reminds me Lessig's claim that Y. so on...)
Lessig says that remix songs are important in community settings. Well the 4 people who put this one together it was a community effort and the community at Utube was very appreciative of it. The video has had 23,086,415, just a couple million short of the original video with 26,560,632 hits.
Lessig also states that ""whether text or beyond text, remix is collage; it comes from combining elements of RO culture; it succeeds by leveraging the meaning created by the reference to build something new" (76)." The inclusion of the video's on the bottom right hand of the screen in this remix align well with this concept. The drums signal a wind up and then the clown with the rainbow shooting out of his hand signals the rainbow. He then shoots himself in the head and catches on fire. Still not seeing that one entirely but it probably represents the mind blowing experience this dude is having.
Lessig also argues that a remix can better argue the point that the original did. In this case I think the length of the video supports this statement. The original video is long at 3:30 and the remix has been shortened down to 1:58. As a photojournalist, when i do soundslides, I keep them between 1 minute and 2 because people tend to lose patience after 2 minutes and will click off of your sound slides. So in this case, shortening the video allows for the message of the video to get out more completely.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
blog #9
First, describe what you see as Lessig's key argument in the Introduction.
Lessig's key argument in the introduction is that copyright laws are extremely out of date, and companies are allowed to go to extremes to try and make examples out of people. Like the mom who had some music playing in the background when she made a video and put it online.
Second, describe the difference RW and RO culture and why it matters to Lessig's argument.
RO or read-only culture, is where people do not participate, or contribute to their culture, but just consume it. RW, or read-write culture, is where people contribute to their culture as well as consume it. Similar to this blog, we can read others posts to be RO culture, but having a blog that we contribute to makes this a RW community.
Third, why does Lessig use Sousa?
Sousa was up against a lot of adversity when it came to gaining money from his work. He argued that the machines that were copying, were creating a culture primarily focused on RO. Now the machines are creating a RW culture, where people are manipulating to make new stuff out of the old. Surprisingly, the companies are now the ones primarily fighting this phenomena, not the artists.
Lessig's key argument in the introduction is that copyright laws are extremely out of date, and companies are allowed to go to extremes to try and make examples out of people. Like the mom who had some music playing in the background when she made a video and put it online.
Second, describe the difference RW and RO culture and why it matters to Lessig's argument.
RO or read-only culture, is where people do not participate, or contribute to their culture, but just consume it. RW, or read-write culture, is where people contribute to their culture as well as consume it. Similar to this blog, we can read others posts to be RO culture, but having a blog that we contribute to makes this a RW community.
Third, why does Lessig use Sousa?
Sousa was up against a lot of adversity when it came to gaining money from his work. He argued that the machines that were copying, were creating a culture primarily focused on RO. Now the machines are creating a RW culture, where people are manipulating to make new stuff out of the old. Surprisingly, the companies are now the ones primarily fighting this phenomena, not the artists.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Blog #8
The first quote i liked is "We're left with the ability to make our own interpretation of a given framework, and are invited to run with it as a kind of game 'system'" (97) When listening to stories, seeing a hug between people, cooking a favorite food that contains a memory, or petting a cat that looked like ours growing up, everything we associate with has a given framework we have created for ourselves.
another one of the quotes I picked was "the selection of sound becomes a narrative" (85)Music is existential in and of itself. It can mean something different to each of us and not change in its form. Even faster beats will encourage us to get up and dance, while slow beats relax and calm. the 4/4 beat is the closest to the heartbeat and provides comfort we may not even recognize. The sound can then narrate our lives or the words can narrate or influence decision making in regard to our emotions.
"the sense of living in a racially divided culture that has lost the ability to think about anything but media entertainment"(109).
This is really true. We are more concerned with the quick dollar through being involved in the money making entertainment industry and all of the fame associated with it. It is interesting to note how we have our 'token' characters however, that are supposed to represent the different ethnicity's. So in some small way it may unite us, but only if the standard of living is equalized between the races. When we have an equal amount of diversity on each ends of the spectrum, then i think we will be equal. However, the focus on entertainment, does not solve these problems. I think they create a false sense of idea that we are all considered equal in this country, through equal media and entertainment representation. Some may argue this isn't even true.
It is not a surprise that Miller like Duchamp and his famous urinal fountain. The Urinal represents everything Miller is trying to convey. Existentialist thought and Miller are alike in that they seek to question the status quo and redefine what is considered acceptable. Duchamp sought to question what art really is and push the boundaries of what is considered a conventional art movement. I think it really is art because he was the first one to think of it and prompt the question, what makes REAL art?
The song i chose to look at was Cupid's Chokehold by gym class heroes. It is a pretty much direct sampling of Supertramp's 'Girlfriend'. The words are even the same, with a tweaked beat. The chorus
Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one Igot
Not much of a girlfriend
Never seem to get alot
and Gym Class Heroes
Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)
Ya. They are pretty much the exact same, except for some Badadada's and an 'I'. It is brought up to date but gets more detailed than the classic supertramp version.
another one of the quotes I picked was "the selection of sound becomes a narrative" (85)Music is existential in and of itself. It can mean something different to each of us and not change in its form. Even faster beats will encourage us to get up and dance, while slow beats relax and calm. the 4/4 beat is the closest to the heartbeat and provides comfort we may not even recognize. The sound can then narrate our lives or the words can narrate or influence decision making in regard to our emotions.
"the sense of living in a racially divided culture that has lost the ability to think about anything but media entertainment"(109).
This is really true. We are more concerned with the quick dollar through being involved in the money making entertainment industry and all of the fame associated with it. It is interesting to note how we have our 'token' characters however, that are supposed to represent the different ethnicity's. So in some small way it may unite us, but only if the standard of living is equalized between the races. When we have an equal amount of diversity on each ends of the spectrum, then i think we will be equal. However, the focus on entertainment, does not solve these problems. I think they create a false sense of idea that we are all considered equal in this country, through equal media and entertainment representation. Some may argue this isn't even true.
It is not a surprise that Miller like Duchamp and his famous urinal fountain. The Urinal represents everything Miller is trying to convey. Existentialist thought and Miller are alike in that they seek to question the status quo and redefine what is considered acceptable. Duchamp sought to question what art really is and push the boundaries of what is considered a conventional art movement. I think it really is art because he was the first one to think of it and prompt the question, what makes REAL art?
The song i chose to look at was Cupid's Chokehold by gym class heroes. It is a pretty much direct sampling of Supertramp's 'Girlfriend'. The words are even the same, with a tweaked beat. The chorus
Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one Igot
Not much of a girlfriend
Never seem to get alot
and Gym Class Heroes
Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)
Ya. They are pretty much the exact same, except for some Badadada's and an 'I'. It is brought up to date but gets more detailed than the classic supertramp version.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Blog #7
First, briefly summarize the overall argument(s) of the deBourgoing piece.
That hip hop is an oral tradition that needs to embrace female rappers to even out the playing field. The article provides tips on how to become a hip hop artist. It suggests branding yourself at open mic nights, be authentic and marketable, keep the unity within the business with your peers, and collaborate with other artists.
Second, briefly describe any connections you see between her argument(s) and the things we discussed in the first half of the course.
Weinberger said 'hoarding knowledge diminishes power'. Collaboration is a trait that the hip hop groups are embracing so they can promote themselves and each other to benefit the business and get their name out there. When they say “We were scholars before colleges” i think of the oral tradition as being passed down in a historical sense, this ties into convergence culture, because now people are writing down the lyrics and recording these songs, therefore they are changing and adapting to new forms of media. This way when they embrace social media and online presence to promote themselves.
Third, the Miller book is a bit tough to read, but do your best to summarize his key argument(s).
It seems, after all the fancy words that miller is trying to state that present considerations for art are influenced by the past and everything we base what we know of now, is essentially collective intelligence. Essentially he relates this to DJ'ing and sampling because basing a new form of intelligence, or a new song, off of what has previously been done is considered ok when it comes in everything else academic, such as quoting, like he does a ton with goethe. However when you apply it to music it somehow becomes not ok.
Lastly, make any connections you can between deBourgoing, Miller, and any of the topics we've discussed in class so far.
Miller talks about the “battle to control and distribute culture” This is like the political nature of information and how those who control this information, control the politics of what is produced and distributed. This control can be harnessed through the use of tags and key words.
That hip hop is an oral tradition that needs to embrace female rappers to even out the playing field. The article provides tips on how to become a hip hop artist. It suggests branding yourself at open mic nights, be authentic and marketable, keep the unity within the business with your peers, and collaborate with other artists.
Second, briefly describe any connections you see between her argument(s) and the things we discussed in the first half of the course.
Weinberger said 'hoarding knowledge diminishes power'. Collaboration is a trait that the hip hop groups are embracing so they can promote themselves and each other to benefit the business and get their name out there. When they say “We were scholars before colleges” i think of the oral tradition as being passed down in a historical sense, this ties into convergence culture, because now people are writing down the lyrics and recording these songs, therefore they are changing and adapting to new forms of media. This way when they embrace social media and online presence to promote themselves.
Third, the Miller book is a bit tough to read, but do your best to summarize his key argument(s).
It seems, after all the fancy words that miller is trying to state that present considerations for art are influenced by the past and everything we base what we know of now, is essentially collective intelligence. Essentially he relates this to DJ'ing and sampling because basing a new form of intelligence, or a new song, off of what has previously been done is considered ok when it comes in everything else academic, such as quoting, like he does a ton with goethe. However when you apply it to music it somehow becomes not ok.
Lastly, make any connections you can between deBourgoing, Miller, and any of the topics we've discussed in class so far.
Miller talks about the “battle to control and distribute culture” This is like the political nature of information and how those who control this information, control the politics of what is produced and distributed. This control can be harnessed through the use of tags and key words.
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