The Virtual Audience

Along with this almost “ideal” artistic medium brought forth by Second Life, the issue of attracting an audience is surely important in the minds of the artists. From our earlier interviews with our group, a common theme seemed to be the issue of expectance in a world where you can be anyone you want to be. In a world full of struggling artists today, along with the decline of many record companies, turning to something like Second Life would seem like a legitimate move for some. Second Life is full of very open members who could relate to a struggling artist searching for online acceptance. Just like the example we discussed in class a few weeks ago, people do attract a virtual following through this game. If you step back and think about it, is this audience really virtual? Or could someone actually be successful in making the transition from this “fake” life into the real world?

In my opinion, the minute your first Second Life fan is achieved, your fate is already sealed. If someone has to remain in this virtual world to seek acceptance of their art, they will be surely blown away when trying to get noticed in the real world. The issue lies in the fact that Second Life is nowhere close to representing our world. In the world we live in, one must persistently promote him/herself to a wide variety of audiences. One must also learn to take rejection and learn/improve from it, so that they can mold their art to the liking of a large audience. This takes lots of time and patience, which can never be fully encompassed by Second Life. That world is full of an audience who will offer little insight into the real world, as it is an audience who spends much of their life in front of a computer screen. It’s almost sad for me to try and take some of these artists seriously, because I know that the bounds of human imagination have been trapped into this bubble known as Second Life.

The Artistic Medium

While exploring the truly interesting world of Second Life, I couldn’t help notice many different examples of “medium”. The most prevalent in my mind was through the arts. I’ve come to notice that many people use Second Life as an artistic medium. Being that Second Life is a visual chat room, more or less, any additional audio or eye-catchers help draw attention to specific members. I will talk about that more in my next post about audience. Using the arts in Second Life separates members apart, making an individual member unique in this strangely similar world. Through my discoveries thus far, being good at a specific artistic talent can draw a lot of attention, just like in the real world. Along with that, one must put forth a lot of effort into promoting him/herself so that more people can be aware of these talents. The ability to post personal artwork and music easily in Second Life gives the virtual artist slightly more of an edge over the real-life artist. With a cheap cost involved, anyone can promote their own music or artwork by posting it all over the world of second life. The streaming media feature will automatically stream the music for those who are nearby. This idea of easy recognition may be a reason many artists turn to second life for their own personal artistic medium.

Project Update: Second Life (SL)

At first, we were completely clueless as to what we needed to do in order to get adequate information. After about 30 minutes of aimless wandering, we came across one helpful "second-lifer". We met her on the Journey Fan Club Island, and had a long and informative conversation on how the game plays a role in her life. Through this conversation, we could see how the keywords of ideology and identity play a significant role in this second life. Out of everything we got out of her, there was one topic we found particularly interesting. She talked about how she had a husband on second life, and how they both "plead the fifth" on if they have a real life marriage. This idea of a virtual affair is quite interesting. We don't want to spoil too much of what we discovered, but one other comment roused our interest. Someone mentioned that the best way to meet people in second life was to search "free sex". We thought it was a curious statement, which reflects the game's ability to allow you to play out your every fantasy. We wonder if this is a common use of "SL". We plan to further investigate the motivations behind creating this second life.

Music and Culture

Seeing that culture has been a popular topic of conversation lately, I thought I would incorporate my knowledge in music to connect the two together. As we proved today, the topic of culture could be taken apart into many specific areas. My analysis is only addressing one of these areas, which is this connection between music and the contrasting generations of society. Although there are noticeable differences between these generations(whether it be fashion, manners, or use of technology), music’s undeniable test of time can bring out eerily similar connections between people of completely different generations. The key lies within the emotion behind the music.

Dating back to the days of Mozart and Beethoven, music has always been the same. The use of flowing sequences of what we now call chords can give, and always have given a song a unique emotion. The feelings given from a song hit a listener on much more than a superficial level. These musical emotions can be paired with similar emotions inside all of us, which is why certain songs speak to us more than others. The only thing that has changed over time is the rhythmic “disguise” given to a song to deliver this emotion in a socially acceptable manner.

After intensely working with music for the majority of my life, I found myself discovering more and more of these unique musical connections. From meeting people seeing their reaction to different music over time, I have been able to understand them on an entirely different level. There are people in the world who connect to songs that bring out the hatred and heartache for something in the past, whether that is expressed through the chords and lyrics of a 60’s Hendrix piece or an Infected Mushroom techno production. The point here is that these people are connected by the emotions underlying the two very different song styles. On the other side of the spectrum, the upbeat feeling of a Beethoven masterpiece can reach someone on the same level as a cheery pop song. People can be seen very differently from their initial “judgmented” appearance in this regard. For instance, I met a bouncer at a local show we were opening for. As I stood next to this large man, covered in tattoos and wearing all black, he was bouncing his head and grinning to a petite Marie Digby playing light hearted acoustic pop. He turned to me and said, “I really love her, she does such a great job”. After some continued conversation, the guy was really nice and truly had all the best intentions in the world.

All I would say after my observations is this: If you find yourself going to a concert to see a favorite artist, take in the entire experience. Meet some of the people around you, enjoy the energetic setting of a live production of music and lights. You may be surprised as to connections you could make between completely random people. From what I’ve observed thus far, the connections of music in our society are undeniable.

Cheers,
Mike Greenwood

****If you click on "complete profile" you can hear one of the new songs my band has coming out by clicking on the Audio link.

The Dark Knight

The Dark Night, starring Heath Ledger and Christian Bale, proved one of the best movies in the last decade. Heath Ledger's performance was the single best villain I have ever witnessed on the big screen. There is nothing that would convince me otherwise.

Having attracted the attention of some of my classmates, my real goal here is to obtain more outside viewers. Over the next month, I will be posting blogs with my opinion of the world we live in. I find myself growing tired of many popular activities in our society, due to the way I have recently been viewing life in the last few years. So if you would like to come join me for a little bit of life analysis, be my guest.

There are things in this culture of ours that can influence people on a massive scale. Popular items of conversation, such as the “Dark Night” can be used as simple tools to gather attention. As I make bold statements as to the quality of the film and the actors involved, I am only trying to further outside interest and provoke a genuine reaction. Having said that, the Arts and Entertainment industry have a serious grip on society today. Although the music industry may not be as dominant as it used to be, it certainly hasn’t slowed down. The real area I wanted to focus on was the world of movies, television, and media advertising.

Having been in love with the motion picture industry for my entire life, I no longer am entranced by the majesty of this business. I now see movies as a series of necessary elements that are infused to fit the public desire. Whether it be well placed music, strategic camera fade-ins, or the use of silence to create suspense, movies have seemed to be bound to the limits made by the viewing society. Certain films not afraid to push these limits have found rare success. In those few cases, we find great movies like “No Country For Old Men”. In this film, absolutely NO music was used. All of the suspense in this movie relied simply on the cinematography, which I thought was pure genius. The lack of music only added to the utter silence, the final buildup before that climactic loud burst of the killer’s shotgun.

This same idea of “key elements” transfers easily over to advertisements. I’ve recognized some specific methods used by companies to really reach out and grab attention. My biggest example is the large corporation, British Petroleum (or BP). They are going with two entirely different advertising techniques at the same time. If you listen to the radio in the car, chances are you’ve heard a BP ad. They are going with what I call the “Disney Method”. This involves a full studio orchestra, playing colorful and playful music to accompany a lighthearted male narrator (in his fifties). This auditory technique helps the brain link back to one of the only other companies to include these elements in their work… The Disney Corporation… This, in turn may leave you feeling relaxed and attentive to the ad at hand. It’s very smart, this also leaves the idea that this company is well managed and high in standards… So is that really the truth? Beware of that gentle male voice, it may be soothing, but he’s also getting BP lodged into your head!!!! As far as the television ads are concerned, I’ll keep it short. Basically, they are going with the “iTunes/modern artsy” technique. Lots of colorful and smart visuals, accompanied by a simple, but catchy song (this song probably promoted online). Here’s a link to an ad, notice how many views BP has on Youtube… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAkiXLeyelQ

Sorry for rambling, but I wanted to explain my point as clearly as possible. I could go on and on about the use of celebrities, targeting specific groups of people, not to mention the classic armada of low budget TV advertising, but I think you get the picture now. I only ask that you try and think about this next time you encounter any form of popular media. The more of this I listen to, the more I want to work in the entertainment industry!!!

Cheers,
Mike Greenwood

My Blogging/Writing Experience

Hey everybody,

First off, I think I’ll introduce myself. I’m Mike, and I’m about to start my second year at UCLA. I live over in Granite Bay for the summer, getting gigs for my band when I can. I’m trying to get this class out of the way during summer to free up some of my schedule this year. Being that I’m a working musician and studying jazz in LA, more time for music is always a good thing.

As I mentioned briefly in class today, my previous writing class used some blogging. That was my first time ever messing around with blogs, but the frequent shifts between the blogs and more “traditional” assignments left me puzzled. As our only blogging was in class with the professor, most students basically tuned out their brains and followed along with the lecture. Before you knew it, there would be a larger writing assignment given on more formal terms. This made me second-guess a lot of my main ideas and thesis sentences, only making me realize today’s widely accepted “formalities” in school.

I have found my writing style to be slow at times, but very thought out. My issues usually don’t reside in the question or explanation at hand, rather the way I go about presenting them to a reader. Just as I do with music, I hear what I want to express in my head first, and then I do my best to mimic that shape or thought in my brain. Basically, every paper is a speech in my head; always constantly rewinding and playing back slightly different than the time before. Anything to help my writing skills will have a positive influence for my hopeful future in the entertainment business.

See you in class,
(I don’t know how you end these things, so I guess I’m writing a letter)

Mike Greenwood