Project 5 - iPhone Twitter Project Across the Universe

To view my video on YouTube for this project click here. I originally embedded this project on the page, but because YouTube has converted its entire catalog to widescreen, it would not fit.

META TEXT

This project I was really excited to focus on location. I am very interested in traveling, connecting, and in general just appreciate being connected to the internet on my laptop, cell phone, and whatever other device is possible.

When initially thinking about my concept for project 5 I only had a few standards. The first was that I wanted it to be as original of a concept as possible. As a student, I think it's very important to showcase creative thinking and individuality. I didn't want this project to lack in that category. The second standard that I wanted to focus on was to avoid politics in the theme. I had used politics in some way in each of my projects for this semester thus far. I think I may have used the class to push my own agenda, but there is nothing wrong with that is there? Now that the election is over, I didn't want people to get drained with political motivation. Also, I wanted to show that I can produce projects that aren't so emotionally and politically motivated.

Having friends all over the world, in different countries and continents, it's very important for me to stay connected. If it weren't for networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, it's hard to say how close I could keep my relationships with my friends that are abroad. For a while I was very lost with what to do with this project. I had some ideas, but didn't really feel strongly about any of them. I had used Facebook statuses in my previous project, and wasn't very keen on the idea of recycling - staying true to the idea of being more inventive and original. Then, one day I was using the Twitter application and saw that when held horizontal, would show recent tweets from all over the world. As soon as I saw this, I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew that this was something that probably no one would use, and fit the criteria of the assignment nearly perfectly.

The process began with collecting screen shots of my iPhone when people would update. The updates were streaming, and each update would only stay on the iPhone screen for 3 seconds at a time before changing. It was difficult to capture the image without capturing the transition. However, it was accomplished. My method of capturing was completely random throughout one day. I inititally wanted to do all of the updates in a 15 minute period but realized that I couldn't come up with enough captures that were either readable, understandable, appropriate or interesting. I decided to capture the updates that I thought were interesting, and from as many different countries as possible. After I captured 70 screen shots, I sifted through and condensed the collection down to the ones that I thought were interesting in some way for the video. I then added all of the screen shots to iMovie. I then had to figure out what song if any I would couple with the rotating updates. I searched for the term "world" in my iTunes library and wasn't impressed with any of the songs. Then I searched, "earth" and there were only 2 songs, neither of which would have worked. Finally, I searched, "universe." This was it. Staring me right in my face was the Beatles song "Across the Universe." The rhythm is slow and the lyrics make sense with the project. Not to mention, the Beatles are great musicians. I laid the audio in the editing bay of iMovie and realized that I had more screen shots than would fit within the timing of the song. I then had to go in and edit even more by deleting around 5 of the least pertinent ones. I then added the title slide "Ever wonder what people are thinking at the same time...across the universe?" to give the project a bit of an artsy feel, which I think it does successfully.

By the end of the video, I wanted to put an ending slide. However, once I typed "The End" I realized that there were so many different languages within the project. So, I decided I would write "The End" in each of the different languages that were used within the project. The languages that are used are English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Swedish, and German.

Additionally, I am in the process of contacting each of the Twitter users that I used within this project. I think that it would be interesting to see what they think, and am suggesting that they comment in the comments section of the video on YouTube.

In conclusion, I think that this project worked sucessfully. I believe that it works very well with the assignment criteria and showcases an innovative way that people are communicating. Twitter is an up and coming social networking medium that I think will only get bigger as more and more people realize how instantaneous the results are: an element that so many cultures embody all over the world.

Thoughts on Project 5

I was somewhat lost before the last class about what to do for Project 5. But, after the last class I overheard Dr. Baldwin talking about Twitter. For those that don't know, Twitter is somewhat of a mini version of blogging. Basically, people from all over the world have a text box to write anything they want in, whether it be how they are feeling, thoughts on a song they just listened to, etc. They can even place links in to the box to share with people that follow their updates. Check out Twitter.com if you are interested.

On my iPhone I have a Twitter application called "Twinkle." When I hold my phone horizontally it transitions in to a map of the entire world, and places a dot on the map where teh most recent twitter update has been made. For example, if I were to update, "I love Sandy Baldwin's class," a blue dot would appear over Morgantown, WV, along wiht my face, and what I wrote above.

For project 5 I want to take screen shots of these maps for 1 minute every day at the exact same time. Say, 3:00p.m. I will do this for 5 days, and then put all fo the screen shots together in to a movie or animation. These updates or "tweets" as they are called, are coming in from all over the world, so I will truly be using the entire earth as my location.

Below is an example screen shot of my phone that I will use in my project.

Even More Thoughts on Project 5

I am starting to understand the real life component to this project thanks to the examples given in class today. I was thinking about using GPS of some sort. I have an iPhone 3G which has GPS built in to the hardware. I was thinking about maybe doing screen shots of my location from now until the project is due, to show where I am at all times.

That is just a starting point for me. I think the more that I think about this project, the more likely I am in coming up with something a little more unique and a little more creative. With each of my projects I have wanted to do something political, but I think I want to stray away from that now that the election is over. Maybe something a little more personal regarding the way I live my life.

Questions

Are there any resources online that I could use that could take my GPS data and formulate it in to something more user friendly?

Thoughts on Blogging

I think that blogging has evolved drastically in many ways over the last couple of years. I began my first blog when I was 17, almost 5 years ago. For me it was a way to log what I was writing and never having to worry about losing it. I would just write anything usually. How my day went. What I was thinking at the time. Things that got on my nerves. Anything really. Now, I have my own website and blog that has a bit of a following. I use my blog not just to talk about what I am thinking but to use as a medium to promote things that I believe in. When people started responding and commenting on the things I was writing, I started to realize that this blog and website wasn't just for my own good: people were actually checking it on a daily basis. Once I realized my audience, I knew I could use it as a tool to spread ideals and opinions that I hoped others would share with me. Specifically I was a firm advocate of Barack Obama in the last year or so. I would use my website to support his campaign in any way that I could. Would Barack Obama have been elected had I not supported him through my blog/website? I guess we'll never know.

I think blogs have a very powerful command over people. Just today I was reading online (probably a blog) that the gossip website PerezHilton.com was rated the most viewed blog in the world by people. His website, for what it is worth, influences media and marketing in many ways. This website generates nearly 10,000,000 hits per month. When Perez Hilton posts a blog about an artist no one has heard of, it is obvious to see the direct impact when the artist's sales dramatically increase. People look to these types of blogs to stay current and know what's new.

Thoughts on Project 5

I really have no clue what I am going to do for my fifth project. I know that I want to gather information from every day life. I have always been fascinated by sociology and the way people think, as expressed in my fourth project. I think displaying what a mass amount of people are thinking is so interesting.

With my fourth project, I used peoples' facebook statuses to showcase a collective thought on the election. This election was very personal for many. People seem interested in showcasing their emotions via Facebook statuses, which I think is very unique and interesting.

I was thinking about Photoshopping some ridiculous picture of me doing something, or being somewhere, or something extremely controversial and posting it on Facebook. I would then tag everyone I know in the picture just to see what kind of responses I get. Usually something religious gets a lot of feedback. Maybe I will make some radical religious assertion (like, oh I don't know: Barack Obama is a Muslim) and see how people react to it.

I think about how I am going to work with this fifth project a lot because I want to do something unique, so hopefully something will come to me.

Project 4 - Nobody Knows Me

After much input from various people and an extensive editing process, my project 4 can be found by clicking here. It's very important to click "watch the video in high quality" just below the project display screen.

I was going to just embed this video to my blog but I can not embed the high quality version of it for some reason.

Meta Text

I knew from the first time that I read the syllabus for this project that I would end up doing this fourth project based on something political. This election season has been filled to the brim with all kinds of scandalous, radical and ridiculous assertions from all over the political spectrum. For some reason the American people had become enthralled with voicing their own opinions on the subject--in a way that I don't think has ever happened.

Leading up the Presidential election, I didn't think that there were a lot of strong opinions towards the Presidential candidates. Everyone had a couple of things that their candidate stood for, to give as examples if he or she were ever in an argument. But, there wasn't an onslaught of emotional reactions.

Finally, the hours after the election, I was watching as my Facebook newsfeed was flooded with varying degrees of emotional reactions from my friends. Most of them seemed elated about Barack Obama winning, but there were some rather ignorant ones that caught my eye. It was these statuses that really sparked the lightbulb in my head for this fourth project.

For this project, I wanted to showcase the range of emotions that my friends on Facebook were experiencing minutes after the election was called. I think it is so interesting that I am able to understand how people are feeling via a social networking site. So many people use this website as a medium for expressing themselves, and I couldn't think of a better way to portray my friends' feelings.

I struggled a bit coming up with a song that would fit as an anthem for this project. The project actually began with the idea of focusing only on the statuses that were disappointed with the results of the election. As I started taking the screen shots I realized there were a lot of very powerful, positive messages that I felt should be displayed as well. I came to realize that a lot of people seem to think they know Barack Obama and John McCain personally. Asserting that Obama is a Mulsim (which he is not) and that our country is going to fall apart (it already has) as well as McCain is going to die soon, so why choose him, were all statuses that portrayed the unrealistic impression that my friends actually know these candidates personally.

The song I settled on was a song by Madonna called, "Nobody Knows Me." Click here for the unofficial lyrics. This song was on one of the only Madonna albums that I liked, "American Life." This album was basically centered around the ideals and culture of America. The song really seems to vocalize what I feel Barack Obama or John McCain would be thinking if he actually met any of my friends and their assertions of either candidate. The reality is, none of my friends actually know either of them, yet they believe that they truly do.

I used a few different methods to create this project. First, I took screen shots using my Mac, of each Facebook status that I thought was significant or powerful in one way or another. I took about 40 screen shots, and after reading through and editing, settled on the ones that fit the overall idea of what my friends were feeling at the time. I then used Photoshop to blur out each person's name and photo. I did this to create anonymity amongst my friends and so that they weren't offended by my using their information for a public video. I then imported every edited screen shot in to Final Cut Express and created a cross-fade effect for each. After I created the image rotations, I imported the song, "Nobody Knows Me." The final image I used asserts that America is "doomed." I thought this was ironic considering America is in the worst shape that it has ever been. I decided to do a zoom in on the word "doomed" to show some of the irony that I was trying to portray throughout the piece. Also, it adds a bit of drama to the otherwise steady movie. I exported the video in YouTube's preferred codec, H.264, but as with other videos I have tried to do for this class, was unsuccessful in the finished file. It seemed to skip just like the others. I finally tinkered with the export codec and found settings that were perfect for the YouTube upload. I suggest watching the video in high quality (an option on the actual page) to get the best viewing exprience for this video.

More Thoughts of Project 4

As mentioned in the posting, I think that this project is going really well so far. I think the material of the project is awesome but it's a matter of getting the video quality to a point that will work on YouTube. I know that YouTube uses H.264 codec, but when I export my video using this codec it makes my video skip and lose frames: the same thing that happened in my Obama video for project 3.

I just bought Final Cut Express and have been using it to edit my video but it is pretty advanced. I am still getting used to the interface but will hopefully know enough by the due date to export it in the highest quality video for YouTube.

Also, I've Googled "Best quality video export for YouTube" and have had some various results. Some of them work really well, but are too small while others want the video to be exported using H.264 which seems to always make my video skip.

Anyway, I am rambling. I think my project will turn out the way I wanted and I am very excited to see what people think about it.