We don't get enough money!

After being given the task of thinking up a campaign and making a video to back it up. The group I was in decided to brain storm an idea which would be relevant to our age group. At first we thought about doing alcoholism but then realised it had been done numerous times before. After settling on the idea that student loans aren't enough for students in today's economic situation we got to work.

Before filming we started the filming process we researched other campaigns such as the free hugs campaign. When we saw the number of hits it had received on Youtube I was shocked by the figures. It showed that due to the development in the media anyone can make a statement and potentially be given a voice. Even if it's not on the old media, it can still reach people all around the world with the internet. This excited me and I was more enthusiastic than before to start working. After watching the free hugs campaign it inspired us to use music that fitted the campaign well in order to get the message across. The filming itself was hard however using a basic editor such as windows movie maker was simple enough since most of us had grown up with the software on our computers.

I really enjoyed this task mainly because I was able to express something that I had real thoughts and real issues about. The filming didn't take to much to plan because it was just us being us only with a camera so we organised when we'd go food shopping and when we'd go out and just film it. It was created on a hand held camera which I thought conveyed the message even more since it looked cheaply made....it was.

The medium is the message!

Reading about everyone's different experiences with the new technology for the reading in week 20 really made me think. When I was growing up I never used too much technology, I never had a mobile phone till I needed one in high school, never watched too much Television and the family computer wasn't for social networking sites or games as it would have been then but for school work. It simply never interested me yet at the age of 14 all of that changed. I started texting my friends, using sites such as Myspace and now Facebook and I watch Television so much it worries me. I had never really thought much of it as to why it had all changed but now that I do think about it the evolving hasn't really ever stopped. Now that I live away from my parents I'm on Skype every week mostly to keep my mother from panicking but still I'm using the software.

In a way I can also see how it's changed my family's lives too. My mother who isn't really good with technology went on to take a computer course so it wouldn't affect her ability to work. My father who also doesn't like computers has adapted to use them for his job and even in their home life. Both now with smartphones and a laptop can use basic knowledge on the devices. This is a drastic change from say six years ago. I would get so frustrated with them constantly asking me how to do this, or how to email photos and so on only because the thought that this was a new way of living to them hadn't even crossed my mind. I forget that this is new to them, I forget that they were not brought up with technology or the fact that were not taught this in school.

The questions provided on the hand-out enabled me to study this further. I asked a few people the following questions:

1. How have developments in the media technology altered your environment?
2. Have these alterations led to you changing the way you behave?
3. How do you feel about these changes?
4. Do you feel nostalgic for times prior to the current media you use?
5. Do you develop your coping mechanisms related to media use?
6. Has your perception of space and time been transformed by media?
7. How has your experience of culture changed (e.g image, text, sound, consumption)?
8. What values and emotions do you connect with your media use?

After asking other people their thoughts on the matter it was clear to me that it was not just  me who was affected by this but many others had never thought too much about it either. They too had to be given food for thought. Their lives had also changed considerably since many, like me, didn't have parents who knew the technology, however it was interesting to find that some didn't like the technology at all stating" I don't even use my phone. I hate it. I use it when I have too. The whole lot of it scares me" This was one of my flatmates.

I can't help but make connections to the work of Dan Gilmor who coined the term "We media" If media is changing the way our culture by introducing new technology then surely they changed themselves? We media is media by the people for the people so surely the step from technology to media is simple? You give out more technology for us to consume and we become a prosumer. We have the basic knowledge and technology now to put ourselves into the media and make out own.

I think this is kind of like cycle. First we get the basic knowledge by consuming all of this media for years, then they advertise the equipment to which it buy and then because we're making our own it becomes harder for the media to please us because we are no longer an passive audience but an active audience with basic knowledge on the media and if we don't like it....we can simply make our own.

I find this subject very interesting and will probably put further thought to it.


References:
Turke, S (2011) Alone Together: Why we expect more from Technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books

Gilmor, D (2004)  We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. California: O'Reilly. 

A high-cross journey!

In class we were asked to make a 3 minute video on the idea of psychogeography. This is the idea that there is a connection between the human mind and geography. As soon as my tutor explained this to me, immediately got excited. ( both the creative me, and the curious me) Not only was I able create something interesting for people to see I was also able to undertake my own thoughts and processes into the project. The idea of psychogeography fascinated me a lot. I found it true, I can't count the times that I've headed out of my house and headed into the town centre to meet my friends only to ignore everything I've seen until I reach my destination. I think the majority of us go onto "Auto" mode when we head out, ignoring the buildings and the things we see. It could probably link with the fact that when we see something out of the ordinary we seem to shy away....at least I do anyway. Perhaps we do come into contact with things we're not used to, we just don't spot them because we don't actually look.

When the project came about, there were many different ideas using the first letters of the favourite book characters to see where we go. However the one that struck both me and my partner as interesting is a shopping journey but let a dice control we're we go. This was an odd thing to do since when I go shopping i tend to know where I'm going so I can go and then quickly go back home. However letting an object decide for me, was weird. How could I walk part a shop which I know i needed something from but couldn't go because of an object? Or if the object told us to go into a shop which neither of us like very much. This actually happened, the first place in the video is an underwear shop, both of us felt uncomfortable going in and filming yet we did anyway to see were we ended up.

We took this approach because of the work by Like Ryanheart who wrong the book "The dice man." After taking his approach i then decided to do some research on his project to see his results. I then came across this article which explains that even 40 years after the book he's still letting a die control his actions. Once I discovered this I thought about how letting a die control my actions for forty years would effect me. I think it would drive me crazy, It would be good in some ways as you'd be more observant and see things rather than just walk by without noticing however letting an object control me is not something I would particularly like. I like to have control...especially in my own life so although I had fun on the project...I'm not sure if I'd want to do it again.

References
The worksheet given

Wiener. M (2012) Rolling with the dice man [www] Available from: http://www.sabotagetimes.com/people/the-dice-man/ (Accessed:2012)

Pecha Kucha

Networked media presentation

View more PowerPoint from sparksdude

During week for we were asked to make a presentation in groups which lasted for five minutes long. The requirements told us that we had to use 15 slides which were to be shown for 20 seconds long.

Pecha Kucha to my understanding is a presentation in which each slide is on screen for a certain amount of time ( roughly 15-20 seconds) and there are little if any words on screen. The presentation is used as a prompt to the speech or lecture that the presenter is talking about.

Although I can see how handy This would be in the working world where it is vital people are listening to you and not just watching the screen not really paying attention, I didn't like the experience of doing one myself. I found it scary due to the fact I’ve always known that if I stuttered of messed up in my presentation skills the presentation would have backed me up but this time you had to get it right or the Pecha Kucha just didn't make sense. It can be helpful in crucial moments of certain peoples lives, for example pitching something to a company where it would be vital for them to listen to you rather than just watch the screen, and although I am thankful for the experience and knowledge of the project. Perhaps in my life I’ll have to use it, but unlike the other projects I’ve done I can say that this is one week I didn't enjoy.

The whole idea of presenting to a big group of people is daunting for me however overcoming that was something that I did do for this project and it I did help me I just didn't like being timed and having no prompts, yet on the other hand the presentation did teach me not to just read of the bored or a piece of paper but to project what I’m talking about. In order to make other people to listen, I need to seem interesting in the subject almost like I’m listening to myself too. Maybe the approach to take is if you're selling an idea to someone.

I also learnt from watching others present theirs, I had to listen to their voices and hear what they were saying rather than just reading and normally I would zone out but this time I had to listen contently. It also taught me to project my voice and make sure my diction was clear because many people wouldn't be able to hear me if I spoke fast or mumbled like I normal do. I had to make sure I was clear and it helped that so did everyone else because their were in the exactly same boat as me.

This was not one of my best projects nor my best week, however I’m thankful for the experience I just also hope I don't have to do it any time soon! 

Thoughts on Jenkins

The article in which Jenkins discusses the different opinions and approaches of media makes many different points. Some of the topics discussed were obvious observation such as globalisation and how due to technology it is much like Marshall MCluhan's Global Village. I however found it more interesting because of the issues raised that i had not thought of myself, such as his first point. Innovative, how when people think of media they think of technology instead of the culture and the media itself. "Most often, when people are asked to describe the current media landscape, they respond by making an inventory of tools and technologies. Our focus should be not on emerging technologies but on emerging cultural practices. Rather than listing tools, we need to understand the underlying logic shaping our current moment of media in transition."I sort of agree with this, because if we take the company apple, is it a media company or just a hardware company? Many see it as a media company when in reality it just makes the products which allow the audience to access the media much more easily.

Another point raised which is the fact that is technology generational? I believe it is, because if we think about it, stereotypically our generation is seen as the "digital generation" due to the fact that we grew up with the software and can use it yet just a few years before us are not as clued in. The younger generation are more aware of the newer gadgets such as Iphones and smartphones. Of course I don't mean to say that our generation is better than the older generations who invented the technology such as Bill gates, and Steve jobs, but i make the point that in everyday life, it seems to be the younger generation paving the footpath in technology. I am constantly being asked by older family members for help on the computer since from the age of thirteen i have been constantly learning about technology through school and other aspects.

There could be many reasons as to why this seems to be the case but maybe it's because they were brought up in what seems to be a completely different world. Jenkin's says "Throughout the 20th century, however, as the rate of technological and cultural change accelerated, young people adopted cultural styles and values radically different and often fundamentally at odds with their parent's generation" So they would have to change their thought process for example, if all your life you had bought the morning paper and read it on the way to work and suddenly the paper could be accessed on your phone, although you would see the convenience about it but perhaps you'd feel out of your comfort zone without that routine. This is the same as the older generation, the technological boom has happened rather quickly so maybe they have not had enough time to adapt to the new technology. Another reason that seems to have been brought to my attention is that the older generation seem to be scared of the technology, maybe it's because they are not fully used to the software and the vast speed it seems to be developing that they don't seem to trust it. Picture this, you had lived your life for thirty years believing that you could only buy something by going to the shops and paying for it by hand when an unknown person comes up to tell you that if you gave them the details, you could have your product brought directly to your home...Would you believe the unknown? Perhaps this is why the older generation seem weary of it. They do not know it, they don't understand and are very unfamiliar therefore they stay away in fear of it messing up the momentum of their life.

"Adults know less than they think about what young people are doing on line and young people know less than they think about the values and assumptions that shape adult's relationship to media." According to Jenkins, we assume more than we know which again makes the gap between the generations bigger in our mind and justifies the fact that parents and children are now completely different to how they were say forty years ago.

Although being a media student, I'm aware of the development that is made in the industry however it wasn't until i read this article that i was aware just how much detail must be paid in order to catch the subtle changes which can then lead to big ones. The issues raised by Jenkins shows the detail in which he has clearly observed the media over time. I think in order to understand the media, you must take part in the media which is what Jenkins did by posting the article online.

Reference:

Jenkins, H. (2006) Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape [WWW] Available from: http://www.henryjenkins.org/2006/11/eight_traits_of_the_new_media.html