How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
I used my iPhone 8 rear camera to film this video. For this video however I decided to try the Instagram “boomerang” option, having never used this before I realised I had to install a separate app to allow me to capture the video and then upload it to Instagram. I’ve recently this is the same with doing a collage through Instagram, as it forces you to download a separate app to then upload to Instagram. I found this interesting because it kind’ve goes away from keeping everything on the one Instagram app like is done with the editing functions. Anyway, once downloaded I found the boomerang easy enough to film and then upload to Instagram. Getting the timing of the actual boomerang was a little tricky because the length of the video is shorter than I thought it would be, and as I wanted to film me opening the door to get off the train I didn’t have any practice shots. I was reasonably happy with how it turned out though. I had enough lighting and thus didn’t need the flash on, and after taking the video I decided editing wasn’t necessary and uploaded it as it was.
2. How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
I practiced a couple of boomerangs with myself on random things when sitting on the train to get an idea of how long the boomerang would be and to have an idea of timing, but I had no practice runs with actually capturing the door. At first I wished I got more of the door opening wider but now I’m happy with the look of my finger appearing and pressing the button. After uploading I added a caption; rather than just saying something random in the caption I thought I should probably provide a little context and say what I was doing. I added hashtags in the comment section, like I did with the photo this week. I wanted the video to play automatically because, like a gif, I find a boomerang only interesting because of the movement – so I thought it would be more effective if it started playing as soon as it was scrolled upon. I didn’t add a location to this image because I didn’t really think it was necessary, however on reflection maybe it would have been a good way to try and generate some more traffic.
3. How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?
I distributed this video on Instagram and onto Tumblr and Twitter through Instagram. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, sharing something from Instagram onto another app is not necessarily the most effective way to produce content. I feel like every platform has it’s own aesthetic and optimal method of use, and even if you wanted to publish the same video/photo on different mediums you would use different techniques for each one. Like I talked about in the photo reflection for this week, you could not do what I’ve done hear and comment hashtags if you wanted them to work on other platforms, because the comments do not translate to Tumblr and Twitter. Tumblr is also much more full of gifs than boomerangs, which are very much an ‘Instagram thing’ at the moment are a part of the Instagram aesthetic. I find this especially to be the case in Instagram stories (a boomerangs favourite and most natural habitat). I’ve also decided that I don’t love videos for the look of the overall grid, and if videos are to be effective they must have a cover photo that matches the rest of the accounts grid aesthetic. If I were to keep this exercise going, I would start to look for more square double doors like the ones in this weeks reflection (here) and last weeks (here). I feel like if I followed this kind of formula I could develop a nice aesthetic. As such if I were to do boomerangs, I would look for square sliding doors and do them opening and closing rather than a closeup of my hand pressing the door button like I did this week.
As far as publishing through Instagram on Twitter goes, it serves essentially as a teaser for your Instagram account rather than a direct sharing of the publication, and as such I don’t rate it that highly. I was recently introduced to an app called Buffer which allows you to link all your social media accounts and post the same thing to them simultaneously, or to post similar things but edited according to the apps without jumping between them all. I rate this highly as a better, more effective way of cross platform sharing rather than doing so through Instagram. I also find it interesting that if you share your Instagram’s like I have been doing through the app, the goal is still to bring the viewer to the Instagram app. You’re directly linked to the Instagram account on Tumblr and on Twitter you can’t even see the image/video without going into Instagram.
Finally getting off the train after a big day. Sigh. https://t.co/i4lsONrIeJ
— James (@door_ene) October 10, 2018