The following is a video presentation I originally created for my middle school Language Arts students. It’s a nine-minute compilation of video and audio from The Lord of The Rings Trilogy to accompany an overview of The Hero’s Journey as presented by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Before you proceed, I feel compelled to provide a few disclaimers:
First, this was intended for middle school, so some of the definitions and details from Campbell’s original book have been slightly modified and adapted. Also, because I was aiming for a younger audience, this video is, admittedly, a bit silly (I just don’t want anyone thinking that I believe I’m doing anything close to real art here). And finally, the piece was compiled using the simplest and easiest tool I have available: Windows Movie Maker. As such, the quality is, shall we say, a bit suspect.
If you’re still interested (even morbidly) I invite you to continue and, hopefully, enjoy:
Featuring an exclusive interview with Brent Friedman who is credited as Creator, Executive Producer and Lead Writer of Gemini Division.
The world is changing. You can see it on television, in home theater systems, and on the internet. Much of what we once knew about entertainment is becoming irrelevant. But who among us can foretell what the future will hold? In truth, the new frontier is wide open, and the possibilities are seemingly endless. We are at a turning point in how the online medium influences, and is influenced by, the entertainment industry. The integration of multimedia – traditional shows, websites, video games, and music – has been a growing trend. But it has been only recently that such a crossover has become mainstream. As a point of fact, I saw the entire series of Lost via abc.com’s online library of full episodes. And they’ve only been available since the beginning of this year.
In Part 1 of our series, we explored the beginnings of the next phase of entertainment: an online-only “webseries” called Gemini Division. Series creator, producer and lead writer Brent Friedman explained, in great detail, the development of this new show. And if you read it closely, you’ll see that much of the creative process was not dissimilar to other “traditional” shows. But the format, and more importantly the delivery of the show, provided for a number of unique challenges and opportunities. In this installment, we will explore the release and reception of Gemini Division, as well where it fits into the evolution of online media. Once again, we will rely heavily on the input and insights of Mr. Friedman who shares his unique perspective on this burgeoning form of entertainment.
Featuring an exclusive interview with Brent Friedman who is credited as Creator, Executive Producer and Lead Writer of Gemini Division.
I stumbled on Gemini Division by accident. Back in August 2008, I was idly perusing upcoming Fall television shows when I noticed that NBC would be releasing an online-only, sci-fi mystery series, called Gemini Division. Intrigued by the concept, I decided to follow it from its release, review at least a handful of episodes, and see if it was going to be a worthwhile effort. My only similar experience, in terms of a series, was the Star Wars Clone Wars cartoons that had been released a few years ago (as chance would have it, I had recently reviewed them for DauntlessMedia.net). Like Gemini Division, they were a series of very short installments that would eventually blend together to create a larger narrative. But unlike Gemini Division, the Clone Wars cartoons enjoyed a prime time release on the Cartoon Network, as well as support from starwars.com. Along with the buzz of the upcoming Revenge of the Sith film, the series had a lot of built-in advantages.
Gemini Division would have to do all of that work on its own.
It certainly should come as no surprise that the internet is inspiring wildly innovative new forms of entertainment – particularly when compared to traditional outlets such as television and film. For years now, the internet has been a source for a growing grassroots entertainment medium, spawning short films primarily in the cheap and flexible flash video format. Countless online-only series have sprung up, with varying levels of notoriety (long-time web surfers may or may not know of the likes of Foamy, Salad Fingers, badgerbadger and so forth). Fan films easily find their way through the web, creating small, but loyal fanbases (the Star Wars Cops! spoof, titled Troops, is a legend). A few shows like Battlestar Galactica provide web-based short episodes to supplement the traditional television episodes. But to date, there have been very few incursions by big time entertainment entities into the medium.
With the August 2008 release of Gemini Division on NBC.com, that is beginning to change.
Much of our lives is defined by conflict. But conflict does not have to mean the kind of self-serving interpersonal drama that some people seem to revel in. And conflict is not always a bad thing. It can be transformative process by which the entire world benefits, despite the cost – in terms of time, energy, emotion, and most importantly restraint – of finding resolutions that actually work to the benefit of everyone. It has been said that life often imitates art, and that art often imitates life. And so if the resolution to conflict is so important to us, to our lives, to our society, it’s no surprise that “Conflict Resolution” is an integral part to the stories we tell. How the characters confront the conflict, how they handle it, and how they try to resolve the conflict are central to the plot – and a key component to figuring out who we are and what we value.
The modern day conflict between faith and science has its roots in the ancient Ionian civilization, in what is now Greece. At that time, free inquiry and the scientific method had just begun to take root and flourish. But the mysticism of great thinkers like Pythagoras and Plato stifled the spark of science and were, in part, responsible for the long slumber of Medieval Europe in which faith alone held sway. The Enlightenment shifted the focus back toward the scientific method and reason.
Our modern societies bear the vestiges of these great shifts in human thought. And the clash between faith and science continues to be a recurring theme in our politics and personal interactions. It is no surprise, then, that this conflict is portrayed in our modern mythos. In its second season, the television series Lost made the clash of science and faith a central theme. An exploration of the shows depiction of the differing positions of science and faith, primarily by way of the characters, reveals some insight into our modern view of this long running conflict.
One familiar archetype in modern mythos is the issue of genocide. Perhaps one reason why this archetype has grown so popular in modern mythos is the increasing ability we have as a civilization to commit such acts. True, forms of genocide have been committed even before Cortez arrived in Central America, but with the awesome power of today’s weaponry, the ability to destroy a civilization has become that much easier.
In Modern Mythos, the issue is often presented from both sides – from the victims of genocide, as well as the potential perpetrators. The primary focus tends to be either the horror or the morality involved in such an act. Whether or not the act is actually carried out varies depending on the mythos. But as the struggles with the consequences and implications are played out within the story, there are lessons for both the characters and the audience.
This is an article about free information. I wrote it after researching internet music and text copyright law, and after seeing a 2007 documentary titled “Good Copy, Bad Copy” out of Denmark. The article follows the embedded documentary (which runs about an hour in length).
To what extent is creativity free? To what extent is it property? The internet has become an incredible conduit for the exchange of information and ideas. And for many artists — writers, musicians, filmmakers, etc. — it has been a blessing, allowing them to reach audiences around the world. But there is a flipside to the issue that has been a source of open conflict even before the Napster explosion of the 1990s: to what extent is information, is creativity, owned when it becomes so widely accessible to everyone?
“The ends do not justify the means. The means are what separate good from evil…”
In short, the above premise tells us that our choices and actions are at least as important as our achievements. It is not often that I have found any opposition to this premise, however, I recently encountered a statement that directly challenged this idea: “Evil acts do not make the person evil. The motivation behind those acts is what makes the Person evil.” To me, this is nothing more than an excuse that we can use whatever means necessary, so long as our goals are legitimate. Such a sentiment is entirely unacceptable when considering acts of true evil. Since I encountered this statement in the context of a discussion of Star Wars, I can think of no better way to refute this faulty premise than through a similar discussion.
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