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Decisions about what kind of content/messages/meanings you wanted to convey about your chosen context in your video
In my short YouTube video regarding the topic ‘virtual reality’, I immediately knew what my subject of discussions would be. For a long period of time I have been intrigued by Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘Metaverse’. Before this assignment, my knowledge on this project was very minimal and I wanted to know more. My plan was to learn everything I knew about the platform and share it to those who were interested in the topic. Whilst doing this, I also understood that I needed to underline the dangers involved when using a virtual reality headset. My passion for sharing acquired knowledge carried over for my second topic ‘Apple Vision’. In this segment I wanted to highlight some more positive attributes. I did this my acknowledging the possible advancement in medical training for students.
Strategies relating to planning, editing, selection of source material, use of overlays, juxtaposition of image and sound, use of music, and so on that you employed in your video
Throughout the planning process I understood that still frame images were not going to result in a complete and polished looking YouTube video. To combat this, I searched throughout the internet to find high resolution animations that represented the substance of my voice over. To change things up, I decided to add only a handful of free to use photos in order to break up the videos I had placed within my short film. I did not want a continuation of fifteen second clips that at times do not completely identify what it is I am discussing. Whilst recording my audio on the platform ‘Audacity’, I made sure to isolate myself in a quiet and compact room in order to create a crisp and clear recording. Furthermore, positioning my mouth at a distance where the audio would not be too loud or too silent. The music I chose for my short film came from an artist by the name of ‘Kuro’. I found his track on Soundcloud whilst searching for the perfect lo fi background music. I believe lo fi soundtracks are perfect for projects like my own where the topic of discussion is informative. The calming instrumental and my voice recording glide along together in an effortless way which in turn comforts the viewer furthermore allowing them to relax and absorb the information I am relaying.
Lessons you learned, challenges you encountered, and how you resolved any problems you faced
I stumbled across numerous challenges throughout the process of this assignment. Firstly, finding academic resources surrounding Apple Vision was quite difficult as the product was only announced months prior to the making of this short film. Furthermore, the product is yet to be released to the public. The information I received either came directly from the official Apple website, and/or a journal article making future predictions. Secondly, locating an area to record my audio was an initial problem I had to overcome. My first dew takes were recorded at my desk in my bedroom, however, I noticed I could hear birds chirping faintly in the distance, or cars honking their horns on the main road next to my house. To combat this, I made the decision to record my audio in my closet at around midnight, and in only two takes, I had created the recording I was looking for.
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Decisions about the kind of messages/meanings you wanted to convey about yourself in your video, with reference to issues such as audience and ‘authenticity’ (approx. 200 words)
In my short introduction I wanted to convey the authentic version of myself that my friends and family know me as. Discussing my passion for music production and consumption allows the audience to understand why I am looking to pursue a career in the music and entertainment industry. Having the ability to converse about our interests moreover allows the audience to get an even deeper understanding of who I am as a person. Obviously it is quite hard to gage a strangers personality traits and ideologies through a two minute video on YouTube, however I do believe my mannerisms and relaxed nature may help the viewer gravitate towards my authenticity. I believe genuineness is crucial whilst producing digital media. The average content consumer over the age of fifteen is able to recognise this. The online media space is plagued by inauthenticity, consumers in 2023 are very tired of these types of content creators.
Strategies relating to planning, lighting, framing and positioning, shot composition, engagement with audience, and recording audio that you employed in your video (approx. 250 words)
Whilst planning the production of my short video I first needed to understand the importance of shot composition, lighting, framing and positioning. I was able to educate myself on these strategies through our weekly university content. I was able to learn the importance of symmetry and the depth. Because I am the focal point of the video, I made sure to position myself in the middle of the frame to the best of my abilities, as I mentioned previously, symmetry is extremely important. Firstly, placing myself in the direct centre of my bedroom window was where I began, secondly, I understood allowing an equal amount of space between the window and the wall was going to give me the symmetric shot I was looking for. After numerous takes, I was quite pleased with the finished product. I believe the lighting and positioning of the shot all came together in a cohesive manner. I am fortunate enough to have one of the more recent iPhone products so for me audio was never going to be an issue. I did however still trial the audio just incase my understanding of the product was wrong. Moreover, initially I found that I was speaking far too monotone. To combat this, I decided to watch a TED talk on Youtube in order to get a greater understanding on how professional public speakers format their sentences and deliver opening and closing lines.
Lessons you learned, challenges you encountered, and how you resolved any problems you faced (approx. 150 words) The usual 10% leeway isn’t relevant here due to the more generous range provided
A great lesson I was able to learn throughout the production process of my short introduction video was that simplicity is sometimes far more effective than wasting time complicating things, especially whilst creating content like the video in topic. In the planning process I was debating whether I should spend time editing the footage and attaching background audio. However, after experimenting, I came to the conclusion that adding these extra features would in turn eliminate elements of authenticity. The greatest challenge I encountered entailed the framing and positioning of the shot. Finding the perfect backdrop whilst also being able to prop and stabilise my phone was quite difficult. I resolved these problems by taking the time to identifying where the best lighting in my house was located.
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The argument you wanted to convey in relation to your chosen context/topic and decisions about what kind of content/messages/meanings you included to support this
In my final assessment I wanted to create a video that highlighted the immense power and control big tech companies have over their consumers. Whilst executing this, I needed to place emphasis on why these companies are in a race to create AI powered applications. In order to accentuate my argument, I made sure to discuss the positive and negative repercussions that have taken place in the past and that may ensue in the future. Going into greater depth on the negative effects was most definitely my objective as I was looking to present the big tech companies in an ominous light.
Strategies relating to planning, framing and positioning, shot composition, engagement with audience, recording audio, editing, selection of appropriate source material, use of overlays, use of music, and so on that you employed in your informational video
Artificial Intelligence is extremely interesting to me, therefore I did not have any trouble selecting my topic. To begin, I acknowledged that breaking down the question would allow me to understand the question far more clearly. In my notes I wrote two subheadings, ‘what is the reasoning behind the rapid influx of A.I applications?’ And ‘What are the positive and negative repercussions of this?’. When dissecting the first question, I recognised how important it was to mention the core reasoning behind why technology advancements happen so frequently. Understanding this would allow me to discuss in my video how and when artificial intelligent applications like voice assistants first came about.
Using my knowledge on accelerating change accompanied by the research I found on Moores Law, I was able to correlate the two and make a strong case for my argument. I believe creating a strong sequence of work in regards to voice assistant AI strengthened my take on the subject. Highlighting the reasons for growth in that sector allows the reader to understand just how reliant people are getting when it comes to AI applications. Furthermore, placing emphasis on the dangers that come along with the the use of these products is crucial to the argument. I feel my execution unfolded like it had intended in my plan. Identifying the positive affects was difficult as throughout the process I wanted to make my stance on the topic clear. I did not want to confuse the audience and lead them to thinking I was pro big tech. That is why the positive AI application mentioned in my video did not have any connection to the major big tech companies. Although many car manufactures do in fact dabble in the tech industry, they are in a completely different market space.
The importance of framing and positioning was most prevalent in my introduction which was approximately 30 seconds long. Improving my shot composition from my last video was a task I was seeking to act on. Coordinating the symmetry and depth of my shot took patience and a steady camera. I wanted the focus to be drawn on myself. Isolating my body from the rest of the frame was my plan and I was pleased with the results. I have used Audacity in most of video making projects so working through that proved to be quite enjoyable and easy to orchestrate. However editing on iMovie is still an area of weakness for myself. I chose to overlay my voice recording with a lofi beat that I sourced from a creative commons account on Soundcloud. I found it to be appropriate as it worked perfectly filling in dead pockets whilst also providing an ambient aura to the video.
Lessons you learned, challenges you encountered, and how you resolved any problems you faced
As mentioned previously, editing is something I had trouble with throughout the final stages of this project. After watching numerous YouTube videos and giving myself time to practise, I believe my editing improved since my previous assessment, however I know repetition is key and the more I practise the more I will improve. Selecting the perfect the perfect audio was something I also had trouble with initially. It took approximately one hour to find the sound I was looking for. Being more specific with my searches is something I realised after some time. The final challenge I encountered was in regards too engaging with the audience. Using a variety of different tones in my voice helped me resolve this issue to a certain degree, however I still felt I could have done more to improve. In the future, asking rhetorical questions is something I could include into my video that would help engagement with the audience.
REFERENCE LIST:
Mortensen, J. (2021) Why is technology evolving so fast?, Tech Evaluate. Available at: https://www.techevaluate.com/why-is-technology-evolving-so-fast/ (Retrieved: October 4, 2022).
Roser, M., Ritchie, H. and Mathieu, E. (2013) Technological change, Our World in Data. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/technological-change (Accessed: Retrieved 2, 2022).
Paul J.Burke. (2018) Fuel Prices and Road Deaths in Australia. Available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1759-3441.12207 (Retrieved October 3, 2022)
Laricchia, F. (2022) U.S. smart speaker installed base by Brand, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/794480/us-amazon-echo-google-home-installed-base/ (Accessed: October 13, 2022).
Cheng, P. (2022) Personal voice assistant security and privacy-A survey, IEEE Xplore. Available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9733178 (Accessed: October 13, 2022).
Sarah M. Smyth (2019) The Facebook Conundrum: Is it Time to Usher in a New Era of Regulation for Big Tech? Available at: https://www.cybercrimejournal.com/pdf/SmythVol13Issue2IJCC2019.pdf (Retrieved: October 1, 2022)
kuro x .hereafter – ’laxin (Lo Fi Background Music) (No Copyright & Free Download) By Kuro is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
IMAGE REFERENCES:
https://builtin.com/artificial-intelligence/artificial-intelligence-future IMAGE 1
https://www.cloudage.co.in/ai/ IMAGE 2
https://www.wsj.com/articles/breaking-up-or-better-regulating-big-tech-11600622572 IMAGE 3
https://twitter.com/jeffreyguterman/status/1020714554488221696 IMAGE 4
https://ourworldindata.org/technological-change IMAGES 5,6, & 7
https://pixelplex.io/blog/future-of-self-driving-cars/ IMAGE 8
https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/road_deaths_australia_annual_summaries IMAGE 11
https://saleseco.life/product_tag/41070920_.html IMAGE 12
https://www.peoplebank.com.au/blog/2018/04/the-pros-and-cons-of-google-home IMAGE 14
https://au.pcmag.com/mobile-apps/45795/hey-alexa-order-me-dinner-from-amazon-restaurants IMAGE 15
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/technology/personaltech/alexa-siri-google-assistant-listen.html IMAGE 17
https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-big-tech-stocks-grow-without-limits-1523032264 IMAGE 18
https://medium.com/swlh/what-if-big-tech-companies-became-non-profits-d6fddc8c4e71 IMAGE 19
TEASER TRAILER REFERENCES:
Matrix computer network – free video on Pixabay (no date). Available at: https://pixabay.com/videos/matrix-computer-network-47802/ (Retrieved: October 8, 2022).
https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley/juggernaut-cc-by Juggernaut (CC-BY) (No Copyright & Free Download) By Scott Buckley is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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- Decisions about what kind of content/messages/meanings you wanted to convey about your chosen context in your videos
Artificial Intelligence but more specifically ‘Neuralink’ is something I have been interested in for a long time now. When given the opportunity to choose between Surveillance, VR and A.I, I knew immediately which direction I was going to be headed towards. With limited time, It was quite difficult to give an elaborate overview of each sub-heading before moving on to discuss Mark Zuckerberg and his run in with the United Nations. I want the audience to watch my video and understand that we don’t have to worry about Artificial Intelligence taking over the world at this moment in time.
- Strategies relating to planning, editing, selection of source material, use of overlays, juxtaposition of image and sound, use of music, and so on that you employed in your video
As I mentioned previously, once I had realised that Artificial Intelligence was an option I begun my plan immediately. When planning and brainstorming I always make sure to write down my ideas on paper instead of typing them on my computer. From here I created sub-categories and made dot points underneath which in turn allows me to expand on the areas I will pursue and cut out the ideas I feel will lead to a dead end. I have briefly mentioned A.I in an assignment for a different subject in the past so I was careful not to talk about similar aspects and use the same sources. Finding images for my video took an extensive amount of time. Locating sources that reflected my narration was something I found to be quite difficult, however, I was happy with my selection in the end. The juxtaposition of audio and visual is apparent in the music choice and tone of voice. I chose to use a lo-fi drum and base instrumental as the background music as I thought it would be suitable for the ‘informal’ and ‘optimistic’ tone of voice I would be using throughout my narration. When filming my introduction good lighting was my first priority. Nobody wants to watch a video where the opening scene is set in a dark pixelated room so filming in my housemates bedroom underneath the window was the perfect solution. Second priority was shot composition. Understanding the importance of framing and the depth of field are crucial when developing and planning your shot, so positioning myself in the centre of the lens was something I intended on accomplishing.
- Lessons you learned, challenges you encountered, and how you resolved any problems you faced
One substantial challenge I encountered along the way was editing on iMovie. This task consumed the majority of my time as I was very unfamiliar with the platform. I believe it is the weakest link in my project, however, I gave it my best effort. I learnt many valuable tools that will be essential when editing my next project. As I mentioned previously, finding sources/images that reflected my narration was something I found to be quite difficult. I learnt that patience is key when selecting the perfect picture and being specific with your searches will shorten your exploring period. Another challenge I faced occurred whilst filming the audio. As I mentioned earlier, the juxtaposition of image and sound was a box I needed to check. Recording the narration became frustrating as I wasn’t hearing the tone of voice from myself that I had expected. After many attempts I was happy with my fifteenth take, trial and error was my solution.
References:
Davis, R., 2020. Neuralink and Its Ethical Implications. [online] Robldavis.com. Available at: <https://robldavis.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Neuralink_Futures.pdf> (Retrieved 2 September 2022).
Latonero, M., 2018. Governing Artificial Intelligence. [online] Datasociety.net. Available at: <https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/DataSociety_Governing_Artificial_Intelligence_Upholding_Human_Rights.pdf> (Retrieved 3 September 2022).
kuro x .hereafter – ’laxin (Lo Fi Background Music) (No Copyright & Free Download) By Kuro is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Image 1: Mashable India. n.d. Elon Musk’s Neuralink Is Prepping Up For Human Clinical Trials; Here’s All You need To Know. [online] Available at: <https://in.mashable.com/tech/26988/elon-musks-neuralink-is-prepping-up-for-human-clinical-trials-heres-all-you-need-to-know> (Retrieved 1 September 2022).
Image 2: Shankland, S., n.d. Elon Musk shows Neuralink brain implant working in a pig. [online] CNET. Available at: <https://www.cnet.com/science/elon-musk-shows-neuralink-brain-implant-working-in-a-pig/> (Retrieved 2 September 2022).
Image 3: IEEE Spectrum. n.d. Elon Musk Announces Neuralink Advance Toward Syncing Our Brains With AI. [online] Available at: <https://spectrum.ieee.org/elon-musk-neuralink-advance-brains-ai> (Retrieved 29 August 2022).
Image 4: Aimyths.org. n.d. Myth: AI has agency. [online] Available at: <https://www.aimyths.org/ai-has-agency/> (Retrieved 1 September 2022).
Image 5: Salesforce Research. n.d. Human Rights in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Industry’s role and responsibilities. [online] Available at: <https://blog.salesforceairesearch.com/human-rights-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-industrys-role-and-responsibilities/> (Retrieved 2 September 2022).
Image 6: Film Quarterly. n.d. “I, Robot”: What Do Robots Dream of?. [online] Available at: <https://filmquarterly.org/2012/07/02/i-robot-what-do-robots-dream-of/> (Retrieved 2 September 2022).
Image 7: Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. n.d. UN Human Rights Council Member States’ abject failure to renew Yemen investigation is a wake-up call – Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. [online] Available at: <https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/un-human-rights-council-member-states-abject-failure-to-renew-yemen-investigation-is-a-wake-up-call/> (Retrieved 2 September 2022).
Image 8: Business Insider. n.d. Mark Zuckerberg survived 5 hours of relentless questioning from Congress — here’s what you need to know. [online] Available at: <https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-testifies-us-congress-cambridge-analytica-russia-bias-2018-4> (Retrieved 2 September 2022).
Image 9: Madrigal, A., n.d. Mark Zuckerberg’s Power Is Unprecedented. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: <https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/05/how-powerful-mark-zuckerberg/589129/> (Retrieved 3 September 2022).
Image 10: Tait, A., n.d. Five clueless questions United States senators asked Mark Zuckerberg. [online] New Statesman. Available at: <https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2018/04/five-clueless-questions-united-states-senators-asked-mark-zuckerberg> (Retrieved 3 September 2022).
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Decisions about the kind of messages/meanings you wanted to convey about yourself in your video, with reference to issues such as audience and ‘authenticity’
Throughout the duration of my planning stage, I understood how crucial it was to make an impression with the little time I had. Vocalising your interests and future goals in 1-2 minutes seemed almost impossible at first, however I understood the assignment and got straight to work on my brainstorm. I wanted to leave a lasting impression, whilst keeping the audience intrigued with the words that were leaving my mouth. Making a joke about how one of my interests was ‘debating who was the best basketball player of all time’ was my way of beginning the video with something a little light hearted. Executing this in a natural and authentic way was my main goal. Just like in stand up comedy, the joke can only get you so many laughs, the execution holds more weight. Finishing my short video in a more serious tone was my aim, I wanted the audience to understand I am passionate about my future aspirations and that I do really care about the cause. I hope those that view my video will now have a greater understanding of who I am as a person.
Strategies relating to planning, lighting, framing and positioning, shot composition, engagement with audience, and recording audio that you employed in your video
Planning the shot I was going to use took up the majority of my time. I first begun recording and testing my camera quality from my bedroom, however I found the lighting to be overwhelming. My main light source was directly over my head therefore creating a shadow over my face. Adequate headroom for my shot was one of my main priorities I needed to master before anything else. As I will mention in my next section, eye level framing was difficult to execute to the due to the lack of stabilising equipment I had access too. Understanding the importance of shot composition was crucial in the duration of the filming process. Eye contact was next on my list. I believe I did reasonably well in this field for the majority of the video, however, whilst watching back the clips I did notice times where I did have to resort to my notes. In the future I look to improve on this aspect of my work as eye contact plays a vital role with the engagement of the audience. Audio issues were non existent as I recently upgraded my phone to the iPhone 13 which has extremely well built in microphones that pickup even the most silent of sounds.
Lessons you learned, challenges you encountered, and how you resolved any problems you faced
Throughout the filming process there were plenty of lessons I learnt along the way as well as challenges I encountered. As I mentioned previously, eye contact was something I have always struggled with whilst filming content. I made sure to rehearse and study my notes as much as possible, however my eye contact was still not perfect. In the future I have to prepare camera stabilisers that sit perfectly in position for the times where I do have to glance at my notes for that split second. Another challenge I had to overcome was my uptight stature. Taking a deep breath, relaxing, and maintaining body mannerisms like I had practised allowed me to find more comfort in myself and perform to my satisfaction.
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Jimmys Journal 