Yochai Benkler ‘From consumers to users: shifting the deeper structures of regulation toward sustainable commons and user access’
Question
Yochai Benkler speaks of the way a digitally networked environment should be able to turn consumers into users and how regulations and organisations will influence this process. He states that is it important to ensure that enough raw cultural material is available for users to appropriate. This development is already visible online. How does this apply to the film industry?
Answer
A lot of people are worried that the Internet will have negative effects on the film industry because of the possibility of downloading entire movies. I do agree that this will have its harmful effect on the mainstream industry, but at the same time, it offers great advantages for alternative moviemakers. The Internet makes it easier and less expensive for amateur filmmakers to exchange their material, a very interesting possibility. It is possible to distribute short and feature length digital films over the Internet and the Internet helps filmmakers by offering free (or relatively cheap) software and online help. Sites offer software and instructions that supposedly make it a lot easier to handle the various pre- and post-production elements of the digital filmmaking process.
These films can have another important role: the Internet makes enables filmmakers of all nationalities to get an audience for their films. Countries that usually don’t get their movies into Western cinemas, can gain worldwide attention thanks to viewings of their films over regularly visited sites. There also are sites that contain archives of short film segments, ranched according to certain themes, like time, or nature. This would be a good example of the raw material needed to ensure open source networking. These aspects of the Internet will counter the homogenisation, concentration and commercialisation that Benkler speaks of. Like Lessig says, the Net widens the range of possible contributors, by reducing the barrier to entry.
L. Lessig ‘The future of ideas: the fate of the commons in a connected world’
Question
Lessig claims that the Internet will fall victim to bureaucratisation and capture of the innovation process. What does he mean by this and will this actually happen?
Answer
Lessig spends a good part of his article contemplating the way the Internet has given us opportunities and products that otherwise would be inaccessible and he praises the Net for its innovative and efficient possibilities, for example in downloading music and in personalised advertisements. Innovation needs to be free and decentralized. However, the newness of the Internet is a threat to the old establishments in law and software writers. According to Lessig, they will therefore impose restraints that will undercut innovation.
I do not agree with Lessig on this subject. I do not believe that institutions will have such influence on the Internet as to prevent any innovations. Lessig admits that the efficiency of the new will eventually drive out the old. Online currents that cannot be controlled by governmental or institutional powers will remain. For example, people will always find new ways to share files, even when programs like Napster or Kazaa get banned. I think this is inherent to the architecture of the Net Lessig speaks of. The lack of control, the inexpensive access and the bottom-up marketing. The hierarchies of the social world do not apply to the virtual world and will not stop users from making their own attributions and creating new applications.
D. Harries ‘The new media book’
Question
D. Harries claims that interactive features form a hindrance to immersion. The constant decision-making prevents a person from letting go and entering a realm of ‘narrative seduction’. What is my view on this?
Answer
I do not agree. The other day, I was playing a computer game on my computer and I found that I got much more ‘immersed’ than I ever get when watching a movie on TV or in the cinema. At least, in the sense that I had to accomplish a certain task and had finally managed to do so after many failed attempts. Harries also talks about a sense of accomplishment, but more in the sense of being able to fully download a movie or video clip from the Internet. This task did involve constant decision-making, in the sense that I could only achieve my goal by using a stealthy strategy. If anything, the difficulty of the task enlarged my involvement, because the sense of accomplishment was so big after a lot of hard work. A computer game is an interactive activity, because it allows the player to define his or her own path to a certain extent. The interactivity does not rule out the immersion, at least not for me. Improving graphics and larger screens will also create more ‘realness’, which Harries attributes to cinema; the ‘liveness’ Harries speaks of can be accomplished through online gaming with other players, the connectedness as well.
Keith Negus ‘Identities and industries: the cultural formation of aesthetic economies’ (Cultural Economy H6)
Question
Keith Negus talks about the culture of the American and British music industry. What, according to him, are the differences and similarities?
Answer
The contemporary British music industry is greatly influenced by the mentality of the 60s and 70s. A relatively elite, middle-class white male group of people that grew up listening to all-male rock music groups dominate the agenda of the music industry and therefore prohibit the agenda to be an accurate reflection of the music that is actually listened to. The beliefs of this group have caused a sexist approach that has caused women to be stuck in administrative and secretarial positions. The same goes for the black staff. There have been a number of individual executives that have tries to turn the tide. However, mayor investments and rewards are still influenced by the 60s and 70s.
In America, there is also a division, like the British male/female, black/white division. Especially the black/white one, resulting in to exclude black music from certain labels. This separation has more to do with geography however. The south has been associated with ‘ hillbilly’, or white music like country music, and the north has been associated with race music, African-American music. In the USA, companies try to attract new artist on the basis of the artist already signed to them, so the associations people (other artists and possible new staff members) have with a certain brand name are very important.