Much to my delight, this week's reading helped to tie in our last unit to media convergence. “Quentin Taratino’s Star Wars? Grassroots Creativity Meets the Media Industry,” pp. 131-168 (ch. 4) in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide was a great expansive example of convergence at its best. The chapter highlights convergence of the motion picture industry, the web and the grassroots community and the struggles between film companies and the emerging fan-based movie makers. The chapter also addresses the notion that it's in the best interest for film companies to embrace the fan cluture rather than attempt to shut it down.
Three key ideas from our reading:
- Participative Culture: The emergence of modernized mass media was once thought to be the end of traditional folk culture, but the popularity of the web and the user friendly movie making software readily accessible to fans has breathed new life into fan culture. Fan culture and home movies were not traditionally a threat or an issue to the industry, but the web has changed that because fan-inspired spoofs of their favorite movies are now globally available to all who have internet access. This movement has bred a new level of participative culture, a main indicator or media convergence.
- Collective Intelligence: Evan Mather, a fan filmmaker, provides documentation of how he made Les Pantless Menace for other amateur filmmakers to copy or adopt for their own use. Fan filmmakers know the importance of sharing creative intellect and believe it helps to improve the quality of work in their community. Many fan websites allow for commentary with their films to share technical insight into their productions.
- Consumer-Driven Convergence: The very nature of the fan filmmaking platform and the film company's response to them adds credence to the importance of consumer-driven convergence. Our text addresses how Lucas Films originally embraced some fan films that spoofed Star Wars. George Lucas was so inspired by the fan community he opened up space on his website for fans to create and share what they create with others.
The most difficult concept for me to digest this week is the prediction McCracken makes that companies that embrace the fan filmmaking community and loosen their copyright control will attract more active and committed customers as opposed to the companies that continue to set strict limits on their products' use. I feel fans have and always will support the movies that intrigue them despite exclusion of fan filmmaking communities.
Discussion Questions
1. Does the average consumer that supports major motion pictures really care if the fan filmmaking community is subject to copyright limitations?
2. What can film companies do to encourage the fan community's participation while protecting their revenue base?
Presentation Connection
Can teachers use a similar platform of the fan community to expand students' participation in the classroom and foster collective intelligence?
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