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Viral media and social media trends

The week seven lecture was a thought-provoking insight into the concept of ‘viral media’. It explored the premise of the world as an interlocked society, where ideas and trends could ‘spread’ like viruses. Even in the medieval era, a disease passed on from China wiped out a quarter of the world’s population. That plague was of course, the Black Death.

Similar spreads are apparent in current society through the internet. Meme’s are a great example. Certain memes are universal and cross-cultural. The hysteria of cat videos transcends boundaries – they can appeal to all ages and cultures; everyone has similar experiences with cats. They behave the same manner in every country, they have no hidden motives, other than being cats. Videos of babies or toddlers are others that hold comparable appeal.

Other memes and posts can be spread purely on a local level. In my own friendship group, we take great delight in crudely photo shopping pictures of each other. On a larger level, I observed the disappointing exposure given to the Adam Goodes situation. Unfortunately much of the reaction to his plight was very derogatory. I was able to witness many sporting posts, even unrelated matters, where negative comments related to Goodes were commonly entrenched as the ‘top comment’ with the most amount of likes. The Australian public were sheep, following the herd in their treatment of the man. This ‘trend’ passed on to crowds, who booed Goodes every time he touched the ball. This was an example of a negative trend spreading, with the help of social media.

History of the Internet and its Development

It was intriguing to explore the events that led to the internet’s formation. Being naïve, I wasn’t aware that war and defence was the contributing factor behind the eventual explosion that strengthened and ensured the world would be forever linked by its vast array of networks.

Prior to the two World Wars, communication was extremely primitive. This compromised different countries in war, whose intelligence bases could bombed. This would have a great detrimental effect on the nation’s eventual fortunes. Varying nations recognized the need to protect their assets – the Soviet Union and the United States of America in particular, as the Cold War progressed.

The United States developed the SAGE network, which could detect aircraft and missiles crossing American borders. The Soviet Union undertook the Sputnik program in space, which comprised the SAGE network, as it didn’t detect missiles being released from space. This itself sped up the progress of the United States’ NASA program.

All of America’s advancements were formed around making its wealth of intelligence indestructible – surviving a nuclear war. The Pentagon itself is built specifically to withstand bombing. A 1964 paper ‘On Distributed Communication Networks’, states that these networks are to be built robust, non-hierarchical, flexible, digital with high levels of survivability.

The internet was formulated by the USA as a network to store and share files within the military. Links were eventually made with four universities. Until the internet was compromised by computer hackers (such as Julian Assange who accessed and viewed potentially detrimental information), the military continued to use the one network. When sensitive information began to leak, the US government generated separate internets exclusive to themselves. Having no use for their original, expensive internet program, the government released the internet to the public.

This lecture was invaluable in understanding the processes that shaped the networks that exist today – and their intended uses. Even in the worst days on earth, through the two World Wars, benefits emerged that have contributed to the internationalization of the world today. This internationalization has led to greater understandings of cultures different from ours, creating bonds that could not have existed in the pre-internet era. Its captivating thinking how a war of hate, could have led to bonds of peace that were never previously thought imaginable. Treasure troves of information are operable at the click of a button; we're becoming more and more informed by the day. Who could have imagined these benefits occurring when the US originally formulated the internet as a matter of defence?

Transmedia Campaign

News Report: Police open Hall case to public

Synopsis: Join the police in the desperate search to find Jay's brother, Daniel Hall. Using the clues gathered in your search (and an LTV news report), interpret and follow your instincts to try and solve the mystery of the missing man.

Explanation: I've decided to align the video with my previous filming project for this class, as it contains a mystery that could be solved with user assistance. Geocaching is an activity that relies heavily on user involvement. I believe it would be intriguing linked with a project like this. In Geocaching, users are given clues as to where an object is located. This includes the GPS co-ordinates, subtle clues as to what the object may be and the steps in how to find it. This includes links to the natural environment. Kinglake is an outstanding place to carry out such an exercise. 

The beauty of finding geocaching objects, is that the actual object itself can become a pathway to finding other objects. In a project like this, the audience may find a piece of Hall's clothing, such as a hat or shoes - and find a note contained within that leads them to the next clue. It's a constantly evolving and natural process, in spite of its planned nature. 

The search for the object will transport users into the environment of the fictional story. They will become able to visualize the surrounds of Hall in his 'final days'. They are able to control their own search paths, plotting where Hall may have went, summing up the local surroundings (such as sharp slopes, unreachable heights) and being given an insight into what shaped his choices in the walk away from his brother.

Physical Aspects:

-Geocaching Activity and search

Digital Aspects:

-Facebook page

-Twitter page

-YouTube informative video

-Missing poster (containing details of Hall's last location, possible path, who to call, social media links)

Schedule:

Wednesday 16th of September 

-conceptualization of ideas

-teacher assistance

-communication with potential actors (formulating schedules)

Friday 2nd of October

-Filming with Rahul 'Sergeant' Sankappa.

-Scripting of character parts.

-Filming of police and news reporter interviews.

-Filming locations;

Humevale Road, Humevale

National Park Road, Kinglake West

Kinglake National Park

Mount Sugarloaf

Bowden Spur Road, Kinglake

Monday 5th of October

-Filming of search squad efforts with Riley Beltran, Scott Ford and Jamie Gauci.

-Impromptu interview with Jamie Gauci, representative of the 'search party'.

-Filming locations;

William Street, Wallan

Old Sydney Road, Wallan

Wednesday 7th of October

-Structuring of videos

-Final edit of video project

-Posted to YouTube

Social Media Component:

Facebook page

Twitter page

User Involvement and Cooperation

Wireframe

Script

Reflection

The Transmedia Task worked pretty smoothly in spite of the time contraints and actor availabilities. These issues were the same that effected my previous project, but that experience was extremely beneficial in the groundwork undertaken prior to the beginning of this task.
                 
Editing certain parts of the film was difficult. The interviews had to be precisely cut due to the actor's dialogue (they didn't leave any pauses between mistakes and their final successful comment). This can lead to an unprofessional looking news broadcast.

I decided to take a risk with the duration of the film. I'd set out to make a news broadcast right from the start of my planning - but it was never going to fall within the recommended duration. Hopefully this design risk is understood and rewarded.

TRANSMEDIA PROJECT - INITIAL IDEAS

Synopsis: Join the police in a search to find Jay's brother. Using the clues gathered in your search (and a riddle from Jay Hall himself), interpret and follow your instincts to try and solve the mystery of the 'missing man'.

How the audience will be engaged:
-Facebook and Twitter pages (linked)
-Geocaching aspect (GPS - 
-Clues given gradually;
                -Address to drive to (eg: National Park Road, Kinglake)
                -Using natural environment (walk 20 steps from tree, etc.)
                                                             (walk in a south-easterly direction, etc.)
                -Upon the finding of an object, more clues are divulged
-You Tube video can end with policemen giving a choice as to which direction he'll go. Pause in front of screen (directly in middle of camera) with an arm outstretched to either side (left or right). An annotation will be shown on each side (unlisted video). To which the audience can pick. The next You Tube clip will correspond to their choice.

This idea is kind of inspired by children's shows like 'Dora The Explorer' where the kids are given time to talk and answer a question. Old DVD-rom games like the one on 'Dinosaur' is another example, where its interactive but users only have a few defined paths they can use, in contrast to a truly interactive open-world experience like 'Grand Theft Auto V'. The video experience is limited to these few paths, but if audiences were to actually follow the clues physically, the possibilities are endless.

NETWORKED STORYTELLING TASK: Videos and Reflection

Can't See The Forest For The Trees

The networked storytelling task was something I encountered many difficulties with. Not in the actual expectations itself, but the limitations of technical equipment, time constraints and availability of actors. My ability to gather actors was severely compromised by my placement commitments. This meant that large chunks of film were produced and filmed on the same day... Good for continuity purposes, but not so good for cameras lacking on battery life.

Having to undertake the production as an individual, affected my ability to create a video that would replicate one made in a group environment, with four different actors being focused on in one clip. This didn't mean I wasn't working with others cooperatively - it just meant I had to take more of a directorial role than I would have if I was working with a group of other students. Luckily, a few high school friends and I have experience in making films together. While our acting skills are rudimentary at best; Andrew Mayne (Jay's conscience), Rahul Sankappa (the policeman) and Daniel Thorne (Jay's brother) all understand filming basics and the creative choices and decisions that can enhance a film's message.

Despite our good intentions, difficulties did follow. Two of the scenes were filmed on the same day in Kinglake, which was encountering blustery northerly winds and isolated showers. Whilst the slight fog that settled over the town was a great stroke of luck that enhanced the quality of the images in the film, the wind basically rendered any dialogue indecipherable. Keep in mind I already had scheduling difficulties prior to this day of filming. I was happy with the quality of the shots and was loath to replace them when such an eerie atmosphere was created by the weather conditions - so I had to think of an alternative option.

In the past I have observed a few videos which use spoken word aligned with music. I enjoy them - I believe they provide good artistic values. Whilst my initial intent wasn't to create a film primarily based around this troupe, the technical difficulties forced my hand. I tried to give an insight into the main characters emotions and misgivings, but also to write poetically.

The composition of my film is up to the viewer. The first video is the flashback, establishing the background of the story. At the culmination at the clip, viewers are given the choice of two paths - Jay's return to Kinglake, or his plea for help to a police officer. Whilst these are the last two videos of the film, viewers who have chosen the first path, are still able to watch the second option. If viewers have chosen Jay's plea to the police first, they are appealing to his sense of civil duty. However if they view the clip after observing his return to Kinglake, the mood changes. His meeting with the policeman takes on a desperate front, a last chance saloon meeting. He already expressed his guilt when he returned to Kinglake in search of his brother; he was unable to find him. Although much time had passed, he wanted to make one last roll of the dice in the hope of reuniting with his brother. These paths prove how a viewer's choice (even with a limited portion of three videos) can have a great influence on their media content and how it is interpreted.

Wireframe

Links:
Part 1: Flashback
Part 2A: Return To Kinglake
Part 2B: Police Assistance