By BOB ENGLISH
ence recently that left me feeling like a character in a 1950s science-fiction film. During a special lecture I presented to the School of Visual Arts broadcast design students, I had a glimpse of the future, and now feel compelled to warn mankind of the evils linked to technology. For you see, upon entering the hallowed halls of higher education, I was shocked to discover design students surrounded by computer terminals, with nary a pencil or piece of paper in sight. While I am not eager to join the ranks of the antiquated, there is a real and inherent danger in allowing the art of design to be overshadowed by technology.
In contrast to the free-flowing ideas stimulated by the art of drawing, computers force students to work in a constricted and limited environment, forcing a design concept to fit certain parameters rather than allowing the idea to germinate and evolve in a more creative process. Though I appreciate the advantages that technology has provided, we must all strive to remember that technology should support the art, not dictate its style and substance.
Students arent the only ones taking the technology shortcut. Technology is changing the look and feel of everything we see in todays broadcast environment. Morphing was discovered, exalted, and then done to death in a matter of months. Layering, thanks to digital compositing, is the result of another technological advance that quickly went from new look to overkill-the same path that todays animating-typography trend is likely to take.
Watch any sports channel and youll see what I mean. Graphics are being slammed up to spice things up, but in a rather unthinking way. There are so many graphics on screen that often the game itself is obscured. And you know its not just a designer thing when even Saturday Night Live is lampooning this trend towards graphics overkill. In a recent SNL skit, graphics were plastered on screen as a news reader reported on the days events, until the screen became completely obliterated. It was very funny but also an astute observation-we are not only using graphics to convey information, but as an end in itself.
We have allowed technology to speed up the pace of our everyday life without asking if it is also enhancing our lives. We have become so accustomed to the bombardment of information and images that none of us have stopped to consider if it is aesthetically satisfying. Channel surfing and ceaseless competition for viewers have forced us into this technological overkill. Let us stop being seduced by the shortcuts offered by technology and revive the stimulating process of free-flowing ideas by picking up pens and pencils and putting them to paper. Dare to draw, doodle, and dream. Be among the brave souls that stem the technological tide; return to simplicity of design; vote for substance over style-and allow audiences to take the time to experience beauty, grace and art. Please.
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations, Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before — dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy — premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More