プリクラ, or purikura, are pictures made in a sticker photo booth and is very popular in Japan. More often than not, you will see friends taking pictures and decorating them together. Purikura is a very important part of the Japanese youth's social life. After a long hard day at school, there is nothing better then going to the arcade with your friends and taking purikura together to decorate ones phone with.
Just last year while I was abroad in Japan, I did purikura almost 2-3 times a week. It's a fun and cheap activity. Many places have also began to have "cosplay purikura" in which you can pay 100 yen (around $1.50) to choose any outfit or costume of your choice and wear it for your photo session. Along with adding revenue to the arcade, it allows the customers to feel like a true model with their very own photo shoot.
As you can see in the above images, there are a fair amount of additional decorations and writings that are added to the images. This is the second step to purikura, and probably the most fun part. You can also choose to have the images printed on regular paper, sticker paper, or email it to yourself.
While many pictures in purikura can be cute, there are also plenty of odd looking pictures that can come out of it.
Here is a video about just how much editing is involved in purikura.
**This is an edited repost of February 16's post. The pictures are now visible**
The Remix, as I understand it, is the combing of different things together to create something "new". When most people hear the word remix, they automatically associate it with music and DJs. But this can go far beyond just music- it can also include combining ideas and images. One group that focus on visual remixes is Adbusters.
Adbusters focuses primarily on parodying popular culture and bringing awareness to modern issues while bringing some humor to otherwise serious issues. Along with being a magazine, they also create visual images or "spoofs". Many of these spoofs focuses on corporations and negatives aspects to them (ex: their control of politics, poor treatment of workers, etc).
One series in particular that I found myself drawn to were entitled "Big Mac Attack". The title alone tells the viewer it will be about McDonalds. Many of the images created in "Big Mac Attack" focus on the concept of obesity and effects on children.
While the series as a whole is a powerful, the image with the babies was probably the image that affected me the most. Everyone is familiar with Ronald McDonald, the friendly clown character that serves as McDonalds' primary mascot. The use of a clown as a mascot is a clever marketing strategy to appeal more to kids. The baby in the picture is not a regular baby but a Ronald McDonald baby. There are many parents that do not see the negative effects of fast food and start to feed their children from a very young age this food.
The image itself is a commentary on the increasing obesity rate in children, which has more than doubled in children in the past 30 years. McDonalds, while not the only fast food chain, is often seen as a major contributor to obesity in individuals. And while in recent years, McDonalds has attempted to make healthier meals, there are many that question just how healthy they really are.
Intertextuality is the making of a text meaning by another text and is most commonly used as a literary device. It can range from directly quoting one piece of literature to being a retelling of a story. It has been used for centuries but with today's advancements, stories and ideas can be borrowed and used almost all the time.
I found a particular essay that had many different examples of intertextuality in the Harry Potter series. Probably the most obvious example would be the headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore. He serves as a mentor much like Gandalf, the wizard from Lord of the Rings. In fact, in recent years with the growing popularity of both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, the two actors that play Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellan) are often confused as one another. Along with the similar characters, the two stories are also are about fantastic journeys against an evil force (Lord Voledmort in Harry Potter and Sauron in Lord of the Rings).
However that is not to say that intertextuality is limited to only literature. There have been many movies based off of classic literary works. The most common have been Shakespeare plays.
Here are just a few examples:
Hamlet? Otherwise known as Lion King.
Uncle Scar has killed the current King, Mufasa, to become king himself. Meanwhile Simba is a young prince that must regain his proper place and save his mother and people from his power-hungry uncle.
12th Night? She's the Man.
Viola pretends to be her twin brother Sebastian in order to play with the boys' soccer team and ends up falling in love with Duke. Duke meanwhile is in love with a schoolmate named Olivia who is in love with Sebastien (a.k.a Viola in disguise).
Taming of the Shrew? 10 Things I Hate About You.
A young man needs someone to date Katarina so that he can go out with her younger sister, Bianca. The man he pays to date Katarina actually finds her fascinating and falls in love with her.
Everyone is familiar with the story of Harry Potter, the orphaned wizard who overcomes the Dark Wizard Voldemort. While J.K. Rowling wrote the last book in 2007 and the final movie came out in 2011, there seems to always be some sort of new expansion to the Harry Potter-verse.
New Movie
Back in September in 2013, J.K. Rwling announced she was in the process of writing a new Harry Potter movie. However, rather than having it be about Harry, it will be the story of Newt Scarmander, the author of the (fictional) "Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them". Interestingly enough, Newt Scarmander is not even an actual character that ever makes an appearance in the books. J.K. Rowling is taking an extremely minor character she created and expanding on that to give him his own story and movie. There has also been talk of another spin-off movie based on another fictional book, "Qudditch Through the Ages".
Theme Park
Almost all of my friends have either been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter or knows someone that has been there. Currently it features two locations from the book- Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. The goal of Wizarding World of Harry Potter is to create a place where fans of the series can fully submerse themselves and feel like they really are in the wizarding world. Careful attention to detail is paid in making the theme park, from creating the Butterbeer witches and wizards love to drink, to recreating famous landmarks like the Hogshead and Hogwarts itself. More recently in January there were official announcements about expansing the park to include Diagon Alley. The designers of the the Wizarding World of Harry Potter rely greatly on the written detail from the books when designing the theme park.
With the success of the parks has also come merchandise inspired by products from the books. Candy like chocolate frogs, sugar quills, and Bertie Bott's every Flavor Bean have become a reality that people can purchase and enjoy. Ollivander's Wand Shop allows fans to be paired up with their own wand, and also has Hogwarts uniforms for those that know what house they are in.
Play
While most would assumer J.K. Rowling would have her hands full with writing a new Potter-verse movie, she also is in the process of creating a play for the West End (a.k.a London's version of Broadway). She again is going back in time, but this time to Harry's childhood living with the Dursley's. It is a prequel of sorts to before Harry knows he is a wizard and focuses on the relationship between him and the Dursleys. While little more is actually known about the play, it can be said that the Dursleys as characters will certainly be expanded upon and more developed.
In recent years, media literacy has become an increasingly important subject for educators and students alike. However, despite this importance, media literacy in America is lacking in comparison to other countries all over the world. One country with an emphasis on media literacy is Finland. The Finnish education system is highly regarded and often considered to be the best in the world and considers media education to allow "an individual with media literacy skills who is able to utilize as well as produce media, to understand media production and expressions of media, to reflect on his personal relationship with media and to apply critical thinking as well as embrace self-expression". One key part of their education system is the Finnish Society on Media Education, otherwise known in Finnish as Mediatatoviikko.
The Society is a relatively new addition to the Finnish education system, and was founded in 2005. Its goal is to "support and develop the field of research and practices concerning media education, contribute to the public debate and provide opportunities to share media educational experiences online and offline". Media education in Finland is taught in all grade levels, starting from day-care centers and going until secondary school. Because Finland has seen how important media education is, the Board of Education has also developed a secondary school diploma in media.
The Finnish Society in Media Education is constantly finding new ways to adapt with ever changing media and developing new ways to train teachers. The Finnish Society on Media Education also makes it very accessible for anyone outside of the education system to learn about media literacy. They offer free workshops and meetings, as well as online presentations. They also have a handbook available on their website, available in English, Swedish, Finnish, and Russian. This handbook aids in focusing on parents being the one to approach their children about their interactions with media and how to control media exposure.
