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I am a little concerned that such a democratic creative process will lead to the redditification of motion picture; only kumbaya-style movies that make you warm

I am a little concerned that such a democratic creative process will lead to the redditification of motion picture; only kumbaya-style movies that make you warm inside, approved by the hive mind will ever be made, while controversial pieces of works that ask questions or raise issues most people are not prepared to listen to yet will never be realised. Which would be a shame because that's one of the important roles of contemporary art in our society.

firefoxman1 15y ago
Well, I'm not a Redditor, but I've seen some of the most controversial topics make it to the top page. Heck, even the whole SOPA debate, which hardly got any traditional media coverage, was king of HN and Reddit these past few weeks. And yesterday I read a great AMA from a former prostitute. Let's see that subject get any traditional media time.
- baddox 15y ago
  The SOPA thing is certainly an instance of "hive mind" behavior, albeit toward a worthy end.
- GuiA 15y ago
  The SOPA debate was hardly a controversial topic for HN/Reddit. Websites like Reddit definitely have great content, but as parent commenter pointed out, this content is necessarily the kind of content that appeals to the average user, and there is no room for outliers.
  - firefoxman1 15y ago
    I suppose that's true, but they have liberated topics that would have otherwise been ignored by larger media companies. I think the Amazon model for deciding is still a better sample of an audience than a bunch of grey-haired men sitting around a board-room table whose first question is "will this be profitable?"
  - TylerE 15y ago
    Doesn't have to be. Hint: Unsubscribe from any sub-reddit that new users default to being subscribed to...
Daishiman 15y ago
How is it different than it is right now? Big budget productions are notoroiously conservative in terms of script topics. The indie films which might be a million times more interesting have a fraction of those budgets, and they still get produced.
Daishiman 15y ago
How is it different than it is right now? Big budget productions are notoriously conservative in terms of script topics. The indie films which might be a million times more interesting have a fraction of those budgets, and they still get produced.
cschwarm 15y ago
>I am a little concerned that such a democratic creative process will lead to the redditification of motion picture; The conflict between art and craft is present in almost every kind of media, in my opinion: Whether it's books, music, or movies. The only difference is that some media are cheaper to produce and thus more open to art. The higher the up-front costs for a medium, the less room for art. If it isn't resolved on the script level, it will get punished at the box office. I assume, this is what worries Amazon, too: Writers who think of themselves as artists are probably those who are unlikely to sell their script(s); but they are also the ones desperate enough to submit it to Amazon. There might be a nice idea in some of these scripts, but they probably need some additional work. Of course, a bunch of guys who have no clue about art or craft aren't going to produce anything worthwhile, no matter how many of them participate.

firefoxman1 15y ago

Well, I'm not a Redditor, but I've seen some of the most controversial topics make it to the top page. Heck, even the whole SOPA debate, which hardly got any traditional media coverage, was king of HN and Reddit these past few weeks. And yesterday I read a great AMA from a former prostitute. Let's see that subject get any traditional media time.

baddox 15y ago
The SOPA thing is certainly an instance of "hive mind" behavior, albeit toward a worthy end.
GuiA 15y ago
The SOPA debate was hardly a controversial topic for HN/Reddit. Websites like Reddit definitely have great content, but as parent commenter pointed out, this content is necessarily the kind of content that appeals to the average user, and there is no room for outliers.
- firefoxman1 15y ago
  I suppose that's true, but they have liberated topics that would have otherwise been ignored by larger media companies. I think the Amazon model for deciding is still a better sample of an audience than a bunch of grey-haired men sitting around a board-room table whose first question is "will this be profitable?"
- TylerE 15y ago
  Doesn't have to be. Hint: Unsubscribe from any sub-reddit that new users default to being subscribed to...

Daishiman 15y ago

How is it different than it is right now? Big budget productions are notoroiously conservative in terms of script topics. The indie films which might be a million times more interesting have a fraction of those budgets, and they still get produced.

Daishiman 15y ago

How is it different than it is right now? Big budget productions are notoriously conservative in terms of script topics. The indie films which might be a million times more interesting have a fraction of those budgets, and they still get produced.

cschwarm 15y ago

>I am a little concerned that such a democratic creative process will lead to the redditification of motion picture; The conflict between art and craft is present in almost every kind of media, in my opinion: Whether it's books, music, or movies. The only difference is that some media are cheaper to produce and thus more open to art. The higher the up-front costs for a medium, the less room for art. If it isn't resolved on the script level, it will get punished at the box office. I assume, this is what worries Amazon, too: Writers who think of themselves as artists are probably those who are unlikely to sell their script(s); but they are also the ones desperate enough to submit it to Amazon. There might be a nice idea in some of these scripts, but they probably need some additional work. Of course, a bunch of guys who have no clue about art or craft aren't going to produce anything worthwhile, no matter how many of them participate.