All posts by James Heywood

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Networked Media

Instagram Week 2 – Videos // Networked Media // Week 10

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Video 1

This was taken after leaving my Tuesday 8:30 am class for Networked Media, whilst travelling to the Swanston St library to do some editing. This is the burrito shop in the courtyard area.

Video 2

This was taken later that day when I was leaving the library to go to study outside and eat some lunch. This is the revolving doors near that same burrito shop in the courtyard.

Authoring

To take the first video, I stood roughly about a meter away from the entrance of the burrito store (which was barely open, and people were quite confused by my presence). I walked a few steps forward to trigger the motion sensors of the door, waited until the door was fully opened and stepped back and recorded as the door closed fully. My hands are a bit shaky, but I tried to keep the door frame around the edges of the square Instagram format my Samsung S9+’s rear camera gave me whilst using the applications camera feature, as with all other posts.

In the second video, the rotating door rotates without a prompt from a human, so I stood about 2 meters away from it, allowing to capture the entrance and exit in the full frame dimensions the application gave to me. I am really happy with this framing, and personally think it looks the best in the still thumbnail version you see before the video autoplays, just like the video before it.

Both videos are edited the same way, with the Inkwell filter being reduced to around 60-80 % to give the moving images a desaturated effect. Furthermore, I kept the original audio from both clips. From there, they are almost ready to post.

Publishing

The first video takes a different approach to giving a title, less literal. “Slow It Down” felt like a more poetic name, reflecting the slow-moving door and how we should all stop and appreciate the little things in life. This was the second video posted to this Instagram and the fourth post overall.

The second video is titled “In Rotation”, which is the name of a rap song by Jay Rock, but also, what the door does in the video, spinning around endlessly in a 360-degree rotation.  This is the third video posted to my Assignment 3 Instagram, and the sixth post overall

Both were location tagged at RMIT University before uploading.

Distributing

For the first video, I used the same spacing format and hashtagged it with the classic #doors and #melbourne, and started hashtagging the uni with #rmituniversity. This post, at the time of writing, received 11 views and 11 likes, the most on this account to date, with one nice (and real) comment.

The second post uses the same hashtags and spacing as previously mentioned, but includes some context-specific ones such as #loop to try and bring in new users to engage. However, this is my lowest engagement to date, with the post having only 9 views and 6 likes as of writing this.

Both videos were shared to my personal Twitter and Tumblr accounts, which carries over all hashtags for even more external reach. As of yet, I am unable to see any direct overlap between the application’s users.

Networked Media

Instagram Week 2 – Picture // Networked Media // Week 10

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Picture

This picture was inspired by walking from one of my classes to the library, where I noticed that the two sliding doors that create an airlock of sorts between building 12 and 10 of RMIT University looked ‘cool’.

Authoring

To capture this image, I rushed through both doorways from one side to the other, and inconveniently stood in the centre of the walkway. I waited for the first door (pictured in the back) to be almost closed as the door I stood in front of (pictured at the front) started to close.  I used my Samsung S9+’s rear-facing camera to capture the moment using the photo tool on Instagram, making the process seamless. From there, I did the usual, adjusted the Inkwell filter to somewhere around 60 and 80 %, giving it a desaturated look, and was almost ready to post.

Publishing 

As with all my other posts to this Instagram account, I went with a minimalist and possibly ‘douchey’ title, “One Door Opens, One Door Closes”, which I meant literally, but I’m more than happy to have people read into it. Furthermore, I spaced the hashtags out with 5 periods. This is my third picture uploaded to the account, but my fifth post overall. I realised that the “Picture, Video, Picture” grid format wasn’t going to work aesthetically unless I went “Video, Picture, Video” too.

I had intended to take a picture for the Instagram account between this class and some quality study time at the library, but this was my second attempt for an image, as some similar sliding doors down the stairs didn’t end up looking as nice, and therefore, deleted the image. I tagged the image at RMIT University before I uploaded.

Distribution

I kept to a similar style of hashtagging as prior posts, #doors, #desaturated etc. In addition, this newer post has some more context-specific (and again, possibly ‘douchey’) hashtags such as #duality.  This was also my first week of extending the distribution of the posts, sharing them to both my personal Twitter and Tumblr.

Both do not have massive followings, but the like ratio has drastically changed, with this current image, and at the time of writing has 11 likes, and 1 comment. However, the comment is a site trying to get me to pay them money to repost my picture, but it looks good for the rep!

From the second batch of content onwards, some of my friends found this account, and started to follow and like my content (with no influence by me).

Networked Media

Instagram Week 1 – Video // Networked Media // Week 9

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Video

This video was taken whilst waiting for my tram home outside building 80 of RMIT University. I liked the slow, methodical slide of the sliding door, and how it was both see-through and slightly reflective, fitting the theme of the account

Authoring 

I walked up to the sliding door of the building, standing about a meter away as to not block both the doorway or the footpath it entered out onto. From there, I waited for the door to open, and began to take a clean, no break clip of people walking in through the door, with the intention of stopping recording once the door had fully closed. I used the back camera of my Samsung S9+, captured through the direct video selection of the ‘post’ screen, so the process of posting the video to Instagram was the most convenient.

From there, I cemented my colour pallet theme and applied a 60-80 % saturated ‘Inkwell’ filter to the video, giving it a desaturated look. I kept the original audio from the video, as I felt like it added a soundscape to the piece.

Publishing

I continued with the titling theme of the image before this, going for the literal title ‘Reflecting Slide’, because of the reflection the door creates and the motion of which it travels. I then used 5 spaced out periods to isolate the title from the hashtags.

This was the second post to the Instagram account, which began the theme of ‘Image, Video, Image’, which I plan to continue throughout the assignment.  I tagged the location as Melbourne City Centre, even though it was taken at RMIT, purely because it was the first option to pop up.

Distribution

I continued with the abundance of ‘basic’ and obvious hashtags to again, reach further than my at the time 0 fan base. These included the typical #doors, #desaturated and #melbourne. Furthermore, I added some video specific ones, such as #video, and some content specific ones, such as #reflections. As of writing, this video has 7 likes.

This first week’s batch did not include any further distribution, to see the effects it has on engagement, which included this video.

Networked Media

Instagram Week 1 – Pictures // Networked Media // Week 9

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Picture 1 

This is the first image I posted, which started the theme of this part of Assignment 3. After leaving a lecture for Networked Media, I noticed this glass door, with an opaque gradient created from the light. The different levels of opacity intrigued me, and I snapped a picture of it.

Picture 2

This was the second image I took for my Instagram account, and the third post I made to it. I was traming home along Lygon street and decided that the tram doors applied to both the somewhat see-through and urban aesthetic my account was going for, and decided to snap a picture from my seat

Authoring

For the first image, I lined myself up towards the door, opening the Instagram application, and snapping the picture directly from the camera feature in the post-selection screen, where you have a choice between ‘Gallery’, ‘Camera’, and ‘Video’. I chose to do this to make these images and videos the most ‘Instagram based’ they could be, with everything being done in house. I used the back facing camera of my Samsung S9+, converted through the aforementioned camera software in the Instagram app. I tried to line the borders of the door slightly in the borders of the square of Instagram’s portrait mode dimensions.

For the second image, I captured it from the seat of the tram I was sitting on, leaning slightly over to try and align the beams of the motorised door somewhat in the centre (doesn’t seem to have worked). I again used my Samsung S9+’s back camera through the camera feature of Instagram.

From there, I applied the ‘Inkwell’ filter in the Instagram application but reduced it’s intensity to around 60-80%, giving it a desaturated feel.  No other adjustments were made to the images from there.

 

Publishing

I decided I wanted to title the images in a similar, vague theme. The first one was titled ‘Opaque’ because of how the door’s opacity doesn’t allow you to see clearly through it. The second image was titled ‘Push and Pull’ due to the way the tram doors operate, seemingly pushing and pulling against their gears. I then, as with all other pictures to come, spaced out 5 periods before adding my hashtags.

These images were captured in one take and were the only images I had in mind at the time. I tagged the location of RMIT University for the first, and Brunswick East for the second.

 

Distribution

For the first image, I used a various abundance of hashtags to distribute my images further than my (at the time) 0 follower fanbase. I decided to go vague, using things like #doors and #desaturated to try and capture an artistic and strange market. Furthermore, I also used more basic and commonly used hashtags such as #melbourne, for broad distribution.

For the second image,  I used the same, vague and artsy hashtags as the previous post, but got a little more specific, such as addressing the tram itself with #publictransport and #tram

Doing this seems to have garnered me a large number of likes compared to what I was respected, with the time of this post, both pictures having over 5 likes each. I decided not to share both these images, or the first video post, to other social media sites, to determine if the external distribution would have any effect on the engagement of the profile and their retrospective images.

Networked Media

Review // Networked Media // Assignment 2

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I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services

Blog Index

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Review – Word Count: 1078

Provide a Definition of ‘Analogue Photography’

Analogue refers to the pre-digital age of a medium, often in a physical form.  An example of an analogue process is a ruler, which uses physical lines and numbers for the user to determine the length or width of an object or surface (Woodford, C. 2010-2012). These are often tedious procedures, involving skill and knowledge.

With the background of the concept out of the way, analogue photography refers to ‘old style’ film photography, using an analogue camera (Woodford, C. 2010-2012).  The process of analogue photography used plastic film to react and record light onto these physical strips, which were then carefully developed in a chemical solution and printed onto image paper, and hung to dry. In the early days of the practice, these images were often black and white.

 

Provide a Definition of ‘Analogue Video’

Analogue video is very different from how digital video operates. Lister describes the process of analogue as physical properties being stored as ‘analogous’, or similar, tactile form (2009, pg.17). Similarly to analogue photography, light is reflected through a photosensitive lens onto a plate, with its patterns are captured as a voltage, and converted into grooves and frequencies.

During the days of analogue television, these frequencies were sent to broadcast televisions using ariels and transmitted to homes, projecting the previously captured light to the back of television screens, creating a moving image. This transfer of radio waves can happen both on a national scale and on a local scale

 

Provide a Definition of ‘Networked Photography’

Networked photography is often associated with mobile camera devices, such as smartphones or tablets.  They have become something new and revolutionary in the grand history of photography, being most people’s ‘default consumer camera’ ( Palmer, D. 2014, pg. 249). These devices are able to capture a moment or memory instantly to your device, with the storage capacity beyond the wildest dreams of the analogue photography age.

This is because images are no longer stored physically, but rather, digitally. Instead of the aforementioned physically labouring task of developing photos using film, images captured on smart devices are converted and stored as a digital code. This allows for files to be unbelievably small in scale, and easily convertible. This means that most networked photography content is authored, published and distributed all on the one device, through services such as Instagram.

 

Provide a Definition of ‘Networked Video’

Networked video, similar to networked photography, is an evolution of its counterpart, analogue video.  While networked video also completely redefined the storage of video products, it also changed how we interact with video media.  Originally, all video was ‘hard video’, with a physical end to the product, once you had viewed it, it was done. This was reminiscent of the analogue print media format. However, with the rise of video-blogging, video became endless, or ‘soft’, with hyperlinks and suggested autoplays keeping users in a constant, compelling loop.  This was the peak of ‘refreshingly amateur’ (Berry, T. 2018, pg.8) content, having a smaller scale and relatable vibe compared to the mainstreams of Hollywood. This was people being people

Furthermore, once platforms like DailyMotion and YouTube hit the world, video blogs and other content could be uploaded with even more ease, rather than learning to meticulously code in videos to your blog,  footage could be uploaded seamlessly to the web. This progressed as social media has, and now, users can make, upload and distribute video content almost anywhere, even Instagram.

 

Provide Definitions for the Terms ‘Authoring’, ‘Publishing’ and ‘Distributing’

Authoring – The Creation of Content
Authoring refers to the process of capturing and/or creating the product you are going to post. An example of authoring a product would be taking a photo of a tree on your mobile phone, and saving it to the camera roll.

Publishing – The Initial Sharing of Content
Publishing refers to the process of sharing the authored content to an initial audience, whether that be on a specific platform, to a specific group or on a specific press run. An example of publishing would be posting that previously mentioned photo of a tree to your Instagram for your followers.

Distributing – Getting the Content Further
Distributing refers to the process of attempting to reach a larger audience in comparison to the published audience. This can involve sharing the content on different social media sites, categorising and hyperlinking the product. An example of distributing is adding hashtags to your photo of the aforementioned tree to reach a larger audience.

 

What Differences and Similarities did you discover between the way Analogue and Networked Photos are Authored, Published and Distributed?

While networked photography is an evolution of its analogue counterpart, it has differed greatly in scale and accessibility. Analogue photography was an expensive and exclusive hobby, not easily available to everyone.  Film wasn’t cheap, and to publish a taken photo either took an immense amount of skill and resources to develop personally, or costed money to get done professionally. In comparison, networked photography almost completely breaks down all the barriers held up by analogue, with every other device on the planet having a camera, with the ability to capture staggeringly good photographs. Furthermore, there are more options with how photos are taken, such as in colour, rather than the B&W of typical analogue pictures.

Networked photography also allows for cheaper and easier publishing and distributing methods. Pictures can be instantly uploaded and shared on software such as Instagram to your immediate friends and the world. However, this raises the debate of ‘photography as an art form’ over a ‘social practice‘ (Kamila, K. Zylinska, J. 2015, pg.8) with analogue photographers being a bigger deal due to the skill needed, in comparison to anyone being able to take a picture now. Furthermore,  film photography meant that every capture mattered, with people taking more time for ‘pure vision’, and would often result in more ‘art’ being produced and distributed.

 

What Differences and Similarities did you discover between the way Analogue and Networked Videos are Authored, Published and Distributed?

Networked video is somewhat of a hybrid of its counterpart, analogue video. Analogue is hard-video; it has a structured and physical start and end. When you go to the cinemas, the movie eventually ends, and you leave. In contrast, networked video is soft, it has no direct or clear end, it can link off or suggest similar content to keep you watching. This is because there is a staggering amount of content being authored and published every second, on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.

This ease of video production opens the world up to a variety of niche and ‘amateur’ content that can be more recognisable than cinema to the right person. However, there are still generations of people who don’t get the appeal of this kind of content, and prefer the traditional distribution of television and film, completely disregarding networked video as a legitimate art form or entertainment medium

Reference List

Berry, T. B 2018, ‘Situating Videoblogging’, Institute of Network Cultures,  pp. 9–22

Kamila K & Zylinska J, editors. Photomediations: A Reader. Open Humanities Press, 2016, http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/ titles/photomediations/ (pp.7-16)

Lister, M et al 2009, ‘New Media: A Critical Introduction.’ Routledge, New York, pp. 16-21

Palmer, D 2014 ‘Mobile Media Photography’, in The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media, (eds) Goggin G., Hjorth L., Routledge, New York pp. 249–55.

Woodford, C. (2010/2012) Analog and digital. Retrieved from https://www.explainthatstuff.com/analog-and-digital.html

Networked Media

Networked Video // Networked Media // Week 8

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Joe Winkler – @joewinkler4

Royal

Video

Who is the Practitioner?

Joe Winkler is an Australian resident and student, as well as an aspiring media creator and often uploads both image, and in this case, video content to his Instagram. I know and am friends with him personally.  Video wise, he creates short-form visual products, accompanied often by his own musical endeavours.

 How was the Video Authored?

The 1-minute video was recorded on his personal DSLR camera, edited and animated on his desktop, exported to his mobile device. It consists of all original content filmed and made by him.

How was the Video Published?

Once exported to his phone, Joe would upload the video to his Instagram, primarily to his followers and immediate friends.  It was uploaded on the 25th of April of 2019.

How was the Video Distributed?

The video was primarily distributed on Instagram to his immediate followers, not including any #hastags to gain any external publicity.

 

Small Things

Project Progression // Small Things // Assignment 2 & Project

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So far, our group for the final project of the year is Tessa, David Leslie and I, with our groupmate Esther M.I.A. (not to worry, we are waiting to hear from her soon and fill her in).

Our idea stemmed from my presentation f in which two robbers are waiting in an elevator to rob someone, and strange, often comedic events happen in-between. I had not written any concrete ideas for the idea, so the 4 of us have collectively brainstormed and now almost finished scripting the project. Having it be a collaborative writing and idea generating project has been really enjoyable, with no single person feeling overwhelmed with work, and many different ideas making the concept even funnier and fleshed out than I could have done solo.

We have been pretty on top of pre-production so far. We have casting calls out for both main actors and some extras, with a positive and active response on both. We have a location to film a majority of the project on, and have started listing and brainstorming set ideas and prop lists. The 4 of us are committed to the project, and willing to take both time and money to put into it. It’s very exciting!

Recently, we have been doing some test shoots and runs for the opening montage scene of our project, trying out different ways we could shoot the scene. These have included planned out whip pans, slow transitional cuts and the typical montage quick cut formula.

We will continue to review and test out new ideas for how to film both that scene and the rest of the film, as well as continue the pre-production stage of the project until we are ready to film (hopefully the 18th and 19th of May!)

But I’ll keep you posted!

Small Things

Deconstuction – Mid90s // Small Things // Assignment 2

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Mid90s was released last year commercially but only hit select cinemas here in Australias around a couple of weeks ago. It was the directorial debut for Jonah Hill, who also wrote the film, and I was very excited for its release. I saw it a few days ago and was floored by the phenomenal acting, vibe and style this film bolsters, as well as the technical achievements, especially while filming on film. The scene below is from around the halfway point of the film.

(Language Warning)

In the scene above, the main character Stevie (played by Sunny Suljic) is being forced to accompany his mother (played by Katherine Waterson) as she confronts his newly made older friends. Stevie then proceeds to blast his mother with insults for embarrassing him, as they both break down in their own way.

The film’s camera movements for a majority of this scene are minimal or non-existent, using still mid shots, intercut with perspective shots from the kids in the skate shop during the confrontation. However, the most powerful use of camera movement is during the car argument. The camera is fixed on the mother, but follows Stevie as he towers over her, screaming into her face. This erratic movement following the actor really bolsters the tense feeling the scene is attempting to portray, matching the instability of the aggravated character.

The film uses a lot of wide shots. This gives the actors room to be versatile within the space, but also could be representative of the loneliness and scale Stevie feels in this world. The world seems to be swallowing up all the happiness around him, and all he is left with is his skateboard and his thoughts. The film also uses wide shots to show off the set design and mise-en-scene of the film.

The world is set during the mid-90s (as the title suggests) and the mise-en-scene reflects that. The opening shot of the LA streets is filled with vintage wagons, physical painted shop signs and pedestrians sitting outside shopfronts, conversing and smoking. Similarly, when the two enter the skate shop, the boys are sitting around tattered and old couches, with skateboards surrounding the walls and old fashion technology being the forefront of the entertainment. All these aspects make the audience believe the film is set during the 90s, and keeps you immersed in the feature.

The colour grading matches the 90s aesthetic, with washed out, mellow colours being manipulated to match the fashion and structure style of the time, with a sense of nostalgia for old home video throughout. The sky is always a light, faded blue, which adds to the nostalgia of the footage. Furthermore, lighting is lowkey, with the scene mainly being lit with sunlight or naturalistic blue lighting, creating a realistic daytime setting for the store.

The performances in this film are intense and human, acting more like real people rather than characterisations. The boys sitting around the couches all react differently to the agitated mother, some are in shock and try to defuse the situation, while others poke fun and joke at the situation, making things worse. These are all human characteristics of adolescent boys, who are going through stages of rebellion and discovery, which really adds to the realness of both the tone of this scene and the film as a whole.

I really admire this film and this scene particularly, as it captures the tone and feel of the 90s, while focusing on the actors and their performances. I can’t wait to see what Jonah Hill does next filmmaking wise

Small Things

There’s Always Room for Improvement – Reflection // Small Things // Assignment 2

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You will always continue to improve your filmmaking, because you’re never going to fully ‘have it’.

For this shoot, Nelson, Gill, Belinda, Melody and I worked with Astley’s script to create a short, two-line production. The tone and theme of the script was mysterious, so Belinda, Nelson and I workshopped the preproduction aspects of the project on Monday. While the original plans to stage the scene had to be changed, as we could not get the room we originally had written in, we were happy with our compromise in the garage area of Building 10, adding to the mystery and sketchy nature of the script. We worked with Tessa and Jasmine as actors, who were VERY helpful and cooperative, contributing and listening to us.

Overall it was a very pleasant shoot, I ‘firsted’ which was something I had never done and while it was a lot of work, it was very fulfilling. I edited this project at home, and was really happy with the quality of the shots that were captured, with minimal continuity errors, as well as only a few framing issues. Nothing disastrous, just something that comes with a tight schedule. I found some royalty free music that I felt fit the scene perfectly, and I messed around with a bit of colour grading to bring out the blues and cold tones of the project, adding to the overall mood.

I am really proud of this piece, but it’s not perfect. There is a fair bit of white noise in the audio, and we should have recorded more isolated audio on the set for ADR when editing. But what I’ve come to learn through this shoot, Paul and this studio as a whole is that my filmmaking is never going to be perfect, there is always going to be something new to learn, whether that’s a new technique, new pre or post-production skill or just a new way to tackle a problem. And that’s both nerve-racking and exciting. It means filmmaking is never going to get stale or repetitive, That’s cool as!

Small Things

Too Many Cooks – Reflection // Small Things // Assignment 2

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There can be too many cooks in one kitchen when you’re new, and when I say cooks, I mean equipment.

The crew for this scene was David, Sarah, Peyton and I, and we had never encountered a task quite like this.  For this shoot, we were recording both sound and video separately, and were required to sync the audio up in post together in pairs.  David and I edited together down in the suites, and while I feel like we did the best we could with what we had, the real fear, anxiety and chaos came from the shoot itself. That was the day I realised that you need at least 3 to 4 people in a crew for things to run smoothly.

The shooting part was very stressful for all of us, which was intentional by Paul (cheeky). The lack of preparation, experience and any real concept was enough to make anyone crack, not just amateurs. As you can see in the above video, scenes drag on way too long, boom microphones come into the frame (sorry, that was me), and audio is slightly noticeably out of sync. While this felt like a useless disaster at the time, looking back on it now, it now feels like an informative and helpful disaster.

What I learnt from this was that shoots like this require an intense amount of pre-production, such as a shot schedule, shot list and storyboard. Without this, or any real thought of what to shoot, you and your crew can be left aimless and confused like we were. Furthermore, The shot checklist is integral, and while ours wasn’t too bad and actually helped, I realised the importance of these in post, as it allowed for the merging process to be so much more efficient.

Finally, out of everything this task taught me, the most crucial thing I took away from this was to be open and communicate with your crew. I was fortunate enough to work with people who were, while as stressed as myself, able and willing to communicate with each other to solve the problems of the moment.

Oh, and also, check to see if the boom mic is sticking in frame!