Digital Media Cultures - I would say during this module these were the lectures I really enjoyed, I think Keith is a brilliant teacher and he really makes the lectures interesting and easy to digest which is very helpful! With the first assignment I was quite stuck on making a decision of which question to choose and how to go about it but with Keith gave me great support and with his advice it made it so much easier for me to enjoy writing the essay. With the second assignment as we were in a group, this made it easier because we had each other to support, and I found it really good to work in a group to complete a report. Although I was disappointed with my mark for the first assignment, after reading Keith's feedback I do understand why I was given that mark and it just means that I have to make sure I take this on board next time. Hopefully I will get a better mark for the second assignment!
Applied Media Research - I have already expressed the fact that this is not my best module, and it is genuinely due to the fact it doesn't grasp my attention and so it has never really interested me. I don't no whether this is just because I have never give the module a chance or just not paid enough attention, but I am much more into the practical side of things. However I did enjoy putting the presentation together, and I am looking forward to finishing off the report because I will be able to reflect and I know I will have a lot to talk about.
TV Studio - You have probably already guessed but out of the whole year this was my FAVE module! I absolutely loved it, I found everything about it really interesting because it was very hands on and I loved working in the studio! However I think I was that overwhelmed by the whole new aspect of the studio and what not that I didn't really take the time to research and make notes for my show or keep a diary of everything I learned or everything I produced, and if I was to do it over again I definitely would not make this mistake.
Beyond The Camera - This is one of my least favorite modules, but I genuinely think it is because I am not familiar with the software and I only have one person to blame, Myself! I think if I was to familiarize myself more with the different kind of software we can use in this module this would really help me out. It is not that I don't want to learn, it is just that I don't really find the software side of media interesting so this is something I need to concentrate on. However I was proud of my Photoshop assignment! I think this next assignment will be much more interesting because it is more about story telling and I like being imaginative, we have been put in to groups of three and for this project we have chosen to tell the story of My Little Pony but also cross it over as a campaign against Horse meat, which is a scandal that is very recent at the moment. Right now we are just in the research stages but this is like our final piece of practical work left to do for the year so I am looking forward to throwing my all into it..
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Applied Media Research..
I will admit this is my worst module, I do not find it interesting in the slightest and find it quite pointless! Which is probably why I have not put as much effort into it as my other modules.. For this module we had to answer media set questions in a group of three and answer these questions on a media platform whether that be a prezi, screenR etc... My group which consisted of Myself, Amy and Pete all decided to go with the question from ONTECA. They specialize in app based media they have created a range of apps themselves one which is actually a free app but grasps customers by adding extras which have to be purchased to get further on the game. This is what most app companies do as it is the easiest way to make money, you entice the customer with the free game however there are always hidden extras. Being a victim of this I was interested in their question the most out of all which was:
What new models are their for selling new media? When people download so much media freely what are people willing to pay for and how? What are and what can we learn from the best monetization mechanics for freemium games on mobile?
In our group, as there were three questions and three of us we decided to take a question each to make it easier for ourselves. We did our own individual research and then discussed what we had done on a Facebook page we had made specifically for the group. I took the first question What new models are their for selling new media? I researched a lot into this but it was hard to narrow all the information down, so I decided to do a questionnaire with different age ranges that would give me a better knowledge of different people and different generations. Once we had done all our research we decided on doing a Prezi as we thought this is the best way to get our information across.
Although I did find this question interesting, I did not really enjoy the module as much as I do others I just don't really think I got into it this year. I am pleased with what my group achieved however there was probably more communication needed rather than just the odd meeting and a discussion over Facebook!
What new models are their for selling new media? When people download so much media freely what are people willing to pay for and how? What are and what can we learn from the best monetization mechanics for freemium games on mobile?
In our group, as there were three questions and three of us we decided to take a question each to make it easier for ourselves. We did our own individual research and then discussed what we had done on a Facebook page we had made specifically for the group. I took the first question What new models are their for selling new media? I researched a lot into this but it was hard to narrow all the information down, so I decided to do a questionnaire with different age ranges that would give me a better knowledge of different people and different generations. Once we had done all our research we decided on doing a Prezi as we thought this is the best way to get our information across.
Although I did find this question interesting, I did not really enjoy the module as much as I do others I just don't really think I got into it this year. I am pleased with what my group achieved however there was probably more communication needed rather than just the odd meeting and a discussion over Facebook!
Falling into place..
Everything was falling into place, one of the other groups were also having a problem with their show as they had no one who wanted to present their show, and as there slot was the week before our show was due to record I thought this was a perfect opportunity because it would be like a practice run before I presented my own show. Also there show was about fashion, which was another bonus, as it was something I pitched to my group in the earlier stages and something I am really interested in, so really I got the best of both worlds!
After doing both shows and the mini shows it definitely confirmed the thing I love to do most is present! I just have a passion for it and I just feel comfortable in front of the camera, it feels right! This is what I hope to get out of this course at uni.. Although I wish we could have had more experience in this module because I do believe there is so much more we could have learned and I was absolutely gutted when I learned that this would only be running for one semester! I think this was a really BAD choice!
After doing both shows and the mini shows it definitely confirmed the thing I love to do most is present! I just have a passion for it and I just feel comfortable in front of the camera, it feels right! This is what I hope to get out of this course at uni.. Although I wish we could have had more experience in this module because I do believe there is so much more we could have learned and I was absolutely gutted when I learned that this would only be running for one semester! I think this was a really BAD choice!
Disaster Strikes...
Yes everything was running smoothly!!!.. however Natasha & Carlie where involved in a really serious car accident right before we were scheduled to rehearse and shoot our show, this was a big slap in the face we were very concerned for both our group members and also seemed to loose concentration. Although we were able to get back on track minus 2 group members which I must admit was quite a challenge, but we did try our hardest to carry things on as normal so that we were able to meet our deadline.
ANOTHER obstacle got thrown in our way when the star of our show was unreachable! We had sent Natasha Jonas a lot of emails and tried to contact her agent but she just wasn't getting back to us and this was WEEKS before the show! It is safe to say we really started to panic, just getting over one blow and we were hit in the face with another. Although we had been in regular contact with the star it all of a sudden just seemed to stop, and when we finally did get in touch she apologized and explained she had been really busy and finally confirmed that she was nonconforming our show which she had agreed to do.
We were back to the drawing board and it did feel like the walls were closing in on us! However Dave come to the rescue once again and bagged us another boxer Dexster Makuza who is also a boxer, not quite a girl but he is up & coming and fresh and not many people no of him so we thought it was something original and we could still keep our show theme and demonstration all's that needed to be tweaked where the questions. THANK GOD!!
ANOTHER obstacle got thrown in our way when the star of our show was unreachable! We had sent Natasha Jonas a lot of emails and tried to contact her agent but she just wasn't getting back to us and this was WEEKS before the show! It is safe to say we really started to panic, just getting over one blow and we were hit in the face with another. Although we had been in regular contact with the star it all of a sudden just seemed to stop, and when we finally did get in touch she apologized and explained she had been really busy and finally confirmed that she was nonconforming our show which she had agreed to do.
We were back to the drawing board and it did feel like the walls were closing in on us! However Dave come to the rescue once again and bagged us another boxer Dexster Makuza who is also a boxer, not quite a girl but he is up & coming and fresh and not many people no of him so we thought it was something original and we could still keep our show theme and demonstration all's that needed to be tweaked where the questions. THANK GOD!!
Mini Show!..
...As I said we had already started our research as a group individually, so before we started to put our own show together we did a few workshops with the cameras and the equipment which was very useful but also essential as we couldn't go into the studio not knowing what we were doing as we were using very expensive equipment and needed to know how to engage with it properly. I found this quite interesting because I had never worked in a real studio environment before and I was quite excited to be honest also! I really did think working with the technical side of the studio was going to be hard, but actually once you go over things a couple of times you actually get into the swing of things and I began to feel comfortable with the cameras, even though I am going to be presenting the show I knew if someone was off sick or couldn't make it for some reason I would be able to stand in for them.
Next was starting the Mini Show, which I think was just to get us comfortable in our roles and used to being in front and behind the camera and also used to call times etc.. We had to create a short TV segment on how to make paper airplanes, although this seems quite basic it was really quite hard, I found it hard as the presenter as I had to know which camera angles to look at whilst speaking and concentrating on making the airplane. It was really all about multi-tasking and gaining new skills in the studio. Which I found very helpful.
After we had had many workshops, on cross-shooting and shooting music etc, we decided to get into the nitty gritty of our show, this was the part were we got in contact with people who we thought would be good for our show. We had obviously sat down and discussed our ideas, we all quite a few ideas to put into the hat and most were really good, I really wanted to try and produce something with fashion as this is something I am also really passionate about however this is something which is done quite a lot on most lunchtime shows such as this morning and loose women, even if the whole show is not based on fashion they always have some element! Therefore we decided to go with sport, although this was the complete opposite end of the spectrum we decided it would work and yet we would give it a twist...
... You see all these shows which are mostly based on men's sporting teams, and women are not really mentioned much so we decided that we would have a sports show focusing mainly on women athletes, also mainly because this was also a big year for women in the Olympics so we thought it was really up to date. It just so happened that one of our group members new Natasha Jonas, the Olympic boxer and so we decided to set the show around boxing as well. We storyboarded our show planned out the set which was very basic with a sporty feel, and planned our demonstration. Everything was going perfect and we were all set!!...
Television Studio...
This was the module I was most looking forward to this semester!!! I really enjoy the television & radio aspect of the media, especially being in front of the camera or behind the mic, I have done since I was younger and I think when you have been passionate about something for that long you enjoy it more. My Dar always used to say 'that girl should have her own show' and its something I've often thought about! When I was younger I remember getting my first camera and I would use it for hours at a time each day either making silly music videos or documentary's about barbies! Or making my own TV show with invisible hosts! .. It all seems quite silly when I look back at it now, but I do believe that is what got me into the love of the media industry. I couldn't wait to use the new studio that had just been fitted also, that was something to look forward to.
After we had been introduced to the studio we were sat down and given our brief for the module, which seemed quite exciting! We were also put into groups, my group included; Myself, Carlie, Ashleigh, Dave, & Natasha. So after the groups were decided it was then time to choose our roles between us we had five options which included: Producer, Director, Floor Manager, Set Designer, Presenter. I did not mind which role I was given however I really wanted to take on the role of the presenter, because I felt that this would be my strongest role and after speaking with my group they all agreed that the role of the presenter suited me best and they all took on roles that they thought they would enjoy. The role of the presenter includes:
Presenter: The presenter is the talent and will present all the material in the show. During the music segment this person will have the chance to use a camera. They are responsible for the content and they work close with the producer to write a presenters script.
Everyone had equal responsibility in the group and we all listened to one another which made it easier to communicate and create ideas. The aim of the game was to produce a lunchtime TV Show that would be created for a pilot of channel 4, so therefore it was essential that it have a channel 4 vibe. I could not wait to get started on this project and so as a group we decided to do all the research we could about different shows and sets because obviously how a show looks is important as well.
After we had been introduced to the studio we were sat down and given our brief for the module, which seemed quite exciting! We were also put into groups, my group included; Myself, Carlie, Ashleigh, Dave, & Natasha. So after the groups were decided it was then time to choose our roles between us we had five options which included: Producer, Director, Floor Manager, Set Designer, Presenter. I did not mind which role I was given however I really wanted to take on the role of the presenter, because I felt that this would be my strongest role and after speaking with my group they all agreed that the role of the presenter suited me best and they all took on roles that they thought they would enjoy. The role of the presenter includes:
Presenter: The presenter is the talent and will present all the material in the show. During the music segment this person will have the chance to use a camera. They are responsible for the content and they work close with the producer to write a presenters script.
Everyone had equal responsibility in the group and we all listened to one another which made it easier to communicate and create ideas. The aim of the game was to produce a lunchtime TV Show that would be created for a pilot of channel 4, so therefore it was essential that it have a channel 4 vibe. I could not wait to get started on this project and so as a group we decided to do all the research we could about different shows and sets because obviously how a show looks is important as well.
Getting back into it...
So after an amazing summer I found myself itching to get back to Uni, I was excited to see what second year had in store for me and was looking forward to learning new things and learning more! On Monday 17th September this was the day we were introduced to some of our lectures, including Digital Media Cultures and Beyond The Camera we were mainly just introduced to the modules and what we would be learning throughout the year and what would be expected of us... For example:
Digital Media Cultures - we would be submitting a 2000 word essay that is fully referenced and researched, to be honest with you I like writing essays so this did not bother me as such, as yes it is hard at first to get in to the swing of things when it comes to an essay because obviously you have to research fully what you are talking about to be able to produce a good piece of work however once you have your research it is pretty easy to get into the flow of it. The one thing I would say I have to improve on when writing my essays is referencing I just don't think I have fully come to terms with it yet. We would also get to work in a team for the second part of this module which I was looking forward to also as I do like working in groups, this would be a 2000 word report and would be split up between group members which I think is good because although it takes the work load of we were all able to help each other out.
Beyond The Camera - Our first assignment was to create a single frame composite using Photoshop this was mainly just to refresh our memories with Photoshop and if i am truly honest - I HATE PHOTOSHOP! I think it is just because I was not a big fan of it in school, because most people would use it to alter their own pictures to make them look 'picture perfect' as the saying goes.. girls making themselves look skinnier, boys beefing themselves out a bit. It just wasn't my kind of thing, but now I kind of wish it was because I would of been a couple of steps ahead when it came to be introduced to me again in Uni. However I did manage to get over my fear of Photoshop and actually created quite an alright picture that I was proud of. :)
Digital Media Cultures - we would be submitting a 2000 word essay that is fully referenced and researched, to be honest with you I like writing essays so this did not bother me as such, as yes it is hard at first to get in to the swing of things when it comes to an essay because obviously you have to research fully what you are talking about to be able to produce a good piece of work however once you have your research it is pretty easy to get into the flow of it. The one thing I would say I have to improve on when writing my essays is referencing I just don't think I have fully come to terms with it yet. We would also get to work in a team for the second part of this module which I was looking forward to also as I do like working in groups, this would be a 2000 word report and would be split up between group members which I think is good because although it takes the work load of we were all able to help each other out.
Beyond The Camera - Our first assignment was to create a single frame composite using Photoshop this was mainly just to refresh our memories with Photoshop and if i am truly honest - I HATE PHOTOSHOP! I think it is just because I was not a big fan of it in school, because most people would use it to alter their own pictures to make them look 'picture perfect' as the saying goes.. girls making themselves look skinnier, boys beefing themselves out a bit. It just wasn't my kind of thing, but now I kind of wish it was because I would of been a couple of steps ahead when it came to be introduced to me again in Uni. However I did manage to get over my fear of Photoshop and actually created quite an alright picture that I was proud of. :)
Being on top of things!...
To be honest, this year I have certainly not kept on top of everything as much as I did last year!.. With life in general, not just Uni! So therfore I am going to apologise for not keeping up to date with my posts, I have had a lot of personal issues going on this year that have seemed to overpower my attention to my studys although that does not mean I havent taken each assignment seriously and tried to 'try' my best in my work, whether it be group work or an individual project.
I understand that this year is not the best to start lagging, and there is certainly no room for it next year, however like I said I have my reasons. Soooo, ive decide to get myself into gear and although there is not point in me just reciting everything as though I would have if I was doing my blog after each lecture/project I am just going to give you a bit of a summary if you like on my thoughts and feelings on different modules and the work I have done over this period of time..
Lets get back on track!..
I understand that this year is not the best to start lagging, and there is certainly no room for it next year, however like I said I have my reasons. Soooo, ive decide to get myself into gear and although there is not point in me just reciting everything as though I would have if I was doing my blog after each lecture/project I am just going to give you a bit of a summary if you like on my thoughts and feelings on different modules and the work I have done over this period of time..
Lets get back on track!..
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