Michael Wesch on Youtube and the Mediascape

Michael Wesch is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kansas. In 2008, he gave a lecture about how instrumental the role of Youtube and the world wide web is in general in evoloving the human race from an anthropological standpoint. He states that as sites such as youtube give the public the chance to contribute to the mass media, more and more people are having to change themselves in terms of personality or how the appear in order to fit in with the new medium and society.

As this lecture was given in 2008, many of the big famous youtubers who gain income from the site haven't started out yet. Instead, he focuses on how the platform was used as a means of connection around the globe; almost like a new social media. This can be seen by the fact that a majority of the videos that were posted back then were roughly 3 minutes long (about 200,000 a day back then- this has increased dramatically though) with ordinary people discussing their views and talking about their philosophies and lives.

Furthermore, he discusses how anyone with access to a webcam can join in on the global discussion rather than needing a full film crew or a producer commissioning the work. This lead to the creation of online dramas and the emergence of the channel known as Lonelygirl15, but i'll discuss that in a separate blog post.

This video clearly demonstrates how media how now influenced society in such a way so quickly that has caused shock waves resonating throughout the world, leading to mass societal change in only 20 years or so.

Set Planning

With my location sorted out, i started to process of how i want the music video to act in the space. As it will mainly be filmed in a corridor and a room coming off of it, i felt it would be easy for me to make a paper replica in order to get my head around it. So, i got my scissors, blue tack and an A4 sheet of paper and set to work. The results were rather... Interesting... i would love to post the videos of me working with this paper set, but i'd like to end this week with at least some of my dignity intact. So, instead, i will post some pictures below of how it worked. Enjoy.

While this may have seemed ridiculous while i was doing it; it did prove useful to the development of my staging in the location. The one thing that this technique didn't give me was a true idea of the scale of the location. But something like that will have to wait until we can use the space. I'm hoping to get my cast and props down to the location at the end of September in order to start the production phase and to give me a greater idea  of how to carry on and use the space more effectively.

My Main task presentation

Before the summer, we were tasked to create a power point and present our idea to the class. is an incredibly value stage in the formation of an idea as it gives us a platform where we can receive constructive criticism in order to further our idea and understanding of the undertaking. i presented my concept of a music video of "don't forget me" in this session and it was rather well received. But some questions were brought up with it. mainly linked to the treatment how much work i have to put in to create this performance based hybrid music video.

below is my presentation;

Main Task Breif by Ben court on Scribd

My main task idea

The push for us deciding on our main task was thrust upon us last lesson. While many people were still running through their options, I decided rather quickly and started to develop. I decided on making a music video for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers song "Dont Forget Me".

This song is based and written around a drug addiction. But, rather than focusing on the traditional view, it is taken from the addiction's perspective. This is shown through the lines "come again, get me exited" and the fact that a majority of the lyrics focus on the writer being aspects of the addiction, such as "i'm the bloodstain on your shirt sleeve".

The next task for the class is to make a presentation on our ideas.

Below is a link to the song:

The Deeper Questioning Grid

In our last lesson, we were introduced to this document called "the deeper questioning grid". This is a table that features the two first words of a question. The aim is to get us, the students, to adventure with out questions and aim for a greater understanding through the questions you ask. It is shown below.

 with this grid, we were asked to get into pairs (not partering with who we made our production with) and watch each others production. From this, we were tasked with making questions about their production with this grid.

I think this exersize gave everyone a greater understanding of what is expected at us from the A2 course and how we can better apply ourselves.

Course layout A2

For the course this year, we are given a wider variety of options of main task compared to last year where we had to do an opening sequence. Paired with this choice, we have to complete two other smaller tasks related to our main. These options are all shown in the powerpoint below. Apologies for the length of the power point.

Media Studies - A2 Course Layout by Ben court