Comments on: The siren song of Simone, Aimi, and Ted

By: Brian Frazier

Brian Frazier — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:09:00 +0000

Technology has really overtaken the industry of music and movies. In my opinion it has made the movie industry much better, and has made the movies in today’s society much more vivid and has brought the characters to life. Movies like Iron Man, and The Avengers, these are movies where technology played a huge role in the success in these movies. Although like in stated in the blog post some of the tactics they try and that they try and use in movies cant work in the music industry. One example that helped me relate to this post was when I went to the Cochella festival last year, and they brought 2pac back, which is a rapper that was shot and killed in the summer of 1996. Speculations rose where a lot of people believed that 2pac was actually back. But the whole time they brought him back to life by making a very realistic hologram.

By: Ayrin Lockard

Ayrin Lockard — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 06:07:41 +0000

The use of computer technology no longer stops at movies today. It is seen on television and used in the music industry for entertainment purposes. What I question is have we seen so much of the computer generated images that we have become unfamiliar with the reality of concerts with physical artists or what movies can portray with just actors and special effects? John Vivian states in responding to the replacing of real crowds and stunt doubles in movies, “This raised the question of whether movie actors themselves might be replaced by pixels.” (Vivian, 2011, Pg. 158). It is good to know that I am not the only one concerned with matters like these, but another issue is computer generated images (CGI) is that people have become emotionally attached to them.

Hatsune Miku, Aimi, and other CGI creations have shown just how far we have come, but they also show just how stretched our emotions can go for imagery like this. Fans feel as though these are real life tangible people. A great example besides the ones stated in the article is when a hologram of Tupac Shakur appeared at the Coachella music festival in California in April of 2012. Fans weren’t sure how to feel at first, but for some it was like he was resurrected. So the question for me remains, are we going too far by creating these imagines? From the PowerPoint “Movies”, CGI is now the dominate form used for special effects, but will it soon be the dominate form for all entertainment as well?

By: James Evans

James Evans — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:49:06 +0000

The actual idea of holographic and unreal individuals is a particularly intriguing concept. While reading this, it took me back to almost one year ago, where the hype was in America regarding the 2 Pac hologram at Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California. It was a one time surprise appearance that left the public in awe and wonder at the technology used, and talk had even circulated regarding a potential 2 Pac hologram world tour. As seen through these musical performances, media can latch onto onlooker’s emotions that cause them to feel invested. Viewers are willing to satisfy their emotions even for something unreal in the musical world. It simply makes them feel good. The same goes for movies and Hollywood productions. Viewers are likely to put forth much more money and be invested in a movie or television show if it brings emotions to them. The realness does not seem to be factor as long as entertainment, enjoyment, and good feeling is present. These does-however, raise ethical questions and concerns regarding future developments and being able to distinguish and know what is reality and what is misleading.

By: Shaun Roos

Shaun Roos — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:32:26 +0000

We are living in a world where technology is becoming a dominating factor in all our lives. I find it absurd that people are getting upset about finding out that their favorite band/ singers are not real. They should like the band for the music primarily and but instead they correspond the image of the band with the music. I didn’t hear anyone complain when they made a hologram projection of Tupac. In fact, everyone loved it. People know he is gone and that the hologram was not real. Their is also the band Gorillaz, a band that is composed of animated characters. They are known for their characters and not many people know what these musicians actually look like. Technology is just going to improve and the instances of these virtual characters will increase.

By: Lindsey Hutcheon

Lindsey Hutcheon — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 07:31:08 +0000

It is absolutely mind-boggling to me that people would pay actual money to go watch a hologram perform on stage. Couldn’t you get the same exact performance on YouTube? We are slowly becoming more used to things being fake. For example, we look at a magazine in the store, we see the women in bikinis knowing full well that they are photoshopped, yet still question how they look so perfect. It is almost as though we are expectant of perfection in our own bodies because of the constant fakeness we see in other people… PRINTED people, nonetheless. We have all bought into this lie that we are not good enough, and the holograms and magazine models are our standard for reaching perfection.

By: Allisa

Allisa — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 06:38:28 +0000

With the advancement of technology, comes a need for perfection. It is becoming so advanced that we begin to expect things to work without any flaws. As we expect this from technology, we also begin to expect this from people. Entertainers, such as musicians, can only be so good. With technology, they can create a sound that alters what is being played, and add an element of perfection to it. When this happens, we end up creating things such as a Simone and Aimi, where we demand such perfection, that the entertainer or musician becomes something completely unreal. Depending on who you are, this is either acceptable or not. For me, I feel that I can enjoy a true musician and their talent that they posses. It is hard for me to appreciate something that is perfected through technology, and doesn’t necessarily posses talent.

By: Daniel Hale

Daniel Hale — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 00:02:29 +0000

The digital age is a wonderous thing and hologram technology has definitely put a large twist on the media industry. The whole idea of fake actors and musical performers is very interesting to say the least. With movies, I think that is great and can add a lot to a film, especially when it comes to certain movie characters like Ted. i like the holographic images especially the recent one of tupac shakur. but i think its only good to a certain extent. i dont want to see them make fake entertainers to star in movies or films. that would be a slap in the face to people who have ambition and dreams of getting into the acting world

By: Jordan De Los Santos

Jordan De Los Santos — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:41:07 +0000

The digital age is a wonderous thing and CGI and hologram technology has definitely put a large twist on the media industry. It does serve positive effects such as virtual appearance of non-present people; however, it does pose more concerning problems especially within entertainment and performance ethics. CGI definitely throws a curveball into the entertainment industry. I believe it a great addition to the film industry, but when it comes to live entertainment… Is it really okay to present fake holographic images as reality? I think that it is good to a certain extent, but when these images are replacing real people, singers, actors, or anyone for that matter, it is just absurd.

By: Erik Johnson

Erik Johnson — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 01:52:27 +0000

The whole idea of fake actors and musical performers is very interesting to say the least. With movies, I think that is great and can add a lot to a film, especially when it comes to certain movie characters like Ted. I am not totally sure how i feel about the CGI music artists though. It is one thing to have a concert where a musical performer has past away and they CGI them in a way to make it seem like they were back to do another concert. I have friends that attended the Coachella Music Festival this past year and they said that a former rapper, that has been dead for a while now named 2Pac, was created into a CGI character onstage and they said it unreal. They loved it and could not stop talking about it. I personally think that would be amazing to go see. But when it comes to just purely made up and fake singers like the one in Japan, I think that might be taking it a little too far. But if the fans are fine with knowing their musical icons are completely made up and never existed I guess its ok. It’s just kind of sad to think that people are totally ok with that and actually enjoy it.

By: Chelsea Johnson

Chelsea Johnson — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 07:12:13 +0000

The first thing I thought of upon reading this blog was Wahlberg’s “Ted.” As a fan of the movie, I didn’t even take notice or concern of the fact that the anatagonist was a digital creation. Yes, I knew that Ted was not in fact a real talking teddybear, but the CGI animation was so incredibly done that a scene juxtaposing a human male and a digital bear–in my opinion–wasn’t the least bit distracting. Although the idea of a digital superstar is a bit disconcerting, I think the advancement of CGI has been an incredible feat. Films like “Avatar” and the “Harry Potter” movies wouldn’t be the same without the technology. Albeit, I will admit that the line become reality and CGI becomes increasingly more blurry. I do worry that a time will come when said technology takes precedence over real vocal talent or acting abilities. That would result in a massive destruction of art.