Topic 4

Lecture [screening of Alphaville]
This film combines French new wave sensibility with a science fiction story line. At first I felt that this movie was a bit too much for my brain to handle, but then as it progressed, with the voice over man guiding me through, I began to slowly conjure up some sort of idea as to what this film was about. A man who is on a mission to stop some sort of evil, technology driven, computer world in Paris. This film almost felt like an old school, badly remixed version of James Bond, and I say almost, because well, it obviously wasn't quite 'Golden eye'. There were guns, sex and a smartly dressed man who oozed suave and charm. The storyline wasn't clear to me until around the middle of the film edging towards the end, this is probably due to my lack of understanding to start off with. I wish that I could've understood the film more in its technical and historical core rather than just its outer casing.

Readings

Film and Screen Glossary
General Information
Film Review
Critical Essay
French New Wave Cinema
Jean-Luc Goddard]

Tutorial

Communication between friends and family via technology.

msn, yahoo messenger, blogs, chatrooms, myspace, bebo, facebook. The list is goes on and on. With these types of communication devices so readily available to myself, I have found that i know more about what is happening in my family. I see their pictures from the weekends, I can see who they are friends with (and who they are not friends with) and I can read their comments (solely for the purpose of making sure they're not hanging with the wrong crowd- no gossiping involved here!) I can see a side to my brother, my sister, my cousins, aunty's and uncle's, i have never seen before, the side where they are hidden behind a computer screen and keyboard, the side where they can be whoever they want to be. And all thanks to this thing we call the world wide web. through these communication mediums, I can keep in touch with family overseas, reconnect with childhood friends and long lost family and also to just hang out online and catch up on what everyone has been up to. I love it.

Through the influence of my older brother and friends, I started using msn when i was 13 years old and i have never looked back! i became a member of myspace at the same time, bebo a year later and facebook just last year. On all these different platforms i have reconnected with a friend from grade 2, an uncle whom i have never met, but have heard alot about from my dad and i have also managed to track down my grandads second wife's children. Did i mention that i love it?

The fact that all this information was handed to me on a world wide platter at the click on the mouse is incredible to me. to look back on how far we've come since the days of telegraphs, telegrams, morse-code, LETTERS! It's amazing where technology has taken us today. To imagine a world without it would be torture. No internet, computers, no msn. NO MYSPACE! i can hear my brain shrieking and my fingers trembling with the fear of never having the joy of typing witty comments. I think it's safe to say, technology has taken over our lives. Well, my life.