‘Creativity in Amateur Multimedia’ reading

I really enjoyed Jeff’s article Creativity in Amateur Multimedia: Popular Culture, Critical Theory, and HCI which was the reading for Tuesday. The tactic of bringing together three theorizations of creativity to talk about amateur multimedia I thought worked really well. However, I had a few questions. In the telecommunications department, the big buzz words for some time seem to be ‘convergence culture’ coined by the MIT professor Henry Jenkins which essentially refers to the media phenomenon of producer and consumer lines blurring to the extent that media using equals media making. Many of my students take for granted that they are not just passive consumers of media, they update and add information to their facebook profiles, upload videos to youtube and add photos to flickr. These websites wouldn’t exist unless users produced content for them.

I was therefore wondering whether ‘amateur multimedia’ is essentially the same as ‘convergence culture’ or is there a difference? It struck me as slightly strange that departments at IU are talking about the same things, albeit using different approaches and discourses, yet not combining or sharing ideas and concepts with one another. Similarly, I know in CMCL there are many classes which talk about fan culture which machinima and other examples in Jeff’s paper would definitely fit into. Does this mean that informatics, Telecom and other departments are necessarily exclusionary of other discipline’s oeuvres? This is why I really appreciate and respect Jeff bringing critical and cultural studies to HCI because as the paper demonstrates, different theories from seemingly disparate disciplines are actually wonderfully useful and illuminating in one’s own field.

It’s Metal

So I took a look at one of the readings for this week, and it talked about how people use language in different contexts to connotate meanings within a community. I saw this as an opportunity to share some of the knowledge I know about the metal community by showing this music video (Arch Enemy – Revolution Begins). Please enjoy! (It’s a short post)

Basically this can only be described by the following phrase: “that’s metal”. Now, I am not just saying the obvious, but I am using the awesomeness described by Zach and Ron (of epic Metalscape fame), as something that is so imbued with the spirit and experience that you feel it through your body. This is exhibited in the following ways:

(from the video)

1. flames
2. walking (stance)
3. black and sepia colors
4. usage of few video filters
5. defiance and epicness
6. pretty built (physically – like Vin Diesel) people
7. clouds

(from the music)

1. epic fast (2 handed) solo
2. very full of power (volume)
3. high energy (speed)
4. the black and red for anarchy (color)

A close reading of WoW tear-jerker

So I decided to look at a bit of machinima made from WoW clips set to the song “Here Without You” by 3 Doors Down. It has been an interesting journey. It is incredible to think that some clips from World of Warcraft set to a cheesy late 90’s love-rock song could make me misty-eyed. I dare you to watch this video multiple times and not be moved at least a little bit.

sketchnotes^2 … comicsnotes

So, I mentioned the other day that I can’t read, which is why McCloud’s books were so great for me.  I guess I’m just a really visual learner.   I’m also, as many of you know, a comic artist.  So, I really don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner:

Comics Notes:

First page… doodling and random cartoons

Iteration and panel borders…

The notes from Erik’s class today… Just another example.

Anyways… thought someone might think it’s relevant.

John Green speaks regarding Caster Semenya

At the risk of perhaps belaboring conversation that might take us on a tangent (though is that really a problem if we do?) I wanted to post a youtube video from John Green. Some of you probably know the vlogbrothers, a popular youtube channel that I happen to love. John speaks to what we were discussing in class. Most of what he has to say about life being ambiguous directly ties in with phenomenological thinking. I really liked this and just wanted to share.

Plus, face it, you’re all nerdfighters.

A Structuralist Reading of Change.gov

On November 6^th, just two days after winning the highest office in the government, President-Elect Obama launched Change.gov marking the first time a President-Elect has used funds provided for by the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 for a website. This in itself represents a change in the way the Obama Administration will conduct government business. Of course the two previous administrations have also had President websites, but the Obama Administration represents the first digitally native presidential administration in US history. Change.org is not just another government website, but represents the deeper level in which technology has influenced the Obama campaign-turned-administration and how it will affect the federal government in the future.

 

In the transition from campaign to administration, Change.gov represents the new popular incarnation Obama into an institution. The site continues with a similar, but deeper color palate from BarackObama.com, that grows more similar as your scroll down the page. This, along with the serifed fonts – noticeably bolder than those found on other government websites such as WhiteHouse.gov – and black-and-white photos for Barack Obama and Joe Biden suggest are more serious tone. It is no longer about campaigning and politics, but about governing and policy.

 

Also in comparison to the current administration’s website, Change.gov has a much more modern, clean, and open feel. Where WhiteHouse.gov has solid lines to delineate sections and diagonal line coupled with gradients – reminiscent of Yahoo! or EBay. This has the connotation of big business and corporations – a government run for profit. The clean, sleek aesthetic of Change.gov however has a feeling of blog-like authenticity and honesty. Likewise, the lack of navigational icons and larger serifed text implies a meant-to-be-read literariness lacking in WhiteHouse.gov.

 

Following along the lines of current web trends, Change.gov also includes a variety of YouTube videos by Obama as well as other members of the transition team, a blog, newsroom, set of agenda statements (which citizens can write in suggestions about), and the ability to sign up for “transition updates”. All of these features invite citizens to observe the transition process, marking an unprecedented attempt at transparency. The fact that a both a newsroom and blog exist suggests that the administration is professional while still approachable. Certain items are “news worthy” while others are personal, requiring a blog post instead.

 

Three of the main navigation links at the top encourage citizens to get involved with administration. The “American Moment” offers a chance for visitors to post content (carefully screened) on the site. “American Serves” highlights the changes Obama plans to enlarge programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps. And also prominently positioned is the employment section of the site. All three of these represent a change towards a more participatory democracy.

 

Inaugurations plans are also emphasized throughout the site. At the top there is a countdown of the days until the inauguration. Also, the inauguration is rather lavishly listed as the only upcoming event. This focus on the official transfer of power – as well as the existence of the site itself – represents a further lameducking of President Bush.

 

Much like Obama himself, this Change.gov has an optimistic feel, looking towards the future with energy, but also a conservativeness made visible by the institutional motifs manifest in the deep colors and serif fonts. After a very pop-friendly web presence during his campaign, this site solidifies Obama as a truly being president. Like the lead font, launching this site with federal dollars was a bold, but prudent move. The transparency reflected in its design sends a positive message. Let’s just hope is keeps our elected officials honest.

Light Novels in Japan

Light Novel is a new word that has been introduced into the traditional ACG (Anime, Comic and Game) culture in Japan. It is the novel with Anime- or Manga-style illustrations, and it is becoming very popular in Japan, China, and over the East-Asian countries.

Light Novel is a good example of combining two different “languages” and it breaks a normal syntagm of traditional ACG culture. No matter Anime, Comic or Game, they are all in the visual language. Though they may contain text, the major perception of the audience is still going through graphics and images. People don’t need to read text to understand what’s going on. They can just get the meaning by static or moving images. However, Light Novel is different. It is a novel that mainly written in text. So why can this new kind of text-majority media be successfully introduced to the visual-constructed world of ACG?

First, Light Novel is not a pure novel because it contains illustrations of the characters and some event scenes in the novel. While reading the Light Novels, reader can easily draw pictures in their head about what is happening in the story. They can understand the characters more because of the illustrations in front of the book and in between of pages. It is more lively than the traditional novel and it is also more interesting to the readers.

Second, it is written in the language that people in ACG culture know well with. Here the word “language” is referring to the real text language. The language that used in Light Novel is fairly easy to understand and it is in an “anime” or “manga” style. Sometimes the language in the light novel can be directly transformed into screen scripts. And that makes readers feel like they are watching an animation or comic book.

Third, text has its own advantage compare to graphics and images. Text leaves the room of imagination as well as can be used to describe details that image cannot. For example, text can describe how a person looks and how he thinks in mind. But Animes cannot always tell how and what the character thinks on the screen.

Light Novel has risen a very large group of young audience in Japan who disliked text and novel in the past. It is a perfect organic combination of Comic/Anime and Novel. In the past most Animes were originally from Comics. But now more and more Animes are coming from Light Novels. It definitely opened a new era called ACGN.

Quick Link: Don’t Judge New Media by Old Rules

Cory Doctorow, a blogger on one my favorite sites, Boing Boing, has a post on another blog I’m not so familiar with, Internet Evolution. In this post he talks about how the Internet has the potential to radically transform the limits of our current mediums:

The soul of wisdom is in knowing that all laws are local, that the universal truths you imbibed with your first milk are not universal at all, but rather created. There are stories that take 15 hours to tell, books that stand taller than a man.

When we begin to write design critiques, observing this trend – whether it’s positive remediation or uncreative cartonization – I think will be useful.

[ via Internet Evolution ]