Proposal Documents

Here is the proposal for Colin's module: Proposal

These are the additional documents I am attaching in the appendix:

Gantt Chart

Project Map

Indent - Media Test (3) and Analysis

This is my first motion graphics only animation, I created after viewing two separate After Effects tutorials on Video Copilot (mentioned in an earlier post). It has an eerie atmosphere, created by the black and red colour scheme and the splatter effects. Combined with the dark red colour, it makes the splatter look like blood. It wasn't intentional but I suppose by looking into the horror genre and creating my 2nd media test "creature" I was already in the "horror zone". I realise, however, that it doesn't have that subtlety a sequence of this theme should have. It is too forward, too bold with the colours and patterns. Although it isn't a title sequence for a show intro it still emits a certain vibe but it's doing so in a very forward fashion, which isn't customary for this type of theme. Realising this I have to go back to my research and analyse genres/themes and their visual styles and production values and I want to do that across the three formats that I have already identified for my project: online, broadcast UK and broadcast US.

I am using two broadcast types because these two countries are outstanding for high end TV productions. The US is without a doubt the number one producer of world class TV and the UK has a distinctly different style but is not far off from being as big as the US for its productions. This is why I want to analyse these two formats separately and against each other and also compare and contrast them against online productions as that is becoming increasingly popular for media consumption as outlined in my Digital Media Practice Essay.

Kyle Cooper Quote

"How a title sequence articulates itself visually and aurally should be a consequence, dictated by the content."

 ~ Cooper, K.  [no date]. Quoted by the author in:  Braha, Y. and  Byrne, B. 2010. 

Creative Motion Graphic Titling for Film, Video, and the Web. 
USA:  Elsevier Science & Technology.

Pitch Review

In review of my pitch presentation today I was told to simplify my subject area. Originally I wanted to look at media convergence, especially the merge of TV and online content and how audience attraction is achieved in both traditional and new areas, which methods have been taken over from the traditional TV model and which have developed specifically for web distribution. In the frame of this, I also wanted to look at branding of a show, especially through intro sequences using motion graphics and how that impacts on audience attraction and building of a community.

As I am most interested in Motion Graphics as a career, it was suggested to me to look at show branding through motion graphics and leave audience and community out of the equation. This sounds sensible to me, as the original idea might be too laborious to do by myself. I started thinking about what I could do with just motion graphics as a subject in the wider context of the branding of a tv show through an intro sequence. Most shows have an intro sequence, if it's a million dollar US production, a low budget UK production or a YouTube Channel/Web-Series. I could look at popular/successful/independant shows on TV and online and try and undertsand what intro sequences they have. Why are they made a certain way? What is the connection between the content and theme of the show and the intro? Compare and contrast live action/CG mixed intros and pure motion graphics intros. Why was motion grahpics used and not live-action and vice versa?

Some of the shows I'd like to look ar are US TV shows that have started airing their new seasons this autumn and their intro sequences. The ones that have been announced to air this year are the ones that have received the green light for production from the networks because of their popularity and success, whereas less successful shows from the previous year would have been dropped. I would also like to look at UK Channel 4/E4 and BBC productions as well as web-series' and YouTube Channels.

An idea that came to mind after the presentation was to create 3 intro sequences fitting each category listed above:

• US TV
• UK TV
• Online

On a trip to visit some London Post-Production studios I went to recently we were told, that if we wanted to apply for a job or runner position at the company one of the things we could do is to look at the projects the company is involved in or something they have produced recently and try and recreate that, to show that you have the same level of skill as them.

1. I could look at some US TV show intros and try and recreate their intro sequence to show my level of skill
2. I could design a TV show in the style of a UK TV show and produce an intro sequence for this pretend show (that I will not be producing)
3. I could contact an web-series producer or YouTuber to create an intro for their show

With these three approaches I would be covering a lot of the areas that I would have liked to cover in my original idea. 1. I can show my skill on a professional level by reproducing a high end product, 2. desigining a potential show and producing an original piece of work and 3. creating an inro for a different platform for a client.

Pitch Presentation

What happened to convergence?

Idei, N. 2001. Speech to Pacific Telecommunications Council. Honolunu: Sony Corporation. Quoted in: Rice, J. and McKernan, B. 2001. Creating Digital Content. USA: McGraw Hill

Idei of the Sony Corp has made this claim in his speech to the Pacific Telecommunications Council:



Google books Snippet

His claims are partly true when it comes to the "30 Degree Principle" but vastly wrong when we consider media convergence. Not only are many people playing PC games but PC and internet access via TVs is on the rise. It's true that even though a majority of UK and other audiences watch shows on demand or stream content online, there is still a number of people watching live TV. It is comparable with the music industry. Although there is a high rate of piracy, the same type of people are still buying CDs. Which is why I believe live TV will be around for a long time, despite the fact that media convergence is taking over. Sometimes people don't want to search for what they want to watch but have the TV programme dictate the schedule. Like Idei says "lean back about 30 degrees and relax".
This being said, convergence is definitely happening. Ideis statement might have been made 10 years ago, addressing statements made by people, including Bill Gates, for four years prior to that and it might not have happened then but it turns out that Bill Gates and those people were right. Convergence is definitely happening now. In the case of internet/on demand on TV set-top boxes it is still a long way away from being perfect. Ideis prediction that "most of us would be happy when our Internet searches produces a result within 10 seconds, no one would tolerate such slowness when TV channel surfing" is true and built in on-demand services are still clunky and slow. They don't compare to the instant viewing of live TV that we are used to but if we want on-demand instead of live, is it worth the wait?

What, Why and How of the research question

WHAT are you trying to investigate?
Media convergence

WHY are you trying to investigate this?
To become a more informed/prepared professional, bringing knowledge of the industry/the trends, than just artistic skill, to the table.

HOW are you going to find data and produce a project?
By reading/interviewing/watching texts/industry professionals/videos to further and fuel a web-video piece of an advanced standard.

A Sense of Community

People want to be part of things. Most of the webseries, like Quarterlife, Control TV, Being Victor and popular Youtube channels like The Phillip DeFranco Show, =3 (Equals Three), Charlie is so cool like I have looked at build upon creating and maintaining a community that will participate in the show. It gives the viewer a sense of being part of that world or being part of a bigger thing.

Quarterlife is about a group of friends and acquaintances revolving around the main character Dylan who has created a social networking/blogging site on which she vlogs about her life. Throughout the season this site evolves into a widely used portal for people to talk about themselves and to other, much like Facebook, only mainly via video. At the time of "airing" this series used to have an actual Quarterlife social network site on which real people could interact, just like in the TV show, making them part of the show and the show seem like real life with real people.

Control TV is a kind of Big Brother/Reality TV type webseries set in a semi-unrestricted environment (meaning: the participant has access to the outside world) where the viewer influences what happens to the participant. What I have gathered from the recap episodes of this show is that the participant is a volunteer, selected for the show to live in a flat, being filmed 24/7. For every decision he has to make a poll is created on the website, live while the show is running (assumable via live-stream). According to the audiences poll results the participant has to do what the audience wants. On top of that, he also gets tasks set for him, he has to solve. This show was awarded "Best Web Show of 2010" by clicker.com. Conrol TV is also basing it's entire success on it's audience. There has to people watching it, for it to work and enough people taking part for it to move forward, which automatically creates a strong community.

http://controltv.com/2010/10/episoe-0-the-adventure-begins/

Being Victor was a short series produced for MTV which is now available online. I don't think this show was produced solely for the web but has certainly had a web presence. The main character Vinnie, maintains a blog, calling himself Victor, talking about his life. This blog was a real blog and maintained by said character, simulating a real person blogging about, just about anything, making the audience feel like the character was a real life person. The audience could interact with the blog by commenting on his posts and therefore being part of the series' universe.

http://www.victorsblog.co.uk
http://www.mtv.co.uk/shows/being-victor

The Phillip DeFranco Show is a classic YouTube Presenter-Audience show. The Presenter, Phillip DeFranco talks "about some of the stuff that mattered in the news to" him. This includes a mix of but not limited to world affairs, politics and entertainment news. Some news pieces are sometimes suggestions by the audience. He relies heavily on a strong community, tying the audience in with give-aways, comment questions and addressing them as "The DeFranco Nation" appealing to the sense of community. People are invited to discuss the topics brought to the table and therefore made part of the show. This is increased with the recent addition of viewer introductions to the show, at the start of the show.

=3 is a YouTube video selection show in which the presenter, Ray William Johnson, presents a selection of entertaining, shocking or generally interesting videos from YouTube and other user generated content sites that are either suggested to him by the audience or selected by him/his team. The show evolves around the videos but also the presenters humorous delivery, much like a usual bloopers or caught on camera show would. The viewers are invited to leave comments on the comment question of the day and also suggest videos for review. The again establishes and maintains a community, which includes the viewers in the video and makes them part of one world. In the next video Ray describes perfectly what exactly the show is about. It is one of the older episodes and I think it's a classic.

Charlie is so cool like is from what I have gathered an entertaining informational/educational show. Sometimes it is less serious than others but the few episodes I have watched have been about some sort of delivery of information. He talks directly to the camera, as the other two YouTube shows I have mentioned, establishing a direct and almost personal connection to the viewer. Adding to this connection are the user comments and suggestions taken on board for following episodes.

Although YouTube is in general considered a community, with the vast amount of channels and videos out there followers are still likely to feel like one of many. Due to techniques like comment questions, give-aways and viewer suggestions - common, well-established broadcast TV techniques - the viewers are made to feel special and make a personal connection to the presenter and ultimately, the show, guaranteeing a continuous viewer base.

Pixar Tweet

RT @DisneyPixar: Pro-tip: Find the right balance between solid ideas and open possibility.

What inspires ... you? - Group mind map

What inspires, motivates & intrigues you?

INSPIRES

Videos like this inspire me, by the message they send and by the artwork.

This video inspired me to make my own video out of my mind map. I haven't started making it yet but if time allows I definitely will.

MOTIVATES

Videos like this motivate me, because I want to be able to create something like that! I want to be able to express myself in the same way.

HUD Test (Holographic 3D Interface) from mgfxstudio on Vimeo.

Dorian Gray Opening Titles / Credits from mgfxstudio on Vimeo.

INTRIGUES

Videos like this intrigue me, because I want to know how it's made, what software was used and what the thought process behind it was.

Mind Map

This mind map incorporates all of the ideas I have for my honours project. It includes research subjects I would like to investigate for my dissertation like "Audience Attraction" and "Media convergence" but also the practical side of the Project, which is creating a webseries. This will either be a youtube channel style series or a story based series mainly distributed to a website (but most likely also youtube). I will want to focus on motion graphics for the practical side of the project, as that is my passion and I am aiming to work in the visual effects department of a post production company after graduation and would therefore like to produce a strong portfolio piece I could present future employers.

Click on the image to view it in higher quality

Growing Up On Youtube

I have found this very interesting panel of Philip DeFranco talking at Vid con, which is from what I understand a YouTube and/or internet convention. He talks about how, if this wasn't obvious before, the internet will eventually become THE place to watch anything. On-demand is where it's headed. He also mentions a very interesting fact about YouTube and what a difference it can make to tag and title your videos properly to receive mpre views.

User Generated Editing

I don't know if there is such a thing as user generated editing or if there is another name for this kind of idea, but this is what I am going to call it for now. I am very interested in the process of editing and how scenes of a film or tv show can create a different mood, cut in a certain way than cut in another. My question is therefore "How does editing effect the transmission of a story to the audience".

My idea has evolved since the last time I wrote about it. I have done a lot of research into the development of the internet, companies during those times and the change of the tv and advertising industry. Ideas for my project have come and gone. I now have a very strong project idea that I will investigate over the next few weeks to find out if it's doable.

My main focus still lies in media-convergence and multi-platform distribution and how that will effect the TV industry in the future. With audiences consuming TV content outside the live broadcast concept it is inevitable for the TV industry to change and adapt. My idea is to create a web-series that concentrates on just that with an addition of "user generated editing".
What I mean by this is, the audience creates the edit by viewing scenes in any order desired, which creates a unique edit of the series. With audiences watching episodes of shows or web-series' on youtube, tablets or smartphones often on-the-go, short sequences are preferred. Which makes a web-series consisting of 1-2 min. scenes the perfect fit.

I want to create or have someone create a website that will host a series of videos. One or more videos will pose as the core of the story, with other sequences linked to it in a sort of mind map or tree or based on the idea of YouTube's "end of video suggestions". By viewing the main video(s) the audience will gain access to the "tree" of sequences and is given the freedom to watch the story in an arbitrary way.

This will require a carefully thought out story, that will make sense whichever sequence is watched first. I am planning to write the story, direct the production and edit the content. To help me with this project, I want to assemble a team of writers who will write the screen play to my story, a sound designer to compose the soundtrack, a web designer to create the website and professional or semi-professional actors. I am looking into funding, to be able to pay actors as that is my main concern. Bad acting leads to a bad production.

As for the story, I am still not sure but I have watched a short film adaptation by Dan Trachtenberg of the game Portal, which seemed like the kind of storyline that would fit a series where the audience only gets to see short scenes at a time in a random order until the whole story is revealed.




The idea is to create a kind of Pulp Fiction-esque, Quentin Tarantino style story.

Google and TV Industry (Gardian)

I have stumbled upon this article in the gardian.

'Google needs television industry' will be message at Edinburgh
Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google, is expected to offer television executives an olive branch – and perhaps even some funding

To read the full article please follow the link below:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/21/google-needs-television-industry-edinburgh

by James Robinson, guardian.co.uk, Sunday 21 August 2011

Research Molinare

A news post from molinare:

http://demo.mindcorp.co.uk/molinare/?p=424

The TV screen is no longer the centre of attention.
With the advent of tablets and smartphones, viewers are starting to change the way they watch TV. According to a study released by AC Nielson, 70% of tablet owners and 68% of smartphone owners use their devices while watching television.
Tablets like the iPad and Motorola Xoom are positioning themselves as a media portal, especially for TV and video. And the strategy seems to be working; According to a recent study in the UK, iPad owners are big consumers of TV:
87% watch YouTube
74% watch catch-up TV
52% watch iTunes videos
38% watch live TV
So how can TV operators respond?
Sourced from: TV Genius » Blog

YouTube Quote

I was watching this popular YouTube show called "The Philly DeFranco Show" and the presenter raised a very good point concerning the future of television. Which is the basis of my dissertation.

Watch from 2:07 - 2:41:

Honours Project Idea

For my honours project I want to create a webseries along the lines of Being Victor, integrated in a dedicated website similar to Control TV. I have struggled to find the right genre and the decision is definitely not made yet but I would like to target a mid-20s age group in a comedy/drama setting. Something along the lines of Gilmore Girls or Greek.

The episodes will be of 8-10 minutes length and the series will comprise of 8(ish) episodes. There is room for change as I am not proposing the project until September.

I have yet to figure out the storyline and if I will have one hero/heroin or group of people. I want to try and find dedicated script writers to write the script, maybe Abertay students that would write my scripts as part of their third year module requirements, professional actors from either the Rep or other theatre groups in Dundee. I don't want this to be a uni project only, I want it to be a presentable piece. Which is why I want the acting to be spot on. I will have to find sound artists, most likely students, to provide the audio and hopefully I can recruit some indie bands to provide the music for the soundtrack.

Unless my academic supervisor disagrees I would take on the role of director and camera and also edit the piece. Which means I am leading the creative department, have over all creative reign and am putting the largest amount of work into the project to deem it my own.

With this project I am exploring the question I have posed as my dissertation question "How does the internet becoming such a vast medium for consumption of video content impact the TV production industry?", a question I have previously dipped into with my Digital Media Practice Essay.

Interactive Webisodes

I have mentioned this in my Digital Media Practice essay and I have come across a very good example of the development of Shows and Mini-series' developed solely for the internet user base. There are also little extras developed for the web or on social networking sites like Facebook that link to a TV series in a way like in Pretty Little Liars.

It helps to spread the word to anyone not familiar with the show, suck them in and for viewers already familiar with it, engage even more with the show. It breaks the fourth wall and invites to be part of the story instead of just a bystander. In the case of Pretty Little Liars, a show that is based on revealing secrets, it unravels clues that weren't given in the show. Not necessarily something a viewer that didn't take part would miss out on, but background information that feeds into the mystery of the show.

It's a very clever way of engaging and keeping things interesting, especially considering the target audience and the tendency towards internet based activity like streaming and social networking.

Googled

I have started reading "Googled" by Ken Auletta (2010, Virgin Books) about the beginnings of Google and the internet itself. It turned out to be very relevant to my dissertation question and what I want to investigate for my dissertation. It includes many references to other publications to do with the rise of the internet and other companies such as Microsoft etc. I will try and get in touch with the author, which I am aware is a long shot but still worth a try, if he has any more sources I could tap into for research.