Blog Post 4

Part 1

• Paywalls: This technology limits access to content, those who can afford it are given access while others are not. Many credible news sites such as the New York Times or Wall Street Journal require users to pay for a subscription. There is an opportunity here to discuss how limiting knowledge impacts society and journalism. Paywalls also support McLuhan’s idea that the medium is the message.
• Visual effects (VFX): Technology is used in modern films more commonly now, with some films placing an emphasis on visual effects. Visual effects changed the way we tell stories, some films focus on visual effects more than the story whereas other films may use them to communicate something words cannot. I think there is an opportunity to talk about McLuhan’s concepts of amplification/amputation in users and overheating mediums in the audience. In my research, I delved into the production of Star Wars and how its successful use of visual effects through technology (Dykstraflex camera, Go Motion, CGI) showed the film industry that investing in technology can lead to profitable movies.
• Multitrack Recorders: This technology allowed different aspects of a song to be recorded individually. This technology allows artists to produce music that they weren’t able to in a studio and record parts of music separately. I think there is an opportunity to discuss how this process is more “linear” and organized compared to how music is traditionally made. Also, how this technology changes the process of creating music and live performance for the audience. In my research I found this article that gave me an idea of how this process can amplify/amputate and create a “…separation between the performance and the writing”.