Video Art

MikWHO?

I think that it is absolutely absurd what is being done with Miku Hatsuni. I think it says a lot about the music industry and the people that listen to music. Not only that the voice is completely produced inside of a computer and is not at all the voice of a human being, but also that people will pay money to see this hologram. They might as well pay to sit in front of their computer screen and watch Youtube. I think the technology is really cool, but I don't think that it should be used to this extent to take money from people. At least with bands such as the Gorillaz, they played at their concerts live, but just did not want to be seen. I can see where they are coming from and can respect that they want part of their lives to be private. They are still giving out real music and a real show to the world, but keeping their faces free of any judgement. Miku Hatsuni is just crazy. Although I feel as if this will start happening a lot more often now and in the future. It has already started when a hologram of Tupac was shown at Coachella music festival. They pretty much brought a guy back from the dead to make him "perform". The technology is interesting and new, but I don't think it's being used with the correct intentions. Apparently as of 2007, Miku has made over 57,500,000 yen. Which is over $700,000. 

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk is a band that produces experimental and electronic music. The band originated in Germany in the 1970's. The music that Kraftwerk experiments with includes very repetitive rhythms, much like other disco music in the 70's that influenced the house and dub step music later on. Kraftwerk was known to revolutionize the world of electronic music, as they were one of the first bands in the world to experiment with such a radical style of music. They are very influential on not only many bands today, but also many styles of music that are popular in the clubs today. I visited Kraftwerk's website, and like their music, the design of their website was also very robotic and pixelized. Surprisingly, Kraftwerk is still touring today. Not only are their music and website very robotic, after watching a couple of their music videos, I've discovered that they perform in a very robotic manner. I appreciate a band that fully stands behind an image, from their design aspects to their live performances.

House Music

As for the present day version of House music, I'm really not into that music. I don't like sitting and listening to beats, but I could see how some people are interested in it. My brother has his own DJ company and produces his own beats and really enjoys House music. I learn a little bit from him abut what present day House music is like, but I think it's really important to him to discover the roots of the type of music that he loves to listen to. As he is only 17, I do not think he realizes that House music originally generated from the Disco Era. I think he would be very surprised to learn the roots of House. I was very surprised to hear the similarities between disco and house music. I think a lot of kids these days that are DJs think they are doing something new and original with the beats that they're making, when in actuality they are ripping off the stars of the 70's. After learning about the roots of house music, it kind of makes the kids that think they are professional club artists seem very arrogant and closed-minded.

Mapper on Disney Castle

Scopitones

I think that the invention of scopitones was definitely a good marketing plan for the time that it was released. I'm not sure if the invention would work as well in the world of today when everyone has their own personal scopitone in their pocket with youtube on the cell phones. Although, on the website, there are t-shirts being sold which could really fly with the hipster scene right now, seeing as the scopitone could be considered about as vintage as a rotary phone. Also found on the website are tons of videos that I assume used to be available on Scoptiones. What I don't understand about the machine is if each machine came with its own set of videos, or if the videos could be interchangeable from time to time, or if every time a new video was released it was automatically added to each Scopitone that was out on the streets. I think American Pickers would have a field day if a scopitone was found somewhere. Scopitones even have a Facebook, hows that for modern marketing.

Advertising vs. Propaganda

As an advertising major, I feel as if I must defend advertising and say that there is a difference between propaganda and advertising. Although many people may think that both are evil ways to persuade people to buy things that are falsely presented, I believe that advertising is a less harsh version of propaganda. I feel as if a lot of propaganda is in fact, a lie, and very in your face about how it is presented. For example, war propaganda, is extremely persuasive because it is aggressive and points Uncle Sam directly at your face. Some advertisements may do that, but they are convincing you to buy a certain type of cereal, that is probably good for you, rather than attempting to convince you to join the army and possibly get killed. Both advertising and propaganda could lie to you, but the difference is the way you feel if you do not buy what the poster is selling. If you don't buy that certain cereal, your life is probably not affected in the long run, whereas if you pass up that opportunity to buy war bonds, you may feel guilty for a really long time if your country ends up losing the war.