New Media
From digitalhumanities
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The digitization of film and video has revolutionized the ways in which we communicate, consume and create. In this piece we will explore the history of digital film and video itself, its arrival onto the web, and the ways in which it is transforming our lives.
[edit] Development and Current Web Presence
[edit] Digital Media
The very first filmless analog camera was developed in 1975 by Steven Sasson. It had a resolution of 0.01 megapixel and took 23 seconds to capture its first image. Analog video cameras reached the market in the mid eighties and the first truly digital camera was created in 1988. Over the next few years, the quality of the digital film would quickly climb and the cost of the technology would quickly fall, making digital filmmaking ideal for those who had previously been excluded from the filmmaking world. Independent artists were now able to create movies when before, the cost of the 35mm film alone had been cost-prohibitive. Independent filmmakers, hobbyists, enthusiasts, and educators, began taking advantage of what this medium could do for them. Not only were digital films cheaper to shoot, they were more flexible for editing, more durable for copying and, with the growing possibilities for storage of digital media, easier to transport and share with others.
[edit] User Generated Content
As digital media has become easy to use, easy to create, easy to store and easy to transport, the next step was creating venues for easy sharing and viewing of it as well. User generated content websites like YouTube, iFilm, and Current TV began to provide just such a venue. These mostly free, easy to use sites were powerful tools for the aspiring filmmaker or journalist.
“Two filmmakers in Southern California used LightWave 3D software and Windows PCs to create a movie depicting a passenger jet making an emergency landing on LA's crowded Interstate 405 freeway. The short film, dubbed 405, has hairraising special effects, including a simulation of the jet landing on a moving Jeep without crushing it. To see how the movie stacks up against Hollywood special effects . . . (Take a look)
‘405 was a huge hit and has now been seen over 5 million times at our site,' says Harrison. (iFilm's CEO) 'But something else happened. The two filmmakers ended up getting a deal with Creative Artists Agency, which markets film professionals to Hollywood studios. It was super.’” (Rupley, 2005)
User generated content is not a new concept created for the new digital world. There are examples of it in newspaper letters to the editor, radio show call-ins, and other media venues. What changed with the venue of digital media is that creating, sharing, and critiquing the contributions became easier and faster, and it became possible to instantly include such content as it was presented. (Schweiger & Quiring, 2005)
[edit] Citizen Media
Citizen media and citizen journalism are also types of interactive and user generated media that have seen huge growth in the past few years. Private citizens create their own independent sources of news and information such as OhmyNews, a South Korean website that publishes news articles from its readers. This form of content is not necessarily a new one; cable access programs and independant news publications are their forerunners. However, the proliferation of digital media and worldwide internet usage has, as with the other given examples of new media content, allowed for a much larger scope of accessibility and contribution.
Here, in an article from The Economist, is an example of the power of citizen media:
"For example, during the terrorist attacks on London's Underground last year, quite a few people in the wrecked trains took haunting photos with their mobile phones. They then wirelessly uploaded these [photos]. Other users then "tagged" these photos by attaching labels such as "London Underground" or "bombings" to them so that they could be easily found. The same or other users then spontaneously rated the pictures. This in turn brought the best pictures to the attention of Yahoo!'s human editors, who displayed them prominently alongside "professional" content across Yahoo!'s news sites. All of this happened within minutes." (Economist, 2006)
[edit] YouTube
YouTube is one of the most successful examples of a user generated content website. It allows users to upload their own videos to the site and these videos can be viewed by anyone who looks, completely free from charge. It was created by Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. However, the way the site is currently used was not the original idea. The initial concept for the site was an online dating service that allowed users to upload their own videos. But when the site went up in 2005 users began to use the space at their own free will, uploading whatever videos they wanted and linking to the site from their own pages. The site was groundbreaking as previously, website content would be provided only by the owners. It’s popularity grew very quickly and it has become one of the biggest success stories in this new genre of website. (Cloud, 2006)
[edit] Critical Analysis of Current Web Presence
Digital filmmaking has seen huge growth and proliferation throughout many areas of today’s culture. Naturally, the entertainment industry has seen some of the biggest influence. Films shot in a digital format and using digital effects have become a common sight, and have allowed some no-name filmmakers to make their mark. But other segments of culture have been effected as well. Video sharing sites like YouTube and iFilm are not only places of entertainment. They are used as new forms of communication, entertainment and community building.
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[edit] Articles
[edit] References
Schweiger, W; Quiring, O. (2005). User-generated Content on Mass Media Web Sites - Just a Kind of Interactivity or Something Completely Different? Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 2005 Annual Meeting, New York, NY, p1-23, 23p, 1 chart, 1 diagram. Retrieved March 13, 2007 from EBSCO Host database.
Cloud, J. (December 25, 2006). The YouTube Gurus. Time, Vol. 168 Issue 26, p66-74, 7p, 6c; Reading Level (Lexile): 1170. Retrieved March 13, 2007 from EBSCO Host database.
Rupley, S. (April 26, 2005). Cinema, Click by Click. PC Magazine, 08888507, , Vol. 24, Issue 7. Retrieved March 13, 2007 from EBSCO Host database.
Compose yourself. (April 22, 2006). Economist, Vol. 379 Issue 8474, Special Section p9-13, 3p, 1 graph, 2c. Retrieved March 13, 2007 from EBSCO Host database.
