Project Brief 4 was all about forming our own ideas, arguments and creation after being given the very broad topic of: “technology”. We decided to take on the social media side of this because it is something we have all grown up with and is an aspect of life that has affected us greatly. The initial main idea that was decided upon was how social media has made tasks much easier for journalists due to the fact that information is always out there and ready to go; they don’t have to work as hard as they used to. The main problem we faced with this is that it was too broad and after speaking to Rachel, it was realised that a more specific topic had to be chosen. This began as a problem because it meant we had to start from the beginning and go back to our researching stage. This was easily fixed because of the many ideas we already had devised in our heads and our brainstorms. The second main idea that I thought up of was “is social media making us more social or ironically, making us more anti-social?”.
With this idea, we all did some individual research for arguments for and against this statement.

I believe one of the most successful parts of this group project was that even though it took a while to come up with a distinct topic and strong idea, once we did, all the tasks that had to be completed were done quickly and efficiently.
The script was completed in less than half an hour.
The filming was completed in less than 3 hours.
And the editing was completed in a day.

I wouldn’t say I learnt this during the research but it definitely reaffirmed my thoughts on the fact that older generations will always be finding faults in younger generations; no matter if it’s in 2015 or if it was 500 BC. What I did learn during this project was that with group assignments, the quote “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link” is undoubtedly true. Everybody must put in the same amount of effort and energy because energy is contagious. If one person began to stray or felt unmotivated, it would rub off on the rest aswell. But if one person was pushing the other members to charge on, then that’s where the team’s momentum really moved forward.

This project will affect my broader development as a media practitioner because it taught me how to professionally work in a team environment because this will not be the final time where you rely on others and others rely on you. It has also boosted my knowledge on technical tasks such as filming, editing and knowing what would look best on camera.

I would love to create a short film one day and this has been a notable experience.

With our initial idea to argue if social media and technology is simply handing information to journalists on a silver platter scraped due to it being too broad, I thought of something else we could discuss:
Is social media making us more social or is it ironically, making us more anti-social?

“The strange lesson of social media is that human beings, if given the choice, prefer to socialise alone” says Walter Kirn. This statement is true in some ways, but with many of my personal experiences, when friends are hanging out and they are on their phones or laptops, scrolling through Facebook or Instagram or even on YouTube, they share interesting, funny, cute things they find with each other! There is never a time where there is long hours of silence or where friends block each other out completely. It is a form of socialising so different to what older generations are used to that they tend it reject and hate it altogether. 

Social media creates friendships and connections that may never happen in real life. Following celebrities on Instagram or watching your favourite film makers on YouTube makes you feel as though you have some sense of rapport with these people (even if in reality, you don’t). It makes people feel they belong to a certain community which shares similar interests, views and values. Why people crap on about it being “sad” and “anti-social”, I do not know, because it creates so many opportunities for users to interact, express and bond.

People find a lot of inspiration on the Internet.

YouTube has become a very popular source of one-to-many communication for a large amount of people in the past years.

There are, ofcourse, many arguments against social media and those who argue that it is forming a generation of anti-social people who do not know how to communicate in real life, and with this, my group and I have decided to create a video where we discuss these different views – the video will be uploaded soon.

My quick conclusion: do not boycott social media just because of a few negatives, because the positives definitely outweigh what some people say

The increase of news media within social media has allowed every Facebook, Twitter or even Instagram user to find out about important news and current issues the second they are published or leaked for the public eye. Most people find out about what’s happened in the world, such as the birth of the Royal Baby, the earthquake in Nepal or about the Baltimore riots through Facebook. Articles, videos and posts spread so quickly on Facebook simply because of the liking system that they have. Once something is shared, it is shared to hundreds of your friends, and each like they give the post, adds another hundred more viewers and readers from their friends list. It is an enormous and very effective chain.

The negative factor of this is if there is an embarrassing video or post that you don’t want people to see (although it shouldn’t have been put online in the first place), hundreds or even thousands of people can save, share or the inevitable action that everybody uses: screenshot it.

Yet one of the many positive factors of this is that more people become more knowledgable with current affairs and social issues (always great for conversations over a drink or two… or three) People can be warned about natural disasters heading their way or even (like the latest Facebook feature appearing after the Nepal earthquakes) to tell your family and friends that you are safe with a simple status.

Even with all this, I still think people should watch the evening news or read the newspaper because it is so much more beneficial and fruitful than finding out about something through 140 characters. Whatever happened to news anchors becoming a part of your family’s daily lives? Their good mornings, good nights, giving you the important information you need for the day and you becoming awfully familiar with the way they speak, present and even their different mannerisms! I watch The Project religiously and when Charlie Pickering was still on the show, I noticed that at the end of every show as the credits were rolling, the studio becoming dark and the audience applause, he would scribble something on his paper of notes. (I would refuse to change the channel until I saw him do it).
I know I still watch a lot of the news every night, and it would be good if you guys did too (because if not, then I’m not going to have a job in a couple of years time)

“We’re still in the first minutes of the first day of the Internet revolution”
– Scott Cook 

For the upcoming Media 1 Project Brief 4, a group assignment was set where we were given a media topic to research, explore and share. My group will be focusing on ‘Technology’ and will examine the pros and cons of social media in regard of its interactions with news media.

Some ideas and questions that we have concocted include:
– has the use of social media made journalists lazy? Because they no longer have to go out of their way to find news and stories like they used to before the Internet became widespread?
– social media has affected the way political events, such as elections, play out
– everything is public
– the fact that blogging is a profession (you can get paid for simply sharing your opinion)
– news is more accessible to everybody and this is great because people can become more educated on social issues and current affairs
– and how biased news media can be because it targets audience expectations

Here are the people in my group
We’re called ‘The Technologic Trio’
Check them out, cause they’re pretty cool:

Tim Langdon
Zoe Horn

Mum: Video Portrait from Sandy Nguyen on Vimeo.

(Please watch in HD on Vimeo) 

For my project brief 3, I decided to create a video portrait of my mum, because she was the first person to come to my mind when first told about this assessment.
I believe I have been successful in portraying her as a fun, outgoing and supportive character throughout the video by showing viewers interesting photos that match her style and personality.

The main choice I decided to make when creating this video portrait was to have my mum speak in Vietnamese, because she isn’t fluent in English. I felt this would make her talk and delve more into the subject she was talking about because it is her first language, therefore allowing her to be more expressive.
I am hoping the subtitles do not put people off and they are able to concentrate on both the subtitles and the images on screen.

The difficult moments I experienced during this particular process was mainly in the editing stage; trying to figure out how to add subtitles and align them perfectly with footage and music on iMovie since this is only the second time I have used the program.

Things I have learnt:
How do you know if somebody is a good interviewer?
A question they ask, no matter how short, brings the interviewee to give a long and interesting answer instead of a useless yes or no.
I think that as the interviewer, you must make the other person feel comfortable, as though they are having a conversation instead of being attacked or getting the third degree. Unless you’re in an interrogation room, the person shouldn’t feel as though there is some sort of harsh spotlight on them, piercing through them to reveal the truth. What they have to say must come freely for it to not be an awkward interview.
The more comfortable they feel, the deeper they will go and the better their answers will be.