ZachMc - MI1 Blog

Final Reflection

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 08:36:00 -0400

So, I suppose this is…….Good…..bye….

As I desperately try and hold back the tears, here are my final reflective thoughts…

• Role – as it evolved/changed throughout the project, your position and function within the group structure, the issues you faced and your part in formulating solutions.

My role within the “Branded Entertainment” family was to be the “Case Study” contributor, which meant I had to find real life examples that related to the concepts that we were discussing in our chosen topic. I chose to focus my case studies within the field of Music Videos, specifically focusing on many mainstream artists, as those artists happened to be the ones who typically would embed branding within their videos. Therefore, it was my job to grasp the concepts behind branding in entertainment (specifically- online), which required continuously looking back at Dom and Tom’s research, as they were focusing on the more theoretical and general concepts that surround branded entertainment, and then I applied this knowledge through my research.

This primarily involved looking at an extremely vast amount of music videos in a critical manner to gain a general understanding as to how branding is incorporated in music videos. From this I found that product placement was the main form of branding seen in music videos, yet I did find some interesting examples of videos that developed this method of branding into more complex methods and these videos happened to be the ones that were created the closest to today’s date. From these findings, I made the assumption that the music video business was progressing towards an era where the relationships between artists and companies are far more complex than the more simple relationships seen in the past.

The main issues I faced when gathering my research included locating scholarly and/or factual sources that stated a progression was occurring in the branding of music videos, therefore much of my contribution to the report is simply through my own theories in regards to branding. These theories are, however, strongly supported through many examples that I provide through my research into the case studies.

• Progress - in your research capability, in observing your learning behaviours, in identifying your strengths and weaknesses.

My progress since beginning Media Industries 1 has been relatively significant. In terms of my research capabilities, seeing as this task was quite difficult for me in getting my hands on meaningful articles, scholarly sources and primary sources, I think that this task had forced me to think outside the square and apply research tactics I hadn’t thought about trying in the past. (Those of which I have explained in the “Strategies” heading)

The rest of my development has mainly occurred with group work, particularly because this was a course that, for me, I was initially not interested in, according to [this post]. I have always been good at group work, yet I have found that in the past this was mainly due to the fact that I had interest in the topic, and, therefore, with a class such as this, I felt as though I could relax a little bit, as there were other people in the work to handle some of the research. I soon noticed that I was slipping behind a little bit, which meant I had to pick up my game. In doing so I happened to really fall in love with our topic and finding different ways of researching into and, in doing so, had written a few interesting blog posts that, for some of them, were the beginning of good in-depth case studies that made their way into the final report. Here are a couple of posts that mark the beginning of such case studies:

Product Placement and Citroën: [CLICK ME]

Speculations in regards to “Part of Me”: [CLICK ME]

• Strategies – research strategies, collaborative strategies and personal learning strategies, which ones did you try, how appropriate do you think your choices were, what worked/what didn’t work?

When I began my research into this topic I struggled quite a bit, as I was only really beginning to critically analyse music videos that I was already aware of and, therefore, I wasn’t being exposed to and learning about other elements within the music video industry that I wasn’t initially familiar with. This posed a grand problem, as I entered this topic with a large entity of assumptions and practically could write my entire report based of false research, or in other words: “bullshit”. But, of course, I wasn’t going to do that… even though I already knew a lot about this topic, there was still all of this complexity beneath the shiny surface of the music video industry that needed to be uncovered.

I then adjusted my research techniques by, instead of entering this topic through a means of looking up music videos first; I researched into companies that have developed new and innovative advertising schemes through the entertainment world. From this, I had discovered a lot of car companies had incorporated their vehicles within music videos, which led me to a case study on car manufacturing company called “Citroën”. I had realized that instead of simply placing their product within music videos, there was so much more to their advertising scheme, and coming from the company’s point of view of this scheme, I noticed a trend across their partnerships with artists from the beginning of this scheme to the current date- this scheme had developed and progressed. This was when the real, valuable information began to unveil itself.

• Problems - nominate a few key problems or difficulties that you faced and discuss how you resolved these.

My main problem has already been referenced in the previous heading, which was my “research methods”, however there are also a few more problems that I had encountered throughout this course. For example, I had a strong desire not to open that little Safari window, click on the “create new post” button and not be such a lazy bastard. In other words, I didn’t really make that many blog posts…and I have to admit this is one of the only times that I have never shown enthusiasm towards blogging! I will not bore you with my excuses, but I will say that I had actually spent a lot of my time dedicated to the report and everything else associated with the course, that I happened to forget to document it all via my blog.

There were a few other issues at the beginning of the concept development behind our report in terms of attaining cohesion between the group members of our group. Of course, this is expected with a new group forming, but I found that we were all kind of doing our own thing at the beginning where we could have interacted a little more with each other, which is everyone’s fault in the group. We soon overcame this once we created a Facebook group and had regular meetings to the point where I think we have created a very concise and meaningful report. Well Done, fellas!

The other problem that I had was the fact that I really wanted to provide an interview to enrich our report, yet despite the numerous media professionals that I had contacted AND the (best) one of them responding and saying they would do an interview; we still don’t have an interview! The owner of a record label was the one who had responded to me, yet I had sent of the questionnaire a while ago and he still hasn’t responded. Therefore, we will just have to slip in the interview past our assessment date when I finally get it back!

• Connections & intersections – what do you see as the value of this course, what have you learnt overall about your problem solving skills, your learning, your group interactions and your networking abilities? How do you see what you have learnt about yourself via the process the content of your research fitting into your future career development and future work?

As I anticipate my future in the film/media industry as being one that strongly relates to music and music videos, I think that this research I have undertaken will be very beneficial for not only my understanding of the concepts of how to incorporate branding within my videos, but also know the limits that are set by the prospective audiences in terms of how much product placement is allowed before it becomes annoying as well as always putting thought and creativity into how I blend products within my videos.

The research skills gained will also be beneficial if I were to ever get a research job within the media industry, or perhaps if I were to ever work as a critic and reviewer. Either way, I know these skills I have gained will allow me to provide a more meaningful analysis on whatever it is that requires research in my career path, which I value highly. Beginning this course I never put a second of thought into how it would be beneficial, but now I understand it’s vital importance in how it will benefit making my work more meaningful and get me to where I want to be career-wise a lot sooner!

Oh and I am not entirely sure if we are supposed to give ourselves a mark for this, but if so, here is mine:

75/100

Check THIS out. Seems the Cola wars are back on, with Pepsi...

Mon, 07 May 2012 21:47:00 -0400

Check THIS out.

Seems the Cola wars are back on, with Pepsi unleashing their latest advertising scheme- using artists such as Nicki Minaj and amazingly awesome special effects in order to promote their beverage.

In the past few years we have seen the Coca Cola company utilize similar methods of advertising, which is to create an entertaining advertising scheme that emits a certain lifestyle or “vibe” that people want to have- and they CAN have a little piece of it if they wish to- all they have to do is buy the Coke drink! Well, it seems as though Pepsi have adapted this similar scheme, yet in my opinion I think they have stepped it up a notch, as they partnering with artists, such as Nicki Minaj, in order to generate a response from her fanbase (this was also done in the past from Pepsi, with artists such as Britney Spears), however in this circumstance they are inviting Pepsi into the world of the live performances by such artists. Instead of Nicki Minaj being awkwardly placed in the commercial- they are bringing Pepsi into Nicki Minaj’s world, which seems to come across a little more charmingly.

The interesting thing here is, though, that Nicki has obviously not signed up to this partnership simply for the monetary reward she will receive from Pepsi, but the ad not only glorifies her as an amazing performance artist (which demonstrates cross promotion- Nicki is advertised to Pepsi’s fans, Pepsi is advertised to Nicki’s fans), but it also allows her to embed a consumable product within her “image”, which contributes to her “lifestyle and image that can be purchased.”

Assessment Task 2.1 – Individual Progress

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:15:46 -0400

- State your exact role in your research group.

My role within this research project on ‘Branded Entertainment’ is to provide case studies of music videos, which involve branded entertainment and creative uses of product placement. I am also delving into an analysis on the question of the moment when product placement becomes branded entertainment as well as determining the specific genres of music that incorporate such branding schemes into their videos.

- The progress you have made so far (what have you done)

I have been researching into a wide variety of music videos, such as the Katy Perry – Part of Me (Official Music Video) video, which not only incorporates some product placement (a wristwatch gets a lovely little glamorous close-up for a few seconds half-way into the video), but it also can be theorized that the US Marine Corps may have funded the production of the video, as the entire video encapsulates the marine’s lifestyle as being an empowering experience. Katy, herself, sees an advertisement of the Marine Corps, which is targeted at women, on display at a gas station in the video. This is precisely what we see as the audience as well, which could be specifically targeted at young women who watch Katy Perry’s videos. There has been many different articles that speculate this very matter, which is why this would be an interesting case study for me to continue researching into in order to find out any more information regarding whether it could be true or not!

I have also been looking at how artists are not only simply embedding products and brands into their videos, but also how they market themselves as this ‘product’, which can be associated with a particular image and lifestyle that they are trying to make their audiences become aware of. At the same time they are branding themselves, this clever act attracts many brands that have specific products that would suit the image these artists are forming.

- What strategies you have utilized in your research

As I am doing a case study on branded entertainment in music videos, my approach was to watch a vast amount of music videos in the hope of finding solid examples of good branded entertainment, bad branded entertainment and the appalling usage of product placement. In doing so, I had to make the assumption that these brands were funding these music videos, and therefore these videos (I assumed) would have significant budgets. Therefore, I restricted the videos I watched by simply filtering out any low budget videos that are typically associated with folk/Indie/alternative genres of music. I chose to view videos that were in the mainstream market that were clearly anticipated to be popular.

From this, I analyzed the videos that had used branding within their videos as well as keeping a close eye on videos that kept their branding beautifully merged within the narrative and imagery in which the video was comprised of. Of course I need to do some more research into these videos as well as finding external secondary resources that comment on videos like these, but I think I have been somewhat successful so far in my method of approach.

- What problems you have encountered

My main problem so far is the fact that has been little legitimate research into branded entertainment in music videos in particular, which means I am finding it difficult to find analysis that backs up the analysis, which I, myself, am making in regards to this topic. The only real information I can find is within the music videos themselves- the primary resources. The good thing about this, however, is that in most cases this branding is quite blatant, although the branding that I am really trying to uncover is the branding that is hidden and cleverly embedded within the narrative and the lifestyle of the artist or character that they are playing, which is portrayed in the video.

This, however, still holds implications simply because if I were to look deep into a music video and make some form of judgment, then I would find it extremely difficult to back this observation up with secondary research on the video in particular. Not only has little research been done on branding in music videos in general, but also it is nearly impossible to specify this research based on specific music video examples. I suppose this is when I must come in and contribute to this extreme research gap with my own research!

I also have a few motivational issues that I am struggling with, but I think I am over this little plateau of “laziness” and I am all ready to get cracking on this research again!

- How you have resolved these (or intend to resolve them)

The problem I have of the lack of secondary research into branding in music videos will simply have to be overcome, as I have mentioned previously, by forming my own secondary research on the topic. This will require me to look really deep into music videos to try and analyse and see if there has been any funding from brands evident, yet just hidden nicely. If I seem to pick up on any hidden branding, I will then try and research into the music video to find out if there is any information stating that this particular brand has funded the production of the video or not. If I cannot find any information, I will simply have to use this video as a hypothetical example of a music video that has used branded entertainment. In other words, I would present this video in a hypothetical “let’s assume this has used branded entertainment” light and explain how ‘clever’ the artist was in embedding such a product into their video, whether it is true or not- it simply does not matter!

- How you believe your project may connect and/or intersect with other research projects? (either in the course or elsewhere)

I think that, relating to my discussion on how there is very little previous research made into my case study, we might find that this is quite under-researched at this point, and therefore we may find it difficult to relate it to any other research projects that are currently accessible. Of course, this is a good and bad thing, as the lack of existing research demonstrates it is a good idea to finally comment on such a growing trend in entertainment, but also this lack of research does not provide us with supporting material for our analysis.

WELL It seems as though Miss Naomi Wolf got the same weird...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:01:00 -0400

WELL

It seems as though Miss Naomi Wolf got the same weird feeling that I did when she watched Katy Perry’s “Part Of Me” music video, explaining “it feels … like an ad; specifically, a focus-grouped, consumer-tested ad to attract more women to join the Marines. Real artistic productions, whether bad or good, are messier, quirkier, more subjective. I am familiar with the way political ads get researched and filmed (it was part of what I advised on in my time as a political consultant), and this looks like a political ad put together by DC PR insiders – like, say, the Pentagon communications team – after expensive market research has been done.”

She goes on to talk about “war propaganda” and sheds an interesting light on some of the insights into the US military and how they are funding such productions. It is a really interesting article that strongly supports my view on this music video, so if you get a chance give it a read.

*EDIT*

Here is another brilliant in-depth article that explains all of what I was trying to say AND MORE. The more I keep researching on this- the more I keep finding about this speculation that her video was funded by the US Military.

Nicki Minaj - The queen of tagging her videos (as I was...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:02:20 -0400

Nicki Minaj - The queen of tagging her videos (as I was discussing in my previous posts on the subject)

On a separate note, I have to admire the fact that she is still staying true to her original rap roots by releasing stuff like this, despite the fact that she receives SO MUCH MORE money by releasing the “poppy” Superbass-type stuff.

Hats off to you, Minaj.

lols at coincidences.

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:34:52 -0400

lols at coincidences.

To continue on from my previous blog post about Branded...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:31:32 -0400

To continue on from my previous blog post about Branded Entertainment in music videos stemming to a possible tangent topic that explores the idea the the music video may not only become branded in terms of physical products that can be purchased, but also becoming branded in terms of branding the artist themselves. This video is a pure example of what I am talking about, especially if you watch the very ending. All throughout the video we are constantly being bombarded with these words: “Chris Brown” and “Mr. Worldwide” (which is the rapper commonly known as Pitbull or Mr. 305). We are being bombarded not only through the disgustingly horrible voice tags (such as the whole “Jaaayyysonnn Deruuuuullooooo” fiasco), but we are also seeing flashes of these names appearing in the music video as text and circling in the background of most shots on what appears to be CGI “lcd screen holographic impressions” (my fancy name of what I am deciding to call it).

I have no problem with these “tags” (which is also what I am calling this phenomenon) if it has been done tastefully and blended within either/or/both the music and visuals, but it can become a problem for me if it sort of ‘sticks out’, as a crappy graffiti tag does on a concrete wall.

But what I would like to bring to light in regards to this is not the concept of ‘tagging’ in videos, itself, because this phenomenon has been around for a very long time, but what we are seeing more and more of today is this whole “artist self branding themselves scheme”, where they will create their art (music) but then brand it with the product that is “themselves”.

Other example of Vocal Tagging: Nicki Minaj - Superbass: “somebody please tell me who da eff I is? I am Nicki Minaj.”

Other example of Visual Tagging: Lady Gaga- Alejandro (She blatantly tags [in a nice aesthetically pleasing way] her own name, the director and the song itself.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4mA&ob=av2e (watch first 10-20sec)

This isn’t a music video, but it is a brilliant little...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:11:31 -0400

This isn’t a music video, but it is a brilliant little live performance from an up and coming artist, Misha B, who contested on The X Factor UK last year.

I’m finding it difficult to form words for how this little piece fits within the whole “Branded Entertainment” thing-a-ma-gig, so I am just going to talk about Branding in music in general. In this case…the video and song itself have been carefully constructed in order to contribute to the Brand that is SB.TV

Now, SB.TV is an online channel (focusing around YouTube in order to put forth their content), which produces content mainly focused around the r’n’b/dubstep/rap/grime UK music scene. It’s a brilliant little channel and it has formed such a strong following mainly due to how they market their videos.

This video, for example, not only has a strong and brilliant little introduction, but they have carefully selected an artist and she has willingly replaced some of the lyrics to her jam to comment on the channel, embedding its name SB.TV into the product that is ‘Misha B’ (I always call music artists a product- depending on the artist they are always to a degree not only selling their music, but they are advertising a certain style, a certain look- a lifestyle. And the further they advertise this lifestyle, the more people will be inclined to have a little piece of this lifestyle, whether it be through buying a product that is featured within this lifestyle, or the music that is created from the artist his or herself.) In this case, she is not only marketing the ‘style’ and ‘music’ that comes from Misha B, but she is also advertising SB.TV itself.

We watch this video and fall in love with her. Then at the same time we are bombarded with this name ‘SB.TV’ and, therefore, we want to find out more…explore this name…and get immersed within this style, culture and brand. The more we get sucked in the more we are inclined to spend.

Having said that, I absolutely adore SB.TV (and Misha) so you should check them both out!

I thought this was an interesting little video that showcases...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:38:37 -0400

I thought this was an interesting little video that showcases all the product placement seen in Lady Gaga’s music videos (from just dance to telephone).

It is interesting to note that some of this product placement is cleverly embedded within the narratives of the video, yet most of this placement (in my opinion) have been clearly placed in the video without nearly enough consideration for blending the product into the narrative. For example, in Gaga’s telephone video- the plenty of fish website stands out in such a ridiculous way (I still do not know why they even bother with that brand- it just completely throws out any video that it has been placed in.) I remember reading somewhere that Gaga finds it difficult to watch that video back for some reason (she says that there are just too many ideas floating around in the video) and I am pretty sure that product placement has something to do with her disliking the video as well.

Product Placement in Music Videos - The Good VS. The Bad

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:57:00 -0400

I would just like to create this post to introduce an important part of my research into Branded Entertainment (specifically my focus on Music Videos) in my group’s research project.

This important aspect of, which can be argued to be where some aspects Branded Entertainment have developed from, is called Product Placement. This has a huge history in the music video business, especially with mainstream pop music, which will often employ the usage of product placement in order to fund the elaborate music videos that are ‘required’ for the artist to make an impression.

I would like to introduce this aspect of the beginnings of Branded Entertainment by comparing its usage in two videos- one video has (in my opinion) utilised product placement cleverly, embedding the product into the narrative and aesthetic of the video, while the other video simply does not even try to do this.

Here is the first video, which is called “Notorious” by the British Girl Group “The Saturdays” (I have skipped to the point in the video, just before the girls finish up their “work” and hop into the elevator where the product placement occurs, just to give it some context):

As you can see here, the product placement has been utilised very cleverly and in an artistic way in which it not only fits into the scene aesthetically, but it also contributes to the narrative. The girls have finished up their hard day of work and it is time to go and party, but in order to do this they must change into their party outfits. This, however, means that they must also re-apply their make-up, hence an opportunity to place a little product into the scene! The group has clearly been clever as to what product they think would be suitable to feature in the video and how they would build this product into the story- I think it is done really well. They even don’t linger too much on these shots where it would become awkward, they cleverly and clearly show the product in a good light, then move along, which in my opinion is so much more effective than lingering on the shot where the product is the main focus in the frame.

And here is “We R who we R” by Ke$ha, a music video which (in my opinion) does not utilise product placement very well (I have also skipped to the point in the video where this occurs- watch for 20-30 seconds):

In this video, it is clear that the product placement (being the dating website “Plenty of Fish”) does not blend in with the narrative and aesthetic of the scene. Of course, companies want their product to be seen and stand out, however this product stands out in a negative way that can anger fans and shed a bad light on the artist. In this case, of course it is obscure because a DJ would most certainly not be sitting on a dating website in the middle of their set.

Straight after we see this dating website sitting obscurely within the aesthetics of the nightclub scene, we are shown another product almost instantly! In this case it is some random brand of Vodka, which seems more fitting for a scene such as this (Vodka is not unusual to be seen in a nightclub), however having this product appear straight after the Plenty of Fish website puts emphasis on the fact that there is product placement in this video, which again, can have negative effects on the artistic appreciation of the clip.

So for our group in MI1, we are focusing on the topic of...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:19:00 -0400

So for our group in MI1, we are focusing on the topic of “Branded Entertainment”. I know I probably should have started talking about this last week when the group was formed and when we had picked our theme a few days ago, but lets face it….week 4 is when everyone begins doing work. (Please refer to the previous couple of posts which cohesively cover this topic).

ANYWAY! So Branded Entertainment is the topic we are covering and I will give a little bit of a better introduction to this in my next post, but to open up the entire concept I would like to discuss one particular video, which was released today: Katy Perry’s “Part of Me” Music VIdeo . Now to the average viewer they would normally look at this music video and think to themselves, “Wow, yeah, that’s a pretty good music video- Katy is so inspirational to have joined the army after her boyfriend is obviously cheating on her and re-gain her independence in this awesomely beautiful display of courage!” For me, I kind of really wasn’t too impressed by this cliche theme, however I knew this was something that her target audience would have been impressed by, but what I did was completely disregard the idea that the United States Marine Corps may have potentially funded the production of this music video in some way!

This is just a theory, but let us look at this video again in the hypothetical circumstance of the Marine Corps actually funding this video- what they have done is snuck their brand into the video as a form of entertainment- the advertising is invisible to the viewer, yet they are still made aware of the company and the benefits of joining this company. Obviously if this was the case, they have pretty much utilized Katy Perry as a celebrity figure and role model and demonstrated to her entire target audience that it is beneficial and liberating for a woman to join the US Marine Corps.

That is what Branded Entertainment it- the companies are now having to find other ways of sneaking advertising into our entertainment after we are simply turning off our TVs and clicking the ‘X’ on pop-up ads. Audiences are now becoming so clever with switching off the advertising that surrounds us that we must now be bombarded with advertising that is embedded into the actually storyline of the entertainment that we consume. It’s not just about product placement- it is about turning advertising into a consumable narrative.

A little more on my business plan

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:15:00 -0400

It’s all about collaboration.

Bringing together the aural and the visual community into one community full of artistic contributers with the sole intention of creating aural and visual bliss.

The merging of these two elements is key.

But the business plan. How will this all work? How will I pull it off?

Well when I was in the UK, I had met the CEO of a company called All Around the World, which is company that had formed based off of this model- acting as a record label with a production companies attitude and expertise when it came to the visual side of the production as well. For example, they don’t just give out recording contracts to artists and record music for them- distribute etc. They work with the artists closely- collaborating with the on their musical endeavours in order to produce amazing tracks with the visuals to go along with them- this is all done under the single company that is All Around the World. When I say this though, they still have smaller production companies under their belt that do the visuals, but if you refer to the previous post I made about collaboration you will understand that these figures who are contributing visually are not simply just individual filmmakers, but rather small companies. The difference here is that these companies all work closely together in order to make this visual and aural project become a success under this same communal network.

I hope to bring such a community to the Australian Music Industry and, as I said, uncover the hidden musical talent of the underground scene and provide a platform in order for this music to acheive recognistion in the public eye and hopefully reshape the current mainstream music industry in Australia.

Again- big plan…but thats the fun of it. Start with a big goal!

Lecture #4

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:05:00 -0400

Week 4. That time of the semester where you realise you should probably start paying attention and doing a little bit of work.

Here are my thoughts as I was listening in on what Mark Elliot had to say as he gave his guest lecture this week for Media Industries 1:

Mark Elliot is a Melbourne-based Web Strategist & Designer of Collaboration Platforms, who has founded “Collabforge” which is a company that explores concepts surrounding large scale collaboration, bringing together many companies situated in Melbourne in order to work on websites, apps and other various projects.

As he was giving his lecture to us today I couldn’t help but relate this to my own business that I hope to establish by the coming new year, because it is a concept that is completely formed on collaboration.

What struck me though is his thoughts on large scale collaboration, which circles around not simply bringing individuals into the collaborative process, but rather companies.

My whole idea is not going to be communicated here on the basis that someone may steal it, however I can say that is will pretty much center around the idea of establishing a record label that acts as a production company. For example, instead of simply just making music or making music videos, these two entities are merged together into one collaborative group to produce an aural and visual manifesto.

Of course I am going to start small and collaborate with young individuals, however I soon began to realise that once we were established and had formed somewhat of a reputation, we then look into expanding our collaborative schemes to larger companies. For example, getting another established record label under our belt as a “collaborator”, then employing a small production company as a “collaborator”, then we have a merging together of artistic contributors on a larger scale, hence turning a small group of artistic contributors into a network of professional companies, all affiliated to produce visual and aural bliss to lift up the Australian music industry and turn it into what it has the potential to become- bringing the brilliance in the underground music scene to the forefront and changing the face of Australian music altogether. That’s the big plan anyway.

There was also this point that was brought up in Mark’s lecture:

Start business (as in- apply for an ABN and business title etc.) so people can’t sue you and take your personal assets. Therefore you will begin collaboration with existing companies and established groups as opposed to collaborating with individuals that can sue you personally if money is made etc.

Another important factor when beginning collaboration:

Conception of results may differ according to who is collaborating with you – therefore, it must be clear what you are trying to achieve and what results you hope to expect – this must be communicated and understood by all of the individuals who are in collaboration with you.

And here is the basic scoping process model, which will be very useful in the future!

Scoping Process

Vision -> Determining the vision -> Goals – Objectives

Approach -> Resolving how to integrate social -> Your organization - Mapping business as usual

Explore -> Exploring Technologies -> Create? Consult? Promote? – Staff? Stakeholders? Public?

Prioritise -> Prioritise & Plan -> Which options support the vision - & operate within your constraints.

Time to get cracking

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:43:25 -0400

So I suppose I better do some work now, hey?

Yes. Correct. It is currently Thursday in the middle of week 4 and I have decided to grace Media Industries with my presence is this week’s lecture. Before I begin to talk about this lecture I would like a moment to explain why it has taken me this long to actually begin doing any work on my blog.

1. I have been on exchange for 6 months and, therefore, things have been a little bit surreal for me being home and “back to reality”.

2. The course I had taken overseas was INCREDIBLY INTENSE (I am talking like, “oh hey class nice to meet you- now go out and shoot a fucking documentary in 1 week” kind of intense). Therefore, I have come back to this RMIT course, which is fairly chilled and it has made me feel as though I am actually on holidays even though I am studying. Therefore, it is a good thing that the course is easier, but it is bad because I am actually not doing any work in it!

3. I also kind of wanted to start “talking” or “blogging” about this course after I had experienced a little bit of it- I feel as though with this course- I needed to let things settle a little bit in my mind before I did any talking of my own.

So, therefore, I think it is time to stop yapping on about personal issues and actually talk about something worth talking about- but I just needed to get this out. So- there.

This is how I feel about my situation in the media program at...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:03:03 -0400

This is how I feel about my situation in the media program at the moment.

Weird.

Why? I think it is because I am not really connecting with the course at the moment, but I am not telling you this because I wish to yap on about my personal life, but rather because I believe there is some importance in uncovering the true reason behind this.

At the moment we are discussing things that we have already spoken of previously in the program (despite the fact that I was from RMIT last semester on exchange), which is making me feel completely disconnected as to what we are actually learning and being assessed on. I feel as though I know everything already and I need to be exposed to new information and ideas in order for me to become hooked and try to unpack these ideas and information for myself.

Thus, knowing everything already is making me feel as though I cannot blog about it, because I feel as though I would simply just be repeating myself.

Therefore, I am going to convert what would normally be a regular blog for this course (Eg. one where you can see my progress in learning about the aspects and ideas covered in the course) to a blog that explores these ideas further and more creatively.

How will I do this? By using real life examples- referencing real media artefacts and even creating my own media artefacts that explore and highlight the particular ideas in this course.

Sorry about the waffle, but I needed to set this goal for myself, because otherwise I wouldn’t do anything!

Wish me luck.

-Z

Oh hai new blog.

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:49:06 -0400

I thought I would pop my new blog’s cherry with a little introduction post.

Hai.

I’m Zach.

I study Media at RMIT University and this blog is totally, like, dedicated to a course I am doing right now called Media Industries 1.

Here I will ramble on about interesting things regarding the course in a desperate attempt at injecting some valuable knowledge into my brain.

KTHNXBAI

-Z