ESSAY.

1501HUM New Communication Technologies
Assessment – Essay (Due: 18 October 2010)
By Erin Oxnam

Why is privacy such a contentious issue for Internet users? Discuss with reference to at least ONE social network service (or other web2.0 service).

Privacy on the Web seems nonexistent these days but have users given up their rights to privacy or has it been taken from them? Privacy is commonly defined as “freedom from attention of others” (Word definition) and although many Internet users seek online privacy, their personal information is plastered all over the Internet, the majority of the time without their consent. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow people who the user may or may not know to have access to their personal information as well as letting them know the innermost details of their everyday lives.

Facebook is the most used website on the Internet and although there is a list of terms and conditions of service that one must agree to when registering, it is not often that people read those when they sign up before agreeing to the terms of use. Facebook is a website that stores and sells information on their members to groups such as marketers and other companies for their use and research.

There is a website known as InsideFacebook.com that has investigated privacy issues regarding Facebook. They determined that Facebook has pushed its users to allow personal information to be public over the last few years (sometimes without the user knowing). Facebook has stated that it believes this will allow them to offer the information to marketers and developers to benefit the user but some users, privacy groups and politicians have spoken out against this through vocal protests, lawsuits and recently, official investigations. In early January, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told a live audience that the world has changed and that it’s become more public and less private. Whilst this seems like a justification for the disloyalty to Facebook’s users, his statement does have some validity. Billions of people around the world use the Internet and have online profiles on various websites including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Blogspot, Tumblr, Youtube and even places such as Chat Roulette where users are able to make contact with people around the globe using their web cam and microphone.

Some personal information that can be exploited by Facebook is a user’s musical and reading preferences, employment information, past and present schooling and education as well as any other information that makes up your profile. All of this information must be public and linked to public pages for each of those bits of information; otherwise you don’t get them at all. There is no choice for users to choose which of their preferences are able to be public or private. What some teenagers might not realise is that when applying to University or College and you give them your details including an email address, admissions offices can use email addresses to find information about them.

A whole other issue for security and privacy issues is status updates. Everybody writes status updates talking about their day and other such things without knowing who can access their information or how it can affect them in real life. The website Wired.com wrote an alarming article about default security settings for status updates.

Now, say you write a public update, saying, “My boss had a crazy great idea for a new product!” Now, you might not know it, but there is a Facebook page for “My Crazy Boss” and because your post had all the right words, your post now shows up on that page. Include the words “FBI” or “CIA,” and you show up on the FBI or CIA page.
Facebook’s Gone Rogue; It’s Time for an Open Alternative | Epicenter | Wired.com

Another concern for users of social networking sites is identity theft. With all the information that is available to the public including full names, family information, suburbs where people live, interests as well as personal pictures, it has made identity theft just that much easier. Many people have had their YouTube videos stolen and posted onto another account that claims the videos as their own, which is just a small problem amongst the larger privacy issue. Having all of this personal information available to the public has also made it easier for predators and stalkers to get closer to their victim and know more about them as they can gather information about their family and workplace.

Despite the negative things that were said earlier about the social networking site Facebook, they do offer the following privacy options that their users should be aware of: friend lists (used to send out messages to certain groups of people and not others), removal from search results (both on Google and Facebook), avoid photo/video tagging, protect your photo albums and finally, prevent stories from showing up in your feed (such as relationship statuses).

The research and investigation done for the purpose of this essay to answer the earlier question, ‘have users given up their rights to privacy or has it been taken from them?’ leads towards privacy has been taken away from users, with their consent. Despite the privacy groups and politicians who disagree with the way sites such as Facebook exploit their users and sell their information, the users cannot be treated as victims. There are steps that Internet users can put into place to ensure their privacy is protected which include; refusing to use social networking sites such as Facebook, ensuring that they read the terms and conditions before agreeing to joining a site, checking their privacy settings before posting or using a site, be conscious of information that is revealed online, by reading books on internet privacy such as Internet Privacy for Dummies and by being aware of any new technologies that can harm you or your computer.


References, Research & Resources
Web:
"Facebook | Privacy Guide", Date Accessed: 3 October 2010,
http://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation.php

“Analysis: Some Facebook Privacy Issues Are Real, Some Are Not””, Date Accessed: 17 October 2010, http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/05/11/analysis-some-facebook-privacy-issues-are-real-some-are-not/

“Facebook’s Gone Rogue; It’s Time for an Open Alternative | Epicenter | Wired.com”, Date Accessed: 16 October 2010,
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/05/facebook-rogue/

“Protecting your privacy on the Internet”, Date Accessed: 14 October 2010, http://www.privacy.gov.au/topics/technologies/privacy

"Wiretapping the Internet | Julian Sanchez | Cato Institute: Commentary", Date Accessed: 5 October 2010,
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12196

Video:
Living Online: Privacy and Security Issues in a Digital Age | American Constitution Society", Date Accessed: 5 October 2010,
http://www.acslaw.org/node/14449

Books:
"Identity Crisis: How Identification Is Overused and Misunderstood", by Jim Harper (May 2006).

"Internet Privacy for Dummies" by John R. Levine, Ray Everett-Church, Gregg Stebben, and David Lawrence (2002)

"Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy" by David H. Holtzman (2006)

10 - Final post!

Wow, it's finally the final post on this blog!

The first few weeks of this course, I really enjoyed it as it was focused on one of my favourite things: technology.

I feel as though the course was a little too easy and therefore I didn't put in my best effort over the weeks. I got lazy and stopped going to lectures and tutorials after a few weeks as I found out I could do everything online and didn't need to make the 2 hour trip to Uni 2 days in a row for just 1 or 2 hours of class. Towards the end of the 10 weeks, I went on a trip to Sydney and wasn't able to make it, but then I got sick and couldn't attend but that excuse does not apply for weeks 5-7. I loved the lectures that Josh did on Film as I am planning to study film for the next 2 years at Uni.

Overall, I feel as though the tutorials could have been one hour and the lectures two hours, which I heard is how the course ran last year as there was no need to spend more than an hour on the blog. Also, I would make the course more interactive with other students - not necessarily group work as that can be awkward and annoying to organise, but class discussions on the topic.

9 - Response to Lecture

I found this weeks content extremely confusing and hard to understand. I find it difficult to grasp the concept of cyberpunk and why it would be so popular. To me, it seems similar to fanfiction, except way less interesting and much more limiting due to its term.

I watched the youtube video Prepare for ZERO HISTORY by William Gibsonand was even more confused. I still don't know what cyberpunk is.



I looked at the website Cyberpunkreview.com and just found the design to me ugly and the website hard to navigate. Does cyberpunk need images or is it purely text based?

I'm not sure and will have to investigate 'cyberpunk' more before tomorrow's tutorial.

9 - Tutorial Task

Hi there!

MY CHOSEN ESSAY TOPIC IS:

Why is privacy such a contentious issue for internet users? Discuss with reference to at least ONE social network service (or other web2.0 service).

I chose this topic because privacy on websites such as Facebook are such a big deal these days. Despite the fact that Facebook can sell its members information, it has millions of members and it is the most accessed web page every day. Facebook provides privacy options to its users, allowing them to display photos, posts and other personal things to select groups of people, though most users do not utilise this feature. Ultimately, I chose this topic because I feel like there is a lot to discuss. There are many websites in which users have profile and privacy concerns so I feel I can expand on the topic.

Until next time..

8 - Tutorial Task and Tutespark

This subject matter is very confusing for me but I'll try my best to get the blog done.

Cyberpunk is about expressing ideas about human nature, technology and their combination in the near future. Usually cyberpunk has dark and gloomy outlook on the subject matter. Many writers have used cyberpunk as a way of social, political and cultural theory.

I'm not sure if this is on track but the description of cyberpunk makes me think of the Tom Cruise film, War of the Worlds. In the film, robotic objects take over existence and ruin the world as we know it (despite the somewhat happy ending). My research told me that Bladerunner is a good cyberpunk film.

8 - Response to Lecture

Week 8 was all about cyber reality and the way it has and will influence society. Cyber reality is like having a secondary life that you can step into through your computer though sometimes we find it difficult to tell the difference between our reality and our cyber existence. Many people use their cyber realities to express a part of themselves that they can't in their real life as they can choose how to portray themselves through uploading images, the way they write online, what they choose to talk about and even their profiles or how many friends they have on Facebook or followers on Twitter. Everyone has a reputation in real life, but also in their cyber reality and they do not mirror each other.

Clearly there is not going to be any technology that can replicate smell and taste anytime soon but maybe that's for the best. I mean, we are already so consumed in our cyber worlds that we don't need it to truly become an alternate reality.

7 - Tutorial Task and Tutespark

Research and provide short answers to the following questions. Provide references where applicable.

1. What is creative commons and how could this licensing framework be relevant to your own experience at university?
'Creative Commons is a nonprofit organisation that works to increase the amount of creativity in "the commons" - the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing and remixing'.
Source: http://creativecommons.org/

2. Find 3 examples of works created by creative commons and embed them in your blog.
a) http://freemusicarchive.org/
b) http://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos - This website allows all video makers to use the music provided on the website for free and without copyright.
c) http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/ - Flickr is a great website where SOME photographers allow their work to be distributed and used under a Creative Commons license.


3. Find an academic article which discusses creative commons using a database or online journal. Provide a link to and a summary of the article.
Implementing a web site that will provide technical and legal support for Latin-American publishers of academic journals to satisfy open journal standards.
This article is a proposal to design, develop and implement a website that will provide technical and legal sipport for Latin-American publishers of academic journals.

4. Have a look at Portable Apps (a pc based application) – provide a brief description of what it is and how you think this is useful.
I was not able to do this as I only have a MAC.

TUTESPARK
My chosen application is VLC Media Player. VLC is a great free program that is available to both Windows and MAC users. The features I use most often are the 'screencapping' feature as well as the fact that it can play a variety of video types, such as .mov, .avi, .flv, .mp4 and others, as well as being able to play my dvds. I love this program and don't know what I would do without it. I would recommend it to every computer user.

7 - Response to Lecture

Week 7's lecture focused on 3 key words: community, collaboration and choice. It also discussed the differences between freeware and copyrighted software.

These days, there are so many programs that require you buy them such as Photoshop. Purchasing Photoshop can set you back thousands of dollars these days so most people just download it for free via the web. When purchasing a computer, also purchasing Microsoft Office is generally a necessity, especially for students and people who work in an office or business, as applications such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint are a part of many people's everyday lives.

The lecture also discussed writing code. Having done HTML and CSS assignments for Writing for the Web, I can say it can be a frustrating thing for a lot of people but I find it quite easy and fun to do. I've coded my own layouts for websites such as Livejournal and have also made my own websites since I was around 13 years of age but programs such as Dreamweaver are a life saver for people who find coding difficult, though it can cost over $100. There are dupes for programs such as Photoshop and the most popular one seems to be GIMP or Paint Shop Pro.

Source code is freely available to everyone and consists of certain applications such as VLC Media Player, Firefox and OpenOffice. These are usually developed by internet communities through collaboration methods. These communities come together to create programs and codes that will serve their needs, without having to pay large sums of money for a program or modifying software and having legal trouble.

As a consumer, we havechoice. We have many options when it comes to software and free source software so that we are able to run our computers the way we'd like to without paying extreme amount of money for numerous paid programs.

I use many free software applications, the most used one being VLC Media Player. VLC is a great alternative to programs such as Quicktime, Windows Media Player and other video/media players and even offers extra bonuses that those programs don't have, as well as the fact that it's free and available for both Windows and Apple computers.

Culture Jam

Other group members: Ashleigh, Stefan

Our culture jam was based off of the fact that people are so addicted to their iPhones (and iPods) and rely on them so heavily, so how would they feel if it was taken away? Ashleigh had the idea that Griffith (and other Universities) participate in banning iPhones from being used on campus so we made a video presenting the idea somewhat like a news report. By making this culture jam we are rebelling against the way people are obsessed with their phones and need to have them with them 24/7.

6 - Response to Lecture

This weeks lecture focused on forms of new media and ways they are affection our consumption and production of information.

The most prominent form of new media in my opinion is social networking websites. Websites such as Facebook are the most used websites by the general population as it allows people to communication with friends and people they've known in the past, in such a lazy way. You can rebuild friendships just by talking for a few minutes a day or by taking a few seconds out of your day to comment on one of their posts. Having a Facebook page also allows people to project themselves in the way they see themselves or the way they want to be. I have a Facebook and it's very rare that someone has the same profile and presence on Facebook that they do in real life when I talk to them. A problem with this is that there are so many creeps that can easily get online, upload a fake photo and present themselves as that person which is very worrying. Most Facebook users also don't realise that they can sell information about their users to corporations, as is disclosed on the website when you register.

I'm Like A Lawyer With The Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off

I've been thinking about Culture Jamming and I just thought of a great example of culture jamming by one of my favourite bands, Fall Out Boy. FOB released a song titled "I'm Like A Lawyer With The Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off (Me & You)" in 2008 and their video focused on poverty and the situation in Uganda at the time. They took a stand and made a statement with that video, utilising the influence they have by telling a story through their music video and trying to educate people on the subject.

Here is the video:

5 - Response to Lecture

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the lecture this week but I looked at the content on Learning@Griffith and the lecture appeared to focus on customer consumption and production.

One thing in particular that stood out to me was the section on "Fan Films" as I've seen a lot of this online. Many people make fanvids of their favourite tv shows or movies that allow them to tell their own story using characters that they already love.

Tutespark - Culture Jamming

"Culture jamming is a form of disruption that plays on the emotions of viewers and bystanders. The reactions that most cultural jammers are hoping to evoke are behavioral change and political action. There are four emotions that activists often want viewers to feel. These emotions, shock, shame, fear, and anger, are believed to be the catalysts for social change. The term comes from the idea of radio jamming, in which public frequencies can be pirated and subverted for independant communication, or to disrupt dominant frequencies."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_jamming

There is actually a film titled "Culture Jam: Hijacking Commercial Culture" which asks the questions, "is culture jamming civil disobedience? Senseless vandalism? The only form of self-defense left?"

I believe this is a culture jam that has a large affect on society as has the ability to be seen my large masses of people around the globe. It it a documentary that has been invited to over 20 film festivals and has been seen by many people since it's filming and release in 2001-2.

You can view the trailer for the film here.

One of the most damaging culture jamming was when two 16-year-old girls allegedly concealed over-the-counter, non-prescription tablets inside soft lollies and deliberately left them in the children's play area at McDonalds. I believe this is the most damaging as children taking tablets when thinking they are lollies, is a very serious thing to happen and can have significant affects on the children. They might have an allergic reaction to the medication and could possibly die, or at least get very ill.

Source

4 - Tutorial Task

1. Where and when did usable online video start?

The first youtube video was posted in 2005 which led to an onslaught of videos to show up online.

There is a brief history of online video of the past 6 or so years here.

2. In the lecture we heard about technological innovations that were used by the studios to lure audiences. (mostly to combat the popularity of TV)
What recent innovations are being used to lure us in the movies?
What are they luring us from?
Recent innovations that are being used to lure us into movies lately is this horrid trend known as "3D". Personally, I hate 3D as it is such a fad and takes away from the story and performances in films. My least favourite movie from the past 2 years is Avatar. It was a terrible movie with a horrid screenplay and story, however it made over 2 billion dollars because of the CGI and the fact that it was in 3D. It made so much money that they are rereleasing it into cinemas (after a DVD release which is pretty unheard of) with an extra 9 minutes of footage (as if it wasn't long and horrible enough as it was) that cost 9 million dollars to make. 3D like that which was seen in Avatar had not really been seen in cinemas before. Nowadays, there are many movies in 3D such as Toy Story 3D and Step Up 3D. I do not believe the 3D trend will last as it is a fad and something new will come along that will detract viewers from going to see a movie just because it is in 3D.

3. Are short films still being made? Why? Who pays for them to be made?
Short films are being made all the time and are more popular than ever. It is so easy for people to use their own camera at home and go and shoot something, upload it to youtube and gain notoriety for it. Many students participate in short filmmaking.

Shorts are the most accessible form of cinematic storytelling: they can be made on any gauge of film or video and they are by their very nature, free from the commercial constraints of feature films.

Source: isfc.com.au

4. The term viral is thrown about adhoc but what does it mean in film/movie arena? Give some examples.

Viral is a term that has seemed to be used a lot over the past few years but I think when people say it about film and television, it has a different meaning. Justin Bieber has recently become a significant figure in today's pop culture and he started by posting youtube videos, and he went viral online. Viral is a term that is thrown about a little bit too much these days but it is still relevant.

A video, image or text spread by "word of mouth" on the internet or by e-mail for humorous, political or marketing purposes.

Source

5. Online video distribution isn't limited to the short film format. We are now starting to see television styled shows made solely for internet release (webisodes). Find an example of this style of content and discuss how viewing television content in this way can positively and negatively affect the viewer's experience.

Webisodes have shown up a lot over the past few years. I personally do not think webisodes or web series can gain the same level of popularity as tv shows or films seen on regular commercial television because they don't have the same level of widespread mass marketing. A series feels more legit if it is seen on television and has DVD releases, rather than just being seen online. An example of webisodes is "Chasing Dorota", a Gossip Girl spin-off which I talked about in my last entry.

I think a viewer's experience when watching something is greatly dependant on whether they watch online or on their tv at home. I watch a lot of shows online that don't air here in Australia and you don't get the same viewing experience from doing so. It is more convenient as you can watch it whenever and wherever you want, but it doesn't have the same impact as watching something on your TV, at least for me.

4 - Response to Lecture and Tutespark

This week we went through a brief history of Cinema.

As a film student, I really like when the lectures revolve around Film.

Tutespark

1. 'Twilight' Parody by The Hillywood Show

I feel like this parody already had a built-in audience as Twilight is a immensely popular series and has a very large online community. The Hillywood Show does parodies of many other films such as The Runaways, The Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean and Nightmare on Elm Street. They have built quite a large online fanbase and have over 10 million views on youtube.

2. Chasing Dorota - A 'Gossip Girl' spin-off (episode 1).

"Chasing Dorota" is a spin-off of the Gossip Girl series that had 6 short episodes (about 7 minutes each) that was created as a 'bonus' for Gossip Girl fans. At first, it was only available if you had a particular sort of phone that sponsored the show, but they put the webisodes on the season 2 DVD. Dorota was a very popular character among big fans of the show, but not so much the casual viewer.

3. Vampires Suck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHkPJ1ACLrg

This is the trailer for a film that is now playing in theaters. "Vampires Suck is a comedy about the contemporary teen angst and romance movies." Again, vampires are a large part of pop culture today so they already have a built in audience.

3 - Response to Lecture, Tutespark and Tutorial Task

The week 3 lecture focused on the history of technologies.

The thing that stood out to me in the lecture, is when Jules said:

We need to know where we came from to know where we're going.

As someone who is not very interested in history, I've never understood this (maybe it's just because I wanted to avoid learning about history as much as possible) but this lecture did help me to understand it a little more. I do realise that we need to know about advances in technology throughout history to try to know where we w

ould possibly go from here.

Tutespark

The tutespark for week 3 is to find examples of digital devices that are not electronic as well as to define the terms digital, analogue, communication and electronic.

Digital Devices

• Typewriter
• Magnetic Casette Tape
• Telegraph

Definitions

Digital: displaying numbers rather than scale positions

Analogue: of a circuit or device having an output that is proportional to the input

Communication: something that is communicated by or to or between people or groups

Electronic: of or relating to electronics; concerned with or using devices that operate on principles governing the behaviour of electrons

Treasure Hunt Task

1. What is the weight of the world’s biggest machine? How much did it cost to build?

The world's largest machine is the V-CAT D8R. It

stands over 311 feet tall and 705 feet long and weighs over 45,500 tonnes! It cost $100 million to build and took 5 years to design and manufacture.

Source: http://edwindwianto.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/the-largest-machine-in-the-world-the-v-cat-d8r-awsome/

2. What is the best way (quickest and most reliable) to contact Ozzy Osbourne.

I believe the best way to contact Ozzy would be through his twitter (@OfficialOzzy) as sending email or going through an agent could take months or even years.

3. When and what was the first example of global digital communication?

The first example of global digital communication was through writing, books in particular as they could reach large audiences globally.

4. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne?

BestFlights recommends Tiger Air as their one-way flight from the GC to Melbourne only costs $69. Flight is the cheapest method of travel.

5. Who is Hatsune Miku? What company does she belong to? What is her birthday?

Hatsune Miku is a virtual popstar was made by the Good Smile company. Her birthday is August 31, 2007.

6. Find a live webcam in Antarctica. Find a place to stay in Antarctica.

There is a live webcam available at http://www.antarctica.gov.au/webcams/mawson. Addictedtotravel.com recommends the Polar Star. The Polar Star is an ex Swedish icebreaker and was converted in 2000 for expedition cruising. The Polar Star can carry 100 whilst in the Antartic.

7. What song was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1980?

According to Wapedia, "Funkytown" by Lipss Inc was the number one song.

8. How would you define the term 'nano technology'? In your own words, what does it really mean?

A basic definition: Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, 'nanotechnology' refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products.

Source: http://www.crnano.org/whatis.htm

I believe that nanotechnology is using tiny designs and technology to enhance the technology we use today. Being small and nano allows us to use it more efficiently and in more effective ways. For example, nobody wants to carry a large computer around like the first one to exist, we all prefer laptops.

9. What type of camera is used to make ‘Google Street View’?
Google Street View was created using cameras that were mounted onto cars, to capture street images with 360 degree cameras. This is called the "immersive media" camera.

10. Translate these questions into Klingon.

1. nuq 'oH [the] [weight] vo' [the] [world’s] [biggest] [machine] chay' 'ar ta'ta' 'oH [cost] Daq chen
2. nuq 'oH [the] [best] [way] [quickest] HochHom [reliable] Daq [contact] [Ozzy] [Osborne]
3. ghorgh 'ej nuq ghaHta' [the] wa'DIch [example] vo' [global] [digital] [communication]
4. nuq 'oH [the] [cheapest] [form] vo' [travel] vo' [the] SuD baS [Coast] Daq [Melbourne]
5. 'Iv 'oH [Hatsune] [Miku] nuq [company] ta'taH ghaH [belong] Daq nuq 'oH Daj qoS
6. tu' [a] yIn [webcam] Daq [Antarctica] tu' [a] Daq Daq [stay] Daq [Antarctica]
7. nuq bom ghaHta' [top] vo' [the] [Australian] [pop] [charts] vam [week] Daq
8. chay' [would] SoH [define] [the] [term] ['nano] [technology'] Daq lIj ghaj mu'mey nuq ta'taH 'oH [really] [mean]
9. nuq [type] vo' [camera] 'oH [used] Daq chenmoH [‘Google] [Street] [View’]

Source: mrklingon.org/

The Great Race

Week 2 Tutorial Task

We got given the title "The Great Race".

Essentially, the story is of two people who are racing and one is on time, while the other is late. The symbolism of the clocks is that "time is ticking".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z59qRreW0P8

2 - Response to Lecture

I really enjoyed the lecture this week! Apparently we were supposed to talk about the history of different technologies but the lecturer wasn't able to be there so instead we talked about different elements of film (and as I mentioned previously, that's what I want to do so I was so excited to be learning about it). We mostly talked about technical things such as positioning of the camera, different types of shots as well as why a particular shot is chosen.

I did know quite a lot about most of the things discussed as I am a pretty active viewer when watching films, television shows or even advertisements, but it was nice to gain even more knowledge on the subject of film.

For me, the most interesting part of the lecture was the concept of why a particular shot is chosen. Some people had different ideas as to why a filmmaker would choose one shot over another but I think it all has to do with emotion. By using a CS (close up) shot of an actor's facial expression, you get more insight into what the character is feeling at the time. By using a LS (long shot), you can portray the whereabouts of the character but you can also portay emotion (such as "they're in a sea full of people but are still alone"). A particular shot is chosen depending on which emotion needs to come across to the viewer.

Until next time..

- Erin

1 - Response to Lecture

Hi, I'm Erin. I'm studying a Bachelor of Art at Griffith University and majoring in Film and Television. I've had an interest in Film and Television (particularly production and screenwriting) since I was about 12 years old. Before I discovered my passion for Film & TV, I was very interested in music and had aspirations to be a Band Manager but that quickly faded as my passion for Film & TV grew and I realised that if I worked in the Film industry, I could use both my passions and be dedicated to the one career. Music is used in movies and television all the time, though not a lot of people realise or pay attention to it. Both score music and songs are used in movies and TV shows to enhance or create a specific emotion to put across to an audience. I'm very involved with TV show 'fandoms' as they are called. A fandom is basically a community of people that support the tv show or movie. I feel like I learn more from being a part of one as I gain knowledge of what audiences want to see (as well as what they criticise) and I learn more from the creators and producers when they do interviews. I've always preferred the creator/producer interviews or commentaries to the cast ones, just because I'm more interested in the production aspect of Film & TV.

As far as yesterday's lecture, we briefly discussed what is considered 'new' and 'old' communication technologies. The lecturer said that television is considered an old communication technology because there are new technologies such as the Internet but I disagree. 5.74 million people or 1 in 4 Australians sat down in front of their television on Sunday night to watch the MasterChef finale, which I think proves that television is still a current and relevant method of communication in today's society. I think that television is also a new communication technology as the internet streams the TV shows that are made for TV. TV shows are made because of the money they get from advertisers who pay to have their products advertised during the commercial breaks of the airing of the show. There are some web series that haven't been successful because they haven't been exposed to a large enough audience or have the funds to make a decent series.

First day back at University for second semester and I've already learned a new work! 'Tutespark'! Can't wait to see if I learn any more crazy but fun words as the semester continues.

1 - Tutorial Task

One of my favourite blogs from a production company is from Southern Gothic Productions (http://sogopro.com/). I first came across this blog because of the actress (Hilarie Burton) who is one of the owners. She used to be in my favourite TV show (One Tree Hill) and therefore I followed her career and her move into Film and Television Production, which just happens to be what I'm interested in, as far as a career. SoGoPro is an all-inclusive production company that works more as a community than just a bunch of investors making movies and not including fans. SoGoPro keeps fans updated on progress of particular projects, has a forum and interacts with fans by posting VLogs, behind the scenes videos, blog updates as well as having a podcast. They also sell merchandise such as t-shirts (some are signed by the cast members), tank tops, wristbands and sweatshirts. I think this is such an innovative way for a production company to run as they are involving the future audiences of their projects and making them feel as if they are helping and are a part of the project.