More presentations were done in the studio today, and interesting perspectives were brought up. For one, we discussed about what we felt was ‘online video’, in terms of audio and visual. Are both audio as well as moving graphics required in order to be deemed an online video?

As an example, let’s talk about songs uploaded to YouTube. A song could be in the form of an .mp3 but because YouTube isn’t accepting of that format, a stagnant picture of the album’s cover or a blank screen could be incorporated, simply so it can be uploaded to the Internet as a video. Would that be considered an online video then, when a user could listen to the audio without having to focus on the YouTube player itself?

After having discussed about it, we have found that it still is considered an online video, even if it lacked moving visuals. It may not carry the same purpose as, say, a music video in which viewers get to pay attention to what is going on, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is a video uploaded to the Internet.

Apart from that, we also got to see a case study on interactive online video, which was pretty interesting because it really gets the viewer involved. We were introduced to a documentary-like one called 89 Steps. Another form of interaction with its viewers would be when Wong Fu Productions created Away We Happened, a six-episode web series that invited fans and subscribers to vote for what would happen from one episode to the next. A case study on this was presented by another one of my classmates.

We also talked a little more about how the studio and its assessments will be run – that we will be more focused on what online video is compared to a video’s cinematic components. It’s not so much about the quality of the work; it’s the idea that’s informing the process, or the process that has emerged around it.

Our second project is due next week, and I am looking forward to seeing what my group mate and I will come up with. Take into consideration the production value and time invested, we were reminded. We might be confined to certain production constraints if we try something that’s difficult to do, so I hope that we would be able to come up with an idea or concept that is appealing, innovative and doable.