Asianized and Hollywoodized blockbusters: the Past, the Present, the Future

Asianized and Hollywoodized blockbusters: the Past, the Present, the Future

Globalization brings the whole world much closer. It brings people closer, and also cultures closer. According to Appadurai (cited in Rockefeller 2011, p.560), the production of identity, communities and cultures, are “deterritorialized”. They are no longer produced in relatively contained places but rather are made and experienced translocally, often in locales across the globe. The ideas and cultures of different countries are influencing each other. This could be shown in various aspects and movies are the best for presenting the globalized culture. Asian movies and Hollywood movies are the significant representatives to discuss. Klein (2004, p.361) once suggests that “Hollywood is becoming Asianized in diverse ways, while Asian film industries are in turn becoming Hollywoodized.” Therefore, in the following blog post, both Hollywood blockbusters and Asian movies would be further discussed.

(Photo sourced: http://coolmaterial.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/14-martial-arts-movies-every-guy-should-see.jpg)

First of all, the most important reason of being Asianized is probably due to the revenues. According to Klein (2004, p.363), Hollywood is heavily dependent on overseas audiences and most of its revenues are earned outside the US. Foreign audience is now their primary source of revenue. The huge population in China would already be regarded as the big market for the Hollywood movies, not to mention the whole Asia market. Familiar setting, actors and filming styles are essential elements for opening the Asian market. Thus, more Hollywood blockbusters become Asianized.

In the early 1970s, Asian movies started to be noticed thanks to famous martial arts actor, Bruce Lee. The foreign audience was amazed by the power of martial arts movie. It was the heyday of Bruce Lee. Afterwards, another martial arts star, Jackie Chan, became a household name in the world. Up till now, the name of Jackie still impresses most of the world audience. Gradually, more martial arts actors jump onto the world stage. The martial arts movies are also widely welcomed by people around the world. Broken box office record and numerous nominations for different international awards obviously tell the prosperity of the martial arts movies. Under the influence of martial arts movies from the Asia, some Hollywood movies are produced as a tribute to the martial arts movies. Kill Bill (2003, 2004) is a film in which blends film genres such as Hong Kong martial arts films, Japanese chanbara films and Italian western films.

(Photo sourced: http://4outof10.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/killbill.jpg)

Action is a very popular element in different genres. Therefore, according to Klein (2004, p.361), martial arts fight scenes have become a ubiquitous feature in various genres. To produce good martial arts fight scenes, the Hollywood filmmaking industry starts to import labor from the Asia. There is a flow of Hong Kong choreographers into Hollywood, like Yuen Wo-ping, Yuen Cheung-yan and Corey Yuen. Moreover, actors and filmmakers are joining the big family of Hollywood. The production of Hollywood blockbusters is gradually in charge of Asian film workers.

Gorgeous ideas are always welcomed by different people. Asian movies and their crews are very outstanding and sometimes they attract the Hollywood producers. According to Klein (2004, p.367), the producers start to buy labor of South Korean and Japanese writers. And many popular and record-breaking movies have been being remade by the Hollywood producers. Infernal Affairs (2002) and Ring (1998) are good examples. Infernal Affairs (2002) was then remade by famous director, Martin Scorsese in 2006 as The Departed, and it even won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This shows that brilliant ideas and plays are suitable for both Asian and foreign audience. Globalization certainly makes the taste and trend of the whole world become homogenized.

(Photo sourced: http://dailygrindhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/infernal_affairs_1024.jpg)

Besides sending labor to the Hollywood, more foreign-language movies are taking place in Asia. This is probably due to globalization. Actors and crews can easily travel around to film the movies. Rapid development of many Asian major cities, like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo, makes them a good place for the setting. Many Hollywood blockbusters would make these cosmopolitan cities as their main scene. In The Dark Knight (2008) and Pacific Rim (2013), Hong Kong is one of its backdrops. For The Dark Knight (2008), the Hong Kong-set portion has highly impressed the reviewers.

Moreover, Chinese ideas or history could be found in the Hollywood blockbusters. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) is an American movie about the adventure of an archaeologist. The story is related to the Chinese history and the idea of the emperor and his army in the story is based on the real-life Qin emperor and the Terracotta Army. The brand-new idea is widely welcomed. This kind of movie suits both the Asian and foreigners’ tastes, and thus, undoubtedly leads to great success. Ideas exchange can be shown in the movies. In terms of different aspects, the Hollywood movies are Asianized.

(Photo sourced: http://www.impawards.com/2008/posters/mummy_tomb_of_the_dragon_emperor_ver4_xlg.jpg)

The Asian movies and the Hollywood blockbusters are mutually influencing each other. According to Yin and Xiao (2011, p.35), the export of cultural products create new markets and profits, and also export cultural values through the medium of the commodity at the same time. Homogenized trend makes the Asian audience also a fan of Hollywood blockbusters. Therefore, audience could easily find the Hollywood style in the details of the Asian movies. The Asian movies could also be regarded as Hollywoodized, in terms of filming style, genre and production, by their Hollywood counterparts.

Unlike Hollywood, musical is rare in Asian movie market. Musical may still be popular in the Bollywood, the Indian cinemas, as numerous dancing and singing scenes could be found in its movies. However, advertisements of musicals can hardly be found on the billboards of the East Asian market. According to Needham (2008, p.43), musical and melodrama were once popular genres in China and Hong Kong as they were key genre trends of Mandarin studios, though, the market soon be dominated by martial arts movies. Nevertheless, Perhaps Love (2005) gave a sparkling idea to the Hong Kong filmmaking industry. The movie directed by Peter Chan resuscitates musical in Hong Kong movie market. In the movie, a number of westernized elements and styles are used. Indeed, it is a westernized musical when compared with the musicals produced by the Mandarin studios. In some reviews, it would be described as “reveled in the visual opulence that films like 'Moulin Rouge' and other Hollywood musicals”. This shows that Hong Kong movies are inversely being influenced by the Hollywood.

(Photo sourced: http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/2005/12/03/screen-perhaps.love.jpg)

(Photo sourced: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDp4ud-UH2xRqP9g-4egQD2TushThPfGdiAgteS5tC25KCcgNQxz2lZTkOG12OqIrHggj8rVBsX3r8eUAwRiE6ha1UFmGDLIJwF7GZzlLPKb3haG_nxZ0qZhNWfrVRRAzNzRSirq-UE_yU/s1600/MOULIN+ROUGE.jpg)

Having abundant special effects in a movie is becoming a trend of Asian movies. According to Wasko (1994, p.236-7), best cross national, cultural and linguistic borders films are spectacle-driven films such as special-effects-heavy blockbusters, action films, star vehicles and physical comedies. All audience can understand the movies and get into them. Upon the advance production skills of Asian and influence of Hollywood, more Asian movies would include many special effects. Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle (2004) is a good example. The cartoon style of the movie and the gorgeous CGI technique made the movie a great success. As mentioned by Leung (2008, p.81) the director said that the film is a tribute to the local Kung Fu movie tradition. Chow has definitely given a good illustration to fusion movie of modern technique and martial arts genre. For 3-Dfilms, Hollywood blockbusters always play a leading role. Recently, more 3-D Asian movies are made, like Sadako 3D (2012).

(Photo sourced: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMn9ujnpIRMM-mXkrcIpCtyH2LKWhs_acrGBz7C_1_sqFLEPTKGt6IWCFAS7Oi4GC_ZSN_TuoQtwlaHdfy5y_s0itsB5N-cV5qhLl13xkaeJLw5uSfaAySA1m8xGbmBS0e2E10l4pPtpE/s1600/Sadako-3D-2012-poster.jpg)

Classic movies can always influence the production of their counterparts. Finding Mr. Right (2013) is a story about a pregnant woman in Seattle, who is originally from Beijing. It is footage from the movie Sleepless in Seattle (1993). It is easy to find shadow of Hollywood movies being cast on the Asian movies. American movie Cellular (2004) has been remade by Hong Kong director as Connected (2008). Both of them gained great success. This shows that when cross-national movies are being remade and localized, they also work.

Same to the Hollywood movies, more Asian movies would be filmed around the world. Daisy (2006) is a Korean film directed by Hong Kong director and filmed in Netherlands. The geographical distance is no longer an obstacle to the production of movie. Only if the scenes are suitable to the setting, the movies are going to take place there. This echoes the Appadurai’s idea that production of cultures are made and experienced in locales across the world.

Flow of capital also helps draw the teams of Asian and Hollywood filmmaking industries together. Many movies are co-produced by Asia and other foreign countries. Vengeance (2009) is a movie co-produced by Hong Kong and France. Talented film workers work together to produce good movies is the trend in the movie making industry. The boundary between nations is blurred.

(Photo sourced: http://dustyreels.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/vengeance-de-johnnie-to.jpg)

All in all, movies are world language. They can help convey messages regardless of nationalities. Thanks to globalization, it further globalizes the film culture. Blurred boundary between the eastern and western movie industries is resulted. Good movies are produced upon greater inspiration. The Asian and Hollywood filmmaking industries are competing, inspiring and influencing mutually. They are making progress together. This is absolutely great news to the world audience. A prosperous and brightening future are waiting for all the outstanding film workers, while awesome movies are waiting for world audience.

Reference

-          Klein, C 2004, “Martial arts and the globalization of US and Asian film industries”, Comparative American Studies, vol. 2, no.3, pp. 360-384.

-          Leung, WF 2008, “'Internal Affairs' and 'Kung Fu Hustle': Panacea, Placebo and Hong Kong Cinema”, in L Hunt and WF Leung (eds.), East Asian cinemas : exploring transnational connections on film, I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, Great Britain, pp. 71-87.

-          Needham, G 2008, “Fashioning Modernity: Hollywood and the Hong Kong Musical 1957-64”, in L Hunt and WF Leung (eds.), East Asian cinemas : exploring transnational connections on film, I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, Great Britain, pp. 41-56.

-          Rockefeller, SA 2011, “Flow”, Current Anthropology, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 557-578.

-          Wasko, J 1994, Hollywood in the information age: Beyond the silver screen. Polity Press, Cambridge.

-          Yin, H and Xiao, ZW 2011, “Hollywood’s Global Strategy and the Future of Chinese Cinema”, in V. P. Y. Lee (ed.), East Asian cinemas: regional flows and global transformations, Palgrave Macmillan, Great Britain, pp. 33-57.

Asian big-names in Hollywood Blockbusters: a great movie under globalization

Asian big-names in Hollywood Blockbusters: a great movie under globalization

In the whole course, we talked much about globalization. As mentioned in the former lectures, the culture flow makes the taste of world audience become more similar. Actually, it affects also the filmmaking industry. The most significant influence is that the hybridization between Hollywood and Asian movies.

Since the last few decades, martial art movies of Hong Kong and China have been getting more popular worldwide. This makes many names become famous on the world stage, like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Donnie Yen. These movies surely amazed the foreign people. And they introduce the Asian movies into the Hollywood market. Gradually, as mentioned by Klein (2004, p.364), the Hollywood filmmaking industry would like to invite many Asian stars, or even skilled craftspeople, especially the action directors, to participate in the movie production. A number of good examples could be found, like Rush Hour (1998), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008). In Rush Hour (1998), audience can easily find many Chinese martial art skills. According to Klein (2004, p.372), much of this foreign-language film production is taking place in Asia. For example, Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and Pacific Rim (2013) are Hollywood blockbusters which have Hong Kong as one of their setting. Besides, some of the Hollywood movies would include different Asian elements, like history and culture. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) is an adventure story about the Chinese history. Moreover, upon globalization, more Hollywood movies would film in many cosmopolitan Asian cities, like Hong Kong and Shanghai.

(Photo sourced: http://www.impawards.com/2008/posters/mummy_tomb_of_the_dragon_emperor_ver4_xlg.jpg

(Photo sourced: http://www.geeksofdoom.com/GoD/img/2013/07/2013-07-03-pacific_rim_art_book_banner.png)

(Photo sourced: http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/BoBEJ-1.png)

Oppositely, the Hollywood movies also deeply influence the Asian movie production at the same time. Especially after the 2000s, the boundary between Hollywood blockbusters and Asian movies is blurred. In 2005, Perhaps Love (2005), directed by Peter Chan, gave a sparkling idea to the Hong Kong filmmaking industry. Musical is rather rare in the Asian movie market, when compared with the Hollywood movie market. This was a new try for the Hong Kong movies. And it gained a great reputation. Moreover, upon the hybridization, application of special effects in the Asian movies is becoming popular. Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle (2004) did a great job. The cartoon style of the movie and the gorgeous CGI technique made the movie a great success. In a recent Chinese movie, Finding Mr. Right (2013) is a story about a pregnant woman in Seattle, who is originally from Beijing. And the story is influenced by the movie Sleepless in Seattle (1993). It is easy to find shadow of Hollywood movies being cast on the Asian movies. As mentioned above, the setting for movies could be more various thanks to globalization. Many Asian movies would film parts of their stories in many western countries too.

(Photo sourced: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/KungFuHustleHKposter.jpg)

(Photo sourced: http://eafilmclub.sa.utoronto.ca/events/PerhapsLove1.jpg)

The movies are affecting each other from different aspects. The blurred boundary between the Hollywood blockbusters and the Asian movies introduces many sparkling chemical reactions to the filmmaking industry. This is absolutely great news for the world audience. And it is really a great reification of globalization.

Reference

-       Klein, C 2004, “Martial arts and the globalization of US and Asian film industries”, Comparative American Studies, vol. 2, no.3, pp. 360-384.

New power of making Stars

New power of making Stars

For the traditional media forms, they are regarded as representational mode of media. They are film, televisions and radio. However, nowadays, the presentational modes of social media sites, like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, are surely the rising power. In the following blog post, we are going to see the main differences between the two media forms.

In the past, audience is always relatively “passive”. People would just sit and watch the movies. We can see the stars and actors “on the screen”. They are celebrities that we cannot get in touch. They are really someone renowned. Instead of making someone a celebrity, the public would accept the person who is being molded as a famous star. Jodie Foster is a good example. She works extremely hard since she was a little girl, and finally becomes an international star.

(photo sourced: http://www.childstarlets.com/lobby/bios/portraits/jodie_foster12.jpg)

Nevertheless, nowadays, new mode of media leads to expansion of celebrity discourse. According to Marshall (2013, p.4), due to the 20th century’s social and cultural movement, the celebrity discourse is expanded quickly. The presentation modes of social media sites allow fans to communicate with their idols closely. The celebrities can share their ideas through the social network. They are not only people we can see on the screen. According to Marshall (2010, p.43), The interactivity of on-line social networking identifies the new need for celebrities to stay connected in some way to this shifted relationship to an audience and a public. The new trend really interests the celebrities since they can communicate interactively via the Internet with their fans. The US President Obama is also one of the trendy celebrities who join the social network.

(Photo sourced: http://images.politico.com/global/politico44/040511_obama_facebook_courtesy_283_regular.jpg)

Besides, the presentation modes of social media sites make everyone a star to their families and friends. For instance, in Facebook, your family and friends are just like your “fans”. They can read, “like” and “comment” on your posts. They are developing their own circles. Meanwhile, the new modes of media also helps make some new “stars”. Normal people could be a celebrity overnight. Everything could happen on the Internet within a short period of time, including making someone famous. They are different talented netizens, like bloggers. They gain publicity when they are posting or tweeting something on the social network. For example, we got a term “Youtuber”. It is for describing person who often makes and posts some videos on YouTube. YouTube is really a good platform for making someone a celebrity. Justin Biber has also started his road to the world stage at YouTube. Through the Internet, the video blogs can be watched worldwide. Now, we are not as “passive” as in the past. We are joining the process of making people famous, or even being the famous ones. Many Internet celebrities are developed upon the support of the other Internet users, who are you and me.

(Photo sourced: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/801311124/myworld2.jpg)

All in all, due to the change of media platform, the modes of media also changes. People now focus on the Internet rather than the television and radio. Therefore, the presentation mode of media of social network becomes dominant now. It is hard to determine if the presentation mode of media would defeat the representation mode of media. At this moment, we just know that the former is really a powerful one.

Reference

-             Marshall, P.D. 2013, “Persona studies: Mapping the proliferation of the public self”, Journalism, vol.0, no.0, pp. 1-18.

-             Marshall, P. D. 2010, “The promotion and presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational media”, Celebrity studies, vol.1, no.1, pp. 35–48.

Mobile phone is...

Mobile phone is...

In this information explosion era, everyone would like to keep track of what is happening in the whole world. Especially upon the development of the smart phone, people can update themselves even on the streets. The little devices make the whole world change. As the mobile phone market is getting larger, more companies are willing to invest money in the smart phone development of OS and apps. Well-developed interface and platforms makes these mobile phones a really useful gadget. According to Raessens (2005, p.373), computer games are characterized as a form of participatory media culture due to three domains: interpretation, reconfiguration, and construction. Participatory media culture is not limited to cultural forms such as computer games or to the digital so-called "new" media. Computer games are remediating the participatory culture that has formed around media such as film and television. However, Raessens (2005, p.374) also mentioned that remediation should not be the only focus, but also the distinguishing, specific characteristics or principles of computer games as a form of digital media: multimediality, virtuality, interactivity, and connectivity. Actually, the mobile phone is also a non-game participatory culture and can be examined in terms of the characteristics of computer games.

(Photo sourced: http://www.babysmiles.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/cell-phone-plans-for-kids-21.jpg)

In terms of multimediality, mobile phones are at the average level. According to Metz (cited in Raessens 2005, p.384), multimediality refers to the multitude of means of expression. The mobile phones share some operation systems (OS), like IOS and Android. Most of the apps are supported by both IOS and Android, which are the more popular OS of phones in the market. Unlike computer games, mobile phones do not “share one common digital code” (Raessens 2005, p.374).

(Photo sourced: http://images.getprice.com.au/products/Bimgnokia-lumia-520-mobile-phone.jpg)

In terms of virtuality, mobile phones have a low level. Certainly, the virtuality of mobile phones depends on the apps installed. For some apps, they are virtual-reality games; users can just build houses or do different tasks with the little device. However, few online games can be played with mobile phones. One of the possible reasons is that users may find it hard to explore the virtual world with the small gadgets.

In terms of interactivity, the mobile phones could be highly interactive. Especially for the smart phones, upon using different apps and the Internet, users can simply interact with the others whenever they want. Many social networks have developed their own apps, like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. There are even some tailor-made social network apps for the mobile phones.

In terms of connectivity, the mobile phones are highly connective. Mobile phones are originally developed for connecting people. With mobile phones, people can call and text each other. And now, people can access the Internet and different social networks with the mobile phones. It helps link up people regardless of the time and places.

(Photo sourced: http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2011/01/19/1225991/174160-mobile-phone.jpg)

The participatory media culture can be applied to different media forms that we use nowadays. In the other words, the media forms that we used these days are sharing the similar characteristics. They all mutually support the development of each other and interact with each other. These should be the main direction of future development.

Reference

Raessens, J 2005, 'Computer games as participatory media culture' in Raessen, J & Goldstein, J, Handbook of computer game studies, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 373-388.

Blogging in Higher Education--Blogging can help "learn how to learn"

Blogging in Higher Education--Blogging can help "learn how to learn"

Upon the technology development, computer and the Internet are being widely applied in different fields. And education is surely one of the important fields. Especially for the higher education, it emphasizes self-learning. Thus, blogging becomes a very useful tool for the tertiary educators and students. Learning is exchanging ideas with the others. And blogging could surely enhance the idea-exchange. Through blogging, students can write their reflections about their learning and review their peers’ thinking when reading their blogs. Also the group can communicate through commenting on each other blogs. This is applicable to the educators too. The group can then exchange their ideas towards the specific topics or subjects. Blogs certainly help link up students and the world. And actually, it is actually describing what I am doing now. However, with blogging, what else can be done?

Nowadays, blogging is a common practice for worldwide tertiary education. Yet, besides simply express ideas towards specific topics, it provides chances for students to learn through different contexts. In 2001, Judy Robertson published a paper named “The educational affordances of blogs for self-directed learning”. It is mainly about investigating the functional properties of blogging software and studying how it can enable groups of users to read, write and comment on others’ writing. According to Robertson (2011, p. 1629), reflection is important for self-directed learning, but self-directed learning encompasses other high level skills which can also be developed through blogging. For example, students may design diaries in engineering education instead of just writing journals for responding to critical incidents in the domain of teacher education. Learning through design is a rich and complex task. As described by Puntambekar & Kolodner (cited in Robertson 2001, p.1629), it “provides opportunities for students to incrementally construct, evaluate, discuss and revise both the models they are designing and their conceptions, thus encouraging students to engage in meta-cognitive activities such as planning and monitoring”. Thus, blogging does not mean something only about texts, but far beyond this.

(Photo sourced: http://cdn.dejanseo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/blog-ideas-resized-600.png)

Blogging seems to be a very good learning tool. Being an Education Major student, I would say that learning how to learn would be the most important. According to Higgins (cited in Robertson 2001, p.1628),“learning how to learn” is a broad and sometimes nebulous concept which encompasses independence, meta-cognition, thinking skills, self-regulation, self esteem and self-efficacy. Does blogging also help? I would say “yes”. Writing a blog is originally a chance for training one’s learning independence. One of my concerns is that students have to write a blog proactively. Through the whole process of blogging, students can train their structuring, developing and analysing skills. The bloggers are going to “write out” their thinking and ideas, which is a king of meta-cognition training.

(Photo sourced: http://edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/blog-3.jpg)

All in all, when making good use of blogging, blogs could be a tool for expressing emotion; it can be a good tool for learning. Students of different professionals can also make use of blogs to communicate with their peers and the world. And they can surely learn through the process.

Reference

Robertson, J. 2011 ‘The educational affordances of blog for self-directed learning’, Computers and Education, vol. 57, pp. 1628 – 1644.

We are all powerful "prosumers"

 We are all powerful "prosumers"

“Prosumer” is formed by the two words: “producer” and “consumer”. It regards the idea that one person is the producer and consumer at the same time. According to Ritzer and Jurgenson (2010), for example, in the McDonaldization of Society, Ritzer (2008[1993]) discusses how consumers are “working” in the fast food industry; the consumer of that food, is also, in certain extent, a producer of the meal. In regards to the model of presumption, it can be applied to many different circumstances. In the following blog, I would discuss and consider how the model can be applied to one’s identity.

As an international student studies in Australia, I am the producer and also the consumer. I consume different kinds of services provided by the commercial sectors, like restaurants and public transports. Meanwhile, during my consumption, I occasionally participate in the production of these services. For example, when I go to a fast food shop, I would serve myself as a waiter, as I have to find my own place and take my meal to the seat by myself. The self-serve checkout in the supermarkets illustrates the similar idea. Consumers, like me, would take their own items to the counter and finish the whole paying procedures. They actually “produce” as cashiers in the supermarkets. Besides, as I am a student, I enjoy different kinds of student discounts. In the other words, I am actually “consuming” the identity of being a student.

(Photo sourced: http://www.littlemummy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Self-service-checkout.jpg)

As a netizen, I am a producer and consumer in the Internet too. According to Ritzer and Jurgenson (2010), Web 2.0 'is currently both the most prevalent location of prosumption and its most important facilitator as a 'means of prosumption''. Obviously, the Internet provides more opportunities for people to be a “presumer”. In the Facebook, or some other social networks, I am posting some wall posts as a producer. At the same time, I am reading the posts of my friends as a consumer. The similar ideas can be applied to YouTube, Twitter and different forums. Those ideas are also applicable to the blog where I am posting my own opinion. YouTube is actually a good facilitator of presumption. As a fan, I can listen to different songs and watch the music videos of my idols. I am enjoying the entertainment as a consumer while I am contributing to the hit rate of the videos as a producer. This finally turns out to be a brilliant idea for online promotion.  

(Photo sourced: http://lolforsmb.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/lol-social-sites.jpg)

All in all, everyone could be a “prosumer”. Under different circumstances and with ours different identities, we could produce and consume our own identities at the same time. Especially with the rise of Web 2.0, presumption is further encouraged. Moreover, upon capitalism, the ideas of presumption could surely being applied on a commercial scale. Online promotion with YouTube is one of the applications. The power of presumption could no longer be neglected. 

References:

Ritzer, G & Jurgenson, N 2010 ‘Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer’, Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 10 no. 1, pp 13-36.

Can the "thieves" of copyright be intimidated?

Can the "thieves" of copyright be intimidated?

“Copyright” is a new term which familiars the 21^st century’s people very much. People’s awareness towards “intellectual property” has been greatly raised. Since the eighteen century, the idea of property rights has been developed. The rapid development of technologies leads to more high-tech crimes, including illegal download of different copyrighted things. In this post, one of the five common tactics that corporations and their legal representatives use to inhibit and counter public outrage: intimidation versus resistance would be further discussed.

Photo sourced: http://www.isentia.com/assets%5Cnewsletter%5Ccopyrightlarge.jpg

Technologies could bring people many advantages but also many disadvantages. Taking legal action is undoubtedly an effective way to prevent the crimes from happening, especially in this civilized society. However, with the help of technology, downloading music, movies and books from the Internet becomes much easier than before. Piracy is becoming an easy thing to do. And the police would find it even more difficult to target these high-tech criminals, as they exist in the boundless world virtually. Even the industries and the government would like to take legal action and intimidate the pirates; it could be a hard job to do. In 2005, a Hong Kong netizen has been successfully prosecuted by the Hong Kong Customs, for illegally share three movies on the BitTorrent indexing site. This case did trigger a heated debate in the world, as it was also the first case that involved jailing. I do agree that this could really intimidate the individuals who involve in illegal file-sharing. According to Martin, Moore and Salter (2010), “Most individuals are frightened when they are taken to court by a large company.” Individuals are always the weaker one when compared with the large corporations, especially in terms of money. Thus, the case could really be a warning signal to the perpetrators.

Photo sourced: http://trinities.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/go-to-jail.jpg

Yet, Martin, Moore and Salter (2010) pointed out another important argument that “When hundreds of thousands of people are sharing files, how fair is it for any single person to have to fight a court battle or pay a huge fine?” A group of individuals could form big power. In the virtual world, it is very difficult for the authority to find the exact person who shares the files illegally. The police can only chase the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the related netizens. And the authority has to investigate the illegal sharing with the help of the Internet providers. Due to the privacy problem, the companies can reject the request of providing their clients’ information. These make the investigation even more difficult. Moreover, I think that people are more familiar with the copyright law now. Some years ago, these high-tech criminals may be afraid of the law since there were related cases which have successfully brought to the court. As time flies and the technologies are continuously developing, they would try to find another way out to share the files. It would be even more difficult for the authority to stop the individuals from illegally sharing files. The effectiveness of intimidation would be far more reduced too. Self-discipline may be the only way to stop the criminal behavior; otherwise, the world still has to do much to protect the intellectual property. 

Photo sourced: http://globalvoicesonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ge13-protest-375x276.jpg

References

Martin, B, Moore, C and Salter, C 2010, Sharing music files: tactics of a challenge to the industry, First Monday, vol. 15, no. 12, retrieved 10 August 2013, <http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2986/2680>

 

Media Empires: catch-up the trend and become the real empires

Media Empires: catch-up the trend and become the real empires

“Another common understanding, that globalization means time-space compression,” suggested by Nederveen (2004). The boom in technologies makes people can communicate more easily. Far distances mean nothing to people nowadays. People can simply make a phone call or sent an email to get in touch with counterparts in the other sides of the world. This idea is widely appreciated by people from around the world. Intensive interaction could be experienced in this shrinking world. As mentioned by Powell and Steel (2011), “Mediascapes refer both to the distribution of electronic capabilities to produce and disseminate information (newspapers, magazines, television stations and film production studios) which are now available to a growing number of private and public interests throughout the world, and to the images of the world created by these media” (Appadurai, 1990, p. 330). A wide range of channels are available for distributing the information now. Media empires have to change to catch-up the trend of globalization, in order to be the real sovereigns of the media empires.

Photo sourced: http://socialkloud.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/social-media-world.jpg

In the past, we obtained information by reading newspaper and books. The speed of information spreading was relatively slow and inconvenient. Later on, upon the technological development, we have radios, televisions and computers. Even, we can use smart phones and different electronic gadgets to read news via the Internet. The world is changing rapidly. The information flow is much faster than before.

In order to catch-up the trend, the media empires have to change too. A new system of running a media empire has been developed. In the era of information explosion, people now can easily access different kinds of information through the Internet. One of the most important jobs of the media empires is to gain readers’ attention. The newspaper publishers set up their own websites and apps. These can ensure that their latest news can be accessed by the readers. In this fast-moving world, everyone works in a fast pace. Working faster seems to be as important as working better. They are fighting for the wide range of news, as well as the market shares.

Photo sourced: http://www.wpjedi.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/12.jpg

Besides, upon the development of social network, social media empires have been developed too. The main newspaper and media corporations would set up their own accounts in the social network, like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. They disseminate information and attract the readers and audience. As people are the most powerful in this age, in 2006, "You" were chosen in 2006 as Time magazine's Person of the Year, everyone is son influential to the world. The audience is determining who would be the media empires. Thus, they would not only focus on political and serious issues,as in the past, but also entertaining topics. They are developing an image of trendy and ensuring the interactions between the audience and them are intensive enough. They are not corporations but real images to communicate with. Being a media empire in today’s globalized world, accuracy and speed is not the most important thing. Merging into the shrinking world is more important than standing at a high place alone. This is what media empires should do in globalization.

Photo sourced: http://socialmediadecals.com/images/facebook-twitter-youtube-decal.jpg

Photo sourced: http://nextup.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/time-you.jpg

References

Nederveen Pieterse, J 2004, ‘Globalization: consensus and controversies’, Globalization and culture: global mélange, Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., pp. 7–21.

Powell Jason L, Steel Rebecca, 2011, ‘Revisiting Appadurai: Globalizing Scapes in a Global World – the Pervasiveness of Economic and Cultural Power’, International Journal of Innovative Interdisciplinary Research, 1, 74-80.

Globalization makes people linked up and information flows

Globalization makes people linked up and information flows

Upon the blooming technological development, people from around the world are closely linked up. The information can easily flow from the southern hemisphere to the other side of the earth. I could greatly experience the influence of globalization to me after I was here in Australia for studying aboard. 

When I am in Australia, I would usually communicate with my family in Hong Kong through a wide range of technological tools. We would use Whatapps, Tango, Skype and Facebook in order to keep close contact with each other. Actually, my mother has started learning computer since a few years ago. My mother realized that computer is getting more important. And it is more convenient to deal with many different things through the Internet. Now, she could phone me online by herself. She found it is very convenient. Globalisation as Giddens explains “link[s] distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa” (Rantanen 2005, p.6). We can simply communicate with the others by only clicking a button. Although the people may be physically miles away from each other, they can meet “virtually” through the Internet. People are linked up and this is globalization.

Photo sourced: http://www.slashgear.com/skype-were-not-powering-facebooks-messenger-phone-calls-17265745/

Moreover, my mother can even use computer for recreation purposes, like watching TV and news. News is another very good example of information flow. We can read and watch the News at home through the Internet and television. And we can visit different websites from around the world with only computers and other technological gadgets, like smart phones and tablets. Robertson writes that “Globalization as a concept refers both to the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole” (Rantanen 2005, p.7). People are living in the “global village”. People’s awareness towards the world is increasing. In the technological era, it is easier for people to know more about what is happening around the world. For the News of the “Royal baby”, my family and I can read the same piece of news at the same time and share the happiness together, even when we are in different places. Globalization also increases people’s awareness of regarding the world as a whole.

Photo sourced: http://www.salon.com/2013/07/24/royal_babys_name_announced/

References

Rantanen, T 2005, ‘Theorizing media and globalization’, Media and globalization 2005, Sage Publications, London, pp. 1-18