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.

]]> http://jonmoon.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/ctv-4304-001-new-media-platforms-final-exam/feed/ 0 jonmoon Transmedia Diagram Crowdsourcing Machinima http://jonmoon.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/halo-3-review/ http://jonmoon.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/halo-3-review/#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2009 04:18:57 +0000 jonmoon http://jonmoon.wordpress.com/?p=37 ]]>

Click here to check out the Halo 3 Website

For my video game review, I chose to play the first-person-shooter game Halo 3. I am not really a gamer of any kind. I have liked a few games in the past, but first-person-shooter games have never really been an interest for me. I haven’t really played any video games in several years, so this experience was very interesting to me. I played Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 game console. This was my first time to ever play this console. I was very impressed. The wireless controllers are cool, and I got to play this game with impressive graphics on a beautiful high definition display. I really was impressed by the graphics. Although, I did not enjoy playing the actual game much. Apparently in Halo 3, you are like this cyber-enhanced super-human soldier kind of guy in a time of chaos and war several hundred years in the future. As this super-human soldier of the future, I guess it is your job to save the human race. Kinda ridiculous if you ask me, but I guess if you generally are into fantasy type stuff, then this is your cup of tea. Most fantasy movies, comic books, games, whatever, are not on my list of fun stuff, but that’s just me.

I don’t really know how to judge video games, because I have little to no reference of these kinds of games, especially in the last few years. As for the design of the game, I thought the graphics looked amazing compared to any other video games I have had previous experience with. Although, I still think the characters look weird and that the graphics could still improve a lot. I’m thinking I want to see a video game that looks as good as the Shrek movies do on the big screen, or people who look as realistic in appearance and movement as the characters in the recent Beowulf animated film. I liked the controllers and how they felt, and I thought that the movement of my character was pretty intuitive. The most fun I had in this game was driving and flying different vehicles. I think they are called Warthogs or something like that—these Hummer-like vehicles that I loved driving around in. I thought the gravity was fairly realistic when I would jump the car off of a cliff or something. I know I’m probably the weird one myself for enjoying driving the vehicles more than anything else, but first-person-shooter games are just not my thing. I’m also not very good at them. I’m not sure which came first: me sucking, or me not liking them, but they definitely go hand in hand. Add those two factors to me never spending any time getting any practice on games like this, and that equals me sitting out every single time friends of mine start playing one of these games. I thought that this game was very difficult, but that’s probably because I’m so bad at games like this. So, I just resort to fooling around driving the vehicles off cliffs and such. I know this game appeals to millions of people, probably mostly young men, but it just does not appeal to me. So, I would not recommend this game to someone else.

Explain the cultural politics of remixing, whether in vidding, mash-ups, or any other similar form. How do these forms work as art, entertainment, and/or cultural criticism?  How has digital media and online networking affected how these works are made, distributed, and consumed? Analyze at least two examples of such work in your response.

Remixing is a trend that has really come into its own in the past 5 years.  There were definitely some innovators prior to 2003, or 2002,  but I don’t think these forms of medai had really caught on until around 2005.  That’s my experience, at least.  I grew up with the first Napster generation, and I can remember thinking how cool it was, but also wondering how it could be legal.  I thought that if you could do it on popular software, then it must be okay.  I was wrong, and a couple of years later, or less, all of the media lawsuits started happening.  People still steal media, probably as much as ever.  But the dynamics have sort of changed between the big media companies and the individual.  Some companies still fight it tooth and nail, but others are letting it slide.  It will be a very interesting next couple of years to see how most media conglomerates continue to deal or not deal with this kind of activity.

Remixing, Vidding, and Mash-ups are generally centered around a fan-based culture that like to be “involved” more in their particular show, movie, music, etc.  These media mixes allow individuals to make their own stuff, collaborate with artists they love (who don’t even know it), build on already creative ideas, and just use another outlet to have fun.  I particularly enjoy videos that totally change the mood of a film or tv show to be funny, such as the Shining Trailer with a happy mood.  I don’t enjoy random mash-ups of different media, nor do I really like fan videos that re-edit clips of different “cult-like” tv shows–probably because I am not personally invested in the culture of that show.

These forms of media certainly can be art, entertainment, or cultural criticisms.  I think that videos such as DJ Earworm’s United State of Pop 2008 really are art.  What he does is not just fooling around with video.  Something like that takes a lot of creative thinking and skill.  This was really impressive to me.  I think videos like the Colbert Report Remix serve as great entertainment.  I also commend Stephen Colbert for being in touch with an audience that loves this sort of thing, and I think he is innovative for actually referencing stuff like this in his show.  He knows that his audience is primarily a younger, Web 2.0 generation, who love to create and feel an involvement in the media they choose to intake.  I also really enjoy the cultural criticism piece of the vidding equation.  Videos like Paul Harvey Oswald’s “Let’s Do Something Girlie,” is a perfect example of mashing up media to illustrate a cultural criticism.  In this case, he was criticizing the representation of women, especially the role of women in media.  I think he did this really well.  His clip was entertaining, but also very effective in illustrating a point.

Digital media and online networking has more than affected the way these works are made, distributed, and consumed–it has made it possible.  Before digital media, this kind of culture really could not exist, in my opinion.  In a world 10 years ago, most of this was not possible, or at least not easy to do.  People who edited videos were mostly video-editing professionals.  In today’s world, millions of people have access to a computer powerful enough, and software like iMovie that anyone can easily use and even edit in HD!  This is a completely different world of media that allows for the culture of remixing, vidding, or mashing up.  People now have the tools to find almost any video or audio clips they want, either from the internet sites like YouTube and Hulu, or from software like iTunes-the most important media database.  Not only do people have access to all of the media they could want, but people also have the online communities and networks to share their creations like never before.  We now live in a world where people can be connected to more people than ever before, and share media more quickly than ever before.  What an exciting time!

I am excited to see what the next generation will do with these types of hyper-connectivity and media sharing abilities.  What will it be like when the kids who are toddlers now, growing up not knowing a world that isn’t like this, start becoming the creators and the innovators?  Time will tell.  I just hope I can keep up.

I created this slideshow for my New Media Platforms Class at Southern Methodist University.  My intent was to give people a 2 minute glimpse of what my recent trip to San Francisco, California was like, as well as provide people with something beautiful to look at.  This is how technology and art can come together very easily.

I created this podcast along with Kristen Dollar for our New Media Platforms Class at Southern Methodist University.  Our intent was to podcast on a subject that is popular and well-know and be somewhat informative about it, but mostly entertaining.  So, we decided to be commentators about recent and upcoming movies.  This is a subject that most everyone can relate to or talk about in some way or another.  We just gave our opinions about movies we have or have not seen, and movies we are excited to hopefully see sometime soon.  Hopefully its an entertaining and enjoyable listen for you, and you’ll get our opinion on the movies whether you wanted it or not.

Jonathan A. Moon

My name is Jonathan Moon. I am a senior at Southern Methodist University majoring in Cinema-Television. I grew up in Carrollton, Texas and I continue to go to my home church – Bent Tree Bible Fellowship. I love working anywhere in audio, video, or photography.

Ever since I was a young child, I have always enjoyed technology and “pushing every button I could find.” At the age of fourteen, I started to realize my passion for media. I began observing a guy mix sound for our church services at Bent Tree. From then on, it developed into me learning to mix sound for recordings, monitors, and eventually for front-of-house.

Bent Tree has become my favorite place to grow in the Lord, in my gifts and in my abilities. It is about a 5,000+ member church and growing rapidly. Through my interest in audio, I developed relationships with the video production staff and got interested in video and photography. After I graduated from high school I had a clear understanding of what wanted to study.

After starting Southern Methodist University, I have had incredible opportunities to develop my skills in media. I was an Intern at Igniter Media in Dallas for two years– a company that produces church media resources. I am currently a Student Technology Assistant at SMU, which means I help professors with media and technology related projects. I am also the Apple Campus Rep for SMU, which means I promote Apple products and the Mac platform at every opportunity. I was recently reelected as an SMU Senator and also am the Webmaster for the Student Government’s web site.

I love working with computers, and have worked on a variety of programs. I am proficient in Final Cut ProHD, DVD Studio Pro, Compressor, PhotoShop, Illustrator, InDesign, MediaShout, all of iLife, and all of Microsoft Office. I am experienced in Motion, LiveType, Soundtrack Pro, Flash, and Dreamweaver.

Currently, I am enjoying my very last semester of college and working part-time at Bent Tree as the Worship & Arts Intern. I have very little spare time, but love every minute of work on all my jobs. I have a great passion for media and what the Lord can do through it. My dream job is to be a Producer for TV and/or films. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for my future!