Analysis and Reflection

1.

From TheParodyBoys on May 18, 2009. It seems that this video has had no direct impact on digital networked culture, but just type in “iPhone pardoy” into YouTube and the sheer volume and diversity of the videos seems to hint that there is perhaps something important about this iPhone commercial parody. My piece is similar only in that the extremity of actions (in my case creating a “mobile” scrabble board and ParodyBoys coming up with unrealistic applications) draws attention to the silliness of some of the real iPhone applications. I don’t think their piece is saying anything profound about how applications affect a person’s life, perhaps other than we use them for interesting and pointless? reasons. My video on the other hand did not paint “words with friends” in a completely bad light- or at least that was not my goal.

2. and

These videos come directly from the UK’s Sun Newspaper, but user comments have been disabled by the user. I really enjoyed this video, because I think that it engaged with some issues I wish I had developed more in my own video- that “old” media don’t mean it is outdated media. There is nothing inherently inconvenient about reading a newspaper and I think The Sun does a good job of conveying that. Just because a “new” technology comes along that incorporates and appropriates an older media does not mean that the old must give into the new. My piece is different in that I really did wish to convey more of the differences between Scrabble and “words with friends.” In my video change was what I wanted to convey; in The Sun’s it was similarity.

P.S. I would like to note that the initial inspiration for this project came from 1. watching my friends play words with friends and spell out “cat” every game and 2. from the interesting documentary Word Wars. You can watch it on Netflix.

Author’s Statement

Well, well, well. Here we are at the end of the year and the final project! Overall, I am extremely happy with my piece; suprisingly, filming it was the easy part! Of course when you hand the camera over to someone else sometimes your ideas get a little “elaborated on” or “misinterpreted” a bit by whoever is filming or acting in the scene. I was just happy that any of my friends would take time out of their finals week to help, so sometimes you just have to let go of control and let the collaboration begin. I think this idea of collaboration and community is an interesting way to begin talking about my video. I think the first segment of the video where I juxtapose or compare the “old days” with the (somewhat) counterpart to that tradition is really important in showing how the idea of community has changed. Most of the “new” things are about individuals (not to say that some of these things aren’t done with more people). I just feel that while these mobile applications have the ability to “bring us closer together” are they really? I think this relates to ideas Dannah Boyd is writing and talking about- the discrepancy between your media life and real life. But I hope that the mockness, the un-seriuos element of it conveyed that while (to me at least) it is a little silly that people play words with friends because it’s cool, although a majority of my friends have never played scrabble, there is something delightfully engaging and perhaps useful about not just words with friends, but applications in general. I don’t how many times I have stolen my friends iPhone to play games. I would love to have an iPhone and if I did I would have words with friends and every other cool application known to man, because that is what we do. It isn’t a bad thing and maybe it isn’t a great thing. I just wanted to draw attention to the change in culture and the way we interact with each other and the way we interact with media.

I think Dannah Boyd was my favorite author and critic we engaged with this semester and the transcript from her talk, “Streams of Content, Limited Attention: The Flow of Information through Social Media” brings to light, in a bit off an off-handed way some ideas that apply to the way we consume these applications. She discuss the idea of living within streams of information and streams of the internet. I think in some ways what the accessability and convinince of the iPhone does is create “tools that allow them [us] to easily grab what they need and stay peripherally aware without feeling overwhelmed.” Indeed we are not overwhelmed because in large part what these apps do is make us feel underwhelmed.

Also, I really loved Evgeny Morozov’s “Think Again” article, because it looked at the reality of the internet. People were saying the same sorts of things when the iPhone (and even more recently the horribly named iPad) came out- it is going to revolutionize everything about how we use cell phones and the internet. A lot of the issues or myths he debunks can apply (since the iPhone is itself, an internet browser) to how we realistically use the iPhone. I wanted to convey in my video some of those same misnomers. It could “boost political participation” or “overthrow dictators” or even bring us closer together by sitting in the same room with someone and instead of talking to them playing words with friends against them… but in large it doesn’t.

Final Project

as of right now it is still uploading…

Game Design

I really enjoyed this week’s game design workshop; I found it engaging and interesting to “create” a game from the ground up. Apart from the actual game aspect it was all worthwhile hearing other people’s perspectives on what college means/ meant (graduation in exactly 2 weeks!) to them. One thing I really liked about the results of the game was the emphasis placed on balance and not only that, but the outcomes of balance. Salen and Zimmerman talk about discernability and integrated play and I think both are exemplified well in our game. Not only do the meters provide constant immediate feedback, but the actions you take within the game alter the future of the game/ the college career. As whimsical as the game became it is still based on strategy creating a sense of agency and involvement. I don’t think I would mind playing this game- if only so I could play the (all- too realistic) cafeteria game.

Sidewinder away!

Prev.

The Captain’s world turned black. The only thing visible was Stratton’s bloody, lifeless figure lying in the ever-expanding pool of his demise. Not even Catherine could enter the narrowing tunnel of his vision. He abruptly started to run, and kept running until he reached his barn. His zeppelin was his only refuge now. He fumbled for the keys in his pocket and finally thrust the key into the old lock. The burly doors were heavy, but he threw them open with little effort. The zeppelin shone with a light that was now gone from The Captains life. This was his destiny.

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Author’s Statement- Mashup Assignment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpcIQdCI-Bo

So, this mashup assignment was quite difficult for me to put together for a number of reasons: 1. I went through so much sport videos trying to find footage that I could cut and use for a more, I guess, ‘fluid’ look at sports touching, but it ultimately was far easier and perhaps a bit more direct to just take still images that highlighted the more obvious touching within sports and 2. I am not good, by any stretch of the word, at editing and slicing video and all that stuff. With all that said, the only thing I think that was compromised from my original idea to the end product was the level of obvious funniness and how many images I was using. I think my message was quite direct, perhaps even more direct than I wanted it to be. The text screens at the beginning and end were a last minute decision that I was happy I made. It guided the viewer very directly, but I think without them the message would have become “o look at all this gay shit going on in sports”, instead of this touching that happens within the realm of competition taken out of context for a time becomes something else. I do agree with you Brett when you said it could have perhaps been better organized. I was very close to reorganizing so that the most obvious homoerotic images would be at the end so there was a gradual increase in “touch-levels” so the audience could see how a chest bump or high five could soon turn into a celebration between two young men on the basketball court. I ultimately settled on the mix, because I wanted to give the video a little more I guess spontaneity. I think I now understand the draw of this remix culture; it allows for (nearly) all people to be able to voice an opinion without this blatant thesis statement in your face. The value of some of the videos we watched in class like titanic II or the romantic The Shining are not some political message or truly vastly important to our society, but just the fact that people put time and effort in creating these works makes them valuable to society. If nothing else, what we remake and how we remake is a statement that is quite powerful. My video has no conclusion or ultimate message, of course it does have a guiding purpose, but that in no way means that it is exclusively my message that you have to get or believe in.  The cool thing about mashup/ remix culture is that it is always (copyright aside) for reinterpretation and recreation (ex. “Listomania” brat pack videos).

Blog Story cont.

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“What a lovely garden you have here Miss Catherine,” Stratton remarked from the bricked patio leading up to the lillies that Catherine was examining while starring off into the sunset.

“O, dear. I do not know anyone was there,” Catherine half yelled as she whipped around to see the tall and handsome silhouette of a man. “And why- Stratton. What a pleasant surprise to see you this evening. If I had known of your visit I would have worn something a bit more appropriate.” Catherine peered down at her white sundress that had turned a bit yellow in places from spending so much time among the flower pollen all these years.

“Child there is no dress in the world suitable enough for your beauty,” said Stratton. Catherine blushed and reached down to straighten her dress another time just to divert her gaze long enough not to please Stratton too much with the smile crawling across her face. “Now my lovely lilly, I will be here tomorrow promptly at ten in the morning with a surprise.”

Catherine had little time to respond or even process the words that trickled ever so matter-of-factly off of Stratton’s tongue before her palm was in his hand and his gentle lips were upon her hand.

“See you tomorrow Sir,” was all Catherine could manage to say as Stratton made his way back into the house and out the door.

The Captain was not the only gentleman with plans.

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Southpark on Chat Roulette

“Kyle this is the way the world works. If you want to find some quality friends you got to wade through all the dicks first” – Eric Cartman

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/269234/

Blog Story (Soap Style)

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The Capatain, though, was not the only one with intentions. Indeed, Stratton Brownsmith had some devious intentions of his own. Sir Brownsmith was quite a handsome young man in his early twenties, untouched by the years of war and fighting surrounding his youth. He was left with an inept right shoulder after a fall down a steep ravine as an adolescent, which left him worthless for physical combat. His brown hair hung in a near perfect coif; his slender physic did little to match his boisterous personality. Stratton was often the center of attention at gatherings in the Berkshire parish, which made him a favorite among the impressionable youth, but a loud nuisance to his parent’s peers. In fact, Philip Rumblage had invited him to the event nights before only for him to serve as a conversation piece, but Stratton Brownsmith had only one conversation on his mind upon entering the family home of the Catherine Rumblage. It was the triste that had taken place just before the party, which caused him to be late; it was the conversation with Mildred Applegate. Just as the Captain hid his insatiable love for Catherine, Stratton felt the same towards Mildred Applegate. The two lovers in a desperate last attempt to break the barriers imposed by Mildred’s parents who found Stratton to be quite unfit for their daughter and instead promised her to the Captain decided that the only way to be together was to drive Catherine and the Captain towards each other. Both Mildred and Catherine could easily spot the love growing in each of them since the Captain’s return from war, since they themselves were under the same enchantment.

Stratton greated Philip Rumblage with a courteous bow and peered down at his slightly worn shoes, “Good evening, Sir,” Stratton gleefully said as he straightened his new, expensive overcoat. “I have come to chat with your lovely daughter Catherine.”

“Why of course, the child is in the back garden,” Philip responded eagerly. “She spends most of her time there.” Philip lead Stratton to the back of the home with an extended hand, careful not to expose his deteriorating coat to the wealthy young man.

In the distance, the Captain peered ahead of him into the last rays of the sunset and Stratton Brownsmith entering Catherine’s abodes. The captain deterred and disappointed at the sight of the gregarious Stratton turned his horse back towards his origins with a click of the heels.

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Author’s Statement

Well, better late than never… right? I really underestimated the amount of time it would take to put this all together. I am happy with the final piece; I think that I effectively used several different types of medias. It took a lot of time to get down the screencast and I had a couple of hiccups getting still images uploaded to iMovie. I would have liked to make it muucccchhhh longer, but I realized very early on that I was way too ambitious. I had a lot of data of twitter and more on ways that the social media has direct effects on normal people’s lives, but in the end had to stick to a more straightforward path on the current and future state of Web 2.0 and how we use it. I hope people watch the video and don’t have an answer to some of the questions I ask in the video, but start thinking about the ways they use social sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. I think it raises some important questions about the different effects that these seemingly innocent  in cyberspace can alter our real lives.  I think the main point of the piece is the varying causes social networks have, but necessarily the varying ways. There are significant differences between sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, but I wanted to focus on ways that all these can still have similar effects on people. Hopefully I was successful in conveying some of these ideas; regardless, I had fun going through the process of creating this video.

Check it out.