Large portions of content is now – for free or for money – available online. Whether legally or illegally, content has found new markets in social networks that have previously remained inaccessible or have not been thought of as markets at all. Where piracy is concerned, these are “markets” where there’s a buyer but no one is selling: and this will be a crucial point that emerges from my argument – the seller needs to be present where the consumer is to engage and attract the consumer into a transaction. While this may seem obvious, as is something street vendors do know, in the current online landscape this is often not the case. As Lessig puts it  “YouTube is a picture of unmet demand” (Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, 2009).

In the following pages I will look at the challenges of SNM, focusing on Global Competition in Attention Economy and Decision-Fatigue; and on the opportunities side I will concentrate on Personalized Content Discovery (through content curation and recommendations) and Collaboration Between Producers – for knowledge transfer contributing to the creation of higher quality products and the exchange of expertise and insights to capture new markets within the networks.  For brevity, I will refer to selling movies (and any other type of media products) through SNM as Social Commerce. This name has become popular with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley in the forefront of building these new social platforms and engineering ways to engage audiences.

Challenges

Lets start with challenges so we can in the latter part of this paper see there are opportunities to sidestep or leapfrog these problems.

Attention Economy and Decision Fatigue

Entrepreneurs have built online platforms that connect people together as if they were living in the same tiny village: online hubs where people see and interact with each other every day – and throughout the day. In the largest network of such, over to 800M people can reach each other through multimedia messages (text, video, photos) both in real-time and in slow time (delayed conversation over hours and days). A person can communicate within a self-defined network of a reciprocal friendship model (both participants have to agree to the relationship) or follow someone’s profile as a one-sided decision (privacy settings permitting). This self-defined network is a part of the global network that includes 1/10 of the world population (growing rapidly by the week) and can include people from around the world (Facebook, 2012). The high quantity and quality of network nodes (the people) gives the network’s creator (an through interfaces, the content creators and advertisers) a number of signals to understand in who influences whom – the influence graph; and what someone likes – the interest graph.

From the point of view of ACI, such previously unprecedented direct access to markets and high resolution targeting mechanisms to communicate to individuals within that market, creates opportunities to disintermediate parts of the content production and distribution value chain that have been previously deemed crucial for successful product marketing. However sales are by no means easy, even though the ability to target and personalize a message is unprecedented. Hartley compares SNM to airport book markets: places where mere expertise in written form is not enough to sell a book to someone in the wealthy target group – the business traveler. Grabbing his or her attention in the first place – through publicity and fame – is crucial to making the sale: and thus to the dispersion of the valuable knowledge contained in the book. With a focus on educating the public, Hartley highlights the “importance of signaling in the propagation of public thought”. But the same idea applies to content that is frivolous or “mere” entertainment. “If you want to get an idea across, get attention” (Hartley, 2010).

In the attention economy, people under pressure from information overload and exceeding amounts of content to consumer experience decision fatigue: it is tiring to make decision every second about the movie to watch and where to consume it. People do like to make decisions however they appreciate some guidance. Not unlike the Boss character in the Dilbert cartoon series given a choice between two options so he can feel in charge yet not overthink the choices. This is where content curation and recommendations can lead the consumer to make a decision (discussed in detail under opportunities).

Globalization standardizes culture through large corporations. Industrially produced high-budget blockbuster movies aim at a common denominator between all people to appeal to the largest possible audiences, as the movie needs to fill the cinema seats in every city. At the same time empirical evidence shows cultural identities rising up and reinforcing their identity against the “Hollywood movies” of cultural industries (Throsby, 2008). While the ability of social commerce to bring together a niche from consumers in geographically disparate locations is an opportunity for digital audiovisual goods that don’t need transportation, it is also a challenge. Finding a niche is time-consuming and the web is characterized by content overload in any imaginable niche. What can be a differentiator is production-value: high quality content receives attention. While social network markets are inherently global, traditional content licenses are restricted by content-owners based on national geography, which ignores the idea of a global niche and thus loses a market opportunity.

From the point of view of the filmmaker, there’s a requirement to know it all. Startup filmmakers need to be well versed in business models, digital distribution, marketing, psychology and other disciplines – which leaves less time to focus on the actual writing, shooting and editing of an audiovisual piece. The knowledge required making a film that finds and audience is not necessarily tied to film schools. A lot of information comes from websites and digital books, conversations with other filmmakers around the world, tweets and chats. University is not the access point to knowledge it once was but a facilitator in investing one’s time in the right information and with the right people. The benefit of going to a film school that has few ties to a profitable industry and a route to a working market may be reduced, as entrepreneurialism becomes a requirement in filmmaking when finding a niche for the movie in the global market. Less business-savvy filmmakers make trade-offs in their lifestyles, not having resources to start a family, not affording time to socialize with friends, as related to digital workers described by Gill (Technobohemians or the new Cybertariat, 2007).

Opportunities

Collaboration and Content Discovery

There’s a trend towards more people becoming produsers: consumers like to create more of their own content. Taking the best ideas from user-innovation and with encouragement through rewards makes for increases engaged with the product and creates communities, where people can feel a part of something bigger than their daily lives. Consumers are more active to express their own unique perspective and there’s expectation to be able to interact with media. Interaction makes a product feel more tangible; and something that feels like you can to touch it feels trustworthy. In other words, creation adds meaning to one’s life. As Lessig shows with Japanese schoolgirls with day jobs have active amateur lives. “[They] see themselves as producers and participants in a culture and not just recipients of it” (Lessig, 2009).

A movie is an emotional, experiential good. Filmmakers can start collaboration with the audiences well before the actual shooting of the film through blogging and conversations through platforms such as Twitter. They can continue through a fundraising community such as Kickstarter to create some traction towards the film and test the market expectations. Starting a conversation with the potential audience early means choices that may cost a lot in the filmmaking process but may have little interest to the audience may be avoided and a more strategic approach chosen. However, care must be taken to reveal not much as to ruin the movie for the audience and kill their interest in seeing it.

Content business models rely on windowing to focus marketing efforts on a specific channel for a limited time window. Each window is accompanied by a marketing campaign (sometimes paid for by a 3^rd party, such as the cinema chain where the theatrical release happens). The overall budget for marketing across windows may well be larger than the production budget of the media product itself. From the channel with the highest perceived value – the cinema release – to DVDs, pay TV, free TV, online streaming and downloads. Disney will even release an old movie across generational windows every 10-15 years to attract new young audiences (Anderson, 2004). However the whole idea of windowing (instead of a day and date release) goes counter to the psychology of the contemporary consumer. As consumers we want access to 1) what we want, 2) where we want it, and 3) when we want it. “Access is the mantra of the YouTube generation. Not necessarily free access. Access.” (Lessig, 2009).

Lessig worries we are moving towards a feudal system of copyright that restricts distribution to certain areas. Disintermediation enables content-producers to sell directly to an audience without a distributor through a platform such as iTunes, Amazon, Prescreen or Fandor. However, the question arises if a successful movie needs a marketing budget to match or exceed the production budget, how will the independent filmmaker come up with that capital? Or alternatively, if there’s a way to reach the target audiences without a large marketing spend.

For content owners the geography of the consumer does not matter if they believe a day and date release will reap increased profits in comparison with a windowing model; however as long as the working model focused on mass audiences is bringing in profits, there is little incentive to change it. “Many of our assumptions about popular taste are actually artifacts of poor supply-and-demand matching” (Anderson, 2004).If one can target very specific people with content that is highly relevant for them, perhaps they pay for it?

“[N]etworks create a liquid market at low volume” (Anderson, 2004). It doesn’t matter whether a customer is 10km or 10000km away. “We no longer need to find local audiences” (Anderson, 2004). If there’s someone in Australia interested in seeing an Estonian ski movie (perhaps a group of 12 people coming for a vacation in Northern Europe), how can content industries take their silos of content and connect people across the planet with content in a fashion that is relevant (individual and personalized) to such a degree that they would pay for it? Even at a low number of sales to Australia, there’s not marginal cost to having the Estonian movie available: the cost is in meeting the Australian audience where they are looking for content about Estonia on social networks but without human involvement (that is expensive) but using algorithms. Because the niche is global, marketers can “aggregate disperse audiences” (Anderson, 2004) that are similar in their movie-taste: the same ski movie could be of interest for a group of Canadians coming to ski in Estonia just as well – and together with the Australian group they form a small niche market.

Curation and Recommendations

Curation can be human-powered or algorithmic, in which case it becomes personalized recommendations. Social networks are building out interest graphs that one can target their message to groups of people based on shared tastes and interests. While the technologies for assessing a person’s taste are only in the beginning, they are improving with better understanding of human nature. Social networks adhere to the psychology of a campfire where people gather around a story that lets them feel part of a community and connect with people. Meeting people who like the same thing is powerful and can lead to deeper engagements that is an integral human need. Content in social networks is the campfire around which people gather to enjoy family, find friends.

Content producers can make use of a number of ways of signaling that are fundamental to human psychology. These signals include Artificial Scarcity (exclusivity in time, space, group), Social Proof (endorsement by a famous person, endorsement by a large number of people = movement). An example of time scarcity is limited-time streaming. Prescreen is a Groupon for filmmakers, where a time limit is set for the purchase of a movie, with the expectation that if someone is interested in a product, pushing them to act will increase the likelihood of purchase. It remains to be seen whether this model works, as the company has not released sales data.

Curation is the act of selecting a number of products from a large product catalog and attaching the social proof of that value of the chooser – the tastemaker; and the platform, whether a magazine, a specialized movie website, or another platform, the key is choosing one that is 1) relevant to the audience and 2) recognizable and trustworthy. If the tastemaker is influential, this can affect the choice of a consumer who identifies with the curator. The curator need not necessarily be a national or international celebrity but he or she is a celebrity – someone with an esteemed taste – for his community, his group of followers.

People make important decisions based on aesthetics. This looks like fun; this looks boring. It is important to style content for the target audience. What’s the difference between a YouTube video and a Blockbuster movie? The blockbuster exhales the aesthetic of a product. For niche movies without mass-market appeal and a marketing budget to match, the way is differentiation. Filmmakers need to ask the question how to stand out? Attaching one’s film to a successful series or making it in the same niche as a popular success can help sales through recommendations. “[H]its still matter in attracting the customers in the first place” (Anderson, 2004). A movie without a marketing budget can elevate its presence through association with an existing product.

While there are sites like Letterboxd that allow one to interact with others who like the same film, these interactions have to lead to a central location that feels the most like home for the person. There’s a hierarchy to social networks, with some networks lurking on the edges of the online experience, and the person deciding whether they want to let their new friend closer to their inner circle, which is their central network. For the relationship to develop, that interaction needs to be longer term and more personal. The central network can vary for different people and is the one the person is most engaged with and allows for real-time interaction and an elevated feeling of co-presence on the site. The biggest network to date Facebook creates that experience of continued co-presence better than any other network. This is why interaction on Facebook feels more valuable than on a fringe network that the user is less active in.

Networks are conduits for buzz: the conversations about a media product. References to a single product add up an increase curiosity the more relevant the product is to the person. If the product is not a match, more references will become an annoyance and decrease the likelihood of a purchase. If one is inundated with mentions of the same film across channels, from friends, the news one reads and the movie is also in a genre one likes and has a catchy hook, one is more likely to give in to the social pressure and see the film. Where the investment is small – such as in short viral videos – the person may watch a video even if it’s not clearly relevant.

The value of a recommendation is based on its relevance to the person; it needs to correspond to the interests and tastes of the consumer; it needs to be backed up by social proof; it needs to be at an attractive price; and it needs to come at the right time. Getting all these details right is what makes a sale happen. From the point of view of the sellers, all these details need to be right for millions of people that each receive a personal experience: in other words, the system needs to scalable – meaning it needs to be built on machines and algorithms interpreting data from the social graphs and the interest graphs to figure out a response to the customer. For better access to such detailed information, releasing a single product for free can be valuable. “Free access is a means to gather extremely valuable data about the viewer. That data can translate into much more effective advertising techniques” (Lessig, 2009). Release a single movie in a series of films, such as the last episode of Matrix, may bring viewers for the first 2 episodes as the viewer becomes curious to understand what happened before – or doesn’t want to watch the series out of order and thus will purchase the first 2 episodes at a price. “[B]usinesses can then guide consumers further afield by following the contours of their likes and dislikes, easing their exploration of the unknown” (Anderson, 2004).

Conclusions

How can filmmakers (the audiovisual content industries) find new business models in the digital economy, create new digital value chains that create more value at a lower cost, and make use of access to undiscovered markets through social networks – to monetize their work?

With 800M people on the largest social network out of the 2B Internet users, there are markets for online content that are larger than those found in a small European country, for example Estonia, with a national market where 2.1M ticket were sold for 49 cinemas (74 screens) in 2010 for a population of 1.3M people (Baltic Films). For online content creation, there’s 1) a higher requirement for filmmakers to understand human psychology in marketing their sales in global completion, and 2) high requirement for the ability to find lucrative niches in content consumption. As stated in the title, the social network markets are in evolution. Social networks as businesses themselves are in the business of finding new ways to connect people between themselves and people with businesses. Changes and improvements (and occasional problems) are expected to continue their evolution – but in any case, filmmakers must continue to find ways to be relevant for their audiences wherever they may be.

Benkler, Y. (2006). The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. Yale University Press .

In the following I will give a brief introduction to the field of media economics by

1. defining media economics
2. defining media management
3. explaining the special characteristics of media products
4. giving an overview of the areas of interest for key scholars in the field – Albarran, Doyle, Chan-Olmsted and Picard
5. listing sources for information for further inquiry and study of the field

Moreover, in the final part of this paper, I will briefly discuss future issues of concern for the field in particular regard to crossmedia and multi-platform distribution that opens new creative avenues for transmedia storytelling but introduces new economic and managerial challenges.

Definitions

Doyle’s Understanding Media Economics (2002) lists the key definitions of the field of media economics used in academic literature; for instance Picard defines media economics as a field of study that is concerned with “how media operators meet the informational and entertainment wants and needs of audiences, advertisers and society with available resources” (Picard cited in Doyle 2002). Downing, McQuail, et al. define media economics as a field that applies “economic theories, concepts, and principles to study the macroeconomic and microeconomic aspects of mass media companies and industries” (2004). Furthermore, Albarran provides a rationale for the study of media economics, as the “context within which one can better understand the behavior of media firms, media markets, and consumers” (2002) when answering questions such as why did one company merge with another.

For the purposes of this paper media economics focuses on the wider ecosystem of markets and consumers around the companies. Media management on the other hand focuses on issues within the companies themselves.

Special Characteristics of Media Products

Media products are characterized by a high front-investment, with high risk of failure from lack of interest, as consumer traction is difficult to test for before the actual release, distribution and marketing of the product. Attention scarcity is a challenge for business in general but especially so for media businesses.

Mainstream media economics literature considers media products to have high fixed costs, however Bourreau, Gensollen and Perani argue media products costs to be variable, with a positive correlation between increased production cost and audience traction (2002), pointing to large-budget Hollywood productions. Movies in particular make use of what is known as windowing – each release with a certain timeframe set for each successive channel, accompanied with a marketing push for each window in order to hedge against failure in a high-risk environment, with multiple tries to sell the product becoming an insurance policy. Staggering of distribution is used to create exclusive windows where 3rd party actors (not necessarily the original content producer but license-buyers) act to market the content; the release of the same product in distinct distribution channels at different times aims to maximize profit from each channel and increase positive word of mouth with each release. Because word of mouth can also turn negative, an established film franchise with a new tentpole release is a safer investment than an entirely new movie. Cinemas, international cinemas, DVDs and Blu-ray, television, and online streaming and download platforms such as Amazon and YouTube, each have their own window of release. When the consumer misses the theatrical release, there’s still a chance to capture their attention in the following windows, with free television licensing fees and long-tail DVD sales as the final opportunity. Some argue though, that windowing is a thing of the past and movies should be released on the same day and date across channels to maximize profits (Wilson, 2012).

In order to navigate the changing media markets with confidence, media managers make use of a number of analytical tools to inform their strategic thinking and communicate in a systematic, clear and actionable manner that’s applicable in managerial decision-making and corporate processes of planning and assessment of the company’s competitive advantages in the marketplace. The most common of such tools is SWOT, an analysis of strengths and weaknesses, referring to the internal characteristics of the company; and opportunities and threats, referring to the phenomena outside of the company – the marketplace, the consumers, the other companies, the regulatory frameworks in the country – and increasingly outside of the home country as media products are subject to cultural preferences, which must be taken into account as understanding cultural biases towards a product may affect managerial decisions. While such strategic approaches are valuable in decision-making, Chan-Olmsted also argues that strategy should leave room for opportunism (2009) in cases where a higher degree of flexibility in management may be the more prudent approach.

A media business exists to make money for its owners in a private company or shareholders in a public company. Increased net profits come either from increased 1) license sales while costs remain steady, 2) increased efficiency within the company that decreases costs or 3) from increased market power through corporate expansion. Convergence of media companies into larger conglomerates is a global trend; media companies’ strategies for expansion include international, multinational, shared-language-based, and multilingual global expansion through vertical integration of service providers (downstream expansion), distributors (upstream expansion) or both (balanced expansion). Moreover, through a strategy of horizontal expansion by buyout of – or merger with –companies in the same market and with the same functionality; an example would be a children’s books publisher buying a competing children’s book publisher in order to grasp a larger product portfolio of books at lowered costs and possibilities for creative synergies between storyworlds. Furthermore, companies expand through a diagonal strategy that incorporates aspects of both vertical and horizontal expansion in a comprehensive approach. Finally, media companies  engage in talent acquisitions that involve buying out a company for their skilled workforce and discontinuing the company’s former functions. The key thinker in this area, Chan-Olmsted, focuses on competition between media firms and competitive strategies in a changing media environment (Competitive Strategy for Media Firms: Strategic and Brand Management in Changing Media Markets, 2009).

As business becomes larger, economies of scale are achieved when distributing the product to more markets with the average costs of distribution decreased and the average cost of production also decreased. In production an in-front investments into high quality camera equipment can be amortized over a number of years while it adds value in the production number of media products. In distribution an established brand name can reduce the cumulative marketing cost associated with each media product released by the company as the brand has earned a degree of consumer trust through previous products.

In the digital economy, the marginal cost of reproduction of a digital media is close to zero, which means copies are easily made and distributed. While copyright is protected, licenses for content provide theoretically an easy revenue stream. However, with markets saturated by media products where a substitute product is easily found, attention becomes the highest scarcity, as there is too much content for anyone to watch available. Moreover, because media companies have a double-sided revenue-model, with consumers and advertisers bringing in revenue, in businesses where the consumer pays for content, copyright and piracy become issues for lost revenue. However, in models where advertisers pay no such problems exist as increased viewership is to the benefit of the advertisers (and usually here the content is released for free).

Another aspect of large companies is the economies of scope. Economies of scope are achieved through the repackaging of content for new media products, achieved by companies large enough to have accumulated an archive of assets that can be incorporated into new products, thus saving costs. This applies also to repackaging content for a foreign market or repurposing content for a different use, such as a television show on traffic safety created for distribution on national free television but later repurposed as content for showing inside an educational game used in primary education. Another example is the practice or remaking old Hollywood movies with modern technology. With the studio already holding rights to the screenplay and an existing awareness of the story bringing a built-in audience, economies of scope can be achieved. By diversification into similar products, economies of scope save from the higher costs of original production.

Areas of Interest

As an academic field, media economics is new and growing. Downing, McQuail, et al., cite Miller and Gandy whose work identified “351 articles published between 1965 and 1988 in several key journals [...] that focused on “some economic aspect of communication” (2004). In latter years, because the media system has become global and interconnected, key scholars now have a large scope of analysis, taking a systematic and planet-wide view of the media economy. Because new areas of the world are becoming part of the media market, scholars increasingly focus on emergent media in the African, Asian, and Latin American markets. Albarran focuses on Spanish-language media in the US as a way to reach people in and of Latin American origin. This highlights a crucial point, as even in the age of global interconnectedness, language plays a role in identification, community, and in how, what types of, and whom messages reach. “Thus Hispanic/Latino-oriented media have received increased attention and advertising revenues for their ability to reach a sizeable portion of the electorate” (The Handbook of Spanish Language Media, 2009).

A further branch of interest in media economics is the consolidation of ownership. The trend of an increasingly small number of media increasingly large media conglomerates owning the media, also known as the concentration of media ownership, and the structure and reach of these companies merits its of branch of economic analysis. Doyle focuses on the horizontal, diagonal, and vertical expansion of European media companies, especially in the UK (2002). Downing, McQuail, et al argue that with “increasing consolidation and concentration across the media industries, media economics emerged as an important area of study for academics, policymakers, and industry analysts” (2004), highlighting how media economics can provide quantitative methods and statistical analysis for guidance in financial and policy-related decision-making.

Media economics has only recently started to move towards studying particular companies, and differences between them. As a formerly television-focused scholar, Picard has emerged from a political analysis of the role of media in democracy (1985) towards incorporating more economic study into his argument. Picard analyses companies in detail in Media Firms: Structures, Operations and Performance, showing how media companies that have traditionally worked with a single product (such as a newspaper, a magazine, a TV channel) now juggle a variety of products that may number in the hundreds and span mediums in highly complex portfolios of media products (2009).

Future studies of media economics will have to accommodate for and expand upon the emerging trends of 1) attention economy 2) crossmedia distribution and 3) artists taking a stronger role in their own economic well-being. Albarran and Arrese already focus on the role of time from a consumer, producer, and advertiser perspective (2009), however the latter areas remain relatively un-explored. While some artists are visibly successful at building attentive audiences and large follower-bases, the question remains whether and how these followers can produce enough economic value for the artist so the activity is sustainable. New forms of funding, such as crowdfunding and micropayments, while still minimal in total input of financing, are emerging trends and will have to be focused on more in future economic studies. Studies into artists like the Pixies who sell merchandise and tickets directly through fans, cutting out middlemen with Amazon and Apple Books becoming the entire distribution channel will have to be explored.

Further Sources for Information

Discussions on media economics takes place in academic literature, international panels and conferences, the halls of university buildings, and in the board-rooms of media companies themselves, where an understanding of media economics finds its practical use in steering a media companies in the turbulent waters and changing winds of the global media system. Public companies release annual reports, which list revenue sources, net income, cost structure, and other financial information. Journals provide academic discussion of media economics. The key journal of the field is the Journal of Media Economics, started by the preeminent researcher and founder of the media economics field, Robert G. Picard, and the International Journal on Media Management based in Switzerland provides another scholarly source of reference.

Conclusions and The Changing Landscape

Digitalization of content enables online distribution and changes the options for international media in a number of ways.

Firstly, the globalization of media with content accessible from new entrants like South Africa or Australia on the media market, increases competition between media producers in separate parts of the world, while also increasing global interdependency through increased cultural ties. Secondly, media corporations have more opportunity to open up and re-package content stored in siloes to international audiences through franchising licenses across the planet; for example a show that is popular in the US may create demand in Bulgaria without any targeted marketing as Bulgarians see clips of the series in YouTube; when a legal way to see the show is not provided increased piracy of the content is likely to occur. Thirdly, removal of the middlemen is a threat for distributors, as when there is no need for a traditional publisher and Amazon and Google Books with 1-click-publishers are the largest global platforms that act as a single marketplace where consumers 1) find movies, books, music, and other types of media in a single platform through advanced content discovery engines, 2) can pay with 1-click through an integrated payment processor and 3) have access to advanced delivery mechanics that make the content available independent of consumption device  (iPad, iPhone, iTV), there is little the distributor can offer as added value. The value chain is flattened, with media products created by a single person – a book, written, edited, and published and marketed through an online platform, without the help of a professional team, with lowered barriers of entry with insignificant initial capital costs, while time costs remain the same.

Finally, in a world with more content than time to consume it (the attention economy), the platforms for content aggregation, curation and repackaging, such as iTunes and Amazon but also crowd-powered platforms such as Pinterest, Quora, Facebook, Twitter and others become a crucial part of media economics and the convergence of traditional, single media companies from publishing, broadcasting, movie producing and other media backgrounds into transmedia companies that provide content trough different platforms and across media making use of transmedia storytelling to immerse the audience and gain attention will be an important focus of economic study in media.

I am assuming that in the attention economy, a single type of media (just an album, just a video) is no longer sufficient to capture the full attention of a viewer for a prolonged time. A media product needs firstly to be present, but also high quality and attractive across channels, be it the music store, the app store, or the movie storie. A single brand, best memorable as a character, because people relate to people. Music as the tentpole, because music creates the deepest emotions of all media. I propose a transmedia album that spans the audio, the visual, and the textual, and the participatory, where viewers can play a thematic song themselves, complete with a social network, that facilitates fans to connect with each other.

The Product

Transmedia music:

1. App. An App Album with character backstory.
2. Video. A music video.
3. Dance. Particular dance moves that fans can copy.
4. Wristbands. Physical objects that communicate being part of the group and give superpowers.
5. Live. A live event in a secret location.
6. Game. A participatory alternate reality game?
7. Network. A social network to connect fans together.
8. Websites (Should these be seen as separate platforms?)

• YouTube
• Facebook
• Twitter
• SoundCloud

Character

Character is what people best recognized and remember, thus developing the central character is the starting point from which transmedia extensions originate from. IN PROCESS.

Aesthetics

The character extends into a storyworld with a recognizable and memorable set of aesthetics. Like in Star Wars, where the dusty and scratched metal of every set piece of the movie made the world look ancient and gave it a feel and scope, the transmedia musician needs an aesthetics that crosses platforms.

Storytelling

A number of MIT Media Labs theses touch of multi-platform storytelling, as do a number of transmedia blogs, most notably transchordian, however an encompassing academic analysis of transmedia music has not been undertaken. IN PROCESS.

Existing Transmedia Artists

An incomplete list of existing artists whose work is notably multiplatform, remediatory, or makes use of transmedia storytelling – with relevant analysis, description, or in one case a concert experience, where available.

• The Gorillaz (Laura Sterritt)
• deadmau5 (Selina Fiorini)
• Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails (Mike Monello)
• Soulja Boy (Henry Jenkins, Albert Thompson)
• Lady GaGa (Tom Ewing)
• Jay-Z: Decoded (John Hartman, Paloma M. Vazquez, Mike Monello)
• Björk: Biophilia (Krista Peck, Matthew J. Watson, Evelyn McDonnell, Laura Sterritt)
• Amon Tobin (Laura Sterritt, Mont Watanasiriroch, Peter Kirn, Isabelle Rousset)
• Nicki Minaj (Simon Staffans)
• Kanye West (Sparrow Hall, Tom Ewing, Henry Jenkins)
• Arcade Fire (Suzy Bureau)
• Danger Mouse & Daniel Luppi (Laura Sterritt, Bryce J. Renninger)
• Hatsune Miku (CMF)
• Etc… An evolving list of links can be found on my Quora transmedia music board

This is something I will spend a lot of time thinking about in coming months and years, so I welcome any ideas, criticism, collaboration offers, contacts, etc. Send me an email (or tweet me for the quickest response). You can also reach me by phone: +372 53073123, although I might not always be available to talk; just call again.

Books on Monday

Books left on Wednesday

I started giving away my books already last fall but this is the last of the bunch. Get in touch before january 22, 23.55. These are all in Estonian.

Here’s list of the things that gave me a headache:

Firstly, writing little enough, so as not to describe things that would make a format into a series.

Secondly, out of habit I chose a strong main character and got into writing episodes when I finally realized that every territory (should the format be sold, in theory), has its own protagonist. So how do I solve this? Can I write the protagonist for a format or not? If the protagonist is too recognizable, then does that get into the way of extending into other territories? Perhaps not, if you look at Tyra Banks in America’s Next Top Model and her format franchise around the world.

And thirdly, my format was global in its scope from day 1. Even though this seemed suitable for my theoretical multicultural target audience in Britain (Channel 4, Sundays 20:00), maybe this will be a nuisance extending into other territories? If the show is already global, how do you extend it into other territories around the planet?

So maybe the result of all my work is not a format after all, but something more similar to a BBC documentary series. I know I’ve seen many BBC documentaries and am influenced by them. And I’ve really only followed one format, the aforementioned * Next Top Model. In any case I would appreciate feedback, so if you have something to contribute, please tweet me at @krishaamer or shoot me an email.

Happy New Year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvHMyKaSn7I

Abstract

While the details of exactly how are debatable, it is uncontroversial that mainstream adoption of web as the backbone of daily life and the digitalization of information goods such as books, movies, and in the context of this paper – specifically music – and the related economic issues are affecting the cultural consumption of both the Internet-using and non-Internet-using populations around the world. As of May 31, there are 2.1 billion people online out of Earth’s overall 7 billion habitants (Internet World Stats, 2011) and while precise statistics for actual usage patterns in terms of % of Internet population who are consumers of digital music don’t yet exist, the worth global worth of digital music markets are estimated at 4,6 billion US dollars (IFPI Digital Music Report 2011) without taking into account music that was not paid for. The following paper discusses how the web influences the production and consumption of digital music through increasing transmediation of music and the rise of the amateur music creator.

Transmedia: The Aesthetics of Immersion

Owning to the increasing convergence of art with technology, musical artists have a larger array of digital tools to express their ideas over a variety of media platforms. These ideas may belong to the same story universe and extend the aesthetic of the artist to new audiences in which case the artist is engaging in transmedia storytelling. Examples of musicians extending from only making music across other media abound and musicians of diverse style and content create content that goes beyond their traditional art.

In 2008 the Flaming Lips, an alternative rock band crossed media boundaries and released a full feature movie titled Christmas on Mars, funded by the band’s record producer Warner Brothers and directed by the bandleader Wayne Coyne (IMDB). While the movie was a commercial failure, fans appreciated it and this single act extended the band’s music into the annals of transmedia history, as directing a feature was something bands normally don’t do, save many a musician who starred in movie roles as an actor. A researcher of transmedia storytelling, Michael Monello finds their creativity incredibly inspiring, explaining in the Culture Hacks podcast how the band imagines everything they do “as part of the Flaming Lips world” (Monello, 2011).

In October 2010 another musician, the hip-hop megastar Kanye West released a half-an-hour short film that extended the concept of a music video in length (a common music video is 10 times shorter) and again extended the role of the musician, as West – in addition to singing – was also the director of the film.

One month later, the hip-hop heavy-weight Jay-Z created an alternative reality game for his autobiography Decoded, a book that allowed fans “literally decode the lyrics of 11 studio albums to unlock details about Jay-Z’s personal history and life” (Hartman) where each page of his book were spread over diverse locations in metro cities such as New York and London. The locations were creative, such as the bottom of a pool or the insides of Gucci jacket in a store window. Each location was inspired by the content of that particular page and people could go out and hunt for them in sequence based on clues released online, learning about Jay-Z’s connection to that location in the process. Fans could literally “walk through Jay-Z’s life where it happened” leading to millions of impressions of pop culture coverage (droga5, 2011).

Justin Bieber’s video Baby with 430 million views became the most watched music video in YouTube history early 2011 (IFPI Digital Music Report 2011). Only 3 months later, in May 2011, Lady GaGa whose character holds a gripping presence across both online and offline platforms “was the first artist to reach 1 billion views on YouTube” (Hernandez, 2011). Lady GaGa is the Star Wars of music in the sense of being among the first who’s aesthetic of a baroque character plus perceived authenticity is so unique that it travels across platforms. She is able to “construct an emphatic relation with her fans” (Vellar, 2010). Lady Gaga’s presence has risen to such levels that she dwarfs popular world leaders like the US president Barack Obama by follow count on social networks.

Audience numbers aside, artists create transmedia extensions that also add intrinsic value to their art. In October 2011 Björk released her album Biophilia – a work of concept art – which in addition to music inspires to learn about biology, physics, astronomy and science in general through a series of musical mobile applications for the iPad. Her tour incorporates “educational lectures and nature footage and a publicity campaign that included [...] National Geographic and the scientific journal Nature Medicine” (Mitchum, 2011). Another raising example is Nicki Minaj with her multiple characters however she’s very new so the question is staying power, without mentioning whether she is using multiple platforms for her story but the potential for her characters is there.

A contemporary band doesn’t necessarily have actual singing members; it can be a virtual band, such as Mistula in the Philippines, whose fictional characters write their own music and keep a blog (Sterritt, 2011). One doesn’t have to know how to play an instrument or how to sing but can be in the role of the world-creator and the character-designer. With the aid of the computer one can find a way be a rockstar and look great doing it.

One of the most successful bands to have emerged in the early stages of such development was Gorillaz; a band that didn’t have physical members shown to the audience at all but rather was a “four-piece animated band [that] was created by former Blur front man Damon Albarn and Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett […] They have sold tens of millions of albums, and currently hold the Guinness Record for Most Successful Virtual Band” (Sterritt, 2011).

When creativity is allowed additional freedoms traditional formats start to break down. The web is essentially form free; traditional forms such as a music television shows or a music videos do not necessarily apply. Experience is the design paradigm. An artist no longer creates a piece of music or expresses one emotion but rather creates an entire world. What matters is if the content produced by the artist is something that each member of the audience personally wants to see and whether it gets to a particular person through one of the channels they use throughout the day. What is exciting about the emergence of transmedia storyworlds in music for someone who is not an established international star but just starting out is how one can “just start creating things on a small scale and start building an audience for your world” (Monello, 2011).

Amateurism: The Rise of Everyone

It is not only established artists backed by media conglomerates and with transmedia budgets that are looking for ways to extend across media. Consumers want to learn to produce music too; and many are already doing it – the rise of the amateur culture in the literal sense of the word is a large, notable trend. Amateurs as people who do something for the love of it create music for their own enjoyment and share it online with an audience of friends and followers. While some these amateurs would like to be world famous, the economics of digital music mean that someone with a few thousand fans but no actual buyers or subscribers needs to have an alternative revenue source to survive – such as a paying day job.

Kusek and Gerd propose the “music like water” model, where content is paid for by a single monthly subscription and individual use of each media is without the friction of payment (Kusek & Leonhard, 2009). If music is going to be everywhere and all the time, then the process of paying for something as small as one song each time you want a new song is an enormous waste of time. More money will still be made in live events because it feels real and that authenticity is what people are willing to pay for. One does not pass by the nightclub bouncer with the same feeling on ease that one downloads a piece of music. There are far-reaching question of whether “access will replace ownership […] if you can hear whatever you like, whenever you want to hear it” (Kusek & Leonhard, 2009) and perhaps “[a]ccess is better than ownership” and this makes intellectual property obsolete. (Bertini, 2011) .

Online collaboration greatly facilitates producing music. Music files are relatively small and one project may be perhaps a few gigabytes including all source materials. This makes music easier to collaborate on than, for example, a movie project that consists of hundreds of hours of high-resolution footage weighing in terabytes in source data. Cloud-based filesharing such as Dropbox, Box.net, SugarSync, Amazon and many others allow for storage and synchronization of projects files and the changes each collaborator makes. Electronic music can be produced on an inexpensive laptop computer without expensive musical instruments. People with an entry level Internet connection can collaborate on making a project and share the task of specific part in the digital music, such as beat-making, vocalism or mastering.

The sum of human knowledge on the topic of making music is accessible on YouTube and other parts of the web. The work of the best musicians is free to watch and large numbers of potential collaborators are accessible for creating one’s own music through networks like SoundCloud. An aspiring digital music producer may learn by imitation from the YouTube channel of someone in Canada, Switzerland, the UK or Japan. As long as they share a common language, there’s a way to share experience.

Consumer content distribution happens on the same channels as content distribution by established producers. There’s no difference on the platform: both commercial and non-commercial content are available on YouTube and on SoundCloud. The crucial factor is the quality and personality of one’s work. One needs to be better and different than the millions of others trying to be a musician on the same networks. A German digital musician who went back to producing a cassette, when everything is digital and put together a collaboration with a string quartet of classical musicians to stand out from the “50.000” other digital musicians in Berlin, says “Unique” is the most valuable word in a “crowded environment” (Goldmann, 2011).

One’s career in music is more in one’s hands than in the previous decades. A musician is one’s marketer looking for audiences online. Audience may be negligible for someone who fails to appeal to a specific demographic. But good (in the sense of relevant to a specific audience) content gets discovered. A short timeframe is important because for something to become viral it has to rise to TOP10 lists on YouTube and become a news story on pop culture blogs. If one’s music can achieve this, it may be featured on the front page of YouTube raising the viewer count even further.

In rare cases an audience of millions may appear overnight if the content should spread rapidly enough (2 days in the case of YouTube and Facebook) and become a viral hit on social networks. With the popularity of books like “Your Band is a Virus” a global market seems to be in reach. While only a few succeed, the perceived ease of starting and the stories of success are an incentive hard to ignore. A rare success like the story of Justin Bieber who’s video became so popular on YouTube that a producer had to sign him to a label inspire new musician to try their luck, skills and their talent.

Musicians from poorer areas of the world, such as African countries join in with increased access to Internet due to the process of installing new backbone cables connecting both East-Africa and West Africa with fast Internet. This allows for new sources of inspiration and interesting acts of remix. For example, the music and dance of Kuduro in Angola was created as a remix response to Jean Claude Van Damme dancing in an action film video and was mixed on a laptop by Tony Amado into a music style that took over the Portuguese-speaking world (Antonio, 2007). At the other end of the same phenomenon, established artists like Beyoncé remix dance they’ve seen on YouTube as in her video Run The World (Girls) with a group of Tofo Tofo dancers (Leila, 2011).

Conclusions

More music is being consumed every year and this is probably a rising trend (IFPI Digital Music Report 2011, 2011). With the rise of the web – and increasingly mobile devices – people are going to consume more music than before. The audience around the world who has access to Internet will raise and so will the global consumption.

As movies, music, books, media converge into experiences, new ways of consumption emerge. Music is being consumed at the movies (Flaming Lips, Kanye West); music is becoming a game (Jay-Z); music is released as a series of apps (Björk), music is becoming a virtual reality (Gorillaz), etcetera, and etcetera. Pop culture phenomena extended across media is looking for an audience because in the 16 hours of attention economy of a person’s day the biggest question is whether one has the time to consume your content; every entertainment property is competing with another and to stand out one must be unique and offer something new and exciting. The floodgates are open and success is up to the musical creativity and marketing ingenuity of the artist to build a following.

Democratization of electronic music production http://audioproduction.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2011/04/14/everything-popular-is-wrong-making-it-in-electronic-music-despite-democratization/Eletronic music collaboartion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iffxUAYtzOY

• Files are relatively small and easier to collaborate on than open source cinema. DropBox, Box.net, SugarSync, Amazon Could, Cloud-based file storage and synconication.
• Cloud-based collaboration tools
• First examples of live events broadcast from different location without musicians meeting in real lvie?
• Eletronic music can be producer on an inexpensive laptop computer without expensive musical instruments
• Musicians from poorer areas of the world, such as African countries join in. Kuduro became to be as a remix response to Van Damme dancing on television which was mixed on his laptop into a a music style that took over the Portuguese-speaking world. Or from poorer families in Bigger cities.
• Ease of information acces about live events allows artists to gather an audience for their work and get them to come to the live event (selling tickets).

3 Key Points – Learning. YouTube, Quora, forums – Access to tools. Free programs. Audaciyt. AuidoTool Renoise. Money people starting out use pirated versions of professional tools are become paying users if they are able to become professional. Software companies tolarate pirates because this is their future user base. – Access to people (collaborators). Sound Cloud – Distribution – Where is the money? (live events) Transmedia storytelling in Music http://blog.beautifulandstrange.com/mike-monello-interviewed-about-transmedia-sto Everything they do they think of as the World of Flaming Lips, releasing band Christmas on Mars funded by Warner Brothers in 2008. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363240/ Kanye West directs a 20 minute music video for his album. With the convergece of technologies and mediums, and artist can express his ideas over a variety of platforms that all belong to the same story universe and extend the artists brands to new audiences. Jay-Z Decoded: http://www.transmediaproducer.org/jay-z-launches-decoded http://www.transchordian.com/ http://mashable.com/2011/05/24/lady-gaga-case-study/#14867And-More Björk Björks Biophilia App

And the other one is an analysis of Spielberg’s AI: Artificial Intelligence transmedia storyworld. AI is one of my favorite films and perhaps the most  brilliant science fiction movie of the 2000s decade. The alternate reality game “The Beast” was the first of its kind in 2001 and some argue it has still not been surpassed. Here’s the presentation:

And the other was on entrepreneurship (with reference to mistakes I made, low traction, failure and lessons learned with ARTBART), creativity in the face of challenges (inspired by Flora Gomes) and the power of being completely honest in your communication i.e. radical honesty influenced by Brad Blanton and the Lie to Me television series (incidentally Radical Openness will also be the theme for TEDGlobal 2012). Enjoy.

StartSmart event Wantrepreneur 2 Entrepreneur 1.12.2011. Tallinn, Estonia. View more presentations from StartSmart

Building Tomé into a transmedia storyworld, I set out to create an iPad iPhone app with Titanium Mobile that would feel like a narrative and flow naturally.

The aim of a transmedia storyworld is to create a media franchise by telling one story over multiple platforms, with each platform contributing something unique, such as videos made out of the material that was not used in the main narrative. So the app is not only the website in an app form, but provides additional content to the storyworld.

Hollywood movie franchises and global media franchises have been doing this for years. Look at the content added to Harry Potter, Transformers, Tron: Legacy, Avatar, and others. But it’s uncommon in indie filmmaking. In any case, the iPad is for opening new ways for the audiences to discover Tomé by creating another entry point to bring them into the storyworld.

The App Storyline

I wanted to create a flow within the app, so I chose to  make it work only with swipes; this the only way to control the app. To get this idea across, I first started out by sketching a rough storyline in Balsamiq.

 The Mockup

The Assignment:  1) Create high-fidelity mockups of your application’s user interface 2) Link the screens together in a state transition diagram 3) Publish results on your team blog 4) Present results to other teams.

The App

The app is quite not ready for App Store yet however you can check out the app’s website and see the source code on GitHub.

The one desire that emerged was to somehow put Sao Tomé e Principe on the world map for everyone to see

Coming from a tiny country myself I can empathize. In Estonia we’re just over 1 million and I’ve felt what’s it like to want to get to the big city. I always wanted to get my work out there to the world where it’s happening as well.

So an idea was born. To create a sort of a Global Voices for artists. An online magazine that would highlight awesome things created in places that remain under the radar of global media. Films, paintings, sculptures, and all sorts of creative projects.

We would publish stories with interesting people who are trying to make something happen, create value where there was nothing but people and an idea. We would do that all over the world, using a network of young people communicating over the Internet with Skype, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Just as Global Voices, the site would function as a resource for larger media to pick up stories. But instead of politics, the focus would be on the arts.

We’re in the very beginning, because this is nothing more than an idea in my head. Know someone you think would love working on this? Drop me a line.

Trailer for my upcoming documentary, Tomé that inspired the idea. (Hint: go to the official website to see the subtitles.)

The film was Flora Gomes’ Udju Azul Di Yonta and it became one of the influences for my documentary.

Before making Tomé, I was looking for Lusoafrican films to get into the mood; As African cinemas go, Guinea-Bissau is not well researched and there’s not that much about written about its history in film. So it seemed interesting.

According to IMDB 9 films were made in Guinea-Bissau out of which I’ve seen 5.

Flora Gomes. Gomes hails from Guinea-Bissau but lives in Europe (Lisbon and Paris) and is the country’s most influential (and perhaps the only active) film director.

1995 - A Mascara (Haven’t seen.)

1988 - Mortu Nega, also viewable in the African Film Library. (Seen.)

1996 - Po di Sangui (aka L’arbre aux âmes or Pau de Sangue or Tree of  Blood). Viewable in the African Film Library. Review on New York Times. (Seen.)

1992 - Udju Azul di Yonta (aka Les yeux bleu de Yonta, Os olhos Azuis de Yonta, The Blue Eyes of Yonta). Viewable on African Film Library and MUBI. (Seen.) Synopsis: The daily life of a series of characters in a country, Guinea Bissau, rebuilding after long years of war. The focus is mainly on the beautiful and irreverent Yonta, a girl of the new generation.

[2002 - Nha Fala. in parenthesis, because even though this is a film by Flora Gomes, it was filmed in Cape Verde and Paris, as Guinea-Bissau at the time (2001) was in political turmoil. (Seen.)]

Woyingi gives a good overview of Flora Gomes’ early years, and the influences of Ousmane Sembene, Santiago Álvarez, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, and Chris Marker on the development of his career as a film director. Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike interviews Gomes in his excellent book Questioning African Cinema: Conversations With Filmmakers.

Others

1. Fanado by unknown (1984). (Haven’t seen.)
2. N’tturudu byUmban U’kset. (Haven’t seen.)
3. N’tturudu by Umban U’kset (aka The Mask) (1986) (Haven’t seen.)
4. Xime by Sana Na N’Hada (1994) 6.2/10 (6 votes) (Haven’t seen.)
5. Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil (1983) was also partly filmed in Guinea-Bissau. (Seen.}

Film editing on PC is a pain, because you’ll be doing it alone.

If you want to collaborate with someone, you’ll fast find yourself stuck. I’ve been a PC-user since I was 3 years old so Premiere was what I had installed. I’d started editing on Premiere, happily back from shooting with 35+ hours of material to cut for Tomé,

But here in Tallinn, Estonia, I soon  discovered myself on a deserted island with no other PC-using editors with Premiere to be found anywhere. I asked 25 people I knew, asked Facebook, contacted every editor I could find in Estonia that had a listing on IMDB Pro. But seemingly none of the editors in town were using Adobe Premiere. At least none of the editors I was able to contact. They were using Apple’s Final Cut instead. So unless I wanted to edit alone, and wanted to collaborate with an editor – and first of all, transfer my footage. I’d better get a Mac.

So is this global? How many users does Premiere have vs. Final Cut? I mean even on Adobe’s promo showcase of Premiere CS5.5. you’ll see the indie filmmaker Gareth Edwards working all alone.

Ok, so maybe I can continue working on my PC while my editor works on a Mac?

No. Interchangeability doesn’t work that well. On international projects where HDs need to be shipped across borders and continents, small mistakes like this can cost weeks to fix in post-production time. Reviewing the work of your editor (who’s obviously will be working on Final Cut) means that you’ll have to learn to use a Mac anyway.

But in reality when formatting your HD into exFAT you need to make sure to set the cluster size equal to or less than 1024 bytes. If you  set the value higher you’ll get a “unable to mount” error on a Mac. I haven’t found much information about this online, however this thread on Apple Support describes the same problem.

I lost a lot oftime on this small error. I hope you’ll be able to avoid it.

Also check out Vincent Laforet’s blog to see how to switch between a PC and a Mac properly.

I want to look back at my experience at film school.

But also look forward towards my academic and artistic aspirations. Perhaps it’s helpful for other students and prospective filmmakers.

I was 20 when entering college. In Estonia university scholarships are state-sponsored, paying 100% of your tuition fee but no living costs. Tallinn University offered me 2 scholarship. My choices were BA in Anthropology, a course open for the first year at the newly opened wing of the university, spearheaded by an Argentine professor Lorenzo Cañás Bottos. And BA in Audiovisual media at the Baltic Film and Media School, taught in English (opened in 2006, the year before) and led by the Estonian filmmaker and media executive Hagi Šein.

My connection to anthropology had been studying one semester at the Salta National University in Argentina as a YFU exchange student; while I was technically in high school, I was allowed to attend classes as I showed lots of enthusiasm to the subject, and loved studying the local indigenous cultures and languages. But back here in Estonia I was not really that enthusiastic about studying Estonians..

My connection to film had been writing and taking lots of photographs. Since I was a kid I’d written short stories and people had always complimented me on my writing and my photographs. My understanding was that this was exactly filmmaking was about – writing with images. So I chose film.

While I completed a number of projects in school, now after a three-year course, I feel pretty much back to square one. I don’t know what I want yet.

Master’s Choices

Werner Herzog, an influential german director has spoken out against film schools. And so have other notable people in film, saying that what you really need isn’t school but life experience, and experience on the set.

There’s even a movement called NoFilmSchool, that aims to give you all the resources you need to make a film without an actual school; plus great pools of free information on forums, Quora, and many blogs to name only a few. Also, if you’re getting an MFA not out of interest in self-development, taste for culture, and passion for the arts, but to get a job - an art degree is probably not going to be much of help.

But as Erika Dreifus has said, figuring out one’s own goals, strengths, and weaknesses is something to do before applying anyway, and one should try to find a match between one’s individual experience and ambitions with a given program and its offerings.

“what seems wonderful (or terrible) to one person is likely to look very different to someone else (again) depending on the past academic, professional, and personal experiences each person brings to the table and what his or her goals or expectations may be.”

I feel most at home in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries (and speak the languages). So on a gut level, the best place to continue for me would probably be Brazil. But to make an informed choice and also out of plain curiosity, I’m researching all the programs out there to see what’s actually available.

Education is expensive and I’m pretty much unable to pay even low tuition fees and thus need a full scholarship. This is most difficult for an international student to attain in the US, and perhaps easiest right here in Europe. I’m listing the application fees (it’s actually expensive to send in your application) and approximate tuition fees per year (where available, and rounded off to the closest hundred).

My Preferences. 1) Taught in Portuguese or Spanish or English in a city with a big Latin and African community 2) Easy access to students outside the film world, studying vastly different tracks cross-pollination and for inspiration 3) Big city.

The Torino Piemonte Film Commision in Italy has a long list of film education worldwide, more than covered here and including education from professional diploma courses to undergrad to graduate education. There are also a number of programs available in documentary filmmaking, as listed by The Independent magazine.

The List

So I decided to take on this challenge analytically and help out myself and other future MFA students. The following is a list curated by yours truly with a choice of  master’s programs in film directing and producing around the world, both in fiction and non-fiction (documentary) cinema, with the most concise but helpful comments I could find somewhere or ask for over social media, available here

Please feel free to add more resources and links in the comments. Also, if you’re a film student, fill out this survey about your experience. This is a work in progress.

Conclusion

There are many film schools to choose from. But its worth to remember, in the end, it’s not about the school. It’s about you, the people you meet, and the things you do together. Thanks for reading.

kris.haamer@gmail.com

So today, thanks to a Quorian called Jane Huang, I got my answer – “The Piraha”. It’s a tribe in the Amazonian, that have a “sufficiently simple language that they can whistle it”. Apparently, it’s very useful for communication while hunting in the jungle.

The Pirahã are not the only people to use this kind of whistled language.

There’s an in depth article on this fascinating language by the anthropologist Daniel L. Everett. There are more in Greece, and the Canary Islands. Getting good answers to such random questions that pain me is why I love Quora.

UNESCO whistled language video from the Canary Islands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgEmSb0cKBg

Alex is the main character’s of my documentary, Tomé, replacing Ronny Key, who was able to go study in Lisbon, and thus stopped participating in the film.

How would that change the story?

I can easily get lost inside my own head. So I keep in mind 4 things that are sort of like my personal checklist. I let my thoughts fly around freely but I try to keep stuff (more-or-less) structured using the following.

One – Coherence. Do the images (and pieces of images) in my head add up to a story; a coherent narrative on the screen? How many images are there. What are the images that are missing. What is the right sequence for the images.

Two – Intensity. Can I feel the character? Do the images accurately convey the emotional highs and emotional lows the character experiences throughout the story?  - So the viewers too, can feel.

Three – Change. Does the story take me on a journey of discovery? If there’s nothing new I’ve learned by the end of the film, if there’s nothing new the character has acquired, why watch it. Every film is about some sort of change – be it inside, or outside the character.

Four – Originality. Is this a new story? If it isn’t, how do I differentiate the film? There are so many others! A change in setting may be enough to give new life to an ancient story.  A change in the circumstances of the character.

But what if…?

A group of boys wants to play football but they have no ball. So what do they do?

They resolve to make their own football balls. How? Simple – out of condoms. There’s plenty of them; in fact international aid organizations send truck-loads of condoms to Mozambique. It’s an easy-access material. I’ve seen a similar story myself. With surf boards. A few years back one Australian surfer left his board in the southern part of Sao Tomé. And now, a few years later the beach is filled with kids on (admittedly imperfect) copies of home-made surf boards – carved out of palmwood. If you really want to, you can do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErYcScPcaHg

I want this film to get made. 

For this to happen, people need to imagine your film in their heads.

For whom?

Each audience is different. Know who you’re presenting to and tweak your story accordingly.

How?

Presentation needs structure. Keep in mind clarity, enthusiasm, and humor. And of course – the story you’re telling.

For a film of 1.5-2 hours, a comprehensive presentation lasts 15-20 min. For a short film of 7 minutes the pitching lasts no more than 1-3 minutes.

Personality.

Everything starts with a passion. If there’s no passion there’s no character. Without character there’s no conflict. Without conflict there’s no story.

Remember your conflict. If the personality does not have (a) conflict(s), (s)he’s plain and boring. Cinematic characters are made out of rich concentrations of personality treats.

The character has a world. The world has values. Values are contradictory. This creates conflict.

Your character will encounter difficult situations. Dealing with these situations in a memorable – emotional – way, is what wins the empathy of the audience.

Who, How, Where, What, Why, When.

I really like Instragram. It makes mobile photos look great. And easy to share.

This is me saying hi from my (old) Lisbon bedroom.

UPDATE: I’ve uploaded the slides and some key learning points.

Images become bits in a story, each lasting only an instance, creating incredible emotions.

Making us feel.

Today these experience scale up with immersive sound,  CGI graphics, and 3D imagery.

The possibilities of the film medium are endless. They are limited only by the imagination and creativity of the producer.

New cameras are small and sensitive enough to be taken to places like North Korea, Uzbekistan and Somalia where filming has been restricted.

Media is no longer separate from reality, it has become a our virtual world. Although invented by storytellers, we’ve begum to take it for granted. It’s now as real as any other experience.

Cinema allows me to captivate the viewer in ways impossible through other media. Stories that are important should not be left untold.

- Mamao, Banana, Abacaxi, Ananas. 

- Manga, Laranja, Lima, Limao. 

- Safú, Izaquente, Maracujá, Goiaba.

Sent from my iPhone

On a few occasions I’ve been able to stay longer. For a year or more. Estonia, Argentina. Portugal. 

When I was a kid, one of my dreams was to live in a different country each year.

My dream job description was to travel and create photos for international publications such as the National Geographic. I was a big fan of the National Geographic.

Anyway – didn’t happen, yet.

People were always complementing my photographs. So I decided to take my dream one step further. 

Directing.

Sent from my iPhone

Making film is a personal journey. An adventure full of surprises, learning news things about myself and the world, and making new discoveries. 

I sometimes get bored. I can even get depressed and uninspired. And then no-one is happy. The game becomes predictable, and my childlike nature dies.

I don’t think you can please anybody by becoming boring. 

I don’t think you can please everybody without becoming boring.

Sent from my iPhone

I went to S. Tomé with the idea to produce a documentary story / road movie about a girl looking for a job traveling around the island in yellow taxi cab.

Then I changed my mind. As the startup people say, I pivoted the project. When I came across and aspiring artist trying to make something of himself.

I guess this was a question I was struggling with myself.

1 – Can you tell me about your work?

2 – What are the themes of your paintings?

3 – How did you become an artist?

4 – How would describe your style?

5 – Who are your influences?

6 – What do you want to happen still today?

7 – Where do you want to wake up tomorrow morning?

8 – What keeps you going? What inspires you?

9 – Advice for aspiring artists?

Sent from my iPhone

- Trash on the streets

- Holes in the streets

- Unwanted attention on the streets

- Looking for a transcript-writer for the same film. Portuguese language skills required.

One. I want to be National Geographic.
Two. I love fashion and want to learn more about it.
Three. This is an entrepreneurial story, with a flawed character.

- Ronny Key (Fashion Designer)

- Eliseo (Guide)

- Antonio Maio (Photographer)

- Edson Carvalho (TVS Director)

- Luis Beirao (Navetur)

- Cristina (Driver)

- Jeremiah (Water & Sanitation)

- Adhi Khady (Hairdresser)

- Paul Coconut (Shopkeeper)

- Ignacia Carvalho (Kuduro Dancer). Says from Sambizanga, Angola.

Olavo Amado (Painter)

- Katya Aragao (Journalist)

- Marc Bertrand

* – Claudio Corallo

* – Niccolo Corallo

- Agostinho Doria

- Bruno Frances (Artist)

- Paulo Franco (Pestana)

- Goody Godofredo Furtado (Mama Africa)

- Joel (Guide)

- Ceutonia Lima

- Eduardo Malé

- Margarida Marinho (Volunteer)

- Arthur Pinho (BBC STP)

- Joel Afonso Dos Ramos – Turist Guide

- Eliseu Alvaro – Tourist Guide

- Jeremias Reis Dos Santos – tüüp, kes varastas

Corallo. Paraiso de Grelhados, Contentor Azul, Casa Ameral, 2 Bandeiras

- Peixe e banana cozido ou frito

- Peixe Andala, Sangue Vermelho, Voador, Bonito,

- Buzio de mar, buzio de mato

ARTIST

7 hours of Interviews with 7 Santomean artists. The story of the artists is the story of the country.

Kwamé Sousa

René Tavares

Olavo Amado

Alex Keller

Nelito Pereira

Ronny Key

Osvaldo Dos Reis

TODO:

- Nezo

Man clipping nails in a metro train. The he guards the nailclipper in a special leather cartridge. And hands it to a fellow passanger who saves it in the breast pocket if his brown suit.

I don’t know why that annoys me. Somehow I’d like him to d his nail-clipping in the privacy of his home.

• Appfricast. Pretty infrequent and at times lacks focus, but Jon Gosier brings you some nice tibits from the tech scene in Kampala, Uganda. Plus some stories fomr Kenya, and other neighboring countries.
• Africa today. News from Africa. BBC has nice range of Africa-related stories overall.

One. People at #twitlis tell me it’s way easier to get a job at SAPO (the local ISP that seems to swallow all the talent) than to strike out on your own. The few startups that were started, came from a time of relative wealth a few years ago.

Two. Pedro Gil Candeias tells me there’ just no startup culture here. Portuguese were entrepreneurial during the discoveries, where the country was one of the largest imperiums ever seen.

But somewhere on the way they lost it.

Dancas do mundo 7.

Kohiba bairro alto

Ateneu. Kizomba. Mil y uma danzas.

Edsae. Cais do sodre.

Colombo. Teatro de luz. Circo de danza.

Early morning walk on the beach in Caparica.

I could imagine living here for a summer.

Longer, and I believe I might get bored.

It has the content  relevance to me, that makes FB great. While expressing useful, encyclopedic information, instead of personal, emotional updates.

It’s fucking fast and UI-responsive.

The fact that I can subscribe to any topic that grabs my curiosity by the balls, makes it incredibly addictive. I’m literally checking for Quora updates like I do on Facebook.

Jom Ou L’histoire D’un Peuple

Dole

Jaguar

Laada

Petit a Petit

Pousse-Pousse

Alexandrie Encore et Toujours

Le Destin

Mobutu, King of Zaire – An African Tragedy

Mobutu, King of Zaire – Quest for Power

Mobutu, King of Zaire – The End of a Reign

Nothing But The Truth

I made a great big list here: http://www.listal.com/list/african-cinema

I never had any hard data on which to qualify the veracity of this statement. How many films do I see. And how many is enough anyway?

Thus I decided the best way to respond would be to list all the films I’ve seen by director and genre. In addition to satisfying my opponents, the list also gives me an opportunity to examine my influences in the film.

Using raw data.

This little project also gives me the opportunity to rediscover some of the films I’ve seen and liked – with new eyes. And when I do, perhaps I’ll be inspired to write a few words of critique or commentary.

Here’s the link:

http://krishaamer.listal.com/owned/movies

Tweet comments

Lunch Life-Cycle

Can we do Twitter / FB Auth witout leavingthe page?

• Add links to icons on http://www.wannalunch.com/about/partners

Twitter feed on site

Review Twitter message texts and events

newlunch-event: new #wannalunch [topic] http://bit.ly/coIRrf    i.e. new #wannalunch sharing my impressions from TNW conference http://wnln.ch/113

updatedlunch-event: if no LIKERs: updated #wannalunch [topic] [URL] if LIKER’s: updated #wannalaunch @LIKER1 @LIKER2 @LIKER3 @LIKER4 @LIKER5 [URL]

newlikelunch-event: @HOST, great topic! I #wannalunch [URL]

matchedlunch-event: @LIKERx, glad you like it! let’s #wannalunch [URL] OK?

further enhancement possibility to let user choose from prefabricated text or let him write his own instead of “great topic!” and “glad you like it!”

implement our own link shortener for better link visibility i.e. http://wln.ch/113 –> http://www.wannalunch.com/lunch/show/113 – Can do this w/ bitly pro

register wln.ch domain at http://switch.ch/

Upcoming DEV

1. Login Redirect aft. Twitter auth
2. Timezone: Let’s go GMT 0 & Add / Subtract Time?
3. Last Comments: Zeta Unpublished Live. So we can respond faster. Ideas? (devs: need ‘timeago’ helper code)
4. Sort Upcoming Lunches ASC by Date. (Rewrite loop in Controller instead of View)

Design TODO

1. Liis: Mockup for new mainpage (listing by date)
2. Garage48 Logo
3. Liis: Icons For I Pay / You Pay / Split
4. Liis: Design For Selected Lunchers
5. Profile URIs  e.g. wannalunch.com/twittername
6. Update Lunch

1. Tags. Lunchers to find Right Lunchie. (e.g “startup”, “weather”)
2. Tag Clouds
3. Tags for Twitter Notifications > “somebody: #wannalunch about startup?”
4. Location Awareness. Launch Next Big City  (TripIt, Dopplr, Foursquare, Gowalla, etc.)
5. “previous” button to lunch browsing?
6. Search: Username, Topic
7. Lunches as List – Better Overview
8. TOP 20 Lunches
9. Upcoming Lunches On Profile
10. Facebook, LinkedIn Integration
11. iPhone, Android Apps

Business DEV TODO

• Concept & Rules for Community-Created WL Cities
• Engage Celebrities to endorse wannalunch ++> make sure we have a pipeline of celebrity announcements (check below the celebrity endorsement schedule)
• define criteria for ideal WL restaurant partners that would appeal to our target group.
• define target group
• Help/Tips for Lunch Topic: be specific with what you want to achieve/discuss. avoid general topic descriptions like “Elust, asjadest, ja üleüldse”.

SEO TODO

• Add Minify
• Profile Usernames

MARKETING TODO

• 1500 users Campaign on FB – a lunch for free 4 two people
• Merchandising. T-shirts, cups.

What’s your approach?

Xis a dance & a music. What is it to you?

What are you live shows like?

Who are your influences?

How did the band get together?

Whats the new single X about?

Tell us about the video?

What can we expect from your album?

Who else are you into at the moment?

Singapore

Taiwan

Japan

1) User creates a lunch

2) User clicks Lunch button expressing an interest in the lunch

3) Initiator accepts lunch interest

twitter messages

the maximum size of twitter messages is 140. We want our messages to max 120 making provision for users to add comments RT’ing.

1) #wannalunch with me? See more information http://XXXXXXXXX

2) @USERNAME1 #wannalunch with you http://XXXXXXXXX

3) @USERNAME2 and @USERNAME1 #wannalunch http://XXXXXXXXX

facebook messages

TBD

Corporate

WL w/ corporate features, eg: skype.wannalunch.com

Profile inc. Skype name, initiator has link to initiate Skype chat

Admin UI foir managing restaurants and deals

Closed Corporate user group

Subs. P. Month of 100€ (up to 100 employees), 500€ (up to 500 employees), 1000€ (up to 1000 employees), more employees upon agreement.

3€ transaction fee per agreed lunch

http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-Staff-Who-Socialize-Together-More-Productive?&id=2871902

Auctions

Celebrities, knowledge leaders, etcetera can host a paid lunch that will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Example: E-Marketing specialist sets lunch topic to learn new tricks of mobile marketing.

Signups

Restaurants sign up. Users set lunch date, city. Restaurants bid for offer. User accepts one offer, WL gets commission

Ads

Restaurant ad: free lunch @ Clazz if you’re 51st luncher. More clients, Restaurant pays WL for ad. When we have more active users.

NextWeb Ads

We need sth really cool that Oliver can share @ nextweb, garage48 and skiteam are also going there and they just ordered a bunch of corporate namecards, but i guess maybe we could figure out sth cooler – i was thinking about badges with different slogans: wanna lunch?, never eat alone, eat to meet, lunch me!, lunch @ wannalunch? etc etc. these would be cool to share, they are not person-related, people would wear them if they’re cool – that means even more adv 4 us, it gives the idea and is genius. or sth similar, but it should be more interesting than a namecard

Profiles

Same as twitter un, so my profile address would be www.wannalunch.com/tsukts good to spread, maybe i’d like to share this address @ a badge or sth. as a design e.g wannalunch logo and y username. so everyone can see i’m up 4 lunches

SMS

Very comfy if i can bring out my lunch with a sms – maybe i want to go 4 a lunch quickly or i reallly could use an advise in some topic and i would like to pay 5-10 krooni to bring out my lunch for one day – i should have this opportunity – maybe a brought out lunches page or sth

Today’s Lunches

Maybe i want to go to lunch today at 2 – it should be a way to filter lunches or have a today’s lunches page with all the lunches created for today

Import old posts or no? By import I mean posts I’ve written on paper. Or have somewhere on Google Docs. Or buried somewhere in a folder.

OK.

I find it fascinating to go back to some date in 2003 and have a telescope into that deep past of my own thoughts.

Stuff I’ve written at school. Random notes I find interesting. Even old email conversations. The key here is curation. Choose what you want to include.

When I read my own stuff in a systematic, chronographic order, I can see how I’ve been thinking along similar lines for years. 

In tech-relates notes (on my iPhone, Google docs, email, whatever), I’m frequently talking about using some  service before anyone. I’m always the alpha or private beta user. 

Example in point – I was checking in with Brightkite (alone!) before Gowalla and Foursquare came around. When they did, I was the first in the country.

None of my filmmaker or photographer or artist or fashion designer friends are using these services. 

So I hang out with the tech crowd.

But I never write about it. 

Yes, do import.

Helping people meet is one of those quintessential things that is valuable and always will be.

You want to keep your network healthy, seeing friends, having an argument over some topic, business networking. 

There are members that you see regularly, but there others that you don’t. A lunch is a nice way of renewing your relationship with the latter. Being approachable.

Such dinners are suitable for automatic scheduling. You declare that you’re open to have a lunch with a friend every tuesday and thursday, and the application would provide matches on the basis of time, location etc.

You want to expand your network or simply meet someone interesting?

Such dinners are one-time events and require more preparation. You declare your interests and conditions, and the application would open up an auction where the friends of your friends or everybody can bid. Once the auction expires, you examine the bids (the application can assist you in this by enabling filtering by social profiles etc.) and pick the winner.

SLOGAN: Eat-to-Meet inspired by the book “Never eat alone” – Keith Ferrazzi

Bon Appetite

————-

2.version of ABOUT

Explore the page and set up social breakfast, lunch or dinner with the discussion topic that you like and start your quality network today.

lunch@wannalunch.com

Eeating is going social

• Networking is vital. Knowing right people helps you to be successful in life.
• Social eating builds your social capital. Being social matters, most likely it will boost your success.
• Discover new places. Go to new places and you might find something really cool.
• Simplicity matters. Overcomplex web applications and relationship builders lessen your effectiveness.

PRESENTATION

WE SHOULD ADD CREATION OF A LUNCH FIRST

http://wannalunch.com/

• trial of of corporate WannaLunch at Skype

• featured restaurants
• premium closed group version
• like a priceline for restaurants
• auctioned launches

• we are engaging celebrities to endorse wannalunch
• launching city by city
• adding location awareness (TripIt, Dopplr, Foursquare, Gowalla, etc.)
• corporate WannaLunch
• developing mobile clients

+++++++++++++

People say ERASMUS internships are beneficial for you.

Filmes do Tejo (their website account is suspended, which doesn’t look good), Filmes Telecine, LX Filmes, Outro Mundo (that’s a great choice, as one of the founder, Afonso Alves has experience filming in Sao Tome), Plano 6, Clap Filmes, Midas Filmes, Blablabla Media, Take Cinema Magazine, and Help Images.

Have you got any experience with these producers? I’d love to hear some personal experiences.

Apart from film producers, I’m applying for a number of other organizations, that fit my interests and have a media production department. These include Greenpeace Portugal and Amnesty Portugal.

In Lisbon I cannot hear my ipod in the metro.

Sound level too high in holmes place (my gym) is too high, so I cannot hear ipod.

Wannalunch is a place for setting up lunches.

1) wanna Lunch?

2) tweet it!

3) have Lunch!

Show the video 30” screencast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzintphVjkc

Call to Action: You can see it works. Try it out now.

Tallinn go crazy.

Background

Inspired by the book Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi.

Team

Oliver Wihler

Kris Haamer

Liis Peetermann

Erki Lipre

Kresten Buch

Sven Kirsimäe

Riivo Kikas

Luiz Ribeiro

Announcement

• trial of of corporate WannaLunch at Skype

Revenue Model

• featured restaurants
  • Clazz Jazz Club, Silk Sushi Bar, Bossanova Corallo, Fahle Restaurant, Cafe Tao, C’est La Vie, Island Cafe, Cubanita, Ombra, Bonaparte, Chakra, Cafe VS, African Kitchen, SushiCat.
• premium closed group version
• like a priceline for restaurants
• auctioned launches

Words

We chose the following words that portray wannalunch. Awesome, Beautiful, Very Nice, Very Good, Incredible, Simple, Wonderful, it Works, Today, Now.

In English

Alamy Stock Photography Model Release Form

iStockphoto Model Release Form

In Estonian

Dreamstime Model Release  Form (For Minors)

Dreamstime Model Release Form (For Adults)

You can post alternative release forms you’ve found in the comments.

Sel nädalal toetavad Staarina meid oma lõunaga Mihkel Raud, Anna-Liisa Supp ja Karoli Hindriks.

Lähiplaanid:

1. Teeme logod wannalunch lehel lingiks restoranide kodulehele (või facebooki vastavalt soovile).
2. Lisame restoranid Favorite Pages alla Facebookis
3. Restoranide sooduka salasõnaks jääb ‘wannalunch’. Kui meie juurest hakkab liiga palju kliente tulema, siis on mõttekas see süsteem keerulisemaks muuta aga enne mitte.

- Seista 10m esimesest rööpast

- laius 5m, kõrgus 4.5m, pikkus. 24m, kiirus 8kmh

- 50m enne ja pärast raudteed

- Peatuda

Registreerimismärk

- 25m kauguselt nähtav

Asulas Peatumine & Parkimine

- Teepeenral 0.75m käiguriba

- Kõnniteel 1.5m käiguriba

- Sõidutee äärest 0.2m

- 2 reas: jalg- ja mootorrattad, mopeedid

- Trammiteest 1m

- Ülekäigurada, rattatee 5m

- 15m enne trammipeatust

- 15m enne ja parast bussipeatust

- 5m enne ristmikku

Asulaväline Parkimine & Peatumine

- Paremal pool teed

- Pimedas: Parklas, puhkekohas

- Parkida ei tohi:

– Peateel

– Aeglus- & kiirendusrajal

Liiklusmärgid

- Hoiatusmärgid

- Eesõigusmärgid

- Keelumärgid

- Mõjualamärgid

- Kohustusmärgid

- Osutusmärgid

- Juhatusmärgid

- Lisateatetahvlid

I’ve been  a WHYS podcast listener for 5 years.

I’m an Estonia who lives in Lisbon, who’s making a documentary film about Sao Tome & Principe (two countries I bet your show hasn’t covered). The blog I’ve created about Sao Tome has become the largest English site about the country.

My approach has been to invite readers to share their experiences from the country, giving me access to their unique stories. I’ve also translated stories from the blogosphere much like global voices.

I’m looking for a journalist or producer with ample international experience to act as my mentor.

If you think you can make a valuable introduction, do get back to me.

– Kris Haamer

Monica Vitti. Photo cred: BK

FYI, this is one my favorite films, ever.

L’Avventura is filled with affluence. 

People are very rich. 

There’s no clear story. The screen is filled with ambiguous, dead emotions, conflicted, existentialist characters.

We’re watching a the devaluation of human relationships. The commoditization of feelings. An attack on values. The film evokes an emotional vacuum.
So how does Antonioni achieve that?

I  focus on a number of key moments, deconstructing Antonioni’s use of sound, photography, performance, and mise en scène, in manufacturing these vacuous feelings in the audience.

Before the Trip

Sandro is unable to fulfill Anna’s needs. Notice her belittling smile on 00:07:23. And her expression of disaffection in the following sex scene.

For Anna, sex with Sandro is only worthwhile with someone waiting outside. Here the camera exposes the couple in a room with an open window with Claudia in the view.

Anna can’t forget the lack of meaning in her life. She yells “why-why-why”. She tries to feel something by indulging in casual exhibitionism. Which per her expression is not working.

Subsequently, Claudia is isolated by the camera from below. To show she has been left alone. Compounded by her expression of “oh well..”.

On the Boat

The rich are capricious. As the yacht captain says, they have no clear plan. Their aimless wanderings keep the seamen up all night. Again, Anna is trying to escape the bore, by yelling “shark”.

This emotion is heightened by sharing the adventure with Claudia.

Claudia and Anna indulge in conversation of null statements on how they slept that night. Establishing them as vacuous characters – later Giulia is accused of being “literal”.

Later, there is a sexual charge in the conversation. Giulia’s husband attests his woman is made for all kinds of vice, yet is faithful because of lazy idleness. Words compounded by the visuals of his knife pointing upward like a penis under the table (00:21.35).

Once again Claudia is the third person in the room, when the man’s approach to touch Giulia – is responded to by disinterest.

The Island

Long shots isolate the coldness and beauty on the death wish island with characters a) framed out of balance b) appearing into the frame from below c) in close-up.

Here the camera avoids making statements on power relations; the tensions are not so much between the characters than between the emptiness of the landscape and people.

The ambivalence of the camera does not force the viewer down a certain path. As if the camera was unmotivated to move at all – Anna is gone and nobody cares. The imagery is nothing sort of iconic – an island, a hurricane approaching.

The emptiness of modern lives is externalized by the stares into the void; there is nothingness outside the frame, and the stares are into emptiness, compounded by self-absorbed sterile acting, seemingly out of connection with their emotions.

There is a single desolate building in the landscape. Sandro has forgotten to bring a candle, so selfish seems he that he can offer no warmth. There is no non-diegetic sound during the beginning 30 minutes on the island to guide the emotions. With the exception of Claudia everybody loses interest in finding Anna.

A casual moral flexibility was visualized by Sandro trying to kiss Claudia on the boat. While sleeping Claudia plays with her lips (00:42:30) making a connection with the kiss. 

The ease with what Anna’s death is forgotten and the Claudia’s struggle to let go is the mayor conflict of the film. The McGuffin, to use Hitchcock’s term, for the rest of the film is Anna’s disappearance but her internal conflict also ends up haunting the whole film.

In the Gallery

Giulia externalizes the emancipated active woman, seducing a boy without regrets towards betraying her marriage.

Irrespectful of the age difference, the young boy is feasting with his eyes the older woman (01:22:37) while the music gives the scene a feel of conquest. 

The affluent backdrop of the manor adds to the feeling of decadent splendor and indifference. For the third time Claudia is the third person in the room.

Napoli

Italian architecture is used to create a feeling of detachment associated with beauty. We are looking at the church made of concrete. 

There is no access to the church because the caretaker has gone away. Claudia calls the old village of Noto a cemetery. A man in Napoli spits on the French beach-going tourists.

The Roof

Sandro who was so far just a playboy hedonist is revealed as a man who exchanged his would-be genius as a creative architect for riches as an underwriter (his internal conflict is externalized on 01:51:58 where Sandro ruins the drawings of a young architect).

Sandro is on a search for fulfillment, yet he is never able to give any woman what she wants. He has become transitory – his failure as a creative has led to his opportunistic shallowness which permeates the film.

The realization that Sandros takes the easiers routes, foreshadows the idea that Sandro is unable to fulfill the needs of any woman who is looking for commitment.

The Torment

Music appears strongly in the last scenes, which feel much more constructed. Claudia is too tired to go to the party but she cannot sleep. Now she is framed in a doorway (02:11:20) isolated by the camera to express her confinement, and now we see her in the mirror – she is disintegrating and cannot take herself seriously.

Claudia runs to a balcony but is stopped by the ledge (which looks like the bars of a prison cell), in the other direction she encounters another ledge. In the light of the outside world she is just a shadow (underexposed). In the hallway she is a tiny figure and her steps sound empty in the vastness of the room.

In the end of the sequence Claudia escapes through a glass (mirror) doorway seemingly liberating her from her confinement of the building. Subsequently she finds Sandro in the caress of another woman (the climax). But now having been liberated we see her from below and Sandro from above in his misery.

The Last Scene

A close-up of Claudia’s hand with lyrical music (to-be-or-not-to-be), and the caress of her hand through Sandro’s hair. Claudia seen from below, a church-like building behind her, and an open sky above her – she had mentioned her humble upbringing – there is forgiveness.

Synthesis

Unlike in Hollywood formulas, there is little resolve. The wasted search is leading to nothing. While there seems to be forgiveness, the lack of a clear ending makes the film feel real. Human relationships can be random. And Sandro’s inability to commit is something male viewers can identify with. The shallowness of casual love is expressed in his character.

L’Avventura has modern coolness in contrast to the teary-eyed actualities of neorealist masterpieces (Umberto D, the Bicycle Thief) or the fresh air of the French New Wave (400 Blows).

The emptiness was perhaps intended as a critique but we have – or at least I have –grown to love that vacuum. The self-indulgence of the individual emancipating from the rules of tradition charged with contemporary preoccupations, that Antonioni shows, I can identify with.

Buy L’Avventura on Amazon. And read the original 1961 review by Bosley Crowther of the New York Times.

Cities to live

Jakarta

Sao Tome

San Fransisco

NYC

Tokyo

Cape Town

Amphibian in a David Attenborough’s documentary . Frog in present day Central Africa living in a bond in a rainforest, only goes out of water during the night to catch food. He has a visually noticeable outfit with beautiful green slimy skin.

But at the same time his most beautiful feature is his Achilles heel, the source of his conflict.

Conflicts

If the skin dries up, the frog dies. The land that gives it food is also his death.

Despite the dangers it manages to kill a fly for food and give birth in an environment that is lethal to it

What connection does the character have to me / to other people?

What do I see when I leave the cinema and close my eyes?

Try to create the same feeling during the presentation as the film.

We enter a new world.

• Google Chrome
• Google Docs
• Google Gmail
• Google Calendar
• YouTube
• Camtasia
• Gowalla & Foursquare
• Twitter
• Dropbox
• Skype
• Wannalunch
• DIGG & Reddit
• Facebook
• Flickr
• Feedly & Google Reader
• Last.fm
• Linkedin
• Wufoo
• Vimeo
• Tumblr

Problem: little media coverage of small countries

Solution: We’re all connected anyway so why not use social media?

Using Facebook, Skype to create new journalism – highlighting stories

from countries less covered by the media, translate, enlist the

blogosphere, create a network.

Covering countries Global Voices has no coverage from.

Revenue model: sell stories to national media?

Smaller than Estonia

Sent from my iPhone

This is a post about my research project, Africa On YouTube.

I started out by doing manual data gathering. As this soon got rather tedious, I began to look for ways in which to automate the process. Enter RSS.

So I scraped the YouTube RSS feeds using Yahoo Pipes.

I used Yahoo’s automated term extraction to find significant phrased in the content.

Methodology. 

The results were extracted from the RSS feed using automated means. Playlists were not included in the RSS feed. Thanks to this discovery, I’ve now been able to do larger scale data analysis.

The results.

A relatively small number of producers control the message.

A Cuban rhythm called “Mozambique” consistently ranks higher than the country Mozambique.

YouTube includes 2 playlist results on each page. 

Because these playlists include a large amount of unrelated content, I’ve excluded these results. For the sake of simplicity, and because this gives more uniform results.

UPDATE: Research results are now available here.

My friends Mele Pesti and Kristjan Jansen wrote a travel book about their experience in South America. Here’s my brief but devastating review.

One. Discussions of culture are interesting and insightful.

Two. Frequent, unimaginatively written,  location descriptions are frankly a bore.

Three. I’d like to see books, films, musicians as a separate index at the end of the book (and on the blog). I’ve seen some of the films: Cidade de Deus, Noticias de uma Guerra Particular, Favela rising. However, many I have not and going hunting for the names inside the text is a pain. 

I understand the difficulty of writing about things I’ve seen only briefly.  This from my own experience, whyle trying to write about my life, living in Argentina.

Kuxa Kanema on old and unprotected film rolls. Photo cred. Christian Luna

Jean-Luc Godard visitou Mozambique em 1979. 

Com uma ideia clara – produzir um filme. Com câmaras nos maos dos camponeses. 

Plenamente uma loucura, diziam investidores. 

Nao resultou.

“É ou nao é?” – grita Samora Machel. 

“Liberdade é das melhores coisas que um homem pode ter”. Num país novamente independente – Mozambique.

Vemos o líder falar com o povo. As pessoas estão animados. Há um futuro brilhante a espera d’eles. Talvez não ter comida, talvez não poder ter uma casa… mas estar livre. Estar livre!

E Machel continua falar, durante horas.

Kuxa Kanema é a historia dos filmes, que ninguem tinha lembrado salvar. Uma armazém em Mozambique. 

Tem a historia do país deste os anos 1970 captado na pelicula. Tudo o que aconteceu, esta salvado num meio audiovisual. Seria visivel para nos todos.

Ou talvez nao. Os filmes foram encontrados num armazém abandonado. Ninguém tinha interes. Nao foram salvados. Ninguém salvou-os.

Bastante gente nao sabia ler nem uma revista. 

Até o Kuxa Kanema, o journal dos atualidades semanais, apareceu. Mostrado nas aldeias.

Graças aos filmes, o povo percebeu o que acontecia no pais. 

E hoje nos tambem, percebemos.

Mia Couto. Photo by João Sem Terra

Uma historia poético, subtil e encantador, o conto do avo e o neto abre os nossos olhos para os outros mundos que coexistem com, e dentro, do nosso. O Mia Couto faz-nos relembrar as maravilhas do imaginação.

Ao ler este linguagem inspirado e expressivo, contextualizado por experiencia, prenhe de imaginação e visão, o leitor fica pasmada nas descrições da vida cotidiana que com forca mínima levam a alma nas alturas de infância.

Para um estudante da língua Portuguesa que não sempre consegue falar tomando conta as regras gramáticas da língua, e mistura com facilidade os significados das palavras, isto é uma maravilha. Sacudindo a terra firma abaixo da vida diária, Mia Couto revela as inovações da fala que não são bem correctas, mas ao mesmo tempo tentam de expressar (e sim expressam, muitas vezes melhor que as falas correctas).

De alguma maneira a historia parece-se ao realismo fantástico das historias do América do Sol, tais como o Cem Anos de Solidão de Gabriel García Márquez. Não importa se os panos do outro lado da lagoa existem o não, a nossa capacidade de inventar-os, a capacidade de ser sempre de pensamento aberto, é a o ar fresco que surge deste atitude, faz-nos avançar aos novos espaços.

Embora de dizer que isto és um pensamento colonialista e expansionista, não deve ser necessariamente verdade mas é uma discusao, também é o carácter dos Portugueses. Os jovens nao deviam de esquecer de inventar e sonhar.

Nha Fala. Photo by Flora Gomes

Nha Fala is a film about Vita. A girl whose family has been cursed to never sing.

Upon going to study to France, she falls in love with a french music producer And eventually makes a disk.

She has an amazing voice.

Music is the ability to dream…

Of independcence and social justice.

This statement speaks what Flora Gomes is all about.

This is what Flora Gomes has said:

“Whenever Africa is spoken about or depicted, it is always in terms of the aid we receive, war, people dying of starvation, sick people”

“. . . These things do of course exist in Africa: Africans kill other Africans, and nobody knows why we go to war, yet it still goes on.”

“I wanted people to see our Africa, the Africa of my dreams, the Africa that I love and that I would like my children to know one day.  It is a happy Africa, where people dance, where people can speak freely.  It is my take on the future for a new generation.—Flora Gomes”

“But there is another side to Africa, and that is what I wanted to show.  It is a side you never see on your television screens in the West.  That is why I made this film.”

Guide for the adcvanced traveler. We give you both depth and speed.

This idea came about from a multitude of sources. Travel television. BBC documentaries. YouTube. Twitter. Facebook. Social media. Field piching. Africa on YouTube doc. Music popularity results. Wanting to change the world. Climate change. Whys. Pirated films. CNN hardtalk.

We are modern, contemporary. We use Skype, iPhone, Twitter Facebook, YouTube. We got bored with Travel Channel content. We got bored with long films but we wanted depth. We use couchsurfing and chat on Google Wave.

I don’t accept your division of cinema and television and internet, for me its all content.

We all travel all the time anyway.

We take the time to get to know a location. We have local girlfriends. We read. We experience. And then we take all that and pack it into 3 mintues. How to extract more of the places?

In an age where travel is easy but travel is bad for the environment. We pay carbob credits and plant trees where we go. We ask questions where we go. We upload clips on youtube from our phones and ask why there is no Wi-Fi. We blog. We are active.

We want to see this online. We are the contemporary traveler.

Viúva Rica Solteira Não Fica. Photo by Patrícia Simões

Ao entrar no século XIX ouve-se pássaros e cavalos. Parece muito convincente. Estamos num Solar, numa casa de campo ao redor duma aldeia. O ambiente é incontestavelmente aristocrático. Estamos ver um filme de época.

Mas as problematicas são as mesmas de sempre. A drama surge do incapacidade do maior parte dos homens de satisfazer as mulheres. Neste caso a mulher insatisfeito é a Dona Ana Catarina.

Nem o Conde Fallorca (o marido impotente), nem o Capitão Malaparte (o sedutor) oferecem o amor e o paixão que a Dona Ana Catarina procura. E isto é “uma grande tragedia” porque os homens tentam…. com fervor. Mas em fim falham. Não é nada grave. As mulheres sempre encontraram a uma e a unica solução para todas a problemas. Sopa. As suas conspirações sempre guiam da ideia “a fortuna que não aumenta, diminui” procurando sempre a proxima, melhor oportunidade. É um filme manhoso e inteligente, mas com subtileza e encanto.

As observações sobre a natureza do homem são pertinentes. Na igreja o oportunismo do abade prospera na riqueza do caracterização. Na aristocracia o carácter de Williamson toca nas rivalidades (também como as diferenças entre carácter) entre Portugal e Inglaterra com gentileza e discernimento. No lar a Ama maquiavélica pensa pouca em coisas santos. Quando a sua família (quer dizer a unica familia que tem, a Dona Ana) esta em risco ela faz o preciso.

Embora tanto como o roteiro justificado e os personagens são interessantes e equilibrados (o direcção de eles é bastante subtil), o trabalho cinematográfico oferece pouco inovador no género, tendo mais em comun com filmes televisivas (como as telenovelas brasileiras) que com um trabalho cinemático bem executado. Encima do visual, a duração do filme de mais que 2 horas converte-se excessiva. No nosso caso, num ponto do visionamento do filme quando já achávamos o filme acabado, mas não era, uma das nossas colegas exclamo: isto não vai acabar nunca, não é?!

Pelo menos, o ponto de viragem depois o exclamação da nossa colega, no fim do filme é curta e eficaz. O amor da vida da Dona Catarina volta. Um homem próspero e experiente, será que por fim este homem será o ultimo e merece mais que um prato de sopa?

I do enjoy driving.

We never had a car and no-one in my family drives. 

I always lived in the center of the city. Walking distance.

Cities like Stockholm, Barcelona, Paris have public bicycles. No need for parking space. Stuck in traffic? No. 

Apparently ants never have traffic jams.

My office is wireless. I need my laptop and Wi-Fi. I live close to school. Like reading books in public transport. Like drinking, means no driving anyway. 

Driving is dangerous. Terrorism which we spend lots of money on, is less common than traffic accidents.

But maybe I buy a car. Once I can afford one. When cars have become tech-advanced. Flying cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QK6jLRVlzw

Want to make videos like this? Use Xtranormal that helps you make any text to video really easily.

]]> http://krishaamer.com/2009/10/24/the-story-of-no-car/feed/ 0 http://krishaamer.com/2009/10/22/olhos-azuis-yonta/ http://krishaamer.com/2009/10/22/olhos-azuis-yonta/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:55:36 +0000 Kris Haamer http://basilharem.com/?p=636

Os Olhos Azuis de Yonta. Photo by Flora Gomes

Flora Gomes traz idéias abstratas para a tela.

É a ultima hora do filme. Uma festa. Todo mundo ja foi dormir, e esta amanhecer.

O Vicente ainda esta desperto, incapaz de dormir – preocupado.

Ouvimos as crianças correndo. Eles estão embaixo de uma mesa. Empurrando-o. E abaixo essa mesa, caem todos na piscina.

É a escena que simboliza o país.

Guiné-Bissau está entre os 5 países mais pobres do mundo.

Flora Gomes faz uma declaração significante, criando seus filmes lá.

É uma sociedade comercial vibrante. Televisão, compras, moda, boates –  tudo. Mas tambem com ideais quebradas. A geração revolucionária pergunta se este É – “o país é que nós queríamos. Por qual lutamos.”

Os idealistas nao encontram amor. Nem veem-o.

O Vicente, enquando o amor esta a despertar-lhe, ele atravessa a rua. As oportunidades da vida sao perdidas.

Mas as crianças, aunque caídos na piscina ha pouco, continuam a dançar.

Calhar que saibem melhor que os adultos.

Flora Gomes. Photo by Cineport Festival

Studied cinema in Cuba. Studied with Paulin S. Vieyra cinematographyn Senegal. Then became a reporter for the ministry of Information in Guinea-Bissau. After which worked one year as an assistant for the french director Chris Marker, whose black and white science fiction short La Jetée was the inspiration for Terry Gilliam‘s Twelve Monkeys.

Completed a number of shorts. Has filmed in Cabo Verde, Portugal, France, and Guinea-Bissau. Makes a point of residing in his native Guinea-Bissau where filmmaking is only for the mad. Gomes was 38 years old when he made his first feature film Mortu Nega.
National liberation struggle, modernization, conceptualization of identity, sophicasted african feminism, environmental degradation, symbolic, aesthetically innovative, historically significant.

Death -> Quest -> Rejuvenation (Succesful or doubtful)
- in 2 first films there is doubt, the 3rd film made after the greatest horrors in contrast has no doubt, there is a clear positive message.

Gomes explores similar themes in different contexts. Rebirth. The rights of the youth. The power of the young ones. The elderly need to accept the change they were fighting for is not the change the children wanted.

What’s results from making a film with open source software, using public domain content, is an open content film, or an open source film.

Such endeavors are supported by the Open Source imitative. One community actively engaging in open film-making isMoviePals. What might be the others?

TODO

One, outline examples from open-source software development and the positive and negative experiences of the movement. Two, list films shared using an open source license. Three, visions for the future.

I may seem cruel but I primarily support causes that have a larger audience.

Specifically regarding bureaucracy, transparency and efficiaccy of their projects. I care about my time and money and view each good deed as an investement. I expect to have results.

Full disclosure: I am passionate about the named causes. Feel free to contact me for ventures or business opportunities in the following areas.

Here are some of the ideas I’ve supporyed over the years. I put it here so no one could come and say I told you so.
—

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfxphyKmwn4

One. I like the technological mindset. There is free Wi-Fi in most places, I can use my ID Card to buy tickets, vote and travel, plus people are thinking about new services or I can create my own if it doesn’t exist.

Two. Value in easy bureaucracy. Estonia is very entrepreneur friendly. There’s a simple flat tax system. People are modern, youthful and open-minded. Everybody seems to have a knack for innovation.

Three. The environment is clean. There’s beautiful wild nature to enjoy. Green fields and clean air. Can’t count the times I’ve pitched my  tent somewhere on public land without worries. Enjoy the quiet peaceful silence.

I like the technological mindset. There is free Wi-Fi in most places, I can use my ID Card to buy tickets, vote and travel, plus people are thinking about new services or I can create my own if it doesn’t exist. The values are easy bureaucracy, it is very entrepreneur friendly, a simple tax system. The people are modern, youthful and open-minded with a knack for innovation. The environment is clean, there is lots of wild nature to enjoy, green fields and clean air. I can pitch my tend everywhere on public land without worries and enjoy the quiet peaceful silence.

• Privacy
• Augmented Reality
  • geolocation
  • bandwidth
  • mobile devices
  • APIs

• Twitter & Facebook
  • Tee eraldi nimelised accountid
  • Rohelistel ei ole Page. Ülehomme avatakse fame nimede regimine facebook.com/rohelised
  • ehk viimane aeg page teha.
  • Igale poliitikule erakonnas oma Page.
• Blog
  • Hetkel ei ole uuenevat uudisteallikat kodulehel
• Flickr
  • Kuidas teha nii, et valija poliitiku näo ja nime kokku viiks?
• Twitter
  • Et kanal populaarne oleks peavad inimesed aru saama millest jutt ja teema peaks olema püsiv. Selgus on Twitteris oluline.
• Inimesekesksus
  • Kasutajad tahavad otse suhelda persoonidega, mitte “rohelised” erakonnaga. Ehk siis sellest kui Strandberg midagi säutsub ja inimeste küsimustele vaastab on imo rohkem kasu kui rss pealkirjadest (seda saad hinnata Google Analytcsi abil vaadates palju neid erakonna uudiseid loetakse üldse).
• Homepage
  • Visuaalne segadus on seal. Kolm erinevat menüüd ülemine horisontaal, kesmine horisontaal ja vasak vertikaal. Otsingu kõrval on 2 nuppu mine / otsi – millist ma vajutama pean?
  • Tohutu laialivalgub header kus UUS ENERGIA ja EESTIMAA ROHELISED on eri äärmustes nagu oleks tegemist eraldiseisvate asjadega. Miks mitte neid üheks brändiks kujundata:  Eestimaa Rohelised: Uus Energia ?
  • Aadress erakond.ee on totter. Tekib tunne nagu oleks tegemist erahuvidega. Miks ei ole rohelised.ee? Kui mingit nime pushida, siis peaks ühtlaselt seda sama nime igal pool kasutama.
  • Rohelised account vb olla
    • EestimaaRohelised
    • EstonianGreenParty
• Maps
  • Google Maps is used for mapping sites where help can be found: http://mashable.com/2009/06/20/google-maps-iran/
• Persoonikesksus
  • http://www.facebook.com/MichaelIgnatieff

Dramatic Tension. Expectation. Interest. Keep coming back. Constant updates.
http://events.linkedin.com/Social-Media-Club-New-Orleans-Using-Web/pub/83855

Ettekandja paeva lopus endale syya tostmas kurb muusik

Mees avamas kommipakki enne kassat ei joua ara oodata

Linn rongid inglisse hip hop pime mees kwpiga beat vastu seina sygav must naishaal

Tanav vahtu tais filmi jaoks

Koka pudel veerenni jooksmad mooda ilyd oikt oeh fumia

Bussipeatus. Inimesef ootavad tunde ei tee midagi bussieatuses. Mangivad kaarye ja istuvad niisama hetkel kymme inimest ja nelui last. Neil ei ole mujale minna.

Lapsed sdivad seinade ja visjavad prtgi maha ojaded on suht palhu ptagti naiteks ja inirsed ei panr oygi konteinerisse kuogi see on otse peatuse korval.

Vaike laps inimeste juukseid katsumas

Italian image man dog woman man open blouse kaiser yleval kore taga naisel korged kingad

Teleport from ine side of the square to the other

Image in my head

Whispering

Man Alone in Painting through a window.

Empty beach.

Empty house.

Ettekandja paeva lopus endale syya tostmas kurb muusik

Mees avamas kommipakki enne kassat ei joua ara oodata

Linn rongid inglisse hip hop pime mees kwpiga beat vastu seina sygav must naishaal

Tanav vahtu tais filmi jaoks

Koka pudel veerenni jooksmad mooda ilyd oikt oeh fumia

Bussipeatus. Inimesef ootavad tunde ei tee midagi bussieatuses. Mangivad kaarye ja istuvad niisama hetkel kymme inimest ja nelui last. Neil ei ole mujale minna.

Lapsed sdivad seinade ja visjavad prtgi maha ojaded on suht palhu ptagti naiteks ja inirsed ei panr oygi konteinerisse kuogi see on otse

Berkman center medos library podcast

WHYS

BBC Documentaries

ABC Documentaries

CBC Documentaries

UCLA class podcasts

- After Effects

- Flash Catalyst

- Flash

- Flash Developer

- Photoshop

- Lightroom

- Premiere

- Air

iPhone Application

Languages

- ASP

- PHP

- SQL

- CSS

- HTML

jQuery

- WordPress

- Drupal

Apple Suite

- Final Cut

I liked some of the music and sounds in Bairro Alto and around in June 2009.

Enough to try to record it.

Obviously I didn’t have a camera or were to busy to capture the best moments. But you can get at least an idea what’s here.

June 13

This is some unknown bar in Bairro Alto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veg3LAZCJEI

June 18

Festival do Silêncio at Musicbox Lisbon: Cais do Sodre Funk Connection

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA0ljHgIYOU

June 6

SOU is the Fado place I discovered today. Rua Maria 73 (in Anjos). They also have a monthly Mercado Urbano where you can buy clothes and jewelry made by local fashion students.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsEF_cibqfo

One. The experience of commuting to work on a train is boring.

Two. The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system has Wi-Fi wireless installed.

Imagine a collaborative art project. Every person can use an iPhone or iPad application (Brushes, Photoshops, and so forth) to make art while in the train.

As there is wireless, the artwork can be emailed to a special address. It will show up on the screens in the train in real time. And in the stations. Users can vote on the works lifting the best works to the top. BART + Wireless + iPhone.

The name I came up with is ArtBART and here’s a work-in-progress presentation.

I’d appreciate any new ideas, contacts, or help with developing the project further so we can make it a reality.

Anton Chigurh. Photo by Moisés Bello

Character Biography. Name: Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Work Description: Professional hired killer. Age: Early forties

Psychological Profile

One. Anton Chigurh is an emotionally detached character. He is psychologically removed from other people and from his own self. There is no mention of him having a home, a personal life, or any close family and /or friends.

He is annoyed by the question where is he from (which is the inquiry that sets him off in the scene at the Texaco Gas Station).

Two. Chigurh embodies the idea of violence. He is more similar to death than to a character. In his singularity (he is always shown alone) he represents something final and gruesome.

Three. Chigurh is akin to a hunter. He is calculative – without emotion he does what is needed in order to catch the prey. He does not consider or understand the feelings of other people – suggesting he might be a victim of a mild case of autism. There remains a little clumsy humanity in his character that’s there to keep him from being unbelievable.

Relationships

One. Chigurh contrasts with Sheriff Bell and the man who he is chasing – Llewellyn Moss who are both family men. He does not seem to have a private life and neither is he looking for any relationship with the other characters.

Two. The only scene where we see Chigurh relate to other people in some way is in the chosen scene in the Texaco Gas Station – What business is that yours where I’m from… Friendo – he submits to the clerk with anger and waits for an answer. He then toys with the old man like a dog would toy with a farm animal –This coin has travelled for 22 years. And now it’s here. And you have to call it – and he waits for the reaction on the face of the scared old man. This is the most revealing scene in the movie in terms of Chigurh’s character.

Skills

One. Chigurh is familiar with medical equipment and drugs. He knows exactly what to steal from the pharmacy when he is shot in the leg by Moss, remaining calm and methodological in his behavior suggesting past experience in the medical field.

Two. He operates a variety of weapons with skill such as shotguns, handguns, and a cattle gun but also demonstrates capacity for close combat (for example when strangling the deputy sheriff). He also drives a car and knows how to make it explode.

Physical Appearance

One. Chigurh is 1.83 meters tall with a strongly built frame but his lean physical features akin to an animal such as a Cheetah make him appear slightly predatory – which he is.

Two. Chigurh has facial features that are strong and chiseled – a broad nose, heavy eyebrows, protruding cheekbones and a well defined chin in the long oval frame of his face. His sharp gonial angles and a robust yaw add to the masculinity.

Three. Chigurh’s skin has a darkish complexion and the fact he speaks with a foreign accent this suggest he is not a local man – instead perhaps of Mexican ancestry.

Style

One. Chigurh is a man of stylish and he has a recognizable signature element – a bowl haircut draped across his high forehead. Chigurh’s hair is turning slightly grey and thisgood boy look contrasts with his intimidating character giving him a more twisted appearance.

Two. Chigurh prefers to dress in dark denim clothes making him look like a bona-fide grim reaper. His signature wardrobe items include a pair of black jeans, a dark blue collared jacket, and a brown cotton shirt buttoned down to show off his strong neck. He is clean shaven.

Three. Chigurh’s footwear is well chosen and taken care of. He wears shoes with a high heel (not a common choice highlighting his interest in the matter) and white socks that he changes regularly when they get bloody after a kill.

Body Language

Chigurh has a very commanding body language – when he enters he immediately fills the room; just by being there he controls the environment and it seems even inanimate objects have to obey him.

Speech / Voice

Chigurh speaks with a tone of voice that is deep and musical but with a low masculine pitch and a coarse accent. He speaks with a slow rhythm suggesting there is no hurry and what happens will happen anyway.

Values

Chigurh is driven by his values and preconceptions about the world. This is a character that holds true to his principles and they lead his decision in the film.

One . Chigurh holds conservative views on male and female roles – he smirks with contempt at the idea of a man marrying into a household in the Texaco scene. His knowledge of the history of coins suggests he has had a good education, perhaps in one of the schools that separate males and females justifying his dispositions in these matters.

Two. Chigurh has a strong set of principles regarding fairness and commitment to his promises – however twisted they may be – when has promised himself to kill someone he will do it (this part of his personality is revealed in one of the final scenes when he waits for Carla Jean – Moss’s wife – and kills her).

Three. Chigurh is concerned with the way people live their lives and lets faith pass judgment on them based on this history – as he says to the Clerk: You’ve been putting it up your whole life and you just don’t know it. Chigurh represents the Texas of the past times – a lawless country where either you adapt or you die – and if you have lived your life in a way that deserves a death faith will not preserve you.

Attributes

Chigurh is an iconic character whose image is determined to an extent by his relationship to the objects he uses or carries around with him.

One. There is an aesthetic to the way Chigurh kills. The first thing we know about him is that he carries an oxygen tank with a hose. Later this is revealed to be a cattle gun used to decapacitate livestock. For Chigurh this is the most humane way to end someone’s life as cleanly as possible – he is meticulous in trying not to get his hand dirty or have any contact with blood.

Two. In addition Chigurh carries a shotgun with a silencer, and a handgun that both follow the same principle of making a clean kill without disturbing sounds.

Three. Chigurh carries a pocketful of coins. He is familiar with their history and knows their dates. He uses them to measure the fate of the people who are on the ledge – he is unsure if they should be killed or do they still deserve to live. He is the one executing the rule but he is not then one making it – these are higher powers. Destiny happens whether the victims like it or not.

Internal Conflict

There is remarkable lack of interior conflict because what happens has already been decided and what will come too. It’s only a matter of time. He is here only as a spokesman. It is very unnerving to see his slow answers as if what he is saying came from somewhere else – god, destiny. What is happening is bigger than you and I. As if talking to a religious person. Despite an accident in the end the film he continues relentlessly. There is no stopping him.

External Conflict

Chigurh’s external conflicts are short lived and violent suggesting he does not enjoy seeing extended suffering. The use of a cattle gun supports this hypothesis as that weapon is used to kill animals with the least amount of pain. His conflicts are with people who do not want follow his rules of game play (the coin toss) which he externalizes by attacking and killing those who annoy him (for example Carla Jean). His personality conflicts begin with being cold and austere to himself; Chigurh does not display any internal suffering or pain or empathy. But he is still charming and likeably to the viewer – which is one of the mysteries of his character.

Objectives

Chigurh is hired to retrieve the drug money and kill Moss. However, this is not his motivation (he kills the people who hired him) – his motivation is justice and in his principles. He holds high morals about a certain way life should be and derives it from a higher power.

Then, the followers of skepticism – Hume, rationalism – Descartes, empiricism – Locke, were less prepared to believe in simple truths. Modern thinkers grew increasingly tired of philosophy instead pursuing a strict scientific realism in schools of pragmatism, positivism, and materialism.

Whether looking for answers in religious belief or by seeking for rational explanations trough observation, humans have always been thriving to learn more about what’s out there.

Fictional ideas exist in a paradigm of conceptual fantasy; on the scale of possibility they have no requirement for being probable being only limited by one’s imagination. While there are philosophers such as Nancy Cartwright who argue for the existence of a degree of fictionalism in the scientific discourse (Votsis, 2004, p. 16), science aspires to create models which follow reality as closely as possible.

Science is not characterized by personal values and partiality, but rather by a certain academic disinterest. Owning to this culture of rigor, scientific ideas are tiny subset of all the creative thought generated worldwide; it is a specific form knowledge, dealing with the phenomena of the world in a systematic and structured way.

While the subject of scientific research can be anything that can be observed by the scientist, the academic world of science is organized into fields of study. There are the scientists who research biological, physical and chemical phenomena and those who investigate anthropological, social, and cultural subjects; but this is not a complete list. There are many overlaps in the structure of the academic world, and often the same phenomenon is studied from differing points of view.

Whatever the scientific field, the practice of science (what is it that the scientists actually do?) is best considered in the light of the scientific method. Although there are famous disagreements in the precise nature of these methods (such as Kuhn’s cautious attitudes towards induction in recognition of its fallacies), there are also common techniques of modern science.

The principles of formal mathematical logic and the categorization of independent and dependent variables in the deduction of cause and effect, and the requirement that each part of the scientific method should be falsifiable are just some of which practitioners deem almost universally essential.

The findings of science are shared in scientific papers, which, as science in general, need to be well structured and clearly organized. As such they are most often published in peer reviewed journals for the audience of the particular academic field.

More generalized publications, for example the journal Science also publish research from a wider range of fields. Students enrolled in university level courses are required to format their research in specific rigorous ways. Among the most common are the American APA and MLA styles for which the undergraduate and graduate lever professors are the primary audience.

This culture of publication plays a key role in the dissemination of science by allowing for reproduction and verification of results by repeating the experiments in question.

Thus the discussion of the structure of science and the nature of its methods of research demonstrates that science is cyclical by nature. Trough repeating patterns of research and investigation science is advanced, innovation and new technologies progressed. If something is not true, it can be demonstrated by a test. The scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, and the formation of theories are the methods used in the scientific pursuit for truth; they are a part of the culture of critical thinking are the basis for the creation of knowledge.

Works Cited

Votsis, I. (2004). The Epistemological Status of Scientific Theories: An Investigation of the Structural Realist Account. London: London School of Economics.

Premise

In discussions of philosophy, two schools of thought are often pitted against each other as opponents or adversaries. They are idealism and realism – one focusing on what could be possible, and the other on what has been demonstrated to be possible, represented by the Platonic and Machiavellian stereotypes respectively. Whether supporting one or the other, in order to fully understand their relationship, one should begin by trying to understand the nature of politics. Choosing a model that one thinks most precisely defines the contemporary political reality is a good start; a definition that is simple enough for the purposes of this paper, and favored by the author, can be found in the title of Harold Lasswell’s 1958 book – Politics: Who Gets What, When, How (Lasswell, 1958).

By the fact of choosing Lasswell’s definition as a premise, one agrees with his analysis that the character of contemporary politics is hypocrisy. This is to say there are as many different interests, as there are stakeholders in a politician’s decision. Whatever the decision, the politician must create an illusion of reality that convinces each of the stakeholders to the extent of winning their vocal support, their financial assistance, and in a democratic system their vote. Thus the politician can continue in power; but many ethical failures and practical difficulties can arise. Why cannot this problem be avoided by subscribing to Platonic idealism?

Platonic Idealism

Plato evaluates political systems based on their perceived capacity to produce happiness for all citizens; that is to say not only for the individual, but for everybody – the whole society. Happiness is measured by the acts of being virtuous (the four principal being wisdom, courage, moderation and justice (H. Rice, 1998, p. 43)). For Plato, being virtuous, in turn, is based on understanding the true form of things. Therefore the intention of the political system – and there is a clear underlying intention in the Platonic system – is to create citizens who are aware of the true forms. This is to say each citizen has a true place in the society and by subscribing to their specific role, one can thus find peace and happiness.

First, in discussing governance, Plato suggests the state should have a guardian and “the perfect guardian must be a philosopher” (Plato, 1946, p. 389). This lover of knowledge must have the necessary ability and foresight for good governance. While this argument may sound fair, for there are good arguments to support strong leaders, it is the unlikely high degree of optimism about one man’s abilities and virtues that leads Plato to a mistaken path in his discourse. The nature of a philosopher king has been refuted by later authors. For example Rice writes in his 1998 treatment A Guide to Plato’s Republic: “the political arrangements he proposes in the Republic suggest that he believes it is actually possible to discover all the truth there is” (H. Rice, 1998, p. 51). Moreover, even if the politician presented as high a degree of foresight as Plato expects of him, considering the various pressures put on a politician, one could imagine, it is unrealistic to expect the politician to use his abilities only for the good of the people.

Because Plato establishes the basis of his ethics in virtues, and the guardian as the symbol of an ethical life, he creates the necessity for each and every individual of the society to be aware of the existence of these virtues. Only then could the citizens aspire towards the ideal. This would have been very unlikely in a world of the 4th century BC because of lack of between people living in different parts. And even today, while some shared virtues could be possible in a small city state where people hold strong personal relations, it would soon become near impossible in cities with millions of people, and even more so in countries with hundreds of millions, or for that matter for a planet with billions of individuals. Therefore the first basis of Plato’s first proposition could fail for practical reasons.

Second, Plato does not have a clear understanding of the distinction between ethics and politics (Hinchliff, 1982, p. 92). Plato establishes his political ontology as a direct reference to his idealistic ethics; that is to say he sees his ethics as a clearly possible political reality. Indeed, in the Socratic dialogues of The Republic one can almost imagine that ethics takes on a life of itself and has the power to create reality, with politics and flesh and blood politicians only considered as an afterthought. Here may be there reason why; for Plato ethics and politics are so intertwined as to be the same. He does not give much thought to the political juggling, consensus creation, power-play and other features of political life that one can witness in contemporary politics. Put another way, the difference between the ideal ways in which things should be, and the real ways in which politics and politicians would achieve these goals (or fail to do so) are not explored by Plato in any considerable depth.

This suggests that the nature of Plato’s political thinking is authoritarian and his envisioned system totalitarian. His ideas do not leave much space for alternative ethics, alternative (or foreign) cultures, or any ideas that are different from his idealized norms (the theory of forms). There is only one single standard of what is good. The institutions Plato would use for the promotion of his ethics arise from his imagination and do not directly interact with reality: In The Republic Plato explains the role of justice and harmony in the institutions: “justice is based on the idea of good, which is harmony of the world, and is reflected […] in the institutions” (Plato, 1946, p. 12). This line of argument leads to a strong refutation by Rousseau in his Emile: or, On Education: “When people wish to go back to a land of fantasies they cite Plato’s institutions“ (Rousseau, 2004).  Put in another way, Plato does not explore the direct consequences of his institutions to their stakeholders, or bother with looking for proof of what might be the practicalities or creating such institutions; his institution remain a though experiment without any testing in reality. Plato’s second proposition could fail because without a democratic process, his institutions would be created in a top-down fashion; and could thus be overthrown by the public if it did not find them agreeable.

Third, in all areas Plato reduces his ethics to such a degree of abstraction that there remains little relevance for practical application. Even if considered as ideals, merely as guidelines or inspiration for further thought, these ideals put into application would most likely result in a state contrary to the expectations of Plato. Instead of upholding the highest ethical principles, such a state would fail to provide for even the simplest ideals of contemporary time. This is to say: in the creation of an ethical state where all individuals aspire for the virtues set in the eternal forms Plato does away with democratic values. In search for the perfect model of a good life, the imperfections arising from freedom are disregarded. This is why the politics that might be a beautiful walk in the park according to Plato’s dialectic considerations would in reality soon become a hellish road to the ruin of the state as well as the ethics imagined by Plato.

Machiavellian Realism

Machiavelli (as have many later authors) unequivocally defies almost all the assumptions of Platonic ideals about state-building. He makes commonsense arguments that draw on his experience as a Secretary of the Republic of Florence, and the study of governance in history. Indeed, Bertrand Russell calls his theories “scientific and empirical” (Russell, 2004, p. 465). There is no ease to Machiavelli’s arguments. Reasoning like a practicing politician he transforms the pretty picture of Plato’s ethics-based governance into the harsh power-politics of a 16th century Italian city state.

First. Before any of the politician’s ideas can be introduced, Machiavelli expects his main problem to be the simple deed of staying in power. 

Contrary to Plato, Machiavelli suggests the politician to focus plainly on the practical problems of the office; ethics and the happiness of the people should not be the main concern of the statesman. For a politician to implement his ideas he has to remain in power; it is imminent that he sets this his first priority because “power is for those who have the skill to seize it in a free competition” (Russell, 2004) and there are plenty of those who are after it. Where Plato chooses to focus on the problems of the people, Machiavelli focuses on the ruler itself. With all likeliness, if one takes a measured view on the nature of political competition, and if the politician of Plato would compete against the politician of Machiavelli for office – the latter would go further to win the battle.

Two. Through  practical consideration Machiavelli brings to ones attention the “effectual truth of the thing” rather than “the imagination of it” (Machiavelli, 1998, p. 10) – the lifeblood on Platonic ethics. While Plato argues that one should aspire towards virtue, Machiavelli makes a more subtle point. He argues that politics cannot be led by a single set of ethical absolutes (or the ‘good life’ as defined by Plato) simply because people are unable to live up to such strict ethics:

“Men, walking almost always in paths beaten by others, and following by imitation their deeds, are yet unable to keep entirely to the ways of others or attain to the power of those they imitate.” (Machiavelli, 1998, p. 29)

Political life is not simple and clear cut; the politician will have to make sacrifices. Other politicians will not be that idealistic. Whether the Platonic politician wants to or not, he will have to work with this reality. Or put in Machiavelli’s own words “it is so far from how one lives to how one should live that he who lets go of what is done for what should be done learns his ruin rather than his preservation” (Machiavelli, 1998).

Three. Following Machiavelli’s line of thought further, one finds that once the politician has managed to gain power he has to choose the most cunning and deceitful methods of achieving his goals to stay in power. For if he does not, his opponents will defeat him and stop whatever he is trying to do. 

The politician cannot stop to question, what the ethical or just ways of doing politics are; he must explore all the avenues because his opponents will. This is the crux of the philosophical difference between the ethics of Platonic idealism and Machiavellian realism. A platonic ruler would not withdraw from his ideals if brought to this situation, whereas a Machiavellian ruler would go to the extent of lie and deceit to put his policies into action. Thus, for the politician to achieve his goals – whatever they might be, for the benefit of the people or not – idealism and an ethical mind will be a distraction. If the politician does not use all the means at his disposal he will fail to bring his ideas into reality.

Finally, Machiavelli is able to capture more of the features of the political world in his distinct lack of ethics (his ability to go to the extremes) than Platonic idealism could at its time. 

The failure of Platonic ethics is that it escapes application. Because Plato refrains from all the shades of gray that exist in the interests, premises, goals, but also the ideals of all the different political actors, he will make the politician – who would follow his teachings –lose out on opportunities,  and eventually lose the battle as well as the office. In as much Machiavelli sees such political nuances he also foresees the possibilities arising from them. In a sense Machiavelli’s politician has more foresight than the philosopher guardian proposed by Plato.

Conclusion

Where the Platonic politician will try to be ethical the Machiavellian politician will not be. He would demonstrate himself as ethical if necessary or unethical if the situation required it but in case would do everything to reach the practical measurable goal. 

The Machiavellian politician wins his battle for a single reason: he would go further to get what he wants. Where ethical problems arise for the follower of Plato, there is an open road for the Machiavellian.

Ethics cannot be just about the rights and wrongs of ideas, it must take a deep look into reality and find practical ways of achieving the values it upholds; otherwise ethics itself can become unethical if it spends too much time looking for the ideals of  a ‘good life’.  

While one considers whether the nature of contemporary politics is more Machiavellian or Platonic, one must not only look into the world of ideas but also consider the facts of reality – this is the true path to ethics.

Works Cited

H. Rice, D. (1998). A Guide to Plato’s Republic. New York City: Oxford University Press.

Hinchliff, P. B. (1982). Holiness and Politics. London: Darton, Longman, and Todd.

Lasswell, H. (1958). Politics: Who Gets What, When, How. New Haven: Meridian books.

Machiavelli, N. (1998). The Prince. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Obama, B. (n.d.). Ethics. Retrieved November 23, 2008, from barackobama.com: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ethics/

Plato. (1946). The Republic. New York City: Plain Label Books.

Rousseau, J. J. (2004). Emile: or, On Education. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing.

Russell, B. (2004). History of Western Philosophy. London: Routledge.

The New Republic Magazine. Photo by Barack Magazines

The New Republic, the respectable American magazine in Billy Ray’s film Shattered Glass has a few problems. Journalistic fraud and deception are rife when the uncontrolled and uncontrollable Stephen Glass invents journalism in his own head. Unfounded facts and misleading stories reach the audiences while errors go unnoticed by the editors.

The journal that is advertised as the ‘in-flight magazine of Air Force One’ (Ray) publishes content that is often poorly checked, and in many cases – simply untrue. Eleven years later there are new ideas on of how such things might be prevented from taking place. New technologies and open communication hold the promise of preventing journalistic fraud and facilitating the creation of good journalism.

The integrity of journalism depends on truthful and accurate information. In many cases,  and in particular in The New Republic information acquisition involved independent investigative journalists such as Stephen Glass practicing fieldwork, and fact-checkers checking facts against the journalists own notebook. Because every element of information produced by Glass was in essence proprietary – that is to say his findings could not be verified trough third parties – it was difficult to determine that his work in fact was truthful or accurate.

Perhaps in the most basic of terms one could suggest a number of practical policies which would have been likely to work towards decreasing the prevalence of journalistic fraud and form something of a baseline that many contemporary media creators already have or would be likely accept. In addition to such practical considerations there is a philosophical movement that is on the route of changing the established paradigms of journalism.

Firstly, on the practical side, a story with a picture is better than the one without a picture. Photographs have numerous functions in providing a comprehensive journalistic unit from illustration to commentary. At the very least pictures provide a proof duplicate of the events and action taking place before the journalist.  At a higher level they can add structure to the story underlining key elements and putting emphasis on the main points. If taken by the very best of photographers pictures allow the journalist to accurately convey the kind of complexity that is only presentable by a visual device narrating the atmosphere of the story. Photography was a readily available tool at the time of The New Republic but was only used after the Glass scandal.

Secondly, elements such as video and sound add new dimensions of proof and accuracy, as do the maps, charts and other elements that complement stories in many magazines, for example in the National Geographic. Television stations were the first to learn that without video there is no story. News outfits such as CNN were the first to innovate in the new media space; they learned that they can create trust by presenting relevant information from third party sources (such as respectable blogs) on the side of the story. Later that trend of collaboration caught on with other types of journalism. Because a range of these today known and understood features of journalism were not as widely implemented as today in smaller media because of cost or other reasons at the time of the Glass’s controversy in 1997 it was far simpler to deceive the public.

From the philosophical side of the matter there are three features of contemporary journalism that innovate on what was possible at the time of the Glass scandal. They compound to what could be called the pillars of open journalism.  With the goal of creating maximum transparency and by bringing together different media and multiple sources contemporary journalists create a package of journalism that puts emphasis on being open, comprehensive, and accurate. For people living in a network society and for those whose principal medium is the Internet such journalistic ideals are realized by tools of collaboration. One might argue that it is because of the virtues of collaboration that movements such as Wikipedia and Wikinews have been successful despite of rational criticism and reservations by many people. Although this is already a controversial point, the American writer Dan Gillmor would go even further:

“An open source philosophy may produce better journalism at the outset, but that’s just the start of a wider phenomenon. In the conversational mode of journalism [...] the first article may be only the beginning of the conversation in which we all enlighten each other.”

One could also imagine that by using the paradigm of these three pillars the editors and journalists of The New Republic could have fulfilled these idealistic dreams to a greater extent than was demonstrated by the actions of peers of Philip Glass. Today’s new media journalists have taken note of these three ideas inspired not by their peers from the history of journalism but rather by the success of the open source movement in the software developer communities and by ramifications of the ground-breaking technology that was created is such open communities .

Indeed online publication is by nature more open and participatory than its preceding offline cousin. When mistakes are made online there is a high likelihood that someone notices and reports any such error encouraging thoroughness and fairness in content creation.  Judged by that token one might argue that the paradigm of open journalism in which all content is created in a participatory fashion would have entailed better journalism even at The New Republic.

The ideas of open journalism and the use of innovative new technologies hold the promise of bringing a degree of comprehensiveness and accuracy to journalism unknown to Stephen Glass. In a philosophical sense the three pillars of open journalism have ramifications which make truthfulness and accuracy more possible than previously. It is in essence a paradigmatic shift in the realm of investigative journalism that Stephen Glass missed just by a margin.

Works Cited

Gillmor, Dan. We the Media. New York: O’Reilly, 2004.

Shattered Glass. Dir. Billy Ray. 2003.

They share much in common, and in the words of Sigmund Freud as put forth in his The Interpretation of Dreams, Hamlet may be considered as “rooted in the same soil as Oedipus Rex” (Freud 175).     

What are the 3 characteristics that set them apart?

The characters of Hamlet and Oedipus share the common treat of a tragic life. In the Nietzschean context they are both likened to the Dionysian man. And as it was pointed out by Nietzsche his The Birth of Tragedy, “both have had a real glimpse into the essence of things. They have understood, and it now disgusts them to act, for their action can change nothing in the eternal nature of things.” (Nietzsche 94) Even if these words mean nothing else for the reader, one must understand that Hamlet and Oedipus are trying to explain to themselves why things are as they are; why do people despair, why do they feel as if they have no power, and what can they do about it.

Hamlet and Oedipus suggest there is a deep, quasi-existential force that commands people; that everything one does is already predetermined by some external force, be it history, society, destiny, or something else. Be it as it may but the extent of predetermination and the power of the particular force in action remains variable, and in question.

For Oedipus, when his history caught up with his present and he learned of his parents abandoning him, he saw the following as something inevitable (even though his parents had only acted upon the perceived suggestions of the oracle), and he gave in to his presupposed destiny as exemplified by his cry for help:

Aaaiiii, aaaiii . . . Alas! Alas!

How miserable I am . . . such wretchedness . . .

Where do I go? How can the wings of air

sweep up my voice? Oh my destiny,

how far you have sprung now! (Sophocles 83)

Hamlet on the other hand is familiar with the idea of fighting back. In his view of the world – which may seem rather more modernistic –, and although he has become stuck in a plot which he sees and understands more than clearly, he perhaps, perceptibly – may have some influence over it. By that token it may be because of his modern outlook that Hamlet differs from Oedipus in grand scales; it may be that the first characteristic which sets Hamlet and Oedipus apart becomes apparent trough their ability to think about their destiny.

But as Nietzsche pointed out, “knowledge kills action, for action requires a state of being in which we are covered with the veil of illusion — that is what Hamlet has to teach us” (Nietzsche 95). It follows thus that it is also their use knowledge that differentiates Hamlet and Oedipus – the second characteristic. If measured by that token and by the amount of philosophical things spoken by Hamlet’s character it becomes clear he is far greater in deliberation, or at least more practiced, than Oedipus (who even had the Chorus at his mercy to help him consider his future). Thereby Hamlet acquires an air of being more educated than Oedipus. For Hamlet the time taken to reflect was important, as it was for the integrity and mood of the entire play; his reflection had a decisive function, not unlike that of destiny –which in the same manner might become a potential force. This idea is perhaps best expressed not by Hamlet himself but by his arch enemy, his mother’s husband, King Claudius, who spoke of the killing of Hamlet:

Let’s further think of this;

Weigh what convenience both of time and means

May fit us to our shape: if this should fail,

And that our drift look through our bad performance,

‘Twere better not assay’d: therefore this project

Should have a back or second, that might hold,

If this should blast in proof. (Shakespeare 202)

Had Hamlet been in the shoes of Oedipus, perhaps he would’ve killed himself. But would he ever make himself blind? Hamlet needed to understand the plots and conspiracies surrounding him in order to refute and revenge. But Oedipus on the other hand convicted and sacrificed himself at will. One wonders if Sophocles was pressured by the 24 hour rule of playwriting and the shortness of his play to make Oedipus reflect on the possibilities before him, or even to question. It follows that Oedipus’ character lacked the complexity of thought distinctive to Hamlet, and resembled only a small facet of Hamlet’s being, a kind subset of his personality.

Due to the actions of Hamlet six people died, including himself; due to the actions of Oedipus, only two – his father and his mother. Hamlet as a play is three times longer, and in that time he gets three times more people killed. Perhaps if Oedipus had had more time on the stage he’d been as destructive. But as said Oedipus’ time was compressed into a 24 hour period as in all Ancient Greek plays, in contrast to the element of time in Hamlet which was far less linear, with various subplots leading to a story three times longer than Oedipus. Thus it was the use of time that is the third differentiating characteristic of Hamlet and Oedipus.

If they had nothing else in common, Hamlet and Oedipus still both dealt in universals and humanity. One cannot ask whether Hamlet is “just about princes, or men of the Renaissance, or introspective young men, or people whose fathers have died in obscure circumstances?” (Cullen 36) as was the question posed by Jonathan Cullen in his Literary Theory – A Very Short Introduction no more than one can ask – is Oedipus just about the lives of kings and queens, and of prophets who know much about the future? Can it be said then that these are plays are about the philosophy of revenge, submission to destiny, and bad luck?

No, Hamlet and Oedipus are more complex than that.

Works Cited

Cullen, Jonathan. Literary Theory – A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. New York: Random House, 1994.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy. New York: Plain Label Books, n.d.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Plain Label Books, n.d.

Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Trans. Ian Johnston. New York: Richer Resources Publications, 2006.

Inspired by the MIT Media Lab, I expanded my definitions quite a bit, and decided to involve human-machine interaction in my work.

One. Content is created by humans, using software on an iPhone.

Two. Content is displayed on screens, throughout the BART metro system.

• Track
  • Clothes
    • Cradle to cradle
    • RFID
    • Sleeptracker.com
    • Gymtracker.com
    • Connect FB, Twitter
  • Food
    • Cuisine
    • Restaurants
  • Sleep
  • Location
    • Livelocation

• • • iPhone App
      • Sell your location to be targeted by ads tagged iPhone news videos to Big Media

Wawnlog website

I recently started tracking my sleep.

I use YawnLog. It has been surprising how well I sleep. But also how few dreams I can remember. There are only a few days in a month where I really remember what I’d dreamed.

Here’s an overview of the service by LifeHacker, and ReadWriteWeb. Plus other (more advanced) sleep tracking services.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6w_-eLIgAA

Want to create a movie like this? Use Xtranormal to easily convert text to video.

The French film critic André Bazin has been quoted to say “cinema replaces our gaze with a world that conforms to our desires” (Bazin, Dudley, & Gray, 2004, p. 12). By now this observation is decades old, yet there are three reasons why this idea remains relevant to the contemporary discussion about why people construct their world of images.

One – images create perceptions. There is a famous text-book example demonstrating how this is done. The experiment was conducted by the renowned montage theorist Lev Kuleshov in the 1920s. An actor was filmed with a neutral expression and suggestive images were inserted before and after the shot. Although at the time it was impossible to achieve aural consistency (films were silent), the images themselves were enough to deceive the audience. The emotions of the actor, whom the viewers congratulated for superb acting, were purely a product of the viewers’ imagination – determined by the suggestive images. Thus the gullible nature of the casual viewer of the time (one must remember, this was at a time when media was not as ubiquitous as it is today) was revealed.

This example alone begs the question of image-truth. There are those, who necessitate the existence of a limited object such as the original material photograph. For example the literary critic Walter Benjamin who considers that images lose their integrity (a certain aura) in reproduction, has argued that “truth reveals itself in the auratic appearance of the photographic object, but it is an historical instance” thus “to breathe the aura” means to experience perception in terms of a moment (Leslie, 2000, pp. 51-2) which would make Kuleshov’s cinematic experiment a valid auratic experience.

But increasingly there are those who disregard such philosophical considerations and embrace reproduction, for example Andy Warhol who already in the 1960s created works that relied only on reproduction (such as Ten Lizes) expressed in an interview the opinion that “all department stores will become museums” (Warhol, 2004) implicating reproduction of the images, with no apparent pity over such a development. Whatever side one takes, the profound consequence is the realization that even the original auratic images may be untruthful, and images in the supermarket don’t necessarily have to be untruthful – meaning there is no longer a universal qualifier.

Whether truthful or untruthful, the discoveries made in the twenties had a profound influence on how images are constructed. The two classic Russian films edited according to montage theories of the directors themselves Battleship Potemkin by Eisenstein and Man with the Movie Camera by Vertov are direct descendents of Kuleshov’s discoveries. These films were not particularly concerned with hiding cuts between frames or creating smooth transitions (nor was it technically as easy), but they did manage – by using tricks of montage such as double exposure, playing the films backwards, and so forth – to create a perception that was true to the way the director experienced reality. Vertov’s work was particularly impressive considering the almost MTV-like style he created decades ahead of its time (admittedly with influence from Walter Ruttman). Even though the commercially produced films of contemporary Hollywood may look smoother, their ability to construct perceptions is merely an elaboration and refinement of the achievements of early Russian cinema. The substance of image-making has remained the same – images tell stories.

Two, understanding of how images work gives the image-maker power to create narratives. Whether these narrative are false, deceitful and untruthful or contrariwise, accurate and truthful, is up to the filmmaker. What is certain though, is that such control over the cinematic image became possible principally thanks to the analytical power unleashed a decade before Eisenstein and Vertov. The Russian Formalist movement inspired image-makers to analyze and deconstruct images so they might better understand their own work and thus improve upon it. The distinguishing feature of the movement was the aspiration to have a formal understanding of images without the disturbances of philosophical discourse, cultural values, or political manipulation.

Some authors have argued that Russian Formalism had “no need for a theory of interpretation separate from a theory of the sensation of things as they are perceived” (Simpson, Utterson, & Shepherdson, 2004, p. 344). If one considers this to be accurate, the artist and the historic context of the image, even to some extent the truth of image itself become incidental for the formalist. More precisely, they become a secondary interest. In the formalist consideration of the image the primary interest is with the elements within the work. By immersing oneself in the visual language, the researcher can focus on understanding the image without the pretexts and values of outside reference. The power structures that exist inherently within the image become that much clearer (but also that much value-free).

There is a common visual language independent of the interest or objective for which the images are created. The language of images is one of subtleties and suggestions. Images engage in flirtation with the eyes and the mind of the viewer, creating illusions which lead to needs and aspirations. The elements of an image have narrative interest in characterizing the object. What makes such constructed images so desirable is their “unity” (Dondis, 1973, p. 96) or simply put –the wholesome perfection of images that consider harmony, balance, consistency and symmetry in their composition. Each element in the image contributes to the overall feeling that the work produces in the audience.

It is perhaps most useful to analyze images using structures and categories thus dividing the work into discreet elements. To take a practical example, commercial software that is used for constructing 3D animations break images down into distinct parts each of which can be manipulated. Thus one can start from the superficial, and define a texture for every object in the scene. Textures have various properties such as color, reflectivity, roughness, smoothness, as well as many others. From a psychological standpoint, each of those decisions makes the audience connect with their own personal experience and thus revive certain memories and relationships inside the brain.

Another observation one can make about an image is that different categories of objects use the image space for creating patterns. Objects may have similar or dissimilar placement and their sizes may be different. Such patterns attract the eye and may also suggest meanings. One object can obscure the other – and imaginative objects that the viewer contrives inside the head can become as real as those unseen – however their meaning is not strictly determined. The French author Martine Joly argues that such plurality of meaning or to use her word – polysemy – exists in every complex work (Gamboni, 2002, p. 14). The composition or deliberate lack of composition (which is also a composition in its own right) creates a pattern (even if an anarchic one) of objects, forms and shapes – telling a story that can be interpreted in many ways.

Areas of bright color and bright tonalities portray a sense of lightness whereas the opposite can create a sense of weight. On the plane of an image shadows do not act as in reality, but appear as gradients that go from light to dark, subsiding slowly if the light source is large or close by, and cutting deeply if the light source is small or far away. If one considers preceding narratives in the history of image-making such as biblical heaven and hell, light and dark can convey values of good and evil.  Objects that are blurred appear to be moving fast and add to the dynamism of the scene. As does shallow depth of field (which is a common aesthetics of many Hollywood films). The opposite is deep focus which is more democratic in its demonstration of the scene as it reveals all and gives the audience the power to look past the subject. This was precisely what was as advocated by André Bazin who felt this was the aesthetics of an objective reality (Mitry & King, 1999, p. 195).

It may appear simplistic and foolish to enumerate such apparent insignificance but these are the subtle ways by which the image-creator (editor, photographer, and filmmaker) leads the viewer. By selecting and editing reality and creating the aesthetics appropriate for one or other situation, he forms the perception of the audience often without being explicitly identified or noticed.

What began as a Russian literary movement and was transformed by its interest in images has also a profound influence on scientific development. By analyzing the formal features of an image, researches are able to make quasi-scientific observations about its construction. Just as the words of a spoken language, these observations are revealing the ‘new words’ of the visual language. Such research, now undertaken by large networks of computers with specialized software, has implications for advertisers who aspire to tell the stories which engage the audience in predictable and measurable ways. They allow the image-maker employ statistical and data-centric knowledge in designing the most effective image, rather than relying solely on one’s artistic faculties.

Three, narratives have a profound influence on reality. While one single image can be looked upon in many different ways, series of images suggest a story. Certain psychological processes underlie how images are seen. For one, the spectator and the image occupy different spaces – one is looking at the other and the other is being looked upon. Proceeding from that idea, philosophers have described the male and female points of view. There is a term known as the gaze popularized by social theorists such as Foucault and Lacan that aspires to capture this notion. McGowan explains it thus: “when we buy into the illusion we have a sense of control over what we see on the screen” (McGowan, 2007, p. 4) The male gaze may be seen as sexualized whereas the academic discussion (and some controversy) over whether the female gaze exists (and what is its nature) is still ongoing. One can go beyond the imagination of professors and philosophers, and picture the capitalist and socialist gaze, the cultured gaze, and the uncultured one, the asexual point of view, and the child’s point of view, and so on and forth.

All the preceding notions about the gaze serve to explain that there is a diverse marketplace demanding images with a range of different stories. There are people whose desire is a certain perception of reality. Photographers who understand such psychological (and cultural) currents – with sensibilities towards that particular gaze or that particular point of view – can provoke emotions in those people by telling the right story in their image. Perhaps in newspapers the image of starving Sub-Saharan children would be taken from above as God;  or from an equal height as a companion; or from below as a servant. The relative sizes between objects as well as their perceived sizes in relation to the depth of image have narrative value, and the image-maker will frequently use these methods to tell a story. Whoever grasps the personal psychological idiosyncrasies of the individual can exert an influence on the whole audience.

In conclusion, the nature of images is the same today as it was when Bazin spoke of the cinematic gaze that conforms to our desires. However the scientific and non-scientific, emotional and effectual understanding of the power of images is increasingly widespread in the global village. The creation of images is still essentially selective, but there are many more people doing the selection in every area of life – starting with cinema and the media. So why do people construct their world in images? An observation made by Walter Benjamin is more relevant today than it has ever been – “the camera is now incapable of photographing a tenement or a rubbish- heap without transfiguring it […] It has succeeded in turning abject poverty itself, by handling it in a modish, technically perfect way, into an object of enjoyment“ (Sontag, 2001, p. 107)

Thus it is the image-maker who by his selection and composition of images creates perceptions in his own psychological image. Perceptions perpetuate narratives and narratives change reality. The narrative, even if one is unaware of its effects, has a certain subconscious level of influence on the viewer. While for the uninitiated viewer an image may be something simple, and the work of a photographer may go entirely unnoticed, one does point out – oh, this is so beautiful – I want to live like that, I want to be like that.

Works Cited

Bazin, A., Dudley, A., & Gray, H. (2004). What is Cinema? Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Dondis, D. A. (1973). A Primer of Visual Literacy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Gamboni, D. (2002). Potential Images. Chicago: Reaktion Books.

Leslie, E. (2000). Walter Benjamin. London: Pluto Press.

McGowan, T. (2007). The Real Gaze: Film Theory After Lacan. New York: SUNY Press.

Mitry, J., & King, C. (1999). The Aesthetics and Psychology of the Cinema. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Simpson, P., Utterson, A., & Shepherdson, K. J. (2004). Film Theory. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Sontag, S. (2001). On Photography. New York: Picador.

Warhol, A. (2004). Fashion. New York: Chronicle Books.

Sao Lorenço

This has to be the most photographed spot on the island of Madeira. Probably the one, single photo every visitor takes on Madeira. It’s the eastern tip of the island, known as Sao Lorenço, here looking back towards Funchal.

There’s a number of international pages such as lookbook.nu and pages in other countries.

But there’s not a single page in Lisbon.

I started out by asking potential readers about the type of fashion they wanted to see. And the types of images, and how often should I post.

The forms created with Wufoo.com were instrumental in getting good results. And Facebook and Twitter allowed me to distribute the survey to plenty of people.

The link: streetcream.com

UPDATE: This project is pretty much dead.

Let’s take sharing to a whole new level. 

What if I could put my favorite YouTube videos on my t-shirt?

My video-shirt would become prime advertising space.

Because my location could be tracked by GPS, I could be payed by companies for the impressions I made on other people. 

Just by walking around.

And I would get extra credit for the people who actually came close and touched my t-shirt.

Two. What if clothes could produce energy if exposed to light. I would charge my mobile phone just by putting it in my pocket. My clothes would catch the solar rays hitting me while walking around. But of course, I would only war it if it looked looked fabulous. Any successful fashion technology should.

Three. What if we did Cradle to Cradle? If my clothes malfunctioned I would take them back to the producer. There my clothes would be disassembled into parts for the next version. I could have beta t-shirts. And I can could go and upgrade at the store. And get a better, newer version.

Four. What if we did an Intelligent Fitting Room? Cisco has already produced an “Intelligent Fitting Room” that displays information about the clothes being experimented in the Mitsukoshi store in Japan and Galeria Kaufhof in Germany. This was done by tagging all the clothes with tiny RFIDs. I can certainly imagine the next step. I would add this information to the my profile. This way I could share my clothes on Facebook. And let friends tell me what they think. And help design different looks (sometimes I’m just horrible at choosing what to buy and wear).

And if there was anything wrong with the apparel, I could easily file a claim or cash in a guarantee right from my profile. This would make for a far more convenient and integrated shopping experience. Because all the clothes my clothes are on my profile, I can look for other clothes that fit my style or go with a particular outfit or theme.

ILets go one step further. If I tracked all the clothes I wore, the system could calculate my preferences and give me feedback about my style. From the shop’s point of view, this system would increase sales by increasing the visibility of goods and keeping track of usage of clothes (provided I allowed this) leading to better clothes and more efficient management of the inventory. This is a true intelligent wardrobe!

Five. The way clothes are produced will change. What if clothes could be replicated or printed at home. There is Japanese artist, who has experimented with such designs. Although his works are far from achieving the usability of normal clothes, these are first steps. I would design my own clothes in a 3D software and print them out. More difficult designs could be e-mailed to the company for production and could be picked up at the store.

What would you pay to show your  Twitter on my shirt? (Logging into my t-shirt based on hourly rates)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JejYgnZebvs

We spent some time and money. I have to say I’m pretty unhappy with the results though. Lots to learn still.

This list does not pretend for any scientific method. I’ve merely hand-picked the categories into which people have put their causes on Facebook using the Causes application.

Facebook: if you can provide any further statistics, this would be helpful.

Environmental Concerns

Pollution of air, lack of clean water, and soil erosion. Depletion of natural resources such as water and oil. Decreasing quality of air. Garbage and plastic bags. Stop Climate Change. Supports causes for Solar Panels, Wind Turbines, Carbon Capture, Geothermal, and Wave power.

Social Concerns

Population Growth. Increasing hunger. Increasing poverty.

Freedom

Internet. Net neutrality. Freedom of speech. Corruption. Freedom of the press

Conflict

Nuclear prolification. Fear. War. Dislocation.

Human Rights Wish List

Equality. Minority rights. Gay rights. Abolish death penalty. Racism. Genocide prevention.

Animal and Plant life

Animal Rights / Stop Animal Cruelty. Animal Testing. Cosmetic testing. Animal welfare. Use of fur. Bull fights. Whaling. Bush meat.  Diversity of Species. Endangered species. Extinsion of species. Dendrolagus matschiei. Protect wildlife. Rewildering projects.

Specific animals in Danger

Jangse river dolphin. Gorillas. Sharks. Sea Shells. Chinchillas. Philipine Eagle. Coral Reefs. Biomes.

Domestic Violence

Child abuse. Abuse of women. Domestic violence. Child pornography. Gun and knife crime. Sexual violence. Human trafficking. Child labor.

Statue of Liberty. Photo by Toivo Annus

I like that the statute is made of glass and looks kind of transparent. There’s free wireless Internet for everybody. And kids can skate, ride and bike, and just hang around. Pretty cool.

Technologies are not readily and cheaply available in all parts of the world. 

That is to say – future is not spread evenly. It is very possible to create that future by looking at what has already been invented elsewhere and applying that technology locally.  

Screen culture is not ubiquitous, yet.

Or, Jim Jannard, The Man Who Bought The Amazon Rainforest
Jim Jannard, the founder of Oakley, and more recently of Red, purchased a large draft of rainforest in the Amazon a couple of years ago. 

He hired the local people back on the land to take care of it. 

No logging companies have cut trees since then.

Bored student in a classroom. Photo by Benny Lim

What is the user experience of education? The student sits in the classroom. The student listens to a podcast on his device while jogging. An interesting and consistent learning experience engages the student. Every lecture becomes so interesting that it will be recorded.

• Madeira
  • Apuntia ei ole kaktus
    • Travessa do alto 13
      • Rochina 32 buss
    • Campo da Borca
    • Escola de artes e oficios
    • Web
      • Brasfrut.pt
      • Madeiraorchid.com
      • Igino solar panels near pharmacy

Forget about newspapers. Blogs. News sites like CNN and BBC. They are too slow. On Twitter search every result has a time: 1 minute ago. 2 minutes ago. Things that were said 10 minutes ago are buried deep.

Real time search: http://www.collecta.com/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/sorry_google_you_missed_the_real_time_web.php

Hudson River Plane Crash
Iran Elections

Technical Solution

People will use the Brushes application available on App Store to create artwork. Thanks to wireless coverage inside the trains, creatives can use the applications built-in functionality to e-mail the finished artwork to BART. An automatic system will display the artwork on BART screens in the trains and stations.

http://www.wifirail.net/pages/locations.html

• Use projector to display drawing on the wall on both sides

• The most democratic form of art-making
• Innovative
• Modern
• Unknown (relatively) way of creating art

Example Works

Artists

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/pirillan/
• http://www.flickr.com/groups/brushes/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/frommystudio/

Space

Bay Area Rapid Transit system trains and stations.

Why?

- BART was among the first companies to open real time schedule information to third-party developers.

- BART has high speed wireless connectivity so screens can be installed inside the trains as well as in the stations.

- Bay area has the highest number of iPhones in the world.

Used Literature

• http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/news/2009/02/submissions_iphone_art
• http://www.wired.com/culture/art/multimedia/2009/02/gallery_brushes
• Cutting Edge
• http://www.intomobile.com/2009/03/14/fingerpainting-on-the-iphone-not-as-bad-as-you-might-think.html

Narrative

Logistical Foresight

LCD screens need to be installed in all the trains. Metro stations already have them. It depends on negotiations with the metro company  whether these will be temporary or could be part of a long term investment. After the project they can be reused for display of advertisements or public information.

Justification in three I’s

- Inspiration: anyone can create art

- Innovation: a new use for the metro

- Internationalization: collaboration without borders

Advertising

How to involve the largest number of people? Advertizing for the project will be based on word-of-mouth. Facebook and Twitter accounts will be set up that announce new artworks that have been uploaded.

Timeframe

The length of the project depends on the participation gradient. We expect the first to be slower with early adopters taking part. The second week word of mouth will have traveled enough and commuters will be familiar enough with the system to try it out by themselves.

To quickstart the project we can recommend two approaches:

- Hire artists to sit on the train and draw. This means there is always someone using the system as an example (Preferrable)

- Post personnel with teaching experience to explain to commuters what they need to do

- Paste posters on the walls with explanations (additional costs on poster design).

Audience

Participants

Young: 18 to 25. Owns and iPhone or other mobile device with capacity for drawing. Bay Area has 800 000 such people. 80% of the take the BART daily.

Project Goals

Promote creativity among the public. Show people the possibilities of out of the box thinking.

Future Prospects

As the project has some viral properties, if managed properly there are possibilities for viral spread and copy in other metropolicies. The limiting factors are:

• Access to Internet in the metro
• Number of mobile devices with art capabilities in the hands of citizens

Creativity. Innovation. Artistry. Ingenuity. Invention. Originality.

Democracy. Openess. Freedom. Open Culture. Participatory Culture.

Access. Imagination. Fun. Participation. Collaboration. Competition.

Ability. Playful Culture. Lucity. Ludicus.Childlikeness.Capacity. Power.

Empowerment.BART. Bay Area Rapid Transit.

Budget: Fees and Expenses
Unit. Unit Cost. Installation. Total.

Video Projector
Artist Travel
Commitee Travel
Advertizing
Purchase of Artwork
Software Development

2009 is the year for creativity and innovation.

Realism

The editing must be visible. Editing is a tool to connect one thing to another, it is not expressive. Narrative continuity.Realism is about the ambiguity of the world.
Soviet Cinematographic Formalism

Contrary to realism. Was born at the time of the Russian revolution 1917. It’s the editing that makes the film. Lev Kuleshov, Kuleshov effect. Filmed a close-up of a man with a neutral expression. Filmed other things and edited the neutral expression together with the other objects. The film was shown to a group of people. Depending of the editing and the other objects the viewers understood the man’s expression in different ways and each time congratulated him on his perfect acting abilities.

Sergei Eisenstein

Editing for attracting (symbolic editing). Editing for conflict. Predefined meaning: The associations created in the viewer are planned by the writer of the film. Contrary to realism. Perfect for propaganda. Collision between shots. Visual conflict. The writer creates the film as a series of images not as the reality. Desynchronization of space and time in editing. Associated shots may have different totally times.

Causal function of the editing. Cause and effect. Association between two shots creates an effect. Narrative discontinuity of space and time. In Philosophy the dialectics of Hegel. Thesis + antithesis = synthesis.

Three principal functions. Augments or creates drama. Association between various points of views. Dialectic function. Different types of light. Argumentative function. Ideas and values. The methodology of image analysis is the to know the basic forms.

When I understand I tend to understand everything. When I don’t understand I tend to understand so little I can’t even make a question.

The story is created by the text and the music. No hero to guide us trough the film. In Soviet editing instead of showing or associating meaning with shots, the meaning is directly suggested with objects. See Battleship Potemkin.

Walter Benjamin

When the photograph appear it brought about a big change in art of theater, it was no longer alone. Before. Every work was unique. Authentic (existence of the original). Material. Divine intervention (dependence on god). Aura (atmosphere, something that make the work transcendental). It allows the work to be special and hold a certain distance from the viewer and creates respect and mystery. Authority of the social differentiation (who owned or created a work was part of a selected elite). Direct perception. The esthetics of ‘beautiful’.  After. Multiple and reproducible. Cannot make a difference between the original and the copy. Immaterial. Esthetic autonomy, human hand (image created by a machine). Transformation of the aura. Close to the viewer, usual, common, does not create respect. Emancipation. Fruition of the masses. Everybody can create and own photographs with facility. Indirect reproduced perception. The esthetics of shock (started with Durchamps work of art Fountain with the urinal). At the end of the day we are talking about technological change. Leaving a hungry dog to die in a public place to show the idea of how Africa is being treated

Andy Warhol

1963. Stenographic like a commercial idea. Aura of immortality. There’s only one work this way. Using technology created a new aura for the image. Mass production degrades the aura. Despecification of the image. The image is no longer unique. Degradation. Fall. Image analysis contextualizes the image. Look at videos that analyze paintings. Andy Warhol is an example of superficiality. Total neutrality.

Actors Studio

Stanislavsky. Actor Studio, Meril Streep, Anthony Hopkins, Nicholas Cage, Sean Penn – Exteriorization of emotion. mental actors: John Malchovich. Actors are often chosen by they personality. Actors Studio was created by Elia Kazan, Chery Crawford, Robert Lewis -> replaced by Lee Strassberg in 1948 school reformed and Stanislavsjy system introduced.

Theater Laboratory

Rchard Bilevski. Maria Ouspenskaia. 1926 – Group Theatre.

Poetic vision, symbolic object. Excercise of the animal – trying to find new forms of expression. How to be an ant, bear, dog etc in various mental states and situatuons. Ex a frughtened cat. Look up on youtube.

Finding the particular emotions of the personagem ab express them.

You receive a bad message and feel like a heavy hipopottamos. Seduction like a cat trying to ask for food. Rich cobtent for inspiration.

Preparation of the actor in Cinema

Menorization, concentratuon, affective memory, reading, cincentratuon of the character.

Biography of the character. Where is the character, contextualizatuon of the scene. Contextualizing thetime. 1920s? 90s? What is the backstory? What happened before the scene? What is the motivation of the character? Needs. Wants. Emotional state. Hurting feet? Euphoria? Director must know this. What happens in the scene explicitly / implicitly? Formalism vs Spontanity?

Elia Kazan
Strong motivation constructs the character what how why? James Dean. Dialogues are secondary / faces, looks etc tell the story. Take time for looks.– Reactions of one character to the behaviour of the other character. Interior contradictions of the character. — Give life to ibhects and to their interaction with the characters.– Usage of What if? to contentxualize the character. Actor shouldnt think about what the text should say but listen to the opposite person and respond naturally to have coherence in the dialogue. Never start wirh word but with action.– find subtexts. Poetic vision stilization of the personality. East of Eden 1954 James Dean notice looks, symbols, subtext.

Directing Actors

12 points of objectivity of the actor. A director leads the characters (not the actors). Objectives of the character in the scene / in the film.

Director manages the objectives of characters
Cause and effect

Nuclear objective. What does the character want more than anything? Found while reading the script. Objective of the scene. What is the need of the character during the scene?

Obstacles
Physical and emotional obstacles and mental barriers that keep the character from attaining his objective in the scene and in the film
Substitution
Find a real person for reference of the need. Ex: need to be loved
Interior objects
The images in the head of the character when he speaks about a person, object, or event
Impulses and actions
An impulse is a thought detonating an action
Ever time a thought changes there is a change in the impulse
Actions are mini-objectives in the scene that support the objective of the scene and the entire film
The previous moment
What happens before the scene
From physical to emotional
Place and the 4th wall
Using the camera-wall gives a feeling of intimacy
Actions and Things
Use of things and accessories that produce behaviors
Interior Monologue
The unspoken discourse inside the head of the character
Previous Circumstances
Back story of the character
Accumulated life experiences determine the form how the character relates to life and consequently personalizes it
Such experiences must be previsioned by the director and used by him for the development of the character
Let it go
Technique uses the intellect of the actor for characterization but it is not a brain exercise
The technique is a way to create pure and raw human behavior by living inside the character and developing him naturally and spontaneously as a live person
For this to work the actor must believe in the character and have faith in the director so both can relax and let it flow
Meisner: living truthfully under imaginary circumstances

The method of acting. The director must think of all the actors. Method of Ivana Chubback. Most recent elaboration.

Cartilha
Bestial
– it is not directing but directing characters in the story

– dia 30 mayo 9-13 and 14-18
-
Analysis of the principal objective nuclear

DA

- Stanivslavsky (1863-1938)
- Budovky
- Eisenstein (Ivan Terrivel)
- Psychological realism (theater). Inner search. The actor gives form to the representation. Theater of the actor. The director does not decide the form of acting. The actor uses his own experiences to give form to the role.

Formalism tries to deceive the viewer through acting, while in realism the actor is himself with his real emotions.

- Unconcioul
- Subconcious

Subconcious lets unconcious pass to conciousness. Like memory / dreams.

System – Stsnislsvsky
- 1) Relaxation of the body. Ex: empty the mind and concentrate only on the sounds.
- 2) Concentration: wake up the senses. Ex: peel an orange and eat the orange feeling it all. Take a shower and be concious of the temperature, ptrssire of the water concentrating on all the sensations. Affective memory. Experience and remember.
- 3) Wake up the emotions. Remember spontaneously something that happened in his life. Ex: being humiliated
Method – Actors Studio

Nonetheless, the actor should never lose himself snd enter into a catharsis.

Adapation. Dialogue between people. The actor should concentrate on the inner space of the partner not his physical appearance. This changes everything.

The director should always be an actor. This enriches his ability to direct.

Narrativa classica. Stanislavsky: an action is always the result of another action that creatd the appropriate feeling. Cause and effect.

Exterior / interior. Contrary: the actor starts with his inside and expresses it to the outside world.

Stanislavsky: interpretaion is the vehicle of identification between the personagem and the viewer. How to regognize a realistic action? The identification is emotional through empathy.

Stanislavsky: poetic vision. Stiling of the direction. Accentuate the specificity of every character. Realism is a subjective interpretation. This is not naturalism – an objective representation.

Poesia – stilistic writing.

Use of subtext. Suggesting something without completely revealing it. It is not obvious in the scene. It’s always ambiguous. Adds richness to scene, very often used. Stanislavsky uses ‘symbolic objects’ for the same end.

- Auguste Gil pt poet. Bata levamemte
- Visit to the opera
- May 11 – test 1800

Cast
- Equilibrium
- 7-8 strong characters will cannibalise each other and ruin the balance. The cast is chosen around the principal character. When the main character changes the whole cast changes.

- Mystery of sintra
- Dramatic potential of a scene. Importance of the scene in the entire story (usually a person – who is the scene?). The importance of analysing each scene. Instruments of the actor: 1) The actor uses his past experiences. 2) Imagination (yet some actors don’t have any imagination) 3) Immediate experiences. Abilities (swimming, driving a car, being drunk, etc, etc) – fazer laboratorio. 4) Memory.

Ivanna Chibbuck. 12 points of Objectivity of the actor.

Sociedade-civil.blogspot,com
Eritrean music videos

Ecologic clothes
Ecars

I followed him around Lisbon - for a couple of days – observing what he did, and who he talked to. If you understand Portuguese, he has some insights on the difficulties of being a writer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezXD0Auy_K0

You may also want to read my production notes to understand some of the decision I made.

This film is an essay on the destructive force of the contemporary societies on the environment.  It’s an apocalyptic vision of the collision of two worlds – urban, technology and capital driven human beings versus the natural environment.

It is an associational formal system as describe by some imageologist, but presents more of a process rather than telling a story with a beginning and an end.

This means there is no temporal order of characters, and the film finds its structure and characters in the essence of its ideas.  The film invokes a mythical natural planet Earth. The Earth has stories and fairy tales, and it is a sort of a personified being; it looks alive. It makes one feel that humans are out of place on this planet.

Although the philosophy behind the film might be not acceptable or interesting for some, after seven years in production, at least visually, in terms of sound, and in terms of feeling, this film is a breathtaking masterpiece.

Released: 1983, USA Length:  87 min, Director: Godfrey Reggio

Fictional poster for Los Danzares

Schoolwork, reused some old pictures for this fictional poster, for the Argentine Dance group Los Danzares.

Marketing Decision
This is a proposal for carrying out marketing research into the preferences of potential StreetCream readers. We will clarify consumer expectations towards the product. This will help us guide the information and product design decisions to attain maximum reader satisfaction.

Decision Problem
- Whether to launch the product? Assess market acceptance for the product.
Purpose
- Grow Readership
Research Objective
- Find customer needs. Find brand personality. Find niche.

Background
Street style blogging / journalism is a pop-culture phenomenon that became popular in Japan in 2005 with the FRUiTS Japanese Street Style Magazine. Today there are hundreds blogs covering street style in many of the metropolises of the world. There is no such blog in Lisbon.

Marketing Research Problem
As the proposed research is for a startup, the conclusions will affect the whole concept of the product.

Information I am looking for?
Demographic and Socioeconomic Variables
Age?
Male / Female?
Sexual habits?
Shopping habits?
Disposable income?
Media consumption:
Which blogs does She read?
Identify light users and heavy users.
Values and Opinions
Towards gay marriage.
Technological Capabilites
What you need to know to make the decision?
What should the product be like to attract consumers
To give support to the decision?
Is She my Facebook fan?
Does She follow me on Twitter?
To know if we have enough people interested in the product?

To know the best configuration of the product?

Objective
Purpose: Marketing research is carried out in order to clarify consumer needs towards the proposed media product. Understanding potential consumers leads to better information design. We need to fulfill the desires of our use, to have a chance on the marketplace. User Experience, Content, and Placement of the blog must be designed according to those desires.

With limited resources it will not be possible to focus on all platforms. For example having a strong Social Media presence will mean there will not be funds to develop an iPhone application. Developing an iPhone application will mean there are no funds for other mobile devices. So where should we focus?

Thus our main objective is to:

- Identify readership preferences towards 1) UX 2) Content 3) Placement

Research Questions
These questions are designed to give a qualitative overview of the possible match between the survey filler and the profile of the target customer.

UX: Huge pictures and no comments? Or small pictures and analysis?
Name
Fabrolous
FabStreets
Something else
Tagline
What the Planet Wears Today?
Identify people?
Name (Wallpaper Magazine)
Age (Most blogs)
Location (Few blogs)
Anonymous people?
Content: Should we concentrate on a certain
Style?
Hipster (Most blogs)
Emo
Formal (Few blogs)
Age?
Teens
18-24 (Most blogs)
28-34 (Most blogs)
Over 40?
What aspect of fashion should we concentrate on?
Bags
Shoes
Hats
Shirts
Accesories
Everything
Should we discriminate by Sex?
Females
Males
Perspective
Locally orientated
Global
Placement: How many readers are engaged with a street fashion content on the
Website
RSS Reader
Mobile phone
iPhone
Twitter
Facebook
Somewhere else?

Tools
Survey Potential Readers
Track Existing Readers with Google Analytics.
Create Focus Groups with Get Satisfaction
Online Focus Groups
GetSatisfaction.com
Script for interviews / focus groups
Count Twitter Followers
Count Facebook Fans

Hypothesis
Experience from Street Style Blogs helps us to makes some hypothesis about possible market responses. Public data for blogs.

Measure user numbers for top blogs.

Hypothesis 1: there will be more interest from people outside Portugal.
Hypothesis 2: there will be significant interest from readers of similar blogs in other countries.
Hypothesis 3: there will be no significant interest from random people on the street aged 18-25
Hypothesis 4: Portuguese shops will be interested in advertising on the web page

Content
We expect users to

UX
We expect users to prefer simple designs with large high quality photography. Clear descriptive text to identify objects in the pictures.
probable answer to yout question is…

Research Design

Marketing research is gathered using a systematic approach. The survey includes both primary and secondary research. There are both quantitative questions that give numeric output, and open-ended qualitative questions that are assessed subjectively.

As the product is online, the survey is conducted in the same environment i.e. using online tools. Individual customers will fill out a number of forms adapted to specific questions. After the survey the they will be shown screenshots of other Street Style Blogs placed side-by-side i.e. London besides Sidney besides Istanbul to test their reaction.

Secondary Data
There has been little scholarly or institutional research into street style journalism. The studies that exist concentrate on fashion marketing in general and make few provisions for the particulars of a online marketing and blogging. Moreover, there is no such data available about Portugal and any insights gathered may be inaccurate or culturally biased. The nature and objectives of such data are under question because they are not focused on street fashion.

We have come up with a set of questions to help us formulate an informed opinion about the state of the market. The questions will help us clarify the concept of our product. New insights will be gained towards designing a product better suited to the market. Perhaps most importantly, the survey helps us eliminate impractical or uniteresting ideas and focus on simplifying the product experince.

Primary Data
While there are many questions that could be asked it is also important to keep the survey concise. Otherwise users will get bored and fail to complete the survey. The visual form of the survey has also been given a lot of thought. The design of form field and buttons is oversized to be easily selectable, clear and non-threatening.

It may come under consideration to draw a prise between the completers of the survey. Talks about sponsorship deals with clothes retailers are ongoing.

Part 1: Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
Part 2: Lifestyle.
Part 3: Attitudes and opinions.

Part 4. Surverying past experiences. While not a representative sample of the readership, these personal choices provide us with user knowledge and individual insights that qualitative research is unable to offer. Moreover, these open ended question may provide insight into the relationships between measurable variables. Concerning research outcome, these questions help us formulate better hypothesis and iterate towards a superior understanding of the readership.

Who. What. Where. When. Why. How.

Survey: Quantitative Research
–Purpose: how many potential readers are there?
–Population and Sampling
–Procedure

Survey: Qualitative Research
–Purpose: How should the blog be designed? Structured? Placed?
–Population and Sampling
–Procedure

Abstract
StreetCream is the proposed brand name for an upcoming street style blog in Lisbon, Portugal.

People are bad at projections. They are especially bad at projecting their own feelings about something that is unclear. People are unlikely to want something they don’t understand. A reliable way of testing user interest is to create a sample, and then survey if they want more of it.

For optimal results, Marketing must work in conjunction with the product design process. That is to say, as design has become iterative, so too must marketing research. To dig deeper into the consciousness of the customer, there must be interaction and follow up.

Measuring customer needs at a particular point in time is not sufficient. Marketing research needs to become live and continuous. Reports that measure something at a specific time have limited use. The Internet is changing too fast for this to work well. People make purchasing decisions in real time. The projections they make for the future are wishful but not accurate.

There are as of now no direct competitors on the Portuguese market. There are fashion magazines and there is event photography. But there is no publication that gives the reader a taste of the streets of Lisbon. Because of the global nature of the Internet, street fashion blogs from all over the world fight for the same eyeballs.

The assumption is that the product itself is the strongest marketing tool. On the Internet, the alternative choice is only one click away. Feed readers have augmented this reality, stripping away even the design of the publication leaving only bare content.

Or to use an image, how to from 0 to 100 in the fastest time possible.

High Fashion Trend is all about popular designer brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Christian Dior, Dolce and Gabbana. The Brands found on the Streets though are different. They are the brands found in Shopping Malls. List of brands that could be identified on the Streets.

Changes in design and content will be informed by the proposed research. Targeted at the future StreetCream readership, the research will gain insight into the wants and needs of the reader.

When approved, this research project will enable the creation of knowledge, that will guide the design choices necessary for the successful launch of StreetCream.

Three of the traditional four Ps of marketing are applicable to StreetCream.
The Price of the product is free.
The Place is the URI. Also the placement of the blog in search, directories, and social media.
Product and Promotion as the main influencers of the marketing outcome.

Market: People who Read Fashion Blogs.

Literature Review
Classical Fashion Marketing has been concentrated on print publishing. Street Style blogs are a relatively new part of fashion marketing. The format has been successful in differing countries. One of the most famous blogs, namely The Sartorialist was voted among the most influential fashion leaders in New York City.

The barriers for access are low and it is not easy to become profitable. The paying party of a blog are not the consumers, but the advertisers. The market for StreetCream are not the readers but online retailers, the websites selling clothes on the Internet. They are the ones buy advertisement on the blog.

We expect clear identification of brands in the photographic content is key to winning their interest. While using social media such as Facebook and Twitter we should also recognize brands by using clear titles and descriptions. Linking directly to the products on online shop websites is not recommended.

Fashion brand can be divided into two groups. First, there are the brands that everybody has access to. Generally, the brands seen on the streets are readily accesible to a large audience. Second, there are the luxury brands that have a limited audience. These are aspirational brands with a relatively small consumption audience thus commanding a price premium.

Attachment 1
Fashion brands are characterized by corporate ownership. What are seemingly different shops in the shopping mall often belong into the same group. The following is a list of some of the popular brands and their owners.

Inditex Group: Zara, Bershka, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Oysho, and Uterqüe.
Richemnont: Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Baume et Mercier, Mont Blanc, Chloe, and a partnership with Ralph Lauren.
LVMH: Fendi, Givenchy, Donna Karan, Kenzo, and Marc Jacobs.
PPR: Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Sergio Rossi, and Puma trough stock.
Phillips-Van Heusen: Calvin Klein, Sean John, and Michael Kors.
GAP: GAP, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Piperlime.
Nike: Nike, Umbro, Cole Haan, and Converse.
Urban Outfitters: Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, and Terrain and Leifsdottir.
Adidas: Adidas and Reebok.

Accessory production is characterized by licensing deals.

Luxottica, the largest eyewear producer sells under their own brands Oakley, Ray-Ban and Persol but also produces for brands such as Chanel, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, D&G, Donna Karan, DKNY, Miu Miu, Prada, Polo, Ralph Lauren, Sergio Tacchini, Tiffany & Co, Versace, and others.

Safilo, the competitor produces for Alexander McQueen, Diesel, Dior, Emporio Armani, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez, Banana Republic, and others.

- Design a questionaire on Google Docs and Spread around
- Design a blog / pdf with a preview of Lisbon Street Fashion. Question: Do You Want More? Need to make sexy pictures.

The blog must be extremely clearly defined. Because of information noise the ones that are clear are the most memorable.

with original photography from the streets of Lisbon.

The market of a blog are the advertisement buyers. However, this is not true for a startup. Advertisements can only be sold once there is readership. Advertisement sales won’t happen, if there are not enough readers to interest the ad buyer. Starting from that unique startup perspective, the marketing question inevitably becomes:
- how to gain maximum audience in minimum time and cost?

Released: 1988, USA

Length:  103 min

Director: Errol Morris

Morris was the man who broke the Cinema Direct style and started to make documentaries that looked cinematic. He seems to be saying there is no reason why the truth should look shaky and badly composed.

While this is perhaps not his most popular film (the later works like this year’s Standard Operating Procedure seem to have chosen themes which gather a larger audience) it should still be noted that with this film Morris in essence established a new kind of nonfiction film making.

This film is really something else. It is innovative in almost every aspect and when seen at first it might not even seem to be a documentary. Yet it is in the sense that it tries to document reality.

 

Dear Kris,

We are pleased that you have been accepted into Level 2, Film studies at
LASALLE College of the Arts. Attached is your offer letter.

Please feel free to contact me should you need more clarification.

Kind regards,
Mandy Lim
Officer – Admissions

These were the photos I submitted.

Although we watched only a half an hour excerpt of the film some of the ideas expressed became quite clear in that length of time. There were idealized forms of historical references and allusions to the ideas that the German race has continuity from the Ancient Greece.

We see the strong Aryan man and the beautiful Aryan woman in their proper positions. There are people in unison joining hands for a common goal. The images seen are quite graphic and even geometrical with actors positioned at right angles.

Moreover the film is strongly ideological, and one cannot shy away from making comparisons with its content from Riefenstahl previous Triumph of the Will.

The scenes have a purity that is reminiscent and suitable to the ideals of Hitler.

Released: 1938, Germany, Length:  111 min, Director: Leni Riefenstahl

Choice between the virtual and the real.

Possible scenes
Alice looking trough (behind) the looking glass
Alice choosing to drink the red liquid

Ideology
Reality: being connected and disconnected at the same time. Asking a question? What is down the rabbit hole? Alice in the Wonderland. The Matrix. Asking. Choice. Risk. Doubt. Questioning. Choice between ignorance and knowing. Questioning the status quo. Freedom? Excitement. Looking behind the looking glass.

Production

Makeup

http://www.modelmayhem.com/523894

http://www.modelmayhem.com/508811

http://www.modelmayhem.com/425337

http://www.modelmayhem.com/642190

http://www.ukscreen.com/crew/diogo

http://www.modelmayhem.com/612012

Alice Experiments in Wonderland

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_stage_theat/2008/01/theater-revie-3.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070322105323.htm

http://da-lj.livejournal.com/247935.html

Examples

http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2007/10/10/hondas-concept-car-puyo_179.jpg

Bicing public bikes in Barcelona. Photo by Gill Rickson

A CouchSurfer in Barcelona showed me how I can rent a bicycle from any of the 400 station spread around the city. He pays a monthly fee of 30 Euros for the privilege.

The system is smart.. Broken bicycles are detected (those taken out, and immediately returned). The locals love it. It is easy to use, and probably the simplest way to get around the city. Barcelona has Bicing, the public bicycle transport system. Paris has Velib. So what is Tallinn doing?

Fashion Words

soft

wawy

bouncy

liquid

fresh face

rich

natural

feminine

graphic

geometric

punky

pehme

laineline

värske välimus

suitsused silmad

vaba

The hypothesis is that there is no difference of essence between documentary and cinema; just the difference of degree of how cinematic a documentary can become. Historically, both were born when filmmakers started to capture images of people’s daily lives.

By that token, he argues, recording people in location is the essence of documentary. Moreover, as this is the beginning of documentary film, as well that of cinema at its earliest, it is for both their most natural stage.

Later in the 20th century, the Grierson School (Grierson was considered the father of British documentary film) legitimized the use of reconstruction in documentaries, bringing a new degree of cinematic form into documentary filmmaking.

Newer filmmakers such as Errol Morris have taken the idea to extremes. Morris is the best example because with his documentary The Thin Blue Line, he proved that a documentary can created exclusively of constructed images. It is the search for truth that makes it a documentary; in Morris’s film the truth is based on the personal accounts of the people who went through the experience of a murder.
The camera’s part is to say – I was there, this is the truth. This is why portable equipment is of such great importance to documentary filmmakers. The use of portable sound gave birth to Direct Cinema. And indeed, according to the author, technical innovations were also seminal for the French Cinema Verite movement, inciting the interest of French anthropologists such as Jean Rouch who saw it as a way to have a deeper understanding of humanity.

Today the distinction between cinema and documentary film is partly created by the phenomenon of indexation. That is to say, because of market realities, films are put into distinct categories such as comedy, action, adventure, and documentary. The viewer always has to have some previous knowledge of the film so as to be able to make a selection in the abundance of choice.
This leaves little space for all the shades of gray that exists between such strict denominations.
In general, while there may be differences of approach to what is a documentary between various schools of thought in the world of documentary theory as well as practice, the author argues, the most renowned documentary makers such as John Grierson would agree that documentaries are primarily about investigating the world. They are about curiosity and about finding out new things. In practical terms this means talking to people, checking facts and finding information.

How to solve this? Leadership tips?

Democratic Art. Imagine a collaborative art project. The experience of commuting to work on a train is boring. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system has wireless installed. Every person can use the Brushes application to make art while in the train. As there is wireless, the artwork can be emailed to a special address. It will show up on the screens in the train and in the stations. Users can vote on the works lifting the best works to the top. BART + Wireless + Brushes.

The link: artbart.me

And here’s the presentation.

[issuu layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml showflipbtn=true documentid=090926122902-799848a6be1046d8a25a5ab4d992b4ed docname=artbart username=krishaamer loadinginfotext=ArtBART showhtmllink=true tag=iphone width=660 height=300 unit=px]

Marketing Decision

More emphasis on technological solutions needed. Current emphasis is on social engineering, political solutions which is automaticalu. Lots of opportunities and possibility available under the current economic system. Venture capital. Fear of capitalism.

Idealistic goals. Results not quantified by numeric goals, third party assessment needed of results.
We don’t know what is happening to the money. Waste of money.

The role of technology. Local development. Help from abroad. Impacts of technology. Jealousy and competition can have unitentional consequences.

This is working class life in Saaremaa. Some of them drink; most of them have spent their life working without finding any meaning. Others have lost their family, or are losing it slowly day-by-day. Still others are losing their sanity. Some go to get treatment for drinking but they rarely feel any hope.

The film is divided into multiple parts by the name of the main character. Each has their own problems but one woman stands out in particular. For me she’s the only one who can make an emotional connection.

She says you clean; you wash clothes; you bring firewood; and prepare dinner. That’s what you do all day and that’s all that life is really about.

First her child died of meningitis, and then she had three more. She dreams of her own house – a beautiful yellow house. She wants to the forest to live alone. Don’t want to be here in the village – “I’ve always said I don’t want to be here”. Would have some chickens, a cow. Now she has dreamy eyes. The village corrupts her, she says, it has made her drink. She doesn’t want to talk about it. “I can never forget my child,” is all she can say.

In the village there are feelings of inferiority complex.

When the village county fair held in Mustjala there is a quest star – a singer introduced as Jonathan from Australia.

Original Title: Joonatan Austraaliast, Released: 2007, Estonia, Length:  90 min, Director: Sulev Keedus

Every company would become a publisher, and participant in the conversation. This means there was need for media creators and architects. People who understood the direction the media was taking and could lead the way.

At the time there were few startups in the space. My work mentioned many of them, including social media Facebook and Twitter that were relatively little known as well companies in the metadata paradigm Powerset and Freebase.

So one of the first papers I wrote was on Social Media.

[issuu layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml showflipbtn=true documentid=090926120744-dd868592518f47eb9e96c984d9d1a5e5 docname=apa_social_media_-_why_broadcasting_is_obsolete username=krishaamer loadinginfotext=Social%20Media%20-%20Why%20Broadcasting%20is%20Obsolete showhtmllink=true tag=social%20media width=660 height=400 unit=px]

• http://layar.eu/

Iran Crisis

• http://crisiscamp.org/
• http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/articles/youtube-iran
• http://ontherecordpodcast.com/pr/otro/crisis-communications-online–social-media-usage-during-a-crisis-with-leysia-palen.aspx
• http://ehstoday.com/fire_emergencyresponse/speed-social-media-crisis-communication-1020/
• http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/my-interview-in-homeland-security-today-on-social-media-in-crisis-situations/
• http://blog.networksolutions.com/2009/social-media-in-crisis-situations-where-the-rubber-hits-the-road/

Hurricanes

• Hurricane season meeting: http://events.linkedin.com/Social-Media-Club-New-Orleans-Using-Web/pub/83855
• Catrina?

Plane Crash

• French Plane Atlantic
• Hudson River
• Amsderdam

Celeb Deaths

• Michael Jackson

Disease

• Swine Flu

Elections / Protests

• Iran
• Burma

Advertising may be the modern answer to what traditionally was known as culture. 

A frame of reference, a pretext for reality, or an essentially targeted flow of messages – in whichever form it may appear, advertising creates the world we perceive as feasible. Advertising aspirations towards becoming the wallpaper of our world are desirable for business. Moreover, it is in the interest of the consumer. For both, the appeal of advertisement lies in its cultural freedom, its power to break down traditional borders, and finally – its accepting stance towards the consumer. In the few following paragraphs it will become clear how advertising will help the consumer.

The creator of “The Persuaders”, the writer Douglas Rushkoff opens his documentary by comparing advertising to a “skin” that covers everything. The word “skin” is appropriate because it accurately conveys the idea of the consensual reality in which it is emergent. Because everyone feels the “skin”, it must be real; its existence is not under debate. Its intention is to seamless to the extent it becomes the culture or the meaning system that consumers uses to absorb reality. Once advertisement becomes skin, it is no longer viewed as advertising. Ultimately, advertising will have been internalized to the extent that it will seem natural to the consumer; one no longer realizes the skins otherness.

From the advertisers standpoint it is important to create a culture around the product because the essence of a culture is that the consumer believes it is real. Cult brands and lovemarks are items which have realized the state of becoming part that reality. Few brands achieve this, yet some examples of products which have gained such a following are the iPod, the iPhone and the MacBook, all products conceived by Apple. In essence, Apple in its organizational structure is a set of brands. Apple does not produce any of its products, yet consumers extend extreme affection towards most of its products. Their brands are effective in cutting through the clutter of advertising because they have become a part of the culture – they are real.

From the consumers’ perspective, it is not always easy to realize what ones true instincts are (in his book “The Culture Code”, the marketing guru Clotaire Rapaille writes that “Even the most self-examining of us are rarely in close contact with our subconscious”) and one may need help from advertising. Although one may answer when asked why he needs that new BMW with a great stereo system, that new Apple iPhone with touch screen – it’s the features, Rapailles reply to that would be “we give answers to questions that sound logical and are even what the questioner expected, but which don’t reveal the unconscious forces precondition to our feelings” (Rapaille 15). So while the need for a BMW or an iPhone may be there, the reason is not the sound system in the car or the touch screen on the phone, but something deeper.

Often such brands are easy to understand. More of than not they are brands associated with a certain lifestyle or passion: with creativity, in the case of the often quoted Apple product line; with adventure, in the case of the Chivas whisky; with speed in the case of BMW. Each of these items associates with strong emotions. As Rapaille put it in a 2003 interview, “The reptile always wins” (Rapaille, The Persuaders) meaning that the prehistoric reptilian inside us – or in other words, the basic human needs, wants and urges – eventually direct the purchase decisions. The brands which are able to create a strong association with the basic human instincts will succeed.

Modern culture is exceedingly becoming what is no longer pure culture, but rather an infusion of advertising and the appealing parts tradition. With new ways of explaining the deeper needs of the consumer, researchers such as Clotaire Rapaille are beginning to make sense of how advertisement may have all the properties of a cultural entity. Because of the disappearance of a traditional culture, and certainly in the interests of the advertiser, the unrealized deeper instincts are increasingly catered for by the advertisements, and finally – by the products. Breaking through the clutter was difficult while advertising was viewed as something other than culture, or for that matter – the reality. Once advertisement truly becomes indistinguishable from culture, business as well as the consumer will have reached a new age of understanding.

Works Cited

Rapaille, Clotaire. The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do. New York: Broadway, 2006.
Rapaille, Clotaire. The Persuaders Douglas Rushkoff. 15 December 2003.

For Semester 1 Public Relations Class with Kaja Tampere. The Baltic Film & Media School Of Tallinn University

Sagres

Super Bock

Imperial

Gold

Cergal

Chimea

Carlsberg

However there are more optimistic alternative models (Goh & Foo, 2007, p. 137) with implications towards better quality information and an increasingly meaningful discourse accessible to more and more people.

These views could be broadly described as being in the realm of social media, and generally advocate using technical innovations such as the Internet to engage people in a more transparent conversation. As a superior model of communication, social media will increase mediation quality and lead to benefits in several areas over the traditional broadcasting model.

Failures of the Broadcast Media

Concerns about the media, and media criticism is not new in the literature. As early as 1920, Lippmann, writing about the powers and failures of the press in his book Liberty and the News, delivered the notion that “the news columns are common carriers. When those who control them [...] determine by their own consciences what shall be reported and for what purpose, democracy is unworkable. Public opinion is blockaded” (pp. 5-6). More recently, Baudrillard, one of the most fervent media critics of the century, with more eloquence described the prevalent media model as “speech without response” (1981, p. 172).

Contemporary media cannot be viewed separately from technology; to a great degree it is and has been dependent on technological advances. Because broadcasting media models by the nature of their technology are dependent on some form of one-to-many or few-to-many communication, Baudrillard is right to criticize the media on the grounds that “they fabricate noncommunication” (p. 210) as this is indeed a technical given. However, when working with MacLean, in his later works in 1985, Baudrillard further expanded his critique on the lack of conversation in which he perhaps better described the downfalls of the contemporary media by stating that the “present architecture of the media is founded on this […] definition: they are what finally forbids response, what renders impossible any process of exchange” (1985, p. 577). This lack of possibility for conversation is why the broadcast model is obsolete.

Social media models on the other hand are less determined and allow for more flexibility. In 2008, for the most part they include highly technological implementations of mediation on the Internet platform with considerable participatory aspects. These are sites on the Internet where essentially every person becomes the media. The discussion over broadcast media seems to follow from the types of questions Baudrillard poses “what else do the media dream of besides creating the event simply by their presence?” (1994, p. 38), in which the media are seen as something large and unusual that by the sole virtue of its presents creates illusions that fool the public. The discussion in the realm of social media however, is more progressive. In essence, where everyone becomes the media, being mediated is very commonplace for each person, and the effects of being mediated could be anticipated to be less pronounced.

While according to some authors, for example Rheingold, the contemporary institutions of the “mass media [...] have “commoditized” the public sphere, substituting slick public relations for genuine debate” (2000, p. 29), social media implementations can be expected to have intrinsically a greater degree of transparency. Because they are created by the people their existence depends on people actively participating. Effectively, the social media version of the public sphere is controlled by the people to a much greater degree, than the broadcasting version of the sphere. Therefore the scope for access anywhere and for anyone for any need across devices and platforms, and even independent of location, is that much greater for social media than for broadcasting media.

The virtue of giving more power to the people is why from a political perspective social media is more democratic. Following from the premise that media set the political agenda, more accurate information, transparency and participation in this process of every conversation benefits everyone. Moreover, from a psychological viewpoint, research suggests that it is more natural for people to discuss information socially on the Internet, rather than to passively consume media created by broadcasters; according to a recent Morgan Stanley report more than half of the top 10 Internet sites by usage are social, and the usage of television is declining (Morgan Stanley, 2008, pp. 8-12).

Broadcast or Socialize?

Some of the benefits of social media are self-evident. One recent example was the Chinese earthquake in the Sichuan province on May 12, 2008. The news was broken not on mainstream media but reportedly (Bradshaw) by local Chinese in the earthquake zone, on Twitter1, a social networking site that lets people post short messages. In the Twitter realm everyone is a broadcaster. Because the social nature of Twitter and with the help of machine translation, the news reached people around the world before global broadcast media was able to take up the story, and much before Estonian broadcast media was able to copy the story from the global media.

By referring to such examples (as there have been other similar cases that have taken place around the world), one can think of the social media model as a combination of media and social relations. Because news creators are accessible through email, chat applications, and their social networking profiles, it becomes easier to ask any questions and get instant feedback. While this was possible in newspapers trough mail-in letters, the barriers of entry are greatly reduced trough the speed of communication, and high visibility of the news creator. People can interact directly with the news broadcaster on the ground trough services such as Skype and Facebook2; the latter also provides a profile for the person so what one is saying can be qualified against previous experience and commentary.

Social media is possible because the communication platform used – the Internet – is technologically superior to broadcasting in the area of communication. But furthermore, in the areas of media economy, while the broadcast media economics rely on imprecise evaluations to provide the audience numbers to the advertisers, social media implementations can make use of their high technological base and the virtues of the Internet to produce detailed and accurate information for the use of the advertisers. The nature of the conversation and actions of the participants allow advertisers to offer their goods and services at the right time, and take into account personal preferences. This degree of precision creates trust for the advertisers to place more money into the media. Moreover, as the Twitter example illustrates, the bulk of the job of producing journalism can be done by usual people, cutting down on production costs.

In addition to economical benefits, the speedy and precise analysis of media content made possible by computer technology can be utilized for other benefits as important, but perhaps less apparent at the first glance. Having precise statistics helps people visualize their communication streams, and as a part of those information streams news can be increasingly accurate. To take one example, the News Station3 website which is a trend leader in the social media space in Estonia produces streams of analytical data for each news item it indexes from broadcast news providers as well as independent producers such as blogs. The site provides statistics about many measurable aspects of news such as locations, organizations and people mentioned in the news content, and their popularity in media.

As in News Station, other websites in the social media realm will be able to analyze the media and produce story timelines which provide a live visualization of how the story is being created. For example, one could see a press release being released, the coverage being written by a certain person at Postimees, and the coverage being written by a certain person at Äripäev, charted in order of appearance; one could contact those people. One could see live the other stories being spawned in response, as well as opinions being created in the blogosphere.

There are clear benefits to such and open approach. Clear visibility of connections between newsmakers, news creators, and other players in the story would make it increasingly difficult for partial interests and public relations to control the environment and pass constructed news. Clearly identified personalities would increase public recognition of newsmakers. Easy access to newsmakers’ personal opinion in media such as blogs, and other news involving that person, and commentary would allow people to understand “the story behind the story”.

Furthermore, clearly identified locations would emphasize the aspects particular to the place of the news, while still retaining global availability. While News Station is already providing geographic visualizations, taking this technology to mainstream would create emotional connections and involve people in the news to a higher degree than plain text publications. One would understand how specific regions in the country are covered. For example, the statistics of whether news stories conglomerate more often around bigger center such as Tallinn and Tartu, and to what extent smaller places are covered – would become clearly visible. Combined with location aware devices such as the iPhone, social media would allow people to access news relevant to their location. Whether this is information about a traffic jam on the next intersection or a notice of the party that will take place in the club one is driving past, will depend on one’s personal preferences.

By using all these technologies in an open manner, social media can in effect provide the type of information that used to be the domain of government or media statistics bureaus. Combined with speed and ease of access, social media at the disposal of every consumer at every moment to make decision about the content of their communications might have considerable impacts. By that token, it is the ability of media to create open spaces for people to discuss, and the ability to provide the tools for discussion, that qualify the quality of media in the social media realm.

Such open spaces for conversation and computer technologies help people to increase the quality of the media they themselves produce and consume. People put news into context by tagging the information with keywords and by such actions make that piece of information more complete for other people. Moreover, to an extent at the current state of development, but increasingly in the future, the technique allows computers to have a better programmatic understanding of the content. The ideas of the Semantic Web (W3) that tie in with the social media model explore how information in these open spaces can be queried and mashed up in different complex ways to produce added value .

For example, emerging Silicon Valley technology startups such as Freebase and Powerset4 use a combination of social participation by the people and computer algorithms to allow users to ask complex questions the like of “What were the names of Karl Marx’s children?” and allow the user to get a clear listing with names “Laura Marx, Eleanor Marx, Jenny Longuet” (Powerset) and pictures. Powerset can be accessed over an iPhone, which in essence makes the information portable.

Because of the idea of information portability the social media model has no prerequisites for prominent television channels such as the BBC or prominent newspapers such as the New York Times to be the premiere destination because they have the means to broadcast content; on the contrary, conversation can take place across different channels independent of their size and wealth. In simple terms this means that conversation is not restricted to Postimees, Äripäev, TV3, or any other channel; the comments one makes at Postimees become accessible trough Äripäev, TV3, and vice versa. The conversation does not necessarily have to be fragmented and discontinuous with each camp claiming its territory.

Conclusions

Today people around the world are increasingly likely to be actively participating in the conversation on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter; instead of passively consuming the news. In 2008, Facebook passed the 100 million user mark (Morgan Stanley, p. 10); if it were a country, it would be the 12th by population size. Trough sites like these, and trough social media in general people become part of the conversation because they are not secluded; the conversation is portable and accessible by everyone and everywhere. “The ability of anyone to make the news will give new voice to people who’ve felt voiceless—and whose words we need to hear. They are showing all of us—citizen, journalist, newsmaker—new ways of talking, of learning” (Gillmor, p. 12).

Social media technologies create possibilities for increased public understanding what is happening in their societies. Around the world services such as Twitter allow faster communication of news content and commentary. Some institutions have taken note of these possibilities; the UK government uses Twitter to have a conversation with citizens. In Estonia, the News Station website is revolutionizing how media can be contextualized and analyzed. And the Estonian Foreign Ministry uses Second Life to communicate with its virtual tenants. In all examples social media models bring benefits over their broadcast counterparts, and the expectation is that they increase media literacy by providing a better understanding of the connections between players on the media landscape.

While the ideas around social media models may be immature and in development, they are actively being experimented with, and as the various services mentioned demonstrate, there are several measurable qualitative benefits that the social media model brings to the forefront of the discussion. While there may be criticisms, one can remember what the media visionary Marshall McLuhan once said “the student of media soon comes to expect the new media of any period whatever to be classed as pseudo by those who have acquired the patterns of earlier media, whatever they may happen to be” (McLuhan, p. 216)

Works Cited

Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.

Baudrillard, J., & Levin, C. (1981). For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign. New York: Telos Press Publishing.

Baudrillard, J., & Maclean, M. (1985). The Masses: The Implosion of the Social in the Media. New Literary History , 577-589.

Bradshaw, P. (n.d.). OJB. Retrieved June 12, 2008, from http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2008/05/12/twitter-and-the-chinese-earthquake/

Bromley, M. (2001). No News is Bad News: Radio, Television, and the Public. New York: Pearson Education.

Gillmor, D. (2004). We The Media. New York: O’Reilly .

Goh, D., & Foo, S. (2007). Social Information Retrieval Systems: Emerging Technologies and Applications.Philadelphia: Idea Group Inc.

Lipmann, W. (2007). Liberty and the News. New York: Princeton University Press.

McLuhan, M. (2001). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: Routledge Press.

Morgan Stanley. (2008). Internet Trends. New York: Morgan Stanley.

Powerset. (n.d.). Retrieved June 13, 2008, from http://www.powerset.com/explore/go/What-were-the-names-of-Karl-Marx’s-children%3F

Rheingold, H. (2000). The Virtual Community. Cambridge: MIT Press.

W3. (2008, June 10). W3C Semantic Web Activity. Retrieved June 14, 2008, from http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/

1 For a further explanation of the Twitter service, please see twitter.com

2 For an explanation of Skype, see about.skype.com, for Facebook, please go to facebook.com

3 Please see news.station.ee for further information, available in Estonian only

4 For an explanation about services provided by Freebase and Powerset, see freebase.com/helpand powerset.com/about respectively

This article was first published on June 14, 2008 for English Composition Class at Baltic Film & Media, as an undergraduate student.

– M: Hello mr. Gandhi. Pleased to meet you. My name is Machiavelli.
– G: Sure, man. I humbly welcome you. Let us sit down.
– M: I’d prefer to stand, thank you.
– G: Yes, standing is good for the feet. One should always be on ones feet. This way he can see further …
– M: I try to be the last one standing.
– G: I can totally feel your vibe, man. But consider this: when a tree stands alone, the tree stands alone.
– M:
– G: Yes, surely ….. Yet, the distinction between small trees and big trees is that big trees get cut down by the forester.

– In a literal sense:

The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.

Mis meil vaja on?

100g maitsevilju (seller, petersell, sibul)

2 porgandid

2 spl margariini

2 l puljongit või vett

2 pipratera

1 loorberileht

soola

6 kartulit

hakitud tilli või peterselli

Frikadellid: 300 g hakkliha, 1 väike sibul, 1 muna, soola, pipart

või valmis ostetud frikadellid.

Maitseviljad (seller, petersell ja sibul) tükeldatakse ja kuumutatakse margariinis poolpehmeks. Vesi või puljong aetakse keema, lisatakse kartlulilõigud, hautatud maitsevijad ning veidi aja pärast vürtsid ja frikadellid. Supp maitsestatakse soolaga ja keedetakse valmis. Serveerimisel pannakse supisse maitserohelist.

Two hundred and one years have passed since the trade in slaves was abolished in the British Empire with those dealing in slaves subjected to a fine of one hundred pounds (Parliament of the United Kingdom, 1807). Sixty years ago this December the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations expressed in plain words the fundamental and inalienable rights held by every human being around the planet; universal in each nation and in each culture it made freedom from slavery a fundamental human right. Three years ago at the 2005 World Summit the Assembly introduced a new concept of a moral imperative (known as the Responsibility to Protect) for countries to protect their own people from exploitation, and to help those in need in fellow countries (United Nations General Assembly, 2005).

These events in history pretend to show a lineage in time of extending freedoms, with the sovereign states consenting to protect the freedoms of every man, woman and child. But perhaps these are just words substituting for realities, empty declarations with little meaning if one looks at the statistics of contemporary slavery.

Forced labor and unfree labor together with slavery are the words one will find in many reports concerning work and labor around the world. Even though constituting a smaller percentage of the overall population of the planet, the total number of people in slavery today may be at least as large as it was in the heyday of slavery over two hundred years ago. According to global research there are at least 12.3 million people in forced labor (International Labor Office, 2005, p. 17). An expert on forced labor Steven Bales gives a larger number, estimating there are 27 million in forced labor around the world (Bales, 2004, p. 8), 15 million of them children (Bales, 2004, p. 237) yet marking these are conservative figures. There are other estimates show numbers which are even larger but sometimes also take into account aside from forced labor the collateral damage of extreme economic situations such as extreme poverty, war and hunger (Anti-Slavery Project, 2007). There remains little doubt that by any estimate and however strictly defined, slavery is a contemporary problem.

Consequently, it would be profitable for many to look at how this suffering could be ended.

Not a new idea, the philosophy of a Social Contract is not only the basis for government as defined by the Princeton University Dictionary – “an implicit agreement among people that results in the organization of society; individual surrenders liberty in return for protection” – but also a basis for democracy, constitution, and the acceptance and respect for others. Just as in the seventeenth century at the time of Rousseau, Locke and Hobbes, the intellectual fathers of the social contract, slavery, in its roots is a problem of the lack of respect for the rights of others.

Of all the victims of slavery, today children are the part of most concern, as they are currently the part of demographics most susceptible to psychological and physical terror from forced labor. One must consider that children who remain captive in places which have little or no access to education, media, the Internet or any other type of information modern man takes for granted, remain ignorant of the fruits of culture, science, arts, and etcetera. If these children are subjected to violence and are not allowed to leave their workplace, and are deprived of meals, or fed only enough to keep them alive, one must also consider the profound physiological effects in addition to the psychological damage. Perhaps most descriptive thought is the thought that if these children spend all their day working, they have no opportunity to play as children. Thus, if the reasoning in the preceding paragraph is fair, the obvious conclusions drawn must be that the abolition of slavery and the building of freedom can only begin with inspiring respect for others in children; that is to say the greatest tool of freedom and the Social Contract is education.

Often the inferiority complex caused by systematic debasement and belittlement of the human nature as a slave can be enough to keep the slave in harness – it may create a certain mentality of hopelessness and submission. But if children understand they have certain inalienable rights, they can have the will and opportunity to stand up for themselves. In other words, belief in freedom is the beginning of creativity and vision – it is in the root of motivation and the possibility of self-fulfillment. Children who have an understanding that they can do better than their parents believe change is possible in the duration of their own lives and themselves become more easily the agents of change; but to engender this spirit of freedom, there must be trust in the society.

As adults such children will have more confidence and a sense of respect towards their environment and fellow man; they will not silently accept forced labor as a necessity of the economy. The belief in progress and a positive look towards the future are the values in the belief in freedom and encourage children to develop the courage to work for their own goals and dreams. Unlike those who fall in submission to forced underage unskilled labor, children with a belief in freedom will have a real chance to contribute to their own live and to the society.

Concerning adults and the phenomenon of public acceptance of forced labor, it must be said that no exploitation of the gravity and magnitude of slavery can be viable without public support. Whether in the form of a silent and passive non-participatory support because of lack of caring, or by the action of doing nothing to protect the children because of fear repercussions from the perpetrators of the crime – there must be public will. The question raised here is the following: what is the rationale for supporting slavery? Does one hold an illusion that forced labor is a reality that has to be accepted for some or other reasons that override common morality? Or as the English poet William Cowper living on eighteenth century Madeira put it

I pity them greatly, but I must be mum,

for how could we do without sugar and rum?

Perhaps as in history two hundred years ago, these six and seven year olds can be enslaved and exploited because the public at large looks away from the actions of perpetrators. In poor areas selling children to forced labor may be seen as an unfortunate economic necessity; even if regarded as an ugly and perhaps undesirable problem, one may convince oneself it is a necessary evil resulting from one’s regrettable situation. Again it is the way of thinking without respect for the wellbeing of others that encourages one to forget one’s humanity and believe this is the only way to make ends meet.

While it may be argued that is natural that many people would have their own interests before those of the other, and that this can lead to the acceptance of forced labor as a necessity in certain situations, freedom is still considered by many people a commodity to be held in high regard – something desirable for all people of every age, sex, religion, race, nationality, ethnicity or other group affiliation or categorization. Moreover, non-democratic states, criminals, and those who do not respect the laws agreed upon by the society, are in general looked down upon. States are not pleased if organizations such as Human Rights Watch release a negative review of the country’s situation and by that smudge its human rights record. It is part of each state’s illusion of the self that they are just and good; and such an illusion must be retained.

In other words, few totalitarian governments see themselves as aggressors and criminals but rather their self image is that of the guardian of some ideology or fighter for some ideal. Even if this ideology is cynical and perhaps based purely on economic self interest, it would be difficult psychologically for one to live with oneself without justifying one’s actions  trough a narrative where one is on the side of the just and good. Just as the child who must break free from the mentality of enslavement, so must the state break free from the ideologies of cynicism, hypocrisy and deceit and accept a positive view of freedom and cooperation of the society.

The belief in freedom is most prominent in societies where individuals feel responsible for their actions. Accountability and respect for fellow citizens are important in any civilized and safe community but safe communities cannot be created where the lack of education, unemployment and poverty threaten the rights of the people. Rights cannot exist without rules – agreed upon by the society and written down in laws that specify what is allowed and what is not allowed, or as put by David Hume, “liberty is the perfection of civil society; but still authority must be acknowledged to its very existence” (Hume, 1854, p. 38). Thus freedom has a fundamental role in society; it is in many a sense the basis for the existence of law, because freedom always involves choice.

The fundamental idea of an agreement between people, the Social Contract where each carries the responsibility for respect and the government creates social order or as articulated by Rousseau “a form of association which will defend and protect with the whole common force of the person and the good of each associate, and in which each, while uniting himself with all, may still obey himself alone, and remain as free as before” (Rousseau, 2003, p. 9) is the foundation in the protection of freedom and abolition of slavery. That is to say the creation of a social contract is in the interest of each and every one; the personal freedom achievable for any person by agreeing to be part of society is greater than that possible by refraining from the society. If one would refrain from the social contract, one would only achieve the freedoms one would be capable of attaining by force or cunning. In that sense, when one accepts the society and upholds the responsibilities of a social contract, the state becomes the arbiter for disharmonies that arise in the society. And thus modern man is incapable of existing without depending on the state to protect one’s rights. The state constitutes a framework in which maximum freedom is created for the maximum number of people. Therefore it is the weakening of the social contract that creates slavery and unfreedom. Where one disregards one’s responsibilities towards the state, one undermines one’s own safety.

In modern societies that are increasingly interconnected and globalized every person is more connected to everyone else than ever before. One can see on television how the children in the slums of Brazil prefer buying access to a computer to spending the same money on food.  Social networking sites are connecting people in ways not imaginable before the rise of the Internet. The current population social networks numbers in hundreds of millions, the largest would be the eleventh country in size (Zuckerberg, 2008).

Because of the profound importance of the Internet in the contemporary world one must consider its impact on freedom. Both the United Nations and the European Union have pressed for the right to Internet to become a human right. The 2005 UNESCO conference on Internet, Human Rights and Culture made recommendations and released a position paper on making Internet access a human right (UNESCO, 2005). The European Union has protected European citizens in individual cases from the removal of Internet access stating that “the Internet is a vast platform for cultural expression, access to knowledge, and democratic participation in European creativity, bringing generations together through the information society” (European Parliament, 2008) and calls on the Member States “to avoid adopting measures conflicting with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness, such as the interruption of Internet access” (European Parliament, 2008). Thus while Internet access has so far not been enshrined in law or in an updated declaration of human rights, there is widespread recognition in the International community of the profound importance of the Internet in the protection freedom.

Consequently, the way out of enslavement is trust and technology. Two hundred years ago Europeans enslaved many thousands in pursuit of profit; today forced labor and slavery are largely pushed out of Europe. But slaves still number in millions in other parts of the world and Europeans would be hard pressed to argue they have no part in this – one can see the suffering on the television screens in one’s living room, on screens of one’s computer and mobile phone. History does not give the ones with power the license to go through with any sort of atrocities because in the past worse has already been done. Trough the power of communication technology, the Internet and the Media, it is no longer so hard to explain why people should be granted freedom; the former narratives that allowed for slavery such as national or racial supremacy are being broken down. Technology is the source freedom and democratic power. The ideas of the Social Contract today have stronger platform on the Internet than ever before, transcending political divisions and embracing the whole of humanity in all of its diversity.

Works Cited

Anti-Slavery Project. (2007). Global Estimates of Slavery. Sidney: University of Technology Sydney.

Bales, K. (2004). Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

European Parliament. (2008, October 04). Cultural industries in Europe. Retrieved December 27, 2008, from European Parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5498632

Hume, D. (1854). The Philosophical Works of David Hume. London: Little & Brown.

International Labor Office. (2005). A Global Alliance. Geneva: International Labour Organization.

Parliament of the United Kingdom. (1807). An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. London: Georg Eyre & Andrew Strahan.

Rousseau, J.-J. (2003). On the Social Contract. New York City: Courier Dover Publications.

Zuckerberg, M. (2008, August 26). Our First 100 Million. Retrieved December 25, 2008, from Facebook: http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=28111272130

UNESCO. (2005). Conference on Internet, Human Rights and Culture. Recommendations (p. 2). Oegstgeest: UNESCO.

United Nations General Assembly. (2005). 2005 World Summit Outcome. 2005 World Summit Outcome (p. 31). New York City: United Nations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2_QubcgeLs

One of the solutions would be high bandwidth p2p filesharing

All About Lily Chou Chou - Shunji Iwai

This is the story of Yuichi, a 14 year old Japanese boy in the rural area of Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture. Just about as quiet and introverted as anyone could imagine, he passes his days never making a connection or even speaking to anyone.

Set before a backdrop of cruelty and psychical abuse at school, Yuichi’s only interests are Kuno, a beautiful talented schoolmate, and Lily Chou-Chou, an alternative rock star with a huge underground fan following. For Yuichi there are two worlds that exist simultaneously – school, where he is beaten and harassed by his schoolmates , and the ether (the Internet), where he is known as philia, the site manager of fan chat room for Lily.

Yuichi’s life is meaningless and controlled by other people; he is in a downward spiral towards killing himself. The main tension is whether Yuichi manages to become free, or does he surrender and kill himself. One hopes that Yuichi finally does stand up for himself and becomes free. But one fears though, that Yuichi might just kill himself, just as he confesses to his online friend Blue Cat. The stakes are high; it is nothing short of life of death for this teenage boy in angst and pain of teenage life, and there is real risk that Yuichi might not make it.

The film revolves around the theme of coming of age in a cruel world where sincerity is lost and good natured, intelligent, and initially well intentioned children are changed by their experiences in the society into bullying manipulative controlling abusive adults. This happens in an environment where the Internet is the only solace for these young people of whom many can feel the Ether. Lily Chou-Chou the rock star IS the Ether personified. She liberates our thoughts, she sublimates and transcends, reaching the transparent beyond, as put by one of the boys. This is a film about looking for salvation and sanctuary, a feeling of true love and devotion to some transcendental beauty. At odds with their nihilistic aimless lives these children try to escape their pain on the Internet. This film is about the contemporary postmodern age of the Internet where everybody is connected but feels more and more disconnected from their daily lives.

The theme is woven into the film by presenting people in a real and recognizable way that is understandable for anybody. Here is a boy who is about to become an adult. He feels the existential void and lack of meaning that many have felt. We see how young people struggle to become adults; the tensions and sacrifices one makes; sometimes one kills something in oneself.

In that sense Yuichi just wants to have a sense of belonging. But to do that Yuichi needs to be free and decide for himself. Throughout the story he is constantly changing and becoming more like an adult. But he is also on a downward spiral towards becoming more and more disconnected and resigned from his own being. At one point he has lost himself and the ideals that he values to such a degree that he just gives up and begins to do what Hoshino tells him to do, including crime.

On the surface Hoshino only wants power and control. But deep inside him Hoshino really needs to punish the people he knows for not being such as he wants them to be, for not understanding him, for hurting him so much. He is as broken as Yuichi, and like Yuichi, he too is constantly changing throughout the story. His change perhaps is one of the most important narrative arches of the whole film. He is the one who starts out as a benign good natured boy but after his meeting with death and adulthood he becomes increasingly violent and manipulative.

The main protagonist Yuichi just wants to belong, and be loved unconditionally but he doesn’t know what he has to do to get it. As this is something inherently human any viewer will automatically connect with these feelings. Moreover, as this is a true film of the Internet age, any contemporary teen growing up in society that is increasingly virtualized, will have a good understanding of what Yuichi is experiencing.

The film opens with Yuichi standing alone head down on a large rice field with his headphones on, seemingly cut off from all the rest of the world. The scene feels ethereal and one can imagine oneself standing there as him with the headphones on caring about nothing and everything at the same time. The camera angle is such that you are totally submerged in the scene; you see no future and are entirely focused on the boy and his inner world, so far from everything and everybody else. This is a great introductory scene because it establishes what the boy feels like, and where he is in his life. The green rice fields look beautiful and they have a transcendental quality, as does the music and moreover, they are also instantly recognized inherently as Japanese. We understand from the virtual chat room imposed on the scene that Lily was born at the exact moment Mark Chapman killed John Lennon, and both of them were from a place of eternal peace – the ether.

Starting off with that scene showing the subtitles from a chat room in between has the effect of suggesting that the ether is everywhere. It is an opening shot into a world where the Ether (the Internet) has become so intertwined with reality it is more like virtualized meta reality that is always present. The ethereal poetic sweet hypnotic music of Lily Chou-Chou asserts that feeling just as do the green rice fields and the mesmerized boy standing there.

The film ends with a final sequence during the titles where everything is the same as in the first sequence of the film. There is the field and Yuichi is standing on the field, there are the people are writing in the chat room. But this time everybody is there, Yuichi, Hoshino and Tsuda. One can only guess who is writing what, who is who in the chat room – but it is clear they are all in the chat room. The last post in the chat room that ends the film perhaps summarizes everything – Maybe I’m writing this because… I want to scream out – I’m here!

The final scene has the effect of generalizing the experiences of Yuichi and applying to the whole Japanese youth, or perhaps even to contemporary everywhere in general. Now it is revealed very directly that many of the young people had similar feelings, and they were yearning for the same things. Perhaps this is the simplest scene of the whole film.

The structure of the film is seems disorganized and sometimes hard to follow, but it is perhaps surprising that it does however fit very well into the traditional theories of narrative analysis. First of all, the film is non-linear, and in terms of timeline, the central part is first, then comes the first part, and then finally the last part comes – last. The nature of the structure is such that the whole resembles the messages that are sent over the chat. The narrative doesn’t at first appear trough a traditional linear use of a storyline, but is rather expressed trough a sort of an osmosis that gets trough ones skin. By using a not so common structure and a discontinuous timeline the film emphasizes the feeling of disconnectedness and the feeling of being lost and unknown, anonymous.

The story arch begins at an ‘inciting incident’ during a summer holiday, where Hoshino has a near death experience, he almost drowns. However because of the disconnected nature of editing this scene is only shown at the middle of the film.

Interestingly, the first plot point, the event that thrusts the plot in a new direction is purely a trick of editing. After the first act which shows the status quo of the horrible life of Yuichi, the viewer is thrust back into the past. This is initiated by the climax of the first act where Yuichi gets beaten up by Hoshino and the gang. In essence it is a situation that Yuichi is forced into, but he also makes the unconscious decision of allowing Hoshino to do this to him. The second act that transports us back into history shows how all of this came to pass.

Even though set in a strange place in the structure, the second act makes use of traditional narrative techniques and builds up action trough the death of a lonely bystander. Already there are expectations and an eerie feeling that something bad is about to happen. And then Hoshino almost dies. From that summer on everything is different. Back at school we see that Hoshino has changed, he has become violent and attack another boy (this is the culmination).

The second plot point arrives when at the end of the second act Yuichi says in the chat ‘From that day on, the world was gray’. Act three has the same tension as the first act. The midpoint of the story arrives not in the middle but shortly after the second plot point; Yuichi is standing on the field just as in the first scene of the film, depressed and listening to music; the field is a central symbol of the film. The final climax arrives when Yuichi stabs Hoshino after Lily’s concert.

In order to understand the film more fully it is helpful to divide the narrative into sequences based on some or other criteria. The simplest way to do this is by division into three acts because the film naturally falls into the structure present, past, present. In the first act Yuichi enters high school; he is shy and quiet, ridiculed by others. Hoshino is bullying him and his schoolmates. In the second act there is a flashback into the past, to junior high school and summer vacation. Yuichi and Hoshino are still good friends. But during the summer vacation Hoshino has a near death experience and he almost drowns. In the third act which switches back to the present, Hoshino is getting more abusive; finally Yuichi kills Hoshino.

A three act analysis to a great extent does not reveal the detail and dynamics of the narrative so a division into eight sequences as recommended by Frank Daniel goes that much further into explaining how the story really happens. It is remarkable that the dynamics of a narrative that Daniel suggests, and which at first viewing may seem quite abstract, actually fit the storyline of this film quite well.

In the first sequence which describes the status quo we are introduced to Yuichi, a 14 year old high school student in rural Japan. Yuichi (also known as Philia on the Internet chat room he runs) is alone on a field listening to music and is feeling very depressed. Another day Yuichi and gang of boys steal music from a shop. Yuichi’s mother thinks he is a good boy. We are introduced to Yuichi’s family: little brother, mother, her boyfriend; Yuichi will have to change his name because mother is pregnant. Chat room; Blue Cat enters for the first time; Yuichi welcomes her/him, introduces the rule of ‘this is a free zone for everybody who loves Lily’. The gang calls him out, Yuichi meets a familiar who gives him money – but the other boy takes it. Chat room: new Lily album is out. Yuichi goes to a shop to steal it; gets caught. Teacher comes a saves him.

In the second sequence which raises the problem we are introduced to Kuno, the girl Yuichi likes, and the school. Yuichi’s mother is disappointed in his son because ‘stealing is stealing’. At home Yuichi is on his bed phasing out with music doing nothing. He goes out when Hoshino calls him, and is beat up by the guys. He is made publicly masturbate, and thrown with stones.

In the third sequence where there is raising action we are transported back in time to the day when high school begins. It is 1999, and Yuichi is 13 years old. Hoshino was the best student of his school, and class president at Ayu Elementary. Yuichi and Hoshino are good friends, spend a lot of time together; t hey both do Kendo. Hoshino is smart, the best student, and the best athlete. Back at Hoshino’s home they look at the stars, and Hoshino explains how nobody understands him; that night Yuichi is first introduced to Lily Chou-Chou. Summer vacation 1999 Hoshino, Yuichi, and friends steal money to go to Okinawa Island. There are girls, and they have fun on the beach. A very happy man seems to keep dropping in; he says it’s his fourth time there and he loves it for the nature. The same day they find the happy man on the road – he had jumped in front of a bus and killed himself. The next day out on the beach Hoshino goes swimming and almost drowns. On their way back Hoshino throws the money they stole into the sea.

In the fourth sequence where the first culmination happens the boys go back to school on the 1^st September 1999. On chat: References to Nostradamus, and the Matrix; humanity died and from that day on the world was grey. At school another boy Inubushi is bullying their classmates and Hoshino stands up and attacks him, throws him on the ground and cuts off his hair; after school he and the gang punish and abuse him by making him swim naked in a puddle, letting him fetch things with his teeth crawling in the mud. This is the first culmination; we see that Hoshino is no longer the same. Hoshino starts to smoke, quits the Kendo club. Year 2000 arrives, Yuichi is 14 years old. The age of gray: year 2000 starts with the same scene as the whole movie with Yuichi standing alone on the rice field. Hoshino forces a girl named Tsuda in Yuichi’s class into prostitution; she has to sleep with older men, and Yuichi is forced to follow her and collect the money; she gets a small cut. On their way home there is a very emotional sequence – she throws the money at Yuichi and looks very frustrated and sad; then she runs into nearby creek mesmerized by her feelings. Finally at home she cleans herself with the garden hose as if trying to wash her clean of what had had happened. On chat: someone says “For me only Lily is real. For me, only the Ether is proof that I’m alive’.

In the fifth sequence which is an emotionally slower episode shifts the focus on another character. The class is going to take part in a choir competition but the girl who was voted to play the piano cannot do it properly. Kuno is an excellent pianist but the other girls don’t like her start bullying her to step down. Kuno changes the arrangement so they can go a capella and won’t need a piano. In the competition the choir sings while Kuno just has to stand by with her head down. The others have totally ostracized her.

In the sixth sequence where the second culmination happens Yuichi allows Hoshino to arrange Kuno to be raped. While this happens other girls are watching and laughing, and Yuichi is crying – this is the culmination of how far Yuichi and Hoshino have come in comparison with when they were still friends. Now Yuichi is a droid, and Hoshino has become bitter and uncaring. Another day Yuichi and Tsuda meet after she had slept with an older man. She steals some money from him and now she’s happy and they go out to eat. It now seems Tsuda has started to like the money she gets for sleeping with the old men; she doesn’t care anymore whether this is good or bad; like Yuichi and Hoshino she has also changed. On the way home Yuichi gives her a CD with Lily Chou-Chou’s first album, which was the most influential on him.

In the seventh sequence where the false resolution is revealed Yuichi tells Blue Cat in the chat room he has felt like dying many times, but he couldn’t. Blue cat tells him he or she understands that pain. We see Hoshino standing on a field listening to music; we understand that he is Blue Cat. We see Tsuda walking on a field looking at kites flying. Tsuda kills herself because she wants to feel what it is like to fly like a kite. Then Yuichi throws up in class. In a hospital lying on a bed he describes this noise he has in his head.

And finally in the eighth sequence where the true resolution is revealed Lily Chou-Chou is playing live in Tokyo, it’s December 8, year 2000. Hoshino throws away Yuichi’s ticket so he cannot go to the concert; one of the most heartbreaking scenes is when Yuichi is standing there alone staring at a blank screen. After the concert is over and everybody is coming out Hoshino comes and pats Yuichi on the back. Yuichi starts to scream in the middle of the crowd and everyone starts running. Yuichi stabs Hoshino and he falls on the ground; his death is the true resolution. Now Yuichi can begin his life again; at home he starts to try and learn to play the piano, and dyes his hair. Kuno can play the piano in an orchestra. The last scene shows all of the characters, Yuichi, Hoshino, Tsuda on the field – it is clear they have all had a similar experience.

In terms of editing there are some general things that jump out to the viewer right away. While the film has some long scenes and the overall rhythm is dreamy and quite slow, jump cuts are sometimes used because they create a sense of reality and also – an air of ‘I don’t care about anything’ that is very necessary in order to establish that particular environment for the characters. Also, in some scenes the film has the look and the feel of a music video. Often scenes are cut to the rhythm of the music, which is necessary in order to show that deep connection young people make to the music they listen to, and how much it influences them. This is why rhythmical editing plays such an important part in conveying the feel of the film.

There are many example of spatial editing. For one, at 00:08:50 there is a three shot of TV hosts on a screen; next cut is to a close up of one of the hosts. Secondly, at 01:22:35 there is a close up of Tsuda in the water. And then next there is wide shot of both Tsuda in the water and Yuichi on the embankment – a classical spatial shot.

There are also many examples of temporal editing. Just to name one, at 00:05:28 while in the train the boys carry a stolen bag which they took from an older gentleman; the next cut is to a roadside where the bag is lying on the ground. This edit makes use of both temporal and graphical techniques at the same time. Graphical editing is used in conjunction with other types of editing to also match the shots by a certain graphical element. Logical editing is frequently used in places where no attention is paid to the traditional grammar of camerawork.

The film also has examples of the question and answer pattern. In some sequences of the film frequently cuts to the chat room. The question is posed with the image, and the answer is given by words in the chat. Moreover this allows one to use the chat a cutaway to switch between shots.

In most sequences the 180 rule is followed as they are shot in a more or less in a traditional style. There are some exceptions though. On 00:06:03 the boys are in a store running out of a store (camera pans left to right); then there is a rule-breaking cut to the store clerk who looks like he’s coming from the right; and then he runs into the frame from the left. This doesn’t seem to have any intentional effect, and perhaps was just sloppy camerawork. Some of the handheld shots are long without any cuts which mean that editing rules do not apply. In one scene a bus leaves the scenes to the right, then there is a cutaway to the chat, and the bus enters again from the right, which is slightly confusing.

There are also some special editing techniques that one could talk about. For one, the entire film is shot handheld, and if not, the shots are still framed in a dynamic and are never entirely static. Moreover, there are some scenes that show inventive use of camera angles. For example at 00:18:35 there is a corridor situation with two people walking towards the camera. A third person is walking to meet them. Then instead of cutting 180 degrees from the two shot to face the coming person, it is filmed in one continuous shot turning the camera half a circle; the third person stops. Only then there is a cut from behind of the two and we see all three of them walking away from t he camera.

Although All about Lily Chou-Chou features a non-traditional narrative style, it still manages to follow some of the basic rules of storytelling, and more importantly – it creates a compelling story that keeps tension and interest until the end. In terms of editing the film is dynamic and youthful, and appeals to the senses of a young and pop-culturized but sophisticated audience.

Editing Assignment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kui8TjHbcE8

This article was first published on May 14, 2008 for Editing Class at Baltic Film & Media

Dancers preparing for Greek Chorus. Photo by Andrew Mirhej

Although the historical origins of Greek drama are unclear it may be said it had relevance to religion, art and to the love of expression and perceptive storytelling in general. The origins of the chorus in particular may have stemmed out of ancient rites and rituals with elements of song and dance, and most importantly – the gathering of people.

In order to understand the function of the chorus one must remember that at the origins of Greek drama there was only one actor; and even at later dates no more than three actors occupied the stage, each of whom may have played several roles. As there was this clear need to distract the audience while the actors went off-stage to change clothes and costumes, and perhaps prepare for their next role, the function of the chorus may have had more to do with practicality, than with artistic or philosophical considerations.

Aside from the practical the chorus would have had numerous functions in providing a comprehensive and continuous artistic unit. Firstly, according to a view accepted by many scholars, the chorus would provide commentary on actions and events that were taking place before the audience. By doing this the chorus would create a deeper and more meaningful connection between the characters and the audience. Secondly, the chorus would allow the playwright to create a kind of literary complexity only achievable by a literary device controlling the atmosphere and expectations of the audience. Thirdly, the chorus would allow the playwright to prepare the audience for certain key moments in the storyline, build up momentum or slow down the tempo; he could underline certain elements and downplay others. Such usage of the choral structure-making functions may be observed throughout many classical plays but may be more obvious in some than in others.

In Aeschylus’ “Prometheus Bound”, the chorus is composed of Oceanids (nymphs from the ocean, the children of the sea god Oceanus and his wife Tethys). Aeschylus changed the role of the chorus which brought criticisms from Aristotle who his Poetics suggested that “he diminished the importance of the Chorus” (Aristotle 5), and by more modern writers such as H. D. F. Kitto who in his Greek Tragedy: A Literary Study writes “Aeschylus arranges things differently. He makes the chorus do what Greek choruses are supposed never to do: to take a part in the action.” (Kitto 85) Nonetheless such rearrangements might have made the chorus more convincing because it could remain on the stage with Prometheus for the entire play as witness and commentator. Here the chorus could express it’s sympathy for the lead character:

“I mourn for thee, Prometheus, minished and brought low, 
Watering my virgin cheeks with these sad drops, that  flow 
From sorrow’s rainy fount, to fill soft-lidded eyes 
With pure libations for thy fortune’s obsequies.” (Aeschylus)

In the works of Nietzsche the chorus takes on a completely new and profound philosophical meaning. In his The Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche presents a view of a distinct dissonance between what he calls the Apollonian and the Dionysian paradigms, referencing to the dramatic and choral qualities of Greek drama respectively. In a metaphysical framework the chorus is the essence of the play and embodies a certain Dionysian consciousness which deals with the primal realms of the human condition. Nietzsche goes to the extreme of suggesting that the “tragic myth can only be understood as a symbolic picture of Dionysian wisdom by means of Apollonian art.” (Nietzsche 261)

These primal forces would be at the command of the playwright through the choice of character and composition of the chorus. It might well consist of sea nymphs, as in Prometheus Bound, or 15 Theban elders as in Oedipus Rex, or of any other sort of people who would represent the unison of people. It could be argued that the thing that unified the chorus was their mode of communication – more often than not the chorus would elevate its meaning in song. Moreover, and perhaps partly for practical reasons (for it may have been difficult to see the characters from afar because of the relatively large size of the theatre) the chorus would emphasize certain elements of the story through the use of attributes such as masks and weapons.

The chorus may have distinguished itself by an elaborate use of language or style, varying the voice of reason or that of emotion depending on occasion and the intention of the playwright. More importantly though, the chorus could have represented the prevalent views of the contemporary society holding up certain moral and cultural standards – much like the media does for modern people throughout their daily lives

In case of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex the audience may have already been familiar – and in many cases probably was – with the outcome of the play. This made the task of engaging the viewer ever more difficult. Hence the chorus would create interest by presenting an alternative or additional viewpoint. It may have negotiated sympathies for one or another character, or perhaps depending on the sophistication of the particular character, it may have even guided the characters through problematic situations. This is exemplified by how Oedipus’ (who is all but blind to his fate) and Teiresias’ conversation is affected by the chorus.

“To us it sounds as if Teiresias
has spoken in anger, and, Oedipus,
you have done so, too. That’s not what we need.
Instead we should be looking into this:
How can we best carry out the god’s decree?” (Sophocles 485)

Both in the works of Aeschylus and Sophocles and in Ancient Greek drama in general, the role of the chorus may have been important because of structural and practical reasons.  At the same one may praise primarily as an enhancer and amplifier of impression, and sometimes the voice of a moderator, or the moral voice of the people. Certainly it also had a similar role to music in modern drama underlining important events and downplaying the less important ones. Perhaps most generally though, the chorus would give the ancient playwright a multifunctional literary device for the creation of an award-winning play on the Dionysian festival.   

Bibliography

Aeschylus. The Dramas of Aeschylus. New York: Forgotten Books, 2007.

Aristotle. Poetics. New York: Forgotten Books, 2007.

Kitto, H. D. F. Greek Tragedy: A Literary Study. New York: Routledge Press, 1990.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy. New York: Plain Label Books, 2000.

Sophocles. The Dramas of Sophocles. New York: Forgotten Books, 2007.

The article was written in 1995 and argues against many technologies that are taken for granted today.

As Arthur C. Clarke pointed out in his book Electronic Tutors, “Any teacher that can be replaced by a machine should be!”

interactive libraries

multimedia classrooms

- worldwide bulletin board. mit media lab. What began with forums has now been widely replace with Facebook and Twitter. Of course people will gather around themesetters. But these an be dynamic and non-institutional. Ashton Kutchen has just won CNN in a bid to be the first entity to be followe on Twitter by over 1.000.000 people. And he is just one man.

Electronic publishing.

I have personally owned and e-reader for over 2 years. Today there’s Kindle by Amazon that breaks sales record. I regularly read books on the iPhone while taking the metro to school.

Noone is saying content should unedited. However the editors can be self-organizing. And why should the edited product be final – on the Internet it can be rededited and remixed to suit the environment or the needs of the reader. And why should the content be published on paper.

I have never bought an airplane ticket offline. After I buy it online all I need to do is to show my ID Card at the airport.

I have never voted offline. Admittedly, Estonia was the first country to have general elections

I sign my contracts digitally. In 2010 the EU promises to finalise a pact between Portugal and Estonia to allow digital contract between the two countries. I registered my first company in 10 online. I’m not particularly a businessperson, but the ease of registering a company means it is simple for me to bill someone for a service legally and pay taxes accordingly. This makes for a far more dynamic market.

I can use my ID Card to register a company online in Portugal.

All my music is digital.

Earth’s temperature is controlled by the balance of the incoming solar energy from the Sun and the terrestrial energy radiated back into space. 

This balance is controlled by the composition of the planet’s surface and more importantly, the composition of the atmosphere. Scientific study has demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that human influence is changing both the composition of the planet’s surface and the atmosphere, and in effect is warming the climate on Earth.

Processes in the climate system which decrease warming (by increasing terrestrial radiation) are called negative feedbacks. They are few but powerful and can broadly be described as processes helping energy radiation escape Earth. For example clouds reflect large amounts of solar energy back into space. Positive feedbacks increase warming (by decreasing terrestrial radiation) and they can be divided into four distinct categories, relating to aerosols, gases, oceans and forests.

Aerosols are any type of dust or liquid or solid particles floating in the atmosphere. In the polar areas aerosols absorb large amounts of energy (the distinct characteristics of each type are modified by its distribution and properties) and create a positive feedback. At lower latitudes (closer to the equator) the absorption of aerosols generates a low negative feedback.

Gases are matter in a state in which atoms and molecules are diffused and move freely. Water vapor is the most significant gaseous absorber of terrestrial radiation and thus creates the largest positive feedback. Carbon dioxide comes in second in terms of feedback. Methane is more potent than CO2 but there is less of it in the atmosphere. Most of the other gases in the atmosphere are more potent absorbers of energy than CO2, but contribute less because of their relative scarcity.

Oceans are the principal component of Earths hydrosphere and make up 71% of its surface area (NOAA). As bodies with a low albedo absorb more energy than high albedo bodies, higher latitude sea-ice, also known as polar ice, starts to absorb more energy when it melts into liquid water. The increase in energy absorption creates a positive feedback.

Forests are a significant part of the Earth’s biosphere and form approximately 30.3% of total land area or 9.4% of the entire planet’s surface (FAO). By capturing CO2 from the atmosphere, forests storage the gas and prevent it from absorbing energy. At higher latitudes though, because of their low albedo foliage, forest tend to absorb more energy than they prevent the CO2 from absorbing – in effect creating a positive feedback.

According to many reports the growing human pressure on the positive feedbacks of the climate system may overpower the negative feedbacks, causing a warmer climate. Scientific study has shown the global increase of aerosols (air pollution), the increase of gas in the atmosphere (CO2), the increase of water over ice (melting polar ice), and the decrease of low latitude forests. A warmer climate is characterized by a range of problematical effects concerned with rising sea levels, receding glaciers and polar ice, extending tropical areas, and desertification as well as loss of biodiversity and health-related issues.

The sea level rise between 18 to 59 centimeters by the year 2100 predicted as “likely” by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 11) may lead to negative outcomes for many nations. Pacific islands such as Nauru the Marshall Islands may experience extensive loss of territory (Watson, Marufu and Moss 15). Coastal areas in cities like New York may become under water, with Manhattan entirely submerged. Some low-lying countries, for example the Netherlands and Pakistan may lose extensive parts of their territory, or be entirely inundated. According to the OECD, nations with lower income rates will experience the strongest effects (OECD 7).

Measurements of glaciers (large bodies of land ice and permafrost found in all climate zones, including the tropics, but most common in the Polar Regions) have shown that as of 2006 all glaciers around the world are receding and losing mass (WGMS). In the Alpine mountains of Europe, the receding ice and snow may put pressure on the resort industry to move skiing areas higher up the slopes, which may lead to a loss of revenue. In Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany and Italy resorts and villages may come under threat from an increasing number of landslides. According to a European study, reported in the New Scientist, the temperatures in rock and mud in the Swiss Alps increased by 0.5°C to 1.0°C from 1987-2001 (New Scientist). In mountainous areas of South America, Africa and Asia, the receding glaciers may introduce water shortages possibly complicating irrigation and water usage for agriculture in mountain communities. Effects on agriculture may be linked with increases in economic poverty. In all parts of the world national parks may experience a decline in the quality of services relating to their aesthetical beauty, and access to recreational activities.

The degradation of land, destruction of soil structure and loss of organic matter, also known as desertification may complicate food production, increase prices, and decrease the farmer’s competitiveness in the marketplace. As such, in addition to being an environmental concern, desertification may also contribute to poverty and social problems.

The impact of climate change on biodiversity depends on the degree of susceptibility of the particular system, also known as ecosystem sensitivity. As biodiversity is measured by the range of species in an ecosystem, the loss of species recorded around the world may be an indicator of the effects of a changing climate on the whole ecosystem. Ecosystems that are close to equator, and to the polar areas, may be especially fragile.

A warmer climate may create serious health effects, complicating the physical and mental well being of populations in different areas, including Europe and North America. New vectors of Malaria and other viruses may compromise the health of an increasing number of people. Accompanied by desertification and decreasing accessibility of water resources, areas in poorer regions may be especially strongly affected.

In order to mitigate such effects of global warming on sea levels, glaciers, polar ice, tropical areas, land, biodiversity and health the increasing in positive feedbacks needs to be slowed down. According to the 2007 Bali Climate Declaration, “based on current scientific understanding, [the limiting of global warming to no more than 2 ºC above the pre-industrial temperature] requires that global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by at least 50% below their 1990 levels by the year 2050. “

One comprehensive solution which holds the promise of limiting global temperatures to the extent proposed by the IPCC as well as corresponding with the interests of both the economical and environmental perspectives is the hydrogen economy. For the adoption of the hydrogen economy, and to meet the rising energy consumption throughout the world, the involvement and cooperation of business, government and the third sector would be required. In a market environment the strong market incentives for such restructuration would be the popular demand and government subsidies matching or exceeding current subsidies for non-renewables. The hydrogen economy can best be described in two distinct parts by creating a differentiation between energy production (from renewable solar, wind or other sources) and the energy currency –hydrogen.

Energy produced from resources replenished in a practical timescale by natural phenomena is called renewable energy; non-renewables resources are not naturally replenished. As of 2006, approximately 88% of the total world energy consumption was produced from the non-renewable resources – oil, coal and gas (BP). With a comparatively low median price per kilowatt hour, ready availability and simple distribution, non-renewables remain the most economical option in many parts of the world. Nonetheless, the price of non-renewables has been steadily increasing over the past 15 years (BP), while the price of renewable energy is experiencing a gradual decrease (U.S. Department of State 22). One report expects “a rise in the cost of power generation based upon fossil fuel combustion and a relative improvement in the competitive position of an increasing range of renewable energy technologies.”, also adding that “over the next two decades, the cost of renewable technologies (particularly those that are ‘directly’ solar-based) is likely to decline markedly as technical progress and economies of scale combine to reduce unit generating costs.” (Hanley and Owen 306)

Largely due to scientific breakthroughs in nanotechnology, the efficiency of renewables, especially that of solar power has increased while the price has become more economical. As of January 2008, the latest generation solar power has reached a nominal wholesale price of 21.34 US cents per kilowatt hour based on prices in California (SolarBuzz) which may only be twice as expensive as ‘normal’ power. It is also worth noting that the price of solar energy depends on the cost of the installation; the cost of fuel is free. When comparing with nuclear energy, a concentrating solar thermal tower which is relatively easily constructed may produce 200 megawatt-hours of power depending on the size while a typical nuclear power station (which is time and resource consuming to construct) outputs anywhere from 1000-4000 megawatt-hours worth, also depending on the size.

In addition to a power generation technology, a second part is needed in a comprehensive energy system. In order to make the electricity generated from renewable resources run cars and planes, it needs to be transported using some sort of a currency. Traditional electricity cannot be stored for later usage and does not offer the flexibility offered by gaseous currencies such as natural gas and hydrogen. Hydrogen delivers the ease of use that consumers may have come to expect while being environmentally friendly. According to one report the price of hydrogen delivered to consumers would be no more than 50% more expensive than natural gas (Monbiot 137).

In a hydrogen economy the currency can be transported using pipelines and transformed back into electricity by a fuel cell in the consuming vehicle or other appliance. Fuel cells work by capturing electrons from hydrogen and oxygen to create an electrical current. As electrons become electricity the elements themselves are bound together becoming hot water, and then evaporate. Water vapor may also be recaptured and used for various applications (in the case of NASA spacecrafts which use hydrogen fuel for spaceflight, it becomes drinking water for the astronauts (NASA)).

Although the range of problems introduced by climate change is large and varied around the globe, they may be resolved through a limited set of renewable energy solutions. Both the hydrogen production and the hydrogen currency form an integral part of the carbon emission free economy. Economists report that “[renewables] bring significant additional advantages that are not generally quantified.” (Hanley and Owen 307) The water vapor produced when converting hydrogen to electricity is a benign emission and is easily captured. As a pollutant free system the hydrogen economy contributes to clearer skies and better health for the people, a richer nature and a more varied biological diversity in the biomes around the world.  With the economics of scale the mass production of renewable energy may bring the price of renewables to rates which are not only cheap enough for the environmentally conscious but economical enough for widespread adoption.

Bibliography

BP. Statistical Review of World Energy. New York: BP Amoco, 2007.

FAO. Global Forest Resources Assessment. New York: FAO, 2005.

Hanley, Nick and Anthony David Owen. The Economics Of Climate Change. New York: Routledge Press, 2004.

IPCC. Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Monbiot, George. Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning. New York: South End Press, 2007.

NASA. Closing the Loop: Recycling Water and Air in Space. 2003. 16 January 2008 <www.nasa.gov/pdf/146558main_RecyclingEDA(final)%204_10_06.pdf>.

New Scientist. “Mountain Concern.” New Scientist January 2001.

NOAA. Ocean. 16 January 2008 <http://www.noaa.gov/ocean.html>.

OECD. “Policies to address climate change: the OECD experience and relevance for Mexico OECD Environment Directorate.” International Forum on Public Policies for the Development of Mexico. 2007.

SolarBuzz. Solar Electricity Prices. 2008. 16 January 2008 <http://www.solarbuzz.com/SolarPrices.htm>.

U.S. Department of State. “Clean Energy Solutions.” Economic Perspectives (2006).

Watson, Robert Tony, Zinyowera C. Marufu and Richard H. Moss. The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

WGMS. Clacier Mass Balance Data 2003/2004, 2004/2005, and 2005/2006. 2008. 16 January 2008 <http://www.wgms.ch/mbb/mbb9/sum06.html>.

Related articles by Zemanta

• European satellite to watch ice for climate change (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show (guardian.co.uk)

One is invited by the film to reflect on children and youth, and perhaps more importantly – to once again imagine how to look at the world like a child, with fresh eyes, as if seeing it for the first time. No matter that there is little factual information to guide the mind, there are the faces of young people and they seem excited and alive.

The camera moves empathetically from close-up to close-up but stops at one boy who seems to be the more involved in the play than the others. While watching the story unroll in the boy’s eyes one becomes aware of one’s own perceptions about children. How do we perceive children?  Young people in general and these young children before us in particular seem to have an inherent cuteness to them. One begins to appreciate how time might change (or even corrupt) this purity of interest, simplicity of happiness, and pleasure of surprise.  And the emotions of fear, confusion, and horror are there as well – with openness the children become scared and afraid, but there is no anxiety. One begins to think that anxiety is a feeling that we get as an adult.

Unbeknownst to the children they have become the focus of a revolution; these children have the power to change the world. Because once we the viewers are immersed in the film it becomes so simple to identify oneself with the children, and once all of us have imagined the possibilities – all of us want to be children again.

Often it seems that after having learned something the adult brain shuts off and doesn’t like to think any further. But this film is a rebel against that air of certainty and obviousness; indeed this seems to be the films main goal. Ten Minutes Older inspires questions. It inspires one to inquire and question the world he or she, you or they – that we all are looking at. The question that keeps rising to one’s mind – are we looking at the children, or are the children looking at us? – is obvious but as it receives no direct answer in the film it forces one to think further. As all but nothing could be derived from the film, we are all just looking at time passing by.  As Herz Frank has put it himself “The first rule of a documentary filmmaker is: Have the patience to observe life“ (Frank).

Ten Minutes Older makes the silence speak. What could happen in 10 minutes –everything or nothing at all? The children are sitting in a dark room. All the components of the film work together to keep the viewers attention firmly fixed on the children. The lighting creates a special atmosphere; it highlights the children. The music is reflects the image creatively to a surprising degree and supports the story which is so visually emotive.

Sound too is a character in this film, he is not protagonist, but indeed he has an important supporting role. Perhaps one of the most powerful moments of the film is the moment when the music stops for a few seconds at 2/3 of the movie… and then resumes. It is a great example how sound can be used to create expectations and fulfill promises. In that sense the philosophical only becomes possible as a function of the technological. Like the chorus in ancient Greek dramas the soundtrack helps viewer make sense of what they’re seeing, here sound is youthful and even surprising. It startles the children, and teases them, and sometimes makes them laugh.

From aspect of editing the film is shot in one long sequence; there are no cuts, fades, dissolves or anything else that is used to create rhythm in other films. This is not to say that there isn’t any rhythm in this film – there most certainly is. It is precisely because the effects of editing are negligable, and there is that distinct lack of other common cinematic elements, that the power of visual storytelling really comes out expressed at its best.  The visuals themselves create the rhythm; some children are in the shadows, some children are in the light. Sometimes it is a medium shot, and then it is a close-up – the images themselves play out on the screen and create the story. And the images are wonderful. Because the film is black and white, as in black and white photography, the textures and the geometrics, the sizes and shapes, they all come to the forefront creating images that are graphic and memorable.

Allured by those evocative visuals and the resonating background music one may forget the emergent knowledge of how much power time really has.  One is so immersed in the visions of youth that when the music stops at two thirds of the movie it takes some time for one to notice what happened until we are transported back into reality. This understanding of how our interpretation of time guides our lives is essential to ones awareness and this film helps us to remember. It helps us to remember because this awareness is something that is distinctly lacking in children.

Children seem to be unaware of the camera that secretly observes their reactions, the emotions playing out on their small faces. For 10 minutes there are exactly 10 children looking at something. Both boy and girls show great interest in what’s going on before them. And some of them show great personality. The subtitle – Tale about Good and Evil – gives a pretext for speculation. They must be looking at us, the evil creatures. Are they representing the purity of the children, and us – do we represent the evil world of the adults? Maybe they are looking at the world with good and evil playing out before their eyes? In any case the children and especially the boy seem to bridge the two dimensionality of the screen into the world of ideas, and once there – they escape reality. Because there is no language to divide us the film crosses international borders and the borders of space and time – it becomes timeless but not placeless.

In 1999 – 20 years later – Herz Frank, the author of this film, went back to the same story.  He visited the same boy who had caught his interest so many years before. It seems that Frank had been nothing sort of prophetic. Many of the mysteries one contemplated when watching the original were revealed trough Frank himself in this new movie called ‘Flashback’.  When making the original he had been younger, and he had recognized all the mystery and excitement of being a child at a puppet theatre, he had felt that joy and with sincerity he had seen his own image in the children. But now Frank shed light on his own life – he had married and his wife was dying, she was terminally ill. By making a new film Frank almost symbolized the idea of growing up, becoming an old man. He had always seen himself as a child, but now he was an adult with adult problems – he had created the tragic conclusion that was missing in the first film.

The Film

When someone wins the second place on a Eurovision contest for people with disabilities isn’t he entitled to same kind of treatment as regular pop-stars? Arnold Oksmaa certainly thinks he is, and he isn’t bothered one bit by the fact that in such a contest everybody who isn’t first is automatically a shared second place winner.

Although Oksmaa skillfully invites media attention, the media also feeds on his alleged but controversial mental disabilities. Throughout the film it is far from clear who is using who. On one hand Oksmaa seems to be enjoying every minute of his media fame, and trough the use of media he is able to make a name for himself to better his life. On the other hand though the way people from television, radio, and most of from yellow newspapers clings on his every word waiting for the next outrageous thing he could say or do is clearly an inkling to their interest of selling their product.

Because the film is quite disorganized and seems to be just following Oksmaa around there are some sequences that could’ve been left out without hurting the film. Indeed making the film more concise and balanced would have improved it from a journalistic perspective.

Although the director himself Urmas E. Liiv doesn’t shy away from ethically questionable practices such as letting Oksmaa film his birth-mother without asking her permission neither telling her what the footage is going to be used for, the general public may find such deeds disturbing or plainly wrong.

Some other sequences of questionable nature include the parts that show of Oksmaa’s mentally deranged girlfriend and her mother, and the sometimes private or highly personal things they say. As much as these sequences create entertainment value they also meddle with the lives of people who might be unaware or not be capable of understanding the effects of media. Also some of the more personal details about Oksmaa himself are depicted in cartoons and caricatures which verge on the offensive.

Ethics in Documentary Film

Ethical questions in documentary filmmaking only begin arise once something interesting is happening. They mainly concern two areas. Firstly, the area of privacy – whether we can show something that oversteps common courtesy and decency, or is openly and without justification offensive towards a person in the documentary. And secondly, the area of participation – whether the filmmaker should intervene if something perceptibly indecent is practiced by the subjects.

There are at least two schools of thought that take different views on how a documentary film should take these areas of ethics into account, and describe how a documentary should be made. One school – let’s call them the conservatives – takes the view that a documentary filmmaker must be like a fly on the wall. One’s own ideas and perceptions cannot enter into the final product. Although many agree that objectivity and impartiality in filmmaking is a near impossibility the conservative documentary-maker will try to get as close as possible. Personally, I would consider this view to be the inferior one.

The second school – let’s call them the creative filmmakers– start out on the premise that as it’s impossible to be objective one might as well include one’s own ideas and personality in the film. One of the rationales is that by being creative one can prevent the film from becoming a sort of a ‘walled garden’ that does not the background and disguises all the ethical hurtles and possible effects that the presence of a camera can have on the situation under the flag of ‘objectivity’ and ‘impartiality’.

I would consider this open and creative approach to documentary filmmaking superior. This way the documentary maker can ‘open the film up’ and make it more transparent to the viewer, which will help the audience understand some of the ethical dilemmas that may arise.  As in gonzo journalism the creative filmmaker must not abandon the truth. Only by making the filmmaking process more open can the filmmaker aspire to creativity and truthfulness at the same time.

It is inevitable the documentary filmmaker will get into situations that present ethical dilemmas. In these situations it is imperative that whatever the decision of the filmmaker makes – to show it or not to show the disturbing content – the viewer must understand why the filmmaker is there, that such a dilemma exists, and why such a decision is being made. This gives the audience enough information to make an informed decision develop an opinion.

In practical terms the case of Arnold is a good example. Although some might not agree with the decision of Urmas E. Liiv it is made clear that such decisions are being made and that some of the sequences may be unethical. For example when Arnold goes to see his mother we clearly see that Liiv gives the camera to Arnold and we also clearly see Arnold lying to his mother. That is where the viewer can make a decision. Another example lies in the sequences where Arnold is told to act in a certain way and positioned by the filmmaker – we also see clearly that this is being done and he is being directed.

Where it is unclear whether something is ethical or unethical the power of judgment should be passed over to the viewer, the audience itself must decide whether what is being done is ethical or not.

Released: 2002, Estonia, Length:  52 min, Director: Urmas E. Liiv

During the Chechen war children are involved in every aspect of the war. They are being trained in the Russian naval academy to serve Russia against her enemies. Children run on the streets of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya brandishing toy guns, imagining how they fight against the Russians. In Ingushesiyah, near the border of Chechnya refugee children remember what has happened to them, what has hurt them in the war.

Of the ideology of war and of the realities of what could happen adults don’t tell them. Children have little idea about why they are in this conflict other that what the adults tell them.

They can only see the results.

Images speak for themselves. Pictures have integrity. The silent tone of the film contrasts with the roaring war. Colors and gamma match melancholy.  Honkasalu’s observational way of filming documents the distinct atmosphere of fear that war brought to this land. Prayer and sleep are shown in all sequences. As if people didn’t see the camera they indulge in the little they have still left.

With a separate name each part becomes more significant:

Room 1 – Longing

Kronstadt, near St. Petersburg. Darkness. Boys washing. Formalistic steps. Nobody asks why does war have to destroy the innocence of children? On the contrary, it becomes clear that children are infused with small ideas of hatred right from their childhood. Because children are the future of our nation.

In the cadet academy all the boys look the same in their uniforms. Kolja – street child. Misha – grandson of a military grandfather. Popov – child of alcoholics. Sergei from Chechnya… he is treated as a stranger on both sides.

Their entire situation is reeking of irony. One moment they are singing the songs of freedom “let the horses run wild” and a minute later they are learning how to use a rifle. A boy looks out of the window thinking of raising his head high. He doesn’t.

Boys exercising, shooting targets with air guns

The string music on the background, the panning motions of the camera, and then the lone singer in high register create an uneasy feeling.

Room 2 – Breathing

Shot in black and white and with natural sound this seems very real. This is where all the action of war takes place. Terrible damage, derelict building crumbling. A mother saying goodbye to her children. Mental damage in the city. Ruins. Children playing with toy guns already infused with hatred for Russia. Already they seem to be small soldiers.

Room 3 – Remembering

Peaceful atmosphere. Longer shots. References to the first room. Children have a chance to get a new life, here they can start remembering. Calmer editing, the use of facial expressions to reveal the story of refugees. Lack of narration saves the film from bias. No conclusions are made.

Panoramas.  Children are still truthful and innocent, like in Herz Frank’s 10 Minutes Older. Both Russian and Chechen troops were cruel. A vicious circle, can children have a way out?

Three Rooms of Melancholia showed the feeling of war without showing the war itself. Not many films about war make us think and feel so deeply, even after days later.

Released: 2004, Finland, Length:  104 min, Director: Pirjo Honkasalu

Related articles by Zemanta

• Chechen Rebel Leader Claims Moscow Suicide Bombings (Update1) (businessweek.com)
• How Chechen rebels threaten Russian stability (cnn.com)
• Attacks bear hallmarks of Chechen ‘Black Widows’ (cnn.com)

The question of whether one can act naturally before a camera had never before been explored in such depth than Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin set out to do in the 1960s in Paris and Saint-Tropez. The sociologist and the anthropologist endeavor to find out and set out to make the first movie in cinema verite.

Rouch helped to create African cinema. Among the first to use handheld synced sound.  Thought the presence of a camera inspired people to express themselves more fully. America: Direct Cinema is the American version of cinema verite.

‘I mostly work through the day.’ What do people to all day? They go through the streets asking whether people are happy. Everybody says they spend their life working.

Then we see people doing small jobs at the workplace. ‘The jobs have become so divided and deconstructed that you cannot take ownership.’ You become a small ant in the colony. You lose yourself. Everybody feels the same way.  Search for fulfillment and purpose.

Woman: Leaving behind fantasy worlds. Everything becomes ordinary. Most people are bored. French existentialist ideas.

A black African man brings another viewpoint and teaches them the joy of life.  When asking questions from people in Saint-Tropez they don’t understand their negativistic viewpoints.

After the film the sociologist and the anthropologist invite the ‘actors’ to see the films and comment. Controversy – people disagree on whether someone is real or acting.

Original Title: Chronique d’un été, Released: 1961, France, Length:  85 min, Directors: Jean Rouch, Edgar Morin

Michael Moore, still a relatively unknown documentary filmmaker investigates and tries to contact the company bosses, and documents his journey in a down to earth personal style.

Michael Moore almost always has a similar style.  He takes on a big problem and tries to follow it trough talking to the greedy big companies, the useless incompetent government, and the poor helpless people affected.

Moore seems simple and approachable, which makes him easy to talk to. Yet he is rebuffed on his every try to reach that ominous man on top of the corporate pyramid.

What is most likeable about this film is that same simple realization that not all are equal, and that the big corporations can ignore you if you are not coming from the ‘big media’, as it exactly happens with Moore.

Moreover, some of the people who used to be and still are part of that simple community have now become officers who escort people out of their houses, inspectors who must tell people that they need to leave their home.

And the only response they can give to these desperate people is – I’m sorry, this is not personal… I can’t do anything.

Released: 1989, USA, Length:  91 min, Director: Michael Moore

Michael Moore

Right from the beginning of his career Moore started to include autobiographical information about himself in his films. Roger and Me was Moore’s first film to achieve any sort of a success with this approach, and he has continued to use that style even in his later movies such as Sicko.

This approach has the effect of making his viewers accustomed to his style, and this is one of the reasons why his viewpoints have become more understandable to the viewer. Moore becomes the everyday man on the streets – after all, he’s just one of us – which gives his films a fair deal of credibility among the people.

Moore has strong liberal views which he publicly propagates. Before he became a filmmaker he had some background in newspaper publishing both in his home state Michigan and California which gives an insight into how much he cared about ‘the truth’ from an early age.

By taking a creative approach to advocating his ideas and revealing ‘the truth’, he has been able to make the public aware of issues such as the violence of the American culture; he has made these issues more clearly visible and discussed in the public sphere.

Moreover his films have contributed to the widespread ridicule of the ideas of ‘The Axis of Evil’ and ‘The War on Terror’. In a CNN interview he calls the US media the ‘cheerleaders’ of the US government. [1]Moore has also been very critical of the lack of democracy in America.

Because Moore fits in well with ‘regular people’ he’s able to get their trust and have them open up before him. He’s easygoing directing style focuses more on the people and the storyline than on the cinematic aspects of moviemaking.

By using humor as tool to talk about serious issues he can get away with highly controversial statements about the state and the government, while maintaining extensive public support.

In his film Moore has decried the Bush administration, the American health system, the American love of weapons and war and other societal or public policy issues.

In addition to being like by the people, Michael Moore has made big box office success (according to Hollywood.com[2], three of his films are among the top five highest grossing documentaries of all time) as well as received high critical praise for his movies.

His most prestigious awards include an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature (Bowling for Columbine), the César and Emmy awards as well as many other lesser known honorary titles.

Other Michael Moore documentaries include Canadian Bacon, The Big One, Bowling for Columbine, and Fahrenheit 9/11.

WiFi.ee is the community for the advancement of contemporary and upcoming wireless technologies in Estonia. As an innovative NGO we have in the past 5 years revolutionized the way wireless Internet is consumed in the country. Estonia today enjoys one of the most widespread networks of free hotspots in the world.
For 2008 we need a new web platform. Based on our previous experience, and for continuing sustainable engagement in our venture, three key necessities have been highlighted.
· Community
· Search
· Advertisement
This paper attempts to instruct the developers in building this platform. In the following few pages each of these areas are discussed in detail.

Statistics

Year – Certified Hotspots
2001 – 1
2002 – 5
2003 – 30
2004 – 210
2005 – 430
2006 – 700
2007 – 1150

Mission of Wireless Estonia

The value of Internet lies in its usage
Internet cannot be archived or locked up
Internet has to service the interests of the society as a whole
Internet has to be available like water or electricity
If the society cannot support the rise of the Internet, the citizens will
Internet is the electricity of the 21st century
It causes notable chanes in lifestyles and in the society as a whole
The last time such as revolution took place, was when electricity came

Certification

The certifiation of wireless technologies
The certification of wireless hotspots
The certification of wireless products
Non certified services cannot guarantee quality of service, secutirty and usability

International PR

The Americas
United States (California, NY)
Brazil
Europe
Magazines and News
Baltic countries
Asia
Singapore

National PR

—
Hotspot

Rating
Technical details
Images
Map

Public spaces

Library
Museum
Civic center
National park
Open-air cinema
Park
Street
Beach

Public transport

Bus
Boat
Ferry
Ship
Train

Communication
Community and volunteers
Service providers
Local governments
State
Users
National media
International media

History

May 2001: First Public WiFi hotspot in Estonia
Hotel Olümpia, second floor restaurant
March 2002; WiFi.ee portal opens. Peeter Marvet and Veljo Haamer introduce WiFi to the public.
Media coverage in newspages and magazines
Summer 2002: First hotspots spread over Estonia. Orange and Black WiFi sign introduced.
August 2002: First international coverage by the Inquirer in California. Start of Estonian fame as leader in technology
Mixup with image. Airport called petrol station.

March 2003. Rocca Al Mare school first to open hotspot
June 2003. WiFi project for Statoil
September 2003. WiFi park project begins. Municipial projects all over Estonia.

As the film lacks narration or dialogue all of the viewer’s attention is focused on that one particular character that appears on each scene.

One may find symbolism in the fact that people have to listen to music trough earphones. Or one can just disregard it as a practicality. In any case it does generate a contrast between the streets that most of the time only has the music of noisy cars driving by.

The documentary has the function of anthropological or ethnographical shorthand to the Latvian society. When stopped most of the Latvians just stand around and do not display any physical excitement after having listened to the music. This in itself is already a commentary on the nature of the Latvian people and explains in some ways why the background their standing against is so bleak.  And then they just leave after a while.

Released: 2001, Latvia, Length:  10 min, Director:  Laila Pakalnina

Filmography

Laila Pakalnina has directed 19 films:

Scientific knowledge may often be too complicated or theoretical too be used in day-to-day practice of public relations. Therefore, the texts are generally interpreted in ways which could be argued as prudent for the specific project. Trough translation, and by adding and omitting particular parts, the theoretical model may in the end only bare little similarity to the original theory. In the words of Cornelissens, “The premise of this model is that scientific knowledge is seldom used in an unaltered form in practice.” (Cornelissen 315) Such mismatch of theory and practice may lead to confusion.

The confusion about to what ends public relations should be used as well as insufficient comprehension of its exact philosophical nature, are common. Poor understanding is augmented by the lack of a proper definition. For example, “Honesty and openness are frequently stressed as important to performance, but neither is identified as a part of the descriptive definitions of what public relations is.” (Sharpe 345) For students going into the field, such degree of uncertainty may become cause of uneasiness and suspicion towards their ability to grasp the true meaning of their future profession.

In addition to the lack of a definition, uncertainty in what is “ethical” as well as the breaking down of traditional models of “truth” such as religion and tradition, in public relations there may be contributions to morally questionable usages of intelligence. In so far as no one’s actions may be judged worse than those of another, or morality wrong, unless judged illegal or in variance with the law, public relations practitioners may invent or translate (as in the mentioned translational model) their own variant of PR. In the public relations practice of Chinese Taiwan, Huang has highlighted the Gao guanxi[1] as a traditional Confucian idea of morally questionable use of communal and social intelligence. Drawing from 1000 year old tradition, the Chinese communal values are nonetheless being reshuffled by the realities of modern enterprise. In order to account for such evolutions in ethics, Leeper proposes a contemporary model of moral objectivity, the Discourse Ethics of Jurgen Habermas, which “holds out the potential of a new, more objective grounding for ethical theory and for the practice of public relations.” (Leeper 133)

In a combination of Habermas’ and Kent and Taylor’s ideas emerges a view of an organization that engages in public relations trough an interactive objectivity, in essence a dialogue formed in itself by acceptance and affirmation of actions undertaken by each stakeholder. A distinctive display of transparency in effect may “change the nature of the organization–public relationship by placing emphasis on the relationship.” (Kent and Taylor 24) Emphasis on relationships among stakeholders may bring about a new way of seeing public relations, which may have been best characterized by the five features outlined by Kent and Taylor: mutuality, propinquity, empathy, risk, and commitment. In their own words:

Dialogue as an orientation includes five features: mutuality, or the recognition of organization– public relationships; propinquity, or the temporality and spontaneity of interactions with publics; empathy, or the supportiveness and confirmation of public goals and interests; risk, or the willingness to interact with individuals and publics on their own terms; and finally, commitment, or the extent to which an organization gives itself over to dialogue, interpretation, and understanding in its interactions with publics.

The relationship of science, morality and practice in public relations is one of complexity and evolution. An unbroken play of three powers, public relations is defined by scientists, moralists and finally – practitioners. With a rediscovering (or reinvention?) of secular morality in a dialogical system, the particular democracy of dialogical dynamism is highlighted. Baring similarities to the discovery of market theories, dialogues bring about a natural morality in communication. Accordingly, the use of dialogue in public relations may lead to more elegance as well as more knowledge in organizations.

Works Cited

Cornelissen, Joep P. “Toward an Understanding of the Use of Academic Theories in Public Relations Practice.” Public Relations Review 26 (2000): 315–326.
Huang, Yi-Hui. “The Personal Influence Model and Gao Guanxi in Taiwan Chinese Public Relations.” Public Relations Review 26 (2000): 219–236.
Kent, Michael L and Maureen Taylor. “Toward a dialogic theory of public relations.” Public Relations Review 28 (2002): 21-37.
Leeper, Roy V. “Moral Objectivity, Jurgen Habermas’s Discourse Ethics, and Public Relations.” Public Relations Review 22 (1996): 133-150.
Sharpe, Melvin L. “Developing a Behavioral Paradigm for the Performance of Public Relations.” Public Relations Review 26 (2000): 345–361.

[1] Gao guanxi. „The exploitation of personal relations or human networks” (Huang 227)

For Semester 1 Public Relations Class with Kaja Tampere. The Baltic Film & Media School Of Tallinn University

Original Title:  Jaanipäev

Released: 1978, Estonia

Length:  19 min
Director:  Andres Sööt

The old ways of the people have been destroyed, their countryside culture is left dead in the past and the people are put inside grey boxes called houses. The sound and visuals of the city are strange and dismaying. People are so busy and the city is noisy and dirty. Constructions, people running. Police siren goes by. Very fast and disorientating for the peasants and countrymen.

All of this is a great example of visual storytelling. There is no dialogue, and there is very little emphasis on anything but the visual image.

The kids are playing in the construction yards with rockets and planes, nothing natural in sight. There is the Tivoli to entertain oneself and there is the popular music – none of resembles what people were use to in the countryside so they stay inside their house. But people do come out of their big Lasnamäe houses to go to the Jaanitule bonfire.

Old songs with lyrics the like of “Laske vanad tantsud valla tõstke piigad taeva alla” bring back memories for some and for others this is just a memory from the long gone past. Still, some of the ideas of agrarian romanticism are deeply rooted.

But after the Jaanipäev everything is the same once again – people living in big houses everyone in his own little cubicle, every windows just the same.

Image via Wikipedia

Nanook (father), Nyla (mother) and Cunayou (child) are an Inuit family living in the Arctic of Northern Canada. Although many of the scenes and the storyline are constructed, and the family is fictional, it nonetheless achieves a semi-accurate portrayal of the Inuit way of life.

‘Nanook of the North’ is a fictional documentary narrative and although it is considered (one of) the first documentaries it already pushes the limits of what one would call ‘a documentary’.

Many of the scenes are elaborately staged and in some cases may clearly be unrealistic. Often they may instead be serving an artistic purpose. For example in the scene where people keep coming out from inside of the canoe, it seemingly has an endless capacity – this has a humorous effect.

‘Nanook of the North’ has similar characteristics to Dziga Vertov’s ‘A Man with a Movie Camera’ made some seven years later in the respect that it is greatly enhanced by the use of symphonic background music. Having seen the film with two different scores the feeling was entirely different in each viewing, with the latter version offering a more complete experience.

Robert J. Flaherty

The director of ‘Nanook of the North’, Robert J. Flaherty was at first an iron ore prospector in Northern Canada but eventually abandoned his work to become a filmmaker and the inventor of the documentary cinema genre.

Although his style was unorganized and some of his film remained uncompleted or were complete by other filmmakers, his single-minded dedication to film and his method of living together with the subjects of his films created insights that one could argue remain unsurpassed even in many modern documentaries.

After completing Nanook he took on another movie Moana for which he had to travel to the island of Samoa. He had planned to spend a year living with the islanders which made some of his investors uneasy. Perhaps it was because his method required so much time that his first ‘Nanook of the North’ remained his most successful film.

Released: 1922, USA, Length:  79 min, Director: Robert J. Flaherty

Original title: Vai viegli but jaunam?

Released: 1986, Latvia (Soviet Union)

Length:  82 min

Director: Juris Podnieks

When watching ‘Is it Easy to be Young?’ it strikes one immediately with how much honesty and simplicity the interviewees explain their hopes and fears. Almost in the same sentence they discuss the threats of nuclear contamination, the horrors of the Afghan war, the future of their own lives and the society at large. Much of it is emotionally engaging, especially the descriptions of Latvian daily life, the streets and the parties’ young people take part in, and then the scenes of the court and conviction – they all give a thorough insight into the lives of the rebellious Latvian youth.

Although the film merits recognition for the humanity and heroism of the filmmakers, and for its place in the revival of the national pride of Latvia (by some accounts it was seen by almost 30 million people only in the Soviet Union), it remains overly poetic and emotional to give an accurate account of what it was like to live under Soviet rule. In particular the film is flawed in its approach to select individual members of the society chosen by their youthful rebellious attitudes. It therefore fails to generalize the experiences of the passive collaborators widespread at large.

The film could be improved by concentrating on a wider variety of youth contrasting the collaborators and conformists with the rebels of the system. One might then even contemplate excluding the scenes in the court altogether. For those who are more unfamiliar with the Soviet system such a dispassionate look on the duties and freedoms of young people would have given a more precise portrayal of the soviet environment. This however would have been at the expense of the emotional side of the story which was told very well in the original version.

Some of the scenes that remain most unconvincing occur in the interview with a young man who claims to believe in Krishna. Many of his aspirations toward the meaning of life and spiritual fulfillment that are shared by almost all of his peers may be incomprehensible for the modern secular or non-spiritual viewer. His desire for traditional family values and his rebellious attitudes towards protecting these values do little to give eloquence to an otherwise unclear and imprecise interview.  An interesting point that the interview does raise is the following:  although in some respects it is often thought that young people don’t have any clear values, this part of the film strongly asserts that they do.

More than anything the success of ‘Is it Easy to be Young?’ would perhaps be attributed to the emotional honesty of its characters may have extensive appeal to large numbers of viewers. It has the ability to portray Latvian youth with compassion and humanity. Although already viewed by tens of millions of people in the Soviet Union, this is perhaps why it achieved even greater fame when released internationally. It showed that in the unknown Soviet world the young people had similar problems when growing up and becoming adults as everywhere else.

Nonetheless, under the same title one could create an entirely different film concentrating on the ideas of self-preservation and individualism. This approach was already characterized by one character of the original movies that saw the world as an opportunity. He said: “Man must have money”.

Original Title:  Kihnu Naine

Released: 1973, Estonia

Length:  48 min
Director:  Mark Soosaar

The Woman from Kihnu is notable for the sense that although the traditional use of storyline is missing from the film it still manages to carry a distinctive mood from start to finish.

By that token the film breaks some traditional rules of linear storytelling and presents scenes in a more irregular manner. Things just happen at exactly the right moment and the filmmaker just happens to pass by exactly when they take place, for example when a woman is looking through a window her husband disappearing into the distance.

Some parts of the film are shown in negative which makes the characters seem graphic and generalized.  Old traditions of dance and fishing are told in song. The interviews give insights into the personal thoughts of the Kihnu people, their personalities, hopes and wishes, and more generally – their culture.

Although Soosaar spent only a limited time on the island he has captured the whole cycle of life. The film revolves around an old lady seems to be ephemerally there. She sings her old songs about love and the pain love creating a feeling that nothing ever changes. The singing old woman states the thesis of each part of the cycle in her song. When the young people find themselves, she sings about the pain of love in her youth. When the couple ages, she sings about how the kids continue to love her even after the passions from her life have passed.

Maybe it is because of that old lady that the film seems to be circular. Starting off on a graveyard people where come together, the first scene symbolizes the end of life. But in the same moment it is a new beginning because we see the young people find a partner, marry, and have kids. And as the kids get older they start mimicking adults. Some years pass and kids grow older and go on fishing dates with boys. A ladybug appears and the boy and girl find each other. Again they become adults and marry. The woman guards the house and the man goes to work. A scene of the two walking together into the distance completes the story. A new scene of the graveyard completes the whole cycle.

Despite all the storms the old tree from the graveyard still keeps standing every funeral, like the people of Kihnu who seem to be saying: “As long as we know our history and traditions, we are still strong”.

The film creates a strong emotional response and in many ways the strongest point of the film is the visual language that conveys all these cultural ideas. Because this is such a colorful film the variety of hues from the red of the Kihnu woman’s dress to the intense blue of the sea the colors seems to best express much of what Kihnu really is.

The film seems to ask the question – how can we protect our children who might face poverty and misery? And in the New Deal political environment the answer surely must be top-down government intervention and social welfare. By using dams to technologically gain control of the whole Mississippi river and its system of tributaries the river is ‘tamed’ to the will and for the purposes of man.

The film makes a heavily appeals to emotions. By showing the degradation of the environment the large-scale felling of trees, the floods, and its effects on the life of the poor people that is to a high degree dependent on the river, the film becomes a sort of a justification for the New Deal government social programs.

Propagandistic tones are especially prevalent in the use music which often seems to lend its grandiosity from the American ‘We can do it’ philosophy.  There is the proud voiceover spoken in a deep voice which is familiar to people who watch American fiction films. This authoritative voice is backed up with lots of facts stating Government achievements.

For a film made as a piece to support Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal reforms, and although the film certainly does have some very propagandistic elements, it supersedes most propaganda in its highly artistic qualities.

Visually many of the scenes are powerful and even iconic. They do a great job at describing the scale of the whole enterprise of taming the river. The film inscribes into memory the image of the mighty Mississippi river and its deep connection to the American people.

Released: 1937, USA,Length:  31 min, Director: Pare Lorentz

Throughout Western history, from the abolition of slavery, to the universal right to vote, to desegregation of ethnic groups, there has been a steady increase in the legalized moral capacity of societies. In another words – rights have been afforded to a growing number of interest groups.

Each of such rights has been controversial at the time. Today, great apes have become the latest group to go through such a development. A legal declaration submitted to the United Nations, known as the Declaration of the Rights of Great Apes, defends the interests of great apes. The moral minimums of human rights – right to life, individual liberty, and prohibition of torture – also apply, and should be extended to great apes. In the following paragraphs it will become clear why.

Firstly, great apes bare greater biological similarity to humans than does each to any other animal. They are similar to the extent that human blood can be successfully transfused to a chimpanzee or a bonobo with a compatible blood group. Genetically this translates to a difference of less than one percent (the difference between humans is around 0, 5 percent).  To that end great apes hold up to the biological requirements of attaining rights.

Secondly, great apes are capable of culture-like representation. Their cultural similarity to humans is qualitative, not quantitative. By their behavioural and emotional engagements in societal and cultural activities they bare great resemblance to humans. According to Savage-Rumbaugh and others, “apes are capable of forming such complex concepts and expressing them to one another trough bodily positions and facial expressions.” (Savage-Rumbaugh, Shanker and Talbot) Bonobos experience a full range of emotions from love and fear to anxiety and jealousy in addition to other emotions. Chimpanzees are able to learn human sign languages and communicate.  Both species, as well as other great apes, have developed communication among their own groups. To that end great apes hold up to the cultural requirements of attaining rights.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly from the human perspective, giving rights to great apes is economically feasible. Great apes do not form part of the food production industry.  Neither are they an important source material for the clothing industry.  Moreover, the number of great apes in the world is counted in the thousands, not millions.  Great apes are a relatively small group of animals. To that end the Declaration of the Rights of Great Apes holds up to the requirements of prudent economics.

Great apes hold up to every requirement of being a member of the legal community. Great apes are fundamentally similar to humans in biological terms. More importantly, they are capable of a culture-like representation. Most importantly, perhaps, their special protection would is economically feasible. Consequently, the Declaration of the Rights of Great Apes would extend the right to life, individual liberty, and prohibition of torture to animals who are similar to us in all the ways that matter. Rights for the great apes would be a profound affirmation of the capacity for comprehension in the human species; its moral implications would dignify our kind.

Works Cited

Savage-Rumbaugh, Sue, Stuart G. Shanker and Taylor J. Talbot. Apes, Language, and the Human Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Electricity is very important for every modern person and undoubtedly the endeavor of bringing it to everyone was one of the huge undertakings of the 20^th century. That is one of the reasons why in many respects this film is similar to other New Deal documentaries such as The River that all have a fixation on grandiose social reforms.

In artistic terms such big ideas spawn movies which are notable for their grandiose and spectacular photography and magnificent musical scores. The film is especially memorable for its voiceover which spews golden eggs such as ‘Milk that makes bones and muscles for the children of the nation’.

Released: 1940, USA, Length:  37 min, Director: Joris Ivens

Tourists stand in a line to touch the famous statue. Even without thinking they are part of that queue and do just as others do just for the simple reason that they do it.

In a traditional Herz Frank fashion the film is wide open for interpretation and discussion. From a philosophical viewpoint one could see that queue as a symbol of our contemporary society (or really of any society from any time in world history) where it is very easy to be part of the system without giving much thought to why exactly one does what he or she does.

On the other hand some people might not see the film in that way at all. After all most of what we see is in a film is created inside our own heads. Some people may go to a theatre to see a Herz Frank movie simply because it is good way to sit in the dark for a length of time.

Be that as it may one can say with some degree of certainty that for everyone the film conveys a sense of place. The shaky camerawork which at first may be disturbing soon starts to resemble the shaky handheld camera of the everyman tourist focusing his lens on anything that catches his attention. It is that singular focus familiar from other Herz Frank’s movies to these small moments of personal discovery that make this film interesting.

My only critique is that perhaps this time Frank has chosen a length of time that is too long.

Released: 2003, Latvia, Length:  24 min, Director: Herz Frank

Released:  1929, United Kingdom

Length:  61 min

Director: John Grierson

Like Vertov and Ruttmann in their documentary films Grierson also has tried to show a day in someone’s life. Choosing a fishing ship instead of a city creates a more specific approach to portraying one day because it is a constrained place on one single ship. Yet as in other films what becomes clear is that there are certain procedures and routines that are recognizable and happen almost in the same way every day.

Although the subject matter is different there is a certain feeling in this film that is very similar, yet perhaps in a less dramatic and very slow sort of way. For example we are shown the machinery that makes the ship work. As in the city films there seems to be a contrast between the modern and the traditional ways of life the distinction becomes quite clear within the film.

The film opens with an unforgettable sequence of a party of people slowly pushing the bread wagon towards the village. Reminiscent of the existentialist struggles of King Sisyphus it is unclear whether they will ever reach the village.

This is observational filmmaking at its best. The strong emotional aspect, and the living principles and values which become apparent in a forgotten village that doesn’t seem to see any sunlight and where no young people seem to be living is intriguing to observe.

The film has been made with great attention to structure and style. Long continuous scenes without cuts help to really observe what is happening without being forced or guided by the cuts to look at a particular thing. Use of natural sound, lots of panning, quiet, environmental sounds, echoes, all of it makes for a strong and realistic depiction of the village. But nothing much happens in this village, the houses stand quietly.

Under the surface there are strong anti-government themes. The message seems to be that the reality of the village (and of the world) is that some contribute but others take all the bread. So still others have to

The film was probably so successful because of its simplicity and single-minded attention to one particular theme. It has thereby become almost an icon of the theme. Bread is brought every week by the villagers, there is a certain amount of bread, and when that bread is divided there is no more – this is a zero-sum game. There is a touch of irony in the fact that the wagon is almost empty and the bread could be transported more easily by hand. How does the bread get to the start of the railway?

The pacific rhythm and long scenes are entirely justified in this context. The goal is to let the characters take their own roles and act as they may. In the style of observational filmmaking one becomes the Seeing Eye in the room and all the decision making is left up to the viewer.

The filmmaker doesn’t help the elderly because he wants the scenes to take as long as possible. The slow pace is emphasized to make the viewer feel as if he was truly there. Having to wait for everything to happen at real life speed the viewer can take the time to remember and reflect over the instances when he himself has had troubled times.

The cart is a metaphor of the hardships of life and the feeling to tiredness when one has to seemingly push and push without getting anywhere. The dogs that are running around without helping represent the freeloaders and do-nothings of the society. It is the hard work of the hard-working laborer that eventually does get the cart to its final destination – the village.

Released: 1998, Russia, Length:  53 min, Director: Sergei Duortsevoi

In this movie the author seems to be looking for an answer to one single question –what happens after death? Because he first saw someone dying at the age of 5 it became his obsession to try and solve this mystery. The main focus seems to be on Landsbergis’ journey – as he is the seeker for the truth –and the camera just happens to be there at hand. His approach to filmmaking is highly personal to the extent that some of his questions are clearly leading the people being interviewed.

Many of the interviews are conducted with people of questionable mental health in the poorest social strata. These people include individuals of religious background, and people of high spiritual orientation.  One woman claims to have gained the ability to speak German and English after returning from a coma, while another sees the souls of 9/11 victims at a rural church in Lithuania. In both cases spiritual ideas as well as the idea of an afterlife seem to give relief for those who suffer economically or have in other respects been unsuccessful in their interests.

Such spiritual ideas express a calm and submissive worldview and rely on the assumption that one is unable to change anything. One should repent one’s sins and put an emphasis on personal contemplation – submission to religion will reveal eternal laws and truths.

The movie manages to create a certain mood that if put into words would be something like a feeling of serenity – ‘there is no hurry, there is still time’.  Life is a personal journey towards light, harmony and joy. Maybe there is no border between this world and the next?

Perhaps the greatest merit of this film is that it shows of people handle the expectation of dying, and how many are interested in losing their fear of dying trough spiritual practices.

The greatest downfall is the film’s technical quality where no real attention is given to trying to make the film look like a film. It remains a highly personal account.

If I would make this film I would have great difficulty with the opinions expressed about death. For me death is something we’re trying to prevent.

Released: 2004, Lithuania, Length:  54 min, Director: Vytautas V. Landsbergis

Original title: Berlin: Die Symphonie der Großstadt

Released: 1927, Germany

Length:  65 min
Director:  Walter Ruttmann

‘Berlin – Symphony of a Great City’ is similar in many ways to two other famous films – ‘Man with a Movie Camera’, and ‘Naqoyqatsi’. They are similar because they all deal in one way or the other with technology and the place of man amongst it. They are all also created in an impressionistic fashion. Like in the other two films, in Berlin the camera takes on sort of a god viewpoint and paints with fairly large brushstrokes creating grandiose views of reality.

Berlin has a distinct lack of freshness, at times it becomes a bit deadpan, and in general the pace is slower than in Vertov’s work. Of the three films Berlin certainly feels the most sinister. Because the editing seems sloppier some of the scenes feel out of place.

The film is broken into acts which feel unnatural and break continuity. In real life one does not feel any breaks in the continuity of time and therefore in the movie they draw undue attention to the artificiality of the film-making process. Although they do provide structure which helps to understand the change in the time of day it feels unnatural.

Young Dylan in London starts off by saying I’m not angry, I’m delightful’. Yet in almost every subsequent scene we see a fervent confrontational young man with strong political ideas and ideals. He says he doesn’t write, he just remembers which suggests that he has a set of principles to which these ideas attach.

One can tell this is a Direct Cinema film because of the truthful way it is constructed. This does not mean that the veracity of every scene isn’t under question, but it does mean that the director has put a lot of thought into trying to convey the characters in a real way. This may be one of the reasons why Pennebaker as a skillful documentary maker has gotten under the skin of many artists including Depeche Mode, David Bowiw, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, and others.

In terms of images this is filmed in beautiful black and white photography. Some of the scenes that are very much underexposed don’t bother and force the viewer to listen. This film is really all about listening to something, whether to the political ideas of Dylan, or simply his humanistic longing that is so well expressed in his songs, and most of all of course, it’s about listening to his beautiful music. There is no voiceover telling the viewer how things are, there is just the simple camera following Dylan around his life. Even when Dylan is in concert the filmmaker does his best to capture the whole thing choosing excerpts of the whole. Some of the beautiful songs make the image unnecessary.

The film takes a backseat to the personality of Dylan the 60s. It’s like a window into the age. At some points the film ventures into the areas of management and how music is produced.

It could be argued that for a period film this wouldn’t be necessary but on the other hand it makes the film seem real and less romantic.

Some of the sequences of Dylan behind the piano are the most personal. Dylan is very simple and down to earth and chats with everybody. But at other times though, he gets into arguments and talks back. What’s your purpose in the world, he asks and becomes confrontational. In time he gets increasingly tired and angry, starts blaming people; feels confused.

These are the little things that make Dylan come alive.

Released: 1967, USA, Length:  95 min, Director: Don Alan Pennebaker

In this British documentary movement film storytelling is mostly visual. Yet the most memorable part of the documentary is the recited poetry at the end of the film which sounds notably like the modern hip-hop lyrics with a beat of the railway wagon. The lyrics concisely verbalize the enormous pride the railway company takes in providing the mail service to so many people.

Detailed views of the technology involved and the factual style with many numbers given makes the film appealing to the male viewer. In some ways the film resembles visual anthropology trying to detail how the overall system functions. Scenes of the divisions and slots where the mail is put, of the machines involved in sorting the postage bundles, and caching and relaying the mail make it seem a bit like a tutorial.

In the tradition of tutorial films this documentary could be used for introducing or socializing the new workers into the culture and workmanship of the company.

Title:  Night Mail, Released: 1936, United Kingdom, Length:  29 min, Directors:  Harry Watts, Basil Wright

Original title: Chelovek s kino-apparatom

Released: 1929, Soviet Union

Length:  68 min
Director:  Dziga Vertov

The urban stories of people among the great machines that drive the economy give the film more humanity than its predecessor the Berlin City Symphony. Although notably influenced by that film released only two years earlier Man with a Movie Camera is superior in almost all respects.

The film is highly entertaining in an almost playful and childish manner. This may because it seems to have been motivated by a true passion for filmmaking. This less severe and lighter mood seems more flattering to the contemporary audiences.

Because the film was originally released as a silent movie it was accompanied by a live orchestra. Later the film has been greatly enhanced by the use of a soundtrack. The best soundtrack to date has been created by The Cinematic Orchestra in London which gives the film a more uplifting feeling than the previous versions.

In terms of editing the film seems to be years ahead of anything that had been released at the time. The fast cuts, slow and fast motion, tracking and panning are reminiscent of the later MTV style and really do justice to the urban lifestyle portrayed in the movie. Although films that have a good script and a storyline that’s easy to follow tend to be better remembered than those that don’t, the advanced camera techniques and effects in this film are successful in creating enough interest in a film which does not have a proper storyline to hold the viewers attention.

Vertov greatly emphasizes the filmmaker’s relationship with his camera.  Many of the sequences have a poetic feeling which is a remarkable achievement because the camera in use was very noisy and big. Experimenting with everything form of montage known to man Vertov was a blatant idealist seemingly taking his camera everywhere without any restrictions. Vertov was able to show the world what a wonderful machine a camera is and all that can be done with it.

Kohla-Järve. Photo by AAA BBB

In the community of Kohtla-Järve, there are a few problems.

Unemployment, substance use and a general feeling of living a futureless life are issues familiar to the people of this small, off-the-map city.

Nothing much happens day-to-day.

One day though, at least in Dirk Hoyer’s film “Detour”, a pop star arrives. On his way to his mother’s funeral, the pop stars vehicle breaks down and he gets stranded, much like the city where it happens.

Through the eyes of the glamorous stranger the non-fiction grit and horror of the city become clearly seen.

Unemployment in Kohtla-Järve has been on the increase since Estonia became independent (Kohtla-Järve Development Plan 2007 – 2016). For an aging and generally unskilled population, it’s difficult to find jobs in a place, where the only business to date has been coal mining. Restructuring and automation of functions in the competitive market economy has meant that jobs that were needed in a Soviet system, are no longer there. Add to that increasing substance use and/or the migration among the young, to bigger cities, and you have city without a future.

The solution for Kohtla-Järve lies in the problem itself. The migration of the current population to bigger cities, and ultimately, the death of that community, will be the solution. The futureless city will have a future nonetheless trough tourism. As a tourist destination Kohtla-Järve has much to offer. Beginning with the splendid location near the shore, the beaches, and the limestone bluff in Saka and Toila, the new community could be known as the Pärnu of Eastern Estonia – once it can clean up its name and gain recognition. All the possibilities are there for Kohtla-Järve. What is needed is a new generation with a fresh view.

Kohtla-Järve does not have a future in this generation. Problems of unemployment, substance use, and a general feeling of living a futureless life, have led to degradation of the local community and will ultimately lead to the relocation of the whole population. These problems are excessive for any city to handle, and they will only be remedied by the death of the community. The solution in this grave statement is this – Kohtla-Järve will be rebuilt by a new community. The rich natural landscapes of Kohtla-Järve will make a tourist destination. The city and the community will be rejuvenated once the current generations have left.

Works Cited

Kohtla-Järve Development Plan 2007 – 2016. Development Plan. Kohtla Järve: Kohtla-Järve City Government, 2006.

The ethical issue raised is to what lengths the journalist may go to get the story. While Holloway displays a certain moral flexibility and does not consider the use of sex as a tool unethical, it is not necessarily clear that she is doing something wrong. Because Naylor does not explicitly imply that the information he is releasing is off the record it could be viewed as fair game. Nonetheless, this is clearly is an ethical issues in the public eye because the reporter falls out of favor when Naylor reveals the nature of their relationship.

This brings one to the issue of public morality. Because the reporting of Holloway in essence is accurate and truthful should she not be in the clear? No, because it is the way in which she has gathered her information that defames her in the public eye. The use of sexuality for professional interest is considered a taboo in most societies. It follows from there that in order to have public support journalistic ethics must incorporate at minimum those values that the public considers uncompromisable. Whether public values are always appropriate, and whether innovation in these areas is possible, or desirable, is a matter for a longer discussion.

While journalistic ethics and values cannot be viewed as separate from the journalist, they must be appropriate and proportionate in the eyes of the society for them to accept the journalism produced by the media.

Throughout the film I had a feeling that like in the first scene all the housing projects were eventually going to be destroyed. Even though this was never shown that feeling haunted the whole movie especially when the people were looking out of the window – what was outside, we never saw.

But one day we see out of the window and there is a balloon flying in the distance. And then another one. The contrast with the lives seen in the next scene is stark.

It is a house that is almost derelict with broken people beaten by the system and their own inability to help themselves inside. When the radio stops working they do nothing. The man stops dancing and so does the woman.

The woman keeps reading out aloud from her mother’s diary but the text is unintelligible Lithuanian or Russian so some viewers don’t understand. But what she’s reading is the life of her grandmother.

In the end they say. Go away. I don’t love you anymore. Did you love me – no.

Then there is black and white footage of old times, babies, soviets. And there are the contemporary houses in the mist. Man is still looking out from the balcony. The couple is looking out of the window as if waiting for the destruction of their house which will never happen.  Man didn’t leave. Everything remained the same.

They never did anything.

Released: 2003, Lithuania, Length:  24 min, Director: Oksana Buraja

One way to reduce carbon emissions, is to put a price tag on it. A flat carbon tax.

Cradle to crave

Cities are taken over by cars

Whether we are talking about climate change, global warming, ecological destruction, impoverishment of habitat, loss of species and ecological diversity, I suggest there is something that is clearly desirable.

We are passionate about creating a cleaner, sexier planet. Cleaner meaning less toxic and with smaller health risks from disease and pollution. Sexier meaning healthier.

Trying to be green is an aspiration. Aspirational green.

• Ecology
  • Buy the Amazon rainforest
  • Grow local
  • Digitize documents
  • Sort trash
  • Transport
    • Carshare
  • Carbon
    • Cap and trade
    • Carbon tax

What are the disruptive technologies that can bring about such change?

Stephen D. Krasner. Phot cred: University of California Television

International relations was about historical power relations between centers of power or states. How to think about issues without using worst-case analysis.

Characteristics of the current international system:

Edward Bernays is one the most prominent figures in the history of public relations. By many accounts, Bernays was one of the first to define the field, and almost certainly the first to give public lectures on the subject. His influence on the 20th century can only be judged as considerable.
Edward Bernays

Birth

Edward Louis Bernays was born on November 22, 1891 in Vienna to a Jewish family. His parents were Ely Bernays and Anna Freud Bernays. His maternal uncle was the well knows psychologist Sigmund Freud. He was one of five children.
New York City

Bernays was only a year old in 1892 when his parents decided to move to New York City in the United States. There Bernays’ father, Ely, became a successful grain merchant. Bernays’ parents expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Bernays passed his initial education in New York City. To fulfill his family’s wishes, he went on to study in the Agricultural College of the Cornell University. He graduated in 1912, but then changed his mind, and chose a journalistic career over that of a grain merchant.
Personal Life

Bernays was married to his wife Doris Fleischman, a talented writer, strategist and women rights activist, who he had know since childhood, in 1922. The Economist accounts, that they wished for a modern wedding, “stripped of the pomp and ceremony that symbolized the enslavement of woman to man”.[1] Doris became a long time partner in Bernays’ public relations companies and undertakings.

Work

According to the biographer Larry Tye, as his first employment, Bernays began editing the Medical Review of Reviews in New York City.[2]
UXL Newsmakers research shows, however, that Bernays’ job related to public relations, was the play “Damaged Goods” by the actor Richard Bennet. Bennet received Bernays’ help with setting up a Sociological Fund Committee that was able to find finance and public support for the play. Later the play was acclaimed as a critical success and praised for bringing public awareness to venereal disease.[3]
The research by Encyclopedia of World Biography adds that during the years 1913 – 1917 Bernays promoted various theatrical pieces and met famous artists including Enrico Caruso and the actors of the Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe company.[4] According to the Museum of Public Relations, to support Diaghilev, Bernays presented the media with provocative publications asking “Are American men ashamed to be graceful?” and created a pamphlet that advised men on issues of dance.[5]
In 1919 Bernays started his own company under the title “Edward L. Bernays, Counsel on Public Relations”. To support and advertized the career he had invented, Edward Bernays taught the first Public Relations class in 1923 in the University’s School of Business and Finance in New York City.

Clients

Bernays often used public figures of authority for campaigns and publicity, also front organizations and third-party authorities to gain attraction to his clients interests and productions, but mask the direct interest itself. There are many famous examples of this.
Hair nets. When working for Venida in the 1920s, Bernays was successful in changing the beginning trend for shorter hairstyles.[6] He persuaded important women to wear hair nets in public. He also lobbied the government circles and authorities. Eventually legislation was passed, that required women to wear hair nets during work.
Cigarettes. In the 1930s, George Washington Hill of American Tobacco contacted Bernays and worried that he was missing “the other half of his potential market” and he needed Bernays help to ”find a way to change the public’s attitude”.[7] Bernays’ solution to the problem involved changing the color of the pack of the cigarettes to mach ladies’ dresses and associating smoking with sentiments of female emancipation.
During the century Bernays’ clients included the U.S. government, the U.S Army, the U.S Navy, the U.S Commerce and Treasury departments, the U.S Public Health Service, U.S. presidents Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover, Eisenhower as well as Columbia University, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Tobacco Company, Dodge Motors, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, CBS, Venida and others.
Philosophy

One could argue that Bernays viewed his work as a helpful for the general public. In his mayor work “Propaganda” he makes this clear by saying:
“In theory, every citizen makes up his mind on public questions and matters of private conduct. In practice, if all men had to study for themselves the abstruse economic, political, and ethical data involved in every question, they would find it impossible to come to a conclusion about anything.”[8]
In “Propaganda” it is also argued, that publicity makers tried to force consumers into buying, public relations however creates the needs – consumption is what follows . He thought people could and should be led by influencing the opinion leaders: “If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway.”[9]
Bernays was deeply influenced by his experiences in World War I where he worked as a war propagandist for the United States Government. During the war he understood that public relations differed from simple publicity and imagined a style of propaganda that would used war-time tactics in peaceful times. He wanted to understand which were the values that the public held and use this knowledge to convey his produce. “If this could be used for war, it can be used for peace,” he said in a 1991 interview with the New York Times upon turning 100.[10]
For such use of propaganda, the Journalist Christopher Bryson, author of the book “The Fluoride Deception” which describes in details how Bernays and others propagated the use of fluoride in toothpaste, has called Bernays in a 2004 interview “a Machiavellian genius”.[11]
Publications

The Library of Congress that has subscribed to letters and manuscripts produced by or in relation with people of great importance lists 227, 000 items on Bernays. [12] A good indication of the life of work that Bernays led and amount of work behind Bernays’ use of propaganda, the list includes advice, legal documents, family correspondence and general correspondence as well as other papers.
Later years

Bernays remained active to his old age and never lost his interest in is profession, its development and most of all – changing the way the world works. A New York Times article verily accounts that “Around his 100th birthday, he campaigned unsuccessfully to get legislation passed in Massachusetts and other states that would have required the licensing of public-relations practitioners.”[13]
Bernays lived a famously long and successful professional life and personal life. Edward Louis Bernays died on March 9, 1995, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Conclusion

Such historical facts highlight Edward Bernays among public relations practitioners and theorist of the past century. In addition to being one of the forefathers of public relations, he was also a publicist, a writer, a lecturer, and a man of great dignity and morale. The quality Bernays’ understanding of the human being and insight into the human have demonstrated excellence of mind, even when judged by standards of the twenty-first century.

[1] The Economist. The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & the Birth of Public Relations. October 1998.
[2] Tye, Larry. The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & the Birth of Public Relations. 1998. Crown Publishers.
[3] UXL Newsmakers. „Edward L. Bernays”. (2005). FindArticles.com. 23 Sep. 2007. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5221/is_2005/ai_n19134958
[4] Encyclopedia of World Biography. „Edward L. Bernays”. 1998. Gale Research.
[5] Museum of Public Relations. „Edward L. Bernays”. PRMuseum.com. 23 Sep. 2007. http://www.prmuseum.com/bernays/bernays_1915.html
[6] UXL Newsmakers. „Edward L. Bernays”. (2005). FindArticles.com. 23 Sep. 2007. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5221/is_2005/ai_n19134958
[7] Hattal, Alvin M. The father of public relations: Edward L. Bernays. Jan. 1, 1992. Communications World.
[8] Bernays, Edward L. Propaganda. (p. 10-11). 1928. New York.
[9] Bernays, Edward L. Propaganda. (p. 43-44). 1928. New York.
[10] Edward Bernays, ‘Father of Public Relations’ And Leader in Opinion Making, Dies at 103. The New York Times. March 10, 1995.
[11] Google Video. „Edward Bernays”. 24 September 2007. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4127471896206528068
[12] Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. „Edward L. Bernays”. 1996. 24. September 2007. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2003/ms003016.pdf
[13] The New York Times. Edward Bernays, ‘Father of Public Relations’ And Leader in Opinion Making, Dies at 103. March 10, 1995.

For Semester 1 Public Relations Class with Kaja Tampere. The Baltic Film & Media School Of Tallinn University

Veljo Haamer had been far away in another town. It had taken him four hours to get here. In a bus that was old and without heating. And it was the coldest winter he could remember.

He had made his way out of the bus and through the snowstorm to the other side of the town where the hospital lied.

His knees had all but frozen up and presently they were hurting badly in the warm of the room.

He knew fathers were not allowed into hospitals. Doctors feared bacterial contamination in the children’s ward and only let the fathers see their babies trough a small window. Now that Veljo was silently stood behind one of those windows he couldn’t help but to notice that the room was empty. There was no one there and the lights were out.

One floor up – Liivi – his girlfriend, was lying on one of those reform beds tucked deep under white hospital blankets. It was snowing for the third day in a row.

Gusts of wind rocked the windows and it seemed the thermometer was stuck on 30C below zero. The radiators were glowing with heat. All the mothers were crammed into small cabinets, sometimes up to four persons per room because the piping on the first floor had exploded and that whole ward was left without heating.

The baby was overdue and Liivi was given injections in order to accelerate her delivery. For a while it didn’t seem to work but she started to feel something around 22:00 that night. And then everything went into warp speed. Five hours later at 2:55 a boy was born. That was me. At 4kg and 53cm I looked healthy and contented. She decided to call me Kris.

This was how my birth happened. Veljo was a skinny 19 year old; my mother was 23. 

They had hooked up when he was still in high school and I was an accident. So I think it was an extraordinary accident indeed. It changed my life more than anything later has. And it even changed the lives of others.

I like to think for the better.

Release: 1990, Estonia 

Directors:  Renita and Hannes Lintrop

An elderly woman tells the history of Estonia trough her own life experiences. She works in a coal mine. Coal is transported in carts and the dust is put in big piles that eventually become the great mountains of coal dust.

All of this resembles or symbolizes what Estonia does trough the hard work of its people. She has worked on the mine for forty years as have worked all the other people throughout Estonia during their difficult and demanding lives.

Perestroika means that everything is getting more expensive.  And Aleksandra doesn’t like it. Neither does she like the corruption that is eating away at the wealth of her nation. 

Communism is spoken of on one radio channel, ideas of religion and god on another. She does believe in god, and she says that the Satan is always at work. So God can never stop from working either.

In the morning she goes up the stairs, very slowly. In the evening she comes down the stairs, very slowly. She has that singular commitment to that place and that work that makes her and icon on top of that coal mine.

It is already curious that in order to publish her work she has to consult with the newspaper’s lawyer. The layer suggests something remarkable – that as a matter of law the truth of her story is irrelevant. Because an attempt had been made to contact Gallagher for a comment, the paper would be safe form legal action because of what is called an ‘absence of malice’. This legalistic view means that Carter can go ahead with the publication. One of the ethical issues raised is whether legal consideration should have power over what is printed. The other and perhaps more important issue raised is that trough a careful choice of words a journalist can publish a story which is accurate, legally acceptable, but is not necessarily true. This means that the media has the power of creating illusions based on accurate facts. If someone is deemed guilty in the public mind, this cannot be erased.

This is precisely what happens in the film. Information gets distorted and simplified. The difference between being investigated and being guilty disappears in the public mind. For Gallagher this mean that the worker’s union can ask his workers to stop working and his business grinds to a halt. It also has terminal effects for the people close him.

Moreover though, people who understand how the media works are able to use such a system for their own advantage. In the film, because Carter has become close to Gallagher he is able to manipulate the Department of Justice into clearing him as innocent.

Such concerns over how can the truth be best revealed, and what are the hurtles on the way to revealing it, are the basics of a journalists job description. For a journalist to reveal the truth he or she must have the journalistic vision to see through manipulation, but also a keen sense of morality. Whether contemporary journalists subscribe to such ideals is another question.

The main ethical issues raised are twofold. First, there are the questions of watering down news and the rise of infotainment. Second, can and do those on television have the power to influence politics by propagating extremist views, and by appealing to subconscious fears of the society raise monetary profits?

The film starts with assertion that journalists may often feel untruthful when on the screen. This is exactly what has happened to Beale – he has felt like a hypocrite for having to always smile even at catastrophic news. Nevertheless, his mental breakdown and newfound energy as madman make him the perfect host for the new show. The slogan of his show ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ becomes highly influential with viewers around the US. This raises an interesting issue. Because Beale takes a stand, and becomes well known and popular for his extreme political views Beale himself gains political clout that he didn’t have as a simple journalist. Whether such assertive media influence can have negative impacts on the society is a question which needs further research.

At least in this fictional film Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway), a producer at the station starts to emphasize the business side of things more and more, and considers news to be a part of the entertainment category. The show can be aired because the US laws allow for ‘commentary’ in the news. Christensen goes even to the lengths of hiring a left-wing extremist group to produce a series which captures acts of terror. This is raises a red flag for those who think that media is powerful and can assert certain ideas as described in the previous paragraph.

The film goes further though and throws the story into a hyperbole. When Beale’s rating start to decline again, Christensen and other television executives have Beale assassinated. It becomes apparent that all morality and ethics have disappeared from television and the scene becomes a certain prophecy into the future of television.

Such ideas were perhaps in a film released in 1976, but in this century that sort of concerns over television (save the killing) is something we’ve come to expect, although not always accept.

Ja siis hakkas ta sööma. Ta oli kõiges muus läbi kukkunud ja ainuke asi, millest ta jagu sai, oli toit. Ta võttis ette võileivad, sõid nad ükshaaval ära. Peale igat võileiba tundis ta saavutusõhinat. Ta tundis ennast jälle peaaegu hästi ja jätkas võileib võileiva järel. Kui kõik võileivad olid söödud, tundis ta, et on oma elus lõpuks midagi saavutanud. See oli väga hea tunne. Programmeerija otsustas võtta ette ülejäänud toidu, mitte lõpetada enne, kui külmkapp on tühi.

Kohtume Veljoga kohvikus Mademoiselle, sest tema sõnul on seal linna parimad koogid. „Siin või Kehrwiederis – mõlemas on head koogid,” ütleb ta. Maiasmokaks ta ennast ei tunnista, kuid mõlemal kohtumisel asume esmajärjekorras just koogi kallale. Peale juuakse troopilise nimega teed.

Veljo on rõõmsameelne ja entusiastlik, viskab nalja. Kuid ükskõik mis otsast me juttu ei alustaks, keerdub vestlus lõpuks alati Internetiteemadele. Tuntavalt on see tema jaoks kõige tähtsam teema. Veljo ütleb, et Internet on XXI sajandi elekter. “See mõjutab kogu ühiskonna arengut tervikuna: tootmist, tarbimist, hariduselu ja elanikkonna paiknemist. Kinnisvara väärtust tõstab Internetiühenduse olemasolu linnas, nüüd aga juba eriti maal.”

Isiklikust kogemusest tean, et linnas saan tasuta netti kohvikutes, koolides, parkides, haiglates, tanklates ja pea igalpool mujalgi, kuid Veljol on mulle üllatusi: „Sellest aastast on meil traadita Internet Tallinn-Tartu bussiliinil. Märtsis stardis ka Euroopa esimene rahvusvaheline wifi buss Tallinna ja Riia vahel. Ühendusse on pandud Tartu rong ja kogu elektriraudtee süsteem, samuti saab netti Tallinki laevades ja varsti ka Saaremaa praamides.”

Mulle saab selgeks, et Internet on varsti tõesti pea igalpool. Veljo sõnul aga ei ole küsimus enam selles, et Internet oleks olemas – probleem tekib siis, kui teda ei ole, pole tähtis kas maal või linnas. “Kasutaja jaoks on Internet saamas sama iseenesestmõistetavaks kui elekter.”

“Lõppkasutaja jaoks ei ole oluline, kas ta saab ühenduse läbi WiFi, WiMax, UMPTS, 3G, UMTS-TDD, GPRS, HSDPA, EDGE (erinevad tehnoloogiad) või muu keerulise nimega ühenduse. Kasutaja jaoks on tähtis, et tal oleks ühendus. Tehnoloogiast jääb sõltuma see, kas ühendus on kiire või natukene aeglasem.”

Eesti edusammudest on viimaste aastate jooksul teinud dokumetaalfilme võttegrupid Prantsusmaalt, Ameerika Ühendriikidest, Lõuna-Koreast ja Saudi Araabiast. „Tavaliselt nad võtavad minuga üle emaili, viimasel ajal ka üle Skype ühendust… ja kuna Eestis on Internetil nii tähtis koht, siis tahetakse alati teha lõik ka traadita Interneti kohta.”

BBC NEWS, CNET ja teised uudistekanalid nimetavad Veljot evangelistiks. Tehnoloogiaringkondades on Veljost saanud omamoodi Eesti Interneti maskott. Tema esinemised konverentsidel on toonud mujal rohkem kuulsust, kui Eestis: märtsi e-valimiste kohta käisid ajakirjanikud tema käest uurimas nii Londonist, Berliinist, Moskvast kui ka San Franciscost, kuigi tal e-valimiste elluviimisega otsest seost ei olnud.

Traadita Internet sai Veljo põhiliseks huviks alates sellest, kui ta viie aasta eest New Yorkis käis. „Aastal 2002 avati Bryant Parkis otse südalinna keskel, rahvusraamatukogu taga esimene traadita Internetiga park,” jutustab ta. Oma sõnul oli tal õnne olla just õigel ajal õiges kohas. “Ma nägin kohe, et sellest tehnoloogiast saab tulevikus midagi äärmiselt olulist.”

Jutuajamise jooksul heliseb telefon mitu korda. Veljo vabandab ja võtab vastu. Keegi Lääne-Virumaalt küsib, kuidas ta endale turismitallu Interneti saaks. Veljo lubab leida vajaliku kontakti ja tagasi helistada. „Meil on üle Eesti igas maakonnas oma eksperdid ja kontaktisikud, kes saavad kohapeal inimesi aidata ja nõu anda. Levialade hulk on nii kiiresti kasvanud, et mul ei ole enam võimalik ise igalpool kohal käia,” selgitab ta. Siiani on Veljo ise külastanud kõiki Eesti avalikke levialasid. Paljusid mitu korda.

Veljo sõidab mööda Eestit ringi vanaaegses maasturis, mida ta nimetab hellitlevalt „traktoriks”. Kui muus on ta selgelt edumeelne ja arengut otsiv, siis muusikamaitse kohapealt ütleb ta, et peale 80. enam head muusikat tehtud ei olegi. “Mulle meeldivad AC/DC, Electric Light Orchestra, U2 vanemad lood.” Suurimaks lemmikuks on aga Depeche Mode, mille järgi tuttavad teda üle Eesti tunnevad. Seda muidugi alles peale tema kuulsust, kui härra Internet.

Niipea kui esimene kõne jõuab lõppeda, tahab teine helistaja teada, kas Veljo saaks teda aidata ühendusega Läti piiri ääres. „Mammi käib Lätis poes ja vaatab läti telekanaleid, aga Internetti neil seal ei ole,” naerab Veljo. „Kõige toredamad ongi taolised kohtumised, ma üritan alati nende inimeste isiklikult kokku saada. Me ei küsi nende käest kunagi tasu, kuid alati tahavad inimesed kuidagi tänada.” Aastate jooksul on Veljo saanud vanaemade käest moosipurke ja retseptikogumeid. Vanaisad patsutavad õlale ja turisimitalud pakuvad tasuta öömaja.

Veljoga hüvasti jättes jääb mind kummitama üks tema prohvetlik lause: „Inimesed ei mõtle veel sellele, kuid varsti see kõik ongi traadita.”

– Kris Haamer, Tallinn

Suurriikide käsutuses olev majandus ubab ette võtta kulukaid projekte nagu Shanghai magnetitel riikuv rong, mis läbib 30km koos peatustega 7 minuti jooksul või Euroopa ITER’i hiinlasest väikevent EAST. Hiinat ühendab Kamodža, Birma ja Butaaniga põhiliselt põllumajandusega tegelev maarahvas. Butaani majandusest on üle 80% seotud agraarprotsessidega, riik on autonoomne ja ei tegele väliskaubandusega. Turismiamet lubab sissepääsu vaid piiratud hulgale valitud turistidele ja televisiooniülekanded on lubatud vaadata alates 80. aastatest. Nii Butaanis kui Jaapanis jõuti standardiseeritud tähestiku ja keeleni 20. sajandil.

Khyentse Norby film „Travellers and Magicians” jutustab loo mehest, kes soovib jõuda Ameerikasse. Kuna riigis liigutakse põhiliselt jalgsi – autosid ja busse liigub harva – hakkab ta astuma. Tema huvi on rap-muusika (sõber saadab talle USAst kassette) ja ta kannab Nike jalatseid, mis vaatamata oma päritolule Hiinast, on USA sümbol samaväärselt Coca-Cola ja McDonaldsi’ga.

Seega: mõnikord on meil kõrgelennulised unistused, kuid kas me ka teame, millest me unistame? PÖFFil linastunud film „Mongoolia ping-pong” räägib kahest poisist, kes asuvad pikale teekonnale tuhandete kilomeetrite taha pealinna, et teada saada, mis veidra uppumatu valge palli nad jõest välja on õngitsenud.

Mitmete tibetoloogide naljaga pooleks välja öeldud seisukoht on, et Maailma Katuse suurimaks ekspordiks odava tööjõu, stiilse riietuse ja otseselt agraarmajanduslike produkti kõrval on religoon –
budism.

Noorte Põhja-Ameeriklaste seas on budism üks populaarsemaid religioone. Seda kinnitab lisaks statistikale budistliku kirjanduse segunemine lääne ilukirjandusega. Parimaks näiteks on Gore Vidal’i „Kalki”. Isegi maailmakuulsa H. Hesse „Stepihunt” (kirjutatud juba eelmise sajandi esimesel poolel) kombineerib lääne filosoofiat mitmete budistlike ideedega. Hesse küll ei veetnud noorust Indias omal valikul, ta tegi tööd – kuid mitmed lääne noored on läinud idamaale, et leida valgustust ja moodusta mõttekaaslastega vastavaid kommuune.

Kui avame mõisteid ja mõtleme kastist väljaspool, siis jätame kõrvale traditsioonilised Ida ja Lääne terminid, mis on kokkuleppelised. Võime ju öelda, et igast punkist on midagi Ida ja midagi Lääne poole.

Timothy King, Stanford’i ülikooli antropoloogiaprofessor ja TLÜ õppejõud, leiab et hispaanlased ja mesoameeriklased, maiadega kokkupuudel võtsid indiaanlased kristlikud jumalad vastu ja lisasid need oma panteonile. Nende religioon ole avatud ja nad ei näinud probleemi ka teiste jumalate eest palvetamises.

Samalaadne protsess leidis aset ka Lõuna-Ameerikas Quechua ja Aymara kultuurides Peruus, Boliivias ja Argentinas.

Kultuuriline segunemine toimub seal, kus on avatud mõtteviisiga inimesi. Toimub protsess, mis on toiminud alati – tekivad uued kultuurid, mis baseeruvad mingis osas eelnenule, kuid toovad sisse ka uuendusi. Ainult meeleheitlikult kinni hoides oma ajastust, võiksime öelda, et see on halb.

For an Estonian literature class with Neeme Põder. Tallinn Old Town College.

Ajalooliselt on vastuoludes peale jäänud tugevama õigus. Platoni teoses “Vabariik” ütleb ühes sokraatilises dialoogis Tracymachus, et õigus on tugevama huvi. Sokrates, ke son sõnade seadmises osavam, parandab teda, näidates, kuidas õigus tähendab lihtsalt seda, et igaüks tegeleb oma ametiga ega puutu liigselt teiste asjadesse. Irooniline on, et Sokratese ebatõenäoline väide jääb peale. Nii nagu filosoofi õigus sõltub tema võimest oma ideid kaitsta, sõltub kultuuri jätkusuutlikkus tema võimest oma väärtusi levitada. Seega, kultuuri tugevus annab tema liikmetele soodsama võimaluse maitsta kultuuri vilju.

Probleemid tekivad väärtussüsteemide kokkupõrkel. Eminente saksa politoloog Stefan Wolff defineerib konflikti kui “kahe või rohkema poole arvamuste vastuolu, kus iga pool peab oma seisukohti õigeteks, õiglasteks või kasulikeks”. See tähendab, et igal poolel on tugevad põhimõtted või lihtsustades gauchomarxilikult – keegi ei ütle: “Need on minu põhimõtted. Kui need teile ei meeldi, siis mul on teised.” Tugevad seisukohad ja doktriinid on omased religioossetele õpetustele. Need ei ole iseloomulikud teaduslikule maailmavaatele, mis üritab kõike mõõta.

“Mõjutada saab vaid seda, mida on võimalik mõõta,” ütles ka linnapea Michael Bloomberg New York City elanikele, kui ta pärast 11. septembri sündmusi ametisse vannutati. Bloombergi juhitavas süsteemis elab rahvuseid kokku rohkem, kui on ÜRO liikmesriike. Linna haridussüsteem pakub õppevõimalusi 202 keeles lisaks inglise keelele. Õppevõimalused on ka moslemitel, kelle usk ja traditsioonid on tihti leidnud demoniseerimist ja vastandamist läänelikule elukorraldusele. Näiliselt on erinevate kultuuride kooselu võimalik.

Ettevaatlik uurimistöö ja arutelu võimaldavad leida kultuurides sarnasusi. Tealikkus kõigi huvigruppide soovidest ja vajadustest koos professionaalsusega planeerival ja täidesaatval tasandil võimaldavad luua ühiskondi, kus kultuuridevahelised konfliktid ei lõppe vägivaldselt. “Teiste õiguste arvestamine, nii riiklikul kui ka ühiskondlikul tasandil, on rahu eelduseks, ” on öelnud kunagine Mehhiko president Benito Juarez. Vanad eestlased ütlesid lihtsamalt: “õige hõlma ei hakka keegi. ” Kahjuks ei saa ma nõustuda – õige hõlma hakkab vaid õige.

Je suis né en 1987 à Viljandi, au sud de l’Estonie, juste à côté du lac Viljandi, comme un Capricorne. J’étais la vingt quatre millième personne à arriver dans cette ville et pour ça m’ont donné un cadeau surpris.

Je suis né dans la famille de pauvres étudiantes. Ils ont vécu à Tartu, une ville universitaire. Ils avaient un petit appartement offert par le gouvernement.

Quand j’avait 4 ans il y a eu un coup d’Etat et Estonie est devenue indépendante. Mes parents essaient crédules, mais ne pas aussi naïves comme tout le monde – ils ne croyaient pas les mots de nouveau gouvernement.

Ainsi, ils ont enfuie avec trois Africains dans une petite ville et ils m’ont mis dans un basket. Dans sa ville ils m’ont débaptisé comme « lippu va-nu-pieds » et ce nom est resté avec moi pour toute la vie.

Les Africains ont reconnu que j’avais une musicalité rarement présente chez les hommes incolores ordinaires et me ont prépare avec un pair d’éléphantes.

Ensuite cela, j’ai étudié dans une variété d’écoles mais je n’ai pas beaucoup compris.

La vie a changé depuis l’an 1991, c’est pourquoi j’ai échappé avec très chenapans de Zimbabwe et nous avons acheté une résidence dans le cœur de la Russie.

En 1997 j’ai fait le meilleur Koulak de Russie.

En 2018 j’ai rencontré l’amour de ma vie, ma petite amie Adèle. Ses parents étaient morts et elle était mélancolique. Son père a reçu la peine de mort pour avoir assassiné une mosquito et sa mère pour l’aider.

Après avoie habiter 59 ans dans la même maison j’ai rencontré mon voisin. Il a était fou, et il est entré et m’a tué avec un couteau bleu.

Quand Adèle avait 89 elle est mariée avec mon voisin.

Ta särab üle teiste peade, pritsib küünlaid ja kuuske sädemetega ning on üleüldse tuleohtlik. Säraküünal ei kõnge valulikus jõulumeeleolul oodates flegmaatilise jõulujazzi saatel, kuidas sulava vaha aeglased tilgad järgmööda eestlase mustale muldpõrandale langevad. Säraküünal ei jõua varjuda pimedusse, vaid lõpetab oma sädeleva elu valkjas tähesajus ja pauguga ning süütab põlema kuuse.

Nii ka õnnelik inimene. Õnnelik inime kuulutab uut aastat ja peagi järgnevat lumede sulamist. Talle ei lähe palju korda, mis tuleb välja lume alt; kõik see: pori mustus, eelmise aasta mädanenud kartulid ja kadunud lumememmede hallitavad ninad, kõik see on ilus, nagu on ilusad kõik vikerkaarevärvid. Häbist ja hirmudest varjatu, seda valgustab õnneli inimene. „Tumedaid toome ei pea varajama, neid ei pea häbenemam Nad on osa meie maailmast.” On tema hümn.

Hallikad toonid, need on ärakasutatud värvid, luihtunud kunstiteosed, pettunud molbertid. Nad tõmbuvad kinni maailmatelje katuseaknad, nende peale pasitavad veel vaid katkiste tugitoolide hägusad varjud. Nad ei ole aga kadunud maailmast, nad ei ole lume all. Hallikad toonid võivad veel särada; vajavad vaid veidi usku ja armastust, soojust – pritsmeid säraküünaldelt, lootust.

Hallikad toonid, õnnetud inimesed on tumedate toonide heidetud varjude vanglas. Trellid ei ole tõelised, puuri ei ole olemas, need on vaid inimeste hirmud, murede varjud, mille all inimene hallitab. Sellest vanglast saab välja murda, varjud saab minema pühkida. Kui inimene vaid tõuseb kõrgemale oma häbidest, unustab oma hirmud ja laseb välja selle soojuse, mis olemas tema südames…

Trellid haituvad, maailm muutub värvilisemkas, tumedad toonid muutuvad heledamaks. Päevad ei voola enam mööda elu alla nagu küünlavaha. Päevad särisevad, pilluvad sädemeid. Elu on ilus.

Inimene, kes elab häbita ja ausalt, täie hinge ja südamega, sellele ei lange ükski vari, ta põleb elust enesest ja valgustab teisi.

For an Estonian literature class with Neeme Põder. Tallinn Old Town College.

Two hundred years ago Europeans enslaved many thousands in pursuit of profit. Today history gives us licence to go trough with any sort of atrocities because in the past worse has already been done. Why should people be granted freedom?

Although many people would have their own interests before those of the other, for most people, freedom of is still a ‘good’ thing. Non-democratic states, some religions, criminals and others are looked down upon. The 8 million children who remain enslaved around the world have media attention (the children are submitted to violence and are not allowed to leave the workplace, often deprived of a meal, or fed only enough to keep alive; they also have no time to play as children). Many people want to grant freedom to those 6-8 year olds without thinking about the economic effect.

‘Children are the part of demographics most susceptible to psychological and physical terror,’ they say, and they are right – the building of freedom begins with children. If a child understands he has freedom, he will as and adult have more experience of exploit of his environment and therefore be more productive. Often the inferiority complex caused by systematic debasement and belittlement of the human nature as a slave can be enough to keep the slave in harness, but he will not exploit and produce as much as he would in freedom.

Freedom works best in societies where individuals feel responsible for their actions. Accountability and respect for fellow citizens are important in a civilized and safe community. Safe communities cannot be created where the lack of education, unemployment and poverty threaten the rights of the people.

Accountability restricts the freedom of a person; nonetheless, it is in the best interest of the majority to have a degree of trust in the society. Although a person may wish to commit murder, theft, fraud, the majority regard such engagements as undesirable. The freedom of the minority is restricted in order to grant superior freedom to the majority. The effecter(s) are held accountable: subjects whose intentions infringe on the law and rights of others are brought before the court of justice; their actions are weighed and a decision is reached in accordance with the law.

The state becomes the arbiter for disharmonies that arise in any larger society. Modern man is incapable of existing without depending on the state to protect his rights. The state constitutes a framework in which enough freedom is approved of and too much freedom is cut short.

Freedom can be viewed as the opposite of poverty. For example: the lack of time (due to work or other responsibilities) might prevent a girl from meeting her boyfriend as often as she would like – her freedom is restricted. In another words, she is in time poverty. In Hitler’s Germany freedom, was the liberty of committing suicide when the burdens of life became too grave. Ultimately freedom is the liberty of being, which when restricted, means death.

Root causes of poverty such as lack of education and lack of employment need to be addressed to build freedom. Research shows that less poverty leads to lover crime rates and overall increase in life quality for people. Crime is primarily the outcome of social, economic, cultural and familiar conditions – that is to say the environment – which can be developed in sustainable ways. Good environmental design is the key element in providing safe neighbourhoods where active, successful and affluent citizens are created.

In the state level one encounters the poverty of good governance. Poverty is the debasement of the human dignity. Freedom is the opposite.

People should be granted freedom because it is the most cost effective way of developing the society. The members of a free society are more exploitative and productive than their counterparts in other types of societies. As each new trend is a counter production of its mother, an exploitative society can be the only one to give birth to the idea of cooperation.

Kris Haamer. 12K

Plato terms the one left out of the cave a philosopher. The people of the cave could call him a pervert but for us it will be more convenient to examine him as a lover of knowledge. The notion of his emerging or enlightenment is a progress of expanding the boundaries of his mind. He is gradually being geared towards better understanding of the world inside and around the people. He is also someone who greatly values learning and has had moderate success at attaining it. Moreover, he is someone who wishes that others would take on the same journey that he has chosen.

Should these values be enough for him to be the best ruler to a state? No.

One might ask, if the philosopher is on a journey towards enlightenment and encourages others to take the same path – seemingly these are great qualities –, why then will he fail to provide for the needs of the most, why will he not be the best ruler of the state?

The answer is that being a philosopher is not enough. There are other qualities a leader needs foremost. A philosopher is not the best candidate for a leader because:

Throughout history men have proven that it is very difficult for them to know something as they are constantly being proved wrong. It has been impossible for them to become masters of knowledge since the world keeps changing, certain knowledge thought to be universal only applies in certain specific cases, and overall it is very hard to makes sense of anything. Considering everything there is to know, it is not surprising that the men sometimes go nihilistic when they understand the sheer quantity of what there is to understand. Claiming wisdom has become the mark of fools and devout believers.

And of great leaders. Because true enlightenment is impossible, the leader should not be a philosopher. He must despise knowledge as the stench of rotten tomatoes. He must forget everything he is told and taught. For if he knows something, he will be distracted by questions and curiosities. He will be weak in so far as he accepts that he doesn’t understand everything. He must think he understands everything and be clear in his words so that the people could follow him.

States like that however tend to become evil.

Today exists a body of knowledge which is far greater than that available when Plato loved to reflect on stately issues, we understand quite a lot more about the human condition. People in their youth ask many questions; not dissimilar to those of Plato, and everyone is a philosopher of a sort. The pursuit of wisdom and development exist in most every human being and in many nations; it seems to be one of the few givens of existence.

If everybody is a philosopher and the ruler should not be a philosopher, it follows that everybody shouldn’t be a ruler. This is impossible in a democracy.

In a modern democracy everybody is a leader, because everybody is a philosopher, nothing is ever clear. There is nit-picking about everything and no one has to the authority to say the godly truth.

Still, people believe they have caves from which to emerge, and recently it seems there will never be a shortage of caves from which to emerge. Some people call this science. It is the first step after considering one’s ignorance to actually doing something systematic about it but I don’t have great hopes for it either because it isn’t dogmatic enough.

With the advent of the Internet the information provided by science can for the first time be shared on a grand scale at the speed on light, and enlightened democracies can be created.

Yet there are many people who seemingly are not interested in that mainstream path of a westernized democracy. The notion that these people are fools is also misleading. It might be the conditions on which this rule is provided that makes it unattractive for certain individuals, and it should be said the role of a ruler of a public society may well be unsuitable even for the brightest of individuals and has little to do with intelligence, if he is accustomed to another manner.

It may well be that the better aspects of such a ruler are only expressed under certain circumstances. Consequently he may develop alternative methods. When a ruler is incapable of excelling in the mainstream system, he should not automatically be labelled an under-achiever because he takes the alternative of ruling solo in North Korea where he can claim enlightenment by application of force, and needs little true quality as a leader.

Rule over people can be achieved using methods most suitable for the specific needs of the subjects. Different modes were important for testing purposes but often conditioned the human spirit against a rule set to extents that can be called crimes against humanity. Thanks to these appalling events, social scientists can now use certain comparative models of state rule and come up with models that are scalable and should be applicable to specific tasks and working conditions in most countries. The diversity of possible modes of government was historically extensive but is fast becoming more uniform.

In this rapid development it is the sense of wonder and pursuit of discoveries that are the intrinsic values of our species, and should be conserved. These senses can be undermined by strict cultivation of ideas under a sole strict philosopher as in the aforementioned North Korea, or alternatively these ideas might developed by many rulers, the good democratic Americans.

The task of the ruler is to develop those ideas; and the ruler becomes a conservative.

Being a philosopher king does not mean that one should desert all other interests. It is rather a certain quality of thought that describes the philosopher, and applies to all fields of human experience.

The most important thing for any ruler to remember is that he must not become a destroyer and he must not become an outsider among his people. The ruler must keep in mind who are the people of this world.

Where do we come from? Are we the native ones of the world, such as all life? Is it then our responsibility to care for all life?

So it seems futile to argue that the rule of only one method of ruling is sufficient.

Kris Haamer

VHK, 12K

December 2006

Shivani, in the country we do blow life.

We’d been Ridgewood kids, no face nor eyes, made it play on ambient,

changed its shadows, kept them seeing trough framed maize, graceless,

noone ever saw its pain.

And then one day you’d hope’d we’d died, a pilot of a fucked up life

you’d called me, a pilot of no good, crashing down like a little sucker,

mind you, a little fast for a prime.

Devillocks did death my eyes though then, I’d almost taken you as well,

you’d been lifeless as it were, I never saw it, stupid as I’d dare’d.

Nevemind, we blew it now. Weren’t happy? We shot it, boom!

We’re here and free. It’s like a master scheme.

And goodness how well you ease it… rolling hills’ all I see and feel, it’s coming,

milk me lass… sip it, drip it without casts… there’s no no today.

Oh my god.

I’ll see you spawling and starless shine is what you’ll see, you’ll know it’s mine,

needy and on grass… Shivani, love me, blast me, I don’t care.

I know I’ll never make it last but today…

It’s the day you don’t remember the day you had it too fast.

Many conflicts are receiving great media attention, especially the War on Terrorism following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York. The occupation of Afghanistan, and most controversially, Iraq, continue to be broadcasted on BBC World, CNN and other networks almost every minute of the day. Contrarily, other conflicts, such as those in Nagaland and Baluchistan receive only cursory coverage, if at all, and rely on the Internet to broadcast their suffering.

The War on Terrorism has seen many controversies over the seeming abolition of civil liberties of the ‘terrorists’ in the countries of the ‘Axis of Evil’, accusations of torture, continued terrorist attacks and ongoing instability, violence, and military occupation. Considerable concern remains about nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea, and the availability of weapons of mass destruction to Islamic and non-Islamic extremist groups.

Evidence suggests that poverty in undeveloped countries is largely responsible for many of those sufferings. Poverty, in its turn, is accelerated by the increase of world population. The United Nations estimates that world population will reach 9.1 billion by mid-century. Such growth raises questions of ecological sustainability and is the prolificator of many economic and political disruptions mentioned earlier in the text. Apart from the struggle between peoples, considerable debate exists over what the ultimate carrying capacity of the actually planet may be.

Policies which either force or encourage citizens to have fewer children are being adopted. These attempt to at least contain, if not reduce, the amount of children being born. In countries like India and China, this has not seen too much success.

Trough advances in telecommunications and transportation, huge economic and cultural shifts are taking place. The expansion of capitalism and democracy, and free trade agreements have resulted in unprecedented global economic and cultural integration, which some call a culture of intellectual poverty for the seeming loss of diversity.

Trends such as increased pollution, deforestation and biodiversity are greatly linked to the development of this modern world. In the recent 100 years, the world has consumed more than in all of its previous history, and consumption is on the increase, especially in less developed nations. Resources that could be depleted soon include oil and natural gas.

The world needs a shift towards greener capitalism. There is little promises of bringing more unity to this often divided world, if steps are not taken in animal and environment protection, reusability of consumables, and most importantly: the education and development of a more open and aware citizen of the world. The entities responsible for these changes are the governance, the industry, and the people themselves.

Without an urgent change in our direction, there is little hope for the human kind.

What is it about?

In winter 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan. He visited places that few outsiders have ever seen, during a time when it was difficult even for Afghans to travel freely. Then he wrote a book about it.

My expectations of the book

Before walking through Afghanistan, Stewart had walked through Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal. As this was only an excerpt of a journey he had long taken on I was curious to see why he took on this journey, why did he walk. I was expecting some insight into the mind of a man who has traveled.

My impressions

Afghans call their home the country that fell off the map because of the impossible hardship of traveling in a place virtually without roads. They say that of the few there are, the roads in Central Afghanistan are possibly the worst, but also lead to breathtakingly beautiful places, the homes of the Hazaras and Aimaqs tribes.

Stewart could not have chosen a more difficult journey (hazardous mountain terrain in the middle of winter, just months after the fall of the Taliban regime and in the aftermath of American-led bombing). Each village he comes to bears the scars of conflict. Tensions simmer, Kalashnikovs are brandished. Leaving Herat, an Afghan man asks him, “Do you want to die?”

Afghani politics and the coalition invasion lie in the background to his walk and sometimes affect the story. For the most part, however, this is a story of a fragmented society in a very poor, war-devastated country. However, each village differs from its neighbors, and these differences make up a fascinating part of the book.

Style

To the natural question – why did he want to walk across Afghanistan? – Stewart’s best answer is that he had walked across most of Asia but had been unable to complete the Afghanistan link as originally planned. There are no better answers, and Stewart doesn’t pretend to provide them. The second question – why do this in winter? – is presented as a matter of convenience, since that’s when he happened to be in Herat.

As these illustrations might suggest, Stewart’s writing is admirably sparse. By seeming to report just facts, he constructs a wonderful narrative in which many things are unsaid (but implied). He is simple and direct.

5 reasons to read this book

• This book tells a story of things that very few Europeans will ever see or less read about
• There are no cheap stereotypes
• It contradicts what we see on television
• It’s grass root level
• It’s honest and profound

See on naine on lits, kas pole nii? Mis loeb talle mehelikkus? Kui Jose Arcadio Buendia oma nõo Ursula Iguarai kosis, ei mõelnud ta oma aule teiste silmis, et ta muud naist ei suutnud leida, kui oma lihase sugulase, ei valmistanud talle muret. Tema oli naise poolt ära nõiutud, ära võlutud, ja ütlemine, et mees ise järgitulijate seasabadest ei hoolinud – meelepete.

Mehelikkus peab olema kassikangas, nii õrn ja manipuleeritav, lausa sulatatav on ta. Naine, saamahimuline, kujutab meest mõrvarina ja teeb endast tapalooma. Mees veristab ja kisub päid otsast, aga tema kaunishing kõhtetub, tema tarmukas meel härdub teadmiste mäletsuse järele, mida surnud vana mustlase toas nähti… sest naine on lits ja auta. Võib üles lugeda tuhandeid ja miljoneid! Kuid kas on vaja? Pilar Ternera, Rebeca. Aitab! Need nimed rüvetavad suud!

Mees on nagu mees olema peab oma mehelikkuses, pole antud talle ennast salata ja oma mõtteid varjata. Kas hälbib ta ütlemast: „Sa ole kole nagu põrsas pärast püha õhtusöömaaega” Tee vähemalt oma juustega midagi!”? Ei, mitte kunagi ei seisa lukus tema aus süda. Mehelik tung temas taha elu edasi viia, armastust ja ülistust jagada. Teverd farmitäied sigu kasvatatakse. Tuuakse laev mööda põllukraavi ja raudtee! Miski ei peata meest. Banaanikasvatus ja lõbumaja. Millestki ei jäta hoolimata mehe suuremeelne süda – ka lõbumaja naistest hoolib ta nagu omaenda õest! Ja käib neid samasuguse tähendusega vaatamas, kui oma noort õde.

Naise on litsid, mehed on mõrvarid aga ausad. Naine ei armasta kedagi ja tulevik viib paratamatult mõistusliku elu õitsenguni, kui just midagi muud ette ei tule.

What is the user experience of education? The student sits in the classroom. The student listens to a podcast on his device while jogging or riding a bicycle. In order to engage the students the learning experience must be interesting and consistent. Every lecture should be so interesting that it would be a pity if it weren’t recorded. So it should be recorded.

Students get paid for dreaming.

School papers should be submitted as blog posts instead of papers because this is the prominent communication method of the contemporary time.

Mann tõstab üksiklase mõnikord lausa jumala staatusse, kes mängib rahvamassidega, nii kuidas ise soovib. Ja rahvas on nii mõistmatu, et märka jumala ebaperfektsust, ei pane tähelegi vigu ja nõrkusi, mida jumaldatud üksiklane märkab igal sammul.

Hieronymus ei ole rahul elukorraldusega ja neab kombelõtvust, mis üha tavalisemaks saab saksa väikelinnas, kus noored mehed iharalt kunstikaupluse ees üht teatud maali silmitsevad. Manni tegelane paneb pahaks maailma näilisust, mis tundub eriti avalduvat selles uues kunstis, mis väärusuliselt traditsiooni ja sündsust põlgab. Hieronymus jääb üksi oma usus, kuid näiliselt võidutseb, vähemalt oma peas näeb ta ketserite hävingut.

Vastuoksa Hieronymuse tegelaskujule, armastab Hr. Friedemann elu. Ta armastab armastust ennast ja viletsust, ebaõnne ja õnnetust, samamoodi, nagu kõike muud, temas on budistlik meelerahu, mida ei riku miski. Siiski sooritab ta enesetapu.

Mann ütleb, et kirjanik on inimene, kelle jaoks kirjutamine on raskem, kui teiste inimeste jaoks. Samamoodi on tema üksiklane inimene, kes märkab rohkem, elab detailsemalt, kui tavapärane inimene. Tema tundmused, mida ta harva suudab sõnadesse valada, on sügavamad, kui inimesel, kes joviaalselt ennast väljendab. Hr. Friedemann kipub rohkem armastust leidma kurbuse vastu, sest see on sügavam, kui triviaalne „ah, kui kena, kui kaunis ja imetabane!”.

Kui tänapäeva inimesele jõuavad kirjutamise ajal pidevalt postkasti e-kirjad sõnumitega „I want to f*ck you”, ja ta neile oma küllastunud maailmas vähe tähtsust omandab, siis Manni Friedemann on nii vastuvõtlik, et hukkub, kui mõistab, et Gerda von Rinnlingeni sõnad on vaid pettus mõeldud tema eksituseks, tema üle naermiseks.

„Tonio Kröger” jätkab Friedemannis pooleli jäänud teemat ja seab kunstifilosoofia taustal fookuse (ühepoolsetele) kiindumistele, mis meid kogu eluks saatma jäävad. Kröger ütleb, et kunstnik on juba varasest noorusest peale ära märgitud, ta vaatab elu kõrvalt ja kirjeldab seda, kasvõi väsimuseni, aga ta ei oska sellest ise osa võtta.

„Kevad on kõige hirmsam aastaaeg,” ütleb Mann. Kevad on see eluind, soov kogeda, nautida elamusi ja elu väikeseid flirte, mille kunstnik peab lahti ütlema. Manni kunstnik ei ole Oscar Wilde, kes kõnnib uhkeldavalt tänaval, ta on kui kummituslik vari, mis omandab piirjooned vaid kokkupuutel paberiga. Kröger ei arene lineaarselt täiuse poole, vaid muutub ainult tavalisemaks, mõtleb maailma enda jaoks arusaadavamaks ja lepib sellega.

Kaugel põhjamaal on nad loonud süsteemi, mis on nii ebaefektiivne, et inimesed töötavad hommikust õhtuni ilma sellest rõõmu tundmata. Nad ei võta aega oma lähedaste jaoks, neil ei olegi neid. Ja eluasemetki ei ole neil endal, nad võtavad selle suurelt kuningalt ja orjavad talle tasumiseks terveid põlvkondi. Oma eluaset kaitsevad nad nii kiivsalt, et ei sina, mina, ega naaber ei tohi sinna suvalisel ajal sisse asutada, vaid peab ikka ukse taga kelladega kolistama või lausa kaugelt ette teatama.

Õpiobjektide põhiküsimus on: kas õpiobjektid on efektiivsem õppevahen, kui traditsionaalsed lineaarsed meetodid, nagu raamat? Kas ta on vajalik lisaabina?

Ma mäletan, et 12 aastaselt dominikaani vabariigis ma armusin banaanimüüja tütresse. Mõtlesin, et jätan vanemad maha ja lähen ja abiellun selle tüdrukuga.

Oleks tore, kui igaüks kirjutaks omaenda raamatut. Mitte sisutühja blogi, vaid raamtut, kuhu panna enda jaoks olulisemad mõtted. Ja siis inimesed loeksid üksteisele neid raamatuid selle asemel, et niisama möliseda.

Ma olen väsinud inimeste igapäevasest tühjast lobast ja iniestest, kes kõige üle virisevad, kõige probleemi näevad. Sama, ma ei oskaks öelda, mis on see tähtis, millest siis inimesed rääkima peaksid.

Väärtkirjandus on samuti vaid intelligente meelelahutuse viis.

Igaühel on võimalus hommikuti jooksma minna, kuid see ei tähenda, et paljud seda teeksid. Ma arvan, siin on õige koht tuua sisse mõiste õpimugavus. Ma isiklikult olen väga laisk ja mugav inimene.

For an Estonian literature class with Neeme Põder. Tallinn Old Town College.

„Kallis härra, ma arvan, et mõtlemine on üks funktsioon, mida teie aju üldse ei mõista! Kas te kuulsite, mis ma teile ütlesin? See oli tunne, et ükskõik, mis edasi ei juhtuks, ma võiks nüüdsama maha surra, sest ma olen elanud, ma olen armastanud. Pisarad silmis jooksin ma edasi ja jooksin ja jooksin, sest ei olnud midagi, mis oleks mind enam peatanud… Ja siis sa nutad ja ei suuda jätta nutmist. Pisarad purskavad sügavalt sinu seest ja kisuvad su lõhki. Ootad, et üks päev ta tuleks läbi selle ukse aga see päev ei saabu kunagi. Öösel näed teda unes, et hommikul mõista, et ta ei tule enam kunagi. Härra, mõelge. Mõelge, kui teie aju selleks võimeline on! Kas te suudate seda mõista?” ütles ta sõnu ükshaaval välja hääldades. „Ja siis on teil jultumust tulla mulle õnnest rääkima. Ptüi. Ma sülitan teie peale,” vihastus lühike.

Nüüd tundis ka poiss kuidas tal maos keerama hakkas. See oli uskumatu ebaõiglus. Ta läks posti alla ja hakkas mõlema peale karjuma.

„Kõik, mis me teeme,  on inimese pilgu läbi aga see pole ka tähtis, kuna me teeme seda inimesele. Õnn on kurb. Inimesed teevad su õnnelikuks ja inimesed teevad su jälle kurvaks tagasi. Mitte kunagi vastupidi. Olen see, kes olen. Üksinda maailma vastu, kuni surmani!  Hoolimata oma elust, pannes mängu kõik, sest osavalt me ignoreerime tähtsaid küsimusi. Kui ma väiksena lambaid ette kujutada üritasin, siis ei teinud loomad kunagi seda, mis ma tahtsin. Kui üritasin panna lambaid üle aia hüppama, et magama jääda, siis nad kunagi ei hüpanud,” kriiskas poiss, pani mütsi pähe, heitis meestele kurja pilgu ja sammus uhkelt edasi.

Nagu mõni väike paks filmikriitik aafrika dokumentaalfilmi järel näljahädast plaksutas lühem nüüd käsi kokku ja lausus: „Hämmastav, sõnul seletamatult, tõepoolest võimas. Lambad on nad, jaa jaa. Nooruses olin minagi kirglik, just niimoodi! Jaa jaa.”

Pikem,  kes oli muid vanakooli programmmeerija, seljast kange ja haige, habemesse kasvanud ja sarvprillidega, jäi äkki vaikseks. Iga tuulehoog, mis mööda pikka tänavat puhus, käist tal seljast läbi, nagu tuline jutt, ja ta kurvastus seetõttu. Talle tundus, et midagi on väga valesti. Sinnasamasse langes ta maha ja tundis et ta on läbi kukkunud, isegi oma kirglikuses. Miks ta üldse midagi lootnud oli.

Nutad ja ei suuda jätta nutmist. Pisarad purskavad sügavalt sinu seest ja kisuvad su lõhki. Ootad, et üks päev ta tuleks läbi selle ukse aga see päev ei saabu kundagi. Öösel näed teda unes, et hommikul mõista, et ta ei tule enam kunagi.

At some point my philosophical thinking made everything seem unimportant, without meaning, material things became unimportant. Now I have stricken something of a balance looking at life. With a map before me. First born we don’t have many choices. We have set of genes that  determines the canvas on which the environment does it’s magic.

Aga kaugelt ja lähedalt teda otsima peab, kui teda pimedas silmad, otsa ei komberda, siis on ülimalt hea. Ta ei oota kedagi, lihtsalt seisab seal.

„Mingil hetkel minu filosoofiline mõtlemine pani kõik tunduma ebatähtsa aga nii ei saa ju, mul on ikkagi veel elada”, ütles 17 aastane poiss. Aastaid hiljem ma lugesin Samuel Becketit: „Näed, Didi, ikka leiame midagi, mis loob mulje, nagu me eksisteeriksime, eks ju?” ja see oli nii tuttav

Aafrikas on tuhandeid kultuure ja kultuurikesi, üle 40 (vähemalt 61) vähem või rohkem tunnustatud riigi ja riigikese, terve armaada (kõnekeelses kasutuse hulga merealuste kohta, siin sobimatu) tunnustamata piirkondi (tuntumad Lääne-Sahara ja Somaliland), kahe suurema religiooni mõjutusalad ja tuhanded väiksemad ususüsteemid, peaaegu 8000 keelt (vähemalt 2000 keelt, 8000 võib olla koos dialektidega), millest suurem osa on väljasuremisohus. Aafrika on miljon paika, nende hulgas ka need, kus inimene alguse sai.

Parim metafoor Aafrikale on Ubuntu, ma olen, sest me kõik oleme. Bantu hõimude kodumaad mandri lõunaosas nimetab kirjanik Mongo Beti paigaks, kus inimesed on niivõrd targad, et nende ainukeseks meelelahutuseks on päevad läbi istuda ja mõelda. Sealt on pärit ka Ubuntu.

Euroopa on aafriklaste metafoori ammu unustanud. Võiks öelda, et ta pole seda kunagi mõistnudki. Euroopa ja Aafrika suhetumine on reaalne probleem ka pärast koloniseerimist loodavas maailmas.

Reisides Kongo jõel, võib näha inimesi suplemas. “Kui ma näen mõnikord valget meest paadile ronimas (see on tegelikult 100m pikkune plekist pontoon, mitte midagi laeva meenutavat), siis imestan, kui rõõmsalt ta suplejatele lehvitab ja nemad vastu,” rääkis mees mõni aasta tagasi Kongo jõelaeval. Valge mees ei mõista, et kohalikud laulavad: “Valge mees, ära tule, su hingeõhk haiseb.”

Ei saa öelda, et pärast eurooplaste lahkumist oleks elu paranendu. 1994. aastal kulus hutudel ja tutsidel Ruandas vaid paar päeva (100 päeva), et tappa 2 miljonit (800 000 – 1 071 0000) inimest. Kigali tänavatel tõusid laipade kuhjad nii kõrgele, et ÜRO rahuvalvajate maasturid ei olnud võimelised surnud lihast üle sõitma. Ei olnud ka enam kedagi, kelel rahu kaitsta. Sajad tuhanded olid põgenenud Burundisse, kuid Viktoria järve vesi oli määritud (tehniliselt jõuvad Ruandasse vaid Viktoria järvest algava Kongo jõe veed)

Jõhkras tapatalgus ei saanud süüdistada ainult hutude ja tutside suguharusid. Hiljem on sõda põhjendatud inglise kolonisaatorite tekitatud vaenuga kahe etnilise grupi vahel. Henry George “Augusti viimased päevad” (Terry George’i film “Hotel Rwanda”, ajasin segamini Raoul Pecki samateemlise filmiga “Sometimes in April”) seda taolises valguses ka kirjeldab.

Briti koloniaalvõim määras Ruanda riigipiirid ja valitseva võimu -  hutud -, keda nende pikema kasvu tõttu intelligentsemaks peeti. Pärast koloniaalvõimu lagunemist pääses valitseva grupi vastu välja vägivald, hutudest ja tutsidest koosnevad pered lahutati ja valitseva presidendi lennuk kukkus teadmata põhjustel alla. ÜRO rahuvalvajad ei takistanud konflikti, sest selleks puudus Euroopas poliitiline tahe. Riigist transporditi välja Euroopa riikide kodanikud.

Hukkunute arvu poolest hutude genotsiidile läheneva konflikti leiame Sudaanist. Darfuri piirkonnas on probleemiks eelkõige maaküsimused (samuti vesi). Eurooplaste leiutatud piir Liibüa ja Sudaani vahel ei arvesta hõimude paiknemist, läbisaamist ja ajaloolisi (suusõnalisi ja rahvapärimuslikke) kokkuleppeid. Darfuri “Inimeste Vabastusarmee” (Sudaani Vabastusliikumine, nimetatud armee on riigi teises osas ja ei võta konfliktist osa) on haaranud relvad, et oma proponentide õiguseid kaitsta ning hankida maad. BBC World andmetel on relvad pärist sõjatehastest Euroopas.

Relvaäris on mängus suured tulud. Euroopa relvatöösturite tuliuut toodangut koos läikivasse kilesse pakitud kasutusjuhenditega on leitud mitmest Aafrika riigist, nende hulgast Elevandiluurannik, Libeeria, Sierra-Leone ja Kongo Demokraatlik Vabariik.

Esimesed demokraatlikud valmised Kongo DV-s vallandasid pealinnas Kinshasas rahutused. Siiani on ÜRO kirjadega valged tankid suutnud ära hoida selle, et kodusõjas hukkunutele lisanduks uusi inimelusid, kuigi olukord on äärmiselt pingeline.

Euroopa positiivne mõju on samuti näha Ugandas, kus tänu haridus- ja meditsiiniabile on viimase 6 aastaga HIV (standarnimetus on HIV/AIDS) -nakatunute juurdekasv vähenenud 36% juurest 6%ni aastas. See ei tähenda mitte ainult päästetud elusid, vaid räägib ka haridustaseme tõusust, jõukuse ja rahuarmastamise allikast (kui pateetiline saab olla!).

Argegust räägib samuti naaberriik Keeni, kuhu Euroopa investorite järel ehitatakse kõnekeskusi, mis võtavad vastu brittide (tegemist on Kanada kõnekeskustega) kõnesid, kui on vaja teada, kuidas telefonipulti opereerida või miks pesumasin seisma ei jää. Keenialaste inglise keel on puhas ja korrektne, samuti tänu brittide koloniaalvõimule (ilmselgelt).

Etioopia tõmbab turiste kui üks vanimad krislike maid riike, kus kohv omab tseremooniatel samatähtsat osa kui rist.  Guinea (tegelikult Gambia) silmis aasta turismikoha väärtuse tänu kahe inglise ärimehe intensiivsele arendustegevusele. Namiibia omab kuulsust, kui parim koht mõõkkala püügiks. Lõuna-Aafrika vabariiki ehitavad Briti töösturid suurejoonelist erarahvusparki.

Oleks raske väita, et Euroopat, kelle mõju on niii laiaulatuslik, ja ulatub nii sügavale , võib pidada kaugeks. Samuti on raske pidada lähedaseks inimesi, kes ei mõistnud kunagi, mida tähendab Ubuntu.

Pole kahtlust (kuidas see nüüd tuli?), et Euroopa on Aafrikale lähenemas rohkem kui kunagi varem (ka. koloniaalperiood). Eurooplaste kaardid ei kirjelda enam gograafiat, nende kaartidel sõltuvad mandrite suurused potentsiaalsest kasumlikkusest.

Aafrika lähenemine Euroopale sõltub valikutest relvakaupmeeste ja investorite vahel (kindlasti ei saa see olla nii lihtne). Potentsiaalselt võiks Aafrika olla uus maailm, kus kunagi ei kao Ubuntu, kuid kus osatakse kasutada ka modernse Euroopa imesid.

Tekst on hüplik ja puudub läbiv joon. Lahendus mõjub väljamõeldult  ja ei järgne eelnevast tekstist. Palju jäetakse ütlemata konkreetsete faktide taustast, samas korrutatakse mitmeti üldiselt teadaolevat. Kogu lääneriikide mõiste üritatakse suruda Euroopa nimetuse alla, et mahtuda teemasse ja pealkirja.