Steal the Booty

While I began to wrap my head around the free culture movement / digital rights
management topic, it became clear we have another David vs. Goliath story on our hands. Profit margins reign supreme in our commercially driven society. Those of us who can’t and wont produce a profit will be denied certain privileges. One such privilege “allows” (not really)
internet users to “acquire” (torrent) specific software which has become some what of an
industry standard. Unfortunately, most software for example the Final Cut Studio 2 costs
somewhere in the ball park of $1,300, and that is before shipping and handling! I don’t know
about you, but this software alone almost costs as much as my computer.

Yes, these applications are astronomically expensive, but there is an even bigger issue
here, media proficiency. Many if not all media employers searching for new recruits request that you have proficiencies in: Final Cut Pro, Motion, After Effects, Avivd, Soundtrack, etc. This
adds a catch 22 to the mix of finding your next great gig. You know the ever elusive dream job
we all hope to find after graduating with our B.A.’s.

The choice, for myself is simple. I will no longer be your average student. I will take on
a new identity or a new title with harsh connotation. I will be a pirate! We should all climb
aboard the free culture movement vessel. As students we can not let anything stand in our way to complete our voyage into the future, our voyage towards our careers. And maybe one day down the road the title pirate might be changed to reverse consumer and we can make a whole new career option. Exactly the way hackers got their careers as reverse engineer. Maybe this is just wishful thinking.

Democrazy

Since the advent of the red camera, high quality video has yet to be so affordable. Of course I use the term affordable loosely. Affordable, meaning if you have a few thousand dollars to flush down the drain and can still, you know, pay rent or buy food. Everybody knows what I’m taking about, those frivolous things we can’t help but splurge on a couple days out of every month. For those of us unable to afford such equipment, we have had to download, patch and torrent our way to quality footage worthy of our re-edits.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html


Re-edits bring another obstacle to the challenge of recreating new content. Larry Lessig, raised a valid point during his presentation at the 2007 TED gathering in Monterey, California. The idea consisted of copyrighted video and democracy. More specifically the use of commercially made video content re-edited to birth entirely new non-commercial content with new messages. Lessig, closed his presentation with a look into the future where he described a proposed law which would automatically remove any YouTube content made from copyrighted material.

This might not seem to be a big deal, but the reality of the situation is we are media students. As students, we look at the bigger picture. We stare into the future wondering what it has in store for us. And the grim picture Lessig foreshadows could very well thwart our ability to post our reels online. These days many employers request a resume, cover letter and a link to your reel. It is in these reels where we showcase our post production expertise to prospective employers. Without the ability to post our reels somewhere online for prospective employers to see, how will we be able to prove what we ‘ve got to offer?

We must stand up for ourselves and more importantly for the content we create or better yet re-create. Cameras, lighting equipment and locations are equally expensive as they are difficult to acquire. Why not use what footage others have created and re-edit it, it is not plagiarism. It is not stealing. We have to work with what we’ve got when we’ve got it. Let’s exercise our democratic right and continue to pursue those careers.

Student at work

As I sit, brainstorming Blog topics on my white porcelain lazy boy. I try to picture a common ground all if not most of us share. Then, like the scent of a silent but deadly flatulence, it hits me... jobs! They often take you by surprise, and they sometimes stink.


First things first, we must decipher the difference between a job, and a career. Since we are all in upper division college courses our careers are so close we can smell them, their bouquet tickles our nostrils with anticipation. Careers are what we are going to college for. More then just a job, a career is a passion. We’ve consumed four years of knowledge, and like any good student I can’t wait to drop my tidbits of learned wisdom into the proverbial media pool.



But for now, most of us will continue to work at cafes, restaurants, retail stores, and other customer service type jobs. It is these jobs which barely cover the financial burden we call college. I personally love to hate them or hate to love them, it’s complicated...


In my Blog, I plan to deliver an open stall for all to dump their clean breaks, and their dirty deeds from current and past jobs. When looking back, I was blown away by my list of the fifteen different jobs I’ve held since age fifteen. Don’t be fooled by a list of this magnitude, I have yet to be fired. I take pride in my work, and I have strong work ethics.



I compiled a top three list of my least pleasant jobs, it goes as follows: 3) Busboy, 2) Flower delivery driver, and 1) Christmas tree lot attendant. I dare anyone in the class to beat my list. Mike Rowe’s got nothing on me!(F.Y.I. he’s the host of Dirty Jobs.)