WEEK THREE REFLECTION: ONLINE AUTHENTICITY & BRANDING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJst1XaqF1k
What does it mean to be authentic whilst growing up in a digital world which encapsulates brand culture?
Sarah Banet-Weiser refers brand cultures to “the way in which…brand relationships have increasingly become cultural contexts for everyday living, individual identity, and affective relationships” (2012, pg. 4). Whether we are conscious of it or not, our personalities, thoughts and ideas are heavily constructed by the online world of branding and trends. Bo Burnham’s film, Eight Grade (2016) visualises this concept for us. Not only was I taken back to the horror days of middle school, but I was forced to discover how impressionable young children can be in regard to their attitudes and personalities being shaped by what they are exposed to online. So much so that all of those younger kids seem to already own mobile phones at this age, where 10 years it was a different story. But why do all of these children have mobile phones in middle school? Branding. If you were to not have a mobile device, you were part of the minority and as this film discusses, being apart of the minority can seem like the end of the world at 14. But it gets deeper than just owning mobile phones.
It has been an on-going trend and debate on which brand of phone is better: Apple or Samsung? Apple devices are shown as being trendier while those who own Android devices are often ridiculed. Apple has branded their products so well, that we as consumers no longer care so much about the quality of the phones but instead the ideology that comes with owning them.
Banet-Weiser, S (2012), ‘Introduction: Branding the Authentic’ and ‘Conclusion: The Politics of Ambivalence’ from AuthenticTM: The Politics of Ambivalence in a Brand Culture, NYU, page 4.
WEEK TWO REFLECTION: VIDCON PREP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxDx311Zei0
This week was extremely versatile in regard to what we learnt.
I was super grateful to work with Paul again and be reminded of his expertise. Something as simple as learning how to use a tripod (while looking cool) and working with pro-cameras such as the Sony Ex3 can be really valuable. It makes us as students reflect on which equipment we are comfortable with and how the final product can vary depending on what camera we use. This will be important for us to consider as we get closer to attending Vidcon.
I enjoyed the different style of vlogging this week, also. For someone who isn’t the most comfortable just speaking to a camera, it was fun to experiment with trying to make a simple task appear more beautiful. In my opinion, creating something cinematic doesn’t mean every shot has to be perfected or super still and flawless. A shaky shot can still be beautiful. If more consideration is taken into account while framing or colour grading in post, something super boring can suddenly become interesting. A challenge I had was working with the lighting in my apartment’s bedroom. The lighting would go from super sunny to super not so sunny; most of my shots appeared super blue. I was able to fix this in post with a quick colour grade, however, some shots I couldn’t match due to being filmed 20 minutes apart and the sun was going down. Other than that, I am happy with my result.
PRODUCTION SET-UP:
WEEK ONE REFLECTION: VLOGGING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0-r8-vqUR4
Online media is a forever growing and adaptive form. Through changes in viewer trends and progression in technology, online media platforms and the content we see on them can change significantly in a short period of time.
This week in class, we focused on the creation of ‘vlogging’ and how this term has led to a different art style of filming content. In particular, this piece-to-piece style of filming led to a spark of interest within consumers on YouTube. In class we watched a documentary called Vlogumentary, which focused on vlogging and YouTubers who specialised in this style. Creators such as ShayCarl (Shaytards) and Charles Trippy (CTFxC) were the main subjects of this film and showcase their love for not just vlogging, but creating and distributing vlogs DAILY. Unlike most of the people in the class, I knew of those YouTubers; I watched ShayCarl years ago and enjoyed watching his content. What surprised me was how most of the YouTuber’s shown in this film have either stopped creating videos or have become insignificant. The ‘top dogs’ of YouTube back when this film was created (2016) are now so irrelevant that most young people in 2019 don’t have the slightest clue who they are.
Why is this so? Of course the ShayTards lost traction when they went on a year long break and Shay’s affair got exposed, but not all of these vloggers had scandals. Has vlogging become an overdone concept through online media? I am prompted to learn more about the trend of ‘vlogging’ and how the style has changed from 2016 to now.
PRODUCTION SET UP:
