Assignment 8: Predictions (Network/Cable, Streaming, Online, Social, Gaming, or AI)

The Future of Storytelling.

A theme I enjoy touching on every now and again is storytelling. Storytelling is what makes the world go 'round. It's an art-form that few possess, and even fewer are able to use effectively. It's an art that is pliable to one's senses, and can be understood by many in the most obscure ways.

Storytelling is the way in which stories are told to convey something. To convey feeling. To convey love. To convey loss. To convey happiness and sadness. Storytelling is the life that we live and the world is the medium where they story is told. Philosophy is the storytelling of the fundamental nature of life. Science is the storytelling of the beings and functions that make up the entirety of everything. This blog is storytelling my thoughts and beliefs through probing from Professor Reppert's assignment list.

Life is storytelling. So, I've decided to make predictions on the future of storytelling, through various mediums.

Movies

Movies are probably my second favorite pastime after video games. I try to go the movie theater at least once a month and I've collected every movie ticket I've bought for the past five or so years. It's not seeing the movie that makes going fun, it's the experience you have. It's about grabbing some food with a friend then catching a flick. Sitting around while trailers crawl across the screen and deciding what movie I'll waste some money on next.

I have a suspicion that after all this quarantine mess is over, the movie industry is going to have a massive shake-up. Trolls: World Tour released digitally nearly two weeks ago and did just fine at the virtual box-office. Scoob! will be following suit by skipping the theater release. So what does that mean for our future of going to the theater? I think you'll begin to see more movies releasing digitally over the box-office, especially smaller market indie-films. We'll likely see an increase in online distributors willing to deal out some cash to promote and sell smaller market films due to the possibility of a surprise hit. The quarantine has everyone sitting around watching shows and movies and soon a business model will capitalize on this better than Netflix and Hulu.

I'm willing to bet that the digital marketplace is the new 'straight to home video', with a much higher quality of course (hopefully).

Streaming

We've seen just how far streaming can go this year, and I think it will go further. There are only so many shows and movies on Netflix and Hulu, and they can only replace old ones so fast. Sooner or later, there won't be much else to watch except the critically despised films, so what will they do then?

The Criterion Collection streaming service is going to skyrocket. We'll be diving into the best of the past and that will shape our future. Films have halted filming and shows have stopped shooting. While we wait for things to return to normal, people are gathering inspiration. Inspiration to tell stories in ways they've never been told. We're going to need the oldies for that one.

I'm also waiting on a streaming service that solely produces interactive content. A week-to-week broadcast that has the subscribers vote on certain outcomes in the show. Then, next weeks episode is tailor-made to that vote. Kind of like how comic fans killed off Robin, but in a TV show.

Video Games

Now we're onto the good stuff. Video games at this point have already become interactive films (or novels, I don't discriminate) and that can only be pushed further. Sooner or later, we'll have full body virtual reality gear that can detect the movements of every part of our body. Suits that emit forces onto our bodies when we bump into something in the game, or heat up when we step to close to the fire. We're already on our way with that with PlayStation's DualSense controller, which can adjust tension in the triggers based on what is happening in the video game (for example, the triggers being difficult to pull back while pulling back a bow in the game).

There will be a psychology to rectify from video games. Games already have us making decisions, hard decisions, that affect us outside of the game. The psychology of video games will be documented and games will be able to change based on our emotions, whether it be detecting this through a suit, a controller, or a camera of some kind. The artificial intelligence will be able to react to this emotional stimuli in unique ways for every player playing. We can always go deeper!

Books

Eh, they're books.

And that's all I have regarding the future. I really hope our future robot overlords don't find this and take my blog down.

Assignment 7: Binge Watching (Old, New, Domestic, or Global)

The New Norm.

Quarantine is a time to learn about ourselves. We have free time that some have never experienced before. Families are being reunited at home under strenuous circumstances as parents are jobless and the kids aren't in school. We're being brought together in the worst way imaginable without the choice of wanting to or not. But let's hop out of the gutter for a moment and talk about what's going on at home.

Streaming services are at an all-time high. Netflix stocks just recently rocketed past Disney, which is astonishing. PlayStation just gave out two (four total) free games to gamers on the PlayStation 4, as well as supporting small indie developers with some cash to keep them afloat (read about the Play At Home Initiative). The world is working together to keep things as normal as possible in a not-so-normal time.

I've been sitting in my room playing video games or working everyday, all day, for about a week straight. The good side of working from home is that the company I work for was prepared for the virus. The bad side is now that I'm a little less busy, I don't really feel like working and would rather put my time towards doing things that I normally wouldn't have time for.

If binge-gaming were a thing (which I believe it is, but I couldn't find anything for it), that's probably what I've been doing. This isn't about video games though, this is about binge-watching, so let's get on with it.

Binge-watching, as defined online, is the act of watching episodes of a series (TV or online) consecutively for a long amount of time. Watching 3-4 episodes of a show isn't binge-watching, but watching a season within a day definitely is.

I'm not really a binge-watcher. I haven't watched a show all the way through since I watched all of Breaking Bad in 2015. I binged the first five seasons of Game of Thrones before the sixth season began a few years ago, but that's about it. Right now, the current craze is around Tiger King (which I have no doubt someone will talk about in one of their blogs) but like I said, I'm not a binge-watcher.

I'd like to specifically address content creators that are based online. They are likely the biggest benefactor of the quarantine boredom crisis as they continue to create content for a trapped populace. If you happen to follow a creator online, check how often they are uploading content now and compare it to how often they were uploading six months ago. I'm willing to bet there's a difference since now they have all the time in the world to create content. If that's not the case, they're likely falling into the same routine as I, where relaxation is the new norm for now. Whatever the case, if they're still creating content, they are doing it for us.

When I was in high school, every night as I went to bed I browsed YouTube and fell asleep watching a series of some kind. Usually, I would watch someone play NCAA Football 14 where they would rebuild a bad team (often the University of Alabama-Birmingham). These series would go on for years, about a decades worth of seasons in-game would be at the cusp of my fingertips to watch at my own pace. I could get through a season every other day, with each video being about 20 minutes long. The takeaway from this is that binge-watching was already a thing (we knew that), but it's the new norm now. It's all people are doing, it's all they're talking about. We all want to go back to normal, but will life ever be the same after this is all said and done?

We'll see.

Assignment 6: Global Trends (Programming, Streaming, Online, Social, or Gaming)

The Future is [VR]ight Now.

The video game scene is ever-changing, with the next big breakthrough always around the next corner to outshine the previous one. The Video Game Awards narrows down the "best games of the year" to four or five titles, but there are likely a dozen or so games worthy of the nomination, and the community will let you know when they feel that a game has been snubbed. Apart from those dozen or so games, there are 8,000 other games released to the market every year that try to break boundaries and create the next big game genre. Every game is competing for the spot of 'Game of the Year', but very few are worthy of that accolade.

The last major release that shaped the gaming industry for the future would be God of War (2018), which set a new standard for storytelling within an action-oriented game. Before that, Demons Souls (2009) and Dark Souls (2011) would be the largest shake-up in the gaming world since online gaming. Demons Souls and Dark Souls launched a new genre of video games, called 'souls-like'. If you're not familiar with gaming terminology, we often use the name of games that stand-out in the industry to classify the new sub-genre they've created. For example, Metroid (1986) and Castlevania (1986) launched a new sub-genre of action-adventure games called a 'metroidvania'. The distinguishing factor of a 'metroidvania' game is using newly discovered items within the later parts of the game to access areas that were previously inaccessible earlier in the game. 'Souls-like' games are characterized for being very difficult in nature, with brutal enemies, punishing bosses, and an in-game currency used for upgrading your character, which can be lost by dying.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling about various sub-genres. What you should get from that is that the gaming industry is stagnant, until it's not. Every 4-5 years, something groundbreaking comes through that shapes the industry for a while. Fornite (2017) is a good example of a game that has shaped the industry that you may have heard of. The logistics of the video game industry are hard to read. It's difficult to tell when a game will succeed or fail. Often, we use 'hype' as a means to justify a games success prior to release. If a game has a lot of 'hype', or excitement, about its release, it's likely to do well, though this is not always the case.

The current shake-up in the industry is virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), formally called extended reality (XR). You most likely know what VR is but if you don't, then you've got some learning to do. Virtual reality is the act of 'entering' a computer generated world through exterior means, usually a virtual reality headset. The player can interact with things in the world by using a controller, often controller attached to the hands to mimic the player's hands within the game. This gives the feel of actually being in computer generated world.

The interest in VR skyrocketed a couple of years ago when the technology became viable with industry-standard technology. Now, we're exceeding expectations. Half-Life: Alyx (2020) launched with much anticipation and amazing reviews, being cited as the next big thing in VR. So, what are the next steps.

It was anticipated that VR technology would boom in 2019, and it did, but what does the future hold. One day, we could be playing every game in virtual reality. Games within games? It's already a thing. Living within a game? That sounds like a step in a dystopian novel.

Only the future can tell.

Assignment 5: Surveillance and Law Enforcement

Cameras: The Good and the Bad

Listen, I'm no Big Brother but I do believe cameras stationed in major population centers are a good thing. People are really stupid (and you can't fix stupid with duct tape, as my grandma would say!) and I believe that cameras can do more good than bad when in the right place at the right time.

Now hear me out; cameras and microphones everywhere isn't a good idea. George Orwell's iconic novel, 1984, is the idea of a perfect dystopia. A place where the authority figure is in complete control over the populace and any thoughts against this authority results in the removal of troublemakers. Fahrenheit 451 is another classic novel set in a dystopia which heavily relies on government surveillance. No one wants this sort of surveillance.

The Ring Video Doorbells are a step in the right direction for the future. Not only can they catch a thief and other no-good people in the act of crimes, but they can also unintentionally catch crimes that would normally occur without any sort of video evidence. For example, I've embedded a video below of a man being robbed on his front porch. Without the Ring Doorbell, the criminals may not have been identified as easily by the man, and little proof would be available to the police in search of the criminals.

Not only are cameras very useful at private residences, public places need them just as much. An elementary school gym teacher is currently undergoing a court trial about his interactions with children as young as six years old while conducting a gym class. The likelihood of these young children coming forward to their parents or other adults are slim considering the nature and thinking of young children. The surveillance camera in the gym may have saved a lot of children.

Surveillance can also be used in a negative way, though much less common. For one thing, the technology can be abused by those in authority positions, specifically law enforcement who have access to camera feeds and databases. These abuses are mostly along the nature of spying on susceptible targets to blackmail, such was a case in 1997 when a police officer in Washington, D.C. used security cameras to target and blackmail gay couples, with whom he tracked down by reading license plates outside of a gay club. You can read more about liberties that are intruded upon by CCTV here.

If we can move past the bad, we can have something really good. That goes without saying, for just about everything.

Assignment 4: Advertising Analysis

Share an ad, share a Coke.

I recently had a conversation with some friends about the way people talk differently in different parts of the country. We got caught up in the usage of the word 'coke'. We all agreed that no one really says, "Hey, grab me a coke," when they want something different, like a Dr. Pepper. Most of the time, they actually mean a Coca-Cola. However, they will use the phrase when they are expressing they are thirsty and they may or may not actually get a Coca-Cola. My step-dad will often say while we're outside working, "Let's take a break and grab a coke," though he knows that I would prefer to drink a Dr. Pepper and he's most likely about to have some whiskey.

That's just part of the advertising that's been ingrained within our culture. Some parents still call home video game consoles 'the Nintendo', and if you shout, "Red Robin," someone is bound to yell back, "Yum!" I'm not sure if any of this has a real effect on me (I'm sure it does), but it has a massive effect on the way we communicate in society.

I'm specifically going to talk about Coca-Cola for a bit, focusing on their various forms of advertising.

Let's start with Coca-Cola's iconic slogan. In my lifetime, the primary slogan has been 'Share a Coke' but I do remember the 'Open Happiness' campaign. You can find a history of the Coca-Cola slogans here on the Coca-Cola website, as well as a semi-updated list here.

The Coca-Cola TV adverts have been a staple on television for years. Their commercials are often universally loved because, unlike their competitors and fellow advertisers, they often don't take a stance on anything. They simply advertise the drink that everyone loves, and they do it well. Who doesn't love that family of polar bears? My grandapa personally loves the polar bear family. "Ha ha! Those silly bears are drinking a Coke!" Here is a complete list of Coca-Cola's most recent TV ads.

I don't often read the newspaper or magazines, but Coca-Cola advertises through those sources so I need to touch on them. They recently invested in print ads with sound. The images in the ads are meant to resonate with the reader and promote a sound that is associated with the image, such as the sound of the bottle popping off a bottle of ice-cold Coca-Cola (blog brought to you by Coca-Cola).

Coca-Cola's online presence is similar to that of their TV presence. Generally, you'll get a short ad in front of a YouTube video 

However, the internet will know if you're craving a Coke.

Assignment 3: Product Review

A Pretty Mediocre Laptop.

So I use my laptop for work, school, and entertainment, and I could not have chosen a worse laptop to use (that's sarcasm, but seriously this is pretty bad). Over the Summer of 2017, I purchased the HP Envy x360 from Best Buy for $899.99. I split the cost with my mom (kind of, I paid $400 and she paid $600) and I thought it was a good decision at the time, but let me enlighten you as to why that is not true.

Firstly, this laptop was marketed as a strong mix of a working machine, as well as an entertainment system. The Best Buy employee who helped us in our search told us this laptop would be a good product to do school work while also being able to run and play most major video games. If you're not familiar with the way PC gaming works, you need a strong system to run some of the higher quality games. Unlike game consoles, any game you purchase for a game console is guaranteed to work on that system but that is not the case on PC. In my case, this laptop can hardly run Minecraft, one of the most popular and simple games on the market. Ironically, the laptop came pre-installed with the game.

Secondly, the laptop is prone to software issues. Numerous times my touchpad has randomly stopped working and essentially preventing me from doing work. I can navigate a little bit using the touchscreen, but not everything that my job requires me to do. I haven't found a solid solution to this issue, but it hasn't arisen recently. These software issues can also be caused by doing simple tasks, such as disabling the touchscreen. The system cannot handle the idea of the touchscreen being turned off and after doing so, the laptop locked me out until I managed to turn the touchscreen back on. Such annoyingly random issues.

Lastly, the battery life is atrocious. I leave the laptop in battery saver mode to use the power as best as possible, but even still I may only get two hours of usage before it needs to be plugged in. This is not preferable when I'm often on the move and working whenever I can. It severely limits my usage time, which is very detrimental whenever my work often requires my attention for multiple hours at a time to be complete. Unsatisfactory, period.

There are some nice things about the laptop though. It starts up relatively fast and it has facial recognition that keeps intruders out (though it doesn't recognize me when I don't have my glasses on, so I guess the software works well). It's also not too large and fits in most of my bags that I would use to carry the laptop. The touchscreen is also useful at times.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this laptop for how much it cost me. You can probably get a used one for cheaper that's higher quality.

Me when my laptop starts acting up.

What do I know though, I just want to play video games on the go.

Assignment 2: Programming Trends

Adaptations and Remakes: Visionary or Unoriginal?

Nowadays, all we see in the cinema or on TV are reboots or adaptations. It's pretty difficult to find something original on the screen nowadays. Just off the top of my head of what's currently in theaters or on TV, Knives Out, a Rian Johnson film, is the most original thing out there. Birds of Prey is a rehash of Suicide Squad, but with a focus on Harley Quinn because that's where the money is. Bad Boys for Life is a series continuation. Dolittle, starring the one-and-only Robert Downey Jr., is an uninspired remake and an adaptation at the same time. Lastly, Gretel and Hansel is another remake, but they switched the title around so it's completely original now.

(In my best Jerry Seinfeld impression) So what's the deal with adaptations and remakes? Well, they perform well. Franchises or IP's that are previously established, especially with a broad or committed fanbase, will almost always do well because that audience will single-handedly will the adaptation to success. Let me give a few examples.

The Cat in the Hat (2003) opened at number one in the North American box office on November 21st. For comparison, Elf, the classic Will Ferrell Christmas movie, and The Matrix Revolutions were also in theaters at the time. Elf is an original film and The Matrix Revolutions is the finale of the well-beloved trilogy, so why did The Cat in the Hat (2003) end up on top? Well, Dr. Seuss is well beloved (and so is Michael Myers) so the adaptation wins out.

This isn't a problem we've moved past. Disney has begun adapting their beloved animated movies into live-action (or CGI, looking at you The Lion King) films. We're revisiting stories that we watched just a few decades ago. That seems like a long time, but Disney is very popular and so are their movies. A lot of people own Mulan, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, and Aladdin on DVD and VHS, and those movies are available on streaming services as well. There are plenty of ways to access these films that bypass the coveted Disney vault, but Disney understands that they can make a boatload of revenue by remaking these beloved films, which many hate to see.

Original content in established universes are cool and can often present things we'd never seen in places where we'd love to see certain things (that was mouthful). For example, with the launch of Disney+ came The Mandalorian, a new series set in the Star Wars universe between Episode VI and Episode VII (Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, the end of the original trilogy and the beginning of the sequel trilogy). The show follows a new character with a new goal in a setting that people love. This is unique.

Netflix also has a habit of creating new adaptations. However, they're usually not that great at it. They often try and compete with anime streaming services like Crunchyroll by creating live-action adaptations of popular anime series like Death Note or Bleach. These films have not done very well, though they have very committed fanbases, so how does that work? The difference being the platform. Anime fans don't watch anime on Netflix, they use an anime streaming service.

This could very well be the reason behind the success of The Witcher. The Witcher is a Netflix original adaptation of the books and short stories by Andrzej Sapkowski. This is the second adaptation of The Witcher series, as a video game trilogy (soon to be 'quadrology?') began in 2007, with the most recent installment (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) winning Game of the Year in 2015. Netflix recently revealed the show to be the most viewed in it's opening weeks out of all the Netflix original shows. It's strange how some things work out.

The main difference I want to address is originality. An adaptation can be good, or it can be bad. However, no adaptation is very original and I feel like Hollywood has sort of stagnated. Maybe the next generation of writers can create some unique worlds where we can share more stories.

Unless you believe there are only seven plots ever, then we're done for.