GITS - Student Film Studies Survey

General discussion about Ghost in the Shell

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replicant6
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GITS - Student Film Studies Survey

Post by replicant6 »

Hello there. I'm currently a 4th year Film Studies student. And a huge Ghost in the Shell fan! For my term project, I am researching the GITS audience to see what their interest in it is, why thy like it etc...

Does anybody want to fill out a quick survey? It should only take about 20 minutes, and I'll really appreciate it.

If you want to help me out, email me at replicant6 @ gmail.com and please put GITS Survey in the subject line so it gets through my spam filter.


thanks everyone!

Daniel
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Freitag
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Post by Freitag »

I bet we all would.
People tend to look at you a little strangely when they know you stuff voodoo dolls full of Ex-Lax.
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cong06
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Post by cong06 »

lol
yeah, I'd maybe do it if there was a link, but I don't think I'll send anything by email.
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uilos
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Post by uilos »

cong06 wrote: yeah, I'd maybe do it if there was a link, but I don't think I'll send anything by email.
I am the same. Sorry, replicant.

Is a more open reply system out of the question?
ナイトセイバーズ さんじょ!
replicant6
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Survey

Post by replicant6 »

Hey thanks guys. Here it is


Ghost in the Shell
Though this questionnaire primarily focuses on the original Ghost in the Shell film directed by Mamoru Oshii in 1996, some of the questions (about theme, philosophy etc.) are fairly broad and can apply to the subsequent films and the Stand Alone Complex and SAC: 2nd Gig television seasons. Questions referring to specific stylistic elements refer specifically to the original film.

1/ What element(s) most appeal to you about the film?
cyberpunk genre, animation style, themes, music etc...


2/ Of the following themes in the film, which do you think is most important and appealing? Why?
The merging of human and technology, the blurring boundaries between individual and society, or the vision of a future in which global corporations seem to threaten the sovereignty of nations.

3/ What aspects of the film do you think contributed to its success and cult following? How much of this was due to its popularity as a manga series?

4/ Of the following themes in the film, which do you think is most important and appealing? Why?
The merging of human and technology, the blurring boundaries between individual and society, or the vision of a future in which global corporations seem to threaten the sovereignty of nations.

5/ Do you think that the film is really in touch with the zeitgeist of the mid ‘90s internet revolution and its associated social anxieties, or just a novel take on the cyberpunk/anime genre?

6/ Steven Speilberg has recently announced his intention to create a live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell. Based on previous efforts to adapt manga/anime to live action (ie. Aeon Flux), Spielberg’s success as a director, and his previous sci-fi works, do you think that this will be successful? What do you think some of the problems might be with this effort?

7/ As a fan of GITS, what do you love the most about it? Why? Feel free to talk about anything, and the more you write, the better!

8/ Of all the GITS films and television seasons, what is your favorite? Why?

9/ Many of the antagonists in GITS (Project 2041, The Laughing Man, The Individual Eleven, The Puppet Master) seem concerned with violations of personal liberty (ie.. “ghost hacking”). Do you think that this may one day be a real concern? Why?

10/ Though they act like giggling schoolgirls, the Tachikomas often have existentialist debates, questioning their AI existence and collective experience. What do you think the significance of this is?

11/ Overall, do you think that GITS is an important subject for scholarly research? Why?

12/ If there are any other comments you would like to make, they will be greatly appreciated!
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Freitag
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Post by Freitag »

1/ What element(s) most appeal to you about the film?
cyberpunk genre, animation style, themes, music etc...
For me I guess it is the cyberpunk genre. That is pretty much my favorite story theme these days. It can be applied to so many different types of story. The original Star Trek has been described as "Wagon Train to the stars", but I think it also qualifies - many of the episodes involves solutions to issues that are based on hacker-type approaches to things. The solutions are based around how something functions at a fundamental level and not just what it's supposed to do. And not just Scotty's engines, it can be whole societies.
On the animation side, I really like the style from the TV show. The same studio produced Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and used the same style. Very great IMHO.
2/ Of the following themes in the film, which do you think is most important and appealing? Why?
The merging of human and technology, the blurring boundaries between individual and society, or the vision of a future in which global corporations seem to threaten the sovereignty of nations.
The merging of human and technology is way cool. Transhumanism FTW.
The blurring boundaries between individual and society is really scary - that is what made the Borg such a horrific entity, they didn't just kill you, they dissolved your identity.
3/ What aspects of the film do you think contributed to its success and cult following? How much of this was due to its popularity as a manga series?
My first exposure was the TV series, the movies second and the manga last. Pretty much the opposite of production order. The latter formats would never have existed without the popularity of the former. I think about 95% of the staying power of the story (in all 3 formats) can be attributed to the strong female lead character. We'd never seen anything like the Major before (or since?)
4/ Of the following themes in the film, which do you think is most important and appealing? Why?
The merging of human and technology, the blurring boundaries between individual and society, or the vision of a future in which global corporations seem to threaten the sovereignty of nations.
Actually I'd posit a 4th - the exploration of what it really means to be human. From Togusa to the Tachikomas (or that AI thing that escaped from Section 2?) they had near fully human through completely artificial and the common theme that all of them explored (except maybe Togusa until SSS when he had more parts replaced) was about having a ghost (I think that would be a soul in western speak)
5/ Do you think that the film is really in touch with the zeitgeist of the mid ‘90s internet revolution and its associated social anxieties, or just a novel take on the cyberpunk/anime genre?
The Billy Idol album Cyberpunk (1993) tried to junk in on that to I think. Yeah the 90's was a age of endless possibilities. Followed by the major bummer of the world continuing as usual.
Billy Idol wrote: The future has imploded into the present. With no nuclear war, the new battlefields are people’s minds and souls. Megacorporations are the new government. The computer generated info-domains are the new frontiers. Though there is better living through science and chemistry, we are all becoming cyborgs.

The computer is the new “cool tool,” and though we say “all information should be free,” it is not. Information is power and currency in the virtual world we inhabit, so mistrust authority.

Cyberpunks are the true rebels. Cyberculture is coming in under the radar of ordinary society. An unholy alliance of the tech world, and the world of organized dissent.

Welcome to the cybercorporation.

Cyberpunks.
6/ Steven Speilberg has recently announced his intention to create a live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell. Based on previous efforts to adapt manga/anime to live action (ie. Aeon Flux), Spielberg’s success as a director, and his previous sci-fi works, do you think that this will be successful? What do you think some of the problems might be with this effort?
Hope and fear. Speilberg is also responsible for some dreadful movies.
7/ As a fan of GITS, what do you love the most about it? Why? Feel free to talk about anything, and the more you write, the better!
The Major. The technology.
8/ Of all the GITS films and television seasons, what is your favorite? Why?
Laughing man story arc (season one of series). Probably mostly because it was the first. SSS is a close second because it has that really cool ending that suggests the Major has a second personality that has found a way to step out on it's own and leave the original shell.
9/ Many of the antagonists in GITS (Project 2041, The Laughing Man, The Individual Eleven, The Puppet Master) seem concerned with violations of personal liberty (ie.. “ghost hacking”). Do you think that this may one day be a real concern? Why?
If a person truly is only a sum of their memories, and you can manufacture memories then your identity can literally be stolen out from under you. You are reduced to a computing platform.
10/ Though they act like giggling schoolgirls, the Tachikomas often have existentialist debates, questioning their AI existence and collective experience. What do you think the significance of this is?
A story telling device similar to the soliloquy in plays. Since they are essentially of one mind (after syncing) then it is literally one character talking to himself. It's a way for the writer to push an idea up to the front for the reader to consider in light of the 'evidence' (the story so far and yet to come)
11/ Overall, do you think that GITS is an important subject for scholarly research? Why?
I think all science fiction gives the next generation of actual scientists a framework in which to do their research. Imagine the limits of what might be possible. Now go build it.
12/ If there are any other comments you would like to make, they will be greatly appreciated!
People tend to look at you a little strangely when they know you stuff voodoo dolls full of Ex-Lax.
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