Back in the early days of cinema, simply capturing the arrival of a train was enough to amaze viewers. Nobody had been able to record moving images until the early 1900′s, and audiences would just marvel at the technology. Eventually, things like storylines and acting were introduced, and moving pictures became the artform they are today.

Whith the introduction of 3D, something similar seems to be happening. I saw Despicable Me yesterday, and I noticed there were several shots and scenes that were in there, or lasted longer than expected, to show off the 3D effect (like the rollercoaster ride). They didn’t advance the story, and were purely technologically driven. They were the only fault I could find in an otherwise splendid movie.

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There is a tactic that shock jocks, the writers of publications like the Enquirer and others in the media use to generate a buzz. They will say something outrageous, “Did you know that the left kidney of dolphins, when mixed with elephant tusk powder, will reverse the aging process? In fact that’s what Avon uses in all their creams.” And the crowd goes wild. It grabs people’s attention. They will argue over how wrong it is to kill endangered species merely for our own vanity. They will argue that all Avon’s products are animal friendly and would never contain such things. They will argue that the media has it all wrong and should stop spreading such false rumors. But whatever they argue about they are playing right into the hands of those who started the whole thing. The same could be said about the book Freakonomics, not in such a malicious and utterly absurd fashion but still the ability to make people stop and say, “Wait! What?!?” is still a powerful tool to draw people in and getting them talking about what you want them talking about, to get them talking about you.

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