"Mash Up" your life

Copyright. The words itself seem to explain it all, just a little twist, and it is the right to copy something. Although this is quite self-explanatory from the term itself, I thought I might offer you a definition anyway. According to Doctorow (2008, p. 83) Copyright refers to the “exclusive right to control the copy, performance, adaptation, and general use of a creative work”. As a creator this is understandable to have your creative works be under certain rights, as it is your own intellectual property. However when living in this day and age, an age infused with technology, this “control is now somewhere between fragile and non-existent” (Picker & Randal, 2012). With the creation of p2p file sharing sites and their distribution of mp3 files, movie and TV torrents, an intricate web of sharing is created. It is in this web that the source of the piece tends to be lost, and with that the need to ask permission for it. Thus we see many mash ups being created, with samples of original songs compiled into one massive song. As many people might see this as theft, I see this as innovation.   

 

Source: Brain Pickings (recommended watch: "Steal Like an Artist")

According to Austin Kleon's "Steal like an Artist" (above), “nothing is completely original. All artists’ work builds on what came before. Every new idea is just a remix or a mashup of two previous ideas” (Popova). What mash up artists do is transform the single song and make it fit in within the whole picture of their song, letting it seamlessly flow with all other songs put into it. So long as the individual artists are credited, I believe the DJ or mash up artists is an innovator. In my opinion it’s continuing the life of a piece of art, or in this case a song. Addressing Kleon, it’s “saving what we love from oblivion”(Brain Pickings).

Source: "All day - Girl Talk" Youtube"

There are countless mash ups that I listen to that have songs from years ago. If it weren’t for the mash up, I would not have been exposed to such classics. In my experience, listening to mash ups bring life to songs from the past, and helps them exist again in time today. It is not theft if the original artists are referenced, and it is not theft if it is helping the original artists stay relevant.  

Popova, M “Austin Kleon on Cultivating Creativity in the Digital Age”, date retrieved: 25^th September 2013, http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/09/27/steal-like-an-artist-austin-kleon/

Doctorow, C. 2008 Context, Tachyon Publications: San Francisco <http://craphound.com/content/Cory_Doctorow_-_Content.pdf>

Picker R, Randal C 2012, “The Yin and Yang of Copyright and Technology”, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 55, No. 1

Hollywoo-asian

The cross Pacific relationship between the Asian film industry and that of Hollywood has existed for many years. Like any relationship, the two parties exert a certain level of influence over each other. Thus over the years we have seen  “Hollywood becoming Asianized, while Asian film industries are becoming Hollywoodized” (Klein 2004, p. 361).

Let us begin with Hollywood, and how Asia has influenced him over the years. Firstly, in reference to Klein (2004, p. 363), Hollywood has noticed overseas audiences in Asia; dominate a large part of their revenue. Naturally, as Hollywood saw this potential for more profits, they tailored most of their content and form, to suit the Asian audience.  In order to do this Hollywood filmmakers resorted to hiring Asian screenwriters, choreographers, directors and even actors. Most notable in Hollywood films is the work of South Korean and Japanese screenwriters. As they have “strong narratives, fresh ideas, well developed characters and imaginative storytelling” (Klein 2004, p. 367), it is no wonder Hollywood is seeing an Asian influence as a positive influence. Here are a few examples in which you may see a glimmer of the Asian culture, in Hollywood films.

Source: Ppoint Garden

According to Ace Showbiz (2008) such films as Kung Fu Panda, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and The Dark Knight, all have a strain of Asianisation. In Kung Fu Panda, iconic martial arts and Chinese zodiac animals are a prevalent feature within the movie. In Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, China’s prized Terracotta warriors are brought to life.

However the relationship between Asian cinema and Hollywood does not only focus on how Hollywood movies are incorporating more Asian elements. There is another side to coin, where Asian cinema has itself become more Hollywoodized.

 Source: Ace Showbiz

Most commonly known is the way that Asian horror films have been adapted and remade to coincide with the values of Hollywood. Films such as the Grudge, The Ring and They Eye have all been transformed to a more Hollywoodized nature. Most obvious is the way these Japanese films are adapted to an English speaking film. Also instead of the actors being from Japan, they are big name stars. For example, Jessica Alba stars in the English adaptation of the Eye. Furthermore, the actual narrative is Hollywoodized into a more linear storyline.

It is clear that in our globalised world, nations are subject to influence by other nations around the globe. This influence that defies geographical restraints, and introduces new culture, is an influence that is inevitable.

 

 Ace Showbiz, 2008, "A Touch of Asian in Hollywood", 21st September 2013, <http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00017316.html>

Klein, C 2004, ‘Martial arts and globalisation of US and Asian film industries’, Comparative America Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-384. 

Now performing is the spectacular .... "Specular Economy"

The specular economy, in the words of Marshall (2010, p. 498) is a “two way mirror projection on to the screen, and the circulation of and interaction with those images and texts into the wider world”. The most important element of Marshall’s explanation of the specular economy is the mirror’s two-way nature.
According to Marshall (2010, p. 500) it is “important to realize that the mirror of new media is a trick mirror. What is displayed is also interchanged with another audience on the other side of the mirror, where they can respond by Facebook or Twitter commenting”. I will further explain this in line with Goffman’s theatrical metaphor of the self. It is said by Goffman (Orsatti & Reimer 2012, p. 3) that the self is performed on a front and back stage, the front that is subject to the gaze of the audience and the back that is behind the scenes. However the curtain that divides the two is now a two-way mirror, and the audience now have the ability to comment, approve or disapprove of your back stage performance.

As an audience I do this in the domain of Facebook. I approve by liking a certain photo, or if it has captured my interest then I will especially comment on that photo. I validate a friend’s presence by tagging them at a location I visited with them, or I share with them an image I found funny. There is not too much thought I put into my role as an audience, but as the performer I have much to think about.

As a performer on Facebook’s stage I use much thought in selecting the appropriate picture to upload and the right wording of my comments. There is no sense of anonymity, so must present a decent image of myself online. This resonates with Hills (2009, p. 119) “conceptualisation of the self as a presentational image”. I create an image on Facebook by considering not only my own personality, but also by considering those watching my activity. Bringing this back to Marshall (2009, p. 498) ““we are becoming more conscious of how we present ourselves and how others perceive us”.

Image Source: Megan Raddatz

However what does this mean for our self-identity? Are we really being ourselves, or are we building our identity through the approval of our friendship networks? Does this approval unlock different doors to a person we should be?
Maybe we should draw the curtain and let our backstage self rehearse in peace for the onstage performance.  

Hills, M 2009, “Case study: Social Networking and Self Identity”, in Creeber, G and Martin, R (eds), Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media, Open University Press, Maidenhead, pp. 117 - 121

Orsatti, J Riemer, K 2012, “Identity of Self Presentation: from a Representational to a Performative Lens in Studying Social Media Engagement in Organisations”, paper presented at 23^rd Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Geelong, 3-5^th December 2012

Marshall, P.D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502

SIM-ply gaming, SIM-ply participating

From Pong to The Sims, the way we have played video games have never before evolved this much. By being fascinated from moving the white bar to orchestrating the life of a character, participation in the game has changed. This notion is prevalent throughout Raessen’s reading, whereby “computer games are re-mediating participatory culture” (Reassen 2005, p. 24). There is now further interaction with the game, where we are provided more options and more power over our game play.

Out of the three pillars to Raessen’s participation, interpretation explains the process of encoding and decoding. Explained by Hall, this involves media texts to be interpreted in various ways. According to Hall interpretations can fall under dominant readings, negotiated or oppositional. Dominant readings tend to fall under the preferred meaning or how the world should work (Hall 1973, p. 57), negotiated readings will be interpreted more broadly but understood in terms of one’s social experiences, and finally oppositional readings are a stark contrast to the preferred meaning. One example that displays this domain of participation is from The Sims. During the initial stages of the game you are allowed to create your own characters or select a default house. Let us say you are given a default house with two occupants being male and one female. Automatically you make the male find a job and work for the house, while the female will do all the housework, eventually establishing their relationship and furthering it on to creating a baby. 

Source: The Sims 3 Forum

This is an interpretation that is relevant to a dominant reading, whereby the above is your conventional family dynamics. Negotiated readings on the other hand, may make them as just friends as it can be related to their current social situations. As the antithesis to the dominant reading, the player will notice the dominant reading, and actively oppose it by allowing the male to look after the child and let the female to work for the house.

Source: Beyond Sims

In relation to reconfiguration, Arseth explains it through a player’s ability to shape the virtual world through their choices (Raessen 2005, p. 380). Thus, whether it is the female or the male that is selected as the bread maker, they are given an array of career pathways they can choose from, that in turn shape their game play (different promotions, obstacles, work issues etc.).

Suffice to say, with interactivity increasing in the gaming world, it is no wonder that we are capable of spending countless hours frolicking in these virtual realities.  

Source: Cinema Blend

Hall, S. 1973, Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse, Birmingham England: Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham, pp. 507-17 

Raessens, J 2005, “Computer Games as Participatory Media Culture”, Handbook of Computer Game Studies, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 373-388