Computerized Personas

Reading through Janet Murray’s introduction I was the most struck by her description of Eliza, the computerized therapist.  From Murray’s description of Eliza I thought of today’s most popular digital persona, the cleverbot application.

With the initial read-through of the section I chuckled at the gullibility of the users of Eliza back in the 1980’s who readily believed that they were speaking with a  real person rather than a computer.

Then I remembered how one evening, about a year ago, my roommates and I spent hours in conversation with the cleverbot.  At the end of our various conversations we playfully decided that the cleverbot was not, in fact, a computer program but merely a randomized generator that puts users together in a chat.

We agreed that it seemed as though each time the conversation topic shifted, the cleverbot used different language and repeatedly asserted that it was not “a bot”.

Bearing that in mind I suddenly realized that my roommates and I had probably been duped by the same randomized humanness that users in the ’80’s encountered when speaking with Eliza.

To me it all goes back to the simple fact that we, generically speaking, are unwilling to accept the possibility of a truly computerized personality. In my mind, as demonstrated by my attempt to find out the “truth” of the cleverbot, Janet Murray’s assertion that we are much more technophobic as a society than we would like to admit now carries much greater weight.

Digital Filmmaking: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”

Today’s class discussion immediately put me in mind of the many new sci-fi films of the past few years.  While there are certainly plenty of movies to discuss the one that I just couldn’t shake was the planet of the apes series, most particularly “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”.  The attached link includes a review of the film by David Denby of the New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2011/09/05/110905crci_cinema_denby?currentPage=all).

One of the first things that struck me when reading reviews of the new film was the uncanny realism that the animators were able to achieve with the digital apes.  Just by watching the trailer I was blown away by how life-like the apes appear, it is certainly a step up from the 1970’s classic films we all know and love.

I think it is incredibly telling that audiences today have embraced digital film making and animation.  The incredible popularity of films such as “Avatar” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” illustrate this point.  However, what is so intriguing to me about the most recent addition to the “Planet of the Apes” series is the time in which filmmakers chose to continue the story.

Disregarding the terrible attempt at a re-make of the original film back in the 2000’s, there has been no interest in continuing the story until recently.  In the earlier films viewers learn about the fall of human civilization through a series of discoveries and various narrators but were never actually presented with the story in a visual manner.

What is the most disturbing aspect of the new film, at least from my perspective, is the fact that it was made during a time in which this sort of thing could actually happen.

I’m not saying that I expect a horde of apes to suddenly come storming down the middle of campus and kill us all but I do think there is a very real fear that animals might develop humanistic qualities.

By utilizing the latest in animation technology, filmmakers were able to play on those very fears.  By using a skilled actor, Andy Serkis, as the central ape, Caesar, the animators created a terrifying hybrid of human facial expression on a non-human face.

Will the next step be completely digital films or simply adding 3-D technology to every new film? I guess I will just have to wait and see.

Syllabus Response

I just finished reading the syllabus for WRIT-501 so I will go ahead and share some of my thoughts on the class.  After reading the syllabus my understanding of the class has changed slightly.  Coming into it without any sort of information I assumed that we would start with web design and content layout, rather than with understanding of media and its various incarnations.  I am greatly relieved that my thoughts were proven wrong.  I feel much more secure now that I realize that we will be taking new media in stride.

Concerning the course goals I think that they are reasonable even though the sheer amount does seem a little daunting.  The initial course goal comes as a bit of a surprise, it states the need for knowledge of various literary genres and written text, simply because I initially assumed that the class would address only new forms of media.  I am curious about the concept of appropriateness of tone in a web/digital format. Furthermore,  I am excited to get the chance to work with new computer programs and create a visually pleasing and informative video.  In previous classes I have created either one or the other but have never layered audio and video.

Moving on to the textbooks, I am really excited about reading the Yahoo! Style Guide.  As far as textbooks go I think that one is going to be really informative, it seems much less stuffy than the APA style guide.  I think that the book demonstrates a nice bridge between a writing intensive class and a technology class by combining grammar and style with format and function. I haven’t had a chance to check out the other textbook yet so I will reserve judgment.

The online writing activities, like this one, should help guide me through the ins and outs of proper blogging. The shorter assignments are also intriguing and I am particularly interested in pursuing the analysis of social networking sites because I am such an active tumblr user.    I hope that by analyzing  the adaptation of the social networks in general that I will better understand their uses in a more global sense rather than just a component of living in the modern world.

I am admittedly a little uneasy about the concept video even thought I am excited to learn new A/V skills simply because it is so far out of my comfort zone.  That being said the wheels are already turning over new ideas.  At the moment some of my possible topics include: will blogs replace the newspaper?  will the music industry change now that it is nearly impossible to regulate music downloads? and will the keyboard truly replace pencil and paper in the school system?

With all of these ideas floating around in my head I can honestly say that I am looking forward to taking this class and  hope that at the end of this semester I will have gained a greater understanding of the new media and writing in the digital age.