Padded Cell
an 8’X16’ freestanding room constructed of basic building materials, with a single door that contains a plexiglass window. Inside, the walls and ceilingare padded with pink cotton candy, and a bare light bulb hangs in the center. The door is opened at 9pm, but the interior is visible through the window throughout the evening. The Red Party’s main dinner is served inside a Russian-themed constructivist set, and Padded Cell acts as an escape from that, an all-American funhouse that is at the same time confining, threatening, claustrophobic. It is an object that addresses the dark side of pleasure, the price of pleasure, the possibility that pleasure is its own punishment. Approximately 1,600 cones of cotton candy are used in its construction.
Yellow submarine is one of my favorite songs from The Beatles, but I don't know why I never bothered to watch the film. Well, trying to get inspiration for the crazy amount of projects and work I have to do during my winter ¨holidays¨ I decided to watch it. What an amazing movie. Seriously. It's an escape from reality. The art is great and so is the soundtrack. It's a serious treat for the eyes and ears. I feel like I can watch it plenty of times and still find something new every time. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure to do so.
This documentary by filmmaker Loic Prigent, gives intimate insight to the hectic life of one of the most influencial designers of his generation. It allows us to see how Marc Jacob balances being creative director of Louis Vuitton and having his own line at the same time. Marc Jacobs creates a great environment and atmosphere for his team while working. Yes, they are all under a lot of pressure but somehow they seem like they are enjoying themselves while working with Marc. We see where Marc gets most of his inspiration, art and music. He is constantly listening to music while working. He has a intense appreciation for art. Marc himself is an artist and thats how he goes about his work. We also get insight on Marc’s personal life. We see how he likes to be very healthy, taking a cocktail of vitamins and digestives before eating but at the same time we see how he fuels himself with protein bars and cigarettes. Its almost like Marc has a magnetic force that attracts you to him and you can’t help but love him and everything he does.
Signe Chanel
Also by filmmaker Loic Prigent, this is a five-part series documenting Karl Lagerfeld and the house of Chanel throughout the creation of its fall 2004 couture collection. Where the Marc Jacobs film was fun and easy to watch, this series was a bit different. For one, I’m not sure if I should hate Karl Lagerfeld for his arrogant attitude or love him for his incredible talent. In this film you can see every part of the process to creating a Chanel collection. It was incredible to see how many people are needed to put together a couture collection. You can’t help but feel bad for the seamstress when they spend so much time on one piece, then when Karl sees it, they have to start all over. As one of the seamstress commented, they need to be precise to the exact millimeter. Working with tricky fabrics and much detail, it is a very difficult and labor intense job. I guess that is why Chanel is so great, everything has to be perfect. Karl Lagerfeld is very reserved and does not interact with the camera much. We don’t see much of his personal life, we see his clustered home and not much more. Karl Lagerfeld has a different approach than Marc Jacobs to his team. Instead of making them feel comfortable around him, it’s like he has created a sense of terror with them. Every department must be informed with Mr.Lagerfeld enters and leaves the building. You can see the tension in the room during meetings and showings and you can see how everyone relaxes when he leaves. But maybe that is the kind of attitude you need to have to run an empire like Chanel.
So this is one the entries for communication class.
Television as we know it is going through a crisis. As technology advances, and internet broadcasting becomes more popular, the normal television is losing popularity. People spend more time online rather than in front of the TV. In my opinion, the key to television survival is integrating the internet to our television set. Personally, I cant remember the last time I sat in front of the TV to watch a show. If I want to know world news, I read about them online whenever I have some free time. I follow TV series and shows online, downloading them and watching them later. To me this is more comfortable than having to wait for a certain time the show is airing, and watching it without getting up so I dont miss anything. If I watch it online, I can pause whenever I need to. Watching TV online allows me to multitask. I can watch my shows while I research something else, do my homework, or download other shows. Not only that but online I can find shows that don't air where I live.
Obviously Im not the only one who thinks this way. Apple was the first to try it out when they created Apple TV. Apple TV lets you rent from largest selection of HD movies, many of them available the same day they come out on DVD. It works together with Netflix, letting you watch Netflix titles instantly. You can rent commercial free TV shows. It also lets you stream photos and music directly from your computer to your big screen.
But like all things, somebody creates it and along comes another and makes it better. The guys at Google are one step ahead. They created Google TV, which offers everything Apple TV has to offer, plus everything it’s missing. It comes with Google Chrome built in so you can access your favorite websites and move between television and the web easier. Because of this you can access millions of channels of entertainment across TV and the web. When you want to watch something, you write in on the search engine of the TV and it will show you all the possibilities you have to watch the show. It also lets you search the internet while watching. Google TV came out this fall(right timing, the Holidays are just around the corner), you can buy TVs that come with Google TV already integrated or you can buy the Google TV box separately and connect it to your TV.
I believe Google has really nailed it creating this integration of web and TV. These are just the first steps and I know we all at home are exciting to experience the transformation of TV.
Watch the video below for a quick introduction to what Google TV has to offer.
The idea of having a blog has been floating around my head for a while but I never really knew what to write about. But it is a requirement for my communications class. So here it goes, a blog of all things awesome.
