Lecture: The End of Linear Thinking

Traditional film grammar is based in a lie: the edit point splices the gap between two different times and places. Our efforts to hide this gap in the name of story are doomed to failure when we apply them to a post-modern audience. Even traditional narrative -- where a character is put into jeopardy and the audience is drawn into a state of tension -- has lost its power. Advertisers and other programmers have abused traditional entertainment to the point where audiences react negatively to almost every attempt to captivate them. They do not want to be our prisoners. The television remote, videogame joystick, and computer keyboard have changed our audience's relationship to the screen forever. But there are new kinds of storytelling and filmmaking techniques that still serve to entertain people without making them paranoid. Rushkoff will explain how filmmakers lost the absolute attention of their audiences, and how to communicate effectively and passionately to people who would prefer to remain aloof.