Social Media Producer – Jonathon Hutchinson & There’s No ‘Me’ In Social Media! – Alex Gibson
Jonathon’s presentation describing his experience in researching social media was quite interesting and insightful.
Jonathon’s point about “listening to your crowd”, was something that I took from it, as he discussed how important it is to know who your audience is, what they want, what you are doing that is engaging them and how better you can engage with them. Researching your audience is definitely important in knowing how best to approach them with your work.
I also found it very interesting that the audience helped him decide on his project and that the way information was conveyed was two-ways and not just from him to them. The audience’s feedback was what fed into his work and helped him decide how he would approach it.
Another point he made was about a continuation of stimulating the project through twists and turns and creating plot developments out of the process of creating the project as this helps to keep the audience engaged. He discussed utilizing multiple formats for different purposes which I found interesting as we tend to think of Facebook and Twitter as the main forms of social media platforms which are used to give information to the audience and create a community, however there are many other platforms that could be used for different reasons, while still keeping the community together.
Jonathon also discussed how the social media producer becomes the curator of ‘prosumer works’, meaning works that have been created by the consumer or audience via social media. Thinking about audiences as users and creators is a good way to approach them as they feel more involved in the project.
The crowd-sourcing ‘By Design’ talk discussed the motivation of users becoming involved in online projects, with the main answer being that it is for the ‘attention economy’; meaning that people promote their own work through other people’s projects in a wider community and have a better chance of becoming noticed.
Alex Gibson’s stance on social media from an artist’s point of view was very interesting as he discussed how crowd-sourcing helped him fund his creation of ‘The Artbox’ which allows for looped art content to stream and connect with different technologies which previously didn’t occur.
I found his description of the ‘California Utopian version of social media’ really interesting as it is true that what most people contribute to social media is to make it seem like their life is better than what it actually is when in reality it can be compared to a ‘Greek tragedy’.
His point about social media facilitating people to have anything that they want and creating a psychotic nature in people was also interesting as he says that on social media people can enact all of their fantasies.
He was surprised by the way in which social media could facilitate artists in creating online communities and even funding his own technology, which goes to show that you should never underestimate the power of social media.
1. Paste the link here from your version of the abstract editing exercise. Then reflect on the whole process – Consider: the quality and usability of your recordings; the effect of layering and juxtaposition of both the audio and the video and; the things you learnt from working with this kind of audio and video.
http://vimeo.com/103494010
The abstract editing exercise was a great process in experimentation and the editing of the vision and sound allowed for an opportunity to reflect on what we had recorded and how it can be combined.
I found the process of finding and recording abstract vision a lot easier than the sound. With the vision, it was easier to isolate particular abstract qualities, whereas whilst recording the audio we thought we were getting singular and individual sounds but on playback realised that they weren’t of a high quality. The sound recorded a large soundscape rather than isolated sounds, and most of the files sounded quite messy and not clear. I found it difficult to find sounds that were of a good quality to match to the vision I chose to cut together.
When cutting the vision, I knew which files were my favourite and chose to work with them, due to their interesting aesthetic qualities. I noticed that the clock vision slowly blurred the focus so that it was out of focus, then sharpened back. I chose to cut this vision to bookend the film to demonstrate a single moment in time with the other vision in between showing what has occurred in this minute.
I also noticed that the vision of the stairs showed people walking up them, and then walking down. Once again, I chose to cut this footage so that it showed an inversion of the events presented, similarly to the clock footage.
As the quality of the sound we recorded wasn’t too good, I found it difficult to chose which ones I should use. The sound I particularly liked was that of the metal cups clanging together by the street performer, however on playback the sound wasn’t as distinctive as the sound of people talking and traffic overrun the quality of it. While the sound of the keyboards wasn’t my favourite, it was the clearest in quality and provided a difference in aesthetics.
The sound of the rustling of the leaves was interesting as it increased in rhythm. I chose to pair this with the changing focus of the clock as it matched the gradual changing qualities of both sound and vision. It also provided an interesting contrast between the mechanical interior vision and the natural sound of the outdoors.
I chose to juxtapose the vision of the stairs with the sound of typing on a keyboard to match the rhythm of the people’s footsteps and to represent that they are students, who mostly use computers to study. The sound of the metal clanging combined with the vision of the green lit wall is probably not that abstract as they are quite similar in the industrial aesthetic but I liked how I recorded them separately yet it wouldn’t seem that way.
In editing, I chose to use the three-way colour corrector to enhance the green in the clock shots and the purple in the stair shots, creating a distinctive colour palette that reflects an industrial, but also alien type of world.
I learned that recording audio isn’t as easy as it initially seems, and that there needs to be a lot of care taken to record clear, distinctive and high quality sounds. As we recorded the majority of our sounds outdoors and found that a lot of our sounds were quite muddled and not clear, I would record more interior sounds or record in quieter outdoor areas to get clearer sounds. I found that you must be quite careful with the zoom on the camera, as some of our shots we’re quite jolty. Experimenting with the focus provided an interesting aesthetic and is something that I may continue to use in my documentary project.
2. Select from one of the readings and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.
I chose to focus on the Rabiger reading, ‘Directing the Documentary’ pg; 207-218. This particular excerpt focuses on the initial research and drafting of the documentary proposal before filming begins. I found it quite helpful in helping to understand the large amount of pre-production needed before filming even begins.
The main point I took from the reading was to continually research and change the hypothesis of the documentary as you gather new information. Using this research to focus the hypothesis of the film, what perspective the film is taking, and it’s style will form a pitch that you can then receive feedback for. Pitching the documentary to many people will allow you to refine it based on the feedback you receive, while also seeing what questions it raises in them, which you can then use to emphasize points of the subject on.
The importance of lateral thinking was another point I found helpful as it emphasizes the importance of not letting setbacks prevent you from progressing the documentary forward. Thinking outside of the box and making lists of what arises from your subject, then finding ways to make the subject unique and interesting.
Another important point I took from the reading was to approach potential participants as early as possible and develop a continuing dialogue with them to gather as much information as possible. This will also help to form trust between the participants and filmmakers, and hopefully prevent participants from dropping out of the project at the last minute. Being truthful about the documentary is also highly important in ensuring that trust is maintained between participants and filmmakers.
Write a blog post that makes connections between some of the ideas discussed in this documentary and the social media, participatory readings. The expected word length is around 500-750 words.
The ‘Us Now’ documentary discusses the rise of online communities that have formed with the purpose of helping other people, and bringing up the future possibility of the public having a participatory involvement in public service and government policies.
The documentary discusses different case studies of participatory online communities set up to help people. People are finding that they can receive more advice online in public forums by their peers rather than having to seek ‘good’ advice from one trusted person. An example of this is ‘Mumsnet’ which is a forum of mums who give advice to one another; demonstrating that people are putting more faith in different types of professionals than ever before. People are putting more trust in one another, sometimes even more so than in professionals or organisations. James Surowiecki (as mentioned in Hinton & Hjorth) discusses this idea that a large group of people can solve problems that individuals can’t (2004).
The documentary describes the democratic nature of the internet and the possibility that governments and public service offices can learn from online communities and create a more democratic real-life society. The online forums and communities are self-policed and are surprisingly quite safe as demonstrated through ‘couch surfing’. Habermas’ ideas (as mentioned in Hinton & Hjorth) of the internet as a public sphere and a marketplace of ideas is demonstrated here; debating that the internet is a democratic force. This democratic use and community building makes people feel empowered as they don’t need to consult professionals as they did in the past and can have their voice heard. The participatory nature of the internet has allowed once ‘passive’ audiences become ‘active users’ changing the way in which they engage with products and services (Lister 2009).
The main motivation for people to become involved in these online communities is the concept of the gift economy; the cost of you helping someone is low and you receive a lot of help in return. People network with another to assist each other, in the hope that someone will return the favour. This new approach to people treats them as competent individuals in comparison to society constantly telling them they are incompetent. Hinton & Hjorth discuss the way in which people have organised themselves for a cause or social issue to do good to other people. While the cases mentioned in the documentary are more localized and specific causes, they demonstrate the power of people and the possibility that this could be implemented in government.
Businesses and organisations are now having to adapt to this new empowered media audience; engaging in better and constant feedback and change to their products and services (Lister 2009). As mentioned in the documentary, those who don’t accept this change will lose their audience. This is also discussed in the context of the government which depends on passive audiences having to adopt their policies. The government feels threatened by the power of groups of individuals who can organise themselves to change things for the better. The Ebbsfleet Football Team is an example described in the documentary that gives their club fans the ability to choose the players in the team; the final decision is given to the Head Coach and has been a positive system.
1. In the lecture we screened a short film called ‘End of the Line’ – the film shot in Broken Hill. Please describe in 300 words or less if you think they achieved what they set out to do. You may not remember much detail, if so, it could be helpful to talk about your first impressions, after all this is what most of us are left with after one viewing. The treatment which we showed in the lecture is available here. Feel free to write to any categories you wish. eg. story, choice of participants, sound, camera, editing etc.
The treatment for ‘End of the Line’ is quite an interesting read as it is evident that the film progressed and changed once the filmmakers went out on location and filmed, resulting in a slightly different film that was screened in the lecture. While it appears as though the filmmakers decided to film in Broken Hill rather than at the Silverton mine and interviewed different participants rather than a married couple living on the mine, the same alien, isolated tone has been achieved.
While they didn’t show the life of a typical Australian family living in the outback and in isolation, they were still able to depict the perspectives and characteristics of the townspeople. They also achieved their mission to capture the incredible sky, sunrise and red earth that make up the ‘alien’ Broken Hill that they wished to portray.
The focus of “total isolation in a bizarre environment” is definitely achieved in the participants that they chose to speak to, in particular the older lady who decided to move to Broken Hill to die. Her story stuck with me after the film had ended, and her biblical, yet slightly bizarre outlook not only gave meaning to the theme of living in isolation but emphasized the alien landscape combined with the haunting non-diegetic sounds.
This case demonstrates how a film’s focus can change throughout production and while the idea outlined in the treatment is of investigating the happiness of a family living the quiet country life compared to the city tourists who stop by and would have been an interesting film, the film it became is probably even more so. They’re choices in editing demonstrated an alien, strange town that is Broken Hill by speaking to the locals and their listening to their stories. While it didn’t turn out exactly as they had planned, the film they made was very unique, sometimes uncomfortable to watch, haunting and provoking; proving that changing and letting the film take on its own shape works quite well.
2. Select from one of the readings and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.
The reading that I chose to focus on was Curran’s ‘Documentary Storytelling for Film and Videomakers’ (pg 27-37). The text describes how important it is to choose a subject that you are passionate about and interested in as it means that you can bring a distinctive viewpoint to that particular topic. It will also ensure that when the idea of making the documentary becomes overwhelming or frustrating; your passion and interest in the topic will ensure that you continue and don’t get discouraged by challenges you face during production.
Researching not only your subject, but media (newspaper articles, other documentaries, etc) on your topic will give you an idea of the different perspectives that already exist for your subject. This will allow you to look for an alternative and unique angle to take for your particular topic.
Doing your research and honing in on what in particular about your subject interests you is important when setting off to speak to participants and collecting video and sound for your documentary. Doing multiple tests and editing what you have, deciding if you like the direction you are going in or finding the new interesting theme that has emerged will allow you to discover a new angle that you previously hadn’t thought of.
Being open to the subject and not being biased will also allow you to discover an interesting ‘gem’ that may give the project a unique and engaging angle. All of these points will help me in honing in on my own documentary ideas as well as working with the material during production and post-production.
This documentary about the rise in ‘Hactivism’ through the online group ‘Anonymous’ was very eye-opening. As I watched the film, I realised that I had heard some of the attacks that they made on corporations (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Sony) but at the time remember thinking that they were in the wrong as it was presented in the media. I gained a better understanding of why these individuals chose to use the internet as a form of protest and think that their actions demonstrate the amazing power of communities formed on the internet.
How does this documentary alter your understanding of Internet?
While I do think the Internet is a democratic place in which people voice their opinions quite freely, I was a bit surprised that it had such a power to gather people in a community to attack an organisation. It’s always been quite apparent that people can form communities based on causes they are interested in and form physical protests on the streets, but how Anonymous was able to take down websites and ‘troll’ organisations really is remarkable.
How is social media used to create a community of people who share a similar interest and politics?
In this case, the sites ‘4chan’ and ‘/b/’ already had communities based on weird and sometimes grotesque things available on the internet, creating the memes that we have all come to know. They all posted anonymously allowing them the freedom to be whoever they wanted on the internet, and not feeling ashamed of their interests. These sites allowed like-minded people to share their common interests when they may not have been able to find that in the real world. The idea of ‘Anonymous’ then came out of the idea of what if all of the people posting on these sites was actually just one person? The Anonymous group then went on to prank people and websites targeting groups whose priorities didn’t sit well with the Anonymous pranksters. When Hal Turner a neo-Nazi attacked someone on ‘4chan’, Anonymous protected their own and shut down Turner’s ability to voice his racism to the public. This then began a wave of online attacks and physical protests for different causes by the Anonymous group. The one thing they had in common was the belief that the internet shouldn’t be censored and went after organisations and even governments who denied the public this right.
What ideas does this documentary raise in regards to designing an event that asks people to participate and become part of a community?
The documentary raises the idea that people with common interests will want to participate in events that they believe strongly about, or because they wish to meet other members of the community (which occurred for Anonymous members during the Scientology protests). It also brings up the idea that a community can be formed under one pretense which may be quite informal, but may change its attention to a more serious cause/idea. It illustrates that if you can create a community of like-minded individuals with the same beliefs, you can create a group where you speak as one, rather than hearing individual voices. While there were leaders of Anonymous, the members all lead causes in their own way and the voices heard was one of the people and not of leaders of the group, which goes back to the idea of flash mobs as needing to be organised by a leader, but the members don’t look to a leader and have one common goal/cause. Anonymous used a video which asked its members to act as a part of a common mission, which could be a tool used for our own event.