Introduction & Music Morphing and Media

Hello All,

I'm Jon Mendel, senior DFM student here at Champlain. I was born in Montreal, QE. And was raised in Shelburne & Williston, VT. A unique media experience for me this past summer was that I volunteered for the UFVA (University Film & Video Association) annual conference here at Champlain in mid August. I saw screenings (features and shorts), panels, discussions, presentations, crazy equipment, and was immersed with industry leaders, professors, and professionals for a week. I enjoy the tremendous accessibility the mass media offers and its enormous usefulness and utility it provides for people. What it troubling is the fact that I believe that it shapes the way we take in and perceive information. Specifically if one is constantly using the internet for information, or is subjected to television for too long. These two high speed forms of media flutter our brain. This also has addictive qualities, where people start to consume all their natural world with digital media. I see myself hopefully working freelance, or with a company in production or post-production, all while staying busy trying to make my own films or scripts. I hope to go to grad school at some point to continue my film education and become a better filmmaker.

Music Morphing:

I just heard this remix and loved it. So it's being shared. It is a small piece of evidence that highlights how digital media, in this case digital music, has changed ever so drastically. It has made technological shifts, and participatory shifts, as a single video online can be shared hundreds to thousands of times all over the world. Here we have the producers "Cookin' Soul" taking the track "Zonin'" by Gang Starr, and remixing their own produced music under the vocals of Guru (R.I.P). It was then edited with images, album covers, clips of music videos, interviews, and other old footage of Guru and DJ Premier, the duo collectively known as Gang Starr, one of the most influential groups known to hip-hop music ever. We've moved from analog to digital, as the artists here from both the original track, and the remixed track are proponents of keeping vinyl alive. This new piece of media, crafted as a tribute to the late and great Guru, and the Gang Starr foundation (group), serves as evidence how a single digital music file, such as .mp3, .wav, .aiff...etc, can be edited, remixed, revamped, edited with video, and posted online for thousands to see and hear. This piece of audio and video is a reflection of the power of a shifting technological world, reaching realms from music producing, video editing, to the participatory internet.

R.I.P. GURU

GANG STARR

Source: DJPREMIERBLOG.com

!!!