DiVA Viral Marketing Campaign Pitch

Before DiVA chose what idea that fitted the brief for the Viral Marketing Campaign, us four apprentices, Joy, Edun, Robert, and I, had to pitch our ideas to them.

Unfortunately, I wasn't selected, however, you can check out my pitch below (which was originally a Power Point presentation, but Slideshare wouldn't let me upload it.)

DiVA Viral Marketing Campaign Pitch

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Unit 18, 1.1 - "Describe protocols, devices and methods used in digital communication systems with some appropriate use of subject terminology."

Unit 18, 1.1 - "Describe protocols, devices and methods used in digital communication systems with some appropriate use of subject terminology."

Because the internet and the online universe is such an expansive place, there are a number of protocols, devices and methods that are used in digital communication systems. On top of this, there are a fair few terminologies specifically dedicated to these systems, a selection which can be seen below:

Blog: A blog is a personal website that can either be set up/run by a select person, or a group of people. Blogging formats that can be used ranged from blogspot to wordpress.

Reference

3G: 3G is the third generation of technology on mobile phones, which includes interent access.


Reference

Bluetooth:Bluetooth is a source of wireless communication made over short distances to phones and computers.

Reference

Multimedia Messaging System: Multimedia Messaging System (or MMS for short) is the now-standard way of sending messages via phones that include multimedia (such as photos and

Reference

URL: A URL is an online address that includes http://, along with the domain name of the selected site. 

Reference

Appropriate Language Conventions for texting a friend:

I usually text the way that I type, so the conventional abbreviations that are used in texting a friend, I don't usually carry out. However, 'btw' (by the way) 'imo' (in my opinion) and of course, 'lol' (laugh out loud) are a couple I do use.

Here is an example of something I would text to a friend: "Hey, how are you, man? What are you doing on Saturday? Wanna meet up? I've got a free house for a couple of hours; the family are going out. You game?"

Appropriate Language Conventions of emailing a business colleague:

Dear Mr Smith,

As per our previous correspondance, please find attached the signed and dated document for your files.

All the best,

Cherokee

Commenting and Linking

In the blogging world, commenting on other people's blogs is a sure-fire way of getting bloggers to visit your page.

Here are some examples of comments I have left on fellow Apprentice's blogs:

Joy at Joy Harrison Entertainment - Commenting on Joy's love for The Vampire Diaries.

Edun at The Edun Blog - Commenting on Edun's idea of an underground Cinema/Theatre.

Robert at RCM Productions - Commenting on Robert's Digital Life.

I'm Technically Rather Good!

Because I wasn't one of the cast in our DiVA Viral Marketing Campaign, my role was very-much more of a hands-on process, particularly when it came to shooting the actual video.

Though the video was a team effort, we all had to direct ourselves at some point, and as the first person on the camera, I think I managed myself fairly well in getting all the opening shots we needed, (up until the point when there is a close-up of Jemel, who then says his first line.)

I had to make sure the white balance, the framing and the lighting was on-point for the shots we needed to take, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to capture the vision we had on paper and relay them to the screen.

In the editing room, the opening, I believe, is the strongest part of the video. The cutaway clips that are in our final cut, work really well thanks to the editing of Robert, and the shots that we managed to film.

Along with shooting the first few shots that include several cutaways of Jemel, I also handled the sound, and made sure that the sound was pitch-perfect for the video, as, in particular for the beginning where the paper is being thrown, it was vital this was the only sound that could be heard.


Later on in the editing room, this same sound was continued for when Robert jumps into view, and without this attention to detail with the design of the sound, we wouldn't have been able to use this for the video, and there would have been lack of continuitity without this sound. 

On top of this, because Robert was the director of the video, I made sure that he was happy with the shots I was taking, but also gave my own opinion on certain sections.

While the rest of the team carried out the final shots of the video, Deri and I, with suggestions made by the group on the choice of music, then found the appropriate free of copyright soundtrack for the short, which included the flushing of a toilet noise, and a superhero theme for Apprentice Man.  

Then, we gathered the team to listen to these suggestions,and as a group, we decided what music would make the final cut from the list that Deri and I presented. 

Through this experience, I have gathered the basic knowledge of shooting, lighting, and editing a video, in a short period of time. 

Looking forward to putting all this knowledge back into action!

Unit 6, 2 and 2.1 - Video Production

For our DiVA Viral Marketing Campaign, in a short amount of time, we went through the stages of Pre, Post, and the Production itself to create our Viral Marketing Video.

Here are some of the stages we underwent...

A group 'Mind Map' on what apprentices do.

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The Whiteboard that Joy and I wrote out

Robert's designs for the Apprentice Man.

The DiVA Viral Marketing Campaign crew, with me on Camera.

Some of the team, including myself, editing away.

I was able to both contribute in a technical capacity and undertake a technical role in the creation of a video product, by being set a number of different jobs within the filming and post, such as working on camera and also editing. 

As camera operator on the shoot, I conversed with our assigned director, Robert, on how to frame each of the shots - what would work best, etc.- most of which the final video product was filmed by myself. 

While on camera, I was also in charge of sound, making sure that our actors were heard at all times, otherwise the scenes would have to be re-shot in order for the sound to sync in with the visuals. 

On top of being the main-go to person for the sound on set, I - along with fellow classmate Deri - sourced out plenty of free copyright sounds online to add to the video, which were included in the final product to create more of a professional affect. 

As for editing, the whole team took turns to splice up all the footage, and make it into a smooth running video. We conversed with one another as separate people took on the editing role, to make sure that we were all heading in the right direction.

I also assisted in setting up the lighting for wherever we were intending to film, understanding that, if the lighting in a shot was off, we would have to either convert it in post or re-take the shot, which would have pushed us back further from our deadline. 

The National Theatre Trip

Visiting The National Theatre a few weeks back was a really great experience. Not only did me and my classmates get to go on a behind-the-scenes tour and speak to employees at the theatre, but we got to watch two first-night plays which definitely sparked discussion in the group.

After a half-day at college, we jetted off to The National Theatre and set about meeting the Digital Department who run, as you can tell from the name, the digital side of the theatre . From there, we sat down and had a great, lenghtly discussion about what The National Theatre do, how they are trying to move into the Digital Age, and more, which was extremely insightful for someone who doesn't know too much about how a theatre operates. 

After this talk, our group then joined a school trip and had a great inside tour from Katherine, our tour guide. What was most impressive about the tour was something I didn't expect to love so much, and that was the workshop. To see all the goings-on on the set building side of the theatre was great, and something I really enjoyed learning about.

Our day ended with the performances of two plays from the Connection series: Frank and Ferdinand, and Children of Killers.

First up, we had, what in my eyes, was the weaker play - Frank and Ferdinand.

Though I am a fan of things that I can't explain (David Lynch is one of my favourite artists), Frank and Ferdinand, to me, was all over the place. There were glimmers of hope - for example the actress that played Sarah was great -, but the rest was quite a struggle for me as a viewer to get through and I still can't understand what the play was trying to get at; what it was about.

The staging proved another problem to me. Though it was definitely original, I think it didn't work for what the play was trying to get at.

Even through the weaker points, I still found myself laughing a few times, though I thought the play as a whole wasn't for me.

The young cast of Children of Killers

The second and last play of the day was Children of Killers. Now, like with Frank and Ferdinand, there were problems, but this was the play out of the two that I enjoyed the most and connected to. The staging was wonderful here, and was definitely the strongest point of the production. The rape scene was played out superbly, and definitely had me feeling uncomfortable. Yes, there were hiccups in the acting (I found it hard to connect with the lead actor in particular), but it was a much better play than Frank and Ferdinand, previously. Especially in the writing.

What was great about seeing these two plays, though,  is that I had a surgance of writing inspiration hit me. As someone who wants to write for a living, working at my placement at the moment, I have begun to realise that though I love film, I love writing more, and this is the avenue I want to explore - whether that be with comics, short stories, or scripts, I want to have my finger in every pie, as the saying goes. In my eyes, having that surgance of writing is always a price I am willing to pay, and I am thoroughly glad I went to see the two plays.

They were no Sucker Punch - a play I can speak about until the cows come home -, that is true, but both plays were gallant efforts, and gave me more than I could have asked for, (writing inspiration!). 

Overall, it was a really good experience visiting The National Theatre, a place which I really enjoyed when I went to see FELA! a few months back, and one that I now know I will definitely be revisiting in the future. (And maybe for a work experience placement!)

5 Websites I Visit

A magazine that I buy biannually (it is released every two months), Little White Lies is a great pop-culture infused film-fest with whip-smart reviews and smartly written articles, focusing on everything and anything to do with film.

One of the many themed issues of LWL's

Each issue focuses on a particular film being released the month the magazine is published, (for their most recent issue, The Skin I Live in is put on the operating table for a good dissection, featuring an interview from Director Pedro Almodovar.)

What is great about Little White Lies, though, is that if you don’t want to fork out a couple of quid to buy the issue when it is published, or it has sold out, a digital issue of the magazine will be printed on their website (for free!) a month after the physical edition has been released. This is a great interactive way to keep up with the Digital Age, and something that very few, if any, magazines have adopted.

Keeping in line with their smartly made magazines, Little White Lies’ website is yet another hub for film lovers everywhere; a real treat.

You can participate in film-chit chat on the Little White Lies blog where you are free to discuss reviews, cast and crew interviews, and much more. There is a great shop where you can buy the latest addition of the magazine, badges, or postcards of magazine covers – basically, it is a great website filled with everything a film fan could want.

The Film Experience, which started out as a Blogspot page and now has a .net URL, is one of the most followed film-related blogs on the internet.

Mostly based around Award seasons (in particular the Oscars), The Film Experience works in your usual review-a-film blog schitck, but adds frequent interesting and quirky articles into the mix such as the Best Shot series, where Nathaniel (the writer of The Film Experience), asks his readers to pick out the best shot of a certain film. Here, Nathaniel looks at A Streetcar Named Desire, a wonderful film that everyone should watch.

Tilda Swinton on the cover of D&C

Going back to magazines that I purchased, Dazed and Confused’s website is a great source for all things art-based. Though Dazed and Confused is a fashion magazine, they span all things arty – ranging from exhibitions, to books, music and film – both in magazine and online format.

Out of all the websites and blogs I browse through, Dazed and Confused’s website is visually the most unusual, fitting nicely into their art-based focus as a magazine. 

The downside to Dazed and Confused’s website is it’s interaction is limited to those that use Facebook and Twitter. Yes, the majority of internet users have a Facebook or Twitter account (and in a lot of cases, both), but for someone like me, who has neither accounts, it discriminates me from communicating with those that love Dazed and Confused as much as I do because I don’t get the option to comment in a normal blog factor.

This is a downside to the cheekily written Ultra Culture, too. Fronted by Charlie Lyne – a twenty year old blogger – Ultra Culture has now gained notoriety for being featured on BBC’s Film 2011, and taking no prisoners when he gets on the keyboard to writing.

Like with Dazed and Confused, Ultra Culture doesn’t have a comment system for the Ordinary Joe. Instead, to enter competitions on the site, you have to have a Facebook account to comment.

Lastly, we have teen-run The F Bomb, a site written by teenagers for the feminist community. (I have written posts for the site before, which was great!)

A mixture of fictional writings and articles, The F Bomb is a wonderful site for teenage feminists to find a voice; to speak about how popular culture - including the media 0 is affecting their lives, wherever they are in the world.  

So, those are my must-to destinations on the World Wide Web, what are yours?

My Digital Life

This is obviously not me, but you get the idea.

Since the age of 8, there has always been a computer in my household. Before there were computers in my Primary School, I became equipped to knowing the basics that, at the time, seemed pretty professional (ranging from knowing what LOL meant, to Ctrl-Alt-Del.)

As any other person with computer access, I use my laptop daily. Mostly, when I have a spurge of inspiration, it is used for writing. When it concerns writing, I find when I have hit an idea, that if I am typing it down rather than using a pen and paper, I can get my jumbled thoughts out a lot more quickly, and with more coherence than if I resorted to the pen and paper method.

I am one in a million (quite literally) when it comes to not having a Facebook and Twitter account.  Though I am now managing my work places’ Facebook and Twitter; tweeting and status-updating on various things going on with the film they are shooting, I don’t have my own personal accounts. Why? Because, apart from a business aspect, I don’t feel I need them on a personal level. At some point, when promoting my freelance work, I know I will have to jump on board the fad and get myself out there, but for now, I am content with writing various articles for websites when I get the time, and running my blog which I started up in May, Feminising Film.

I am not a novice when it comes to communicating digitally with friends, family, and potential colleagues, though. From emailing Literary Agents with chapters of my book, in hope that they will represent me, to messaging friends and family, these are some of the many digital communication systems out there that I use.And of course I couldn't forget my trusty Blackberry.