Ken’s Video Blog
Video Production blog
Our video idea has moved on from the original as this was proving to be to difficult logistically. Initially it was agreed that we would obtain old forms of media technology, ie, a radio, typewriter, TV, word processor, computer, newspaper, games console, mobile phone and VHS video player and with these we would produce a stop motion style video. The idea involved recording each device emerging individually from a different house and meeting in the street together and climbing into a skip or wheely bin. Emerging from this would be a modern laptop, mobile phone, ipad etc and we would use the screens of these devices to play video talking about convergence and the opportunities and challenges presented to the creative industries and society as a whole. Unfortunately this idea, although creative and interesting, proved to be too much of a logistical challenge give the fact that we all live so far apart and would find it impossible to meet together often enough to complete the project. Also the fact that we had no budget and limited time we decided we had no option but to rethink our idea.
A more practical idea evolved following inspiration we received from one of Yuwie’s lectures after discussing video mashup. We decided to make use of the idea that we could access the BBC’s Virtual Revolution website and download footage to make use of, how we pleased. This footage, along with other footage sourced from youtube and other online resources, would be edited together to form a response to the essay question.
A music bed would be used to add an emotive element and drive the video.
We would include some of our group asking questions to the camera which would be responded to from the video clips we downloaded, for example, the two founders of Twitter, Biz Stone and Evan Williams, would be asked “So how do you think communication now is different from the more traditional TV, radio and newspapers and the response would be from them as if we had actually conducted the interview.
We would also incorporate social network statistics to demonstrate the impact it has had on society. Video clips covering a variety of issues, difficulties and concerns would be sourced in order to create a balanced response. We wanted to include multimedia, transmedia, privacy, copyright, vertical and horizontal integration, collective intelligence, audience participation and citizen journalism, technological determinism and other elements we thought appropriate.
After spending a couple of days trawling relevant online source material and downloading it I then imported them to Final cut and began pulling out the clips I wanted to use and labelled them accordingly. Pulling the clips to the time line I used a fairly long clip to use as the introduction which defined convergence in terms of media and how technology has evolved to provide multimedia content on mobile devices. From here I randomly arranged the clips on the time line and played it out in order to see how the idea looked.
The rough edit was exported out and I uploaded it to Youtube so that the group members could have a look and provide feedback.
The response was positive and suggestions were made to improve it. These included removing the shorter clips and these prevented the video from flowing as it appeared disorientating and fragmented. Using a more emotive music bed and more social network statistics etc, which would break up the video into sections.
Once we decided which video clips we were going to stage the posing of a question to, I produced a script and shooting script and arranged with my group to meet at Media city to film. We decided to stage three questions in total using different members of the group. The shoot took around an hour to complete and following we previewed the footage to ensure the quality was acceptable.
I edited in, the group video questions and found a more suitable sound track for the bed.
Again I exported it out and uploaded it to youtube so the group could provide more feedback. The response was very positive, so now all that remains to do is to polish it to finish it completely and add the new soundtrack, title and credits. The music sourced is copyright and royalty free.
This project has been very time consuming, I had trawled through hours and hours of online video to find relevant clips and many days editing and reediting. I estimate the total time spent to achieve this must be around 6-7 long days of my own time alone.
This way of presenting media convergence in a video form was a fantastic idea considering that we discussed the idea of mashup and repurposing, using existing content to produce something new with different meaning.
This idea serves to illustrate extremely well the very constructed nature of media text and that recontextualising content can create new meaning. As all media text are constructed with some degree of bias, which is unavoidable, we are aware that our video has a bias towards social media. We feel that the most powerful aspect of media convergence has to be social media as it is having a profound effect on the way we live our lives today. Social networking has given power to the people which has brought about a revolution in our society which will bring about a change far greater than that experienced during the Industrial revolution.
Ken Smart Media Convergence Blog
Whilst researching for my assignment essay and video I made some relevant notes.
For my research into media convergence I have begun to look at a number of books from the university library. I have also made us of online sources some of which were recommended by my tutor during lectures with links available from lecture slides and powerpoint presentations posted on blackboard.
What is media convergence?
What are its opportunities and challenges to the creative industries and to society as a whole?
I have divided my blog similar to the group essay.
What is media convergence
Convergence refers to parts of the media becoming indistinguishable. Convergence happens when bits of media either content ( books, film, Audio, music, games etc) or industry (PC’s, Ipod, mobile phones, Ipads, televisions etc) recombine and hybridize for example Tv programmes and films are available over the internet and watched on a PC or mobile device, radio podcasts are listened to on an MP3 player, games are played on a mobile phone along which can also be used as an MP3 player and a satellite navigation unit.
Convergence happens also in the content itself forming associations, such as the cross platform intertextuality that links a computer game to a movie to a soundtrack and to an advertisement. Youtube is a great example of convergent content.
“Youtube evidences new forms of content creation, novel ways of distribution and changing patterns of media consumption. Clips of TV shows appear on Youtube, officially and unofficially as well as countless parodies and remakes, but youtube clips also appear on TV as well as circulating over email in those endless, have you seen this messages?”. (Digital Cultures 2009 P36)
Content convergence - Technology convergence - Economy convergence (horizontal convergence) - Audience convergence (and the Long Tail)
“There are two important factors in relation to the digital revolution. They are the dispersal of digital media, from computers to cell phones to digital TV to the internet and the convergence of formally separate media.” (Digital Culture P46)
It is digitization that has transformed the production, distribution and reception of traditional media.
The term digital simply means that information is broken down into a series of 1s and 0s and put into a form that can be easily manipulated by the microchip. “Industry convergence threatens to breakdown the boarders of older media and challenge old structures of ownership, control, content and audience uses as well.” (Digital Cultures 2009 P46)
New media distinguishes computer based media from broadcast media such as TV and radio.
Satellite (Digital) – beams a signal from a ground station to a satellite in geostationary orbit around the earth. The signals are relayed back to earth where they are received by domestic satellite dishes or companies who then transmit their signals into another form either cable or broadcast.
With the rise of internet use the distinction between passive and active media communication has become blurred.
The multi level convergent media world is changing the way we communicate, create, consume, learn and interact with each other.Media convergence
Mutual shaping – technology is invented by humans then technology changes the way humans behave.
Creative industry opportunities
Horizontal integration means that many smaller media organisations are bought out by the bigger corporations meaning that they have all the expertise for producing media under one roof which not only streamlines production but also reduces costs.
Vertical integration means media organisations own all the different companies involved in the media products production, distribution and exhibition. This is important because it means that tighter control can be maintained over production, distribution, marketing, exhibition and merchandising which will lead to greater profitability for the company.
Within the US market 85% of homes have cable or DBS (Digital Broadcast Satellite) which can provide over 100 TV channels plus many pay per view and on demand options which generate income previously rendered impossible due to the limitations of older technology.
The introduction of DVD’s with their large storage capacity meant that whole series of popular hit TV shows (box sets) such as the Blackadder, the Seprano’s and Sex and the City could now be made available and distributed to a world wide audience, which again generates a very lucrative income.
Digital satellite allows broadcasters to reach homes around the world, providing content which was previously unavailable to a vast and rapidly increasing audience.
Many channels are now available to diasporic populations around the world allowing them to keep in touch with home culture and language.
Multi media distribution enables easy Intertextuality which reinforces brand identity.
Free internet distribution of content via Youtube enables producers to reach a world wide audience.
A great opportunity exists for media producers to distribute content that is successful on one platform through many other platforms.
Cheaper News gathering costs as Journalists become multimedia content production literate. A journalist today has to be multi skilled. They can take video and photographs using a phone, then using a laptop they can write an article and send it around the world in an instant.
Mobile Technology facilitates the livestream of news articles from around the world and although these cannot be edited, meaning they are open to bloomers etc, because the information is raw it is considered more truthful and therefore more trustworthy.
Benefits of no cost citizen journalism, contributing for free via blog, phone or video from phone from around the world.
News producers repurpose news items for distribution on mobile networks in order to maker it more accessible and to target younger audiences using mobile phones/Tablets/Netbooks/Kindle etc. The Guardian newspaper are considered the leaders of this changing landscape
Social network sites allow customers to engage with companies giving valuable feedback to services, projects and ideas.Fandom participation in script writing.
Immediate audience feedback used to assess the popularity or acceptance of new media concepts such as the BBC’s 3D revolution, which invites audience feedback for style and suggested improvements.
A new concept in film making “Life in a Day” – audience provide self filmed video content which is used to make a film which is uploaded via Youtube.
Not only does the public supply the content but they also fuel the hype, viral marketing ensures huge exposure in order to maximise profits for the production company.
Immediacy – Radio and TV programmes for example receive texts, emails and calls from the audience relaying up to date information on local traffic situations, weather, news items such as those from the Egyptian and Syrian revolution, Japanese earthquake Iranian elections were members of the public relay video and blog as it happens information via Twitter and Youtube.etc. Providing free news to the likes of CNN, BBC, Sky and Fox.The BBC coverage of the London bombings for example included both professional and citizen journalist news items.
Hypermediacy - Broadcasters can relay live news feeds and conduct realtime interviews from a round the world, whilst updated news items scroll in text form across the bottom of the screen. The viewer is aware of the remediation in this instance. News websites may contain text photographs and video.
Skype conferencing saves a huge amount of expenditure over conventional meetings, as business people around the world can conference from their offices or homes.
Some of the world’s largest companies are seeing social media as the way to more immediate and effective dialogue with consumers. Learning directly about their behaviour and actions. Facebook and twitter are just two examples.
Gamification – drives audience participation, engagement and interaction, using game mechanics to achieve this, such as competition to gain points for status, loyalty rewards for content contribution and votes for content quality. For example, individuals and teams compete in second life games participating in virtual communities allowing them to customise their identity using rewards gained through challenges to make purchases to improve their status. Facebook has the hugely popular Farmville which has around 70 million users a month and incorporates appointment gaming. gditty for example is a website aimed at promoting increased activity in tween-agers to combat the rise in obesity. An activity meter is carried around by the child in their pocket and records their activity throughout the day. They then plug it into their computer and see a graph of their activity. The more active they are the more points they earn so they can compete with friends. The points can be exchanged for virtual goods or donations to charity or gift cards.
Creative industry challenges
Investment in latest technology, the need for multi skilled employees and regular retraining.
Broadcasters are providing multimedia content which incurs additional cost but not necessarily increased audience/revenue.
Broadcasters are under threat from internet TV companies such as Youtube as they allow authorised TV downloads for free. Peer to peer downloading is free for film, TV, music, software and games.
How can broadcasters make money from web based TV?
Entertainment is no longer linear therefor broadcasters are having to think in terms of the broader life cycle of a show and how it will play on the TV, computer in a game or on a mobile phone. The additional costs involved associated with the adaption of media products designed for example TV broadcast now need to be reformatted so they can be distributed via alternate media delivery devices such as mobile phone and other internet technology devices. This means additional costs for equipment and skills training which may not necessarily produce additional revenue.
There are format and software compatibility issues. Files (video text audio) have to be passed around networks which use different operating systems or different versions of the same operating system.
Audience fragmentation, means that broadcasters now have to provide content to a multiple niche audiences across multiple platforms along with traditional broadcast media. Media providers work hard to attract the attention of media consumer amongst Increased competition in the market place which sees a steady growth in the number of media outlets and products competing for audience attention.
Audience shifts means that media production is becoming fragmented. Media consumers are now able to down load individual songs from the likes of Itunes and TV series and films are available for purchase via download, also digital feed s mean that users can access specific parts of magazines and newspapers without ever seeing the rest.
As a nation we are more busy, brits work longer on average than any other country in Europe. We are spending more time in isolation and we are increasingly uptight. These changes are impacting on the way media producers create and distribute content.
Advertising revenue for broadcasters is dropping as advertisements are for example placed online in order to target the growing internet/mobile consumer market. Organisations like Coca-Cola have shifted away from TV towards games. The enormous popularity of games and the captive nature of their players allows multiple opportunities for brand exposure.
Copyright issues raise concerns as to who actually owns the rights to material available freely online to any one who wishes to use it, particularly in the face of prolific remixing, reusing and repurposing.
Citizen journalism although free in terms of financial costs may also reduce the quality or accuracy of news reporting.
Newspaper producers are experiencing a rapid decline in subscriptions as news content is supplied for free by the likes of Google.
Tinker and hacker culture - co-production of open source free software that the public can download and distribute freely. The public are able to modify and re-distribute open source software such as Mozilla, open office and audacity. This phenomena witnesses people who hardly ever meet to work together online to develop and produce freeware
Nintendo develop games and they have been hugely successful until recent years were sales of new games has dropped. Competition in the video game industry is getting severe, and Nintendo must fight for customers who are using smart phones and tablets.
Opportunities to society as a whole.
Digital video production became possible during the early 1990’s following apples introduction of the quick time architecture and mpeg-1, mpeg-2 playback standards were developed. Following the release of relatively inexpensive digital linear editing systems such as avid, adobe premier and final cut pro has meant that digital video production can now take place in the living room or bedroom of the general population. Combined with digital playback and recording equipment such as the DVD means that their has been a massive surge in low budget and independent film making.These technologies have driven down the cost of traditional film production on 35mm film to around 10%.
DVD’s, Mobile internet devices, internet TV and on demand TV has significantly modified the viewing habits of the audience.
Employees can now work from home via the internet and home computers saving time and money.
Evolving technology means greater reliability and along with cheaper production costs means its easily available to a larger percentage of society.
Two screen activity is becoming more common place as consumers create content in response to media texts using email, text or blog. Multiple screen immersement using laptops, Mobile phone and TV. Interactive Tv now goes beyond the traditional use of the red button allowing audiences to connect to the internet. Producers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of multi screen immersement in the spreading of news to a younger generation who virally spread bulletins through text, email and via social network sites. It is claimed that 28% of people now surf the internet whilst watching TV.
Participatory culture, the increased interactivity of the audience in the new media context (We Media). Youtube, Facebook and Myspace allow users to create virtual communities which allow viewers to become users (viewsers) and consumers to become producers (Prosumers).
Users are now able to generate content, share it freely, create, use and reuse.
Blog sites, mobile internet devices that can capture video and photo enable ordinary members of the public to become citizen journalists which moves power away from the author to the audience.
Convergence is both a “top-down” and “bottom-up” phenomenon. “When a new technology is created, both the manufacturers and the users of the product influence the way it is used. Thus, no matter how much thought and planning a manufacturer puts into a product, consumers will ultimately decide its fate in the cultural marketplace.” (Jenkins,H. 2006)
Web 2.0 allows people to come together creatively. Tim O’rielly describes this as “harnessing collective intelligence” (Digital Cultures P39) which is the very essence of Wikipedia.
Collective intelligence - Wikipedia is the worlds biggest collaborative project. Growing in size on a daily basis it contains a growing wealth of balanced articles thanks to the many people who contribute to them freely.
People with different points of view are forced to deal with conflicting arguments in a mature manner resulting in a neutral view point. Many people who are passionate about a specific subject matter (passionate collective) may seem to hold much more wait than the traditional single expert, in the eyes and minds of an increasingly sceptical audience with regard to the accuracy of information from traditional mediated devices such as books, newspapers and journals etc.
Online shopping has had a massive impact on society. Shopping can now be ordered and delivered straight to the customers home without ever setting foot in a high street store or super market for example. This has increased competition amongst retailers driving prices down and increasing variety and choice to the customer.
Fandom – refers to the subculture composed of fans who share feelings of sympathy and camaraderie with others in a common interest. Focusing on individual celebrity or film, drama, sci-fi, books music etc fans for example make use of social media to connect with each other to share views and opinions. Fanzines and newsletters have now migrated to internet use which allows easy access and archiving of sharable material. Fan activism is having influence on media content as fans writing fan fiction often find their scripts influencing media text content giving greater control over content to entertainment consumers.
Henry Jenkins (1992) has conducted some fascinating research into the creative responses of fans to media texts, such as Star trek, generating new stories and and other related art work, and using original footage to create alternate endings to episodes.
Education has changed dramatically as a result of media convergence to the extent now that even junior school introduce computing to young children. Access is now possible to a wealth of information and educational tools like never before.
Remediation
remixing or refashioning an existing text, music, painting, picture, sound, film, book, magazine, poem, and so on. Writing an essay is remediation, text is gathered from a variety of sources and put together in a new document maybe accompanied by pictures and video or a diagram. Some say that everything is remediated. Media texts are redistributed on different platforms ie books, films, music, opera and radio etc.
Intertextuality is the referencing of media materiel in another form of media, paying homage, pastiche, mocumentary, etc may all include references to other work,. If a book becomes a film or theatrical performance then that mediation will contain references of course to the original piece of work.
Challenges to society as a whole.
The use of mobile multi media devices is seemingly fragmenting society. People are more and more immersed in their private worlds of viewing online content, social network sites, forums, etc to the point that in the home, families are spending time alone often in separate rooms.
Lack of traditional social interaction, exercise, interaction with the real environment.
Online shopping may contribute to obesity as the traditional method meant exercising to a degree. The same can be said for online gaming, mobile gaming devices encourage inactivity in children and adults.
The digital divide means that currently only a relatively small proportion of the worlds population can participate in new digital culture.
McDonaldization of society – globalization, which is in part facilitated by new media, may decrease cultural and national identities as we all become increasingly alike and culturally heterogenous.
Unregulated media – Porn, extremist websites etc.
Intrusion into privacy, internet usage monitorization for customer profiling for marketing and advertising purposes. Future employers using social network sites to assess the personality of future employees.
The expense of keeping up with rapidly changing/evolving technology.
Media influences our decision making, our beliefs and our attitudes. Conglomerates strive to take control of the media and its distribution via horizontal and vertical integration which means that the content we receive as an audience can be heavily controlled. It is essential therefore that organisations are not self regulating so as to ensure that media texts are of quality and value to society.
Changing the way we live our lives can be seen for example in the way we can now consume media text were and when we want, with the use of mobile media devices, catchup TV and Sky’s recording device this allows the audience freedom to consume when its convenient as opposed to the traditional broadcast through the TV medium were audiences had no choice but to view scheduled media.
Gaming although has positive benefits in terms of skill development it also effects socialising and encourages unhealthy sedentary lifestyles increasing obesity rates and isolation.
The use of photo editing software such as Photo Shop allows publishers to manipulate images for example portraying super skinny models with flawless complexions as beautiful and glamorous. This can have a very negative impact on the body conscious woman encouraging woman and teenagers to seek cosmetic surgery, experience eating disorders, low self esteem and depression.
Some girls have traditionally strived to emulate magazine models and model standard actresses from film and drama, but more worryingly in recent years their has come into existence a community of websites promoting the pro-ana phenomena, glamorizing the anorexia condition and offering information on how to manage eating disorders and conceal it from friends.
Blurring distinctions between work and home as we are always available via internet connected devices. Employers go home respond to emails, prepare work online for the following day and are always contactable.
Social commentator Alvin Toffler (1970) has spoken of information overload whereby we encounter so much verbal and visual material in our everyday lives that his leads to a state of disorientation. Sorting out reliable and useful information from junk, marketing and down right lies requires a level of media literacy that is not always within our reach.
Presentation introduction and Conclusion.
Media Convergence
Slide 1
Life as we know it is undergoing a transformation
The impact media convergence is having on the world is far greater than that brought about by the industrial revolution.
Media convergence is made possible thanks to digitisation which allows large amounts of digital information to be compressed and broadcast around the world via satellite and cable networks to static and mobile multi media devices.
This has transformed the production, distribution and reception of traditional media through merging technologies such as telecommunications, computing and IT together with the cooperation and integration of multi media industries such as newspaper, TV, radio, film, gaming and entertainment, permitting the flow of multi media content across multimedia platforms.
Slide 2
Participatory culture is changing the way audiences interact with the media on many levels and this having a major an influence on for example politics, law and education.
According to Henry Jenkins, who is an American media scholar, convergence occurs within the minds of the individual media consumer and their social interaction with others. He also states that the circulation of media content across different media systems, competing media economies and national boarders depends heavily on consumers active participation.
No one person can know everything but many people knowing a little and collectively engaging can be a very powerful resource.
Collective intelligence is the direct result of collective engagement through for example web based forums, social networking sites and the collaborative production of sites such as the hugely successful wikipedia.
We will now look at examples of how media convergence is creating opportunities and challenges for the creative industries and society as a whole.
Conclusion
The Media convergence phenomena
Media convergence is a highly complex phenomena in its early stages of evolution. Not since the Industrial revolution has the world experienced such a dramatic shift in how we live our lives, born out of converging technology.
Technological determinism, according to Thorstein Veblen “determines human development and societies organise themselves in such a way to support and further develop a technology once it is introduced successfully.” (Veblen 1995)
Developments in technology have been key to our evolution. Early mans discovery that cooking food meant a richer diet, improving our strength and overall position in the food chain serves as an early example of how technology has an inherent effect on society.
Developments in technology
Media convergence propelled by the digital revolution is dramatically changing how media texts are produced, delivered and received. Alongside this comes a shift in how audiences now consume media, communicate and interact with each other and with the world around them.
What does the future hold
What is certain is that now we have this technology at our disposal there will be no going back. It remains to be seen however whether the power that converging media is unfolding will be in the hands of the corporations or the people or just somewhere in between.
Thanks for listening and I hope you have enjoyed our presentation.
Bibliography
Storsul,T., Stuedahl,D. (2007). Ambivalence towards convergence: Digitization and media. Nordicom.
Greeber, G., Royston, M. (2008). Digital Cultures. Understanding New Media: Open University Press.
Jenkins,H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where old and new media collide. New York University Press.
Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual Poachers. Television Fans and Participatory Culture: New York Routledge.
Veblen,T. (1995). The Theory of the Leisure Glass. London: Penguin.
Giles, D. (2010). Psychology of the media. Palgrave Macmillan.
Toffler, A. (1970). The Third Wave. New york: Bantam.
Shah,A. (2009). Corporate Influence in the Media: Media Conglomerates, Mergers, Concentration of Ownership. Retrieved 16 November, 2011, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/159/media-conglomerates-mergers-concentration-of-ownership#TheQuestfortheInternet
Gamification
http://gamification.com/whatis
The immediacy and power of social media
http://www.intelligentpositioning.com/blog/2009/06/the-immediacy-and-power-of-social-media/
Synergy and cross media convergence
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14824216/Synergy-and-Cross-Media-Convergence
The BBC website “The Virtual Revolution” has a number of free to view vox pops from a wide variety of industry experts and professionals, including for example the founder of Wikipedia, the founders of Twitter, the founder of the internet.
We media
http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php
Shayne Bowman & Chris Willis – We Media
http://www.hypergene.net/ideas/index.html
Kid Reporters
Convergence: The International
Journal of Research into New Media
Technologies
http://con.sagepub.com/content/17/2/213
Media Convergence
http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/converge.html
YoutubeOlogy
CBS video commentery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdJlyh76dEc
Are newspapers under threat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgK580bQNtA&feature=related
Media Fragmentation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GGjr-eWSbI&feature=related
Rupert Murdoch - How Technology Has Changed the Media
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQSKRWXyFw8&feature=fvw
Rupert Murdoch on MySpace vs Facebook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alXvBJyE9Dw&feature=relmfu
Rupert Murdoch on Bias in the News
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhRIM0QoF90&feature=watch_response_rev
Ken’s Blog
Creative Content Analysis Blog 28.10.11
Group for this assignment consists of myself Ken smart, Ethan Graham, Alex Francis, Robyn Masheder, Ciaran Davey. We have agreed to meet up every friday in order to discuss ideas and progress and to offer each other support in any areas that we may need it. Contact details have been collected and shared.
Initially we performed a SWOT assessment for our group in order to highlight individual and group strengths weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This exercise helped the group to determine who would take responsibility for which section of the assignment, what the group needs in order to maintain good communications, moral and enthusiasm.
We had our first formal meeting today and so far we have made positive in roads towards dealing with the essay, the video and the blog. The group so far has a positive attitude with each member contributing good ideas. The members also seem approachable, willing and confident.
Each member of the group will take responsibility for a particular element within the assignment and we will all work collectively on each element in order to evenly spread the workload and the burden of responsibility.
Ethan will take responsibility for the essay with each member of the group contributing equally with around a 500 word piece each. Each member will cover a different element within the essay. We will collectively review the initial drafts and make any necessary changes. The final draft will be edited by Ethan. We have agreed to produce a first draft by friday 4th november when we will have our second meeting.
I have agreed to take responsibility for the video, we have draw up a basic outline for a formal documentary style consisting mainly of three forms of content. Professional interviews from people involved within the industries of TV, radio and journalism in order to gain a real world insight into how media convergence impacts on them as individual employees and on their industry as a whole. Interviews with members of the public covering a broad age range so as to gain a real world insight into how multi media technology impacts on their lives. Interviews from industry experts will be downloaded from the BBC Virtual revolution web site. We will also include members of the group posing questions to the interviewees. This is a basic outline and will surely develop in time. Permission will be sort from the BBC in order to obtain filming rights inside the reception areas of their buildings so as to obtain vox pops from employees.
I have a contact at a well known commercial radio station whom I will approach for an interview.
Robyn has agreed to take responsibility for the Blog, initially setting up a Tumblr account that we will all have access to. We will blog as a group following our weekly meetings in the video format which will be posted to youtube and linked to tumblr.. Individually we have agreed that we can choose our preferred method of blogging format and we will include research material were possible. Robyn will also setup a facebook user group so that we can exchange information and communicate with each other.
The presentation will be taken care of by Alex and Ciaren. So far the format will be that of a power point presentation.
Cieran has also agreed to assist group members with their individual responsibilities as and when required. He will also act as a stand in to take responsibility for an assignment element in the event of a student not being able to complete that element for whatever reason, ie illness etc.
1st Draft of opportunities to society
Opportunities to society
Media convergence gives society the opportunity to do virtually anything, it allows anybody to access anything at any point in time. It is multi-platform which means that it allows you to view the same thing in a variety of different ways. For example, if there was a breaking news story, you would be able to find out about it in so many different ways. These include the radio, internet via computer or smartphone, Facebook, television or even newspaper print. They will all tell the same story but in different accessible ways. It also helps get the news out quicker due to the mass audience that is being reached throughout each platform of technology that is being used. Media convergence gives society the opportunity to be involved by making content reusable and allowing people to access social networking sites so that they can give their own views and opinions on any subject. Even the websites of newspapers allow you to make comments any news story, giving society a voice! The BBC Virtual Revolution is a good example of how content has become reusable as you can watch interviews and graphic clips from the series, comment on them and even download them for personal use and re-editing. The television series that aired about the Virtual Revolution also had questions for interviewees from people all over the world and the web audience also got to debate over programme themes. This is a fantastic example of how society can get involved in anything together if it is all made accessible.Another thing that media convergence allows society to do via the internet is post or stream anything they want on social networking, blogging or video streaming sites. This allows anybody to try and get noticed or to show off their work. People can voice their own opinions on anything which is virtually impossible to do without the use of the internet as in person you can not reach many people. With the internet, you can reach an unlimited amount of people, creating various niche audiences if you have good content. Niche audiences can lead to you becoming noticed as you build up a fan-base. An example of this is WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) superstar Zack Ryder, he was basically a back-up superstar who got virtually no television time so he decided to create his own Youtube show, which has now over 7 million views altogether. He even had a worldwide trending topic on Twitter for a full day. This created his niche audience who started turning up to WWE shows wanting to see Zack Ryder, so the company had no choice but to give him television time and make him mainstream, he is now given television time almost every week. He even managed to break into the top ten merchandise sales for the massive company. “An “internet star” who wasn’t “supposed to draw” for the WWE, is now tenth on the list”.This shows the power of society, if you get noticed and people like you, then the opportunities are endless!
http://theenigmaticgenerationofwrestling.wordpress.com/tag/zack-ryder/
http://www.youtube.com/user/LongIslandIcedZ
http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1317239796
http://www.fraw.org.uk/mei/archive/gn-irt/irtb-11.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/about.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/makingof.shtml
Doyle, G. (2010). From Television to Multi- Platform: Less from More or More for Less? Convergence, 16(4), pp. 431-449.
