BCM114: Digital Artifact – Making

About My DA (Once again)

So if you’ve never been here, my Digital Artifact is an Instagram Account and WordPress Blog (FINALLY!) based around cyberpunk themes and telling a story of an artificial world. The visuals focus around highly edited images with a sci-fi/cyberpunk feel to them and feature both people and landscapes.

My Making Process

My making process started off extremely slow with me not having a lot of time to edit photos or to write up blog posts. Fortunately now because both of these things are up and running, it is going much more smoothly in terms of content being produced. I had some doubts that I would ever actually make it to posting anything on the blog side of The Somnus Project, but I eventually got around to it so I can now begin creating longer segments of information regarding the world I am creating.

You can find my first post on the blog here

Upload Schedule

I am currently working on putting an upload schedule in place as part of using the feedback from my ideation process. Time is something that I really struggle with however I think having an upload schedule would make it astronomically easy to keep engagement up with both my accounts.

Creating My Photographs

Cameras

I am still only using my phone and my camera (Fujifilm X-E1) to take photos, however I am occasionally using old photos backed up on my computer and other peoples artworks (editing and giving credit to the original artist). Using other peoples artworks is not only a way of reaching more people who are a fan of their work but also a way that I can save time as often it doesn’t take me long to edit an image.

Programs

I use quite a few apps in order to edit my photos to fit the theme of The Somnus Project. I do not necessarily use all of these on the same picture:

• Polarr – For the primary editing of all my images. I use this to adjust colours, light, shadows, contrast, hues and sometimes to add effects to the lights already existing in the photos as they were taken. It allows me to edit every aspect of the photos and to add gradients, radial effects and overlays.

• Meitu – This application is mainly for the use of selfies should I take them, however I do occasionally use this application for the filters and effects that you can lay over photos

• Facetune 2 – Serves as an application where I can fine tune different elements of photos, especially in adding more shadow or light to a persons face

• RAD VHS – For the videos behind my story posts relating to radio broadcasts I use RAD VHS. It’s helpful for giving a slightly glitched look without me having to pay for anything.

• Werble – Werble is really cool for creating moving pictures, or gifs I guess. I usually upload them as a video on Instagram. This gives me variety.

These applications all help take the first picture to the second picture to help it fit within the world of The Somnus Project. Shout out to my friend Toby for helping me with these photos.

Inspiration and Learning

Part of my project is learning how to edit photos without overdoing it, but still keeping in mind the style of the account. I look to other photographers to do this, in particular demas and noealzii who both put up tutorials on how they edit their photos, and friends who are photographers.

A Comparison Between When I First Started and One of My Most Recent Posts

Blog

Now that the blog is up I have started making posts based on files and the characters within Somnus.

Using this blog allows me to inform my followers more about the world I am creating and to add more depth to it. I have not yet seen any sort of feedback regarding the blog on whether it has helped me reach more people or if my followers from Instagram have used the link to go to my blog. At the moment it is difficult to tell where my followers originally see my content.

The Future

In the future I would like to start using Reddit as a way of further promoting my content. I have also thought about creating some form of physical promotion material such as fliers or stickers. I would like to create a series of extremely short videos which add to the lives of the characters. Maybe in the distant future, given enough people like my content I could end up selling prints of some of my photos. I have also been given the suggestion of making a virtual reality game; while this is an amazing idea, I don’t have the skills for it, nor the money to make it happen, so alas it remains a dream.

IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY

You can find The Somnus Project here at https://thesomnusproject.wordpress.com/ and here at the_somnus_project on Instagram

BCM114: Digital Artifact – Prototyping

Prototyping is the process of using feedback loops to create new and better content. First of all if you want to know what my Digital Artifact is as just a recap, or maybe you’re new here: it is an Instagram account which focuses on creating a fictional world through photographs and a story. I often upload from the perspective of a character of my own design and making and go out on adventures taking photos in order to produce content.

Insights

The first stage in my prototyping journey was to turn on my Insights. Seriously these things are useful. I can see when the best time to upload is and how many accounts my account reaches letting me know if I need to post more. They also let me know the specific days which are the best in terms of people seeing my content.

I started using these briefly, uploading at the times that were the most popular times that my followers were active. This resulted in my likes going up and increasing the amount of people following me.

Aesthetic

It can be seen by looking at the start of The Somnus Project to the most recent posts that my photography skills and editing skills have gotten much better, however the aesthetic has also changed very slightly.

I had begun originally using this as a cross between cyberpunk and vaporwave (the vaporwave went away about 5 posts in) however found that I liked the cyberpunk aesthetic more and stuck with it. The theme originally had pixelated images and some with fringing (causing them to look glitched), and while I still do that in order to conceal place names and the faces of people I don’t know, I don’t use it as much any more.

The colours have also slightly changed. Rather than everything being over saturated pinks purples and occasionally dark blues, it now features strategically places bursts of other colours such as orange, yellow and cyan in order to grab more attention and to contrast the main theme of purple, magenta and dark blue. I figured this also had an effect in almost making certain things look like they are glowing.

Places

One thing in particular that I found really interesting prototyping my idea was that I have much more fun when including other people, and going other places. It not only adds to the story, making it easier to create more but it makes it more authentic. If my character has to travel somewhere to do something, then naturally it makes sense for me to plan a photo shoot somewhere away from where I regularly take photos. This helps to create more content as well and gives me an excuse to play at arcades in Sydney and spend too much money on food.

Several places I quickly found out suit my aesthetic extremely well are arcades and china town, as well as any place that has a neon sign. Gotta get that glow.

Music

I added to the world by using snippets of music in Instagram’s story feature. Not only does this allow me to fully utilise all of Instagram’s features it also allows me to expand the world which I am creating by adding in music I think would fit and also to explain the state of the world through “radio broadcasts”. While this doesn’t really effect my reach or follower count I still do it anyway because it acts as a filler of sorts and it really doesn’t take that long.

Other Sources of Photos

Something that I said I wouldn’t do but ended up doing anyway was using other peoples photos. While everything that is specifically a photo is taken by me, I did use a painting, edit and glitch it, then upload it giving credit to the original image. This resulted in many more likes, almost double the likes that one of my normal photos would get. This is something I intend to do more in the future.

BCM111: Global Film Industries – Nollywood and Korean Cinema

Ryoo, W 2009, ‘Globalization, or the logic of cultural hybridization: the case of the Korean wave’, Asian Journal of Communication, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 137-151

Woongjae Ryoo in this source, gives an explanation about what the Korean Wave is and how it has spread to different countries including Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia etc. He theorises the reason why Korean culture such as cinema, K-pop and dramas have begun to spread recently is because of Korean income being higher resulting in better quality, the proximity to other Asian countries and the themes included in things such as Korean Dramas. The themes presented in Korean Dramas usually focus on things such as “love, family, filial piety and reinforce ideas of Confucianism”. Korean Movies however are very different and instead show themes of extreme violence, “psychological madness and sexual distortions existing in modern South Korean society”. Ryoo explains that because of these dramas becoming popular, so too is K-pop because many of the soundtracks include songs by K-pop artists. This has also spread to many other Asian countries in particular as a result of the spreading of Korean dramas. This source is reliable because it has been released on a database. The source frequently refers to other sources through in-text referencing thus making it even more reliable. This source would be useful in particular for the study of how the Korean wave has spread and the reasoning behind why it spread and how it got popular in other countries.

 

Martin Roll, 2018, Korean Wave (Hallyu) – The Rise of Korea’s Cultural Economy & Pop Culture, weblog post, Jan, viewed 26 August 2018 <https://martinroll.com/resources/articles/asia/korean-wave-hallyu-the-rise-of-koreas-cultural-economy-pop-culture/&gt;

The source, much like Ryoos article, explains what the Korean Wave or ‘Hallyu’ is in great detail. It explains the ways in which Hallyu became popular and the countries that it spread to. The author also raises the point that there have been things in the past that have prevented Korean dramas from being exported to places, like Japan, such as trade bans specifically on media content. The source explains that these bans were put in place because places like Japan and Korea wield ‘soft power’. Soft power is described as power gained through image rather than the strength of military or weapons. The source also adds that this was the case with America where almost every country bought into Coca Cola and apple phones because it was seen as “cool”. This is similar with Korean dramas and K-pop in South Korea. This source also highlights the fact that k-pop became popular because of the success of Korean dramas in other Asian countries. This source used in tandem with others would become extremely useful for the study of how the Korean Wave has spread and what is encompassed by the Korean Wave. The source also details the difficulties that the Hallyu Wave has had to overcome and the issues it may still face.

BCM111: Internationalising Higher Education – Learning and Teaching

Leong, S & Woods D 2017, “I Don’t Care About Asia”: Teaching Asia in Australia’, Journal of Australian Studies, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 367-379 <https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/14443058.2017.1343251&gt;

This source written by Susan Leong and Denise Woods argues what should be taught about Asian Education and why it is taught as well as the benefits it can provide. The authors raise the point that while sometimes the subject will be compulsory leading to students sometimes saying ‘I don’t care about Asia’ the subject can also be chosen when it is taught as a tertiary education subject. They state that it would be backwards for a student to complain that they ‘don’t care about Asia’ when they have chosen to do a subject about the topic. In terms of Internationalising education, Leong and Woods state that it is necessary to teach Asian education in universities as it develops an understanding and interaction between domestic students and international students. This conversation promotes the exchange of cultural ideas and different beliefs. The authors state that it could be because of the language barriers that students become intimidated about learning through Asian education by means of exchange programs, thus universities have begun to teach subjects focusing on Asian education and Asian culture. The source is on a journal database which lends to it credibility. The authors raise their points clearly which makes the piece easy to understand and the statements are backed with relevant sources included in an extensive bibliography.

 

Harkin, J 2006, Big Idea, The Guardian, weblog post, 10 June, viewed 25 August 2018 <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/10/comment.mainsection2&gt;

This blog post written by James Harkin explains in detail where the term ‘Cosmopolitanism’ originated and how the term has been discarded and revived throughout history. He describes it as being part of a singular culture yet respecting the cultures of others. Harkin raises the point that through cosmopolitanism the “ropes holding us to a national culture” are being ‘constantly frayed’ by outside influences meaning that most humans will identify with more than one culture. Cosmopolitanism is however, stated within the article to be a “high-wire act” meaning that it can be risky. The risks are not outlined in this article, however it is insinuated that if everyone were to follow cosmopolitanism that there would be no difference in between cultures. The source is slightly biased as it only really discusses the views of one person and it is placed under the tag “opinion”. The source does not provide evidence for its information and therefore should be further researched before stating whether it is reliable or not.

BCM114: Digital Artifact – Ideating

And So the Process to Bring to Light My Cyberpunk World Has Begun.

First a little introduction to my Digital Artifact. I’m going to be using an already existing account on Instagram (@the_somnus_project) based around cyberpunk aesthetics.

This account, paired with a blog will tell a fictional story of a character known as Xerus, an agent for a large company, Somnus. I’m not gonna tell you where the story is going to go, that would be cheating; you’re going to have to follow it to find out. Its purpose is for entertainment, and to perhaps at some points reflect the real world in order to make a comment on the not-so-great-things that happen today.

How Did I Come Up With This DA Idea?

This idea came to me while I was still doing BCM112 when I watched a lecture on transmedia storytelling. I thought it was interesting how different platforms could be used in unison to create a world that could almost exist. I was inspired by this concept and so “The Somnus Project” was born.

Transmedia storytelling, for those who don’t know, refers to the dispersing of information across different platforms and different delivery channels to create one larger work by piecing everything together. An example of this would be “The Walking Dead“, a franchise started by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore.

The Walking Dead universe started as comic books and then became a popular tv series comprising of 9 seasons and counting, a webseries, a spin off called “Fear the Walking Dead” (they are hinting at yet another spin off as well), a video game series created by Telltale and several other board games and card games. Each of these mediums has helped to create the world of The Walking Dead as the fans know it.

If you want to find out more about Transmedia Storytelling you can have a look at Henry Jenkins explanation of it or at the ways it can be used for successful marketing and the elements that make up Transmedia Storytelling.

Why Did I Choose This For My DA?

I had a problem with choosing the idea for my DA because I was torn on whether I should continue my previous DA or start a new one. I wrote out the pros and cons of continuing vs starting again which can be seen below.

In looking at these pros and cons it was easy to see that The Somnus Project was going to be easier in terms of #FIST and #FEFO as it takes me roughly 30 minutes to take and edit a photo on my phone and on Instagram it’s fairly easy to tell which photos are successful and which are not. It would also be easy to do because it is something I enjoy. Even though this early comparison table appears to have more cons and less pros under The Somnus Project, it was ultimately the conversation with my tutor and various friends that persuaded me to use The Somnus Project as my DA.

Finding An Audience

As seen in the table above finding an audience for something like the Somnus Project on Instagram specifically was something I was worried about. I didn’t know if it existed (a quick search of #cyberpunk proved me very wrong).

I have been advised to use platforms such as Reddit and Youtube to increase my reach. One of those is entirely doable (Youtube), however Reddit is something I am unfamiliar with but willing to learn to use.

Why Instagram?

Instagram is a platform I am incredibly familiar with and it focuses on visual presentation which I thought was extremely useful to the way I wanted to show The Somnus Project. It gives me a chance to interact with others in the same sort of environment by messaging to improve my way of editing and ask questions.

The app is also something I can access anywhere and at any time (provided I have internet connection.

Why a Blog?

the blog gives me the ability to further embellish the world by giving more information in the form of longer posts. The blog will also allow me to introduce more characters to the world and explain certain parts of it. This will be done on WordPress (although tumblr was considered) because I know how to use it.

Tl;dr

• The Somnus Project is a fictional story over multiple platforms
• I took inspiration from Transmedia Storytelling
• It works in terms of #FIST and #FEFO
• It’s going to be on Instagram and a WordPress Blog
• It focuses on a Cyberpunk aesthetic.

BCM111: Globalisation, Media Flows and Saturation Coverage

O’Shaughnessy, Michael 2012, ‘Globalisation’, in Media and society, 5th ed, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic

O’Shaughnessy writes about the positive and negative impacts of Globalisation by presenting both a Utopian and Dystopian view. The Utopian view that O’Shaughnessy explains is where Globalisation and media flows creates a world where everyone, no matter where they are from, can interact with each other with very few barriers. The Dystopian view to counter this describes Globalisation as something that increases the gap between the rich and the poor as well as promoting Cultural Imperialism. O’Shaughnessy clearly explains the contradictions found with Globalisation and the ways in which Hollywood in particular plays and the possibility of it Americanizing other cultures because of how predominant it is. In showing both sides of the argument it can be said that there is little evidence of bias. Through prior research to reading this article it is seen to be reliable. The source is especially useful for researching the ways in which media directly influences Globalisation and the effects that it has on different cultures. The source is also useful for understanding which cultures are more inclined to spreading their culture and the ways that they do it, such as music and/or movies.

Media Connect 2013, The Impending Globalisation of ‘Australian’ Media, Media Connect, weblog post, 16 October, viewed 23 August 2018, <http://mediaconnect.com.au/blog/the-impending-globalisation-of-australian-media&gt;

This source written by an unknown author under the website ‘Media Connect’ details the effects that specific forms of Globalisation had on Australian Media. It addresses the concerns that people have for their local voice in the news as bigger international companies buy and re-brand smaller local companies. By re-branding Australian media and globalising Australian media through the purchasing of local outlets people begin to hear less local news and more international news. If these international companies own more than one newspaper there is then the issue of little variation within the news, which tends to focus more on international news. The author writes that the Globalisation of Australian media, while being beneficial economically, would prevent Australian from receiving as much Australian news. By using further research and using this source in conjunction with another such as O’Shaughnessy’s article then it would be more reliable. Very few sources are given. It could be said that the team behind the entire website also gives credibility to the source as most of them have media backgrounds. The source does show a small amount of bias as it does talk more about the negative impacts that globalisation of Australian media could have on Australian news outlets even though they do briefly touch upon the positive impact it could have. It is made clear that globalisation on Australian Media could be an extremely bad thing.

BCM112: Not Everything Is As It Seems

Framing can be used in many different ways but the two most prominent that I have noticed is when people use it to filter their content to content that matters, and when they use it to shape a persona for themselves online.

WHAT IS FRAMING?

Framing is to take aspects of reality and to refine them to a point where an audience perceives that to be real instead. It is then making these refined parts more salient in order to draw attention to this “new reality”.

CONTENT

Content is often filtered down to only the best and most relevant information and ideas. This is so the content surrounding the core idea isn’t jeopardized by anything that doesn’t fit. The content is also used to help create the persons online persona. Framing in this particular circumstance can be used to portray events in a certain way.

PERSONA

It is often assumed that what people show on the internet, especially by celebrities, is a real representation of their life when it is usually a glossed up version of it. Not everything is how it seems and this persona is usually cultivated and carefully created by stringing together select pieces of content.

Below is an example of how I take a few of my cosplay selfies which is an example of framing:

The Picture I Took

The GIF of How and Where it was Taken

 

BCM113: How Not to Report on Suicide

Mental Health and suicide are unfortunately becoming an increasingly common topic to talk about within the media, however there is a right and a wrong way to report on it. Take the recent death of Avicii for example. TMZ wrote a piece on his death saying he “committed” suicide (strike one) instead of “died by suicide”; included the way in which he committed suicide (strike two), and does not provide any sort of suicide help line information what so ever (strike three, you’re out).

The APC guidelines clearly state not only that the news that is presented should be honest but should also be accurate out of respect for the deceased and their relatives. They are also not to divulge the information of the act including the location and the method unless it is in the public interest:

“The method and location of a suicide should not be described in detail (eg, a particular drug or cliff) unless the public interest in doing so clearly outweighs the risk, if any, of causing further suicides/ The applies especially to methods or locations which may not be well known by people contemplating suicide.”

The implications of reporting in this are copycats. Copycats are those who follow the actions of those that they wish to imitate, often through suicide or murder (among others). In addition to copycats, the sensitive information about the details of a suicide can cause the family and friends of the person mentioned to relive the trauma caused by their death.

Another example of how not to report on suicide is Logan Paul’s video titled: “We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest”, in which he found and filmed a dead body in Japan’s Aokigahara. Paul, in addition to showing the body (blurred out) on screen, also used the body in the thumbnail of the video and made joked around with his friends who were with him at the time. Other YouTubers who responded to this video with videos of their own claimed that there were other ways Paul could have approached the situation and expressed their disgust at his behaviour.

The APC guidelines state:

“Reports should not sensationalise, glamourise or trivialise suicides. They should not inappropriately stigmatise suicides or people involved in them but this does not preclude responsible description or discussion of the impacts, even if they are severely adverse, on people, organisations or communities. Where appropriate, underlying causes such as mental illness should be mentioned.”

Most of the content of Paul’s videos went against these guidelines in the fact that he sensationalized and trivialized the suicide victim whom he had found within the forest. The implications regarding this behavior reflect on the family and the dignity of the person who had died. Other implications are best explained by Gaijin Goombah in his response video on YouTube where he states that Paul’s actions have made his job infinitely harder. In this case, Paul not only violated ethical guidelines but also violated people’s personal guidelines as well.

Some have referred back to VICE’s video titled: “Suicide Forest in Japan” saying that they too showed a body. While this is correct, the nature in which VICE presented the bodies was educational and added to their original meaning therefore making it okay.

Death is a sensitive topic, especially concerning suicide, meaning that it must be approached carefully when being spoken about in media. Guidelines such as those from the APC explicitly detail the best way to talk about such sensitive matters so as not to offend anyone.

 

If you’re experiencing difficulties and require help call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or similar services within your area.

BCM112: Closed Cathedral, Open Bazaar

The Cathedral and the Bazaar is a book by American software developer and open-source advocate Eric S. Raymond that describes his theories of the “Cathedral model” of closed source media and technology verses the “Bazaar model” of open source media and technology.

An example of closed source media would be something like apple products and the App Store. There are some apps that are released on Google Play that just don’t make it to the app store.

This of course has its ups and downs. By Apple being so controlling over the content that is put on the App store they are able to very easily filter out anything that could be harmful to a persons device such as a program with a hidden virus. That being said Apple is also able to censor their content; you make an app that Apple doesn’t like? Well it’s not gonna show up on the app store any time soon.

This website shows these pros and cons in a lot more detail. Take a look if your interested.

Below is a meme describing the desire for more open source content:

BCM112: A Story of Many Platforms

Transmedia stories are the stories that unfold over a multitude of different platforms. I would like to draw your attention to the much loved series of games, Final Fantasy, one in particular, Final Fantasy XV.

This was the first Final Fantasy Game that I had played and it quickly became one of my favourite games, not because of the gameplay itself but because of the depth of the story behind the events of the game and the characters themselves which was built up using transmedia tactics.

Final Fantasy XV wasn’t released only as a game, its story was started with an anime known as Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV which introduced the characters to the audience before the game was released. A stunning cgi movie (Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV) was then released which filled in the blanks on the world and what had happened while the main characters were off unaware.

After these two things were released the game then came along; the story made so much more sense because most things were already known by the audience if they watched the other stuff before hand.

Here is a Boardroom Suggestion Meme I have created to showcase the splendor that is “transmedia”: