I love my script.
My story is a (silent?) western about a small town that has existed as completely functioning society under complete anarchy. As the United States government starts pursuing their goal of manifest destiny, they stumble upon this little town. It is soon determined that the town is an excellent place to put up a military fort. The villagers are impartial to the new government presence at first, but after the fort is built they start to feel imposed upon, and abused. In order to keep the villagers at bay, the mayor starts having suspicious villagers watched. This doesn't sit well with them, and they need to band together to do something about their new neighbours.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
FROM CRAP TO LOVING IT
After pitching my topic over and over to my classmates i absolutely love it. I started off with Marcus being captured by terrorists instead of the DHS as my question of concern.
I love my idea.
I love my idea for our machinima project. For my screen play I plan to write about a group of teens, inspired by Marcus and his friends, set during the civil rights movement. It will be about how these teens connect with other teens and encourage them to get involved in a better cause. It will play off Little Brother in the relationships of the teens, parents, schools, and news media, but it will be set in the 1960's. The characters will be hippe-esque teens, who before witnessing an act of civil rights injustice, were unmotivated and uninspired. I think my idea has a strong concept and relation to Little Brother.
Machinima Pitch
I came into this class, with a semi-vague idea of my basis around my screenplay. I'm trying to work my way around it try it make it more clear and concise with a beginning middle and end. Right now, after pitching my idea three times to my brilliant classmates, I am working my way in this direction. I know that this idea has potential, and I want to be able to love it so that I can run with it. The one thing that I am making different in comparison to Little Brother is that Darryl will be at Marcus's side throughout the screenplay. They will be captured by the DHS together and released together. Darryl will not be stabbed in the train station and will not be bleeding out (which led to Marcus flagging down a truck initially which was actually the DHS). Marcus and Darryl spend one complete day on their own after their release and are reluctant to go back to school to tell all their friends what has happened. When they return, they notice that there are cameras everything and a DHS officer with conducting searches at Security Checkpoint before they enter school. At the end of the school day, both Marcus and Darryl come home and are kidnapped by the terrorists during the night, the same terrorists who bombed the Bay Bridge. The interesting unknown question in this respect is: how different would life have been for Marcus if Darryl was by his side? In the novel, the purpose of Marcus pursuing the DHS was to rescue Darryl, so what reason would he have to pursue the DHS if they had released him? Darryl and Marcus are taken to the terrorist headquarters, which turn out to be in an underground lair right beneath the Port of San Francisco. The terrorists force both of them to try and infiltrate the DHS headquarters via the Internet and siphon their funds into an offshore bank account. The terrorists wanted to do this because the DHS had captured their leader and had him locked away in Gitmo-by-the-bay. Marcus and Darryl do as they are told, and attempt to make contact with their friends in family at home and do so, just so they know if they are alive and well. Marcus keeps in contact with Barbara Stratford as well on a secure server and makes sure that she is on site at the DHS Headquarters with the CHP undercover when the terrorists come to attempt to rescue their captured comrade. (Plot remains the same, the DHS is still the way it was in the book, police state). It turns out to be a trap, the terrorists and DHS agents are captured and are tried on the criminal justice system. Darryl and Marcus are set free.
I Love My Idea
I freaking love my idea...kinda. My idea is a Rugratesque version of the love triangle of Van, Marcus, and Darryl. I want to play off the idea of morality of realationships and the question of what constitutes a real, positive relationship. The plot is a back story to the whole web of relationships shared by these three best friends and is ultimately the set up to where there relationships are in Little Brother. The story takes place in a day care and Van is clearly interested in Marcus while Darryl is obviously pining for Van. There will be some conflict, baby style, in which Darryl tries to help/save Van but only hinders their relationship while Marcus comes to save the day. As a resolution Darryl will find some other todder of interest who potentially consoles Darryl with a bottle or lollypop. If this is taken to a more toddleresque perspective the resolution will be more of a "lets play tag" or some other game that allows everyone to appear to be happy in the end.
Julia's
My idea for the screenplay is crap. I am going to develop my idea into one that I love by working out that major details. I am going to pin point the setting, the characters, and their conflict. Right now, I just have a plot, nothing else.
Pitch
I came to class today with a jumble of random ideas that didn't really have a figure, just a fuzzy shadow. I didn't really like ANY of them, I realized, when we were watching the how-to-screenwrite videos in class. So I came up with a new one on the spot, and I am falling in love with it (or at least I really like it).
Basically, my story will try to justify why severe haircut lady is the way she is. I don't believe that anyone is born truly evil, yet in Little Brother that's what she seemed to be. I want to focus on her background story, and how she got to the point where she was when she met Markus.
It's going to start with her interrogating Markus, with the water drowning treatment and etc. And after that a huge chunk of the movie will be flashbacks of her life in the past, that help to show her in a different light, so that we could understand her a little more. I'm thinking that maybe her whole family died in a terrorist attack, or some kind of murder involving not enough security. She was a very kind person, involved in a lot of community service activities, but after she found out her family died, she was BROKEN FOREVER and CRIPPLED from sadness. So some concerned friends got her a PSYCHIASTRIST who urged her to get herself together. She goes back to work, with a HEART OF ICE.
Eventually she ends up in the DHS, and gets raised to a pretty high position because of how DEDICATED she was to her job and how successful she was in getting info. out of her prisoners.
Anyways, in the end something happens (I still need to figure this out), and she realizes how horrible she's been to others, and her ICY HEART melts (I dunno maybe one of the characters in Little Brother reminds her of her dead kid). And then she WEEPS, sorry for all her wrongdoings, and either apologizes and spends the rest of her life doing good (moves to Africa to help educate the children, gives paychecks to homeless shelters) OR she jumps off a building.
Yes, this is a tragedy.
The End.
Basically, my story will try to justify why severe haircut lady is the way she is. I don't believe that anyone is born truly evil, yet in Little Brother that's what she seemed to be. I want to focus on her background story, and how she got to the point where she was when she met Markus.
It's going to start with her interrogating Markus, with the water drowning treatment and etc. And after that a huge chunk of the movie will be flashbacks of her life in the past, that help to show her in a different light, so that we could understand her a little more. I'm thinking that maybe her whole family died in a terrorist attack, or some kind of murder involving not enough security. She was a very kind person, involved in a lot of community service activities, but after she found out her family died, she was BROKEN FOREVER and CRIPPLED from sadness. So some concerned friends got her a PSYCHIASTRIST who urged her to get herself together. She goes back to work, with a HEART OF ICE.
Eventually she ends up in the DHS, and gets raised to a pretty high position because of how DEDICATED she was to her job and how successful she was in getting info. out of her prisoners.
Anyways, in the end something happens (I still need to figure this out), and she realizes how horrible she's been to others, and her ICY HEART melts (I dunno maybe one of the characters in Little Brother reminds her of her dead kid). And then she WEEPS, sorry for all her wrongdoings, and either apologizes and spends the rest of her life doing good (moves to Africa to help educate the children, gives paychecks to homeless shelters) OR she jumps off a building.
Yes, this is a tragedy.
The End.
I had crap for a screenplay plan. My idea is now to essentially combine Little Brother with the movie Braveheart. I want to set up the movie back in a time closer to the setting of Braveheart so that there is not a ton of technology and with the characters very upset at how the DHS has been treating them and feeling discouraged. Then I want to make Marcus a war hero like William Wallace, and have him convince the people to go to war with the DHS. It will feature one large battle where they beat the DHS and get their freedom. Before the battle Marcus is going to give an inspirational speech like he does when he gathers the people he and Jolu trust together. Then after the very inspirational speech the fight will start. At the end they will beat the DHS army they are fighting and the DHS will stop oppressing them.
Well it sucked so I gave up.
I walked into class with my idea from my previous blog post, and it sucked apparently, so after crying a little I wiped away my tears came up with a better idea. I want to displace marcus and stern haircut woman into our modern day world and take away the danger and volatility of their situation, while retaining the conflict between the two of them. I plan on essentially trivializing the argument between a revolutionary kid and a military woman who believes in order and the hierarchy of government above all. This fighting will take place somewhere like the jerry springer show or a counselor. They will begrudgingly grow to learn that they have the same goal, they just believe in different systems, which in the non-dystopia of the normal world, doesn't matter as much. They ride off happily into the sunset.
Script idea- Rebecca
I do not like my script idea, in any way. I need to develop it into something that is more relevant to Little Brother and be able to create characters that the audience can identify with. I think that the first step is picking a genre for my script, after that I will be able to brainstorm more ideas and zero in on one. My top picks for genre would be comedy or drama, and since these are two very different genres it is proving itself difficult to just decide on one.
I must think of an idea that I am willing to marry.
I think I would really like to pitch the idea of Ange's point of view when falling "in love" with Marcus. Since I believe her character to be oddly obsessive and controlling I would like to be able to portray her thoughts while going through the story line of the novel. The movie will be mostly a dramatic love story, borderline melodramatic since that is basically what the novel is, and with sparse comedy, only to emphasize her obsession. Ange would be the protagonist with her main conflict being her journey in pursuing Marcus. The antagonist would have to be Marcus' resistance, and his previous attraction to Van.
Machinima discussion
My site: http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/wburke/Surveillance/splash-surveil.htm
I came into this having seen a small amount of machinima, and what I hadn’t realized is how well it was done. Machinima clearly takes much more time and effort than I had previously realized, especially when you consider the time it takes to come up with a quality creative script beforehand, and then combine that with well planned and carefully laid out filming, which often requires working around obstructions that are inherent to working within video games or virtual worlds. One thing I took for granted in the machinima I had seen, Red vs. Blue, is the work that is put into making the illusion of speaking. Every time a character speaks the people controlling them have to move their heads up and down in conjunction with their talking. That is in fact what I find to be impressive about the good machinima, and lacking in the less well made machinima. In Red vs. Blue and others, the focal points of production are the dialogue, and camera work. Almost no movement occurs due to the clumsiness of the characters in Halo, where they options for movement are so limited. The other huge strength I see in their machinima is the theme of playing off the art form of machinima. Often jokes or plotlines are built around the fact that these characters exist within ridiculous conditions and constraints, and are unable to do many basic things. With camera work that gives the characters and surroundings a good feel, all they put into it is character development and humor, focusing on the intricacies of the dialogue, and they come out with an excellent and entertaining machinima. For my own machinima script, I would like to aim for this same sort of goal. While I realize this may conflict with the goal of keeping Little Brother central to the machinima, I think it can work very well. In my machinima I plan to displace a number of the characters from Little Brother into Second Life into a neutral (maybe humorous) environment. Here they will engage in some sort of reconciliatory dialogue but will continue to run into their inadequacies, highlighted by the literal inadequacies of second life.
I came into this having seen a small amount of machinima, and what I hadn’t realized is how well it was done. Machinima clearly takes much more time and effort than I had previously realized, especially when you consider the time it takes to come up with a quality creative script beforehand, and then combine that with well planned and carefully laid out filming, which often requires working around obstructions that are inherent to working within video games or virtual worlds. One thing I took for granted in the machinima I had seen, Red vs. Blue, is the work that is put into making the illusion of speaking. Every time a character speaks the people controlling them have to move their heads up and down in conjunction with their talking. That is in fact what I find to be impressive about the good machinima, and lacking in the less well made machinima. In Red vs. Blue and others, the focal points of production are the dialogue, and camera work. Almost no movement occurs due to the clumsiness of the characters in Halo, where they options for movement are so limited. The other huge strength I see in their machinima is the theme of playing off the art form of machinima. Often jokes or plotlines are built around the fact that these characters exist within ridiculous conditions and constraints, and are unable to do many basic things. With camera work that gives the characters and surroundings a good feel, all they put into it is character development and humor, focusing on the intricacies of the dialogue, and they come out with an excellent and entertaining machinima. For my own machinima script, I would like to aim for this same sort of goal. While I realize this may conflict with the goal of keeping Little Brother central to the machinima, I think it can work very well. In my machinima I plan to displace a number of the characters from Little Brother into Second Life into a neutral (maybe humorous) environment. Here they will engage in some sort of reconciliatory dialogue but will continue to run into their inadequacies, highlighted by the literal inadequacies of second life.
Machina Ideas
After watching the machinimas, I noticed that this project will probably be pretty hard. But it will be really cool to see everyone's at the end of the quarter. I'm not sure what I want to write my screenplay about yet but the machinimas and discussions in class gave me a few ideas for my own machinima. I'm pretty good at a few different accents so I thought that would be cool to use some funny accents for the voice overs. I don't want anything annoying, like that little guy in the corner who kept popping up in the machinima we watched in class. Also, I'm disappointed that we cannot use music because of copyright issues but it will be fun and interesting to make our own music! I've never used Garage Band before!! In one of the machinimas I watched, the characters had a strong sense of humor. I want my machinima to be funny! I'll have to think of some ideas for the screenplay.
It sucked then I changed it
I want to change the setting of "Little Brother" a modern day Nazi Germany. I would keep the same characters and change the plot a little bit. The story would begin with an attack from America on a German city and Marcus and his friends are captured and suspected for making the attack. The Nazis take them to a concentration camp (which would be similar to Treasure Island). This is the conflict. They are interrogated harshly though they didn't do anything and Severe Haircut Lady would be Hitler. I would touch upon another issue that Doctorow talked about which is race. The Nazi's suspect Marcus and his friends since they look American. They finally escape (instead of being realised. There is no Xnet since unlike American interrogation like water boarding, Nazi interrogation is something you would die than go through again. They start out as happy kids and end up as scarred souless youth.
Screen Play Development
To be totally honest at the beginning of the class period I really did not have an idea of what i was going to for my screenplay. But after watching the videos in class and having the peer discussions I feel like I have an idea of what I want to do for the screenplay that I actually like. I was going to have a protagonist in his late 20's who just got back from the war in the middle east. When he returns to his home in a very small innocent town he sees that his community has been corrupted by the government and through out the film the protagonist is fighting back to remove the corrupt government in his town and return the community to how it was before he had left. This still relates to Little Brother because when Marcus gets back from his imprisonment he realizes when he returns that all of San Francisco has changed when he was gone and the whole book is on how he fights back against the Department of Homeland Security to return the privacy back to his home town.
Script Idea
I started off the day with this idea and it sucked. I had a vegue idea of the theme I wanted to focus on and now I have a much more solid understanding of where I want the story to go. With the help of my fellow students I was able to narrow my idea into a story about Darryll and what he was going through while the events of Little Brother were happening. Initially Darryll is scared but hopeful that he will be released. As time wears on he realizes that he may never be free again. Multiple flashes of thoughts are shown: what he thinks Marcus is doing now, how he thinks his dad is doing, Van. He becomes more and more resentful toward Marcus for doing this to him. He hears news about Xnet and wonders if Marcus even remembers he exists. One day some time later his cell door is opened and he discovers that Marcus has overthrown the DHS. He is torn between the deep hatred that has grown for Marcus and his grateful feelings for his release. This tension leaves him speechless combined with his extremely weak physical state.
Screen Play Development
At the beginning of the day, I began with an ambitious character who has wanted to be involved in the CIA his entire life. Ever since childhood, it has been his dream to become an agent in the CIA and has devoted every aspect of his life into becoming just that. The story begins with the man at appproximately age 30. He has become an agent and has been involved with this job for about a year. At about this time, he begins to become exposed to the dark secrets of the CIA. Many of the operations done by the CIA have dark motives and are done for the personal gain of those government officials that are at the top of the order. Many of them are simply power hungry. Upon this discovery, the protagonist realizes that he wanted to join the CIA to help the country for the greater good, not to gain power. So, he, like Marcus in Little Brother, attempts to work against the CIA secretly in order to sabotage their corrupt operations. He hopes that this work will put away the corrupt leaders in the CIA.
Machinima Idea Brainstorming
Today, I started with the simple idea of Little brother from Van's Perspective. It sucked because a large portion of the story has her dissappear for a while. Then I decided to incorporate her in a more behind the scenes role. In my story, Van actually helps Marcus without him knowing. These scenes will involve the party, the vampire party and the concert. But i didn't have a way that i would fit this in 8 mins. After talking to my peers, the ideas of inner monologue and a sort of montage. Also, Incorporating Jolu became a great idea so the whole film wasn't just Van talking to you. Now to put it in a story format. The set up is that The terrorist attack happened which leads to Van and Marcus fighting. The main conflict is that she cannot get herself to tell Marcus how she feels about him. Finally the resolution is the kiss they share, and how she finally musters up the courage. The story is a typical shy, teenage girl story, but with cyber terrorism thrown in to mix it up.
screenplay idea
I started the day with a lot of scattered ideas. My ideas where not very good or plausible. I got the idea from the video we watched to make it a news cast and i that helped. Then i moved on to using my hypertext ideas to drive my screenplay. I come up with an awesome idea for a screenplay. I want to create a news cast about four student who's teacher failed them and they wanted to get even. They come up with a plan to fail the standardized test so that the teacher would look bad but the plan back lashed and the students got all college admissions revoked! After the news cast end with a warning to student about the importance of standardized testing the screen will go black and success stories of the kids in the story will appear. The storeys will be along the line of major susses even after what happened. For example Marcus will become a major computer programmer, creating a system that causes Microsoft to look like a glitch.
Script Writing
I started out the day with a vague idea about a love story between Marcus and Van and it turned into something dark and disturbed and I love it! Initially, I wanted Marcus to end up with Van somehow, but I wans't quite sure how I wanted this to take place. Therefore, I mentally started thinking about a cool intro to a movie and I came up with this...
Scene 1: Marcus walking down a stone hallway inside a jail cell looking for his best friend Daryll and his girlfriend Ange after he just dismantled the Department of Homeland Security. A voice over is discussing betrayal of trust pertaining to friends and women. A security camera follows his progress down the hall. Close up on his face... focused... determined to find his friends.
Scene 2: Marcus enters into a high security room... to a sight that will change his world. He walks in on Ange and Daryll passionately intertwined. Marcus is horrified. His whole world has been shattered. His best friend and his girlfriend... Ange calls out to him to wait as he runs away.
Scene 3: Sitting alone on his bed... Marcus is wearing all black. He's a dark and disturbed young man... sorta like Spider Man 3 when he starts a black Spiderman suit. He's lost all faith in humanity. Suddenly, his cell phone beeps. Nobody talks to Marcus anymore, he had cut off all ties with humanity.
Cell Phone Screen : VAN: Hey... I Need To Talk To You. Can You Meet Me At Our Spot?
Scene 4: (Van and Marcus' meeting... need to think more deeply about conversation that takes place... general idea that Marcus will say very little at first while Van tries to explain a lot of things and he will gradually warm up and start talking about his feelings and then this scene will conclude with them smiling at each other bceause they've made amends)
Scene 5: *several months later* Marcus is happy again. Voice over explains that he and Van rekindled their friendship and are now dating. Camera walks behind them holding hands. Focuses in from the front of them laughing and enjoying each others presence after Marcus tells a nerdy technology joke. They see Ange and Daryll drive by in Daryll's new convertible. Marcus follows them with his eyes as they drive past. Suddenly at the intersection their car gets T-boned by a semi-truck. They both die instantly. Screen goes black. The following words appear : "Karma's a Bitch"
Scene 1: Marcus walking down a stone hallway inside a jail cell looking for his best friend Daryll and his girlfriend Ange after he just dismantled the Department of Homeland Security. A voice over is discussing betrayal of trust pertaining to friends and women. A security camera follows his progress down the hall. Close up on his face... focused... determined to find his friends.
Scene 2: Marcus enters into a high security room... to a sight that will change his world. He walks in on Ange and Daryll passionately intertwined. Marcus is horrified. His whole world has been shattered. His best friend and his girlfriend... Ange calls out to him to wait as he runs away.
Scene 3: Sitting alone on his bed... Marcus is wearing all black. He's a dark and disturbed young man... sorta like Spider Man 3 when he starts a black Spiderman suit. He's lost all faith in humanity. Suddenly, his cell phone beeps. Nobody talks to Marcus anymore, he had cut off all ties with humanity.
Cell Phone Screen : VAN: Hey... I Need To Talk To You. Can You Meet Me At Our Spot?
Scene 4: (Van and Marcus' meeting... need to think more deeply about conversation that takes place... general idea that Marcus will say very little at first while Van tries to explain a lot of things and he will gradually warm up and start talking about his feelings and then this scene will conclude with them smiling at each other bceause they've made amends)
Scene 5: *several months later* Marcus is happy again. Voice over explains that he and Van rekindled their friendship and are now dating. Camera walks behind them holding hands. Focuses in from the front of them laughing and enjoying each others presence after Marcus tells a nerdy technology joke. They see Ange and Daryll drive by in Daryll's new convertible. Marcus follows them with his eyes as they drive past. Suddenly at the intersection their car gets T-boned by a semi-truck. They both die instantly. Screen goes black. The following words appear : "Karma's a Bitch"
Screenplay Writing
I started off with this idea earlier today and it sucked. Now, I have solidified my theme and characters and really like it. I decided more on who my characters were going to be, what was going to be the conflict for these characters, how they would deal with these conflicts, and how they screenplay would eventually end. At the beginning of the period, I wanted to use the idea of over-surveillance and the invasion of an individual's privacy, but I didn't know how to get this idea across to my viewers. Now, I have two basic protagonist characters. The first, is a husband who accidentally falls on a lady at a public place and his wife catches him and thinks she is cheating. After, his wife goes to extreme measures to know what is going on with her husband and puts her on a tracking device. He gets so angry that he leaves her. The other character, a teenage girl gets caught holding a cigartette by her parents and they are horrified because they think she is smoking. However, she was really just picking the cigarette off the ground to throw in the trash. Her parents don't believe her and make her start homeschool where they can watch her every actions. The teenager ends up running away because she can't deal with being watched constantly. Later, both the wife of the husband and the parent of the teenager find out that the protagonists were telling the truth. However, it is too late. I think this would be an appropriate time to go back to the protagonists who both meet in a public place and tell their stories to each other. I want them to talk about how the extreme surveillance got to be too much for them and now they are much happier. I think it may be funny for them to actually fall for each other because they have so much in common because of their past events, but this may detract from the theme of other people prying into other's lives. I think this idea is creative, and will be fun to try and create. I hope to add a lot of comedic aspects to it, if this is possible. I think it won't be as successful if I tried to portray it in a serious, more dramatic way. I feel much more confident about my idea now that I have taken more time to think about it and write it out in detail and hope I can master it.
screenplay ideas
I started out thinking i was going to do a similar screenplay to what i ended up with. after i changed a few things and made it alittle better with suggestions from classmates and ideas of my own i think i like my idea. my screenplay is going to be more comedic that a drama, however it is going to have some dramatic parts. The opening of my screenplay is going to show the scene of the vampire game. the main characters are not going to be marcus and van, it is instead going to be Nate and Liam (the two boys marcus later meets on the street who know him as mikey). Nate and liam start out at the vampire game talking about how cool mikey is and how fun this event was. they decided to leave when it got super crowded becuase they needed to get home. on their way home they run into and meet Marcus, and later bring him back to their house. This is when my scene will become different from little brother. Marcus asks them to go with him because he knows they will not be able to keep his secret without him watching them. this will be the conflict becuase marcus feels as though he will get caught without them with him because they will tell, and he will get caught if they are with him because they are not very smart. They go with him and end up helping him stop the dhs by distracting them while marcus is able to get the information to the newspaper.
Machinima idea
I started the day with the idea that I am going to create a scene from Darryl's point of view when he is imprisoned. That was about as far as I had gotten, but after talking with my classmates and thinking about it more I have made some additions. I am going to show what is happening to Darrly and his thoughts about the situation, as well as what is happening with his father at home and what is going through his head. The characters are going to include Darryl, his father, the DHS officers, and the other prisoners. It is going to show the relationship between Darryl and his dad through their thoughts and concerns about each other, as well as the horror that Darryl is experiencing. It will begin once Darryl has already been in the prison for at least a week.
Now that I am thinking about it more, I might do Darryl's dad's point of view, how he is handling the situation and what he imagines is happening to his son. He thinks Darryl is dead but still has a tiny piece of hope in which he imagines what is happening to him.
Now that I am thinking about it more, I might do Darryl's dad's point of view, how he is handling the situation and what he imagines is happening to his son. He thinks Darryl is dead but still has a tiny piece of hope in which he imagines what is happening to him.
My Script Idea
I started the day considering making my day Trudy Doo as my main characher as the "Most Dangerous Woman in America". I really love my idea because I think it creates some ways to make a political statement while also allowing me to further develop a minor charchter. I want my idea to be a type of "ode" to film noir while also applying my own statment about the novel. I think Jolu will also be a big charachter becuause he interacts with Trudy so much because he works for her.
In the beginning I want to assert that Trudy Doo is being chased out of the country because of her corruption of the youth. I think this can be done in a pretty cool way showing her involvment in shaping Marcus's ideas.
In the middle I want Trudy to eventually be caught by the government and be tried and convicted of dividing the generations in America.
The end will be a flashback of how Trudy was the most pivotal idea starter in the novel.
The ending still needs more thought but I REALLY like my idea so far.
In the beginning I want to assert that Trudy Doo is being chased out of the country because of her corruption of the youth. I think this can be done in a pretty cool way showing her involvment in shaping Marcus's ideas.
In the middle I want Trudy to eventually be caught by the government and be tried and convicted of dividing the generations in America.
The end will be a flashback of how Trudy was the most pivotal idea starter in the novel.
The ending still needs more thought but I REALLY like my idea so far.
Machinima Discussion - Donnie Green
After watching a bunch of Machinima films I had a much better understanding of the techniques, hard work, and creativity that are necessary to produce a successful Machinima of my own. While I already had a pretty good understanding of how important camera angles, sound, setting, etc. were from taking three years of film making in high school, I realized from watching the Machinimas that it is somewhat very different. As the director you must control everything. You have to make all of your actors do every single thing down to the movements of their hands and mouths. The camera angles and movements in Machinimas are very important because actions of characters are limited. To make a successful Machinima, the most important things seem to be camera angles, voices, lighting, music/sound effects, and interesting dialogue. The rest of it can be totally uninteresting and still make for a great Machinima, as in some of the Red vs. Blue films where the characters barely even move, they are just engaged in conversation. Some of the things that I really want to focus on in my Machinima are mouth movements and body movements. I found these two things very distracting when done poorly and I feel as though if I can make them look natural then it will add a much more real quality to the film and make it easier on the eyes. The Machinimas I enjoyed the most had a comedic plot line and made me laugh, the others were more nerdy and appealed to a specific audience. I would also like to try and make my Machinima funny while still capturing the themes of Little Brother. I have thought about placing Marcus in different situations with the DHS that make both parties seem even more absurd in their actions with funny settings and silly outfits. I find comedic irony especially entertaining and I understand it is difficult to do well but I'd like to give it a shot in my screenplay.
Machinima Discussion
After watching many of the different machinimas I was able to better understand what the assignment entailed. Many of the machinimas I watched were very well put together with the character movements and voices all put together properly. The voices of each character were very important in each of the videos because the characters mouths did not really move in unison or exactly how it would in real life. Each of the characters voices had different tones and attitudes, which allowed the listener to further, understand what mood the person was in. In order to make a successful michinima, you must understand how to record the video with different angles. Each video had a lot of movement in it, which kept the viewer more involved and interested. They did not stay in one setting without moving or else it would become boring. However there was one case where I saw a video of a man on a computer the whole time, it was a music video. However it was not boring because the video would revolve around the man while at times zooming into the computer at where he was typing then zooming out. Even though it only had once character it had music and movement, which made the video much more interesting. Most of the videos that I had seen contained comedy, which is very important. The videos did not contain jokes that would make a person laugh hysterically however it did have scenes that would make you laugh at them.
The machinimas that were very successful had a very good plot and story that made sense. It is important that you introduce the characters and the storyline in the beginning so that you capture the attention of the audience and they understand what you are trying to say. When I was looking through the videos, if I did not understand what was happening in the first couple of seconds then I would change the video. These are all details that must be taken care of so that a good machinima can be made.
After viewing these machinimas it has given me ideas of doing a remix for the story Little Brother. My idea for my screenplay is to change what exactly happened in the story. Instead of the bay bridge being destroyed I would make it that the terrorists destroyed half of san Francisco and have taken control of san Francisco to try and soon take over the United States. All technological people in San Francisco have either died or have been trapped by the destruction, and Marcus must use his intelligence and his friends to try and overtake a super power that is trying to take over the United States. In doing so he makes friends with other people that play the same games as him and he creates a web of friends that help him on his way to saving America.
The machinimas that were very successful had a very good plot and story that made sense. It is important that you introduce the characters and the storyline in the beginning so that you capture the attention of the audience and they understand what you are trying to say. When I was looking through the videos, if I did not understand what was happening in the first couple of seconds then I would change the video. These are all details that must be taken care of so that a good machinima can be made.
After viewing these machinimas it has given me ideas of doing a remix for the story Little Brother. My idea for my screenplay is to change what exactly happened in the story. Instead of the bay bridge being destroyed I would make it that the terrorists destroyed half of san Francisco and have taken control of san Francisco to try and soon take over the United States. All technological people in San Francisco have either died or have been trapped by the destruction, and Marcus must use his intelligence and his friends to try and overtake a super power that is trying to take over the United States. In doing so he makes friends with other people that play the same games as him and he creates a web of friends that help him on his way to saving America.
Machinima and Screenplays
Watching the machinimas that other people made was really interesting. I was really impressed with how good and realistic people were able to make machinimas. They use a lot of different angles, and put a lot of thought into each scene. The screenplays were even more impressive though. I read parts of multiple, but mostly read a lot of the screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark. I have seen the movie many times and it is my favorite Indiana Jones movie. I was amazed at how much detail was put into the screenplay. George Lucas plans out every little move the characters make and every part of the surroundings in every scene. This showed me how difficult making a full machinima is really gonna be. It should be quite a challenge. I am not sure what I want to do for Little Brother but I am thinking about doing something with the meeting Marcus holds with just the people that he and Jolu trust where he meets Ange. I think that would be a good scene to do a machinima on.
talbot machinima
The machinimas I watched were all very humorous and entertaining. What inspired me most about them was that they were often spoofs of real shows or video games and they incorporated a lot of clever humor in them. I also liked that they were all in different formats from commercials to short films.
Sarcasm and humor were incorporated into all of the machinimas I watched. One machinima was about the adventures of two French-speaking fighter jets who were friends. This was very clever because the film was in French with English subtitles and the jets were always making jokes and alluding to modern political issues. The humor was very creatively placed in the short film because it incorporated modern day issues into a short, funny dialogue between the jets. Another machinima that I liked was a spoof of a commercial for a video game. The announcer used sarcasm to imitate overly-protective parents who worry about the effects of violent video games on their children.
The different formats of all the machinimas was also very inspiring for me. Some were in the form of commercials, others were spoofs of television shows, and some were scenes from different video games like “Halo” or “World of Warcraft.” One format that I found particularly clever was about kids and video games and it was a fake commercial for a video game that is “parent friendly.” The format of the commercial was very original and creative because it mocked real commercials that are on television. Other metachinimas I watched were more like short shows or scenes from video games, which were also good ideas. The short shows were often not as funny as the commercials and the video games were often only entertaining if the viewer knew what game the scene was from.
After watching these machinimas, I came up with the idea to use the commercial format for a machinima on Little Brother. The commercial would be a spoof of the insurance company commercials. It would be selling insurance in case of a police state situation like they experience in Little Brother. The insurance would provide the buyer with escape tools, encrypting materials, and other tools to trick the government. It would incorporate a lot of humor and sarcasm, and be in the same format as a Geico or State Farm Insurance commercial.
Another idea I had after watching these machinimas was to use a war video game scene to depict a scene from the story of Little Brother. I would use the scenes when the characters are being water-logged and questioned by the DHS and create some humorous dialogue to go along with it. The format would be form a video game like World of Warcraft or another war type video game.
Sarcasm and humor were incorporated into all of the machinimas I watched. One machinima was about the adventures of two French-speaking fighter jets who were friends. This was very clever because the film was in French with English subtitles and the jets were always making jokes and alluding to modern political issues. The humor was very creatively placed in the short film because it incorporated modern day issues into a short, funny dialogue between the jets. Another machinima that I liked was a spoof of a commercial for a video game. The announcer used sarcasm to imitate overly-protective parents who worry about the effects of violent video games on their children.
The different formats of all the machinimas was also very inspiring for me. Some were in the form of commercials, others were spoofs of television shows, and some were scenes from different video games like “Halo” or “World of Warcraft.” One format that I found particularly clever was about kids and video games and it was a fake commercial for a video game that is “parent friendly.” The format of the commercial was very original and creative because it mocked real commercials that are on television. Other metachinimas I watched were more like short shows or scenes from video games, which were also good ideas. The short shows were often not as funny as the commercials and the video games were often only entertaining if the viewer knew what game the scene was from.
After watching these machinimas, I came up with the idea to use the commercial format for a machinima on Little Brother. The commercial would be a spoof of the insurance company commercials. It would be selling insurance in case of a police state situation like they experience in Little Brother. The insurance would provide the buyer with escape tools, encrypting materials, and other tools to trick the government. It would incorporate a lot of humor and sarcasm, and be in the same format as a Geico or State Farm Insurance commercial.
Another idea I had after watching these machinimas was to use a war video game scene to depict a scene from the story of Little Brother. I would use the scenes when the characters are being water-logged and questioned by the DHS and create some humorous dialogue to go along with it. The format would be form a video game like World of Warcraft or another war type video game.
talbot machinima
The machinimas I watched were all very humorous and entertaining. What inspired me most about them was that they were often spoofs of real shows or video games and they incorporated a lot of clever humor in them. I also liked that they were all in different formats from commercials to short films.
Sarcasm and humor were incorporated into all of the machinimas I watched. One machinima was about the adventures of two French-speaking fighter jets who were friends. This was very clever because the film was in French with English subtitles and the jets were always making jokes and alluding to modern political issues. The humor was very creatively placed in the short film because it incorporated modern day issues into a short, funny dialogue between the jets. Another machinima that I liked was a spoof of a commercial for a video game. The announcer used sarcasm to imitate overly-protective parents who worry about the effects of violent video games on their children.
The different formats of all the machinimas was also very inspiring for me. Some were in the form of commercials, others were spoofs of television shows, and some were scenes from different video games like “Halo” or “World of Warcraft.” One format that I found particularly clever was about kids and video games and it was a fake commercial for a video game that is “parent friendly.” The format of the commercial was very original and creative because it mocked real commercials that are on television. Other metachinimas I watched were more like short shows or scenes from video games, which were also good ideas. The short shows were often not as funny as the commercials and the video games were often only entertaining if the viewer knew what game the scene was from.
After watching these machinimas, I came up with the idea to use the commercial format for a machinima on Little Brother. The commercial would be a spoof of the insurance company commercials. It would be selling insurance in case of a police state situation like they experience in Little Brother. The insurance would provide the buyer with escape tools, encrypting materials, and other tools to trick the government. It would incorporate a lot of humor and sarcasm, and be in the same format as a Geico or State Farm Insurance commercial.
Another idea I had after watching these machinimas was to use a war video game scene to depict a scene from the story of Little Brother. I would use the scenes when the characters are being water-logged and questioned by the DHS and create some humorous dialogue to go along with it. The format would be form a video game like World of Warcraft or another war type video game.
Sarcasm and humor were incorporated into all of the machinimas I watched. One machinima was about the adventures of two French-speaking fighter jets who were friends. This was very clever because the film was in French with English subtitles and the jets were always making jokes and alluding to modern political issues. The humor was very creatively placed in the short film because it incorporated modern day issues into a short, funny dialogue between the jets. Another machinima that I liked was a spoof of a commercial for a video game. The announcer used sarcasm to imitate overly-protective parents who worry about the effects of violent video games on their children.
The different formats of all the machinimas was also very inspiring for me. Some were in the form of commercials, others were spoofs of television shows, and some were scenes from different video games like “Halo” or “World of Warcraft.” One format that I found particularly clever was about kids and video games and it was a fake commercial for a video game that is “parent friendly.” The format of the commercial was very original and creative because it mocked real commercials that are on television. Other metachinimas I watched were more like short shows or scenes from video games, which were also good ideas. The short shows were often not as funny as the commercials and the video games were often only entertaining if the viewer knew what game the scene was from.
After watching these machinimas, I came up with the idea to use the commercial format for a machinima on Little Brother. The commercial would be a spoof of the insurance company commercials. It would be selling insurance in case of a police state situation like they experience in Little Brother. The insurance would provide the buyer with escape tools, encrypting materials, and other tools to trick the government. It would incorporate a lot of humor and sarcasm, and be in the same format as a Geico or State Farm Insurance commercial.
Another idea I had after watching these machinimas was to use a war video game scene to depict a scene from the story of Little Brother. I would use the scenes when the characters are being water-logged and questioned by the DHS and create some humorous dialogue to go along with it. The format would be form a video game like World of Warcraft or another war type video game.
screenplay proposal
For my screenplay, I am going to tell the story of Steve Martelluci, a young man born into the Italian mafia. At the age of 25, he suddenly makes the internal decision that he has led a life of sin and the only way to repent is to abandon the mafia and somehow right all the wrongs he has done. However, during the time in which he was active in the mafia, he committed a number of cardinal sins, including murder. So, he decides that he must join the police forces to bring the heads of the mafia to justice. He teams up with Detective Johnny Tran and begins relaying the mafia’s activity back to the police.
Several conflicts arise for Steve as he begins working as a double agent. First off, he cannot help being haunted by guilt as he, himself has led a full life of crime up until now. He cannot help but ask himself the question, “How would I feel if I were betrayed?” He often feels as though he should just confess to the crimes he has committed and repent for them in prison. However, prison is the last place he would want to be so he simply attempts to forget all thoughts regarding this and continue on with his mission. These thoughts do arise at times though and affect his work as a double agent. Another conflict is the constant paranoia he faces with the thought of being discovered by the mafia as a double agent. His plan is to turn in those responsible and disappear hoping that those who stay free do not discover what he has done. So, if he were to be caught he would be plagued by shame and also be either punished or brutally murdered.
In the end of the story, Steve manages to turn over several of the bosses to the police. However, he is discovered by several of the men working below them and must turn to physical fighting in order to defeat them and begin his new life.
Several conflicts arise for Steve as he begins working as a double agent. First off, he cannot help being haunted by guilt as he, himself has led a full life of crime up until now. He cannot help but ask himself the question, “How would I feel if I were betrayed?” He often feels as though he should just confess to the crimes he has committed and repent for them in prison. However, prison is the last place he would want to be so he simply attempts to forget all thoughts regarding this and continue on with his mission. These thoughts do arise at times though and affect his work as a double agent. Another conflict is the constant paranoia he faces with the thought of being discovered by the mafia as a double agent. His plan is to turn in those responsible and disappear hoping that those who stay free do not discover what he has done. So, if he were to be caught he would be plagued by shame and also be either punished or brutally murdered.
In the end of the story, Steve manages to turn over several of the bosses to the police. However, he is discovered by several of the men working below them and must turn to physical fighting in order to defeat them and begin his new life.
machinima
After watching some of the machinimas i felt as though I had a much better understanding of what they are. I was shocked by how realistic and movie-like they all are. The films all had so many different camera angles, lighting, and characters that the movies seemed very realistic. I am impressed about how hard the screenplays must have been to create with all of the different scenes and shots. the body movement of the characters was also really impressive to me. I was impressed watching all of the films i saw, and i understand how much effort it seems to take to put one of these together. I watched many machinima and also looked at a few screen plays. this was all very interesting to look at and understand because i am going to have to be doing this next week. it looks difficult because you have to put so much detail into every character, and every scene and shot. the machinima called "my second life" was very interesting because it showed how a person can create their own character and choose exactly how that character looks, dresses, and where the character goes. this was an interesting video because it made me wonder if people actually do that.
The characters emotions and movements made the characters seem much more life like. I know you can have your character do all those things by them coming with the motions or having to buy the motions and facial expressions. It is amazing how much the motions really make the film because without the emotions the characters would just be standing still while the viewer hears words. Every different shot films the characters from a different perspective to make the shot seem more realistic and to give the viewer a more realistic film. I like the themes of all the machinima i watched as well. there were many different types of themes like modern controversies, realistic dramas, and also documentaries. The machinmas also used music to add to the themes of the films and i thought that was really impressive also. the music made some of the scenes in the films more dramatic, and it even replaced any dialogue in some scenes. music in real movies makes the movies seem more realistic and draws the viewers in, and i think it does the same thing in machinima films.
When i do my machinma on little brother, i want to do something with many different characters interacting to make it more realistic. I was thinking of doing a scene of when the terrorist attack happened, or even when the fogging of the city happened, but from a different perspective than marcus. I might do something from the perspective of people following "mikey" and doing what he tells them to do. I want there to be many different film angles so that it can seem more realistic, and i want it to be more exciting so it will have exciting music that will make it better.
machinima ideas
Our next project requires a wide variety of research before it can be accomplished. We must be able to know about camera angles, types of characters, and issues/genres we want to focus on. There was a hand full of machinimas that particularly inspired me. In Secret Lives, I was moved by the fact it used topics that are controversial in our society. It focused on two gay couples and their problems. The story included camera angels from above the characters and from the stairs which made it seem like a movie. When words won’t necessary, the story used a song instead of dialogue. At the end of both episodes, there was a cliffhanger in order to keep the viewer hooked. Finally, it used blurry images to show a certain scene that occurred in the past. Addiction was my personal favorite machinima since it involved a real issue that affects thousands; gambling addictions. It used dramatic music and close ups of his face to show his desperation and pain. Even thought the character isn’t real, the viewer feels compassion for him. Better World has one narrator who talks about the protest on Second Life. Even though the piece is obviously one sided, it does show that many people are involved in the protests and the power they have. My Second Life tells a powerful story of a man who went missing and was found on Second Life. He left his “straight world” behind, referring to it as a useless appendage, in order to live in Second Life. He liked the idea he could be whoever he wanted. The Fixer is a brutal story of a hit man. The plot and characters were very similar to any sort of action movie. It was in Europe which is a new location I haven’t seen before and used a black screen while the main character talked for dramatic effect. Other things I noticed in machinimas I haven’t mentioned yet were uses of robots instead of people, camera following a piece of paper, the use of a music video, and using black and white.
For my machinima on “Little Brother”, I want to add a scene that gives a different perspective to a character. In this new scene, Van desperately hands off the story to Barbara Stratford. Therefore, I am not only adding a scene but changing the main character to Van and analyzing her feelings. Adding this scene makes Van seem physically and emotionally stronger. At the end, she would make her final decision to stop communications with Marcus showing her strength. Also, I am thinking about changing the setting to Nazi Germany. Though this would be disturbing, I think it would add an intensity that the book doesn’t have since San Francisco is known as an accepting city. Marcus and the Xnet would be anti-communists while the Nazis would be Homeland Security. The use of technology couldn’t be as prominent due to the time change, but the characters and events would remain similar.
For my machinima on “Little Brother”, I want to add a scene that gives a different perspective to a character. In this new scene, Van desperately hands off the story to Barbara Stratford. Therefore, I am not only adding a scene but changing the main character to Van and analyzing her feelings. Adding this scene makes Van seem physically and emotionally stronger. At the end, she would make her final decision to stop communications with Marcus showing her strength. Also, I am thinking about changing the setting to Nazi Germany. Though this would be disturbing, I think it would add an intensity that the book doesn’t have since San Francisco is known as an accepting city. Marcus and the Xnet would be anti-communists while the Nazis would be Homeland Security. The use of technology couldn’t be as prominent due to the time change, but the characters and events would remain similar.
Machinima
I was doubtful of the possibilities available to us to make a movie, using a video game, before I watched some of the machinimas. Than I realized that making a machinima is actually really similar to making a real movie. There are characters, settings, camera angles, and scripts involved. I watched "My Second Life", which was basically this guy who physically went into the game Second Life, and found that he could recreate himself to be whoever he wanted. I also watched "Secret Lives", which reminded me of like a television series. And all the drama in it surprised me. They could portray all the emotions that a person could have in real life. The characters can express themselves in accordance to what they are saying.
By using the features available in the game, we, as low budget students, can actually have a bigger variety of options available to us. We can find settings that we otherwise would have a hard time locating in real life, and use characters of any kind of physique and race and stature to make the characters in our mind come to life. We aren't restricted by what we look like, and we don't need a crazy amount of money to build sets and costumes. They are all available to us in the game. We can control the camera angles by moving our avatars around. The camera angles are a lot more than what we ourselves could do with a real camera. One thing that does throw me off is how awkward some of the characters move and how unnatural they look when they are talking sometimes. But it's still pretty impressive what one could do with machinima.
I also scanned through a few of the screenplays, including the ones for "The Producers", and "Forrest Gump". Forrest Gump is one of my fav. movies of all time, so it was really interesting looking at the familiar lines, but with more movements that we don't pay much attention to during the movie, but we see. It was interesting how even the camera angles and smallest movements are included. My ideas for my machinima is possibly a continuation of what happens after the book, or maybe a remix of Little Brother with some other series, like Harry Potter. Oh, or maybe the characters in a gameshow like jeopardy or something. I'm not sure yet. There's a lot of ideas running around in my head.
By using the features available in the game, we, as low budget students, can actually have a bigger variety of options available to us. We can find settings that we otherwise would have a hard time locating in real life, and use characters of any kind of physique and race and stature to make the characters in our mind come to life. We aren't restricted by what we look like, and we don't need a crazy amount of money to build sets and costumes. They are all available to us in the game. We can control the camera angles by moving our avatars around. The camera angles are a lot more than what we ourselves could do with a real camera. One thing that does throw me off is how awkward some of the characters move and how unnatural they look when they are talking sometimes. But it's still pretty impressive what one could do with machinima.
I also scanned through a few of the screenplays, including the ones for "The Producers", and "Forrest Gump". Forrest Gump is one of my fav. movies of all time, so it was really interesting looking at the familiar lines, but with more movements that we don't pay much attention to during the movie, but we see. It was interesting how even the camera angles and smallest movements are included. My ideas for my machinima is possibly a continuation of what happens after the book, or maybe a remix of Little Brother with some other series, like Harry Potter. Oh, or maybe the characters in a gameshow like jeopardy or something. I'm not sure yet. There's a lot of ideas running around in my head.
500 word discussion on machinima
What truly impressed me the most about the examples of machinima that I watched was the variety and amount of camera angles that they contained. The first one that I saw was “Secret Lives”, and I was surprised at how good it was and how much I enjoyed it. The plot was extremely realistic, therefore it quickly caught my attention, and the filming and detail that it included was amazing. The characters had a wide variety of movements, especially with their hands, and their body language was really realistic. I ended up watching several episodes of Secret Lives because it really caught my attention and I was interested in what was going to happen next. I also watched “Addicted” which I also thought was really well made. My favorite parts were the camera angles that were from above looking down on the guy who is addicted, and how the shots would start out zoomed in on him and then slowly fade out. I then watched “The Adv. of Bill & John: Danger Attacks at Dawn” and really liked the beginning how the view was from a video camera and was recording the view from a plane. I thought it was really cool how they used the effects of a real video camera. “Deviation” was just a trailer, but what really impressed me was that the voices seemed to fit with the characters the best that they had in any of the other ones I have watched. It might be because their faces were covered so the awkwardness of the avatars mouths moving was not visible, but regardless the scene seemed to flow very smoothly. When watching “Desolate” I felt like it had the best transitions between scenes, because they were obviously well thought out and flowed really well with the film. In all of the other videos that I watched, I was really impressed by the amount of detail that they contained and all the little things that really made them seem realistic. The smallest movements of the characters and the different angles in which they are portrayed really make the difference between the best machinima and the average ones. The screenplays were really interesting to read and I was inspired by how realistic and specific they got.
For my own “Little Brother” inspired machinima, I would like to do something that is in the perspective of another character. I feel as though Marcus’ point of view of the story is so different and biased compared to what another character’s would be. I am thinking about doing either Darryl, his father, or maybe even one of Marcus’ parents, and writing one scene of what the situation looks like in their eyes. The scenes that I might do are either when Marcus first returns home, when his dad gets stopped multiple times by the police, or when Marcus reveals that Darryl is still alive.
For my own “Little Brother” inspired machinima, I would like to do something that is in the perspective of another character. I feel as though Marcus’ point of view of the story is so different and biased compared to what another character’s would be. I am thinking about doing either Darryl, his father, or maybe even one of Marcus’ parents, and writing one scene of what the situation looks like in their eyes. The scenes that I might do are either when Marcus first returns home, when his dad gets stopped multiple times by the police, or when Marcus reveals that Darryl is still alive.
Machinima Discussion
I was very skeptical about the whole concept of machinima before watching some of these clips and seeing what can be accomplished with the programs machinima has to offer. After viewing some of the videos that won Mackie Awards I realized that in order to make an accomplished and respectable production of machinima the director/creator must make the scene as realistic as possible--or conversely completely absurd that it is funny opposed to unrealistically stupid. In order to generate such a film there needs to be a variety of camera angles and camera shots. If a film remains static it quickly becomes uninteresting and uncaptivating.
The variation in voice, fluctuation and emphasis, is necessary due to the fact the characters mouths cannot be animated in the same way as a real human actors is capable of doing. Everything from emotion to tone is emulated through the speech and therefore is very key in the production process. Additionally, I thought it was interesting to see how dialogue does not necessarily need to occur when a character in in the frame. You can speak even if there is not a close-up on the character which I think will be important to remember during filming and editing in case a shot desired is not able to be filmed.
One of the major notes I gathered from the screenplays was the amount of detail included in each and every screenplay. I gather that the more detail there is in the screenplay the easier the filming process will be. In some cases there was as much non-dialogue as there was dialogue itself. It is important to note the desired lighting, time of day, action of supporting characters and what type of shot is being taken.
I feel like having a machinima that is realistic and relatable is going to be key to intriguing audiences and allowing them to enjoy and connect with the short film. An idea I had was to continue the game of Harijuku Fun Madness or potentially creating an escape from Treasure Island. Possibly another idea would be to continue the love triangle of Van, Darryl, and Marcus and create a kind of melodrama/soap opera episode of what would have happened if Marcus and Van had gotten involved and when Darryl was released his coping with that etc. This would be a more absurd take on Little Brother with the concept and theme of relationships at the center of the idea.
notes on machinima and script
After watching more machinimas I am a little more interested in the concept. I watched some second life generated machinima and some by other programs. What bothers me the most about the second life ones is how unnaturally the avatars move and how most of the time the avatars mouth does not move when they talk. It seems like you have to have a highly advanced relationship with second life in order to produce a quality film. Watching them on my own I was able to find ones that were a little more interesting to me and I think that makes the idea of machinima a little more tolerable. The more master of the program the better the films turned out.
The scrip also has a large influence on the quality of the machinima. The scrip’s in which the characters change and develop are more interesting and better developed just like in other literary genres. A well written script plans out very move ahead of time and the author knows exactly what they want to end product to look like.
It was particularly enlightening to read scripts to movies I am familiar with. When you watch a movie you enjoy the dialog but taking the time to read it make it more and an active activity. When reading a script you can really see how much effort went into it. Each character of a quality script is fully developed almost as if they are a real person. Every character is distinct and unique. The more work that goes into a script really pays off in the final outcome.
The scrip also has a large influence on the quality of the machinima. The scrip’s in which the characters change and develop are more interesting and better developed just like in other literary genres. A well written script plans out very move ahead of time and the author knows exactly what they want to end product to look like.
It was particularly enlightening to read scripts to movies I am familiar with. When you watch a movie you enjoy the dialog but taking the time to read it make it more and an active activity. When reading a script you can really see how much effort went into it. Each character of a quality script is fully developed almost as if they are a real person. Every character is distinct and unique. The more work that goes into a script really pays off in the final outcome.
500 Word Machinima Discussion
It was very interesting to watch all of the machinima movies and I definitely feel like I have a good idea of the intense amount of effort and work go into making these kinds of productions. While I can honestly say that I am intimidated and a little bit worried about my video-making ability, I believe that I will learn a lot in this process we are about to start. I watched several of the videos provided by the links and got a lot of inspiration and ideas from many of them. “The Adventures of Bill & Dawn-Attacks at Dawn” had a variety of camera angles, amusing dialogue, great sound effects, and sub-titles to reach a variety of audience members. I could definitely tell that the makers of this movie worked hard to make their movie look polished. “Desolate” was another very professional looking movie and the movie was very fitting to the theme. It also included a very powerful topic, which inspired me to make a movie that impacts my viewers. “Deviation” had creative dialogue between and I was surprised that their character’s mouths moved when they were speaking. I don’t know if I will be able to do this, but it would definitely add to my production if I learned how. “Birthday Surprise” took a common character form a gaming site and made him funny and able to connect with more modern-day audiences. I really hope that I can amuse my viewers with my movie as well. “The Legend of the Sister Blade” was one of the more impressive movies I viewed, and it had both amazing effects and narration and literally reminded me of an actual video. It really inspires me to go above and beyond with my work. “Read Dead Redemption: Hands On” was action-filled and showed me how important it is to keep your audience interested the entire time. “Secret Lives” was one of the more interesting movies to me because it had a modern theme and modern characters and the first scene was hilarious. I definitely want to make my movie more modern and attractive to my viewers. “Addiction” had good scanning techniques with the camera and the beginning really did seem like the beginning of a Hollywood movie with an interesting, complex character. I realized that it’s very important for the characters to be unique, as well as the sets and camera shots. “A Better World” was less interesting to me but was very informative and included a variety of characters, which is also an attractive idea to me. Finally, “An American Baby in Iraq” was intense and powerful, and made good use of actually people in the world. Perhaps I will try to use this technique with my own machinima.
I loved reading the screenplays of movies I had seen. “The Wizard of Oz” had several characters speak and be introduced just in the first seen and there was tons of creative dialogue. Not to mention, there was a summary of what was going on between the dialogue as well as a lot of detail and direction. The “When Harry Met Sally”screenplay was one of my favorites because it had such unique and comical dialogue and also included information about the character’s actions and what they were doing as they were speaking. After reading some of the screenplays, I realized that much more goes into it than simply writing dialogue between two characters. Obviously, there is much planning and creativity involved as well.
For my own machinima, I would like to create a story that is based on more modern events and have characters that are relatable to my viewers. Also, I think it would be fun to include some comedy in my machinima to keep my viewers interested, amused, and on their feet.
500 Word Machinima Discussion
I watched 9 of the machinimas on Lionhead.com and got some great ideas to incorporate into my own machinima that I will make as a spin off of Little Brother. The 9 machinima films that I watched and got some inspiration from were: Every Christmas to 2005, The Invasion, Don’t Cy, HUMANS, No Dusk No Dawn, Our Secret, Appollion, St. Patrick’s Day, and The Mafia. The Screenplays that I looked at were for The Godfather and Slumdog Millionare. It was really amazing to look at what those hit films looked like on paper. Having seen them both, I could visualize them as I read through parts of the script. The machinima short films gave me a better sense of what this genre of film making was like. In class on Tuesday, we looked a camera angles (how they are shot specifically) and how long scenes should last in a 4 minute movie, much like these. While watching the each of the nine films, I paid more attention to the story lines to get a better sense of what I would like to put into my Little Brother machinima film. The film I saw in class on Tuesday was a spin off of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the video game. The only element I feel like I need to use from that is the weapons and police. Some of the machinima films moved to different settings all throughout the film which was nice to see, it gave the film some variety. A film about aliens gave me an idea about metamorphosis. I don’t know how exactly I would accomplish something like that in a machinima film, but they way they did it was having a close up of an avatar and quickly changing shots within a split of a second to the face of an alien and the panning out to show that only the head of the avatar had turned into an alien. In the film HUMANS, robots were taking over the world, essentially. A robot was coming to purchase a human as a pet from a jail-looking setting. The storyline in the film “Our Secret” was very well done. I felt like it could be made into a short cartoon or a show. It used many of the aspects of making films that we talked about in class including how to use light and shadow, when is the best time to shoot (sunset/sunrise), and fade outs to black and the end of every major scene. Lastly, the machinima film St. Patrick’s Day was, I think, a spin of off the feature film “Die Another Day.” Some of the titles for these films were very clever. The scripts of the screenplays for The Godfather and Slumdog Millionaire gave me a better idea of what my screenplay should look like as I am writing it. Having seen both movies, it was fascinating to see what they looked like on paper. In any case, looking at all these machinima films, I have gathered a couple of ideas that I would like to put into my own machinima film based off of Cory Doctorow’s “Little Brother.” I want to use this portion of the plot in the film use my imagination to do the rest: the story behind Marcus’s first capture by the DHS all the way to when he is captured the second time, and is water-boarded before Barbara Stratford and the CHP broke into Gitmo-by-the-bay. I think using island shots would be best here as I am panning into video showing where Marcus is being held. The rest of the plot “fluff” in between, I will ignore. I will include only the major parts of the plot “fluff” in between that are vital to understanding why something happened further on in the film. I want to create a spin off the 3-4 year old film “Miami Vice.” The plot, action, and thematic elements I think mesh really well with the atmosphere I want to create in my machinima featuring a portion of the plot of “Little Brother.” Another idea I have is to feature the lives of Marcus and Darryl, the best of friends, before the book began. They will be the two main characters in the Miami Vice film up to the terrorist attack, captured and re-captured by the DHS and Severe Haircut Lady, and they will devise a plan to stay hidden on the Xnet for as long as they possibly can as they try to take down the DHS.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Little Brother Hypertext
Here is my hypertext, based off of Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother." In it, I explore the effects that adult media has on the image of the youth. I focus concretely on how Doctorow contributes to this topic in his novel and give some background information on how media plays such a huge part when it comes to persuasion and how individuals are viewed in society. I hope everyone enjoys it!
Brandon's 500 word discussion.
What really inspired me from the videos I watched was the idea of narration. There were a couple of videos I watched that had the characters moving at the beginnings but with a narrator giving a background to the story. What I also really liked was the idea of having the character talk in a way that was like his or her inner-monologue. I thought that was very different and could be useful when thinking of a way to start my own screen play and machinma. Another thing I really liked about this is that you could cut to different shots that mirrored what the character was talking about, kind of like a flashback. One thing that I also paid close attention to was the music in the background. Because it is animated, you can’t rely to much on emotion from the characters. What I found out is one way to compensate for that is music. In the videos I watched, music really set the mood and the setting of the films. In addition to the voice over from the point of view of the character and the music, I really liked some of the videos use of a pan shot. I really liked not having any characters in the scene, and the “camera” slowly moving around the setting so that you can get a good grasp of the area. Another shot I really liked was the reverse low shot. The shot shows to people, from the perspective of a person sitting on the floor. I think it helps show dialogue, but also adds a type of artistic effect to the shot. Lastly, one thing I really liked was how a couple of the pieces I watched jumped back and forth between perspectives. It was almost like a scene from “Crash” because the camera and voice narration kept jumping back and forth between characters in the film.
I already have a few ideas for my machinima . In my opinion the best idea I have so far is to retell the story from the perspective of Trudy Doo. I think that would convey a lot of emotion about how Marcus feels and about the rebellion against the government. It would also allow me to create a bigger role for her character and adapt it into my screen play. I really like this idea because I think that adding a sub-plot would be interesting and that if done right it could add a whole new meaning to Doctorow’s novel.
My second idea isn’t as well formed, but I think it would be different to redo the terrorist attack scene, to show a broader prospective than that of just Marcus’s. I think this could be pretty unique because I could not only show the perspective of Marcus, but also of the terrorists and the Homeland Security. There could be three sub-plots going on within it to display a fragmented sense of reality each party has.
I already have a few ideas for my machinima . In my opinion the best idea I have so far is to retell the story from the perspective of Trudy Doo. I think that would convey a lot of emotion about how Marcus feels and about the rebellion against the government. It would also allow me to create a bigger role for her character and adapt it into my screen play. I really like this idea because I think that adding a sub-plot would be interesting and that if done right it could add a whole new meaning to Doctorow’s novel.
My second idea isn’t as well formed, but I think it would be different to redo the terrorist attack scene, to show a broader prospective than that of just Marcus’s. I think this could be pretty unique because I could not only show the perspective of Marcus, but also of the terrorists and the Homeland Security. There could be three sub-plots going on within it to display a fragmented sense of reality each party has.
What I learned about Machinima
The main thing that I learned from all of this is that scripts seem like a TON of work. It takes a great deal of planning and a lot of attention to detail. Quite frankly, I don't think I have the mind nor the creativity to write scripts and reading the Little Miss Sunshine script was daunting. Having seen the movie, I didn't realize just how much work goes into creating a script. The Machinima movies that I watched basically all had some sexual aspect in them, and I feel as though this is because they were, for the most part, created in Second Life, which, from what I can gather, is essentially a place for losers that have no lives to go and get their satisfaction in some sort of creepy perverted virtual sick way. One idea I hope to explore in my machinima is to re-create my remix piece that I had done earlier, in which Marcus ends up with Van instead of Ange. Another idea i have is to replicate the story of Little Brother but put it in a Medieval setting.
Discussion of articles and Machinima Proposal
I watched the machinima called “Desolate” by Blood Signature Films. I was really inspired by the way they use the camera. They had a lot of great panning shots of scenery and scanning shots of the character from different angles that added to the suspense of the scene. I also watched “Red vs. Blue Season 4 ‘Episode 58.’” There were a lot of interesting and diverse camera angles when each character was talking. It made the scenes more dynamic and interesting. I also watched Pierece Portacarrero’s “Game Over.” The use of close-ups and extreme close-ups in that film was very effective. I also really enjoyed the machinama called “Slightly Later Man.” The idea and script were clever and funny. I also really liked how it was all in black and white and how everything stayed with the theme. All the background and costumes were well done along with the voices and the characters themselves. The machinima “Male Restroon Etiquette” was really entertaining. The different angles and panning of the camera was interesting and entertaining. All of the different angles kept me intrigued and kept the story moving. Most of all the script and theme were funny and engaging. Eric Call’s “Silver Bells and Golden Spurs” had a shot that started outside and zoomed into the saloon that I thought was cool. Also, I liked the shot of the man with the golden spurs’ legs when he gets shot and all you see is the drops of blood. The dialogue informs the viewer of what has happened and you do not need to see exactly what happened to understand the scene. In fact it is more meaningful simply because you do not see his wound. I also like that everything about the film keeps with the theme: the text, all the props and scenes, even the voice of the narrator seems to fit the western style of the movie.
I read part of the script of both “Star Wars” and “On the Waterfront” because I like both of those films. Before reading those scripts I never realized how much of the script, at least initially, is about setting up the scene and introducing the characters. At that point in the film dialogue is almost secondary. I think that this will be important for us to remember because it is much easier to just write out a whole script and forget about setting up everything else. I also agreed with the article about the seven best scripts for beginning screenwriters. I liked what was said about “Back to the Future” because it is important that all the parts of the film go somewhere and that there are not random bits of story that are pointless or leave the viewer without answers or explanations.
For the Little Brother machinima I think that doing something on the theme of the modern teen romance could be interesting. Also a machinima about an survivor’s perspective about their experience being wrongly imprisoned and tortured might be adapted nicely into a visual form.
I read part of the script of both “Star Wars” and “On the Waterfront” because I like both of those films. Before reading those scripts I never realized how much of the script, at least initially, is about setting up the scene and introducing the characters. At that point in the film dialogue is almost secondary. I think that this will be important for us to remember because it is much easier to just write out a whole script and forget about setting up everything else. I also agreed with the article about the seven best scripts for beginning screenwriters. I liked what was said about “Back to the Future” because it is important that all the parts of the film go somewhere and that there are not random bits of story that are pointless or leave the viewer without answers or explanations.
For the Little Brother machinima I think that doing something on the theme of the modern teen romance could be interesting. Also a machinima about an survivor’s perspective about their experience being wrongly imprisoned and tortured might be adapted nicely into a visual form.
Little Brother Hypertext First Draft
(Professor Bousquet, for some reason there was an error the first time I tried to post this which is why it's late)
My Little Brother hypertext is about Cory Doctorow's answer to the question "Why are Americans so uninformed about politics?" Doctorow has three possible answers to this question: the influence of the media, people's distance from the issue, and the failing of the educaiton system to properly inform students. There are about 3000 words in my website.
here is the link
My Little Brother hypertext is about Cory Doctorow's answer to the question "Why are Americans so uninformed about politics?" Doctorow has three possible answers to this question: the influence of the media, people's distance from the issue, and the failing of the educaiton system to properly inform students. There are about 3000 words in my website.
here is the link
Screenplays and Machinima
A few of the screenplays I looked at were Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Rocky, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Wizard of Oz. What I liked the most about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Rocky were the detailed descriptions. In the Wizard of Oz it would say directions like “Dorothy looks down at Toto, she talks to Toto, then she looks up.” In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind there was an in depth description about the characters—what the look like, the mood they are in, where they are. Also, the locations were described in great detail. Not only was the backdrop explained, but the film extras were also described. In Rocky, Sylvester Stallone didn’t go into as much detail, but there was still a pretty strong description of the scene before it even begins. This struck me as important, because it makes the job of creating the film a little simpler. You do not have to worry about the specifics of where the character is when you are filming because you have already decided when you wrote the screenplay.
There were several “codes” that I did not understand. “EXT” was one and “OV” was another. Also, there were numbers every so often on both sides of the script. I was unsure, but I thought it might have something to do with camera shots—signaling a change in angle/frame.
I saw a few different styles of Machinima. My favorite was a mashup between South Park and World of Warcraft. There were around four or five of them. In them, they showed the virtual world with the South Park characters’ voices on top of the World of Warcraft characters. It was a sort of frame story because it would come back to the South Park world occasionally, for example if one of their parents walked in. In one of the episodes, it was making fun of these type of virtual world gamers. It showed Cartman, Kyle, Kenny, and Stan getting really into the World of Warcraft game and as time passed they became extremely obese and they were covered in zits. On top of this was an upbeat music, signaling the parody of the episode.
I also saw an episode where a guy recorded his friends talking, then tried to play it on top of a Video game. The only thing was that his friends weren’t aware of the video recorder, so they weren’t trying to speak in a way that would aid the success of his machinima. It was stupid. The video game characters weren’t even matching up with his friends’ voices.
My idea for a machinima would be from the perspective of the Severe Haircut Lady. It wouldn’t be like the one with saw in class, where her dad’s abuse drove her into becoming who she was. I want to take a sympathetic look at her, but from a different angle. She and her dad will have a great relationship from the time she was a kid, and he is a DHS worker. He inspires her to protect her country, and to always remember to look outside the typical definitions of “terrorists.” And speed through the book and see what the X-Net Generation would look like from her perspective, not knowing Marcus’ honest intentions.
There were several “codes” that I did not understand. “EXT” was one and “OV” was another. Also, there were numbers every so often on both sides of the script. I was unsure, but I thought it might have something to do with camera shots—signaling a change in angle/frame.
I saw a few different styles of Machinima. My favorite was a mashup between South Park and World of Warcraft. There were around four or five of them. In them, they showed the virtual world with the South Park characters’ voices on top of the World of Warcraft characters. It was a sort of frame story because it would come back to the South Park world occasionally, for example if one of their parents walked in. In one of the episodes, it was making fun of these type of virtual world gamers. It showed Cartman, Kyle, Kenny, and Stan getting really into the World of Warcraft game and as time passed they became extremely obese and they were covered in zits. On top of this was an upbeat music, signaling the parody of the episode.
I also saw an episode where a guy recorded his friends talking, then tried to play it on top of a Video game. The only thing was that his friends weren’t aware of the video recorder, so they weren’t trying to speak in a way that would aid the success of his machinima. It was stupid. The video game characters weren’t even matching up with his friends’ voices.
My idea for a machinima would be from the perspective of the Severe Haircut Lady. It wouldn’t be like the one with saw in class, where her dad’s abuse drove her into becoming who she was. I want to take a sympathetic look at her, but from a different angle. She and her dad will have a great relationship from the time she was a kid, and he is a DHS worker. He inspires her to protect her country, and to always remember to look outside the typical definitions of “terrorists.” And speed through the book and see what the X-Net Generation would look like from her perspective, not knowing Marcus’ honest intentions.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
1st Draft Hypertext
For my Litte Brother hypertext I discussed the challenges of profiling, both racial and other forms, built into the United States government and justice system. Doctorow generates a social commentary suggesting the un-just nature of the government system and how profiling has overtime been accepted into society and there has been little effort for change.
Little Brother Hypertext
In my hypertext I explored cultural convergence in response to Doctorow's portrayal of technology as intended to connect the youth generation, but it contributes to the alienation of individuals by shifting relationships to the internet. Here is a link to my website. http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/JOnieal/socialnet.htm
Little Brother Hypertext
My hypertext projet about Little Brother is about the usage of video surveillance in Little Brother and the issues Doctorow raises in the book regarding video surveillance. These issues range from the usage of gait recognition cameras, facial recognition cameras, usage of video surveillance in classrooms, spycams in personal spaces, and the usage of public video surveillance. In my website I explore the realities that such video surveillance pose to our privacy and Doctorow's take on that.
My website!
My website!
1st Draft Analytical Hypertext, Completed
Bloodless Revolution Home Page
The first draft of my completed Analytical Hypertext is posted. I used Doctorow's theme of nonviolence, essentially a "Bloodless Revolution" presented in the plot of "Little Brother" using examples of leaders who employed nonviolent methods to organize and respond and examples of organizations, more connected with Doctorow, that show how much he exemplified nonviolent action in response to oppression (and how important building a culture of nonviolence was). Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and the Human Rights Campaign were used as those organizations.
The first draft of my completed Analytical Hypertext is posted. I used Doctorow's theme of nonviolence, essentially a "Bloodless Revolution" presented in the plot of "Little Brother" using examples of leaders who employed nonviolent methods to organize and respond and examples of organizations, more connected with Doctorow, that show how much he exemplified nonviolent action in response to oppression (and how important building a culture of nonviolence was). Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and the Human Rights Campaign were used as those organizations.
Little Brother Hypertext
My Little Brother Hypertext reflects Corey Doctorow's original contribution regarding the question of racial profiling. My site reflects strong themes in the book that result in profiling such as fear, abuse of power, and stereotypes. In addition my website explores the how racial profiling affects society through social norms as well as the violation of civil rights.
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/amcpartland/lbhome.htm
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/amcpartland/lbhome.htm
Michael Adair Game Time. Research Hypertext
Page Here is my Page.
The page focuses on how Doctorow alludes to the youth of the sixties in his novel, Little Brother and the similarities/differences between the two generations as well as contemporary youth.
The page focuses on how Doctorow alludes to the youth of the sixties in his novel, Little Brother and the similarities/differences between the two generations as well as contemporary youth.
Hypertext draft
This is my draft for the project:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/lgrove/LITTLE%20BRO%20SPLASHPAGE.html
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/lgrove/LITTLE%20BRO%20SPLASHPAGE.html
This is my hypertext draft
This is my hypertext draft. My site is a discussion on how Little Brother creates a new type of dystopia; a modern dystopia. I still have some pages to add but there are 16 pages right now with 2700 words(not including the review of the literature or annotated bibliography).
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Research proposal
Doctorow looks into the concept of what is knowledge and how many schools stifle thought. He brings up the idea that government is not only requiring standardized testing but also standardized students. Programs like No Child Left Behind encourage thinking to the test and not critical thinking. Schools are becoming so regulated that if you cannot learn from the standardized material you will get lost and not learn at all. There is a theory among education experts that our public school system is killing creativity and therefore inhibiting children’s ability to learn to their fullest potential. Doctorow makes many references to both teaching only one train of thought and the lack of free thinking in schools.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
hypertext
my hypertext so far can be found here:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/SJChen/lilbrohypertext.html
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/SJChen/lilbrohypertext.html
Annotated Bibliography
here is my glog:
and here is my annotated bibliography:
Oct 8, 2009 - Why the FCC's Got AT&T and Verizon Scared Shitless
Oct 20, 2009 - AT&T "Encourages" Employees and Their Families to Complain to the FCC About Net Neutrality [Updated]
Oct 22, 2009 - FCC: We're Going to Make Net Neutrality the Law
Sep 21, 2009 - FCC Wants to Ban Internet Traffic Screening, Anti-Torrent Measures
Sep 21, 2009 - Comcast to FCC: FUZZOFF!
Apr 6, 2010 - Comcast Wins, We Lose: Court Says FCC Doesn't Have the Power to Enforce Net Neutrality
BoingBoing.net
This is another favourite blog of mine. It also happens to fit perfectly with Little Brother as Cory Doctorow happens to be the editor of the blog. Like every other technology blog, it has a heavy pro-neutrality stance, and it is something that is very obvious in just about every post concerning the topic. This story just shows how incredibly low Comcast will go to ensure that they have everything their way.
also: I would really appreciate it if we never had to use glogster ever again...
and here is my annotated bibliography:
Alexander Vincent Molloy
Annotated Biliography
Gizmodo.com
This is my main source of technology news, and, in my opinion, they do an excellent job of covering the topic of net neutrality. They are heavily pro-neutrality in all of their articles. They enjoy taking playful jabs at companies like Comcast and AT&T for just about everything, from iPhone coverage to overpriced products and ridiculous advertising, however they are serious about their passionate hatred for the two company’s stance on net neutrality.
All of the articles are very well researched and contain sources of the information for fact checking. They chronicle the on-going net-neutrality dispute between the FCC and Comcast, and other stories that are associated with the topic.
Oct 8, 2009 - Why the FCC's Got AT&T and Verizon Scared Shitless
Oct 20, 2009 - AT&T "Encourages" Employees and Their Families to Complain to the FCC About Net Neutrality [Updated]
Oct 22, 2009 - FCC: We're Going to Make Net Neutrality the Law
Sep 21, 2009 - FCC Wants to Ban Internet Traffic Screening, Anti-Torrent Measures
Sep 21, 2009 - Comcast to FCC: FUZZOFF!
Apr 6, 2010 - Comcast Wins, We Lose: Court Says FCC Doesn't Have the Power to Enforce Net Neutrality
BoingBoing.net
This is another favourite blog of mine. It also happens to fit perfectly with Little Brother as Cory Doctorow happens to be the editor of the blog. Like every other technology blog, it has a heavy pro-neutrality stance, and it is something that is very obvious in just about every post concerning the topic. This story just shows how incredibly low Comcast will go to ensure that they have everything their way.
UPDATE: Comcast paid for people to fill seats at FCC Net Neutrality hearing
Net Neutrality and Free speech on the internet
This document is a copy of a 2008 hearing before the Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives. Although most of the document is political jargon, it outlines exactly what the net-neutrality stance is. Page 3 outlines the three staples of the movement. It first explains why net neutrality is, and why it is important. Then it shows how net neutrality has recently come under fire, and finally it shows exactly what should be done to ensure that a net-neutral stance is taken by the government.
Both sides have a point in net neutrality – Johna Till Johnson on 2.27.06
Articles that have even a mention of an anti-neutral stance aren’t something very common on the internet. However I did want to have a good balance, and I wanted to see if there actually was any support behind the other side, apart from just telecom providers. This article shows the two sides pretty well, and offers some interesting analogies, along with what was most interesting to me; a historical context. Apparently Ben Franklin thought that it would be just fine to discriminate against competing publishers when it came to his mail service, and he refused to transport any mail from them. After all, the internet may be relatively new in the grand scheme of things, but this isn’t the first time that different kinds of media have been discriminated as far as transportation.
also: I would really appreciate it if we never had to use glogster ever again...
Josh's Annotated Bibliography and Review of Lit
Didn't have time to post these to my ftp account yet, will today.
Review of Lit
In the history of the world, we have often seen the use of bloodshed as a means to acquire victory over an unpopular regime, as a means of showing superiority. Sometimes bloodshed was necessary for change but other times it really could have been avoided. Examples range from United States history to that of the northern and southern regions of Africa. There have been individuals within these nations that have been able to stand tall in the midst of despotism and show their oppressors that they would not turn a blind eye towards discrimination, racism, and inferiority, they would not turn a blind eye to death. Most people did not understand the power of one voice, but they heard that exact power in the voices of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X [7], Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi. These four worldly icons fought for nonviolence [1] by trying to make peace with the very people who didn’t really care whether they lived or died. Bono and Matisyahu, both musicians and icons of now, have made it their mission to use their music to make an enormous impact on these very issues as they continue to exist. On a slightly larger scale, the Arab-Israeli conflict [6], Apartheid in South Africa (1948-1980) [2], and Genocide in Sudan (2003-present) [3] presents further examples of nonviolent efforts that have made steady progress but have gradually fallen off the international radar.
One of the many important underlying themes of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother is Marcus Yallow’s “Bloodless Revolution” in the face of maltreatment by the Department of Homeland Security. Over the course of the novel, Marcus was forced to think on his feet, and, ironically enough, became the leader that he didn’t want to see himself become. He made it his mission to take down the DHS and expose them for all of their injustices to innocent civilians who were arrested on suspicion that they were terrorists for the most absurd reasons (and tortured on top of that). He wielded the Xnet as his sword and shield, working his way to truth along the way. This theme, as with many of them presented by Doctorow in the novel, is a purposeful connection to current and past (historical) events that have drastically affected the areas in which they have occurred.
I have read about the heroes and icons of the last two centuries, the individuals that believed in the greater good of the people around them before themselves. They wanted future generations of people to live a better life then them. They were the parents of our generation. This is why they acted out in what they believed in in the way that they did, to allow us to live the way we do nowadays. It is those people like Gandhi [4] and MLK Jr. [5] that are the role models for modern nonviolent organization against the tyrants of today. You don’t have to look to far to find someone who wants to fight against despotism without weapons. The resources have been made available, the table has been set, and dinner has been served. But the real question is, will you dig in?
Annotated Bibliography
1. Kuryla, Peter. "Parties down at the square amid courtroom melodramas: a reconsideration of the modern civil rights movement demonstration." Patterns of Prejudice 43, no. 1 (February 2009): 17-40. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost
Cory Doctorow expresses the importance of a “Bloodless Revolution” as one of his many original contributions in Little Brother. This is a pressing issue in the midst of current events and past history that people have no paid attention to. We all hear about “pro-peace” movements that occur all around the world, but is anyone listening or is it just a spur-of-the-moment effort to battle unnecessary bloodshed? This article focuses one of the most important eras of recent past, the Civil Rights Era. Ironically enough (in regards to Doctorow’s original contribution), this time was viewed as one, which was abundant in public demonstrations, especially the violent ones. The “enemy” is the one shedding the blood.
2. Zunes, Stephen. “The role of non-violent action in the downfall of apartheid.” The Journal of Modern African Studies (1999), 37:137-169 Cambrdige University Press.
>
Yet another time that fits perfectly this theme of the “Bloodless Revolution” is the Apartheid in South Africa. This time period saw the rights of the majority of black inhabitants curtailed and minority rights of whites maintained. From 1958, South Africans were deprived of their citizenship, sparking internal resistance and violence in South Africa. This article focuses on how non-violent action prevailed in the downfall of apartheid in South Africa and a democratic black majority government was established. (LB – getting rid of the “bizzaro-world” DHS version of the justice system and reestablishing the old system with judges, open trials, and lawyers).
3. Strauss, Scott. “Darfur and the Genocide Debate.” Foreign Affairs. Vol. 84, No. 1 (Jan-Feb., 2005), pp. 123-133. Council on Foreign Relations.
Napoleon didn’t read “the book.” Neither did Hitler. You know why? Its because Doctorow wrote it. In his novel, Doctorow throws a myriad amount of themes into a melting pot and let’s his readers deduce them one by one, as they compare them to current or past events along the way. A theme that stuck out to me in particular was how Marcus did not have to start a bloody revolution versus the DHS to get his point across, he could just use his smarts of computers, the Internet and technology, The opposite has been going on in Sudan since 2003. Once the term “genocide” was used to describe the death that plagued the nation, nobody bothered to fight it. The world now sits in waiting as more people die at the hands of revolutionaries, holding steady until some nation steps forward to stop a miniature Holocaust in the making.
4. Gregg, Richard B. The Power of Nonviolence. Lightening Source Inc. Released January 31, 2007.
Gregg said it best: “The idea of non-violence (passive-resistance) has always seemed beautiful but too good to be true.” This is exactly what is on the minds of individuals who witness or partake in pro-peace “NO WAR, NO BLOODSHED” protests all around the United States. “Sure, we can organize. But we are not the only ones here. How is the rest of the world going to find out?” Mahatma Gandhi employed non-violence methods on a wider scale and with greater success than any other figure in history something that Marcus was very good at over the course of the novel, in the face of death itself.
5. King, Martin Luther. Pilgrimage to Nonviolence. Excerpt from “Stride Toward Freedom.” (1958).
It only takes one voice to spark a revolution. One voice connects the voices of many, creating a web of trust that turns into a commanding force of change. Marcus’s Xnet did exactly this. He didn’t want anyone to give him credit for anything that he did right (he didn’t like attention), his mission was to get Darryl out of Treasure Island and free from the hands of the DHS. All he need was his laptop, his ParanoidXbox, and a secure WiFi connection that the DHS couldn’t tap. MLK Jr. was just the opposite. This icon was the voice of millions of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. He managed to attract the attention of not only those that followed them, but those who were fascinated by his charisma, commanding voice, and fortitude to strengthen the hearts of an undignified audience in the face of much adversity and hate. Some blood may have been shed, by MLK’s point was made, the product of which is seen today in the White House, and President Barack Obama. MLK = the voice of millions of African Americans pleading to be free of hate, racism, and discrimination against them. Marcus = the voice of millions of teens pleading to be understood and trusted in the face of the DHS who has made the abnormal (life), normal.
6. Kelman, Herbert C. “The Political Psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: How Can We Overcome the Barriers to a Negotiated Solution?” Political Psychology, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Sept., 1987), pp. 347-363. Published by the International Society of Political Psychology.
What is known around the world as the “Arab-Israeli” Conflict, is also known as a series of failed attempts to make peace between two ethnic groups that have been in feuds with each other back and forth since Israel’s declaration as a nation on May 16, 1948. The Land of Canaan or Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) was, according to the Torah, promised by God to the Children of Israel, Jews. Conflict sprung out of this fact. Since then there have been multitudes of suicide bombings taking many innocent lives and offensives by Israel to show that they would not stand down in the face of adversity. In comparison with Little Brother, the Arab-Israeli conflict shines through as a period in which many attempts have been made to try and make peace, but violence and bloodshed somehow always resulted.
7. Tyner, James A. “Territoriality, Social Justice and Gendered Revolutions in the Speeches of Malcolm X.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. New Series, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Sept. 2004), pp.330-343. Published by Blackwell Publishing.
During the Civil Rights Era, there were several individuals who stood tall in the face of oppression who knew something was wrong as they went about their lives each and every day. Some of those people were MLK Jr., Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, and finally Malcolm X. Malcolm X was unique among his abolitionist counterparts. The revolutionary thought of Malcolm X was at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. This African American radical intellectual sparked much thought in the minds of antagonists, going against the grain to show the world that fear can not nullify the power of desire, desire for equality and justice.
Review of Lit
In the history of the world, we have often seen the use of bloodshed as a means to acquire victory over an unpopular regime, as a means of showing superiority. Sometimes bloodshed was necessary for change but other times it really could have been avoided. Examples range from United States history to that of the northern and southern regions of Africa. There have been individuals within these nations that have been able to stand tall in the midst of despotism and show their oppressors that they would not turn a blind eye towards discrimination, racism, and inferiority, they would not turn a blind eye to death. Most people did not understand the power of one voice, but they heard that exact power in the voices of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X [7], Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi. These four worldly icons fought for nonviolence [1] by trying to make peace with the very people who didn’t really care whether they lived or died. Bono and Matisyahu, both musicians and icons of now, have made it their mission to use their music to make an enormous impact on these very issues as they continue to exist. On a slightly larger scale, the Arab-Israeli conflict [6], Apartheid in South Africa (1948-1980) [2], and Genocide in Sudan (2003-present) [3] presents further examples of nonviolent efforts that have made steady progress but have gradually fallen off the international radar.
One of the many important underlying themes of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother is Marcus Yallow’s “Bloodless Revolution” in the face of maltreatment by the Department of Homeland Security. Over the course of the novel, Marcus was forced to think on his feet, and, ironically enough, became the leader that he didn’t want to see himself become. He made it his mission to take down the DHS and expose them for all of their injustices to innocent civilians who were arrested on suspicion that they were terrorists for the most absurd reasons (and tortured on top of that). He wielded the Xnet as his sword and shield, working his way to truth along the way. This theme, as with many of them presented by Doctorow in the novel, is a purposeful connection to current and past (historical) events that have drastically affected the areas in which they have occurred.
I have read about the heroes and icons of the last two centuries, the individuals that believed in the greater good of the people around them before themselves. They wanted future generations of people to live a better life then them. They were the parents of our generation. This is why they acted out in what they believed in in the way that they did, to allow us to live the way we do nowadays. It is those people like Gandhi [4] and MLK Jr. [5] that are the role models for modern nonviolent organization against the tyrants of today. You don’t have to look to far to find someone who wants to fight against despotism without weapons. The resources have been made available, the table has been set, and dinner has been served. But the real question is, will you dig in?
Annotated Bibliography
1. Kuryla, Peter. "Parties down at the square amid courtroom melodramas: a reconsideration of the modern civil rights movement demonstration." Patterns of Prejudice 43, no. 1 (February 2009): 17-40. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost
Cory Doctorow expresses the importance of a “Bloodless Revolution” as one of his many original contributions in Little Brother. This is a pressing issue in the midst of current events and past history that people have no paid attention to. We all hear about “pro-peace” movements that occur all around the world, but is anyone listening or is it just a spur-of-the-moment effort to battle unnecessary bloodshed? This article focuses one of the most important eras of recent past, the Civil Rights Era. Ironically enough (in regards to Doctorow’s original contribution), this time was viewed as one, which was abundant in public demonstrations, especially the violent ones. The “enemy” is the one shedding the blood.
2. Zunes, Stephen. “The role of non-violent action in the downfall of apartheid.” The Journal of Modern African Studies (1999), 37:137-169 Cambrdige University Press.
Yet another time that fits perfectly this theme of the “Bloodless Revolution” is the Apartheid in South Africa. This time period saw the rights of the majority of black inhabitants curtailed and minority rights of whites maintained. From 1958, South Africans were deprived of their citizenship, sparking internal resistance and violence in South Africa. This article focuses on how non-violent action prevailed in the downfall of apartheid in South Africa and a democratic black majority government was established. (LB – getting rid of the “bizzaro-world” DHS version of the justice system and reestablishing the old system with judges, open trials, and lawyers).
3. Strauss, Scott. “Darfur and the Genocide Debate.” Foreign Affairs. Vol. 84, No. 1 (Jan-Feb., 2005), pp. 123-133. Council on Foreign Relations.
Napoleon didn’t read “the book.” Neither did Hitler. You know why? Its because Doctorow wrote it. In his novel, Doctorow throws a myriad amount of themes into a melting pot and let’s his readers deduce them one by one, as they compare them to current or past events along the way. A theme that stuck out to me in particular was how Marcus did not have to start a bloody revolution versus the DHS to get his point across, he could just use his smarts of computers, the Internet and technology, The opposite has been going on in Sudan since 2003. Once the term “genocide” was used to describe the death that plagued the nation, nobody bothered to fight it. The world now sits in waiting as more people die at the hands of revolutionaries, holding steady until some nation steps forward to stop a miniature Holocaust in the making.
4. Gregg, Richard B. The Power of Nonviolence. Lightening Source Inc. Released January 31, 2007.
Gregg said it best: “The idea of non-violence (passive-resistance) has always seemed beautiful but too good to be true.” This is exactly what is on the minds of individuals who witness or partake in pro-peace “NO WAR, NO BLOODSHED” protests all around the United States. “Sure, we can organize. But we are not the only ones here. How is the rest of the world going to find out?” Mahatma Gandhi employed non-violence methods on a wider scale and with greater success than any other figure in history something that Marcus was very good at over the course of the novel, in the face of death itself.
5. King, Martin Luther. Pilgrimage to Nonviolence. Excerpt from “Stride Toward Freedom.” (1958).
It only takes one voice to spark a revolution. One voice connects the voices of many, creating a web of trust that turns into a commanding force of change. Marcus’s Xnet did exactly this. He didn’t want anyone to give him credit for anything that he did right (he didn’t like attention), his mission was to get Darryl out of Treasure Island and free from the hands of the DHS. All he need was his laptop, his ParanoidXbox, and a secure WiFi connection that the DHS couldn’t tap. MLK Jr. was just the opposite. This icon was the voice of millions of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. He managed to attract the attention of not only those that followed them, but those who were fascinated by his charisma, commanding voice, and fortitude to strengthen the hearts of an undignified audience in the face of much adversity and hate. Some blood may have been shed, by MLK’s point was made, the product of which is seen today in the White House, and President Barack Obama. MLK = the voice of millions of African Americans pleading to be free of hate, racism, and discrimination against them. Marcus = the voice of millions of teens pleading to be understood and trusted in the face of the DHS who has made the abnormal (life), normal.
6. Kelman, Herbert C. “The Political Psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: How Can We Overcome the Barriers to a Negotiated Solution?” Political Psychology, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Sept., 1987), pp. 347-363. Published by the International Society of Political Psychology.
What is known around the world as the “Arab-Israeli” Conflict, is also known as a series of failed attempts to make peace between two ethnic groups that have been in feuds with each other back and forth since Israel’s declaration as a nation on May 16, 1948. The Land of Canaan or Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) was, according to the Torah, promised by God to the Children of Israel, Jews. Conflict sprung out of this fact. Since then there have been multitudes of suicide bombings taking many innocent lives and offensives by Israel to show that they would not stand down in the face of adversity. In comparison with Little Brother, the Arab-Israeli conflict shines through as a period in which many attempts have been made to try and make peace, but violence and bloodshed somehow always resulted.
7. Tyner, James A. “Territoriality, Social Justice and Gendered Revolutions in the Speeches of Malcolm X.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. New Series, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Sept. 2004), pp.330-343. Published by Blackwell Publishing.
During the Civil Rights Era, there were several individuals who stood tall in the face of oppression who knew something was wrong as they went about their lives each and every day. Some of those people were MLK Jr., Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, and finally Malcolm X. Malcolm X was unique among his abolitionist counterparts. The revolutionary thought of Malcolm X was at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. This African American radical intellectual sparked much thought in the minds of antagonists, going against the grain to show the world that fear can not nullify the power of desire, desire for equality and justice.
Annotated Bib & Review of the Literature
1. Beinart, Peter. "Duty free." The New Republic 225.25 (2001): 6. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
This article was not as helpful as the other ones in specifics, but gave me a broader understanding of the material I was researching. It helped me learn about the historical controversies of security vs. civil liberties, from the Clinton to the Bush Administration. Lastly, it was beneficial in learning about the rights of immigrants, who were not yet citizens and how the government was able to treat them because of that.
2. Beutel, Alejandrao J.. "Are We Safe?." Islamic Horizons 37.1 (2008): 30-3. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
In the Article, “Are We Safe,” Beutel, discusses the controversies between national security and civil liberties. This article was very helpful in learning about the racial profiling of suspected Terrorists. It was especially a good source because it was not biased considering it looked at both sides of the issue very skeptically. Not only did I learn about the unethical approach of racial profiling, but also the harm it does to the government in looking for one group of people as suspected terrorists.
3. Harris, Hamil, and Alan Hughes. "The price of privacy." Black Enterprise 32.6 (2002): 23. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
“The Price of Privacy” was a good source to get background information on racial profiling since the September 11th attacks. Harris talked about the Anti - terrorist Bill that Bush passed, which inevitably led to more racial profiling. The article not only talked about the causes of racial profiling, but also the unconstitutional actions of the government from having a prejudice.
4. Kleiner, Yevgenia S.. "Racial Profiling in the Name of National Security: Protecting Minority Travelers' Civil Liberties in the Age of Terrorism." Boston College Third World Law Journal 30.1 (2010): 103-44. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
Kleiner writes about the issues of racial profiling and how it affects society today. As my best resource, the article does an excellent job of going into depth of unconstitutional issues surrounding racial profiling and how it enforces prejudice as social norms in the United States. It also gives good examples of innocent American citizens who have been racial profiled and how they found the experience degrading to be treated as second class citizens.
5. Weeden, Darnell. "Racial Profiling and the Implications of Jena Six in Undermining the Civil Rights of Blacks in America." Southern University Law Review 36.2 (2009): 239-61. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
Review of the Literature
Stereotyping has been around since the founding of the United States. Therefore, it’s not hard to believe that racial profiling has been a prominent issue for society; from slavery to the current issue of unconstitutional prejudices and discrimination against certain minorities due to specific terrorist organizations. Some minorities have tried to get past these stereotypes for their whole lives. The problem is the government has helped to create these prejudices, which makes citizens follow them, causing the stereotypes to become a social norm.
In Corey Doctorow’s book, “Little Brother” there is a theme of racial profiling. Jolu, the main character Marcus’s friend, brings up the issue of racial prejudice. He decides to stop helping Marcus with X-net because he knows that he has more to risk that Marcus, since he isn’t white. Doctorow develops the character of Marcus, who starts out a little ignorant to the world around him, but becomes more aware of the inequalities that society faces. Marcus does not like being in a group of people, young rebellious teens, who are being profiled. From his time being held captive at Treasure Island to his efforts of trying to defeat Homeland Security he learns that society is not fair and everyone deserves their constitutional rights of civil liberties.
Racial profiling has increased since the September 11th attacks (5). Since the controversial debate between civil liberties and national security, the government has passed bill and laws that limits citizen’s freedom (4). Now one main group is targeted as suspected terrorists because of Al Queda. Muslims or people of Middle Eastern descent who look Muslim tend to be branded as a criminal due to their ethnicity and religion (1). Not only does this reinforce harmful stereotypes, but also creates ethnocentrism as a social norm. Racial profiling as well as stopping people based on thdir appearance is constitutionally offensive (3). In addition to the unethical aspects of racial profiling, it also harms national security. Now many terrorists will seek inconspicuous white people because of the current racial profiling of certain ethnicities. In doing so, terrorists are able to take the government’s eyes away from other threats (5). Now society needs to create race blind security system in order to stop racial profiling (1).
This article was not as helpful as the other ones in specifics, but gave me a broader understanding of the material I was researching. It helped me learn about the historical controversies of security vs. civil liberties, from the Clinton to the Bush Administration. Lastly, it was beneficial in learning about the rights of immigrants, who were not yet citizens and how the government was able to treat them because of that.
2. Beutel, Alejandrao J.. "Are We Safe?." Islamic Horizons 37.1 (2008): 30-3. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
In the Article, “Are We Safe,” Beutel, discusses the controversies between national security and civil liberties. This article was very helpful in learning about the racial profiling of suspected Terrorists. It was especially a good source because it was not biased considering it looked at both sides of the issue very skeptically. Not only did I learn about the unethical approach of racial profiling, but also the harm it does to the government in looking for one group of people as suspected terrorists.
3. Harris, Hamil, and Alan Hughes. "The price of privacy." Black Enterprise 32.6 (2002): 23. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
“The Price of Privacy” was a good source to get background information on racial profiling since the September 11th attacks. Harris talked about the Anti - terrorist Bill that Bush passed, which inevitably led to more racial profiling. The article not only talked about the causes of racial profiling, but also the unconstitutional actions of the government from having a prejudice.
4. Kleiner, Yevgenia S.. "Racial Profiling in the Name of National Security: Protecting Minority Travelers' Civil Liberties in the Age of Terrorism." Boston College Third World Law Journal 30.1 (2010): 103-44. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
Kleiner writes about the issues of racial profiling and how it affects society today. As my best resource, the article does an excellent job of going into depth of unconstitutional issues surrounding racial profiling and how it enforces prejudice as social norms in the United States. It also gives good examples of innocent American citizens who have been racial profiled and how they found the experience degrading to be treated as second class citizens.
5. Weeden, Darnell. "Racial Profiling and the Implications of Jena Six in Undermining the Civil Rights of Blacks in America." Southern University Law Review 36.2 (2009): 239-61. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
Review of the Literature
Stereotyping has been around since the founding of the United States. Therefore, it’s not hard to believe that racial profiling has been a prominent issue for society; from slavery to the current issue of unconstitutional prejudices and discrimination against certain minorities due to specific terrorist organizations. Some minorities have tried to get past these stereotypes for their whole lives. The problem is the government has helped to create these prejudices, which makes citizens follow them, causing the stereotypes to become a social norm.
In Corey Doctorow’s book, “Little Brother” there is a theme of racial profiling. Jolu, the main character Marcus’s friend, brings up the issue of racial prejudice. He decides to stop helping Marcus with X-net because he knows that he has more to risk that Marcus, since he isn’t white. Doctorow develops the character of Marcus, who starts out a little ignorant to the world around him, but becomes more aware of the inequalities that society faces. Marcus does not like being in a group of people, young rebellious teens, who are being profiled. From his time being held captive at Treasure Island to his efforts of trying to defeat Homeland Security he learns that society is not fair and everyone deserves their constitutional rights of civil liberties.
Racial profiling has increased since the September 11th attacks (5). Since the controversial debate between civil liberties and national security, the government has passed bill and laws that limits citizen’s freedom (4). Now one main group is targeted as suspected terrorists because of Al Queda. Muslims or people of Middle Eastern descent who look Muslim tend to be branded as a criminal due to their ethnicity and religion (1). Not only does this reinforce harmful stereotypes, but also creates ethnocentrism as a social norm. Racial profiling as well as stopping people based on thdir appearance is constitutionally offensive (3). In addition to the unethical aspects of racial profiling, it also harms national security. Now many terrorists will seek inconspicuous white people because of the current racial profiling of certain ethnicities. In doing so, terrorists are able to take the government’s eyes away from other threats (5). Now society needs to create race blind security system in order to stop racial profiling (1).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)