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.