Hello everyone. Click here to see the first draft of my video mashup. It is in the very early stages. I am not very familiar with making and editing videos so I have been trying to practice. Feel free to comment with advice!
I have been working on the first draft of my proposal. I have been having trouble finding other video mashups that relate to my mashup so I have been working on the missing paragraph in the instructions. Since I am still in the beginning stages of my proposal and mashup idea, I am not exactly sure what direction to go in with my video. I know that I would like to focus on teachers and the education of students and how these things and ideas have changed throughout time.
There have been more than a few countercultural movements over a few hundred years and many continents. Some of the more recent movements include the beat generation from 1944 to 1954 and the hippie movement from 1964-1974. These movements happened during short periods for a specific reason. Countercultural movements stray from the norm and people decide to move away from the mainstream ideas and society. During the short time that these countercultural movements were occurring, they seemed practical and enticing. While these types of movements had their own norms outside of mainstream norms, they still followed standard sets of rules; an example of that being the law. Although these movements were countercultural in that they did not meet the standards of mainstream culture, they still adhered to a certain set of rules and regulations. There are fads and movements that occur all the time. (Tattoos for example) The reasons that these things are not permanent is because of their lack of practicality. Rules and norms are in place for a reason and things that do not follow are phased out automatically. As Mamet says in his book, things work and stay around for certain reasons, whether it be the way a story is told or how a building is built.
I do not think that many things are phased out consciously but rather subconsciously. Only practical things last and are permanent. Throughout time, cultures and customs are phased out because of their lack of practicality. This is a way of life and is inevitable. Just like laws and amendments that have been set in place in the past and are useless now, some things are unavoidable. Writing, although it's medium has changed, is still done in the same way. Things and practices are kept around for particular reasons. Norms, roles, and rules are put in place because they work and make either a particular thing or society work and flow. Before I even began reading the excerpt from David Mamet's "On Directing Film" titled "Countercultural Architecture and Dramatic Structure", I had to do one thing: look up the definition of counterculture. According to Merriam-Webster, counterculture is "a culture with values and customs very different from and usually opposed to those accepted by most societies". This word is found not only in architecture and movies, but in other disciplines as well. This website describes types of cultures in sociology and may better help the understanding of what counterculture is. I also found a prezi made by Peter Illig which describes Countercultural Architecture and it's history. Quickly, I have come to the realization that I am not a countercultural person. I enjoy following rules, roles, and norms of society and everyday life. Mamet made me understand that this realization is not a bad thing. There are reasons that things are done a certain way. He relates this to both building houses and filming movies. For architects building in a certain way, Mamet says "they may have reflected that there's a reason for traditional design" after realizing their failures and shortcomings. In present day, people are praised for straying from the norm and being
"different". While being creative is a good thing, rules and roles are in place for a reason. Just like Mamet explains, movies and specific scenes are put together for a reason. While even the most creative directors and writers add new concepts to their movies, they still follow certain rules. Even Quentin Tarantino and Stephen King follow the rules of film. Wile they're stories may have a million twists and turns, they still follow the rules that make movies attractive to movies watchers. Without these rules, as Mamet states, the movies or stories would be failures. There are many reasons that these two people are successful; one of which is that they follow certain unbreakable rules. While being different and straying from the norm may be a good thing, norms are in place for a reason. These norms should be followed loosely, but not always to a T. Like Mamet explains, when things are created and not practical, they are not useful and are phased out, much like countercultural architecture. |