Exporting Files, and Jobs

This is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to MC101 students in Spring 2013.

This MediaNote will be presented only to TTh classes in Spring 2015.

On the face of it, Hollywood special effects wizards should have plenty of work at great pay. Their job is a highly skilled combination of technology and art. And films, TV shows and ads are using more and more digital special effects.

But the highly portable nature of digital communications--whether it be a simple email or an enormous special effects file--means that they can be created half a world away. Because of this, Hollywood special effects companies have fallen on hard times. The Los Angeles Times reports on this disturbing trend.

Questions...

•Why are special effects jobs good jobs for workers and for California?

•Should taxpayer money be used to keep film jobs in the state? Does anything make these jobs more important to protect than others?

•According to the article, special effects houses in India are 60% cheaper. Is there a solution to this?

News You Can Poke

Your Humble Blogger is happy when the posts in his Facebook news feed are written in complete sentences. So he has reacted with some interest (and muffled glee) to news that Facebook will put New York Times, NBC News and other media news stories into the news feeds of users. NPR reports.

Questions...

•Is Facebook (and other social media sites) a replacement for traditional news media?

•What do you think of news stories popping up in your news feed? What control would you like to have?

•Do you see this as a good thing or a bad thing for the New York Times and NBC News?

•Will advertisers prefer this to ads on NBC news or the New York Times?

Friday Flix

Students can go to one of the following Friday Flix screenings for MC101 field trip extra credit. Here is the schedule for the remainder of this semester...

FRIDAY FLIX SCHEDULE FOR SPRING 2015
All screenings are on Fridays beginning at 12:30 in San Gabriel 334.

May

1 – My Fair Lady (1964)
8 – Grapes of Wrath (1940)
15 – L’avventura (1960)
22 -- Rear Window (1954)

June
5 – The Party (1968)