News and how we become the broadcaster.

Michael Surtees, the man behind DesignNotes, recently posted an interesting piece on new media’s role in delivering breaking news.

"Thinking about it now, the speed of events was pretty crazy. Within an hour and half I had learned that a plane had landed in the Hudson River, saw images within minutes of it happening, watched the rescue live, hearing survivors being interviewed soon after, and by the time it was over knowing that everyone was going to live – I was listening to music from A Flock Of Seagulls. All the tools that I used to get more info was available to anyone out there which was kind of cool in itself."

It is quite interesting to me as it is very similar to thoughts I had previously about people now being journalists and being johnny on the spot if you like. It follows on from an blog I wrote about fifth element a good few months ago. In the film there is a guy who is a famous journalist who is almost always live broadcasting what is happening to him and who he is meeting. Following on from that with the advent of camera phones and the like people are now becoming the journalist of our generation.

Another example of this would be the Oscar nominated documentary trouble the water about how a group of people stayed behind to film the storm that ripped through New Orleans a few years ago.

Fifth Element - forecast the future?

I managed to catch Luc Besson's 'Fifth Element' the other evening on Film 4. It is now over ten years since it was first released and probably about the tenth time I have seen the film. For people who have not seen the film a quick description of the plot is: 'In the colorful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr Zorg at bay'. The taxi driver is Bruce Willis and the 'weapon' is model Milla Jovovich. Every time I watch this film I realise how much i enjoy watching it. The sets are fresh even after ten years and the clothes (designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier) add to what I almost see as a melting pot of future directions.

What I mean by this is that for some the future is about slick lines functionality and an almost 'un-human' sanitization of the world, we can see this with the latest apple creation such as the iPhone and iPod touch, while currently these pieces are design icons they have an almost clinical beauty to them. The interesting aspect of Fifth Element however is the eclectic nature of the world that 'Korben Dallas' (Bruce Willis) inhabits. The flying taxis that still have visual indicators of current taxis – when i am sure it could be believed this would no longer be necessary, the vices of the day such as the enlarged filter cigarettes all showing and commenting on how no matter how bad things maybe for you, you may still chose to 'take part'. 

The idea of retro and eclectic is really current today with the last few years harking back to the 80's through this years fashions and music styles. Also there is the idea of mix and match in clothing and interior design etc. So I do feel that while those cutting edge technological pieces will always be with us I wonder when we get to a certain point will we yearn for familiarity?