what about theater?

so, one category i have found to be ever-presently absent from our textbook, discussions, and general popular culture is the world of theater. why is that? i mean, most of the popular shows out there (the lion king, billy elliot, mama mia, hairspray) are adaptations of stories found in other media genres - what is popular on broadway are re-hashed plots. so they have nothing new to say, right?

well...I don't think that popular theater being nothing new or special merits this form of media to get the ax. there are a few things to consider about theater:

- the actors can look directly at the audience. there is a real-time connection with what is going on on stage
- art direction in theater can be more abstracted, surreal, and downright freaky than films, who need to focus more on attention to detail
- a lot of plays/musicals have a message, that may not translate or thought to be said in other forms of media

- theater takes a unique set of skills to pull off amongst cast and crew
- on a community level, it is more approachable, and becomes a visceral way for towns to get together. nothing beats watching friends/family play pretend in greasepaint.

don't get me wrong, i'm not a theater freak. i'm a costume designer, but it's not my life. i just think theater has lost its place in our culture as a high art, and also as a media genre in general. just because you don't download it doesn't mean it is worthless.

and by the way, the images you see are a show i designed reccently for BSC, "the dinosaur musical". so i have a bias. but screw, it looks good, right?

papers obsolete?

in nancy van leuven's PR class, it was suggested that papers are becoming less necessary in preparing us for PR careers. projects on social media sites, such as youtube or a blog (like this one!), are skills that can be applied to public relations.

now, the english major side of me really likes piling over old books and researching historically significant literature, and doesn't want knowledge of flickr to be a necessary skill set for her job. but there is a way i can cheat myself into liking it.



i love words. how they are used, what they are supposed to mean, what they really mean, when they are said, and who they are said by. learning how to communicate professionally or otherwise has so many more platforms with the advent of the internet. there's facebook, twitter, what comes up when you google your name, your e-mail address, your blog, and so on. they all have are a different genre of self-projection, with their own styles and sense of rules.

we are the robots

Is this media related or me talking about my love life?

A gentleman caller has asked me to watch a documentary with him. Since it beats pulling out my eyeballs just yet over my senior seminar, i have happily conceded. This film has mystery, intrigue, and looks like peoples faces get blown off in some of the footage. The title? Naqoyqatsi. Meaning, "life as war".

I googled a quick wiki synopsis, and the film is about how humans have moved from a natural environment to a completely virtual one. Since this is a media studies class, and I nothing outside of the virtual world, as far as i can see, constitutes as media, i thought it relevant!

How do you feel living in a digital world? Connecting with thumbnails of people you may or may not have seen in the flesh? In a way, it's liberating. You can touch base with friends faster, you can download all of your media in an instant. You can even go grocery shopping online.

The importance of knowledge is nothing to take lightly, and the internet, if nothing else, is a wealth of information. But somewhere, i think we forgot what it means to be human. To feel grass under your toes, to create something without posting it, to be alone.

I get anxious when i'm not by my phone. If my computer is in the shop, I am permanently crabby until it is restored. And I'm what you might call a light user of technology. I'm not on facebook and i rarely watch shows online. But still i feel that need to be connected at all times.

Is that natural or am I a product of the digital era? How will this influence digital natives?