For this sketch, we extracted inspiration from reality TV shows like ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ and ‘The Voice’. There are segments in these TV shows that feature characters telling their life story or how they got to where they are today. From there, we wanted a sketch where vlog reviews would adapt other people’s opinions, giving the whole thing a fresh perspective.
Rather than only having a reviewer’s thoughts or opinions on a certain thing or place, you would also get to hear experiences from others (eg. cafe owner, shareholder or customer). From there, viewers get to understand the back story of a certain place, or how a specific thing came about. It would then not be a one-sided story, but one that contains collected opinions from different perspectives. Viewers would be able to get the full picture of a particular place or product, and may even adopt emotional feelings towards it.
We did want to conduct an interview with one of the owners of Short Stop, but felt that it would be too time-consuming and probably even a little difficult. Why we say this is because after approaching them personally, they told us that they could instead reply our interview questions via e-mail instead of conducting an actual video interview.
What if we explored a completely different genre, making a hybrid video review much unlike the usual? And we thought, what if we tried something experimental? Rather than having it very flat or commercialised, we wondered how it would turn out if we assembled together something that was more abstract and artistic. We found the whole genre of experimental films very different and unique, and thus wanted to try it out as a sketch.
After having taken the footage and editing it into a video, we felt that we would require more research on experimental films, should we decide to pursue it in Project Four. Seeing as how experimental films put a lot of emphasis on colours and editing, we may need to expand it further by making it more visually uncanny and also play around a little more with video angles and background music.
Here is an example of an experimental film that we quite enjoyed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc-J9fFXZjk. To be on that level, combining both experimental film and video reviews, would require quite a bit of thought and experimenting, but we do find it a rather interesting concept and might consider working on it in the next project.
As we continued to think about some other ways that we could make something different, we were inspired by scrapbooks, seeing as how it is something that captures a moment or place, much like what a vlog review does. Hence, we wanted to combine the two very different elements and see how it would play out.
As seen in our sketch, the descriptions that accompanied the pictures were short and straightforward, allowing the pictures and captions to tell the story. We found it rather interesting, how it takes the concept of pictures and text and how it feels personal because it is as if we were taking a peek into somebody’s scrapbook. One of the cons to this, however, is the fact that viewers can’t fully feel or experience the ‘moment’. By that, we mean that the audience is not exposed to any ambient sound or moving visuals.
If we were the pursue this idea in Project Four, we might change things up a little. Instead of using still images, we might want to consider using short clips, but still maintaining the scrapbook idea of having text rather than diegetic sound.
We chose Instagram as one of the tools/services we wanted to explore, seeing as how it is a commonly used social media platform. Although it is constrained to 15 seconds, the caption allows you to make your description as long as you like, and we felt that this might be a good alternative to making a travel vlog review happen.
One thing that we liked most about using Instagram as our means for this sketch would be the usage of hashtags and also how we could tag the location to help Instagram users easily find our video review. It was one of the ways that we could encourage and welcome a larger audience out of our circle of peers.
However, we did think about some other problems as well. Seeing how Instagram is a very visual-based platform, we were not sure if people would take the time to read our description as it could be quite a chunky amount of text. Instagram also does not allow users to pause the video, which may be difficult for those who want to have a closer look at a particular thing. Apart from that, we found it tough to pick which parts we might want to incorporate in the Instagram video, as the whole thing can only be 15 seconds long.
After having done this sketch, we felt like it might not be as feasible for this genre of vlog reviews.
This very interactive platform is one that allows users to make their own decisions. From there, we wanted to put vlog reviews through this platform to see how it would turn out. Rather than us just reviewing a specific location or object, by creating a non-linear structure with Korsakow, we would allow audiences to take part in choosing which options they would want to know more about.
Apart from being an attention-grabbing tool/service in which audiences have to focus on what is being shown as they interact with it, it is also rather time-consuming as people have to go through and experience multiple steps in order to find out about a certain thing. There are pros and cons to this. However, it is something different as it encourages people to take action before something can happen.
If we were to bring this over to Project Four, we might further explore it by giving it a narrative, such that we would make it very personalised. For instance, we might want to try something where users would have to choose between different characters (eg. celebrities) to not only visit and review a particular location with them, but also to see how different characters interact with different things in accordance to their personalities.
With an allowance of up to ten seconds each take, Snapchat users are able to share their moments as a story (much like a status update on Facebook) which would last 24 hours, or to send it directly to a certain set of friends. We wanted to try doing a vlog review with Snapchat for this sketch.
More than just experimenting with a different service/tool, we also decided to play around by giving the vlog review a bit of a narrative structure. We begun by talking about how we were tired from assignments, and eventually came upon the decision to visit a cafe. We wanted to also show how vlog reviews could be done in an impromptu sort of manner, such that no planning was done beforehand and that turning it into a vlog review was simply a spontaneous decision.
With Snapchat, we were able to see the amount of people who viewed our story, and also the specific people who did so. The downside to a vlog review done on Snapchat would have to be the fact that it disappears after 24 hours. However, we were able to download the entire story, which made it really convenient because it shows that it is something that can be re-uploaded to a different platform at any other time.
If we were to bring this into Project Four, we might make use of the constraints of Snapchat’s 24-hour story by trying out a day trip in which we continuously review each place that we visit.
Periscope is one of the newer social media platforms, released and bought over by Twitter just a couple of weeks ago. It is a live-streaming app that allows users to share with their audiences, what they are doing at any given point of time, as long as the Internet connection permits.
For this sketch, we decided to try using Periscope to do a vlog review on a cafe called The Vine. One of the problems that we encountered was looking for a place that provided Wi-Fi, seeing as how live-streaming would take up quite a significant amount of mobile data if we were to use our own providers. That is how we ended up at one of the cafes in RMIT.
Above is the full episode of our Periscope broadcast. We were new to the app and were not quite sure how it worked, but eventually we got the hang of it. The app allowed us to use both the front and back camera, which was pretty neat. The downside of Periscope is not being able to reply any notifications from other apps, because that would hinder the broadcasting of your live stream.
However, being able to give viewers a look into your life – or in this case, the cafe you are visiting – brings people on a different journey each time. What we mean by that is, let’s say you were to start visiting the cafe a little more often. If you were to do a Periscope broadcast each time you were there, people would gradually have a better idea of what goes on at a particular place, and at what times. This, we felt, was effective in its own way.
In the following sketch, we tried doing a vlog review without using human subjects in the video. We found it to be very plain and flat, as we were not able to see any body language nor facial expressions. Apart from that, we also did the sketch without any cuts or much change in video angles. If an entire vlog review were to be done this way, audiences might visually lose interest, especially if there are no cuts to different scenes.
Also as a follow up from the previous sketch, although it is the same content, it is very different in terms of the way it is presented. Showing the object or product being talked about is important, but it would definitely be much better and more convincing if there was a visual balance between the reviewer and what is being reviewed.
After all, apart from reviews being educational and informative, it should also be appealing to watch, especially considering that there might be a lot of information packed into it.
In this sketch, we wanted to see how a vlog review would play out if we included an animated character to the video. As our knowledge on animation is limited, we decided to communicate our idea through pictures.
Taking the cartoon Dora the Explorer as an example, Dora is a girl that explores new places with Boots the monkey, who is also a secondary character and her friend in the cartoon. This makes discovering new places more fun and interactive, and pushes it into a narrative sort of structure. And that, is what we wanted to try out with this sketch.
For instance, what if a vlog review had only one reviewer? Perhaps it might seem a little dull. In cases such as that, would it be more exciting if an animated character was in the picture? What if a reviewer could ‘interact’ with this fictional character and later edit it in during post-production? We felt that it would be interesting to watch, especially if the vlog review was given a storyline of some sort, giving the animated character an opportunity to play a part in it.
After having prepared the sketch, however, we realised that it may not be as feasible of an idea for Project Four, not only due to the fact that we have little experience with animation, but also because a vlog review done this way might require scripts and planning beforehand, which may not make the review as genuine as desired.
In the next three sketches, we will be exploring and comparing the roles of reviewers in a vlog review, and how they contribute to the way it is made and the feelings it give.
For this particular sketch, we chose to put emphasis on the human subjects, with not as much focus on the place they are in. How would the vibes and feelings propagated through speech and facial expressions affect the feel that a vlog review gives?
We used an iPhone 6 to film the entire sketch, giving it a very personal, non-professional sort of impression, which is, essentially, the entire purpose of a vlog review. Vlogs are, after all, user-generated videos that feature personal thoughts and perspectives. Here, we took turns filming each other and even had one where we used the phone’s front camera to film ourselves.
By observing the way a reviewer looks or acts, viewers have a better clue as to what he/she feels about the place that is being reviewed. We are able to see the way a reviewer reacts to certain things. In this case, viewers are able to discern the subject’s expression upon trying a doughnut. It is certainly more effective as compared to a mere picture of a doughnut, followed by text or background audio. It is in the moment, and thus draws attention to a reviewer’s true character.
