Introduction and Goals
Introduction:
I have always been fascinated with films, since I was a teenager. One of the first movies I saw as a teenager was Jaws directed by Steven Spielberg. I was impressed by some of the special effects Spielberg incorporated in Jaws and in his later movies. There was something in his ability to tell a story on the silver screen that kept me coming back to the silver screen. However, I began to notice that linear story plots was becoming predictable. It got to the point that one could predict the ending of the movie and what each of the characters what going to do and say, because of the style and structure of the movie. Thus, I began to take interest in movies that explored other story telling devices that keep the viewer "thinking." One device of story telling is telling a story in a non-linear fashion, which might be considered by some to make the viewer to “think more critically” at the film. Movies that tell their stories differently are 12 Monkeys directed by Terry Gilliam, Pulp Fiction written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Source Code written by Ben Ripley and directed by Duncan Jones, Momento written and directed by Christopher Nolan, The Time Travelers Wife directed by Robert Schwentke, to name a few.
And so began my inquiry about non-linear films and what they say about us and our current cultural norms. There is nothing wrong in telling a linear story, or writing an essay on a plain piece of paper(s); because it makes sense to most viewers/readers/listeners to show/write/say a story linearly and logically progression. It allows the story to be understood better by most people(s). It provides a style and structure that can be understood by the greater number of
viewers/readers/listeners. In addition, it makes perfect sense to apply these traditional styles and conventions to the new digital technologies available to use. Traditional styles that have been tested and honed for centuries that work best. A good example can be seen in the New York Times webpage, which represent traditional methods of linearity (top to
bottom columns and left to right rows). It is an institution that successfully fuses digital technology with its traditional formats of writing.
However, with new digital technologies, some institutions have chanced their formats to fit the new digital norms, and not the other way around. For instance, CNN has completely changed how it visual display and how it
journalistically reports its sports section. It has incorporated images, looped videos, blog posts, instant texting, tweets, and video clips to tell the story rather than using the traditional journal format of paragraph writing. I have to admit that I am still trying to figure out what-is-what in their "Bleacher Report" section on their sports front page website. To me, it seems that words, sentences, and paragraphs is out.
I am not advocating that one should get rid of the old written traditions because these new technologies afford us to do so. I am just presenting how some institutions are incorporating digital technology and displaying it. I am also not saying that one has to collided all of these elements harmoniously together; however, it does ask us to inquiry what is happening more closely and how it relates to films that are presented non-linearly. Can this new digital technology push the envelope of non-linearity story telling?
And so here is my inquiry of this Scalar Book to examine how new technologies are shaping our way of writing and how different ways of writing have changed our perception of ourselves and our current culture. Although I am bring up many questions I will not be answering here. I am hoping to address this shift in styles to see if there is some validity to see if films are in an impasse. To examine how non-linear films shape our way of thinking and to also ask if nonlinear films are really linear in nature.
Outline in Scalar Book:
In this Scalar Book, I will be inquire non-linear themes in films, and I will be presenting my information in a non-traditional style, by using multiple sources (images and videos) and juxtaposing them to better tell my inquiries and connections.
And also say that the humanities are well and alive, but that English is dead: I will attempt to address this important point, but I might have a chance to do so currently. This Scalar Book is separated into five sections: "Introduction and Goals;" "Method: Approach, Design, and Procedure;" "Three topics of interest;" "Closing Thoughts;" and "WORK
CITED."
Goals:
1). To write about films and comment on how I see films and how the film community sees films.
2). Try new approaches such as non-linearity by adding images and videos. To provide context to how I see these films and digital humanities that are different than other traditional writers. Although I might think these are novel approaches than what writers have written them in the past. For me, they are novel and would like to state them as such,
although I am sure these topics and what I have to say have seen written in the past.
3). Not accept statements because "everyone" has said so. These seems an obvious statement to make. We all advocate to show and argue well, and not take theories and ideas well established by "institutions" at face value. I feel that we in society accept many of these arguments.
4). Answer questions about film that has my curiously.
I have always been fascinated with films, since I was a teenager. One of the first movies I saw as a teenager was Jaws directed by Steven Spielberg. I was impressed by some of the special effects Spielberg incorporated in Jaws and in his later movies. There was something in his ability to tell a story on the silver screen that kept me coming back to the silver screen. However, I began to notice that linear story plots was becoming predictable. It got to the point that one could predict the ending of the movie and what each of the characters what going to do and say, because of the style and structure of the movie. Thus, I began to take interest in movies that explored other story telling devices that keep the viewer "thinking." One device of story telling is telling a story in a non-linear fashion, which might be considered by some to make the viewer to “think more critically” at the film. Movies that tell their stories differently are 12 Monkeys directed by Terry Gilliam, Pulp Fiction written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Source Code written by Ben Ripley and directed by Duncan Jones, Momento written and directed by Christopher Nolan, The Time Travelers Wife directed by Robert Schwentke, to name a few.
And so began my inquiry about non-linear films and what they say about us and our current cultural norms. There is nothing wrong in telling a linear story, or writing an essay on a plain piece of paper(s); because it makes sense to most viewers/readers/listeners to show/write/say a story linearly and logically progression. It allows the story to be understood better by most people(s). It provides a style and structure that can be understood by the greater number of
viewers/readers/listeners. In addition, it makes perfect sense to apply these traditional styles and conventions to the new digital technologies available to use. Traditional styles that have been tested and honed for centuries that work best. A good example can be seen in the New York Times webpage, which represent traditional methods of linearity (top to
bottom columns and left to right rows). It is an institution that successfully fuses digital technology with its traditional formats of writing.
However, with new digital technologies, some institutions have chanced their formats to fit the new digital norms, and not the other way around. For instance, CNN has completely changed how it visual display and how it
journalistically reports its sports section. It has incorporated images, looped videos, blog posts, instant texting, tweets, and video clips to tell the story rather than using the traditional journal format of paragraph writing. I have to admit that I am still trying to figure out what-is-what in their "Bleacher Report" section on their sports front page website. To me, it seems that words, sentences, and paragraphs is out.
I am not advocating that one should get rid of the old written traditions because these new technologies afford us to do so. I am just presenting how some institutions are incorporating digital technology and displaying it. I am also not saying that one has to collided all of these elements harmoniously together; however, it does ask us to inquiry what is happening more closely and how it relates to films that are presented non-linearly. Can this new digital technology push the envelope of non-linearity story telling?
And so here is my inquiry of this Scalar Book to examine how new technologies are shaping our way of writing and how different ways of writing have changed our perception of ourselves and our current culture. Although I am bring up many questions I will not be answering here. I am hoping to address this shift in styles to see if there is some validity to see if films are in an impasse. To examine how non-linear films shape our way of thinking and to also ask if nonlinear films are really linear in nature.
Outline in Scalar Book:
In this Scalar Book, I will be inquire non-linear themes in films, and I will be presenting my information in a non-traditional style, by using multiple sources (images and videos) and juxtaposing them to better tell my inquiries and connections.
And also say that the humanities are well and alive, but that English is dead: I will attempt to address this important point, but I might have a chance to do so currently. This Scalar Book is separated into five sections: "Introduction and Goals;" "Method: Approach, Design, and Procedure;" "Three topics of interest;" "Closing Thoughts;" and "WORK
CITED."
Goals:
1). To write about films and comment on how I see films and how the film community sees films.
2). Try new approaches such as non-linearity by adding images and videos. To provide context to how I see these films and digital humanities that are different than other traditional writers. Although I might think these are novel approaches than what writers have written them in the past. For me, they are novel and would like to state them as such,
although I am sure these topics and what I have to say have seen written in the past.
3). Not accept statements because "everyone" has said so. These seems an obvious statement to make. We all advocate to show and argue well, and not take theories and ideas well established by "institutions" at face value. I feel that we in society accept many of these arguments.
4). Answer questions about film that has my curiously.
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