13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A powerful handbook that should be read by everybody, March 7, 1999
This review is from: Jamming the Media (Paperback)
In his book, Jamming the Media: A Citizen's Guide Reclaiming the Tools of Communication, Gareth Branwyn writes about an alternative media, a Do It Yourself (DIY) media, where everybody can produce high quality messages from their desktops. He talks about every kind of medium from zines, which are noncommercial amateur publications, to the most modern multimedia technologies. In every chapter, he provides a "starter kit and resources" section to encourage the reader to experiment with the making of zines, music recordings, multimedia CD-ROMs, WebPages, TV, films, videos, radio and other kinds of bizarre media.
The media, as an institution, have changed their role to an interactive, public access space where everybody can participate. With passion and a particular writing style, Branwyn gives the recipe, step by step, of how to design, produce, package, distribute and promote written, audio, visual and even animate messages. Moreover, he opens the reader's mind to create a new kind of message full of feelings and expressions that crosses the barrier of conventional and commercial media. Talking about media pranks and art hacks, Branwyn affirms: "Anything that's out of the ordinary or worthy of a sound bite will find its way into the local and national media (albeit shoved into a little suffocating compartment)" (p. 248).
The author introduces his book giving an explanation on how the development of new technologies has contributed to the creation of powerful personal computers that can now be used as "a full-color publishing house, a broadcast-quality TV studio, a sound recording studio, or an island in the digital oceans of the cyberspace" (p.13). He then talks about zines, as an easy and funny way to get on the bus in this DIY media. Starting with a brief history of the print media, he tells some anecdotes about how "Factsheet Five", the mother of all zines, started as a two-sheets zine, distributed among twenty-five people, and converted into a nation-spread zine that can also be found over the internet. But Gareth Branwyn not only lays in theory. As in every chapter, when talking about zines, he develops "The Zine Hacker's Starter Kit", where he teaches many different ways of how to create a homemade a zine or other types of media with a very low budget. Other interesting sections are "Words of Wisdom", where specialists about each topic give advice on how can you communicate a message in a properly way, and "Resources", a practical guide with books, directories, catalogs and net sites, where the reader can learn more about each subject.
But DIY media applies not only to print or visual media, but also to the audio. "Never Mind the Music Biz" is the chapter where the author discusses DIY tape recording as an accessible way of self-publishing music productions. Musicians can now stop their search for big record companies to finance their projects. Instead, they can not only produce but also distribute their recordings by mail and by on-line sites (Web Pages with downloadable samples). Furthermore, he introduces other kinds of unconventional audio recordings as audio zines, which are compilations of music, rants, poetry, essays and other sounds.
Talking about audiovisual media, the author also has the answers to how to make high-quality multimedia, like CD-ROMs and broadcast media, like TV, video and film. To combine interactive text, sounds, video, animations and images, Branwyn proposes the CD- ROM. "It's like touring an art gallery" (p. 130), he affirms. Thanks to the use of multimedia technologies, an art multimedia publication, can become a fascinating documentary about the authors life, with video or audio interviews, entertaining games, an original soundtrack and even an interactive paint program. In addition, the CD-ROM technology "is moving into hybrid media" (p. 129), where the disc's content can be combined with on-line data. TV, video and film production, is another type of affordable media for the public. There is a big movement of amateur artists who are proud of making great movies with very low-budgets. Branwyn can convince anybody with some interesting ideas to communicate, to become one of those. One more time, he has all the answers to jump into the visual medium.
Finally, "Media Pranks and Art Hacks" is an interesting chapter were for Gareth Branwyn, the art and different ways of communication have no frontiers. As an example, he talks about "mail art", a kind of noncommercial art that consists in sending a letter to many diverse regions, allowing "people from diverse cultures and walks of life to share art, ideas, and information through the postal system"(p. 270).
I consider Jamming the Media a powerful handbook that should be read by anyone both in and out the communications business. Branwyn theory about how today's technology is reshaping traditional media culture is completely right. People can now open their minds in order to change their role from passive receivers, to active communicators. At least it was able to open mine. My next step is to install an old computer in my room in order to have a server where I can have my own Web Pages and distribute my neighbor's music band over the Internet. Moreover, it encourages me to continue producing short documentaries and enriching my experience in the audiovisual field. Furthermore, I particularly enjoy the author's writing style, with a clear use of the language, a particular bizarre vocabulary and a really attractive design.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An intriguing glimpse into DIY media, November 30, 1998
This review is from: Jamming the Media (Paperback)
Jamming the Media is packed with concise, useful information. The format of the book is designed to treat media types in a consistent fashion. At the end of each chapter, Branwyn offers starter Kits and Resources. The information is invaluable. An excellent writing style, cool format, and great references make this book a nice addition for anyone with an interest in media.
Topics covered: zines, music, multimedia, broadcasting ("pirate radio"), shortwave listening, media pranks -- this is a funny chapter, and electronic publishing.
The book was nothing like I expected. I expected a traditional treatment of using the media. Instead, this book has helped open whole new avenues of media expression. The book is not a how to manual; it is a how to think manual. Excellent work and a nice surprise.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Roll up your sleeves and jam..., October 20, 1998
This review is from: Jamming the Media (Paperback)
SPREADING THE MEDIA JAM =======================
By ROY BLUMENTHAL (This review originally appeared in Gadget Magazine)
If you're keen on rolling up your sleeves and getting into communicating with the masses, a superb book guides you in the tactics being used on the frontline by some of the most experienced media hackers in the world today.
Browzing at Facts & Fiction in Sandton Square, pretending to myself that my credit card wasn't too over-flexed, I saw a title that stopped me in my tracks. Which meant I had to apologise to the woman who had been walking behind me. Once she had dusted herself off and checked for fractures, she made straight for the alternative health section. I was glued to the media shelf. The book Reclaiming the Tools of Communication" by Gareth Branwyn. Now call me a sucker or something, but I really do judge books by their covers. This cover was seductive, steeped in the new design made popular by Ray Gun magazine, precursored by the boundary-shifting Mondo 2000. We're talking about a cover that would even make a darn good web page.
So what's this book all about and why did it encourage me to spend four hours at the Facts & Fiction coffee table developing concentration scars on my forehead? In short, it's a do-it-yourself book on how to manipulate the media of today for profit, gain and fun..
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