NETWORKED MEDIA: ASSIGNMENT #3 – REPORT

JESSIE CAESAR – S3787379

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

MAKING MEDIA BLOG LINKS

WEEK NINE – PHOTO
WEEK NINE – VIDEO
WEEK TEN – PHOTO
WEEK TEN – VIDEO
WEEK ELEVEN – PHOTO
WEEK ELEVEN – VIDEO

THIS REPORT RESPONDS DIRECTLY TO THE COURSES PROMPT:

How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?

THE AFFORDANCES OF INSTAGRAM AND AUTHORING IN THE AGE OF INSTAGRAMISM (Word Count: 1,192):

Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform created in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger before it was purchased by Facebook in 2012. Since then, it has vastly grown, becoming one of the most popular social networking sites (SNS) – “As the number of Instagram users grew from 30 million in 2012 to 300 million by the end of 2014, it became a valuable advertising and marketing medium. The number of Instagram advertisers increased from 200,000 in 2/2016 to one million in 3/2017 (Manovich, L., 2016, pp. 4).”

While the platforms popularity continues to grow, with its affordances inspiring a huge change in the world of visual design, it would seem that we have become obsessed with achieving what is called ‘Instagram aesthetic’ in everything possible. “Instagram has become synonymous with visual design and visual experiences. Instagram’s impact has become material, with devices, spaces, cultural institutions and homes all being re-designed and reimagined for the peak Instagram aesthetic experience (Leaver, T., Highfield, T., & Abidin, C., 2020, pp. 150)”.

Our courses prompt of How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network? has a direct relationship with this idea of ‘Instagram aesthetics’, as the affordances of Instagram are what’s used to achieve this aesthetic – ultimately affecting the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed within the network.

In this report, I endeavour to discuss this relationship with our courses prompt, ‘Instagram aesthetics’, how everything in the world has fast become designed to meet this aesthetic in a movement Lev Manovich calls ‘Instagramism’, and how I came to this conclusion over my past semesters findings.

When attempt to unpack the courses prompt, How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?, we must break it up into sections to understand it – defining affordances, authoring, publishing, distributing, photo, video and the network in seperate parts.

Affordances refer to the possibilities that technologies present. This quote from Lister’s New Media: A Critical Introduction is the perfect start, when we attempt to understand and define Affordances. “Technology is not all there is to culture, nor does it determine it in some predictable or absolute way; rather, technologies afford cultural possibilities, not all of which are exploited or actualised (Lister, M., 2009, pp.15).” Authoring refers to how a media practitioner produces their work – the creative choices they make along the way, as they take their photo or video. Publishing refers to where the media practitioner publishes or showcases their work. Distributing refers to where and how the media practitioner distributes or shares their work to, or with. In this case, publishing and distribution would both happen on the platform Instagram, itself. Photo and video, obviously referring to the images we capture from our devices. And finally, the network refers to the internet and social media itself, and how our content is is circulated through it and between one-another. For example, “The Visual Methodologies programme… straightforwardly entails that… online
images become ‘networked’ when users like, share, comment or tag them, and
also when platforms and engines format, filter, feed and recommend them to
others. Images may also be networked across platforms through their circulation,
when the same image is fed to or otherwise resonating on different platforms and
websites (Niederer, S., 2018, pp. 7)”. After pulling apart, defining and comprehending the courses prompt, we are able to respond to the prompt, find the connections between it and ‘Instagram aesthetics’ and begin to start thinking about this idea of how everything is becoming designed towards meeting this aesthetic through ‘Instagramism’. Before this, however, me must also define ‘Instagram aesthetics’ and ‘Instagramism’. Lev Manovich uses the term ‘Instagramism’ in his text Between the Public and Private in Mobile Communication “as an analogy to modern art movements such as futurism, cubism, surrealism, etc. Like these earlier-isms, Instagramism offers its own vision of the world and its visual language. But unlike Modernist art movements, Instagramism is shaped by hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of authors connected by, and participating in (Manovich, L., 2017 pp. 262)”. Furthermore, Manovich discusses ‘Instagram aesthetics’ within the text, noting that “The words ‘aesthetics’ or ‘aesthetic’ are used prominently by Instagrammers and authors of advice posts and videos. For example, the search on YouTube for ‘Instagram aesthetic feed’ returns 7,200 videos, while the search for the phrase ‘Instagram aesthetics’ on Google returns 144,000 results (both searches performed on November 22, 2016) (Manovich, L., 2017 pp. 262)”. Furthermore, Manovich explains ‘Instagram class’, which he uses to “refer to millions of young people in many countries who use Instagram in systematic ways to create visually sophisticated feeds (Manovich, L., 2017 pp. 262)”, which are usually edited in third-party apps as well as using the basic Instagram app functions (which I personally find to be limited). Considering this, we can conclude that ‘Instagram aesthetics’ refer to the way that things are designed to be visually pleasing and attractive to the Instagram user, and that what is considered to be visually pleasing is decided by the Instagram user.

After making my findings, understanding the question that is proposed to me, and the past few weeks of authoring, publishing, distributing and reflecting of my own Instagram content – I came to the conclusion that ‘Instagramism’ and ‘Instagram aesthetics’ are created by the Instagrammers themselves through making use of the affordances and constraints that Instagram has to offer. This changed how I chose to respond to our courses prompt, as this meant to me that if ‘Instagramism’ is generated through affordances and constraints, it also meant that ‘Instagramism’ has a direct impact on how the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos are authored, published and distributed in the network. This ‘aesthetic’ is something that has become so popular, it’s trickling into popular culture and the everyday – with Instagrams impact becoming “material, with devices, spaces, cultural institutions and homes all being re-designed and reimagined for the peak Instagram aesthetic experience (Leaver, T, Highfield, T, & Abidin, C 2020, pp. 150)”.

So with that being said, How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network? Well it’s clear that if we are authoring, publishing and distributing on the Instagram platform, then obviously what the platform affords is going to dictate what we are able to achieve through it. But with the rise of ‘Instagramism’ and ‘Instagram aesthetics’ pushing into every aspect of our everyday life and design, as I discovered through my blogposts and Instagram posts (inspired by the quote “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out its inadequacies, making itself very noticeable (Norman, D., 2013.).”) changes again, not only the way we make use of Instagram’s affordances, but how we choose to author, publish and distribute our photo and video content all together to meet this aesthetic.

CITATIONS

Leaver, T., Highfield, T., & Abidin, C., 2020, Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures, Polity Press, Newark. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central.
Lister, M et al 2009, New Media: A Critical Introduction. Routledge, New York.
Manovich, L., 2016. Instagram and contemporary image. Manovich. net, New York.
Niederer, S 2018, Networked images: visual methodologies for the digital age. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam.
Manovich, L., 2017. Between the Public and Private in Mobile Communication.
Norman, D., 2013. The design of everyday things: Revised and expanded edition. Basic books.

REAL TO REEL: ASSIGNMENT #4 – FINAL MEDIA ARTEFACT & REFLECTIONS – HYPERLINKS FOR SUBMISSION

REAL TO REEL

FINAL ARTEFACT POST

REFLECTION POST ON REPRESENTING THE REAL WORLD AS A PART OF NON FICTION MEDIA PRACTICE

REFLECTION POST ON DOCUMENTING ETHICS
REFLECTION POST ON COLLABORATION

REAL TO REEL: ASSIGNMENT #4 – FINAL MEDIA ARTEFACT & REFLECTIONS – FINAL ARTEFACT

REAL TO REEL

TO BE SOMETHING (2020), Jessie Mahina Caesar

ONE SENTENCE SYNOPSIS

We all want to be something when we grow up… but is there any hope for that in today’s world?

ONE PARAGRAPH SYNOPSIS

To Be Something documents the dreams that our youth in the world have for our future. But with all that’s going on in the world in this current day and age – poverty, conflict, inequality and corruption… is there any hope for these dreams to eventuate? who actually is responsible for making these dreams come true?

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Unit Production Manager – Jessie Mahina Caesar

First Assistant Director – Jessie Mahina Caesar

Second Assistant Director – Jessie Mahina Caesar

Narrator/Main Character – Jessie Mahina Caesar

Child with dreams #1 – Foxx Berlowitz

Child with dreams #2 – Nicole Cruz

Child with dreams #3 – Anihera Proctor

Child with dreams #4 – TeAwanui Proctor

Child with dreams #5 – Callum Fitzjohn

Child with dreams #6 – Cianan Fitzjohn

Camera – Tanika Berlowitz, Caitlin Fitzjohn, Haydnn Reeves-Price

Stock Footage – Pexels Stock Photo & Video (https://www.pexels.com/license/), Internet Archive (https://archive.org/), Coverr Stock Photo & Video (https://coverr.co/license)

Music – Freeplay Music

Song(s) – Driving Upstate, The Rules Of Disgrace, Distracted

Post-Production – Jessie Mahina Caesar

REAL TO REEL: ASSIGNMENT #4 – FINAL MEDIA ARTEFACT & REFLECTIONS – REPRESENTING THE REAL WORLD AS PART OF A NON FICTION MEDIA PRACTICE

REAL TO REEL

In class, we’ve discussed how recorded images and sound can convey a sense of authenticity, and/or persuade us to think about the real world. This is an idea that inspired the entirety of my film, ‘To Be Something’.

After much consideration on how I was to execute this project, considering the COVID-19 restrictions, I had decided to take on the assignment alone, and make use of entirely voice-over narrative, stock and found footage and interviews. This means that this idea of using recorded images and sound to convey a sense of authenticity and persuade the audience to think about the real world, was paramount and would become my main focus.

‘To Be Something’ is based around my own personal ideas on the world. While they’re personal thoughts and opinions, they seem to be thoughts and opinions that a lot of us similarly share – That is, that that the current state of the world isn’t great, and at this rate is crushing the spirit of most of us; furthermore, if we continue to go this way it will just be a never ending cycle. So to convey these ideas, I came back to the original one we had in class, of using sound, through voice-over narration that I did myself, to discuss these ideas. I then thought to include stock footage, in between interviews with children that I collected from their parents, that would help support my opinions through the use of images that were related and helped generate thoughts about what I was discussing in the narration.

When unpacking ‘To Be Something’ further, and understanding the process behind the film – It’s clear to see that, rather than a singular moment/scene in the film/edit, the entire film works to showcase and example of this discussed idea in class of using recorded images and sound to convey a sense of authenticity, and/or persuade us to think about the real world. Although there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discuss the Coronavirus Pandemic through this idea, as we are currently living history, I thought that there was possibly a larger issue at hand here that the virus is uncovering – That is, that there are rather large cracks in the governments and systems within our society. The pandemic is exposing these cracks, and showing us all the problems that I touch on in ‘To Be Something’, and up until now it has been a never-ending problematic cycle. But in all of its darkness, and destruction, the pandemic also marks a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to break this cycle, and that’s why I thought it time to use image and sound in this film, to convey these thoughts I was having to try persuade the audience to think about this problem in the real world – and do something about it.

REAL TO REEL: ASSIGNMENT #4 – FINAL MEDIA ARTEFACT & REFLECTIONS – COLLABORATION

REAL TO REEL

I didn’t think that I’d have much to say about the process of collaboration, considering this was a solo project for me. But after much thought and consideration, I actually found that I did have something to say.

Collaboration, in the context of my film ‘To Be Something’, is a very interesting point of discussion – As I was confined to the space of my own house to produce the entire project, and made the choice to work alone, rather than in a team. Usually, I wouldn’t favour taking on a project alone, but considering the COVID-19 restrictions in place, I thought that working in a team would actually make it a harder process, instead of an easier one. This felt like an exciting challenge for me, as it was both an opportunity to fully creatively express myself, and to experience executing every role in the film-making process.

Despite all of this, I still found collaboration to be an extremely important part in creating this project. While I wasn’t out filming things myself, I still had to collaborate with others to find the materials I needed to complete the film. This meant collaboration with others to get my interview material with the children complete. Back and forth emails between the participants and I to make it all happen. I had to collaborate in the way that I had to show my work to other students, tutes, family and friends via emailing back and forth to get feedback to create the best possible cut I could, as well as finding good resources to help me with a project like this.

So I would definitely say I was a great collaborator, otherwise the film itself wouldn’t have come together, if I wasn’t. I was able to create ‘To Be Something’ because I was able to collaborate with others to find the content that I needed – regardless of COVID-19 isolating me.

REAL TO REEL: ASSIGNMENT #4 – FINAL MEDIA ARTEFACT & REFLECTIONS – DOCUMENTING ETHICS

REAL TO REEL

When I set out to complete this film, I had completed an Ethics Charter to help assist me in the filming process. This, however, was created before the COVID-19 restrictions were put in place, and we moved to online learning, which changed the entire project – including the way that I set out to approach filming and putting it together. I had to find a way to create a powerful film, without actually being able to leave the house or see anyone to film – which I did through the use of voice-over narrative, stock footage and interviews that I had collected via asking people to participate and record the interview themselves, with whatever technology they had available. This didn’t make my Ethics Charter obsolete, it just meant that I had to apply these ethics differently. This was the charter I had completed, below:

Turn the camera off at the request of the participant (Rachel Boynton, DOC NYC, 2018).
Show the participant the finished film before the public (Rachel Boynton, DOC NYC, 2018).
Love the people that you film. (Rachel Boynton, DOC NYC, 2018).
Respect the participants wishes at all times, it’s important to have a positive relationship with the participant – and that they don’t walk away disappointed or unhappy with you
Always offer the participant food or beverage if the participants are in your space.
Ensure their facilities (i.e. Toilets, Change-rooms etc.) are acceptable if the participant is in your space.

REFERENCES:

DOC NYC PRO: Casting Case Studies 2016, streaming video, DOC NYC, New York, viewed INSERT DATE HERE 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bndwq27kkjc>.

Because of the new nature of my work, ethics two, three and four became paramount. I had to love and respect the participants at all times, to maintain a positive relationship to ensure that I would get the best work out of them possible. I was relying on the participants to take my instructions clearly and compose a film worthy piece from whatever they had available. Usually, this was an iPhone, however, which meant the standard quality was (mostly) good. I made sure to inform them well of the project I was creating, what it was for (University, portfolio and possibly film festivals), how I was intending to use their children in my film, and the logistics of how it would all work (i.e. how I ideally picture the videos, what kinds of questions they should ask their kids, where they were to send it, release forms etc.). Finally, I was sure to show each participant the finalised film, or promised to show them it, if they should become interested in seeing it. So while I wasn’t able to film anything directly myself, it’s clear that having an Ethics Charter and ethics in place is important – regardless of the kind of project you are completing. I think the only thing I would add, if I was to write this charter again, is to consider the representation of other peoples stock footage (i.e. credits at the end, the message you are sending by using their footage).

NETWORKED MEDIA: W11 – Social Media Distributing – Photo

NETWORKED MEDIA

“Instagram has become synonymous with visual design and visual experiences. Instagram’s impact has become material, with devices, spaces, cultural institutions and homes all being re-designed and reimagined for the peak Instagram aesthetic experience.” – PP. 150, Leaver, T, Highfield, T, & Abidin, C 2020, Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures, Polity Press, Newark. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central.

As mentioned in previous video post from this week, this week’s reading had me inspired. It had me wondering how many times we use the term ‘aesthetic’ to refer to things that are pleasing to the eye? And how it’s become so important within our society, that everything MUST be aesthetically pleasing to look at – including ourselves. I realised that Instagram’s impact IS material, and IS riddling popular culture fast. Everything is being re-designed for the peak Instagram aesthetic experience. So I set out this week to add a constraint and find material designs that have both ‘Instagram aesthetic’ and qualities of either a good or bad design that relates to our brief “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good design fits our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out it’s inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.” from Donald Norman’s 1988 work, The Design of Everyday Things.

Finally leaving the house as the #covid19 restrictions in Victoria are lifted. Everything feels so much more scenic now. So much more beautiful. The outside world – ah!
Good pieces of design are often multifaceted. The architecture of the Eastlink Tunnel is stunning and the electronic signs not only remind us of the speed limit, but give us safety reminders and occasionally flicked to signs that urged people with symptoms of the virus to go get tested. Crazy. .
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“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good design fits our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out it’s inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.”
#DonaldNorman #thedesignofeverydaythings #1988

Finally leaving the house as the #covid19 restrictions in Victoria are lifted. Everything feels so much more scenic now. So much more beautiful. The outside world – ah! Good pieces of design are often multifaceted. The architecture of the Eastlink Tunnel is stunning and the electronic signs not only remind us of the speed limit, but give us safety reminders and occasionally flicked to signs that urged people with symptoms of the virus to go get tested. Crazy. . . “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good design fits our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out it’s inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.” #DonaldNorman #thedesignofeverydaythings #1988

For this weeks photo, I decided to do another set of images – keeping in line with previous posts to keep the same ‘aesthetic’ going on, on my profile. The subject is the Melba/Mullum Mullum Eastlink Tunnel, that I drove through on my way to and back from viewing the puppy I will be adopting, that I mentioned in the previous post. I chose to take these images because it connects with our brief in the way that it’s a beautiful piece of design/architecture, and because it connects with above quote from Leaver, about things being re-designed for the Instagram aesthetic.

HOW DID YOU AUTHOR THE PHOTO YOU RECORDED FOR INSTAGRAM?

Because I was in a moving car, I chose to take the photo on the camera app on my iPhone 8Plus. This was because it was the fastest option for me to pull up, as it’s a swipe-up feature on the lock screen of the phone. Because of this, I was able to zoom in, careful to use the square setting to match the ‘Instagram aesthetic’, while still capturing a rather clear image. I then moved to Instagram to edit, keeping to the constraints on my other posts, and making use of no filters, and only adjusting the brightness, sharpness and exposure levels.

HOW DID YOU PUBLISH THE PHOTO YOU RECORDED FOR INSTAGRAM?

I then published the photo to instagram, ensuring to use the GeoTag ‘Melba/Mullum Mullum Eastlink Tunnel’, not only so viewers are able to find the piece of architecture, but to also assist in the distribution process. I posted it with the caption:

Finally leaving the house as the #covid19 restrictions in Victoria are lifted. Everything feels so much more scenic now. So much more beautiful. The outside world – ah!
Good pieces of design are often multifaceted. The architecture of the Eastlink Tunnel is stunning and the electronic signs not only remind us of the speed limit, but give us safety reminders and occasionally flicked to signs that urged people with symptoms of the virus to go get tested. Crazy.

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“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good design fits our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out it’s inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.”
#DonaldNorman #thedesignofeverydaythings #1988

I then posted the link to the post on my personal twitter account, to assist with the distribution of the content:

HOW DID YOU DISTRIBUTE THE PHOTO YOU PUBLISHED ON INSTAGRAM TO OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES?

I then distributed the photo set on both Instagram and Twitter, which allows the content to be distributed and viewed by users that it may not necessarily have without sharing it to Twitter. Not only this, but I continued with my use of Hashtags and GeoTag’s to ensure my content is being collated with other content on the platform and viewed by other users on Instagram.

CITATIONS

Leaver, T, Highfield, T, & Abidin, C 2020, Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures, Polity Press, Newark. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central.

NETWORKED MEDIA: W11 – Social Media Distributing – Video

NETWORKED MEDIA

“Instagram has become synonymous with visual design and visual experiences. Instagram’s impact has become material, with devices, spaces, cultural institutions and homes all being re-designed and reimagined for the peak Instagram aesthetic experience.” – PP. 150, Leaver, T, Highfield, T, & Abidin, C 2020, Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures, Polity Press, Newark. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central.

This week’s reading had me inspired. How many times do we use the term ‘aesthetic’ to refer to things that are pleasing to the eye? It’s become so important within our society, that everything MUST be aesthetically pleasing to look at – including ourselves. I realised that Instagram’s impact IS material, and IS riddling popular culture fast. Everything is being re-designed for the peak Instagram aesthetic experience. So I set out this week to add a constraint and find material designs that have both ‘Instagram aesthetic’ and qualities of either a good or bad design that relates to our brief “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good design fits our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out it’s inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.” from Donald Norman’s 1988 work, The Design of Everyday Things.

This weeks video subject is a puppy toy that I bought from Kmart, for the puppy I’m adopting this week! I think this is a brilliant design, personally, offering the newborn dog both a plush toy for cuddling and a tennis ball for teething. A multifaceted design. What’s particularly interesting here, is that it relates to the above quote from Leaver, in the way that this is a clear example of how everything is being designed for that ‘Instagram aesthetic’ – with avocados being an extremely popular and repetitive image to be seen on Instagram and throughout popular culture on other items.

HOW DID YOU AUTHOR THE VIDEO YOU RECORDED FOR INSTAGRAM?

For this video, I filmed straight to the Instagram app on my iPhone 8Plus, which features a double camera on the back. It was a fast and quick film, so I didn’t bother filming on the iPhone’s camera app – which has far more features than the Instagram app, that offers limited ability to edit the videos, compared to photos.

HOW DID YOU PUBLISH THE VIDEO YOU RECORDED FOR INSTAGRAM?

I published it to Instagram with the caption:

I’m getting a puppy! We welcome the new member of our family to our home with some rather clever designed dog toys. Would you take a look at this design?! Incredible! See what I mean about good design being multifaceted? A plush toy AND a tennis ball. This is the future. Thanks Kmart.
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“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good design fits our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out it’s inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.”
#DonaldNorman #thedesignofeverydaythings #1988

This was to connect the content with this idea raised in class of using the platform as a way of connecting with people by showing the everyday – especially with the accessibility that smartphones have. The caption also connects with the brief, in the way it shows and explains (what I would consider) a good design, and also works in with the above quote from Leaver, about things being re-designed for ‘Instagram aesthetic’. I also made use of the GeoTag ‘Kmart Australia’, so viewers are able to know where the item came from.

I then shared the link to my personal twitter account:

HOW DID YOU DISTRIBUTE THE VIDEO YOU PUBLISHED ON INSTAGRAM TO OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES?

After distributing the video on Instagram itself, I then shared the link to the post on my personal Twitter account (@JessCZR). This was so the content could be distributed to as many people as possible, with the video gaining viewers that it might not have had before it was shared to the platform. The use of the GeoTag ‘Kmart Australia’ will also assist in the distribution of the video, as it will work to collate my content with other content on the platform that has used the same GeoTag. The same thing happening with my Hashtags in use, #DonaldNorman #thedesignofeverydaythings #1988.

CITATIONS

Leaver, T, Highfield, T, & Abidin, C 2020, Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures, Polity Press, Newark. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central.

REAL TO REEL: W10 ROUGH CUT CLASS PRESENTATIONS WITH PRODUCER ADAM FARRINGTON-WILLIAMS & RMIT MEDIA ACADEMIC SOPHIE LANGLEY – FINAL CUT TO-DO LIST

REAL TO REEL

While I felt satisfied with my cut I handed in, after our presentations in class, with Producer Adam Farrington-Williams & RMIT Media Academic Sophie Langley, I am now able to see and create a checklist of things to change before the final cut presentations – These being:

To change the dialogue at the end of the film, to allow to audience to sit on what I am saying, as well as being able to digest the children who are speaking, rather than have them as a background feature.
There is a lot of sound tweaking to do, as this was not something I focused on in the first two cuts of my film – mostly because I didn’t wish to waste time finessing those things when I hadn’t come to a full picture lock.
& finally, I need to add some sort of call-to-action at the end in text. I’m thinking a quote about humanity of the sorts. I’m not interested in adding further dialogue in the end, as Sophie suggested, just as I think the final statements from me are powerful enough to stand alone, and for that fact that I think that the lacking in a call-to-action in my dialogue works to help the audience understand the point of my film – That being, that there is nothing that I can say to make anyone do anything about it, we must take global action together. All I can do is present people with the current global situation and let the people ponder the question of what can we do?

NETWORKED MEDIA: W10 – Social Media Publication – Video

NETWORKED MEDIA

@NETWORKEDJESSIE

For this weeks video I decided to post a video of my niece attempting to use my dad’s walking stick. Mostly because I thought it was funny, but the caption is true… Walking sticks really are a great piece of design if it’s meant for you.

Walking sticks are a great design… if it’s built for you…
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“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good design fits our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out it’s inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.”
#DonaldNorman #thedesignofeverydaythings #1988

HOW DID YOU AUTHOR THE VIDEO YOU RECORDED FOR INSTAGRAM?

Because of the way Instagram video’s are authored, in the way that you are able to start/pause/stop recording and add pieces together this was easy to capture. I saw the opportunity in my niece using the walking stick, and used my iPhone 8Plus to take the video on the Instagram app, starting and pausing the recording until I found the perfect moment. Once I had, I moved to the editing section where I trimmed the beginning and end of the video down, so it was just the video of her falling with the stick.

HOW DID YOU PUBLISH THE VIDEO YOU RECORDED FOR INSTAGRAM?

Once I had finished trimming the video, I posted it to my Instagram account with the caption Walking sticks are a great design… if it’s built for you…
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“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good design fits our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out it’s inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.”
#DonaldNorman #thedesignofeverydaythings #1988

This was to keep in theme with the Donald Norman quote, that I have posted on the end of each of my captions, keeping the use of the Hashtags going to ensure that the distribution process goes well. I didn’t use a GeoTag this week, simply for privacy reasons, and that the video was taken in my own home.

HOW DID YOU DISTRIBUTE THE VIDEO YOU PUBLISHED ON INSTAGRAM TO OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES?

Once it was posted, the Hashtags I used in the caption (#DonaldNorman #thedesignofeverydaythings #1988) collate together with other images and video content related to these tags – distributing my content globally, as my account is on public. Although there was no GeoTag, this didn’t affect the amount of followers coming through, as the Hashtags still ensured that the post was seen by other users on the platform.