The Story Lab, a studio I chose in my final year doing this course. The prompt that we were given for this class is ‘what is story now?’. It is all about learning that storytelling isn’t what it used to be. When we think about the stories that we used to read we think about the ones that have a beginning, a middle and an end. However, now what if all of that has changed? What if we read stories in a different way, through different platforms? This is about multi platform storytelling. What makes a story good, or how does it become successful? Is transmedia the way of the storytelling future? We are told that this class is a way for us to try out different platforms of storytelling, and explore how it works or doesn’t, and see what we can come up with, through both digital and non-digital platforms.
The key quote for this semester: “All stories are lies. But good stories are lies made from light and fire. And they lift our hearts out of the dust, and out of the grave” Mike Carey.
Aims of the studio:
-Learn methods of storytelling through transmedia narrative
-There will be individual work and group work.
-Research the changing nature of storytelling, by analysing narratives, and reflect of the process of creating.
It was the first class of the semester when Paul gave us a camera and a script and said film one shot to cover this. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of such a fulfilling journey that has lead me to discovery the art of filmmaking. I realised in this class how interesting it was to see how differently or similar a text/script was perceived and interpreted. Just from attending the first week of ‘The Scene’ I took away points that have stayed with me throughout this journey, those being, the individual style of the director impacts a film significantly; this course is about individual research and practice; we all have to work with constraints, and this is where the creativity can come from; and a coverage of a scene is cinematic and the way it it made has its own meaning.
A huge part of my journey in The Scene is learning by practice. Exploring this has been an exciting, educational and fulfilling experience both personally and professionally, that has influenced my future filmmaking. I was intrigued to see how learning by practice would help in finding my own Method of Working, and from doing this I found out what I was good and bad at, but most importantly what inspired me to continue. The majority of this semester was about experimenting, so that you could reflect upon this, research, think, and then create something better. It was a process that you would do weekly, by falling down to the bottom and climbing your way back to the top. This was how I formed the basis of my method of working, which lead me on a specific path of scene coverage. Before I came to the making stage, I came across a quote by David Bordwell that inspired my creative process. ‘I, a machine, am showing you a world, the likes of which only I can see’. My interpretation is that the director has the power to determine the story and expectations for the audience to follow. I have the power to show people what I want them to see, and I have started doing this through the investigations of external composition.
Before getting to the stage of knowing what my method of working was, I went through a research stage and blogged about every step that I took. It was all about reflecting on your work and researching others’ work and film methodologies. Reflection involves the notion of thinking and learning, as we reflect in order to learn, and therefore we are learning from reflecting. We go through a mental reflection. It is a process with a chosen medium, where we shape and model the content of our reflection into reflective writing.
I started with the thought that filmmaking is a higher order of thinking. You have to think at a higher level to cover a scene successfully and have the greatest impact. From the first couple of scenes that were shot, I started to head down the path of framing, which opened the door to the backbone of filmmaking. I went through stages of decoupage, Mise-en-scene, and montage, then narrowing down my search to something more confined. Framing is carefully considered by the filmmaker to create powerful cinematographic techniques, and allows the director to create a dynamic composition that engages the audience, highlighting the most important features. It defines both onscreen and offscreen space, that creates a vantage point that will create a specific distance, height and angle. The framing will change, depending on what is being filmed.
After filming scene after scene I wanted to focus on something more particular, something that intrigued me. This is when I came across the idea of external composition. It is a form of compositional relationships that is the momentary relationship between one shot and the next. It is commonly used when a character walks out of one shot and walks into the next shot in the same place. To understand this more I researched continuity and the 180 degree rule. This helped me with my investigations, as I wanted to see what was the most successful in scene coverage.
As I went further into the semester I started filming scenes that I had chosen and that I was directing. This was the best way to put my investigations into action, and see it all come to life. This was met with many successes and failures, however that is the beauty of experimenting. When I came to filming scenes in the weeks leading up to the end of the semester, and when I knew exactly what I wanted to investigate, I directed scenes that I did in class, however this time through my own interpretation. To do well in these I had to understand that planning is one of the key elements towards making something successful. I am someone who works better when I know everything that will be happening, and what everyone will be doing. When I directed my scenes I preferred planning on paper, writing everything down; and then planning with the camera. This allows everyone involved with the production to know what they are doing, when they are doing it, and how they are doing it. I conducted a substantial amount of pre-planning before my final shoots.
Through learning by practice, I have learnt what it takes to be a small portion of a filmmaker. The way you have to think, reflect, and learn as the process advances. Personally, the most beneficial part to this semester was all if it, as I started at the bottom, and although I might be a long way from the top, I have confidence in what I have achieved as a director for those scenes. The thinking, reflecting and creating processes that were done throughout the semester helped with that. You don’t just film something because it looks nice, you film it because it is the best way to cover that individual shot, and will compliment the scene dynamic.
-No one thought that the shots were good, not much time. No time to watch any of them again, or retake the shot we wanted. The task was overwhelming, as it is easier to visualise, but then it is harder adapting, so we can create it. Harder to visualise what it will look like in front of the lens. We have gone from working together, to having to tell each other what to do. It was hard to plan until we got to the location. We could look at the scripts all we wanted but then it would change depending on what we had to work with due to the location. Looking back on this exercise now, and having had a couple of days to think about it, I came up with various coverage situations for multiple scenes, including other peoples; which meant that when Paul showed us the shots in class, I wasn’t thinking about how bad they were, I was thinking of what could have been done to improve them.
Listening to what everyone thought about week 3’s activity from the Friday class, it was good to hear that we were all in the same position. We all felt the same, and wanted each other to lean back on. This eased my nerves on whether I can handle being a director. Saying this, after this exercise I found that I am more confident in sharing my ideas, and when we were planing the next exercise on Monday in week 4, I was voicing my opinion, and I gained confidence because people were then relying on me to make the next shot decision. Sometimes you have to step up to the plate, and by doing this, it improves your knowledge and skills, guiding us on the path to finding our own methodology.
Paul told us about shooting outside, and told us to consider the prospect of lines, and the framing of the shot. There was a significant amount of head room in the majority of the shots, and he is lead to believe it is due to having no constraints, so the space above the characters’ heads keeps creeping up until that is the new focus point. This is point that I will always remember and that I haven’t considered before. Shooting inside you have the constraints of walls and ceilings, however outside you have to work with natural objects to be the subject of framing.
#2: Exercise 4B
Week 4 is planing and covering a scene that was given to us on a script. The class was divided into two groups. From here we had to complete pre-production from Wednesday to Friday, so that Friday we were able to shoot the scene. The two groups were then divided in half so that one half of the team was the executive group, with 3 actors, director, and a DOP. The other half were the support team, with sound operator, sound assistant, camera operator, camera assistant and 1st AD/Safety officer. We then had to switch the roles. Sitting down with the script and picturing how the scene will be covered is easier than putting this into action. It is always the way, when on paper the shots sound well covered, but then looking at it through the lens you have to think to yourself, is this the best way? Can it be covered differently? This took a bit of time to figure out, and planning the logistics of the scene, how it will all come together to be successful, through shot sizes and angles, actors, framing and pacing. Robin (tutor of second class) asked us questions that are valuable to the course, and what we will get out of it.
1.What is it like to work in a big group? I find working in a group both challenging and productive. Challenging in the way you need to contribute as much as you can, so that no one is doing more work than they need to. People rely on you as a team member to have the ideas, and to know what is going next and how the next shot will be covered. You need to be constantly giving feedback to your peers, and you need to be at the same level of knowledge and understanding in order to keep up. On the contrary, I thoroughly enjoy working in groups, the larger the better. You all work collaboratively and there are ideas flying around the room that you personally might never think of. More heads are better than one, because each member has their individual style; allowing everyone to learn off each other. With this exercise you could see how the other group covered their scene differently to ours, and I started asking myself, why did they do that? Is it for better or for worse? I started analysing every move they made, in the hope I learn more, and come closer to understanding my own methodology.
2. Filmmaking is a higher order of thinking. This statement shows you that we have to be about to think outside of the box. Having to think about every possible encounter we are going to have shooting this scene. We have to think at a higher level to cover a scene successfully and have the greatest impact.
This post is directly responding to the technical aspects of coverage in the found scene, an extension from the first post. These aspects include: pacing, shot sizes, camera angles, and the framing of actors. These are all critical elements in working out, how a scene is covered.
Pacing: At the beginning of this scene the pacing of the shots are slow, however this pace picks up at a gradual speed throughout the scene. We start the scene by seeing the two characters shown in a single person shot, with no movements except talking. On the contrary, the end of the scene shows the entertainer in the same shot, however with fast head movements and singing. Having this pacing at a gradual speed, adds to the final shots of the film, creating an emphasis on a big finish.
Shot Sizes: The beginning of the scene starts out as medium close up shots, having the characters engaging with the audience with the facial expressions. The medium shots then are introduced when the action starts occurring, so the audience sees the characters’ body language. The CU’s and MS’s are then repeated with the entertainment, which is the opposite to the crowd shots which vary from CU’s to LS’s. These dynamics work well for this scene as it gives it balance with the constant cutting to different shot types.
Camera Angles: The camera angles and shot types are taken from various positions. Still shots, panning, and also tilting. The panning and tilting occur when the pace of the scene develops. The way the camera is angled suggests how the audience sees what is going on. In some cases the director has covered the shots so that the audience feels apart of the action, all of the dancing, laughing an hugging, but then there will be a shot tilted down or tilted up. This allows the audience to see what is going on from a birds eye perspective, and also see the action as it unfolds.
Framing: In the beginning of the scene the main character if framed to the left of shot, the 2nd character is framed to the right of shot, suggesting a conversation between the two. If they were framed differently, the audience wouldn’t automatically assume they are talking to each other. As stated in my previous post about this scene, within the party shot, the main character is framed in the centre, while the other characters are coming in and out of shot; keeping the framing symmetrical, and keeping the focus on character 1.
This scene is constantly cutting back an forth from various shot, this adds a repetitive quality that allows the audience to understand what is going on adding a more personal touch. It is as of the camera is a person, looking around the room, and your eyes always go back to the same key features. I enjoyed the coverage of this scene, and thought that it was successful in the way it developed a narrative storyline, being seen through the eyes of the audience as it unfolds.
The scene starts with close ups of character one – an old man, and character two – the main character. There conversation is serious and they are talking about smiling. Character 1 keeps saying to the main charter, smile, when he doesn’t know why he should. Both of them have serious expressions, they are in a white room, no blank space behind them, the camera is focusing on the faces. The edited shots are planned in the way that the characters speak then we are shown the other character to see their reaction and response. This is using cause-and-effect to engage the audience, and show a narrative structure of the conversation.
The director, Lindsay Anderson, has a tendency to make the audience feel surprised, and does this by having close ups then cutting to a medium shot, allowing the action to take place. This was when character 1 hits the main character over the head. This is similar to the first scene I analysed, with the main character jumping out of the window. This destroys the audience’s expectations completely. After character 1 hits him over the head, the storyline changes. The shot cuts to black and reappears with close ups of the characters, and they are acting differently, as if the hit never happened. The camera then focuses on the main characters face and zooms in, so the audience is just looking at his face, mainly his lips and eyes, trying to figure out what is happening, the same when he is lying in the hospital bed. Anderson uses this as a motif, and a way to change what is happening within a scene. A J cut is then used from a close up of the face to hearing music from the next shot.
The next shot changes the storyline completely. It is a party scene. There us entertainment playing in the background, and everyone is smiling and hugging. The main character is always positioned centre of frame, and different characters enter and leave from the sides of the frame, making the shot more symmetrical. The coverage used in this next shot allows the audience to follow the couple dancing, and it is a way of showing the set/location and the extra characters involved. This scene has gone from still sharp cuts with no movement, to a scene that is full of movement, not one person is standing still. This allows the audience to create new expectations, ones that will hopefully not be destroyed. The coverage of the close ups of characters dancing shows their facial expressions , making us feel more connected to their situation. The entertainment is used as a way to cut up the continuous dancing scene, making what could have been a long shot, into small shots, with fast movements; which is also evident in the hospital scene, where it goes from being slow to fast-paced. As the song being sung says ‘around the world, in circles’, the camera is spinning, so everything and everyone seems to be orbiting around it. The camera then tilts up to the roof, suggesting something is about to happen, and it does. Balloons start falling to the ground adding to the party movement.
After analysing a scene from within this film and then the finale, they are different in the way the mood changes. The first scene left me feeling anxious, surprised, scared and trapped, where the director adds to these emotions by making him jump out of a window. However the final scene is different from this, as the director has created something fun, energetic, but still a bit crazy, through the coverage of the scene. There are motifs that kept reoccurring such as close up’s, sharp cuts, destroying audience expectations,and focusing of the face of the main character. This all shows Anderson’s methodology and personal style of cinema.
#1: Sitting in the editing suites, putting a scene together that was shot in 6 perspectives. You have to work out the best possible way to edit these shots to make the most effective scene. This can be difficult, as you don’t know whether to put the shots in chronological order, or edit them more creatively and have then within other shots, which could have a greater impact on the audience. Some of the shots were more difficult to cut, due to talking in the background, the boom pole in the corner of the shot, or someone having their shoulder in the shot also. Looking back at this, we should have noticed these things, and took more time to acknowledge these, so that the sound, camera position and lighting is right before it goes into the editing stage. This goes unnoticed until the shots are played back. I learnt multiple ways to make the shots more effective and fix the problems that we had on the footage. I was with a 3rd year who had the time to sit down with me and teach me what they know about editing, such as brightness and contrast, three colour wheel, shot positioning, and sound. I found this all to be helpful, because in the end, it made my edited scene more effective and appealing. After we had finished, Paul (tutor) came in and brought up the idea of having 2 or 3 shots instead of the six that we had. The idea of making the scene simpler and focusing more on the coverage and all of the technical elements. I can now see what he means when he says this, and next time I would like to try this approach and see how different it is to the overall scene.
#2: My main epiphany for this week would have to learning what J and L cuts are. I didn’t know anything about them, but then Paul explained to us that a J and L cut is a way of editing. A J cut is when the visual is seen before the sound is heard, so the sound from the next shot is overlapping the end of the visuals from the previous shot. An L cut is the opposite. The sound comes first, and then the visuals of the next shot overlap the sound from the previous shot. When I was in the editing suites, I was with a 3rd year student again and they showed me how they used an L cut in there edited scene. To me it looked more effective and appealing. It brings two shots together smoothly without having a sharp cut.
#3: What makes a good director? How do I tell everyone what I want them to do in order to get my perfect scene? Will they agree with me? What if I do it wrong? These were all of the questions I was asking myself when Paul told us what the next class exercise will be. He gave everyone random scripts, and individually within groups of six, we had to direct one shot each. This could be a small or as big as we wanted. This is preparing us in finding what our own methodology is. I have never been in a position of a director, and one of the hardest hurdles is having enough confidence in my ideas. This exercise helps with this, as everyone had to have a go. Some of the members of the group spoke up and gave me some ideas, but I had the final decision. This exercise show me what it takes to be in control of a shot individually. Having the final say on the coverage, camera position, lighting, sound, location, and the talent. Getting out of your comfort zone allows your creativity to shine, and allows you to step up to the plate and really have a go, and see what you are capable of creating.
In this week’s tutorial we were given another exercise to do. It was similar to exercise 1 in the first week. We broke up into groups of six and had to create two scenes. What everyone had to share was quite entertaining to watch, as everything unfolds in front of us, the group members seeing it the same time the audience does. We all interpreted the text/script differently, and again the word interpret is used again.To me, this is a key element to this course and the way we come to develop our own styles. After showing all of the scenes we produced within the constraints given, Paul decided not to show us the scene from the actual film, instead he said we can look it up in our own time, because what we have created is much better. This surprised me, because I thought how could be possibly create something that is better than the way it is meant to be. I guess having six heads being put together to come up with a scene opens the doors to endless possibilities that condense down to one idea. It also goes to show how constraints impact the coverage of a scene. Paul also showed us one group’s scene without sound, and it was so visually pleasing that he decided one of the shots was the best of the semester so far.
First class of Scene in Cinema for Semester One, 2015. What was said in the first tutorial was that there will be no comments about what the course will involve, no questions and little to no talking. We were divided into groups, and then handed a piece of paper each. Little did we know that each groups was different. On this piece of paper was a task. On the back was a script. We all had half an hour to practice and act out one scene. We had to share the roles of actor/director/camera operator. We had to go by the script and develop a scene within the space we had and with one camera, giving us constraints. During this exercise no one had any idea what was to come of this, it was all a bit vague. However, after sitting down and watching everyone else do theirs, we were all so different with our approaches. It was interesting how text/script is perceived and interpreted. After watching the actual scenes from the original films, some were similar, however my groups was completely different. After this I realised that it is how people interpret things, which determine the outcome. Now that I think about it in depth I can see why this was the structure of our first class.
#2:
To begin this course I had an idea of what I wanted to get out of it. After doing Cinema Studies in my first year, I figured out that I enjoyed deconstructing films or scenes to see how they work, and to know why they are made the way they are. I thought that choosing this course would be a continuation on from the cinema studies pathway, which is an area that interests me. In our first lecture we were shown specific scenes and then had to talk amongst ourselves about the coverage of the scene. Someone in the class could determine what the storyline of the entire film was about, just from the coverage of this one specific scene. After looking through the scenes, you start to notice all of the elements that put the scene together. As a scene opens out, you start to see the wider implications. The main points that i took away from Lecture One are:
-How directors work, their individual style impacts the film significantly.
-This course is all about individual research and practice.
-CONSTRAINTS: All people have to work from constraints, and this is normally where creativity can come from.
-A coverage of a scene is cinematic. The way it is made has its own meaning. Transcends its content.
The second scene we watched is from the film ‘Margret’. This is what was taken out of the scene’s coverage:
-Two shot perspective of camera (from characters).
-Shots are designed so the viewer sees the action at the same time the character does.
-Reoccurring elements such as, reflections, Bus and Cowboy hat.
-Things graphically change so much over time.
-It is like every shot is a different shot. Like a short film within the film.
This scene from “Oh Lucky Man” by Lindsay Anderson, begins with a view of the inside of a roof. The room is unclear until the camera slowly pans down revealing elements such as the bed-head, the lighting, the curtains, the decor, and the back of a patient lying in the bed, that it is set in a hospital. This is a way to set up a story, to introduce to the viewer where the location is and where this scene will be unfolding. People are talking while this panning is taking place, and the audience doesn’t know who they are until the camera finishes panning over the patient then starts begins at the waist of the following two characters, all the way up to their faces, revealing they are the medical staff. These two are having a conversation about the health of this man and what will need to be done in terms of treatment. As the panning comes to a stop, there is a cut to the patient’s face. At first you think it is to see the patient’s face, and give some closer detail within the scene, but then when the nurse is looking after the patient, the camera remains on the face, creating expectations for the audience that something to do with this is going to happen, because thats where the focus point has been created. Sure enough, when you here the door close to say the nurse has left you see the patient’s eyes open when they have been shut for beginning. This is still a shock, and the camera emphasises that as it zooms in closer to the eyes. Within this scene the camera seems to show close-ups of important details, making the audience read signs, and then destroy our expectations when we see the patient walk out the door that is beside this sign. Within this scene there is a reoccurring motif of doors opening and closing. When a door opens or closes, the scene is taken someone else, into a new room, or a new part to the storyline, or has new characters enter or exit at these times. When the character goes through these doors it is into a new space, meaning the audience is always trying to work out what is going to happen. The only lighting that is used in the hospital rooms are the lights beside the bed, which adds a more dramatic and uncertain mood to the scene. As the action unfolds the director has made the next part to this scene not visible to the audience until we see the main character’s reaction, then the camera cuts to the second patient. This coverage sets up a more dramatic and suspenseful scene, where the audience isn’t seeing the drama unfold at the same time the character does, instead we see the reactions first, allowing us to create expectations of what we might see next. Once we do see the next patient, and hear the loud scream, the scene becomes chaotic. What started out a slow panning shots, changes to doors slamming, sharp cuts and running frantically, which all leads up to the main patient jumping through a glass window, and this is how the scene ends. Having this coverage for the scene, suggests to the audience that is leading up to something, the drama is progressing, the instability of the patient is shown, and as the drama unfolds we are seeing it through his eyes. The more he sees the more drama there is within the scene.
Social memory is an underlying topic that network Literacy positively influences. To begin with, the past can exist as personal memories and as a social construction, and conveys a connective structure to societies, groups and individuals socially. Jan Assmann the author of Communicative and Cultural Memory, states that, “Memory is what allows us to construe an image or narrative of the past and, by the same process, to develop an image and narrative of ourselves. It is here that allows human beings to orient themselves personally and collectively in terms of the future, the past, or both”. Following on from this, Adrian Miles states“Networked Literacies are marked by your participation as a peer in these flows and networks – you contribute to them and in turn can share what others provide”. This quote connects to the statement of social memory, which will be explored throughout this piece.
Memory is about communication and social interaction.It was Maurice Halbwach’s (sociologist and philosopher) great discovery that our memory depends on socialisation and communication, and that it can be analysed as a function of social life. It is known that the further one moves into the past, information becomes knowingly scarce and vague. This is how networked literacy helps this issue, as everything is recorded on the web.Social Memory is a “concept used by historians and others to explore the connection between social identity and historical memory. It asks how and why diverse people come to think of themselves as members of a group with a shared past” (Scott A. French). It puts emphasis on the social contexts where people have group identities and conflict perceptions on their past. “Social memory is the result of a blend between public and personal memorisation” (University Leiden). Individual lives are both from personal and social identity, where memories define us as individuals and collectives. “The individual consciousness by which we recognise ourselves as persons, and the collective consciousness by which groups identify and organise themselves and act with agency, arise from and are sustained by memory. Individual relationships to time and memory are highly subjective and individual. They are social, for the exercise of memory very often involves others” (Anthropological perspectives, 2002). An example of this is where, memories shared with others enables those who did not experience the events to include them among their memories.
For those who may ask what the connection between social memory and network literacy is, and how it relates to today’s society, you must first understand network literacy. Adrian Miles states that “Network literacy is, in a nutshell, being able to participate as a peer within the emerging knowledge networks that are now the product of the Internet, and to have as ‘deep’ an understanding of the logics or protocols of these networks as we do of print” (2007). The internet is a way for everyone to connect, for people to read, write and develop online relationships through the use of literacy. To be network literate, you need to be able to connect with individuals through the use of online resources, that all connect to one another. This relates back to tags and links. Everything joins up, links out to external sources, however everything is accessible and allows for interaction between online users. It is a way to connect to the past and future, a way to create memories, and we rely on the internet to discover information. Networking and the Internet is the way of the future, and people need to know what to use and how to use it. In class we all contribute to a blog. We post photos, videos, stories, and information on the web that allows the human memory to activate. Without us contributing there would not be as much emphasis around network literacy. We blog, we share , and we contribute to the online world and the internet and society rely on this for a coherent space that allows people to interact, communicate, share and learn. Social Memory in network literacy, would affect how we make media, because however long society keeps changing so does the Internet. We create and provide what we need, and because of networking, social memories will benefit, as it has been recorded and documented. Social Memory influences the future of media, as we rely on memories for everyday practices. Below is an example of social memory from the television show ‘The Big Bang Theory’.
Museums and libraries are also now going online and this shows just how significant the change in media has become to create ways of being connected. An article called Information Literacy: The Changing Library by guest author Cushla Kapitzke, outlining how print literacy is the way of the past, everything is heading towards the online area of networked literacy. An example of this is Australia’s largest online Library that is now open for business from the 27th February. Developed by the National Library of Australia is ‘Libraries Australia’, a service that allows anyone with internet access to select from over 40million items from over 800 libraries across the nation. Jan Fullerton (National Library Director-General) says that “Libraries Australia changes the dynamics of the way people use libraries. Libraries have continually been at the forefront of technology to improve the way people find the information they need”. An example within this that relates to networking and a database is the way the technology and data is contributed from across multiple libraries, making it easy to search for information from the collections of public, research, government, arts and health. For examples on these, click on the follow images below.
A feature called “Social Cyborg” is a term that is used for people that have integrated social networks and information technology through the way they learn. It takes advantage of networked people and information systems. You need to think of the “Social Cyborg” as a human-computer that belongs to a social network. It is constantly connected to information, and memories, and has access to hundreds of documents that are in constant communication globally. To go back in history briefly the 1990‘s introduced the networked desktop that had the World Wide Web, where E-mail became a form of communication. It was here that the internet became a base for shared information globally.My generation is known as the ‘digital natives’, as we don’t know what it is like with no internet. In 2004 Facebook was created, and has millions of users. From the article ‘Dawn of the Social Cyborg’ by Joe Campell and William Finegan states, “As these technologies spread, people with access to them started spending increasing amounts of their time on computers and online—playing games, doing work, communicating with friends and colleagues via e-mail and text, and surfing the Internet. Experience of the world increasingly was mediated through technology. People with access to this technology, in particular those who grew up using it, were adapting their behaviour to take advantage of the new technologies and networks”. Social Cyborgs research problems through the social networks and information resources available to them. They filter through information with knowledge systems such as Wikipedia, and is distributed through technology and people.
It is all about the ability to connect with people, places, and organisations globally, to make communication easier, and information more accessible. Going into the future of media, it is important to have a way to communicate, and interact with the people around us. Through social memory, we contribute and share information that helps reinforce the notion that networking is the future and we rely on it everyday. Through networking it is important to share and contribute online, because without it, social memory would not be an easily accessible source. We post photos, videos, text, and so do other people. We are then able to share this, creating a web of links connecting various sources together. Having these webs is what enables us to trigger our memories whether communicative or collective.
Duncan J. Watts in his book ‘Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age’, reinforces the idea that everything and everyone is connected. An example that was used was a spider’s web. We all weave into each other, whether it be through friends or internationally. This reading started off with electric power. This is a highly important source that the world relies on, it is how we live. It is the backbone of the economy and of civilised life. It is the most essential feature of the modern world. From what we consume to what we do as a society, power is needed to function. Networks are continuously evolving and is a self-constituting system. There is a set of relationships between individuals, leading into the six degrees of separation. We all know someone who will know another person that will know someone else.
A statement from Ted Nelson reads as follows, “The Future is not what it used to be”. We are entering into a new age, where everything is online. The written word has changed dramatically, and society will change alongside this. It is said that offices will be paperless, and that the world is advancing into a place where hypertext and hypermedia are taking over. There will be no more print literacy. We are leading an open hypertext network. To sit back and think about what the future is going to be like, no one can tell exactly. Due to society being such a connected place, it is easy to see how network literacy greatly influences social memory, and allows us humans to revisit the past, and see into the future.
-Amy Ryan
WORD COUNT: 1665
Bibliography:
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