Idea Sparks

Last night, at around 3am I could not sleep (might be something to do with the espresso I had my housemate make me) I was thinking about this project, or rather I was stressing about it. I thought about my theme- an exploration of the social consequences of technology and how new technologies or conventions for use are implemented without considering the consequences or the moral dimensions. How the media has such a strong influence on most of society... Influencing what we like and how we like it (aesthetics), how we should behave, what our idea of happiness should be, what is worthwhile, something to compare our own selves and the way we live our lives to, demonstrating a sense of social archetypes. This could be used as a method of control, advertising has always taken advantage of this. It could be described as a method of social conditioning, a power over the masses.

I have thinking about how film grammar conventions originate, there must be a cultural association between the audio and visual that creates a symbolism that the convention is. The symbol within the convention can be understood without realisation that it is a symbol - just with an understanding of the meaning. It seems strange that these symbols can get old... like a certain generation will be aware of the meaning but new conventions are formed that make the old ones obsolete to new generations of cinema goers. This can be compared to language and how it has evolved. It could be said that certain conventions used at a time echo the 'taste' of that time (forming a loop - where the taste is determined by the media but the media is influenced by the taste of the time). How we live our lives is directly influenced by technology, being the tool we use to work, communicate etc.. So it is clear that 'taste' of a certain time is highly influenced by the technology available at this time.

It is interesting how the cinematic experience has advanced with the advances in technology... I once read an account of how the cinema can only expand in terms of our five senses, touch smell etc... I propose to create an interactive cinema experience, and a short film to demonstrate it.