NZ on Screen: An Archive of Aotearoa New Zealand Screen Culture
"In 2007 NZ On Air initiated the NZ On Screen project as an integral part of its digital strategy. Since 1989 NZ On Air has funded over 15,000 hours of local television production. Much of this content, as well as thousands more hours supported by broadcasters, film investors and other funding sources, is not easily accessible to the public.
NZ On Screen is unlocking the treasure chest, providing access to the wealth of television, film, music video and new media produced in NZ, along with knowledgeable background information."
(New Zealand on Screen)
Fig.1 Murphy, G. (1981). Goodbye Pork Pie. Aotearoa New Zealand, NZ Film.
Fig.2 Tamahori, L. (1994). Once Were Warriors. Aotearoa New Zealand, New Zealand Film Commission
Fig.3 Ballantyne, A. (2009). The Strength of Water. Aotearoa New Zealand, NZ Film.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Synesthesia as one of the effects achieved by hypermedia
"Synesthesia is a central conception in Marshall McLuhan's exploration of the relationship between media, culture, and the human sensorium. Jay David Bolter claims synesthesia as one of the effects achieved by hypermedia. However, McLuhan's notion of synesthesia as the simultaneous interplay of the senses in a ratio fostered by the particular medium or media involved is missing in the theoretics of hypermedia, which relegates all sensory phenomena to visual terms and overlooks the interplay between orality and literacy. Research into synesthesia in art, culture, language, and cognition supports McLuhan's conception of it as the normal process by which the brain reaches a new equilibrium when one of its functions is outered in a technology. While hypermedia thankfully falls short of mimicking natural synesthesia, interactive multimedia and virtual reality systems attempt to provide a false synesthesia that threatens the role of art and culture in achieving sensory balance."
(James C. Morrison, 2000)
Morrison, J. C. (2000). Hypermedia and Synesthesia. Media Ecology Association. 1.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Screen Hub NZ
"Screen Hub is the daily email News and Jobs service for people working in the New Zealand film and television industries."
(Screen Hub, New Zealand)
[Note that this is a paid subscription service.]
Fig.1 Katie Wolfe, Aotearoa New Zealand 'This is Her', short film (starring Mia Blake).
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Major report warns of gaping skills gaps in Creative Media Industries
"Major research launched today by Skillset reveals gaping skills gaps and shortages in the rapidly changing media landscape.
It is predicted that the Creative Industries will grow at twice the rate of the rest of the economy - and creative media is pivotal to this [1]. But Skillset's Strategic Skills Assessment for the Creative Media Industries in the UK warns we must have the right people in place to make this reality.
One in two companies in the Creative Media Industries report skills gaps as we move out of Recession and look to the future, it reveals [2].
The first ever National Strategic Skills Audit, also released today by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), draws on Skillset's in-depth research. The UKCES audit was commissioned by the Government to provide vital intelligence to understand current and future skill needs for the economy.
Skillset's report says there is an 'oversupply' in many general creative media roles, but serious skills shortages in areas like digital technology and multiplatform capability, broadcast engineering, business and commercial know-how, visual effects and craft-orientated jobs."
(Skillset, 17 March 2010)
1. www.nesta.org.uk
2. Skillset (2009) From Recession to Recovery. Based on a sample of 262 employers.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Wikileaks: airing governments' and corporations' dirty laundry
"Wikileaks, with its simple 'keep the bastards honest' ethos, aims to discourage unethical behaviour by airing governments' and corporations' dirty laundry in public, putting their secrets out there in the public realm. The site won Index on Censorship's 2008 freedom of expression award because it's an invaluable resource for anonymous whistleblowers and investigative journalists.
Among Wikileaks' recent triumphs are its publication of top-secret internet censorship lists. The blacklists from Australia, Thailand, Denmark and Norway demonstrate exactly how censorship systems are abused to suppress free expression. The Thai list featured sites criticising the country's royal family and the Australian blacklist turned out to include a school canteen consultancy. Despite its child porn mandate, less than half of the Australian blacklist were linked to paedophilia. Also on the list were satanic and fetish sites, anti-abortion websites, and sites belonging to a kennel operator and a dentist. Publication highlighted the lack of transparency in the process and gave impetus to the 'No Clean Feed' campaign which opposes the Australian government's internet filter proposals."
(Emily Butselaar, guardian.co.uk)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
