6566 Blog Post

This is a classic example of figure and ground that M.C Escher the shapes of the fish and the bird work together and fit in between each other perfectly. Is the shape of the bird creating the shape of the fish or is it the shape of the fish creating the shape of the bird.

This image is an example of closure. There are many different shapes that work together to form an image of birds. The shapes do not close up together but are seperate shapes.

In relation to the gestalt principle, this image portrays shape with the black and the white creating negative space to create the leaves and the animals in this image.

A Gothic Time  and Cuxhaven Times are both Serif fonts that are quite similar in style and are the fonts that I do not like because of the decender being too extended with the extra strokes on the bottom. Both are quite hard to read. The ‘a’ and ‘v’ in the word Cuxhaven look very similar and you cannot tell what the letter is.

I dislike Cortociruito because it is very hard to read. The letter arrangements look like it is on a slant which gives me a headache to read. The x-height is wrong as the letter R is capitalised. I disliked this font.

‘Architect’s Hand’ and ‘Queenstown Signature’ are both minimalistic fonts which can be timeless in a way. The capital height and the decender on the ‘Queenstown Signature’ are accurate. The way that the letters connect with each other is nice and you can still read each letter clearly.

Week 1, Task 1

Difference between San Serif and Serif,

San Serif: Font: Myriad Pro, Size: 72

Many successful films in the past decade have been diasporic that teach the audience about different cultures. Diasporic is defined as ‘… used to encapsulate an emerging form of cinema that crosses cultural borders at the stage of conceptualization and production.’ (Khorana, Crossover cinema: a conceptual and genealogical overview [2013])

A main characteristics of diaspora media, as identified in Khorana’s (2016) lecture, is that it may show “Marginalization and stereotyping of racialized communities”.  This is evident in the Australian TV series: ‘Go Back to Where You Came From’, which showed the traditional Australian the daily struggles and hardships of a refugee.

‘I’m always shocked at how little we are represented on film and TV’. - Eugene Lee Yang

Apart from the traditional film internet viral films are becoming a phenomenon. YouTube is the number 1 place to go if you want to get famous. Eugene Lee Yang is becoming one of the most recgonised faces on the internet. In an interview with Kollaboration, Yang speaks about the recognition of Asians in the film industry. ‘I’m always shocked at how little we are represented on film and TV. It’s as if our stories are not controversial, or staggeringly painful enough for the older white audience to pat themselves on the back to say, “Oh, I learned something; I feel bad for what we did in history.”

Bend it like Beckham

One of the most clear account of diasporic media is the movie Bend It Like Beckham (2002). The movie refines in on the epitome of British culture of football and idealises the football identity – David Beckham. The movie clearly interweaves the diaspora of Indian-British migrants post 2000 England. Jesminder shares her love for British football while attempting to maintain the norms of her Indian heritage. Ultimately Jesminder is a representation of the challenging attempts to interweave the cross cultural youth of England

References

- Anthique, Adrian 2011, ‘Diasporic Audiences and Non-Resident Media: The Case of Indian Films’, Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, vol. 8, issue 2, pp. 1-23, accessed 5 September 2016 via <http://www.academia.edu/1115535/Diasporic_Audiences_and_Non-Resident_Media_The_Case_of_Indian_Films > 

A great opportunity these days is for students to leave their country to study abroad. This can help students gain further knowledge and skills that they may not be able to acquire while studying in their home country. This has had a positive impact on the industries that the students are studying to work in. They are becoming more globalized therefore the industry will consist of a more international workforce.

But according to Marginson (2012), 'International education is not the rich intercultural experience it could be'. Australia is known to be a highly social environment and it is recognised that international students struggle to assimilate in the Australian society when studying abroad. This can have the power to reflect on their learning performance.

Speak Properly

Kell and Vogl (2007) understand that large amounts of international students come from Asia, as the rise and globalisation of Asian economies require a larger international context. However, there are certain barriers associated in this process causing a large distance between the local culture and international students. They identify that Language proficiency as a primary factor. International students who come from Asia, tend to have a strong willingness and dedication to increase their knowledge of the English language but of there is more to that. Australia is known for the laid back attitude especially when it comes to language. They have their informal nature way of communicating with cultural slang which of course is hard for international students to adapt to and understand.

References

- Kell, P and Vogl, G (2007) ‘International Students: Negotiating life and study in Australia through Australian Englishes’ Everyday Multiculturalism Conference Proceedings, Macquarie University, 28-29 September 2006.  - Khorana S, 2016, "BCM111: International Media and Communication",Internationalising Education Cultural competence,Lecture 3 of Spring 2016, BCM111 at UOW.

‘Globalisation refers to an international community influenced by technological development and economic, political, and military interests. It is characterised by a worldwide increase in interdependence, interactivity, interconnectedness, and the virtually instantaneous exchange of information.

Globalisation could lead to the homogenisation of world cultures, or to hybridisation and multiculturalism’ (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 458).

Through globalization and the rise in technology, the world has now become a ‘Global Villiage’. This idea provides many positive benefits as many people are connected by ITC (Information Communication Technologys such as Facebook, Skype and E-mail. Globalisation has allowed people to share things, learn from and stay informed globally from things such as sports, music and news. Sharing these things has allowed the world to unite as a ‘Global Villiage’.

However Todd Gitlin in 2001 argued that, “if there is a global village, it speaks American” (cited in O’Shaughnessy & Stadler 2008). So therefore the debate here is if globalisation is cultural imperialism or Americanisation.  Cultural imperialism basically refers to the dominance of Western culture, particularly American culture over other traditional cultures and the implementation of Western values such as consumerism (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler 2008).

Those who debate on the dysopian view of globalisation argue that the images provided by Western advertising and Hollywood films American ideologies of gender roles, religion and capitalism to other cultures. Western values such as consumerism are also spread by Western brands like Coca Cola, McDonalds and Apple.The fear is that cultural imperialism will create a homogenisation, ridding the world of cultural diversity (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler 2008). 

The idea of Americanisation is the idea that the American culture is spreading itself all over the world and becoming the predominant, default culture of today. The biggest example of this would be the second largest fast food restaurant chain McDonalds with over 36000 francises and a revenue of $27.44 Billion in 2015. The reason why McDonalds was able to impose itself all around the world is it’s success adaptation to the local culture. E.g. The kinds of pie produced in Hawaii and Japan are different even though it is still under the McDonalds brand. In Hawaii they have the Haupia Pie which has one of the traditional Hawaiian Desserts. Whereas in Japan they have the Anko Pie (Red Bean).

What is interesting most in regard to globalisation is the exploitation of other cultures for profit by introducing child labour and sweatshops

References

-Appadurai, A 1996, ‘Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Economy,’ Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization’,Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 27-47.

- O’Shaughnessy, M and Stadler, J 2008, ‘Globalisation’, Media and Society (fifth edition), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 458-471.

Global film is a new part of a world becoming smaller and people finding new types of films to influence other cultures. It has a large influence on other cultures in how they are produced and changed.

Nollywood has had an immense effect of the Nigerian Culture. Nollywood has changed the way movies are produced, what the themes of movies are and by extension what the audience values in the movies. Nollywood is the Nigerian version of American Cinema, ‘Hollywood’. Although there are similarities between Hollywood and Nollywood, there are many differences comparisons.

Firstly, films produced from Nollywood are made on a low budget and are distributed differently to the audience compared to Hollywood. Nollywood produced films go straight to DVD and are not shown in theatres, however they are shown all around the streets. The Nigerian film industry is so big that they produce 30 new Nollywood movies per week with an average of 50,000 copies sold in the stalls on the Nigerian streets. Due to the low budget, these Nigerian films lack the special effects that Hollywood Films have.

There are controversies regarding the globalisation of Nigerian cinema. The fact that it could change the way the content is created in which whether or not it stays true to the Nigerian culture. However, on the flip side, globalising Nigerian Cinema can stimulate the economy and it may shed light on the political issues within Nigeria and how the people are suffering.

On a different side of entertainment, Korean Cinema is creating an uproar not only within surrounding South-East Asian countries but also the west. The Korean Wave or ‘Hallyu’ first appeared in the mid-1990s after Korean TV dramas and pop music gained great popularity in Chinese-speaking communities. Korean pop music, especially dance music began to gain popularity among Chinese teenagers after it was introduced in 1997 by Seoul Music Room, a radio program in Beijing. In the last decade, the Korean culture has spread all over the world with great popularity especially surrounding South-East Asian countries such as Vietnam, China and Japan. It has also gained great popularity in South America.

The film industry in Korea is one of the largest sector in the Korean economy with over ₩884 billion( $1.057Billion AUSD) in 2015. Korean movies have had such a great impact on other countries around the world, it has influenced Hollywood’s production of film. The link below shows how Korean cinema has influenced the way Hollywood is producing their films.

References

- Onuzulike, U 2007, Nollywood: The Influence of the Nigerian Movie Industry on African Culture, The Journal of Human Communications, vol. 10, no. 3.

- Okome, O 2007, Nollywood: Spectatorship, Audience and the Sites of Consumption, University of Alberta Press, vol. 3. no. 2.