Week Four

LECTURE REVIEW- Big Screen to Small.

This week's topic was titled Big Screen to Small. Many things were discussed in this lecture. Digital Technology and it's impact on big and small screen were menionted in the introduction. The lecture followed pretty much a structure of a timeline. The birth of cinema photography in 1895 Paris, France was mentioned as starting point. Walt Disney's Snow White was the first full feature animated film released in 1937.The lecture covered the introduction of Television in the U.S in 1939. The introduction of movies on television in 1955 were talked about. Many advancements in relation to television and movies were basically discussed up until present day. I was somewhat disappointed that Australia television and screen history were hardly talked about in the lecture. However I can understand much of the technology did not originate from Australia, maybe that's why it didn't get mention. The end of the lecture covered small film and how the internet currently plays a major role in distributing short films and even full feature length ones.

TUTE SPARK

The tutespark for this week is to find three short films that were made for online distribution. Two of the short films I have chosen come from the Australian Short Film Institution and one is just a funny youtube video is a parody to Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey, and Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas.

The first short film is titled 'Beyond Words'. The film was 2009 Tropfest Finalist.

The blurb on the website states that this small film is categorised as a thriller, and it certainly lives up to that category. It's about a young deaf girl being stalked and taunted. The silence throughout most the film gives the viewer an insight to what it would be like being deaf and scared in a situation such as this. I'm fairly certain this has only been distributed for the internet use though it was funded with help by the NSW deaf society. So it could have been distributed for awareness on deafness.

The second short film I chose is titled 'This Is Perth'. It is a film by Vincenzo Perrella and Dan Osborn.

The film is about the Australian City of Perth. The film is sending out the message that Perth is apparently the best city in the world. The film is actually a satire. The makers have gone around the city of Perth saying it’s a vibrant lively place but in actual fact they show images and scenes of dead quiet, boring streets. This film could be used to lure people and promote tourism in Perth.

The third film probably has no actual merit though I think it relates to the topic of short films and it is quite humorous. WARNING IT DOES CONTAIN SWEARING!

This film is a mash up and parody of the 1968 film '2001: A Space Odyssey' and the 1990 film 'Goodfellas'. It just consists of a dialogue between several of the astronauts and HAL 9000. The HAL 9000 system's voice has been dubbed over by Joe Pesci's character Tommy DeVitto from Goodfellas. HAL 9000 system swears and throws insults at the astronauts throughout the clip. Some may not find this funny if they havent seen both of the films. There isn't really a meaning or message behind this clip just fun and entertainment.

TUTE EXERCISE

1. Where and when did usable online video start?

Viewing online videos and video clips have become a popular over the past five or so years. One place where people do much of this online video viewing is Youtube. Youtube was launched in early 2005 and has become on the of the most popular sites on the web. Bloomberg's Business Week reported that Youtube viewings between March 2006 to July 2006 had grown from 30 million views a day to 100 million views.

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2006/07/youtube_100_mil.html

2. What recent innovations are being used to lure us to the movies?

Many advancements in screen technology are luring consumers back to the box office. 3D movies have made a big splash to the screen again. James Cameron's 3D science fiction film Avatar has made nearly $3 billion at the box office. It's the highest grossing film of all time. Even though the concept of 3D movies have been around for several decades major advances in graphics and computing are appealing to audiences.

3. Are short films still being made? Why? Who may pay for them?

Short films aren't a thing of the past, they still prove to be popular. The Academy Awards award an Oscar for this category. Many short films are most likely made by university students or graduates some for assignments or some for their portfolio's. Some short films may be funded by a government department or an organisation that raises awareness about social issues that could be affecting society.

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5. Several television stations in Australia such as SBS and ABC have opted to distribute some of their programs online instead of television. There could be several reasons behind this. One reasons could be that the certain show may not be as popular on television though there is still a demand for it. It's costly to air it on television so they upload it to the internet instead. ABC's website iview is a prime example of where several shows have been uploaded to the internet instead of being aired on television. One downside to uploading shows online is that people may not have a fast internet connection to stream them.