New Medium

The major message that I received from Benjamin's "The Work of Art..." is that the media in general has gone through some drastic changes over the years. However vague that is, it's also consequently clear as day: film, photography and other forms of media are very different today. In today's pop culture, media has become very rampant in our everyday lives. There are upcoming film billboards everywhere, magazine ads on every corner, and more photographers are searching tirelessly for the true definition of art. An important factor that Benjamin discusses in the essay is the concept of aura in the media. Contrary to his assertion, I think the aura of media hasn't changed at all. The use of mechanical components miht enhance the viewership of today's media but the "feel" o the object still lives. Today's concept of aura might not trigger the same reaction as it did years ago, but the feeling is still constant. The introduction of film, photography and the computer has undoubtedly changed the image and it's deep meanings. He introduction of software for computers i.e. Photoshop has put the constant doubt of what is real and what isn't in the mind of today's audience. Films have developed immensely today and the control of he director on what we see has also changed the image. The introduction of components like CGI has changed the effect of today's aura. Benjamin also discussed the politics of industrial production in his essay; a strong link I drew from this and our discussion of machinima is the profit gained by the creators. Industrial production has lead to the mass creation of certain medium and has enabled the public a better, easier way to access these mediums. This eventually leads to the profits that is garnered by these mass producers. The same can be said for machinima; the creation of these mini movies have triggered the idea of putting them on sale for the public.