The documentary ‘Room 237’ demonstrates how Stanley Kubrick used Stephen King’s, ‘The Shining’, to admit he helped fake the 1969 moon landing

After viewing this documentary, you may never again see Jack Nicholson’s performance in The Shining, nor the movie itself, in the same way. The documentary’s general thesis maintains that Stanley Kubrick used The Shining as a vehicle to admit his role in helping to fake the moon landings.

“Room 237” refers to a room in the mountain lodge where the action of The Shining takes place, suggesting the 237 thousand miles mean distance from Earth to the moon as it was reckoned in 1980, according to one of the narrators. The actual distance has since been revised slightly upwards to an average of 238,855 miles, according to NASA, which the public still seems to trust.

The film doesn’t claim the US never went to the moon. It simply argues that what people saw in July of 1969 was faked, a result of what’s known in the film industry as “Front Screen Projection“. It works by projecting scenes behind actors in which the actors appear to move.

It also claims that some of the moon anomalies noted by Richard C. Hoagland were actually reflections caused by the Front Screen Projection process rather than being the gleaming alien towers that Hoagland excitedly theorized.

Front Screen Projection in 2001: A Space Odyssey:

 

Room 237

UCD Students: Advertising Essay

At this point you should have an ad chosen and begun analyzing it. Remember that your ad should have some text, even if only a short caption, along with the visuals. You can find an ad online (there are thousands out there) but check with me to verify it’s a real ad and not a parody of an one.

Write if you need assistance or want me to confirm your ad:  sehamilton@ucdavis.edu 

Ad Essay Instructions (Click Here)

Some possible sources:

The Swill Bucket Subliminal Ad Gallery

Artistmike.com

The Bush “RATS” Scandal (video)

Subliminal Advertising Guru Responds to UCD Student’s Question

After showing a couple of mid-nineties films about advertising, one of my students suggested the films were old saying there was a huge “cultural difference” between today and 15 years ago. I replied, honestly I think, that the film is a few years old but still relevant. Nothing has changed regarding the dynamics of advertising.

Still, if a more up-to-date film were available, I would like to know about it, so I wrote to professor Bernard McGrane, creator of the brilliant film “The Ad and the Id: Sex, Death, and Advertising,” which I’ve used for years in my classrooms. McGrane responded:

From: McGrane, Bernard [mailto:mcgrane@chapman.edu]
Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2010 1:04 PM
To: Shawn Hamilton
Subject: RE: The Ad and the Id

Dear Shawn,

Thanks for your note. Glad my videos are useful to you. Unfortunately I haven’t  (yet) done a new edition. Regarding subliminals  I’ve heard that “Programming the Nation”  (2010) DVD may be very good but it seems to be having difficulty actually coming out and being available (I just checked Amazon and Netflix).

I’d tell your students that my experience is that it’s all alive and well and ever creatively thriving (sort of like our military technologies). I’d suggest they go out on an expedition and find some on their own. (I also think you tube has some material)

Thanks again,

Barney