Media Management Praxis

Here is a Prezi I made featuring the Tagxedo clouds for each of our weekly lexicon term groupings; these are the clouds that do not have the actual lexicon terms in them (barring one week—my bad):

DADAMACHINIMA (Photo credit: PLANETART)

Here are all the terms we’ve dealt with so far this quarter, broken down into weekly groups:

Week 9: pacing, presence, intentions

Week 8: metadata/tagging, collection, proficiency

Week 7: narrative, filtering, expertise

Week 6: Experience, Process, Ephemera(l)

Week 5: Identity, Functionality, Interactivity

Week 4: network/networking, navigation, professionalism

Week 3: roles and goals, use and value, environment and perception

Week 2: convergence, multimodal literacy, coding

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Okay…so here is the reposting of this week’s lexicon terms after the severe server crash:

pacing

presence

intentions

Go ahead and get your comments up by Monday.
And, here is the rest of the list:

And here is a link to the video documentary I’d like us to take a look at next week…

Watch Full Show on PBS. See more from Digital Media – New Learners Of The 21st Century.

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Regarding conversations we’ve had in class over the last few meetings around lexicon terms and broader issues with media and digital technologies, here are a few stories I heard this morning on the radio that seem relevant:

about Google and privacy

about Pintrest

and, about the ways that copyright rules impact use of music at public events…in this case, campaign rallies!

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A tough choice this week, as all the suggestions worked in tandem with each other or key issues we’ve been discussing across the past few weeks. Here are the finalists:

metadata/tagging

collection

proficiency

As always, feel free to draw in other terms from the larger list for this week. Here it is:

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As indicated in the syllabus, the material we look at/read/discuss is slotted to be collectively determined. While we will discuss options and ideas in class this week, you can also post recommendations here by adding a comment below. Think broadly or go specific; suggest items you’ve only browsed or heard about, as well as things you may have covered in other classes—it’s all welcome. In past years, we have watched documentary films or videos and then discussed them (for example, this one last year).

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From the full list, I’ve selected this words for this week:

* narrative

* filtering

* expertise

As always, feel free to draw in any of the other terms or concepts that wove through our discussion yesterday (and that appeared on the board). Since we don’t have another meeting this week, and since I didn’t get this up until Wed. morning, the deadline for posting your comments here will fall on Friday (2/24).

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Below is the list of a few examples from the “case study” assignments completed during last year’s run of this course; in lieu of full postings, I’ve put block quotes under some of these examples illustrating key aspects of that particular case study…

* Adbusters

The development of the internet has allowed grass roots activism, like the sort Adbusters promotes, to engage a global constituency on a regular basis. Media wise, there are many components that need to function together to maximize the potential in using this medium to further a message, grow a tribe of supporters, disseminate information, and become the voice of many that counters the voice of a powerful few. It begins with content, and the print distribution that was the medium available at its conception. Then it goes on to necessitate technology in the digital realm, including video, social media, web 2.0 applications, and a frequently updated website.

* True/False Documentary Film fest & promotion/use of social media

With an event this size, the management of media could be a very large concern. From the http://truefalse.org website, it seems that the organization utilizes both Twitter and Facebook as methods of information distribution. The Facebook wall is covered in news, promotion information, pictures, and festival information. One such post is a short sentence, “Want to see a film for which you donʼt have a ticket? Use the ʻQʼ.” followed by a link to the official website information of how to use the “Q” line. Other posts include “T/F Banners at sunset.” and a link to a youtube video of a musician performing at the festival. These items begin to pump people up about the upcoming
festival but also portray the image desired by the organization behind True/False, a fun and exciting event where everybody is welcome and will have an excellent time.

* Quest Atlantis (online educational video game)

* (sub)Urban Projections

* contemp classical composers & use of websites for promotion

Most composersʼ websites default to an about page, which contains a biography of the composer. Bios usually provide details about the composerʼs education and musical background, and lists their most notable compositional achievements. The biography often includes a photograph of the composer, with one or two personal details, in addition to their location and/or current residence.

Although most about/home pages are very similar, the most common difference is length of the biography, typeface, and layout. In preparation for this paper, several websites were examined. Most sites utilized a typeface which was too small, or too large, both equally challenging to read. Large typeface cause users to continuously scroll from side to side in order to view content in its entirety. Small typeface is difficult to see and often needs to be enlarged. The format of a biography is also significant. In the biographies reviewed, text was either very compressed into one long paragraph, or separated into vertical columns creating trapped whitespace and raising doubt among users in regards to content order. These are a few small, but critical details composers must contemplate when designing their website. Because the home page is the first that users view, it is especially important that it remain simple and aesthetically pleasing. If guests immediately feel overwhelmed with information, it is unlikely that they will continue to read and explore through the site.

* script management in a new theater company working with Hamlet

At our first rehearsal, most of us laid hands on our scripts for the first time. Some of the actors had printed their scripts themselves and had already taken some of the first steps in organizing and managing their script. This process takes place over the first several rehearsals and upon close inspection, varies subtly from actor to actor. First and foremost, it is a standard practice among actors to highlight their character’s lines in the script. In our Hamlet cast (consisting of 11 actors), there were several variations on how we went about highlighting our scripts. First there are those who highlight and those who underline. If there is an extensive chunk of text, rather than underlining or highlighting each individual line, some actors will circle the section instead. Some of us highlight our lines only, in one color (I prefer yellow). Others highlight lines in one color and stage directions in another. Stage directions are few and far between in Shakespeare’s scripts, and are most often exits and entrances that have been inserted by editors when the play is published.

* public school technology network

Rebecca Gates & the Consortium @ the Plough & Stars (Photo credit: bradsearles)

Our guest last Thursday, Rebecca Gates, covered a lot of ground—with links and ideas flying all over the place! I’ve gathered a few below, but would certainly appreciate extending the list via your responses/comments to this post.

Zeega = open source platform for creating “interactive documentaries”

Popcorn = Mozilla-driven project similar to Zeega that seeks to allow people to easily make interactive, multimodal video using web-based tools

Art.sy = the Etsy for high-end art

….and, this just came across my desk: a Tumblr focused on the visuality and digital ephemera of Google Books. From their “about” statement:

The Art of Google Books was conceived by Krissy Wilson after spending a great deal of time sifting through Google’s digitized books, trying to match the texts of exposed binder’s waste in nineteenth century children’s books with their texts of origin.

The aim of this project is twofold; to recognize book digitization as rephotography, and to value the signs of use that accompany these texts as worthy of documentation and study.

Ultimately, the startling and diverse adversaria of Google Books merits examination and exhibition.

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and this weeks winners are….

Experience

Process

Ephemera(l)

The rest of the list (i.e the runners up) looked a lot like this:

Remember to get your posts up by class time on Thursday so that we’ll be able to incorporate these into our discussion.