During my time in BCM325 Future Cultures, We have been asked to do live analyses of movies and view them through concepts and frameworks. Firstly we were asked to watch Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 Sci-Fi masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and view it through the lens of the science fiction novum, which refers to the “new”.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Before delving into the posts I made during my live analysis of the film, I just want to preface by saying I came into the subject late, and actually watched Her first then 2001 while the rest of the class had it the other way around.

My posts during 2001: A Space Odyssey were as follows- https://discord.com/channels/1179652660769607730/1224308065248084059

• 1 Incredible opening. Showcases the dawn of man- us at our most primitive state, until one primate makes a discovery. A bone that can be used as a tool. This discovery is the first major step of evolution, in my opinion this is what the obelisk represents, a major turning point in the evolution of man and our relationship to technology and it’s advancements.
• 2 Amazing edit with the match cut of the bone into the spacecraft. It’s saying look how far we’ve come. Especially prevalent for the 60s as this came out right before the moon landing.
• 3 Although this has got the idea of current space travel wrong, it still predicted a crazy amount for the times we currently live in. For example portable TV devices/Tablets, the way we communicate, and most notably, AI
• 4 another great example of the movies foresight into our time with the inclusion of the videophone sequence, which reflects our current use of facetime/skype

• 5 The excavation on the moon is still one of the scariest and incredibly tense non-horror scenes of all time. Just a Black slab sitting upright under the moons surface, dug up millions of years after its intentional placement. Accompanied by the terrifying score, this scene is shows a higher force we don’t understand encouraging humanity to progress further.
• 6 Progress is made, were now introduced to HAL9000, an advanced AI which acts as the brains of the Jupiter mission and the next major technologic advancement of mankind in the story. Amazing how back in 1968 they were able to predict highly intelligent computers existing capable of thinking.
• 7 Most reliable computer ever made, never distorted information or made a mistake, incapable of error – what happens when given a moral or ethical dilemma arises though?
• 8 This question is applicable to the AI we use today. While chat bots like ChatGPT are cleverly coded to divert from answering moral dilemmas, we can apply this to something like Waymo with the self driving car. When you cant just program something away and a choice needs to be made, what choice does an AI make?
• 9 These ethics come into play when HAL is faced with the continuation of the mission. The choice of the missions priority means HAL is willing to take human lives.
• 10 What a crazy trip the end 20 minutes are. I think its a popular theory to believe the monoliths are a signifier of mankind’s next step in evolution. 1)The Dawn of man first discovery primitive tools, something we can see today in our primate relatives https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/capuchin-monkeys-used-stone-tools-3000-years-oldest-outside-africa. 2) Modern technology and space travel, with the discovery of the monolith on the moon. 3) The monolith orbiting Jupiter signifying the advancement in Artificial Intelligence 4) and Finally the bedroom monolith, signifying a new unknown stage of human evolution.

I think I did quite a decent job at touching on and breaking down some of the main themes of the film here. The science fiction novum and the “new” was explored mainly through the talk of technology used in the film and its comparison to our current reality. For example the videophone sequence and most notably the correlation between HAL9000 and current AI. I think one of the most interesting points I brought up in regards to AI was that of the moral dilemma. What happens when AI is forced to make a decision the could drastically impact human lives? In the film we see this in the malfunctioning HAL9000, who chooses to trick and cause the deaths of the missions crewmates all in the name of the mission. For our current day, I brought up the example of self driving cars like Waymo. What happens when it is forced into a moral dilemma where it needs to make a decision between driver safety or a child the road?

When I asked myself where I could have done better in these posts, I believe my engagement and links back to the class subjects ideas and concepts would have been very helpful in making a more coherent viewpoint to watch the movie through. I believe I explored some of the Novum within the story i.e. the advanced space travel and higher evolution, But I think I focused more on the stories comparisons and contrasts to current technology.

HER

My posts during Her were as follows- https://discord.com/channels/1179652660769607730/1219781340216430713

• 1 Opening still so goddamn strong, shows us a world where people with loved ones can’t or just aren’t bothered to think about their loved ones and write meaningful things about them but instead choose to pay someone else to do it for them. Theodore longs so much for connection that he uses this jobs as an avenue for connection. This world also isn’t too far from our own, with people using AI like chat GPT to go as far as writing wedding speeches for significant others.
• 2 Opening scenes shows us how thoughtful, emotional and caring our main character is while also letting us know his longing for a connection. He longs for the kind of connections he describes in his letters. The films shows us his isolation from those around him through elevator shot placing him at the back of the frame while others are in the foreground, and the color pallet of our character wearing red while all other colors of clothing and environments are monotone. These visual cues effectively establish Theodore’s character and set the tone for the film’s exploration of human connection in an increasingly technology-driven world.
• 3 “An intuitive entity that listens to you and understands you and knows you”. People have this kind of relationship to their phones. Algorithms giving users specifically catered content to keep people using apps. In today’s society, many people have developed intimate connections with their smartphones, relying on them for communication, entertainment, and even emotional support.
• 4 (from chat gpt) While the portrayal of AI companionship in “Her” may seem like a futuristic concept, the reality of human-technology relationships is already well-established. Many people form emotional attachments to their devices, relying on them for companionship, validation, and social interaction.
• 5 I asked ChatGPT: Is their relationship real? If so does that mean love just in our heads? Here was it’s response

• 6 Do you think that connection is any less real than if Samantha had a real body?
• 7 The picnic with Theodore’s coworker highlights the fundamental difference between humans and AI. As Samantha says she’s not tethered to time and space the way she would be if she was in a body that was going to die. This divide is the crux of the relationship, Theodore will die and Samantha won’t. No matter how much they love each other (if you can even call their love real), that fact won’t change, and Theodore knows this is reinforced the line “We’re only here briefly and while I’m here I want to allow myself joy, so fuck it”.
• 8 Their relationship turns into something Theodore can’t comprehend as a human anymore. Samantha can talk to thousands of people at once, Theodore can only be in one place and have one conversation at any given time.
• 9 I love that this isn’t a story about how AI is going to take over or how dangerous it is to society, instead it’s a very individual and human story of a man trying to pick himself back up after a broken marriage and find a connection like the one he had, he just happens to find it in an OS/AI that understands him better than a human can. Samantha is specifically tailored for him and it’s easy to see why he falls in love with her, she’s everything he wants, she’s just not human.
• 10 This film could have easily resorted to a sort of sci fi satire of modern relationships but it’s never degrades itself into that. It’s a very human movie about relationships, isolation, love, and most importantly our relationship to technology and how that can keep us from genuine deep and meaningful connections.

Here I believe I did a much better job at viewing the movie through the lens of the subjects ideas and concepts. With insights like people having developed intimate connections with their smartphones, relying on them for communication, entertainment, and even emotional support. As well as the crux of not only Theodore’s and Samantha’s relationship being that Theodore will die and Samantha won’t, but such will be the case for all humans and all AI. I also very much like my point about the film never degrading itself into a satire about human and AI relationships, but instead shines light on relationships, isolation, love, and most importantly our relationship to technology and how that can keep us from genuine deep and meaningful connections.

While I think I did a better job here engaging and drawing back to the subjects ideas and themes, I would still, in future like to engage more. I could have looked more at possible, probable and preferable outcomes for human/AI relationships instead of focusing more on the current reality and landscape of AI and smart technology interactions.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed engaging with and questioning the complex themes and ideas that not only the films bring up, but the overall subject of BCM325 Future cultures.

For the past 15 years or so, Korean movies has increasingly become a powerhouse in the world of cinema outside of Hollywood. Post dictatorship South Korea saw a push from the government for more local productions and introduced a quota on foreign films being shown in the country. Censorship laws were eased and Korean cinema had creative freedom to make movies filled with extreme content including violence, sex, and adult themes. This quota and the Korean governments support, promotion and investment into the countries film industry helped it to boom into a global phenomenon. Films like Oldboy, Memories of Murder, and Peppermint Candy all saw major success within the country and overseas.

The Korean film Industry and the governments support of it has seen the countries box office have a number of locally produced and supported films within the top 10 every year for the past 15. In 2015, six of the top 10 films at the Korean box office were Korean. In fact, there was only one American film in the top six – Avengers: Age of Ultron was third (Byrnes, P, 2016), and the popularity of Korean content shows no signs of declining with the success of Tv shows like Squid Game, Kingdom, and Moving, and Films like Parasite, Train to Busan, and Burning.

Compare this to the Australian film industry and the Governments support for homegrown content. Screen Australia’s figures for 2015 show that “films under Australian or shared creative control” accounted for 7.2 per cent of the total Australian box office, but box office rose by more than 14 per cent, but there were no Australian films in the top 10. None (Byrnes, P, 2016). This isn’t to say there aren’t any good Australian made and funded films. Some classics include Picnic at Hanging Rock, Animal Kingdom, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Muriels Wedding, and Gallipoli. A more recent and exciting example is Australia’s own YouTube brothers Michael and Danny Phillippou’s (Better known as RackaRacka) Talk to Me.

The film, which follows a group of teenagers who discover an embalmed hand that can let you connect with the dead, has made waves throughout the film community not only in Australia, but across the globe. Distributed by indie darling’s A24, the film was a presentation by screen Australia and also funded by the South Australia Film Corporation and the South Australian Film Festival Fund. The film has gone on to be a critical and commercial smash, earning over $45 Million USD on a budget of $4.5 Million. A sequel has now been greenlit. While Australia is not as much of a global strength when it comes to our Film industry, there have been a number of great examples of films backed by our governments over the years, and seeing great Australian made films such as Talk to Me being released, I think its more important than ever for governments to support our film industry.

References-

Byrnes, P, 2016, ‘Korea’s booming film industry and what it means for Australian cinema’ https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/koreas-booming-film-industry-and-what-it-means-for-australian-cinema-20160802-gqj3u7.html [25 Aug 2023]

Reality Television is a huge part of our modern media world. Countries all over the world have their own forms of it that are culturally different but structured similarly. For example, Big Brother has seen itself reiterated and reinterpreted in over 60 different countries and has accumulated over 500 seasons since its conception and first airing in the Netherlands in 1999.

The show which places a number of non actor contestants or “housemates” into a specially constructed house isolated from the real world equipped with hidden cameras and microphones. Each week contestants evict (vote out) one another from the house until one is left to win a cash prize. This is the basic premise of the show, and its universal theme of people interacting with each other and human relationships make it a prime candidate for a good reality TV show. It’s show isn’t built around culture or national identity, instead the format allows for each country to take its premise and allow the housemates to incorporate these elements naturally and create a version of the show suited the country adapting it.

Media formats crossing borders aren’t specific to Big Brother or even the genre Big Brother would come under being Game shows. There are three major genres which include Game shows, Dating shows, and Talent shows. These genres that make up reality TV allow different countries to take “Elements, Genres, and formats and adapt them into national media systems and give them national spins or interpretations. The outcome is neither national autonomy, nor cultural imperialism” (Straubhaar, 2007, pp.167-68).

Whether it be [insert here]’s Got Talent, The Bachelor, or Survivor, and inject cultural identity and mould the countries adaptation of the show into something the people of said country can identify with and enjoy. These adaptions rarely feel forced as the contestants are able to give the show a sense of relatability to those watching through national identity. Since the contestants are real life people and not actors, the show gives a sense of reality, and if the contestant aren’t being genuine, or “acting”, viewers catch on pretty quickly, and the most successful reality performers and the ones who appear to be the most ‘Real’.

References-

Fandom, 2023, ‘Big Brother’ https://bigbrother.fandom.com/wiki/Big_Brother_Wiki [13 Aug 2023]

Darling-Wolf, F, 2014, ‘Un American Idols: How the Global/National/Local Intersect’ P.25 [14 Aug 2023]

The 90s were a massive decade for Television. In 1990, ABC aired Twin Peaks, a show that took the world by storm and captivated audiences. This show was something different, something new. After Twin peaks, the 90s saw the rise of other shows such as Oz, the West Wing, The X-files and The Sopranos, which are considered to be the starting of point of what we now consider, Quality or Prestige Tv. For most of televisions history before the 90s, small screens were dominated by sit-coms and animated children’s shows. Drama’s were usually considered high risk, and what few dramas there was at the time, didn’t explore the complex and adult themes shows explore today. There was also a big emphasis on the line drawn between television and cinema. Today that line is blurred, and shows like Twin Peaks and The Sopranos helped blur it. These shows had a higher production and artistic direction, with qualities viewers hadn’t seen on television before. Cinematography/Lighting/framing that had purpose and intent, writers in control of narrative through lines and character development that crossed over seasons, more complex, serious, and adult themes and ideas that explored society, social, and the psychological. These shows were something viewers around the world just hadn’t seen before, and they helped paved a way for what we now consider quality television.

As the rise of quality television came, so did demand, and HBO being the undisputed king of quality TV saw to these demands, but so did others like ABC, Showcase, and AMC. With this rise also came a need for more content, and fast. So its obvious some of these companies would look to adapting pre existing material. Some key successful examples being The Office, House of Cards, and Shameless.

Although taking a good show and adapting it doesn’t mean the adaptation will be good. Adapting within the genre of comedy, especially from British Tv shows seems to be rife with disaster, with shows like Spaced, Skins, and Inbetweeners all getting US adaptions and all failing miserably. We even have the States trying their hand at their very own Kath and Kim (how dare they). Its easy to say that the comedy doesn’t translate well from the original to the remake, but then I look at a show like Utopia, A hugely underrated British sci-fi/mystery with incredible cinematography and production, and an intriguing plot, that was remade into an Amazon original and was an insult to the original series. So while comedy seem to be an Achilles heel for American adaptations, I think its a bit tougher to answer why so many adaptations go wrong than just ‘it was lost in translation’. Maybe audiences are tired of seeing adaptions of a pre existing show being remade into something worse. Maybe viewers are looking for something akin to what Twin Peaks did in the 90s, when the norm of tv was sitcoms.

References-

Sordi, N, 2010, ’10 Successful US TV Adaptations’ https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/10-successful-us-tv-adaptations/ [17 Aug 2023]

AV Film School, 2020, ‘What is a Quality TV Show?’ https://avfilmschool.com/what-is-a-quality-tv-show/ [17 Aug 2023]

For my narrative interview, I had the pleasure of interviewing Terry Coombes after I was introduced through a family member. Terry worked at channel 7 editing Home and Away for over 30 years.

While interviewing Terry, I realised how similar his thoughts and values on work aligned with mine. His passion for something he felt like he created really inspired me and helped me to realise why I chose to not only come to university, but why I wanted a career in the film and tv industry in the first place. Terry told me to chase the career I want and money shouldn’t matter as long as I feel a sense of pride in what I’m doing. This mindset was something Terry talked about in detail and kept referring to throughout the interview.

After hearing other’s narrative interviews, I realised how similarly a lot of peoples stories and values of work align. A few examples include people wanting to move on to a new career and find something more exciting and fulfilling. Another being the change in technology over then years. Terry and a few other interviewees had particular skills and knowledge that made their work unique and special whereas now technology has made it a lot more accessible to anyone willing to try it.

Overall, I gained a lot of insight into not only Terry and his working life and professional values, but came to re-realise why I’m pursuing a career in the film and tv industry in the first place.