January 23, 2025
Summary: This week was both exciting and scary. When I opened my assignment list for the week I was intimidated by all of the new things to work on and the fear knowing I would have to figure it all out by the following Friday. Although it is only the second week of classes I am no stranger to the DKC this semester. I went in on Tuesday and got my website sorted out which gave me the confidence to continue on with the rest of my work.
Once I got into the daily creates and picked my 3 assignments from the weekly assignments tab I started to get excited. I was understanding what to do and was excited for my work. The daily creates, as they are meant to do, really helped me think out if the box and come up with new perspectives. My favorite one from this week was the odd coincidences one. I was able to use two pictures of the moon taken exactly 12 hours apart, one being at night and the other being the next morning.
I would say my favorite task from this weeks list was the assignment bank. I had a lot of fun with the Pintrest board, creating what I dream my future will look like and my goals. I really enjoyed the fact that there were so many options in all the categories to choose from which made it really feel like I was doing something fun rather than getting school work done. I will say that I had a hard time connecting them to the theme of Tech Noir due to the fact that they were so closely related to things that were personal to me. I will admit I don’t have much in common with the aspects of our topic, even though I am enjoying learning about them, which created the disconnect with this aspect of the assignment. If I were to try and take it from an alternate approach, I would say that because these three things I did are so opposite Tech Noir I used them as a way to stay calm and focused while completing my other tasks which focus on the intense and technological side of things.
In regards to our very own course character, Natasha Slayer is the most femme fatale as they come. Creating a character like this was very interesting to me because of the selection of character types we were choosing from. I will almost always go with a strong and confident woman as a choice which it was nice to see her archetype be listed along with the theme of this class.
I am trying to participate more with my classmates through the different platforms we have been using. I started replying and liking daily create posts and following up with the discord. I plan to continue my growth of participation over the rest of the semester because I am still in my learning stage of how to fully be involved in this class and with others. I will say that once I started interacting with other students and discord I was able to learn from them and make adjustments to my own blog.
technopoly: After reading the Postmans ideas my main thoughts were that the tech noir style of Blade Runner and Neil Postman’s Technopoly both present opposing viewpoints on the place of technology in society while also sharing thematic similarities. Both examine how technology has become a dominant cultural force, with Blade Runner illustrating a bleak future in which technology blurs the lines between artificial life and humanity and Postman cautioning against its blind embrace and dehumanizing implications. Blade Runner’s depiction of a deteriorated, corporately controlled world where cutting-edge technologies, including replicants, raise existential problems about identity and morality is reminiscent of Postman’s criticism of technology undermining morals and critical thinking. Postman’s concerns about cultural capitulation to technology demands are reflected in the film’s tech noir aesthetic, which combines futuristic desolation with melancholy urban decay to create a striking visual representation of a technopoly. However, Blade Runner takes a more ambivalent and gloomy stance, implying that technology’s hold on society might be unbreakable, whereas Postman provides tactics for bucking this domination. However, the movie also raises the intriguing idea that technology might ironically mirror and even improve human traits through the replicants’ quest for meaning and agency, which adds a level of complexity not included in Postman’s argument. Collectively, these pieces draw attention to the ethical and cultural conflicts that arise from a world that is becoming more and more influenced by technology.
Rewrite of film review: The breakthrough picture Blade Runner combines the aesthetics of Cyberpunk and Tech Noir to provide a timeless and significant cinematic experience. The movie is essentially a noir detective narrative, with Rick Deckard, the morally torn anti-hero archetype, navigating a dystopian Los Angeles that is flooded with rain and illuminated by neon. With its femme fatales, trench coats, and shadows, the visual aesthetic is strongly influenced by classic noir, and the constant rain adds to the feeling of oppression and decay. By imagining a future where people and technology are closely entwined and ruled by tall skyscrapers, pervasive corporations, and sophisticated artificial intelligence, the movie simultaneously pioneers cyberpunk. The audience is forced to think on what it really means to be human as the Tyrell Corporation’s artificial creatures, known as replicants, struggle with difficult issues of identity, mortality, and freedom. Syd Mead’s breathtaking production design and Vangelis’s eerie, synth-driven score bring to life this blending of Cyberpunk’s high-tech, dystopian vision with noir’s gritty, morally dubious storyline. When taken as a whole, these components produce a film that is not just a cultural landmark but also a profound examination of identity, technology, and humanity that is still as visually stunning and relevant today as it was in 1982.
Dr. Oblivion is an interesting element to this class and I can say I have never used anything like it before. I have used other AI tools before but I really like the idea of an AI teaching assistant that I have access to in order to ask questions and feed back. When asked about tech noir in the film the Blade Runner Dr. Oblivion said “The concept of tech noir in a film, like Blade Runner raises critical questions about the intersection of technology and humanity. It exemplifies the delicate balance between artificial intelligence and the essence of what it means to be human this raises concerns about the potential consequences of unchecked, technological advancement.” These points and comments helped mw rewrite my film review with deeper context and more understanding since I had specific things to look for and research.
January 17, 2025
Starting Off: So far I have signed up for 3 new accounts that I had never used before and created my own domain. I was intimidated at first trying to navigate all of these new things but once I figured out what I was doing I started getting excited for the remained of the course. I am sure I still have plenty to learn but the theme of this course and tasks that we will be assigned are sure to keep me interested and engaged.
Tech Noir and Cyber Punk: Both of these concepts are something new to me. I am not really one to typically watch films or other works in these genres. After watching some videos and going over the readings a whole new perspective of these came out that I probably would have never realized before. The idea of AI and technology being so present in these settings shows the negative possibilities of technology. I chose to watch the 1982 Blade Runner. This was a movie that I had heard about but never watched before. The main character, Rick Deckard, represents the classic noir antihero a morally conflicted detective tasked with hunting rogue replicants, designed to make it difficult to tell the difference between human and machine. Themes of identity, humanity, and the ethical dilemmas of advanced technology are the main focus points of this film, reinforcing the dark side of progress.
