Movie watching strategies and other rants on the death of network TV.

I saw several films at the VIFF this weekend and aside from the lack of air conditioning in the theaters it was quite an enjoyable experience. Baghdad Blogger, was super hack but I guess thats to be expected of war-zone filmmaking. I wouldn’t recommend seeing it not because I totally disagree with much of what Mr. Pax says but because he approaches the subject matter in this sort of aloof ivory tower stance. You know, kind of like the way this blog approaches everything. Hijacking Catastrophe on the other hand is very worthwhile and should be seen. Motorcycle Diaries was really awesome but should have sucked less?! The Machinist was pretty good too.

My strategy for going to movies was changed forever one bored ass summer day when I went to Deep Blue Sea with my brother. We knew that it was going to be one of the worst movies ever made but we were bored so we decided to just make fun of the suckage. The movie ended up being hilarious because we laughed our asses off at the hack nature of the film. Ever since that moviegoing experience I’ve gone into movies just expecting them to really suck. The more I expect them to suck the better they are. Really bad movies become hilarious because they’re so shitty. You get the idea.

And now for something completely similar;

I just realized something today. Ding! Little light bulb , mouse on wheel in head, open the window shutters and scream my stupid ass shit… People are creating more and more media and are sharing all this “media” without any intermediaries. Just look at email, Gartner said 11 billion emails were sent a day in 2001*. Thats 2001!!! I know most of that is spam but how much of it is useful collaboration? An example you ask? Some people over at the videoblogging yahoo group are on the “bleeding edge” of the “edgy” and very street, very gang p2p media/participatory journalism revolution. Their email exchanges are a collaboration in making p2p media a reality. Whether it is video you shot on your dvx-100 or your cameraphone, these people are making it easy for you and I to share media in a collaborative and useful fashion.

These people are making it so that eventually you can use your connected set top box to watch media that has been created by people not corporations from all over the world. Right now the technology exists to have a box on your TV that automatically downloads and allows you to watch independently created content without mediation. The people on the videoblogging yahoo group are creating collaborative videos that discuss the nature of collaborative media creation! This is all happening as I spit this.

I like the idea that Daniel Melinger talks about in his thesis (~ 2 MB pdf) which refers to the difference between passive and participatory media as lean back vs lean forward media. I like lean forward media because it forces two way communication. Jeff Jarvis says “I don’t consume media anymore; I live it.” i couldn’t agree more. I can be listening to music watching TV and posting on my blog all at the same time. Who loses? TV advertising. I see a commercial, I change the channel or mute the TV. “Just wait until TV explodes with alternate means of delivery — via the internet — and alternate sources of programming — the citizens. The death of the network age, so often predicted, is upon us.” I like to think TV is in trouble. My mom always said: Karl Marx was wrong Television (not religion) is the opiate of the masses. I’ve always tried to stay away from television as much as possible. It seems I’m not alone in this either. Many people are turning their televisions off and leaning forward on their computers. Everything I’m hearing about TV is BAD. Just check out the Lost Remote and you’ll be picking up what I’m putting down. Yes, the Dinosaurs will die.

Why don’t we all turn our boob tubes into something useful? Like a way to create media and share it with one another? Its not that far off. I think the weeb has gone beyond the glorified telephone status. Is this all just wishing the weeb was television? I don’t know. I’m just constantly intrigued by the idea the technology exists to allow me to go out and shoot something on my little mini dv camcorder and show it to the world with nobody controlling what I put out. To me that is amazing. Digital divide, bandwidth yada yada… I’m not saying that I could actually do this and have a large number of people see something I have created, I’m just saying its possible. Once the community of video bloggers reaches a critical mass and the tools are as easy as email for sharing video content your TV will never look the same. “Extreme Democracy” here we come! Don’t forget to bring your “Extreme Jello.” **

*I couldn’t be bothered to look up any stats on this, but somehow found the energy to footnote my lazyness.

** If you got the NoFx references you get a gold star. You Punk Rawk nerd.

Finally. Your links of note:

Comedy Central Refutes O’Reilly’s Claim. O’Reilly is such a bundass.

TIME.com: Inside The Debate Strategies

Fear and Laptops on the Campaign Trail

Sarah McLachlan – World On Fire

Insane photorealistic Illustrator images…

Voters Information Guide for the 2004 US Election

youthofbritain’s fun little flash music videos