Week 9 – Video

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2qRPpA5ib/

How did you author the video you recorded for upload to Instagram?

Walking through Fitzroy gardens with a friend, he stopped for a drink from a water fountain and we noticed the excess water ran off into a small bowl at the base of the water fountain. The bowl collects the run-off water for dogs to drink from before draining away. I thought this was a very clever design minimising water waste and providing water for many users of the park, even dogs.

The form of the water fountain creates the function, so I wanted to ensure I captured this clearly and centered in the video. I shot 2 videos, changing the angle on the second video to capture the form, my friend drinking and the water running into the bowl all within the one-shot.

I recorded my friend using the fountain with my Oppo smartphone to demonstrate the design, I wanted to capture the function in one take. As I would be posting the video in my Instagram feed, I kept the recording to 15 seconds, one of the original constraints of the platform, ‘This included appropriating other functionalities as they developed, such as the fifteen-second video options introduced in 2013’ (Laver et al, p. 45).

How did you publish the video you recorded for upload to Instagram?

When I posted the video to Instagram, it automatically cropped it into a square. I was aware of this function, which was why I centered the shot when I recorded it. I left the sound with the natural sounds of the park to help set the environment.

For geolocation I selected Fitzroy gardens, it is a very popular location in the city, often used for wedding photos, landscapes, picnics and exercise, so it is a popular geolocation tag.

Once posted, Instagram selected a still image from the video to be shown in the feed, which luckily was a clear shot showing the design of the water fountain. It appears as a still image in the feed, with a camera icon in the corner of the image inviting the viewer to play the video.

I posted in the feed using the caption ‘Water fountain for everyone’ and as default, I set the video play automatically, which I prefer so users realise that is a video and not a photo.

How did you distribute the video you published on Instagram to other social media services?

I distributed the video using the geo-location Fitzroy gardens and the hashtags

#water #freshwater #doglover #dog #sharingiscaring #life #fountainoflife #gardens.

The geolocation tag is linked to many photos tagged with dogs or gardens, so I included those in my hashtags to have a wider reach with my video and perhaps gain followers. It could also promote the clever design of the water fountain to people visiting or researching parks where they could enjoy a walk with their dog.

I was able to share from the same Instagram platform to Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. On Twitter the hashtags were converted into links, however the geolocation and caption were not. No image or video was displayed, just a link back to the Instagram post.

Facebook post