Month: March 2008

Responses for March 11

The Jenkins article and beginning of Bogost’s book make arguments for the specific ways that videogames function as a specific medium with a particular rhetoric and aesthetic mode. What aspects of gaming do you find most distinctive, and how do they work to persuade or create an artistic possibility?

I also want to collect links to online games that seem relevant to our study – try to play around with some of them to get a sense of different possibilities. Here are a few that Bogost discusses or that offer examples of political games:

Darfur is Dying

McDonalds Game

September 12th and Madrid

Redistricting Game

Persuasive Games – Bogost’s own studio, which includes the Dean for Iowa game and many others

A victory for fair use… and over Michael Savage

I thought this story is very relevant to the movie we watched in class the other day. A judge in San Francisco ruled that a Muslim Civil Rights group had the right to rebroadcast and criticize four minutes of Michael Savage’s radio show because doing so was social commentary and fell under the terms of fair use.

Also, going back to the podcast David and I did, it’s interesting to wonder whether the publicity Michael Savage gets for his bigoted statements is a good thing or a bad thing. Either way it’s good that Savage’s frivolous law suit got thrown out.

Political Remix Videos

I know that everyone is probably getting sick of all the remix videos that are being posted. But I found this one that is actually a campagin ad for Hilary Clinton made from a mash up of Jack Nicholson clips. I think it is interesting how remix videos have now become a tool for political campaigns. [youtube U9NUPLaoUdo]

I’m on YouTube!

So a year and a half ago I was only using my computer for email, AIM, and TextTwist. My sister actually made a Facebook account for me and then gave me the password. Now I’m blogging with you guys, running Firefox, and uploading video to stream on the net. Woohoo! What a rush.

YouTube was surprisingly easy to join and use. Easier than, say… navigating a Mac! (I run Windows… and I LIKE IT! You can all jump out of the shadows and eat me now.)

I only have one video up so far, my final project for Sight and Sound I, and I don’t know if it counts as remix culture. It certainly borrows from other media and even has something to say about it, and I’d like to know what you guys think.

Is it sad that I take extremely nerdy glee from being able to embed videos in this blog thing?

[youtube 37pi39U2NEk]

Another movie remix

[youtube TF3z-j8o39I]
Now this one is a bit different than the shining or office space remix trailer because it doesn’t try to “remix” the film’s genre, storyline, etc. but rather takes one aspect of fargo (i.e. how it portrays south dakotans) and analyzes it. Interesting to think about how remix videos can function differently.

Big Blue Dress

So my boyfriend is a 1337 pwnzor Tauran druid ftw, btw, and sends me these crazy things. The previous video reminded me of this one, which is one of the better ones I’ve seen.　It’s also musical, to a very catchy song. One more way MMORPGs invade the lives of non-players like me.

And remember; “A man who’s truly skilled can look quite good in twill!” Oh dear, that was a bit much, even for me…

[youtube vqO7zEWu0W0]

roflmao?

Brian, Derek, and I have a friend who plays WoW. We generally find it’s better not to ask, but sometimes it gets us really tasty bits of internet culture, such as this video. It’s worth watching until the credits start rolling.

I present to you “ROFLMAO,” a re-imagined “Mahna Mahna.”
[youtube iEWgs6YQR9A]

On the subject of robots…

Alright, so my titles need work. But this is a webcomic that I read, which I’m pretty sure no one else does. Thus I shall enlighten you as you have enlightened me. Most of them are single panels or short multipanel comics, with continuity stemming from the Transformers franchise. It’s a commentary on the whole picture, from Generation 1 to the fandom to mistakes Michael Bay hasn’t even made yet. The latest edition is of the latter category, and it updates every Monday.

Matt Moylan’s Lilformers

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series

Yeah. I posted it. I capitalized and punctuated correctly. I have two decks stashed away in my desk somewhere if anyone else on the planet still knows how to play.

Moving on.

This is definitely more of a traditional remix than Haloid. It’s a series of episodes- each cut down to about ten minutes and completely dubbed over by one very talented man- and it’s absolutely hilarious. Whether you love, hate, or have never heard of children’s card games, this will probably make you laugh. Littlekuriboh got millions of hits per episode before having his videos taken down and being repeatedly banned from YouTube. I believe his episodes fall under fair use- but you can judge for yourselves. Now he has his own website.

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series

And if you liked the funny subtitles of the Beni Lava video, he does something similar for the opening and ending themes of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Other Abridged Movie right here! Sadly, it will probably be ripped off of YouTube once ‘they’ find it.

[youtube pBhUWjQAJYE]

remix vids

Hey- as I’m sure you all are doing as well, I’ve been searching remix videos on youtube and have been finding some pretty interesting and funny ones.  Here is a very short dubbed and remixed Lion King video:

Enjoy

[youtube YjQsZReAD2o]

Haloid

This is possibly the best example of borrowed media I have ever witnessed. It was choreographed and animated by one guy. If the characters were not borrowed, it would be original media, and impressive original media at that. The lengths fans go to appreciate their favorite games for free is astounding, though I’m sure this produced a different kind of return. It is, of course, available for download in ridiculous quality. Fanservice alert: If you are deeply attached to the manly mystique of Master Chief, you may want to keep a defibrillator handy.

[youtube K9sYixr2miY]

Obama mashup video

This is basically just a mashup of various images from the Obama campaign in Texas, and I think it raises issues of how mashups can be used as tools of political persuasion/propaganda. However, what really intrigued me was the song used in the video, which if I’m not mistaken samples from the trumpet line to the 1966 song “Hold on, I’m comin'” by the R&B group Sam and Dave (and written by Issac Hayes). Appropriate for the image the Obama campaign is trying to project, I’d say. Enjoy.

[youtube pXvq1wu-LiI]

No!

I want to show you all a different kind of remix video. It’s a collection of Shia LaBeouf saying “No,” in various films. This is a pretty popular technique, I know they have versions of movies that just have the f-word, like pulp fiction and superbad. Here’s a link to the superbad one.

Here’s the “No” since that seems a little more appropriate to embed for class.
[youtube 8IXCK1EyP4s&feature=PlayList&p=320D9C060F640453&index=9]