Author: Will H.

lmj analysis

For my image analysis, I chose the 2017 smash hit Get Out. One of the striking things I observed well watching this movie is the subtle tonal shifts in the art direction of the film. The work is supposed to appear familiar and relatable, a regular guy goes home with a regular girl to meet her parents. However, beneath this normalcy the screenwriter and director use shifts in color and subtle tone to make the audience feel uneasy. These patterns of tonal shifts are visible in all three of the presented images. In the barcode, we see a darker, meaner palette of color followed by more light and a seemingly “regular” assortment of colors. Additionally, in the plot image, we see that the lighter, brighter color palette comprises a much larger number of shots than those shot with a dark array of color. This makes a lot of sense because of the director’s efforts to create unease and tension among members of the audience. Many of my friends called Get Out one of the most unnerving movie-going experiences of their lifetime. This creepy experience is definitely aided by the sparse and intentional use of color, helping blur the lines between the normal and abnormal, and what is theatrical dramatization and what is a reflection of reality. This interpretation of the use of color and tone in Get Out is also visible in the montage, as we see shifts from shots of dark interiors to bright shots of the outdoors. The montage image is particularly helpful because it lets us consider the color palette of the film and observe trends on a macro scale while allowing us to root our interpretation firmly in the actual content of the movie by detailing particular scenes. Due to the unique evident quality of this image, I believe it to be the most valuable of the three. However, by being able to explain all of them and put them in conversation with one another, I believe I was able to achieve a more comprehensive analysis than I would have been able to with solely the montage.

Ultimately, if I had more time to do movie analysis I would really like the look at the trends in color and light usage in thrillers. Horror movies usually take a sledgehammer approach to unnerving their audience. Meanwhile, thrillers have to be subtle with how they mess with their audience. Were I to do a large scale image analysis of the stills parsed from other thrillers, I believe I would see a similar trend of dark shots being sparsely deployed and frequently contrasted with long stretches of bright, light palette shots in order to subtlely evoke a feeling of unease within the viewer.

Posted from My blog by Will H.

Sports Gif

Example:

Counter-example:

Analysis:
The sports gif typically celebrates athletic achievements similar to a highlight reel of one play. The first gif is a classic example of that, a game-winning shot in a basketball game. We see the tension build as the players drive down the court. We’re briefly held in suspense until the shot swishes in and we see the players celebrate. There’s a whole narrative inside this tiny clip. The counter-example is the utter refutation of these norms. There’s no suspense. The score of this game is 56 – 0. With nothing at stake, this moment feels like a whole lot of nothing. The moment is also less significant because it’s an insignificant kick. You could potentially have a meaningless pass or run play that is still really cool. Not the case with a field goal. We don’t even get the satisfaction of seeing whether the kicker made the kick because the clip ends early. This gif ultimately stands totally counter to sports gifs because they are an attempt to immortalize a moment of particular importance or memorability. This counter-gif is immortalizing a moment utterly lacking in significance or importance.

Reaction Gif

Fandom Gif

Example:

Counter-example:

Analysis:
Fandom gifs are a staple of the internet. Certain series seem to lend themselves to fandom gifs. The Office for instance, with its iconic moment and cutaway scenes, is perfectly gif-able. The same can be said for the popular HBO series Silicon Valley with its endless list of memorable scenes and running gags. In the example we see a hilarious scene all Silicon Valley fans remember fondly; when Jin-Yang smoked a cigarette inside his VC’s office. This gif is super short and only contains a single line of text, but it’s still very effective at reminding fans of this hilarious scene. It’s almost like this gif is an inside joke between the gif and fans of the show that others wouldn’t be able to comprehend just by looking at the gif. The counter-example is the exact opposite. I don’t think any fan would recognize this shot. It’s from the beginning of season 2 and is totally unremarkable. It’s a shot of Silicon Valley in Bay area California, but there’s nothing about this gif that communicates that. I find the idea of a gif depicting the namesake of a TV show taken from that very TV show that you do not know is actually from that TV show to be a hilarious way of turning fandom gifs on their head.

Posted from My blog by Will H.

In class on Monday we talked about the concept of digital blackface, particularly via animated reaction Gifs. Recently, I read a similar article discussing white people using dark-skinned emojis. She merely poses the question and tries to get a specturm of answers which I thought was pretty cool. For example, Leslie Miley, a pretty outspoken and well-known advocate for diversity and inclusion in tech said absolutely not, adding “my blackness is not for your entertainment.” Others clarified they will only use emojis of a race other than their own when speaking the third person.

The author’s own mother had a different interpretation, saying that as a black woman she feels okay with it because it shows solidarity. A similar take was that it feels weird to use symbols like a white fist when texting specifically about civil rights topics because of that symbol’s association with white supremacy. The author also took a poll which I thought was pretty neat.

Is it for white people to use darker skin-tone emoji?

— Megan Rose Dickey (@meganrosedickey) September 29, 2017

Overall I thought the article was a little bias towards once side, but ultimately offered up the idea of discussion, which was great. So naturally I was pretty disgusted when I saw the replies to the articles on Twitter, some thoughtful engagement, but the large majority misogynists with responses like “Oh another SJW finding something to complain about” and “This is a stupid article” and people talking about how this was just another attempt to create divisiveness in America blah blah blah.

Here’s a tip for you, if your response to a call for discussion about to topic is to resort to attacks and unconstructive criticism, YOU are the actual engine of divisiveness. I think it’s unfortunate so many people refuse to engage in the discussions because I think they are incredibly important discussions to have at the intersections of race and technology. We cannot just ignore these things.

Posted from My blog by Will H.

In the article we read for class, the authors spoke about two concepts which really resonated with me. The first of these was the notion of the idea of ‘delete’ as once files are opened up for sharing, there is no outer boundary and the file can, in theory, live forever. The second concept that grabbed my attention was the idea of file formats being conceived as a response to what users sought to do with their data. I find this idea of a data type as a response to consumer needs fascinating, as file types themselves, unlike the files themselves, can fall out of vogue and seemingly disappear.

Throughout reading this article, I thought about Adobe’s announcement back in July about phasing their phasing out of Flash. Flash sometimes referred to as .swf’s were a very popular file type found in web development across the net. Over the past few years, as internet users have demanded faster loading and better quality video in-browser, HTML5 has become the dominant online video format. Unlike Flash, it doesn’t require third-party plug-ins, which to slow down a user’s browser.

Adobe announced they will no longer creating new features for Flash as part of the beginning of a phasing out of the popular plugin. I find this fascinating in relation to the article because of the two concepts of file immortality and file type development that I previously mentioned. Eventually, Adobe will stop offering security updates for Flash, which will effectively make it inoperable for most users. There are tons of animations, games, and other assets that are stored in .swf’s. Soon, preserving our ability to engage with these files on modern devices and preserve them for the next generation will be the responsibility of the passionate homebrew communities which have fortunately formed around file types like Flash.

Sources:

Get ready to finally say goodbye to Flash — in 2020

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/MSR-TR-2011-109.pdf

Posted from My blog by Will H.

In class on Monday, we talked about the amount of our data that is stored by private companies on private company servers. Numerous private organizations have all kind of data on numerous elements such as our gender, shopping habits, internet history, and even in many cases our private messages. This array of your personal information is a goldmine to marketers, sales people, and many others across the globe, hence why companies like Facebook and Google build such complex, articulate products and let us use them, in most cases, totally free of charge.

Thinking about our personal data and its importance, I was reminded of the Equifax hack that was reported earlier this week. Equifax is a major credit reporting bureau whose database was comprised over the summer and reported in the news earlier this week. 143 million people’s social security numbers and dates of birth were leaked. The severity of this hack cannot be understated.

As you can see in the graphic, this hack is one of the largest recent ones, but certainly not as bad as Yahoo. However, the nature of this breach of security is particularly severe because of the type of personal data being stolen. Your social security number and birth date aren’t just passwords that can be changed when compromised, they follow you for life. Hackers can just sit on the information until the protection runs out, before putting your data to work. Also, numerous bloggers/writers have expressed concern that Equifax will attempt to get subscribers to pay up for more credit protection in a year’s time in spite of the looming presence of this threat.

This breach of private security on a massive scale should have us all thinking about the privacy and security of our data. While it’s nice to get great targeted articles from Facebook and awesome access our bank accounts on the go, we must remember that these companies must be held to a high standard when keeping our data secure. Particularly as we enter an age where participation in the hyper-digitalization of personal data becomes more and more compulsory.

Sources:

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-equifax-hack-bad-for-them-worse-for-us/

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-equifax-compares-to-biggest-hacks-of-all-time-chart-2017-9

Posted from My blog by Will H.

In Chapter 5 of Neuromancer, Case turns on a ROM construct of Dixie, the famed hacker. The ROM construct is a digital representation of a person’s identity. However, it is read-only and cannot form any new memories. This scene in the novel reminded me of a Wired.com article I had read recently A Sons Race To Give His Dying Father Artificial Immortality by James Vlahos.

In the piece, Vlahos’ father is diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, a terminal diagnosis.  As a response, Vlahos sets off on to create a Dadbot using Pullstring, a recently released software that allows users to use create chatbots that communicate via text messages.  Working against the bleak impending terminal devastation of his father’s cancer, it’s a compelling piece about one man’s pursuit of a slice of immortality for his father through digital permanence.

Chatbots have recently become a tremendously popular application of artificial intelligence.  VC money has been pouring into this niche market as investor interest peaks.  According to Crunchase.com, chatbots have raised almost $48 million dollars in private equity funding.  It’s easy to understand how chatbots have become such a popular concept; they allow for exponentially increased efficiency at a scalable, deployable level.  Chatbots let businesses automate bits and pieces of their operations such as customer support or the internal monitoring of employee performance.  As our understanding and ability to deploy artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning sharpens we should continue to see increasingly sophisticated and lifelike chatbots.  So who knows? Maybe we will be the generation that does get to live forever, in a sense.

Posted from My blog by Will H.