Reflection on Online Immersive Websites Presentation

Online Immersive Websites

On the 27 April 2016 each person in the group was expected to produce a presentation on what they believe to be an immersive website. We had to conduct research to find 5 different websites in which fitted the task. Once all 5 websites were picked we then had to create a visual presentation and deliver a professional standard presentation. I believe that my presentation went extremely well on the day. I felt that I really understand what an immersive experience are now.

Researching I found interesting as you stubble across many weird and wonderful things. It was evident that some people used the same websites as others. For instance, in mine I used the Latvian Holocaust Mueseum and I think a few others did too. I personally don’t feel this was an issue as it must be affective and must showcase that it is a very engaging and immersive website. I wish looking back now, I picked some of the other websites I had seen when conducting research as people may not have come across them before.

I only used my presentation as a visual aid, there was only bullet points to back up what I was talking about. Lots of images where used within the presentation. I really took on board all the information gained in the previous sessions about how important it is to know your content, how to present well and how to create a PowerPoint slide which isn’t to heavy for the audience. This is my presentation. Click on the link if you want to see.

Immersive Online Experiences – Copy

The main thing that I feel stood out on my presentation was the fact I incorporated screen recordings. Each screen recording was done before the presentation. The screen recordings where of each website, I recorded myself moving around the screen, clicking and hovering over key parts of the website. This was done so that I didn’t have to rely on the hyperlinks and the internet connection to load each page. Especially, within the location we were in, is not a reliable space for internet connections and fast broadband. The screenshots allowed me to not have to jump in and out of the presentation, this allowed me to deliver a much smoother presentation with no hassle. There were limitations in doing this. It didn’t capture sound bites when on the website. The sound would have given the moving image more of an impact. This was not the end of the world because it allowed me as the presenter to talk and explain things without getting distracted. I didn’t feel that I needed a script or cue cards as I really planned out in my head what I wanted to say. I feel that it comes much more naturally when not using aids. As I had practiced I didn’t feel as nervous or anxious to do the presentation. Also it was a very fun task which made things easier.

I really enjoyed this task and the overall brief as it allowed me to full understand what immersive means. In the other section of the brief it really allowed us to use content we found interesting and produce an interactive and immersive online presents. This was really enjoyable and stimulating. I feel the research into immersive online websites really helped with this section of the task as it allows us to see first hand what has already been produced and what the most common elements to making an interactive website succeed and draw viewers in, whilst keeping them engaged with the content. Over the next few years I hope to carry on developing a creative flair to my work as it makes the work so much more alive. These skills learned will be evident in my work from now on because I have to consider, who and where I want my content to be seen. If it is done well then it will help me to become trusted and more well known.

 

Developing the Brand Identity Further

If I was to continue to develop my Brand identity further, I would;

• Make the CM flow better, by getting rid of the centre part of the M graphic
• Make the M Graphic Just black instead of having the same graphic as a tire.
• Consider different fonts and look at more colours

I think for my first attempt the brand is of a high quality but with these changes it will make it more simple and visually more professional.

Digital Versions of My Sketches

After coming up with some ideas, I then produced digital versions so see how well they came out. There where designs that didn’t look good at all when I produced hem and others looked more appropriate for the task.

The Bad attempts 

This one looked wrong and didn’t seem to be a brand that would be catchy or remember-able. As I didn’t like the digital version I ruled it out and decided to move on.

This next design was a complete failure as I tried to create an Additions logo. This used typography as well as a picture. This would not be a brand identity as it is too much and at different sizes will become unreadable and not good at all.

I ruled this one out and decided not to try and develop it further as it wasn’t going to become my brand.

OK Brand Ideas

This logo was better then the ones above, however I didn’t feel it was creative enough. It is very basic and not that what people will remember. My design has to be more creative and so that I stand out amongst others. This logo was that what reflects that to what’s already out on the market. Journalist generally just have there names simply done. I want to push boundaries of what is the normal for people in the Journalism field. The second logo with the black, white and yellow is designed that way as these are my sporting colours. In both of these logos i have designed each letter used in Illustrator.

My favourite brand ideas 

This design is my favourite by far. it really reflects me. The ‘C’ and the ‘M’ are made from wheelchair tires. This is key as i am disabled  and not ashamed to represent this aspect of my life. The wheels are symbolic as they showcase my personality. The chair transports me around but I am the individual. some people say they don’t want to be defined as a wheelchair user but I see it that its a part of me and why be ashamed.

This design is the building blocks which i want to work from. I want to make it flow better and to make the ‘M’ a continuous flow. The ‘M’ to me looks to much like the McDonalds ‘M’. This could get me into a legal issue if kept this was so by making it flow better and get ring of the central piece of the ‘M’ will help to make it less like the McDonalds brand. The brief states it must work in colour as well as black and whites. My chosen colour scheme will have dark reds or golds.

Reflection on Camera Framing and GV’s

In the session, we paired up and was told that we had to go showcase the skills learned from the previous sessions. We both had to frame different angled shots and had to do an interview each.

Some of my shots I felt where fairly strong. I just didn’t get enough angles. We were asked to shoot each shot for 10 seconds each. This is incredibly important when editing. As i’m in a wheelchair, I personally found it challenging. this is because if I used a tripod my chair would knock the leg of the tripod. I also couldn’t get close enough to operate the camera. I ended up doing the task handheld. This wouldn’t be good enough quality if required in the field of work as the camera doesn’t stay static. The images where over exposed and didn’t come out as planned. However, if an image is darker then you can lighten it up. But if an image is too exposed than the detail in the image maybe lost.

These are a few of my shots

This is a shot of how I would interview. I used depth of field to blur the background out

General View – Of subject writing

General View – different angle of subject writing

General View – Trying to pull focus on from the tree and the subject

 

Reflection on Emily Bell

Emily Bell is a significant influence in the journalism industry, she currently works at the Columbia Journalism School in New York City as the Director of the Tow Centre. She has had a very interesting and successful career over the years. Working for some of the most recognised media organisations around the world. From the Observer to the Guardian. Her career at the Guardian extremely successful and she spent two decades, writing and coming up with new platforms to what news could be used on. In 2000, she pioneered the mediaguardian.co.uk and became editor-in-chief of Guardian Unlimited a year later. She developed multiple of different ways to reach audiences on a digital platform.

Open Journalism has evolved over the years and is becoming incredibly important. Emily Bell has done so much towards the developments, for instance:

• Creation of a two-way relationship between readers and the media – This allows audiences to leave comments, get involved and be a part of the news (building rapport). This is as important in today’s society as the world is online driven. People spend so much time on their phones, laptops and many other pieces of technology. By having a two-way relationship help to give the audience a voice and give them an immersive experience.
• Online storytelling techniques – websites, social media, blogs etc. navigation, colours, content all play an important part in the success of a storytelling website.

The Independent Traders Struggles in Hull

On Wednesday the 16th of March, a friend messaged me about a Facebook message that she had seen. the was message was posted on that day by the owners of the Panini shed in Hull

 After, seeing this Facebook message, I thought that it was incredibly important to stand up for those who own independent businesses in Hull. I planned to do this by allowing them to explain how it made them feel, how angry they are and what the public think of the councils decisions.

The next day I prepared the PTC scripts, both intro and outro . I also rang the Council to try and get a quote from the based on the story. This would balance out the story and wouldn’t appear to be as bias. The outcome of the phone call was that the department I needed to talk to was closed and that I need to ring back in the morning. Before the phone call ended the woman on the other end of the line said that it would be doubtful they would want to comment.

Not long after the phone call, I went to spend a bit of time with my family and watched some rubbish on TV. As i got bored I then went onto the Hull daily Mail website and came across an article that they has recently published a few hours ago on the story, I planned to cover.

This was the Hull Daily Mails coverage – click on the web link to go to the article

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Shed-takeaways-sad-make-way-new-Caffe-Nero-St/story-28942380-detail/story.html

 

 

Reflection on Adobe Audition

Working with Adobe Audition.

When working with sound it is imperative to listen to what you’re recording If not you won’t notice the problems until you listen and it could be the thing that makes or breaks a product outcome.

When practicing with different mics there were different issues identified when listening to the audio back. The types of problems consisted of holding mic problems like movements, tapping on the mics and in general lack of practice. This can be avoided with more practice. Also noise problems were noticed as noise can be anything from wind, traffic, room noise etc. If an area is busy or noisy it may be best to find somewhere else when filming sound. This will help to create better high standards sounds. However, if this is an issue to find a different area there are noise reduction techniques on different editing software’s. For my project I will be using adobe audition/ Pro tools.

What to do if the interviewer is louder than the interviewee?

Can record separately using this software. Making sure the output that is capturing the interviewee is the most important as I may not get a second chance to record what is needed. Also waste time and could result I a bad product. I can dub myself later on and merge the tracks in editing.

As a journalist there are things I need to consider and look out for. Such as:

• The signal to noise ration – look out for handling noise and background noise.
• Stereo and mono. Need to know the difference. Important to understand the software.
• Find a bit of space (background noise) – highlight, effects – noise reduction – capture noise – print.
• Always wait for 20 secs before beginning to record. This is then your noise print.

Process to cleaning up a file/track

Firstly, open the software and go to file import – then select the files required

When the correct file is selected make sure that both channels on the track are open. To do this go to edit – extract channels – to mono files. Once do manipulate the left channel.

The to start manipulating there are many things you can do to clean up a track’

Highlight the parts of the track that are irrelevant or useless to the final product and delete

If a piece of sound is really loud. Select the track and go to effects and select the option normalise this will make all the track similar in volume

If a file is done by a Fostex mic then it is important to extract channels to mono files.

If a piece of sound is too quiet select the track go to effects and select the option amplitude.

Once the track sounds that of a high standard then it is important that you export the file. Save as a WAV file.

Reflection – Voice Training

In today’s session we had help to understand how to bring in emphasis on key words when broadcasting. Also how to bring light and shade into the voice tones. This will help me to sound much more natural and not as if I am reading from a script or auto cue. Also to get away from it all been monotone.

Today I leaned that women often have to lower their voice to a much deeper tone as they can be squeaky. This can be a distraction to listeners. Talking from the lower part of the diaphragm gives the reader more breathing time and makes the sound much more control. Guiding the voice is key to success. It depends what the piece is about but you can add depth within the tones, helping to create a mood and spark emotions. It is our job as broadcasters to understand how we can change and adopt our voice for different types of stories.

We did a practice run, with a script we had prepared earlier. We had to read it first then re-read it but put emphasis on the key elements within the news story. It was a good environment to get constructive feedback. This will allow me to understand what I can do to make myself a better broadcaster. My feedback was that I sometimes over emphasised and my script writing could have been improved more for speech.

We had to think about the techniques shown to us the week before about taking three deep breaths before going live. This brings down the pitch of the voice, this makes it sound much more professional and also improves the delivery of the content. Cat explained that if there’s ever a figure or statistic it must be emphasised, slow down when speaking and pauses can help to make sure that the audience can understand, hear and taking the key facts.

To me as a journalist it is an incredibly important skill to have and something that is a transferrable skill to different career choices. Voice training is key for me as I want to go into the broadcasting industry, so I need to know what I can do to make myself much more professional.

A Journalist/Media Personnel that Inspires Me

When thinking about my Journalist hero, I felt awkward as there are many influences but not sure if there is one person specifically. Some of my influences that made me choose journalism are; Michael Moore, Louis Theroux and many sports media broadcasters.

The one person that really influenced me more than others is Ade Adepitan. This is because he pushed the boundaries of what people with disabilities where stereotyped. People believe that people with disabilities couldn’t do much, couldn’t live a normal life and achieve great things. Well Ade is an extremely hardworking individual. He represented Great Britain in the Paralympics in Sidney 2000 after been selected at the tender age of 15, he carried on representing Team GB and won a number of medals. He then went on to starring in a documentary called “hoop dreams”, presenting a weekly wildlife programme and doing a series of idents and adverts.

Once his sports career had its day he made its life ambition to inspire others by doing talks. I was lucky enough to have had the chance to be at a talk he did. It really gave me an insight, passion and understanding of what it takes to make yourself stand out and get noticed.

He now is a British television presenter and has reported and presented for the Paralympic games in 2012, worked for the BBC and Channel 4.

His career is very inspiring as it shows that you can achieve, even when faced with challenges. His career is similar to what I would like to achieve within my life time. I want to inspire others.

Reflection – Martin Bell

Martin bell OBE was well known for been an independent MP in 1997. He also was a former war reporter and broadcaster. In his career he travelled to over 102 countries and reported in over 80 of them. He is also a British ambassador for UNICEF.

Bells most famous war reporting was in Vietnam, Bosnia and many others. When broadcasting/ reporting he is well known for wearing a white shirt. The white top made him stand out from the soldiers. Bells journalist career became prominent in 1962 when he joined the BBC as a reporter. This was local news. After a few years Bell moved to London.

He challenged the style of embedded journalism. Embedded journalists would have worn the same of the soldiers to blend themselves in. This is dangerous in itself, I believe that Bells technique was really brave as it made him stand out more. This could have made him an easier target. Embedding reporters is really common in conflicts and to break that style can be incredibly powerful and make a name for the reporter. Bell is a great example of that. In order for him to adopt this style of broadcasting he had to have a translator and a camera man. This meant that there were few people involved and so that he could understand the different language barriers.

Martin Bell often revert his reports back to people giving the situation a human outlook on what was happening. This was often what we don’t see back home. For instance, whilst reporting in Bosnia at the village of Ahmici, He shows viewers families, children and friends. This made the reporting much more personal and gave the report a humanised element. This for me provokes emotions in others as that could have been there children or families. It really makes you think about those close to you. As well I think bell touches upon those ideologies of moral panic. This is seen within the reporting as it also showed how many people were affected by conflict, soldiers on battlefields and military forces, people firing weapons and destroyed buildings.

In the session we watched a YouTube video. It was an Interview on Martin Bells career at The Frontline Club, 2011. There where interesting facts and really told the hardworking man’s long career.

Martin Bell revealed that the first story he did wasn’t the best as he didn’t take it serious. He mentioned how he would spend all day writing and working on a 60 second script so he could report back to viewers what was happening. When he was given his first assignment in Vietnam, he stated he didn’t show any Vietnamese civilians and only showed one side to the action. Only the American military were showcased.

Later on in the video he talks about his guilt as he blames himself for one of his translators been killed. He feels the guilt as he got the young man involved in his work. Personally, I wouldn’t blame bell at all the young man knew the harsh and dangerous world he was involved in. it was just a horrific tragedy.

As a practitioner of becoming a journalist, I feel Martin Bell is a good inspiration as he showcases that you can stand out from the crowd and achieve if not more than others. His style is admirable as he pushes the boundaries and takes risks. Bell really gets close to the action on what he is reporting this meant that he could give the latest of what’s happening. He also showcase that you can have a long and successful career if you work hard.