Matte Painting Backgrounds — Before CGI

Posted on July 14, 2012 at 8:00 am

Years ago, my husband and I attended an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York featuring the spectacular matte paintings of Peter Ellenshaw, who created the enthralling background designs for movies from the futuristic “Things to Come” to Walt Disney Studios’ “Treasure Island” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”  Before the days of computer-generated images some of the most imaginative and evocative settings on film were created by brilliantly talented draughtsman and artists.  Many thanks to Roger Ebert for directing me to this splendid collection of some of the best movie matte paintings, including Ellenshaw’s wonderful London setting for “Mary Poppins.”

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

DVS: Making Movies Accessible to the Visually Impaired

Posted on July 13, 2012 at 8:00 am

Boston public television station WGBH is a pioneer in making movies and PBS shows available to the visually impaired by adding descriptive audio, called DVS.  That is a quiet narration to explain the actions and settings, like “Jim runs to the door, chased by a dog.”  To support this effort, visit their website to make purchases of descriptive audio movies through Amazon.  It does not cost extra, but four percent of the purchase price goes to making more movies available.  And contact the studios, to encourage them to make their films available to this audience.

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Commentary Understanding Media and Pop Culture

14-Year-Old Teaches 17 Magazine About Real Girls

Posted on July 9, 2012 at 8:00 am

I used to tell my daughter that she could read fashion magazines as long as she understood that everything in them, the articles and the ads, was intended to make her feel bad about her looks and buy a lot of stuff she did not need.  Now a 14-year-old girl has persuaded one of the most successful and influential magazines for teenagers to show girls as they really are, with all of the photos in the magazine showing “real girls and models who are healthy,” and promising to “celebrate every kind of beauty.” I especially like their commitment to putting pictures from their photo shoots on Tumblr so girls can see the edits and their promise not to make changes to the models’ faces or bodies.

Julia Bluhm started an online petition after girls in her ballet class were complaining that they were fat.  With 25,000 signatures in just a few days, she made a compelling case and Seventeen invited Bluhm and her mother to visit them.  Bluhm says she will now work on Teen Vogue.  This is a wonderfully empowering development, not just because it will show girls more realistic models but because it shows girls they can make a difference on issues that concern them.  Hurray for Julia Bluhm!

 

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Commentary Teenagers Tweens Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Parental Alert: Pornography and Abuse on Teen Websites

Posted on June 15, 2012 at 12:53 pm

Habbo Hotel, a popular social media website for teenagers, is reopening after suspending its interactive functions following an investigative journalist’s reports of abuse.

Following Tuesday’s announcement that mobile app Skout temporarily closed its under-18 community amidst rape allegations, Finnish virtual world Habbo Hotel has shut down its chat functions after “reports of abusive behaviors.”

Marketed as “the world’s largest social game and online community for teenagers,” the game boasts 10 million visitors per month to the virtual hotel, where children as young as 13 years old create avatars, chat publicly or privately with other users, and buy credits to furnish animated hotel rooms.

But the service made headlines this week after Rachel Seifert, a producer with the U.K.’s Channel 4 News, said she encountered pornographic chat, avatars engaged in cyber sex, and more. Seifert spent two months investigating the goings-on of the seemingly innocent game. While posing as a young girl, Seifert was asked to strip fully naked, “and asked what would I do on a webcam,” she said.

Seifert had similar sexually charged and inappropriate experiences all 50 times she played the game.

I looked into this after receiving a spam email “accepting” a registration at Habbo I had never signed up for.  The recent announcement that Facebook plans to expand to include middle schoolers adds to the concern about the combination of poor judgment, increased independence, and anonymity in social media.  Parents should be on the alert and make sure they have meaningful conversations and oversight of their children’s online activities and relationships.

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Parenting Teenagers Understanding Media and Pop Culture

The “Fi” in Sc-Fi — The Biggest Science Mistakes in Sci-Fi Movies

Posted on June 12, 2012 at 8:00 am

The release of “Prometheus” inspired the infinitely charismatic astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson to correct not just its mathematics but its arithmetic.   And it inspired Moviefone to create a gallery of the most outrageous science mistakes in sci-fi movies.  These are mostly just continuity errors, not science mistakes, though.  This is a better list of mistakes that show a poor understanding of the laws of physics and engineering. I also like this list.

But the best is this actual physics class presentation about the science errors in the classic of sci-fi: “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.”

The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum used to have a wonderful claymation video with Albert Einstein explaining how movies like “Star Wars” violate the laws of science.  “They’re breaking my rule!” he would say ruefully.  I’ve been unable to find it online — if anyone knows where it is, let me know.

And be sure to read this terrific piece in the Washington Post about how scientists are working with television and movie writers and producers to make sure that the media presents a more accurate picture of science — and scientists — and to make sure they have access to some of the most exciting new research to help inspire their stories.

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture
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