This week has been pretty busy!
First of all in Digital Media Cultures we were told about our groupwork brief that we have to have done within 3 weeks! I'm confident enough we will be able to do it, but we have to get our heads screwed on! This assignment is going to be really helpful I think because it is challenging us academically and also it is giving us an idea about our dissertation which we really need to start thinking about.
Also Keith mentioned the Malta internship this week again but he is waiting on a reply to see if someone will come in and talk to us about it in more detail. After thinking about this for another week I've decided that I really want to do it, I think it will benefit me loads and will be such a life changing experience, being out in Malta for a summer and working in a different country, sounds amazing!
In Convergeance Teamwork we had been linked earlier on in the week a Henry Jenkins article, who Mark had mentioned the week before, here is the link (Henry Jenkins).
This week was the week of our presentation and we werent too nervous. As I've mentioned before I wasnt really nervous at all because speaking in front of people is one of my strengthes. I think that the presentation went really well and all of us spoke confidentally. While speaking during the presentation I was realising even more everything that we had researched and new points were coming into my head because after thought I've realised that our question was really interesting and I would consider looking into it a but more in the future.
Overall I enjoyed the process of Applied Media Research and It definitely benefitted me because I've started to think more about new ways of selling media and audience behaviour when it comes to new media platforms.
We recorded the presentation on sound but unfortunately I havent been able to link it on here :(
Finally to end the week off this week I helped out with my SVSA job to promote Liverpool SU as this week and next week is Love LiverpoolSU! This job is really useful to me because it is boosting my confidence in speaking to people and also understanding my university and course issues better.
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Week 2!
Hello, this is my second week back from Christmas and I know feel back into the swing of things!
For applied research this week we had one more meeting before our presentation next week and really this was much the same as the week before but we were just finalising everything and asking any final questions or issues that we had with Sarah! I feel ready for the presentation now as we have pretty much finished everything and are just adding final touches. This whole process at first didn't seem to be interesting to me as a lot of it felt confusing, but as I've researched the question and carried out additional research it is all starting to make sense to me. Our group is taking the approach of audience behaviour as our answer to the question and looking into Mike Walsh has been so helpful as this is what he studies and tries to explain. I think media is controlled by us now, global companies have less power as a mass we can decide not to like something or the way something is being presented. So companies have to be careful now as to how they approach us. I don't know whether as a nation we have become more snobby or that we are searching for new ways to consume? This what I'm thinking about a lot at the minute.
In Convergence Teamwork this week we were given a short lecture about storytelling and multi-platform story telling and old examples of it. Mark explained that the story of Jesus Christ could be perceived as this because of the amount of different ways we can access information about this story. I had never thought of it in this way and it made me think about other examples of this. After our lecture we had to split up into groups and take an old fairytale, and then make it into a multi-layered story, giving background stories on the different characters. We chose the Elves and the Shoemaker and tried to tell the story of buddy the elf coinciding with the shoemaker, it was good fun but I think I'm still coming to terms with what Mark is trying to teach us. I don't fully understand it now, but think after time I will start to!
On another note I've been told that there is a free radio slot on a Thursday from 8-10 so I'm really hoping I can sort that out with the head of the society and get that slot. I really want to do radio! Hopefully it will all get sorted soon.
I've also been thinking about the whole Malta Erasmus project and am starting to really consider it, because this week Keith mentioned that we would be working in a radio station and TV studio and those are the two aspects of media I am most interested in!
For applied research this week we had one more meeting before our presentation next week and really this was much the same as the week before but we were just finalising everything and asking any final questions or issues that we had with Sarah! I feel ready for the presentation now as we have pretty much finished everything and are just adding final touches. This whole process at first didn't seem to be interesting to me as a lot of it felt confusing, but as I've researched the question and carried out additional research it is all starting to make sense to me. Our group is taking the approach of audience behaviour as our answer to the question and looking into Mike Walsh has been so helpful as this is what he studies and tries to explain. I think media is controlled by us now, global companies have less power as a mass we can decide not to like something or the way something is being presented. So companies have to be careful now as to how they approach us. I don't know whether as a nation we have become more snobby or that we are searching for new ways to consume? This what I'm thinking about a lot at the minute.
In Convergence Teamwork this week we were given a short lecture about storytelling and multi-platform story telling and old examples of it. Mark explained that the story of Jesus Christ could be perceived as this because of the amount of different ways we can access information about this story. I had never thought of it in this way and it made me think about other examples of this. After our lecture we had to split up into groups and take an old fairytale, and then make it into a multi-layered story, giving background stories on the different characters. We chose the Elves and the Shoemaker and tried to tell the story of buddy the elf coinciding with the shoemaker, it was good fun but I think I'm still coming to terms with what Mark is trying to teach us. I don't fully understand it now, but think after time I will start to!
On another note I've been told that there is a free radio slot on a Thursday from 8-10 so I'm really hoping I can sort that out with the head of the society and get that slot. I really want to do radio! Hopefully it will all get sorted soon.
I've also been thinking about the whole Malta Erasmus project and am starting to really consider it, because this week Keith mentioned that we would be working in a radio station and TV studio and those are the two aspects of media I am most interested in!
Monday, 14 January 2013
1st Week Back
Back after Christmas and Ive had a pretty easy first week so far!
We had a group tutorial meeting for Applied Media Research on thursday which was just to keep Sarah updated about what is going on. I was concerned with our group only because I wasnt sure if we had enough to go with for our presentation but after a quick chat with Sarah it seems we should be okay. Im not feeling too nervous about the presentation because I can talk a lot and it is one of my strengths!
For our TV Studio module we had to write up a report on the whole experience. I found this quite easy because we did so much throughout the process of that module there was so much to talk about. Like before it is now just a case of piecing together everything.
I also had to write a report on the Beyond the Camera assignment. This was much the same, it was basically explaining what we did and reflecting on everything. I find reports quite time consuming but ultimately dont mind doing them because they are useful and I like reflecting on what I've done.
As well as everything that is going on within University I have been trying to get a slot on the University radio station Looprevil and I did manage to get a slot but it clashed with my Thursday lesson. This semester I should be able to swap the slot for another one because I',m really interested in Radio and want to experience it.
We had a group tutorial meeting for Applied Media Research on thursday which was just to keep Sarah updated about what is going on. I was concerned with our group only because I wasnt sure if we had enough to go with for our presentation but after a quick chat with Sarah it seems we should be okay. Im not feeling too nervous about the presentation because I can talk a lot and it is one of my strengths!
For our TV Studio module we had to write up a report on the whole experience. I found this quite easy because we did so much throughout the process of that module there was so much to talk about. Like before it is now just a case of piecing together everything.
I also had to write a report on the Beyond the Camera assignment. This was much the same, it was basically explaining what we did and reflecting on everything. I find reports quite time consuming but ultimately dont mind doing them because they are useful and I like reflecting on what I've done.
As well as everything that is going on within University I have been trying to get a slot on the University radio station Looprevil and I did manage to get a slot but it clashed with my Thursday lesson. This semester I should be able to swap the slot for another one because I',m really interested in Radio and want to experience it.
Just Before Christmas!
Okay so this is my last blog instalment before Christmas and I will show you both videos of my finished pieces for the TV Studio Production Module and the Beyond the Camera module.
First of all the TV Studio Module show like I said before went really well and overall was a great experience! On the day it was very hectic and everything had to be rehearsed and almost perfected before we went for recording but as a finished piece it went so well. Working in TV studio has made me realise that within that part of the industry, there is a lot of pressure and everything has to be time managed well. Now all I have to do is write a report on the whole process and our team.
The team I worked with was very effective, working in a team for this project was important as everyone had their own role and had to make sure that they carried it out. For someone to do this individually would just be impossible anyway as there are so many different roles.
Here is the TV Show, enjoy!
This question was set by Jon Wetherall who is one of the creators of ONTECA, which is an App Developing company based in Liverpool, their website is www.onteca.com
The reason I have messaged to ask you is because I read your book "Futuretainment" last year and I think a lot of the things that you talk about are very related to this question. The idea of audience behaviour and the changes in media. If you could give me any advice for this question it would great!
Thanks a lot!"
And his response:
"Hey Josh - thanks for writing in, and glad you enjoyed my book. I personally think we are not only moving away from the idea of paying for media, but even downloading it. Think about what you and your friends do now. If I'm right, mostly we are streaming media. People are using YouTube as their music library. With platforms like Spotify, its more important to have access to content, than owning it. Then the real challenge, in a universe of infinite content choices, is knowing what to listen to and watch. Would people pay for curation of content? Seemingly not, but then again - what is a DJ if not a curator? Check out the discussion on music on this page from last week, my feeling is that business models are moving towards curation, organisation and access to content rather than the downloading and ownership model"
As you can see this is really cool and will prove helpful when it comes to devising our presentation!
First of all the TV Studio Module show like I said before went really well and overall was a great experience! On the day it was very hectic and everything had to be rehearsed and almost perfected before we went for recording but as a finished piece it went so well. Working in TV studio has made me realise that within that part of the industry, there is a lot of pressure and everything has to be time managed well. Now all I have to do is write a report on the whole process and our team.
The team I worked with was very effective, working in a team for this project was important as everyone had their own role and had to make sure that they carried it out. For someone to do this individually would just be impossible anyway as there are so many different roles.
Here is the TV Show, enjoy!
The second assignment that we finished this week was the Beyond the Camera project. Unlike the other project, this one was a lot harder for me because I am not that skilled when it comes to interactive media and packages like After Effects and Photoshop. I believe that this project came together really well and I was so happy with it all!
Using packages like this I think would require a longer period of time learning and taking part in tutorials and I think we could have had more time to do this. I think that this module should have probably been a year long module which would have then gave us more time to learn the different software packages. I think from doing this module compared to the TV Studio, I'm not a big fan of interactive media, I think this is because I'd rather be in front of the camera rather than behind and I have always felt like this. Using software requires too much time for me and I would say that naturally I find it easier to present.
Here is our Beyond the Camera final piece!
Finally in Applied media research once again it was just more of the same, which is researching and gathering information. We held a focus group in the last class before Christmas. We gave two people a blackberry, Iphone and HTC and told them to look at their App Stores. We then asked them some questions about these App Stores and gathered information. The focus group was really useful because we learnt new things about the app stores which we never would have even thought of before. Also talking to the other class mates about some of the features was useful and gave us a variety of opinions.
Also I fortunately got a reply from Mike Walsh which is extremely exciting! Here is the question I sent him and his response:
"Hey Mike, my name is Josh McDowell and I am a second year Media Studies student, studying in Liverpool in the United Kingdom. One of the modules on our course is Applied Media Research and we had 3 different companies come in and assign us questions that we have to now answer through extensive research activity. The question that we have to present an answer for is:
"What new models are there for selling media? When people download so much media freely, what are people willing to pay for and how? What are and what can we learn from the best monetization mechanics for Freemium games on mobile?"This question was set by Jon Wetherall who is one of the creators of ONTECA, which is an App Developing company based in Liverpool, their website is www.onteca.com
The reason I have messaged to ask you is because I read your book "Futuretainment" last year and I think a lot of the things that you talk about are very related to this question. The idea of audience behaviour and the changes in media. If you could give me any advice for this question it would great!
Thanks a lot!"
And his response:
"Hey Josh - thanks for writing in, and glad you enjoyed my book. I personally think we are not only moving away from the idea of paying for media, but even downloading it. Think about what you and your friends do now. If I'm right, mostly we are streaming media. People are using YouTube as their music library. With platforms like Spotify, its more important to have access to content, than owning it. Then the real challenge, in a universe of infinite content choices, is knowing what to listen to and watch. Would people pay for curation of content? Seemingly not, but then again - what is a DJ if not a curator? Check out the discussion on music on this page from last week, my feeling is that business models are moving towards curation, organisation and access to content rather than the downloading and ownership model"
As you can see this is really cool and will prove helpful when it comes to devising our presentation!
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