Olie Martin's Blog.
Rightists and new media, in brief.
2 Comments
Disclaimer: The views in the first few paragraphs are not my own!
It is a cold, dark and gloomy day in Britain. Pedophiles lurk on every corner, preying on your children. Countless immigrants shack up together in huge houses, funded by the British tax-payer. Labour want to take all of our money and give it to those greedy foreigners; don’t even get us started on the proper socialists. Terrorists are running free in our nations, plotting to kill us every day. Even your local Morrisons is at risk.
This is the world according to the right-wing media.
None of us are safe. The only way forward is for us to close our borders, deport ethnic minorities and carry on happily as a country of hard working, white British tax-payers. Henceforth with the glory of the free-market, let your St. George’s flags hang high and proud.
I forgot to mention; kill the pedos.
Obviously, when we look at it this way, we find ourselves imagining a world completely different from the one that we live in. How often do you encounter a pedophile, terrorist or massive family of greedy immigrants? Our society is drifting into the depths of paranoid xenophobia, more and more as each day passes. We are conditioned by the media machine; if the right-wing media is analyzed as an entity, then it is a genius of manipulation, that conditions its subjects and turns them into a vicious hate-machine. A hate machine that manifests itself in “organizations” such as the EDL, the BNP and all of the other right-wing forces in this country.
During the Christmas period of last year, facebook presented itself as a brilliant revolutionary force. A force that was able to mobilize people. It turned the people against the x-factor’s monopoly on the UK chart; instead, it turned the people to buy the excellent Rage Against the Machine song that ended up as the X-mas number one. This was a completely revolutionary phenomenon that displayed the incredible power of the new media. Now we can see how this fantastic force is used by the right-wing to manipulate the people into mass-xenophobic and racist action. The influence of the right-wing on mainstream media has conditioned the masses into drawing racist and nationalist conclusions; now the right-wing has taken advantage of this. What we are seeing is the forces of mass-communication being used to incite racial hatred and xenophobia; a manipulation of the anxieties felt by people, thanks to the conditioning of the right-wing media.
What I am saying is this; the new media has an incredible capability, it can mobilize the masses and influence them in a revolutionary manner. However, this capability has been exploited by the right-wing media; we can see from recent nationalistic campaigns on facebook, that the power of new media is one that is being exploited by the right-wing.
I have to cut this analysis here. The question that now lingers in my mind is this; what has to be done?
Tags: daily mail, england, flag, media, racism, right-wing, st george, terrorism., the sun, turban, xenophobia
Researching
Leave a Comment
I have today been researching for an essay regarding contractual, legal and ethical obligations in the media industry. The basis for my case study was a film called Do Not Erase, which was BAFTA nominated.
The thing is, I didn’t get a reply to any of the four emails I sent to the production team, so I have been left to make my own generalized conclusions based on my own understanding of the media industries.
Luckily, the Blaine Brothers came into college to speak to us students about the short film industry–this acted as a valuable source of information to this research essay. I also found that my experience on a short film called Self Centered–written by Steven Keevil and directed by Kevin Proctor–helped me a lot in this assignment.
The research that I couldn’t gather from the people at Punchi Films has been replaced with research into UK contractual law, health and safety law and someone I know that worked for ITV as an assistant producer, amongst other things that you will find in the links below, if you are interested. You probably aren’t.
Below I will post a list of links and sources relevant to this post and the essay in general:
http://www.punchifilms.com/DoNotErase/howmadeit.html
A talk on the short film industry, The Blaine Brothers, 2010 MidKent College.
http://www.itvjobs.com/sf/asp/content/default.asp?link=1
Zoe Sale – Former Assistant Producer for Tonight, ITV
http://www.lawofcontract.co.uk/contractmisc/contract-introduction.php
http://www.punchifilms.com/DoNotErase/howmadeit.html – http://www.punchifilms.com/DoNotErase/whatweate.html
Crew release form example, http://66.102.9.132/search?q=cache:JqVMt0LYabwJ:shootingpeople.org/media/destricted/crew_release.doc+crew+release+form&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a
Information regarding location agreements, http://www.panix.com/~squigle/rarin/AK.pm/14cinema_contract.html
Crew release form example, http://66.102.9.132/search?q=cache:JqVMt0LYabwJ:shootingpeople.org/media/destricted/crew_release.doc+crew+release+form&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a
Information regarding filming locations, private and public – http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/publicspaces
Steven Keevil: http://onmejack.wordpress.com/
Do Not Erase: www.punchifilms.com
Self Centered: http://www.pollibee.com/
Blaine Brothers: http://www.charlieproductions.co.uk/aboutus/theblainebrothers/index.asp
Tags: bafta, blaine brothers, case study, College, do not erase, essay, kevin proctor, punchi films, Research, short film, steven keevil
History’s Plan (A short poem by me)
2 Comments
What is life, but some events?
In thence our tragic woes are lent.
History’s sins maketh the man,
As future unfolds history’s plan.
History’s men forever said;
The future’s plans, are as we led.
How is this; immortal truth,
If history has mislead the youth?
A little clarity please.
Leave a Comment
This car may look sporty, but it is a Renault 5
Could somebody tell me why Avatar is higher than District 9 in the IMDB top 250?
I am aware of the fact that the IMDB top 250 is not anything to go by really, but the point still stands. Why is it higher than District 9? I must confess that I haven’t yet seen Avatar, I avoided paying to see it at the cinema, even after countless invitations to see it. For that, I am proud. But some might say that I should watch it before I start spurting out subjective nonsense about why Avatar is not a good movie. Do I really need to see it to form that opinion though?
I have heard people defending Avatar on the basis that it is the “future” of cinema. For me, the most brilliant aspects of cinema are the fundamental practicalities of making a film. The practicality of using a decent lens to create a desired effect; the practicality of acting, and the practicality of script-writing. These are the things that make a film great, and have ever since dialogue was introduced to the movie medium. My tutor, a defender of Avatar, recently lent me Glengarry Glen Ross. I loved the film; Al Pacino’s performance was just superb. What made this film great? Two important things: cast and dialogue. Plain and simple; the film relied on two basic fundamental aspects of cinema, it incorporated those aspects, and it was fantastic. Another film I (re-)watched recently was Pulp Fiction, one of the greatest movies of all time. Cast, dialogue and directing made this film what it is. There were no fancy special effects, just a brilliant script, a cast that was second to none, and a world-class director. If Avatar is the future of cinema, then the films mentioned above are the history. That, for me, is quite a haunting thought.
Will the future of cinema really be dominated by big, sparkly, overproduced polished turds? What happened to storytelling? Such a powerful tool that has made cinema great; why does the future of cinema have to disregard it? Avatar is a rusty 1989 Ford Fiesta that could barely reach a top speed of 70mph. It has a Ferrari Enzo body-kit on it. It struggles to even start, but has an impressive plastic body-kit to make it look good. It also has a large exhaust to make it sound like a sports car. The thing is, it is just a rusty old bucket of a car, made to look good, and made to sound good, but if you take off the body kit and the exhaust, you are left with this:
Avatar without the body kit.
Avatar is a rusty, sub-par story with $half a billion worth of CGI painted over it. Strip away the gloss and what do you have? A below average story. This is not the future of cinema, I think that anyone who believes that is simply buying into the hype. Give me Glengarry Glen Ross any day. Call me a purist, or a stuckist, or whatever; I just know when I see a Vauxhall Nova trying to look like a Ferrari. Some people might believe it’s a Ferrari, but I don’t!
Back to District 9, yes it did have a lot of CGI, but the script is what made it one of my favourite sci-fi movies ever made. Maybe I overrate it, but even if you strip away the CGI, you still have a powerful script, a great cast and some brilliant messages. Think of it this way: Avatar and District 9 as novels, which one is better?
I leave you with a clip from another one of my personal favourite sci-fi films of all time; Stalker, by Andrei Tarkovsky. It is a Russian film, and to know what it’s about, you must watch it. Notice the lack of special effects, but watch the scene and be moved by it. Appreciate film for what it is meant to be, a work of art.
Tags: avatar, bad film, cgi., cinema, district 9, film, glengarry glen ross, good film, movies, overrated, stalker, tarkovsky, underrated
The best films of 2009.
Leave a Comment
In 2009, I saw the following films: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Let The Right One In, District 9, Taken, Watchmen, Inglourious Basterds and The Boat That Rocked.
I missed out on many films that I would have liked to have seen, but I would say that I didn’t have a bad run.
Fantastic Mr. Fox, for me, was a pleasant surprise. After hearing various negative comments, mainly from media types, I went into the cinema with a skeptical eye. However, I was charmed by Wes Anderson’s indie-take on the children’s story. I found it thoroughly enjoyable, and unique. Seeing a children’s story through Anderson’s eyes was just fun. I even wish I could see the film from a child’s perspective, just to see how Anderson’s style appeals to kids. 8/10
Let The Right One In was a strange and compelling film. It was a fantastic piece of cinema, and a brilliant cast, that pulled together to create a truly wonderful, but disturbing film. 8/10
Taken is a film that I wished I hadn’t seen. It was a dreadful piece of self-indulgent nonsense. See my review of Taken for more information. 1/10
I have to say that I did enjoy watching the Watchmen (apologies to comic nerds who may dislike my cheesy pun), but I feel that I cannot form a justified opinion on this film as I have not yet read the book–it has been sat on my shelf unread for several months now. For me, it felt how a decent superhero movie should feel. I would put it up there with The Dark Knight, based on my uninformed opinion (comic nerds; I am not worthy!), but my opinion of the film may change after reading the comic. 7/10 (Pre-comic reading rating)
Inglourious Basterds found a place in my DVD collection. Seeing history being re-written by Tarantino was brilliant. For me, it was Pulp Fiction with Nazis and guerilla fighters. The casting was excellent, the film had a brilliant range of diverse characters, every one as deep as the last, and Brad Pitt’s character had me in stitches. And apart from anything else, what isn’t enjoyable about seeing Nazis get scalped? 8/10
There isn’t much to say about The Boat That Rocked. It won me over with the awesome soundtrack, but the film itself isn’t one that’s going to stick in my mind for any length of time. 6/10
I left my personal favourite until last. District 9 was the best film I saw last year. It is in fact one of my favourite sci-fi films of all time. It is a lesson on man’s own anti-humanitarianism, xenophoba (or the alien equivalent in this case), predjudism and obviously the apartheid regime. When I think about other action flicks, for example Taken, with its emphasis on individualism and its anti sociological stance, District 9 gives hope to the cinema, and shows us that the action film formula can have credibility. It shows the film medium’s incredible ability to deliver strong messages, and to provoke thought. The casting was spot on, Sharlto Copley gave an incredible performance, and proved himself as a very well ranged actor, with great potential and hope for the future. I am surprised that this gem of a movie hasn’t had more praise. It seems that people can’t dig it because it was marketed as a mindless shoot-em-up fest. People’s standards have been lowered by films like Taken and Transformers 2 so much that a film like District 9 requires far too much thought and patience for it to be deemed good. It is a shame considering that this movie has so many strong messages about the world and its’ mistakes. I think many folk could learn from it. 9.5/10
Tags: 2009, best, best films, cinema, district 9, fantastic mr fox, films, inglourious basterds, let the right one in, taken, the boat that rocked, watchmen
The research begins.
Leave a Comment
I am currently gathering research for the BAFTA nominated short film , Do Not Erase. I have emailed the production team that produced the film, and I am hoping that they will reply to me, with lots of useful information.
Should they not, I will fail the assignment, leave college with no diploma, not be able to get a job, end up on the streets dancing for cash, and eat baked beans straight from the can.
On the upside, here’s a cheerful video:
Y’arghh maties.
Leave a Comment
A comical pirate
Internet piracy!
Bono has recently cited China’s efforts in internet policing as an example for the music industry’s ‘fight’ against illegal firesharing. He expressed his disdain for the losses in wealth felt by the creators, and called internet service providers “reverse Robin Hoods”, saying that they made gains from illegal filesharing. Several commentators criticized this argument, pointing out the fact that U2 topped 2009s list of highest grossing live acts. Bono also drew much criticism for citing China’s effort in internet restrictions, one commentator saying “Bono has missed that even a totalitarian government…can’t effectively control net-content,”.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8439200.stm
Several artists and trade groups in Europe have joined Bono in pressuring the EU to adopt tighter internet restrictions to combat illegal filesharing. Lily Allen controversially gave her support to plans to crackdown on internet piracy. This controversial coalition campaign has drawn fire from several commentators. Several critics noted the difficulties and great costs that come with trying to restrict illegal filesharing.
The campaign follows the UK governments’ proposal to combat illegal filesharing by 70%. If this number is not reached, the government plans to introduce tighter “technical methods” to combat filesharing.
This coalition has been named the “creative coalition campaign”, and has the support of many European trade unions and industry groups from TV, film and radio. The committee wants all European ISPs to do everything in their power to combat illegal downloading through P2P softwares, as well as other IP infringements.
Welcome to internet totalitarianism, courtesy of Bono the humanitarian. If he had any sense he would use P2P initiatives and filesharing websites to promote his high-grossing live tours. But you see, Bono doesn’t have any sense. He is a hypocrite. He preaches to help the poor, but he is infact working against them in his dirty fight to combat illegal filesharing. He is a greedy money-man that cares not about third-world countires, but instead his millions in wealth.
I call upon all to follow this formula: step 1; download a U2 album, step 2; delete it because it’s so terrible. Repeat until you have downloaded and deleted all of U2s albums at least once.
Peace and love.
Tags: bono, bono is a tosser, china, crackdown, EU, filesharing, lily allen, piracy
Fight for your future!
Leave a Comment
This is a campaign that I’m involved in, and am hoping to promote around MidKent College.
On Saturday, over 1,000 of us marched through London on a demonstration. A demonstration of the anger felt by the youth in this economic crisis. This was a great turnout that got us a lot of attention that will only make us grow, and it will make the government listen to the demands of the people they leave behind.
Fight for your rights!
Over 1/3 of the unemployed people in Britain are youths, so we are campaigning for decent jobs and free education for all young people. The government threw billions of £’s at the bankers, even though they created this mess–where’s our bail-out package? Why are we left without meaningful jobs? Why are the youth paying for the crisis that they did not create?
I’ll leave a link to the campaign’s website at the bottom for anyone who’d like more info. Get involved and fight for your future. I am looking to set up a group at the college and anyone will be welcome to come along and get involved.
http://www.youthfightforjobs.com/
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8384224.stm (BBC article on the march)
Public Panics.
Leave a Comment
Society likes to ban stuff.
So they want to ban the new Call of Duty. Apparently this game will affect the minds of the youth. They will be able to shoot enemy fighters in a virtual war—nothing new in terms of video game contexts. According to some pissed off parents, this will ultimately damage the minds of our young-ones, and probably turn them into blood-thirsty gun-brandishers.
I find this one example very interesting to compare to the recent army recruitment adverts I have seen, that allow youngsters to play in virtual war-scenes. One fundamental difference between these virtual wars is as follows; Call of Duty is a fictional game, designed as a form of entertainment, albeit bloody (I’m guessing. Never played it), and the Army recruitment initiative is designed to attract youngsters into a career that trains them to kill, as a form of employment. I don’t think the creators of Call of Duty had sinister motives when they developed CoD. They created a game, to be played on a games console. The Army created a war re-enactment game in order to recruit potential killers. Namely disillusioned youth. Probably the kind of kids that will get out on the front-line and realise what a big mistake they’ve made.
I know which one I’d rather ban.
The public outcry over games and films is pathetic. If some lunatic plays a bit of Manhunt and decides to go and chop some poor sod up, then I’d say it’d be a good guess that he had a screw loose before-hand. If someone walks away after watching or playing one of these apparently terrible films or games, wanting to harm others, then I’d hazard a guess that they have great difficulties distinguishing reality from fantasy in the first place. There were murderers before films and before video games. There will be murders after films and video-games are banned completely. Probably more in-fact.
2009′s Movie Blunders.
Leave a Comment
The big screen has seen its fair share of bad films in 2009. Cringe-worthy teen-flicks such as the Hannah Montana movie have unfortunately made their way into the cinema. Twilight: New Moon has been so over-hyped by teenage girls far-and-wide that it became a laughing stock—try telling any teenage girl this and you’ll be bombarded with statements such as “OMG UR JUST JEALOUS BECOZ THE GUY IN THE FILM IS LIKE SO FIT!!1 BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!!!11”. How about the countless, generic rom-coms in the form of “Bride Wars” and “He’s Just Not That Into You” (I don’t even need to see this film to make a judgement, just look at that title!)—if you’ve seen one of these films, you’ve seen them all.
Other dishonourable mentions go to; Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Confessions of a Shopaholic (somebody pass me a bucket), 17 Again, Dance Flick and many more. Why do these terrible films keep getting commissioned? Because we keep paying to see them. We have let the bar for cinema be lowered by huge proportions. As long as we keep forking out to go and see generic rom-coms and terribly tedious action thrillers, that are exactly the same as their predecessors, then bad films will continue to hit our screens. I call upon everyone to boycott bad movies. Do not pay to see films like Paul Blart: Mall Cop, or the sub-par Twilight Saga adaptations. Lets stop the triumph of mediocrity, and learn to appreciate good movies!
All that aside, 2009 hasn’t been a completely terrible year for cinema. Gems like District 9, a great social commentary on Apartheid and human prejudice in general, and Let The Right One In (UK release), which is a beautifully weird movie, have salvaged the credibility of the “silver-screen”. When cinema is good, its really good, but mainstream cinema continues to go further down hill as the years pass.
