Networked Media Assessment Task 3 Blog Post

 

 

The assessment declaration. [I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services]

 

 

Blog Links:


Week 6: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/?p=336&preview=true

 

Week 7: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/?p=339&preview=true

Week 8: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/2018/10/19/week-8-networked-media-at3-post/

Week 9: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/?p=343&preview=true


Week 10: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/?p=345&preview=true

 

Week 11: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/?p=347&preview=true

 

How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?

 

CURRENT STATE OF INSTAGRAM

The modern western society that we live in today is in a state of constant evolution, particularly due to its opportunistic and symbiotic relationship; shaping one another continuously.
Instagram has held a unique relationship with society, compared to other form of social media. Facebook experienced rapid growth and advancement; in terms of users and well as the platform itself. Controversy and growth at such a rate damaged the platform irreparably, denying itself a chance for trial and error. Instagram on the other hand was able to learn from the mistakes of others and built upon the successes of it’s competitors which is the reason why it has become one of the most dominating platforms of today.

In reference for his own novel ‘Technology Affordances’, B. Gaver states that  the term “affordance” comes from the perceptual psychologist J. J. Gibson [9, 10], who developed an “ecological” alternative to cognitive approaches. The cognitive approach suggests that people have direct access only to sensations, which are integrated with memories to build up symbolic representations of the environment and its potential for goal-oriented action. Instagram began as a simple image-sharing based social media service, learning from the likes of those around it, but now instead of following the affordances of social media of the time, it now has come to shape how we engage with our phones, how we view images, how we view one another, and the expectations of presentation –morphing the ideals around photo-manipulation. Gaver further continues to state that affordances as a whole imply “the physical attributes of the thing to be acted upon are compatible with those of the actor, that information about those attributes is available in a form compatible with a perceptual system, and (implicitly) that these attributes and the action they make possible are relevant to a culture and a perceiver”. Thus, as social media as a whole, particularly Instagram, have developed alongside growing and advancing technology, so too does our relationships with such. With the rise of touch screen technology and the ability to carry compact high powered computing devices in our pockets, the relationships with said technology has progressed – with opportunity turning to reliance. In that, the ability to view photos on the fly has become a dependency; photos becoming rampant opportunity for marketing as well as sharing aspect of everyday life.

However the state of Instagram may slowly be becoming ‘old’ to many users in spite of it’s progression and constant state of evolution. Social media is supposed to incite an ease of use, making it more desirable for users, (the easier a service the more your promoted affordances to such will likely stick), yet now it almost seems to have become a lengthy, if not ritualistic process to upload. The mandatory step of editing and filters not only makes the process more arduous but implies to a user that the image alone is not worthy to meet their terms and conditions; stating that affordances of Instagram have a higher value for aesthetics over all else, potentially invoking self-judgement and doubt into their own users. In this, it will make it less likely for authentic images to be uploaded as that many will attempt to mimic what’s popular in the mainstream: the fact that they only allow for a certain amount of filters alone already rapidly reduces the range of artistic merit available to those wishing to upload and share. Not only is this damaging to their users, but greatly to themselves, possibly even detrimental.

 

INSTAGRAMS EFFECTS ON US, AND OUR SUBSEQUENT EFFECTS OF INSTAGRAM

In the opening statements of their book ‘Photomeditations; A Reader’ Kamila Kuc, and Joanna Zylinska  lead by reference; marking that “In the words of Susan Sontag, ‘To live is to be photographed, to have a record of one’s life, and therefore to go on with one’s life oblivious, or claiming to be oblivious, to the camera’s nonstop attentions” (Sontag 2004), this motif has seemingly become synonymous with Instagram as a whole, being a educational step up from the colloquial phrase ‘pics or it didn’t happen’. This has become particularly poignant, seemingly becoming more and more true as time goes on. As that photomeditations correlate directly to the affordances and our relations to photography, it is through Instagram itself that we can track how our relationship with photography has changed. Cameras were once bulky and expensive equipment that few could afford, let alone carry around all day to capture life on an everyday basis. However that is far from the case today, with seemingly every single person in possession of a high quality camera with the ease of fitting into ones pocket. Photography has become an essential in everyday life, not only for purposes of documentation, but also the representation of self; granting the user of the camera to project a portrait or view of themselves, but also to allow for the chance of greater self-reflection – allowing yourself to track progress and development of self in a slow time-lapse through the images you capture. In that, “photography does not merely represent life but also participates in its active cutting and shaping” (Sontag), exemplifying that photography as had an increasingly important role in modern day society; one in which a Facebook rant is too cumbersome to consume, and a tweet is not long enough to convey thought, and so instead we turn to pictures to tell a thousand words.

 

 

 

THE FATE OF INSTAGRAM/WHERE IT IS YET TO GO

Whilst Instagram has had near immeasurable effects on society as a whole, it’s role is far from over; whether that means it is yet to fail and fade, being left as an example of ambition, or to change with the times is yet to be seen. In that, Instagram’s ambition to expand and change may very well be its undoing as that the more it expands, the more it changes, and the more it changes, the more morphs the photomeditations of the mainstream, and consequently our affordances with photography as a whole. In his works with Donald Norman in the book ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ Adrian Miles coins the term of ‘creeping featurism’, arguing that “Creeping featurism is the tendency to add to the number of features that a device can do, often extending the number beyond all reason…Creeping featurism is a disease, fatal if not treated promptly”. – Instagram is slowly falling victim to this adding more and more features; expanding text count on images, including its own search engine, as well as the introduction of Instagram TV. The step of filters being a process that is mandatory to go through, skipping it or otherwise, adds a sense of arduousness to the process of uploading photos. It’s often said that simplicity is the best route, but with Instagram edging further away from this, adding more new steps and an internal search engine, it is arguable that they are beyond the point of no return. “ If people keep buying poorly designed products, manufacturers and designers will think they are doing the right thing and continue as usual.” – in that, Instagram have known nothing but success and profit, when in reality they could be on the verge of collapse, merely requiring one false move to set it all in motion.

 

Despite dominating the audio chatroom for years, Skype never expected the rise of discord to come about. YouTube, despite having the competition of Vimeo, could not have anticipated the popularity of Twitch as a preferable streaming service for many. Facebook today is a far-cry from what it once was; even though it is still used by billions daily, it has waned in power and has lost the preference for many as a jack of all trades, primarily becoming event-sharing-based. With Facebook’s ownership of Instagram and subsequent overlapping of terms and affordances, how long until a new platform rises up? One with a fresh interface and usability, as well as different terms of engagement with users; one set with its own affordances.

 

Gaver B 1991, ‘Technology Affordances’, Proceeding CHI ’91 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 79-84.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cv4VW54jvL9wPkSthwoUj61B9YqAy8FQ/view

 

Miles, Adrian. Norman, A. Donald. ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ Basic Books, Inc. New York, NY, USA ©2002
http://www.nixdell.com/classes/HCI-and-Design-Spring-2017/The-Design-of-Everyday-Things-Revised-and-Expanded-Edition.pdf

 

http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/titles/photomediations/
Kuc, Kamila, and Joanna Zylinska, editors. Photomediations: A Reader. Open Humanities Press, 2016

 

WEEK 11 NETWORKED MEDIA AT3 POST

: https://www.instagram.com/p/BpGtab_F5on/?taken-by=mostlyunistuff

 

  1. How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    AND FOR THE LAST TIME: I captured this image with my phone front facing camera (Samsung Galaxy s7, 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF), 2268×4032 pixels, f/1.7, exposure of 1/25th second, ISO-200, with a focal length of 4mm.
    This was done almost as a final hurrah for me and me housemates; I like experimenting around with food, and so I decided to do my own take of a ramen dish.
  2. How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    This image actually has no filters or effects on it, however due our kitchen light being broken I was holding up a 28 LED DSLR light box  to give the image some nice lighting. Which I believe to have worked somewhat
  3. How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

    Again, this image has only existed in  a few places; my phone, instagram, and technically my stomach. No sharing aside from what was at the dinner table was done

WEEK 10 NETWORKED MEDIA AT3 POST

 

  1. How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    I captured this image with my phone front facing camera (Samsung Galaxy s7, 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF), f/1.7, exposure of 1/33thsec, ISO640, 4mm focal length.
    This was an image I had been holding onto, having taken it during the shoots I was involved in. (You can see in the background area where I captured the previous image of a chandelier)

  2. How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

    This image was uploaded without any use of filters or other effects.  Just wasn’t feeling it with Instagram today. Or most other days, but still.

  3. How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

    Due to the web series that I was working on still being in the editing phase it’s probably for the best that this image goes unshared due to not being sanctioned by the series creator. good thing it’s linked to a dead profile making it impossible to find!

 

Hell of a hefty rig in shot though. Was constantly in awe whilst looking at it (full stabilized body rig for a Red Epic camera. Gorgeous camera).

WEEK 9 NETWORKED MEDIA AT3 POST

After another strenuous day on set a few of us decided to go out an celebrate a little bit. After a few drinks and looking at things at not-so-sober angles, i present to you The King of the Carlton Club. Harold the Life-Ed Giraffe has seen better days.

  1. How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    drum roll please…. I captured this image with my phone front facing camera (Samsung Galaxy s7, 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF). This was done at f/1.7, exposure of 1/10th second, ISO 400, with a focal length of 4mm
  2. How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

    After going through the filters briefly I actually decided to use one this time, with the filter of choice being ‘Perpetua’.  I don’t think it added too much to it, just a nice little way to add a blue-ish white hue to increase the creepiness of the image, which is always nice.

  3. How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

    NO OTHERS! Only instagram. Haven’t used facebook in years,

Week 8 Networked Media AT3 Post

: https://www.instagram.com/p/BpGtNwsF2kz/?taken-by=mostlyunistuff

 

  1. How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    Although I was originally supposed to be a runner on the production I was helping out on, I was soon designated the role of on-set/stills photographer. Although carrying a Canon 600D and 700D throughout the day, I still liked to quickly switch out to the camera on my phone.  And so!…..  I captured this image with my phone front facing camera (Samsung Galaxy s7, 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF); f/1.7, 1/17sec exposure time, ISO-250 with a 4mm focal length
  2. How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    Again, no editing! mostly as that there was no need to. The lights on set were tinted a hot pink, and we had a hazer constantly going, creating a nice… haze-y effect. So I thought the image was pretty enough as is.
  3. How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?
    No social media = no sharing… or at least sharing at greater difficulty. More fun to share things in person anyway. Sorry.

Week 7 Networked Media AT3 Post

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpGtFnPFWiI/?taken-by=mostlyunistuff

 

  1. How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    I captured this image with my phone front facing camera (Samsung Galaxy s7, 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF). Much of this was edited within the camera program itself, using the manual settings to adjust ISO, aperture and frame, however filters were applied from the phone in post.


  2. How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    Due to the image already being slightly edited I felt that it didn’t need much more upon posting, and so I uploaded it without any further editing with the Instagram filters. (also I didn’t like their filters.)
  3. How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?
    Due to the aforementioned reasons in the previous post this image was solely uploaded to Instagram.
    (slight anecdote) the last two images are actually linked, with this one being a self made reward for completion of an arduous day of filming. Aside from media, particularly photography and film, a second passion of mine is cooking, because food is great, who doesn’t like flavour? and it’s fun as fuck. getting a flavour right feels eerily like nailing a shot when filming. That, and a show/flavour you design beforehand can drastically change in execution. And I love that. Tasty shit, yo.

Week 6 Networked Media AT3 Post

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpGtDBTF5Gb/?taken-by=mostlyunistuff (first day on set)

  1. How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    I captured this image with my phone front facing camera (Samsung Galaxy s7, 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF). I originally intended on taking the photo for purely documentation purposes, but upon pulling up my camera came to like the lighting, and re-positioned myself to make for a better shot composition. Overall I was glad as to how it turned out, giving equal amounts of vibrancy in colour and its softer tones, whilst remaining sharp with nice framing.
  2. How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
    Due to liking the original image so much and not finding the Instagram filters to offer much in ways of improvement, I uploaded this image with zero editing, purely being a RAW image. Also I believe that subconsciously a part of me wants to say “look! I don’t need the filters”, but I digress.
  3. How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other
    social media services?

    Be it personal views, anxiety of having to meticulously upkeep an online presence that is ‘perfect’, or a combination of the two, I don’t have any social media accounts. They just don’t appeal to me. I find them pretentious and overall destructive at their core, but that’s no blame to the users, if anything I feel sympathy for them. As such, I had to create an Instagram account to upload these to, but due to my aforementioned views, was not able to share it to any other accounts. Unfortunately this description will likely be shared with my following posts.

Networked Media Assessment Task 2

The assessment declaration . [I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services]

 

Provide your own definition (in your own words) on ‘photography’, by referring to the readings, additional research and the practice analyses completed in your blog.

Initially photography was purely for documentation purposes; intended to record an event. In its early years people had no preconceived notions nor expectations of the camera, and so to use it for any other purpose would have been abnormal, however this quickly changed and soon photography became a medium unto itself, in which the affordances of painting began to shift to lend itself towards photography. At this point in time photography’s meaning was more subjective and altered contextually, dependent on the photography; where one would deem it a tool for artistic purposes another may only regard the camera as an instrument to record data. In a modern world in which we are seemingly limitlessly connected, the nature of how we engage with one another has changed, with constantly evolving social norms via social medias, and so with this, the changing view of photography. Be it marketing or a family member sharing a photo, a picture tells a thousand words- thus we have become reliant on it to tell stories (as eyesight is humanities keenest sense; as we have evolved to detect predators).
The rules and art of photography have become a staple in the practice regardless of intent for its use. Much of this can be thanked to Instagram for changing the affordances of photography and how we consume it, allowing for the emergence of quick on-the-go and accessible practice of iphoneography to dominate social media.  As we have changed, so too has photography, becoming a vital tool in life not only to record, but to create, track, and reflect on ourselves: “To live is to be photographed, to have a record of one’s life…”- Susan Sontag.

Provide your own definition (in your own words) on ‘videography’ or ‘video practice’, by referring to the readings, additional research and the practice analyses completed in your blog.

Videography has had a very similar development to photography, but has evolved and hit milestones in its progression to art at a much faster rate – (due to photography already have set the precedent for such). Although surprisingly very little has changed in videography. The conventions of cinema were set, but what if videography were to create an art-form not based on these principals and yet could still be merged into cinema? From Albert R Broccoli’s stylised James Bond intros of the 60’s to -Nam June Paik’s experimentation with sound and visual recording devices to alter videographic effects and styles. The art became perfect through the practices imperfections. What was once a mistake to work past was then a goal to try and achieve, or an effect to recreate. This practice of video art has continued on today as the underdog of video production; never quite in the foreground but persisting nonetheless. Due to cinema’s domination of video based art it would highly unlikely for ‘alternative’ practices of video to grow much more than it has, though it is not without its place in society. Music videos have remained ever popular over the past few decades, allowing for greater depth in the music with accompanying pieces, and experimental short film projects are still a fantastic opportunity for smaller creators to become noticed.  The definition of videography or video practice is not so singular as that it encompasses many aspects of the field; videography is the culmination of cinematography, lighting, mise en scene, and editing. It as an art is the final result of a project.

What differences and similarities did you discover between the way legacy and online photos are authored, published and distributed?

Photography and photo-publication is a far-cry from what it once was; once being a gruelling process involving several professionals in a field can now be shorted down to a one-person team. Thanks to the boundless possibilities of marketing on social media any single person can publish and distribute their works with a little know-how. Although, whilst this is possible, sometimes the old ways are the best: in reality the major component that has changed within the game is speed, and having the responsibility to handle all aspects of production and distribution can be tasking, thus in having a team of people to share across multiple platforms not only do you start with a much larger basis due to their won immediate connections, you also relieve yourself of additional burdens.
Where a photographer in the past would have had to display work in a gallery or sell off within advertising, the internet has revolutionised the art-form, turning accounts into their own galleries for them to market to their heart’s delight. In this, the more things change the more they stay the same: the rules of photography has remained true, really it is only the space and manner in which we display our works has changed.  Instead of morphing photos and interchanging inks, we have Photoshop. Instead of galleries and art shows we have Instagram. And instead of word of mouth we have links to share. Photography is still much the same as it were 50 years ago, merely the affordances of it, the way we engage with it as well as how we engage with it have altered.

What differences and similarities did you discover between the way legacy and online videos are authored, published and distributed?

Modern videos seem to be more concerned with the current moment rather than having longevity in their videos lifespan. Frequency is key; quantity over quality is dominant .For a YouTuber it’s better to have 5 10 minute videos with 1 million views each, than it is one 30 minute video with 5 million views – due to the algorithms in YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo etc. streaming services reward their content creators on view-time predominantly. Making videos based on news is always but only ever current and is easier to market, which is why we see channels such as H3H3, as shown, since moving away from skit based comedy and into long-running podcasts with current celebrities. The spotlight, despite being larger is now fleeting; the flame that burns brighter burns quicker, and so modern creators have to constantly stay on top of their viewers expectations as well as trends of the time in order to yield the maximum coverage for their videos.
It is difficult to blame modern creators though as that there is a sense of ‘everything idea that can be done has already been done’, whereas those creators of yesteryear, despite technological restrictions, had more freedom, as that there was little competition. Ironically enough video-blogs from a decade ago have more in common with amateur videos from 50 years ago than they do to vlogs nowadays, as that they imbue a more free sense of creativity opposed to those they create to merely fill a need. Whilst much has been said and done, there are always ways to re-imagine ideas that always exist, thus opening a gateway for newer creators to emerge.

(1078 words, excluding questions)

 

 

 

Blog posts:

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/2018/09/11/week-5-networked-media-analysis/
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/2018/09/11/week-6-networked-media-analysis/
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/2018/09/11/week-7-networked-media-analysis/
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/2018/09/12/week-8-networked-media-analysis/

 

Links:

http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/titles/photomediations/
Kuc, Kamila, and Joanna Zylinska, editors. Photomediations: A Reader. Open Humanities Press, 2016

http://www.abelardomorell.net/project/camera-obscura/

http://www.erikjohanssonphoto.com/work/

http://networkcultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Videoblogging-Before-YouTube-web.pdf
Trine Bjørkmann Berry, ‘Videoblogging Before YouTube’, Published by the Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ72fcHDUC8
Monty Python & The Holy Grail – Bloody Weather

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q2WPneqhhs
Monty Python – Black Beats of Argh Animation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRl1zMUKTxQ
H3H3Productions – ‘Wearing 200 Shirts in the Grocery Store’

WEEK 8 NETWORKED MEDIA ANALYSIS

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRl1zMUKTxQ

Who is the practitioner and when were they practicing?

Ethan and Hila Klein, together under the banner of H3H3, are LA based YouTubers. The two have a great variety of videos spanning several years, from vlogs, criticisms, reviews, and skits. The two currently run a podcast in which they talk with celebrities weekly.

With the video you are examining, when was it produced?

The video was uploaded to YouTube on the 26th August, 2016

How was the photo or video authored

To keep the shoot light and easy to move around, the two simply used a DSLR camera with a Rode shotgun mic attachment – being their go-to for filming. It was then majorly edited in post, including bts footage, and stylised with the addition of music.

How was the photo or video published

The video was published solely on YouTube, with links to their social media accounts for further coverage.

How was the photo or video distributed?

The video was distributed through YouTube, but due to their broad connectivity was able to gain mass attention through their social media accounts promotions of the video – blowing up on Facebook, as well as gaining notoriety on Instagram and twitter.

 

H3H3 is a prime example on the evolution of video blogging in the age of YouTube and social media; having to rapidly change to audiences wants. This highly evident in the changing nature of their videos – shifting from their skit-based comedy and rants, to drawn-out podcasts with celebrity collaborations.

WEEK 7 NETWORKED MEDIA ANALYSIS

Erik johanssen http://www.erikjohanssonphoto.com/work/snow-cover

Who is the practitioner and when were they practicing?

The artist is Erik Johansson whom began practicing photography manipulation in 2008, and is still working in the field today.

With the photo you are examining, when was it produced?

The photo, titled ‘Snow Cover’ was created in 2012

How was the photo or video authored

Johansson doctored the image by taking two images of approximately the same angle/perspective and blending them together to create a singular and seamless image of surreal nature.

How was the photo published?

The image was published by Johansson himself through his website and social media, particularly his Instagram. He takes his works around the world, making exhibits and even giving talks on photography and his artistic process.

How was the photo distributed?

Aside from Johansson’s own distribution, the image went viral, appearing on multiple blog articles and ‘list’ based sites (number 5 will shock you)

 

Despite the ease and convenience of more mobile photography, Johansson represents the remainder of modern photographers; opting for more intensive photoshoots and heavy editing in post. Despite going against the grain of most Instagram trends, Johansson still finds success in his ways, and continues to experiment with photography today.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T6y2CO7R7qKV5BivgKbcXZYppeFA1w91/view

LINK TO READING