CTV 4304-001 New Media Platforms FINAL EXAM
What is transmedia? Briefly explain the concept, and then illustrate your answer with one example site, describe how online media platforms facilitate transmedia experiences.
Transmedia is a term used to describe a work that uses multiple platforms of media combined to do something, whether that means telling a story across multiple media, making a point, or simply combining a bunch of old things to make one new thing. Transmedia is a relatively new concept because it has only been as of recently that many of the current media forms have been in existence. We live in a time where computers are fast enough, and the tools are so readily available, that almost anyone can take multiple forms of media, such as digital text, still images, audio clips, and video clips, and combine them on their home computer. Five years ago, this was not near as common; ten years ago this possibility was almost non-existent to amateurs. Video editing was really something that had to be left to the professionals only ten to fifteen years ago. Now, millions of Macs are being sold with the built in software iMovie, which has incredible capabilities compared to what was available just five years ago. PC’s also have simple video editing tools that almost anyone can use. Now that our technology has brought us to a place where transmedia can really be a reality for everyone, our culture has to catch up and decide what transmedia is going to look like, and it is changing every day. The Matrix films epitomize this concept. The films can sort of be stand-alone narratives within themselves, but the real story, the whole story, is told across many forms of media. Key bits of information in the story-line can only be found in a series of animated short films, a comic book series, and several video games. You need all of these sources to get the complete story of the Matrix Universe. This style of transmedia usage generally helps to create such an incredibly dedicated sort of cult fan base. So you can see how valuable this usage of transmedia might be to both the crazy fans and to the marketers of this media. If it works, both sides of the business can enjoy it immensely.
Briefly explain the concept of “crowdsourcing” as it relates to online social media. Illustrate your answer with one concrete example drawn from a social networking site.
“Crowdsourcing” is a term recently coined, that is a collision of the words “crowd” and “outsourcing,” to describe a job or a task that needs to be completed, that a company might outsource, but instead allows a crowd of volunteers to complete the task. This type of activity is made highly possible by today’s modern technology: the internet and the Web 2.0 technologies. This model can be and has proven to be very effective, especially cost effective, to businesses and non-profit organizations, because they can get the quality of peer-reviewed work completed on these gigantic projects with little to no cost incurred. Companies and organizations such as InnoCentive, Emporis, MoveOn.org, and Google with their Google Image Labeler Game, have all been deemed successful users of this model. It is only because of today’s technology and the vast, powerful internet network that this is all possible. “Crowdsourcing” is sort of a process that takes the open source model to the next level. I would like to talk specifically about Wikipedia as an example of the success of the “crowdsourcing” model. Wikipedia has been around since before the term “crowdsourcing” was first created. Wikipedia, in my opinion, is a brilliant example of how well this model can work. The service that this web site provides is simply answering the question, “What is that?,” and the “that” in the preceding question can literally be whatever you want it to be. Try looking up in Webster’s Dictionary terms like, “Web 2.0,” “crowdsourcing,” “mashup,” or “Mark Cuban,” and you will not find them. Wikipedia provides a powerful tool to the world to answer almost anything about almost anything. People in academic professions may not like it, but most students use Wikipedia to get a “Cliff’s Notes” version of any topic for a paper or assignment. I did for this assignment. Some may question the validity and legitimacy of the information on Wikipedia, but I have found that usually it is incredibly accurate. This just shows the power of millions of minds, collectively editing information for their version of the know-all dictionary of today’s generation. What a day we live in, that there is pretty much more information than anybody could possibly learn, about every topic that exists, all at the tip of our fingertips and available to anybody in seconds! That is power!
We have studied and produced several different new media forms in the course of this class. Each form, while often overlapping, has distinct factors that shape its production and consumption. Choosing either mashups OR machinima, describe the form’s key characteristics and cultural roles. How did the form originate? How is it produced (i.e., which software tools and media files)? How does it relate to the culture that produces and consumes it? How does online social networking shape its production, distribution, and consumption? Be sure to illustrate your answer with a description and analysis of at least one specific mashup or machinima video, which you will also embed in your answer.
Machinima is another fairly new term, that is the collision of the words (although mispelled) Machine and cimema, used to describe using real-time 3D graphics generators (most commonly known as video games) to create animated short videos. It originated almost as early as the beginning of video games with the 1980’s demoscene and the 1990’s game Quake. Apparently, people began recording how fast they could complete a level, and that was sort of the beginning of recording animated video games to be watched later. In recent years, this practice has evolved into using the beautifully rendered characters and precisely controlled movements of high-quality animated video games such as the latest versions of World of Warcraft and Halo. With our class’ group machinima assignment, we found that, in games such as SecondLife, it is virtually limitless the possibilities of actions you can have the characters do for you. Essentially, blocking, wardrobe, camera movements, scenery, and any other variable in filmmaking, is all under your control at little to no cost. The quality is not nearly what you would see on Shrek 4, but most people, with a fairly new computer, can create these little animated shorts with simply a good internet connection and some free screen capturing software. Well, okay, to make a good machinima video, you need a little bit more than that. I would start with a fairly new, fairly high-end computer system, such an Intel iMac, or whatever the PC equivalent is. You would probably need to have a fairly high end graphics card onboard that system. Then, you probably need a high-speed internet connection coming in. Once you have all of the acceptable hardware requirements taken care of, then you need the software you are going to record (for us it was SecondLife). Additionally, you need some sort of screen capturing software, which we found that none of the free ones really seem to work very well. Finally, you need some video editing software. I would use either iMovie or Final Cut Pro, both available on the Mac. I am sorry, but I just do not think that Windows machines can compete very well in the transmedia world. With these tools, you should be able to make a really high quality machinima film. Now that I have listed everything needed, it may seem like it requires a lot. However, in comparison to lights, cameras, props, and wardrobe needed to create a real life film, this is nothing. Also in comparison to creating something like Shrek 4, such as Maya software, Cinema 4D, or other extremely complex 3D Graphics animation software, as well as the hardware and expertise required to make such a work, this is still nothing.
I think that machinima has been incredibly well-embraced by the video gamers’ culture and easy to incorporate into their already video game-filled lifestyles. This style of filmmaking allows gamers to further delve into the fantasy that they love so much. Think about it: if they love having control over an avatar in the first place, making them act and play in roles totally on their own terms, in stories completely written by them is the ultimate satisfier for their chauvinistic, dominating, and conquering desires. Even if the motivation is just an outlet for creativity in their own little worlds, these sort of creations are right up the gamers’ alley for a fun way to pass the time.
Social networking shapes every aspect of these machinima films. They have the ability affect the production because, if these films include multiple characters, as they often do, then a lot of the time, they are being created as a collaboration of many gamers across the large video game network. Social networking also affects the distribution and consumption because social networks hold most of the power on the internet for getting some piece of media passed around virally. Without YouTube and all of the social networks that link to and embed YouTube videos, most of the media content on the internet would never be seen.
I was overjoyed to find a machinima film that is such a good combination of the themes and concepts that we have talked about all semester; this film completely embodies everything that I have discussed. Watch:
ROFLMAO! is a funny little video (that I actually enjoyed), featuring characters from the World of Warcraft video game, one of the most popular video games in the world, singing and dancing to a parody of the Muppets video known as, Mahna Mahna. This crazy little video has had over seven million views! I love it.
