PressPausePlay

PressPausePlay

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Ratings: 7.88/10 from 26 users.

PressPausePlayThe digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent of people in an unprecedented way, unleashing unlimited creative opportunities.

But does democratized culture mean better art, film, music and literature or is true talent instead flooded and drowned in the vast digital ocean of mass culture?

Is it cultural democracy or mediocrity? This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world's most influential creators of the digital era.

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Paige Winkle
Paige Winkle
10 years ago

"the idea of napster was to make the sharing of mp3s so easy even a HOUSEWIFE or GRANDMOTHER could do it..." sexist much?! I can't believe they kept that in there

Indie666
Indie666
11 years ago

Everyone is obsessing over everything being so clear and making the sound of it "perfect" personally I think that there is something that is lost from having a perfect sound and or picture. The lack of perfection in it gives it a humanistic quality.

LIVEFROMLIMBO
LIVEFROMLIMBO
11 years ago

pretty good presentation- but i think for the most part they underestimate that the audience is aware of all these changes going on, leading to an audience not satisfied with what major music labels and movie studios are providing.
access to music/video making equipment has increased the amount of "garbage" out there yes, but it is also probably responsible for a lot of good artists getting a chance to create art they are passionate about, which leads to good music/movies.
and so what if you find it "grey goo" Moby lol? many might say the same about your music, no?
the divide seems to occur when you start to sell your art, then there are numbers, and hit counters and money and competition.
is art really a competition?
can the argument for best painter ever be settled? and was ever that the point?
the doc does well though to bring up some good points, especially at the end about the live shows.
after all, what is art without an audience?
...
"what is, Moby?"

(just a joke i don't care if you like Moby) :P

MrMikeunderscore
MrMikeunderscore
12 years ago

Great Doc !

Gerard OHalloran
Gerard OHalloran
12 years ago

I DONT KNOW ...THEY DON'T NO.. WE DONT KNOW Either
isint that what makes us get out of bed
One thing for sure we are in the mist of change ......Thank God

Coleman R
Coleman R
12 years ago

The bit about Jimi Hendrix at the beginning is absolute crap. Jimi could wail on an acoustic just the same. That guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

Brandon Blue
Brandon Blue
12 years ago

You people are insane this documentary is absolutely brilliant.

Jay Haze
Jay Haze
12 years ago

TRULY WORTHY OF A WATCH. inspiring and necessary.

geamala
geamala
12 years ago

I found this doco very wanky and annoying...

Shane Annd Nicola
Shane Annd Nicola
12 years ago

wow i got half way in and had to turn this off. it's just a pack of old wankers having a cry about how hard it is now to 'stand out' because essentially the playing field is now level. you don't need to be in some important clique to access the equipment needed to produce art. SO? i personally think this is whats pushing art to evolve.

the need to make something extra special to stand out amongst hundreds of others can ONLY lead to better art. the lack of financial gain due to the over supply of art can ONLY lead to truer art.

If you take money out of the equation artists don't have the pressure of producing something easily digestible for the masses. now artist's can make art unhindered.

gnomishwisdom
gnomishwisdom
12 years ago

like the guy says, 'talent is rare & that's the cold hard reality of it'. It's very hard for the true talent to get thru because of all the garbage out there, mainly music. The loudness war/compression of music combined with no talent...this has been it since 1989. The youth of today think the music they buy is good only because (that's all they know) period. Before, the way the industry worked, only the cream rose to the top & was heard on the radio or album. Video and image has helped in destroying the music also. Back then it has to be good AND you had to be talented, period. So whatever you heard (mostly) was good stuff. I'm with the guy who said dark ages are ahead...not a creative explosion. Hell, the dark ages have been here for quite some time now!

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

A good song on a CD is great because you can listen to it at will.
A good live show is even greater because you can never replay it as good as you had it that night.
My favorite is a big 4 days music festival...music right through your bones while camping with a bunch of happy people.
This was an interesting doc, and i liked the visual digital art that popped up here and there.
az

liars02
liars02
12 years ago

How can a documentary questioning the creative output of the net, have Moby as a judge? He 's the most shallow, mediocre creative ***** of the last 2 decades.

liars02
liars02
12 years ago

How can a documentary questioning the quality of the internet output, have moby as a critic. He's not an artist, he's one of the most mediocre creative ***** of the last decade.

Earthwinger
Earthwinger
12 years ago

When I started watching this doc. it was mean't to be background noise, while I did other things (which is kind of ironic, given what I'm going to say here). I actually found myself giving it my full attention though. There were lots of very interesting comments, and it was nice to hear a few of my own views being affirmed by others. In particular, my views on how we used to listen to music back in the day, compared to the way we seem to "consume" music in this the digital age.

I'm no luddite, I embrace modern technology, and my computers are bursting to capacity with MP3 files. But as convenient as they are, they're just not the same. For me, there's something very special about taking time out to thumb through my vinyl collection (yes, I actually kept my records, and I cherish them), and go through the little rituals of carefully handling them, using the little anti-static thingimijig to clean them, then sitting back and listening to the album in it's entirety, as was intended by the artists, while taking in the artwork of the sleeve, and reading any accompanying sleeve notes.

It seems to me that nowadays, we mostly miss out on that experience, and instead, treat music the same sort of way that we treat fast food. We cherry pick and download our favourite tracks from albums, and "consume" them while we're going about our lives. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with doing that. But so long as turntables are available, I'll also continue (from time to time) to wallow in a little extra-special me time, with some vinyl induced meditations. :)

Jesus Soto Villavicencio
Jesus Soto Villavicencio
12 years ago

Jajaja, yes there is a lot of noise, but there are some artists from less developed countries or places where mainstream media is more pervasive and well, more mainstream as well. Besides, anyone worth of being watch/heard, will make it through the noise, its not perfect, but its better than some people that have remained in anonymity because some production exec wouldn't take them seriously.

KsDevil
KsDevil
12 years ago

Without mediocracy, there is no perspective to reach beyond.

dufas_duck
dufas_duck
12 years ago

The comment in the video stating that people 40 or 50 years ago didn't create anything is completely wrong. We 'elders' created a vast number of things in hundreds of different temperaments. My grandfather wrote scripts and made 16 mm movies, my uncle made stop motion films that was on par with 'Wallace and Grommet', my mother wrote novels. I lived across the street from an excellent artist. The problem was that all the outlets were controlled, not open as it is today.

Artist co-ops were formed but the powers that be would ignore them. Even the established movie stars formed a new studio called United Artists to get out from under the tightly controlled movie industrial system.

zaphodity
zaphodity
12 years ago

Totally right about talent being drowned out by the tidal wave of garbage.

Sieben Stern
Sieben Stern
12 years ago

quick summary - morally relativistic hipsters fiddle with their navels.

You can't have it both ways - on one hand have the technology available to everyone, and at the same time have only the best musicians/film makers/artists be heard. the democracy comes with the cacophony. you cannot separate the two.

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

Found this film really interesting. Nice contributions, very well put together and fairly balanced too.

Love this site - my first (and quite possibly last) forum post and so just wanted to say that! (I turn off my adblocker here - hope that helps)

One more thing: I often scan through the comments looking for a brief opinion on the quality of a film to help me decide whether to try it, but instead often find just pages of debate... it's a bit tedious at times.

drinker69
drinker69
12 years ago

Ahh yes the digital age. Where there is a recording device in everything. As long as I can view 2 girls 1 cup, or 2 guys 1 hammer(don't watch), or Chechen soldier cuts off Russians head(don't watch)or Russian neo nazi cuts off foreigners head(don't watch), I'm right into tech advances. Keep those mini cameras rolling you sick puppies because I don't care what it is I gots ta watch it. Action.