Category Archives: blog

Weekly Summary- 3/28

It has been filmed! This week me and my group made and edited our final script, focused on a central theme of dating in a more digitalized age with dating apps and algorithms in control. We then used the Podcast Studio in the Digital Knowledge Center to film our base radio show, recording 4 scenes to split up later in the editing process. The recording was pretty straightforward, but editing was a bit more challenging. We used soundtrap, which is a program I have never used before, but enjoyed testing and exploring. Trying to find the right times to layer sounds in the background and not disrupt the flow of the conversation. Finding all of the right timings and cutting clips when needed and easing into bumpers and commercials made for a time-consuming editing process, but I’m glad the experience is under my belt now. The finished product can be found here on SoundCloud!

You know the drill. Here are my 2 daily creates for the week:

The Week Before

This week was the first full week of working with my group on our upcoming radio show, now titled The Opposites. Getting in touch and first starting is never easy, but I believe it was as seamless as it could be. We discussed and came up with a plan regarding our show’s contents, as well as made an outline for our show with a general script to follow to make things more structured and organized. The process is going well and I think myself, Rusul, and DK have a solid plan to put everything together the following week.

First Week Flashback

Looking back on doing the goals post the first week of the semester, it feels like so long ago. We’ve already done so many things in this class, and I’ve been able to experiment with different programs and media creation. I definitely feel like I’ve learned a lot not only in reading articles and watching videos about editing and audio, but also through experience, which is so helpful outside of the classroom. I really wanted to gain experience through this class, and not even halfway through the semester I have definitely reached that goal.

The Bees Knees

The video essay I created was an analysis of the Black Mirror scene examining the surveillance bee that had “malfunctioned” and was involved in a death. It was interesting to examine how the editors most notably used different camera angles to shift the audience’s focus, and to also set the presence of technology. I noticed more closely the usage of close ups to convey emotions of characters by focusing of their eyes as was frequently mentioned in the videos and had a lot of fun looking more into a show past its initial context/plot. Please take a look here!

On the Air

For the radio show, I think it would be cool to include a segment similar to that of True Crime, where one or multiple characters are involved in a scenario that would fit their archetype. It would be an interesting way to show off their personalities and also have interaction with other characters. Another idea I had for the show was just having conversation among the hosts regarding a topic, taking music or sports as an example. Music would be a great topic as it would be related to hosting a radio show and also connect music to the tech noir theme of the class as well.

Limetown Radio

I tuned into DS106 radio today on Wednesday February 5th and was impressed by all of the different moods presented through background sounds and ambient noise. The limetown episode was intriguing, and the clarity of the voices varied throughout as the background sounds changed. At some points, the ambient music conveyed they were outside while at other times the voices were more clear because they were in a car, and it shows the power of sound affecting location and was really interesting to listen to in a podcast episode.

Moon Graffiti

The first thing I noticed in the recording was the contrast between the voices of the Astronaut and “home base”, as home base had multiple people in the background and was more clear to hear whereas the Astronaut sounded like communication over a walkie talkie. This was an immediate way to distinguish the two ends of communication and establish sides of each party. The crash then depicts a distinction from history creating an alternate timeline, but the sound being so loud conveys the seriousness of the event. The cut to a different voice lets the audience know the change of time and then cuts back to a more static like communication between the Astronauts. They talk about the crash and there’s many different sound effects, most notably the sound of a camera shutter taking a picture.

Overall, the sounds of this podcast created a hypothetical alternation to the Moon Landing that was hyper realistic and an insight to what could’ve been if the original astronauts crashed. The sounds and layering of voices included make it immersive for listeners and allow for a more detailed visualization of time and location of each person.

Mastering the Art

After reading the articles and watching the videos it’s really astonishing to see the prominence of graphic design and how its trends shape our perceptions of different items and tones. I never really thought about how similar movie posters look based off of what genre they are and conveying the audience each movie is trying to draw in. It was very eye opening to see in the VanityFair video many different posters of similar style movies next to each other in comparison because of how apparent the similarities are. I thought about how difficult it is to otherwise grasp how many factors play into those movie posters because of how far apart each movie is released. A continuous theme I noticed when reading the articles and watching the videos were trends. People often look back to the past in order to gain inspiration for the current design project. This is seen in the Stranger Things Retro Title video using title designs and technology from the 80s to make the well known title logo that is seen in the show. Furthermore, this trend is seen in the article about Chip Kidd and all of the subtopics that go into design such as Symmetry vs. Asymmetry and Simplicity vs. Complexity. Overall, the articles and videos made me reflect on how frequent and influential design is and will continue to be.

Technopoly

Simply after reading the Introduction Reading Postman in 2020: Towards Technopoly, I could see the many connections that Neil Postman’s ideas and work had to The Terminator, the film I watched last week. Postman initially discusses the dangers of society becoming overly dependent on technology, losing its critical thinking and traditional values in the process. Throughout the reading, the author examines Postman’s critique of technology and its evolving impact on society, particularly in today’s context with a more advanced and developed digital age. The first chapter uses Thamus’ judgment as a metaphor for the modern-day skepticism about new technologies, particularly digital media. This sense of skepticism is especially relevant in the context of social media, smartphones, and other technologies, and is seen in The Terminator with the rise of rogue technology. The 2nd chapter focuses on a state Postman calls technocracy. In a technocracy, experts in technology and data hold significant power, and technology begins to shape the priorities and values of society. In the terminator, the development of technology begins to move from being a neutral tool that humans control to a driving force that fits the noir theme in wanting to gain control over its creators. The first two chapters really drove the other three, reviewing other aspects such as an “improbable world”, but all support a renewed awareness of the ways technology influences every aspect of life. The author also challenges readers to reconsider how they engage with it, aiming for a more balanced and thoughtful approach to its integration into society, furthermore relating to The Terminator resulting in its viewers having increased awareness of its quick development.

My reflections and Dr. Oblivion’s response heard here were positive. I agree even more with the author’s reflection on Postman’s ideas after rewatching The Terminator in the context of analyzing it. It wasn’t super eye opening or unexpected, but it’s a needed reminder or realization in the more digitized age we live in today.

We’re creative because we care

1 Reply

I asked Dr. Oblivion if digital storytelling students should continue to experiment with AI in making art, and got responses from both sides of him. Has he ever steered us wrong?

For our final final week, let us celebrate the creativity of the class. Consider these two prompts:

  • What is the best thing you saw in the course? Explain why it was good.
  • What was the best thing you made in the course? Explain what you got out of making it.

We at ds106 have had some legal threats from Aggressive Technologies, even as they profess to love us. So let’s frame our closing week as the Aggressive Technologies conference, where we will each do a brief video, less than two minutes, addressing the above prompts and making a case for why Aggressive Technologies should support ds106. You can do this using your character, or as yourself, or as someone else. You have total power, as our old friend Bob Ross would say. Have fun with it. Embed the video in a post and tag it ATconference. My plan is to put a menu link on the http://ds106.ai/ site that collects all the posts with the tag, so they will all be in one spot.