The Sea
Past
Fishing and Travel via the sea have been around for centuries, there is evidence of boat-like creations that date back to over thousands of years ago. The more modern things such as deep sea diving and studies of the sea are only happening now because we finally have the technology, and the more we discover down there, the more we want to look into it.
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Films
Kevin. (2006).
The films Jaws was released in 1975, and was based on the novel; Jaws, written by Peter Benchley. The novel was based on real life incidents, such as the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 that killed 4 people over two weeks.
Real life events inspired the novel, the novel inspired the films, and the huge success of the Jaws films inspired many more shark based horrors to be created.
These films are hugely popular, and it is one the first times that you see Pirates as the protagonists.
I always like it when films include mythical and unknown creatures like the Kraken.
News
JH. (2009).
Real life shark attacks have always made headline news, mainly due to them being so rare. There are on average, 5 attacks that result in death per year. Which is nothing compared to the 150 deaths per year on average from falling coconuts.
JH. (2009).
Viegas, J. (2011).
One horrible shark disaster that hit the headlines happened in 1945; it was just after the second world war, when a japanese submarine fired two torpedoes at a US transport ship holding an atom bomb and 1000 crew members. The ship literally split in two and 900 of the crew jumped into the vast pacific ocean with life jackets. During the 4 days before the rescue boat found the horde of floating men, sharks, aswell as sun exposure and infection had killed 100's of the men, leaving 321 alive.
Sharks aren't known to purposely feed on humans, it is thought that due to the sharks being starved and the bleeding men floating there for such a long time, the sharks could not resist.
Viegas, J. (2011).
This disaster is horrific, and I understand why this hit the headlines, but I do not understand why a single person being injured by a shark causes headlines. It is so rare and the sharks are usually just mistaking humans for seals. I feel that Jaws and other shark films have causes an unnecessary hate for sharks. It is a known fact that 1000's of the oceans sharks were unnecessarily slaughtered after a few shark attacks occured after the film Jaws was released.
If shark attacks were not so big in the media, sharks would not be so eagerly slaughtered.
Pulu, T. (2011).
It has now recently become illegal to catch sharks and cut off their tails for a delicacy known as Shark Fin Soup. Fisherman used to catch any type of shark, cut off their fins and then drop them back into the sea. Without their fins, sharks cannot swim efficiently, so they can no longer hunt, so they will either bleed or starve to death. But this brutal way of fishing has never recieved any kind of negative media attention in the way that sharks have done.
Master, D. (2010).
Sharks seem to have been made enemy, when infact, they never purposely harm humans, they are known for avoiding human interaction. Sharks are just another life form that is trying to survive, and surely, seeing as humans are solely a land species, isn't it our own fault for trespassing in their territory.
Shark attacks are hugely popular in the media, mainly newspapers, magazines, TV and the internet, but I think it is all bad media. It is either a horrible story or scary film/TV, and it all started with Jaws, and it seems to be steadily getting more popular.
----------
One thing that is becoming increasingly popular nowadays is myths and legends of the sea. In the past, they have always been stories and ideas, but now we have the technology to go deep down into the sea, some of the myths are being answered, and science has enabled to us to determine whether these mythical creatures could actually exist.
Also due to increase in technology, there are increased amounts of mythical hoax's.
Unknown. (2010). Mythical Giant Turtle Found in Vietnam.
One mythical creature that has in fact been found is the giant turtle. There are countless references to giants turtles that humans can ride on, or be pulled along by. There are even images of turtles big enough to ferry groups of people. Scientists thought that giant turtles could have existed 1000's of years ago, but they said that they were definatly extinct.
Unknown. (2010). Mythical Giant Turtle Found in Vietnam.
Until this 400 pound giant turtle was spotted in vietnam's Hoan Kiem lake. Locals had been saying for years that there was a mythical turtle in the lake, but it was never taken seriously until it was finally caught on camera by some soldiers.
Unknown. (2010). Mythical Giant Turtle Found in Vietnam.
I love the idea of mythical creatures, and the fact that they may be true like this one makes me further interested.
BBC. (2007). Rare giant turtle found in Mekong.
There was a second find of this species, along the Mekong River in Vietnam. This one had just laid eggs. The eggs eventually hatched and so the species will live on.
This discovery was covered by the BBC in 2003. Which helped turn that stretch of the Mekong River in a conservation area to help keep the species alive.
----------
Toys
Cuddly toys were just as popular 5 or more years ago as they are now. But you didn't have as many popular film characters back then, the main dominant character animal would have been Simba from The Lion King.
Disney. (2011). The Lion King - Simba Soft Toy.
I have had a good look around and I am struggling to find any cuddly toy animals that are from the sea.
I found some cuddly toy dolphins, but they had no links to any film and IP.
Cooper, B. (2011).
After a little searching, I noticed that there are alot of old toy boats for sale that a child would use in a bath. But I could not find many new toy boats. There were a few, but no where near as many as there used to be over 10 years ago.
This tells me that the popularity of toy boats has definately decreases. But at the same time, the old toy boats seem to be a collectors thing now, so the old toys are still popular nowadays.
----------
Books
Waterstones. (2011). Search Results: 'The Sea'.
In the same way as in the Present section, I searched the word 'Sea' into WaterStones.com, then order the results in 'date published' and went through the pages until I reached 2005. The amount of results was 11845, and around 5000 of them were from 2005 or before, which tells me that the sea has become a more discussed and media strong area.
Scanning through some of the books prior to 2005, I noticed that most of the books listed were fiction novels. There were some factual books about plantlife under the sea, and some about the animals in the sea, but most were stories. One of which was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Verne, J. (2005).
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a story with full of adventure and exploration. It has many crazy and wierd creatures that may or may not exist, and makes the sea seem like an unknown and mysterious place.
I haven't read this book, but it has great reviews and seems like it would be an interesting read, but the front cover looks a littel childish, so I am spectical as to what the target audience is.
----------
Games
Battleships.
This game has been around for decades, it was originally published in 1931, and is best known as a pencil and paper game.
Once video games were invented, battleships was soon transfered in one. One of the first successful controllable version of the battleship IP was:
Unknown. (2003). Naval Ops Screens for PS2.
Naval Ops: Warship Gunner.
Released in 2003, it was a big success. There were great reviews and it sold good numbers from the word go. It did well enough for another title to be released in 2006, which did equally as well.
Instead of the guessing game side of the original battleships, this game allows you to personally take control of one ship whilst you fire your arsenal or guns at the enemy ships.
It looks like alot of fun, and seems fast paced and intense.
Unknown. (2003). Naval Ops Screens for PS2.
Fragasnap. (1991).
The Little Mermaid Franchise released a game in 1991 for the NES and Gameboy. It was a simply game, where you followed a similar but more action packed version of the films story. You play as Ariel as she tries to save the sea from Ursula's magic.
It was a popular game, but mainly did well because of the large fan-base from the films.
Fragasnap. (1991).
GameSpot. (2000). Sea Dogs on PC.
Sea Dogs.
This Pirate based game set in the 17th is a role-playing game with a strategic side. It was release in 2000 and received great reviews and sold very well. It is visually nice, especially for a game from 2000.
This game looks great and sold very well in its first weeks. It did so well that it paved the way for similar Pirate games, which were released over the following years.
GameSpot. (2000). Sea Dogs on PC.
----------
Sport
Unknown. (2007). Liquid Legend Ride Again.
Surfing has been a big popular sport for years, but it has got bigger as of recent. Surfing hasn't changed at all since it started, surf boards are made better and are the optimum shape for surfing. But the way people surf and where is still as it was years and years ago, and maybe thats is one of the appealing aspects of surfing; it is simple and straight forward.
Surfing competitions are more of a modern thing, they didn't offically exist years ago, people used to surf purely for fun, but as with any sport, the more people that do it, the more competitive people become.
Past
Fishing and Travel via the sea have been around for centuries, there is evidence of boat-like creations that date back to over thousands of years ago. The more modern things such as deep sea diving and studies of the sea are only happening now because we finally have the technology, and the more we discover down there, the more we want to look into it.
----------
Films
The films Jaws was released in 1975, and was based on the novel; Jaws, written by Peter Benchley. The novel was based on real life incidents, such as the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 that killed 4 people over two weeks.
Real life events inspired the novel, the novel inspired the films, and the huge success of the Jaws films inspired many more shark based horrors to be created.
IMDB. (1975). Jaws.
I really like how the story of Jaws started from a real life story, admittedly it isn't a nice story, but I think that because similar events like in the Jaws films have happened in real life, it makes the films scarier and more appealing, and possibly more popular.
Unknown. (1999). Deep Blue Sea.
In Deep Blue Sea, the sharks have enhanced DNA and have been bred to perfection, which makes them bigger, stronger, faster and smarter, and they begin to outsmart the humans.
Malfoy. (2005).
A thriller related to the sea, but not about sharks is 'Perfect Storm'. It came out in 2000 and is about a small group of fisherman caught in a extreme storm out at sea. It is a good film, and shows the raw power of the sea, and the dangers of being out there.
A thriller related to the sea, but not about sharks is 'Perfect Storm'. It came out in 2000 and is about a small group of fisherman caught in a extreme storm out at sea. It is a good film, and shows the raw power of the sea, and the dangers of being out there.
Lexster, T. (2003)
Another good example are the Pirates of the Carribbean films.
Unknown. (2003). Kraken (Pirates of the Caribbean).
In one of the films, there is a sea creature known as the Kraken, which is a well known mythical creature. It is a huge squid like creature that takes down entire ships.
Having this monstrous creature in the film, helps give across the impression that the sea is a scary and unknown place, in the same way that the shark films do.
IMDB. (2003). Peter Pan.
"The Darling family children receive a visit from Peter Pan, who takes them to Never Never Land where an ongoing war with the evil Pirate Captain Hook is taking place." - IMDB. (2003). Peter Pan.
This epic film is hugely popular, even today. It is a great kids story, but can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Other great Pirate films from the past are:
Muppet Treasure Island,
Treasure Planet,
Captain Sabretooth,
Pirates.
----------
News
Real life shark attacks have always made headline news, mainly due to them being so rare. There are on average, 5 attacks that result in death per year. Which is nothing compared to the 150 deaths per year on average from falling coconuts.
JH. (2009).
One horrible shark disaster that hit the headlines happened in 1945; it was just after the second world war, when a japanese submarine fired two torpedoes at a US transport ship holding an atom bomb and 1000 crew members. The ship literally split in two and 900 of the crew jumped into the vast pacific ocean with life jackets. During the 4 days before the rescue boat found the horde of floating men, sharks, aswell as sun exposure and infection had killed 100's of the men, leaving 321 alive.
Sharks aren't known to purposely feed on humans, it is thought that due to the sharks being starved and the bleeding men floating there for such a long time, the sharks could not resist.
Viegas, J. (2011).
This disaster is horrific, and I understand why this hit the headlines, but I do not understand why a single person being injured by a shark causes headlines. It is so rare and the sharks are usually just mistaking humans for seals. I feel that Jaws and other shark films have causes an unnecessary hate for sharks. It is a known fact that 1000's of the oceans sharks were unnecessarily slaughtered after a few shark attacks occured after the film Jaws was released.
If shark attacks were not so big in the media, sharks would not be so eagerly slaughtered.
It has now recently become illegal to catch sharks and cut off their tails for a delicacy known as Shark Fin Soup. Fisherman used to catch any type of shark, cut off their fins and then drop them back into the sea. Without their fins, sharks cannot swim efficiently, so they can no longer hunt, so they will either bleed or starve to death. But this brutal way of fishing has never recieved any kind of negative media attention in the way that sharks have done.
Sharks seem to have been made enemy, when infact, they never purposely harm humans, they are known for avoiding human interaction. Sharks are just another life form that is trying to survive, and surely, seeing as humans are solely a land species, isn't it our own fault for trespassing in their territory.
Shark attacks are hugely popular in the media, mainly newspapers, magazines, TV and the internet, but I think it is all bad media. It is either a horrible story or scary film/TV, and it all started with Jaws, and it seems to be steadily getting more popular.
----------
One thing that is becoming increasingly popular nowadays is myths and legends of the sea. In the past, they have always been stories and ideas, but now we have the technology to go deep down into the sea, some of the myths are being answered, and science has enabled to us to determine whether these mythical creatures could actually exist.
Also due to increase in technology, there are increased amounts of mythical hoax's.
One mythical creature that has in fact been found is the giant turtle. There are countless references to giants turtles that humans can ride on, or be pulled along by. There are even images of turtles big enough to ferry groups of people. Scientists thought that giant turtles could have existed 1000's of years ago, but they said that they were definatly extinct.
Until this 400 pound giant turtle was spotted in vietnam's Hoan Kiem lake. Locals had been saying for years that there was a mythical turtle in the lake, but it was never taken seriously until it was finally caught on camera by some soldiers.
Unknown. (2010). Mythical Giant Turtle Found in Vietnam.
I love the idea of mythical creatures, and the fact that they may be true like this one makes me further interested.
There was a second find of this species, along the Mekong River in Vietnam. This one had just laid eggs. The eggs eventually hatched and so the species will live on.
This discovery was covered by the BBC in 2003. Which helped turn that stretch of the Mekong River in a conservation area to help keep the species alive.
----------
Toys
Cuddly toys were just as popular 5 or more years ago as they are now. But you didn't have as many popular film characters back then, the main dominant character animal would have been Simba from The Lion King.
I have had a good look around and I am struggling to find any cuddly toy animals that are from the sea.
I found some cuddly toy dolphins, but they had no links to any film and IP.
After a little searching, I noticed that there are alot of old toy boats for sale that a child would use in a bath. But I could not find many new toy boats. There were a few, but no where near as many as there used to be over 10 years ago.
This tells me that the popularity of toy boats has definately decreases. But at the same time, the old toy boats seem to be a collectors thing now, so the old toys are still popular nowadays.
----------
Books
In the same way as in the Present section, I searched the word 'Sea' into WaterStones.com, then order the results in 'date published' and went through the pages until I reached 2005. The amount of results was 11845, and around 5000 of them were from 2005 or before, which tells me that the sea has become a more discussed and media strong area.
Scanning through some of the books prior to 2005, I noticed that most of the books listed were fiction novels. There were some factual books about plantlife under the sea, and some about the animals in the sea, but most were stories. One of which was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a story with full of adventure and exploration. It has many crazy and wierd creatures that may or may not exist, and makes the sea seem like an unknown and mysterious place.
I haven't read this book, but it has great reviews and seems like it would be an interesting read, but the front cover looks a littel childish, so I am spectical as to what the target audience is.
----------
Games
Battleships.
This game has been around for decades, it was originally published in 1931, and is best known as a pencil and paper game.
Once video games were invented, battleships was soon transfered in one. One of the first successful controllable version of the battleship IP was:
Naval Ops: Warship Gunner.
Released in 2003, it was a big success. There were great reviews and it sold good numbers from the word go. It did well enough for another title to be released in 2006, which did equally as well.
Instead of the guessing game side of the original battleships, this game allows you to personally take control of one ship whilst you fire your arsenal or guns at the enemy ships.
It looks like alot of fun, and seems fast paced and intense.
Unknown. (2003). Naval Ops Screens for PS2.
The Little Mermaid Franchise released a game in 1991 for the NES and Gameboy. It was a simply game, where you followed a similar but more action packed version of the films story. You play as Ariel as she tries to save the sea from Ursula's magic.
It was a popular game, but mainly did well because of the large fan-base from the films.
Fragasnap. (1991).
Sea Dogs.
This Pirate based game set in the 17th is a role-playing game with a strategic side. It was release in 2000 and received great reviews and sold very well. It is visually nice, especially for a game from 2000.
This game looks great and sold very well in its first weeks. It did so well that it paved the way for similar Pirate games, which were released over the following years.
GameSpot. (2000). Sea Dogs on PC.
----------
Sport
Surfing has been a big popular sport for years, but it has got bigger as of recent. Surfing hasn't changed at all since it started, surf boards are made better and are the optimum shape for surfing. But the way people surf and where is still as it was years and years ago, and maybe thats is one of the appealing aspects of surfing; it is simple and straight forward.
Surfing competitions are more of a modern thing, they didn't offically exist years ago, people used to surf purely for fun, but as with any sport, the more people that do it, the more competitive people become.
