WEEK 6 READING RESPONSE

THE FIVE MINDS FOR THE FUTURE

“In a world where we are all interlinked, intolerance or disrespect is no longer a viable option.”

In his reading, Howard Garder wonders what kind of minds people will need if they are to thrive in the world for the following decades. The minds he describes are also the ones he believes people should develop for the future. Garder also argues that, to meet the future world (with its robots, search engines and other devices), we should work on our mere skills and cultivate these capacities now. With these minds, Garder believes that a person will be well equipped to deal with what is expected, as well as what cannot be anticipated. However, without the FIVE minds, or any of them, a person will at the mercy of forces that he or she cannot understand, and neither will they be able to obtain a sense of control. 

There are all pretty self-explanatory but here is a little summary (taken from my notes) of these ‘MINDS’

DISCIPLINED MIND : 

  • Distinctive mode of cognition
  • Advises to have at least one discipline : scholarly stuff, craft or profession

SYNTHESISING MIND :

  • Synthesises everything – makes it easier for people
  • Made me think of a weird metaphor : mum bird chewing up food for their babies and feeding them (in this case, feeding them information).
  • Synthesising mind is going to be challenged (if it isn’t already) in the near future as Garder mentions “information continues to mount at dizzying rates”

CREATING MIND :

  • Built on Discipline and Synthesis from its other mind pals
  • Puts news ideas forth, asks herself/himself, conjures new ways of thinking.
  • Always wants to be first and could be considered the avant-garde of the minds

RESPECTFUL MIND :

  • Notes and welcomes differences between human individuals and groups
  • Tries to understand the ‘others’
  • Seeks to work effectively with them

ETHICAL MIND :

  • More abstract than Respectful mind
  • Ponders the nature of one’s work and the needs and desires of the society in which one lives
  • Conceptualises how workers can serve purposes beyond self-interest
  • Not selfish to improve the lot of all

Here are also a few ideas that I put in a little brainstorm paper sheet regarding the reading : 

The Five Minds Brainstorm

THE FIVE MINDS, Maelle Raluy 2016

WEEK 5 READING RESPONSE

FINDING TIME IN A DIGITAL WORLD

Almost a hundred years ago, economist Johan Maynard Keynes imagined that by the beginning of the twenty-first century, we in the West would only have to work three hours a day to satisfy all our needs.” I wish too Keynes, I wish…

The first part of the reading talks about work and its relation to machines and new technologies today. While Keynes predicted a future where leisure would overcome work thanks to machines and new technologies, it looks like the opposite of his prediction defines our society today.

He anticipated that the constant growth of productivity resulting from technical progress would eventually solve the economic problem of supplying humanity’s material needs at a fraction of the existing work effort. The abundance of time released would lead to a moment when the spontaneous, joyful attitude to life then confined to artists and free spirits was diffused throughout society as a whole.”

Keynes argues that nowadays we live in ‘acceleration society in which technological acceleration produces not more leisure and downtime, but in fact an ever-faster pace of life’’, and goes to compare the human society with Frankenstein : “we have lost control over the machines to which we gave birth.”

In this faster-than-ever society, there are so many ways in which technology reconfigures time and move toward some directions for making more of time. This idea is broken into two parts :

  1. Reduce work for more leisure/boundaries between work and home.
  2. Examining whether it alters texture and tempo of life

I am focusing on the first aspect of it because I personally work in a night club during the weekend and I have to admit that most parts of the job are fun, almost as if I was out and not working: live music, night club vibe, alcohol, social part of it – you meet people all the time… So what are the boundaries between work and leisure?

It is sometimes hard to find a boundary between work and leisure/fun but I would say that, working there, you still have responsibilities and a roster with given hours and tasks to complete.

to continue…

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ADDITIONAL READING NOTES:

1950’s Democracy landmark – 8hours/day – 5days/week – Even longer hours today, WHY?

2 reasons:

  • Capitalist economy (employers dictate the hours and terms of work)
  • Overconsumption (such economy inflames)

“They work too much, eat too quickly, socialize too little, drive and sit in traffic for too many hours, don’t get enough sleep, and feel harried too much of the time.” (cool quote)

 

GENDER DYNAMICS – How we think about time and work

> “Need to take into account not only different patterns of employment between men and women but also, the inequitable distribution of unpaid work within households

> Combination of work + household chores = poverty time widespread for women

> Women fought for work so YAY but now need to deal with work at home + children

“women in full-time employment are particularly busy juggling the conflicting demands of work, family and leisure.”

> Time for women in less ‘leisurely’ quality than men’s, as women are more likely to combine leisure with looking after children

 

OVERCONSUMPTION – One way time is consumed : skills acquisition to a new ICT (Information and Communications Technology)

Because always changing and evolving, hard to keep up and need to learn every time its something new

“familiarising oneself with and learning how to operate digital devices requires substantial input of unpaid user time.”

 

SEL-SERVICE ECONOMY

-ATMs, self service tills at supermarkets, vending machines, online shopping…

-3D stuff, self-driving cars

Don’t need to look for info/something anymore, everything comes to you – à Suggested pages on Facebook (they track what you like and suggest related pages to you)

“Immediacy, the combination of fast capitalism and the saturation of the every day by media technologies, changes the nature of consumer culture entirely.”

à Characterised by INSTANTANEITY, PROXIMITY, IMMEDIACY

“Assumptions of instant delivery and effortlessly achievable abundance.”

à The culture of ‘Immediacy’ is not capable of creating “new imaginations” of the good life

 

SLOW LIVING IN MODERN TIMES

-Slow Food Movement

– Slow Cities (CittaSlow)

– Society For The Deceleration Of Time

– The Simple Living Network

even Slow Science exists

“Speed created slowness, as it were”

The Slow Food Movement à contrast to FAST FOOD

WE ARE ENSLAVED BY SPEED AND ALL HAVE SUCCUMBED TO THE SAME INSIDIOUS VIRUS : FAST LIFE

Reluctant to slow-living, WHY?

à “Indeed, making more of time, preserving slow zones, actually requires more technological innovation.”

 

 

 

 

WEEK 4 READING RESPONSE

The Clarity of the Craftsman

In this reading, Cal Newport introduces two different approaches to thinking about work ; the craftsman mindset and a passion mindset. While most people adopt the passion mindset, meaning that they focus on what value their job offers them, Cal argues in this reading that the Craftsman mindset (focus on what value you’re producing in your job) is the solution to adopt for creating work you love. 

I found this reading a bit philosophical and therefore quite confusing. Jordan Tice, a young professional guitar player is portrayed in this reading and introduced to us as a craftsman mindset-er.

“As I concluded after meeting Jordan Tice, there’s something liberating about the craftsman mindset : it asks you to leave behind self-centred concerns about whether your job is “just right”, and instead put your head down and plug away at getting really damn good”

Cal argues that no matter what job you get, focusing on what value you’re producing in your job is crucial for building a career you love.  I have mixed feelings about Cal’s point of view : it would be hard not to agree with Cal on the fact that you need to work hard for your career and earn your position. You cannot just expect things to happen just because you have a passion for it.

On the other hand though, I cannot really agree with Cal when it comes to “the mindset most people approach their working lives” with. Cal Newport points out two reasons he dislikes the Passion mindset; the first argument being that if you spend too much time focusing on your work, you will become more aware of things you do not like about it, and this will lead to unhappiness. I believe people can be happy focusing on what value their job has to offer them, and find their happiness and passion outside of the work environment.

So what does that all mean in the end? Are you going to end up confused and sad for the rest of your life if you’re a passion mindset?

After this confusing brainstorm, I came to the conclusion that no matter what job you get, it is important to always work your best and try and learn as much as you can to get good experiences out of it, without having to ask yourself too many “ambiguous and unanswerable questions” though.

Cal Newport, 2012, ‘The Clarity of the Craftsman’ in So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work, NY Business Plus, ch.4.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY #4

IV. The New York Times is trying to make VR films that aren’t one-offs, and that keep readers coming back

Published by Ricardo Bilton on www.niemanlab.org 0n May 6th, 2016

This article discusses The New York Times and their new Virtual Reality section. One film in particular is “Seeking Pluto’s Frigid Heart” which will take viewers on a virtual tour of the planet’s surface.

This marks a big step for the newspapers company as this is the first VR experience created entirely by The Times’ science department and Graphic desk.

“There are a lot of new questions about the technology, about the storytelling, about the editing. Part of what’s exciting is that everyone is figuring it out. Even the experts have only been doing it a year, so it feels very wide open,” he said.

Article discusses how VR is at its best when they are able to transport the viewer somewhere they can never access, making this Pluto experience one of the most powerful applications of the technology.

Technology is now able to transport you places and make you feel as if you were there. The audience is more than ever immersed in the story and the news. Like they mention it in the article, it makes it easier and way more fun to process news and information, which kids love too.

In the second part of the article, Bilton interviews Dolnick from The Times as they discuss the evolving ethics of virtual reality journalism, and the potential future in “meditative VR”. 

Meditative VR definition: “We’re looking at an experience that we jokingly call “meditative VR.” These are single-shot, no-cuts videos of some beautiful place. You’re at a Jamaican beach at sunset, a Canadian waterfall, and you’re just there. And you look around. There’s no story, there’s nothing happening. I don’t even think it’s necessarily journalism. It’s just transportive and something that can be really powerful in VR.” – Sam Dolnick

Link(s) :

http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/05/the-new-york-times-is-trying-to-make-vr-films-that-arent-one-offs-and-that-keep-readers-coming-back/

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY #3

III. A Future for Documentary?

Published online on react-hub.org.uk

In this article, producer Matt explores some of the emerging spaces for the documentary form. He talks about how documentaries are shifting towards new platforms and technologies. They can not only be seen on TV anymore, but pretty much on every new platform emerging. They can be watched, re watched, paused, streamed, downloaded, bought and experienced in 3D, VR via so many different platforms and screens today. I wonder how the audience is dealing with all the changes.

“So what are these new explorations?

What are people doing at the intersections of documentary and digital?”

To explore these questions, the article outlines some of the commonalities between the new and unexpected forms of digital documentary storytelling and puts them into 3 categories :

  1. Interactive content

Interactive Documentary are docos presented in a non-linear form with photos, film, animation and data. This allows the audience to have a unique experience, and decide how they want the story unraveled and told to them.

  1. Citizen journalism

Citizen journalism is a new form of journalism where participatory and activist filmmakers use cheap devices like mobile phones to document stories and empower communities.

Moreover, the viewer today becomes so involved it can participate by uploading content to interactive websites. The audience almost  becomes a filmmaker.

“These new forms of participation enable a greater investment in the story.”

  1. Make your own stories.

Platforms online now allow you to remix web videos your own way and share them on the internet.

“Both ‘Big Data’ sets and social media traces of individuals are becoming a rich vein of information and stories as a new generation of web browsers and tools is changing the game for online visualisation and interactive graphics.”

It seems the audience is now engaged more than ever with all the uprising technologies and platforms that allow you to experience a video content to its fullest, but also become the producer and share your own content.

Link(s) :

http://react-hub.org.uk/articles/future-documentary-0

Week 3 Reading Response 

THE INFORMAL MEDIA ECONOMY, CHAPTER ‘WORK’

meme job

by Ramon Lobato and Julian Thomas

This week’s reading discusses the economy of formal and informal work in the creative and media industries ; and it is terrifying to say the least. As a potential future documentary maker, I am getting ready for the industry and there is one task everyone has to complete before trying to get a job : EXPERIENCE.

“A literary maquiladora that de professionalizes journalism” – Thomas Frank (The Harpers journalist)

Now experience in the media industry usually means Internship, and more often it means ‘unpaid internship’, and if you’re not lucky, it might into an intern-ploitation, exploitation. In this reading especially, Lobato and Thomas declare : “This new freelance writing industry has attracted criticism for its low-pay model”.

Indeed, employers tend to pay their employees too little money for too much labour, or hire freelancers that aren’t professionals. In this case, in can be very tricky for journalism (like in this reading’s example) because we need to consider ethics. “What are the ethics of using non-professional labour in this case?”

> False information divulged to the public or Inappropriate contents are the two main risks that come to my mind when discussing the ethics of hiring non professional workers for cheaper. But at what cost? 

Last semester, Miss Shannon Owen from the Documentary section at VCA came in our class to talk to us about media careers and introduced us to the industry which, did not sound like “a glamorous or easy place to be” either. She described a really competitive and crowded sector where getting a job, even after numerous unpaid internships isn’t as easy as it is -or as it should be. I have personally never felt like I was being exploited when interning, I always learnt so much and gained a lot of skills. These skills won’t pay my rent but they sure will come in handy one day.

  • When does it become exploitation? When you stop learning?
  • So how far can we really go in terms of “free work”?
  • Do content farms and freelancer sites exploit writers?

but also

  • Do they provide a previously non existent opportunity for interns to gain skills? Where is the fine in between ?

… the boundaries between flexibility and exploitation can be very leaky”. 

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY #1 AND #2

THE FUTURE OF DOCUMENTARY – Start of my research

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY :

1. Five Groundbreaking ways to tell Stories in the Future of Filmmaking 

Published by Liz Nord on nofilmschool.com  on April, 26th 2016.

This article discusses the insight from the edge of modern storytelling. The reading also gives us and insight into the new and exciting world of Virtual Reality today and its relations with filmmaking and experimental storytelling. Liz Nord breaks new ways of Storytelling in the Future of Filmmaking in 5 categories :

  • Let your narratives collide

“experimental filmmaker Guy Maddin invites small audiences to collaboratively choose thumbnails on a touch-screen light table, thereby producing a sequence of scenes that would then screen for them as a one-time-only viewing experience.”

  • Create situations instead of scenes

“As the director in VR, part of your role is to create situations, not just a sequence of actions. And it’s not only the director’s role that is different: in the script, the place changes rather than the action, and ultimately the audience is the one taking the hero’s journey, even if they are not the protagonist.“

  • Think outside the frame

The VR and the framing is completely new for the audience and I find this part so interesting. Principal Filmmaker for VR at Google Jessica Brillhart especially talks about how with spatial audio in the video, it is now possible to trigger the audience and draw their attention on something specific.

In thinking outside the frame, you can get audiences to see what you want them to see by guessing where they will look and then using that to send them to another space or scene. This opens up possibilities to use traditional editing theory in new ways.”

  • You can still D.I.Y. it

“The original 360 video was captured for scientific research about dolphin communication and intelligence, but VR turned out to be the best way to engage audiences beyond the scientific community.”

  • Your location can be part of the story

“Imagine if audiences could physically step into your set, and by touching different items on the wall, or sitting on certain pieces of furniture, different parts of your story would be revealed to them. That future is here.”

The Tribeca Film Festival’s Hub is apparently the place to be when it comes to Virtual Reality. This reading also reveals one of the many and diverse films lined up at the Festival, including a documentary about solitary confinement.

In addition to this reading, at the Melbourne International Film Festival they are for the first time this year screening 360 degree short films with the Virtual Reality experience. Michael Beets directed one of the films screened at the Festival with the new VR experience, entitled Jafri. We are meeting with the Director on Wednesday afternoon after class to discuss it in more details.

Link(s) : http://nofilmschool.com/2016/04/5-words-wisdom-virtual-reality-vr-future-filmmaking-tribeca-interactive

2.  All about VR at MIFF

Published on miff.com.au on August, 2nd 2016

This article is from the MIFF Official website and presents for the first time as part of the 65th MIFF, a Virtual Reality Program, offering a unique experience for the audience to explore and fully immerse themselves into a new exciting world!

In the article also, Steve Spangaro (owner of Worldview) agrees to be interviewed for the Festival and talks about VR but also raises the question whatever VR contents can be described as a film or more as an immersion or experience. He says “At what what point an immersive experience actually becomes a ‘film’ is one of the many questions being discussed as cinema lovers start looking at VR. In cinema, a director might take a series of shots or even a whole movie to build an atmosphere. It’s cumulative. But one shot in VR conveys a location and everything that might potentially come with being an observer at that point in space and time. So in VR there’s often more opportunity to let a single shot carry narrative.”

It seems VR offers more scope and it also considered ‘slow cinema’ because we eventually filming scenes back towards to the pace at which we naturally experience the world.

Jafri is Michael Beets’ VR short film and it explores the story of an African-Australian man as he guides us through his daily life and the intimate moments that have shaped his views on the world and himself. This short film explores the man’s fight with racism as well as dealing with the latest documentary technology, Virtual Reality.

My group and I met up with the Director in his studio to ask him about his film, but also about the Future of Filmmaking and how he sees it changing. Using VR for the first time in a film, Michael Beets was  a young dynamic filmmaker, and inspired us a for our future research and projects.

Link(s) :

http://miff.com.au/blog/story/all-about-vr-at-miff

http://miff.com.au/program/film/jafri

Week 2 Reading Response

A WORLD OF DIFFERENCES

YOUTH WILL BE SERVED

________________

This week’s reading is about the Entertainment and Media companies and their growth and opportunity analysed through 5 shifts roiling today’s industry. It raised questions like the relations between the industry and shifts defining it but it also had a lot of complex graphs and statistics and that part I did not like.

Among all those five different shifts being analysed – Demography, Competition, Consumption, Geography and Business Models -, one particularly raised my attention. Demography and the Youth Movement.

Exhibit 4 : Youth Movement  / “Across countries, there is a strong correlation between the relative size of the under -35 population and growth in E&M spending.”

The reason I decided to focus on this shift rather than another one is simply because I am young and feel connected to this movement, and this generation of new technologies.

Young people consume media more than ever today, they even adopt digital behaviours and are therefore more open to digital spending. It is no longer uncommon for someone to own three screens or more (phone, tablet, TV, Laptop…). Young people today are born in an era where screens have always existed and it might seem more instinctive for us to be attracted to it. And therefore buy it… I would be lying right now if I said that I wasn’t watching The Bachelorette (I know, but Masterchef isn’t on anymore), and checking my Facebook while writing this post. Screens are everywhere nowadays and they will keep appearing.

Astrid Scott’s talk last week at University about Research Development in big Media Companies was really inspiring when it came to all the new technologies that we will soon be ‘in touch’ with, and before we know it, we might find ourselves owning a talking fridge in five to ten years.

Moreover, spending money on digital devices becomes almost inevitable if you want to be connected, even  with your friends. TV’s and Radio’s are now slowly being replaced by smartphones and smaller devices but their cost isn’t getting any smaller.                            It is also getting socially acceptable to think and relate to older generations as ‘not as connected’ and not big consumers when it comes to new technologies. If your mum doesn’t type on her phone with one finger.. is she really your mum? It has become a ‘thing’ in society where older generations aren’t as comfortable with technology as the youth is.

In this reading, Chris Lederer and Megan Brownlow argue that “In Pakistan, where around 70 percent of the population is under 35, E&M spending is projected to grow at a 10 percent CAGR  (Compound Annual Growth Rate) through 2020.” In opposition, Germany and Japan sport a meager E&M of about 2 percent.

In conclusion, growth in E&M spending is more influenced by the age of a country’s population than by its wealth. It obviously takes more factors to the E&M growth like mentioned in the introduction, but Youth seems to be, along with its connection to technology today, getting more and more influent to the market.

Week 1 Reading Response

THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

by Klaus Schwab

Nowadays it has almost become hard to be and feel ‘disconnected’ as digital technology grows faster than ever. I’m not a science expert but Google told me that the First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production, the Second one used electric power to create mass production. The Third Industrial Revolution used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now we are living through a Fourth Industrial Revolution; the Digital Revolution. It is characterized by what Schwab describes in his reading : a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.

One notion really struck my attention in this reading

I was particularly attracted to the notion of Remote Monitoring as I have recently found myself surprisingly being surrounded by it. Schwab describes it as ‘a widespread application of the IoT. Any package, pallet or container can now be equipped with a sensor, transmitter or radio frequency identification (RFID) tag that allows a company to track where it is as it moves through the supply chain.’

Indeed, this tracking system helps customers continuously track an item/car almost in real life time as they progress until being delivered/at destination. It is hard to imagine such technology has become so rapidly and sneakily a -normal- part of our every day life.

The first company that comes to my mind is indeed Uber and how they can nowadays track a driver’s car and let you know exactly where the car is on a map. Ordering a pizza has never been that fun, being able to track on the company’s website when your pizza is being cooked, wrapped and delivered. Moreover, mails and parcels can nowadays be tracked and followed until delivered. It is a continuously growing technology and I would have never thought such advanced technology would become so present and affordable in our lives. Five years ago it would have sounded more like some ‘futuristic spying stuff’.

I did a bit of online search related to track monitoring and especially on the Uber company; it is the company I am the most familiar with as I catch an uber every weekend after work.

For most of the users, services like Uber are so popular not just for convenience or easy availability of cars but also for the sense of safety that comes from knowing that your car is being tracked by GPS. I’d like to know how this advanced technology works and see if it is as safe as ‘everyone’ claims it.

In an article on http://gadgets.ndtv.com/ it states :

“The truth however, is that these cars are not being tracked by standalone GPS systems that would be hard or impossible to disable by a driver – instead, going off the radar is apparently as simple as turning a phone off. That’s because Uber uses a phone-based GPS system, which it uses to track its cars in much the same way that it tracks the location of a user.”

Now that is something I wish I did not read.

So how far is the tracking monitoring system going to go ?

In the near future, similar monitoring systems will also be applied to the movement and tracking of people” – Klaus Schwab

To be continued…