DAI 227 Week 12

1)      What was the name of the film made by Edwin S Porter that made use of a double-exposure to show a train window view of passing landscape?

The name of the film was The Great Train Robbery.

2)      Who invented the traveling matte shot in 1916?

Frank Williams invented the traveling matte shot in 1916.

3)      How many weeks did it take to animate the main character in 1933’s KING KONG?

It took 55 weeks to animate the 1933 King Kong.

4)       Which film made use of the ‘slit scan’ process in the 1960s?
The film 2001:A Space Odyssey (1968) by Kubrick used the ‘slit scan’ process.

5)       In his essay “Industrial Memory” theorist Mark Dery argues that the silver fluid T1000 cyborg character represents a ‘masculine recoil’ – but from what?

Mark Dery argues that the silver fluid is ‘masculine recoil’ from what Springer calls the “feminization of electronic technology.” The muscular cyborg imagery asserts the dominance of a phallic metaphor for technology i.e. female genitals, which are commonly considered to be concealed, passive, and internal, like the workings of a computer.

6)       Tim Recuber in his essay “Immersion Cinema” describes the key idea – that of immersion cinema itself – what is it? What makes it unique?
Immersion Cinema represents a new set of technological and aesthetic criteria in which sensory experience and the physical immersion of the spectator within the medium is important. It is unique because it creates physical and special experiences for the viewer to make them feel as if they are actually there in the picture they are viewing.

7)       In the special effects history links, in the Time magazine history of special effects, there is a description of ‘motion control’ cameras developed for “Star Wars” in the 1970s. What is motion control?(1 paragraph)
Motion control refers to the Dykstraflex motion-control system (named after special-effects supervisor John Dykstra) that is hooked up to a computer and issues a complicated series of movements to a camera. I allows filmmakers to create new shots that have never been done before.

8)       Out of the 14 minutes of Jurassic Park’s dinosaur footage, how many minutes were computer generated imagery or CGI?

Only four minutes were computer graphics.

9)      In the ‘denofgeek’ website, what is the name of the film that features an army of sword fighting skeletons, made in 1963?

The film that features an army of sword fighting skeletons is Jason and the Argonauts.

10)   In the ‘denofgeek’ site, which 2005 film used a special effects shot to sell the idea of a remake of a famous science fiction story to Steven Spielberg?

The film that used special effects to sell Steven Speilberg’s remake was War of the Worlds.

DAI 227 Week 11

1.) In Margaret Crawford's Essay "The World in a Shopping Mall she outlines that 'the size and scale of a mall reflects "threshould demand" - what is meant by this term?

What Margaret Crawford means by this statement means that the correct size of the mall that will make profit reflects the region surrounding it. Crawford goes on to explain different tiers malls can have such as neighborhood center, community center, or regional mall. Based on the demographics in the area a mall will be designed a certain way to make sure that it makes profit where it is located.

2) In the same article Margaret Crawford describes something called "spontaneous malling" - what does this mean?

“Spontaneous Malling” refers to the occurrence of malls replacing areas such as parking lots or old buildings. No new areas are developed, there is only reconstruction.

3) According to Michael Sorkin in his essay 'See you in Disneyland', how did Disneyland have its origins?

There are several myths about the origins of Disney. One myth is that Disney came up with the idea for the park in 1938 when he was on a trip to the Chicago Railroading Fair. He was invited don engineer’s overalls and climb behind the throttle of a historic locomotive, fulfilling a childhood dream. Another myth describes a visit by the Disney family to a conventional amusement park that disgusted Disney because of its failure of hygiene. Regardless, Disneyland will be based on ideals and dreams.

4) Michael Sorkin writes in his essay that Disney's EPCOT Center was motivated largely by frustrations Disney felt at his Anaheim CA park. What were those frustrations?

The huge success of Disneyland attracted developers who took up miles of the surrounding countryside. Disney lost millions to people housing his visitors and created a land of unregulated hotels and low commerce, a sight he did not want surrounding his park. These problems inspired Disney’s EPCOT Center.

5)In his essay "Travels in Hyperreality" Umberto Eco describes Disneyland as 'a place of total passivity' - what does he mean by this?

Umberto Eco suggests that the visitors act like robots for Disneyland. Each attraction is regulated by a maze of metal railings in which all visitors are made to walk through and guided along the way. In addition, those running the attraction are dressed accordingly and command the visitor what to do as they give them access to the ride. There is no opportunity for individual initiative at Disneyland.