My narrative interview was with Digital Producer and Sports Journalist, Adrain McMurray. Adrian has been a mentor of mine since the start of my university experience assisting me with sample interviews and giving me some important teachings and advice. Adrian allowed me to interview him for this narrative interviewing giving me the necessary answers and information for the presentation.
PREPARATION
In preparing for my interview with Adrian I completed extensive background research on his work history and his career. After creating a basis for my interview I then drafted questions which I believed would allow me to obtain the necessary information for my presentation. The interview questions were ordered in a way in which he could tell a story from the start of his career (high school and internships) through to the current (digital producer at the Australian). The core to the assignment was to see how professionals in my chosen degree shaped and formed their professional values. To find out Adrian’s values and how he shaped his values, I decided to base all my key questions on the idea of professional and social values.
I also wanted to see if there were any disruptions in his working career which have shaped the way he operated within his working sphere. The key moment which Adrian pointed out was his press conference with NRL coach, Wayne Bennet. In this press conference, Adrian was an intern juggling work with his university studies when he fell asleep. An embarrassing moment that created disruption however was put to the side by focusing on his professional values.
DELIVERING THE PRESENTATION
Unfortunately leading up to the presentation I became sick and I lost my voice. This became a personal disruption as I was planning to record my audio on the day in which I became sick. Apart from this disruption, the production and delivery of the presentation were fine.
I aimed to keep a consistent aesthetic throughout the presentation with a blue and white background. Creating the presentation on Canva made it easy to incorporate both the audio and the visuals together. Selecting the audio clips from the interview was made easy as I decided to list the times of the important segments to avoid the hassle of looking back through my audio file.
Overall completing this presentation taught me a lot about the future of my work career. It also taught me what type of values I should hold myself to when starting my next internship and what I should expect in the media landscape.
Sports writing is a type of journalism that is refined to its own niche market. Unlike other forms of journalism such as crime, national affairs, and business journalism etc., sports journalism can only truly be understood and viewed by a sports-watching audience. However, there is the ability to merge forms of journalism together in collaboration. Sports journalism has recently collaborated with business journalism to document the financial and marketing sides of sporting events and corporations. For my project, I have aimed to move away from the conventional sports journalism practice and have tried to incorporate a storytelling convention into my writing. By doing this, I have tried to increase my target market and expanded from the sports-watching audience. Through telling a story through the athletes’ eyes, I have created a more emotive form of writing which has increased my interaction statistics from previous semesters. This is ‘Mugg Sport’, the modern-day sports journalism redefined.
CONTEXT
Coming into the second semester of my final year at the University of Wollongong, I was in a position where I was struggling to find my own niche within the Communications and Media Degree. In starting my Bachelor of Communications and Media and Journalism, I decided to hone in on my passion for photography and videography. I created JJ and Co, a photography and videography platform which would aim to showcase my design and creative skills. This was a platform that gained over 300 followers and obtained hundreds of likes and views, however, was not a feasible career path. Moving into my second year of university, I decided to pursue journalism. I and a few aspiring journalists decided to create a media and news platform called ‘Ransack’. An Australian news outlet which stretched from politics to entertainment to sport. I myself decided to head down the road of sports journalism, finally selecting my own niche within the Communications and Media degree. I was content with writing and decided to incorporate my passion for design within the Instagram platform. However, unlike my original ‘JJ.and.Co’ platform, I didn’t gain enough traction from my intended targeted audience. My content was plain and simple. Sports news from around Australia and basically news which had already been documented over large-scale sports-media outlets.
‘MUGG SPORT’
Arriving at the BCM302 subject I knew I had to make it a big project. A project which would truly showcase my passion for sports writing and sports journalism. Yet it couldn’t just be your everyday news. In collaboration with my journalism course, I decided to intertwine my feature writing subject with the advanced media subject to create a platform that would incorporate feature articles on the topic of world sport. ‘Mugg Sport’ was started as a platform to promote positive sports news articles on athletes around the world. By branching out of pure sports media content, I was able to increase my audience via not only showing positive on-field stories, however, showing positive stories off the field.
Mugg Sport started with a prototype. An idea which was sampled through a 3-post-a-week aethetic collaborating journalism with design. There were only a few material features, however, when distributing the first article, I framed an idea for my audience to see.
My first article was on English Footballer and advocate, Marcus Rashford. Rashford had always been known as England football’s most promising young talent and had shown his prowess in recent years. However, during COVID-19, Rashford decided to do what not many footballers have done in the past. In the wake of prime minister, Boris Johnson’s decision to cancel England’s legislation for free school meals, Rashford decided to advocate against the prime minister’s decision. In teaming up with the charity, ‘Fair Share’, Rashford decided to deliver meals himself to the families that needed it the most. This act of pure kindness along with countless other examples of charitable work earned Rashford the prestigious MBE. An article that acted as a catalyst to start my new journey, the post gained 45 likes and received plenty of feedback.
After a few weeks of writing feel-good stories on famous athletes in the world of sport, I decided to dive out of my comfort zone and seek an interview. After drafting countless messages, I finally decided to reach out and ask Cronulla Sharks young gun, Franklin Pele, for an interview. Within 10 minutes he replied and granted my interview within a few days’ time. A true breakthrough for my journalistic work would act as a catalyst to change in my writing and my own self. The article gained 315 views on the website, 78 likes on Instagram, several shares, upwards of 40 comments and 469 accounts reached. From that point on I decided to reach out for interviews with athletes from different sports. My next interview was with Adelaide Striker, Liam Scott, who had recently made his debut. Not only did he make his first professional debut, yet he had made the move away from his home in Sydney to pursue a career in professional cricket, therefore there was that added news element other than just his sporting career. Courtney Newbon was next. A 20-year-old goalkeeper who had made five professional W-League appearances and had recently sealed a new two-year deal with Perth Glory. We spoke about the new move as well as her passion for advocating for climate change. A multi-faceted news story that appealed to a wider target market as it was further shared by Newbon herself. My latest post was with Luke Bain. A 20-year-old professional rugby league player from Bathurst and born in America. Luke had already played for three NRL clubs and had yet to make his debut at each one. It was interesting to go into detail about the different clubs and his take on training and how important your mental state is when trying to reach your goals.
Four interviews, three different sports and a wealth of experience with professional athletes, I have now obtained the motivation and dedication to take this project to a new level. I thoroughly believe that this project can be scaled even higher with a larger audience and a market that has the potential to grow.
PROJECT TRAJECTORY
Starting the semester out, I intended to write articles about athletes and their positive stories, however, after completing interviews with professional athletes, my project intentions took a positive change. I decided to interview younger athletes and write articles showcasing their journey to date and promote the athlete both on and off the field. After five interviews, I know now that their potential for growth and the projects future trajectory is limitless if completed right.
A journalism technique that I have tried to get good at is the art of interviewing. The idea of an interview has molded and developed through time. In the current age, interviewing is defined as more of a conversation. A conversation between interviewer and interviewee designed to excrete the necessary information in a light manner. In interviewing athletes, I aimed to take a conversational approach which allowed for me to ask personal questions. When asking more personal questions, I made sure I didn’t cross any boundaries and more tried to get a grasp of who the athlete was off the field rather than on it. Through experience, I believe I have gotten better at interviewing and will only increase the projection of this project into the future as there is potential to expand globally.
Another factor contributing to the positive projection of this project is the attraction I have gained from professional journalists. I have received an offer for an internship from the work that I have done throughout the semester. A positive step in the right direction and a personal reward from the work I have done throughout this past semester.
UTILITY
There are many sports media outlets in the current digital world. However, when looking at the Australian digital landscape, there aren’t many which highlight a variety of sports and with an inviting aesthetic.
The first step in creating my own platform was personalising my content to cater for my audiences needs. Adding my own writing style and designing my posts in my own personalised way, separated my content to other platforms, whilst also being free to view unlike large media outlets.
“A brand positioning strategy, therefore, involves creating brand associations in customers’ minds to make them perceive the brand in a specific way”.
Creating a brand position through the uniqueness of my writing and a visually aesthetic design has separated ‘Mugg Sport’ from other competing platforms.
TEACHINGS AND LESSONS
GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
When starting my project, all wanted to focus on was writing about athletes and their stories, yet I never thought I would get the opportunity to interview these athletes. It took a lot for me to come out of my shell. I had always been scared of getting myself out there and showing my work. The most ironic thing was the fact that I had always wanted to be a journalist, therefore to get to that stage I would have to show people my work at some stage.
Thanks to friends and family, I was able to get out of my comfort zone and start interviewing. By even reaching out to athletes, I started to realise that failure can be viewed as a learning oppurtunity. I was advised by the people around me to go after interviews and not just wait for ones to come to me. It took a lot of guts personally to ask for my first interview with Franklin Pele but when looking back I’m so glad I did it. This lesson has not only changed the way I interview and write but the way I live life.
Connections are important
I’ve been told throughout my journalism course that making connections are important, but I didn’t truly know how important these connections made actually were. With the Franklin Pele article, I gained traction from other outlets and athletes which connected me with other people. Friends and family would also tell me about athletes that they knew who would be willing to do an interview. Everything became surreal as I started to line athletes up for the upcoming weeks.
All connections matter, there is no weak connection. All athelets from all sports and all corners of the globe are welcome within my platform. I feel like it’s my job with the platform I have to share and showcase different types of stories to my audience. In doing this, I create a broad platform with an even broader audience.
Refer back to target market – feedback loop
All feedback helps with the progression of my project. In particular, I have used the feedback loop to direct the way in which I create my content. I started with a prototype which was simply sampled through using the FIST principle in the opening weeks with the Marcus Rashford and the Patty Mills post. After positive feedback from my audience, I decided to frequently iterate and create a brand position through my work. The feedback, whether its comments, shares or positive messages, has been integral to the success of my project throughout this semester.
Frank’s digital artefact is an Australian hip-hop merchandise brand called ‘Mori Boys’. ‘Mori Boys’ was created to solve the problem that that there is a disparity between Australian hip-hop artists and merchandise. In starting ‘Mori Boys’, Frank aims to become a catalyst of sorts to start a new era of hip-hop branding through unique merchandise, thus promoting hip hop to not only Australia but the world. Australian hip-hop artists benefit from this project as they are provided with an alternate avenue of income.
Growth and Iteration
Through participating in consistent consultation since the ideation stage, it’s clear to see the progress that ‘Mori Boys’ has made throughout the semester. In the methodology section of his digital artefact pitch, Frank states that he wants to have his first clothing line ready to distribute by the end of the semester. In his recent Digital Artefact Beta, he mentions that the first clotting drop will be scheduled for the end of October, proving that Frank has kept a clear and concise trajectory since the ideation phase.
Another key aspect of Frank’s project beta video was incorporating a feedback loop with his audience. Frank has incorporated feedback from his audience through his posts on Instagram. The comments feature was utilised in a post asking which colour was preferred by his target audience. This invites viewers to interact and creates more noise around the merchandise drop.
Frank’s personally made progress through showcasing his black and purple logo tees on his Instagram account. He has put a rough date on the merch drop and has posted teasers on his Instagram promoting his clothing line. However, through creating a merchandise project, Frank decided to add more features to keep his target audience entertained. Keeping with the hip-hop genre, Frank has created a ‘Mori Boys Music’ feature which showcases local Australian hip-hop talent. Through creating a playlist with new songs from Australian artists, Frank has shown that there is potential to incorporate music journalism within this project.
Improvements
Mori Boys has created a successful hip-hop persona around the platform which invites Australian hip-hop fans. Yet I do believe there is potential to grow through producing more content for his target market. At the start of the pitch, Frank said he would like to produce 1-3 posts each week. Due to COVID-19 maintaining this has been a struggle, and definitely a struggle for many content creators. However, post which show behind the scenes aspects or how the merch is created, would entice viewers and create more noise around the drop.
‘FOREIGN FOOTY’ – LEO TWEMLOW
Concept
Leo’s project focuses on the sport of rugby league in America, shining light on an underdeveloped market in America that has the potential to grow. With a belief that NRL and NFL share similarities within their gameplay, Leo has decided to create reels and posts which highlight the link between the two sports. The reels include popular moments in rugby league which showcase the individual talents of certain players. These reels have been successful and have drawn the attention of a rugby league player from Cleveland, Ohio, who then asked Leo to create a package to distribute to NRL teams. Leo then was offered an internship from Cleveland Rugby League successfully proving that his project concept and idea was achievable.
Growth and Iteration
Leo has created nine posts on his Instagram page adhering to a consistent iteration of content. Posting clips to both his Instagram page and his Tik-Tok account, Leo has tested his method of distributing popular NRL clips throughout the semester, using hashtags and key words to further promote his content. Using hashtags such as #nrl, #nrlfinals and #nrlhighlights, promotes his content to an NRL watching audience, creating a target market for his project. His latest post has received a tremendous response from his viewers receiving 1537 views.
Improvements
With the NRL season now over, Leo may have to source content from other areas. By building on his platform with his new client from the Cleveland Rugby League side, Leo can work with him to produce more content showing off his skill through video editing or tutorial-like videos.
Leo can even go back in time and revisit highlights from the old-school era of rugby league. Delve into how the game has changed, what laws have been implemented throughout time and continuing to compare the sport of rugby league to the American NFL.
I know through studying with Leo for a few years now that he is keen on sports journalism. This platform is a great pathway into creating and distributing journalistic content while still maintaining his current NRL to NFL narrative. Personally, Ive found no harm in reaching out to players and asking them for interviews. Sometimes it has payed out and other times it hasn’t, however, interviewing American rugby league players or Australian rugby league players would be a great way to boost his platform while showing his flexibility.
For BCM302 this semester, I have chosen to create a digital artefact which will benefit my personal portfolio. My DA is called ‘Mugg Sport’. A sports media platform which aims to showcase my skills of sports writing and design together to create a visually aesthetic and informative platform for my audience.
When initially starting my project, I decided to create my own niche of sports writing. I wanted to showcase the positive contributions which athletes were making off the field. To start my artefact, I wrote an article on Marcus Rashford. An English footballer known for his work off the field in advocating for free school meals for all English students.
In writing this article, I wanted to place a foundation as to what type’s of articles my audience would expect going into the future. However, my project was turned on its head as I decided to reach out to athletes for interviews. Since then, I have written profile interview’s with young athlete’s with a great story to tell.
My most popular article to date was with young Cronulla Shark, Franklin Pele. In the past year, Pele had made his debut after receiving plenty of praise from people around the NRL. Yet in the same season, he was also struck down with injury. Capturing the highs from his debut game and the lows from his unfortunate injury created an entertaining story showcasing what it was like to play professionally and what it takes to return from a demoralising setback.
The post received 80 likes, plenty of comments and a plethora of shares. I also gained a significant boost in following through an immense interaction rate.
Since the start of BCM302, I have consistently uploaded one article week including four podcasts. Contributing to my platform, I also upload teasers and posts providing background research and context to the players I’m interviewing. In total I have made 23 posts and have 161 followers. My posts are published on my own personal Wix website and then promoted on my Mugg Sport Instagram page.
Since commencing my project, I haven’t really changed much, however, have decided to iterate my design to see if it is a formula which works. Within the iteration phase, I have adhered to creating a ‘brand position’ which differs me from other sports media platforms. In writing articles which focus on athletes work off and on the pitch, I believe I have already created a niche around my project and a unique brand position.
Another way in which I am creating a unique brand position is the way in which I ensure my platform look visually pleasing. Most competitors around me solely focus on distributing articles and this was where I wanted to create something different. A unique platform which frames to, not only the sports-watching audience, however, viewers who can appreciate quality design and creativity.
I am proud of what I have created to date and believe that my project has the potential to expand and grow. Now that I have started to consistently interview athletes, I feel like there is potential to expand into different sports, interview athletes from outside of Australia and potential to grow into the world of podcasting.
I know I have work to do to build this artefact into something greater and am willing to put in the effort to do so.
Continuing on from my last live tweeting summary, I have tried to be consistent with my tweets relating them to future media and lecture readings. I have also continued to share content by peers which I believed to be core to future media studies and which have appealed to myself personally. Part two of my live tweeting summary blog will incorporate my tweets on some of the most prolific sci-fi films in film history such as ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Blade Runner’. A movie which I personally enjoyed tweeting about was Ready Player One. A visually appealing movie which predicts a future that we are working towards. A society which uses virtual reality to cover their own imperfections as seen in popular customisation games such as GTA and Skyrim.
BLADE RUNNER
A film set in a dystopian society which is corrupted with both environmental and economic issues. As the world continues to battle with global warming and pollution, the movie creates subtle prediction for the future of our society. In the first scene, K arrives at his destination to detain a rogue replicant. The setting describes a desert with no crops and no civilisation in sight.
“One thing I’d say is that if anything the future will be more remarkable than any of us can imagine, because although any of us can only apply so much imagination, there’ll be thousands or millions of people using their imaginations to create new capabilities with these future technology powers.” – Ray Kurzweil.
Blade Runner emphasises Kurzweil’s theory where he discusses the potential of our future with the continuing innovation of technology. Denis Villeneuve directs the movie predicting a variety of technological advancements in an imagined sense. The film provides no limit on the futures potential for outrageous innovations which we can only imagine currently in our modern day society.
The films highlight K’s transformation from being a slave replicant hunter to a humanised android who battles between doing his job and covering the fact that his kind, bioengineered human androids, are able to reproduce. If humans were to uncover this, there would be war.
When K finds Rick Deckard, they battle until they tire. This battle ends while a simulation of Elvis Presley’s concert plays in the background. This scene works to potentially predict a life where we can simulate our favourite concerts in front of our own eyes and in the presence of our living room. Once the battle has ended, K and Deckard enjoy a beverage together.
A post which was personally intriguing was Lorena’s post on the idea of using three dominant colours to set moods and scenes. Each colour described their own scene and thus allows the audience to feel emotionally connected through colour.
The movie also emphasised music as a way of portraying a scene. In the scene pictured below, the music is very dramatic whilst also being quite soothing. Sets a perfect mood for the scene as K and his android partner embark on their journey whilst the rain pours down around them.
THE MATRIX
As a film touted as one of the best sci-fi films of our generation and a film which has catalysed the sci-fi genre’s popularity, the film delves into the possibility that there is an alternate dimension behind our normal life.
“As we are still lacking a “theory of everything”, we cannot rule out the possibility that novel physical phenomena, not allowed for in current physical theories, may be utilised to transcend those constraints” – Nick Bostrom
The film, ‘The Matrix’, shows that with this ever-changing world we live in, anything is possible. As Bostrom states, “without a theory of everything”, we cannot tell at what degree the world will transcend beyond our current capacity.
The film started the use of ‘bullet time’ technology which slows camera shots down to intensify and amplify a fight scene. This camera techniques is used in most sci-fi films and poses the question as to what kind of camera shots will be used in the future of film in a technological world which is ever-changing.
The film boast plenty of cultural and biblical references. Such referneces inlclude the reference to Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard and the allusion of morpheus as a god.
Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard, is referenced at the start of the film as Neo picks up the book by his doorway. The book is also referenced when Morpheus shows Neo the “desert of the real”. The film explores theories from famous philosophers and because of the emphasis placed on such theories, the Wachowski brothers made all lead actors read books including Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard, Out of Control by Kevin Kelly, and Introducing Evolutionary Psychology by Dylan Evans.
The biblical referencing of Morpheus refers to his gold like figure. The Wachowski Brothers based Morpheus on such readings about the god Morpheus. This is seen through Morpheus’ role in the film to awaken people from their dream states to reality. In Greek mythology, Morpheus is labelled the god of dreams, highlighting the comparison.
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL
‘Alita: Battle Angel’ tells a story of a washed-up android who is found by a doctor by the name of doctor Dyson. Alita is built from scratch and as she spends more time with humans, discovers her hidden battle attributes.
“A Cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction”. – Donna J. Haraway
With social interaction, Alita journeys on a coming of age transformation where she begins as a quiet and confused cyborg, changing into a confident and social cyborg. However, mentioned it above, it is important to note that she will always be a “hybrid”. Alita transforms with social reality while also being well aware of her cybernetic tendencies.
Much like ‘The Matrix’, ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ started the revolution of “motion capture technology”. This is where movement of characters are digitally recorded and thus giving computer animators the power to make non-human characters more life-like. Films such as the ‘Polar Express’ used this technology, however, for an animation film. ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ used this piece of technology for an animated character in a movie with real-life characters. This concept was then applied with ‘Avatar’ and the character ‘Neytiri’, thus paving the way for more movies to adapt this technique.
Much like films we have screened so far such as Space Odyssey with H.A.L and Westworld with ‘gunslinger’, Alita becomes more humane as the film goes on. However, this comes at a cost as Doctor Dyson decides the limit Alita of her true capacity and restrict her from venturing out into the city. This is where the audience must decide as to whether Dr Dyson is restricting her from her true potential or he is protecting her from the dangers of the outside world.
Whilst showcasing popular themes such as humanising of androids and replacing loss with a new form of robotics, ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ also raises a common concern for people around the world, the inability to fit in because of difference. Alita is obviously different and this means she is targeted by those who are jealous and hungry for power.
As mentioned in my opening paragraph at the top of this blog, ‘Ready Player One’ is my favourite screening to date. Whilst it faced negative feedback from its critics (mainly due to the book before it), the film shows a scarily accurate depiction of what the world is coming to.
Giving the ability for people to neglect their surroundings and focus on their in-game character offers a dangerous result. When protagonist Wade Watts finds the first key to a potential company-winning prize, he is targeted by a corporation lead by evil character Sorrento who is hell bent on winning the overall award. Through customisation, it can be seen that Sorrento develops a large and intimidating character who has perks of his own. Wade creates a character which isn’t powerful or special in any shape or form, however, he wins the keys based on his own wit and intelligence.
The film overall predicts a dangerous future where if you are succeeding in the virtual world, people who are more powerful in real-life will hunt you down.
In this tweet I shared by Josephine, it discusses my points mentioned above. Cyberspace acts as “the place between”, however, actions in this cybernetic world can hurt your real-life form.
The film presents plenty of pop-culture references, appealing to the overall film and game lover. Spielberg uses a digital re-creation from the film, ‘The Shining’, as seen in the tweet below. Wade’s in-game partner, “Aech”, is clearly scared of horror films as he then finds himself in the Overlook Hotel where the Shining is based.
My first BETA video I will looking at is Lia Kim’s fashion and lifestyle project. From my knowledge, Kim’s initial idea was to post weekly vlogs and base her videos on the culture of journalling and surveillance.
Adopting a project on fashion links significantly well with the future media subject and the screenings watched so far.
Lia sourced inspiration from the ‘Ghost in a Shell’ screening where she liked the aesthetic of clothing worn by characters. Not only did she source inspiration from films such as ‘Ghost in a Shell’, however, this made her have another look at previous films and identify whether there were any other fashion option she could talk about. I thought this was a great way of providing a future studies correlation to her fashion based vlogs. I could also identify that Lia had used her public utility well. Using twitter as a feedback loop allows her to gain insight from her audience and even peers from the subject.
I proposed two articles on the future of fashion and in specifics, the future of sustainable fashion. This concept is the first thing that came to mind when I thought of the future of fashion and something which is so important with the current environmental climate. The first article was an article written by Amanda Cotler and published by Forbes. It incorporates a summary of sustainable fashion with a future of fashion and what people can do to make sure sustainable fashion is something which is present in the future. Along with this article I added an education scholar article by Thomas Radclyffe called “Designing a sustainable future through fashion education”. This article adds another form of background research and gives evidence to how important fashion education is in providing a sustainable future.
In concluding Lia’s project, I want to emphasise her outstanding knowledge of fashion and the future media study. Her project seems to be well thought out with a clear plan in place and clear view of the future of her project.
ROBOT AND MEDICINE – JORDAN ARLENGHI
The idea behind Jordan’s project was to develop a 3D a robot/machine to carry out medical procedures. The project would look fifty years into the future which works well with the screenings so far as they too predict the long term future.
I admired Jordan’s idea for this project as it works towards benefiting the future of medical health care. Seeking workers for health care has been on the decrease, therefore, it is vital that we look at what the future will mean for health care and whether developing robots to operate medical procedures is the next step.
My advice for Jordan would be to read up on lecture readings and clearly plan out his project plan. There are plenty of recourses which Jordan can use from the cyborg lecture as well as the cyberspace lecture. Planning out his project will help with the development of his robot.
To help Jordan I linked an article which I found to be insightful into developing robots for medical care. At the beginning it emphasises how useful these robots will be once coded and developed in a way which will benefit caring for injury, sickness etc.
Furthermore, I located an article linked in week nine’s lecture notes by Clyne and Kline called ‘Cyborgs and Space’. I though this article would be insightful towards future media studies. As well it linked with Jordan’s topic of developing robots and developing them for a whole new environment.
I enjoyed reading Jordan’s blog and watching his DA Beta. I learnt a lot about robots and he presents an interesting project which I haven’t seen from anyone else.
FASHION FEVER – GRACE MARY BOULATOUF
Similarly to Kim, Grace is adopting a fashion project where she will look at how large fashion companies and institutions are poor for the environment and thus the future.
Grace is using YouTube as her platform to distribute three short videos. The first will be a summary. Much like Grace, I also made my first blog/episode a summary. This allows her audience to read up on her concept, topic and idea going further with her project. The second episode will be all about SHIEN.
‘SHIEN’ is known for having a threatening and damaging impact on the world. Grace will look at why the brand is one of the worst fashion brands to date. In researching SHIEN and trying to understand what the current issues were with SHIEN, I came across article which provided an extensive research into why SHIEN is problematic and what needs to be done. This is something which I though that Grace could utilise for more background research.
The next article I sourced for Grace’s benefit was an article on how we as fashion consumers can keep fashion environmentally sustainable. It emphasises the importance of keeping fashion environmentally sustainable especially with the current climate as the world is suffering from the continuing issues such as pollution.
The last episode in Grace’s project will focus on fast fashion’s production. In particular she will look at the next 10 years of fast fashion and how it may develop and change.
Overall I like how Grace narrowed her focus down to a niche as well as the background research which she has done shows that she has a well thought out plan for this project.
Personally, live tweeting during the screening has been a fluctuating experience. There have been tough periods where I have struggled to come up with anything useful and there have been other times where I feel like I have thoroughly grasped the content.
All movies screened so far have been intriguing. I have tried to analyse film techniques used throughout and connect these techniques with the study of future media. Techniques which have stood out to me have been the use of music, colour and lighting. These techniques were so valuable to any science fiction film to set scenes and convey messages, especially without the use of today’s technology.
The first screening was ‘Metropolis’. A film, directed by Fritz Lang, based on the Weimer era in Germany where the country was in political and economic turmoil. The protagonist, Freder, shares a conflicting relationship with his father whilst finding hope for a better society in the form of his love interest and the mediator, Maria.
Inadvertently Maria is a character which undergoes significant change. A scientist by the name, Rotwang, makes a robot version of Maria which works to create an uprising of workers against the city. In a scene which shows wealthy men stimulated towards the new ‘robot maria’, an influential figure is created.
A common theme shown throughout the four films watched to date is the fact that all films have acted as catalysts for the science fiction genre. Both Metropolis and Space Odyssey shared a connection with Star Wars.
As pictured above the sketch of C3PO was influenced by Metropolis as well as the stagnant camera shots used in Star Wars of the spaceships slowly moving, were clearly drawn from the Space Odyssey.
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ is a film produced by Stanley Kubrick about a space voyage gone wrong when an AI becomes overpowered and tries to manipulate Dr David Bowman. The film is known for its incredibly accurate prediction of space flight and the potential ability for AIs to takeover humanity.
For background research on the movie, I found a website which showed how accurate the predictions made in the film came to be in today’s world. Before watching screenings, I made sure I researched the films beforehand. This already gave me an upper hand when pre-generating tweets and even creating tweets on the spot.
Even though tweeted for satire, I found it interesting to think of what deliveries would look like in the future. Watching this film gave myself a right to think about what the future of our generation could be.
A successful tweet of mine which had pretty good engagement was the tweet pictured above. In arguably the best of scene of the film, Dave finds himself going insane. Kubrick’s use of colour joined together with creepy music emphasises the dramatic and confusing nature of the scene. A scene which has acted as a catalyst in today’s films such as Interstellar as Mathew Mcconnaughey goes insane towards the end of the film.
On a similar note, the movie ‘Westworld’ attempts to portray the same connotations as Space Odyssey. The film takes place at a theme park which is made for the wealthy. However, whilst the protagonists start to take advantage of the park, the androids start to rebel against the coding initially developed for them.
From punching bag to the terminator, Gunslinger rebells against the normal coding at the theme park and hunts down both the two protagonists. A sign for the future, much like ‘H.A.L’ in Space Odyssey and the ‘Puppet Master’ in ghost in a shell.
Behind the scenes of the Theme park there are workers who make sure everything runs smooth. This division between workers and the wealthy easily compare with the same division between the factory workers and the wealthy in Metropolis.
As well as this, I connected the workers to the game creators in the hunger games (also received a comment from a BCM peer about the resemblance with the Truman Show), emphasing the influence of the film on movies in today’s society.
Starring Harrison Ford, the film ‘Blade Runner’ stays the with a consistent theme of humans against machines. ‘Blade Runners’ are humans who are payed to hunt ‘replicants’ or androids. The replicants start to gain human-like qualities, much like both the Space Odyssey and Westworld.
The achievement of human like qualities is an example of a prediction made by Ridley Scott and the prehistory of the future. Once gaining these qualities, robots or androids rebel against norms and thus reverting back to the prehistory of the future, bring upon negative qualities.
An interesting aspect of the Blade Runner film is the techniques used to make the film. Ridley Scott made miniatures of the pyramids to bring them to life. A crazy idea which turned to gold as the movie became a sci-fi classic, however, is not normally used in the modern day as visual effects are approached with digital editing.
‘Ghost in a Shell’ is an amine movie which has influence the way in which we watch sci-fi movies today. It follows a security agent, “Motoko”, who hunts an allusive hacker named the “Puppet Master”. A film which challenges self identity in a futuristic setting.
As mentioned above, “Ghost in a shell” has influence many movies in our modern day society. In particular, the Wachowski’s (creators of the matrix) sited this movie as inspiration towards the Matrix. It’s quite easy to see as both films home in on the question of what is real and what is virtual.
Finally, an interesting tweet which I had to retweet about a prediction made in A Ghost in a shell, which as come to fruition. Our modern day society is overwhelmed which the high concentration of social media and ads. This also acts as divination as it warns us as the audience of an imagined future with negative outcomes, shown through the rust on the advertisements.
As a sports fan it has become a reoccurring theme to hear about backlash in the aftermath of a ‘wrong’ call made by an offical. Technology has been implemented into sports competitions around the world in an aim to perfect any issues revolving around live calls made my officials. However, in doing this, it is argued that some sports have lost their touch and focusing more on perfection than entertainment.
Welcome to my DA pitch where I will aim to delve into the impact of technology in sports and what it means for the future of sports in the short, medium and long term. My Digital Artefact will include a series of blogs and conclude with a Video Essay.
Ransack Sport is a DA which I started stemming from Ransack Media. Ransack Media is run by a group of inspiring journalists writing on topics such as entertainment, politics and sport. I branched out from Ransack Media, while posting my better articles on the main site, to create a niche account which appealed to a sports-based targeted audience. Ransack Media distributes content on Facebook and Twitter whilst Ransack Sport only distributes off Instagram. The goals for this new account were to build my following by posting sports articles.
Through prior knowledge of BCM degrees I begun to prototype what types of content I would start to post. I decided to start with a post on the EPL as it had just finished, and I had a post which was written up already. This started things off smoothly as next I decided to post an NBA article showing that the account was not just for football but for multiple sports. I continue through the ideation stage posting content weekly with a methodological process.
To try and gain a following I tried different techniques involving all Ransack accounts. I applied hashtags to gain a following from elsewhere. For a while iterated by posting weekly content. I chose not to focus on a particular sport to broaden my spectrum of newswriting. I distributed the best posts on the Facebook and the twitter accounts which would try to bring any new followers. These posts were shared on my own account and from the other members in the groups’ accounts.
The social utility of my content was that it was relevant to start. The EPL season had just started and the NRL season was nearing to an end. This was perfect as I could write both match reviews and previews for each sport as the seasons were in full effect. The idea behind the account was to make it visually aesthetic as there aren’t many ‘aesthetic’ accounts out there which post on all sports. Making the account visually aesthetic conceptually would have drawn in the attention of other followers (Kane, 2019).
I do believe I can continue this DA after this semester as it is something I genuinely love doing. During this semester it has become a hobby, however, as this semester is ending, I have had trouble keeping up with weekly posting with other assignments to do. Something I have also lacked is motivation. I have said that I would do things that I just haven’t got around to doing which has limited the potential of this DA this semester.
Overall a learning curve for myself as I have discovered that increasing engagement and following is hard to do without a proper planning stage. This is just the beginning of a DA which I will look to continue into the future creating a portfolio for myself.
Hello and welcome to my final episode on my podcast series on the social media use of the EPL and the A-League. I’m going to be honest as I probably set out to do 5 episodes instead of 4 however with time constraints, I have decided to only do 4 podcasts.
Just a recap on the series, Episode 1 was an introduction on what to expect, Episode 2 was on the EPL social media use and social and cultural transgressions of the league and Episode 3 was on the A-Leagues social media use, the adoption of premier leagues features and the negative side of being an Australian Footballer.
This episode will look at how the two compare and where both can adapt features from each other.
As mentioned in my introduction episode, I have experience with both leagues. Being a supporter since birth of both Liverpool and Sydney. I have also known the significant difference in talent and culture. EPL started hooliganism and ended it while the A-League with the emergence of new team Western Sydney Wanderers have brought it back into the game.
However, in terms of social media, the A-League has as mentioned adopted features from the EPL. These features are the photography elements, transfer talks and the ability to promote their teams on social media by personalising their accounts.
The A-League must adopt the ability to be more interactive with their audience. There is an obvious difference in feedback from the comment section. This may be due to the difference in overall followers; however, A-League still must be more interactive. Simple stuff like using more rhetorical questions and inviting audiences to comment on transfer news or any updates. A lack of fan art is quite easily seen which makes the EPL so significantly dominant when talking about audience interactivity.
The EPL could look at adopting a more cultural approach. The A-League posts Spotify sounds which is Australian-based, and this could be done by the EPL which such a prominent grime scene.
The EPL is known as an organisation which is promoting their stand for the fight against racism. The A-League of recent has had an issue with the battle with online abuse against players. Both prominent issues worldwide however its safe to say that the EPL are currently dealing with the issue of racism further than of the A-League. The EPL has culturally and socially trasngressed while the A-League is already culturally diverse and haven’t had too many problems with such an issue.
James Muggeridge 