Monthly Archives: April 2020

Networked Media Week 8

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Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Zach King (born 1990) is an American filmmaker and social media personality known for his digital ‘sleight of hand’ videos. Although his videos initially became popular on Vine, he is now mega popular on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tik Tok and Instagram. He initially began posting Final Cut tutorial videos to his website and YouTube in 2008 after being unable to find any online, although he claims he made his first video at the age of seven. Due to his popularity online he has worked with many celebrities and big companies like Terry Crews, Selena Gomez, Howie Mandel, Gary Vee and many others. I chose Zach King as his videos contain a joyous feeling and are more like watching magic rather than a video. His videos manage to capture the same energy and awe as watching a Disney movie as a child. They are completely free of anything that would offend a viewer and can universally be enjoyed, no matter what race, gender or religion.

 

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

This piece is titled ‘The Great Escape’

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9CWMT7nAzq/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

 

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

The video was published onto King’s Instagram account on the 27th of February 2020. However, it is assumed that is was made a lot earlier as there is a lot of effects that need to be done as well King himself mentioning in an interview he uploads three videos a week and has an archive of videos to publish in advanced. King also has many videos he is planning, filming and editing at any one time so it would be almost inconceivable for this to be uploaded on the same day it was produced.

 

How was the photo or video authored?

Although I don’t know exactly how it was authored, It would have been filmed on a video camera, presumably a preofessional one like a RED or a Blackmagic design camera. Along with professional lights and sounds equipment. For the actual visual effect, I would assume, in my limited visual effects knowledge, that multiple different takes were used. One of King climbing over the wall. Where a cut could be hidden to swap from King’s actual shadow to a stunt double in a green screen suit acting as his shadow to help him climb over. Later in post production the green screen stunt double would have then been turned into a silhouette by removing all colour and lower the opacity to make it look like a shadow as well as removing both King’s and the stunt doubles actual shadows. Then another separate take with the police trying to catch him, that have been stitched together. Although it is just speculation for how this video was made, King has shared that he uses techniques like this with his other videos.

 

How was the photo or video published?

The video was published onto King’s Instagram account on the 27th of February 2020 where it has 9.3 million views, as well as his Tik Tok account where it has 102.3 million views. It was also published in a compilation titled ‘Best of Zach King Magic Compilation 2020’ to his Facebook page where it has 3.1 million views.

 

How was the photo or video distributed?

The video was distributed on Instagram with the hashtags #shadow #magic and the location tagged as Folsom, California. Typically when influencers share a post they are littered with hashtags in order to reach a larger audience, however King only used the two, presumably because he is already very popular (with 23.1 million followers just on Instagram) and his videos are highly shareable in nature. Due to the combination of King’s editing magic and the videos often being under 30 seconds in length, they are shared and viewed a lot. When asked in an interview with Larry King (no relation) why his videos are so popular on (then) Vine he said because “there are short attention spans and the audience is so young, but it’s also highly shareable, you can just watch them, consume them very quickly and share them with a friend and it’s relatable, and if not you just keep scrolling down and watch more until you find one that peaks your interest.” Even if you don’t follow King chances are you have seen his videos on your social media feed.

 

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_King

https://www.instagram.com/zachking/

https://zachking.store/pages/about

 

Networked Media Week 7

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Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Mathieu Bitton (Born ~1973 in Paris, France) is a multidisciplinary, Grammy award nominated artist, designer, producer, director and also photographer. Bitton has a lifelong passion for history, music, cinema, and arts of the black community which his photos try to showcase often working alongside many famous black musicians, comedians and artists. He has worked with Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Quincy Jones, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese and many, many other high profile people and brands. He is the personal photographer to Lenny Kravitz and Dave Chappelle. He is also a Leica camera ambassador.

 

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzy0k6Lj_lm/

 

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

The photo would’ve been taken between 9th of July – 12th of July 2019 when Dave Chappelle made his Broadway debut performing his comedy special ‘Sticks and Stones’ which was later released on Netflix on the 26th of August that same year.

 

How was the photo or video authored?

The photo was taken on a Leica SL model digital camera. The Leica SL is a high end 24MP full-frame mirrorless camera.

 

How was the photo or video published?

After the photo was taken it would’ve been edited in an editing software like Adobe Photoshop, although I don’t know for sure. The photo was published on Bitton’s Instagram account on the 12th of July 2019 as well as his Facebook page and personal website.

 

How was the photo or video distributed?

It was distributed to his 40 thousand Instagram followers through the platform and it’s algorithm, using the hashtag #LeicaSL, as well as tagging @leica_camera and @leicacamerausa allowing for exposure and distribution to a much larger audience of Instagram who may not have been following him. The photo was also shared (or re-distributed), in Instagram posts and stories by other users that tagged him. The Photo was also used for promotional material on Netflix’s website to advertise Chappelle’s stand up special, meaning it was distributed on another website. Although this photo hasn’t been apart of one yet, Bitton has had many exhibitions showcasing his photography.

 

References:

Art Director, Designer, Photographer, Director, Producer & Dadaist

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/leica-sl-typ-601

Leaders Speak: Mathieu Bitton On Passion And Craft

https://www.gettyimages.com.au/photos/mathieu-bitton?mediatype=photography&phrase=mathieu%20bitton&sort=mostpopular#

Mathieu Bitton – Darker Than Blue

https://www.playbill.com/production/dave-chappelle-live-on-broadway-2019-2020

Making Sense of Social Media Assignment 2, Blog Post 4

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Initially when I started this assignment I tried to answer the question “Can I make a ‘news’ show that is more inline with how we receive it whilst also being funny and entertaining?” I think overall the answer is yes, I can. I really did enjoy this assignment as it was very enjoyable but also beneficial as it gives me something to do in quarantine, makes me read the news and scratches my performance itch that I would usually get from open mic comedy.  Overall the response has been very positive which is a motivating factor to continue this for my own personal satisfaction. However, in future videos I would like to explore the relationship between how we are delivered news vs how it is received by experimenting with set and action. For example doing it whilst on a bean bag and being very informal, or maybe standing up and moving around almost like a performance. The current set up  of sitting in front of a desk is a good start but I feel it can be improved upon and will lift the rest of the show like performance.

Additionally, A quicker production turn around would greatly benefit the show. In terms of editing I would like to scale it back a bit as majority of the images used don’t rally add anything, they just kind of mirror what I say and are almost redundant. Also it can take quite a while to make a single video (from start to finish about three days) which goes against the nature of both comedy and news, they have a shelf life. A musician can sing the one song their entire career and audiences will still pay money to see them. Where as if a comedian says the one joke their entire career they won’t sell shows or get any work. In terms of this, a joke about a current event won’t be funny if the event isn’t topical, and an event isn’t news worthy if it isn’t recent. Also the intro and outro are things I would like to improve and maybe experiment with other filmmaking techniques for these.

In conclusion I believe I answered the question ‘can I make a ‘news’ show that is more inline with how we receive it whilst also being funny and entertaining?’ successfully. I think I can make a funny satirical news show whilst also being entertaining and somewhat informative, which is something I plan to keep on doing, well at least until quarantine is over.

Making Sense of Social Media Assignment 2, Blog Post 3

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This week’s video seemed to be plagued with obstacles across production and post production. Firstly before recording I forgot to check audio levels on my microphone which meant that my audio I recorded was extremely quiet and unusable. Luckily though it was an external microphone, meaning I was still able to record audio with my camera’s onboard microphone, however the quality wasn’t as good but still usable.

Secondly I had a lot of issues trying to upload the video to YouTube. This was especially irritating as it was completely out of my control. At least with the audio issues it was my own fault and I learnt my lesson to always check my audio before recording. My troubles uploading was completely out of my control. The upload never seemed to be able to get past 40% uploaded, then once it did it would automatically start again. Meaning that an upload for a 6 minute video that should’ve taken about 30 minutes took an entire day to do. I thought that it may have been an issue with the file as it wasn’t uploading to Google Photos or Google Drive either. I tried exporting the video in different formats at different qualities but eventually the original just somehow worked. I wanted to upload at 8:30am but wasn’t able to get it to work on YouTube until about midnight later that day. One silver lining I did find though was being able to schedule uploads on YouTube using their schedule feature, and on Facebook and Instagram using Facebook Creator Studio. This meant I was able to get the clip I used from the main video for social media promotion out across Facebook and Instagram with a link to the full YouTube video all posted at the same time. This was scheduled to happen at 8:30am the next day as Sensis data indicates that this is the peak time for social media usage between my target demographic of 18 – 29 year olds. Although this might be the case, I did notice that likes, comments and engagement across the social media posts weren’t as high as when I uploaded the previous clip at 10:30pm. I don’t know why this is the case but it makes posting at night/evening more appealing as it seems to get more engagement. Overall though response on the video was very positive however in terms of views and likes not as successful as the last one.

VIDEO:

Networked Media Week 6

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Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Nam June Paik, born in 1932, was a Korean American artist considered to be the founder of ‘video art’. Paik practiced from 1962 until his death in 2006 after becoming a member of the experimental art movement Fluxus.

 

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

‘TV Buddha’

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/342.2011.a-f/

 

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

Although there have been multiple ‘TV Buddha’s, this one was made in 1976 in Sydney after John Kaldor invited Paik and his collaborater, cellist Charlotte Moorman to create a piece for the Kaldor Public Art Project in Australia.

 

How was the photo or video authored?

This ‘TV Buddha’ was authored using an old wooden Maitreya (Buddha of the future) from the Kaldor collection, as well as a television monitor, video camera, tripod and plinth. It employs a conceptual use of video in which the camera and the monitor loop in real time, blurring the object-subject distinction with self indulgence, technology and self acceptance. Comparisons can also be drawn to modern day reality TV and its affect on society as ‘TV Buddha’ serves as a earlier interpretation of that.

 

How was the photo or video published?

This ‘TV Buddha’ was published in Sydney at the “From Christo and Jeanne-Claude to Jeff Koons: John Kaldor art projects and collection,” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney on 12 Dec 1995 – 17 Mar 1996

 

How was the photo or video distributed?

This ‘TV Buddha’ was then displayed at these following exhibitions:

Other ‘TV Buddha’s have been on display at multiple Museums around the world including Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, James Cohan Gallery, Harvard Art Museums and many more.

Pictures of this ‘TV Buddha’ and information about it is also on The Art Gallery of NSW’s website allowing for another form distribution. Additionally, other websites with photos and videos of other ‘TV Buddha’s are circulating on the internet.

 

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_June_Paik

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/342.2011.a-f/

https://publicdelivery.org/nam-june-paik-tv-buddha/

Making Sense of Social Media Assignment 2, Blog Post 2

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Last blog post I came up with the question that I’m going to try and answer in this assignment. “Can I make a ‘news’ show that is more inline with how we receive it whilst also being funny and entertaining?” The answer after one video is, kind of. Well I guess technically yes but let me explain.

Truthfully speaking, I didn’t like how the video turned out. During filming I thought it would turn out quite well as I liked the jokes I wrote. However, the sitting down and not having an audience felt very unnatural coming from a stand up comedy background. I felt that without an audience to feed off I was very awkward with my delivery as I had awkward long pauses filled with silence after every punchline. Additionally, without an audience I don’t really know whether a joke is funny or not until after I publish it. However due to the current situation this is something I am going to have to get used to. Although I wasn’t too pleased with how it turned out the feedback I got was surprisingly positive however some did agree it did feel a bit unnatural and a forced performance which could be something I play with in future videos. Initially I was going to release this on my personal social media pages, but after watching the finished product I decided against that. Then I got some feedback and was told that I should in fact upload it to my personal social media pages as they thoroughly enjoyed and found it entertaining. On my social media pages it has been very well received with more likes and views than I was anticipating.

A social media strategy that I used to engage my audience is to post across all social media sites to alert them of the video on YouTube. For instance, posting a small clip from the video on Facebook and Instagram with a link to the full video on YouTube to intrigue viewers whilst also entertaining them. Additionally I will post in the morning as Sensis data suggests that is the most active time for social media by users in my target demographic of 18-29 year olds, however this video was posted at 10:30pm as initially I wasn’t planning no posting it publicly.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/ey4acrOKs4Q

Making Sense of Social Media Assignment 2, Blog Post 1

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Knowing this assignment was coming up, I thought about things I wanted to do for it. I knew that whatever I ended up doing was going to end up on YouTube, as it is the social media network I like and use the most, and probably (well, hopefully) is going to be funny. As an open mic comedian I have always been a fan of satirical comedy especially on shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Jim Jefferies Show, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell and many others I could name (especially considering nearly all late night shows are now becoming more satirical in these interesting political and cultural times). Many late night comedy shows like the ones aforementioned are starting to become very similar. A man in a suit behind a desk makes jokes about current events and politicians to a live studio audience. I know that I want to do something a little different by including more little sketches and less politically focused as I my interest in politics is like the Olympics, I really only care about it once every four years. Also coupled with the fact that due to the Coronavirus I can’t go out and perform comedy to a live audience, so this should scratch that itch. This also got me thinking about the news and news shows in general particularly the disparity between how the news is delivered compared to how we receive it. The news is delivered by a man in a suit behind a desk telling us about the current events in the world in a very formal manner. Meanwhile we’re at home watching it on the couch in our tracksuit, or reading it on Facebook whilst on the toilet or just having some guy tell us about it at the pub. So this lead me to think why is this the case? Why is there such a difference between how news is delivered and received? Can I make a ‘news’ show that is more inline with how we receive it whilst also being funny and entertaining? I guess I’m about to find out.