Group Prezi Presentation

Here is our group Prezi Presentation created by Emma Galloway, Daniela Stanica and myself. It explains the concept of how film and television are now interactive entertainment experiences because of digital media. Enjoy!

Analysis of 'Old Film' Photos in comparison to how Digtal Media has affected 'New Film'

"William Reed filming "The Romance of Runnibede", Sydney, 1927 / Sam Hood" (1)

This photo is from 1927 and is illustrates of a film shoot. I think this a very raw photo and the black and white style makes in sync with the era. The limited cast members and they are not standing in front of a green screen which is common in new films. It gives the idea of “what you see is what you get” as this looks like what will appear in the finished film. It’s significant as it is so simple compared to the digital technologies used in filmmaking today where the majority of a film can be computer generated.



"William Reed filming "The Romance of Runnibede", Sydney, 1927 / Sam Hood" (2)

Through the use of Digital Media and advancing technologies, films can now be made with very compact equipment. Filmmakers are now creating films by using iPhones and uploading them on to the internet. I like this photo as it highlights a very nostalgic period of the film industry. The wooden tripods and small cameras are nothing big or fancy. It is very minimalistic film equipment and is capturing film footage which will not be grossly over enhanced by CGI in post-production.

"A possum and a movie camera 1943" (3)

This photo is from 1943. It shows a possum trying to operate the movie camera. Focusing on the camera, this appears to be a big piece of equipment. It does not look like it offers a lot of flexibility and is not going to be easily portable. I previously said that films are being made on iPhones now and that is a big comparison. Improvements in Digital Media have allowed ease of access to equipment and tools have become so compact, they can fit in a filmmakers pocket so they can shoot anywhere. The big camera shown in this photo would not allow this opportunity.

Lyric Theatre, Third Avenue between 12th and 13th street, Manhattan (4)

A photo from 1930's Manhattan of an old style movie theatre. In the description, it says "man purchusing ten cent ticket". As digital technologies advance more, films are costing more to make and viewers are expecting more from films. I personally believe that cinema prices are getting more expensive all the time and the cost is taking away the value of the cinema experience. I still love going to the cinema but more people are now downloading films online as the cinema prices are too expensive. Has Digital Media ruined what the cinema industry once was?

 The Fifties in 3D (5)

 This photo reflects an early 3D showing in 1951. 3D films have been one of the most significant changes in the film industry through new technologies in Digital Media. It is however, considered to be a fairly new development which is in fact not true as this picture shows us. The people is this photo look really impressed and I am sure we could judge that to us now it would not be that impressive at all. It could therefore be suggested that Digital Media has encouraged the positive growth of 3D film technology.

Yiddish movie poster for "East Side Sadie" (6)


This film poster is from 1929 and it is promoting a Jewish movie. I noticed on the poster the lines where it has possibly been folded before it has been distributed. It also looks very worn and has a vintage classic look to it. Modern day movie posters can be largely digitally enhanced by Digital Media and are normally distributed over the internet first. I like this photo as it has not been enhanced digitally and looks very real. The ‘real’ aspect of old film photos is very appealing as it shows there was a world before technology and the effects of Digital Media.


References

1. State Library of New South Wales Collection (1927), http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryofnsw/3676790621/, Accessed 18 April 2011

2. State Library of New South Wales Collection (1927),  http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryofnsw/3677005013/in/photostream, Accessed 18 April 2011

3. Australia War Memorial Collection (1943), http://www.flickr.com/photos/australian-war-memorial/3527157206/, Accessed 18 April 2011

4. New York Public Library (April 24 1936), http://www.flickr.com/photos/nypl/3110612076/, Accessed 18 April 2011

5. The National Archives UK (11 May 1951), http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/3002426059/, Accessed 18 April 2011

6. Center for Jewish History NYC (129), http://www.flickr.com/photos/center_for_jewish_history/5414087425/, Accessed 18 April 2011

Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video By Peter W. Rea, David K. Irving

I would like to point out the first five paragraphs on this page from 'Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video' by Peter W. Rea, David K. Irving. I think this is a perfect summary of digital media as it addresses the uprising digital technologies used in present day film production but also makes a brilliant point.

"No matter what the tools, art is created out of the heart" - this quote from paragraph four sums it up perfectly. Technologies can be improved and improved to the point where we can make fantastic visually dynamic films. However, these technologies don't have a patch on an film makers passion and enthusiasm for an idea.

A 3 step guide on using Google as an information dashboard

iGoogle is a great tool and can be used for many purposes. It allows you add many different applications to control different amounts of information such as calendars, RSS feeds and much more.

Step 1: Register for an Account


I already had an iGoogle account so I have not registered recently. However, it is very simple and does not take very long to set up.The feature "Create your homepage in under 30 seconds" allows you to select your interests, the country you live in and a theme you like. This the generates an iGoogle homepage for you.

To personalise your homepage, you need to log in with your Google account. Signing up for an account is also very simple if you do not already have one.

Step 2 - Add tabs



You can personalise your homepage in any way you like but I added a tab for each of the current modules I am studying. I did this by clicking the small arrow beside "Home" and then I clicked "Add Tab".

You will the be presented with a window that asks you to name your new tab and

then your new tab will appear under "Home".

Step 3 - Add RSS feeds

I added an appropriate RSS feed for each module for these modules. I obtained these through twitter and delicious feeds.

I edited the CustomRss app and inserted the RSS feed link from a 'Digital Media' Twitter search into the two boxes indicated by the arrows.

After saving these settings, this is the finished result.

I repeated these steps on every tab which enabled me to have an appropriate RSS feed for each module.

Digital Technology Enabling Independent Filmakers

Emerging Markets in Digital Media, Indie Film Scene and Digital Technology - by L. Kazmi, UW MCDM 2009

This presentation links to what I said about The Hillywood Show in an earlier post. Digital media has made a BIG impact on filmmaking by allowing independent filmmakers to share their creative content with a world wide audience. This presentation is worth viewing as it highlights how succesful these digital technologies have been in encouraging independent filmmakers in Pakistan. It outlines the decline of cinema on a timeline and then carries on to state the role of digital media in filmmaking with quotes. It is a brief presentation but I think it has interesting content.

Film Digital Media feed

I have embedded an RSS feed from a Twitter Search focusing on the keywords 'Film' and 'Digital Media'. It is directly below my own RSS feed.

My Delicious Links

I can only have 5 Delicious links showing on my blog so I have provided a link in the links section to my Delicious page to allow you to view the rest.

Rising costs of Cinema tickets.

Difference in the cost to see two different movies: Inception and Sucker Punch.

The competitive and ever rising costs of cinema tickets may be one of the contributing factors as to why digital media is affecting the film industry to such a big extent.

The £4.30 ticket price difference of two cinema chains is ridiculous and the rising costs make it no surprise that people are downloading films digitally as they cannot afford to go to a movie theatre. Piracy is obviously wrong but maybe if cinema prices weren’t so extortionate, people would go to the cinema more and digital media wouldn’t have a made such big dent in the film industry.

Blog Logo

I used the web service Pixlr to create the logo for my blog. This was very easy to use and I was able to create a blog logo very quickly.

Firstly, I imported an image from my computer to edit on Pixlr. I then added text over the image to display my blog title. I tested different font styles, sizes an colours to create the perfect look for my blog. I was able to save the image directly from Pixlr to my computer which was very straight forward. Finally, I uploaded my logo to my blog. 

I'd recommend this service for creating images as it is not only easy to use but it is not time consuming. It is also a free service which for I cannot fault Pixlr.

Digital Media and Internet Filmmakers

The Hillywood Show Official Website

I believe that The Hillywood Show are one of the most influential young filmmakers at the moment. Comprised of the talents of two sisters from Las Vegas, Hilly and Hannah Hindi recreate popular films and share them with their growing internet audience of 2 million fans. Digital media has allowed anyone to share their creativity with the world and has made a big impact on being recognised in a specific field. Hilly and Hannah inspire me as they have shown that you do not need a big Hollywood budget  to create and share fantastic film content with the world.