Essay - How the films Alphaville and Matrix epresent new communication technology

New communication technology has taken the world by storm from email to instant messaging and telephones to mobile phones. The question is how we perceive all this new technology and how it is represented in today’s society especially through film. Films play a gigantic part in how new communication technology is represented. This can be shown in films such as The Matrix, where computer technology is tested beyond what is possible to even imagine and Alphaville, a film where a man is against a computer.

Matrix was filmed in 1999 and was written directed by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski.("Matrix," 2008) It is about a man living a double life, one as a computer programmer ‘Thomas Anderson’ and the other as a computer hacker ‘Neo’. Anderson is shown by a man named Morpheus and a women Trinity that the world he is living is make believe and there are many machine- like humans. Therefore their job is to save all the humans from the fake world known as Matrix. The Matrix was set in the genre of science fiction and cyber punk.

Alphaville was made in 1965 and directed by Jean Luc Godard.("Alphaville," 2008) Jean-Luc Godard was considered the most "intellectual" of filmmakers comprising the French New Wave of the late 1950s and early 1960s. (Bonnie Lenore, 2008). Alphaville was set in black and white with English subtitles. The movie was set in the future. Alphaville follows a man named Lemmy Caution who goes to a planet called Alphaville where he deals with a computer Alpha 60 which is used to enforce orders on the residents living in Alphaville. The picture's originality is not to be found in the clichéd opposition between emotion and science.("Alphaville,") Alphaville was set in the genre of French new wave. French new wave was an artistic movement which became popular in the late 1950’s till the mid 1960’s.

Nowadays a computer taking over the world is not as crazy, as the internet and computers do control a lot in everyone’s lives. In comparison to that is what we perceive as impossible now, ideas that appear in The Matrix such as robots and imaginary worlds. But in 1965, computers were considered robots and a fantasy. So can the representations of science fiction and the unknown reality be proven in these movies? It’s asking what we can believe is real. Morpheus quoted in the film Matrix, “If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”("Matrix," 2008)

Both films take it beyond those electrical signals, both focusing on the future. With new communication, new special effects have risen, to take viewers even further into the future. With so many special effects do the films lose its story line? While the fight scenes and car chases are highly entertaining, it is the films' awareness of the complex interdependence of the humans and the machines that made the film reflect on the natural world.(Matthew, 2004) In the Matrix bodies fly through the air, there is both a suspension of the camera-eye and a separation of the event's deictic "here and now" so that time is both attenuated and dilated in the same moment.(Tom, 2003) James Morris a senior editor quoted in one of his articles, “Why, are Special Effects such a guilty pleasure? When movies were new, a century ago, the mere motion of people and objects was special effect enough. Now we want whole new worlds to turn and tumble. And they do, ingeniously, interchangeably.”(James, 2005) People are never satisfied, and if people can produce new exciting technology, there is no harm in watching it.

Where do these ideas come from? Kristen Whissel stated, following the release of The Matrix, that “Drawing from cultural sources ranging from comic books and fantasy novels to the visual logics of video games and virtual reality there are a range of digital special effects to create composite films. “(Kristen, 2006) Things that have become more apparent in today’s society such as comic book characters are now appearing in films rather than in comic books. This is affecting the way science fiction and special effects are represented in film in a positive way as it allows the films to be original and creative. Such as in The Matrix in order to create the elaborate visual style of the film, hundreds of illustrations were created. Comic book artists Steve Skroce and Geof Darrow spent three months working closely with Larry and Andy Wachowski, the directors, to map out the film. ("Matrix Trilogy," 2008). This shows as culture changes, the development of film also changes.

Through the films Alphaville and Matrix representations have changed dramatically over thirty four years. This is shown through the settings and characters of each film. In Alphaville there was a budget too small to create a future metropolis, Godard simply filmed the Paris of 1965, "anatomizing” a future already latent in the present"(Mark, 2006) The Matrix was shot in studios; in America and Australia. The special effects made it possible for the futuristic setting and popular landmarks were not filmed, to sustain the setting of a common American city in the city scenes. Both films are similar with one main male character, Lemmy Caution and Neo. While Lemmy Caution is a detective, Neo is a complicated character as he is freed from the Matrix by Morpheus and his crew to be the saviour of mankind.("Matrix 101," 2008)

Overall the representations of Alphaville and The Matrix are very contrasting. This is shown through how people perceive reality, special effects and the cultural developments of 1965 till 2008. Elements such as setting and characters also play a huge role in the differences between the two films. Alphaville and Matrix will always be well known for their new found communication technology in both generations.

Reference List

Alphaville. Retrieved 14 May, 2008, from http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~ntucs82/PEOPLE/b2506017/sf/j.html
Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution. (2008). Retrieved 14 May 2008, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058898/
Bonnie Lenore, K. (2008). "Totally, Tenderly, Tragically": Godard's Contempt and the Composition Qu'il y Aurait (that Might Have Been). Composition Studies, 36(1), 39.
James, M. M. (2005). SPECIAL EFFECTS: An Oral History. The Wilson Quarterly, 29(3), 116.
Kristen, W. (2006). Tales of Upward Mobility: The New Verticality and Digital Special Effects. Film Quarterly, 59(4), 23.
Mark, B. (2006). Alphaville. Extrapolation, 47(2), 332.
Matrix. (2008). Retrieved 14 May 2008, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/
Matrix 101. (2008). Retrieved 28 May, 2008, from http://www.thematrix101.com/matrix/characters.php
Matrix Trilogy. (2008). Retrieved 13 May, 2008, from http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/
Matthew, L. A. (2004). Danger in Wonderland. Science, 303(5661), 1141.
Tom, Z. (2003). The Matrix Reload. Film Comment, 39(4), 74.

Electronic Civil Liberties / Creative Commons / Free and Open Source Software

In the lecture we discussed

Electronic Civil Liberties

we spoke about some of the cases that the Electronic Frontier Foundation are currently defending. This includes the NSA/AT&T alleged spying case, where the government allegedly wiretapped the internet communications going through San Francisco.

Creative Commons

Adam showed us the creative commons website. Creative commons (some rights reserved) is a mix between copyright (all rights reserved) and non copyright ( no rights reserved)

It lets you take music and video or anything and do what you want with with it whether mixing it up and changing it. The only factor is that you do not use that for any commercial use.

He showed us a lecture on by Lawrence Lessig about the need for the law to change, and the reasons why he started the Creative Commons to access the lecture you can visit http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187/

the lecture showed funny examples of how creative commons can work.

Free Open Software

Examples

Linux
Firefox
Mozilla Thunderbird - Email

Free software also known as open source software is software that is free for anyone to use.

Important notes

‒

Source Code = Instructions written in Programming Languages that tell a computer to do certain things.

Source Code is “compiled” (translated) into files that can run on specific computers...


These files that run on computers are called Binary Files or Executables (e.g: those files on Windows that end in .exe)

Open Source In an attempt to push “Free Software” into the business world...

... The Name Free Software is replaced with Open Source...

* Emphasis on “Open”, rather than “Free”

Key assumptions:

everyone has a contribution to make

e.g. code changes, beta testing, error reports, feature requests, documentation, community leadership

community involvement more likely if community experimentation is encouraged

i.e. limited success if project direction is determined from above

users will contribute if to do so is easy and beneficial for them and all

i.e. combination of self-interest and altruistic motives

shared ownership of the project is crucial

i.e. contributions less likely if they only benefit a commercial software publisher

Copyright and Peer-To-Peer Music File Sharing:

The 20th Century, people had their own music that they sang, played and passed from one generation to the next and that the idea of paying for music was perhaps just a passing fad.

The students in the class made the moral distinction between stealing from a tangible product from a shop and downloading music and movies which are (eventually) given away for free on the radio and TV.

Our class discussed whether downloading movies and songs is illegal as we pay for the software and the people supplying the software are really the ones to blame.

We watched Cocaine Jesus, an example of post-copyright film-making: it is so cheap and easy to do that you can give it away free.We also watched the short documentary film: 'Steal This Film 2'. Part Two examines the technological and cultural aspects of the copyright wars, and the implications of the internet for copying. It includes an exploration of Mark Getty's infamous statement that 'intellectual property is the oil of the 21st century'.

important notes from reading The Napster Case and the Argument Against Legislative Reform
[1] An MP3 file is a computer file that stores a song in a compressed format. A 32 Megabyte song on a CD can be compressed to about 3 Megabytes without noticeable reduction in quality. MP3 comes from MPEG audio Layer-3, and MPEG is the acronym for Moving Picture Experts Group, the group who developed the compression technology. <http://www.howstuffworks.com>.

[2] "...the digital environment poses a unique threat to the rights of copyright owners, and as such, necessitates protection against devices that undermine copyright interests. In contrast to the analog experience, digital technology enables pirates to reproduce and distribute perfect copies of works - at virtually no cost at all to the pirate. As technology advances, so must our laws." Report of the US House Comm. on Commerce, H.R. Rep. No. 105-551, pt. 2, at 25 (1998), cited in Markus Fallenb”ck, 'On the Technical Protection of Copyright: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the European Community Copyright Directive and Their Anticircumvention Provisions' (2003)7 International Journal of Communications Law and Policy 1.

The ethics of peer to peer file sharing.

Reading
When Pigs Fly: The Death of Oink, the Birth of Dissent, and a Brief History of Record Industry Suicide. Demonbaby: Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Main Points

1. Stop buying music from major labels. Period.
The only way to force change is to hit the labels where it hurts - their profits.Find out which labels are members/supporters of the RIAA and similar copyright enforcement groups, and don't support them in any way.Make it very clear that you will continue to support the artists directly in other ways, and make it VERY clear that your decision has come about as a direct result of the record company's actions and inactions regarding digital music.

2. Support artists directly.
If a band you like is stuck on a major label, there are tons of ways you can support them without actually buying their CD. Tell everyone you know about them - start a fansite if you're really passionate. Go to their shows when they're in town, and buy t-shirts and other merchandise.

3. Get the message out.
Get this message out to as many people as you can - spread the word on your blog or your MySpace. Teach them how to use torrents and where to get music free.

4. Get political.
The fast-track to ending all this nonsense is changing intellectual property laws. The RIAA lobbies politicians to manipulate copyright laws for their own interests, so voters need to lobby politicians for the peoples' interests. Contact your local representatives and senators. Tell them politely and articulately that you believe copyright laws no longer reflect the interests of the people, and you will not vote for them if they support the interests of the RIAA.

Bladerunner

In the lecture we watched Balderunner. Its based on the 1968 novel, 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' by Phillip K Dick.

Common themes in Dick's work include artificial intelligence, cities out of control and post-industrial dystopia dissected with a film noir sensibility.

Other of Dick's novels include Ubik, A Scanner Darkly, and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said.

Movies made from Dick's stories include: Total Recall, Minority Report, Next and Paycheck.

The required reading this week was T.J. LeGrice, An exploration of what it is to be human, 2000.

His description of Blade runner.

human (a) 1/ of or relating to people or humankind
2/ having the nature, qualities or characteristics of people or humankind
3/ of or relating to humankind as distinct from God or gods, animals or machines.

In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to create replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specialises in terminating replicants. Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when six replicants escape from an offworld colony to Earth. Written by Graeme Roy {gsr@cbmamiga.demon.co.uk}

Bladerunner relates to topics we have covered in the past such as cyberpunk, new communication and video games.

Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre based in the possibilities inherent in computers, genetics, body modifications and corporate developments in the near future.

The term cybernetics comes from the Greek kybernetes which means steersman or pilot and the concept developed during and after WWII to indicate the use of a systematic approach to complex issues such as managing a large number of computers at distributed sites or understanding the operationms of the brain.

Punk was represented in the music of bands such as Sex Pistols, Clash & Black Assassins.

Blade runner is an example of cyberpunk.

William Gibson is a US/Canadian writer whose fictional work has spawned a number of key concepts like 'cyberspace' and 'virtual reality'. His work sits uncomfortably in the sci-fi genre because its gritty realism about the near future makes it too close to the truth.

Matrix pushed the limits of cyberpunk so it became like the bloated soap operas that it had originally scorned. Nevertheless it deals with philosophical issues at some depth.

CYBERPUNK THEMES

1. Technology and Mythology

Cyberpunk sought to demythologise technology but effectively predicied/created the World Wide Web and so was used to remythologise technology.

There are many myths that link with technology such as –

Original play by Aeschylus - Prometheus, Chapter 3 of Genesis, Albert Camus' Myth of Sisyphus, Frankenstein novel by Mary Shelley and Faust which was made into a play and a novel.

2. Utopia and Dystopia

Some of the most powerful myths for and against technology have been intertwined with utopian writing. Utopias (from the Greek, meaning nowhere) are literary works that tell of imaginary places where everything is perfect, usually because people and technology are in harmony. Some famous Utopias are:

• Plato The Republic 4th century BC
• Sir Thomas More Utopia 1516
• Saint-Simon New Christianity 1825
• Samuel Butler Erehwon 1872
• William Morris News from Nowhere 1891

The last two hundred years have seen a large number of Utopian experiments where people have attempted to live out the literary myth, sometimes by embracing new technology and sometimes by eschewing new technology.

Will everything be controlled by technology if so when somebody / something switches off the lights. When the power goes off you may wake to discover that your technological paradise is really a hell.

3. Cities as Machines

The Shape of the City dictates the kind of lives that most people lead. The City in Bladerunner is avowedly post-modern, built up layer on layer but starting to lose its relevance - people are moving to the Off-World. Sometimes it is crowded; sometimes it is lonely - which is what cities are like: you can be anonymous in the crowd.

Three non-exclusive alternatives:

• the city is a machine for living ... it creates human lifejust as humans create it
• the city is a natural thing, created by natural beings (humans)just as bee-hives and ant nests are created by natural beings
• the city is a living being ... a cyborg which combines humantissue with synthetic infrastructure.

4. Technological change

The First Media Age (centralised dissemination) versus the Second Media Age (decentralised interaction)

Characterised by the use of one source (or relatively few) and many receivers.

The latest development to mimic the equalising structure of the telephone is the Internet. The Internet made it possible for an individual to 'publish' to a huge audience.

As Bill Gates stated - the Internet made it possible for an individual to 'publish' to a huge audience.

5. Modernism and Postmodernism

Shadowing this split between the technologies of dissemination and the technologies of interaction is the shift discussed by a variety of theorists from modernism to postmodernism, from the certainties of the 'grand narratives' of big institutions to the complexities of personal survival for individuals. Ihab Hassan has suggested some of the oppositions inherent in this shift in his book The postmodern turn : essays in postmodern theory and culture.

But just as postmodernism is built upon modernism, the second media age is built on the first and is thus largely dependent on the the world view inherent in existing technologies. It is through the combination of old and new technologies that new industries, uses and expansions have occurred, and continue to emerge. The new media brings with it a need for new understandings - particularly political ones - to protect the public interest. These discussions/strategies will need to include:

• the means to protect rights of access
• equity of access
• the means to strengthen and enhance existing community structures
• development of the democratic process/structure (why?)
• development of a global community
• development of strategies for developing, implementing and enforcing global laws
• intellectual property laws
• freedom of speech

Virtual reality brings with it even more complex questions about the nature of society.

Are games a waste of time?

'Games are popular art, collective social reactions to the main drive or action of any culture. Games, like institutions, are extensions of social man and of the body politic, as technologies are extensions of the animal organism. Both games and technologies are counter-irritants or ways of adjusting to the stress of the specialized actions that occur in any social group. As extensions of the popular response to the workaday stress, games become faithful models of a culture. They incorporate both the actions and the reactions of whole populations in a single dynamic image.'
-Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

Video Games Studies includes the following types of games:
Arcade, Games, Consoles, Computer, Games ,MUDs, MMOGs
Approaching Video Games in an Academic Way:Some Theoretical Considerations
Media Effects and Games;
The Persistence of Effect;
Games and Utopia;

Thinking about video games as a new form of cultural practise... in the same way we now think about old media like newspapers, radio, television, films...
what are some ways to approach thinking about games that might be unique to this genre?
Are there questions that are specific to video games that don't apply to any other form?

Narratology is the study of video games from the perspective of them being stories or literary works. People who follow this sort of approach think that games can be studied like 'texts' in the same way people study other 'texts' (most commonly the book, but the word text can include other cultural products like films, paintings or music). See the work of Janet Murray (her book 'Hamlet on the Holodeck' is a good example)

Ludology, in contrast to narratology, is not concerned with the story elements of games but rather with the Game Play elements. People who have written work that is classified as ludology tend to follow the argument that the story elements in many games are there for decoration only, and is incidental to just playing a game. See the writing of Espen Aarseth (starting with CyberText), Stuart Moulthrop, Jesper Juul and others.



Tutorial Task: Complete the Exercises below, and then write a report in your blog about your experience doing the exercise.

Using Microsoft Word

The exercises were to use easy and advanced methods on Microsoft word we did things such as mail merge, changing to bold and italics and track changes.

I had never heard of track changes before but it seemed pretty easy and lets you know what you are doing. I had done the rest before and had heard of mail merge but never really done it. Everything seemed pretty easy to follow especially with instructions to prompt you on the right hand side. This software will come in handy in the future. Especially for writing letters as with mail merge you can send a letter to many recipients without as much fuss.

Using Microsoft Excel

The exercises were to use easy and advanced methods in Microsoft excel. They were things such as entering information in cells, using different formulas, making charts and using new macro.

I have used excel a bit especially with maths and business. But it was interesting to see new formulas such as the gain and lost and I had never used the macro thing before which was confusing at first but easy to use after that. Excel comes in handy when comparing results and statistics and a easier way to see results through making graphs.
3D worlds and socialising on the internet

Tutorial task:

After you have checked out at least one of the 'sites' listed below, your task is to write a blog post that considers the following:
Presuming that you are a user of MSN, or other IM programs (or have used it before, or at least know about it)... Besides the obvious differences (such as ActiveWorlds is 3D and MSN isn't, etc) what are the qualitative differences between the regular IM program and a 3D environment?
What is different about the kinds of socialising that happens in these spaces? Does the 3D aspect make much difference? The 3d aspect makes it realer but the socialising does not change when its in 3d. You are still just having a conversation as you would in IM. The only real difference is that you can compete with each other through games.
In other words, are there things that are possible in one space that are not possible in the other? Could you think of where this sort of application might lead us?