My Work

Friday, 19 June 2009

Work Placement Essay

When I started this project I researched the local companied in the area and found that there were not many! However I emailed the few that were around. I had a very specific interest in a company called Eiphany Music, which deals with music production, score writing and many other things that are directly linked to what I want to do in the future. It was disappointing when they emailed back saying that there wasn’t really any work experience they could give me, but they were very supportive and asked if there was anything else they could do to help. This was very positive and so I sent them some questions I had about working in the music and wrote back with answers to my questions. Apart from this positive response I had none from the rest of the companies I had written to but it was suggested that I give Rose from Accessible Arts and Media a call. This opened up a great opportunity to help with sound engineering at a workshop for adults with learning difficulties.

I had always thought that working as a freelancer would be wrought with worry and stress, more so than your average secure, “paid every month” job, but I had so much fun working on my placement. I did not get given a specific brief as such but my job was to help out and pick up what I could. The direct skills I learnt during the workshop were using a program called Sound Forge (which I have only used briefly before), positioning the microphones and helping to encourage the people in the workshop. I learned more however by seeing how the people I was working with approached their work. I got more information by directly researching the burning questions I had.

The workshop was a group of about 6 people all with varying types of difficulties. When I joined the session they were working on recording a performance of a story about a group of different animals in Africa where the crocodile had taken (and was going to charge for) their water. Each person had a different animal to do the voice for and they all had a go at making animal noises (much hilarity ensued as you can imagine!) The basic elements of the story we needed to capture were:

· Narration
· Script
· Animal sound effects
· African sound effects
· African background music

To make it simpler for the participants we recorded each section individually and James (the sound engineer) edited it all together. This project will eventually be performed with the recording playing and the participants pressing pads to make the sound effects to which visual images are linked. Unfortunately this process goes on farther than the deadline for this assignment, but they have offered me the opportunity to carry on helping at the workshops to give me a fuller understanding of the workings of a live project. As the day to day working goes we would all sit down for a meeting and outline the aim for that day’s workshop, then once everyone arrives we get started recording. The atmosphere was very relaxed and it was fun to be around it.

This was very different to what I was expecting! I have only ever worked in corporate business sector, and I was really amazed at how different everything is. Whilst this way of working is more secure as you get that monthly cheque in the bank, but keeping that cheque coming in every month can drain away the passion you have for doing the exact same job every day. People are more friendly and light hearted in the charitable arts industry because they love what they do and the creative space they are in which encourages the flow of ideas. I find that personally if I am in a place where pressure is rife, I feel too flustered to have any inspiration. I realised that people are more relaxed because they fully enjoy it and it’s driven through creativity rather than money, intellect or a nouse for business. No one who works here is “in it for the money” and it shows their passion for their work. It is about having a good day and having fun. The participants wouldn’t enjoy the workshops if this was not the case. I had a few questions that I wanted answers to by the end of this project. One of these was the issue of actually keeping a stream of work coming in. The answer I got was simply,

Clip of answer

This way of working is more of a lifestyle than a job, jobs can turn up when you least expect it, and you can get lots of work but then you get a breather whilst you are between contracts. This flexibility can allow for other resposonibilties in life.

Another challenge is dealing with the participants of the workshop. They all have varying problems although we are not told what they are unless it is essential for their care. The staff who work at Accessible Arts and Media who work on the technical side of things are not trained in this area specifically but pick things up from the people they work with.

This is an aspect of freelancing that previously has made me a little concerned! I like to know everything before I go in to a job, but of course this isn’t possible. After seeing how Shawn and James cope with these problems made it seem so much easier and everything they said made so much sense. If something challenging happens you just deal with it, and this is the same as any other job. I realised that it’s just the same really to work as a freelance, there’s just a few minor differences. It does not seem as frightening as it did before I took on this project. It sounds more and more like a perfect job for me.

This work experience has taught me to see more realistically how I would find work, and that in this area, it is more of a lifestyle than a “job” because people don’t do it for money (per say!) Rather than feeling worried about money so much, I can see that it would be quite exhilarating to depend on yourself to get work and do a different job every few weeks or so. If they are on a project they don’t like it will only be going on for a few weeks or so, and as a freelancer there is always the chance of finding work somewhere else.

Some advice that the Shawn gave me was to volunteer to do work to get your name in people’s heads and then ideally, get paid work after that. Most of the people I spoke to didn’t have an career aim when they started out, they just get work when they can and if they are happy then great, if not then it’s time for a change. For Rose, the general manager of the centre, feels that her career starting up the centre worked really well with her lifestyle. While her kids were growing up it gave her the flexibility that she needed to make time for her children. Over her career she has seen many changes in the people she has worked with and the centre itself. The rewards far out way the lack of financial security.

My attitude towards freelance work has completely changed and as a result I feel much more confident about working in creative capacity. I have been inspired so much by the members of the group and the staff. You cannot help but be touched by their zest for life and now I wonder what on earth I was worrying about. This has been such a positive experience for me and I can’t wait to start my career in the music industry.

Saturday, 30 May 2009

Proffessional Practice Assignment

John Williams

John Williams is a very successful film/TV score composer. He has scored many of the most successful films of all time including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ET, Harry Potter 1, 2 and 3. He had music in his family as his father was head of The Raymond Scott Quartet (who’s music became famous through the Warner bros cartoons). He had the ambitions to be a concert pianist as a youngster and composed his first piece of music at the age of 19. Having grown up in New York, he moved to Los Angeles to go to college. He attended both UCLA and Los Angeles City College to study Orchestration and was tutored under Robert Van Eps who was Musical Associate for MGM at the time. Not bad for an aspiring concert pianist! He was also tutored privately by composer Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco. After a brief stint in the navy he was then taught by Rosina Lhevinne, who brought out the performer in him. Whilst he was in education he played in jazz clubs to pay the bills, this would have been a great experience for him and kept him completely within the music industry. Looking at this great education that Williams had it was no wonder he was so successful.

So now it was out into Hollywood to see if he could find any work and he did, almost immediately, as a piano player in Hollywood studios. He played piano on soundtracks such as “Some Like It Hot”, “South Pacific”, “The Apartment” and “To Kill A Mockingbird”. By the age of 24 he was the staff arranger at Columbia and later 20th Century Fox. During this time he orchestrated for composers such as Alfred and Lionel Newman, Bernard Herrman, Franz Waxman and Henry Mancini. This would have given him a wealth of knowledge working with these VERY reputable composers. This had such an impact on Williams that he decided he would become a composer himself. He had his foot very firmly in the door by this point and he was encouraged by Alfred Newman especially to pursue the composing path.

His connections that he had forged led to composing scores for TV shows, including Lost In space, a pilot for Gilligans Island, and Land of the Giants. Williams found himself being typecast for comedies after a run of comedy scores, after his work on William Wylers “How to steal a million”, his career started to snowball. He won his first Emmy for his score for “Heidi” and his first Oscar for adapting Fiddler on the roof. His career seems to have been made based on who he knows and has forged good relationships with movie makers.

The 70’s saw a change in the movies Williams was composing for. He started to focus more on disaster movies. His work on the film “The Reivers” is what attracted Stephen Spielberg’s attention while Spielberg was sowing the seeds of his career. Williams composed the score for Spielberg on his first film “The Sugarland Express”. This formed an unbeatable formula that would create millions at the box office for years to come. His career really took off thanks to this partnership. John Williams and Stephen Spielberg collaborated on every film Spielberg made although except two - “The Colour Purple” and “Duel”. By this time John Williams was very much established in the industry.

What set Williams aside from other composers at the time was his use of leitmotifs in his music, which became synonymous with the various characters. Take for example The Original Star Wars trilogy: There are 3 themes, one for the Rebel Alliance fighting against evil, Darth Vader and Han Solo and Princess Leia’s love theme. The theme for Darth Vader made the film more successful in bringing the character out. If Darth Vader’s theme came on before you see him, it builds suspense, as well as creating fear around the character. Unfortunately there is not a clip of this available so you can see how it all fits together but here is the audio:

http://blip.fm/invite/laura2910

Click on "The First Audio Clip"

In the opposite way, on hearing the theme for the rebels it brings out a feeling of pride and strength. I think that it brings out what the characters are feeling without the need for dialogue. John Williams’s strength was making the emotional connection between the music and the characters and how they are feeling. In a market already full of composers creating these bonds between characters and the emotional feel of a movie, John Williams added something by binding the themes and the characters so strongly. His music makes the film for me, the music is very much part of the plot and commands your emotions. All of his scores are so memorable.

If you look back on the films that he has scored have such unforgettable themes. ET, Home Alone, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, this is how he penetrated an already satiated market. He creates magic over a range of emotions from fear, romance; he also has such great comedic timing, my personal favourite is in Home Alone, when the McAllister family have slept in and they are dashing about trying to get to the airport on time. The music is perfectly paced to fit this scenario, and for me makes it funnier! Unfortunately there is also not a clip of this available so you can see how it all fits together but here is the audio:

http://blip.fm/invite/laura2910

Clck on "The Second Audio Clip"

Williams’s music is so popular that it has been commercialised on CD marketed as a separate medium. Due to its popularity the soundtrack has been re-mastered and re-released since the original in 1977. His music continues to make money today after 30 years. In the beginning Williams used his connections in the industry and the backing of several well known composers at the time, he gained the opportunities he needed to prove what he could do. When it comes to promotion for his work now, it tends to speak for itself, anyone in need of a composer of classical music they can easily watch films he has scored. His work is such a great advertisement for future work. He has won several academy awards (nominated for hundreds!) and allsorts of other awards.

Market Development: Promotion of William’s product is involved in the promotion of the movie. His music is shown on trailers, which are available to the public through TV, Cinema and the Internet. The movie is the best promotion for the soundtrack, when you see a great movie and you are really you can go out and buy the soundtrack. More promotion is featured more heavily on the soundtrack if it is to be remastered. Lots of factors can be involved with the popularity of a soundtrack, if you didn’t like the film for another reason, it might put people buying the I separately. Although it has to be said that most of the projects Williams has worked on have been successful or major blockbusters so especially in his more recent years.

Williams has such a back catalogue of classics under his belt that his publisher has released a John Williams compilation celebrating 40 years of composing. The attention has now shifted from the films to focusing on the writer himself. The music has taken on a life of its own within the industry, separating itself from the movie. There is a website dedicated to Star Wars Music alone. In this way the product is diversifying itself in that it is moving into another market.

John Williams’ music in its nature has that timeless feel. Over his 40 year career as a composer he has stuck to roughly the same format, changing the style as the individual projects dictate. He has had no need to change his approach because it is such a winning formula. It has never been a challenge for John Williams to find work, it has always come very easily to him. “Memoirs of a Geisha” was the first film Williams asked to do. One presumes to give himself a challenge. He even broke the series of Harry Potter movies to write the score as the two films conflicted his schedule.

Another way Williams has been lucky is his very special relationship with Steven Spielberg. When Spielberg would be challenging himself and spreading his expertise into other genre, he would require the same of Williams rather than finding another composer. For example, the difference between Home Alone and Memoirs of a Geisha vary amazingly in their styles and understandably the music requires the same. In Memoirs of a Geisha, Williams used a number of Japanese instruments in the orchestral recording. Williams has had to make his own personal challenges as he has never really been faced with any in his career.

Something that has changed over his career is the technology. Musical technology has grown considerably over the span of Williams’s career and it’s interesting that he could use technology in the second Star Wars Trilogy that had not been created yet when the first trilogy was in production. He included electronic synthesisers to create new sounds that were not possible on the earlier films. The content in films has become more technology themed and action packed so they require more synthesised sounds to accompany them.

These changes have been brought about by the industry. I think that it is a natural human instinct to grow and develop and for people who work in the field want to push themselves further and develop new products and bring out the “WOW” factor in the audience. As a consumer I want to go to the cinema and be blown away by what can be done by these creative and technical minds. As an audience this is what we crave. Money, passion and recognition are great motivational factors in bringing about these new products. These new technologies that are created by electronic specialist made them available so that Williams can use them. I think the technology being there meant that he used it.

When Williams first began his career all movies and television shows required scoring, but now Movie producers are using pop songs to fill their soundtrack rather than employing composers to provide the music. These changes that have affected Williams’s career have all been driven by the consumer. This has not created a lack of work for Williams though as there are still plenty of orchestration required.

Having researched John Williams career and the life he has had, it seems that he has had almost flawless career! He is such a talented composer and conductor that he has never had to really push for anything, his talent has carried him through. He has remained level headed however:

“I have received 5 Oscars and people say don’t you get tired of such a thing? And I think it’s a basic human thing that none of us ever gets tired of being appreciated. We never feel that we have done our best work yet, we always I think hope to do the next one better. So I think when you get a pat on the back or someone doffs their head to you or offers an award, it’s certainly gratifying, it never becomes a blaze thing, at least in my personality, it makes me think ahh maybe next time I can do an even better one, you know?” - John Williams

He is on his own personal quest for greatness, and he has been extremely fortunate to have this freedom. I am so grateful to John Williams for not only for his talent for composing but his scores have inspired me to follow his footsteps as he has many others.

Reflection

Over the past year I have learnt a lot about the creative digital world. I came to York and started College because I needed to change my life. I was in a career that I did not enjoy and was completely bored and unchallenged by, and I was miserable because of it. I really wanted to fill my head with information and to be inspired by things because I had been so long without it. College lifestyle was difficult to get my head around at the start; I had to work hard to keep up, especially since I had been out of the education system for 7 years.

I had no prior knowledge whatsoever but I wanted to jump in head first and show myself what I could do with it. I had a lot of uncertainty about whether I could do well because I had not done very well in my Higher exams. I had worked really hard but the information did not go in. Confidence was the main factor that held me back when this course began. I felt out of my depth, but as the year went on, I gained more and more skills and knowledge and my confidence grew.

On a creative digital communication course I have covered a wide range of medium and software. The point of this course is that you can choose the area you want to pursue, whether it is film, web design, computing, graphics, or music. My personal path is music but I now have a basic knowledge in all these areas. My ideal job is music composition for film/TV, so I need to know a bit about video technology and how it is used, as well as music.

It was a whole new world at the start because I was starting almost from scratch. Music has been difficult to fit into all my creative projects on this area of the course but this has meant that I have spread my wings and experimented with video, blogging, the internet, design and technology. I had to be creative yet not use music directly.

This presented a challenge! The process of beginning a new project would be to panic thinking how am I going to do this, then after a time the ideas would come and I had to fit it around what I could feasibly learn about in the given timeframe. As an example I have learned to use a desktop recorder for one of my module assignments. The most valuable lesson in doing this is to cope with the fact that it might not work the way you want it too and you may have to use something else to get it done in time.

Here I have posted my “Millionaires Project” online in a blog. It gives you more creative freedom than just writing an essay. You can add music, pictures, links to videos, and more.

I think differently now than how I used to. At college we are constantly asked if we think something works. “What would you change about it? Why do you think that?” and I find myself asking myself these question as a matter of course in my daily life. I now seek out technology and new ideas and concepts. I am now aware of a whole area of life that I knew was there but didn’t pay much attention. I didn’t really understand how big the internet is and what you could do with it, every day I was finding all these things that existed. Twitter, Spotify, You Tube, the amount of discussion that goes on over the web I had no idea.

Anyone can say exactly what they think on the web, we can post anything that we want. So many facilities are available over the web not to mention shopping discounts if you buy online! My rekindled love for technology was brought out when I bought an iPod touch. The things this little device can do are amazing! It is a complete entertainment system that you can carry around with you. I have also learnt to think about where these technologies can be developed in the future, changes that I may one day be responsible for.

On the music front I have learned a lot of technical skills, and the basics of how to use Cubase. This is a huge program and it will take more time to understand it entirely. I know how to record sound and mix and master it. I could setup the sound system for a live gig of 400 people audience, and I can score music from MIDI tracks and sheet music, and have a basic grasp of copyright and publishing practices. I can also edit tracks and match them to video. All these things I had very little knowledge before. This knowledge will continue to grow as I progress into the 2nd year of my course.

I can use program now that I couldn’t before:
• Proshow Gold
• Windows movie maker
• Autodesk 3Ds Max
• Camstudio
• Adobe Dreamweaver
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Flash
• iMovie
• Photo Story 3 for windows
• Cubase
• Audacity
• Sound forge

I have used these programs on various projects or I have used them in class workshops. I have different familiarities with all of them. I have not had as much experience using the Adobe programs because they are not particularly linked to anything I would like to use in the future. It was part of making the course what I wanted it to be. The music video and image editors I will use in the future at University and in my spare time (if I have any) to gain greater knowledge and to make great music and film. I have learnt more about how to research and reference information as I have had to do this for every assignment.

At the start of the year I did a slide show as part of the Visual Literacy module and it shows my skills have improved as I made a soundtrack to a moving image completely from scratch.

I first used Cubase for score writing project. We were asked to copy a score into Cubase and basically had to learn by using the program. Now I can mix and master a piece of music from the recording stage to mixing and adding effects then burning it onto a disk.

Being in college has helped me meet like-minded people and has given me contacts that will be useful in the future just as John Williams built his career on his education and his contacts in the industry. I have learned that luck has a lot to do with being successful in my case study of John Williams. There are allot of very talented people out there that never get there music used professional. Thank goodness we have you tube so at least our music can be heard!

This is the difference between now and when Williams was beginning his career. The ability to market online is an amazing tool that I will be able to utilize when I begin my musical career. My background in this field will continue to give me an edge over competition as the promotional aspect to music had become digitalised. Hopefully it will get my music heard by the right people to get me into John Williams’s enviable position.

Here is what its all about - The Music - I give you the works of John Williams

References
25.04.09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhxqLXWwunQ&feature=related
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/awards
http://www.mfiles.co.uk/composers/John-Williams.htm
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio
http://www.8notes.com/biographies/john_williams.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams#Early_life_and_family
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/#composer
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000740/

12.05.2009
http://www.filmsite.org/boxoffice.html
http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross?region=world-wide

19.05.09

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5atseGwKis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPySkteoi0Q&feature=PlayList&p=21799D5C82918506&index=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdYflV5-a2c&feature=PlayList&p=21799D5C82918506&index=3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPacQ6_V6ZM&feature=PlayList&p=21799D5C82918506&index=2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDq1gETo18w&feature=PlayList&p=21799D5C82918506&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoYFEO2ZU6k&feature=PlayList&p=21799D5C82918506&index=5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX03FoIXTp0&feature=PlayList&p=C2163992764C89AD&index=13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx7NiJHIlGs&feature=PlayList&p=C2163992764C89AD&index=16

22.05.09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noGnO_glDek&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlwqlHkF870&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjMNNpIksaI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8ZTTsiJupo

Friday, 6 February 2009

Script for my Audio and Visual literacy project

Crigital Dommunication

The digital age is upon us. Everything moves so fast that we mere humans are just doddering along after it. Having started a digital communication course last year I now realise I had little idea what was going on, technologically, and over the last few months I have been made aware of the monster that is the rapidly growing world of digital tools. So I must admit to you all that I have become a complete addict, spurned on in life only to check my facebook every 5 minutes and get my fridge to do my shopping.

The things you can do in social networking are unbelievable. I am at this precise moment desperately battling with myself to NOT to click the tab on at the top of the page to go onto Facebook and play. From a consumers perspective we are kids in candy shops, absolutely spoilt for choice from the start. When researching this article I compiled a huge list of various social networking sites and I found that there are hundreds of these sites dedicated to various areas of interest. Music, dating, online gaming, chat, photography to name very few. They are aimed at all kinds of people and basically, if you are a person there is will be a social networking site for you.

My first journey into social networking started with Bebo. Some of my friends were on it so I wanted to see what it was all about. At first I was a bit cautious because I wasn’t used to having this kind of information made public. This was a whole new experience and I didn’t feel entirely comfortable about it. I was not used to the level of exposure! You have photos, personal information; conversations became public between all of your friends. Even something as banal as “I had banana on toast for breakfast”. Do you want to share that with everybody? At the time, the answer for me was no.

As a result my Bebo page looked extremely bare for quite a while. Then I noticed that you could look at others profiles and see what they were up to and before long I had photos and everything and its donkey on my site because I realised that you can be CLOSER to your friends and that you don’t add people who you don’t know. This is a whole new way of communicating with your friends, and what is amazing thing is that you can keep in contact with people that you wouldn’t otherwise. On my Facebook account I have loads of friends that I would not keep in touch with if it wasn’t for Facebook.

(Start Desktop recording)

“So this is the main Bebo page, you have your home page here, you have your profile here, this is the main place where you’ll be you have your profile photo so that your friends can recognise you, your basic information, hometown, gender, relationship status, what films or sports you like, what your interests are. You have two columns, on e has your friends on it for easy access to their profiles, you can search for new friends on here. You can personalise these areas with videos, you can have a white board which your friends can post drawings to. You can have areas with the bands that you like, applications you can use. As you can see I have quite a few, I have one to test my typing speed which as you can see isn’t very good! I have a mini profile here which has random questions for fun that some friends maybe wouldn’t know about you. Photo album, where you can share your worst drunken photo’s with! This is a great improvement to going round someone’s house and being attacked with photos; you can look at them in your own time and comment on what an idiot someone looks like (or how great they look depending!) You then have the comments column and this is where all the communication happens, if you post a comment on someone’s profile it will end up here. You have “love” you can give to your friends but only one a day! The little heart appears on the comment. I know, Awwwww! Got various other applications here, you can ad these things if you want but I’m more of a Facebook addict these days so I haven’t done much with it but I did use the blog function when I was losing weight and it was brilliant because it let them all know how I was doing and I got waves of positive encouragement back, which is priceless. So that’s it for the profile page, you have lots of other tabbed options here, your friends, you can view all your friends here, you can also see it they are online as well, for instant messaging. This is a new function, I only found out they were doing the chat thing recently, although I have found that they don’t tend to work very well, so I’m still sticking to messenger. There is Bebo mail which means you can mail your friends in bebo, a kind of internal mail, if you don’t want the message to be public. Then you have the explore tab which means you can look through videos, music, books, applications, find different skins. You can join or create groups which are random things generally like “I hate the Microsoft paper clip” or something serious like campaigning against a cause” so that’s bebo!

Facebook

So, my favourite – Facebook. The main features of Facebook are that you can add your friends, share info, photos, videos, status, and comment on such things, a wide range of applications, games, groups you can create or join. There is something for everyone. The status bar is the best thing about Facebook for me. You can let all your friends see what you’re up to, or how you are feeling or just a completely random statement. You can express your anger, love or indifference to the world, something you could not do before these internet sites came along.

So this is the facebook page as you can see it is very different from the bebo its allot cleaner I suppose, there’s not so many bright colours, you can’t customise your background, so it’s the same for everyone, but I think its better, it looks slicker that way. Again a profile picture, the wall where everything gets written generally, What groups you are joining, what applications you have used, all you video or music posts, your ever changing status mine at the moment is...... as you can see I’ve been playing pet society cos I love it! This is someone that I knew through work a probably 2 or 3 years ago and I would definitely not have kept in contact otherwise so that’s fantastic.
Facebook is great that way because it holds the most users in this country. A brief list of friends, various apps, my Pet Society which is my favourite app ever! I have been known to spend days on this at a time! Red dwarf app, I was very shocked that I was cat, I had no idea I was so self involved! You can post videos here and as you can see my friend Gavin has commented on it and banter ensues. Again Photo album, it’s very similar to Bebo, but I suppose the thing about it is that Facebook has a million more users than Bebo and more of my friends use it too. Bebo is very popular within the UK but Facebook is more popular worldwide. Here you can give more detailed information regarding yourself. You can give as little or as much info as you feel comfortable with. Schools you went to, groups you are a member of.
All you photos here, you can tag people in photos as well so if you only wanted to see pictures of me you can do that! This is great for seeing people you haven’t seen in a while. You internal mail again, and you have the Home tab which basically gives you a snapshot of what all your friends are up to, like their status, if they have joined a group etc, you can see any photos that have been added recently or any comments which have been made. So the amount you can do is just amazing. The apps on Facebook are a cut above. You can do the most random things like sending drinks to your friends or play Tetris against your friends who have the app. I’ll give you a quick look at Pet Society, my favourite all time application. The flash graphics are amazing and you can compete against your friends which is brilliant, my friend Kate just overtaken me but she will feel my wrath once this assignment is done! So this is an example of the standard of the apps on Facebook which are fabulous!

As for Bebo it’s a personal preference. I prefer Facebook because it’s not as loud the design is sleeker and clearer. There is too much noise on the bebo pages and I think this is because it is aimed more at teens. My friends being members of it is a big factor that made me want to join Facebook and I also think that is what drives people to join these networks. Friends drive these sites. Let’s face it you’re not going to join a network that you don’t have any friends on. Some people are of the opinion that we are missing out on seeing our friends but we aren’t with our friends all the time. I think it’s better that we are interacting with people whilst we are at home rather than sitting staring blankly at a TV screen. I have to say there is not much I would change about Facebook. I have to say when I first joined I thought it looked really plain compared to what I was used to on Bebo and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it but over time I got used to it! All I have mentioned in the screen capture you saw there is a good thing. They are brilliant in themselves and they are constantly updating the site and users are creating new apps! You can publish what you want, not receive updates if you don’t want to you are in complete control and you can be entertained for hours. Which brings me to my next point, they are way too addictive. Take a look at this short film.

There is a growing anxiety that young people are spending too much time on these sites and the dangers that can occur. Some people are worried that people will be taken advantage of, but they need to be aware of the risks. However you conduct yourself on the outside, you need to apply the same rules on the web. The whole world is at your fingertips and its easy to forget where you are. Don’t give out too much information and you can always set your profiles to be private. Bebo have a function so that you can audit comments before they go live on your page. As long as you are in control you are responsible. It’s the same theory as talking to strangers in the street, you just don’t do it.

Although not everyone agrees with me; I will now quote a status update by my friend Ross Farquhar

“Ross hates how Facebook forces you to be introspective with your status and makes you avoid being even vaguely funny. The campaign for words before your name...”

So now you have seen what these networks are like and how they are used, let’s talk a bit about the implications these networks have on our lives.

Of course this area extends past these two sites, the scope is HUGE! The different kinds of interaction go on and on. However digital culture goes beyond social networking. All the programs we use daily to listen to music, watch television programs, send email, forums, blogs, posting our creations, the internet in general form our digital culture. Its popularity is souring due to the sheer amount of different things you can do on the web. It is also changing rapidly. TV is starting to suffer as a result of the masses turning towards the web to catch their favourite television shows. The fact that you can watch what you want when you want is dragging people from their comfortable sofas to their desk chairs. Although in my opinion that is why TV will never be replaced because sofas are more comfy and believe me I’ve tried to sit at my desk all day and it is not comfortable! I say that though in the future if TV is to survive as a medium it will have to fully become TV on demand. The BBC are worried that the younger viewers who will soon be buying a licenses will not want to pay for television they can watch online. As for the rest of the channels who rely on advertising for their funding are losing out on the younger audience age group.

I have to say that my ideal night in these days is MSN messenger, Facebook (and Pet Society of course) and a DVD, TV or music on in the background. No wonder our electrical bill has risen dramatically over the last few months!

As I progress through my education and thereafter embarking on a career, social networking sites as well as music interfaces will have a huge impact on my exposure to the musical world. You can publish anything from home recordings to an accomplished piece to be released through music social music networks. On various sites the listener can vote on different tracks and make comments about them. My music will be able to reach millions of users all over the world, so this is a benefit that is essential to getting my music heard.

If they don’t already, I think that in the future record, film and television companies will simply look online for new talent rather than listening to demo tapes brought to their offices etc. The challenge for the talent is to make their Myspace page the most eye catching, which is one of the ways different media are blending together in our new digital world.

Well I’m nearly there; I have managed to stay away from Pet society enough to write this, so I am very proud of myself. I fear we may have to setup a social networking rehab centre for addicts like me! Seriously though I can’t wait to see what the digital future holds.

I am getting a new ipod touch for my birthday and I have asked my mum to confiscate it because there is no chance I will pass this module otherwise. It’s a slippery slope. In a few years I will find myself picking through trash and hanging around the outside of internet cafés begging for spare change.

Digital culture is our culture.

Monday, 15 December 2008

References

Business Deliverables

Film and Recording Studio

The Ultimate Film and Sound Studio

This is a really new kind of recording studio, combining film and music to highlight your passion for both. I have eliminated the need for a massive sound studio by adding some space saving inventions.

A set of digital instruments for plugging directly into the console several ports will be available on the digital mixing desk. The cables will be wireless to save the clutter.
They can also add effects as if real microphones were being used as you can get a more “natural” sound. It’s a matter of taste really but at least you have the choice.
A sound booth will be able to be created to cut out the noise from the mixing desk to save the need for two separate rooms, you can design the shape and size depending on your needs at the time on the computer and the white shield will come down from the ceiling over the musicians.
Headphone monitors will also be wireless
Effects will be managed from the console desk and can be added wirelessly again by selecting the desired effect and the air inside the sound proof booth will change so that the sound waves can only move in the desired way.

The film area of the studio will have remotely controlled cameras so you can record from any angle without cranes, tripods etc, just a remote control pad. They are also light and small, a tiny ball shape. A microphone will need to be used in order to record the sound and they will beam a signal straight to the camera to record all the sound and picture on the same machine, however once they are uploaded to the computer they will have two separate tracks to allow editing.

Sound and film editing software will be installed into your computer in the studio. This program will have these features:

Sound
· Will record sound from the mixing console and will import sound recorded on the remote control cameras.
· Effects can be added after the recording
· Scores will automatically be written correctly
· Will be able to burn straight to a CD or DVD (if there is film to go with it)
Film
- Will upload film track recorded from the camera
· An Image editor will be included to edit the pictures. Every effect possible will be added.
· Edit section where you can change and mix around with the order, length of shots etc.
· Burn straight to a DVD.

I wanted to design a studio that was practical for you to use but with some new and exciting gadgets. The wireless cabling will make it so much easier to use. I did not feel it was necessary to reinvent the recording system because what we have works really well. The problems with recording technology at the moment is that is takes a lot of room, it’s cumbersome and a lot of setting up is required. I felt it was important to take all the hard work out of it and make it something that is plug in and go.

Study Tools

The idea for developing study tools for students in further / higher education is to play an important part in their development. I had an idea for a small screen (not unlike a tablet) that can:

· Record Audio
· Visual
· Convert audio into text
· Can be connected to computers and record the screen

All these different attributes will be user defined as these are all different ways of learning. There will be an inbuilt test on the machine to determine what kind of learner the student is and this can be used for two modes at once should the user be multimodal. The machine can be used to record lectures in the way that is useful for the students to learn. It is also compact and light to carry around the school with them and upload the days/weeks work into the computer when they get home. This gadget can also be used as a diary the user can speak into the device and record their thoughts and feelings should they want to. There will be a password function on it to keep things private.

I also had an idea for you as a freelance lecturer. The studio could be used as a place that schools/colleges/ universities could schedule visits and you could provide workshops for the students. This will give you a chance to work with all ages and to give the students a look at the cutting edge in recording technology.

Domestic Deliverables

Home Cinema

The Room Is The Television

For this area I would like to develop a system of complete luxury and usability.

With your permission for a room to be devoted to a home cinema, we will install OLED technology into the walls floors and furniture so the picture comes to life in the whole room. Combined with 3D imagery the walls will come to life and you will feel like you are in the television program or movie. You can manipulate the settings as well if you want to watch it off one wall for example.

This system would have the following features:

· Internet
· Movie library rather than storing dvds in the house and downloading link to internet
· Music library
· “Special scenes” Program that has different scenes that you can just have on for lighting effects for example, watching a sunset in the African Planes, a fire on a beach at night, or simply candles all around the room. If it is raining outside for example you could have a picnic on a sunny day indoors, or put on the fire. You can match these scenes with music of your choice.
· “Feed Me Now” Interactive Take away menu system for ordering food online from a pad in your armchair
· Complete TV on demand, interactive menus for each channel so you can just select what you want to watch, when. No need for a recording system
· Reclining armchairs that vibrate at the push of a button and remain out of the screen. It also converts into a complete multi gym exercise machine so you can work out in “different locations”
· “Vrooom Vrooom watch out it’s Finlay and Jessica!” A section of the room will be an interactive area for the children. You can select this option from the command pad and they can interact with the program by pushing buttons and playing games. It can produce different textures and sound music and an interactive voice/characters guiding them through the game, story or educational exercise. A wide variation of these options will be available. Hand print recognition so that the kids can’t use the system when there not supposed to! There will be secret patches that make funny noises if you find them.
· “Command Pad” will be in the armchair underneath the arm rests the control centre of the system
· Most up to date surround sound with speakers perfectly placed inside the wall so that optimum sound can be heard at any point in the room. Additional speakers will be placed around the home to play music or hear the television all around the home (these settings are completely user defined)

I designed this system for you because you are very passionate about film and sound. Here we have combined these interests in this complete Home Cinema System named Vroom (Virtual Room). You and your family will be able to enjoy all aspects of this new technology. The only problem is you may not ever want to leave your house again! The software will be updated for the kids as they get older otherwise it would date very quickly. I think it is personal in the way that the interactivity parts are named in a way that is relatable. I want it to feel like a friendly system and to also give you that wow factor. Everything you could want as requested is at the touch of a button.

I made the system in one room because it will be completely immersing. The room will not be able to be used for anything else other than what is mentioned, but I believe it will be worth the sacrifice for the quality and realistic imagery that will surround the user. The internet is necessary for the interactive menus to be updated and to order through for take away or whatever is required. Also communication over the web and the view of the web in general can be enhanced. Space saving for the DVD’s as a massive library will be required, given also that the children’s toys take over the house anyway. Music would be required to compliment the “Special Scenes” again to create and atmosphere. Also the kids like to have music on whilst they play.

The “Special Scenes” feature is one that I thought the kids could get a lot out of but could also create effects for relaxation and atmosphere for you adults also. Combining your love for take away and sitting down the “Feed me now” element seemed the logical solution to making this system perfect for your indulgences! The next step for TV on demand. It is natural progression really, were going to get there any way you might as well have it first! You will never have to worry about missing your favourite shows. There is also the back up of having the internet if you delete a program by accident.As a safety precaution I included the multi gym to make sure there was never a complete excuse to do nothing physically as this system could quite possibly turn you into a vegetable! I think it’s only right that at least the option is there. Of course it is absolutely essential to watch Tv like this in complete comfort of a state of the art armchair.

I think the kid’s area is perfect for what you are looking for. It’s personally designed for your two little ones and can keep them entertained as they get older. (Shhh but It can surprise the kids and turn into a visit from Santa at Christmas!) An easily accessible sound pad that can control the system easily from a fixed place, and practical so that the kids can’t break it!The sound quality will be the best available and you can adapt the speakers to where and how loud you want them.

Literature Survey

Home Cinema

Home cinema is developing rapidly as television is so popular; we are now bringing the cinema quality home. The newest revolution in this field is the LCD television or flat screen. However, there is already a new kind of technology just waiting to take its place. OLED screens function by using organic light-emitting diodes which are printed on to a panel and luminates when the current passes through it.

The main pro to this new breakthrough is the screen is only 3mm thick! It can be printed on to plastic and the screen is malleable. It negates the need for a bulky backlight and power supply. These screens are capable of producing a perfect black as there is no backlight to filter through to affect the picture. They are also 1000 times faster, blur-free and the pictures can be viewed perfectly from all angles while maintaining its resolution. Sony has taken the lead in mass producing this technology. It is popular to manufacture because it is easier and they use less power than their LCD equivalent.

Although it does have its downside. The design has an effect on the sound quality as there is not much room for speakers, so only 1W can get through the digital amps. It has half the lifespan of a LCD or plasma screen, but 30,000 hours is 8 hours a day for 10 years so it’s not too bad!

The screen sizes in development at the moment are at 11in but Sony is looking to increase this in the future. Mobile OLED screens should hit the shops early 2009 and other possibilities for the future are using them to use them on moving materials like roll up blinds and clothing! I think with the money and research this will eventually surpass the popularity of the LCD and Plasma screens.

There is also new prototype TV that can be controlled by hand gestures or sound. Motion sensors and microphones are integrated into the sytem so that that you can manage the system with your hands or voice. In researching this report I watched a video demonstrating how this product works and to be honest I thought pressing the buttons looks a lot easier than waving you arms up in the air to select a different channel. There is also a simillar prototype for a computer and you have to actually hold your hand in the air to scroll through a menu. To me this product is not worth investing in.

Pods have been unnveiled as the new way forward for cinema for one. Its called the Ovei Media Pod and these are custom designed so that you can have it made as a presonal haven for yourself. The ultimate in luxury the pod is air conditioned and a touch pad control. They have been deveoped by McLaren (yes the ones who do the motor cars!) Perfect if you want to get away from it all, not if you actually want to see your family!

How about virtual reality glasses? They are a reality and you can use them to take your home cinema with you by plugging them into your phone or Ipod. You view a OLED screen, so the quality is top of the range. According to reviews I have discovered that the images feel like 3D! Reasonable price at £150. I definitley approve!

What was previously used for conference and cinematic uses only is now being brought to us in the home. Projectors are becoming more popular in home cinema systems because they give such good picture quality. Options are also available to suit the picture to you liking, they have almost every option available for edit. You do have to spend a bit of time working on the settings, as it does take quite a technical head as they are so specific but once its done you can reap the benefits! I am a major fan of the projector for the following reasons:
· The picture screen size is roughly 72” which is not avalable in TV format for the price of a projector
· It’s a piece of technology that has been used in other areas and now easily converts to the home so the technology is well developed.
· The user is able to specify their settings to a further extent to make it there own which is not possible with TVs
· The spec is a lot higher, so the image quality far outways the TV. Cinema quality at home!

Study Tools

As computers have exploded in popularity in the home, they have made their mark in schools to assist students with their learning. Early this year there has been a new device that connects children to their teachers, a whole range of information and new ways of communicating - all in the palm of their hand. The iPhone will be the vessel for a new system called Studywizz. After students log in they can access information, take tests, submit work and blog to their hearts content and they don’t have to be in school! Parents can also log on to check how their children are doing as they are given access to reports and assignments from the iphone.

This system was invented to encourage students to work outside the confines of classroom walls. Whether this will actually achieve the aim of getting students to do their homework I am doubtful! Also I want to raise the issue that students are always under pressure to work as their work can always be accessed, and it may encourage truancy because they can finish there work at home rather than even coming into school. Or be up too late finishing off things. Aren’t exams enough? The opposite side to this argument is that it may relieve the pressure because they don’t have to be at school to finish off assignments.

There is a prototypes being tested in schools in the South West of England for a DJ system and a new learning interface for music technology. The DVJ X1 system combines music and DVD mixing to provide a visual accompaniment to music all controlled by the same decks. Revolutionary multimedia educational package called the music key which teaches Music and Music Technology to junior to A level. Here is a video to describe these new areas of technology in more detail.

A music software program has been developed called “In the chair” by Starplayit (formerly in the chair) This program enables students to play with proffessional orchestras or bands around the world “every time they pick up their instrument.”

· You can select a level of difficulty
· You can achieve a score at the end on of a piece as it can measure pitch, tempo, tone, intonation and dynamics
· It can even tune your instrument!
· You can rehearse
· All you need is a microphone to attach to your clothes and off you go!
· You can select from a constantly updated library of pieces
· You can progress through levels – Tutor, (you get tips on how to play the piece from a professional musician) listen, (to how it should be played by professional solo-ist) practise, (your own part with a solo-ist) rehearse (with the band and soloist playing along with your own part) and perform (where it’s just you and the band)
· It also gives you feedback on the sheet music on screen and as you are playing lets you know if you play the note correctly and if you don’t it tells you what is wrong.
· You can slow the piece down or up in certain sections should you desire
· You get a score at the end of each piece to give the students point from which they can improve.

I think this is a brilliant piece of software, you can see, hear and play with people all over the world, let alone the perfect learning environment this program provides. It seems like there is nothing it cant do!

Recording Technology

Digital Recording was the latest phenomenon to change the way we record sound in the 1970s and is still hailed as the way forward. Nowadays pretty much anyone can record their own music with a computer at home. I have found a device called the Blue Snowball: It can record sound pretty much anywhere as it looks like this:

It is the world’s first USB microphone. It is a condenser microphone and it has 3 settings, one is the Omni Directional which records sound from all it, this is good if you want to pick up sound from all around the room, two and three are Cardioids and they pick up sound directly in front of it, (the third from slightly further back). You can just plug in and go and it doesn’t even need batteries as it is powered by the usb port. It is also very reasonably priced for a professional microphone. (About £50) For its price you get great quality results for your audio recording. Reviews of this product have all been great. I think that making recording more accessible and cost effective for people is great.

Another Portable recording device I have come across is the Olympus LS10 Audio recorder. This device is not that much bigger than a state of the art mobile phone and it records sound. You have al the features of a computer and mic into one with this gadget. It is packed with everything:

· Level control (manual or automatic)

· Inbuilt mini microphones
· Inbuilt mini speakers
· Line in
· External Microphone line
· Headphone ports (although you shouldn’t need them as they have speakers)
· 2GB of memory and capable of adding another 30 GB in an SD card.
· LCD screen with menus
· Quality of recording options from CD level upwards
· Peak light
· USB port which an upload and download files to your computer
· And lots of other features that the statement of all of them would make for a boring report!

As I gather the sound is very good but suffers a little on the line in connection. It costs a mighty £260 but given this is a computer and microphone combined I’d say it’s a reasonable price and can be used in professional situations.