SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?

Why yes I do believe I can dance... dance dance revolution that is!
I love this game. I stopped playing it in high school through now, but I was a hardcore DDR fan back in the day. I would play nonstop with buckets of sweat coming out. I swore I lost like 10 pounds playing this game. Maybe I should start again. But that's besides the point.

A little history lesson my friends. Dance Dance Revolution was introduced in 1998 from Konami as a new form of gaming arrived. DDR was introduced as a line of games called Bemani, which involved music and interaction. I Believe that Beatmania was the first creating, which focused on a similar concept to DDR, but with a DJ styled control. Introduced as an arcade game, DDR quickly became popular with the people of Japan. It then came to the US and swept people off their feet, literally.

One of the reasons why I think that DDR became so popular was because of its highly interactive nature. It went where no other video games had gone and introduced the physical apsect to gaming. No longer are you the observer, sitting down, playing with a controller, but you physically became the controller while dancing. Aside from its cardio benefits, this game definitely became a crowd favorite because it was able to involve people in a new dimension. Socially, it forced become who were normally afraid to dance into the center of attention, and many lost their fear.

While physically playing the game, a new factor of game play is introduced, FATIGUE! No longer are you worrying about the fatigue of the character, but your own physical state. You cannot play this game for 12 hours at a time without hurting yourself, believe me, I've tried before. It is one of the few games that will leave you broken and sore, but yet, you'll be asking for more. By involving so much cardio, your hear rate speeds up, almost accelerating your own body. If you get good enough, it seems as if time does slow down for you as you are able to hit every step, making one feel like a god. Endorphins kick in, similar to the Runner's high, continuing to slow down you're perception of time. You are invincible. You become a DDR master.

4-Screened Madness

As I watched Timecode, the most obvious thing that came to mind was the 4 split screens and their synchronization. I was simply astonished to see how well they were able to interlace each story so that it all happened at the same time. This clearly took a good amount of practice to accomplish. I came home and searched for some information regarding this film and found that they had filmed it like 12 times and they chose the best take. Talk about commitment. This film probably could be watched several times while focusing on only one camera shot. The experience will be different each time. It was quite overwhelming just trying to keep up with all four screens, but it proved to be rather effective and entertaining for this film.

Another thing that came to mind was the use of the DV camcorder. I've used DV camcorders quite a bit and they are quite a different breed when compared to conventional videocassette/film reel cameras. For those that never have used a DV camera, it bascially records still on a tape-like media, but it can easily able to be converted into a digital format. The image from a digital video is rather quite different when compared to film. Just take a look at the picture on the left and compare it to the video of Timecode. There is a certain crispness and temperature that is unique to each type of media. Digital video can indeed be altered to look similar to the film, but I don't believe that it can replace the certain features that film media has.

It was interesting to see the character in the film, the Russian woman, I forgot her name, begin to comment on the types of new media. It seems as if she was speaking for the director, making justifications for using digital video over traditional film. Although I did not quite remember everything she said, I believe she mentioned that the film montage gives us a fake reality and that digital video gives us a new experience. In a sense, she is correct. From the images of film alone, you know that it is a movie, and can distinguish it quite readily. This then does feel like an alternate reality, a "fake" one if you insist. With the digital video, it definitely gave a "reality" to the work. This "reality" is then intensified with the use of rapid camera movie and free flowing filming. It gives us a 1st person view, and it makes it seem as if we are right in the mix with the characters. This new technology did infact give us a new "technological influence" as the Russian woman said.

Irene wasn’t kidding when she said this reading was dense. Oh my. It had so many terms and ideas and concepts that I was confused half the time reading it. I think I reread it like 3 times just to get a hint of what he was talking about. So, to make sure I have the idea down, I will first try to sum up what he said.

Virilio provides a rather disparaging view of the future as he suggests that we will become automatons limited to no free movement. It seems that as we become more reliant on technology, the less able we become. The quote “Having been first mobile, then motorized, man will thus become motile, deliberately limiting his body’s area of influence to a few gestures, a few impulses, like channel-surfing” (17) best sums it all up.

I’m sure Virilio argued several other ideas in that essay but I was unable to pick them out. As I read his ideas of how the world is going to end up being a dead log really somewhat irritated me. I Maybe it was because I had such a difficult time grasping his arguments. Or it could be because he was basically insulting how I was raised.

As a product of the 21^st century, I’ve come to rely on the technologies he criticized. It seems that he sees no advantage of such wonderful technologies that allow us to be in many places and different times. While he does have a valid point in saying that we are stationary when we do such activities, it allows us to expand our horizons beyond what people could have ever perceived. If anything, it allows us to stretch our arms and legs further than ever imagined.

With that in mind, technology becomes an extension of the human being, bettering ourselves in many ways. With advancements in robotics and things like the data suit, we are not just limited to a “few gestures, a few impulses, like channel-surfing.” With robotics becoming much more complex and agile, it can become, literally, an extension of our body. We can now do tasks that were once considered too dangerous for human activity. Also, for those who lost a limb in the war, a data suit and prosthetic robotic arm can increase their mobility, not limit it.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

The Time Machine was a novel written by H.G. Wells as most of you might know from reading it. It was adapted into a movie in 1960 and again in 2002. The 2002 version starred Guy Pierce as the time traveler and had Orlando Jones as some hologram guy. Let's just say, it wasn't a very good adaptation. They completely changed the plot of the movie. I won't spoil for you if you really do want to see it. Now onto the text.

To me, The Time Machine was a rather interesting book that was released for its time. Although science fiction novels of today are a bit more elaborate and creative in setting up a feature, I believe that Wells' interpretation of the future is as good as any other interpretation. Wells included a great deal of detail in describing the scenery of the future. The time traveler describes, "Already I saw other vast shapes-huge buildings with intricate parapets and tall columns, with a wooded hillside dimly creeping in upon me through the lessening storm" (21). (I have a different version of the book so the page number may not correspond, sorry). With this type of detail, Wells is able to create a future that almost seems to exist.

One aspect of time travel that is "cliche" is the idea that if you do something to time, then the present will be effected. This then suggests that the Time Traveler should tread carefully into the future and avoid all contact with the future. However, the Time Traveler is a scientist. And as a scientist, his job is to discover the truth. As a scientist, they should be able to discover the truth at all costs. He needs not follow any rules of conduct because he is in the future. Anything he does in the future will not affect the present time he is in. The time traveler conducts himself well as a scientist, seeking to learn about the world at that time.

Continuing on the idea of science, H.G. Wells was apparently a Darwinist. I feel that The Time Machine was a perfect illustration of his thoughts of Darwinism. Life is very different in the year 30,000,000. The Time Traveler finds that there are new species of plants and trees that have replaced London’s former landscape. There are no longer signs of higher technology. The humans themselves have turned into a seemingly different species. He discovers two kinds of races, the Eloi and Morlocks. As a Darwinist, one would expect the society to progress so that human kind would be stronger, smarter, faster, and bigger than the previous species. However, the Time Traveler comes to find that they have degenerated to smaller, weaker, and monkey-like people. There were no signs of technological advances at all. However, the fundamental idea of Darwinism is survival of the fittest. The Eloi and Morlocks are the ones who are surviving, so the must be fitted to adapt to this time period.

As the Time Traveler continues to learn more about the Eloi and Morlocks, I cannot help but think that this is Wells own critique on the capitalistic nature of Britain. People like the Time traveler could be part of the working class for all their lives, but once provided the opportunity; people would automatically join the upper class, even if they hated their lifestyle. The time traveler sympathized with the Eloi, even though he hated their fragility and childish acts. Wells is also criticizing the fact that if the upper class continue to mistreat the working class, it would continue throughout society, even into the year 30,000,000.

So, I'll leave you with this final question, Will we become the Eloi and Morlocks in the year 30,000,000?