http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2yv8aT0UFc
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/video/video.php?cid=994966864&pid=SiQXYsMRtYeJEZdqNGAj3QGSfwh62eIZ&play=true&cc=124
Fan Fictions, videos and commentaries on nearly every popular media out there today can be found out on the internet. As Jenkins says in chapter 4 “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars,” ““The Web has made visible the hidden compromises that enabled participatory culture and commercial culture to coexist throughout much of the twentieth century” (141). These two cultures are able to live side by side. An example of one of these fan videos (YouTube link above) is a parody of the interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker from The Dark Knight. The creators of this short film are clearly fans of the film and it is targeted towards all those who have seen the movie before. Fans now, like in this video, are able to use digital cinema to express their opinions. The stage is nearly identical to the film the dark knight as well as the costuming. These fans are in it for the long haul. They are able to create, “commercial- or near-commercial-quality content on minuscule budgets” (147). This video in particular has the same look as the film but creates a completely different tone, since it is making fun of the batman’s unintelligible voice. This fan film in particular shows how fans are able to express their feelings on movies better than ever before. Fan videos are one of the newest ways that convergence can be seen between corporate creations, like Batman or Star Wars, and the fans that are the reason these franchises exist.
Chapter 2, “Buying into American Idol”, talks about Reality TV and how it how interactive the viewer is has changed. Above is a clip from an immunity challenge from the latest season of Survivor (CBS link above). While the “zappers” who just flip through channels might not get the same impression as a loyalist, these reality TV shows are truly addicting. Reality TV, Survivor included, appeals to loyalists who are a group of people that “cherry pick those shows that best satisfies their interests; they give themselves fully to them,” while the also, “spend more of their social time talking about them; and they are more likely to pursue content across media channels” (75). I know that I can relate to this loyalist nature being addicted to a few reality tv shows myself, but this is why reality tv works. An avid watcher of survivor feels the competition going on in the immunity challenge linked above. Survivor gets a group of average, everyday people and sticks them on an island together. Why are we so interested? As Jenkins says, “the viewers are invited to imagine that ‘it could be me or someone I Know’” (71). Reality TV is one of the new frontiers that has created the new wave of active viewing. The viewers participate and care about who moves on to the next episodes. In this clip of survivor, it matters who wins and who doesn’t. And afterward, this small segment will be discussed for a full week until the next episode airs. Reality TV as created a whole new type of viewing different from any other type of television.
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