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Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
YOU ARE THE REASON
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
Product Placement
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Show & Tell
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
tumblr dot com
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AnasAbdin
Kiana Khansmith
$LAYYYTER
ç„æ„ / Permanent Vacation
occasionally subtle
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romaâ
Janaina Medeiros
seen from Japan
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@com112-201360
Work Out, Eat Better, Love Yourself.
The start of the year beckons New Year resolutions; to work out more, eat better, lose weight or love yourself. These resolutions are great for direction, yet most are physical based; unlikely to last. A friend and I got together and our resolution in 2010...
Image Source: Robert Mailer, http://blogs.abc.net.au/wa/2013/06/why-wasabi-and-soccer-are-exactly-the-same.html?site=kimberley&program=kimberley_breakfast
After deciding Wabi Sabi was not the phonetical Japanese spelling for the green creamy substance given with Sushi, the aroma of which...
This is an image I created using photoshop, as a header for my resume.Â
All I had to do was the use the background eraser and Polygonal Lasso tool to get rid of the environment (âcept for the brick wall) and cigarette that I was holding. I simply replaced it with some text.Â
As mentioned in my previous post, thatâs about the extent of my photoshopping abilities.Â
I reckon Iâve visited around 10% of the sites featured in the modules picture. It surprises me how many there are actually â web 2.0 seems to be proliferating at a rapid rate. Iâve visited Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Wikipedia, Gmail, YouTube and Soundcloud. This is not to say that I use all of...
http://youtu.be/jE2F-A_xI5U
About a day after I submitted my digital media project proposal I spoke to my sister in England â a young girl rather sad about a pretty common affliction. Pimples, the ugly remnants of adolescence, could still be seen on her face. Ironically, she had been given...
The Project
MY PROJECT
The Project
Is Sydneyâs leafy North Shore becoming a concrete Jungle?
My original project  was to take photos of people at the beach and show how people are exposing themselves to skin cancer. I later thought about the idea I had chosen and felt like I would look like a weirdo if I was just taking photos of people at the beach so I decided to change my project to the title of this work. The North Shore is located north of Sydneyâs C.B.D and is well known for its large leafy gardens and relaxed family style. In 2006 the Minister for Planning directed local councils to increase housing in their areas. Initially units were built along the Pacific Highway but in recent years despite residents opposition, development has moved into residential streets and family homes and gardens have been demolished and replaced by multi story apartment blocks. In an attempt to create a diversion, developments have been given names to deceive what is really being sold e.g. Wallaroo, Kiah and Greenwood. In 2006 there were 2292 high density dwellings and in 2011 this number has increased to 5189. The trend to replace the old family home with the new high density style of living continues. The landscape of the environment has changed and residents are saying when is enough, enough?
Part 2
I didnât really have that many prior skills when it came to photography. I obviously knew how to take a photo but I didnât have any knowledge on what makes a good photo. I was just going off my own opinion of the photographs that I took. I took dozens of photos when doing this assessment and then I would go through all the photos keeping the ones that I liked and deleting the ones that I didnât think were that good. I tried to get good lighting with the photos that I took because I knew this would help make the photo look better. I also tried to vary the angles of the shots I took. Some I took from a distance while others I took looking up at the building or tree and some I took  as close-ups. My role in the production of this assessment was to locate and photograph suitable images to support my statement about Sydneyâs North Shore becoming a concrete jungle.  I used photo shop on some of the images just to alter the lighting of the photo to help make it look better but other than that I didnât use software in this production. I used flickr to upload the photos that I took and to publish them on the Internet for people to view and comment. I believe that this assessment ran fairly smoothly for me. Since I live in the North Shore I knew where I could capture quality photos for my question about the North Shore becoming a concrete jungle. The things that worked well was that I was able to capture photos of beautiful leafy environments being taken over by massive apartment blocks and I was also able to capture great photos of construction that is currently happening. These photos further embed my question about the North Shore. Another thing that worked well was that I was able to take photos of words that sound like a park such as Greenwood and then I was able to capture an image of Greenwood that was really an apartment building. I wanted  to show the contrast of what the word really means but what a developer is selling.  This shows how they are using deceiving names when they are building these large apartment blocks.  I am trying to show how the developers conjure up an image with the names they use when in reality it is a concrete building.  I felt like capturing these images really shows how the leafy North Shore is being destroyed by construction.  The thing that I would do differently if I was going to do this assessment again would be to use  a better camera that I could do different affects on.  I feel like if I had a better camera I would be able to have more impact with the photos.
Part 3
The main things that I learnt about digital media when undertaking this assessment was uploading the photos to the website flickr. I learnt how to use different photo sharing websites other than Facebook so this was really useful information that I was learning. I also learnt that it is difficult to try and tell a story and get a point across when you are just using photos to tell the story. To be able to tell a story through photos you really need to be able to capture great shots that thoroughly show your point. I also learnt how to use different editing skills to use on my photos. I have never really edited photos before so this assessment helped me learn how to do this. This assessment also made me realize that editing and changing your photos is really important in making a good photo and editing has a massive role within digital media. As mentioned above it is hard to create a story just using photos but I learnt that it is possible to do this. Â With digital media youâre able to play around and can show your story in a creative way rather than just telling a story through paper. Digital media helps make your story more interesting for the world to see. Â Digital media has a massive impact on todayâs popular culture. Todayâs generation use the Internet for hours a day and are exposed to thousands of digital media stories everyday. With people exposed to all these digital media stories, it is obvious that it will have a massive impact on the people who view them. The Internet makes it so easy for people to look up and read digital media and this is another reason why it has an impact on todayâs popular culture. I believe that digital media is very beneficial for todayâs popular culture because it engages the viewers in a way that makes them interested and actually excited to keep viewing the digital media stories. Normal media just doesnât have the ability to do that as much, so therefore digital media is impacting on popular culture in a positive way. Â
Digital media is a quick way for todayâs culture to communicate, interact and educate
Here is my Flickr website showing the story of is Sydneyâs leafy North Shore becoming a concrete jungle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/104493394@N07/
What's Culture - The Project
Ignore previous post, link doesn't work!
Click link for gallery :)
http://s857.photobucket.com/user/hmayjor/slideshow/
The Overview
The above gallery of pictures were taken over 2 months and are symbolic of Australian multiculturalism. Whilst originally, I planned on filming a short documentary about ignorance: itâs presence, impact and prevalence in Australian society, I instead decided to focus on a singular category of ignorance. I chose ignorance in terms of racism in modern society and how the nature of multiculturalism brings an understanding of those cultures and thus an improvement of general attitude against racism. The photos are all black and white to signify equality as colour shouldnât and doesnât define the modern Australian Citizen.Â
Prior to this project, I had digital media related hobbies such as amateur photography and filmmaking. During these experiences I used similar equipment and created things such as birthday collages, event videos etc. Although I believe this project was not exactly difficult, I definitely utilized the skills I have picked up over the years through my past experiences. My role in the production was basically the actual production itself, I am not photographed at all in the series however I did take all of the photos and also edit them accordingly as well as upload them. The main piece of equipment used in the project was a Nikon Camera (D7100) It is of very high quality and I have had it for a while now. I then used iPhoto to crop, cut, edit and enhance my photos to get the exact effect that I wanted. I really enjoyed the project, especially photographing my friends, family and complete strangers. It gave me an excuse to talk to people I wouldnât usually talk to! If I could do the project again, I would make a few changes. I think I would spend the money on a proper editing system, as iPhoto is reliable but very basic. I believe that would really make a huge difference to the final outcome of the project, as it would allow a higher sense of professionalism.
What did you learn about digital media production by attempting this project?
I learnt that the opportunity for digital production is everywhere all around us through current affairs, issues and ideas being analyzed, criticized or praised through the vast amount of technology we have available to us. I learnt how powerful digital storytelling can be through research for the project, in which I stumbled across the old KONY Campaign. I remember that reactions were mixed, but everyone had one, everyone knew what the campaign was and absolutely everyone has an opinion on it. The idea of this and the realization of how quick a message can be heard and how far it can be spread via digital storytelling astounded me and really did inspire me. I also learnt how easy it was to produce digital media of a reasonable quality at little to no expense. It really does make things easier, giving everyone a voice essentially, or an outlet.
How did this learning align with your understanding of the emerging narrative forms possible in digital media production, and/or digital media's impact on contemporary media communication practices and popular culture?
Digital media has had an unimaginable impact on popular culture as a whole generation has now essentially grown up with it and not only enjoys it but also relies on it. Media communication practices such as the News also rely heavily on the growing advancement of digital media for efficiency as well as entertainment factors. For example with the recent NSW fires the news channels are constantly updating Facebook, or other social media outlets such as twitter with digital media such as a digital story of the fires themselves and their progression through the blue mountains, as well as video footage, photos and statistics. All in all, Digital media is a huge part of our lives and will certainly be relevant to us for the rest of our lives, forever changing and growing, becoming more advanced and more necessary.
ÂÂÂ
Links to Gallery slideshow:
http://s857.photobucket.com/user/hmayjor/slideshow/Â
The Overview
The above gallery of pictures were taken over 2 months and are symbolic of Australian multiculturalism. Whilst originally, I planned on filming a short documentary about ignorance: itâs presence, impact and prevalence in Australian society, I instead decided to focus on a singular category of ignorance. I chose ignorance in terms of racism in modern society and how the nature of multiculturalism brings an understanding of those cultures and thus an improvement of general attitude against racism. The photos are all black and white to signify equality as colour shouldnât and doesnât define the modern Australian Citizen.
Prior to this project, I had digital media related hobbies such as amateur photography and filmmaking. During these experiences I used similar equipment and created things such as birthday collages, event videos etc. Although I believe this project was not exactly difficult, I definitely utilized the skills I have picked up over the years through my past experiences. My role in the production was basically the actual production itself, I am not photographed at all in the series however I did take all of the photos and also edit them accordingly as well as upload them. The main piece of equipment used in the project was a Nikon Camera (D7100) It is of very high quality and I have had it for a while now. I then used iPhoto to crop, cut, edit and enhance my photos to get the exact effect that I wanted. I really enjoyed the project, especially photographing my friends, family and complete strangers. It gave me an excuse to talk to people I wouldnât usually talk to! If I could do the project again, I would make a few changes. I think I would spend the money on a proper editing system, as iPhoto is reliable but very basic. I believe that would really make a huge difference to the final outcome of the project, as it would allow a higher sense of professionalism.
What did you learn about digital media production by attempting this project?
I learnt that the opportunity for digital production is everywhere all around us through current affairs, issues and ideas being analyzed, criticized or praised through the vast amount of technology we have available to us. I learnt how powerful digital storytelling can be through research for the project, in which I stumbled across the old KONY Campaign. I remember that reactions were mixed, but everyone had one, everyone knew what the campaign was and absolutely everyone has an opinion on it. The idea of this and the realization of how quick a message can be heard and how far it can be spread via digital storytelling astounded me and really did inspire me. I also learnt how easy it was to produce digital media of a reasonable quality at little to no expense. It really does make things easier, giving everyone a voice essentially, or an outlet.
  How did this learning align with your understanding of the emerging narrative forms possible in digital media production, and/or digital media's impact on contemporary media communication practices and popular culture?
Digital media has had an unimaginable impact on popular culture as a whole generation has now essentially grown up with it and not only enjoys it but also relies on it. Media communication practices such as the News also rely heavily on the growing advancement of digital media for efficiency as well as entertainment factors. For example with the recent NSW fires the news channels are constantly updating Facebook, or other social media outlets such as twitter with digital media such as a digital story of the fires themselves and their progression through the blue mountains, as well as video footage, photos and statistics. All in all, Digital media is a huge part of our lives and will certainly be relevant to us for the rest of our lives, forever changing and growing, becoming more advanced and more necessary.Â
HERE IT IS! BETTER LATE THAN NEVER- UPDATED (COPYRIGHTS RESOLVED!!!!!!)
You Are What You Eat
What is you are what you eat?
You are what you eat is a short stop motion film primarily using play dough and cardboard. The film is designed not only to be fun but also to send a message to viewers, that is: Eat healthy!
My Skill sets and challenges
I chose to do a stop motion film because it is something I have never really tried before but have always held a small interest in. The only real practical thing I suppose you could call experience that I have had prior to making this stop motion film was using a digital camera, even so I had never used a camera as advanced as the one I used for this film.
Technology used
Canon E05 digital camera: At first this camera was a bit difficult to use because I found it to be a bit more advanced in comparison to most digital camera I have used in the past, after a quick lesson from my sister I managed to pick it up pretty quickly.
Sony Vegas: This was the real challenge for me I have done little video editing in my time apart from here and there in COM112 even so Sony Vegas seemed completely different from the other movie editing program I have used in the past (Imovie) it was not until I started using it that I realized how huge learning curve actually is with this software.
Photoshop: I have become quite the master at editing photos in Photoshop recently which helped when it came to making this film.
YouTube: First time YouTube uploader veteran YouTube user, so I was Already familiar with most of YouTubeâs interface.
The Failed Tech
DropBox: I like the idea behind it however I gave up pretty quickly when I realised how pricy it was and the amount of time it took to upload files!
External Hardrive: Could have been useful if Macs did not block files from being stored on them!
iMovie: Also could have been handy except it was very inconvenient in my situation because of the above failed technology.
Windows Movie Maker: The frame rate would not go low enough for this film to look smooth; besides I could see future problems just looking at the program like how do I add music and sound???
My Computer: My laptop only just managed to cut the specs required to edit a stop motion movie which was running full HD photographs; this made the example window in Vegas extremely choppy and loading times took forever!
What Have I learnt?
-Well firstly I now know exactly how to make a stop motion film step by step!
-Practice using a new program before planning to use it for something important!
-How to upload videos to YouTube.
-Some of the basics for Sony Vegas.
-Expect delays when experimenting with new Software/Technology.
What I would do Differently
-Make sure the digital camera is not set at full high definition photographs for stop motion films to save time rather than moving massive files around.
-Have a friend help me.
-Take more photographs per scene.
-Use a higher powered computer.
-Give myself more time for the editing process.
 What I Have Learnt About Stop Motion
In my research before deciding to carry out making a stop motion film I found stop motion to be becoming considered an outdated  and is now being taken over by CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) in bigger productions because it runs much more smoother and is a lot more efficient to use.
However stop motion is more popular than ever among the DIY at home mediocre film makers because the technology is easily available over the internet and runs fine on most modern day computers. Besides not everyone is a computer genius and has the money to own a computer which can create CGI, who knows perhaps in ten years CGI will be outdated and the average Joe can create CGI films from the comfort of his/her computer chair.
CGI or not stop motion and CGI both have the ability to carry a strong message to their audience and are very effective because they create a bit of a âWow Factorâ for audiences because the creators of the films are able to create events and scenes viewers will never see anywhere else other than this form of digital media.
Tourists in Japan- Final Post
Introduction
When deciding what idea and choice of media I would do for this project, I took into account my recent trip to Japan, the stacks of footage I took in Japan and my love of editing footage. It was a pretty easy decision that I would use Imovie to create my project about Japan and the diverse culture that it has. I decided that it would be from a tourists perspective of the beautiful country which is home to over 126 million people. The footage is mainly taken in a small, beautiful snow town of Hakuba and the capital, Tokyo.
Prior Skills
Before completing this project I had a bit of experience with Imovie, the software that I was going to be using for this assignment. The footage was all captured using a Sony Handcam which is smaller than my hand. The footage was taken over 2 weeks in the beginning of January of 2013. Prior to this project I had made just under 10 edited films using Imovie. I would prefer to learn how to use final cut pro but unfortunately the software is very expensive and I donât have the money. I filmed most of the footage, but my mother and brother also filmed some. When shooting the footage it was all taken over 2 weeks and the footage was shot in a town called Hakuba, a few ski resorts and the capital city of Tokyo. Footage was taken of tourists skiing, A museum where tourists go to visit snow monkeys, restaurants, the crowded streets of Tokyo, shopping centres within Tokyo and all the amazing sights of the city. After the footage was taken it was in storage for a few months, but the perfect opportunity was given and the footage could be used for good use, this project. When editing the footage I found it very hard to make it a digital story rather than a few clips from a family holiday. I wanted to make sure that within the video, some sort of professionalism came out of it and that it was relevant to the course. If I could do it differently in the future I would definitely change the time that it went for. Unfortunately with the limited amount of relevant footage, I couldnât make the film as long as I intended to. Something that I thought worked really well when editing the film was my experience using Imovie making it a lot easier to do and also I found that with the footage that I could use, the scenery was eye-catching and entertaining to watch.
Questions
What did you learn about digital media production by attempting this project?
The biggest thing I learnt from this project is the amount of time editing takes to produce a piece of work. Before this assignment I didnât realize the slow process of editing footage. The process of finding relevant footage, trimming footage, adding effects, adding headlines and finding copyright free music that was suitable and relevant was a very long process. From this project, I also became more knowledgeable using Imovie and a bit more efficient.
How did this learning align with your understanding of the emerging narrative forms possible in digital media production, and/or digital media's impact on contemporary media communication practices and popular culture?
 Producing this movie made me understand the impact of contemporary media communication practices and popular culture on digital media. With the Internet inventing new websites becoming phenomenonâs, digital media is in everybodyâs homes with their computer and back pocket with their smartphones. Uploading videos could now be possible for everyone on the World Wide Web from the comfort of their home. When making a film using digital media, it is imperative to be copyright free and plagarised free. It is also important to be considerate of the community and not publish something that is rude or racist. Â
video link https://vimeo.com/77215885
This short video follows Chris as he reflects over the course of a week about his drug abuse. Essentially burnt out from his lifestyle, Chris hopes these rec...
The video linked here is a short video production inspired by my first cousin, who finds himself in a similar predicament to Chris, the central and only character in the film. Essentially an amateur documentation of a week in the life of a drug addict, 7 days follows the tittle character Chris' week in short vignettes that show us what he's thinking and how's he's feeling.
Prior to this production my experience and skills were still fundamental and inconsistent, I had used various software in the past to create video projects mostly for academic purpose. Chief among these were iMovie and before that Windows Movie Maker, amateur tools that can produce decent productions but nothing comparable to Adobe software and final cut pro standards.Â
This production was solely created by myself. In my proposal I set out to make a film that would juxtapose real life violence with the violent video game: Mortal Kombat. But as I finished filming I found myself unable to create the short film I set out to make, instead finding myself creating an obnoxious amateur music video that didn't really make any poignant point about what I wished to say. The concept was there but the execution was lacking. From there I decided to go simpler, more effective-more didactic but  no less effective in message.
I ditched the Sony HD Handheld cam, turned three actors into one and started rolling on the iPhone 5. After filming short vignettes over the course of the day, I uploaded the clips into sequential order and used iMovie to add the transitions that would give this piece coherence.Â
The most difficult part was gaining the insight needed to make the film. A short trip to Lithgow on Wednesday where my cousin, the inspiration for this piece, lives. Taking notes of what he said as I interviewed him, I incorporated his words into the work you see here. Aside from the that filming was fairly simple, wardrobe changes and little aesthetics were set accordingly and the only issue was having to do multiple takes, I'm certainly no actor and it shows.
"What did you learn about digital media production by attempting this project?"
I think the most important lesson here is how powerful contemporary digital media channels are. Without spending any real money, I was able to create this piece using my phone as the sole recording equipment and my computer as the editing unit. Youtube provides a free avenue in which to display my work to a potentially infinite audience. This is something that was impossible 20 years ago, as we had neither the internet as we know it, nor powerful consumer grade computers that could edit and finalise video production.
"How did this learning align with your understanding of the emerging narrative forms possible in digital media production?"
I think it's important to acknowledge that with the way things are now, everyone and anyone can engage in digital storytelling. With avenues like youtube, storify, facebook and audioboo. It truly costs only creativity to create a good digital story. If anything the amateur video producer has only become more powerful with technology that surpasses old bootleg styles recordings and distribution tools that allow for international audience at no cost.Â
This project has truly driven home just how powerful and connected the modern information exchange has become.
It's been a blast, thanks for reading.
Regards, York
Faces and places is a video behind the hidden truths of racism in rugby league, Â the information that the crowd and spectators are blind too.
The ever-growing problem of the issue of racism in sport specifically in rugby league is rapidly increasing and becoming a real killer of the game, an the media that surrounds it  is making it much worse, affecting the games following.Â
The interviews consist of various questions that players and people from the crowd experience and if they also participate in racism through out the game. The answers are outstanding and are the reason why the game is falling apart.
I had no prior skills in video production, only through previous class works. I had the camera from my iphone and some help of youtube footage; I was able to mash all this together using Imovie. I went to rugby league games to be able meet some people and I was the person asking the questions through out the whole production. I visited other uni students who are from all around Australia and where able to bring their story here and asked them for there insight on the matter. Either it was playing country rugby league or city, surprising a few different answers came up. I had fun choosing this issue as it is prominent in the game but is always pushed under the rug, which I feel is a massive issue at the moment and the great game  is being effected by this. Racism affects the game and the people that follow and watch it. Racism starts to Create trends in junior leagues, where younger kids pick this up and then that translates to friends and schools thus becoming a massive issue as there role models are participating in racism. There are a lot of hidden truths that go on, behind closed doors either through social media or on the field.
  What did you learn about digital media production by attempting this project?
 That digital media is a strong tool in communicating an idea. An gave me a different look on how pictures video can be so strong in expressing your ideas thoughts and feelings. That there is not one singular right answer, everyone has there own sense of story to tell to make up the whole solution, like wabi sabi. There is more then one way to spread your information and that publishing online and on blogs makes for easier reading but a vast online connection of other users can see your work. By doing what I did in my project I hope to raise awareness to show people that those 2 small words seem so innocent but can have massive affects on others. Creating a chain affect and ruining the game. A bit of banter is good hear and there but it comes to a point where enough is enough. Hopefully my prject can reach to others to reliease that they know when enough is.
  How did this learning align with your understanding of the emerging narrative forms possible in digital media production, and/or digital media's impact on contemporary media communication practices and popular culture? Â
 I learnt that we can make forms of essays and narratives so much more factual and interesting by using online publishing services. Where you can link Facebook instagram and twitter, to give real evidence of peoples doing in real life, real pictures graphs and so on. To have that advantage to be able to go on with the story, instead of reading the paper and thatâs it, but with online story you can go more into it skyâs the limit, you see who that person is that published it and maybe can even gain an interest in where he even lives and even gain more knowledge or juicy goss. With the increase of technology its just going to become easier and easier for people to express there ideas. The world is developing at a rapid rate.Â
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/nrl-joins-hunt-for-troll-behind-inglis-racial-slur-20130724-2qjy0.html glen jacksonÂ
http://www.nrl.com/aussie-stars-unite-to-stamp-out-racism/tabid/10874/newsid/72532/default.aspx phil rothfeildÂ
ttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/abc-rugby-league-caller-david-morrow-sorry-for-racist-remark/story-e6frg996-1226638818626 may 9 2013 andrew badalÂ
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/racism-row-threatens-to-mar-nrl-all-stars-v-indigenous-all-stars-match/story-e6frexnr-1226571140875 febuary 6 2013 andrew websterÂ
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/36286.html june 16 2010 chris grahamÂ
  http://youtu.be/oNRTOyXBKbQÂ
Alcoholism and Australia, a set on Flickr.
My project is titled âAlcoholism and Australiaâ. It is a collection of images that represent alcoholâs role in contemporary Australian culture. The images also explore some of the more detrimental aspects of this culture. Images range from a classic Australian BBQ scenario to vibrant and colourful music festivals. My prior skills in producing photographic content were very limited. In order for me to complete this project I had to not only closely consider how to take photos but also how to use Photoshop to alter the photos in a way that would highlight some of the issues and ideas I wanted the viewer to connect with. Some of these photos are staged but majority are observations I have made in my time at university. The process involved with this assignment was to go and take photos on the issue of alcoholism and to then edit them in Photoshop to draw attention to certain aspects of the photo. Having never used Photoshop, the edits are subtle; I didnât attempt anything too ambitious from fear of losing sight of the key themes of the project. If I were to do this again, I would certainly look at more exciting ways to digitally process my images. In completing my project I have learnt a great deal about digital media. First and foremost I learnt that there is no right or wrong and certainly no conventional methods of producing content. Technology allows us to produce a wide range of interesting and engaging content that appeals and stimulates all sorts of audiences. Itâs also worthy to note that in exploring digital production and publishing softwareâs, it became clear how easy it is for anyone to publish their ideas and stories. The online community definitely reflects these two key ideas I gained from doing this project.
T-T-F-N! Ta ta for now!
Introduction
With my digital media project, I wanted to try and inform readers about the lives and culture of the Namibian Himbas, but I wanted to do so in a personal and colourful way, incorporating facts into storytelling. I had visited this tribe a while ago during my gap year travels and had taken a number of photographs there, but wanted to do something more with them. I therefore utilized the versatility of digital media to enrich my recounts, with my blog posts incorporating the photographs I took and polished/curated for this assessment, as well as personal written reflections, relevant YouTube videos and images found online (maps, etc) and links to extra information.
Prior Skills & Production Process
 The area of journalism I am most interested in pursuing is photojournalism, thus I felt this assessment was a perfect opportunity to do just that. I wanted to work on a topic I was really passionate about, and with the difficulties of living between Bathurst/Sydney and end of year assessments piling up, I felt that utilizing photos Iâd previously taken and turning them into something more would be the way to go. Iâm a freelance photographer and am quite familiar with both the photographic equipment I used to capture the images in the first place, as well as the programs Aperture and Photoshop that I used for basic cropping/coloring/editing of the images. As this was a reportage-based piece, my interest wasnât in altering the images much, but simply in trying to replicate as closely as possible the colour tones I could see on the actual day, which is something I find sometimes tricky to do in camera when the light is very harsh.
 My role was then selecting the images I felt best represented the atmosphere and people of the Himba tribe Iâd visited and structuring my written reflection in a way I felt flowed smoothly. I did some research to make sure Iâd remembered my facts correctly and proceeded to find relevant maps in order to assist readers in situating the tribeâs location, taking screen shots of Google Earth satellite images, finding relevant video snippets and proceeding to embed all of these into my tumblr post. I included in my hyperlinks a number of photographs Iâd taken during my travels through Namibia in order to better describe the landscape, and made sure to reference all other images used.
 In terms of what I mightâve done differently in the future â I found this work quite intuitive and enjoyed it immensely. It would definitely have made a big difference to have gone out to the tribe with the prior intention of putting together a photojournalistic response to my experience, as I wouldâve surely had more of a focus in my images and could have also conducted some interviews or grabbed some audio or video footage as well. I feel as though this kind of enriched blog post is a great way to give the reader the option of learning more information if they are so inclined (through hyperlinks) and that the first-person recount separated it from other informative website on the same topic.
What did I learn about digital media?
I think the main thing I learned during this project is that I actually find it quite intuitive and straightforward to upload and share data online. Although I was already familiar with all the elements I used to put my project together, it was the first opportunity I had to start a self-driven project from scratch and I found a lot of enjoyment in it. Photos will always remain, to me, one of the most powerful forms of communication, and knowing there are so many platforms out there to make sharing images possible is exciting and brimming with possibilities. I feel as though the marriage between images and the written word is a very harmonious one, with each medium complementing the other.
 This project has also made me more aware of just how second nature the digital realm has become to my generation (and certainly the next) â we are living in a time where stories can be shared globally in the blink of an eye, and to me this makes it all the more important to have something worth sharing, in order for it not to get lost in the sea of data. It also makes it all the more important to try and keep your message clear, reference what you are using and make sure that the creators of content are recognised for their work and their ideas.
If I want to head in any direction with my digital storytelling, it would be in the form of interactive digital media such as the New York Timesâ âSnow Fallâ â I find these innovations the pinnacle of digital storytelling aesthetics and the best use of images/words/video/sound/reader interaction possible.
My Digital Media Project was based on the idea that young adolescents are being influenced by the media (magazines, television, Facebook etc) and they are losing their own sense of âfashionâ and copying those that are in the limelight. This has the possibility of making people feel unhappy with...
Create stories using social media. Turn what people post on social media into compelling stories. Collect the best photos, video, tweets and more to publish them as simple, beautiful stories that can be embedded anywhere.
As many of you may have seen, Kade Maloney, son of Roosters player âJames Maloneyâ took the spotlight at the grand final as he went to step onto the stage and catch up to his father, resulting in him having a stack that he will remember for the rest of his life, and will surely be played at his 16th, 18th and 21st birthdays.Â
The video of him stacking went viral within the hour of the stack occuring and just from the reactions in my household (there was a non stop of laughter everytime we played the replay) I am sure that it will be a source of entertainment, Funniest Home Videos, anyone?Â
It was later posted that it was Kade Maloney, and that he was fine and was up hanging with his dad and enjoying himself. So this is why I based a spotify story on this.. I am not sure if it is of any decent quality, but it has the link to the video⊠Which is very entertaining and I urge you all to watch it if you havenât seen it already!
So as this will be my last blogging post for this subject, I figure I should summarise some of what I have learnt over the past semester.. Well letâs start with Tumblr. I had no idea how to use Tumblr.. And letâs be honest, I am no expert now, however, I can post videos and photos on here, so I have gained some knowledge of the site. Then there is the editing of images, videos and audio. Yes, I had no clue as to how to do any of this before I started this session.. And I am proud to say I have learned the basics. Iâve never had a passion for editing things, nor will I, I donât think.. I am pretty horrible at it, if we are going to be blunt. But at least I gave it a go! Which is all I expect of myself. There is also all the copyright laws and randomly important imformation (like âWabi Sabiâ) so I have a basic knowledge, if not more than basic when it comes to that.Â
It is time to take a break and enjoy the holidays! Wooo
YOU KNOW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t67R5HvC3zI&feature=youtu.be
For this project I decided to focus on the illicit drug use problem among young Australians but instead of hearing old folk telling them the dangers and so on I thought it would be more interesting to focus on what young Australians thought themselves. This video is an honest and raw response from the six youth I interviewed (18-20) which explores their first experiences with illicit drugs to their experiences with drugs now. Throughout this interview it will cut back and forth to different youth telling their stories and finishing with the fact that they know the dangers but this is their time to enjoy life.
This video was created with minimal prior experience in video production. It was a trial and error process as I did not want to portray these young Australians as just a typical drug user trying to justify their use but as an interesting and honest interview. Thanks to my old high school classes I was able to remember the importance of camera angles. I used different angles and shots to further enhance my video and show the youths vulnerability by opening up to me.  I used final cut pro to create and put this video together. As I said before Iâve had extremely limited experience with video production software and I donât own a mac therefore I used Final Cut Pro which seemed hard but was actually quite straight forward once mastered thanks to YouTube tutorials which guided me through. The music behind these footage was sung by two of the youth in the film who both said that drugs helped them connect with music. I also used Codex by Radiohead to add a dramatic feel to my video. All of this footage was shot on my Canon EOS 7D on a night these youth called âMolly Mondaysâ.
I wouldnât change the concept of this video its real, I just would have loved to be able to share more footage of these interviews to really show the information these young Australians were willing to share.
This Project taught me the world of digital media that digital media is endless and you can tell a story in so many ways. This will help me in the future as it showed me that itâs not always easy to try a portray a story and that it takes a lot of extra thought to perfect it. It has taught me so much about video production and filming along with Photoshop. It also showed me that to be wary as things can always go wrong with technology it may be great but temperamental especially as a rookie.
COM112 taught me that the old way of telling stories will be outshined by the new way as it will have more of an impact on and a more interesting way to share a story especially among the younger generations. We are surrounded by amazing forms of technology and past ways will be outshined, my cousin who is two uses an iPad which reads stories to her with interactive pictures.
The production process taught me how to bring all the footage together and to cut and keep the important information and the importance of not repeating information already shared by another. It also taught me to not give up and choose the easy option even if you are convinced your video is going to suck be positive and keep trying and in the end it will all work out.
