‘Nollywood’

Nollywood is the national film industry from Nigeria, which is beginning to rise out of just Nigeria and spread its wings.

Nollywood is quite an unfamiliar term for Australians, although majority would quickly be able to work out that Nollywood is some sort of film industry, due to the section of the name involving ‘ollywood’. This is due to the extremely famous USA film industry, which is named Hollywood, after the are of the USA which it is situated in. Hollywood is the main area for which movies that come to Australian shores originated from. This causing the vast majority of Australians to only watch movies from the USA, with the exception of the odd film from elsewhere. All of the most famous actors within Australia, are actors which originate from the USA, although a number do originate from Europe.

Nollywood is an extremely unique cinema experience, in which the budget for the film is quite low and is almost non-existent. The film quality is quite low, and the acting is simply not what we come to expect of movies, as we have become used to the high budget USA movies, which are quite a stark contrast to the Nollywood style of film making. Nollywood’s distinctive style is extended to the outlook they have on other nations, in which they have almost no care at all as to whether others outside of Nollywood enjoy their films.  Jane Bryce states “the industry cares for any attention from the outside. In fact, one of the characteristics that marks Nollywood as an autonomous local cinematic expression is that it looks inward and not outward” (Onookome Okome, 2007).

Globalisation and it’s benefits

Globalisation is the forces of each nation throughout the world, joining together to create one major supply chain. This is apparent in almost every aspect of today’s world. Politics, sport, music and finances are all a major part of what we call globalisation.

Technological advances have helped fast forward globalisation, by revolutionising the trade market. By an update in technology, trade is able to be undertaken in a quicker amount of time, through online payments, instead of payment via cash, as well as the use of aeroplanes instead of boats, to get the product/good from country to country.

Credit for photo: http://www.bbc.co.uk

The increase of globalisation, means that the amount which fellow countries depend on one another for trade, military and political purposes have increased dramatically. Globalisation is explained by O’Shaughnessy, as” is characterised by a worldwide increase in interdependence, interactivity, interconnectedness, and the virtually instantaneous exchange of information.” (O’Shaughnessy, 2012).

Due to Globalisation, a major swift in each nation’s culture has begun to happen. This happens through music, sport and as well as food. Some major examples of this trend is the increase in different types of cuisine which is available on demand throughout the world. A city anywhere in the world has all different cultures foods to taste, such as Asian, American or even European. An increase in coverage of all the major sporting world cups, such as Rugby Union, cricket etc. This is able to allow for people who may not be able to afford to visit other countries and watch the sport live, to be still able to view the fixtures regardless.

Globalisation is an undeniable benefit for the world, which is only going to increase over time.

International students, and their barriers.

Due to the continuing modernisation of the world, it is much more common for students to look outside of the box, and want to travel and study abroad.

Along with all the excitement of visiting a brand new country, comes the stress and fear. International students face a number of barriers in regards to studying abroad, which can make their experience somewhat chaotic. The barriers which international students face are often involved with the differences between the countries on a sociological level, such as language differences, and cultural clashes Things that are normal in the local country aren’t normal in the international students home country, e.g. Australia has a major tendency to party and consume much more alcohol compared to Asian nations. These two barriers are able to affect the assimilation between the two different cultures, as the international students are well out of their comfort zones, and therefor find it difficult to converse with local students.

photo credit: www.theodysseyonline.com

 

This also is able to affect the way which the local students look upon the international students, and affects the chances of which they have of becoming friends, “most international students want closer interaction with local students, and are prepared to take risks to achieve this. … most local students are not interested” (Marginson 2012: 1).

The barriers which International students face is quite easily fixed. This is able to be done through the recruitment of international students being much more selective, where the students are assessed much more discriminative in regards to their ability to speak the local Universities language, and characteristics of the student which will increase the students ability to assimilate.

The online persona

In the 21^st century, it is highly common for anyone of the age 13 and up to have some sort of social media space as their own. The way which they portray themselves on this outlet is totally up to them. Although it isn’t always who they really are.

It is quite a common occurrence for someone’s social media accounts to portray a completely different person to whom they really are. People often try to portray that they live the ‘high life’ when in fact they are poor and hardly leave their room.

On social media outlets, you’re able to sit down and really have a think about what type of person you want to be on this account, whereas in real life, this isn’t the case, you are who you are. Faking it is rarely a healthy thing to do. Faking your online persona may mislead others and yourself, into thinking you’re a different person in real life to what you really are, and this may cause trouble.

As for me, my online persona is who I am. A poor university student, trying to get a shot at becoming a journalist!!

Undercover Journalists

Script:

Within today’s society, lies the age of ‘undercover journalists’ or more commonly known as – ‘citizen journalists’. With gadgets now overtaking newspapers, radios and Televisions as the most common way of accessing the news and events, it means societies “average Joe” is now able to publish their own articles to be seen world wide. To put it simply, a ‘citizen journalist’ is a person which places their opinion on social media outlets to scrutinise and reflect upon current news and events around the world without being paid to do so.

Blogging websites such as ‘reddit’, ‘Wordpress’, ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ are the source of how this process begins. On these websites, status’ or blog posts are uploaded which are then advertised with the infamous “hashtag” which is able to circulate the post throughout the media outlets and create publicity for the online blog. For example, If a person was to post about the overnight NRL match, they would post their opinion followed with #Nrl.

The empowerment of the undercover journalist is able to stop the influence of the major media outlets on society.

Annotated Bibliography

Below is 10 sources in which I have used in order to begin the idea for sand marble racing.

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfaXbh0Pkb4 – Sand Marble Racing

This source is the video which gave myself the inspiration to make my own sand marble racing clips. This involves 33 marbles, of different colours racing through a man-made race track to win. The clip also involves commentary, which is voiced over the top of the video. This is an extremely useful source, and is very well formatted, with all aspects of the source coming together to form fantastic viewing for the audience. Due to the quality of the source, I will be able to use this as a guide to making my own, as this is the type of quality I would hope for.

2: https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/47u459/oddly_satisfying_marble_racing_in_sand/ – Reddit chat forum

This source is a chat forum which I came across on a website called ‘reddit’. It involves people talking about another marble race, which in this instance, has only 12 marbles. The chat forum shows how pleased the people are with the video, as they speak of how exciting it was, and how anxious they were supporting the colour in which they chose. This is a good source, as it is able to help myself get an understanding of the types of tracks which people enjoy to watch, and see the comments which they make at the simple click of the button.

3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_06qg0Zis9c – sand castle

This is a source which only has a small relevance to my project. Although the clip on how to build a sand castle was extremely helpful as it was able to show tricks for me, on how I am able to build the track using sand. The video was well put together, with the use of three people in the film. The video was only useful to me for about one fifth of the duration, as the more it continued, the less relevance it had to building sand marble tracks.

4: http://www.eofire.com/7-ways-to-build-your-online-presence/ – online presence

This is a source which was able to give me advice on how to build an online presence, and how to get my videos seen on a broad basis. The website gave 7 dot points, on the best way to build up your online presence. This is a particularly useful, as it I am able to mould my digital artefact around the tips given. It is a well presented website, which is able to inform people of the ways to advance online reputation, through the constant improvement of my videos

5: http://mic.com/articles/7869/is-youtube-a-good-or-bad-influence-on-society#.GQk7hqxjb –Youtube good or bad on society

This is a source which debates the effects of Youtube, and whether or not they are good or bad. The effects of Youtube are good in my opinion, and of the opinion of this website too. There are millions of videos on YouTube, which relate to many different topics. This is a very well put together blog, which was able to relate to my idea for sand marble racing, as it is able to give me the confidence that the videos will be viewed and appreciated. The blog was well supported with the use of videos to back up the writers viewpoint.

6: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36040254?ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=facebook – BBC Interview

This is a source which highlights the increasing popularity in sand marble racing, as well as underlining the large amount of entertainment. This relates to my article, as it is able to reinforce my idea, as I know viewers will enjoy my video. The fact that it has attracted enough attention, for BBC to see the need to hold an interview, proves the growing popularity. The article itself was only small, although luckily the video attached was able to provide the information which was withheld from the text to provide a worthwhile source.

7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk9JDHvhI00 – Easter eggs race

This source is able to prove the varying amounts of objects which can be rolled down a sand track, other than marbles. The video shows easter eggs racing down the sand track, as an easter special. This is very relevant to my artefact, as I plan to send other objects down the track other than marbles. Perhaps some sort of fruit, or other types of sporting balls could work. The video is again extremely well filmed, and edited, with comments showing the popularity and excitement created for the YouTube video.

8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rDvtFJxgAw&ebc=ANyPxKoBUIb4pVAbzTYsDFN5bvN_w-Fj7RfjHjNExv9scRAT8GmyLX8MW5A1dbf2TLALQd2DmbQFNvJW6GK6_hTOASHMnQI6cw – Marble race 2

Within this source, is a YouTube video of another sand marble race, which involves just 12 marbles racing to the bottom of the sand marble track. This is quite well filmed, although the camera gets quite shaky at times, which highlights to me the importance of filming correctly. The video however, is quite well edited, and the background music is able to add to the excitement of the race. The slight difference of this race to the other, is able to give me more ideas as what to make my race tracks like, and whether more or less marbles is the better option.

9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pCI_g9dHRk – video editing clip

This source involves a YouTube video explaining how to edit a video, which is directed at people which have very little editing experience. This relates to myself, as I have next to no video editing experience. Despite the video being aimed at business owners creating a video for their business, this was a very useful source, which will help myself film and edit the race once the track has been completed. The video was very professionally put together with the use of quality acting and editing, in order to create a quality viewing experience for the audience.

10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYt657ibJN0 – video commentating clip

My final source involves an instructional video on how to commentate over the top of another video. Despite the video being aimed at people who play Call Of Duty, it was still very helpful to know the way in which to go about commentating my project of the sand marble race. The YouTube video was well put together, as the editing and commentary skills were well done. This is relevant to my project, as I aim to provide a commentary voice over my video, in order to enhance the audiences viewing quality.

Ripping, mixing and burning

Like everything else in the modern day world, creating a remix, or covering a song has become profoundly easier. Me personally, some of my favourite songs are covers/remixes from the YouTube and radio channel ‘triple J’.

A remix can range from a redo of a movie, to a singer redoing another artist’s song. The vast majority belong to the category of music. This can be also done for a comical purpose. With the outlets such as Facebook and Instagram, remixes for a comical purpose seem to have a constant roll over of new styles and even better forms of remixing.

As stated in my previous blog, the film industry is generally involves money, and it is no different if a movie is remixed into another. It means that the original has somewhat been successful, therefor to generate new versions. This also works in the music industry. Singers will only want to redo a successful song, in order to enhance their chances of a quality product.

From Novel to Film just for fun? No way!

If you were to ask why a film is created, some film makers may respond with “we do it for fun”. Which may be true to some extent, although I highly doubt their work would continue without a fairly hefty pay packet being included.

Money is the main source of why transmedia story telling is used. The formatting of a single story across multiple media outlets is all but a money spinner, for which relies heavily on the success of a book, in order to be turned into a film. For example, the 7 book series “Harry Potter” was a success on the platform of books, so therefor it was able to be transferred across to the digital platform of film with minimal risk of failure in order for the chance of making money.

Of course, while the major film making companies make money, someone has to lose money, right? The loser here financially, unfortunately is everyday movie lovers like myself. This is because we are the silly suckers which get roped into paying for the movie tickets, in order to send the money to the top dog movie producers and actors.

Arts and Craft – Digital style

Within today’s society, art and craft is relevant to more than just children, or the artists which sing songs on our radios. As I have already stated before, average citizens are now able to do things which previously weren’t possible. This includes the mixing of music, photos, or movie scenes into an improved or modified version to serve a certain purpose.

In today’s world, anything is able to be modified. A photo of a person, is quickly able to be transformed into a meme, and funny video is quickly able to be remixed into an even funnier video than the previous.

Another extremely popular form of craft of digital material is the modification of music. If you search your favourite song, chances are, there is some sort of remixed version somewhere on the internet which has been changed for the purpose of a material transformation.

Here is an example;

Media convergence – a more user friendly process

The convergence of media, is the process of all media outlets, such as Television, Radio and newspaper coming together to allow for a much more user friendly way in which to access and use the media. The term ‘Media convergence’ is an idea which was used in my most recent blog on ownership of the media. This is the process of consumers slowly becoming producers. The idea that the audience is merely the puppet of the media is no longer, this is due to the convergence of the media.

Due to the introduction of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. the media has become readily available to audiences with the click of a button on our modern smart phones, tablets or laptops. The more advanced technology of the modern age, in every aspect of our lives is able to create a more user friendly situation for the entire audience. Just like the remote control made it easier for humans to change the TV channel, by allowing a channel change without having to exit the couch, the convergence of the media allows the audience to gain access to the areas of the media which they seek, without having to wait for the news program to reach that section of the story.

The converging of media onto a newer, more up to date platform, doesn’t mean that the older form is now obsolete. It just simply creates more of a choice to the consumer. For example, modern technology allows for the audience to watch the NRL (National Rugby League competition) on their mobile phone device, while at the park alone. Although I would preferably sit in the crowd and watch the game surrounded by thousands.
Although, another positive with the convergence of the media, is that just because I choose to go watch the game live at the stadium, I am able to re-watch the game on my phone in the park.

This is a good thing for all involved, as more choice is able to create a larger mean for competition, and this often means higher quality for us – the audience Despite some beliefs about their intentions, the main media outlets goal is for the audience to receive their information in the best possible way.