Viral videos are labeled as such for a reason. They are viral. However this genre of home made videos have become viral as a whole. YouTube used to be a simple video uploading site that has now become a way for people to gain fame and popularity. Anyone can post just about anything and depending on the content it may gain popularity due to the amount of views and the recently-developed easy access. Now you can take videos and post them on facebook and twitter and many other social networking sites making that video available to a much larger audience. Not to mention many TV shows are available on the internet now. It is becoming easier to access different shows that we love just as we can easily access YouTube videos. 

Viral videos have now made their way past the internet and onto TV with many shows such as Tosh 2.0 and The Soup making these videos more than just a internet phenomenon. I find that interesting because what is the next step for viral videos? Our attention span is slowly disintegrate into almost nothing and the way I see it we will eventually be watching 10 min sitcoms similar to viral videos. Hell, we already have mini TV episodes on youtube so I can imagine the next step is YouTube posts will eventually be equivalent to the many shows on TV. 

I tend to read a lot of these articles either completely disagree with them or I let it influence my opinion too much. I’m going to answer this question before I even read into too much. I think sitcoms filmed in front of a studio audience do have a future. SNL has been running for years and even though the show may have some pretty lame episodes its about the experience. So many people go to NYC and want to wait in line to get tickets to SNL. Its not always about the content of the show and who’s on it, its part of the NYC experience. 

Friends is another show that was filmed in front of a live studio audience. People who have watched that show on TV will often reference it because we are able to connect to it very easily but the ones who got to sit in the audience during a filming of it will talk about that experience for the rest of their lives. 

We do see less live filmed TV shows now but I do not think they will fail completely. I actually think there are some shows that would fail without a live audience. It will be sad when/if they die out because its almost like the only aspect of film that maintains some form of theatre. 

I feel like our conversation on censorship in television could’ve gone a lot further. We talked about new things on TV that would shock us and things such as gay sex came up but I actually started thinking about it in reverse. Back in the fifties commercials were all about smoking and drinking. Now its completely illegal to have commercials or even billboards about cigarettes. We still have commercials about alcohol but now theres stipulations on them. We talked a lot about things that should be censored etc because of how racy everything is getting now but its interesting to look back and see the things that used to never be censored. 

I don’t really think I appreciated soap operas until our last class. When you think about it it’s incredible that these actors have been developing these characters for years. Shows now dot last nearly as long. Look at Friends, it was a phenomenal show that was immensely popular but sadly the show eventually cancelled. I find it interesting that soap operas can go on for long despite their popularity. Friends was put to a halt because they basically ran out of ideas for story lines. Soap operas however don’t have that problem because they simply redo story lines over an over again. It’s pretty funny that they can get away with that. I also find it interesting how we talked about cinematography being horrible but in my opinion it isn’t necessary for it to be great because more often than not housewives will do chores around the house and listen to soap operas moreso than watch.

Ok let me first say, no offense to anyone who enjoyed Quiet City.

This movie had a lot of potential. It could’ve been a great story about two people meeting and getting to know each other in New York City. It could’ve been fun and cheerful feel-good film and still kept a low budget and have been a success.

However, it wasn’t.
For so many many reasons.

The acting was miserable. Both of these actors had horrible timing, they were incredibly awkward and neither o their characters had any depth.

The cinematography- there were some pretty cool artistic shots like when they are at the park but sometimes it just made me nauseas. There were often awkward angles with an unsteady camera.

They could’ve spiced up the story a little more instead of having so many awkward silent boring scenes.
The movie had potential. However a lot of the artistic decisions with this film went awry.

Wow… 

Of course most know my initial reaction to this movie because when it ended I immediately yelled, “I’m pissed!”. 

But really, I get it. I read on IMDB (not the most reliable source for trivia I know) that when Allen was asked why he did such a sad ending he responded that it was the reason he did the movie. Sometimes we need that realization —> not everything ends happily ever after. It goes to show that in the entertainment world people will do whatever it takes to keep their fame and reputation. 

However, in the end I loved how the camera stayed on Cecilia for so long. It wasn’t long enough to be uncomfortable but long enough to make my mind race with questions. When I realized Gil wasn’t coming back I saw a slight, very slight, smile on Cecilia’s face giving me the message of “Everything in the end will be ok”. She sat there watching a movie, the one stable thing in her life that she could always depend on to make her happy.

One thing I actually did like about that ending is how everyone will take something different away from it. What I said above may be completely different than what other people took away from the movie. I think that last, long shot of just her face is the key factor in what makes people think different things with about the movie. 

I thought the movie was incredibly creative and unique and it is hard to come across that often.

Honestly I think this essay on the feminist movement in film just went in circles. Some things I do agree with, some I don’t. Of course even the title makes me apprehensive. Often we picture feminists as these extremists who can take it a step to far and may need to step it down a notch. This essay however did a good job of pointing out what worked with this movement and what didn’t. 

This essay uses a lot of quotes that refer to “desire” very often which I find very interesting. At one point (pg. 172) there is a reference to desire. Films became sexist, showing women as femme fetales, or these over powering and seductive women. The thing that makes this image so powerful is that these women can be seen but can’t be touched. Sure this is “sexist” because its about a biological part of a woman being used as a desirable aspect but I don’t see it as being some degrading image necessarily. 

Lets look at Joan from Mad Men. She is most certainly a femme fetale. But thats why everyone loves her! She’s a strong woman that doesn’t just slut herself out. She IS desired but CANNOT be touched. 

Maybe this essay wasn’t d-bagging the femme fetale figure… this essay seemed to go in circles no matter how many times I look over it. 

Its ALL about desire. Not only what people desire from these women but can’t have but also how can these women be pictured in film so that they are desired.

Women are now pictured in cinema in a variety of ways. We have women like Lara Croft in Tomb Raider and we have characters like Shelley in House Bunny. We’ve come a long way and we still have further to go.

Not really sure what else to say on this essay, I found it interesting at some points and completely lacking and going in circles in another which is why I wish I could be there tomorrow to get a better grip on this. 

Maybe I’m crazy but I don’t get pumped about the Oscars. Yes, its great to go hang out with friends and pretend to watch the 4/5 hour long award ceremony but I don’t think you’d catch me hanging out at my house watching The Academy Awards on my own. Nothing against anyone who love The Academy Awards! Its just not my thing. 

I considered watching it this year specifically for Billy Crystal (that’s right David!) but my birthday ended up being the more fun thing to celebrate. 

Sure, I like to know who won… and rather than wait hours to find out who won what I normally check online the following day while looking at the best/worst dressed (and I’ll be honest thats my favorite part!). 

Like we talked about in class, there’s a predominant winning genre and a lot of the time the dramatic, artistic film that wins is the one that I haven’t seen yet. I’m not one to wait in suspense to find out that what I wanted to win or in some cases what should have won, lost (i.e. the make up design this year *cough cough*). That’s not very happy or exciting to me. 

I’m not trying to be pessimistic, I totally understand the tradition of these awards and I appreciate their value. But if you ask me, they should consider adapting the Oscars to be more like the Uties ;)

One question that briefly came up last week was why are movie musicals not as popular now as they once were? 

I grew up watching a ton of musicals, and not just disney princess movies. One of the first musicals I remember watching is Showboat. After that, Singing in the Rain and Naughty Marietta. My grandfather is obsessed and I credit him largely to my love of theatre today. 

So I was thinking about this… what is the difference? Why are movie musicals not as popular anymore? I took two well-known musicals that have been made into movies and decided to make some general comparisons. 

1. Singin’ in the Rain with the lovely Donald O’Connor singing Make ‘Em Laugh 

2. Rent’s La Vie Boheme with a variety of talented and untalented singers/actors 

First up - Singin’ in the Rain, If you haven’t seen this movie, go see it. And if you haven’t seen this song, 

Wonderful day! Happy Mardi Gras! (Taken with instagram)