Blog 10

Overview
The idea of folk culture, the production of original works evolved into grassroots activism, or response to mass media culture. The concept of mass culture is when mass media products influence further development of the media by ordinary people. Popular culture is when mass culture gets “pulled back” into the folk culture and individuals make the product or media their own. These concepts have further implication for media convergence in terms of the top-down-bottom-up cycle, the impact media has through mass/popular culture on intellectual property, and how folk, mass media and popular culture influence convergence culture.


Top-down – bottom-up
In the chapter, “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars? Grassroots Creativity Meets the Media Industry” the author examines the impact that grassroots innovation can have on larger media. The author’s exploration of this topic is really a top – down – bottom – up discussion. The debate about whether grass root productions positively impact popular products by personifying its creative genius, or whether it takes away from a product by changing these ideas/building on them. Do independent productions infringe on intellectual property or grow the popularity of a production? Or does it do both?

Intellectual property
The author says that the popularity of a production can grow, but through grass roots campaigns the actual portrayal of the original content can change in a direction that the author may not want. An example of this the production of “Star Wars” movies that are rated “X” versus the original films that are rated “PG”. The producer of “Star Wars” may not want it to be associated with “X” rated content and might want to limit the right of grass root producers from being able to use the “Star Wars” intellectual property for unapproved purposes. Napster is another example used to illustrate the compromise of intellectual property by a grassroots movement. Did Napster take anything away from the original production of the product? Will the sharing of media create a bigger demand for a product or will it lead to people no longer purchasing music because they can get it for free? In both examples the sharing or reproduction/further development of intellectual property is made possible by through convergence.

Convergence culture
Without the internet or the convergence of technology and media these grass root productions would not be possible. Many of the tools that grass root producers need to make their products they get from the professional productions. As a result of the grass roots productions does the popularity of the professional productions increase? Is it better for big producers to work with grass root groups to encourage their creativity and innovation to promote their product? The author makes the point, that the bigger media producers need the fans – just as much as the fans need them. The fan can take a production and expand its popularity and reach through their own grass root works.

Questions:
As a result of the grass roots productions does the popularity of the professional productions increase?

Is it better for big producers to work with grass root groups to encourage their creativity and innovation to promote their product?

Do independent productions infringe on intellectual property or grow the popularity of a professional production? Or does it do both?

Challenging concept:
I found the concept of folk culture a little hard to nail down. How is it really different from popular culture?

Relates to presentation:
The ideas around how media influences people to reproduce popular content and inspires people to act relates to my paper topic. I am interested in finding out more about what media content motivates and inspires people to use media and access it.